Rose Weasley was somewhat surprised, then alarmed, when Professor Longbottom approached her during dinner. After all, as a Ravenclaw, he wasn't even her Head of House.

'Miss Weasley, it's nothing to worry about, but could I ask you to collect your brother and join me?'

Rose went to get Hugo from his place amongst his cousins at the Gryffindor's table, wondering what could be up. Uncle Neville had said there was nothing to worry about, so why disturb dinner? Many heads turned to follow them as the three left the Great Hall.

They followed him to his room, giving each other questioning looks on the way. Neville had stayed silent, so they were even more surprised to find the Headmistress waiting for them. Rose took Hugo's hand in hers. After all, he was only thirteen so she had to look after him.

'Miss Weasley, Mr Weasley, thank you for coming. As I hope Professor Longbottom has told you, there is no cause for concern.' They nodded.

McGonagall seemed at a loss on how to proceed. Eventually, she said 'As you are aware, there are many elements of Magic which we find hard to comprehend. One of them is the concept of time.' Hugo looked at Rose, who gave a slight shrug. The Headmistress continued 'Many years ago, I gave a pupil at this school a device which would allow her to move through time. Due to a series of events, she has arrived here now; well in to, what is, for her, her future; bringing another pupil with her.'

Hugo gave his sister a look that clearly said 'Is she still talking English?' Rose shrugged again.

'I want you to meet these pupils, because they are important to you. Are you ready?'

'Yes' said Rose. It seemed a logical thing to say, in the circumstances.

Neville opened the door to a side office, and beckoned out the people within. They emerged slowly, hesitantly.

'Mum?! Dad?! What's going on?' Rose and Hugo looked at McGonagall in a state of shock.

Neville brought the two over. 'Hermione, Ron can I introduce you to Rose and Hugo? I think they already know you.'

The four children stood and stared at each other. Rose and Hugo had the advantage, in that they had obviously seen pictures of their parents when they were younger. What surprised Rose the most was how…small they were. Dad was well over six foot tall, and mum wasn't exactly short either, but these two seemed rather little, and frightened. She decided that smiling at them would be a good thing to do. Her "mum" gave a shy smile in return.

Hermione and Ron looked at their "children", and were actually rather pleased with what they saw. Hugo was definitely a Weasley, right down to his flame red hair. He was rather stockily built, reminding them of Fred or George, with an ink smudge on his cheek and his shirt hanging out. He had a grin plastered all over his face.

Rose was a different proposition. She was a vision of perfection; albeit rather overly made-up for Hermione's liking. Her hair was darker than the Weasley norm, but sleeked back and elaborately arranged. She was wearing eye shadow and thick mascara, lipstick and blusher; which even at this time of the evening was still perfect. She had on a pair of skin tight jeans and a little top, which not only hugged and accentuated her figure, but showed a considerable amount of midriff. Her feet were shod in delicate silver high heeled sandals.

'I shall try to speak to Mr and Mrs Weasley now' said McGonagall. 'Professor, can you arrange spare beds for our guests? Perhaps it would be best if they went in with Mr and Miss Weasley. I think some food would be an idea as well.'

With a wave of her wand, the table filled with plates of sandwiches and some cakes and juice. There was a blur of movement as Ron and Hugo headed towards them.

'Mum always says "You can't keep Weasley men from their food"' said Rose, as the boys started tucking in.

As McGonagall reached the door, she turned back. 'I think we may have to give you a disguise. I would suggest that you are Roland Wheatley and Jane Grayson, students who may be joining us next term. That should be good enough for a few days.'

By the time Hermione and Rose got to the table, Ron and Hugo had struck up a conversation.

'So, are you any good at Wizard chess?'

'Best there is.'

'Yeah, that's what dad always says, but he's older than me. Fancy your chances?'

'Anytime, I bet I taught you everything you know. Can you fly a broom?

'Course I can. I'm going to keep goal for Gryffindor one day, just like you did.'

'Did I?'

'Didn't you don't you know?' Hugo suddenly realised that talking to somebody from history about their future but your past could make grammar a little bit of a struggle. 'Yeah, you won the House Cup, and everything, you will.'

Conversation between the two girls wasn't quite so free flowing; they were still feeling their way forward.

