Not-Hermione's features began to bubble and morph. The straight hair began to shoot upwards into their skull, and their height seemed to increase by half a foot.

A different figure now stood in front of them. A middle-aged man with small, sunken eyes.

Harry stared at the man, his mouth falling open.

'How… what…'

'Oh, Harry,' the man chuckled, mockingly. He spoke with an American accent. 'You never were good at this sort of this, were you?'

'You… you act like you know me,' Harry said.

'I do. Well… I know of you. Different versions of you.'

Ron realised with a jolt what that meant. However, the man seemed to have ignored Ron, so Ron stayed where he was and didn't say anything to alert the man to his presence. After all, the man's disinterest in Ron seemed to be the only reason why Ron hadn't been disarmed.

As much as Ron wanted to help Harry, he couldn't at that moment. He would have to bide his time and wait for the right opening.

'You see, I'm not from this reality,' the man continued. 'And I always wanted to travel to other worlds. A few bribes later, I was in the ministry of magic for my own reality. They'd been doing research into reality-hopping, using modified time turners.'

Why was it that megalomaniacs couldn't stop themselves monologuing their plans to prisoners? Didn't they realise it was often used as a way to keep them talking until the prisoners could overcome them? Ron wasn't complaining, however; the man's vanity seemed to be the only thing keeping Harry alive.

'However,' he said, and now his face turned ugly with anger. 'The world I landed in was… wrong. Oh, sure, a lot was similar. But… the films… the films…'

'The what?' Harry said, looking very confused.

'The films!' the man exclaimed. 'The Harry Potter films! They were… wrong! They acted like Hermione could make mistakes! Could be Harry's surrogate-sister! Could be… attracted to Ron Weasley!'

He spat that last part, as if the idea was too appalling to comprehend.

Harry's eyes widened in shock.

'And… this annoyed you?' he said, sounding confused.

'Obviously!' the man yelled, his hands clasped in anger. 'They had got it all wrong! But I had the reality-jumper, you see, so I went somewhere else… somewhere I could make things happen properly!'

'I jumped to another world, where the philosophers stone was used to create life, not immortality. After stealing it, I jumped to this reality; it was several years behind everywhere else, so I could make things happen the way they should!'

The man gestured offhandedly towards the huge machine.

'I began growing… a person. But, the philosophers stone was too slow! It worked at barely a tenth of what it did in its own world! So I had to produce a contingency plan! People always said "Steve, you're excellent at plans"…'

Steve? The one behind all this was a bloke called Steve?

'I… I kidnapped Hermione. Between her third and fourth year at Hogwarts. It was for her own good, of course. Any later and it would have been too late for her. But I polyjuiced myself into her, and took her place.'

'God, it was difficult having to deal with everyone treating her like a normal human being, but I bided my time.'

'You're mad!' Hermione spat, from inside her cage. 'Completely mad! I am a normal human being, you-'

'But…' Steve's face glowered. He didn't seem to have even registered that Hermione had spoken. 'Ron started to notice. Cursed Weasley just paid too much attention. He knew something was up during their fourth year.'

'Yeah, because I'm not an idiot!'

Sure enough, a redheaded figure was crouched in another cage next to Hermione. But Steve seemed not to hear him either.

'But the philosophers stone had finally created the person,' he continued. 'Another Hermione; one who would act things out as they should. I sent her to Hogwarts.'

'But…' -and here Steve's eyes grew angry again- '…she was broken. She fell in love with Ron Weasley. She… she went against what I had instructed! She tried to warn him of what was happening. So I put her back in here. I took Hermione's place again. I knew I just had to wait for another year or so, then I could push Ron out of the picture entirely.'

'But… Ron could tell something was wrong. I had to do something. I kidnapped him too, and used the reality-hopper to bring another Ron here. To throw everyone off the scent; they'd all be too focused on the other Ron, as opposed to what I was planning.'

Ron's mouth fell open. That was why he had ended up in this reality! Just as he suspected, he had been used as a distraction to throw everyone off the scent!

'I was too hasty!' Steve continued, his face lined with anger. 'I didn't realise the new other Ron would need his memory altering; he didn't have a clue why he was there! He couldn't cover my tracks. And so… I made sure to drop hints here and there… playing innocent, and subtly leading you here.'

Steve raised the wand, pointing it towards Harry.

