"Four O'clock every September fifth I have spent an hour here by the lake waiting for your return." Helga smiled warmly at the group, "The year is sixteen forty five."
"Thanks Helga, how are you doing?" Harry asked.
"I'm old, tired and going to die very soon." she replied, "But I can die happy now that I've seen you again. Sal and Grif debated for years whether or not you really were time travelers."
"Sal didn't want us to be because I proved that muggleborns were just as good as purebloods. They only had the handicap of not being raised by wizards so they had to learn their lessons later in life." Harry grinned, "Didn't change him any though."
"No it didn't." Helga frowned for a moment before brightening and asking, "Hungry? It's almost time for our evening meal."
"Yes." Ron answered for the group.
"You were always hungry I recall." Helga chuckled.
"I'm a growing boy and all that rubbish." Ron grinned and took her arm to help her to the castle.
The group followed behind shaking their heads at their friends. As they approached the front doors Harry looked towards the gates. He was actually kind of sorry they were moving forward so fast. He rather liked the lack of nightmares. He still had them of course but they weren't as bad as the ones induced by Voldemort. He had stopped and was still staring at the gates when the rest reached the door.
"You ok Harry?" Ginny called.
"I'm fine." He answered turning back towards the group and walking quickly to catch up.
The rest made their way into the castle, Ginny lagged behind with Harry, "Are you really ok?"
"Yes, I'm fine." Harry said, "Just a little melancholy about returning to our time."
"Really?" Ginny asked surprised. When he just shrugged in reply she asked, "Is this about the nightmares?"
"Yes and the prophecy. I just don't know if I've learned the power he knows not yet." Harry looked a little confused, "I've learned a lot of things as we've traveled but not anything I think Voldemort doesn't know already."
"Come on slow pokes." Ron called, "I'm starving."
Ginny rolled her eyes and Harry chuckled but they still moved to catch up with the others. The hall was empty of students but it still had four tables to represent four houses. Helga had them sit in the closest seats to the Headmistresses chair. Unlike Dumbledore's her chair matched all the rest. Soon the tables began to fill with students and it got too loud for the group to continue their conversation with Helga.
When everyone had arrived Helga stood and clapped her hands together. The entire hall fell silent and she began to speak, "I'm going to introduce you to six friends who will be visiting for the next month. I want you to all treat them nicely. They will be staying in my guest quarters but will be attending classes with the sixth years. Please help them find their way around. Stand when I call your name. Harry Potter, Neville Longbottom, Ron and Ginny Weasley, Luna Lovegood and Hermione Granger."
The hall broke out into a light applause and the six students retook their seats. With another clap of her hands food appeared on all the tables. They kept to themselves throughout the meal, but near the end two students approached the group.
"Hello, I'm Samantha Currie, Head Girl." the girl introduced herself.
"I'm Head Boy, Samuel Tarter." the boy added, "Welcome to Hogwarts. I'm not sure where the professor's quarters are but if you meet us here at breakfast tomorrow we'll introduce you to the sixth year prefects and they can help you find your way around."
"Thanks." the group replied.
"What time do you eat breakfast?" Harry asked.
"Seven." he answered, "I usually get a little bit later start than some."
"I'll be here by six." Samantha said, "So you don't need to be lazy bones like him if you don't want."
After chatting a few more minutes the two head students left and the group began to talk amongst themselves. Ron asked the first question, "I was going to ask why you wanted to know what time to be here in the morning. But now I want to know how you knew to ask?"
"Covering the details." Harry said, "They're eating dinner a bit earlier than we normally do so I thought maybe the other meals were earlier too."
"Good observation." Luna commented, "I've been thinking and I have a question. At what point do you think we need to start using fake names?"
"Why use fake names?" Ron asked.
"Just in case we run into a younger version of someone we know." Luna answered.
"She's right." Hermione nodded, "I hadn't thought of that but we are only a few hundred years from home. We could start running into people depending on how far our next jump is."
