A/N: Thank you all so much for your reviews, favorites and follows after last chapter! Hermione and Adrian are moving in the right direction now, aren't they? You can follow me on tumblr (nauticalparamour) where I post sneak peeks, story updates and answer questions.
Please let me know what you thought of chapter nineteen and be on the lookout for chapter twenty soon!
After Max got back from meeting with his father's friend, he knew that he had to buckle down and start researching how to get back to his proper time. He'd been far too focused on his parents' romance and he'd made an embarrassing amount of progress on forward time travel, though he was still impressed that he'd repaired the time turner into working condition. Max refused to allow himself to be sucked into the limbo of Ministry research.
He walked right to the library and chained himself to his favorite desk in the mezzanine level, sure to avoid the original copy of himself wandering about the castle until the end of the day. He'd located books that stacked around his desk like a prison, determined to take as many notes as he possibly could. Max planned on spending the night thinking on it, before he could do some more testing the following day.
Eventually, he was going to have to bold and try to go farther forward than just a few seconds, even though it was really a terrifying prospect.
He remained in the library until the sun had set and there were no more students left in the library. Madam Pince gave him a look telling him it wasn't worth begging for a few more minutes of time. Instead, he used his wand to return the books to their correct place, before gathering up his notes and making the lonely walk back to his apartments.
Max's stomach grumbled and he realized that he hadn't eaten since he left in the morning. Maybe when he got back to his room, he could beg the house elves to take pity on him and bring him a turkey sandwich. He was so tired, though, he thought he might just collapse in his bed and sleep for twelve hours straight.
Before he could register what was happening, a pair of hands shot out of a portrait and pulled him into a room. Stunned, Max fumbled for his wand, wondering how he'd been snuck up on, when he heard his mum's prim voice disarming him.
He looked stunned to realize that it was his father that was holding him. "Alright you little sneak," Adrian said, fiercely. "We know your secret."
"Wh-what secret?" Max stuttered out, his mind still reeling over what had happened. His stomach sunk when he thought that they might have pieced together that he was their child, and based on Adrian's annoyed expression, he didn't seem so thrilled about that.
"That you are a time traveler," Hermione said with a frown, carefully watching Max's face for any hint of confirmation.
"I don't know what you are talking about," Max lied through his teeth, struggling to break free from his father's firm grasp.
Rolling her eyes, Hermione marched over to him and stuck her hand in his pocket. She pulled out the time turner that he'd carried with him everywhere since landing in the past. Letting the device swing on it's golden chain, she arched an eyebrow. "Care to explain this?" she asked.
Max could feel himself deflating, embarrassed that he'd gotten caught. "Fine, you got me," he said with a frown. "But how did you know?"
"We saw you using it out on the grounds tonight," Adrian explained. "And with how easily you can disappear all over the castle, we knew that you must be up to something."
"You are a difficult tail to shake," Max said with a smirk, his heart softening with fondness for his mum's tenacity. "If a bit obvious. But what did I ever do to catch your attention?"
His parents looked at each other, communicating how much to reveal using just their eyes. It was something that they did in his proper time and he was struck by a bolt of homesickness. Apparently they decided that they could tell him the truth.
"You were...overly attentive of the two of us when you first got to Hogwarts," Adrian said diplomatically. "And it made the two of us suspicious that you were not who you said you were. A little bit of research confirmed that."
Max felt all the tension leave his body when he realized that they had no idea he was the product of their union. He was glad that he did not have to explain that he was their son, because he was concerned it would really cause too much tension. Honestly, he had just been able to ensure that they got together at all - he didn't need things to go off the rails if the thought of such a future together was too much for them to contemplate at that moment.
"Do you care if we sit down?" he offered, raising his hands in submission. "I think I've shown that I'm not going to fight back at this point. After all, you have my wand."
Adrian let him go eventually, before steering Max to sit on the couch in front of the fire. The two of them sat next to each other, close enough to touch. They both looked somewhat dressed up, and Max wondered if they'd been on a date. Before the conversation could resume, Max's stomach made a noise in protest of it's lack of food.
"Apologies, it seems like I've missed dinner...and lunch," he said with a grin.
Adrian called for a house elf, who was quickly sent off in search of some food for the younger wizard. Once they were left alone again, Max was treated to Adrian's narrowed eyes once again. "What we haven't been able to figure out is why you were so interested in the two of us," he said, pointedly. "Care to explain what caught your interest?"
Max swallowed, wondering how he should approach this without giving anything away. "I guess...when I arrived here in the library, it really felt like I interrupted something between the two of you," he said. "And I hated the idea that you wouldn't get it back. So I just wanted to see if I'd ruined something by showing up when I did."
