- Act IV -
Harry and Hermione 2.0
"I think if we are to succeed now, then we would have succeeded then. That's without interference," said Harry, adding the proviso as he looked around the room while opening what could be the most important conversation of their lives.
"What's the matter?" asked Hermione as she noticed Harry's discomfort before addressing his statement. "You look like something is bothering you."
"The portraits. It's like when we had that one with us in the tent," he said as he pointed at Phineas Nigellus Black. "I get uncomfortable talking about something like this in front of them."
"Yes. You are right about them. They have been known to gossip," said Hermione as she waved her wand causing a black curtain to descend from the ceiling amidst a cacophony of grumbling protests from the portraits. It only stopped when all of the portraits were completely covered and their voices silenced. "There. Now we are alone."
"Okay," replied Harry, looking more relaxed as he sat back. "That does feel better. Now, where were we?"
Harry looked around the room. It seemed strange without thirty-plus ministers watching him. It took a moment and the clearing of his throat, but he finally started to speak.
"If we have learned anything from past events, it is that the Room of Requirement is seemingly unlimited in its capabilities," he began as Hermione sat still and listened intently."I think we should be able to create a room that will take us back in time to a place of our choosing. I think, if we so choose, we could go back to say our second, third whatever year at school and move forward from there."
"Why would we want to go back there?" asked Hermione. The look on her face indicated she was not understanding the gist of what Harry was thinking. "What would we do there, be teachers or something?"
"No. No. You're not getting it. I think we could go back and become ourselves at that particular time."
"Oh,'' said Hermione. "Then we will just become our younger selves?"
"Yes. Exactly. We become ourselves and see what happens. We'll see if we fall in love with each other given a second chance."
"But how do we get back to here?" asked Hermione as she got up and started to pace around the area between the couch and her desk.
"We live our way forward until we get back to here."
"Then what? That sounds incredibly dangerous. Who knows what could happen on a second go-around. People that are living could die or get hurt. Voldemort could win the war. We could hate each other. We could even die," said Hermione, her voice rising and going faster as she got more and more wound up.
"Whoa!" exclaimed Harry, trying to stop Hermione before she went completely off the rails. "That is all part of what we need to discuss...uh...figure out. We need, as you like to say, a plan."
"Yes. You are right. We need a plan," replied Hermione, quickly seeming to settle down as she jumped right past the decision of whether or not they should do it.
"Okay then," said Harry, feeling better now that they were ready to focus on doing things. "You're the planner. How do we do this?"
"Well, the first thing we need to do is set goals," said Hermione, jumping into a wheelhouse situation.
"That's easy," said Harry enthusiastically. "We want to see if we will fall in love if we go back to school."
"Uh...yeah. That's basically it," agreed Hermione. "Now we can look at where we are going to actually go. When do we want to arrive at Hogwarts?"
"Hmmmm. That could be a bit tricky, I suppose, uh..." said Harry, now starting to hem as he was now being required to really think about things. "When did Molly start giving Ron those bloody biscuits? Can we stop her from doing that?"
"I think so. It is all in the way we make our request to the room. I wish Neville was here to help us," said Hermione in a wishful voice. "He was the master of room design back in the day. You saw what he did with the room during the time Dumbledore's Army was hiding out while we were on the run."
"Do you think we can talk to him?" asked Harry. "I mean if we didn't tell him what we were contemplating. Do you think he could give us ideas?"
"Brilliant, I don't see why a little reunion with an old friend laced with a few innocent questions about the room could hurt," mused Hermione as she seemed to be pondering the idea. "Let's pop up to Hogwarts tomorrow and pay him a visit."
"Great, replied Harry. "Maybe we can eat there. I still miss some of the food we had there as students."
Hermione stood up and stretched a bit. "Why don't we call this a day and give ourselves time to think about all of this? I have a few matters to attend to here, as well. The work of the Minister is never done."
"Yes. That's a good idea. I will just be off and see you in the morning," said Harry as he got to his feet.
Before he could leave, Hermione walked over and embraced him. As they started to kiss, Hermione said between kisses and nips on his chin and neck, "I have a better idea. Why don't you pop home and freshen up? I'll do the same and you can meet me at my place around seven. We can eat in the pub's upstairs dining room."
Harry continued kissing Hermione for several moments. Finally, he stopped and said, "That sounds great. We can talk more then."
