Disclaimer: I do not own any Harry Potter related stuff, characters or anything else. They belong to J. K. Rowling.
(A/N: Please, if you take the time to read my story, please spare just a few of your minutes to click the review button and send me your comments. Thanks! Smiles.)
Hermione's Troubles:
Chapter Twelve:
Time passed. Things between Hermione and Remus were rather tentative, but their friendship was blossoming strongly, with an underlying hint of something more hidden just beneath the surface.
"Hermione, what's the date today?" Remus asked quietly, looking up from his Charms essay. The silver motes in his misty eyes sparkled as Hermione looked up.
"It's the first of February." She replied rather absently. "Only fourteen more day till Valentines Day."
"Uh, thanks." Remus replied, looking at her quizzically. "So, you're counting the days until Valentines Day, huh?" He asked, feeling heat rise up his face.
"Huh?" Hermione looked up again. "What? Sorry, it's just I'm concentrating."
"I said 'So, you're counting the days until Valentines Day?'" Remus repeated, feeling like a moron. Avoiding her gaze he rolled up his parchment. Hermione knew she was blushing.
"I, uh, well, yeah." She concluded with a foolish grin. "Hey, wait; it's the first of February!" She suddenly exclaimed, comprehension dawning on her. "Remus, I'm really sorry, I have to go." She apologized while hastily shoving her ink, quill, books, and scroll of parchment into her bag. "I'm supposed to see Professor Dumbledore, and I forgot!"
"Ah, k. See you later." He smiled, and Hermione tore out of the Library as fast as she could manage while carrying the armload of books she couldn't fit into her bag.
Running in the direction of the Gryffindor Common Room, she collided heavily with someone. They fell to the floor, books going everywhere.
"I'm so, so sorry!" Hermione exclaimed as she climbed to her feet. "Here let me help you up." She stretched out her hand, and Vanessa looked up.
"Oh, Hermione, it's you. I'm sorry; I wasn't watching where I was going." She said apologetically. Her eyes shimmered with concern.
"No, I hit you." Hermione corrected, helping her friend up. "Actually, I was looking for you." She added.
"Well, you found me!" Vanessa laughed. "Here, let me carry some of these. I'm surprised you can walk under all these books, even I don't read that much." She smiled, picking up the books on the floor. "So why were you looking for me?"
"Professor Dumbledore told me to go see him today, and I was to bring you. Only I forgot until now." She added sheepishly.
"I gather you were in the Library with Remus?" Vanessa smirked.
"Well, yeah. But it wasn't like that!" She protested as Vanessa nodded knowingly. They hurried along through the hallways, heading for the stone gargoyle.
"So why does Professor Dumbledore want to see you, and why am I to be brought along?" Vanessa asked, smirking as she saw the stars twinkling in the night sky.
"I'm not really sure." Hermione replied honestly, shaking her head. "But it has something to do with you dying in three years." Her mind added silently. Hermione frowned, and stopped walking.
"What? What is it? Forgot to kiss Remus goodnight?" The raven haired teenager asked, voice bubbling with mirth.
"No! And you know we're just friends. He asked for time." Hermione retorted. "I was just… thinking." She said evasively. They both fell silent.
Arriving at the stone gargoyle, and stating the password, they climbed the spiral staircase and peeked through the open door into Professor Dumbledore's office.
"Where is he?" Hermione wondered out loud, seeing no one at the magnificent oak desk.
"Dunno." Vanessa shrugged, her black hair rippling down her back. "Let's just go i-oomph!" With a loud crash, Vanessa tripped and hit the floor. Professor Dumbledore sat up, wincing.
"Hello Miss Esprit, Miss Granger." Pulling herself into a sitting position, Vanessa looked mortified.
"Professor Dumbledore, I, I'm so, so sorry." She gasped, holding a hand to her mouth in shock.
"That's fine Miss Esprit. Just please, next time, try not to wear boots." Dumbledore stood up, rubbing his side, as Vanessa looked down at her pert chocolate brown velvet boots.
"Really, Professor, I'm terribly sorry."
"It's fine." He sat down at his desk. "Please, have a seat." He indicated to the two girls. Hermione walked into the room and sat down, and Vanessa rose and sunk into one of the chairs, trying to hide her elegant boots under the hem of her robes.
"Professor, if you don't mind me asking, why were you lying on the floor?" Hermione inquired, trying not to laugh at the look of embarrassment on Vanessa's ivory face.
"I was stargazing." Dumbledore replied simply, with a kindly look on his face. Pointing to the ceiling he added, "I felt like it." Both girls looked up, and saw that the Headmaster had enchanted his office roof to act like the one in the Great Hall. Stars were twinkling in the midnight blue sky. "It's quite pleasant you know. And Mars is quite bright tonight."
"Professor, why did you want to see us?" Vanessa asked, quailing.
"It's time you were told the truth about Hermione." He shrugged. "Miss Granger?" Hermione stared at him.
"But, I, I can't tell anyone!" She exclaimed, drawing back.
"I want Miss Esprit to go with you." He said, his piercing eyes capturing hers. "You know why." He added seriously.
