Hanging by a Moment
Chapter 7 – Of Mice and Men
Draco was fairly sure he had never in his life felt as terrified as he felt walking towards the statue of the stone gargoyle. Hermione indicated that this was the way to see the headmaster, and Draco wondered for a fleeting moment what Hermione had done to earn a trip to see Dumbledore in their time. Draco was prepared for the difference in appearance he was in for- he had seen the headmaster at meals, but he was unsure if Dumbledore would believe them or if this whole trip was for naught. Draco chuckled darkly to himself. Maybe they would be in St. Mugo's before the end of the night.
Hermione, on the other hand, felt more hope than she had in years. She was excited to finally sit and talk face to face with her would-be mentor, and had full faith that he, like so many times before, would have the answers she desperately searched for. The people that surrounded her, the marauders and her most surprising ally, Draco, made her feel the Gryffindor bravery she thought was lost forever.
The small group stopped behind Hermione at the statue of the intimidating gargoyle. The gargoyle stared blankly at them while Hermione panicked for a moment.
"Shoot!" she mumbled to herself. "Password, how could I forget?"
"We can wait for him here?" James suggested.
"In our time, Dumbledore always made his passwords different types of candy," Hermione replied.
"Chocolate frog?" Sirius said hopefully to the statue. Nothing.
"Peppermint humbug?" Remus tried. Again, no luck.
"Didn't they just introduce a new candy?" Lily said uncertainly. "Acid pops?"
The group jumped in unison when the gargoyle leapt to the side and revealed the staircase he was guarding.
"Yesss!" Sirius pumped his fist in the air. Remus and James both had to grab onto the back of his shirt in order to keep him from running ahead of Hermione and Draco, who they thought should go in first.
"I hate arriving uninvited," Hermione said softly
"It's like you said," Draco replied. "There is a very good chance Dumbledore is expecting us."
The group was not disappointed. When Hermione made it into the vast study that had been home to every Hogwarts headmaster since the founders, she was greeted by six very comfortable looking chairs, a cart full of tea and snacks, and the Hogwarts head master, his beard not quite as long as Hermione was used to, but still with a familiar and comforting twinkle in his eyes.
Wordlessly Dumbledore rose from his chair and motioned to the chairs lined up in a row in front of his desk. The group each took a seat, Draco and Hermione right in the middle.
"Please, help yourselves," Dumbledore finally spoke and motioned again to the tea and assorted sandwiches and cakes. The students filled their plates and cups and settled into the chairs, looking expectantly at Dumbledore.
Dumbledore took a sip of his tea and sat back down behind the large wooden desk. He looked at the students over his half-moon spectacles, and Hermione took this as an invitation to begin.
"You know, don't you?' Hermione asked cautiously. She didn't mean for it to sound like an accusation.
Dumbledore chuckled. "About three years ago, a good friend of mine came to me. Cassandra told me that Hogwarts would be visited by two familiar strangers and that they would help the wizarding world find the peace it most desperately needs. Needless to say, when the two of you popped into Hogwarts I knew she had been correct."
"Cassandra?" Hermione's forehead wrinkled a little in concentration, trying to remember the name. "Cassandra Trelawney?"
Dumbledore nodded. "The very same. Good job, Miss Granger."
Hermione blushed and bowed her head. "But she didn't tell you specifics?" she asked.
"She told me to listen to everything you had to say, even though my initial instincts will be to ask you to keep quiet." Dumbledore said bluntly.
Hermione gulped and looked at Draco, who nodded in encouragement.
"Alright then, Professor." Hermione began. "You know our names. We are from the future."
Hermione hated saying it so dramatically. In response Dumbledore's eyebrows shot up, but he didn't say a word.
Draco continued. "Right now Tom Riddle, who will be known to everyone in the wizarding world as Lord Voldemort is currently recruiting followers, deatheaters they're called, and he has students who are of age recruiting inside Hogwarts.
Dumbledore never visibly gave a reaction, but Hermione noticed a flash of comprehension flicker in his eyes.
"We lose," Hermione said with some finality. "The world falls to Voldemort, and we are here to change it."
Dumbledore was very still for a few moments and Hermione wrangled her hands nervously in her chair. The Marauders and Lily kept looking back and forth between the headmaster and Hermione and Draco, waiting for someone to move or speak.
