Seeing the Past, Present, and Future
Truth Unveiled
Snow was falling gently outside of Hogwart's doors. For every student with a packed trunk there was at least one calling out for a lost sock or a misplaced charms book. The Hogwarts express would be leaving soon and for once Harry had not signed up to stay over the winter break. Him, Hermione, Ron, and the nameless first-year Gryffindor who had befriended them would all be returning to Grimmauld Place for Christmas.
"I can't find my Prefect's badge!" Ron exclaimed to his roommate.
Harry shrugged. "Sorry, mate, I haven't seen it."
"Uggh. Do you know where Hermione is?" the red-haired boy inquired.
"Probably at the library, considering her trunk's packed," Harry told Ron.
"Still trying to find stuff out about that pendant, eh?"
"Undoubtedly," replied the Boy Who Lived.
"Ah! Here's my Prefect's Badge! What's it doing under the dresser?" asked Ron rhetorically.
Harry shrugged again. "We should go down to meet the train soon."
"Yeah. Okay, I'm ready to go now." Ron stood up and started dragging his trunk down the stairs, Harry walking behind him.
"Hello, Hermione. Find anything?" Harry greeted his friend upon their arrival to the common room.
"No!" she exclaimed in a very frustrated tone of voice. "It's been almost a month! And I still haven't found a single piece of information! Not in Magical Artifacts, or Enchanted Muggle Objects or—"
"'Mione. Calm down. It's Winter Break! Besides, we'll definitely be able to find something out about her when we're at Grimmauld Place."
"Who's 'her'?" inquired the first-year Gryffindor, appearing rather suddenly.
"Augh! Hi! No one!" Ron replied rather hurriedly.
The young girl looked slightly hurt, obviously being able to tell that Ron was hiding something, but didn't say much else.
"Let's go down to the train," Harry spoke in the silence that followed. The group silently agreed and they started the long walk down to the front of Hogwarts.
Just as they were going down their fifth staircase (Harry was counting) the quiet first year spoke; "I'm going home, you know."
"Really? That's wonderful, that you'll be able to see your parents!" Hermione replied, about to give the young girl a hug when the first-year gave her a rather vicious glare, stopping her in her tracks. "What's wrong?" asked Hermione instead.
"Lupin says they're sending me home," the girl repeated in a rather furious tone of voice.
"Isn't—isn't that good?" Hermione inquired while the two boys stayed silent.
"Look. It's like—" the girl started angrily, before taking a deep breath and continuing in a much calmer tone. "I'm going to miss Hogwarts and I'm going to miss you three," she explained in a tone which could even be considered sad.
"Aw, well we're going to miss you, too," Hermione replied.
The girl gave a sad smile. "But let's not think about that for now."
Unfortunately, that comment was much easier said than done as the exact date of her departure approached.
"I can't believe you're not going to be here for Christmas!" Hermione exclaimed the day before the young girl would have to leave.
She gave a sad smile. "Yeah. I wish I didn't have to leave but they say it's for the best."
"Well at least we're going to see you at Hogwarts, even if we won't be able to see you for most of the break," replied Hermione.
"Actually," the little girl looked at her shoes, before continuing in a tone which clearly stated that she didn't want to say what she had to, "I'm not going to be returning to Hogwarts. And you can't owl me either."
"What? Why?" Hermione asked, unable to believe her ears.
"You just can't, I'm sorry. I'd love it if I could keep in touch with you three but I just can't. I'm sorry," she whispered the last words. It looked like she was very unhappy, with tears filling her eyes.
"It's okay," Hermione quickly said. "We know it's not your fault."
"Thank you," the girl whispered.
"Why don't I give you your Christmas gift now, since tomorrow you'll be busy packing?" Hermione inquired in a much happier tone.
The girl lightly brushed the tears from her eyes. "Okay," she spoke, still rubbing her eyes.
The bushy-haired girl left for a moment but quickly returned with a brightly wrapped package. "Here," she excitedly said, handing the gift to the young girl.
"Thank you," she quietly replied, carefully unwrapping and opening the box. "What's this?" she curiously asked, pulling out a brown bag.
"It's a book bag but it has a charm cast on it so all of the objects you put into it shrink while they're residing in there and then when you pull them out they become normal size again. It means you can carry a lot more with it weighing a lot less."
The girls face lit up. "Thank you!" she happily exclaimed, giving Hermione a tight hug.
"You're welcome and Merry Christmas two days early."
The Golden Trio stood together, looking at the small girl in front of them. "I guess this is goodbye," the timid girl started.
