Apparently, the most important event in Neville's past was the moment his parents discovered they liked each other. Apparently, that is, because that's exactly where and when the four previously goop-coated potions students ended up. Fortunately, for our group of particularly shell-shocked teens, they discovered eachother in a nicely non-intimate way. Unfortuantely, it was in the middle of the great hall.
Breakfast, though the sleepiest meal of the day, was by no means quiet at Hogwarts. While most students at breakfast had a first session class, and while first session always began promplty at eight, students arrived and departed from the meal at widely varying times. This was not only due to personal habit, but also to the locations of classes. It may only take a few minutes to reach the classroom for section three transfiguration, but it took nearly fifteen minutes to reach greenhouse sixteen for section four Herbology. So it was actually somewhat of a surprise when a sweet, pretty Ravenclaw by the name of Alice Reynolds and a sandy-haired seventh year Gryffindor known as Frank Longbottom each stood up from their tables at the same time, accidentaly knocking into one another. Turning to apologize, they caught each others eyes, and both found themselves suddenly breathless...
BAM.
The sound echoed unbelievably through the suddenly deadly silent great hall. Four students, two of whom had bags at their feet, suddenly stood before the doors to the great hall, where no one had been before. The silence was the only thing more deafaning than the bang that preceded it. The strangers themselves looked shocked, to those close enough to see them anyhow. Two appeared to be older, a tall, muscular, white-blonde young man who seemed to be in his early twenties, and a somewhat shorter sandy-haired boy of about seventeen. A young girl and boy, in their early teens, stood beside the others, in robes that were far too large for them. All in all, it was the oddest group anyone thought to see.
The four students looked at each other. Hermione spoke first, though she was quite as shocked as the other three. "Well, this is unexpected" she said, looking around. It wasn't just the shock of not being in the dungeon when a moment ago she had been. They were standing in the middle of the great hall - but it also wasn't the great hall. Firstly, and most obviously, there were at least three times as many students sitting in this room as there had been at lunch. Secondly, instead of house tables, there were apparently house sections. Thirdly, where she was usually met with a sea of black, for distinct colors of robes met her eyes. There were a thousand other differences as well, everything from style of robe to the lack of any visible muggle-style clothing to the fact that the students were almost certainly eating breakfast, when lunch had been nearly two hours ago. The most important difference, though, and the most frightening, was the fact that she didn't recognize a single one of the faces turned towards her. Until, that is, her eyes caught those of a perfectly right-looking Dumbledore, sitting in the headmasters' seat at the head table.
Unsurprisingly, it was headmaster Dumbledore who recovered first. Perhaps because he was the trusting type, though more likely because he was an accomplished Legillimens, he immediately determined that the strangers meant no harm and acted accordingly. "Ah, good morning, you have arrived earlier than I thought you would" he said simply, "we are currently at breakfast, but if you would be so good as to accompany me to my office?" Dumbledore stated, and stood, leaving the student population to draw its own conclusions for now.
The walk down the halls of Hogwarts, silently following the headmaster, passed unnoticed to Hermione. Her mind was deep within the world of the theoretical, trying to reason out exactly where they were and what was going on. The best possible answer seemed to be an alternate dimension, and she was mentally reviewing every text, muggle and wizarding, fiction and non, that she had ever read on the topic. She barely noticed that her robe was far too long, or that her skirt had become floor-length (the waistline had been spelled to adjust automatically, sort of like wizarding elastic), or that Harry seemed thirteen or fourteen, while Draco suddenly looked twenty-something. Neville was the only one she even looked at for more than a moment, to make sure that the potion didn't harm him, and he looked quite alright, even if something was a touch off. It wasn't until she was seated in Dumbledore's office, and Harry called her out of her thoughts in a voice that was, while familiar, very much not his own, that she was snapped from her musings.
Hermione was never slow on the uptake, and all it took was one look at her companions to piece everything together. The conclusion, however, had nothing whatsoever to do with interdimensional travel. Suddenly, a fascinating trip into theory became harsh reality, and three years of studying time travel brought nothing but grief to her just then. She looked to her three companions. Draco knew. He was being so obviously un-Draco-like that it was almost frightening, just sitting there, staring into space. Neville was clueless, too shocked simply by the abrupt change to have even the slightest idea what was going on at all. In that moment, she could only hope it wasn't her that would have to explain everything to him. Then her eyes fell on Harry. Harry was simply Harry. He wasn't shocked, or numb, or frightened. He was simply waiting, already accepting of whatever had happened this time... and he was waiting on her. Looking to her for the answer he knew she had. Which was far more frightening than all of the rest of it put together.
Taking a deep breath, Hermione looked to Dumbledore. She knew he would Legillimize her, and she intentionally made eye contact. At the forefront of her mind, she placed her request. Knowing just a bit about Occlumency, after Harry's failed attempt to learn it, she knew that he would see such a thought first. Surprise registered in the eyes of the man who Hermione had thought could never be surprised, but she took no delight in having been the one to finally surprise the old wizard. Then, slowly, she saw the memories play back in her own mind, sometimes stopping, sometimes moving faster, he analized everything from the incident itself to her loyalties to what she knew of himself. She only tried to shield events that would give away the future, though she did so half-heartedly, still shocked, still feeling distanced from everything. Finally, he withdrew from her mind, and as she slumped back into the chair, she heard him sigh.
