This chapter is more suspenseful than the others, so hopefully you will all like this chapter better. Enjoy!
After dinner, Hermione went to the Gryffindor Common Room to wait for Ron. As usual, she was fifteen minutes early, so Ron wasn't there yet. She brought a tiny rose gold velvet handbag filled with all of her belongings she would need for the night, or nights, really. Luckily, Harry was in the Common Room, so Hermione decided to talk to him. After explaining the agenda of the trip to the future to Harry (he really didn't pay any attention) he asked, "What's in there?" pointing at and nodding towards the bag.
Hermione smiled a little. "Oh, just all the things I'll need for the trip." When Harry's jaw dropped, she added, "It's a spell. It would probably take up about half this room if all of the stuff was taken out." She pocketed the velvet purse in her jeans and patted it out of nowhere, just for good luck on the trip. Secretly, Hermione hoped that she would be closer to Ron, bringing them into a small romance.
"You are so brilliant, Hermione," Harry said, which probably sounded stupid, since he and Ron had probably told her that exact phrase thousands of times in their lifetime. Since an awkward silence came up, Hermione sighed. So did Harry. Just then, Ginny passed them. "Hi, Harry," she whispered as she lightly touched his shoulder. Harry looked back at her and gave a tiny wave, and when he turned back, he was smiling and blushing a bit. Hermione, after thinking deeply about this situation, rolled her eyes instead of laughing.
Another silence. Hermione crisply looked up. "So Harry! Enough about my plans, what are yours for when Ron and I are gone?" She scooted forward in her chair, resting her chin on the palms, which were outstretched from her elbows resting on her knees, looking directly at Harry, seeming very interested at what he could potentially say.
"Oh!" Harry exclaimed. When he continued, he instantly blushed more furiously than ever before. "Well...I've talked to Ginny. We're going to take a walk by the lake tomorrow morning. Hopefully Ron's okay with it." He shifted uncomfortably, but was grinning widely just like his friend did the other day.
Hermione noticed a tall, freckled figure with flaming red hair walk into the room. "Speaking of Ron," she said, and nodded towards him. He strutted into the room (which Hermione found quite attractive) and sat down next to her.
He carried a huge trunk and a blanket folded and draped over his shoulder. His wand was hanging out of his front jean pocket. Out of her disgust of Ron possibly losing his wand, Hermione grabbed and stuffed it in her pouch, which was probably about half the length. "Ron, you should really learn some of these charms," she said. "You definitely need them a lot more than I do."
"Bloody hell, Hermione! You just broke my wand!" shouted Ron. He snatched the pouch away from her and stuffed his hand in it, searching for the wand, only expecting broken splintered bits. But there was a full, complete wand inside, as well as some other large things that couldn't possibly fit inside a small pouch. Ron retrieved his wand, but then put it back inside the bag, and opened it up. There was a blanket, some wooden chairs, a table, a sleeping bag, a luggage, and even some schoolbooks inside. (He realized that those weren't really surprising, Hermione loved her books.)
Ron looked at Hermione with his mouth open. His hair seemed to stick straight up. "How does all of that fit in there?" Hermione giggled, Ron sounded so baffled he may as well could have been a Muggle.
"You idiot, it's a spell," she replied. "It's in one of our spellbooks. Haven't you read it?"
"Now that you've known me for six years, you should know that I never study in any of my bloody textbooks," said Ron. He realized he hadn't even said hello to anyone yet. So he took a deep breath and said, "Oh yeah, um, hello, Hermione." He turned to Harry. "Hey mate,"
Hermione and Harry looked at each other, and they both burst out laughing at the same time. Ron sat there, looking at them, and he chuckled, too. After calming down for a little while, Harry asked, "So, how long will you two be away?"
Ron looked at Hermione. When she didn't look back at him, he turned to Harry and shrugged. "However long you want us to be."
Harry shrugged, too. "I dunno, probably like a day. Yeah. That'll be okay. That's all I need." he thought that he would like to get to know Ginny a little bit more, before he really knew his true feelings for her. He glanced back at her. She was sitting with Luna and Neville, probably telling a joke because her small trio was laughing. For some reason, Harry felt like Ginny could have forgotten what they had scheduled for tomorrow. She probably had better times with her friends than she ever would have with him. The thought was absurd, so Harry pushed it away.
"Are you okay, Harry?" asked Hermione. He realized he was showing a bit of a down expression on his face from his recently disturbing thought.
"Oh, yeah. Um, I'm fine," said Harry quickly. Hermione and Ron looked at each other, and then they both turned to Harry. Harry looked at his two friends. "So...you wanna say good bye now?" he asked.
His two friends got up and took turns saying good bye. Hermione hugged Harry for a long time. "It's going to feel so long to be away from you...but you probably won't miss us," she said. "Unless Ginny gets annoying or something, but that probably won't happen, she's such a nice girl...but please have fun, Harry...I wish I could write to you…" She didn't cry, but she was very concerned that something would happen between Harry and Ginny (taking evidence from last year's relationship with Cho) and she knew how Harry got when he was upset.
After the hug, Hermione sat on the couch so that Ron would say good bye. Unlike hers, his goodbye was a nice pat on the back and a quick, "Take care, mate," and it was over.
