Title: Too Far Back

Ominous October 2024
Team: Dragon
Challenge: Trick or Treat prompt 29; Midnight spooky Bingo Card, O5; Midnight spooky Bingo Card, I1
Prompts: "What do you mean you think the spell took us too far back!?"; time travel; medium fic (4-6k words)

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Year 2 Assignment:
4
Task: Hagiology, task 3
Prompt: write about a character in an unconventional situation

Gotta Catch 'Em All: 850, Sizzlipede, bug
Prompt: [platonic] Draco & Ron

Jurassic Park: compsognathus
Prompt: [AU] Time travel

Disney Magic: Brave
Prompt: [AU/plot point] Write about a spell gone wrong

Diagon Alley Adoption Centre: Cleopatra the Egyptian Goose
Prompt: [setting] Egypt (can be ancient)

Fandom Frenzy: A Very Potter Musical
Prompt: [AU] time travel

Masquerade: element drama, number 4
Prompt: [word] doom

Monster Smash!: [MCU] Thanos
Prompt: [trope] time travel

A Guide to the Apocalypse: Step 1, pack a survival bag
Prompt: [dialogue] "I have a really bad feeling about this."

House Challenge Tetris: piece 1, row 1, green square
Prompt: [occupation] Auror

Writing club
Character Appreciation:
number 7
Prompt: [emotion] fear
Good vs Evil: number 12
Prompt: [dialogue] "I can't do that."
Days of the Year:number 21, Back to the Future Day
Prompt:[trope] time travel

Spooky Month Special Thread
Ghost Hunting:
ghost number 9, Jacob Marley; locations number 3, Boat house
Prompt: [action] warning someone about something; [colour] silver
Halloween Treats: number 15, mummy chocolate covered pretzels
Prompt: [creature] mummy
Costume Party: legs, number 6, mummy
Prompt: [setting] tomb

'Tober Fest: Dialogue-Tober, day 5; BONUS character
Prompt: "Well, there's a first time for everything."; Harry Potter

The Menagerie on Discord
Promptober 2024:
21/10
Prompt: [dialogue] "What do you mean that's a real corpse?"

HP Bingo Card 13: G1
Prompt: [Era] Golden Trio

Word count: 5567

Betas: Dora, Ash

Warnings/Trigger warnings: NA

A/N Draco and Ron hatch a plan to get Harry and Hermione the best present they can, but it doesn't quite go as planned.


"Draco?" Harry called out as Draco sped past his desk.

"Not now!" Draco huffed, waving his hand dismissively in Harry's direction. "I need to find Ron!"

"I…what?" Harry blustered, staring flabbergasted after his boyfriend as he rushed up to Ron excitedly.

"I found it!" Draco exclaimed without preamble as he reached Ron's desk.

"I thought you said it was lost?" Ron enthused excitedly.

"I thought it was, and then I decided to have a rummage in Father's old cabinet of artefacts, and I found it. It had fallen down the back of the cabinet and was wedged between an old cursed teapot and the shelf."

"Draco?" Harry said tentatively, approaching Ron's desk.

"Not now, Harry! I'm talking to Ron! I'll see you at home later!" Draco said impatiently, waving Harry away again.

"Okay," Harry said, looking thoroughly confused. "That's fine. I think I'm just going to go and get my eyesight and hearing checked out."

"Sounds great!" Draco replied, not listening. "What a good idea."

"'Cos I'm quite certain that one or more of my senses is failing me 'cos it seems like you're willingly talking to Ron like you're friends," Harry muttered, walking away at Sixes and Sevens with what he was witnessing.


"I'm telling you, Hermione! They were talking together like they had been friends for years!" Harry insisted.

"Harry," Hermione said kindly. "You've obviously misinterpreted something. I mean, you're not exactly the most perceptive person I know."

"I haven't misinterpreted anything, 'Mione!" Harry said, half-shouting in his frustration. "They were actually happy to see each other."

