Bubble, bubble, time is trouble. Sizzle, burn, and watch it double. A snake rattles in the lion's den. I invoke thee, HeartOfAspen.


Chapter 7. Blurry Iterations

Hermione looked to where Draco was pointing. Narrowing her eyes, it was a few moments before she realized what he was looking at.

"Draco! That's us!"

"What? How can you tell?"

"Look at the colors, see my shirt and yours, and the blur, I think that's this bubble, in time!"

"Wait, you're saying we went up there, like in the future?"

"Well, it's tricky. See, as we stand in a time bubble, anywhere we have been or might be, skews in space. We are in a special relativity of time and our speed depends on when gravitational effects are negligible. That could be us in a few minutes."

Draco paused to give her a look that she recognized from when she spoke out too much in class, though less disgusted than she remembered, "Right...but what are we doing up there?"

She shrugged and began to walk, while Draco made sure to keep close to her.

"Look, there is something mid-air, right over your head! Well, over your past self's head..."

"It's something square-"

"Let's get closer."

Carefully, they climbed up the stadium seating, higher and higher, passing frozen witches and wizards, but careful not to let the halt bubble touch any of them.

"Oh!"

"What?"

"It's a book. I think we dropped a book! Or, we will drop a book..."

"Where would we have gotten a book from?"

But Hermione was already a step ahead, her arm plunging into her small purse, still with her extension charm on it. She carefully reached in and grabbed a book of the same color and size as the blurry one falling above past Draco's head.

Then, with an expression of great suffering, he iterated, "Seriously, Granger? Hogwarts, A History?"

"Hey, it's the heaviest book I have in there, and if this book has more than one use, I'm happy for it."

"So, what... we drop it onto my head?"

"Looks like it. When you travel back to the past, it would be one of the least conspicuous things to be found there."

"I still don't understand how we can even see our future selves- hey wait, where'd we go?"

"We're moving, in time. See, over there." the blur was going down the stairs on the other side.

"But we haven't done it yet, how could we see it already happening?"

"I told you already- look, there's also a possibility that this has already happened. Maybe we're in the next iteration of time."

"You mean all of this already happened? The us over there figured it out first?"

"Yes, I suppose. Maybe we're in the fourth iteration, maybe the hundredth! But I don't see us anywhere else, there would be a lot of blurs if that were the case."

"So you're saying more iterations could follow us? Will we be circling this courtroom in a halt bubble for all of eternity?"

Hermione bobbed her head in agreement, "Well yes, unless someone else tampers with time and interrupts it, it's possible."

Draco blinked slowly. "My head hurts just thinking about that."

"This is exactly why you don't mess with time! You're lucky you didn't tamper with this thing too much, not knowing every function. Let's just hope we can get out of it and that we're still basically the same age as we started."

"Granger!"

"What, Malfoy!? You started this! I'm just being honest."

"But you knew, at least a little, that this could have happened when you did the halt thing in the first place!"

"I knew a little about it. Calm down, I'm probably exaggerating, it's just always best to be prepared for the worst."

"Look, the blur is over by where we started, in front of my defense representative. You're holding something up."

Hermione squinted, trying to make out what it was. Even from afar, she recognized it. "Good idea, Hermione, you're brilliant."

"Granger, did you just talk to yourself?"

She shrugged. If only he knew how much she did that... time iterations of her own self, or not.

"I'm using a pan I have from my purse to block the spell. We don't have our wands and I like you said, reaching outside of this bubble could damage something. Hopefully it'll be over and we can be back. Maybe no one will have even noticed."

"Saved by a pan, that's so Muggle of you," he sighed, though he smiled just the same. "Well, let's work on throwing this horrible book at my nose, shall we?"

Smiling slightly, she nodded in agreement. They walked up the steps further before they aimed the book over his past self from below, and let it go. The book dropped out of the bubble and then stopped.

"Wait- what?"

"It's going to move slowly out there until we adjust the time-turner so we're out of the bubble and back in real-time. Now come on, we need to trace the footsteps of our first iteration so we don't make a tangled knot of iterations in here."

Once they were back to where they had started, their future iteration had disappeared. It was a good sign that it ended there, too.

"Why do you have a pan in there, anyway? What else is in there?" Draco leaned down to her purse to snoop and she tucked it away defensively.

"Look, Harry and Ron and I were traveling, before... the manor." She cleared her throat and subconsciously rubbed her forearm. The anxiety-ridden memory bubbled up, leaving Draco with the feeling of a tightening in his chest. Hermione could sense his mood alter, not that she could help it either, but pushed through the thick swamp of emotions to keep the conversation moving. "I knew we would need supplies, so I stocked up beforehand. Accio pan."

A flat, metal pan bounced up and Draco caught it before it flung itself outside of the bubble. Hermione could not help but feel slightly turned on by his reflexes, though it did not make sense when she quickly tried to rationalize it in her head.

"Good catch, Malfoy, maybe your Seeker days aren't over."

He rolled his eyes and handed it back to her. She grabbed the handle, twisting it slightly to gauge the weight of it.

