Well, yet another chapter. I really can't explain this chapter very well unless I ruin it for you and I refuse to do that. To those who reviewed, I thank you greatly for your support. In rereading the wretched e-mail from Portkey, I discovered that I can still try out to be an author there. One day you'll see this story there. But right now I have other things I need to finish. I really do get easily distracted.

Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter I wouldn't be working early mornings unless I was up very late writing because of a great idea that had popped into my head.

Chapter 9: The Mirrors' Images (Part 2)

By: Tojot

The end of October was approaching. Even though Animagi lessons with McGonagall were postponed Hermione continued study on her own. Never letting anyone know, she had managed fur. Ron never asked why Hermione was gone for long periods at a time. Hermione was sure he just assumed that she was in the library busy with looking for clues. Ron was getting anxious and irritable without quidditch, and was trying to play Wizards chess against himself. Hermione could care less. She was currently more worried about Harry than anything else, including school and homework. She sat in the chair that Harry usually occupied, stoking Crookshanks. That cat was always around when she needed comforting. But right now, nothing seemed to work. She wanted Harry back. She had long ago given in to the feeling that Harry was close. She knew that Voldemort didn't have him. She had suspicions. The Animagus study was just there to keep her preoccupied until something clicked in her mind. She let out a deep sigh.

"You miss him, don't you?" Ron asked looking up from his game. Hermione sighed again, not answering him,

"It's okay Hermione we all miss him." Ginny said soothingly. "Why don't you go to bed. Maybe he'll return tomorrow."

Hermione had a feeling that he wouldn't return the next day. She had once this odd dream at the beginning of the month. It was on the night she had spent in the hospital wing. Harry was in it. He said only the vague words: 'one Moon cycle till the charm shall be repaired.'

It clicked in Hermione's mind as she climbed the stairwell to the girls' dormitories. Harry had asked Gryphon about protection charms their first lesson. He knew about something. His mother placed a protection charm on him at one. Could it be broken or fading? Was he weakened from the encounter with Voldemort, Fourth year. What was more, Hermione had never asked Harry why he needed to see Dumbledore at three in the morning. Did Dumbledore know? The deatheaters had no clue where Harry was. If someone where hiding Harry, kidnap would be a great ruse to keep people from searching inside the castle.

Hermione was certain that Harry was in hiding. and perhaps who put him there. She just needed to know where. The information about enchanted mirrors came to be interesting, but Gryphon still hadn't repaired the Two-way Mirror of Harry's yet.

It wasn't till Halloween, a particular stormy morning, at the Gryffindor table, that the mirror was returned. Gryphon didn't linger and left the room promptly looking slightly alarmed. Hermione didn't waste time in using it. From her position in the Great Hall, she turned the mirror to see the reflection of all whom resided in the room. But, aside from a few oddities, like spotting invisible Peeves before he made any mischief and hidden items the students hid from one another, no reflection of Harry came to the mirror.

"Hermione, what are you doing?" Ron said. She put away the mirror into her school bag, only pulling it out to scan classrooms when no one was looking. No Harry was there, either. While others were excited about the Halloween feast that was promised to take place that night as smells of pumpkin pie wafted through the air, Hermione kept looking in the mirror for Harry, alone.

"You shouldn't be doing that, Mudblood." Draco said when he caught her looking into it again. "You could break it with looks like yours." Hermione looked over his shoulder at something.

"Professor Gryphon!" She said.

"Yeah right, like I'm going to fall for that trick again." Draco said nastily.

"I beg thy pardon?" Gryphon exclaimed, behind Draco, who's pale face turned white. "Mr. Malfoy, thy lack of manners and words of speech is appalling, especially in the presence of a lady. Thirty more points shall be taken from Slytherin and another detention is in order. Off ye go." Malfoy scampered away. The scowl on his face was evident. Hermione knew he was going to plan something that could rid Hogwarts of yet another Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.

"Miss Granger, does thy search bode well?" Gryphon inquired seemingly unperturbed.

"No, I have not yet seen hide nor hair of Harry."

"Would ye give up the search?" Gryphon asked.

"No, I would do anything for Harry." Hermione declared.

"I see." Gryphon said in an intrigued tone and a mysterious smile on her face. "Sometimes the things we seek are right under thy nose. Good day, Miss Granger." She finished briskly and strode away and out of sight. Hermione continued looking in the mirror. The day passed on but still no sign of Harry in the mirror. The weather was still raging on outside the castle. She went to Gryffindor tower after classes, to drop off her and Ron's book bag before going to the feast. No one was in there except Crookshanks who rested on Harry's chair curled up to resemble a fluffy cushion. Sometimes the things we seek are right under thy nose. A thought struck her and she whipped out the mirror and directed it straight at the cat. What she saw surprised her.

