Merry Christmas and happy holidays, everyone! I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Danielle walked carefully over to Skender, never breaking eye contact. He looked terrible—his tattered rag of a prison uniform was falling off his body, and coupled with his imposing height it gave him the appearance of a Dementor.

He looked just as stunned to see her. "Clara Ashford?" he asked in his thick Albanian accent. "What are you doing here?"

"I was about to ask you the same question," Danielle replied.

"As touching as this reunion is," Tom interrupted, a hint of irony to his voice, "We do not have all day to stay and chat."

Shooting him a dark look, Danielle pulled out her wand and pointed it at the cell bars. "Bombarda!" she cried, and with a brilliant flash of light the door was blasted off its hinges. Skender rushed out immediately and began to sprint away from them.

"Where are you going?" Danielle called after him.

"To save Georgina!" he yelled back. Danielle tore after him, Tom right behind her. They skidded around a corner and she rushed over to where Skender was kneeling next to a tiny cell beside the wall.

Georgina herself was lying on the floor of her cell, which was so small she was barely able to move. Danielle crouched next to Skender and met the other girl's terrified eyes, unable to summon up her previous anger towards her.

This time, it was Tom who unlocked the cell. Skender pulled Georgina out and, instead of bombarding them with questions, she gasped, "There's an island not far from here where they won't be able to find us!"

"We'll meet you there," Skender said, and with a crack, he and Georgina had Disapparated. Danielle instantly grabbed Tom's hand, and her skin had barely touched his when they Disapparated as well.

They reappeared, as Georgina had said, on a small island behind the prison. Luckily, it was covered with trees, their thick canopies hiding them from the watchful eyes of the guards.

"All right," Danielle said once they'd all regained their balance. "First things first—where are your wands?" She nodded to Georgina and Skender.

The two of them shared a loaded glance. "The guards destroyed our wands," Georgina said in a croaking voice.

"You can get new ones later, I'm sure," Danielle tried to reassure them. "Now, I think everyone has some explaining to do."

"I'll go first, since I guess I'm the one who got you into this in the first place," Georgina said. "I tried to go back to 2050. I'm sorry, Clara." She shot an apologetic look at Danielle. "I told you that Dumbledore charmed my Time-Turner so that I couldn't go forward in time. So, instead I…I went back in time, to the day I first arrived in 1943. I waited until my younger self was asleep before stealing the working Time-Turner and replacing it with the broken one. But Skender, who was at Hogwarts at the time, spotted me…I tried to run, but he grabbed the chain at the last second and was dragged along with me…when we arrived here, it snapped off." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a tiny, smashed hourglass. Beads of sand spilled out across her palms. "I had to explain to him that I was a time-traveler and why I'd gone back in time in the first place…" Seeing Danielle's expression, she gave a tiny shake of her head, indicating that she hadn't told Skender everything. "At first, I wasn't too worried that the Time-Turner had broken…I thought I could just steal a new one from the Ministry so Skender could go back…but it soon became clear that this new time was very, very different. As soon as we walked into a building…the guards captured us and threw us into Nurmengard. We both figured that we were going to be killed once they'd gotten the information they wanted out of us."

"Did they use the Cruciatus Curse?" Danielle interrupted.

Georgina shook her head. "Thank Merlin they didn't…I don't think either of us would have been able to keep silent for long." She paused, looking suddenly guilty.

"Don't worry," Danielle reassured her. "Nobody could under those kinds of circumstances."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Georgina replied, glancing for half a second over at Tom. "Anyway, the only time we could talk was when we were brought outside for half an hour each day. We both thought we were going to die. I was shocked when I saw you…"

"How did you get all the way to the top?" Skender asked. Danielle quickly explained their confrontation with the mysterious guard. She wasn't sure, but she thought she saw something like worry in the boy's eyes.

"You're certain he's still alive?" Skender continued.

Danielle nodded. "Why? Did you know him?"

Skender shook his head, but she couldn't fight off the feeling that he was lying. She glanced over at Tom to see if he'd come to the same conclusion she had, but he was focused on their surroundings instead, presumably making sure that they weren't being pursued by any guards who might have noticed their escape.