Hermione gave Adrian a tiny grin. Feeling bold, Max couldn't help but give himself a pat on the back. "And it seems like I would have," he said with a grin. "If your suspicions of me hadn't brought you back together."
"You really didn't need to worry about us," Hermione insisted. "It was unnerving to have you constantly pushing us on one another."
Max felt a blush on his cheeks when he was forced to confront just how badly he'd messed up in bringing his parents together. If he hadn't been so certain that they were meant to be with one another, he probably wouldn't have meddled so much.
"So, what time are you from, anyway?" Adrian asked, looking at him sharply. "Do you know us or something?"
Furiously shaking his head, Max tried to head off that line of questioning as quickly as possible. "You know that you shouldn't be asking those kinds of questions. Think of the kind of damage that could be done if you learn something you aren't meant to know," he insisted, thinking that it was rich coming from him.
"He's right, I suppose, though it is hard not to ask," Hermione told Adrian with a smirk. "Well, then, what are you still doing here then? Surely the Ministry should have isolated you already."
"Well, here's the thing," Max said, sounding guilty. "I pleaded with Headmistress McGonagall and she gave me a month to try and sort getting myself back to my own time, without involving the Ministry."
"And how much time do you have left?" Adrian asked, obviously trying to gather all the facts before he could advise on the situation.
"Uh, less than a week," Max said, feeling terribly embarrassed.
"And just what have you accomplished in the last three weeks?" the other wizard asked sharply, annoyed at the thought of so much time squandered when they could have been helping.
Max wasn't entirely sure what to say. "Well, I was able to repair the time turner successfully. I've done many tests over the past few weeks and I have confirmed that it does work properly to turn back time," he said, wanting to get all the positives out first. "Unfortunately, I've not made as much progress going forward in time. I'm a bit nervous to make the leap if I'm honest."
"It's impressive that you've been able to turn time forward at all," Hermione said helpfully. "After all, it's still only theoretical here. There must have been massive improvements in time magic where you've come from. How far have you gone?"
Again, Max was feeling rather embarrassed with all the time that he'd wasted. "Just a few seconds," he explained. "Again, it's really hard to trust that the theory will actually work."
Hermione looked a bit crestfallen to see how hopeless Max's project really seemed, before a determined look came over her face. "Well, between the three of us, I am sure we can figure out a way to get you back," she said, pleasantly.
"What?" Adrian and Max asked at the same time.
"Well, of course we are going to help you get back to your proper time, now that we know that you're a time traveler," Hermione said smartly. "And I've actually got several theories myself of forward time travel that I've been wanting to test out, only, I haven't been able to get my hands on a time turner again."
Adrian rolled his eyes at her, though he looked amazed. Obviously, he thought very highly of his new girlfriend. "Of course you do, Granger," he said with a smirk.
Hermione hit him on the arm. "Oh, shut up, Pucey," she countered. "And anyway, I'm surprised you haven't realized that you can use the time turner to give yourself as much time as you need to go back and do the research."
"How do you mean?" Max asked, feeling a little bit dumb that he couldn't even understand what she was saying.
"Well, if you are getting too close to the one month time limit, you can just use the time turner to go back and do more research," she explained, sounding rather like she did when she talked to Uncle Harry or Uncle Ron, Max thought sheepishly.
He frowned, embarrassed. "I can't believe I didn't think of that."
"You'd have to go somewhere that you wouldn't be noticed of course," she said. "But I think the Room of Requirement might have begun to repair itself enough that you could hang out in there. Or maybe you'd just become nocturnal and hide away during the day."
"That is brilliant, Hermione!" Max said, pleased that he was able to work with his parents, instead of against them. If there was anyone who was going to be able to help him out with the time turner, it was his mum after all.
When he looked up, Adrian was pressing a kiss to her temple, very proud of her. He knew that he could rest easy seeing how happy they were with one another.
However, he also knew that their relationship was still very new and he had absolutely no plans to be sitting in the same room as them should the quick kiss turn into something more. "Well, I should probably be on my way...let the two of you enjoy the rest of your evening," he said, hoping they didn't notice the pained look on his face. "So, if you'll just give me back the time turner, I'll leave you alone."
Hermione pursed her lips and shook her head. "No, I think that I will hold onto this for now, just to ensure that you come back to meet with us tomorrow," she said, bossy as ever. "You better get some sleep, Purney, because the next few days are going to be the most intensive magical research you've ever done."
Max didn't need to be told twice and marched off to bed, feeling more confident that everything was going to work out than he had in weeks.