Chapter Nine: Back Up
Author's Notes: Alright, this is where it gets tricky kids. This is where it also helps to have read The Elusive Number 12 Grimmauld Place. There will be many references to that story here, but I will also be doing a short recap at the same time.
The morning after had been rough, not because of the news that followed, but because of Ginny's thoughts about the news. Victor had thrown himself from the top of the Astronomy Tower, or that had been what everyone said. Part of her wondered if Riddle had thrown him off or hit him with a curse. Worse still, she didn't care how he had died after what he tried to do. It was a vile evil thing to take advantage of her.
But Ginny didn't like feeling like someone else deserved to die, even if they had tried to do that.
Very little about the next few weeks was memorable. Everyone seemed to regard her with some sort of reverence and the Doctor and Amy had kept to themselves somewhat. She guessed that the Doctor felt responsible for what had happened. He never said anything but she was sure he had heard about the common room and what happened that night.
It begin to feel awkward, being in the castle this long without Ron or Fred and George. Without seeing Hermione, or Luna or Dean…or Harry. It was starting to wear on her. She dreamed of Dumbledore's Army meetings sometimes at night and remembered how good Harry had been at teaching them.
Then there were the nights she dreamed that she was back in the Department of Mysteries being chased by Lucius Malfoy and the gang of Death Eaters. She could feel the stunner spells and curses whizzing past and Harry was urging her to run. Ron and Hermione and Luna and Neville were battling back Voldemort's forces but there seemed to be an endless supply of masked faces coming from all directions.
She slept badly those nights and when she attempted class the next day she felt that everyone who saw her knew it. Ginny slunk through the halls after breakfast, headed toward her first class of the day. Her limbs were warm with numbness and her head felt heavy. Victor had died three weeks ago and already no one seemed to remember the Slytherin or even care.
"You okay?" came a shout from behind her.
Ginny couldn't be sure she was being addressed at first.
"You there, with the red hair. You okay?"
She turned to see a tall ginger boy with deep brown eyes and slender features smiling down at her. He snickered. "Wow."
Ginny raised her eyebrow in defense. "What is it?"
"Just when you turned around I could have sworn we were related," he said. "I'm Ronald Prewett," he offered out his hand.
"Ginny Potter. I doubt we're of any relation, though," the statement almost made her want to chuckle. Here she was talking to her mother's father.
"Are you any relation to the Potter in Gryffindor?" he asked.
She shook her head.
Ronald jabbed an elbow at her. "Aye, that would be something. Potter's have a certain look to them. But you look more like a Prewett…or maybe a Weasley."
"Sorry, I don't even know these people," Ginny said, though she could tell her cheeks were burning hot with embarrassment. "Now I kind of wish I could meet them."
"Septimus Weasley is in the year behind me, you look a bit more like his kin. Though everyone knows the Weasley's don't have girls," he laughed. He slapped her on the shoulder. "You're that new Slytherin girl from the Quidditch game a few weeks back, how come I haven't seen you in the halls? They hiding you down in that dungeon?"
Ginny cracked a smile. "I tend to keep to myself, I guess."
"Well if they did keep you locked up down there, I could see why," he winked. "I need to get to Potions, Slughorn's going to kill me. It was nice to meet you, Ginny!" Ronald Prewett said before he backed down the hall and out of sight.
She grimaced. Had her grandfather just been hitting on her? The thought made her shiver and she headed off toward class.
Under the cover of the Forbidden Forest a unicorn drank from a small trickling stream that rippled over the rocky ground. The creature watched the wilderness around it, though nothing in these woods would dare to attack a unicorn. It still knew enough to be wise and keep watch as it slurped the water up.
A brisk wind ripped through the trees and the air warmed rapidly, swirling in a slow circle that rotated the leaves around. The unicorn lifted its head and froze, staring in the direction where the air swirled. The creature's dark eyes watched the spot for a long time and then when the air bulged and the backdrop of trees and foliage bowed out, the unicorn turned and galloped deeper into the safety of the forest.
Arcing lightening crackled in thin air and light flickered throughout the forest before there was a loud explosion that found the ground smoking where a pair of bodies had landed. For a long while they were still, ebbing with pain and unable to move. The first of the two picked herself up and brushed the blonde hair away from her face. She glanced down to her companion with a sly smirk plastered on her face. Reaching over, she rocked the other girl lightly.
"I'm sorry it hurt so much, Hermione. I don't think it's working right, though I tried fixing it—these Muggle devices don't like magic, even when they're from the fifty first century," Luna Lovegood was holding the Vortex Manipulator up to her ear wrapping at it softly with her finger.
Hermione glared up at her, her face red with discomfort and her eyes watering. "Where did you come from Luna? You just grabbed me out of thin air…"
"The Doctor sent me," Luna said. "Well he sent me a message to go and get you, see," reaching into her coat, Luna pulled out what looked like a small leather billfold and flipped it open. There was a message written in neat ink on the inside. It read: MISS LOVEGOOD, YOUR PRESENCE IS REQUESTED. BRING THE BUSHY HAIRED PRETTY GIRL. NOV 42' HW.
Taking the small note from her, Hermione examined it. "Where did you get this message? I only just met the Doctor about a week ago, Luna. You just left with him."
"I've been gone for four months," Luna said.