"You know what would be really weird?" Neville asked. The questioning glances made him continue, "If I run into Gran as a student."
"Oh or one of the professors." Ginny added.
Helga stood at the head table and made her way down to the group, "Ready to see your rooms?"
"Yes." was the unanimous reply.
She chuckled as Harry added, "Traveling the way we do leaves us a bit tired."
"I'm sure it does." Helga laughed, "Now, curfew is at nine. I'm telling you this because I remember a certain someone up walking around at two in the morning. Please stay in your quarters if you can't sleep Harry." He grinned at the slight reprimand he had received, "There are two rooms with a connecting common area. The bath is also shared; make a schedule so we don't have any mishaps."
"Yes Helga." the group replied.
"I've never been in this part of the castle before." Harry looked around.
"It was a last minute addition." Helga stated, "It's in a very out of the way place. And it's a secret only I can lead you here the first time and then you can return at any time. Tomorrow I will be changing the charm and it will allow anyone I show to be able to show others. But I would suggest keeping it to yourselves when you return home."
"Thank you Helga." Hermione said, "The Head Boy and Girl told us breakfast is at six. What time is first class?"
"Actually breakfast doesn't start until seven." Helga smiled, "The Ravenclaws like Ms. Currie arrive early to get some studying in before breakfast. My Hufflepuffs tend to wait until breakfast is served to show up. First class is at eight. Here are the rooms; do you think you can find your way to breakfast and then back after classes?"
"Yes." Neville grinned, "We should be able too. Anything I've missed Hermione or Harry will have. They'll keep me from getting too lost."
"What a lovely room." Luna commented as they entered the common room, "A mix of all four houses. I feel very comfortable here."
"I'm glad you approve." Helga smiled, "Well I'm off to do my duties see you in the morning. Oh girls on the left, boys on the right and the bathroom is in the middle."
Hermione and Ginny went to check out their rooms. The other four picked places to sit and relax. The fire in the grate captured Harry's attention as he began to think about the power and Voldemort again. Ron was nearly asleep on the couch when Ginny and Hermione returned. Ginny noticed Harry's distracted look and decided he didn't need to brood any more.
"So what name do you want to use in the next jump?" Ginny directed her question at Luna but she bumped Harry as she sat next to him. This gained his attention away from his contemplation.
"I don't know. Something fun I think." Luna said, "Maybe Periwinkle Moon."
The others chuckled at the wild name she picked. Harry said, "I'll be Sylvester Catter."
Hermione busted out laughing but none of the others got the joke. Harry was laughing with her and waited for the questions to begin.
"Ok, spill. Why is that so funny?" Neville finally asked.
"Muggle children watch cartoon shows on the tele." Harry said, "One character from one of the few I saw was a cat named Sylvester that was always getting messed with by a small yellow canary."
"I'll be Marvin Jinks." Ron said, "He's a character in the comic books I like."
"I know those comics." Neville said, "I'll be his friend Cable Right."
"Then I'll be Ariel, but I don't know what to have for a last name." Hermione said.
"What's that name from?" Harry asked.
"The Little Mermaid." Hermione answered, "It was one of the last movies I saw before leaving for the wizarding world."
"What were some of the other characters?" Ginny asked not wanting this to be over too quickly. Harry was smiling and laughing and she wanted to keep him doing just that.
"Prince Eric, Sebastian the crab, Flounder was a fish she kept calling him a guppy and the bad guys were named Flotsam and Jetsam." she was thoughtful for a bit, "Then Ursula was the lead bad person. Ariel's father was King Triton."
"There you go." Ginny said, "Ariel Triton."
Hermione giggled then asked, "What about you Ginny. You're the only one without a name."
"Don't know. I guess I need to think about it. Any suggestions?"
"Monster child." Ron suggested grinning at his sister.
"Funny." Ginny glared.
"How about Celestial Moon?" Luna suggested, "We could be twins."