"I can see why Cassandra told me not to immediately quiet you," Dumbledore said softly. All six students leaned in, hanging on every word. "It is my first instinct to ask you, Hermione, not to speak another word of this to anyone,"
Hermione drew a sharp breath and Draco grabbed her hand.
"However," Dumbledore continued, "My second instinct is to believe that you are not here to change history for personal gain, along with Mr. Malfoy here it appears you both have been through tremendous trials. Did you come to this decision lightly?"
Hermione gulped. "Yes…and no," she slowly began. "I do want you to know, sir, that I may have jumped into this adventure on a spur of the moment opportunity, but there is absolutely no action I could take from here on out that could possibly change the future for a less desirable one we are all in for."
Dumbledore waited for Hermione to continue, and for the second time this evening she and Draco told their story, right up until they revealed themselves to the Marauders.
Dumbledore was still long after Hermione and Draco finished their tale, and the six students again sat holding their breath, waiting uncertainly to what Dumbledore had to say.
Dumbledore took another small sip of tea, as if to stall for a couple more moments to think. Finally Fawkes, who had been listening silently from his perch, gracefully glided down to land on Dumbledore's shoulder. It seemed that that was the only sign Dumbledore needed.
"I think it is time we begin to form our own order, you say it is to be called The Order of the Phoenix?" he asked and stroked the top of Fawke's head.
Hermione let out the breath she had been holding in a whooshing sound. "Yes sir," she replied. "And these members, are they to know about us?"
Dumbledore studied the young woman. She was perfectly presentable, but he understood the death that shown behind her brown eyes. Draco shared that feature with her.
"Yes, Miss Granger," he said. "But I think we should be careful about whom we share this situation with specifically. Miss Granger, Mr. Malfoy, I trust you understand my degree of hesitation in all of this. Changing the course of history is a dangerous undertaking, one day from here on out one of you might vanish entirely, we having changed the circumstances of your birth."
Draco gave a half-hearted grin. "I'm willing to risk it," he said sincerely. "The circumstances of my birth are shady at best. In any case, I don't want to live in a world run by a mad man."
"That is very brave of you, what about you, Miss Granger?" Dumbledore looked at her.
"I think I have a slightly better chance of sticking around," Hermione said with a smile. "My parents are muggles, and certainly not as close to this wizard war as Draco's parents are. I can easily accept the risk."
Dumbledore looked to the Marauders and Lily, who all had been paying rapt attention to the exchange. "How do you feel, knowing that this is what the future holds for you and your children?" Dumbledore asked.
"Well," Sirius was the first to speak. "It appears that James and Lily are the only ones who even get around to having a child, and I want Harry to be born into a world where he doesn't have to be famous for surviving murder. I say we fight, strike while the iron is hot, and let the chips fall where they may."
The rest nodded their heads in agreement, Hermione noticed that Lily and James were also holding hands.
"Then I will contact a few of my closest friends right away, and set up a meeting for this evening. Hermione, would you be so kind as to give me a list of any names you might remember from the original order? I understand a few may still be too young to be involved, but I take comfort that we should still have a strong number."
Hermione nodded eagerly and took the quill and parchment from Dumbledore and began scribbling down all the names she could think of. She then handed the list back to the headmaster.
"Ah, I'm glad to see Minerva's name at the top," Dumbledore smiled to himself. "I take great comfort in this. And Moody, of course he would be where the action is. Oh, and the newly married young Weasleys, how wonderful!"
Hermione was a bit unsure of how to handle Dumbledore's excitement as he mentioned a few names off the list. She fought very hard with herself to tell him exactly which ones would make it to the second formation of the order.
"This will be splendid," Dumbledore lowered the list, and with a wave his wand the ink disappeared. He looked up at the questioning eyes. "I do not need to tell you that this is now your deepest, darkest secret. I cannot impress upon you enough how dire the situation is about to become. The longer we can keep Tom from finding out there is a movement against him the greater our chance to win becomes. You all must think long and hard about each and every one of your peers and decide which ones can be trusted. It is good to know there are a few we do not have to question, but be sure in your decisions."
"Sir?" James spoke up after Dumbledore was quiet again. "What are we to do about Peter? From what we know now, he is in deeper than we would like. We know he means to betray us eventually, how can we be around him?"
