Characters, Items, Places, and Situations that are unique to the Harry Potter novels and movies are the property of J. K. Rowling, Scholastic, and Warner Brothers.

Other Characters, Items, Places, and Situations are the property of their individual creators or belong to the annals of space time. The plot is mine.

Chapter 3

Word Count: 2306

With a muffled groan, Harry slowly came to realize that he was lying on his back on what felt like the ground. Bringing his hand ever so slowly to his head, he cracked his eyes open slightly and came to the realization that wherever he was, it was not the Burrow. Remembering the impact that came at him from the side and behind just before the spell hit, he looked first to his left and then his right, before finally catching a glimpse of what appeared to be a foot attached to a body lying on the ground somewhere above his head.

Releasing another, slightly louder groan, Harry raised himself up and slowly looked to where the other person lay. Unable to identify the person at first, he allowed his vision to fog over and then come back to clarity as he looked up towards the face of the person that was with him. Initially seeing the red hair that was a Weasley trait, his first thought was that Ron had been the one to try to knock him out of the way of the spell, only to realize that the figure was anything but male.

"Ginny? Is that you? Are you okay?"

The sound of groans came to his ears as he watched his best friend's little sister start to move around. Propping herself up on one arm, she looked at their surroundings before turning to face him with a look of fear on her face.

"Harry? Where are we? What was that spell that Vol - Voldemort cast?"

"I don't know. But from the looks of things, we are nowhere near your home."

Taking another look at what was around them, Harry saw the makings of a campsite that had by all appearances been thrown together in a hurry. "I don't think we're alone, Ginny. Someone else is around here somewhere. That campfire over there is still smouldering and it looks like someone left their bedding behind."

"Do you think that whoever they are - that they're friendly?"

"Again, I don't know. I only woke up a few minutes before you did. But -"

Whatever Harry was going to say next was cut of by a sudden gasp coming from the youngest Weasley. "Harry! My wand! It's missing!"

"What!?" A quick check of his pockets and the surrounding area revealed that not only was Harry's wand also missing, but so was his father's watch. "Great. Mine is too. Now what are we going to do?"

A new voice brought their attention to an older man that was walking out of the copse of trees that surrounded them. "That is very simple, children. You will answer my questions, and then you might be getting your wands back."

Harry and Ginny looked over to the man that had approached them before stopping about twelve feet away. Taking in the appearance of a man almost two meters in height and appeared to be in his late thirties to early forties; they saw that he had a short goatee with a hard look to both his face and eyes as if he had seen much more than he should have. Held in one hand was what appeared to be a walking staff of some sort; and he was wearing robes that were white in colour with a small dagger on one side at his waist with what appeared to be a hand-held sickle on the other, on top of his head appeared to be a silver skullcap of some sort."

Nervous as he was, Harry finally opened his mouth, his voice cracking as he spoke. "Who - who are you?"

A gentle smile crossed the older man's face that somehow even managed to reach his eyes. "Who am I, you ask? That is an easy question to answer." The unknown man paused for a moment as his smile turned into a friendly smirk, "I, am Myrddin."

It was three weeks since the battle at the Burrow took place. Three weeks since Harry and Ginny had disappeared. When Professor Snape had finally arrived that first night from a Death Eater meeting, Professor Dumbledore called an immediate, and emergency, meeting of the Order.

Unlike previous meetings, Molly Weasley was having no problems with Ron and Hermione being in attendance. Dean had gone home directly from the Burrow after spending some time talking with both Professor Dumbledore and Ministry Aurors. All the members that had been at the Burrow were at the meeting for the discussion.

Professor Snape's report, although detailed, was unfortunately lacking in what had happened. Although Voldemort was obviously extremely pleased about what took place, he had not said anything about it, except to gloat that Potter would no longer pose any problems for them. When asked why, apparently he would comment that it was a secret, laugh, and then punish whoever had asked.

Now, three weeks later, tension was high and morale was low. Professor Dumbledore had gathered everyone involved together in a further effort to try and find out where or when Harry and Ginny had gone. Seated throughout the large Drawing Room were the remaining members of the Weasley clan minus Percy, Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Mundungus Fletcher, and Professors McGonagall and Snape.

Just as everyone was starting to get antsy and wondering where Professor Dumbledore and Hermione were, the door opened allowing the two of them to enter. "My apologies for being tardy. Miss Granger and I were dong some research in the library at Hogwarts and I lost track of time."

Ron snorted. "More than likely Hermione is the one who lost track of time." With a smirk that turned into a full grin, he continued. "Of course, what else would you expect from our resident genius witch? That is one of the reasons we like her, after all."

Hermione turned red and looked at the ground. "Be that as it may, Ron, we did find some things in the library." She shook her head for a moment and fixed Ron with a steely glare. "Some of it good, some bad, and some of it is just plain confusing."

Ron shrank back from Hermione's glare before speaking. "Sheesh, 'Mione, what did I do to deserve that look?"

Dumbledore intervened before an argument could ensue. "It would appear, Mr. Weasley, that you had checked a volume out of the library's restricted section and forgot to return it. But of course, that is something that would not happen. Surely if you were to remove a book, it would be returned." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled as he continued. "Isn't that right?"

Ron cast a nervous glance around the room and swallowed before answering. "Yeah, of course."

