Playing with Time

Chapter 2

September 2013

Tanis glances over at the clock after she hears his door shut. One in the morning. They were sitting at the table for at least four hours. After dinner and a little birthday dessert, the other members left to their respective rooms, leaving her and Neville to talk. Everyone is surely asleep by now, but Tanis still decides this book is something that should be looked at in complete privacy.

She wastes no time changing and jumping onto her cot after she reaches the small area of her room. With her back against the wall she cross her legs and places the book in her lap. As she looks at it, she realizes the true detail of it.

It's a black, leather bound book with a maroon band enclosing it. Inspecting it closer she spots a gold crest imprinted on the right side, near the lock. Inside the shield is an embossed phoenix with its wings spread wide and head pointed to the heavens.

She traces the emblem with her thumb and simultaneously reaches for the lock. She tugs at the leather strap but nothing happens. She pulls again, still nothing.

"Wait…I'm a witch." She reaches over for her wand and points the tip at the gold lock. "Alohomora," and the latch easily comes undone. "Well that just seemed a little too easy."

Disappointment fills her eyes as she glances at the first page. Flipping though the rest of the book she realizes that all the pages are blank, aside from the first one. Across the top is a single line that reads.

Who is this?

"Who is this? It's me you stupid journal. Tanis. " And nothing happens. "Tanis Longbottom?" Still nothing. She knows the site must look ridiculous, her sitting on her bed, angry at the book in front of her; but she can't help it. All the young witch wants is to learn about her heritage, and the stupid book is blank. "Psh, asking who I am. You want to know who I am? I am Tanis Sophia Granger, daughter of Hermione Granger-" At one point her eyes had drifted from the book in her lap so she didn't notice that after she spoke her name, the pages began to melt away. "-and…well, if I knew who my father was I probably wouldn't need to read this. Now do something you stupid piece of- oh!"

Her eyes finally open to see not blank sheets of parchment but a small wooden box sitting in their place. She reaches for the latch and this time it come easily undone and she finds herself staring at four items: Two photos, a folded sheet of paper and a necklace.

"My mum and her weird jewelry." She picks up the necklace and hangs it in her hand. In the middle, a tiny hourglass in cased in gold spins on its axis as the gold bands circled around it stand stationary. Inscribed onto the ribbons are lines of Latin. The magic flows through her fingertips and shots through her body. "What is this?" She puts it down and is disappointed by the empty feeling she is instantly greeted with. "Whatever it is, it's pretty powerful. This'll probably tell me…" She grabs the sheet and notices the few words scribbled on the page. "…or maybe not."

In order to plan your future wisely, it is necessary that you understand, appreciate, and in some cases, change your past.

Give it 16 turns and see how much you can come to understand.

"Leave it to mum to be cryptic...again"She drops the note next to her, picks up the necklace once more and hangs it around her neck before grabbing the photos. The first one is of her as a baby, probably five or six months, cuddled up in a pick blanket sleeping. Her breathing is soft as her small form slowly moves back and forth, trying to get comfortable. The second is her no older than 18 months, lying in her mother's arms and they are both laughing. Looking closer, she notices a mirror behind the pair. In it, a soft image of a guy with bright blonde hair holds the camera.

"This must be my father." She concludes quickly. "Dad was right, we do look a lot alike; at least, from what I can see. Now…16 turns huh?" She reaches for the necklace again and analyzes it. "It's from mum so it can't be too dangerous. Right?" She reaches for the center before pulling back. "Maybe I should talk to dad first," she pauses, "but I don't want him to worry." She reaches forward again and before she can doubt herself, her fingers wrap around the centerpiece and begins to turn it.

One turn, two turns, three, four, five…

There is a slight tug as she starts. Her eyes glance up and her room she grew up in starts to melt and fade. She tries to reach out, to grab the candle sitting next to her but she can't seem to will her hand to move from around the hourglass.

…six turns, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven…

A dizziness spell falls upon her as the room completely disappears in a swirl of colors and lights. The bed, the candle, and the walls no longer exist as she is pulled though a black space.

…twelve turns, thirteen, fourteen…

She continues to turn without a care. The only thing she can see, feel and think is the motion of her hand and the numbers running through her mind. Only a few more to go.

…fifteen turns, sixteen turns…

Her mind knows it's the end so she opens her eyes she didn't know were closed and sees shapes forming. Were they ever even gone? Was there even a black space or were her eyes just closed? She doesn't know nor does she care, she just wants this nauseous feeling to pass. She's about to take her hand off it when her fingers betray her mind.

…seventeen…

September 1996

She yanks her hand off and it's stopped by a brick wall that's appeared behind her. The pain shoots down her arm and she cradles it, waiting for the throbbing to subside.

