Disclaimer: see prologue.

Chapter Eight: "Promise"

"Ow, ow, ow," Kali winced and she pulled herself up from the floor. "That was not at all pleasant," she muttered to herself.

It was late at night and she hadn't been able to sleep, so she had decided to go down to common room. She had been at the top of the staircase leading down from the Ravenclaw girls' dormitories when she had fallen. But "fallen" didn't seem to be the accurate term. It was like she had been ripped from the spot in which she had stood and everything had caved in around her. Swirling torrents of nameless colors and sounds fell with her. She was now at the bottom of the staircase, as she pulled herself up, she was uncomfortably aware of someone staring at her.

She looked around to the fireplace, the fire was dying, so there was very little light by which to see. But she could tell that there was someone—a young man—facing her direction. If Kali squinted, she could tell that his mouth was hanging open. She was a bit perturbed, if the boy saw her then why hadn't he helped her up? Well, so much for the idea that chivalry might still be alive.

Kali gasped as her eyes adjusted to the light. She realized in a mixture between horror and ecstasy that she knew this boy. Knew his face, knew his shaggy hair, knew his piercing eyes… all too well.

She must be dreaming. There was simply no way this could've happened… without Elita. "Sh—Shane?" She asked, her voice quavering uncontrollably.

The boy quite literally jumped out of the chair he had been sitting in and enveloped Kali in a huge bear hug. "Kali! Oh God, I missed you so much…"

It was Shane! She didn't realize how much she had missed him until he was in her arms once again. She ran her fingers through his chestnut-colored hair.

He pulled away from her and took her face in his hands, as if to study it. Shane had always had a way of reading her thoughts, knowing exactly how she felt or what she was thinking. It was his eyes, Kali discovered, his deep, never-ending brown eyes that were able to search her soul. "I don't need to know what happened," he whispered soothingly, in a voice that almost made her shiver longingly. "All that matters is that you're okay." Kali saw a single, silent tear falling down his cheek. He pulled her close, his fingers running through her long dark hair, and kissed her passionately.

When he finally pulled away, she began to sob uncontrollably. She wasn't sure why. Maybe it was because the world's horrors, Voldemort and the traitor, were finally starting to sink into her mind. She didn't know. She didn't know anything. She continued to cry.

He didn't ask what was wrong. He simply held her. And for a long while, Kali wished nothing more than to stay in his embrace forever.


Elita screamed. She woke up from a nightmare only to realize that the nightmare was real. She had to change the past. But it was impossible. The past cannot be changed—not like this. As if the fates themselves had heard her revelation, they ripped her away from time and space. But she couldn't leave yet! They hadn't changed anything! But how could they if the past couldn't be changed? She didn't understand. So she screamed out of fury and horror. She was falling…

Her eyes snapped open, still in the 6th year Gryffindor girls' dormitory… but it was different. She knew what had happened, but she still couldn't believe it.

She tiptoed silently over to the four-poster which had belonged to Hermione Granger a few moments ago. But now… it inhabited none other than her daughter. Kris! For a moment Elita thought Kris would wake up, but she merely muttered something about snitches and cockroach clusters and turned over.

This was all wrong, what had they changed? She knew what had happened. She had somehow been taken back to her own time. Twenty-five years following where she had just been… but how? They never went back until they had changed something… Elita shuddered, for it hit her: how did she even know she was supposed to change anything? She knew nothing about her power, she didn't know why she had it or exactly what it could do. Kali! What if she was still stuck twenty-five years in the past? Elita couldn't get back—what if Kali was stuck there forever—just like she had feared? Elita didn't know anything…

But she did know that she had to talk to someone. The only person who knew her secret. She quietly tiptoed up to the boys' dormitories to wake Stephen Weasley.


Ste looked at her in horror. "Why are you telling me this?" he asked, aghast. They sat alone in the common room. They had been talking for what was approaching two hours. Tiny glimmers of sunlight were beginning to peak out of the horizon.

"Because, Ste," Elita answered. "You're the only person who knows that I have the power to time-travel besides Kali. And you're the only one who knows that Kali's a Seer besides Dumbledore and me. And if Kali didn't come back, and I can't get back, then she's stuck in the past!"

"I-I don't think she's trapped in the past," said Ste thoughtfully.

"How do you know?"

"Well, if she'd stayed in the past, I think we'd have a grown-up Kali on our hands, and I think she would've warned us of what was happening if that were true."

