Disclaimer: —enter here—
Author's Note: I don't even know how long it's been. I can't even remember when I said I was going to next update... It's summertime, and I lose track of the days of the week quite easily! That and the amazing band McFly have turned my brain until goop and that makes it hard to think of anything else but them! Haha!
Anyway, as conseqeunce of the spazz summer schedule, I'm afraid updates might start being more random; but they will NOT STOP! Worry you not about that, mellon-nins.
-xXx-
In the present day, Hagrid burst into Dumbledore's office, jerking open the door with such a force that it threatened to be pulled clear off it's hinges. "Dumbledore!" he cried as he nearly tripped over his own feet; for one terrifying moment the huge burly frame of Rubeus Hagrid nearly topple over.
Something, obviously, was very wrong.
"Hagrid?" the elderly headmaster asked, standing to his feet and looking concerned for his old friend's frenzied state. He only looked mildly startled by the sudden entrance and managed to keep his voice level when he asked, "what is it?"
"Yeh tell me," the half-giant said, seeming to regain some of his composure as he stared long and hard at Dumbledore. "Where's Hermione? Wha' happened ter 'er?"
Dumbledore's expression relaxed, looking almost amused. He seemed to be hiding a smile as he sat back down. "So, you've remembered her also?"
Hagrid only nodded. "Wha' happened ter 'er?" he repeated, looking truly miserable. He took a seat across from Dumbledore, and it was remarkable the tiny chair didn't break under the strain of his weight.
"There was an accident with her Time Turner," Dumbledore replied; "she's stuck at Hogwarts some twenty years ago, at the same time James Potter and the others attended. Remus Lupin remembers her rather…" Dumbledore's smooth, nonchalant manner hardly wavered, "…clearly."
"I saw 's much," Hagrid agreed, understanding immediately what Dumbledore had not said but meant. "She seemed to be close to 'em, quite comfortable there. 'Specially with one Remus Lupin."
"So I suspected," Dumbledore merely stated.
"It makes sense though, if yeh think 'bout it," Hagrid said understandingly. "Hermione's a sweet girl, real nice. And Lupin never did 'ave many friends except fer those three boys. They have a lot common, what wif their books 'nd their smarts. It's no shock it happened."
"No," Dumbledore agreed. "But it complicates things."
There was a short silence before Hagrid spoke again, on a slightly different, though no less urgent, matter: "Wha' are we goin' ter do?" he asked desperately, "how are we goin' ter get 'er back?"
"I don't know." Dumbledore sighed. It was not often he was faced with a problem he could not fix. "We've already tried once; Professor Lupin went back to try and retrieve her, but failed. As for what we should do next, I have no idea."
Hagrid lowered his gaze, miserable for the predicament in which Hermione was in, helpless to get to her and bring her back.
Before anything else could be said, a knock came at the door. Hagrid looked up from the floor in time to see Professor Lupin walked through the door, looking as always his disheveled self. His grey eyes were worried.
"Headmaster," he said, staring into the blue eyes of Albus Dumbledore. "There are more memories. Hermione…" He trailed off and swallowed before trying again. "I remember a conversation we had with her…James asked her what the future was like."
"Do you remember what she told them?" For once, something seemed to have gotten through Dumbledore's outwardly calm appearance. He stood up to better fix the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher with a desperate stare; his tone visibly anxious. "What did she say, Remus?"
"Little things," Lupin responded, closing his eyes to better recall the memories. "She was reluctant to share anything with us… She mentioned Harry to James. And said that I would be a prefect and later a teacher."
Hagrid breathed a loud sigh of relief. "That's all right then?" he said hesitantly, as if asking a question; "at least she didn't say anything about…" He trailed off, his meaning still very clear.
"I don't think…" Lupin paused for a moment, and then said, "She told Sirius to 'be careful who you trust'. None of us understood at the time, though."
Dumbledore sat back down again, and closed his own eyes. "This is getting to be very serious," he said as if this weren't already very obviously to the other men in the room. As far as he could tell, no harm had been done this time. But what if they asked her again? Hermione was a smart girl; she had a good head on her shoulders. She knew the consequences of saying too much, of possibly changing the future… but still, accidents happened… She could slip up and say something, and without meaning to…
"We have to get her back," the headmaster said, again stating the obvious. He opened his eyes to meet the gazes of Hagrid and Lupin. "Soon. Today, before something happens."
He stood up and opened the drawer where he kept the only Time Turner. "I'll go back myself and find her," he said, pulling the thin chain and dial out and cradling it in his hands. "I'm beginning to think it's the only way."
"No, Dumbledore." Lupin took a step forward, holding out a hand as if to stop the headmaster. "I can do it. Let me go."