"Poppycock," Hermione muttered dismissively. "Ron and Draco have never been happy to see each other. They hate each other. In fact, if it wasn't for us, they would have left school and never clapped eyes on each other ever again. I'm telling you, you've misunderstood the situation."

Hermione shook her head dismissively at Harry as the doorbell rang, and she went to answer the door.

"Oh, hello, Draco," Hermione said with a smile as she opened the door.

"Oh, hello, Hermione," Draco said, looking surprised to see Hermione in her own home. "Have you seen…Ron!" Draco ended enthusiastically as Ron came wandering out of the kitchen.

"Draco!" Ron said, his whole face lighting up as he spotted Draco standing in the doorway. "'Mione, get out of the way and let Draco in."

Hermione took a stunned step backwards, her mouth dropping open as she watched Draco stride into the house and embrace Ron in a warm, reciprocated hug.

"Did you bring it?" Ron asked in a hushed undertone that Harry and Hermione missed. Hermione was staring at Harry, confused and apologetic. "Draco, why don't you give me a hand getting some drinks while Harry and Hermione relax after their difficult day at work," Ron said pointedly, nodding his head towards the kitchen.

"Ah, good idea, Ron. You know we should let them relax, and we could cook dinner for everyone," Draco added.

"That's a splendid idea, Draco," Ron added cheerfully as he and Draco disappeared into the kitchen.

Hermione turned to Harry, her mouth still hanging open.

"Harry, did I have an accident recently that I don't remember? Did I hit my head? Or have we just wandered into the Twilight Zone?" Hermione faltered.

"I told you," Harry said pointedly. "I told you they were acting strange, but would you believe me? No! You insisted that I must have misunderstood what was happening."

"I'm still not entirely convinced that we saw or heard them correctly," Hermione added. "I mean, we can't have, can we? I'm quite certain I heard them calling each other Ron and Draco instead of Weasley and Malfoy. Perhaps we're under a very powerful befuddlement charm or something."

"Also, did Ron just willingly offer to help Draco make dinner for us all?"

"See, that has to be proof that we're under some sort of enchantment. Ron apparently also offered to get us drinks after our hard day at work. Ron would never be that thoughtful."

"Perhaps it's not us that's under an enchantment," Harry ventured.

"We have to be," Hermione insisted.

"No, no, hear me out. Perhaps it's Ron and Draco who are under an enchantment? Or maybe it's someone impersonating them using Polyjuice Potion."

"Oh, Harry, that's a good call, actually," Hermione said.

"Well, I am an Auror," Harry said. "I'm trained to notice these things."

"True, true," Hermione agreed. "And Ron's an Auror too and your best friend, so there would be the motive and opportunity for someone to want to impersonate him."

"Perhaps we should check by asking them something only they would know?"

"Here you go, my love," Ron said cheerfully, entering the room and handing Hermione a glass of wine as Draco handed one to Harry.

"Where did we first meet?" Harry asked Draco, accepting the glass of wine he offered him.

"What?" Draco asked with a laugh.

"Where did we first meet?" Harry said seriously.

"In Madam Malkins," Draco said, looking at Harry concerned. "Are you feeling okay?"

"I don't know," Harry replied, shaking his head and glancing at Hermione.

"Where did we share our first kiss?" Hermione asked Ron.

"In the Chamber of Secrets," Ron said, casting a sideways glance in Draco's direction. "Are you feeling okay?"

"I'm not sure either," Hermione remarked faintly, looking as confused as Ron used to look when trying to write essays for McGonagall or Snape.


"I have a really bad feeling about this," Ron said apprehensively as he watched Draco adding the final touches to the ritual circle around them.

"It'll be fine," Draco said reassuringly. "What could possibly go wrong?"

"Well, according to the book, lots," Ron said with another nervous glance around the circle.

"Since when do you pay attention to what's written in a book?" Draco remarked, looking up from lighting the last candle.

"Well, there's a first time for everything," Ron joked.

"Yes, well, I suppose living with Hermione reading something is bound to rub off on you," Draco quipped.