"So what's your explanation?" Georgina asked. After a moment of hesitation Danielle launched into the story of their past week—had they only been gone a week?—finding it hard to keep an accusing tone out of her voice as she described what they'd gone through, not mentioning that Cepheus was Alyssa and Alphard's son. She couldn't help but feel sorry for Georgina. The other girl looked like she was about to cry when Danielle finished.

"Merlin, I'm so sorry," she kept saying over and over. "I didn't mean to do this…I didn't know the trouble I'd caused…"

"Well, it's over now," Danielle said firmly. "I'm assuming you want to come back to 1944, then?"

Georgina nodded. "I just don't understand…what was the catalyst? Why did everything change?"

Danielle shrugged. "Whatever the reason, it's going to turn out like this unless you tell Dumbledore how to defeat Grindelwald."

"All right," Georgina said shakily. "Let's go back."

Grasping the Time-Turner with her right hand, Danielle gestured for the four of them to stand in a small circle, hoping that the chain was large enough to fit around everyone's necks. She couldn't help but feel a small, irrational twinge of annoyance at how bloody close Tom was to Georgina. "Ready?" she asked. When they all nodded, she set the date to 28/06/1944—the day they'd left—and pulled it back.

When the spinning finally stopped, Danielle tried to ignore the rolling in her stomach and pulled the chain back around her throat. Georgina and Skender both looked very green and were stumbling slightly.

The first thing she noticed was that the trees surrounding the fortress had disappeared. Nurmengard still stood in the distance, but it looked much less frightening and there weren't guards surrounding the prison.

"Thank Merlin," Georgina said, grasping onto Skender's arm. She looked as if she was ready to bow down and kiss the hem of Danielle's robes. She pulled her into a tight hug, so that Danielle's face was squashed against Skender's broad chest. "You've done it—you've actually done it—"

"We are not out of danger yet," Tom said. "We will have to Apparate to a nearby village and find a fireplace where we can Floo to Hogwarts."

"How far is it?" Skender asked.

"About ten miles from here," Tom replied. Danielle noticed that Skender was careful not to look into Tom's eyes, and the other boy was smirking. She shot a glare at Tom for scaring Skender like this, but he didn't look back at her.

"We'll meet you there, then," Georgina said, and with a crack she'd Disapparated. Skender followed soon afterward, and then it was just Tom and Danielle left alone.

"Listen, can you get over what grudge you have with Skender and act civil?" Danielle hissed, rounding on him.

Tom turned to her with a deceptively surprised expression. "I seem to recall you suggesting that he might be working for Grindelwald," he replied.

"But he was captured by—"

"That does not mean he is not deceiving us. It could very well be a trick. Did you not notice his concern for that guard?" Tom's eyes were steely blue as he looked down at her.

Danielle sighed in frustration. "Why do you have to mistrust everyone? The entire world isn't plotting to kill you—"

"One can never be too careful." He gave her a pointed look before Disapparating like the others. Danielle groaned; she had never tried Apparating farther than a few feet before. She supposed she would have to learn how to do it someday.

What were the three D's again? Destination, Determination and…Deliberation? Clenching her hands into fists, Danielle concentrated as hard as she could on the mental picture of a small village, trying to erase the image of Tom's annoyed glare from her head.

She turned on the spot and felt the familiar squeezing sensation, but it felt…wrong somehow, as if she hadn't put quite enough effort into it. All of a sudden, a horrible pain erupted in her right leg, and she felt the pressure disappear from around her as she fell to the ground, screaming and clutching her leg.

"Clara!" she dimly heard Georgina cry, and her relief that she had made it to the right place was overshadowed by the agony. Danielle squeezed open her eyes and saw her right leg sprawled out in front of her, her robes covered in blood.

"Splinched," Skender said grimly from beside her, and he clapped his large hand over her mouth. "Please be quiet," he hissed in her ear. "We can't cause a scene."

If Danielle had been in a better position, she would have shot back something like "You try being quiet when your leg just got cut open!" But she settled for screaming into his hand, the shouts muffled. Her eyes streamed with tears and she could feel her brain struggling to shut down and bring her into blissful oblivion. But no—she'd fainted far too many times before—she wasn't about to let it become a habit.

"Can't you heal her?" Georgina asked, her voice high-pitched. "I'll go get Tom—"

"No," growled Skender. "I was not trained for this—I don't know how to help. And Riddle is currently trying to convince someone to let us use their fireplace. You'll ruin it if you barge into the house now."

