Time Defyer

Chapter II: Disillusionment

??/1977

Hermione had never experienced the particular feeling as she traveled through time and space. It was just about as peculiar as the potion she made…well, perhaps more to be honest. Colors and shapes were blurring past her so quickly she almost felt dizzy, yet she found she couldn't tear herself away from looking. Nothing was really recognizable, but she did get the sense that she was getting very close to no longer being in the nineties anymore.

After an indeterminable amount of time—Hermione really could not tell whether it'd been five minutes or five days—she felt the strange vertigo that had been surrounding her disappear and she abruptly slammed into a very hard, very cold bit of floor. She winced, but immediately regretted it as it sent a wave of pain through her head.

"Ow…" she groaned. "Why couldn't I have landed in a softer spot?"

Her breath caught in her chest when she heard a boy's voice reach her ears; worse yet, he couldn't have been more than a few rooms from her. She did recognize the tone, however, which was that of a prefect. "Everyone back to their dormitories! It is approaching curfew. That means you four, too! Now!"

She didn't recognize the voice, but judging by the few pairs of footsteps she heard coming her way, she figured now would be a very good time to move. Mainly considering the fact that she would raise a lot of questions should someone find her in the middle of the floor, bruised, and very unaccounted for. As she glanced frantically around the room, she realized she definitely should have thought this more through. Unfortunately, that was well in retrospect and for the moment, she had to get out of sight quickly.

The voices and steps coming nearer, she placed her wand tip on her head and muttered the only spell that sprang to mind. A moment later, a relatively unpleasant trickling of cold made its way down her back, and when she looked down at herself she got the odd sensation of seeing yourself blending in with the surroundings. Nevertheless, the spell worked, and she was free to observe without being seen herself. The charm was uttered not a moment too soon, either: not but a couple seconds after she was Disillusioned, four decidedly male bodies came through the door, but from the way they were angled, she was unable to see their faces. It didn't, however, prevent her from coming into the middle of their conversation.

"So, Padfoot, how's that thing going with Catharine? Last I heard, you two were getting pretty hot and heavy," one of their voices said. "Or is that just grapevine talking? You've been pretty mum on the subject lately…"

"Watch it, Prongs," another voice growled.

Immediately, the two nicknames registered in her brain and produced multiple reactions: amazement that she was in the presence of the legendary marauders, sadness at the fact that they had no idea what was to come, guilt that Harry should be here, but most of all ecstasy in knowing her potion worked. That alone was enough to make her grin stupidly. To get her bearings, she took a more comprehensive surveying of the room she was in, to find it was more than a little familiar. The red-and-gold theme, single roaring fireplace, plush armchairs, and dual staircases could only mean she had landed herself in the middle of the Gryffindor common room. It gave her a bit of a heady feeling (though, she conceded, it could have had something to do with transporting herself nearly twenty years, too).

"I can't believe it!" she breathed, effectively forgetting she wasn't quite alone.

"Who are you?"

"Can't believe what?"

"Where are you?"

"What's going on?"

The color and smile drained from her face as she looked up to see the voices that had spoken simultaneously, the fact that she was virtually invisible escaping her. Overwhelmed by embarrassment and the surreality of it all, she found herself effectively unable to speak. After all, it wasn't every day you came face-to-face with four people that were either much older or dead in your own time. Three pairs of eyes were warily looking around the room, unable to see her, but one was focused exactly where she was; through her franticness, she had to commend him for seeing the supposedly unseeable. Regrettably, this also meant that she would have more explaining to do…she honestly doubted he'd not notify the others of her position, which would invariably lead to her much-needed explanation of why she was here. Let alone why she was concealed.

Merlin help me… she thought frantically, taking in their very expectant and suspicious faces.

1996

"Aw, shit…" It was the only thing either one of them had been capable of thinking at the moment, Ron being the one to actually utter the words.

