Chapter Two

Late Post

It took a lot of persuading to get the trolls into the house, much more than it seemed worth. Regardless, the hardest part was explaining everything to Mrs. Weasley. She had returned to the kitchen since they'd been outside, and was thoroughly surprised when two gray-skinned kids with bright orange and yellow horns entered the room after Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny.

"Oh," she said as they entered slightly awkwardly. "Ron, who are your friends?" Her voice faltered slightly as Terezi began sniffing around. Karkat pulled her back as he'd done in the garden.

Ron turned to glance at the trolls. "Um, their names are Karkat and Turretsi, I think." Hermione nudged him, catching the mistake. "Terezi." She corrected. Ron blushed slightly and muttered something that sounded suspiciously like "Whatever".

Mrs. Weasley nodded slowly, still staring at the trolls. Ron cleared his throat nervously. "Er, we were wondering if maybe they could stay for a while. They're not really sure where they are or how they got here..." He trailed off, unsure of how exactly to explain himself. However, Molly Weasley, never being one to turn a blind eye to those in need, immediately ushered over to the two trolls.

"Of course you two can stay!" She sounded exasperated, as if they were trying to accept something after the third time of being offered it. She studied them. Having apparently crashed in the garden, the two were covered in dirt. Mainly Terezi, considering how she'd neglected to dust herself off earlier. "Scourgify." Molly flicked her wand, cleaning the mud off of each troll in turn. Karkat looked as though he were standing in the headlights of the Knight Bus as it raced towards him at incomprehensible speed. Terezi didn't seem to notice anything. Harry wondered if they'd ever seen magic before.

Before he had time to voice his doubts, Molly was going on about sleeping arrangements.

"...and of course, you two could split into Ron's and Ginny's rooms, Terezi, you with Hermione and Ginny, Karkat with Harry and Ron. Yes, I'm sure that will work..."

So that was how the trolls were divided. Karkat didn't seem very ecstatic about the idea of he and Terezi splitting up, but Terezi seemed indifferent towards it.

That night, Karkat settled into the human bed, trying to fight off sleep. He hadn't slept in days and had no plans to give in while in such a strange place. The humans in the room, Ron and Harry, were already asleep, judging by their steady breathing and soft snores. Above them, something was moving around on the next floor of the strange hive. It kept thumping and groaning, making Karkat even more uncomfortable.

He stared on into the night, the darkness bringing comfort from the harsh light of day. He thought of the meteor, of what would be happening now that he and Terezi had vanished off it's face. He wondered what Gamzee was up to. Probably slinking around in the vents like the creepy ******* juggalo his was. Karkat felt suddenly relieved that he wasn't here with the two of them. He and Terezi would just go at it again, hate-snogging it up and tearing apart this fragile hive...

And there Karkat would be, watching it all unfold, watching as the girl he'd been flushed for for so long be torn apart by a ******* clown.

It didn't do him well to think about it all, and he always felt really guilty about it after he did, but he really disliked the idea of Gamzee traipsing about with Terezi. It made Karkat feel like **** to see it, even though he knew it was about the opposite quadrant to the one he wanted to fill. It made him jealous, and that's what made him feel guilty.

Karkat turned over jerkily in the human bed, his burning eyes begging him to close them. He obliged, intending to open them a moment later.

But Paradox Space had other plans.

When Karkat did open his eyes, they were met with the sight of the Land of Pulse and Haze. His HOMES SMELL YA LATER sickle grasped tightly in his hand, held high above his head in triumph. He didn't remember why he was doing this, but vaguely remembered alchemizing and renovating. Before him, his Load Gaper sits, torn from its place in his hive.

Karkat remembered this now. This was quite a long time ago- 3 human years if he recalled their stupid time system correctly. Honestly, wouldn't it have been easier if they all just measured time in sweeps?

He pulled out his fancy computing device, expecting a message from Terezi. That's what had happened, wasn't it? She trolled him and they had that dumb argument about who connected to who and his blood. How stupid it had been to try and hide it. He was so immature back then.