"Yes. Talk or just relax or something."
"Yeah," said Harry as they broke apart and he turned to leave. "I will see you at seven."
Hermione walked Harry out of the pub past the muggle patrons. To them, they were just another pair of people coming down from the dining room where they had eaten earlier. Once outside, they shared a kiss and Harry apparated away.
Harry selected a casual, but an upscale set of clothes centered on an open-collared shirt and blue-grey jacket with some red flecks. Once he was satisfied with his apparel, he pulled a silver gentleman's flask out of a cabinet and unstoppered it. He went to a cupboard and grabbed a bottle of cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla as well as a bowl of sugar. He poured some of the sugar and spices into the flask. Then he added a few drops of vanilla and shook it up. Finally, he filled it with honey. After that, he walked around shaking the flask to mix the ingredients until he was finally satisfied and placed it in his hip pocket.
At six-fifty-eight that late afternoon, Harry walked into the Red Lion looking stylish, yet casual at the same time. He had apparated to the Leaky Cauldron and taken an Uber to the pub. As he climbed the stairs toward the restaurant, Hermione came walking out of her residence looking unintentionally chic, causing Harry to take a momentary pause and her to raise an 'excuse me' eyebrow at him.
She took his arm and ascended the flight to the restaurant. They were greeted by a smiling Maître d. "Good evening, Miss Granger," he said. "Brought someone with you, I see. Shall I show you to your regular table?"
"Yes, Algie. The regular table will be fine. This is my old chum from school, Harry Potter. Will Angela be serving us," she replied with a smile. It was becoming obvious she was a regular and well acquainted with the staff.
"Yes, Angela is here today. She will be happy to see you."
Since it was Friday night, the dining room was busy. But Algie worked his muggle magic and soon led them to the table. Harry pulled out Hermione's chair and seated her before taking his seat.
"No one here, not even Algie, knows it, but Angela is a squib," said Hermione in a hushed tone as Algie returned to his station. "The Ministry placed her here to help keep an eye on things for them. "She is very useful at times."
Just then, a slim, blond lady with bright, blue eyes walked up and served both of them a glass of water with a slice of lemon in it. "Good evening, Ms Granger," she said in a cheerful voice. "It is good to see you."
"It's good to see you, Angela. This is my friend Harr…"
"Harry Potter, exclaimed Angela, finishing Hermione's introduction in a suppressed whisper. "It is an honor to serve you, Mr. Potter."
"It's nice to meet you, Angela," returned Harry as she tried to gather herself. "Hermione has spoken highly of you."
Angela smiled at Hermione, then asked, "How can I start you out this evening?"
"Two Imperials and some Crispy Squid," replied Hermione without consulting Harry. "We'll figure the rest out while you get the drinks and squid in."
They started looking at the menu. Hermione suggested trying one of their pies, but Harry decided to go with fish and chips. When Angela returned with their drinks, Hermione ordered the fish and chips for Harry and ordered the Chicken Tikka Masala, coconut, and coriander pie for herself.
Just as they were getting back to the main topic of the night...what to ask Neville, Angela returned with the squid. They paused as Angela served it and Hermione placed their food order, then they returned to the discussion about Neville.
"What exactly are we going to ask him?" asked Harry, cutting to the chase as he took a taste of his stout. "WOW! That's good, but it does have a bit of a kick."
"I have been thinking about that. We can't tell him what we are planning. That would be really dangerous," began Hermione after chuckling at Harry's reaction to his ale. "I think the most we can do is pick his brain about his methods for creating the room."
"Yes, that is probably it," agreed Harry as they both picked up a piece of squid. "But just that will be extraordinarily helpful."
"Quite," said Hermione as she finished her bite of the squid. "If we can just determine Neville's basic methodology in figuring out his requests, I think we can construct it from there."
They continued to talk and eat for the next few minutes until Angela appeared with the main dishes just as the last piece of squid disappeared. "Fish and Chips for you, Mr. Potter," she said as she placed the basket in front of him before turning to Hermione. He was amused that it was served in a mock newspaper like it was coming from a regular shop. "And here's your Chicken Tikka Masala. Is there anything else I can get you?"
"This looks fine," replied Hermione. "Thanks."