"Have you ever done this before?" Ron asked, indicating the ritual circle.

"Well, there's a first time for everything," Draco smirked.

"You mean you've never done this before?" Ron said, looking alarmed.

"Why would I have done this before?" Draco asked. "I've never had a reason to travel back in time until we agreed it was the best way to get Harry and Hermione a special present."

"Are you certain you've set everything up correctly?" Ron worried, flicking through the book and re-examining the instructions. "If you've never done this, why was there a time turner in your house?"

"It's not mine. It's an ancient family heirloom," Draco huffed.

"Well, just ensure you've set everything up correctly," Ron insisted. "The book is very explicit about making sure everything is set up correctly."

"Ron, will you relax?" Draco said, stepping out of the circle and retrieving the silver time-turner. "You do realise this is very unlikely to work, right? So, your fears are likely unfounded."

"Fears? I'm not afraid," Ron insisted a little too quickly to be truly convincing, his voice higher than normal.

"Uh huh," Draco said.

"I'm just pointing out that it won't work if we don't do the set-up correctly."

"Right," Draco said, barely able to contain his amusement. "Anyway, it's the moment of truth. Are you ready?"

"Of course," Ron said in a falsetto squeak.

"If it helps, Ron, I'm nervous too. Like I said, I've never done this before."

Draco and Ron stepped into the circle of candles. Draco fiddled with the dials on the time turner. There was a blinding flash of silver light, and the room and candles disappeared. Draco and Ron stood, blinking in the brilliant sunlight in the middle of a desert.

"Where are we?" Ron asked.

"Well, I can't say for certain, Ron, but if I had to hazard a guess, I would say we're in a desert," Draco drawled.

"Really? A desert, you say? I couldn't have guessed that," Ron said sarcastically. "I meant, what desert? What time?"

"Well, if I knew that, then we wouldn't be standing in the middle of a desert in the scorching hot sun. Something must have gone wrong with the spell."

"You don't say?" Ron snapped. "Fix it!"

"I can't do that," Draco replied.

"Why not?" Ron asked.

"Because in order to fix it, I need to know exactly where we are."

"We're in a desert," Ron supplied.

"Where in time!" Draco tutted. "Let's just go and find someone and ask them what date it is."

"Oh, well, that shouldn't be too hard," Ron snarked. "We should find plenty of people behind that big sand dune there."

"Shut up and start walking," Draco snapped. "Before we both burn to a crisp in this horrendous sun."

Draco started walking, followed by a reluctant Ron. After half an hour of trudging through the desert in the heat, they were still surrounded by nothing but desert.

"How do we even know that we're not just going further into the desert?" Ron grumbled, red-faced and sweating profusely.

"We don't. But what choice have we got?"

"We're doomed," Ron groaned. "We're going to starve to death in the middle of a desert!"

"Ron, that's a tad dramatic! We are wizards. We won't starve to death," Draco said, rolling his eyes.

"Yes, we will! Do you see any food around here?"

"We have wands, Ron! We can multiply anything we have, and we can make water."

"You can't magic food out of thin air. You know, the Law of Gamp's Elementary something or other," Ron muttered.

"I know that, and by the way, food is the first of the five Principal Exceptions to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration," Draco said sleekly.

"Blah, blah, blah," Ron said. "It still means that we need some food to begin with."

"Well, you can go a week without food, you know."

"A week?! No, I bloody well cannot. I'm starving now," Ron complained.

"You had breakfast two hours ago, you can't possibly be starving already," Draco retorted.

"Well, I am. You would be, too, if you were trudging through a desert in forty-degree weather."

"I am trudging through a desert in forty-degree weather in case it had escaped your notice, Ron."

"Oh yeah."

Draco rolled his eyes as they climbed a large sand dune and finally spotted some buildings in the distance.

"Thank Merlin!" Ron exclaimed, panting and clutching a stitch in his chest as he reached the top of the dune.