"I think Mr. Pettigrew could work as a very unconventional ally," Dumbledore replied, the twinkle back in his eye. "We are going to need someone on our side to be able to ferret information from what Tom Riddle is planning,"
"I'll do it," Sirius immediately spoke up. "It is no secret my family is knee-deep in the dark arts, it would not be hard to convince anyone I've taken an interest in the family past time.
Everyone looked worriedly at Sirius, but he had a look of resolution and purpose on his face, he could not be denied the job he assigned to himself.
Dumbledore nodded gravely. "Thank you, Mr. Black, but please be careful. We do not want to tip Peter off in any way."
Sirius nodded and James spoke up. "What do we do now?" he asked.
Dumbledore frowned a bit. "We need to get everyone together in the quickest and smoothest manner. I would suggest owl t reach everyone, but a flurry of owls from my study all at once you leave could tip off the people working on the inside. I'm afraid I may need to visit everyone in person. Miss Granger, Malfoy, can you make the other professors in the school aware?"
Hermione nodded. "And where shall we meet?" She asked.
Dumbledore smiled, "Don't you already know?" he said with the twinkle beginning to return in his eye.
Hermione laughed a little. "Sir, I was not even alive in this year. I know the basics of the first Order, but the specifics from the early meetings? I'm a bit lost there!"
Dumbledore laughed out loud. "Touché Miss Granger. Well, I would say that the best place to meet would be outside the castle walls. Also, I have a feeling the Ministry of Magic would not be to keen about our plans if they discovered us. Let me inquire with the Weasleys and beg permission to use their home for our first get together."
Draco's hand instinctively shot towards Hermione's and grabbed a hold of her. Draco could see the tears forming in Hermione's stubborn eyes and he knew she would not let them fall, at least not here.
"Good idea, professor." Hermione choked out.
"We'll go speak with Professor McGonagall right away," Draco said quickly and coaxed Hermione out the door. Dumbledore simply nodded to him and regretted not knowing what demons these two children had already faced.
The Marauders and Lily excused themselves quickly after, Sirius was already discussing with James the best way to get himself involved with whatever it was Peter was doing, and Dumbledore heard the stone gargoyle slide to a close at the bottom of the steps.
Dumbledore found himself wondering what sort of future they came to him from. They looked at him with the most peculiar expression, like they where looking at a ghost. The old headmaster knew from the looks on their faces that his time had most likely been up in the time they came from, but that did not bother him. It worried him that another round of war would truly destroy this young couple.
Draco followed Hermione towards the Owlry. He knew that she was thinking of her lost friends again, the sudden mention of Ron's parents had struck a cord with her she was not expecting.
Draco grabbed her arm and forced her to stand still. "Hermione, stop." He said quietly.
Hermione whirled around to face him. Draco noticed then the tears that were streaming down her face. "What? What do you want?" she asked angrily.
"Just to talk," Draco said. "We haven't had any time alone since speaking with James and them."
Hermione just glared at him. "What the hell is there to talk about? This is exactly what we wanted!"
"But neither of us realized the emotional toll it would take on you, specifically," Draco replied quietly. "Did you ever stop to think about what it will be like to see all the people you witnessed die as barely more than children?"
"I don't think anything can hurt me anymore," Hermione said sadly.
"Don't say that," Draco replied, almost angrily. "Hermione, if you do not let yourself feel, you lose the most important part of you, your humanity."
"There's no room for humanity in war," Hermione recited, as if she had reminded herself of this time and time again.
"There's no room for humanity in a deatheater's war," Draco shot back. "But that is not who you are, Hermione, you're one of the good ones."
"So are you," Hermione replied. "I'm not the only one who has been changed,"
Draco smiled and pulled her close. "You have no idea how much you have influenced that change," he said into her hair. "You saved me,"
"You saved me," Hermione said to him. "None of this would have been possible without you,"
Draco stood back and offered Hermione his hand. "Lets go speak with McGonagall, shall we?"
Hermione smiled and took his hand. "Ready to tell our story for the third time again?" she asked.
"I am fairly certain that this will not be the last time we will have to convince people today, we still have a full meeting to speak at this evening." Draco said.
Hermione sighed. "I guess we have out work cut out for us then, don't we?"
Draco simply smiled he and Hermione made their way to the office of the transfiguration professor.