Disclaimer; see in Part One.

Hidden Bridges

Ryoko Porter

Part Ten

'Truth always lags behind, limping along on the arm of Time.'

Ibid

It was the first time since the beginning of their friendship with Harry that Hermione and Ron felt that they were truly out of the loop. They hadn't seen or heard from their friend since the attach on the school. Over a week had gone by, and rumors were all over the school. Some said that Draco had mortally wounded Harry; others leaned toward the 'disappearing' explanation.

Hermione knew there had to be something to the secrecy that even Harry's best friends were unaware. But for the life of her she couldn't figure it out. She couldn't imagine anything that would be so great that Harry wouldn't tell them, let alone not see them for so long.

At first she and Ron had camped out in the general sitting room of Gryffindor house, hoping to catch him coming in for some reason. Unfortunately the plan had been forted by Ms. McGonagall coming in to take some of Harry's clothes and disappearing again quickly.

Then Hermione thought to ask Luna, though she couldn't figure out why she hadn't before. But when she found the girl, she was shunned away by silence. Luna seemed not to hear or see anyone around her; she was so deep in her quiet contemplation of things unknown.

Finally after being shooed away from the hospital wing, Hermione and Rod decided to go to Dumbledore. If no one would talk to them, at least the Headmaster would settle their nerves.

But unfortunately they did not have the password to his office, and with the current secrecy, it would be hard to get it. So they devised a plan to follow another into the office. Taking Harry's Invisibility Cloak and putting a silence spell on the area within it, they waited, huddled together, watching for someone to come.

It was Snape who showed up first after almost an hour of waiting. Hermione and Ron moved closely behind him, making sure to not touch him as the stairs moved into position. Swiftly diving through the door behind him before he closed it was a bit difficult, and made Hermione thankful for the silence spell.

Inside the office, Dumbledore sate behind his desk, looking his usual unworried self as he listened to the woman who sat before him. She was someone the two Gryffindors had never seen, resembling Luna a great deal.

'… Found it in some ancient text, which date back to before Hogwarts. It's the spell of Hidden Bridges, allowing the caster to travel across the bridges that link time together. Every moment is connected to every other moment by these bridges; the trick is to find the right bridge to cross. It's a dangerous spell, one could cross a bridge that led them to the time of the dinosaurs, theoretically,' the woman spoke scientifically. The two older men watched her closely.

'So where is your husband now Mrs. Grey?' Snape snidely asked.

'Making sure the two lovers do not get caught,' she said with a slight upturn of her mouth.

'Yes, I'm afraid Poppy would probably overreact to see the boys together,' Dumbledore laughed.

Ron nearly choked on his own tongue as Hermione clapped his back in support. Her own surprise forgotten in her worry over her fiery tempered friend.

'No more than his little friends would, I think,' Snape pointed out.

'Julian and I do not care how they react to the news. The fact is, the worse they act out, the better for Harry. If they do not accept his love, his caring for them will wane. And when they die, there will be less hurt for him.'

'Now Luna, no need to be so morbid!' Dumbledore almost playfully reprimanded. Luna remained silent for a moment, then harshly stood and made her way toward the door. 'Oh Luna? There is one thing I've been wondering!' Dumbledore called to her.

Stopping she turned to the man. 'Yes?'

'Where did the name Julian Grey come from?' the headmaster smiled.

The woman studied him closely as she thought of an answer. 'The name Grey represents the person he is, the combination of two separate colors. However I do not know where the name Julian comes from, my husband has not told me,' she finished sharply, then turned and left the room. Leaving four very shocked people.

End of Part 10.

AN; so what did you think? Huh? Huh?

Ryoko Porter