They dug into their food. Both of them were hungry. There was little left to discuss other than what time they would leave in the morning. It was decided they would apparate to the Three Broomsticks at about eleven. That way they should arrive at Hogwarts just as lunch was starting. That would make it easier to find Neville and also provide them with some nostalgic food.
They finished their meal with a lemon custard topped with a raspberry topping and a pair of cappuccinos. Once again, they partook of the lovestruck teenager behavior of spoon-feeding their dessert to the other much to their own amusement.
They headed out of the dining room after paying and walking down to the entrance to Hermione's residence. Once inside, they started kissing in a way destined to end up in the bedroom. Missy appeared, although they did not notice, and promptly disappeared so they would have their privacy.
After a few moments, they retired to Hermione's bedroom. As they both started to undress, Harry pulled his flask out of his hip pocket and placed it on the table beside the bed.
"What's that?" asked Hermione, looking with interest at the shiny, ornate, metal container.
"Nothing important," responded Harry in a cool, casual manner. "Don't worry about it."
"Nothing?" she said in a skeptical, rising tone. "Nothing? Tra la la. It looks like something."
"It's just a bit of tonic for my cough."
"Oh, you have a cough. I see," she said, not sounding very convinced.
A couple of moments later they had succeeded in disrobing and were locked in a writhing, wriggling entanglement on the bed heavily interspersed with kisses, caresses, and assorted moans. Their carnal desires were proceeding like a firedrake with its eyes on the gold until Harry stopped and pushed up.
"What's the matter?" asked Hermione in a concerned, but lust-filled gasp.
"Nothing," he replied as he reached over to the bedside table and grasped the flask, and unstoppered it. He tipped it and some viscous, amber liquid poured onto Hermione's breasts and tummy.
"What! What is that?" blurted Hermione as she tried to sit up. "Is that a potion? What does it do?"
"Relax," said Harry as he reached out and rubbed a drop across her lips before she could turn away. "Relax."
Hermione was clearly frightened. However, she could not help but inadvertently taste the sticky substance on her lips. "That's...that's...is that honey and...and cinnamon...and...vanilla? What the hell? I put that on toast."
"Yes. It's honey, cinnamon, vanilla, and some sugar and nutmeg. Just lie back and relax. You're my toast," he said in a soft voice as he started rubbing the mixture over her.
"You're a fool, Harry Potter," she said, trying with only partial success not to laugh as she lay back down.
Harry continued making bold, deft brushstrokes, coating her like an adolescent Picasso until he ran out of his mix. By then, Hermione was covered top and bottom, front and back, head to toe, with the exception of her hair. He then started to lick, kiss, clean the mixture off of her, beginning with her forehead. He diligently worked his way down her body paying particular attention to her neck, underarms and forearms, and inner wrist as he pressed on ignoring her squirming protests. He suckled and cleaned each finger individually before returning to her breasts where he pressed his tongue down hard on each nipple to ensure a thorough cleaning.
All of this time, Hermione was crying such that a person outside of the room might mistake the carryings-on as someone being tortured by the cruelest of tormentors. Her right hand was tangled in his hair while her left arm was draped across her eyes.
"Oooo, yessss, noooo, aaaahhhh," she moaned as his mouth cleaned it away until the mixture was so well removed even the nose of the keenest bloodhound would never detect its scent.
He proceeded slowly south to the furthest reaches of her abdomen stopping in the middle of where hair would be, if not for the fact she had shaved it away, before unsticking from the sheet and turning her over. Starting with the nape of her neck, he moved down her backside, giving equal attention to each leg, spending extra time on the pits of her knees, until he arrived at the bottoms of her feet. He licked them as she squirmed and screamed into her pillow. Next, each toe was meticulously cleaned to the highest standards before he returned her to her back.
He attended to the tops of each foot and then started up her legs, kissing and licking clean each shin. Next, he tongued the top of each thigh before moving to her inner thighs. Once there, he took long, powerful licks...one after another...starting at her knees and ending at the point where her legs joined her torso. By the time he finished with her inner thighs, Hermione was desperately pulling at his hair and literally begging for relief...begging for him to clean the one spot he was yet to visit. It was quite likely that if not for the protection spells on the residence preventing the people in the pub from hearing here, that someone would have long ago summoned the authorities.
Harry, being a merciful tormentor, obliged her by plunging his face into her most sensitive place. Hermione let out a loud, choking squeal like Harry had hit her with the Cruciatus Curse. She convulsed for several seconds, then collapsed just as fast into a panting, gasping mass.