"And I know where we are. Now all I need to know is what year, and we can fix this!"

"Where are we?"

"Are you serious?" Draco goggled, gesturing to the buildings they could see in the distance. "Can't you tell?"

Ron looked in the direction Draco was gesturing, "Oh, yeah, there's some weird pointy buildings and some sort of statue. You know what they are?"

"Some weird pointy building? Some weird pointy building?" Draco exclaimed in scandalised tones.

"Yes! Some weird pointy buildings and a weird ass statue of some sort," Ron repeated.

Draco spluttered indignantly, glaring at Ron, hoping that Ron was trying to wind him up.

"You're winding me up, right? By pretending that you don't know where we are?"

Ron looked at him, his eyebrows furrowing together. "Should I know?" he asked.

With a quick roll of his eyes Draco replied, "You don't recognise anything familiar about the weird pointy building and weird ass statue?"

Ron shook his head. "No. Again, should I?"

"You've been here before!"

"Have I?"

"You seriously don't recognise the Great Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx? A place you visited before our third year when your family won the Daily Prophet Grand Prize Galleon Draw? And you were in the paper, pictured standing in front of the pyramids?"

"Oh yeah," Ron said, comprehension dawning on his face. "Is that what those weird pointy buildings are then?"

"Stop calling the only remaining wonder of the ancient world a weird pointy building!" Draco snapped indignantly. "It's only a total marvel of ancient engineering. Built with amazing precision, without the use of any of those modern Muggle inventions that make moving weighty objects easy. Heck, they didn't even have the invention of the wheel when they built them, and all you can call them are weird pointy buildings!"

"Alright! Keep your hair on," Ron said. "Merlin, you sound like Hermione or Percy talking like that."

"Well, good, at least someone in your life would have the proper respect for what we're looking at," Draco huffed.

"Okay, so now we know we're somewhere in Egypt," Ron said. "Now what?"

"No, we don't know that we're somewhere in Egypt. We know exactly where in Egypt we are."

"Do we?" Ron asked.

"Right, now I know you have got to be having me on. You must know where the Great Pyramids of Giza are?"

"I'm going to guess Giza," Ron offered.

Draco glared at Ron. "Technically, yes, they are built on the Giza plateau… which is located where?"

Ron grinned at Draco. "Egypt."

"What city?" Draco snapped.

"How should I know?"

"In the name of Merlin's saggy left testicle, you would be so screwed if you were on your own. It's outside the city of Cario. So, if we keep going, we should get to Cairo. The modern city is actually now really close to the site of the pyramids. We should be able to see it when we get a bit closer."

Ron shielded his eyes from the sun and gazed towards the pyramids.

"They're still really far away," Ron groaned. "It's going to take us ages to walk there."

"We. Are. Wizards. Ron," Draco said through gritted teeth. "Now that we know where we are, we can Apparate."

"Oh yeah," Ron said. "So, you know somewhere in Cairo, we can Apparate without attracting attention?"

"Having never been to Cairo, sadly, no. But we can Apparate to the pyramids since we…well, I know what to concentrate on," Draco explained patiently.

"Right, let's go then," Ron said, taking Draco's hand. "Lead the way."

Draco rolled his eyes and concentrated on the pyramids, turning on the spot and pulling them both into the crushing blackness. They emerged with a faint pop into darkness.

"Are we stuck in mid-Apparition?" Ron asked, his voice sounding muffled in the darkness.

"Don't be ridiculous," Draco said. "Does it feel like we're still mid-Apparition?"

"No, but then why is it still so dark?"

Draco pulled out his wand and lit the wand tip, Ron followed suit. The wand light lit up a small chamber with a high ceiling. The light from Draco's wand danced across some furniture, baskets, pottery, a chest that Draco suspected contained the canopic jars, clothing, jewellery, weapons, shabti figures and finally, a large, red granite sarcophagus, complete with a lid carved in the likeness of Pharaoh Khufu.

"Ah," Draco exclaimed. "Erm…oh dear. Okay, so, we might have a slight problem."

