Chapter Two

Disclaimer: I've tried to change my name to J.K. Rowling but my lawyer told me that doesn't mean I get to own the Harry Potter series. So I still own nothing sadly.

I struggled with the pacing and flow of this chapter, coming off a really bad day. Furthermore, I thought I should just add that I don't have any beta so there are going to be some errors and maybe some stuff won't be as clear as I'd like or doesn't flow as well as it should. If you have any feedback don't hesitate to let me know.

Hermione Granger was confused, scratch that she was completely lost. While people seemed to think she knew everything that wasn't the case, she worked best when she had known values to work with, pre-established variables or an opportunity to research. What was happening now was just crazy, ever since she'd joined the magical society she'd had to fight tooth and nail to catch up with what the rules and knowledge already ingrained in her classmates that had been part of it their whole life. But this, nothing she had read had ever mentioned the world just freezing.

A couple of minutes ago she had just split up with Ron to search for where Harry had gotten off to, he must have slipped away somewhere while they were regrouping, and then out of nowhere everything just stopped. The first thing she had noticed unsurprisingly was that she was frozen in place, it was frighteningly similar to her second year when she had been petrified and for a split second she was terrified in case there was another Basilisk roaming around, but then she realised she was too aware for that to be the case. In second year being petrified had felt like being caught halfway between a dream. Sights and sounds had been fleeting, she could remember moments but just couldn't piece them together.

Out of the corner of her eye, she thought she could see stuck in midair Luna skipping down the hallway, in her own world as she always seemed to be. Trying to turn her head felt weird like she was covered in weights and everything was just too heavy to move. Lost in her thoughts as she was, she nearly missed the sound of soft footsteps coming from behind her. Concentrating on the steps as hard as she could she tried to calm her racing heart. A part of her didn't even know why it was beating so hard. Why it felt like every shadow in the room was elongating, reaching out to wrap around her, it felt like death was in the air settling heavily on her shoulders, the atmosphere itself felt electric. Then just as suddenly it all disappeared.

"Sorry, completely forgot you might feel that, my… twin outside was unaffected. But to be fair his still carrying around his own dark presence" The calm voice coming from behind her was a complete shock, hearing the voice of her best friend caused her to spin around, the alien weight holding her in place suddenly disappearing in her surprise.

"HARRY JAMES POTTER '' She almost winced at the sound of her own voice echoing back to her in the silence. "Where have you been?" Now that she could have a good look at him she had her next in a long line of shocks. For some reason he was taller, nearly rivalling Ron in height, his gaunt frame from months of near-starvation on the run was suddenly gone, filled out with a comfortable amount of muscle. Even his eyes were different while not as bright and full of life as they had been while they were still at school. They still were more alive than they had seemed for the last few months. There even seemed to be a hidden depth behind them, like several emotions were overlapping on top of one another. She prided herself on being able to read Harry but too many emotions seemed to be warring within him, she saw grief, anger, happiness before it seemed to settle on baseline contentment.

"Well, it's good to see you too, Hermione. I've been around. But I don't think I'm the one you're looking for. Let's just say he's currently taking a walk in the forest but we'll get to that in a second '' The Harry replied with a small smile. Staring at him she tried to parse his statement for what he could possibly mean.

Coming to a conclusion that she hoped was correct she drew herself up to her full height, not quite the near eye level she was used to with Harry as she responded. "Based on what you said you must be Harry, nothing else would account for looking so similar and yet older. That must mean you're either from the future or less likely somehow from an alternate dimension." Pausing to see if he would confirm either option she was slightly put out when his only response was a slight increase in his smile. "Considering you're here given the risks of time travel there must be something extremely important you need to do. Evidently, my Harry must win if you are still around but there is still a problem that needs to be solved, but the fact that your here talking to me must mean that I'm important or necessary for the solution"

"Excellent deduction Hermione, almost 100% in fact but…" and here the stranger with her friend's face shrugged. "Just one or two missing details. Through no fault of your own. First of all, let's clarify a few things so that you understand what's at stake." With that, he was suddenly at her side and had placed a hand on her shoulder. The sensation that followed was nothing like apparition, while that felt like being forced through a rubber tube this felt more like being stretched across a great distance and then rubber-banding across. When they 'landed' she took a second to gather herself then looked around and what she saw chilled her to the bone.

On one side of the small clearing they had appeared in was a small army of death eaters, the faces of somewhere uncovered and the ones she recognised were terrifying. Bellatrix, Dolohov, Yaxley, Greyback, and worse of all Voldermort himself. Standing opposite them looking so small in comparison she saw Harry and floating in front of him was- "NOOOOO" She took off running towards him, mind blank, uncertain what she would do when she got there.

"Stop Hermione" Future Harry yelled as he grabbed her arm. "There's no point, and interacting with him is just gonna hurt you" He pulled her back, turning her to face him. "I just need you to see what's at stake. This is the end result of Dumbledore's plan. Today is the day that I or at least this version of me dies and I'm hoping to prevent it. But I need your help"

Hermione took a deep breath and stared at this older Harry trying to figure him out and whether or not he was telling the truth. "Ok, explain"