As much as he wanted to satisfy his own needs, Harry laid quietly beside Hermione as she tried to regain her composure. Finally, after a couple of minutes, she gained enough strength to roll over and look at him. "You...you...whatever you are. Where in the bloody hell did you ever come up with this idea?" she half chuckled, half wheezed.
"If you didn't like it, I'll…"
"...Oh, shuttup you fool, and kiss me."
They pulled back together, sweat having replaced the honey mixture on Hermione, and started their lovemaking anew. Several minutes later, they collapsed in a sweaty, worn-out heap. Hermione managed to say 'Nox' and they fell into a pair of deep, satisfied comas for the duration of the night.
- Act V -
Past Plans
In the morning, as they were still napping, there came a rapping at Hermione's chamber door. It was Missy reminding them of their planned trip for today. With the greatest of efforts, they managed to extricate themselves from the bed and stumble into the loo.
They enjoyed a sumptuous breakfast prepared by Missy once they had cleaned up and made themselves reasonably presentable. Hermione said she thought Harry's clothes from last night looked fine for the trip. She said she would find something a little less dressy for herself.
Hermione went into her room. A half an hour later she emerged in an outfit befitting her position as the Minister. Harry nodded his approval and they apparated away.
They appeared in Hogsmeade pretty much on the schedule they had discussed the evening before. By the time they made the walk up to the castle, it was time for lunch to be starting. When they walked unannounced into the dining hall, a hush fell over the room.
After a moment of confusion, spaces were cleared at the head table and they found themselves seated next to Headmaster Stoneybrook with the other professors, including Neville. Following their introduction and welcoming, breakfast appeared on the table and the school took on a more business as usual feel.
"What brings you folks here, today? Is there something I can help you with?" asked the headmaster.
"Nothing in particular," responded Hermione. "It's just a social call. We thought it would be a chance to catch up with some friends and have a good meal or two."
"Very well," he replied, a certain amount of relief on his face. "Let me know if I can help in any way."
Once breakfast finished, Harry and Hermione walked down to the spot where Neville was sitting. The professors on either side of him had already gotten up and left. They jumped into the empty seats.
"Harry! Hermione!' gushed Neville. "It's so good to see you."
"It is really great to see you, Professor," said Harry. "You look well."
"Yes, it has been too long," added Hermione. "How are you?"
"I'm fine...and so are Hannah and the kids. Francis is getting married to a girl he met in Herbology school. Henna is graduating this year. She wants to manage our operations selling my herbs and plants. And my new book, 'The Hidden World of Magical Tubers and Roots', is coming out next month."
"That's wonderful," said Hermione, sounding truly happy for him.
"What are you doing here?" asked Neville in a curious voice.
"Nothing in particular," answered Harry. "We just thought we would stop by and see how everyone is doing."
"Well, it's really great to see both of you. Oh," said Neville, his voice suddenly dropping. "I'm really sorry about your divorces. I heard about them just recently. That must be terrible. If Hannah and I can help in any way, just come see us."
"Yes. Thanks. It has been very terrible," said Harry. "But we didn't come here to depress you with talk about that. Why don't you take us down to your famous gardens and we can catch up on the good parts of life."
"Sure," said Neville, always ready to show off his work, as he stood up. "I like that. I have some new things you might find interesting.
"I'm sure we will," said Hermione as she gave Harry an eye roll as she and Harry got up and started following Neville out of the hall. Harry gave her a quick poke for being so cheeky.
They started reminiscing as they walked. The conversation started with their first day and the search for Neville's toad, Trevor, and progressed forward with a wealth of anecdotes from their early years.
Once they entered the greenhouses, Harry and Hermione were immediately impressed with Neville's efforts despite their overall lack of interest in herbology. Everything was lush and well-tended. The mints and other aromatic herbs smelled wonderful. The tentacula looked spikier and toothier than ever. The mandrakes promised to be extremely screamy. But the clear highlight of the tour was a gravity-resistant tree he had obtained from a wizard in a Tibetan monastery. It hovered mysteriously over its pot of soil.
Before long, they found their way down to the lakeshore. On the way, they had rekindled their talk of memories. As they looked at the expanse of water-covered fields Neville had constructed along the shallows at the end of the lake to grow exotic water plants, they started talking about the sad days of the Second Wizarding War intermixed with him pointing out rare and unusual treasures within his collections.