"Not bad." Ginny grinned, "I think I'll stay with Moon and be your twin. However I'm not sure about Celestial."
"Harvest?" Neville chuckled.
"No." Ginny stuck her tongue out at him.
Getting into the spirit of fun Hermione suggested, "Tweety. It's the name of the canary that always messed with Harry's Sylvester."
"Just no." Ginny said.
"You know there was that one muggle, I think she was a singer or model or something her name was Twiggy." Harry teased. Ginny completely ignored his suggestion.
"Green." Ron suggested. The weird looks he got from the others caused him to explain, "Isn't Periwinkle a color. She should have a color name too."
"Not a bad idea Ron." Hermione commented thoughtfully. Ginny was nearly glaring her to death, "A color would be a good idea. Just not green. You could use chartreuse, ecru, mauve or even sienna."
"Sienna isn't bad." Ginny grumbled, "Sienna Moon. I guess I could live with that. What color is sienna?"
"Brown." Harry supplied, "Not quite as dark as your eyes but it fits."
The group chatted until bed time and then split up to go to bed. When Hermione tried to wake them up so they could be in the Great Hall at six, Ginny shut her down.
"We don't have any homework to study for. I am not getting up an hour early to watch others study." she grumbled, "Go on your own if you want but I'm not budging."
Over the month Hermione never got the others to get up early to study. Not even Luna wanted to go that early. As the month passed they watched sadly as Helga deteriorated. When they approached her about her health she waved off their concern.
"I only held on this long so I could visit with you again. If you hadn't made it this year though I wouldn't have been able to hold on until next year. I do plan on staying around at least until you go on. I don't want you to attend my funeral."
"Where will you be buried?" Harry asked.
"I've asked for a quiet spot near Hogsmeade. I don't want a big fancy thing. I just want it to go unnoticed." She smiled, "But you can visit me if you like. Your time, like mine, will be up soon. Do you think you'll make it home this time?"
"No." Harry said, "We're still more than four hundred years away and our jumps have never been that long. We're going to start using fake names for the next jump. Ginny and Luna are going to be twins named Periwinkle and Sienna Moon."
"What about the rest of you?" Helga chuckled at the fun the group was having as they laughingly gave the names and the explanations for them.
"I'm going to suggest from now on jumping from outside the gates." Helga said, "Future Headmasters may not take kindly to you popping up in the school unannounced."
"I was going to suggest the guest quarters we've been staying in." Ron said, "But that will still put us in the school. I guess we could owl the Headmaster of the time and ask to be admitted late."
A few days later the group wished a tearful goodbye to their friend Helga. They were very quiet on their trip to Hogsmeade. They stopped near the edge of the forest not far from where the shrieking shack would stand many years in the future. None of them said much when the smoke cleared and they were looking again at Hogsmeade."
*8*8*8*8*
"Any word?" Molly asked as she came through the floo.
Albus only shook his head in reply. The Weasleys found seats in the crowded office. Most of the Order was in the room and the rest of Molly's children were mixed into the group. Fred and George were the newest members of the order. They had insisted on joining as soon as they had left school. The products they had been able to supply the Order had gone a long way in convincing the others that they could be helpful.
"Thank you for coming." Albus started the meeting, "In the last few days we have made some progress in finding out what happened. Alastor please tell us what you three have been up to."
"Albus contacted Kingsley as soon as we had questions about the six of them." He said, "Tonks joined him to examine the train. We found a dark magical object embedded in the frame under the seats. It is a known dark relic that we thought had been destroyed several hundred years ago. In addition to its own dark magic, Death Eaters made it a portkey. The idea was to send Harry to face Voldemort. That didn't happen."
"Do we know that for sure?" Arthur asked.
"Yes." Snape answered, "Mulciber had to have several healing potions just to survive the encounter. I was summoned later that evening to confirm their disappearance."
"So where did it send them?" Molly asked.
"Not where so much as when." Albus sighed as the room erupted.
*8*8*8*8*