Only Time Will Tell
Chapter 21
NOT YOU AGAIN!!!
"What year did you send us to?" Ginny asked when they had arrived wherever they had arrived.
"You had that the entire time!?!?" Ron exclaimed again, but Hermione chose to ignore him.
"I set it for 1943, around the time we got there last time." She answered Ginny's question. They appeared to be standing somewhere in the Forbidden Forest, and just then they heard voices from nearby.
"I saw different stuff this time. No Harry, no Hogwarts, none of you, either." It was Ron, well, the Ron that had come back to 1943 by the river. And they were heading right this way.
"Same here." Hermione said to the other Ron, as the other Hermione pulled the others out of sight behind a cluster of trees.
"Me too." The other Ginny was saying. "It definitely wasn't my life."
"My life was the same." Alternate Harry told them, and Harry watched with interest.
"The Sorcerer's stone? Sirius? Cedric?" The other Ginny asked, pausing next to where Ginny was hiding. Everyone held their breath, wishing they would move on.
"No, never mind." Alternate Harry said in confusion, and finally the other Ginny and Alternate Harry hurried to catch up with the other Ron and Hermione.
Once their other selves were out of earshot, Harry turned to the others. "You guys actually thought that was me?"
Laughing slightly, they followed their otherselves out of the forest.
It was incredibly weird in the Great Hall, watching themselves notice the other Ginny and Sirius across the hall. Once their other selves left, they watched Tom come over to the Gryffindor table and talk.
"We'd better hurry and get to the chamber." Ginny whispered, watching her other self, Sirius, and Tom dissolve unnoticed from the room. As they exited the Great Hall, Harry suddenly stopped them.
"Quick! Back here! James and I are about to meet up with Dumbledore!" He explained, pulling the others behind a stone gargoyle, and no sooner had they done this than the other Harry and James had come running down the corridor, and Dumbledore had burst out of the Great Hall. From what they could hear, it sounded like Dumbledore and the other Harry had collided.
"Sorry! Afraid I'm in a terrible hurry, though!" Dumbledore said in a tense, strained voice.
"Professor! Professor Dumbledore! Wait! We need your help!" the other Harry called out desperately. "We're from the future!"
While the other Harry, James, and Dumbledore spoke, Hermione advised the others.
"There are two other Ginnys, two other Rons, two other Hermiones, four Mauraders, another Harry, plus and Alternate Harry on the loose in Hogwarts-" She stated, and Ron interrupted her.
"Not to mention Tom Riddle!" He reminded her, and she nodded.
"And Tom Riddle. But the point is WE CAN'T BE SEEN BY ANY OF THEM!" Hermione stressed to them. "We do not want any more mix-ups with past selves or alternate selves."
Nearby, they heard Dumbledore, and the other Harry and James parting, and quietly Harry motioned for them to follow the other Harry and James to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. Ginny watched Harry silently as they hurried along, wondering if Harry would say something to James or the Marauders about their futures now that he was back again. The thought scared and excited her at the same time: how different would things be if Voldemort hadn't killed Harry's parents? It couldn't possibly be more twisted than the place they had just left! She thought to herself as they reached the end of the corridor and saw James and the other Harry go into the bathroom.
Harry seemed to be his usual self that they had missed: he beckoned the group forward to listen into the bathroom. Ron felt reassured, for their leader was back. It was really true, Harry had always been the leader, whether he intended to or not. Ron had noticed the same quality about James among the Marauders, he was the unspoken leader. In fact, Ron wondered if Harry even realized he was the leader! Chuckling quietly to himself, he watched his friend listen intently with a serious expression on his face, his ear pressed to the door. Hermione shot him a sharp look, and Ron quickly stifled his giggles.
"Did you just speak Parseltongue? How can you speak parseltounge if neither Lily and I are parselmouths?" They heard James ask the other Harry for the second time.
"Well, I didn't exactly inherit it from either of you, but I got it from someone else purely by accident. He didn't mean to transfer his ability to speak Parseltongue to me by any means!" Hermione smiled at Harry, showing her approval of the quick thinking he had done when saying that.
"So, shall we see if they're down here?"
"Okay, then."
They heard the other Harry and James slide into the pipe, and no one relaxed but Harry, who said, "Okay, it's clear now, let's go!"
Before Ron, Hermione, or Ginny could stop him, Harry had flung open the bathroom door and rushed inside. Ginny moaned, knowing perfectly well that the other Ginny, Ron, Hermione, and Alternate Harry were inside as well.
