Chapter 3
Hermione stood by the gates of Hogwarts. She had ten minutes left in this time. Soon she would be transported back to her own time. She was eager to see her friends again and see what the world would be like now. News was starting to spread about Voldemorts downfall. She could hear the people from Hogsmeade celebrating and as she watched the castle she saw the windows begin to light up. She watched the number of owls head towards the school. Letters from the parents to tell the children of the good news.
Hermione looked at her watch. She would be going back in a couple of minutes. She had decided to go back to the beginning of November in their 6th year. That way she could get her bearings about everything and know straight away if her plan worked. She couldn't see how it hadn't however. There had been a body after all.
Hermione looked at her watch again. 10 seconds. Fireworks erupted in the night sky above Hogsmeade. It lit up the feature of the castle. Suddenly Hermione felt herself being pulled forward. The world around her began to spin. Around and around it went. She began to feel dizzy. All of a sudden it stopped and she felt forward onto the grass in front of her. She was out of breath as she stood up. She looked up at the castle. She was back. She smiled a big smile. She'd missed it here.
It was no longer night time. Instead it was a bright day with no breeze. Just then she heard the castle doors open and Hermione saw a hoard of people leave the castle. She watch them and realized they were heading towards the quidditch pitch. So there's a quidditch match today then, she thought. She quickly stepped inside the castle grounds and melted into the crowd. She tried looking for certain faces as she headed down to the pitch but could see none. She found a place in the stands and waited for the teams.
Suddenly the two teams appeared. The crowds cheered and booed. Hermione did neither. She was too busy scanning the Gryffindor team. She let out a sigh of relief and almost squealed with delight. There among them was Katie Bell. She should have been in St Mungos at this time. Hermione took this to be a good sign.
Hermione spent the rest of the game mainly watching the stands. She was looking for Cedric Diggory but she couldn't see him. She hoped it was due to the mass of students and not because… well because of the other reason. She did see Dumbledore however. She was surprised to find that, even though she knew he would be alive, she still felt a jolt of happiness in her stomach. She also noticed he had two normally working hands. The game ended with Harry catching the snitch and Gryffindor winning. Hermione cheered with everyone else and left the stands quickly. She was eager to speak to her friends again.
She headed to the common room with the rest of the house to wait for the team to arrive. Somebody had managed to acquire food and drink but Hermione was too nervous to take any notice. She was beginning to wonder if Harry and Ron would believe her story.
"Hi Hermione," a voice said beside her. She turned to see Neville standing beside her. She beamed at him.
"Neville!" she exclaimed as she pulled him into a hug. "Sorry," she said to him as he loked confused at her sudden rush of emotions. "I'm in a good mood."
"Well that's good," he still looked a bit confused, "Anyway, I'm surprised to see you here. Thought you'd be revising or something."
"Erm…Yeah," she said trying to act normal, "but its Quidditch, isn't it? Got to celebrate, right?"
"Yeah, it's just you usually skip them don't you?" Hermione opened and closed her mouth a few times. She was lost for words. That wasn't right. She always celebrated their victories. "You say it distracts you from your revision," Neville added when Hermione failed to say anything.
"Right, yeah," she managed say, "Will you excuse me?" she asked quickly moving away before he had time to reply. She tried not to let panic overtake her.
"Don't' be stupid Hermione," she said to herself. "It's just a small change. Probably doesn't mean anything important." She calmed her breathing down. You're just panic because you didn't think anything little about your life would be changed, she thought to herself. Some unimportant things were bound to change. In all fairness she wasn't a big fan of it anyway. If she was honest with herself, she was probably only this enthusiastic about it because her friends played it and she wanted to support them.
Just then the portrait open and the team entered. Everyone cheered and Hermione pushed her way to the front, all thoughts of the little change forgotten. A girl with jet black hair ran out from the crowd and hugged Harry. Hermione looked at her curiously. She'd never seen this girl before.
"Well done Harry!" she screamed in his ear. Hermione saw him cringe and she laughed. "You were brilliant!"
"Thanks Lizzie!" Harry said as she let go of him. Lizzie turned to fall back in line with the crowd and Hermione noticed she had the exact same eyes as Harry. Hermione smiled. Harry had a sister now.
Everyone was now congratulating the team. Lavender, Hermione was annoyed, to see was all over Ron. She also noticed that Dean and Ginny were holding hands. Hermione waited until they had dispersed a bit before she went up to Harry and Ron. They looked at her as she approached them. She noticed Harry had no scar and she beamed. Ron seemed unchanged and Hermione was filled with happiness.
"Hi," she started, "I need to talk to you."
"Why?" Harry asked suspiciously. He seemed to be standing up straight and tall as if expecting an attack.
"I need to tell you something," she said, "In private," she added anxiously. She didn't like the way they were looking at her.
"We're trying to celebrate," Ron said rather harshly.
"I know. Congratulations but I really need to talk to you. I did it!"
"Did what? Got another full marks for a piece of homework." Ron said as Harry stifled a laugh. Hermione looked at them shocked.
"Wha…What?" she asked as sudden chill creeping over her.
"Just shove off Granger. I can't be bothered with you just now," Ron spat as he and Harry turned to get some food leaving Hermione rooted on the spot.
