CH 3- Headmasters Office

Hermiones POV...

Scabbers? The hell is he doing here? I dont remember scabbers being anywhere near me when I.. well, when it happened. Though I cant be hundred percent sure. Ron will be so disheartened, he always complains about him being lazy but I know deep down he is rather fond of scabbers. I should keep him safe till I go back. I made to grab him by the tail as he was scurrying away, but he bit me! He bit me and ran away into the meadows. I wasnt quick enough and he was able to camouflage annoyingly well with the brown mud. Oh no, Ron will be so mad. Why do I keep messing up? I guess whoever comes to take me out of here can help find him with magic, I dont have enough energy to think of how to do it right now.

Speaking of that, where am I going to kip for the night? I decide to keep walking, maybe I will come back here tomorrow in case someone comes to get me. After what felt like hours of my legs slowly turning to jelly, my eyes fall upon tiny lights ahead of me. That must be the city. I am completely drenched in the rain by now and starting to shiver. As I get closer I infer it must be a muggle city from the mailboxes in front of the houses. Besides most wizarding settlements have quidditch pitches near the houses, which were absent here. It was getting quite late, the darkness was enveloping the scene like a sinister hood. I was starting to feel rather twitchy and anxious. Being alone in a city at this hour wasnt good, that much I had learnt from my parents. But what other choice did I have. I spotted a newstand and walked quietly towards it. The shopkeeper gave me a weird look, I probably looked like a poor girl with mud all over me, and the cloak might have looked weird too. I ignored him and picked up a paper. It was 1919. I had travelled 23 years. Would this cause any effects on my body? I was curious but mostly scared at the prospect of it. I put down the paper so that the man would stop staring at me suspiciously.

After a lot more of wandering around, I found a homeless shelter. I knew it wasnt a good idea the moment I stepped in. There could be all sorts of people here. Creeps, psychopaths, pedos.. who knows what I might encounter. But I couldnt just sleep on the street.. that would be riskier. Fortunately there were kids my age there too. They were sleeping in a corner so I went there and made a little space for myself using a mouldy blanket that was lying around. I got some unorthodox looks from few people, but ignoring them I turned in for the night. I was so so tired, I fell asleep immediately, dreaming of the two girls drowning in a pool full of time turners. Tuney shouting it was all Lilys fault. Suddenly Snape appeared on a broom and told her that as punishment for my mistake I will have to live here forever.

Younger Snapes POV...

Where did she go? We were playing hide and seek. That wretched sister of hers must have made her go back home. Few days ago I had told Lily she was a witch. I couldnt help it, it just stumbled from my mouth. I know how it must have sounded for her. She didnt talk to me for days after that. But today finally she had warmed up to me, and I was dying to tell her all about hogwarts but I couldnt risk her getting upset again. Somehow I needed to show her magic was real. If only I could do accidental magic at the right time. It had happened a lot when my parents fought. My dad would beat mom senseless and sometimes when it got too much for me to handle, my dad would go flying in the air as if an invisible force field had been formed over my mom which threw dad out. That would mean me getting beaten up for days afterwards. It was a vicious cycle. Lily made me feel like I deserved to feel the way I felt with her. I looked forward to talking and playing with her. It made me keep going, kept me sane. Today however she had disappeared out of nowhere. I felt a bit bitter. She probably had better things to do. Whatever, I dont care.

Ginnys POV...

Why had Dumbledore called me? Had he discovered that I had something to do with the petrifications? Though I didnt know myself if I did. I just didnt remember what I was doing during those times and woke up at odd places with rooster feathers or blood on my robes about which I had no idea where it came from. I tried talking to Tom about it but he seemed quite unfazed by the whole thing. He kept saying I am just tired and getting paranoid. I told him how scared I was.. what if I was sleepwalking, or had simply gone crazy and doing these horrible things. He said thats not possible as he knows how sweet of a girl I am and I couldnt possibly be the one doing this stuff, though I was not fully convinced. Sometimes Tom could be mean, if I talked too much about my concerns he would get impatient and say something I know the real Tom would never say. But he was the real Tom. Well he wasnt, .. thats one more thing bothering me, I am talking to a book! Dad wouldnt think this is the best of ideas. But he is the only one I can talk to, I feel so lonely in this castle full of students. Perhaps so resentful of everyone that I start attacking them? No.. no thats not.. I couldnt have. A sudden thought struck me like an arrow to the head, is someone controlling me? I didnt have much time to dwell on it as I heard shouting from inside.

Someone could actually have the guts or even the conscience to shout in front of Dumbledore? I pressed myself against the door to listen better. After a few minutes, I had infered that Hermione had broken a time turner and travelled back in time? No that cant be right. How would Hermione have a time turner in the first place? What the actual f*ck? Just when I thought this year cant get crazier. Do Ron and Harry know about this? I kinda feel good that I knew something they didnt, they were always whispering among themselves.. it hurt they never involved me in their trio but then again I was an ickle firstie as Fred put it. Then I realised Hermione was probably in a ton of danger, so was the wizarding world and I felt a pang of guilt and fear. What are they going to do? Maybe I can ask Tom! He used to live 50 years ago, he must know something about a time travel incident. Or atleast have some idea how to bring her back as he seems like a smart student, I heard Harry say that he saw a special services medal in Tom Riddles name when he was doing his detention. I was so tempted to tell them I knew him.. maybe something interesting like that would make them wanna talk to me, something new that I knew and they didnt.. I could be the center of attention for once in my life. I felt bad immediately after that thought, I wasnt an attention seeking girl.. I would never let myself be tempted by that no matter how lonely I am. If I wanted friends, it would be because they like me and not because they like my shiny new possession. Anyway, I couldnt reveal the book to them as they might tell me its dangerous or something and tell mum and dad, I couldnt let that happen.. I needed Tom, as pathetic as that sounds.

I staggered back as the door opened, and my jaw dropped as I saw the minister.. and Snape (I realised with disdain) walk out. I should have known, this was a very delicate matter. I felt even more proud at the thought of having overheard it but quickly suppressed that feeling, getting angry at myself. Whats wrong with you?

"Ginny, you may come in now". Oh here we go. Please let it be about my slipping grades. I walked in and realised I had never been in Dumbledores office before. It was just as Harry had described it. Full of interesting, whirring, puffing, shiny silver instruments, shelves of books and portraits of previous headmasters lining the walls. And there stood Dumbledore himself in his usual purple cloak, with beard tucked in his belt and blue eyes piercing me through the half moon spectacles. I should have felt uncomfortable, nervous.. but all I felt when I looked into those eyes was relief. I couldnt fathom that feeling, I just knew I was safe as long as I was being watched by those eyes. He smiled warmly and told me to sit. I smiled back for good measure and sat on the chair opposite his table.

"Miss Weasley, is there something you would like to tell me?", he said x-raying me.

A million things raced through my mind. Riddles diary.. the attacks.. my growing loneliness.. the hopelessness.. and I remembered suddenly, the idea of being possessed. Not a single word came out of my mouth. My lips had gone dry and I felt like breaking down right in front of the headmaster. But I held myself, I took deep breaths and held back my tears. I will need to figure this mess out.. I cant take it any longer. I promised myself as soon as I got out of here I would start making some changes.. get things sorted, gain back the control of my life I have always had which suddenly slipped away after I came to Hogwarts.

Heyyy, hope you all are doing well. If you are still reading this story I am so so grateful. Please reviewww. Sorry for the delay in posting, things have been hectic at college. See ya next time. Take care 3