"I'll have to remember to get my book back afterward and this pan- both will need to go back in my purse. I think, wait, maybe not- okay, I'll do it anyway. This time and event thing is starting to mess with my head too."

Hermione held the pan in front of her like a shield, lining it up to the mid-air curse. Draco observed her for a few seconds, visualizing her as some ancient warrior from the Muggle world, then he reviewed the time-turner sitting patiently in the palm of his hand, "Granger?"

She paused and lowered the pan slightly to look at him.

"I don't want to go to Azkaban. What if... I can't handle it?"

Hermione had to think quickly. He looked tense, like he could do something rogue. He clearly had not fully shaken off what Hermione perceived as depression. After all, it was only just over an hour ago that he was in the process of committing suicide. She hated it, but she had to say something to calm him, even if her statement had no backing.

"Draco, you're going to be fine. They won't send you to Azkaban, your own quill has saved you. Okay?"

Hermione sensed by his pensive look away, that he knew, she was merely pacifying him. Though from his writing, she was aware he did not often receive this type of warm encouragement, even from his family. She hoped that hers would be enough in the moment.

Exhaling deeply, he closed his eyes and nodded. She discreetly monitored him, making sure he was really ready to do this. Then, when she felt sure enough, she instructed him how to use the time-turner so that they could re-enter real time.

"Press that there. On three, okay?"

He nodded in agreement, staring at the time-turner while Hermione aimed the flat part of the pan toward the curse, focusing on angling it so it would not harm anyone else if it were to ricochet.

"Okay, one...two...wait!"

Draco exhaled loudly, "Now what?"

She lowered the pan and looked up into his eyes, "I have to know: why'd you send it? You know... the diary?"

Draco's shoulders dropped, accepting that she would have eventually asked that question. "I just needed someone to know me, you know, after I-..."

"I figured, but didn't you think that I might have done, well, what I did?"

"Exposing my deepest secrets to the world?"

"Well, yes."

"No. Sending it to you just gave me more courage to end it, having you know... everything."

"Oh."

"Cheery, right?"

Hermione was not sure how or why she chose this moment, but she dared to bring up what was wisping secretly inside the circumference of their small space. She had a ridiculous fear that if spoken, the bubble would suddenly pop.

"Entry 226."

"Yes, Granger...?"

"Was it-"

"Yes, all true. Surprised?"

"Sort of."

"Did you-"

"Yes."

Draco looked away to hide his blush and back at her with an amorous stare. He nearly dropped the time-turner which confronted him with reality. "Look, Granger, I know that we're not-"

"I want it back."

"What?"

"My book."

"Oh, it's yours now, huh?"

"It was written to me and sent to me, so... yes."

"And are you worried you won't get it back?"

They both looked up at the judge's table where it was likely that the book was stored in one of many evidence bags.

"They are going to want to reference it for more of the trials, so I'll probably have to wait... or they won't give it back at all."

"I still have my quill."

Her head quickly turned to him while he seemed to be scanning her body, skimming his knuckle down her forearm, giving her goosebumps. He slowly looked up at her, and she could feel the heat radiate across her body. She made her best attempt to hide her eagerness as she imagined him writing anything similar to - or better than - entry 226. Merlin he was good at writing, especially for that. She needed more time though, to confront the doubt from her past, to debate this fortuitous desire, and to consider the complications of their future. This was Draco Malfoy after all. How could this war have changed their perspectives so much, that someone like him and someone like her could ever work out?

They were both quiet, which produced an air of questioning contemplation between them. What if his diary was a phase to pass the time? Her goal here should be to merely straighten out time, correct what she thought had been wronged. Another part of her being bound to the time-turner code of conduct. According to her own testimony, she did, after all, save a 'pathetic' wild creature from death once. Did he think that her level of empathy also extended to pathetic Death Eaters as well? Or was it more than she wanted to admit?

Hermione, took a deep breath and stood up straight, reminding herself that they needed to focus. "Okay, this time for real. Ready?"

For a second, she thought he might begin to say no, but he nodded yes, and prepped to alter the time-turner as Hermione held up the pan again.

"Okay. One..."

As Hermione took in a deep breath, she zoned in on the on-coming curse, but then she noticed something behind it, in the distance. She squinted her eyes slightly. There was someone sitting in the stands that was not there before. She blinked hard and convinced herself that it was just an illusion, a trick of light from their halt bubble, so she continued.

"Two..."

Then, the person she considered a figment of her imagination stood up, and this time there was no mistaking him. Dumbledore? Her breathing hitched quietly as she accepted that this was truly what her eyes were conveying to her brain.

She shifted her weight and nearly stopped the count down again to show Draco, but Dumbledore quickly held his forefinger to his lips. Then, he serenely folded his hands in front of him and nodded in approval. Is he from the past? Does he want this to happen? Did he know this would happen the whole time we were at Hogwarts?

She could sense Draco staring at her in wonder for her hesitation, so she looked up to reassure him, hiding her legion of thoughts with fortitude. Hermione took a deep breath to control her heart rate, tensed her muscles and confidently declared, "Three!"