"Where am I?" She looks around the dark area and realizes she has no earthly idea where she is. Reaching into her back pocket, she takes her wand, and lights it in front of her, hoping there is nothing lurking in the corners. "I'm glad I listened to dad when he said this should never leave me." She stands and takes a few steps forward, trying to take in her location.

Brick walls, and concrete flooring. There's a large desk directly in front of her, and five rows of eight desks beyond it, creating a semi-circle. It's a classroom!

There are no windows, no decorations nor any type of personalization or clues that could give her a hint as to where she is. As she maneuvers through the rows and walks toward the large double doors, she notices the walls of shelves, surrounding her with potion bottles. As she reaches the end of the room, she takes note of the stale coldness blanketing the room before opening the doors.

Taking two steps out, she chooses a direction, and allows her feet to carry her, hopefully to somewhere that could tell her what this place is.

"What are you doing out here?" The voice echoes through the hallway causing Tanis to spin around, wand pointing at the intruders nose. It startles him and he jumps back, struggling for his, and it isn't until she realizes there is another wand, directed at her forehead, that her mind focuses on her target. She registers the face of the boy who stands before her, still struggling to right his wand, and lowers her weapon.

"Dad?" She pauses, looking over at his partner and then back. "Is that…you?" Neville's face turns to confusion as he takes a step back, allowing the other boy to take a step closer.

"Dad? I'm...I'm Neville." He stutters back, finally having his wand out but not quite up. He eyes the girl curiously. "Who are you?"

"Sure, let's just have a nice conversation while all of our wands are drawn." Comes the sarcastic voice of the other male. "Or, how about you lower yours so I can lower mine, and we can decide together what to do."

Tanis' arm doesn't move as she stares at the boy before her. That looks like her dad, sort of. His eyes are the same, but he's much, much, shorter, younger, and...well fatter. She sighs, and against the one little part screaming at her not to, she lowers her wand. After her arm is at her side, she watches out of the corner of her eye, the other go down as well; but like her, it's still out.

"Where…am I?"

"Do you not know?" Neville asks. A remark is at the tip of her tongue, but she holds it; after all she is at the disadvantage. She nods in confirmation.

"We should get you to Madam Pomfrey." The other boy concludes.

"You're right Macmillan. She's either suffering from amnesia or were hit with a memory spell. Either way, she should really get a look at her." Neville finishes and then pocket his wand; but it was Macmillan that grabs her by the arm. She tenses.

"So...what's you're name? My name's Ernie, Ernie Macmillan." She sees the look in his eyes and she instantly feels disgusted and slightly uncomfortable. His gaze says something as he tries to lead her towards the direction they just came from. She shakes her head. One minute he has his wand pointed at her and the next this is happening?

Wait, her mind goes over him once more. This…this is Ernie? Her Ernie? The man who not only is like her second father…or would that be third? But took her under his wing in teaching her self defense and actually gave her the wand that now sits in her left hand? This is him? She glances over at Neville and can feel the anger radiating off of him.

"Macmillan. Are you seriously doing this? I still don't understand how Professor Dumbledore could think you are even fit for this position. Come on." He's not quite sure where all this anger and courage is coming from, but he relishes in its glow as he grabs a hold of her other wrist. "I'll take you to the Hospital Wing. Macmillan, you continue the rounds, I'll catch up with you later."

"Oh ho, look at you, little Longbottom trying to be all big and bad in front of the pretty lady." He turns towards Tanis, but allows Neville to pull her to him. Suddenly, Macmillan feels the energy radiating from his co-prefect; and a wave of anger hits him shoving his roughly back. He stumbles to keep his footing and then scoffs it off. "Whatever. I'll see you two later." And he walks off.

Tanis shutters as he pulls her along. This is Neville she knew, but this one seems different- less sure of himself; and much, much younger. It doesn't take a grand wizard for her to figure out what the necklace is; a time traveling device of some sort. She looks down and sees it swinging on her neck. Taking her free arm, she quickly pulls it from around her and wonders how she can keep it from prying eyes.

"So do you remember your name?" It's the first thing to break the silence after about five minutes of walking and the necklace now secure in her pocket. Not long after they left the other boy, a tapestry, located a little ways down the hall, moved to reveal a staircase. The other end came to her in a rush of warmth, and a strange feeling of security flooded through her in the form of a brightly lit, open area. The grand stair case to her left and the large wooden doors to her right, tells her this is probably the front room.

"It's…" She debates whether it would be better to feign ignorance and eventually decides on the truth; but until she figures out the year, she'll leave out the important things, like her heritage. "Tanis…Tanis Abben." Using Granger would be a stupid idea, and Longbottom would clearly a worse one; so she decides on a name that derives from her mother figure and the woman she can happily call her best friend, even if she is two decades older than her, Hannah Abbott. She couldn't use Abbot though either, seeing as the woman also happens to be the long term fiancé of the boy who is now currently pulling her though a long corridor.

