A/N- Just to clarify, early on in the chapter there are some quotes in parenthesis, which signify that the words weren't spoken, but just implied. It will make more sense when you read it. Enjoy!

Chapter 14

The Changes of Time

"No!" shouted Ron.

"No what, Weasley? And what is wrong with your face?" asked Draco Malfoy, as blond as ever, standing alone in the doorway of their compartment.

"Umm…nothing," said Ron.

"Where's you posse?" asked Harry.

"Possum?" asked Ron confused, "But Harry we always call him Ferret!"

"Posse, Ron, not possum," corrected Hermione gently.

"What an idiot! (movie quote!)" mumbled Ginny.

"My posse? Well they've decided to go straight into the workforce, shall we say," said Malfoy, "if you know what I mean."

"Yeah we know," said Harry darkly.

"Why didn't you join them?" asked Neville.

"Well, Saggybottom, I don't think that's my true calling," said Malfoy.

"Really?" asked Hermione, there was hope in her voice.

"Yeah, Mother thinks an education is important," said Draco.

"What courses are you taking this year?" asked Hermione trying to make conversation.

"Transfiguration, DADA, charms, potions, herbology, and astronomy."

"Oh that's pretty similar to what we are taking," said Hermione.

"Yeah, we'll probably be seeing a lot of each other," said Draco not sounding as annoyed as you might expect.

While Hermione and Draco were talking, Ginny and Ron were silently communicating.

Ginny cocked her head at Draco. ("What about him?")

Ron vigorously shook his head. ("No way, you crazy person!")

'Who else then?' mouthed Ginny.

Ron shrugged. ("Anyone but that piece of scum!")

Ginny smiled and turned back to Draco and Hermione. ("Suit yourself then, brother.")

"Hey ferret!" said Ron getting up and stepping slowly toward Malfoy.

"What Weaslebee? I'm just about to leave," snapped Malfoy.

"I-I-I…uh…" Ron stalled. Then he felt something trickling down his forehead. He reached up to touch it and when he removed his hand it was covered in green goo. He turned his hands over and saw that not only were the boils on his hands and arms oozing green goo, but also that his bright pink skin was beginning to fade.

"You're disgusting Weasley," said Malfoy walking away. Ron turned to Ginny, his naturally cream-colored skin dripping with green goo.

"What the boggart?" shouted Ginny clearly very mad. "It was supposed to last 60 minutes! Wait till I get a hold of Fred and George."

"What was supposed to last 60 minutes?" asked Ron.

"And what to Fred and George have to do with this?" asked Neville.

"Allow me to explain," said Ginny, pulling a box out of her pocket. "This is Fred and George's latest invention. It is called "Pick Your Poison." It's a unique one-time use spell that you can arm your wand with. I armed my wand with the pink-skin, green-boils side effect, but there are loads of other combinations. So I cast the spell and made-up a name for the curse. But the best part is that I get to make up the counter-curse. Like if I cast the spell on Hermione, I would tell her to burn all her books or if I cast it on Neville I would tell him to have dinner with Snape."

"That's so cruel!" said Ron.

"Well actually, you got lucky, Ron. It could have been something with spiders," said Harry.

"That would have been too evil, even for me," laughed Ginny. "But even if Ron had kissed Malfoy, the spell still wouldn't have broken. He would have had to wait the full 60 minutes."

"Or 20 minutes," said Hermione.

"Yes well apparently I need to get a refund," said Ginny.

"I don't think so," said Ron, "You seemed to get the full enjoyment out of it."

"But it would have been funnier if you had kissed Malfoy," said Ginny.

"I think at this point, Malfoy would have rather kissed Hermione, since they get along so well," said Harry.

"I know! They had a civil conversation for like 3 minutes," said Neville. Everyone laughed.

An hour or so later, the Hogwarts Express pulled up to Hogsmead Station. They piled off the train into the crowd of students.

Harry glanced around. "Where's Hagrid?"

"Dunno…." Said Ron.

"Well your Mum did say that he was promoted to Head of Gryffindor. Maybe he has more important duties to attend to now," mused Hermione.

"I hope you're right," said Harry as they walked to the carriages. Hermione, Ron, and Ginny all suddenly gasped in unison.

"What are those?" stammered Ron.