"What do you mean?" Ron asked, panic evident in his voice.

"Well, I seem to have been thinking about how amazing the inside of the Great Pyramid must be and transported us inside the burial chamber."

"And?" Ron asked. "So, we're inside the pyramid, not a big deal. It's open to the public. Okay, so you normally need a ticket, but who's gonna know?"

"Well, the thing is, Ron, while I haven't ever visited, I know that the burial chamber can be accessed by the visiting public. I also know that the only thing that remains in the burial chamber is the empty sarcophagus of Khufu."

"And? Your point is?"

"Does this room look empty to you?"

"No."

"So, what does that tell you?"

"We're obviously not where you think we are."

"Oh, no, we are exactly where I think we are. The problem is we appear to be in the intact burial chamber of Khufu."

"I'm not following," Ron said.

"The burial chamber hasn't been intact for hundreds of years, possibly thousands," Draco explained. Seeing that Ron still didn't comprehend what he was telling him, he added, "So I think the spell took us too far back."

"What do you mean you think the spell took us too far back?"

"Exactly that. The spell took us too far back. Maybe like four and a half thousand years too far back."

"I…what?" Ron exclaimed.

"Yeah, on the plus side we have a chance to see if the sarcophagus actually did contain the body of Khufu," Draco said cheerfully, looking with interest at the red granite sarcophagus nearby.

"In the what?"

"Sarcophagus," Draco smirked. "It's a stone coffin." He indicated the large granite box.

"You mean there might be a body in there?"

"Yup," Draco said, approaching the sarcophagus. "What I don't know is if the ancient Egyptian wizards put a curse on the sarcophagus or just on the tomb in general."

"We're in a tomb?" Ron yelped.

"What did you think the pyramid was for?"

"I dunno. A substitute for manhood?"

"I…well…I actually have no answer for that, but it was built as the resting place for the Pharaoh Khufu. You know, to protect his mummified corpse and his possessions that he needs for the afterlife."

"Right," Ron goggled.

"Wingardium Leviosa ought to do the trick on the lid, don't you think?" Draco asked, examining the lid with interest."

"I guess," Ron shrugged.

"And you are an Auror, all fully trained in lots of defensive spells, right?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"So, if I open this and say a mummy starts to attack us, you can deal with that, right?"

"In theory!" Ron said. "Just how likely is that?"

Draco shrugged as he gave his wand a swish and a flick.

With a loud crunching sound, the lid of the sarcophagus slowly rose into the air, revealing a more intricate wooden coffin inside. Another swish and flick of his wand levitated the inner coffin lid out of the way.

"Another coffin?" Ron exclaimed. "How many containers does one body need?"

"Some of the elite had up to eight," Draco smirked, removing the third lid.

"Is this like those Matryoshka Dolls?" Ron asked, peering inside as a fourth coffin was revealed.

"The what dolls?" Draco asked, looking up at Ron.

"You know those Russian nesting dolls. That's their proper name," Ron answered. Seeing the shocked look on Draco's face, he added, "What?"

"I'm just amazed. I never expected that sort of knowledge from you. Sorry, but I didn't," Draco said, removing the next coffin lid.

"Hermione has a set, or I wouldn't," Ron said with a laugh. "Is that a mummy?"

"Yeah, it is," Draco replied, looking at the linen-wrapped corpse with great interest. "And in theory, it is the real corpse of Pharaoh Khufu, and this whole place wasn't just for show. Isn't that fascinating?"

"What do you mean that's a real corpse?" Ron yelped, leaping backwards away from the sarcophagus.

"Of course it is. What were you expecting? I already told you we were in a tomb."

"Yeah, but I didn't think it was currently in use. I thought you meant everything was here in preparation."

Draco stared at Ron as though he'd sprouted a second head.

"We're in a sealed chamber with all the effects needed for the afterlife, why would they do that when the corpse isn't here? Don't worry, if we were to unwrap him, he likely still looks very lifelike. They were very good at mummifying their dead."