"I have always wondered," said Hermione as she seamlessly brought the conversation to the heart of the reason for coming to Hogwarts. "How did you manage to create the intricate and complex parts of the Room of Requirement? You created rooms that were light-years beyond anything created by anyone else."
"Well," started Neville as Harry and Hermione prepared to hang on his every word, "it was difficult at first. It was a lot of tests, practice, and mistakes. I got detention more than once and even injured a few times along the way. But it was all worth it in the end."
"Then, it was all trial and error, more or less," said Hermione, sounding let down a bit. "It was a lot of luck and happy accidents?"
"At first, yes. Then I hit on the idea of creating trial rooms."
"Trial rooms," said Harry. "What's a trial room?"
"It's a room where I could test new ideas, '' he began. Both of them suddenly had a feeling that this was it. This was going to be the key for which they were searching. They concentrated, trying to grasp every word. "I would create a room using a new idea with the safety switch of it returning to start when I said a code word. My word was always 'Trevor', like my old toad. I had a board hidden under my bed so the Carrow's wouldn't find it. I built my requests on it one thing at a time. Then I tested it. If it was good, I would keep it. If it didn't work, I scratched it out. I kept doing that until I got things exactly right."
"You are brilliant, Neville. Truly brilliant," exclaimed Harry in total admiration.
"Yes," agreed Hermione. "You should have gotten an award for all of that work. I am going to talk with Headmaster Stoneybrook."
Neville tried to look proud and humble at the same time. "That's not really necessary," he said. "That was a long time ago. Besides, my gram gave me all of the awards I needed when she told me how proud she was of me and how proud my dad would be, too."
"Okay," said Hermione. "But I am still going to have that talk. Now show us more of your current work.
The three of them spent the next hour touring more of Neville's handiwork, including some plots on the edge of the Forbidden Forest, before heading back up to the castle. They planned to leave after saying their goodbyes, but the headmaster insisted they stay for dinner. After a moment of contemplation, they decided the lure of another meal prepared by the house-elves was too great to pass up. They dined at the Gryffindor table in their favorite seats much to the delight of the students. Predictably, the Slytherin table was heard to make snarky remarks about the situation.
After dinner, they walked down to the Three Broomsticks with Neville and some of the other professors. Harry was carrying a bag with several pumpkin pasties and a few slices of treacle tart. The group enjoyed a few butterbeers, mead, and other libations before Hermione and Harry took their leave and headed back to London.
"I think we got what we need," said Harry as they walked into the Red Lion.
"Yes," agreed Hermione. "Neville is a genius. We can start planning in the morning.
"The morning," said Harry with a yawn. "I am getting tired. It's been a long day. I think I will just go home."
"I'll call Navon to drive you."
"That's not necessary. I'll just apparate."
"Okay, dear," said Hermione as she embraced him for a goodnight kiss. They kissed long enough for a couple heading into the pub to chuckle as they passed them and made a snarky remark about them needing to get a room. If only they knew.
- Act VI -
Let's Do the Time Warp Again and Again
Harry got up the next morning and took a shower. He half-dressed himself, walked into the kitchen, and put on a pot for tea. He pulled a couple of sausages from the refrigerator and tossed them into a pan on the stove. Then, he had to make his first decision of the day...strawberry or chocolate fudge pop tarts. It was close, but strawberry won out and he popped a pair into his toaster. As things cooked, he thought about what he and Hermione would discuss when he got to her home. Such was the life of a bachelor.
At the same time, Hermione was wearing her big, fluffy robe while enjoying a spinach and bacon quiche with a fresh, honeycomb crunch scone and a double macchiato courtesy of Missy. She was already on version four-point-five of their plan to return to their youth. She had barely slept because of all the thoughts flying around inside her head during the night. Such was the life of Hermione's brain.
Harry finished dressing and decided it was time to head off to Hermione's. He apparated to the Leaky Cauldron. It was a beautiful morning, so he decided to walk from there instead of taking an Uber. Fifteen minutes later he arrived at the Red Lion.
Hermione had just finished dressing and was putting the finishing touches on her makeup when he walked into the pub. Her sensor charm went off, alerting her of his presence. She popped her head and arm out of the door to her residence as he came up the stairs and pulled him inside.