"Yeah," Hermione whispered into the near-empty room; their friend was leaving today. She stood in front of them, short and brown-haired as always, yet somehow looking different. For some odd reason the only thing bag she was bringing with her was the bag Hermione had given her as a gift the day before. It was very heavy though, and presumably filled with a great number of the objects that she had acquired here. Harry noticed, though, that she had left all of her robes in her room and was currently wearing a very Muggle ensemble, the one she had arrived in, actually.
"It's too bad, I would have liked to spend more time with you three." The trio of friends gave small murmuring sounds of agreement. "Bye," she finally spoke, turning around and opening the door behind her.
"Wait! Aya!" Harry blurt out.
The girl turned around, a look of surprise on her face. "You…know my name?" she stated wondrously.
"Not at first, but I made the effort to learn it recently," Harry replied. "I want to apologize, for whenever we were kind of cold to you."
The girl smiled. "Thank you, and apology accepted. I also want to say…thank you for supporting me, and trying to help me whenever you could." She suddenly ran forward and embraced Harry. "I'm never going to forget you three, or the Order of the Phoenix. Thank you. And thank you for the gift, too, Hermione. Goodbye, you three."
"Goodbye," the three spoke at different intervals.
"Goodbye," she replied.
"Oh, wait, Aya, I wanted to ask you when your birthday was," Hermione quickly interjected. "So I can try and send you an owl, even if you don't think you'll be able to receive it."
The girl gave a sad smile. "That's sweet of you, Hermione. My birthday is the second Blue Moon of its year, March 31st, 2018. Goodbye!" she reiterated before finally closing the door and leaving their lives forever.
The Golden Trio gawked at the spot where she had stood a mere moment before. "2018…" Ron weakly repeated. "2018…"
"How is that possible? March 31st 2018 isn't going to occur for 22 years," Harry spoke in a voice barely above a whisper.
"I guess that explains…some things…" Hermione spoke as they started walking.
"Like what?" Ron asked.
"Like why we can't write her," the bushy-haired girl quietly explained as they reached their rooms. "Where are my books!" she suddenly exclaimed upon opening her trunk.
"What?" her red-haired friend questioned, caught off guard.
Hermione took out a small piece of paper and started reading from it. "'Dear Hermione, I feel horrible about taking your books but you must believe me when I say that I need them badly as they are the only way I can further my education. Please forgive me and let me wish you good luck with your life as this will probably the last time I am in contact with you. Take care, Aya.'"
"Was she sent back successfully?"
"Forward more like, and yes, the Prior Incantatem worked surprisingly well."
"So there's not a trace of her left?"
"Nothing but the memories left in people's minds."
"I do wish we didn't have to send her back, but she does not belong in this time, and only trouble can come if she were to stay here. Did you ever find out why she could tell you were a werewolf?"
"She was born on a blue moon, the second one of the year actually, which is a rare occurrence, but there haven't been any cases of this before."
"Do you think she could have met you in the future?"
"I already thought of that but I doubt it. She probably would have known my name, then."
"I suppose that then it is simply destined to be another one of the mysteries of life."
"Agreed. Say, was Sullivan ever caught?"
"No, I'm sorry to say he managed to escape arrest."
"Oh, that's too bad."
"Yes, but another day another chance."
In the Department of Mysteries, row 84, sits a rather odd, glass-woven orb. Like all of the surrounding orbs it contains the record of a prophecy, but this one has no third nor fourth name. The initials, F.H.R and K.T.P., have long ago lost any meaning they once possessed and the words contained within it are forever lost, unless someone dares to smash the gently glowing orb. All around it other orbs sit extinguished, their prophecies having already been fulfilled, but this one sits, basking in its gentle light, waiting until the day when the words within it shall come true. People long ago stopped trying to figure out what it meant, not paying it much heed, and now both the speaker and the receiver of the prophecy are no longer alive to recall it. However, if someone were to smash this delicate orb, they would hear a rather confusing prophecy, one that would not make much sense until large quantities of time had passed since its creation.
"ONCE ALL HOPE HAS BEEN LOST, AND THE WORLD IS BATHED IN DARKNESS, A NEW LIGHT SHALL COME…BORN ON A DATE THAT ONLY OCCURS TWICE IN THAT CENTURY, THE ONE OF THE BLUE MOON WILL BE MARKED BY POWERS THAT OTHERS OF SAME BIRTH HAVE NOT…AND WITH EXPERIENCES THAT OTHERS OF THE TIME KNOW NOT, THE ONE OF THE BLUE MOON WILL GIVE HOPE TO A MUCH TRODDEN-UPON GROUP, ULTIMATELY RESCUING THEM FROM THE EVER PRESENT DARKNESS...THE ONE OF THE BLUE MOON SHALL BESTOW LIGHT AND RENEW HOPE…
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or his world.
A/N: Only the epilogue left now, and I will put it up on the 15th, or very, very, early on the 16th. Please review!
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