"I'm not sure that statement is as comforting as you intended it to be," Ron quipped.

"At least it's not under any kind of Inferi enchantment," Draco replied coolly.

"Yeah, brilliant," Ron snarked. "That's a real comfort to me."

"Okay, so this is fascinating," Draco said, carefully lowering the lids back into place, "but it really doesn't get us any closer to finding our way back to our time. The fact that this tomb is intact suggests we're about four and a half thousand years in the past but it isn't conclusive proof. We need to get out of here and try and figure out what time period we're in."

Draco took Ron's hand and once more turned on the spot. Instead of stepping into the crushing blackness of Apparition, Draco and Ron felt a strange sensation as though they had walked into an invisible door.

"Ah. Well, that's a bit of a problem," Draco said lightly.

"What?"

"It appears as though there is an anti-Disapparition jinx around this chamber."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning that we might be just a little bit, you know…trapped."

"Well, this just keeps getting better and better," Ron said sarcastically.

"Calm down, there's no need to panic," Draco began.

"No need to panic?" Ron said, his voice curiously high-pitched. "We're trapped in a tomb with a corpse, in an unknown time period, unable to Apparate out. Why would anyone want to panic about that?"

"I thought Aurors were supposed to be trained to be cool, calm and collected in this sort of situation?" Draco said, peering into the opening in the wall at the opposite end of the room from the sarcophagus.

"I don't know what training you think Aurors get, but I certainly don't ever remember a training exercise on what to do if you're trapped back in time in a tomb and can't Apparate!" Ron snapped.

"Perhaps you missed that lesson," Draco said airily as he crawled into the hole.

"What are you doing?" Ron asked as he peered into the hole and watched Draco examine the stone block that blocked the way.

"I'm trying to figure out how to move this stone that leads to the only exit," Draco replied, holding his wand close to the block.

"What do you mean the only exit?"

"This stone was put in place to seal the doorway," Draco said, his head tilted to one side. "I'm sure it was lowered into place." Draco indicated the block he's just been examining. "If I can remember correctly how the chamber was sealed, of course."

"So, levitate it out of the way," Ron said with a shrug, "and let's get out of here."

"You're not claustrophobic, right?" Draco asked.

"Why?"

"Because apart from the grand gallery, the passage out of here isn't any bigger than this one I'm in now."

"I'll be fine, just levitate the block out of the way," Ron said impatiently.

Draco flicked his wand at the portcullis block sealing off the burial chamber, which rose upwards with a crunching, grinding sound of stone against stone.

"Excellent!" Ron exclaimed, squeezing into the passage behind Draco. The light from his wand alighting on another heavy granite slab. "Another one? Man the ancient Egyptians really liked multiples of things, didn't they?"

Draco gave a snort of laughter. "You find there are three portcullis slabs sealing the entrance to the chamber."

"Well, let's get a move on. Levitate the next one out of the way."

"You could help, you know," Draco complained.

"I could, but you know I'm the Auror who's here to protect your ass, so it's best if we keep my wand free," Ron said with a smirk as he watched the second block slide up with the same grinding, crunching sound as the first block, revealing the third slab of granite. From behind them in the burial chamber, there was a loud cracking sound of stone breaking apart and a low guttural groan. "What was that?"

"You're the Auror," Draco said. "You check it out while I move the third block out of the way."

Ron grumbled as he shuffled back into the burial chamber, his wand held aloft.

"Merlin's underpants!" Ron exclaimed. "Petrificus totalus!"

"What's happening?" Draco asked, emerging into the burial chamber, wand held in front of him as the granite slabs slammed back into position with a resounding thud. "Huh! Interesting. Looks like our mummified king did have an Inferius curse on him after all."

"We were just nearly attacked by a mummy, and all you can say is interesting?"

"Looks like we triggered it by moving the second slab," Draco pondered as their mummified friend gave another low guttural groan. "Think if I move the slab again, it'll break your body bind curse?"

