Chapter 4: Are Those Pearls Mine?
Hermione shifted slightly in the bed. It had a strange, spicy smell. But it was warm and very comfortable. She had no desire to wake up just yet even though she felt like she had been sleeping for a very long time.
"Mmm" she muttered.
"M'Lady…You forget that today, you must rise early. Your mother has invited Senor Vittorio to show his silks in the Great Hall."
What was she on about? Hermione thought. What silks? What Great Hall?
Cautiously, Hermione opened her eyes and the room swam into focus. The first thing she saw was the face of a young woman hovering about two feet above her. She was rosy-cheeked and plump and wore a friendly smile. The rest of the room slowly worked its way into her consciousness…there was a heavily embroidered canopy blocking her view of the ceiling. Curtains were tied back to four posts of the bed revealing to her a room that was simply but comfortably furnished. A few pieces of heavy oak furniture were lined up against one wall and a writing desk was pushed against the window. The window had very heavy black lead frames and each pane of glass was tiny. Hermione could not see out the window without actually walking up to it.
In confusion, she sat up as the friendly looking plump woman held a cloth and basin of water out to her.
"Hurry, M'Lady. Senor Vittorio will be here any moment. I already let you sleep too long, but you looked so comfortable I did not want to wake you any earlier."
"Where am I?" said Hermione quietly. Those were such ridiculous words and Hermione instantly felt like she was acting in Neighbours or Days of Our Lives, but at this point in time, she really needed to know where she was. This wasn't Hogwarts! What had happened? She tried to remember but couldn't…all she remembered was going in for her Potions NEWT.
The plump lady looked at her curiously then gave a hearty laugh.
"You are jesting with me, M'Lady! Now is not the time for your tomfoolery! Please, you must wash and dress with haste." Hermione wiped her face and arms with the damp cloth and took a sip of water when offered one from a metal cup. Her head still felt groggy. This wasn't Hogwarts! She realized. What had happened? Where was she?
The plump lady chattered on an on in rapid fire English with a heavy Northern twang that Hermione could hardly make out. She was now brushing down a dark blue silk gown laid out on a chair as well taking out white silk garments from various cupboards around the room.
Hermione cautiously swung her legs over the edge of the bed. Her feet and legs were bare! She was completely naked!
"Eeep!" she gasped.
The plump lady swung around and smiled at her.
"Yes, rather cold this morning M'Lady. Strange for this time in May. Fanhope ordered more wood to be brought in. Looks like summer is late."
Hermione gathered the bedclothes around her. They were soft and woolly and felt deliciously warm. The plump lady came forward with a white garment and held it out. She and Hermione stared at each other.
"M'Lady?"
"Huh?"
The plump lady looked troubled. "M'Lady, do not jest with me. Quickly, come and get dressed."
Hermione looked helplessly at the white garment before her. It was like a long under-dress but with boning at the top and lace stays. She had absolutely no idea how to wear it. Nevertheless, this plump lady looked as if she was going to help he with the whole dressing procedure…so….okay okay…Hermione. Don't panic. Just go along and find out what has happened to you and where you are. Thank God they speak English here…
Hermione got out of bed and went towards the nurse. In two minutes, she was undergoing one of the most painful experiences of her life.
"Aaaah!" breathed Hermione as she clung on to the bed-post.
"There there, M'Lady. We go through this every morning since your mother insisted you were no longer a wee baby. And high time too…Lady Granger has been most soft with you. Most other girls are laced in when they are twelve. But you wept and cried so hard you didn't go into stays till you were fourteen. It's a good thing you're small all around anyway, we don't have to pull it half so tight…"
Lady Granger? Hermione thought hard….that must be her mother! From the looks of everything around her, she must be in England, some time around the late-medieval to early Tudor period…what had brought her back in time? The Potions NEWT…answering Part One of the exam on parchment….Malfoy being an idiot as usual….Part Two…was…was…
"Just in time!" declared the plump lady as she fastened the buttons down the back of Hermione's dark blue silk gown. Hermione was wearing at least two petticoats underneath. "But your hair…" the lady pulled a face. She ran to a chest of drawers and drew out a horn comb and a bunch of ribbons and steel pins.
