Ginny groaned and let her head fall to the table. It had been two days already, and they weren't getting anywhere. There were fifteen of them, and for the past day all of them had been scattered around the school in awe of the whole situation; Hogwarts in the past. They were in the 1970s. If that wasn't bad, then she didn't know what was. She shared the same views as Hermione - what was so special about being in the past? The school was the same; there were just a bunch of people who were adults in their time as students here. She hit her head against the table once more.
Compared to being in the common room, the Great Hall was probably one of the better places to be. She had a less likely chance of running into the group of boys known as the Marauders. They were loud, and extremely rowdy, she simply didn't see how her brother and Harry were able to put up with them. However, being in the Great Hall also had a downside. The Slytherins. She could already hear them snickering to themselves about something. Ginny didn't need to look up to be able to tell who was all seated over at their table. Two Blacks, a Snape, and a Malfoy. They were talking about the Gryffindors. Once more she hit her head against the table, and groaned quietly to herself.
Thursday, today was Thursday, and she couldn't even find Luna! There were no sixth year classes going on at the moment, and there were plenty of places where that Ravenclaw could have been. Hermione and Ron were off in Potions, and she knew perfectly well where Harry was; spending time with his dad - or as he was known to everyone else for the time being - his cousin. Ginny lifted her head up just in time to hear an explosion of laughter from the Slytherins. She groaned inwardly.
"Don't go to the common room," a voice said just beside Ginny. Two people had sat down beside her. Two people she recognized right off the bat. Lily Evans and Remus Lupin. It was Remus who had spoken first with a half smile on his face as he set his book bag on the table. "James and Sirius are singing, and planning to dress Peter in drag," the boy sighed as he rubbed the back of his neck before pulling out a book, and a scroll of parchment and a quill. Lily did the same. "Causing a riot, those two are."
From beside Remus Lily snorted but other wise shook her head. She had opened her book, flipping through a few of the pages before she took her quill and begun scribbling things down on her scroll of parchment. Every so often she would look back at the book, skimming the page before writing something down again. "You're their friend, Remus," Lily pointed out, not bothering to look up from her work, even as the boy begun to do the same thing. "Don't see why you just can't get them to - stop."
Now it was Ginny's turn to snort as she folded her arms over the table and laid her head down. She hadn't brought out her homework to do. All she had done was got dressed, and left the common room. Still as she listened to the brief exchange of words between Lily and Remus all she could do was shake her head. "Thanks for the warning," she said to Remus who just gave her a half smile before returning to his work. Lily just managed a small smile and a quiet chuckle. They stayed like that for a bit, Lily and Remus doing homework, and Ginny looking as if she were ready to fall asleep. All three of them however had something completely different on the brain.
Ten minutes must have passed before the group of four Slytherins left, and the three Gryffindors all looked up. Ginny muttered something along the lines of 'pureblooded gits' and shook her head. Lily seemed to have agreed with that statement, Remus just looked at the two of them before rubbing the back of his neck. The three of them went into a sort of silence before they began a quiet conversation mainly asking Ginny questions about the school she came from, and some of her friends. And that was exactly when Harry had walked in.
The raven-haired boy had his robes undone, and his hands shoved into the pockets of his trousers. After spending just two days in the past the fourteen other students from the future were having a time telling the two Potter boys apart, and that was a bit of a bad thing. Still, Harry walked blankly over to the Gryffndor table and took a seat across from Ginny. The mood at the table at once changed. Ginny was doing her best to look any where at Ginny, and Harry was looking down at the table.
Remus had yet to look up. "James and Sirius still in the common room?" He asked, scribbling down his name at the top of his parchment. Finally he glanced up as Lily was sticking her parchment back into her bag. Harry nodded his head, and Ginny looked up, studying him before she glanced around the Great Hall. Both of them inhaled, and held their breath for a moment before exhaling, and chancing a glance at each other before looking away once more. Awkward moment achieved? Oh, yes.
Lily stood up, pushing her head hair back. "Right," she said, waiting for Remus to stand up as well. "We've got a Prefects meeting to go to, so I supposed we'll see you later then?" she said, as she slung her bag over her shoulders, Remus has swung his over his shoulder. There was a drone of a monotonous 'bye' from Harry and Ginny before they left, and they left bickering.
Ginny sighed sitting straight up. She glanced at Harry. "We need to get everyone together, Harry," she said quietly, biting the inside of her cheek. "Someone's bound to slip up, and if that happens what do you think will happen in our time, back home?" she asked as she stood up to walk over to the other end of the table, fetching a roll. She took up a seat on that side of the table, bringing her legs up on the bench. She took a bite of the roll before setting it down on a napkin and wrapping her arms around her knees looking over at Harry.
The boy was just staring hard at the table. He knew that they needed to get back to their time, but he didn't want to leave, not yet. Harry slipped his hands under his glasses and pressed the palms of his hands into his eyes in thought. Removing his hands he sighed. None of them knew how it was that they got here. There was no telling how they would be getting back, or how long they would have been gone. It was August back in their time, on the day they left. August 30th, and it was September 3rd when they arrived back in the 1970s. That was the confusing part, too. They had all been in Diagon Alley, and Death Eaters had attacked. Then they ended up in Hogsmeade, the Hogsmeade of the past.
Harry sucked in a breath and let it out. "We're stuck for the moment, you realize," he said, looking over at Ginny who was looking back at him. His stomach knotted and he quickly looked away. "Who'd believe a bunch of teenagers who said they were from the future anyway?"
"We showed up in the middle of Hogsmeade unconscious, Harry, I'm pretty sure they'll believe anything," Ginny replied, looking down at her knees. She shook her head. "Teenagers just don't appear in the middle of the street at night unconscious with wands in their hands. Even in the wizarding world that doesn't happen." By this point Ginny was fighting off the urge to go sit next to Harry and lay her head on his shoulder. They were over, and that was in the past, their past. She shook her head.
"We'll find a way back, Ginny, trust me," Harry said, placing an arm on the table. There were a few others in the Great Hall. A few Ravenclaws, and a few Hufflepuffs. There were even one or two Slytherins. "It's just going to take some time."
Ginny nodded before she stood up, biting her lower lip. Time. Everything took time. "I'm going to go find Luna," she said as she started walking away from the table. However, just as she got to Harry, something over took her. She paused in mid step and turned around. She kissed Harry on the cheek, and then hurried off out of the Great Hall, biting the inside of her cheek.
The boy groaned inwardly to himself before dropping his head on the table with a small thud. He screwed his eyes shut. Why, why was he such an idiot? Just a few words and they would be patched. They would be perfectly normal again.