Chapter 4
Explaining

Harry turned to look at his former mentor. He looked the same, maybe less old, but definitely the same otherwise. His beard was not as long, or as white. His eyes were still an almost constant blue twinkle, but he wasn't wearing his glasses. And most of all he seemed less stressed or tired.
The moment Dumbledore started talking; Harry let the sound of his voice wash over him. It was almost as if he was back. "Ah, I see you have awakened." He looked a bit uncomfortable, but also quite amused.
Ginny pushed something in Harry's hand and walked forward with her hand raised. Harry looked at what she had given him, when he realised he was still only wearing a towel. "My name is Ginny, nice to meet you professor."
Dumbledore smiled at her and shook her hand. "It's nice to meet you Miss Ginny. I guess you already know who I am."
Ginny nodded her head, glancing over her shoulder to see if Harry was dressing yet. He seemed to be lost for words, staring at the clothes she had given him. She rolled her eyes. "The light headed idiot is Harry. You have to forgive him, his brain is overloading."
Harry was just staring at his dirty clothes, the after effects of the war and the constant struggle of the past year or so, finally catching up with him. He knew he had to keep a straight face, but the longer he was awake the farther his shoulders seemed to drop. "No more," he said softly.
Dumbledore and Ginny looked at him in confusion. "No more pressure, no more fuss," Harry said. Ginny's eyes softened and walked over to him. "I just can't do it anymore Ginny. I just want to sleep and not worry."
She kissed him softly on the lips. It was almost a desperate attempt to forget, but when they broke apart Harry knew everything was still the same. "We'll get through this, I promise. Now just get dressed and we are going to sit somewhere quiet and talk."
Harry sighted and went with his hand through his hair. Ginny handed him his wand that had been lying on the nightstand and smiled a small smile. "Get cleaned up, go on."
As Harry turned and re-entered the bathroom, Ginny turned to Dumbledore again. "Sorry about that," she said, sitting down on the bed. "Please sit and then you could maybe tell me what year it is."
Dumbledore smiled and sat in one of the chairs next to the bed. "We are almost halfway through the year 1976 and don't worry I know you have travelled far."
Ginny almost smiled. "You could say that. 22 years to be exact." She was starting to feel even more worried about Harry now. If she was right than that would mean Lily and James were still at Hogwarts and so where the other Marauders. She was worried that seeing his parents would make Harry fall into a deep depression. He had a hard time handling everything as it was, with the wounds of the last battle still fresh. Sure she had lost her brother and a lot of friends as well, but Harry needed her right now.
Dumbledore looked at her in concern. 22 years has been the farthest anyone had travelled back in time without a pensive. The travelling trunks must be stronger then he thought. Breaking the silence he choose his words carefully, because he knew that time travelling was risky business. "Do you remember how you got here, leaving big events out of the question?"
Ginny nodded and thought of what she could tell him. "Ginny and I were talking when a sudden light overwhelmed us," Harry said, stepping out of the bathroom. His clothes were still stained and seemed slightly wet. He walked with confidence, but his eyes betrayed a sudden emptiness.
It pained Ginny to see him like that, but then again when she had looked in the mirror her eyes had seemed slightly hurt as well. Without her usual brown eyes it was easier to mask the pain she felt.
"The light seemed to knock us out," Harry continued, sitting down next to Ginny on the bed. He opened up his hand for hers and she gladly took it, squeezing it lightly. "Since it took us farther back in time then I ever experienced, even with a time turner, I suspect it's a much stronger device then that. But what I don't understand is why it changed out hair?"
Dumbledore looked a bit marvelled at Harry's assessment of the situation, but didn't ask any questions about it. "What you have found young ones, is one of the oldest secrets from Hogwarts. There aren't a lot of records on it. In fact I believe I've only seen one recorded documentation of these trunks. But I'll have to research it again to know exactly what happened. The change of hair and eyes colour is more of an after affect of the time travel. There are some cases of portkey travel that cause this to happen."
Harry and Ginny nodded, understanding that the light overpowering the person that is being transported, always seemed to have been a shade of blue. Since they had been travelling by a transport system, similar to portkey travel, it had taken it out on their hair and eyes.
"As to why you are here," Dumbledore continued. "I do not know."