Harry looked around the apparently deserted bathroom, and began to approach the revealed slide going to the Chamber. Just then, he heard movement, and quickly crouched behind a trashcan. When he saw their other selves and Alternate Harry step out, Harry nearly passed out at the thought of what had almost happened. The other Ron volunteered to go down first, and Harry was very aware of the other Hermione's eyes darting around the bathroom in an organized search pattern. Finally, the other Hermione, Ginny, and Alternate Harry had descended, and now, he hoped, the coast was clear.
He opened the door to find himself face to face with his stark white friends. Their facial expressions were almost laughable until Harry reminded himself he had looked much the same hiding behind the trashcan.
"Okay, before I go and barge in on our other selves unknowingly, would someone explain what you all did here with my alternate self?" He asked them, smiling. Hermione filled him in on everything, and everyone judged that it would be safe by now to enter the Chamber of Secrets without being seen.
One slimy slide-ride later, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny stood amongst the rodent skeletons, trying not to crunch too loudly so as to catch the attention of their other selves. Harry chanced a peek at the Chamber, and saw himself with Tom Riddle and James, as well as his Alternate Self next to the other Ginny, watching. It was still an incredibly weird feeling.
Harry turned to the others to say something about this, but everyone froze at the sound of approaching footsteps. His heart beating loudly in his chest from the shock, he followed Ginny behind a large stone that had fallen from somewhere in the stone room. Nearby, Hermione and Ron did the same, and not a moment too soon.
Sirius, with the unconscious other Ginny, rushed into the rodent room. Ginny felt that their location was ideal, for they could still hear what was going on in the main Chamber with Tom Riddle, could keep an eye on their other selves watching the Chamber, and had a great view of the comical scene involving Sirius trying to get up into the pipe.
While Ginny tried to laugh without being heard, Harry watched her. It had been an odd adventure so far, to say the least, but some things weren't so odd really. Okay, Harry admitted to himself, being attacked by his Alternate Self had been pretty odd, but well, other things… Harry had been okay with them. Like bashing around Hogwarts with the Marauders, everyone had been like one large group of friends. Or even Ron and Hermione finding out what could be in store for them in the future, even Harry couldn't deny that they made sense together. And hugging Ginny, well Harry had hugged Hermione lots of times (actually the other way around, but same difference), so hugging Ginny shouldn't be weird. They were friends now, after all. She wasn't just Ron's little sister anymore, she was Ginny, part of the group.
But was it just a friendly hug? Like a hug Hermione would give to Harry after he had almost been killed in some other random adventure? Or like a hug Hermione would give to Ron, both denying that it was anything other than a friendly hug. A friendly hug like Hermione would give Harry. So, had Harry hugged Ginny like Hermione would hug Ron? Had Ginny hugged Harry in the same way? Would Ron ever hug Hermione like that? Or was Ron even really aware of the difference in hugs? How many kinds of hugs were there?
Just stop, you're confusing yourself, Harry told his brain that was swirling with thoughts of hugs. He would just have to ask Hermione about hugging and that sort of stuff later, he decided. He shook himself from his thoughts once more as he saw his past self and James step out from the Chamber, and Sirius transforming back into his human form.
"This is going to be tricky, getting out of here." Sirius informed the others. "And where is our dear friend Tom?"
"Harry bashed him against a wall, and he's out cold, for now at least. Are you sure there's no other way out?" James asked.
"Last time I was here, Dumbledore's phoenix got us out. This time we'll have to climb, I think." The other Harry told them seriously as Sirius pulled him up to the pipe, James following.
"I really like your kid, James." Sirius muttered to James, and James nodded with pride. Harry couldn't help but smile as he caught the words his godfather said to his father for the first time. It was good to know that his father approved of him, and that Sirius did, too. It was the first time Harry really had proof that his father was proud of him, though he had probably been proud of Harry when he was a baby, but this was the first time Harry could see his father's pride in him. His father and Sirius disappeared from view as they began to climb the pipe, and as soon as they had, the voices from the chamber directed Harry to what was going on around him again.
"Switch the wands, Harry." The other Ginny was telling Alternate Harry. Harry was still really surprised that his friends hadn't realized it wasn't really him for so long.
"Come on, mate! What are you waiting for?" Ron asked him, and Hermione frowned. Ginny and Harry watched in rapture as the other Ginny tried to wrench the wand from Alternate Harry's hands.
"Just give it here, Harry!" She cried, but he wouldn't let go.
"What-why-what happened to your scar?"
"You're not our Harry, are you?" Hermione asked, and Alternate Harry smiled. In spite of himself, Harry let out a small smile at the sight of his friends' faces.
"You're right, I'm not you're Harry."
"You really thought this guy was me?" Harry asked Ginny again, and Ginny shrugged.
