Only Time Will Tell
Chapter 10
A Serious Person And A Home Schooled Harry
It was almost midnight. Hermione and Remus hurried down the hallway under Harry's invisibility cloak, as James and Harry were using James's. Filch would skin them alive if they were caught out of bed at this time of night! Both of them thought anxiously. It was almost midnight. They continued to the second floor, where Moaning Myrtle's bathroom was located. If Harry was going to brew a potion in secret he would surely brew it there, Hermione had deduced. They stopped in front of the door, Remus hesitating.
"Hermione, you do know that's a girl's bathroom, right?" he whispered to her tentatively. Hermione smiled.
"Yes, I am aware of that, and I am aware that you are a boy, and that boys aren't allowed in girl's bathrooms. Honestly, you and Ron…" Hermione sighed as she opened the door, and Remus reluctantly followed her in.
"Hello, Myrtle!" Hermione greeted the ghost as cheerfully as she could, removing the cloak.
"Why are you always bringing boys in here, Hermione?" Myrtle inquired sulkily, staring at Remus in a very unfriendly way.
"Hey! You never complained about Harry being here… Anyways, that's what we're here for. Has Harry or James been here recently?" Judging by the scattered potion ingredients all over the floor, they had. Myrtle smiled dreamily.
"Yes, you just missed them… Harry and that other boy (he was cute to! Almost exactly like Harry! She recalled) just left to find the redhaired girl and someone who is very serious about some homework."
"Serious and homework? OH! You mean Sirius!" Hermione realized, and Myrtle scowled.
"That's what I said!" She replied hotly, Hermione ignored her, but then Remus spoke.
"Why would they want to see Sirius, of all people, about homework? And in the present situation…"
"Doesn't matter. Let's go to the corridor where Ginny and Sirius are, the one where Fred and George set up a collapsible swamp!" Hermione told him, dragging him under the cloak. For some reason it felt like they had very little time… time was always of the essence it seemed. She and Remus, concealed again, set off for the corridor.
"Bye Myrtle! Thanks again!" she hissed as they closed the door.
"Who was that?" Remus asked, and Hermione realized how weird it must have just been for him to meet a ghost without much explanation as why she haunted a toilet.
"Oh, Moaning Myrtle. She died in there her first year about 55 years ago, we go way back. It's a long story, maybe some other time…" She trailed off, and Remus was actually sorry he had asked, now more confused than ever.
They came up to the hallway and saw a strange sight. It looked as though a large amount of light had been sucked into the end of the hallway. Oddly like a…
"Time Vortex!" Hermione exclaimed, and they rushed towards it as it closed.
"So, they managed to make a time vortex…" Remus said in awe, and Hermione numbly nodded. "Wonder if they got back?"
"Maybe Sirius and James did, but it looks like Ginny and Harry…" Hermione trailed off. Great, so now two out of four people who had tried to get back had gotten back (actually, who knows where they had gone, but she decided to be optimistic and assume they had gotten lucky…), but two other people were now who knows where in time! This was starting to get complicated.
Ginny and Sirius slept very late into the next morning, as they were so exhausted. It had surprised them that Hogwarts had guest rooms, and they had been rather comfortable indeed. The problem of getting back to their respective times, however, loomed on them as they went down to breakfast.
The Great Hall looked much the same, and the only difference was the people in it. At the staff tables, they only recognized Dumbledore, and it seemed that he wasn't even headmaster yet. Very odd.
"Paff da wafflms, -inny." Sirius mumbled through an already full mouth, which was crammed with toast. Ginny laughed, and was amazed that Sirius looked so canine like when eating. She picked up the plate piled high with waffles, and handed them to him. He lifted up the entire towering stack before dropping them in surprise. His mouth hung open again, food remnants clearly displayed. Ginny turned around to see what he was gaping at, but she recognized the voice before she saw the face.
"My, my, Gryffindors certainly have no table manners. Tut, tut." sneered Tom Riddle, and Ginny felt queasy again at his voice. She did not pass out this time, but glared at him. This made his handsome yet cruel face curl up into even more of a smile.
"I was wondering whether I could have a word with you two for a moment?" He asked them, and Ginny stood up.
"And why would you want a word, dear Slytherin?" She replied sweetly, Sirius finally regaining control of his mouth and shutting it, though promptly losing his appetite. Something about this Riddle character didn't sit right with him, not right at all.
"Ah! Come with me and you shall find out!" Tom smiled at them more dangerously. Before Ginny could answer, Sirius stood up.
"And why would we do that?" He asked, feeling his anger rising. He definitely didn't like this guy.
"Well, I thought I'd ask nicely, but as you both seem a tad unwilling," Tom raised his wand, no one else in the hall noticing what was going on as Ginny and Sirius had been sitting secluded at one end of the Gryffindor Table. "You leave me with no choice to give you no choice!"