"Maybe they'll take pity on us if they see her like this!" Georgina shot back. "Damn it, he's going to kill us—"

"It's not our bloody fault that she doesn't know how to Apparate!" Skender nearly shouted.

So much for being quiet, Danielle managed to think through the pain. She tried opening her eyes again, but all she could see was the dull gray of the prison uniform Skender was wearing. She was lying on a bed of grass, and he was kneeling beside her. A figure with long hair standing in front of her…that must be Georgina. In the background she could see what looked like a small group of buildings and snow-capped mountains towered in the background. The village must be at the base of a mountain.

Danielle saw a door open in one of the houses and a shadowy figure behind Georgina began to move toward them. She wasn't sure whether to feel relief or worry at Tom's presence. He would be sure to patronize her for hours.

Her eyes closed again of their own accord as a particularly nasty wave of anguish shot through her leg. She was beginning to feel weak, and the sticky feeling was slowly spreading across her body.

"Tom, you have to help her!" Georgina called. "She's Splinched—"

"Get me some dittany," he replied at once. "It is in her bag." Danielle felt cool hands pressing against the wound on her leg, and Skender's hand disappeared from her mouth to be replaced by Tom's. After a moment, he snapped, "Did you not hear me? Where is the dittany?"

It was a direct order, the one he used when talking to his followers, with an edge to it that Danielle rarely heard. It sounded almost like panic—but why would he be worried? Was she that injured?

"Clara, please hold still," she heard Georgina whisper next to her ear.

Danielle's eyes were scrunched shut as hard as they could, but she couldn't stop herself from screaming out in pain as the worst anguish yet hit her leg. A pair of arms held her firmly down as she thrashed around. Later, she would realize it wasn't half as bad as the Cruciatus Curse, but at the time pain was the only thing her brain registered.

All of a sudden, the agony stopped—and her eyes flew open. She was staring up at a dull blue sky, her hands clutching her leg. Her jeans were pulled up around her knee, and the wound had disappeared, leaving only the faint trace of a scar. Someone had Vanished the blood, so it looked like she had merely fallen down and twisted her ankle.

Skender and Georgina were standing on either side of her, while Tom was kneeling by her side, holding her down. Her eyes, a bit slowly, focused on his, and she could have sworn she saw relief in them. "I'm sorry," Danielle began hoarsely. "I should have practised Apparating beforehand—"

"I should have foreseen it, Clara," Tom said, a hint of a sigh in his voice. "Can you stand?"

Danielle slowly sat up, but was attacked by a wave of dizziness. She felt a swell of nausea, and was so weak she began to shake.

"What's wrong?" Georgina asked shrilly as Tom caught her before she could fall.

"She has lost too much blood," Tom replied.

She needed a Blood-Replenishing Potion, but unfortunately, Dumbledore hadn't thought to give them some of those, Danielle thought wryly. She was cold and clammy, and her vision was starting to blur. Tom lifted her up into his arms, cradling her against his chest. "Go into the house," she heard him saying. "There is nobody there."

Casting anxious looks back at her, Georgina and Skender rushed ahead of them. Tom began to walk at a slower pace. Danielle rested her hand against his face. "I'm as pale as you now," she whispered, managing a weak smile.

Tom wasn't amused. He glanced down at her, and again there was that flash of worry in his eyes before he looked back up, a steely glint in his expression. Danielle's heart thumped erratically, as if it was struggling to pump with what little blood it had left.

Her vision was slipping in and out of focus as he carried her into the house. It was a small, cozy cabin, not unlike the Blacks' house. There was fireplace already ablaze with green flames against one wall, and Danielle caught sight of Skender's back disappearing into the flames.

Tom wasted no time in stepping into the fire, and Danielle was sure she momentarily fainted, because she didn't recall spinning through the hundreds of fireplaces it would take to get to Hogwarts.

When she next became aware of the world, Tom was still holding onto her, and they were standing in Dumbledore's office. There was a look of unbridled shock on Dumbledore's face.

"Would it be too much for me to ask what is going on?" he said. Through her sluggish brain, Danielle noticed that it was early morning outside—meaning that they had arrived too early and Georgina would have just left.

"It's a…long story, Professor," she slurred, and with an intense, terrifying wave of dizziness, her vow not to faint disappeared and she blacked out.