But no message came. He stood there, waiting for something to happen, but no message graced his screen.

Karkat lowered his arm, glancing around at his surroundings. There stood his hive, viciously renovated at the hands of Terezi Pyrope. The hole blown in the side was bad enough, but she simply couldn't have gone without giving the place a colorful mother****** of a paint job. The poorly illustrated picture of himself on the wall made him role his eyes. He did not look that irritable. Most of the time.

The world around him was a weird place with a bunch of black, spiky mountain/rock things sticking up through a sea of lava. His hive stood on one of these rocks, standing gloriously above all else with it's grub-level paint job and the self-portrait. Seriously, how conceited could he seem?

He had half a mind to send Terezi a message himself, asking her why the **** she hadn't trolled him yet.

But something stopped him. He didn't know whether it was the fear of what he was or wasn't supposed to be doing or the fact that this wasn't going as it should.

Karkat looked towards his hive. On the roof would be where his Lusus-sprite was standing, waiting to help. He didn't want to have some dumb, emotional reunion with his Lusus, but yet again a strange force seemed to be drawing Karkat in a certain direction. Dream Bubbles worked in mysterious ways.

It occurred to him how lucky he was to have awoken in this bubble and not some **** of a void surrounded by Horrorterrors as he made his way up to the roof. At least now he could get a blink of sleep...

He stopped. It hadn't occurred to him until now that anyone else might be in this bubble with him, but when he got to the roof he came to an abrupt halt.

Standing in the space just where his Lusus-sprite would have been was Kanaya Maryam.

She seemed to have been awaiting his arrival. She walked quickly over to him as he stood there, dumbfounded. He hadn't expected to see anyone from the meteor for a very long time.

Yet here she was, walking towards him, her pale skin glowing softly and a smile gracing her lips.

Kanaya threw her arms around him gleefully, and Karkat just sort of... Air-hugged her back. When she released him, her eyes were searching his face.

"Where Have You Been?" She asked breathlessly, her eyes alight with astonishment and joy. "Where Is Terezi? She Should Be Able To Enter The Dream Bubble..." She looked behind him as if she would catch her blind friend sneaking up behind him. She turned back to Karkat as he stammered out an answer.

"W-we've been... On Earth... W-with some h-humans... Gog ******* **** it, I sound like Eridan."

Kanaya seemed to forget her question as to Terezi's whereabouts as a puzzled look crossed her face. "But Earth Was Destroyed... You Cannot Mean It Has Come To Exist Again- The Recreation Of A Planet Seems Highly Illogical- Otherwise, Paradox Space Would Not Have Had It Destroyed In The First Place."

Karkat rolled his eyes. "Come on, Kanaya, don't act like you understand any of that space ****. It's all just one big confusing **** up of a system."

She sighed. "Yet I Wonder Why I Missed Your Company."

Karkat shrugged indifferently. "What about you all? Has that bulge-******* meteor finally reached the end of the Yellow Yard? Did you meet up with the other ****head humans?"

Kanaya shook her head. "I Calculate We Are Still A Ways Away From The Destination. However, I Suppose After Nearly Three Human Years Of Travel We Must Be Fairly Close." She looked up suddenly, as if something were disturbing her. The setting around them seemed to ripple slightly. Karkat got the feeling their remaining time together was nearing the end of it's line.

"Listen, Karkat. I Do Not Know Where You Two Are, But I Would Very Much Appreciate It If You Would Return As Quickly As You Deem Possible." Her voice sounded as though it were being heard through the bad reception of Dave's foam communicator. The world around them darkened until only they stood in black space.

"I Hope To See You Both Soon."

Karkat sat bolt upright in bed, clenching the human blankets in his hands. Wrapping them tightly around him, he resumed his watchful consciousness and entertained himself with thoughts of his and Kanaya's conversation and why Terezi hadn't been there.

Harry sat up in bed the next morning, finding his glasses routinely and going through the morning motions. It was only after Ron got up and a loud shifting of bedsprings sounded from the other side of the room did Harry remember the previous days events.