"Hermione has shown me what brought the four of you here. She drew her own conclusions about where she was" at this, Hermione looked up hopefully "and she was, sadly, quite correct" Dumbledore finished quietly. Hermione put her head in her hands. She didn't want to hear this, she didn't. She didn't want Harry to hear it, or Neville, or even Draco. "You have traveled into the past. It is currently April the twenty fourth, in the year Nineteen Seventy Four." at this, Neville's head snapped up, and he gave a gasp. Hermione looked at Harry, who simply accepted this, and looked a question at her, a pleading sort of question, and she flinched as she met his gaze. "Hermione" Harry began in a whisper only she could hear "will we be able to..." he choked out. Dumbledore, however, saved her from answering the question just then.
"Let me first review everything, so that we are all on the same page. From what I gathered, the potion transported yourselves, and anything you were touching at the time, back through time approximately twenty two years. It is unheard of for anyone to travel so far back in time. There are two main reasons for this. Firstly, the further you travel back in time, the greater the amount of power required to do so. I, myslef, would barely be able to transport myself back five years, and doing so would leave me weak for days. The other reason it is unheard of is because of the duality principle, which basically states that there can't be two of a person in the same time. What generally happens, is that your age is averaged with that of the other "you", and you then spontaniously combine into one individual with all of the memories of "both", which are, for all intents and purposes, all the memories of the future "you". The problem is that no-one has ever traveled to a time before they were born, as no one has had the power to. There were three popular theories. One is that you would simply cease to exist. The second is that your age would remain the same as it was when you traveled into the past. The third suggests that you would age the same number of years as you traveled past your birth. The first theory can obviously be discounted, as you are here; the second could only be true in Neville's case. While there are other theories as well, I believe, as Hermione, that the third has proven correct."
"But professor" Hermione began, glad to at least have one flaw in her theory "wouldn't that make us all.. six or something?"
"Yeah" Neville echoed, still somewhat shocked "I mean, I think I'm about the same as I was before, professor Dumbledore"
"Not necessarily, " Dumbledore stated, looking to Neville "it appears that the amplifying effect of the potion worked in this regard as well. As the potion was made by yourself, it chose an age that was most suited to you in this time, the same age as your parents. The affect was then adjusted for the amount spilled on each of the others. I believe the potion approximately doubled the amount Hermione and Harry would have aged, making them twelve or thirteen, and nearly tripled the affect on Mr. Malfoy." At the sound of his name, Draco finally moved, looking up at the headmaster, a hollow look in his eyes.
Silence met this pronouncement, all of this was just too much for any of them to take in. Hermione regarded her companions sadly, unable, for once in her life, to think of anything much to say. A thousand questions were in her mind, but the resigned look on Harry's face, the blank look on Neville's, and the vacant expression Draco bore drove all comprehension from her mind.
"What will become of us, sir?" he asked, though he didn't look up, and his eyes never lost their vacant look. The others were shocked, as Draco had never shown respect to any teacher other than Snape.
Dumbledore took a moment to answer, considering those before him "I learned a great deal about each of you through Hermione's memories, and the first order of business here is to put yourselves at ease with regard to such things. You will each be provided what you need for as long as it is needed."
"Schooling, sir? The rest of our education will be financed?" Draco pressed.
"You cannot be serious, Malfoy, we've just lost... we've just... we... and you're thinking about school? And money?" Hermione snapped bitterly.
"You understand just as well as I do exactly what situation we're in, Granger" Draco bit back, "and someone has to think of the necessary things. For a know-it-all you certainly don't know anything about life." Draco turned back to Dumbledore, speaking sharply "Can I... will we continue with our classes?" Draco continued, looking like he was about to make a point that no-one would like.
"Certainly, my boy" Dumbledore responded.
Draco laughed humorlessly "And what grade could you possibly place us in? Surely no-one will believe that I am a sixth year. Neville could pull it off, and Harry and Hermione can go back to third year or fourth or even second and it will mean nothing more than a chance to take classes that are pointlessly easy and score ridiculously high. I, however, cannot do such a thing. And I am by no means prepared to take my NEWTs and find a job."
"We will work it out, Mr. Malfoy, I assure you. If nothing else, we will simply give you a de-aging potion and send you in with your peers" Dumbledore said, then continued in a slightly softer tone, "There are, however, other things we still must work out. While you are, as I said, more than welcome to continue your educations here, I have no expectations that you will be prepared to do so tomorrow morning, or even any day soon. For now, I suggest that you plan to take at least a few weeks to settle in. It is perfectly reasonable to wait out the end of the semester, and begin instead next fall. That is, in fact, the best solution available to us at this time."
Hermione, ever the practical one, immediately saw the flaw in this plan. "What about the Summer, sir? And money, and our books and robes and..."
Dumbledore cut her off "I already told you that everything would be taken care of. As for the summer, if no other arrangements can be made, you may stay here, though that is against the policy of the school. It is most likely that I will find one of the old families who will take you in." Hermione began to protest, as such a thing would cost ridiculous amounts of money "Many of the old families have estates that will more than accomidate four additional guests, and providing for a handful of students would hardly be a drain on their resources."
Harry, quiet until now, though not for shock as in Neville's case, asked the one question that truly weighed on his mind. "Sir" he began, quietly "these plans you are making. They seem very... how long do you expect us to... when do you think we will be able to ... to return to our time, sir?"
Hermione stood abruptly, crossing to the window, staring out into the drizzling rain that so often marked an April day.
Silence filled the room again. Draco sat back in his chair, one hand going to rub his temples, then dropping to his lap. Neville looked up, returning from whatever train of thought he was still following to get the answer to a question he hadn't yet given thought to.
Dumbledore met Harry's eyes, and gave the answer "Harry" he began, gently "there is no known way to travel into the future."
Hermione turned, slowly, away from the window, to face him, the tears in her eyes ecoing the soft rain beyond the window "We can't go back"