Instead of just Crookshanks reflection she saw Harry's too. He was asleep too. She remembered that the Mirror of Erised had shown Harry too, near Crookshanks. She had figured it out. She stowed the mirror away, put down the book bags in a corner, and went over to the sleeping cat. How clever of someone to hide Harry right out in the open. No wonder she had gotten the feeling that he was close. But she felt slightly embarrassed what Harry may have found out as a cat. She knelt down in front of the chair and nudged the cat awake. It looked at her with bleary eyes, with an expression Harry wore whenever he wanted to continue to sleep.

"I found you Harry!" She whispered, looking the cat straight in the eye. Crookshanks eyes were no longer bleary, but wide and panicky. He leapt from the chair and ran towards the Boys' Stair.

"Not so fast, you won't get away from me that easily. Crookshanks come here!" Hermione called. It was a very odd sight to see a cat struggling with itself. Who ever this clever person was who hid Harry, had left Crookshanks in there with him. She scooped up the cat and left Gryffindor tower.

"Lemon Tart." She said as she had come to the stone Griffin. It leapt aside to let her onto the stair. The door was opened just before she knocked.

"Come in Miss Granger, we have been expecting thee." Gryphon said with a mischievous grin marking her features as she shut the door. "And thy cat as well."

"Headmaster, I have found Harry?" Hermione said as she held up the cat.

"I am sure you have, Miss Granger." Dumbledore said gravely, "We now have a more daunting task ahead of us." Something hit Hermione hard like a ton of bricks.

"It was both you who did this to Harry." Hermione said angrily.

"Miss Granger sit down and let me explain the reasons we had for placing him in your cat." Dumbledore advised. Hermione did so. "I am sure you are aware of the Protection charm Lily Potter placed on Harry at the age of one, correct?" Hermione nodded in response. "And that Voldemort was able to break past that charm at the end of your fourth year." Hermione nodded again.

"When the charm was broken though it was actually broken and what was left of it has been fading over time. Harry was basically left vulnerable. But in this last month, has he been the most vulnerable. It was Avi's decision to hide him in plain sight, where he could only be seen by the reflection of an enchanted mirror. We worked it all out under the guise of kidnap so no one would suspect that Harry was in a delicate state. It would have been noticeable. Falling asleep constantly, listlessness, and fading health are just a fraction of what we had to deal with if Harry remained in the open. Now animals have a natural instinct to live which would counter these specific things except sleep."

"That's why he has been sleeping a lot." Hermione realized. "Because Crookshanks is normally a very active cat, I just thought he was turning lazy on me and getting old."

"Indeed." Dumbledore replied. "The cat was a natural choice, seeing as Avi could communicate to the feline species what needed to be done. It was your cat that stood out from the rest, a clever Half-Kneazle with a connection to Harry already. Most of all he was willing to take on the task of protecting Harry. Do you understand?"

"I think so. Can this charm be repaired?"

"Aye, it can." Gryphon answered quietly. "But at certain sacrifices. This is the night it has to be repaired or all is lost. But something has gone missing that is crucial to the repair: Lily Potter's sacrificial knife. T'was lost in the flames of the Potter home in Godric's Hollow on All Hollow's Eve, fifteen years ago. Tis an ancient magic that Lily used, it can only be repaired with the item that cast it."

"The knife." Hermione replied.

"Aye. Now, as Mr. Potter's life hangs in the balance, do thy words stand declared?"

"My words?" Hermione replied confused.

"What would you do for Harry, Miss Granger." Dumbledore pushed. It was those words that swept away the confusion, everything was clear.

"I would do anything for Harry, anything." Hermione declared once more. "I would console him in sadness, face him in anger, laugh with him in joy, agree with him though he may be wrong, question him when he gets out of hand…"

"Tis all I needed to know." Gryphon replied. "Are ye willing to risk thy life to repair and complete the charm."

"Complete? Was it never finished?" Hermione questioned.

"Lily used the one of the most versatile protection charms out there, she may have given Harry some protection, but she was murdered before the charm could be completed, before the charm could take full strength, though her sacrifice may have given him more protection. What tipped me off that Lily never completed the charm was the fact that Voldemort broke through it so easily."

"I see, so a completed charm is unbreakable?" Hermione asked.

"Not quite." Gryphon said calmly as her face was thrown into sharp relief as a burst of thunder and lightning sounded above.

"What do I have to do?" Hermione said abruptly. A relieved grin spread across Dumbledore's face.