Just in time…Time! Brew a Thyme Eliminus Potion! That was part two of the examination! She had brewed a Thyme Eliminus! There had been an explosion and screaming….Granger, your potion…How much of it had splashed onto her? How far back had she gone? Why was she in this place and living this life? Was she still Hermione Granger?
"Sit down, please."
Hermione sat down numbly on the bed and felt her thick wavy hair being mercilessly brushed, combed and pulled. Think….think….
She nervously looked at her arms, hands and fingers to see if they were different but fortunately, they looked just as they had when she dressed in her Hogwarts school uniform yesterday. Yesterday…that felt like a million years ago. Hermione used her fingers to feel her face and lips…her face felt the same. Was she still Hermione Granger? She must be, since her mother was Lady Granger…how had she come to inhabit this person's place in life?
"Please…" Hermione turned around to the lady who was arranging her hair.
"Yes, M'Lady?"
"…can I have a mi-looking-glass?" Hermione wanted to say "mirror" but caught herself in time.
"Surely. You know I always give you one before you go." Smiled the lady. She fastened one final plait of Hermione's hair behind her head and took a small round mirror from among her skirts. She handed it to Hermione.
Hermione took it with trembling hands…please let it be me she prayed silently. Please please let me be me she took a deep breath and stared into the mirror.
The face that looked back and her was that of a young girl of about eighteen. She had serious toffee-coloured eyes and long lashes. Her complexion was impossibly fair and there was a slight pink blush on her cheeks. Her lips were soft and pink and were now curving into a slight smile….because, Hermione Granger realized she looked exactly like she did yesterday back in Hogwarts.
"You're so lovely it'll makes the young bards swoon," sighed the plump lady in approval.
Me? Lovely? Thought Hermione. She had never considered this issue before. She was always more concerned with books and cleverness. Except for that one time Krum had asked her to the Yule Ball, Hermione's toilette in Hogwarts was to run a comb through her hair and splash water on her face before running down for breakfast with Harry and Ron and immersing herself in studies. Hermione had certainly never thought she could be considered "lovely".
It helped that the plump lady had dressed her hair exquisitely, braided it with ribbons woven in and pinned half of it on her head. Pearls hung down from the sides of her head and were fastened to a point at the back of her neck. Are those pearls mine? Hermione sneaked a look at her outfit in the tiny looking-glass and saw that her breasts were pushed up high and the top of the blue silk gown clung becomingly to all her curves. Curves! She never knew she had curves! A large, gold brooch was pinned to her breast.
Wow, this is almost like a make-over she thought. Wait till I get back to Hogwarts and Harry and Ron see me now!
This brought her plunging back to reality.
There was no Harry.
There was no Ron.
There was no Hogwarts.
There was only Hermione Granger, daughter of Lady and Lord Granger stuck somewhere in the 15th Century…
Hermione followed her maidservant down a narrow stone hallway hung with beautiful tapestries. Her footsteps echoed along the hallway. Occasionally, she could glance out of windows or into rooms leading off from the hallway. They descended a flight of stone stairs, worn smooth with use, and turned a corner to enter a large hall with a high, vaulted ceiling. A lady in a rich looking dark-green gown similar to the one Hermione was wearing turned around and smiled at her.
"Mother!" shrieked Hermione in relief, running towards the familiar face.
The happy look on the lady's face turned into an expression of surprise.
"Hermione…what is the matter with you this morning? Why do you shout so?"
Hermione was trying to hug the lady but the lady gently restrained her and patted her on the back.
"Mother! Oh, I'm so glad you are here!" said Hermione excitedly.
"Well, where else would I be? Senor Vittorio will be here any moment now to show us the cloths from Italy. They have the very best cloth there and your father asked him to have a special showing for us."
Hermione's mother, so familiar and yet so foreign, misunderstood the disappointed look on her daughter's face.
