The sight made Draco freeze in his tracks. Due to her previous time-traveling experience third year, Hermione was slightly better prepared mentally.
"The years have been good to us, don't you think?" she asked, grinning and elbowing him gently in the ribs.
"Yes," Draco replied somewhat dazedly as he winced gently for a moment and then followed Hermione to meet the older them.
"You certainly seem eager," he observed as they ran, "but if I may recall, it was you who told me only a few minutes ago that we should just leave here lest we interfere with time."
Hermione stopped and turned around. "You're right, I did say that," she agreed, then looked at her older self longingly and sighed. "It would be nice to be able to stay and talk, but I really think we should go." She turned and Draco followed, but at that moment, the voice called out.
"Where are you two going off to in such a hurry?"
At that, Hermione and Draco reluctantly turned around once more only to see that Elina was standing behind them looking eager.
"We told you," Hermione said patiently. "We need to go off and save the world and you can't come with us. That's all there is to it. Goodbye."
But before she could even move again, her older self strode up next to Elina. "I know you have to go, but couldn't you stay to talk for just a moment? I promise we won't do or say anything that will jeopardize what you plan to do."
Two impulses immediately began to play out in Hermione's brain. The first one said that she should keep moving and pretend like this had never happened so she could forget about it, and then things would continue to go on as planned, but another part wanted to stay and talk. It was herself who had made the request after all. How bad could things get? Her decision made, she called out to Draco, who was still walking away.
"Draco, get back here! We're going to stay and talk for awhile!"
At that, he stopped and turned, bounding back with surprising speed, grinning widely. "Sounds good. What changed your mind?"
"What changed my mind about going was that it was older me who asked me to stay and not you. I very much doubt that I will do anything to mess things up in any way, and after we have tea, we can go back home, see your mother and things will be just like they were before."
Draco nodded and they met up with their older selves and Elina back at the table. Hermione studied her older self with interest as they talked, wondering how old she actually was, but it was Draco who actually got up the nerve to ask the question.
"So, how old are we?" he asked his older self. The bluntness of the question made Hermione choke on her tea, which in turn made Elina giggle, even as she pounded her back.
"We're thirty-four," older Hermione answered, and Hermione and Draco nodded, each thinking that the years had indeed been very good to them. They looked much younger then that.
"So what did you want to talk to us about?" Hermione finally asked Elina.
Elina shook her head. "Nothing really in particular, I just wanted to be with younger you a bit longer." She then asked her mother if she had brought the warmer clothes she had requested. Her mother said she had, and then asked her father to come with to get the clothes.
As soon as they were gone, Elina looked at Hermione and Draco conspiratorially.
"I really asked you to stay a bit longer because even though I love you as my parents to pieces, you can still be a bit much sometimes."
Draco looked affronted. "How can I possibly be that bad? She's the one who's all about rules and good ethics and things like that!" he said, gesturing at Hermione.
Elina shook her head. "Having me around changed you. Mama rubbed off on you a bit, and now when I'm around, you can be as bad as she is. You always talk about how falling in love with Mama made you a better person then you were before and how grateful you are that all your reckless bad boy days are behind you."
Draco's mouth was hanging open now. "Are you saying that I've become noble, and have absolutely no remorse about it whatsoever?"
"Yes," Elina replied.
Draco then turned to watch as his older self carried Elina's trunk full of winter clothes towards them.
"I think I shall go have a talk with myself," he said.
"Don't say anything to mess things up!" Hermione called after him, but he made no sign of having heard her.
He approached himself quickly, and as soon as the trunk was on the ground, he blurted out "Elina told me everything! How could you do this to us? Turning nice and having no regret about it whatsoever?"
His older self didn't look at him. "You'll understand things better when you get back and become a parent," he said with his eyes on the trunk.
"Well, what if I don't want to go back, knowing that this is what happens when I do?" Draco asked defiantly. That made his older self look up.
"You have to go back," he said. "You can't stay here."
Draco nodded, his jaw set, his expression hard. "Yes, I can."
He then turned, walked back to the table and made his announcement: "everyone, I've decided to stay here, as I have no desire to be labeled as the good boy I seem to have become. When I finally do come back, that will not be the case."
Hermione frowned and looked about to hit him, but her older self put a restraining hand on her arm.
"Don't worry," she said patiently. "He's going to come to his senses. Things are unfolding exactly as they should."
Hermione tried to believe that, but it was very difficult, even with the assurance that Draco's plot of rebellion wouldn't mess up anything in the future.
"The thought of him having a heart is scaring him," her older self explained. "He doesn't want to admit that he actually cares about someone, especially someone from Gryffindor. This will be a problem when you get back. He won't speak to you, or even act like you're alive; at least not until the accident. That's when he'll take responsibility for what he did and really do something about it."