He flicked his wand before either of them had reached their own. The Great Hall seemed to melt around them. Just before the room completely dissolved, Ginny caught a glimpse of Dumbledore standing up at the staff table. But there was nothing he could do, for Tom, Ginny, and Sirius were already gone…
Harry heard a dull knocking coming from a distance. No, lemme sleep! He told his brain, unwilling to get up so early. The knocking came again, closer to his sleeping senses. "A little longer Aunt Petunia." He mumbled, reminded of his cupboard-under-the-stairs days. There was no question about it now. Someone was definitely knocking, and they wanted Harry up. "Alright! Alright! I'm up, Aunt Petunia! I'm- Oh, morning James." Harry grinned sheepishly after finally opening his eyes and realizing where he was. James looked at him with interest.
"Aunt Petunia? As in Petunia Evans, Lily's sister?" James asked, very confused by Harry's actions.
"Yea, that Petunia." He said, taking no notice of why these words might mean something to James. James continued to look very interested.
"She wakes you up in the morning? What, does she live with Lily and I nowadays (or then days, as the future was no longer now, but then, or wait, oh never mind! He gave up trying to work out the correct terminology.)" James asked him, and Harry realized that talking about Aunt Petunia had not been a smart move. James shouldn't find out that he lived with the Dursleys, because that would mean that he didn't live with his parents, which was because, well, Lily and James were dead.
"Er, no, not exactly." Harry answered. This was true, Lily and James did not live with Petunia…
"Then why did you- "
"No reason." Harry answered hastily, but James was forced to drop the subject as the knocking interrupted them again. James opened the door and found Albus Dumbledore standing there. Harry gulped. This just felt so strange…
"Good morning, Mr. Potter! Ms. Evans informed me that you had a visitor." Dumbledore smiled at James, who nodded. Dumbledore shifted his eyes to Harry, and looked slightly surprised. He removed his half-moon spectacles, wiped them on his flowing robes, and placed them back on his very crooked nose, as if he wasn't sure if he had seen Harry clearly, or if he had seen double.
"You certainly look like cousins! Twins, even!" Dumbledore exclaimed, looking from James to Harry.
"Professor, this is Harry, my, um, cousin." James introduced Harry, who shook Dumbledore's hand.
"How long will you be here, Harry?"
This question stumped them both. How were they going to get Harry back to his own time? They could tell Dumbledore, but they had just told them that Harry was James's cousin, not his son. They looked at each other, finally Harry spoke up.
"Just passing through till my, er, parents get a situation under control." James had to smile at this one. His son was a quick thinker, just like himself.
"Troubles at home? Well, not to worry, time usually heals all things." Dumbledore continued to smile at them, his blue eyes twinkling from behind the half-moons.
"Let's hope so…" James said, and Harry felt he couldn't have agreed more.
"So, what school do you go to, Harry?" Dumbledore asked politely. Another interesting question.
"Home schooled!" James piped, and Harry nodded vigorously. Dumbledore opened his mouth to inquire more, knowing perfectly well that something was amiss here. It was illegal to home school a wizard… he recalled, but what was really going on, he had no idea. He was stopped short, however, by Lily Evans, who poked her head into the room.
"Professor? Professor McGonagall suggested I come here and show James's guest around the school, as I am a school prefect. She would have sent Remus Lupin, but he could not be found this morning. So I am here instead." Lily said this smilingly to the Headmaster, who nodded to her. It was obvious to James and Harry that she would have rather spent her Sunday doing anything but this.
"Very well, Ms. Evans! Nice meeting you Harry. Mr. Potter." He acknowledged the students as he turned and exited the room, leaving Harry alone with his parents once more.
"Potter, you are-" Lily began to speak, but stopped when she realized both James and Harry had looked up at her words. She sighed. "James, you are not to accompany us, as you are not a prefect and therefore not a representative qualified to show guests around the school." she told James importantly, and James looked very ticked at this.
"Not my rules! Don't complain to me!" She said quickly, seeing the face of rage James wore. "Besides, Professor McGonagall wants you to track down your partners in crime, who haven't been seen since yesterday in the common room a little before curfew."
This was not good, as it meant that Sirius, Remus, and Peter had not managed to get back yet. Or if they had, they were remaining hidden like himself.
"Sure thing, Evans!" He said, saluting her. She ignored him and turned to Harry.
"So, Harry, what school do you go to?" She inquired as Dumbledore had. Harry sighed as James waved and went on his way. This was going to be a long day, not because he didn't want to spend time with his mum, but because he would have to keep up the charade of a home schooled wizard with parents having problems all day. Who knew what else he would have to lie about to Lily, and anyone else he might meet?