"Well, Vanessa, the, the truth is…" She gave Dumbledore a plaintive look. "She'll think I'm crazy." She warned. Turning back to Vanessa, she opened her mouth again. "Fine, I'm just going to state this."
"What?" Vanessa queried, a slight frown creasing her forehead.
"I'm not from this time. I'm born next year." She stated, frightening herself."
"But – that's impossible!" Vanessa exclaimed, standing up.
"No, it isn't. You see…" Hermione sighed. "In my own time, I cared about Remus. But, in my time, he happens to be 35." Vanessa just stared at her, eyes bulging. "I was looking at a yearbook from this year." She continued, strategically editing her tale, "And I saw my self in it." Vanessa took a step back. "I showed the book to Professor Dumbledore, who's the Headmaster in my time as well, and he told me that he'd met me before. That I'd gone back in time, somehow, and created a, a, a… time loop. That was the best way he could explain it." She said, nodding towards the 1987 version of Dumbledore. Vanessa's hands were clapped tightly over her mouth, and she took another step back. "So, he sent me back in time. He said, if I didn't go, time would be really screwed up. He also said that he remembered me… he said I made one Remus Lupin very happy." She continued, blushing crimson. Dumbledore tactfully shifted his gaze on to Vanessa. "So he did this spell on me, and it sent me back in time. To December the 14th this year, actually. He said I'd be here a few months. So I'll probably have to go back sometime this month or early next month at the latest. And that's it." She shrugged, looking carefully at Vanessa.
"Miss Esprit, Vanessa, sit down please." Dumbledore said. Even stated in such kindly tones, it was an order, not a request. Eyes bulging, Vanessa slowly edged back to her chair and sat down. "What Hermione says is true." Dumbledore continued. "And when I found out about your parentage, I used Fawkes to send a message to myself in the future." He looked gravely down at the raven-haired girl, staring over his half-moon glasses. His blue eyes lost their twinkle. "I found out you died in 1990." He stated. Vanessa looked at him, fear overriding her reaction to Hermione's story.
"I, I'm going to die in three years?" She whispered. Tears welled up in her eyes, and she stood up again and backed away towards the door. Hermione got up and walked over to her friend, enveloping her in a tight hug.
"I've found a way to prevent it. But only if you believe Hermione." He stated gravely. Both the girls returned to their seats and Vanessa gulped. She looked hesitantly at Hermione, and then steeled herself.
"I, I do believe her." She said, staring straight into Dumbledore's eyes.
"Well then, please stand in the centre of that rug over there." He pointed, picking up his wand.
"Miss Granger, I found out some things about the spell I used." He stated. "No-one can control when you'll go back. You'll simply be pulled away. Hopefully when you aren't surrounded by people." He added with a wry smile. Hermione nodded. "Miss Esprit, I am going to put a spell on you, so when Hermione goes back, you will be pulled along with her. You'll arrive in 2005." Vanessa gaped at him. "Will you accept this?"
"Yes. I will." She said bravely. Squaring her shoulders, she faced the Headmaster of Hogwarts. Dumbledore raised his wand.
"Magic, Future, Present, Past.
Linked are you to Hermione's cast.
Through time and space, you must go,
Go with back with her to the snow."
Unlike the sparkles which had first covered Hermione, a silver thread of light shot out of Dumbledore's wand, wrapping around Vanessa in a misty cocoon till she was no longer visible. Then it seemed to sink into her skin, leaving the ex-Ravenclaw alone.
"That spell you cause you to go with her when she is pulled back to her time." Dumbledore repeated. There was a flash of flame in a corner of the office, and Fawkes sung melodically, flying to land on Dumbledore's desk.
"Ah, hello Fawkes." He said, stroking the Phoenix. The phoenix passed a piece of parchment that was in his beak to Dumbledore. "Thank you." Dumbledore thanked the firebird. Unfolding the note, he looked back up at the girls.
"Miss Esprit, come and sit down please." Vanessa walked weakly over to her chair and sat down again, paler than usual. "This is from me. It says that when it is time for you to be pulled back, silver sparkles will appear, slowly, then more quickly." Hermione, catching his eyes, nodded.
"When I came here, Dumbledore covered me in… glitter is the best word. It swirled around me, covering me." She explained.
"Well, now that the spell is done, you may go. When you see the silver sparkles, head for the most isolated place near you." He instructed. "Good luck." He smiled. "By the way, you have an extension on that Charms essay, since I took so much of your time tonight." Using his wand as a pen, Dumbledore scrawled something on a piece of paper. "This'll get you to the Gryffindor Common Room, since it is after-hours. Show it if you run into trouble." He said, passing them the slip of paper. "Goodnight."
"Thanks Professor Dumbledore." Hermione and Vanessa chorused, rising to their feet. "Goodnight."
(A/N: This is Aprils' chapter, unless I get more free time. I'm being over whelmed with School Certificate Assignments. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Eleven was SO fun to write, even if my friends now consider me legally insane. But I was always legally insane. Laughs. Just kidding! Ciao!)