"Before anything can be repaired we are sending you back in time to retrieve Lily's knife." He said as he pulled a small wooden box from a desk drawer and opened it. Inside was a Time Turner, but it was very peculiar looking. "This is a Two-Way Time Turner, I am sure you have read something about them Miss Granger. This particular one has been preset to two specific dates: 9:00 PM October Thirty-First 1981, and 11:30 PM tonight. Since you have already had experience using a Time Turner, you should already be aware of the laws. Do not change the events that happened on that fateful night. And you cannot be seen." With these words, he handed the Time Turner to her.

"What do we do about Harry?" Hermione asked looking at the cat sitting in her lap.

"He will go with thee, the spell Harry is under will wear off at 11:30 tonight. Ye will have enough time to repair the Protection charm before midnight tonight. It must be cast in the same exact place it was once cast before. I do believe it was in the nursery."

"So how do I repair it?" Hermione asked.

"Ye have read the second assigned volume for my classes, Correct?"

"I have."

"Do ye remember what hath been written on page 355?" Gryphon said. Hermione nodded without falter, though her cheeks took on a pink tint.

"We will be sending you to the old Potter residence in Godric's Hollow, by portkey. You will then use the Time Turner to get the knife. One turn will get you there, one turn in the other direction will get you back. Gryphon has kindly agreed to stand by to return you both safely to Hogwarts and to see if the charm went all right." Dumbledore said. He pulled from the box that held the Time Turner, a silver medallion that hung from a silver chain.

"Portus." He said as he tapped it with his wand. It shook and glowed blue momentarily. "Here." Dumbledore said as he placed the medallion around her neck. "We have only a minute before it goes off. I want this back after your return so don't lose it."

"Miss Granger, I almost forgot to tell thee. The charm can only be administered five minutes before midnight. It may not take effect until midnight itself. It must be complete by that time."

Hermione and Harry had just enough time to hear the last word before they felt that familiar hook about their middles. The rush of wind and swirl of color whipped past them. Hermione held on tight to the cat in her arms as the Portkey pulled them along. Hermione's feet soon hit solid ground, she accidentally dropped Crookshanks as she fell over herself. The cat looked at her in annoyance.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to drop you." She said as she picked herself up off the wet ground that was incased by four dilapidated walls encased with overgrown plantlife. It was raining in the old ruin that used to be Harry's home. The cat looked around with a look of melancholy on his face.

'Poor Harry.' Hermione thought. 'This has to be really painful for him.' Hermione felt a great and powerful aura around this ruin. From the burnt ruins it looked like something had ripped several large chucks off the house. Harry started to walk away from her towards the steps that led to the upstairs floor. Hermione could almost hear him say, "Come on let's find my old room and get this done with." That is, she suddenly realized that she actually heard him say this in her mind.

"Harry?" Hermione asked tentatively.

"What?" It was definitely Harry's voice that replied back as the cat turned around to look at her.

"I can speak with you now? How?" Hermione said curiously. The cat looked at her with a contemplating stare, Hermione considered that it was very odd to see a cat seriously considering something.

"I think I know why Dumbledore wanted that medallion back." Harry replied, "I do believe it allows you to speak Malkintongue."

"Weird." Hermione replied. "So do you have any clue were your room is?"

"I only have vague memories of it." Harry said. "But I am sure it's upstairs." He finished as he looked in the direction of the old stairwell.

"Well, let's get going then." Hermione said following the cat.

"Let me go first to look for dangerous spots that you should skip." Harry suggested.

"Okay."

Even though the stairs looked old and rickety, they where actually well built and strong. They supported the weight of a large cat and a seventeen-year-old girl.

"Where do we go from here?" Hermione asked as soon as they had gotten to the soot covered and fire blackened landing. The cat darted up another but narrower set of stairs. They looked a bit more stable. But something occurred to Hermione. How could've Hagrid gotten up these steps to rescue Harry, since it was so narrow and Hagrid so big. Hermione remembered that Hagrid had met a woman in the inferno that had engulfed this house so many years ago. How, in what way, did she help Hagrid? Who was she, anyway?

They stepped out into what used to be a nursery. The scorched door had looked as if it had been blown off its hinges. The ceiling and roof were completely burned away, leaving them exposed to the stormy weather. One wall was gone too. Something in the corner looked like it was what remained of the crib. Hermione looked at this room in horror. This was Harry's room before Voldemort attacked. The cat let out a caterwaul of pain.

"I know Harry, I know. This has to be very hard for you." Hermione said.

"Don't mind me let's just do what we came here for." Harry said. The Pain in his voice was greatly evident. Hermione, not lingering any longer, pulled the Time Turner from her pocket, and beckoned Crookshanks into her arms. She turned the hourglass upside down, and a whirlwind of wind, color, and sound rushed by. It was definitely faster than the Time Turner Hermione had used last. Just as soon as Hermione couldn't stand it anymore, it stopped. They were within a dark room but it was whole unlike the one they had been in before. The door was ajar, letting light from the lower levels of the house light the nursery. Hermione noticed that it was painted a light green color. There was a coo behind her coming from the crib within the room. She looked around and saw a black-mopped toddler looking at her with same familiar green eyes she had seen so many times from his older counterpart. Except he had no scar… yet.

