The next few days were unpleasant to say the least. As soon as Harry saw Peter, he immediately turned around and went straight back downstairs and exited Gryffindor tower. The Marauders did not see him all of Sunday, nor did he show up Monday morning for classes. No one had seen or heard from the mysterious boy since Saturday night.
Harry's strange reaction to seeing Peter left him in a nervous wreck; every few minutes he would ask someone what they knew about Harry or where he was from or if he may have known him from somewhere. Everyone told him the same story of how Harry lost his memory and therefore no one knew much about him at all, which just caused Peter to twitch harder.
"Why are you so scared, Peter?" James asked as Peter peered around a corner before darting across the hall towards their next class.
"I, er, I, I don't trust him!" Peter spluttered out. "He's probably a-a-a-a Death Eater!"
"Don't be ridiculous," Remus said frowning. "What would make you think that?"
"Because!" Peter squeaked with wide eyes. "He's been missing for days! He could be up to anything! He's probably helping Death Eaters into the castle right now!"
"You were gone for a month and no one accused you have being a Death Eater," Sirius pointed out. Peter visibly paled.
"That was different, I-I was with my grandmother." Peter said, but quickly running ahead of the group thus effectively ending the conversation.
"Have either of you seen Harry today?" Lily asked later that evening as the boys came down the stairs and into the common room on their way to dinner.
"No…" James sighed.
"I'll meet you downstairs, I'm starved!" Peter blurted out before anxiously racing through the portrait hole.
"And what's up with him?" Lily said raising an eyebrow.
"He's been acting like that ever since he got back, it's getting really annoying." Sirius grumbled, sitting in an armchair across from Lily. James sat down next to her on the couch.
"I asked him about how his grandmother was doing, and he couldn't give me a straight answer." Remus said, eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "He said stumbled over a few different phrases before simply saying there was no way to know for sure before running away."
"Every time I approach him, he immediately starts twitching as if he's fighting every reflex to sprint in the opposite direction." James said rolling his eyes.
"Maybe we're being insensitive," Remus said quietly. "Maybe something really bad happened at home and he's just… Not ready, to tell us yet."
Everyone looked at Remus doubtfully for a few moment, after which he simply shrugged before taking a seat in a second armchair.
"Anyways," Lily said, redirecting the conversation. "Do you know where Harry's been?"
"No, we honestly haven't seen him since Saturday night." James answered honestly. "I think he doesn't like Peter very much, but I don't know why."
"Do you think he remembered something?" Lily wondered out loud.
"It sure would explain why they're acting so strange." Sirius said staring into the fire.
At that moment, the portrait swung open and Harry walked in, arms full of books. He walked past the group without a word, seemingly not noticing any of them.
"Er, Harry?" James said. Harry jumped, causing the books to go toppling across the floor. Harry immediately fell to the floor and began gathering them up as fast as he could.
"Oh, hey everyone, how's everyone's day been?" Harry asked loudly as he frantically picked up the books. Sirius had crossed the room to help, but as soon as he picked up a book, Harry ripped it from his hands with a forced grin.
"Well, have a good evening everyone!" And with that, Harry ascended the staircase to the boys dormitory. Sirius turned around and looked at the blank faces of all his friends.
"What the hell just happened?"
o0o0o0o0o0o
Harry had been so absorbed with anger the past three days that the only way he could release any of his energy was to research. He had barely slept and had only left the Room of Requirement to go to the kitchens. His hatred of Peter had fueled quite the remarkable discovery.
A book had revealed vague steps on how to make a potion that was intended to speed up boring activities, such as household chores, by making time go by faster. It was likely that this book was still accessible after the Ministry's crack down on time travel because the author had not directly referred to it as such, but the more Harry reread the chapter the more he realized that was exactly what it was.
However, Harry wasn't sure about whether the potion was reliable or not. Despite his poor understanding of potions, he had still spotted some ambiguous sections that could have led the mixture to go seriously wrong. But he had somewhere to start.
Harry began searching for ways to speed up time even more, and to extend the potion to last much longer than the recommended two hours. As he researched, he pushed back the thoughts which reminded him of just how dangerous this could be. He didn't entirely care if his potion failed and he ended up aging 497 years and dying in St. Mungo's, but he did realize that he cared about whether he caused un-births or other such disasters. He had to make sure the potion only affected him. Somehow.
o0o0o0o0o0o0o
"Are you coming, Remus?" James asked, as the rest of the Gryffindors headed out of the common room to go to dinner.