He turned around to watch Karkat get up. The troll was sitting on the edge of the bed, his feet placed firmly on the floor and his hand massaging one eye. Looking closer, Harry spotted deep, dark circles under Karkat's eyes that he hadn't taken notice of the day before. Harry wondered what had kept him up.

The three of them prepared for the day in silence. It wasn't the same, sleepy silence as the morning before. This time, the silence was cold and strange, even the shuffling of feet over floorboards sounded foreign.

They all made their ways down to the kitchen, Karkat trailing silently and reluctantly behind the other two. He only looked up as he heard a familiar cackle behind the kitchen door. They pushed through it to find the three girls were already seated and laughing, this time at something Terezi had said. The troll girl seemed to find it much more humorous than the other two, who were laughing a little less loudly.

Ron and Harry took their seats next to Hermione and Ginny, Karkat sitting uncomfortably next to Terezi. He ate in silence. Harry didn't know Karkat very well, but he didn't come off as the person you expect to be this quiet. Harry was about to ask him what the matter was when Mrs. Weasley opened the window with a flourish, expecting an owl bearing the Daily Prophet in it's talons to soar gracefully through the window and land in the biscuits. Instead, the drapes recoiled at the wind, and the inhabitants of the room shivered with the hint of coming cold.

The window remained open as Molly scanned the skies in search of an owl. Aside from the gray clouds swirling calmly overhead, the sky was empty. She turned around in confusion, shaking her head. "The postal system needs to establish a correct time. You'd think with all the things they've done since the war ended..." She shook her head again. Aside from looking a little confused, the trolls' reactions were few.

Hermione set down her fork for a moment, staring at Karkat and Terezi. "So, where did you two come from?" Her tone was subtle, but Harry could tell she'd been dying to ask since they met. Karkat looked up irritably, but Terezi, somehow sensing his answer coming on, cut him off cheerfully. "We come from a place in a different universe called Alternia!" She explained excitedly, voicing the enthusiasm Hermione had subdued.

Unfortunately, this answer took her completely off guard.

"A-another universe?" Hermione stammered, trying to comprehend the idea. "W-what do you mean?"

Terezi fixed her glasses slightly. "Well, we trolls come from a place called Alternia, like I just said. Our planet was destroyed, we went on some adventure through the universe you wouldn't hope to understand, blah blah blah, ended up here. That basically sums it up."

Hermione didn't look as though she felt this were a sufficient answer, but she didn't question it. Instead she asked "Well, what do you plan to do here?"

It was Karkat who answered this. "Do you really care? It's like we can't get any **** personal space anymore, what with you humans sticking your noses everywhere."

Hermione looked affronted, but Terezi waved her hand passively. "Don't worry about him, he's just crabby."

Harry barely caught a glimpse of the dark circles beneath Terezi's eyes and glasses. She didn't sound exhausted, but the air around her seemed to radiate the fact. She leaned on her cane when she stood it walked and the twitching manner in which she smiled have her away. She seemed determined to ignore it though, so Harry left her alone.

She continued to revise Karkat's answer. "We're not really sure what we'll do. Wander around until we find out way back? Paradox Space will lead us where we need to go anyway, it always does. Then again, there is always the possibility of a doomed timeline, in which Paradox Space has no control..."

Hermione looked as though she regretted not having a notepad and quill. The information she was absorbing was simply too strange, too exotic. Harry wondered if she would stress over understanding it for the next year.

It was nearly eleven when the group's conversation was cut off by a loud rapping on the now closed window. Molly Weasley bustled in, muttering "Finally," under her breath. However, as she pulled back the curtains and threw up the sash, more than the one Prophet owl cluttered through and onto the table. There were seven in all, each owl approaching a person hastily.

Harry tore the message off of his owl in disbelief: the envelope bore the Hogwarts crest.

A/N: What did you guys think of the dream bubble scene? It took me a couple of days to choose the setting I wanted, but I found this one symbolic to the beginning of their first journey, and figured it could begin the second.

Stay tuned for:

•Hogwarts letters!

•Materials shopping!

•First days of school!

• Discover how they got there in the first place!