Once inside, Harry looked at Hermione as he remembered her calling her dear when they parted last night. ''Hello, darling," he said, causing Hermione to smirk and roll her eyes.
"Uh, hi Harry," she replied in a cool manner.
"Too soon?" he responded. "I was just trying it out."
"No, you clown," she said as she hugged him and gave him a quick kiss. It was the first time she had kissed him in front of Missy, as if it mattered considering the cleanups Missy had been making in recent times. Still, it was a step forward.
"Are you ready to start working on our plan?" he asked, already knowing the answer.
"Actually, I have already been toying with it a little. Let me get my board and stuff."
As Harry waited, he looked around the room. He immediately noticed that the portraits of several ministers and other famous wizards were missing. He assumed Hermione did not want any prying eyes and ears spying on them. If the word of their plan got out, it would be the end of her career, and might also earn them a stint in Azkaban.
A few moments later, Hermione had an easel with a whiteboard on it set up beside the dinner table and several pieces of paper spread out with a lot of writing on them. Some items were highlighted, others were scribbled out.
"Just been toying with it a little, I see," noted Harry with a tiny chuckle.
"Oh, shuttup," she shot back as she hit him with a handful of papers. "You know how I am."
"Sorry. Yes, I know. It is one of the things I love about you."
Missy, who had been dutifully standing by, finally spoke. Is there anything Missy can get for you, Minister?"
"Yes. A pot of tea and some fresh biscuits would be nice. We have a lot of work to do."
"Right away, Minister," said the elf as she disappeared.
"Now, where were we?"
"I think this is where you explain all of this," said Harry as he scanned all of her work.
"Very well," she said, taking a deep breath before plunging into what was certain to be a lengthy explanation of everything. "The whiteboard is going to list the steps of our process. We will detail them on the papers. We can list concerns, possible problems, obstacles, opportunities, all kinds of things."
"Great. I see you have already listed the first step."
"Yes. The first thing we need to determine is where to go...the time. I think the first year might be too early. But we can't wait too long, either."
"You said Ginny told you that Molly got involved after you gave me your towel and kissed me at the end of the Second Challenge. We might want to get in front of that and the Yule Ball, too."
"That makes sense, said Harry, shaking his head. "That makes sense. It could explain the tent scene a little further."
"There was a lot going on then. Might be a good place to start," said Hermione, surely mulling things over. "Who knows, maybe we can even go to the Yule Ball together."
"That will probably make Pavarti happy. I wasn't much of a date for her as I remember. I have always felt bad about that. She's a very nice person. She deserved better...same with Padma and Ron."
"Viktor could go with anyone," pointed out Hermione. "He had a harem following his every step. I think the rest he asked me was I was the only one not fawning over him. Nothing really happened between us other than a kiss after the ball. I think I was just moonstruck, not really wanting to continue with things."
"Then where should we start? Where do you see us entering the show?" asked Harry.
"I think this is where we set up a trial room and test things a few times," said Hermione. "This is exactly what he was talking about."
"And how do we do it?"
"We have to create a request," said Hermione as she picked up a pen and started writing. "We start out with 'We need a room that…' and then fill in the blank."
"Okay, but how do we get back to here?"
"Neville said we can use a code word to end the trial. We could set a limit on how long we are there, I imagine. "'We need a room that'...and after three days, or a week, it sends us back."
"Okay," said Harry, starting to get a handle on it. "Let's set up a trial room."
"First we want to go back and replace ourselves at the school on...uh...let's say the day of the selection of the champions. Does that sound reasonable?" asked Hermione as she stopped writing.
"I think that is as good as any," answered Harry. "That should get us back far enough. Now, how do we get back here?"
"We can set a time limit on the room or create a safety word, just in case of an emergency," said Hermione. "Let's say we put a time limit on our visit of three days. Now for a safety word that will instantly end the trial and return both of us with all of the knowledge we gained. It should be something we won't say accidentally, but we can easily remember."
"How about the name of this place, Red Lion," suggested Harry.
"Brilliant. If either of us says 'Red Lion', we both will return immediately with full memory of what happened during the trial."
"Where will we return to?" asked Harry. "Hogwarts? Where at Hogwarts?"
"That's a good question," said Hermione, the movement of her eyes indicating she was given any possible answer serious thought. "Uhhhh...how about if it returns us here, instead. I worry about simply reappearing at the school."