Harry sighed, remembering his last thoughts before they were overpowered by the light. "I think I do," he said in a sad voice. He stared at his hands, feeling almost ashamed for the reason that they were here. It was the need to see his parents alive that had brought them here. "I will not tell you what it was exactly, professor. I don't want to disturb any more timelines. The only thing I can tell you it has something to do with my parents."
Ginny gasped, covering her mouth with her hands in shock. "Oh Harry," was all she said when she wrapped her arms around him. Feeling him so close made her feel more complete. She could feel his heartbeat as he clung to her.
"I'm sorry," he whispered in her ear. "I'm sorry I dragged you into this." Harry took her face into his hands, kissing her lips lightly. "This is my entire fault." His eyes saying that he had dragged her along again, putting her in possible danger.
"Harry," Ginny whispered, giving him a disapproving look. "It's not your fault. You didn't know what it was and neither did I. So stop being a prat and let's get through this." Her eyes were piercing through him, not blaming him for getting to the past, but saying that he was making a fool out of himself once again.
Harry smiled affectionately at her and she smiled back at him. He turned back to look at professor Dumbledore, who had been smiling at the affection displayed in front of him. "What do we do now?" he asked Dumbledore, unsure how far the war was along and if they could help anyway, without disturbing any timelines.
"You will be staying at Hogwarts until we can find a way back for you two. I am afraid that the school is closed during the summer, which means that we will need to find you a place to stay for the summer. I will contact a few people, explaining that you will need a home for the time being and that you will return to Hogwarts entering seventh year. Which house were you in, if I may ask?"
Ginny smiled. "We were both in Gryffindor. If I may ask sir, how far is the war along? Is there anything we can do to help?"
Dumbledore' face seemed to sadden and darken a bit. "The days are getting darker as we speak, but I don't want you two interfering. No matter how much I want it to end, you cannot interfere."
"We understand that professor," Harry said. "But it was more in the form of offering extra classes to the students. You see, back in my time I used to teach extra defence classes for the pupils who wanted to learn more about defensive spells and such. And if you need anyone for missions or other things, we are willing to help."
Dumbledore looked at them curiously. He seemed to weigh his options, as if deciding he could trust them with other responsibilities. Finally he spoke up. "I guess we can test your abilities over the summer to see what you can do. Then we may consider letting you teach extra Defence classes. I don't know about missions yet, but if you let me introduce you to a select group of people then we can discus other plans."
Harry and Ginny nodded, knowing he was talking about the Order of the Phoenix. Dumbledore smiled at them. "All right, let's see if madam Pomfrey will let you out of the Hospital Wing so I may guide you to your private quarters. In the mean time you might think of new names for the both of you."
As Dumbledore walked away to find the school nurse, Harry and Ginny looked at each other. "What do we do now?" Ginny asked. Her hands searched for Harry's as she leaned into him. He wrapped his arms around her, one hand holding hers tightly, the other playing with her hair.
"We keep our heads down, attend classes after the summer finishes and hope that Dumbledore finds a way back for us." Harry sighed and relaxed himself on the pillow, Ginny a comforting weight on his chest. "I know that I would love to change time and warn my parents and everyone about Voldemort and the upcoming events, but there is more then one chance that none of us would exist if I even try to change anything."
They let the silence grow as madam Pomfrey came and checked for any physical injuries. Harry suppressed a small laugh as he was pumped full with potions to restore his strength and heal his wounds. "Honestly most of them are just scratches," Harry insisted, as madam Pomfrey clicked her tong in disapproval.
It wasn't long before professor Dumbledore was leading them trough the familiar hallways of Hogwarts to their private rooms. The guest room existed of a living room, kitchen, bedroom and bathroom. Dumbledore informed them that the house elves would be coming up to serve them dinner and that they were welcome to eat breakfast in the Great Hall in the morning before they would ride the train with the other students to London.
"Have you decided on names yet?" he asked casually just as he was about to leave.
"Would it be alright if we stuck to our own first names?" Harry asked. Dumbledore nodded and Harry smiled. "I'll be Harry King then."
Ginny smiled as well. "And I'll be Ginny Granger."
Dumbledore gave a short nod in approval. "Very well, we will try and find you a decent cover story explaining your arrival in the Great Hall. Now, I will leave you two at peace and we will see you in the morning."
And with that he left, leaving Harry and Ginny in a different timeline, and without any idea if they would ever see there friends and family again.