"I hope not," Ron replied.

Draco stepped over the mummy to examine the sarcophagus. A corner of the sarcophagus had broken off and was lying beside the now broken lid. The inner coffins were nothing more than splinters scattered across the chamber floor and inside the sarcophagus.

"Now we know how the sarcophagus was broken," Draco marvelled.

"What do you mean?"

"The corner of the sarcophagus is missing in our time. I guess now we know how."

"You mean the tomb robbers activated the curse?"

"No," Draco said, looking at Ron in surprise. "We did."

Ron's eyes widened in comprehension.

"Come on, let's get out of here," Draco said. "And let's just hope that our linen friend here can't escape your body-bind curse when I lift the second slab out of the way again."

"Just move them," Ron told Draco, keeping his wand pointed at the mummy. "I'll keep an eye on our friend here."

Draco crawled back into the passage, Ron could hear the crunching sound of the first slab being raised once more, then the second slab. Their linen friend twitched and groaned, but Ron's body-bind curse held. There was the crunching sound of the third slab being raised, and then Draco's voice called out to Ron.

"Come on, Ron. Let's go."

Ron crawled through the passage and joined Draco in the grand gallery.

"Wow!" Ron breathed softly as he joined Draco. Behind him was the loud thud as the granite slabs once more fell into place. "It's big, isn't it?"

"Ronald, you have a way with words that never ceases to amaze me. Your summative abilities are just astounding. You stand in the grand gallery and gaze upon the corbelled walls of a passage built into the structure of what was the tallest man-made structure for centuries, and you say, 'it's big, isn't it?' How I wish I could have your precision for words," Draco said sardonically.

"Well, it is big," Ron shrugged. "Now where?"

"Oh, well, that is the question, isn't it?" Draco said sarcastically. "Given that we have so many options. All these damned doors in this passage. However will we know what one to choose?"

"What doors?" Ron asked, gazing confusedly.

"It was sarcasm, Ron," Draco said, rolling his eyes and making his way down the grand gallery. "There's only one way we can go, and that's down the passage."

Ron followed along behind until they got to the bottom of the passage.

"I was afraid of this," Draco sighed as they reached the bottom of the passage. "It looks like the ascending passageway was blocked with stones."

"So?" Ron asked. "We have magic, let's just levitate it out the way like the last ones."

"These ones weren't lowered into position from above like the chamber ones. The ascending passageway was blocked with twenty-five limestone blocks that were slid into place from their storage position in the grand gallery after the burial of the king."

"So, at least one person had to be in here to slide all the blocking stones into position?" Ron asked slowly.

"Exactly," Draco said, nodding.

"But there's no body in here," Ron said.

"I know." Draco smiled.

"So maybe it was a wizard, and they Apparated out of here?"

"I really hope so. Because the alternative is the well shaft and it doesn't sound like a fun way to get out of here. Not to mention that the other passages are likely to have been blocked as well after they left."

Draco took Ron's hand and once more turned on the spot, relieved to feel himself and Ron being pulled into the crushing darkness of Apparition before they once more found themselves is the blazing sunshine of the Egyptian desert beside the statue of the sphinx this time, looking towards the pyramids. Draco shielded his eyes as he gazed in wonder upon the pyramid complex and the gleaming white pyramids with their gilded pyramidion capstones, which sparkled in the bright Egyptian sun.

"Wow!" Draco breathed. "Just wow."

"Draco, you have a way with words that never ceases to amaze me. Your summative abilities are just astounding," Ron said with a grin. "You stand in front of one of the wonders of the ancient world and all you can say is 'wow', really?"

"Touche," Draco said with a grin.

"So," Ron said. "How do we find out what the date is so we can get home?"

"I have no idea."


"We're dating idiots, Harry," Hermione said with a sigh as she looked about the room at the ritual circle and lit candles and the bodies of Draco and Ron lying on the floor in the centre of the circle.

"I know, I know," Harry replied, shaking his head. "Can we fix it?"