"Four months," Hermione paused to consider it. "Is that how you ended up with these clothes, the watch and that…weird paper in the book…"
"Psychic paper, the Doctor gave it to me so he could keep in touch. I wasn't meant to be gone forever, you know?" Luna was tapping the vortex manipulator with her wand now, but her face twisted as she realized it wasn't working anymore. "I hope this is the right time, otherwise we're stuck."
Though she hadn't thought about it, Luna had to admit she did look different. Her white blonde hair was cut shorter, falling just to her mid-back. And she had forgone her robe for a bomber jacket that a cute Muggle soldier had given her as a going away present.
"Where are we Luna?"
"Outside of Hogwarts in 1942, it should be November—just like the message said."
Hermione's eyes went wide. "That watch brought us here? I thought you needed a—TARDIS—like the Doctor's to move through time?"
"No, this is just not as good as the TARDIS. A TARDIS is like the Firebolt of time travel," Luna said in a light tone. She started toward the forest edge and Hermione followed her.
"I don't get it, why did you need me here—that's certainly what he called me. But why would he request me?" Hermione asked.
Luna shrugged. "My guess is he doesn't even know fully yet, the Doctor's brain works in a different order."
"And you've been alone with that man in his little blue box for all those months, what have you been doing?"
"Traveling, he left me in the future and told me he had to take care of something…needed me to stay put in case I was needed. But I didn't know it would be so soon. We're the best people to infiltrate this school, because no one from our families will be here at this time," Luna said.
They had reached the edge of the forest and the castle loomed ahead of them atop its hill. "Luna," Hermione said. "How to put this…why do you sound more lucid all of a sudden?"
"It's the time travel, it makes the Nargles that make your head all wonky stay away, but only for a time. Come along, Hermione."
The Doctor collected up the test parchments from around his class, dismissing his students as he did so. While he had never fancied himself as a teacher, he could see the appeal in it now. And with his background in basically all of human history, he was the perfect teacher for Muggle Studies. Even if he didn't have a drop of Muggle or Magic blood in him.
Most of the students seem to be taken with him too, except for a small number of the ones that came from elitist families where blood was all that mattered. Though everyone seemed to be interested in the current war that raged across Europe and the South Pacific and he loved to talk extensively on the subject, though he had to be sure not to divulge the future.
Amy stepped back into the room when the class had emptied, lately she had been out when she could find the time asking students if they recognized a badly drawn picture of an angel. The picture couldn't be what she really wanted because of what she and the Doctor had learned upon their last run in with the Weeping Angels.
That which takes in the image of an Angel, becomes an Angel itself.
Giving the Angels reinforcements when they were unsure how many of them there truly were was a bad idea.
The Doctor pushed the chairs back into their correct places while Amy stood in the doorway staring. "What is it?" he asked.
"On your head, Blimey, Doctor. What are you wearing this time?"
He leveled his eyes at her and touched a hand to the pointed hat that jutted up from the top of his head. He would have forgotten that he wore it, if he didn't think he looked so awesome in it. "Oh this? It's a Wizard's hat, I wear one now," he held his finger up, "And…"
"Yes, yes. I know, Wizard hats are cool," Amy said annoyed. "I guess if it helps you to fit in, you should keep it on," she said. "But be warned, you look like one of those racist Yanks that burns the crosses on people's yards…"
"There's no Klu Klux Klan in England," he said snapping as she grabbed for the hat. The Doctor ducked out of her grasp and straightened the hat. "Amy, mind the hat—it's the style here, we do need to fit in. Maybe you should take to actually wearing a robe to help pass better."
"Not a chance—those things just look like a hindrance, I don't know why anyone would ever wear one."
"Suit yourself, you could go nude underneath and no one would be the wiser?"
Amy rolled her eyes. "Why would you think that'd convince me?"
"Don't know. It was worth a shot. Now Amy, we've got a problem on our hands, before I completely forget."
"What?"
"In the middle of the class this device started to go off," the Doctor made his way over to the desk and lifted a small item from the corner that appeared to be a metallic spinning top. "The students and staff here would know it to be a sneak-a-scope, silly little bugger, it's supposed to detect danger but this one is a dummy, I built it to detect flux in the space time continuum—in case the Angels attempted to throw someone back in time."
Amy slung her arms down at her sides so that they hung limp. "Why didn't you mention that at first instead of the stupid hat thing?"
"This hat is cool. It's a cool hat," he said. "Besides we needed to make sure the halls would be clear before we slipped out and tried to find the disturbance. Come along, Pond…"
The Doctor and Amy filed out into the hall together and just as they turned the corner Dumbledore was walking toward them humming slightly with his head held back as he stroked at his beard. They passed him with a nod and when he was most of the way down the empty corridor his footsteps stopped and he called after them.
"Oh Doctor, Miss Pond…" Dumbledore said in an inquisitive tone.
Amy and the Doctor wheeled about to face him. "Professor Dumbledore? Is it important?" asked the Doctor.
"Why I'd say it is, Doctor," Dumbledore hit the word with more emphasis. "My office please, both of you?" he turned to walk back toward his class and as he did Amy punched the Doctor in the arm.
"Didn't you hear that? He called us by our names—our real names," she said.
The Doctor turned back to where Dumbledore's form was moving off down the hall. "How could he…this is impossible."
"Magic, I'm sure," Amy said.
Author's Note: There you have it, Luna and Hermione!