Disclaimer: We don't own Harry Potter.

Although it was a beautiful, sunny day on the Hogwarts grounds, the only movement was that of the Whomping Willow waving a bird away. The only humans to be found were in the library, hidden behind tottering piles of dusty books.

"Hermione, can't we have a break already," whined Ron as he slammed yet another stack of thick, leather-bound books on the table. "We've been doing nothing but research for the last four days."

Ron's plea was enough to finally tear Harry's eyes from the window that looked down at the Quidditch field. What he wouldn't give to be flying again. "Yeah Hermione, I think I've learned all the new jinxes and spells my brain can handle."

Hermione looked up from A Guide to Defeating the Dark Arts, careful to clearly mark her page at the Disillusionment charm. With any luck, she would be able to find it again, as the page would often turn invisible if gone unturned. Harry having finally pushed Quidditch from his mind could tell that she hadn't been sleeping; there were dark circles beneath her eyes and her hair looked more untamed then usual. Not that Harry was one to talk as his jet, black hair was much worse and his few hours of sleep had been filled with nightmares of the task they were so desperately preparing for.

The only one that looked as if he had slept at all was Ron, who had indeed spent a great deal of the morning asleep behind a shelf in the potion section. That didn't stop him from wanting a break however. It seemed that just being near so many books had the power to exhaust him. Hermione who was normally energized by the presence of so much knowledge had also become overwhelmed with work and ominous thoughts about the future and the past.

The three sixth years had had enough experiencewith time travel to be more then a bit nervous about the mission Dumbledore was sending them on, but they knew he had no choice. They were the only ones that could risk being seen, as they would only be one year old at the time. The mission was at top priority and they could tell by the vile look on his face what Professor Snape thought of the three Gryffindors not only being given the mission but also being put in charge! Harry and Ron both shared a strange sense of excitement about finally helping the Order, not to mention a great loathing of Wormtail and seemed at first, very eager to begin.

Instead, it was decide by the Headmaster that they would spend a week at Hogwarts in preparation for their trip. They were in no means ready to take on such a task and would have to plan for every outcome. At Harry's protest of the wait, Lupin had admitted Peter would not be leaving until the end of the week and it was best if they were not there when he arrived. They may not exist to the rest of the world, but Peter would certainly recognize the boy he had stayed with for twelve years and a lookalike of his former friend. Hermione was sure that she had been just as memorable but chose not to press the matter.

Now faced with only a few days left in which to plan, Ron's constant complaint of studying during summer and Harry constantly staring off in to space, Hermione wondered if they would ever be able to pull it off. What if something goes wrong? If Peter changes his plans or Hermione's greatest fear, that Harry changes theirs.

Trying to forget her fears, Hermione slowly pushed away her book and went to look up at her friends, only to see the large double doors of the library swing open and a frantic creature explode out of them.

"Harry Potter, Sir!"

The house-elf running towards them came to a screeching halt, dropping a dozen mismatched socks onto the table.

"Harry Potter, Sir! You are late!" choked out Dobby as he tried to catch his breath.

The three friends stood staring down at the house-elf.

"Dobby what are you talking about? Late for what?" said Harry, who was the first to recover from the shock.

"Yeah, and what's with all the socks?" asked Ron picking a red one off the floor.

Hermione gave Ron a stern look as she knelt down to the elf's level.

"Dobby calm down. Exactly what is it that we're are late for?"

"The mission, the mission! The Headmaster told Dobby you were to leave at 12 o'clock the last day this week."

"Yes, Dobby that's right, we still have three days before we're scheduled to leave." reassured Hermione.

"No you are mistaken, you must leave today!"

"That can't be Dobby, we've only been here four days." said Harry, also bending down to Dobby's level. "I know we've lost track of time a bit, but the sun hasn't gone down more then three times. There's no way we've been here seven days"

Dobby ran to the windows on the far side of the library and snapped his long fingers. The windows instantly changed from the bright and sunny day the sixth years had come to expect to a dark and stormy night. Rain was pounding against the windows and thunder could be heard in the distance.

"Dobby charmed the windows to always be sunny." exclaimed Dobby in a squeaky voice. "You should have left two days ago! You are late! And it is all Dobby's fault!" The house-elf immediately began to smash his head onto the table.

"Are you saying that we've been hanging out in a library for seven days!" asked Ron in a weak voice as if he were about to faint. "No wonder I've been so bored."

Ron earned himself yet another disapproving look from Hermione. Harry quickly grabed Dobby to stop him from hurting himself.

"Are you saying Peter left yesterday afternoon?"

"I do not know, Harry Potter Sir. Harry Potter must leave now sir, you are late!"

Hermione quickly dug a gold watch out of her bag and started to twist the hands.

"Harry, he's right. We must leave now. Everyone grab hands."

"You must take this too sir, good luck sir." Said Dobby as he pushed a yellow sock into Harry's hand and ran from the room.

They heard the final click of the watch and suddenly the room fell silent. Even the hammering of the rain seemed to stop. A blur of color rushed past them and a dark alley began to form before them. Harry could again hear the rain as they were standing in it.

"I don't understand this!" said Hermione swirling around, trying to figure out where they were. "We should have landed right back in the same place, only in the past. How is this possible?"

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