"Hermione, what if we just inform my parents that Voldemort is coming tonight?" Harry suggested.

"No!" Hermione glared. "Harry, you heard Dumbledore. We can't change the events that happened this night."

"But Hermione…"

"I said no!"

Just as she said this there was a loud bang sounding from the lower levels of the house, soon followed by high-pitched maniacal laugher.

"Lily, take Harry and go! It's him!" A mans voice shouted.

"But…" it was a woman's voice this time.

"Go! Run! I'll hold him off!" the man said again.

"Too late anyway." A panicked whisper left Hermione's lips as she scooped up the cat and darted into a nearby closet leaving the closet door cracked open enough to see the room in full view. The toddler in the crib was crying. They heard sounds of someone coming quickly up the stairs and the light was flicked on as a tall woman with red hair and green eyes came into the room as she shut and locked the door behind her. It was the first time Hermione had seen Harry's mother in person. She swept across the room and picked up the crying boy.

"Shh. Harry, I'm here." Lily tried her hardest to sound calm, but it seemed difficult on her part. Crashes and bangs sounded from the lower levels as the house shook from each blow. She put Harry back down in his crib and pulled a knife from her pocket and cut the palm of her other hand in a peculiar fashion. She then put the cut palm to the toddler's forehead and pulled it back. Hermione gasped. The design she had cut into her palm was reciprocated on little Harry's forehead in Lily's blood. It was in the shape of a bolt of lightning. That was when Hermione recognized it for what it was. Eihwaz, the ancient rune for defense and protection.

Before Lily could do anymore the door was blasted off its hinges with a bang. Lily turned around to face the man that had just entered the room. Voldemort was his name. He still looked mostly human to Hermione. Lily shielded Harry from Voldemort. The streaks on her face gave away the fact that she was crying.

"Stand aside." Voldemort commanded. His wand was held in front of him.

"Not Harry, not Harry, please not Harry!" Lily pleaded she was moving in a funny manner. It seemed as though she was fighting an Imperious spell that Voldemort had placed on her forcing her to move aside. But she would not move.

"Stand aside, silly girl…I said stand aside, now!"

"Not Harry, please no, take me, kill me instead-" She continued pleading, never moving from the spot she placed herself on. The child continued to cry. "Not Harry!" She cried, "Have Mercy, have mercy."

"AVADA KEDAVRA!" Hermione saw green light issue out of Voldemort's wand and hit Lily square in the chest. There was a rush as something flew by. Voldemort was laughing and Lily's screams stopped as her lifeless form slumped to the floor. Hermione felt as though her insides had filled with ice and her breathing became heavy at seeing this horrible scene unfold in front of her.

"Now for the boy." Voldemort announced to no one in general as he pointed his wand at the toddler in the crib. "It been said that you will prevent me from my goal of power and immortality." He told the boy. "I can't let that happen, so I have to eliminate you. Goodbye. Avada Kedavra ." Hermione's breath stopped at these words. She forced herself not to get involved. It was basically a moment of truth. A green light sprang forth from the tip of Voldemort's wand. It hit Harry, and something so incredible and so horrifying happened. As soon as the curse hit Harry the blood mark, which Lily had left on his forehead, glowed bright red. Hermione could tell from his crying that it was causing the little boy such pain. Her heart wrenched at the sound, but she forced herself not to get involved. There was a bright flicker of green light. Hermione gasped loudly as she flinched back, but Voldemort didn't hear her.

"WHAT!" Voldemort yelled in confusion as the boy was engulfed in unfamiliar green flame. The crib had started fire and it was spreading to the walls. Voldemort's curse was thrown off and sent back at him. But the curse color had turned white. As soon as it had hit Voldemort, it started ripping his flesh to pieces. Hermione watched in horror as this flesh was being sucked in by the red mark on the blazing green child's head. A dark ghostly figure shot out of what used to be Voldemort's body and fled as the last of it was sucked up by the mark. The shear power that emanated from the boy had blasted out both window and wall from behind him.

Author's Note:

Now, I have to admit, that was quite a chapter. Did anyone think they would end up in the past? That was my take on what happened when the killing curse backfired. And what about Little Harry turning into an inferno?

I don't know when I'll have chapter ten (Double Results?) out. So in the meantime, please take a minute or two and review. Those gracious words are all I get in payment for what I do, to me they are worth more than gold. Thanks again.

Tojot