"What's wrong, child? Are you not glad that we will have new gowns in winter?"
Hermione shook her head. "No…I mean….yes, Of course I am glad, mother. It was very kind of father to think of us."
Her mother took her by the shoulders and looked deep into her eyes.
"There is something different about you this morning, Hermione. But…I do not know what it is."
Hermione wanted to cry, but instead, she swallowed her insecurity and smiled. If she was going to come back in time and be stuck in a kind of alternate reality, it could have been a lot worse than being reborn as rich lord's daughter.
"It is nothing mother. I am too excited at being shown the cloth, I am angry that Senor Vittorio is late."
Hermione's back-in-time mother laughed and petted her daughter.
"That is more like my daughter. Feisty and full of life…your father said we should watch your playful nature, but I do love that about you." She said kindly.
Hermione smiled and took the lady's hand. Even though she did not behave like Hermione's mother would in real life, she clearly loved Hermione with a mother's deep love. And for Hermione, alone in a foreign world, it was something to be grateful for. Footsteps approached the hallway and a well-dressed man entered the hall. He bowed when he saw the two of them.
"M'Ladies, Senor Vittorio wishes to enter."
"Show him in, Audley." Said Lady Granger.
Ten minutes later, despite her whole unfortunate situation, Hermione Granger couldn't help but be totally and happily involved in choosing rich Italian fabrics for her winter gowns.
**************************************************
"She's GONE!" yelled Harry, rushing over to Bench 6.
Parvati and Lavender were still screaming from the shock of the explosion. Even Pansy Parkinson looked stunned.
"What do you mean she's GONE?" shouted Ron, looking desperately around for Hermione.
"Hermione….has….DISAPPEARED!" yelled Harry, frantically searching around Bench 6 for signs of her.
"Students! STUDENTS!" bellowed the examiner, suddenly very authoritative. The Gryffindors and Slytherins stopped their screams and shouts and turned to face him. The little bald man's face was white. He looked barely able to control his own panic. In all his years, this was the worst mishap he had encountered in Potions. Even worse than when, fifteen years ago, Amanda Bones had accidentally smeared some of her potion on her ears and had flowers growing out of them for a month,
"Return to your seats." He said, loudly.
"Please sir! Hermione's gone!" said Harry desperately.
"I SAID RETURN TO YOUR SEATS."
Harry and Ron exchanged agonized glances and went back to their benches.
"IS EVERYBODY ACCOUNTED FOR?"
Harry's hand shot up. "PLEASE SIR! HERMIONE GRANGER, THE HEAD GIRL, HAS DISAPPEARED!"
The bald wizard wiped sweat from his by now gleaming forehead.
"Yes. I can see that…her potion exploded…what about the rest of you?" Nervously, the Gryffindors and Slytherins began to glance at each other…It was almost at the same moment that everone realized…
"MALFOY HAS DISAPPEARED TOO!" said about ten voices at the same time.
The bald wizard swallowed hard. "Malfoy? The Head Boy? Her bench partner?"
"Yes, he's GONE!" squealed Pansy and burst into noisy sobs. Millicent followed and Blaise hung her head. Crabbe and Goyle looked stunned. They didn't really know how to continue life without Draco around to worship.
"I saw them fade away…" said Goyle nervously.
"He was beside her, lifting her or something…they disappeared!" volunteered Crabbe.
Both boys looked out of their depth.
Millicent joined Pansy with equally noisy sobs..
"No need for hysterics," said the bald wizard stiffly. He rubbed his forehead nervously. Right, two missing…Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy: cause, exploding Thyme Eliminus Potion...." he thought of the mountains of paperwork in front of him and felt giddy. "First things first, Finnegan?" Seamus looked up. "Take an empty flask and gather up some of Miss Granger's spilled potion for analysis. Brown?" Lavender looked up. "Go and fetch your headmaster and your heads of houses, now…GO!"
Lavender scuttled out of the room in search of the professors.
The bald man saw that the hourglass had run down. Three hours were up.
