"GINNY"
Ginny's eyes flew open when she heard the shriek. She jumped up, grabbed her wand and ran out towards where Hermione had shrieked.
"What happened?Are we under attack again? Are you hurt? We must apparate away"
She looked at Hermione who was staring at something with her jaw dropped. A flash of fear ran through her. Was Hermione cursed or something?
She waved her hand in front of Hermione's face and Hermione looked at her.
"This is going to sound crazy, Ginny...but I think I just saw a couple of Gryffindors playing Quidditch back there" she said
Ginny gave her a look "Have you lost your mind? Gryffindor is banned by Tom. The bastard wouldn't let Gryffindors eat in the Great Hall, much less let them play Quidditch-"
"I know it sounds crazy...but I saw one of them wearing them Gryffindor robes. I swear, Ginn-"
Suddenly they heard a whoop and laughter, they jumped with their wands out.
Ginny swallowed "Do you think it's them?"
"No" Hermione said "I told you, I saw some boys playing Quidditch"
Ginny looked at Hermione and saw how sincere she looked. Taking a deep breath, she said "Ok then...if there's someone who really has the courage to be playing Quidditch up in the sky in Gryffindor robes then I guess we ought to meet them"
Hermione nodded and Ginny closed her eyes "But Merlin help me, Hermione, if I end up dead then I'll haunt for the rest of my life"
Hermione rolled her eyes "That doesn't make any sense. And if anything, you'll thank me for giving you freedom from this destroyed world"
Ginny shrugged "Or that"
The two girls followed the noise of laughter and Ginny could hear the rustling of the Quaffle. Her hand tightened around her wand as she shared one last look with Hermione before the two peeked out from behind the trees to see who was playing.
"Is that..?" Hermione gasped as she leant forward
"No Hermione" Ginny said pulling her back "We can't let them see us-"
"It's Harry" Hermione said making Ginny gasp
"What!?" Ginny exclaimed looking up with narrowed eyes to see the person clearly. It really was Harry. Was this some kind of a twisted trap to lure them out?
"Is this a trap?" Hermione asked "We all saw Harry die, how can he-"
"WATCH OUT!" Ginny yelled pushing Hermione out of the way as a Quaffle came zooming towards them. She caught it in her hands before looking at Hermione who had fallen down.
"Merlin Ginny" Hermione snapped "I almost hexed you, you should know not to make any sudden movements around each other by now"
'Yeah well...you should be thanking me or I would be looking at a cracked open skull instead of your bushy hair right now" Ginny snapped back at her.
Hermione looked at the Quaffle, her eyes softening.
"You're right, I'm sorry. I just get really frightened by sudden movements, we both do"
They shared a solemn glance indicating that everything was fine.
"Hey you!" came a voice and their gaze shot up to look at 4 boys floating above them on their brooms.
Hermione had been close enough. One of them did look like Harry but there were some differences between them, for example he had a face full of laughter unlike Harry's ever-depressed one. His hair was a little more rich and most importantly, his eyes were brown. Like hers.
What drew Ginny's attention was that this 'Harry-clone' was wearing Gryffindor Quidditch robes.
"Blimey, Hermione" she said "You were right. They really are wearing Gryffindor robes"
"Way to prioritise the situation Ginny" Hermione hissed at her "Who are they?And why does that guy look so much like Harry?"
The boys continued to look down at them with shock and awe in their expression.
"Who are you?" one of the other boys with long black hair said "And what are you on the Potters' property"
"Whose property!?" Hermione and Ginny burst out in shock
"The Potters" the boy said
"What year is this?" Hermione demanded
"1976" they said back making Ginny gasp and Hermione shriek.
"WHAT!?"
The four boys shared a look before coming down to stand in front of them.Ginny and Hermione pointed their wands at them making them raise their hands in defense.
"Woah" Harry-clone said "Calm down,ladies. Say what, Padfoot, isn't this the first time that girls have pointed their wands straight at us isn't it?"
