Chapter 42: Conspiring with Myself
By the next day, I knew I had overreacted. Ron remained a little angry with me for the next week, but things eventually went back to normal – at least, as normal as things could be at the moment. I was still ridiculously tired and worn out, and I still had too much homework to fathom, but for now I was managing to rein in my frustration and my friendship with Ron survived.
The morning of the Hogsmeade trip dawned and I was awakened by the loud squealing of my dorm mates. They were excited about their first trip to the village, but I was exhausted. I had used my time turner multiple times the night before to get all my work done to be able to afford to lose a whole day while in Hogsmeade.
By the time I entered the Great Hall with Harry and Ron, I had a pounding headache, and the cacophony of voices at the table was only making it worse. I couldn't imagine how I would be able to handle the day in a village packed with overly hyper students.
I tried to be sympathetic to Harry, who was moping because he couldn't go on the trip. I promised we'd bring him back a bunch of candy from Honeydukes to make up for the fact that we were leaving him alone at the castle all day. To be honest, though, I really wished I could trade places with Harry. I wanted nothing more than to curl up in bed while the whole castle was out for the day.
As I followed Harry and Ron into the Entrance Hall, it occurred to me. I could curl up in a ball and sleep the day away. All I had to do was use my time turner and I could still go to Hogsmeade later too! Harry was still sad about being left here all day, and Ron was trying to cheer him up, so neither of them noticed when I slipped around the corner and headed up to the common room.
It was quite lucky that I didn't run into anyone in the castle as I made my way to Gryffindor tower. This way I didn't have to worry about explaining why I wasn't on my way to Hogsmeade. Unfortunately, I ran into Ginny while I was on my way up to my dormitory.
"Hermione," Ginny exclaimed upon seeing me. "What are you doing here?"
"Oh, I just forgot my... scarf," I invented.
"Oh, okay," Ginny replied. "Do you want me to wait and walk down to the Entrance Hall with you? I was going to go to the library, so I'm heading in that direction."
"Oh, no, that's okay, you go on," I said, feeling as though my bed was calling to me from up the stairs.
"Oh, okay," Ginny said, sighing sadly, her shoulders sagging. I could see she was quite disappointed, and I groaned inwardly, knowing I couldn't just leave her there.
"You know what, sure, just let me grab my scarf," I said. As much as I wished I could just go to bed, I knew from the smile on Ginny's face that I had to do this first.
I grabbed my scarf from my trunk and followed Ginny out of the common room. While we made our way down the thousands of stairs I had just climbed, Ginny chattered away about her friends, and I tried to think of a way to sneak away before we reached the Entrance Hall. Just before we rounded the last corner, I caught sight of a familiar head hiding behind a suit of armour.
I froze, as did the person hiding, and our eyes locked on each other. It didn't take too long before I understood what I was meant to do. As Ginny described the antics of a girl from her Charms class, I began to walk slower so that I was behind her.
As inconspicuously as I could, I slipped sideways, behind the suit of armour, as the other slipped back into the corridor and caught up to Ginny as though nothing had happened. I waited until the two had rounded the corner before I came out and headed back in the direction I had just come, my heart pounding from the close call.
After climbing every last stair yet again, I finally tumbled into my bed, extremely out of breath. I just managed to set an alarm on my wand before falling into a deep and very restful sleep.
When my alarm woke me up, I felt amazing. I hadn't slept this well in months. As I rose, I noticed the late afternoon sun slanting through the windows, and I paused, taking a moment to look at it, glad that I could appreciate it now that I was rested. It was almost time for everyone to start arriving back from Hogsmeade, so I got ready quickly and slipped down and out of the common room, thankful that none of the older students who had already returned would recognize me.
I made my way down the stairs and found a deserted broom cupboard. Once I was inside, I pulled out my time turner and turned it back. When it was finished, I peeked out and saw that the corridor was empty. Grateful that I didn't have to wait for students to pass, I emerged and began to make my way to the Entrance Hall, where I would find Harry and Ron.
Halfway there, I halted abruptly in the middle of the hallway, causing a sixth year behind me to shake her head and roll her eyes. I had something else I had to do first, and I hoped I wasn't too late.
When I got there, I slipped behind the suit of armour and waited. Soon enough, as I had predicted, Ginny and my past self came down the corridor. Ginny didn't notice anything, but it seemed that my past self wasn't either. I stared and stared until finally my past self turned and our eyes locked. I remained as still as possible so as not to scare myself away.
My other self nodded and I ducked down, peering out through a gap in the armour. My former self lagged behind her companion and I tensed, but Ginny was lost in her storytelling, completely unaware that her audience had gone missing. She passed me in the next moment and I tiptoed out of hiding, knowing that my past self would trade places with me.
I caught up with Ginny easily, but I felt a little dizzy from conspiring with myself and I shook my head slightly to dislodge the strange train of thought. What had Ginny been talking about? It had been something about a Ravenclaw girl dancing around the Charms classroom, I recalled.
"Everybody called her Looney Lovegood, but I think that's mean," Ginny exuded. "Oh, you really must meet her, Hermione, she is the coolest, and the way she dresses, did I tell you about that?"
Just before we rounded the last corner, I turned around and saw myself still crouching behind the suit of armour. I made a note never to tell Professor McGonagall about this. Being seen by my past self was one of the things she had warned me about before letting me have the time turner.
"So, what do you think?" Ginny asked suddenly, looking over at me.
"About?" I asked, wishing I had been actually paying attention.
"Do you think there's such a thing as a Blibbering Humdinger?" Ginny repeated. "Because Luna says there is, but no one else believes her."
"Oh," I said. I thought back to the last time I read Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. "I don't think so. She's probably just looking for attention."
As we continued walking, I saw Harry and Ron talking by the door, apparently unaware that I was even missing. Before, this would have made me angry, but I was feeling so good after my nap that I just waved it away.
"Well, bye Ginny," I said. "I guess I'll see you later."
"Okay, bye," Ginny replied, heading off towards the library.
I walked over to behind Harry and Ron and pretended like I had been there the whole time.