"Due to the disruption, I am allotting you ten more minutes to complete your potions and stopper them. Please continue."
Harry and Ron went shakily about pouring their potions into flasks and labeling them. Footsteps were heard along the corridor and soon, Dumbledore, McGonagall and Snape appeared, followed by Lavender Brown.
Dumbledore looked more worried than Harry had seen him look for a long time.
"Longbottom again, I suppose?" said Snape.
"Er…no…" said the examiner. "It was Miss Granger…her Thyme Eliminus Potion exploded and now she and Mr Malfoy, her bench partner, have er…disappeared, as it were."
"D-disappeared?" whispered McGonagall faintly. Hermione was her favourite student.
"What?! Malfoy too?" said Snape in shock. Draco was his favourite student.
"Er yes…" said the examiner. "These things happen. Mr Malfoy got splashed by a large amount of her potion when her cauldron exploded…I'm afraid they've gone back in time."
"Students, you are dismissed." Said Dumbledore calmly to the Slytherins and Gryffindors who were listening all agog to their professors.
With many nervous mutterings of "What happened to them? Where are they?", the students left the room.
"Potter, Weasley, Zabini….you may stay" said Dumbledore to the three students. Harry, Ron and Blaise lingered by the examiner's bench.
Snape closed the door to the dungeon and the professors and students gathered around the examiner's bench to decide on the plan of action.
"Details?" said Snape, shortly to the examiner.
"Miss Granger had nearly completed her Thyme Eliminus…there was no indication of any trouble…then suddenly, there was huge explosion and I saw Miss Granger slide to the ground covered with the Potion and Mr Malfoy was covered with it too. He knelt down by her and started to lift her up…"
Here, there were gasps from Potter, Weasley and Zabini,
"…and then I got a report from several students that they saw the two of them sort of..er…fade…and then they disappeared for good. Awful thing to happen. And here is the sample of Miss Granger's potion that exploded…there wasn't much to collect, most of it went on her and Mr Malfoy." The examiner pushed a flask with Dark Red liquid across the table to the professors.
"Severus?" Dumbledore said, "I think this is your area? Cold you help us test the strength of Miss Granger's potion so we have some idea of what has happened to her?" Severus Snape nodded and took the flask, leaving the dungeon quickly.
"How will they get back without time-turners?" yelped Ron, finally asking the question that had been on everyone's mind. There was a short silence.
"If they still have their wands, it should be easy for them to perform simple magic and apparate themselves to Hogwarts in the past and ask for help there…" said the examiner eagerly. McGonagall looked relieved.
"Please…" said Harry, clearing his throat.
"Of course, Albus!" said the witch in green robes. "Miss Granger is a smart girl. She will think of that immediately. She got her License to Apparate last year, as did Mr Malfoy…"
"Please, Professor Dumbledore sir," said Harry, unable to contain himself any longer, "Hermione doesn't have her wand with her!" said Harry, drawing out Hermione's wand and putting on the table.
"Where did you get that?" said the examiner curiously.
"I found it on her desk. She always likes to put her wand next to her quill when she does Potions" said Harry.
"Excuse me," said Blaise softly. "Draco left his wand behind too…" she took out Draco Malfoy's black ebony wood wand and put it down on the table next to Hermione's. "I picked it up from his desk. He doesn't carry it on his person during Potions either."
The gathered group stared at each other in despair.
"Perhaps unfocused magic?" ventured Ron haltingly. All magical people could do unfocused magic without their wands but it was often unreliable. Even as he said it, Ron knew it was a bad proposition. McGonagall shook her head.
"There is hope yet," said Dumbledore. On his face was a deep look of concentration. "I can think of one way they can return…without the use of their wands. I only hope they think of it too."
Everyone turned to the headmaster, waiting for him to explain, to give them hope.
Dumbledore sighed and began explaining to them the way Hermione and Draco could return on their own devices. It was so simple, so logical…but not at all easy.
On the table, Draco's ebony wand and Hermione's holly wand lay next to each other. Close, but not touching.