Albus Dumbledore only raised an eyebrow, silently reminding Remus Lupin of his last attempt.
Lupin sighed, and ran a hand through his disheveled, graying hair. "I can bring her back," he said, "let me try one more time, and I'll bring Hermione back." He met Dumbledore's gaze without hesitancy this time. He tried to make the headmaster understand that there were so many reasons he had to go, he had to be the one to bring her back. "I have to do this, Dumbledore," Lupin said.
Slowly, but not looking at all unwilling, Dumbledore leaned over his desk and handed the Time Turner to his fellow professor. Hagrid watched Lupin put the thin, gold chain around his neck, not all surprised that Dumbledore was trusting him to try again and succeed. The old headmaster was good at giving second chances.
Hagrid waited until Lupin had turned and left the room, off to find a secluded place away from the castle to try again, before looking at Dumbledore and giving him a grin. "Don' worry, Dumbledore," he said, pointlessly, "Lupin'll get Hermione back."
-xXx-
Remus Lupin was surprisingly calm when he walked outside into the spring sunshine; he stopped in front of a tree and a nice ways off from the main entrance to the school, but not insanely far away. He was careful not to think about anything; he kept his mind blank and numb, and that's why he was calm.
Lupin paused a moment to stare at the Time Turner around his neck, still carefully avoiding anything like thought. He did everything with deliberate slowness and concentration, focusing on that instead. And here we go again… He closed his eyes, clutched the Turner in his hand, took a deep breath, and just before he turned the dial, he was hit with a memory so suddenly it could have been thrown at him.
He had stolen away from the others that night for some peace and quiet; he'd come out here on the grounds so he could feel the cold wind on his face and see his breath in the air in front of him. It was freezing, but it wasn't enough to make him go back inside.
The full moon was only a night or two away. He saw the offending moon up in the sky now, shining proudly in the dark night sky, and he knew by this time tomorrow he would be once again suffering through another long, endless night, enduring the transformation from man to beast.
"Remus?" Hermione's voice floated over to him on a particularly strong gust of wind. Had she seen him walk out and decided to follow him, or was it just coincidence that brought her here? He didn't think on it any, just turned to greet her with a smile.
"Hey," he said, "Happy Christmas Eve."
"Happy Christmas Eve." She smiled and crossed her arms against the cold. "What're you doing?" she asked, following the direction of his gaze to stare at the moon.
"Nothing. I just like to come out here sometimes."
She hummed thoughtfully, interested in what he was saying, but having no words to continue their conversation. They stood together in silence for a moment longer, looking up at the moon, until she finally said, "it's silly, and entirely illogical, I know…but I can't help but look at the moon and think my friends are seeing—some twenty years from now—the same moon. At least," she added, quieter, "I hope they are."
She turned to him to look at him, her lips wearing a sad sort of smile. Remus wanted to do something to make her feel better, so he said, "you'll see them again, Hermione. Dumbledore with think of a way to get you home."
But I don't want you to go, he added silently to himself. It would be wonderful for Hermione to get back to her own Time, and he knew that was the way it should be…but there was a part of him that wanted very much for Hermione to stay. He was beginning to like her quite a bit; she was his friend, and he would miss her when she left.
Hermione took his hand and squeezed it gently, silently thanking him for his words of encouragement. Remus knew that she considered him her friend just as he did her, and maybe that meant that perhaps a small part of her would be sorry to go as well.
She hadn't released Remus' hand yet, and that seemed to be the opening, a permission of sorts. He leaned closer to her, and she didn't shy away; she may have even moved towards him. For the briefest of seconds their lips met, but only slightly; the kiss was hesitant, light, and abrupt. As quickly as it had happened, it ended; Remus pulled away in embarrassment, and Hermione turned around, the darkness hiding her flaming face.
"I'm…um…uh…eh…" Sounds and mutters with no actual words came pouring out of Remus' mouth as if he were trying to keep an uncomfortable silence from falling over the two of them. But talking only made it more awkward. Slowly, he looked back up to look at her; their eyes locked for a minute, long enough for each to see the other wasn't angry at the recent turn of events—only embarrassed.
Then Hermione muttered something about them needing to get back inside, and he hastily agreed. They walked—jogged, more like—back to the castle and their dorms, having no actual conversation but instead just babbling on pointlessly in a vain attempt to appear casual. They parted ways quickly in the common room, saying to each other, with a touch of anxiety or (something close to it), "G' night—and, er, Happy Christmas..."
Shout-outs could not be completed for this chapter due to the utter stupidity of my brain during summer and my desire to post this chapter TODAY and not make you wait longer (incredibly busy two weeks). Just like the time my internet died, I will reply to all the reviews for the last chapter and any for this chapter, in the chapter eleven update. CHEERS, MATES!