"That's a good idea," said Harry. "But what if we wanted to do more than one trial? We'd have to travel all of the way back to the school every time."
"That's a good point," said Hermione. "We should stay at the school. But we need a place no one goes to."
"The Shrieking Shack?" offered Harry.
"I'd prefer not. It is too creepy. How about the forest?" countered Hermione.
"That sounds loads better," replied Harry in a clearly sarcastic voice. "We could reappear next to a werewolf...or Aragog."
"Okay. Then where," said Hermione, starting to sound exasperated.
"Well...uh...I know," blurted Harry. "Myrtle's bathroom. You said no one ever goes there."
"I did," said Hermione. "Brilliant."
'Great. And when do we do it?" said Harry, suddenly sounding anxious to go.
"We need to write down our request and go over it a few times. I'll have Missy bring us some lunch," said Hermione with a finger snap. "How about a pizza?"
Missy appeared instantly. "How may Missy serve you, Minister?" she asked.
"We would like a pizza and a couple of butterbeers. What do you want on it, Harry?"
"Pepperoni. Lots of pepperoni...and extra cheese."
"Okay, Missy," said Hermione as the elf looked up to her. "A very cheesy pizza with double pepperoni on one half and vegetables on the other half...uh...mushrooms, onions, green peppers, green olives, and broccoli.
"Missy will be back very quickly," she said as she disappeared with the snap of her fingers.
Hermione wiped off the whiteboard leaving only the words 'Would we fall in love if we went back in time to Hogwarts?'. That was their ultimate question. Then she wrote 'We need a room that will…'.
"Okay," said Hermione. What's our first item?"
"Take us back to the day of the selection of the champions for the Triwizard Tournament," replied Harry. "That's the day we decided on, right?"
"Yes. We'll replace ourselves and watch the excitement. Oh. We'll need a time of arrival and place...uh...somewhere we won't be seen arriving."
"How about behind Hagrid's hut about three or four in the afternoon?" suggested Harry."
Perfect," replied Hermione. "How long are we going to stay?"
"Three or four days?"
"Yes, Three days. I think three days is plenty for a trial...unless you want to stay long enough to fight the dragon.
"I'm fine with not fighting the dragon," said Harry with a smirk that made Hermione laugh.
"And, we need a return place and time for when the three days are up or we use the Red Lion escape plan."
"Why don't we just use Hagrid's hut?" suggested Harry. "They rebuilt it after the war and he still lives in it."
"Brilliant," said Hermione. "Let me write it out and we can give it a go."
- Act VII -
It's Just a Jump to the Left
Two hours later, Hermione had written everything out and a coherent paragraph. She read over it aloud several times until she was satisfied with the way it read.
"Are you ready, Harry?" she asked with a hint of nervousness in her voice as she looked at him.
"As ready as I'll ever be, I suppose," he said, also sounding a bit on edge.
Hermione extended her arm and reached over and took it. They disappeared with a crack. A few seconds later they were in the back room of the Three Broomsticks.
"Minister and Mr. Potter," said Rosalynde as they emerged into the main room of the establishment. "It's a pleasure to see you. My mother is down the street. She will be back shortly."
"We have business up at the castle," said Harry. "But I think we can find time for a couple of butterbeers."
Harry and Hermione sat down at a table as Rosalynde got their drinks and some pretzels.
"We have a lot of memories in the place," said Harry.
"If things go well, we are going to relive a lot of them, '' noted Hermione.
"Yes. We definitely will."
Madam Rosmerta returned a short time later. They all had a cozy catch-up accompanied by a second round of butterbeers. Then, Harry and Hermione excused themselves and headed up the path to the castle. They had one thing on their mind and they were anxious to get on with it.
They entered the castle and made their way up the seven flights of steps to the hallway with the Room of Requirement. It was class time, so they accomplished the trip undetected. They paused in front of the tapestry of Barnabus the Barmy and Hermione pulled out the paper with their request. They both looked at each other. This was it...trial one.
"Are you ready?" asked Hermione nervously.
"I think so," replied Harry. Let's do it."
Hermione began reading as she paced down the hall and back. After the third pass, there was a rumbling of rock against rock and the doors materialized. They had entered the room countless times in their lives, but this was different. They joined hands and walked to the doors.