The two of them exchanged a look of sheer dread laced with horror and astoundment. Harry inclined his head toward the doors of the Great Hall, silently (for he still was unable to speak) telling Ron to meet him outside. Ron nodded and got up from the table, doing his best to appear not fraught with disbelief as he ambled across the floor. Harry, on the other hand, tapped Ginny on the shoulder and leaned over once she turned to him.

He cleared his throat, forcing his vocal chords to function. "Ron and I have got to leave," he said quietly. "We've just remembered this assignment for Astronomy…the, er, the star we have to document is apparently only visible during the hours of four to eight, and it's approaching the latter time, so…"

Ginny raised an eyebrow at him, and he grimaced internally at both having to lie to her and how bad of a lie it was in the first place. Saving him from that, though, she happened to glance to Ron's vacated seat. "Hey, where's Hermione?" Ginny demanded.

"Oh…er…she left a minute or so ago," Harry said offhandedly.

"She did no such thing!" Ginny objected, her face fiercely set into a scowl. "Harry, what's going on?"

Knowing he literally had no time to waste, Harry looked at her apologetically. "I'll tell you later, Ginny, I promise!" he said, giving her a swift kiss on the cheek nad skittering away after Ron.

"HARRY!" Ginny's voice nearly made him stop and go back to grovel for forgiveness—he knew he'd be in for it next time he saw her—but at the moment it was Hermione who took precedence.

Ron, as expected, was waiting a few suits of armor away from the doors, the din of the Great Hall a mere buzz now. Ron glared at him. "Sorry," Harry said. "Had to lie to your sister. Horribly, I might add."

Ron shook it off. "Okay, forget Ginny," he said dismissively. "More importantly, what are we going to do about this? I mean, we can't just leave Hermione! Where the hell did she even go? When did she go?"

Harry exhaled deeply, willing the cogs in his mind to work faster. To his fury, they didn't. "I don't know," he answered, gritting his teeth at the very unhelpful response. "I'd like to say she's perfectly fine and knew exactly what she was doing—is doing?—but the more irrational part of me is saying nothing of the sort."

"That's not exactly helpful, Harry!" Ron spat, his ears turning red in anger. Harry let Ron's irritation slide off of him; in matters concerning Hermione, particularly life-threatening ones, he often got quite emotional. Not that Harry wasn't, but he at least was trying to keep as level a head as possible. "We've got to go after her."

"How exactly do you propose we do that, Ron?" Harry asked. "We've no idea where she went! I mean, all she said was nineteen years in the past—wait…nineteen years, Ron…"

"Nineteen? And that means what?" he retorted. Then, a moment later, comprehension dawned on his face, removing some of the rage. "What would she want with your parents, Harry?"

"I haven't the slightest clue," Harry answered, confusion muddling his mind. He cursed himself for not registering the date when Hermione had first told them, but somehow he doubted she'd have told him anyway. "What I do know is that we at least need to find out more about this potion thing of hers. Maybe there's a a return spell or something?"

It was a last resort, Harry knew, but at that time it was the only thing they had. "Maybe," Ron agreed gravely. "If it's a book of Hermione's, it'll be one of two places: her dorm or…or the library."

"Let's try the library first," Harry suggested. "That way we can both search for the book and come up with a semi-plausible explanation for why we need to coerce either Lavender or Parvati to go snooping through Hermione's belongings for a book we don't know the title of."

Ron nodded in depressed agreement. "Well, off to the library then. All I have to say is that when we get Hermione back, she's in for hell."

Harry clapped his friend on the back as they walked briskly down the halls. He realized full well they wouldn't get much time looking through the stacks tonight, but he decided to refrain telling Ron that. He had a sinking feeling he'd be digging out the Invisibility Cloak sooner rather than later.

Well, this editing was almost two times longer than the original…fantastic. I would have lengthened it even further, but in interest of not wanting to completely reorder the story and probably make it shorter in amount of chapters than it already is, I've decided to just leave you with shorter chapter lengths. I hope it's not too much of a heartache for you.