"Yeah, one second," Remus called, walking across the common room. "Go on without me, I think Harry forgot one of his books." James shrugged before leaving the room, letting the portrait swing closed behind him.
Remus bent down and reached underneath one of the small study tables near the dormitory stairs. He glanced at the cover, recognizing it as their charms textbook. But it felt heavier than his — perhaps it wasn't Harry's. Remus flipped the book open, looking for his name in the front cover.
Remus paused, staring at the inside title page — "'What Year is It?': A History of Time Travel."
"Remus?" A voice called behind him. Remus spun around, quickly straightening his back and closing the book in one fluid motion.
"Oh, hey Harry, I saw this under the table, I think it might be yours." Remus said with a polite smile, handing him the book.
"Oh, yeah, thanks," Harry said hastily, taking the book and stuffing it into his bag.
"Are you going to dinner?" Remus asked.
"Oh, no, I have a lot of work to do so I was just going to go to the kitchens to grab something."
"Oh alright. Well, I hope we see you again later tonight, you should probably get a decent night's rest." Remus said calmly before exiting the common room, leaving Harry behind looking nervous.
o0o0o0o0o0o
Ginny let out a sigh of relief when she first felt Hermione stir next to her.
"Hermione," Ginny whispered, coaxing her awake. Hermione's eyes fluttered half open before quickly widening. She twisted around and grasped onto Ginny's arm.
"Ron?" she croaked, causing her to cough. She reached into her small purse and pulled out a flask of water which she quickly downed.
"Hermione, he's still not awake, I didn't know what to do." Ginny said tearfully. Hermione reached across Ginny and pressed her fingers against his wrist.
"His pulse is fine," she said in barely a whisper. "Did you see any blood?"
"No, but he hit his head on a tree." Ginny responded fearfully.
"I don't know much about head injuries," Hermione admitted, making Ginny's heart sink. "We need to get back."
"But to where? The Burrow was… on fire…" The memories crept back into Ginny's mind: the smell of the smoke, the sound of Fleur crying…
"St. Mungo's would be the most ideal…" Hermione said as she rummaged through her bag. "But I don't know if I can apparate anywhere right now, I don't think I have the energy, especially to carry both of you with me."
"Where did you take us?" Ginny asked, accepting another blanket which Hermione ushered to wrap around Ron.
"The first place that came to mind that no one would find us, I was aiming for a muggle camp ground that I went on vacation with my parents to, but I think I was off. I don't know how far away, though."
"What… What should we do now?" Ginny asked tentatively. She was afraid Hermione wouldn't have an answer.
"We need to get Ron help. We need to get shelter." Hermione said, slowly standing and wincing as her bruises burned.
With the help of Ginny, Hermione wrapped Ron tightly in the blankets and then carefully levitated him in front of the pair of them. Even this small amount of magic quickly took its toll on Hermione, so they were only able to walk five or so minutes before Hermione couldn't hold him anymore.
"We'll have to set up some wards here, until we both have enough energy to get back." Ginny nodded in agreement. As Hermione went about casting spells on the surrounding area to protect them from unwanted visitors, Ginny began unpacking Hermione's purse and magically assembling a small tent that was far larger on the inside. Ginny used the last of her energy to levitate Ron into the tent by herself and lower him onto a cot before walking into the kitchen area and making some tea.
When Hermione came in, she looked absolutely exhausted and as if she might black out again. Ginny quickly pushed a cup of steaming hot tea into her hands, as well as some chocolate she had found in one of the cupboards.
"Do you think he's going to be alright?" Ginny whispered, watching her brother's chest slowly rise and fall under the thick blankets.
"I think so…" Hermione sighed. She set her tea gently back on the table and reached down into her purse again, pulling out several vials of colored potions. She eventually selected a pale blew liquid and using a pipette she carefully dropped several beads of potion into Ron's mouth.
"It's a general healing potion," Hermione said, putting the stopper back in. "If he doesn't wake up in a few hours, we should be concerned." Ginny nodded numbly.
"For now though," Hermione said, sitting down and untying her boots. "I think we should also get some sleep."
Hermione glanced up and was met with Ginny's fearful and doubtful eyes.
"Don't worry, Gin," she said reassuringly. "We'll be safe here." Though as the words left her lips and Ginny nodded once more, they both knew that simply wasn't true of any place anymore.