They pulled the doors open and peered inside. All they could see was a misty, dark fog. Suddenly, they pulled together and started to kiss. Then they turned and stepped inside.
Two seconds later, at least it seemed that way, they were standing behind Hagrid's hut. "What happened?" said Harry, totally confused. "Are we there? I mean back in time? Why aren't we in Myrtle's bathroom? I thought that was where we were going."
"You didn't see it, did you," said Hermione.
"See what?"
"We appeared in Myrtle's bathroom, but we were us, not our fourteen-year-old selves. I used Red Lion to get us here."
"Oh my," said Harry. "What do we do?
"We need to adjust the request. That's what."
Two hours later, Hermione had adjusted her request and they were headed back to the room for a second attempt. Once inside, they stayed longer into the day before Harry pulled the plug and used the Red Lion escape.
"What's the matter?" asked Hermione, knowing she had not caused them to exit."
"People kept asking me questions I couldn't answer, or I struggled to answer. They were questions I probably should have known right off," answered Harry. "I think we need better memories of our young selves."
"I felt some of the same thing, We should be able to fix that, too," said Hermione. "We are making progress."
A couple more trials passed before they got to a point where they wanted to stick around for a while in the past. A few more trials over the next few days got Harry past the first challenge.
"I am getting pretty good at beating that dragon," said Harry, not looking at or thinking about the big picture. Let's give the second challenge a go."
"I know what you are saying," replied Hermione with a laugh as she also ignored the big picture implications. "I am getting pretty good at posing for Rita when she bursts in on us in the tent. I might kiss you, next time. That will really give that dung beetle something to write about."
They returned to Hermione's home for the day to work on further refinements. They were feeling close to a full-blown attempt at staying all of the way through. The romances, both past, and present were moving forward at a solid, comfortable pace. What could possibly go wrong?
Hermione spent much of the evening writing notes as Harry kibitzed and scribbling out things, then rewriting them. Their evening ended with a passionate session of lovemaking fueled by the feeling they had not been really together for months.
The next day, they entered the past and worked forward to the second trial with smooth predictability. Dobby gave Harry the gillyweed and he made it into the water. He was surprised and a bit disoriented when he found Ron missing and Hermione in his place, and Padma Patil where Hermione should have been. However, he made it through after stunning the grindylows.
After they were all on the podium, Hermione ran over and gave him her towel and a kiss for saving her and Gabrielle. Ron, who was only a spectator, was clearly disturbed by the appearance that he was losing her to Harry.
Another week passed as they progressed toward the Third Challenge. Suddenly, they were behind Hagrid's hut.
"What the bloody hell happened?" asked Harry. "Why did you pull a Red Lion on us?"
"The biscuits!" said Hermione in a shocked, angry voice.
"What?"
"Molly's damn biscuits," moaned Hermione. "Ginny just tried to give me one. I almost ate it."
"Blimey. We forgot to write them out."
Once again, it was back to the drawing board. Hermione did more rework and headed back the following day.
Their latest entry moved forward very smoothly, as did their romance now that Molly's biscuits were taken off the table, so to speak. They were kissing and snuggling in a secluded room. Harry had just succeeded in removing her top and bra as her hands roamed into previously forbidden territory. Then, in a flash, they were behind Hagrid's.
"What the bloody hell, Hermione?" shouted Harry. "Why? We were…"
"...it's not right," she said in a strangely clear voice as if she had just figured something out. "We can't be to the point of that. Not yet. It's too soon."
"What do you mean? I thought everything was going great," replied Harry, definitely not understanding what she was saying. "We wanted to see if we would fall in love back in school. We are."
"That's the problem. Everything is going too great. We already know everything that is going to happen. If a problem occurs, we write it out," she said. "We aren't testing anything. We are doing a walk-through of the past and cleaning up problems we had the first time."
So...you're saying we shouldn't know anything once we get there?" said Harry, starting to get it. "Just exactly how is that supposed to work?"
"If we really want to test things, we cannot know anything about the future once we get there," she started. "It all just has to happen. The fight with the dragon, everything from then on until we arrive back in real-time. It all has to happen without any outside interference on our part."
"What if something bad happens? Will we still be able to use Red Lion to get out of there?"
"No. Once we go in, we are there for the durations...no matter what happens. We will just have to experience the whole time from then until now. Then it will be a real test."
"That sounds incredibly dangerous?"
It's the only way if we really want to know."