Once Dumbledore and Hermione had seated themselves and gotten comfortable, the headmaster spoke up. "Putting the pleasantries and the banter aside, there are things that must be discussed; and as Miss Granger stated, not all is good. But first, I would like to hear what progress has been made elsewhere. Severus, what have you been able to find out?"

Giving his trademark sneer, Professor Snape shifted in his seat and then spoke, "Headmaster, the only thing that I have been able to find out is that whoever did the research on whatever spell it was that the Dark Lord used, it was not a member of his inner circle." Here, he lost his sneer and grew worried as he paused, "Indeed, it may not have even been a Death Eater. Regardless, the identity of the person is being kept a secret known only to the Dark Lord. All that has been revealed is that this was planned for awhile now, and what happened at the Department of Mysteries merely sped up the timetable."

"Thank you, Severus. Now, Tonks and Kingsley, has there been any new developments in your area?"

The two Aurors just shook their heads in the negative as Kingsley spoke. "Unfortunately we haven't been able to do much. Although we are able to continue our search for the two missing students, we aren't getting any help either. I'm afraid that if the girl were not missing with Potter, well, we would probably have to do our searching on our own time without any official authorization, and only the Order's resources to rely on."

As Kingsley finished his report, Tonks took over. "I've talked with some of the Unspeakables, but none of them are admitting to having heard of a spell like that, although most looked interested in learning more about it. There were a couple of people that looked worried. One of them actually asked where I heard about such a spell. I told him that witnesses described the spell and identified the spell's invocation and he paled, said he had no idea what it was or did, and then left. Frankly, I think the bloke knows exactly what it is."

Dumbledore nodded his head and looked over towards Arthur to hear his report. Arthur took his wife's hand, slouched down, and stared at the floor as he talked. "Kingsley is right. If it weren't for the fact that Ginny is missing with Harry, I doubt the Minister would let the search continue. Even with Ginny missing too, I believe that if Fudge's aide-de-camp was anyone other than Percy, then no search would take place."

Arthur took a deep breath and continued. "Fudge refuses to believe that You-Know-Who has returned. Even though there were witnesses to what happened last month, he seems to be blind to the truth. As a point of fact, he came into my office the other day and told me it was probably some hare-brained stunt of theirs so they could run off and with no one the wiser so they could have some torrid love affair."

Molly snorted, "I would actually prefer Fudge's ideas on what happened over what really took place. At least then I would know they were both fine; at least until I got a hold of them."

The sombre mood lifted slightly as Molly finished speaking, and everyone got a good chuckle out of her comment. Dumbledore finally got everyone settled and indicated the Muggle notebook that Hermione had with her. "I think that now we should all listen to what Miss Granger has found. Some of it is very enlightening. Miss Granger, if you would care to proceed?"

Hermione looked up at the headmaster in confusion. "What? Me? But, I thought you -" As the headmaster's eyes twinkled in her direction, she trailed off, took a calming breath and started again. "Okay. First, a little background. We know that Voldemort cast a spell that hit both Harry and Ginny that caused them to vanish. We also know that the spell energies were an indigo colour, although whether that means anything is unknown. Last thing we know is that the spell invocation used, Tempus Movere, is Latin and literally translates to time move. Any questions or comments so far?"

Hermione paused glancing quickly at everyone in turn. When no one said anything, including Professor Snape to her surprise, she continued. "From the given information I did some research and based off of things that were said, I think it can safely be assumed that Harry and Ginny were sent back in time."

Professor Snape interrupted at this point, "Really, Granger, for being an insufferable know-it-all, surely you could come up with something better!"

Hermione raised a hand to forestall any further outbursts and responded. "Professor, with all due respect, I am merely presenting the information that we have and am trying to present it in a way that makes sense."

Ron started clapping, "Well said, Hermione."

Dumbledore smiled, "As much as I may agree with Mr. Weasley in regards to Miss Granger's statement, I must ask all of you to please hold your questions and comments for the moment."

"Yes sir."

"Very well, Headmaster."

Dumbledore looked back at Hermione and dipped his head slightly, "Miss Granger, if you would continue?"

"Yes sir. Before he used that spell on Harry, Voldemort said that he would win the war but Harry would not be around to see it. We know that the spell was not the Killing Curse, but how else would he keep him from seeing the end of the war? I think the spell's invocation tells us that. The words time move would indicate that the spell sent them through time.

"Now, we can probably assume that he didn't send them forward in time, for two reasons. First, if he was sent forward then Voldemort would have to deal with him again, as well as Harry would see the end of the war which Voldemort said would not happen."

"Sorry to interrupt Hermione, but you're starting to ramble."

Hermione sent a glare Ron's direction that he shrank back from, before she continued. "Second, how would you send something or someone forward in time when the future hasn't happened yet? With all of that being said and taken into account, I think they were sent back in time. References and passages that are in various books in the library at Hogwarts could be cited to provide further support for this theory."

Once Hermione finished speaking, everyone present looked thoughtful and contemplated what had been said. Tapping her index finger against her chin, Professor McGonagall nodded her head as she reached some conclusion and then spoke.

"Miss Granger, before we have you reveal the contents of these references and passages, I would like to know just how far back that you think Harry and Ginny were sent?"

Chewing her bottom lip and grimacing, Hermione prepared herself for the verbal assault that she was sure would come following her announcement. "Given what we know of history, I would have to guess that they were sent back well over a thousand years into the past."