"I guess that makes sense…" said Elita, wondering why she hadn't thought of that.

Ste studied the piece of paper Elita had handed him from her pocket. Written on it were the words Singulus Alius. Elita had given Ste the piece of parchment, but she hadn't told him about the notebook. It just didn't seem important compared to all the other recent happenings. "I've never seen a spell like this before, El," he told her quietly, changing the subject. "But what if it works?"

Elita looked at him, utterly confused. "Okay… so then it works. I know why I can travel through time."

"No," he corrected as he shook his head. "You only know how." He was quiet for several moments before he finally spoke. "Have you told Kali about this?"

Elita grew only more confused. "No, but why does that matt—"

"So you and I," he continued. "Are the only ones who know about this… this summoning spell thing?"

"Yes."

"How sure of that are you?" he asked, a steely note in his voice.

"Well, I think I'd remember telling someone about that," she replied.

Ste was silent again. He scratched his head thoughtfully, ruffling his red hair. "What if someone else knows?" He asked quietly. "Maybe you're not being sent back in time by some powers-that-be to help the greater good, maybe you're…"

"Maybe I'm what, Stephen?" she asked coldly, inwardly anticipating his answer.

Ste shifted uncomfortably. "Being… manipulated. Manipulated by something… not-so-good."

Elita was silent for a moment. She had never felt this stupid or this angry in her life. "I don't understand!" she screamed. "Why then? What happened in Harry Potter's sixth year at Hogwarts that is so damned important for some 'not-so-good' guy?"

Ste was silent yet again. But for a very different reason. It seemed a great wave of sadness and grief had swept over him, turning his beautiful gray eyes cold. Elita wasn't quite sure why, but she took his hand in a gesture of comfort and apology.

Ste looked at her. "What if what happened in Harry Potter's sixth year has nothing to do with Harry Potter?"

"Wha—?"

"The traitor," Ste took a deep breath. "The traitor you told me about. He's older than we are, and has always been close to the Potters. He's flame-haired. Of course you would assume it was my dad," Ste did not sound cynical, however. He sounded thoughtful, and also scared. "But what if it's not him? What… what if you are being manipulated by something evil? What if instead of going back to change the past… you went back to confirm it?" Ste took another deep breath. Elita squeezed his hand tighter; she could tell this was killing him, she just wished she knew why. "So—so you told me… th—the time you were just in… you're the one that introduced my m-mum to my dad?"

"Well it was Kali's idea, but—" Elita stopped in mid-sentence. She suddenly understood. It all made sense. "We didn't change anything," Elita told herself in a hushed voice. "We confirmed it. God damn it!" she screamed. It all made sense. Every time she had gone back in time to "change" something before this—she realized she had only been confirming the events, and this was no different. Kali was right, whenever she had her visions, she had only been seeing the would-be future…

But how could it be possible? How could it be true? How could they have not seen it before? "How could I have been so stupid! We made sure that he'll betray the Potters! We thought it through a million times… There's got to be another explanation. I can't believe—"

She stopped when she realized that Ste was now in tears. She hugged him; it was the only thing she knew to do.

"It must've been the only way," Ste said through sobs. "If you're right—if your powers allow you to go back so you can change things—to change them for the better… If preventing him from being born was the only way he wouldn't betray them, then it's his destiny. There's nothing else we can do about it."

Elita looked at him hopefully. "Maybe if we told the Order! Right this second! Then he wouldn't get a chance to—"

Ste handed her a letter that had been in his pajama pants' pocket and shook his head sadly, tears still flowing freely down his face.

Elita read the letter quickly. "When did you get this?" she demanded.

"Today."

Elita shook her head in disgust. "One day. ONE FUCKING DAY! If we had figured this out one day ago then we would still have a chance!" Then an idea struck her. "Ste! The spell! The one I showed you—I could use it! I could use it to go back and tell the Order before he gets away—"

"No, Elita!" he said, so sharply it made her jump. "If you are being manipulated God knows what that spell will do to you! We're just going to have to deal with this normally, as if we didn't know about the spell."

Elita looked over to Ste, who was still crying, but these tears were very different. His eyes, she noticed, were no longer cold, however burned with an undying fury.

He snatched the letter back from her and ignited it with the tip of his wand. He set it into the fireplace. His jaw was clenched. Elita could tell that it was taking every bit of Ste's willpower not to blow up the common room.

In a voice full of unspeakable loathing he whispered, "I'll kill him."

It was not a threat, Elita realized, but a promise.