'So…what year are you in?' asked Rose.

'We've just finished third year. You?'

'Fourth. Hugo's in Second.'

'Oh. How did your exam results go?'

'Don't ask. You'll hear as soon as mum finds out. In fact, you'll probably hear her from here anyway. There's no need to ask how yours went, is there? "I was always top in my year, and I don't see why you should be any different, my girl. If you spent as much time on your homework as you did your hair, you'd be taking eleven OWLS like me".' Rose laughed, and then suddenly fell silent. 'Sorry'.

Hermione shrugged. 'She just wants you to do well. So she got eleven OWLS?' Rose nodded. 'How many NEWTS?'

'About a hundred, I think. All top grades, of course.'

Neville came back in to tell them the beds were ready. Ron…Roland would be staying with Hugo in Gryffindor Tower and Jane with Rose in Ravenclaw. Hugo took Ron off straight away, both boasting how they were going to win at Wizard Chess. They didn't look back.

'We might as well go, too' said Rose. 'I'll show you the way. Umm…you may want to take your robe off; nobody wears them anymore.'

Hermione pulled the robe over her head; Rose looking her up and down with horror writ large on her face. Hermione was wearing her normal school apparel; a slightly large blouse, which covered any figure she might have underneath, a grey pleated skirt one inch above the knee, grey socks one inch below. She had black lace-up shoes on her feet.

'Professor McGonagall was right. Please don't tell anyone we're related.' With a valiant, but ultimately futile, attempt to not roll her eyes, Rose headed for the door. 'Come on.'

They walked in near silence down the corridor, Hermione occasionally commenting on a new picture, until they were distracted by a shout.

'ROSIE!'

Rose turned and shrieked 'SCORP!' before throwing herself at the boy running towards them. Hermione blanched; the boy was quite tall with a pale, pointed face and sleek white-blond hair. His eyes were light grey and they twinkled with a combination of laughter and mischief. "Scorp" picked Rose up and swung her around, before giving her a passionate kiss, which she returned with gusto. Hermione stared at the floor. Once they had finished, quite a time later, Rose turned to Hermione, one arm still around the boy. His arm was slightly below her right hip.

'Jane, this is Scorpius Malfoy, he's my boyfriend. Scorp, this is Jane Grayson, she might be starting here next year'

'Hello, Jane' said Scorpius, nodding to her, with a broad smile. 'Actually, I'm not her boyfriend, I'm her red-hot lover.' He buried his face in Rose's neck, and she shrieked with delight again as he sniffed deeply. 'Ah, my Rose, who would by any other name still smell as sweet!'

'Oh, pack it in, Scorp!' she said, glaring at him not wholly convincingly, seeing as she was grinning at the same time. 'Stop pretending you know poetry.'

'But I do, my sweet' he said, and started to disclaim

'0, my love is like a red, red rose,
that's newly sprung in June.
0, my love is like a melody,
that's sweetly play'd in tune.'

'Robbie Burns' said Hermione.

'Very good' said Scorpius. 'Rose, I like your friend. It makes a change to see you with somebody intelligent, other than me of course!'

Rose giggled, then squeaked once more and jumped. He'd obviously just pinched her bum. She gave him a slap.

'You're terrible' she smirked at him. 'I'm taking Jane away before you pollute her delicate mind. I'll see you tomorrow.' They exchanged another long, lingering kiss before he ran off down the corridor, turning to wave before rounding the corner. Rose stood staring at the empty space he left behind, smiling to herself.

'That was Draco Malfoy's son' said Hermione, flatly.

'That's right! Do you know him? Are you friends?'

'Not exactly. Can we go?'

They walked along, Rose chattering on about "Scorp" until Hermione put her hand on Rose's arm to stop her.

'Rose, did you have to make such an exhibition of yourself in the corridor?'

'Pardon?'

'Do you really have to act like that? In public? Throwing yourself at him?'

Rose was silent for a while, chewing on her lip. 'I have enough rows with mum when I'm at home. Just stick to being Jane, eh?' She smiled tentatively, 'Oh. Come on, please let's be friends! I've only got Hugo; I'd love to have a sister, even if it's just for a few days! Don't you kiss your boyfriend?'

Hermione looked embarrassed. 'I haven't got one.'

