iDisclaimer: I don't own anything except the plot. I'm merely borrowing JK's characters and promise to return them once I'm done. :)/i

centerbThe Room of Emit

Chapter 1: In the Past/b/center

The hard floor met me with a sickening bang. I thought I had died, or at least it felt like I had. It seemed as though I had broken everything in my body. I groaned. Why had I followed Harry down to the kitchens in the middle of the night only to get lost without his stupid Marauder's Map? And it figures that this particular room had to be the one calling him to come into it. One of these days, Harry's adventures were going to kill me, if this one hadn't already.

I sat up slowly, but my head swam and spun despite my efforts. The last thing I remembered was spinning and grabbing Harry for dear life...that reminded me. Where was Harry?

Careful not to make sudden movements, I stood up, with many cracks and pops, and glanced around the room for him. He sat in a corner holding his head in both hands.

"Harry?" I whispered.

He glanced up quickly, "Ginny? Glad you finally made it; I was alone for a little bit."

"Oh." I bit my lip, an annoying habit I have when I'm confused, embarrassed, or worried. He stood up next to me and asked:

"Want to go now before we spin out to somewhere else?" I nodded quickly and made my way out of the room without giving it another thought. But something tugged at the back of my mind, a memory of something that I couldn't quite get rid of. I tried to ignore it as best I could but it was still back there in a deep pocket of my mind.

We trudged along for a little bit, not saying much. My head ached more with every echoing step we took. Harry would occasionally ask if I was alright, but I would lie and say I felt fine even though I felt like I had broken the wrist I had landed on, and I was limping slightly.

It seemed an eternity before we reached the Entrance Hall but what we saw was definitely not what we were expecting. Instead of it being the middle of the night like it was for us half an hour ago, it was the middle of the day. Students were running all over the place to get to their next class, or in the case of a few unfortunate students who had come from the dungeons, the hospital wing. Young ones filed through the great oak doors with dirt smeared in their hair and on their faces. Older ones came running down the staircase with copies of monster books in their hands, complaining about having to feed the beasts if they were late. And many more students swarmed in the general direction of the staircase, some laden with books and others running to greet a friend.

But none of this bothered me. In fact, it was expected of the students here at Hogwarts. What bothered me was that none of these students looked recognizable to me and their uniforms looked different. We couldn't have been spinning in darkness that long, could we have?

"Hurry up now. You don't want to be late for you classes," a voice from the top of the stairs said. I recognized the voice and glanced up at her. It was McGonagall, but not the one I knew. She looked younger by thirty years or so. Her face was no longer wrinkled, her hair was no longer it's salt and pepper gray, but a vibrant auburn color in a looser bun.

I glanced at Harry, and judging by the shocked look he was giving me and the way his mouth was dropped open, he had come to the same conclusion I had. We had to be in the past.

bAuthor's Note:/b So...how is it? It's just a start, and I know I kinda left you with a cliffhanger. Hehe! But review and tell me how you like it, and I'll update on Monday night. Give me suggestions because I've only gotten halfway through the second chapter.

Review!

iGryffindork Gwen/i