'Now.. I'll just have to destroy you all, of course. I hate to have to get rid of Harry, but I can just stay as Hermione and get rid of Voldemort that way. I know exactly what he's going to do, after all. More glory for Hermione Granger!'

He raised the wand, and Ron acted instinctively. The redhead's hand moved, and the wand flew out of Steve's hand before he could cast the killing curse.

'What?' cried Steve, turning as Ron barrelled towards him. 'How did you-'

'Nonverbal casting,' Ron snarled, as the two of them met. Steve was unable to maintain his footing under Ron's strength, and the two of them crashed to the floor.

'But… you…'

'What? Think poor old Ron's too stupid to cast nonverbal spells?' Ron said, raising a fist and punching the man in the face. 'You nitwit; I grew up in the wizarding world! Magic's not even a second thought for me!'

Steve desperately tried to fend him off but, by this point, Harry had scrambled to his feet and had joined Ron, pinning down the man's arms.

'How dare you?' Steve cried. 'I just wanted to make things right! For Hermione!'

'Except it's not for Hermione!' Ron yelled, punching again. 'It's never been about Hermione; it's been about you! The Hermione you keep going on about has never existed! She's just in your head! You kidnapped and imprisoned the real Hermione here, not that you seem to have even noticed her presence! You git; people aren't puppets you can make act out things you want!'

Ron's fist connected with Steve's face one last time, and the man crumbled.

Gasping, Ron casted a binding spell, and Steve's hands and legs were tied together with robe.

Ron and Harry climbed to their feet and hurried across the room. Although the locks were very old, they were able to disable them and open the cages. Three figures emerged. The first was the Hermione that Ron had seen in his vision. She seemed very weak and wobbled as she stood. The second was-

'Ron!'

Harry leapt forward and hugged the redhead who had just emerged from the cage. Ron goggled at his counterpart as he walked into the half-light; he was about half a foot shorter, with no freckles, and a far shorter nose. And yet, he seemed to have an innate Ron quality that meant these physical differences felt irrelevant.

'Er… hi.'

The other Ron smiled, and shook Ron's hand.

'Merlin, it's good to out of there,' he said, in a voice without Ron's own west-country accent.

'Er… aren't you going to introduce me?'

Harry's mouth fell open. The third figure was the version of Hermione that Steve had created. She looked similar to the polyjuiced form that Steve had used, but her eyes were kinder and her hair had the beginnings of the bushy quality that Ron knew so well.

'H-Hermione?'

'I'd rather be called… Jean,' the girl said. 'Jean Prewitt sounds nice.'

'That's…' Ron said. '…that's my mum's maiden name.'

Jean nodded.

'Listen, this is all well and good, but can you lot please untie me?'

Ron jumped. Remus Lupin had presumably woken up, and was now staring at them.

'Sorry,' Ron said, sticking out his hand. The chains promptly eased off, and Remus descended to the floor.

'You're awfully good at that,' Hermione said, as Ron and Harry helped Remus to his feet.

'Er… thanks.' Ron said, feeling a little strange about meeting a Hermione who was not the Hermione he knew.

On the far side of the room, the door crashed open, and the aurors (plus Dumbledore) swarmed in.

A team of medics quickly bustled around Hermione, Ron and Jean, healing their various cuts and bruises. Remus and Ron began to fill in the details to the Aurors, with Harry, the other Ron and Jean providing extra details. Eventually, the whole situation had been dealt with, and Steve was taken off for further questioning.

'I think you all deserve some rest,' Dumbledore said. 'Especially Miss Granger and Miss Prewett.'

He pointed his wand at a rock on the ground. It glowed with sudden light.

'This will take you back to Hogwarts.'

Ron and Harry, supporting the other Ron, Hermione and Jean, nodded and pressed their feet against the rock.

The world spun, and they found themselves stumbling on the carpet of Dumbledore's office.

'Hospital wing, I think.'

Hermione, the other Ron, and Jean nodded.


One night sleep in the hospital wing later, Ron was feeling a lot calmer. While the other Ron, Hermione and Jean were still a little bruised, they were all looking noticeably better due to Madam Pomfrey's expert care.

After breakfasting, Ron and Harry got changed into their clothes. The other three were still bedridden on Madam Pomfrey's orders. Ron had just walked out from behind the screen around his bed, when the huge doors of the hospital wing opened and Dumbledore (along with several other teachers, including McGonagall) entered.