"He did happen to look a little bit like you." She smiled. Harry blushed. Ginny blushed.
"That's why you've been so silent. And in the river, your life flashed before you the same way, because you hadn't traveled through time. And you couldn't speak Parseltongue because You-know-who hadn't given you his powers yet!" The other Ginny exclaimed to Alternate Harry.
"Stupefy!" The other Ron yelled, and Harry felt a surge of pride inside him for Ron.
"Thanks, mate." He said quietly, glad someone had finally shut up his alternate self. From behind the other boulder, Ron smiled at Harry, who nodded in response.
"Good thinking, Ron." Hermione said. "We have to go back to the alternate 1996 and rescue the real Harry before Voldemort realizes 'his son' isn't there." The other Hermione said.
Meanwhile, Hermione froze in fear. Compulsively, she grabbed Ron out of fright. Ron jumped, startled, and turned his head to look at her, curious. Harry and Ginny watched her as well, not sure of what was going on. Hermione was staring, wide eyed and open mouthed at something in the chamber, in obvious terror.
"'Mione? What's wrong?" Ron asked her, concerned that she was clinging to him with such tenacity. "Are you okay?"
Harry and Ginny turned around to see what Hermione was looking at in the Chamber. There didn't seem to be anything out of place, their other selves were just talking.
"No, it doesn't. But Dumbledore and the Time Chamber do!" The other Hermione smiled. Nothing weird, Harry thought to himself.
But then, he saw it. He now realized why Hermione was in such a state. "Hermione! Shut your eyes!" Harry whispered as loudly as he dared. "All of you! Shut your eyes!"
While their other selves walked unknowingly past their hiding spots, just behind them was the reason of Hermione's fear. Slithering silently along unnoticed for how long now, was a large, green snake. The Basilisk was up and about.
Ron was amazed that the snake had been so close to them before, and they hadn't noticed. As their other selves climbed up into the pipe to leave, he also wondered why it hadn't followed them out of the chamber in pursuit. Now, it seemed, it was going to do just that. Ron looked quickly over to Harry, who was squinting his eyes just in case. Ginny and Hermione were doing the same.
If no one was going to realize the danger that their other selves were in, Ron would have to do something! But what? He looked wildly around for anything that might help him, and his eyes settled on a medium sized rock near Hermione's foot. He picked it up, took aim, and flung the rock as hard as he could towards the opposite wall.
As the rock hit the wall and smashed, Ron shut his eyes quickly as the Basilisk turned its head to look for the source of the noise. Hermione gave Ron a look of horror, but Harry had figured out what Ron had done and why.
"Keep distracting it, Ron." Harry hissed out of the corner of his mouth, and Ron nodded. The Basilisk was now looking around near the corner closest to Hermione. "Ginny, I'll switch the wands and you modify Tom's memory, just enough for him to forget the past two days or however long ago you and Sirius first arrived here."
Ginny nodded mutely, and Ron explained to Hermione some sort of diversion they could cause. Ron caught Harry's eye, and nodded.
As if on cue, Hermione emitted a high pitched scream while she and Ron threw rocks at the Basilisk, and Ron yelled as loud as he possibly could. With all the noise bouncing and reverberating off of the stone walls, it was very confusing, and the Basilisk tried hard to find the source of the noise. When its head turned the other way, Harry and Ginny made a dash for the main chamber, squinting their eyes as they ran along just in case.
Harry took out Tom Riddle's wand from his pocket, and replaced his own wand that Tom held limply with it. He turned to Ginny, who nodded.
"Obliviate!" She said, and the spell hit Tom in the face. "It's a very mild one, so he'll just have forgotten the past two days. We need to take him out of here and put him in the library or somewhere else that wouldn't make him suspicious."
Harry levitated Tom, but then a loud crash sounded from the room with the rodent skeletons. Harry chanced a glance and saw Hermione, terrified and her eyes tightly shut, cowering behind the remains of the boulder. Ron was a few feet away, his wand out. The Basilisk was looking curiously over the boulder to see what was behind it, and it's tail end was also wrapped possessively around Ron's waist. Ron looked both horrified and disgusted, though very determined with his wand pointing in the direction of the basilisk, while his eyes were closed.
"Don't kill it, Ron! It has to live to our second year!" Harry said warningly, and Ron lowered his wand. The Basilisk seemed unsure of what to do next, for there were so many possible meals around him, all of them with their eyes shut tightly.
It was a standstill, for no one dared to move.
"Stun it, I think it's the only way to get away with out permanently damaging it. It only obeys Tom, so even if I spoke to it…" Harry said, hoping that Ron would be able to hit the snake with his eyes closed and not someone else. His own wand was in his pocket, and he didn't dare move that much. He could hear the Basilisk moving slightly.
