CHAPTER 2- A night of Contemplating

Not even before they were down the steps Hermione and Ron burst out into conversation on their ideas over what they thought would be best for them to do. Hermione was against it after having already meddled with time in their third year, but so far Ron was for it.

"Ron, you don't understand how bad this could be, though." Hermione kept repeating. "We could get stuck in the time stream and erase ourselves from time. Then how could Harry complete the prophecy when he can't even get back to his proper era!"

"I know Hermione," Ron kept repeating back, "But what if those things don't happen. We could have the ultimate weapon against him, and Harry would definitely be able to defeat him, hands down!"

"Harry, what do you think?" They both demanded.

Having been in a daze trying to compare the pros and cons of the situation, the sudden question startled him. "I don't know guys," He ended up replying, "I don't know."

The trio made their way towards the north side of the castle in silence until they reached their tower, and made their way to the portrait guarding the front of their room. The portrait was of Sir Cadogan, the knight, whom Harry and Ron had the great pleasure of meeting in their third year, as well as Hermione when the Fat Lady was too terrified to be the Gryffindor dorm portrait for a while. Dumbledore had moved his portrait over to this side of the castle when the other portraits by professor Trelawney's room started complaining about him. The three of them didn't mind him being their portrait, for they knew how to deal with him.

"Draw you mangy mongrels!" He shouted as the three of them approached his portrait.

"I would, but I left my fighting sword inside…" Hermione replied.

"Maybe another time then..." Sir Cadogan answered, disappointed.

"Hippogriff" Harry said, giving Sir Cadogan the password. He was not in the mood to prolong his entrance into the dorm any longer. It had been a long day, and he was most assuredly ready to go to bed. The portrait hole swung open, and Harry quickly jumped inside and laid down on the cushiony couch in front of the crackling fire that the house elves had thankfully started. Ron and Hermione quickly followed suit, and took a seat in a chair on either side of him staring into space. The silence lasted a while until Harry chose to break it with a few simple words.

"I'm going up to bed." He quickly made his way off the couch, and started up the set of stairs that led to the boys' side of the dormitory. Ron followed suit without a word, while Hermione stayed sitting in the chair, not taking notice of the sudden flee of Ron and Harry.

As they entered the room, Harry decided he didn't feel like talking to Ron. He just didn't know what to say to him. He had to make a decision and side with either Ron or Hermione, and at the moment, he wasn't exactly sure which one to do! Yes, there was a plus to going into the future, but what about the consequences. Hermione was right; the situation they were in was a horrible one and each piece of information they had had to be analyzed carefully before he made a decision.

Ron understood from Harry's silence that he wanted to be left alone, and quickly hopped into his bed, ready to go to sleep after the long day. Harry watched him from the corner of his eyes wondering how his best friend was able to decide what he wanted to do so quickly, as he finished brushing his teeth and washing his face. He looked up into the mirror before leaving the bathroom, and watched as his undecided green eyes stared back at him.

His bed was warm as he slipped into it, for the house elves had once again slipped a heated pan into it to leave it that way. "Thank goodness Hermione given up S.P.E.W, or I don't know what I would do without those house elves!" Harry thought to himself. He then folded up his glasses, placed them on his night stand, and turned out the light. By the time he turned over and tried to close his eyes, he heard Ron's snores from across the room, signaling that he was asleep.

Try as he might, Harry just couldn't fall asleep. Thoughts swirled around his head, and there was no way to get them out.

"What if we do go?" He thought.

We could get the ultimate weapon in defeating Voldemort, as Ron said. But Hermione is also right. We could get stuck in the time stream, and I would never be able to fill the prophecy then. We could also learn too much that it could horribly change the future from what it is destined to be, and that is just as bad. But we need to find out who this R.A.B is, we need to know if going to the future is going to end this war, we need to know Voldemort's weakness, we…we just can't lose this war. Anyway, if the idea was that bad, Dumbledore wouldn't have suggested it, would he?

These thoughts were still burning into Harry's head when the sunlight began to shine in his dorm, and Ron began to stir. He had had a peaceful night, unlike Harry, who was destined to go for a day without sleep.

The boys then ungratefully began to get ready for the next day. Even though they weren't attending classes, they still had to get up early enough if they wanted breakfast. They both threw on a pair of jeans, while Ron put on a hand-knit sweater from his mom that she had sent him recently, and Harry threw on a red t-shirt, with a blue zip-up jacket.

The two boys then made their way into the bathroom to finish the process by brushing their teeth, and washing their faces. Before heading downstairs, Harry made one last attempt to straighten his messy black hair, but in the end gave up, knowing that it was hopeless.

Ron was still quiet as they walked down the stairs, and quickly stifled a yawn. Even though Ron had been able to fall asleep, he still hadn't sleep for long, since they had gotten in so late, and had to get up so early. Harry so far, was unable tell if his best mate had changed his mind on Dumbledore's proposition or not, and was quickly surprised when Ron suddenly halted at the bottom of the stairs, causing Harry to run into him. He chuckled at the sight before him when he looked up. Hermione was fast asleep on the same chair that she had been on when they went up to bed. Apparently she had been up all night as well, contemplating the right solution…