'Good morning,' the elderly wizard replied. 'I trust you are all feeling better? Especially Miss Granger and Miss Prewitt?'

The two girls nodded, albeit still looking very tired.

'This man… Steve, I believe you say his name is… will be put on trial in front of the wizengamot,' Dumbledore continued. 'Kidnapping, attempted murder, stolen identity, theft; he's got a long line of crimes to answer for.'

'What about Jean?' Hermione asked, looking worried. 'She hasn't done anything wrong; she tried to warn us all.'

'Exactly; she was as much a victim as yourself and Mr Weasley were,' Dumbledore replied, his eyes kind as he looked over at Jean. 'Miss Prewitt, I can confirm that a place at Hogwarts is now available to you, if you so desire it.'

'Really?' Jean exclaimed, happily. 'Oh, that would be wonderful! Thank you, Professor!'

'My pleasure,' Dumbledore replied. 'I am sure that Miss Granger, Miss Patil and Miss Brown would be overjoyed to have you as their dormitory mate. That is, if you wish to stay in Gryffindor?'

Jean seemed to hesitate.

'Well… I'm not Hermione, so maybe I should be re-sorted, just to be sure?'

Dumbledore smiled.

'Of course. If anything, the two of you are more akin to Miss Patil and her twin sister.'

Hermione and Jean shared a smile. Ron could tell that the thought of having a sister was something they were both very happy about.

'Mr Weasley,'-and here Dumbledore turned to Ron-'are you feeling alright? You look a little pale?'

Harry let out a gasp.

Perplexed, Ron looked down and, sure enough, his hands seemed to be fluctuated between normal and transparent. It looked like the spell that Steve had used to bring him to this reality was fading.

'Guess I'll be off soon,' Ron said. 'Shame; I would have liked to have seen Steve's trial at the wizengamot.'

'Thank you for all that you've done,' Harry said, shaking Ron's hand. 'You've saved us all.'

'You would have done the same for me,' Ron replied, grinning.

The other Ron walked over.

'You saved my bacon, mate,' he said, shaking his counterparts hand. 'I wish I was more like you.'

'Nah, you're good.' Ron said, smiling at the face that reminded him of his own. 'You're Ron Weasley, after all. Besides, it's not your fault that Steve bloke had it in for you.'

'Hear, hear!'

Hermione and Jean had stumbled over, ignoring Madam Pomfrey's protests about their conditions.

'Thank you,' Hermione said, grinning as she shook Ron's hand. 'I knew I could rely on you.'

Ignoring the confused looks of the others, Ron nodded and smiled, quickly moving to shake Jean's hand. The revelation of the whole "seer powers" thing was probably a bridge too far at this late stage.

'Thanks,' Jean said. 'I… I think I'll like being around here.'

Her eyes flicked over to Ron's counterpart as she said this. But the other redhead didn't seem to notice. But Hermione did, and her forehead creased slightly.

Oooh, boy, Ron thought, looks like romantic drama on the horizon for this lot. The more things change…

'Er…' he said, quickly, as he noticed just how transparent his body was becoming. 'Looks like I'm off, then.'

The assembled people smiled.

'Mind how you go,' Harry said, grinning.

'Yeah,' Ron replied, smiling in return. 'You too.'

The world blurred around him.

Ron found himself flying through the rainbow vortex once again. The air seemed to be sucked out of his lungs, and his eyes bulged. The colours grew brighter, and the vortex seemed to shoot by faster. Ron's eyes became almost blinded. The colours got brighter and brighter until-

Ron sat up in his four poster. And, he realised with a grin, it was his four poster. He was home.

He gleefully pulled back the curtains and climbed out of bed. Sure enough, the dormitory was his own. And climbing out of the next bed was-

'Harry!' Ron said, bounding forward and pulling Harry -his Harry- into a hug. 'Am I glad to see you again!'

'Mate?' Harry said, looking confused as he stared up at the redhead. 'What's happened?'

Ron smiled. Letting go, he sat down on the four-poster.

'Well,' he started, as Harry sat down beside him. 'It's a long story…'


And that's the second part of this series completed! Hope you've all enjoyed it; please leave a review if you did. Just a reminder that, if you leave a guest review, I won't be able to respond to any questions you may have asked in the review.