The girls eyed them weirdly making the other boy with sandy blonde hair shake his head in exasperation.
"Honestly James, Sirius. This is serious" he said "And don't use that ridiculous pun" he snapped when the long-haired boy opened his mouth.
Ginny blinked her eyes twice "James?Sirius?"
She looked at Hermione who looked just as shocked. Suddenly as if a bulb went off in her head, she gasped. She looked at Ginny who had seemed to have connected the dots.
"That's right" James said moving forward to hold his hand out "I'm James. James Potter"
James was remarkably like Harry. Finally the two girls could see that people weren't far off when they said that Harry was the spitting image of his father with the exception of his eyes.
Ginny warily shook his hand before pulling back quickly earning her an odd look from James.
One by one each of them introduced themselves.
"I'm the handsomest of the group, Sirius Black at your service" Sirius said.
Hermione could see the similarities between this Sirius and the Sirius she had been acquainted with but that Sirius was much more mature and had obviously been taken on by Azkaban.
"Handsomest isn't a word" she corrected absent-mindedly.
Ginny rolled her eyes "Honestly, we meet four people who were supposed to have been dead long ago and she corrects their grammar" she said to herself.
"I'm Remus Lupin" the sandy blonde boy said "Forgive these two losers, they are awfully immature and foolish"
Ginny and Hermione shared an amused look on hearing the offended scoffs that came from James and Sirius.
"I-I'm Peter Pe-Pettigrew"
Hearing this, they both stiffened but nonetheless smiled at him.They couldn't afford to have someone be suspicious of them.
"Who are you?" James asked curiously "And why were you in that forest?"
"I'm Hermione Gr-" Hermione started before grunting when Ginny elbowed her in the back "I mean, Hermione Beaumont"
Ginny shut her eyes in frustration 'She's gone and made us French. For as smart as the girl is, she can sure be really stupid' she thought to herself
She shot Ginny a look that said 'Help me, you know I'm a terrible liar' and so Ginny stepped forward and said "I'm Ginny Beaumont...we're sisters"
"You don't look alike at all" Sirius said suspiciously
"We're cousins" Ginny lied smoothly. Years of trying to get out of trouble after pranking someone with Fred and George had done her some good.
"Right" Remus said "And why were you in that forest? And why do you look so... " he trailed off, looking them up and down.
Ginny and Hermione looked at their attire. Their clothes were ripped from places and extremely dirty.
"Oh uh…"Hermione started but Ginny cut in before she put her foot in her mouth.
"We're from the South of France. Our family was killed in a Death Eater attack" she said, she could only pray that the Death Eaters had started attacking by now.
She internally sighed in relief when the boys got a look of realization on their faces.
"We were the only ones who managed to survive but the Death Eaters have been looking for us. Which is why we were on the run from them. We were attacked yesterday and managed to apparate here. We were staying in that cave over there" she said pointing to the cave out of which she'd run out "When we heard you"
The four boys shared a look before looking at them as if assessing their sincerity. Ginny gulped and Hermione prayed that her lie was convincing enough.
Finally James grinned at them and said "Well...firstly, I'm so sorry for your loss. Secondly, since you're here, how about you come inside? Meet mum and dad and they can probably help you get into contact with someone you know"
Sharing a look with Ginny, Hermione pursed her lips and said "If we won't be intruding-"
"Oh rubbish" Sirius said as she bounded forward to wrap his arms around each of their shoulders making them tense. It was a reflex really. "The Potters would love to have you. Good old Euphemia would love to have another woman around let alone two!And Fleamont would love to hear the tales of your adventure and the attack."
Sharing an apprehensive look, the two girls let themselves be carried along with Sirius who was leading them towards a not-so-small-but-not-so-big cottage.
It was a beautiful cottage with a swing in the front porch and a beautiful garden around it. There were vast open lands around it and it reminded the two girls of the Burrow.