"S-Stupefy!" everyone with a wand yelled hopefully, opening their eyes cautiously as they did.
A low rumbling sounded, and Harry opened his eyes for a split second and covered his head and Ginny as well. Large chunks of the ceiling were raining down, and there was so much dust and debris that it was very difficult to see anything.
"RUN!" Harry yelled, pulling Ginny with him, who dragged Tom behind her. Hermione and Ron didn't need telling twice, and soon they were in a sprint across the room. Harry hoisted Ginny up, and Ron gave Hermione a lift up. The girls then lifted Harry and Ron, along with Tom, up into the opening of the pipe.
Out of breath, they began to climb the pipes again. It was almost comical, for towards one end of the pipe were Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Harry, and unconscious Tom, while a little further along the pipe was another set of Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and unconscious Alternate Harry, and towards the other end of the pipe was another Harry, James, Sirius, and unconscious Ginny. Ron took one last look at the Chamber of Secrets, now littered with chunks of rock along with the rodents. The Basilisk was pinned down by the tail, not able to follow them through the pipe, but would be free the next time he shed his skin or whenever Tom came back.
"It's safe now. I missed the Basilisk, but he's trapped." Ron told the others, and they were satisfied. The climb continued, and soon they weren't very far behind one set of their other selves.
Suddenly, Hermione's foot slipped on the slick pipe, and she began to fall. Ron and Harry caught her in time to prevent herself from falling back down the pipe, but with a loud CLUNK that reverberated throughout the pipe they watched as the pocket watch fell from her pocket and disappear as it fell down the slide.
It wasn't until then that Hermione remembered the frightening sounds she had heard the last time she was climbing this pipe, including the screams and then the loud bang. She had been hearing her own shouts as well as Ron's from down in the Chamber, and then her dropping the pocket watch. Very Strange.
"What are we going to do, now?" Harry whispered to the others after Hermione had regained her footing.
"Time Chamber again, I suppose." Ginny answered, and she imagined the Marauder's faces when they would burst in on them for the third time.
After a long time of grueling climbing, during which everyone became progressively more exhausted after reliving it for a second time, they got out of the pipe just as their other selves were closing the door to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom while leaving.
In the well lit bathroom, they caught sight of their appearances for the first time in a long time. They were all extremely dirty from the falling rocks and dust, they hadn't changed clothes in what felt like days but by the way time was going by for them, who knows how long? And Harry was dressed in Alternate Harry's rags, still. Hermione had a cut on her arm, Ron, a cut on his cheek, Ginny had several bruises on her legs, and Harry had a few minor scrapes on his face. For the first time in a long time, everyone felt a little more lighthearted. Then they looked down and remembered that they were still toting around Tom Riddle.
"To the library?" Hermione asked, and they all nodded.
Several minutes later they were in the normal Hogwarts library of 1943. Harry and Ron carried Tom to one of the secluded tables in a corner and propped him up in a chair. They arranged him so that it looked like he had fallen asleep while reading a book. Hermione and Ginny placed several books around him, and everyone hoped Tom would believe he had fallen asleep there, too. He was a little on the dirty side, but relatively normal looking. And completely and thoroughly tired of all the trouble he had caused for them, the left the library.
Once again they followed their other selves' footsteps to the Time Chamber, and listened in on what was going on inside. Apparently, they were getting ready to depart from 1943 for the second time, with Alternate Harry.
"Are you getting the feeling that we're missing out on this time adventure that is rightfully ours?" They heard Sirius ask.
"It certainly seems that way, Padfoot." James said.
"What if we followed them in the time elevator and then we-"
"NO!" the rest of the room hollered forcefully at Sirius.
"Don't you want to watch Harry kick his Alternate self's ass?" Sirius asked, and Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny chuckled.
"NO!!!" Remus repeated, and that was when Harry and the others decided to drop in.
"Hello again!" Ginny said brightly to the room, and Dumbledore and the Marauders looked up at them in astonishment.
"NOT YOU AGAIN!" Sirius cried, looking disappointed that an adventure was going on around him and he wasn't part of it.
"Yep, it's us again." Harry smiled.
"So, you got the real Harry back? That was really fast!" Sirius asked in awe. Hermione rolled her eyes at him, but she was smiling as well.
"It's me." Harry reassured them all. "And we're ready to go home this time."
Those words sounded so good to Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny. To be going home to their own time was going to be a good thing. Dumbledore frowned.
"Oh, no. What now?" Ron asked, not sure if he really wanted to know why.