'What about dad? Roland?' she smirked.

'He's not my boyfriend! We're just friends. I don't even like him that much.' Hermione was blushing.

'Well I hope, for my sake, something changes in the future! Make being born difficult otherwise, won't it?' she laughed. 'Come on, come and meet the rest of the gang!'

They got back to Rose's dormitory, still trying to be friends with each other.

'So? What do you think?' Rose asked, spinning around. 'It's not much; but its home.'

Hermione thought it needed tidying desperately, but kept her counsel. The walls were covered in posters, most of which featured rather sullen looking young men holding guitars. Every surface seemed to be covered in jars and bottles and compacts, surrounded by brushes and pads. Clothes were liberally strewn across the floor. Just to give the final touch of squalor, the air was so thick with perfume it was hard to breathe. She couldn't see many books.

'Now' said Rose, looking at Hermione 'let's get you something decent to wear.' She must have seen the look of horror this invoked. 'Its OK, we'll take it one step at a time.'

She fished in her wardrobe, and came out with a printed cotton summer dress. Hermione thought it looked rather pretty, just the sort of dress she liked.

'Mum bought it for me. It's the sort of thing I'd normally only wear if Gran was around and I wanted to look like a virgin' said Rose, with a shrug.

'You mean...with that boy?'

'Figure of speech, Jane, figure of speech.'

'Sorry'

Hermione put the dress on, and Rose eyed her critically. 'Not bad, I suppose. Hmm, your hair. Mum's got it short now; it took me ages to persuade her. Maybe a ribbon? Just to keep it off your face?' Hermione agreed.

As Rose tied her hair up, she asked if Hermione knew Gran Weasley yet.

'Yes, I've met her. I think she's nice.'

Rose agreed. 'Granddad was nice, too. I was sad when he died. Of course, I don't really know Gran and Grandad Granger much. I was quite little when they left, and they've only been back a couple of times. I might go and visit them when I leave school.'

'Do you know why they left? It seems such a long way to go.'

'They said something about enjoying their holiday so much they decided to go back for good. I remember you cried a lot.'

Just then the door burst open and Rose's room-mates burst in. They were all very much of a type, dressed up to the nines and chattering away like starlings all at the same time. Frequent shrieks and giggles rent the air. For Hermione, it was rather like being surrounded by a herd of Lavenders. They stopped when they saw her.

'Guys' said Rose 'this is Jane. She may be starting here next year. We're looking after her.'

The girls were introduced rather quickly. Hermione though they might have been called Trish, Bish, Kaz and Dazzer. They immediately started bombarding her with question, most of which concerned her boyfriend, "fave" bands and fashion labels. Rose eventually came to her rescue.

'Jane's a bit out of touch.' Thinking about batty Aunt Luna, she added 'Her parents have been up the Amazon for ten years, hunting magical beasts.'

This seemed to satisfy the girls, so they sprawled over the beds to get down to some serious gossiping, which mainly concerned boyfriends, bands and fashion. Hermione quickly got a headache, and was longing to read a book. Then one of the girls, it may have been Bish, suggested a make-over for their new friend. Hermione recoiled.

Rose spoke to her quietly. 'Just give it a try; I won't let them got over the top. It might be fun to be Jane, just for a change.' Hermione nodded, a little reluctantly.

She hardly recognized herself when she looked in the mirror half-an-hour later, but had to admit it wasn't too bad. The eye shadow and blusher looked quite good, but she wasn't too keen on the lipstick; it felt like she'd just eaten a rather greasy breakfast. What impressed her most was the nail varnish. She held her hands up, with her fingers spread, admiring the vividness of the colour, and smiled at Rose. 'I think I could get use to that!'

Eventually, they got themselves ready for bed, Rose lending her a nightdress. Hermione was very glad it was summer, as it definitely wasn't designed to keep her warm. It had "My name's Marina. Hello sailor" printed across the front.

Hermione lay in her camp-bed, next to Rose, staring up at the ceiling. It had been an exhausting day, and the worry about getting "home", which she had pushed to the back of her mind, returned. She knew they must eventually; the evidence was here in the room.

Rose leaned over to look at her, and smiled. ''Night, mum' she whispered.

'Good night, Rosie, sleep well.'