"They're thestrals…" said Hermione.

"But why can we see them now?" asked Ginny.

"We saw that Death Eater die at the end of last year," said Hermione in sudden understanding.

The six climbed into the not-so-horseless carriages and started off toward the castle. Eventually the talk turned to Quidditch, at which point Luna pulled out the Quibbler and Hermione pulled out a book, muttering to herself inaudibly.

"So Harry any idea who you'll get to replace Katie Bell?" asked Ron.

"I-I-well, no…" said Harry, who couldn't imagine the Gryffindor team without Katie.

"Please don't pick Dean, Harry," said Ginny.

"Now Ginny, we all know that Harry has to put personal conflicts aside and choose the best player," reminded Neville.

"No," said Harry firmly, "I am not letting Dean on the team."

"That would be terribly awkward," said Hermione looking up from her book.

"I just have to do a traditional try-out. See if there is any new talent out there," said Harry, inwardly cringing at the thought of a try-out because of what happened last time.

The castle had now come into view. Harry looked up to the astronomy tower where the Dark Mark had appeared months before and felt a lump form in his throat. Ginny followed his gaze and put a comforting arm around him. Everyone realized what Harry and Ginny were looking at. The rest of the short journey passed in respectful silence. They climbed out of the carriages, up the stairs, through the big oak doors, and made their way to the Great Hall. Much to everyone's surprise, it's appearance was not the same as it had been for the past six years. The house tables, which used to stretch the entire length of the Great Hall, were now half of their former size.

"What's going on here?" asked Ginny.

"They can't honestly expect everyone to fit on those small tables," said Ron.

"No…I don't think they do," said Hermione thoughtfully.

"Alright!" said Ron.

"What are you so happy about? Hoping that Hermione will have to sit on your lap at meals now because there aren't enough seats?" asked Ginny.

"Isn't it obvious?" asked Ron, sounding very Hermione-ish, "They are finally giving the older students some privileges. We get to sit and the first years have to stand while they eat!"

"Oh Ron," said Hermione as everyone sat down at the table.

Students continued to come through the doors into the Great Hall, but no one seemed to have any trouble finding a seat. A very short line of first years followed Professor Flitwick, who was carrying the stool and sorting hat. It was the shortest sorting that Harry had ever witnessed (not that he had seen that many). The sorting hat started by singing its traditional solo, warning of the dangers of the present time. Then the students were sorted, 3 to Gryffindor, 3 to Ravenclaw, 2 to Hufflepuff, and none to Slytherin. Harry and Hermione exchanged an anxious glance; they understood the significance of the sorting. The overall lack of students was due to the fact that parents were reluctant to be separated from their children. The startling lack of Slytherins, throughout all of the years, was most likely due to the fact that their death-eater-parents had drafted their older children into Lord Voldemort's service or were teaching their younger children a more selective curriculum (aka Dark Arts only). Flitwick carried the hat and stool out of the Great Hall and Professor McGonagall rose to give the traditional start of term speech.

"As all of you know, the events of last year and this past summer have been terrible and frightening. Many of you have been directly affected. But all of you have returned despite such disasters and I assure you that this will not be a decision that you will regret. Security has been dramatically improved and the quality of education given at Hogwarts will remain above standard. I urge all of you to report anything suspicious to the staff," said Professor McGonagall. "As you have noticed the staff table has changed quite a bit since last year. Professor Flitwick has become deputy Headmaster, Professor Wood will be your Transfiguration teacher, Professor Weasley will be your DADA teacher, and Professor Hagrid has become head of Gryffindor house. I want you to welcome them and treat each of them with respect. So without further ado, let us tuck in."

The plates magically filled with mounds of food and everyone began to eat. Ron made up for all of the students who hadn't returned to Hogwarts by eating 21 helpings of everything. Then after a round of the school song, everyone went up to the dorms and fell asleep instantly on their four-poster beds.

A/N-As a heads up, from what I have already written the story seems to becoming more serious (as you can probably tell from how this chapter ended). I blame it on the fact that I just re-read HBP and am mourning Dumbledore again. But don't worry; keeping the story funny is still a top priority. And as long as Ron is present, I will always be able to pick on him. HAHA! I hope that everyone is still enjoying my story! Thanks for your reviews and keep 'em coming!