"Are you a new student? How old are you? What house are you in?" He continues to bombard her with questions and decides now is a good time to fake the amnesia.

"I…I don't know. I just woke up in the classroom."

"Well, what do you remember?" Her eyes follow the ground and she never answers. She hadn't thought about what the necklace was going to do, so she didn't really think of a cover story beforehand.

"I knew I should have talked to dad before I did anything." She scolds herself under her breath.

"What did you say?" His eyes glance quickly toward her.

"Oh nothing. Just trying to figure out the last thing I remember." She racks her brain, trying to remember everything her mother told her about this school, and how she could use the information to her advantage. Then, it hit her.

"I remember talking to Professor Dumbledore yesterday." At the sound of the headmaster's name, the death grip on Tani's wrist, releases a bit. He didn't dare let her go, just incase she was a spy or something. Wouldn't want to be taken by complete surprise, or have her run away, even if she's been cooperating. "I am a new student, and I'm afraid I got lost getting here."

"Did you not take the train?" He asks and she shakes her head in reply.

"No, I came by floo, because I was so late in trying to come here. After that, I don't know what happened." She watches him from the corner of her eye, seeing if he believes her story; at least enough to leave her alone on it. After a few seconds he nods his head, seemingly accepting the story. Tanis smirks inwardly.

"Well, let's get you to Madam Pomfrey and I'll contact the Headmaster for you, to let him know you're here." Tanis stumbles a bit and Neville's grips tightens again, countering her fall and allows her to stay up right.

"Ok..." The smirk in her head disappears and she groans a little. "That'll be great." Now what is she going to do?

It isn't much longer before they make it to the the Medical Room. The little woman that Tanis is introduced to as Madam Pomfrey hurries her to a bed, telling her not to move, and not to worry as she will handle everything. Several potions and a wardrobe change later, Tanis is comfortably tucked into a bed.

"I'll try to get a hold of Dumbledore so he doesn't have to worry." Nevile says smiling before heading towards the door.

"You know, you really don't need to. I wouldn't want you to disturb his rest, especially over something so small." Tanis pleads in her head to get him to change his mind.

"So small?" He turns back around and shakes his head. "You've lost some of you're memory. How is that small?" Tanis goes quiet, unsure of what to say. Luckily though, the woman inadvertently helps her out.

"Neville, dear, it is late. Ernie should already be done with your rounds, so why don't you just get back to your tower and we'll talk to Professor Dumbledore in the morning." The boy sighs but nods.

"Yes ma'am. I will see you later." He turns to Tanis. "You too, I hope you get to feeling better." The witch smiles at him. How could she not? Her lie is safe for the time being and seeing that face, so full of concern for her, takes her back to her own time and makes her think of her own Neville. He turns to leave once more, and this time makes it through the doors.

"Alright then. It's late, get some rest, and we will let you talk to Professor Dumbledore in the morning. I'll be just over there should you need anything." Tanis nods, thanking her in appreciation before the medi-witch draws a single curtain between the desk she pointed to and her; effectively allowing some privacy.

"I feel like I should be doing something about this story of mine. I need to think of more things to say...but...I think she gave me a sleep draught." Tanis yawns and almost misses the door at the far end opening and a figure walking through.

"Madam Pomfrey?" A male voice rings through her ears and she looks up at the door. The nurse scurries past her bed with two bottles: one full of a red liquid and the other full of an aqua green color. Tanis tries to look at who is at the door but her view is blocked by the witch.

"Here you are Draco. The red one is for your migraines and the other is for sleeping. Like I've said before, I don't approve of you using these, but your father is just impossible. Just be forewarned, they are incredibly addicting."

"Yes, yes, I know. You've said this before and yet I still get them." She watches at the old woman shakes her head before turning to her right; giving Tanis a full view of the man in the door.

She's amazed by his shimmering blonde hair, shining silver eyes, and the fact that she indeed looks exactly like him.

"Father?" Her voice cracks and comes out in a whisper but the room is silent enough that the word carries. He turns to her and she is suddenly staring into the eyes of the man who helped create her.

He's curious as he takes in her features, obviously wondering who she is. He takes a step forward and is about to take a second, when he shakes his head. Taking one last fleeting look at her, he turns on his heel and walks out.

To be continued…

Author's note:

Yes, yes, I know the turns on the time turner are by hours…not years but I needed a simple way for her to get back there and turning it...lets see… about 141,000 times, give or take several times is anything but simple. Hah.

Hope you enjoyed! :D Remember to review!

~AtraLuna