Hermione and Ron left, walking down the changing stairs on the way to Professor McGonagall's classroom. "I really hope Harry's going to be okay," said Hermione.
Ron put his arm around Hermione and gave her a quick half-hug. "He's gonna be perfectly fine, he's with Ginny, remember?" Even though that was supposed to reference what Hermione had said earlier, she didn't really think it was funny. But she smiled and shook her head anyway, letting Ron know that she knew he was trying to make her cheer up.
They stopped at the bottom of where a staircase moved them, and figured it was the right hallway, so the two went where it lead. About ten doors down there was the Transfiguration classroom, and only Hermione remembered exactly where it was, so she had to lead Ron inside when he slipped past the open door. At the end of the long classroom sat Minerva McGonagall once again at her desk, but this time, she was opening her desk and retrieving a hold time turner.
The professor heard their footsteps and looked up. Then she smiled as she put on her glasses. "I see you have brought Mr. Weasley with you today, Miss Granger," she said.
When she didn't say anything, Hermione guessed McGonagall wanted a response, but she didn't really know what to say, so she said, "Um, yes. I have." She walked up to the desk. "So, is there anything we need to know before we go?"
McGonagall gestured for Ron to come forward, so he did. "I'll just tell you the agenda," she said. "So first, we'll Apparate to Raleigh, which is a city in the Carolina's region. Then you two will test out the time turner. If it works, you will stay. If it doesn't, then the time turner will probably break. And yes, I'm okay with it breaking, Miss Granger, before you get too excited, but yes. That is our plan. I can tell you that it is possible for you two to die, but I'm sure there were plenty of times that you both have been close to dead, so I should assume you are used to it now." She smiled, even though the thought of Hermione and Ron being dead wasn't very funny.
Both students didn't smile, but Ron said, "We are pretty damn―sorry, bloody used to it." He gave a nervous laugh. Hermione and McGonagall just looked at him like he just declared that he was really a chicken. Ron opened his eyes wider and looked away.
McGonagall continued on. "So, shall we go now?" she asked, seeming to have brushed off the thought of Ron's use of language.
Hermione and Ron nodded. They all held hands and all closed their eyes (for no apparent reason), and they felt themselves being stretched from their current location. Then it looked like everything on the entire planet was whizzing around them, but only for about half a second. In the blink of an eye, the three were standing right in a forest, off the edge of a road. Puzzled, the two sixth years looked around.
"Are you sure we're in...the Carolinas?" asked Hermione, who started to slowly wade her way through the trees.
"We're in Raleigh, North Carolina, to be exact," declared the Professor. "The only thing is we're on the outer edge of a road in the middle of nowhere. And sorry, I wasn't thinking of a very specific pla―Well, I mean, I was, but this isn't the very exact place he was, but you guys can do a little walking, right?" she asked. Her students nodded, even though Ron seemed a little reluctant.
Hermione and Ron sighed. There wasn't much else to talk about. For a minute, they all just stood there, listening to the rustle of leaves against the wind. Then McGonagall pulled out her time turner. "Just to make sure, you both know where you're going? Turn the time turner backwards exactly one hundred and fifty seven times. Yes, it goes by years and not hours, this time turner is special. If it seems to not be working, we'll know it and we'll stop."
She handed them the golden gadget, but Hermione looked solemn, like she didn't want to perform the act. "This can't work," she said.
"Of course it can!" exclaimed Ron immediately. "Why wouldn't it?"
Hermione seemed to have gone burning red. "It's not even logical! Don't you think it's odd, that after all the years they've been around, that nobody has never even tried to turn them backwards? It just...doesn't make any sense." She sat down on a log and covered her face with her hands. "I'm sorry," she muffled through her fingers. "It's just...so rewarding feeling as though we had done something for the first time, but it might not be! And don't you think it's dangerous, nobody even came back to tell the tale after they've left! We could just be trapped in space and time, never to be seen again!"
With a concerned look on her face, McGonagall exchanged looks with an equally worried Ron. "Hermione, it's fine. You're thinking too hard about this," said Ron, trying to calm her down. He sat next to her on the log and put his arm around her. "It's going to be okay," he whispered.
His friend stood up and wiped away her tears (not of sorrow, of anger) with the sleeves of her sweatshirt. Then said, "You're right. Let's just get this over with. I'm not going to die."
McGonagall slowly and awkwardly handed her the time turner. Ron stepped forward. "I'll turn it!" he volunteered.
Hermione stepped in front of him. "No, I'll do it." She turned her head towards Ron. "You'll only make a larger fool of yourself than you already are," she teased.
"Very well," said McGonagall. "Here you go, Hermione.
"I should be off now. I don't have much time in my case compared to yours, so I'd best be on my way. Miss Granger, you know how to function a time turner. You can lead the way." Without another word, she Apparated somewhere else.
Hermione sighed. "Are you ready?" She asked Ron.
He gulped. "I think so."
Hermione smiled and said sarcastically, "Whatever. Your opinion doesn't matter." She took the chain and slung it around both of their necks. She was about to turn the time turner, but she added, "Don't distract me while I do this. This is super important." Ron nodded slowly.
Then she spun the time turner one hundred and fifty seven times, and everything around them seemed to speed backwards.