As they neared the cottage, the front door opened and an old looking woman stepped out wearing an apron. She looked at the two girl suspiciously and Ginny did not miss the way she had her wand at the ready on the back of her arm.
'Understandable' she thought to herself 'There is a Dark Lord out there after all'
"Mia" Sirius boomed "Meet Ginny and Hermione, we found them wandering about in the forest"
"We weren't wandering around" Hermione said "We were resting there before we came to find you, not the other way around" she said narrowing her eyes at Sirius.
Ginny shook her head "Priority Hermione" she said to her before turning to the woman she assumed was 'Euphemia' or 'Mrs.Potter'.
"I assume that you are Mrs.Potter" Ginny said sweetly with a smile which was hesitantly returned "Actually me and my sister were on the run from Death Eaters, they had attacked our family when we were in Marseille" she said as she remembered Fleur lived there with her family for part of the year. "They were all killed and well, we've been in hiding ever since" Hearing this, Euphemia's face softened and a sorrowful look came into her eyes.
Then Hermione spoke "Me and Ginny need protection and we've heard that Hogwarts is one of the safest places on the planet. So we decided to go there"
Ginny nodded along with her 'sister'.
Euphemia smiled at them and said "Well why don't you come in while I call Albus and Fleamont and inform them about our new guests"
The 6 youngsters entered the cottage and Hermione and Ginny kept standing near the door in case they needed to make a quick escape. This was, ofcourse, not missed by any of the residents.
Another 15 minutes and out from the floo came none other than Albus Dumbledore.
Ginny and Hermione were taken aback by how young and wrinkle-free this Dumbledore looked. He did not have the worry lines of years of war. But he did, still, have that twinkle in his eyes.
The two girls moved forward and greeted the Headmaster.
"Mr.Dumbledore" Hermione said "I am Hermione Beaumont and my sister, Ginny Beaumont"
Albus nodded to them in greeting and said "Ms.Beaumonts I was told that you wanted to speak with me about something"
The two girls nodded "In private" Ginny said
"Very well" Albus said and the three went inside what appeared to be the study of Mr.Potter.
Ginny took a moment to look around at the photographs (some muggle some magical) of a couple with what looked like a younger version of James. There was a picture of a naked James dancing around in the garden which made her stifle her laughter.
She looked back at Dumbledore after she made sure that Hermione had warded the room against eavesdropping and bugging and said "Firstly, what we are to tell you must remain between the three of us. It is of utmost importance. No one can even get an inkling of what we are to tell you"
Dumbledore had now straightened up in his seat and was looking at them seriously.
"Remain assured, Ms.Beaumont, I shall keep this between us only"
And so Hermione and Ginny set out to tell the entire tale of their timeline to Dumbledore who listened passively with a troubled expression crossing over his face every so often.
"So we lost the war in your timeline?" Albus muttered
"We lost a lot more than the war, Headmaster" Hermione said grimly "A lot more than anyone could possibly imagine"
"And you do not know how you ended up here?" Albus said
"You believe us?" Ginny said "Just like that?"
"Stranger things have been known to happen,Ms.Beaumont. So now that you are here, you are free to change the timeline?"
"We don't know" Hermione said "But we are going to try.It doesn't matter if the future timeline gets disrupted, there's nothing left there anyway. We want to right all the wrongs done. We can stop this war before it has even started"
Albus nodded "Then I am all for supporting you both. I must ask, in your timeline, did I still build the-"
"Order of the Pheonix?" Ginny interrupted "Yes you did"
"It has just been started here" Dumbledore said "Would you like to join?"
"We will" Hermione said "But no one should know that we know of the future. There are people who have joined and who will join that you cannot trust but it is crucial that they join. If they get any inkling of our truth, we may lost everything all over again"
Ginny nodded "We will make the plans and we'll make thorough plans that you will follow to the T" she said before taking a deep breath "We need to win this war, Headmaster, whether by hook or by crook"