"Maybe," Hermione said, resuming her reading. "Can we be certain that they used a time-turner?"

"You want me to be one hundred per cent certain? I've told you I can't be that certain. But Draco was rambling on about finding 'it' when he rushed past my desk."

"I really hope you're right about this, Harry. We can pull them back if they used the time-turner because it's supposed to be unstable."

"Why, though? The one you used in third year wasn't unstable."

"They were only designed to go back a few hours. The ones for this ritual are designed to go back years and years, and that's when it becomes unstable, but it does mean we should be able to pull them back. They shouldn't be firmly stuck in the past like we were when we used the time-turner. The only way we could get back was to actually live the time."

"And what if they didn't use a time-turner?" Harry asked, concerned.

"Then the only way they can get back would be to live that time," Hermione replied grimly.

"Great!" Harry said sarcastically. "If we get them back, I'm going to kill Draco for putting me through this."

"I'm hoping the fact that their bodies are here means that they aren't firmly tied to the past," Hermione worried. "But honestly, Harry, I've never seen a more complex spell. There's so much that can go wrong with it. There's no real way to control how far back in time you go with it. The time-turner should give a measure of control, but its instability makes it an unreliable vessel. How could they be so damn stupid?" Hermione burst out angrily.

"I plan on asking Draco that before I kill him," Harry fumed.

"I really hope we can have that opportunity, Harry." Hermione gave a sob as a fat tear rolled down her cheek.

"I know. I know," Harry consoled Hermione, pulling her into a hug.

"What if we can't get them back, Harry?" Hermione sobbed. "What are we going to do without them?"

"Don't think about that," Harry told her. "I can't think about that. We can't think about that."

"You're right," Hermione said, pulling away and wiping her eyes with her sleeve. "Ready?"

"As I'll ever be," Harry said.

"Light the candles," Hermione instructed.

Harry waved his wand igniting the candles as Hermione began chanting the incantation under her breath, a look of intense concentration on her face. Harry waited with bated breath and crossed fingers. A flash of blinding silver light filled the room, and Draco and Ron groaned and got gingerly to their feet.

"Oh, thank Merlin!" Hermione breathed.

"How did you do that?" Ron asked Draco. "I thought you needed to know what year it was."

"I didn't do anything," Draco replied.

"No! We did!" Hermione fumed, drawing Draco and Ron's attention to herself and Harry.

"Ah!" Draco said, looking guiltily at Harry. "Hi."

"Hi! Hi!" Harry raged. "You and Ron perform an unstable ritual and get yourselves stuck in the past, and you say hi!"

"We weren't stuck, exactly," Draco said sheepishly. "We had almost worked out what year we were in. We could've got back."

"No," Hermione said firmly. "You couldn't. Didn't you read the warnings? You can't get back without someone on this end. How could you be so stupid?"

"We wanted to try and get you and Harry a special present for Christmas," Ron said tentatively.

"You're an idiot, Ronald Weasley," Hermione exploded. "An absolute idiot."

"Do you have any idea how worried we were?" Harry fumed, glaring at Draco.

"Very?"

"I hate you," Harry complained.

"No, you don't," Draco said, pulling Harry into a hug.

"Shut up," Harry snapped.

"Where did you end up?" Hermione asked curiously. "Was it where you intended?"

"Not exactly," Ron replied.

"So, where were you?"

"Ancient Egypt," Draco replied.

"You were two thousand years in the past?" Hermione exclaimed.

"No," Draco replied. "It was more like four and a half thousand years in the past."

"Four and a half thousand years?!" Harry remarked.

"Do you have any idea how lucky you are that I was able to bring you back?" Hermione said faintly.

"Very?" Ron ventured.

"But Hermione," Draco protested. "You should have seen the pyramids! They were awe-inspiring. And how Ron handled the mummy. He was so calm and amazing!"

"I hate you both," Hermione said, pursing her lips.

"Wanna hear about it over a drink?" Draco asked with a grin.