She flicked the page over, her eyes screwed up in thought, as she continued to read. Next to her Draco huffed, turning over the page in his book and scowled. Watching him out of the corner of her eye, she tutted and then continued to read. She had brought the diary with her to the library and it sat on the desk in front of them. Reaching for it, she flipped the pages over, turning it over in her hands, carefully scruitinising it.
"What are you looking for?" muttered Draco, his eyes not leaving the page.
"Any markings or clues that might help us narrow down our search. All the dark spells in this book involve some kind of mark being somewhere on the book but it's completely clean!" she exclaimed, huffing in frustration and she placed the book down and closed the tome she had been pouring over.
"Why are you assuming it is dark magic?" Draco drawled, turning over the next page.
Hermione glowered at him "because we ended up here after you bumped into me and it wouldn't be the first time a Malfoy used slight of hand and dark magic to send someone somewhere with a diary!" she hissed, her cheeks flushing.
Draco placed the book on the table calmly and turned to her "except I had not seen that book before in my life, and you knocked into me!" he told her firmly, his steely gaze fixed on her warm hazel orbs.
"Then how to YOU explain how we got here then? Because if you are suggesting that I…." she started, her voice raised as she started her ranting but then silenced as she noticed the book start to glow.
"What on earth…." she quietly exclaimed, her eyes widening in shock.
The book flipped open and they leaned in to look at it.
Suddenly, in an elegant scrawl, words began to form on the page.
"amicis factus amatores" Hermione read aloud as the words took shape.
She shared a look of confusion with Draco.
"Charming spell, if I do say so myself, they key to which will open the door to your journey home" Draco read.
"Well! No wonder I haven't found it!" Hermione cried, pushing her chair back and racing off to the stacks. Draco watched her run off, completely perplexed.
A few moments later, Hermione returned and dropped a hefty tome on the table, the dust causing Draco to cough as it rose in clouds.
Draco read the title of the book out loud "Complex Charms in Time and Relative Dimension in Space" he looked up at her expectantly.
"Third year McGonagal gave me a time turner. She explained that there were rules I had to follow and the nature of unchangeable events- fixed points- she said everything I needed to know would be in this book. I dont know why I didnt think of it sooner!" she rambled, flipping over the pages. "Most of the book is about these rules, but there are charms in here that deal with fixed points and how to stop them forming. If you go back far enough you can alter fixed points but the window is very small" she continued, her finger scanning over the page as she quickly read "AH! Here it is!" she exclaimed, turning the book to Draco.
"amicis factus amatores" he read "Enemies become...lovers?!" he turned to her, his face contorted with confusion and amazement. Hermione's eyes widened.
"Lovers?" he scoffed.
Hermione scowled. "Hardly an entertaining prospect for me either Malfoy!" she hissed, turning the book back to read on. Her eyes narrowed.
"It says the spell is a charm for stopping a fixed point from forming. That the fixed point will be a life altering event, something that would rip the soul apart. Well the only thing that I can think of that rips the soul apart is murder. And I'm not about to murder anyone. And for all your faults, I hardly think you are going to murder someone, are you?" she rambled, turning to Draco. She watched his complexion turn a deathly, almost translucent as all life drained from his eyes, blood draining from his face.
Her stomach knotted at the realisation.
"Who?!" she whispered, her eyes wide with fear.
"Dumbledore"
.
A/N: Sorry for taking so long getting this update! I had a little bit of writers block so thanks must go to xxDustNight88 for helping me to overcome this and batting around some ideas about how to make the charm work. Credit for some of the plot ideas for the last two chapters must go to her. She is an incredible beta and writer and without her and Torigingerfox (also incredible!) I wouldnt have written a damn thing so if you like my fics, thank them! Credit for the whole Time and Relative Dimension in Space idea must of course go to the creators of Dr Who. As is the whole idea of fixed points- this whole plot twist is definitely not my own but i think its fun to explore the idea that Draco's retribution might hang on whether or not a fixed point formed...also helps to explain that how time turner not being able to save anyone from big bad ugly stuff but can go and free buckbeak with ;) I rarely give the whole disclaimer thing because, hey, whats the point- fanfic writing is always about taking characters that belong to other people so y'all know it aint my characters, but heres one anyway: Characters, JK Rowling, TARDIS/Fix Points idea, people at BBC who came up with Dr Who, rest of the plot, mine. If I was JK Rowling or the BBC I wouldnt be writing fanfics ;) hope you all enjoying this and if you get tired of waiting for an update, feel free to read what I am writing instead ;) D84