Erised - Chapter Thirteen

[tamchronin]

If you start at the very beginning, you'll already know what I'm going to say.  If you leave feedback along the way you'll make the Tam a very happy girl.  (Not that she isn't already!  HA!)

 

 

This statement is false.

 

 

Chapter Thirteen

The First Paradox

 

It was altogether too easy to stop the one who came to kill Albus Dumbledore.  Ron waved his arms around like a loon while Hermione deftly sent the person's wand flying with a quick Expelliarmus spell.  The person who had been threatening the child with his wand had been hidden beneath a cloak with the cowl pulled down low over his face.  As soon as his wand left his hand, he dove for it again and then vanished.  Whoever it was had been quicker than Hermione expected, or he wouldn't have gotten away.

 

"Hurry home," Hermione instructed the child, and then she cast an invisibility spell to hide behind.  (First just over herself, but then she had to help Ron with his.  He never had been good at that particular one.)

 

They followed young Albus home, to make sure that no second attack was attempted before he got there.

 

For good or for ill, they'd changed their own future.

 

"Okay.  We did it.  Job well done.  You saved the little boy.  Now what?  Do we go home already?"

 

Hermione shook her head.  "That's just the beginning, sorry.  Now we get to meet the old man whose life we just saved."

 

"Oh, not him again," Ron groaned.

 

"Yes, him again!  He's the whole reason I started this.  Trust me, you'll like him."

 

"Hermione," he groaned again.

 

"Do you still have your egg with you?"

 

"Yes."  He gave up.

 

"Good.  Let's go."

 

They were wrenched through the vastness of time again, speeding swiftly to the future.  Ron was completely sure he didn't like traveling like this, but at the same time he didn't have much of a choice, now, unless he wanted to get stuck in the past.

 

When they arrived at the right time, Hermione smiled.  "Now we just have to Apparate to Hogsmeade and meet Dumbledore at the Three Broomsticks."

 

"Really?  Oh, well, that doesn't sound so bad, then."  Ron really liked it there, when they went on Hogsmeade weekends.  It wasn't entirely because Madam Rosmerta was easy on the eyes, though that helped a bit.

 

She gave him a questioning look.  "Why would--never mind.  I'll meet you there."

 

With that, she disappeared.  Ron sighed and shook his head, hopeful that he knew her well enough to know where she'd appear.  (Really, protocol and politeness dictated that you Apparate a block away, but which block would she pick?  North, South, East, West?  He just made a guess at random, since girls seemed random to him anyway.)  He ended up a few paces away from her and grinned.  "You're so predictable," he teased.

 

Hermione gave him a funny look and then shrugged.  "I'm just used to coming from this direction is all."

 

"Er.  Right.  Exactly why I picked it," he said, shoving his hands in his pockets and looking away.  He began walking while he hoped that she wouldn't notice the slight embarrassed blush.  "Can't keep the old man waiting, right?"

 

"Right," Hermione agreed with a sigh.  She hurried to join him and they walked from there in silence until he opened the door for her.

 

The room was immediately warm and welcoming, and they both felt comforted by the breath of comforting familiarity.  It was exactly like home, really, for both of them.  Hermione tugged Ron over to their usual table and sat down, grateful that it was empty.

 

Madam Rosmerta immediately bustled over, looking them over.  "Now, what are the two of you doing here, instead of up at the school where you belong?  You know I'll have to tell Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall."

 

They exchanged startled looks; both at the strange names and that she'd tell on them over Christmas vacation.

 

Except, this wasn't vacation.  It wasn't exactly snowing outside, or even chilly at all.  They were still dressed as they had been inside Ron's house.

 

"Well, we're, uh, that is, it's--"

 

"I am aware of their presence here already," an old man said as he walked in the door.  Ron watched him as he walked in, figuring that this must be Dumbledore.  The old man took off his hat as he walked over, ordering three butterbeers for them, and smiling at them as he sat down.  "Miss Granger.  Mr. Weasley.  I must say I am surprised that you're both here, but pleased.  You two have always been a good team."

 

"We have?" they both said simultaneously, in about the same tone of voice.

 

"Indeed," Dumbledore answered, a tone of sadness creeping into his voice.  "The two of you have helped Harry immeasurably, over the past few years.  I take it that things are different where--I mean when--the two of you are from?"

 

They both nodded, and Ron felt a chill.  Had they really just changed history that much?  "So, he really does live longer, with you around?"

 

"It would appear so," he said softly, the sadness lingering for a moment.  He then shook his head.  "Forgive me, I have been terribly rude.  You, of course, would not know who I am, other than as some delusion of your friend's and a child you weren't sure about saving."  He smiled at that, and Ron felt himself wanting to smile as well because of it.  There was just something about the old man.  "I am Albus Dumbledore, and we can dispense with all of the other silly titles appended to my name for this meeting.  What you need to know is that because you once saved my life, I grew up to become the headmaster at Hogwarts.  And, if it means much, your parents have said I am quite good at it, and I count them proudly among my friends."

 

It was exactly the right thing to make Ron take notice and stop doubting.  There were some professors that they were fond of, of course, but there were also those who his parents had an open dislike for.  They were careful about voicing it, but he'd still heard things about Professor Riddle that worried him from them.  So, if his parents from a world where things were different by just one person thought that that one person was worthwhile, he'd have to go with his instincts.  Ron's instincts told him that this was someone he could trust.

 

"Whoa," Ron said softly, not really feeling the need to vocalize all that.

 

Hermione shot him an 'I told you so' look, and then turned and smiled at Dumbledore.  "It's very nice to meet you at last."

 

"I am glad that you have made it, and not just for the obvious reason," Dumbledore said kindly.  He turned his attention entirely to Hermione.  "Did you manage to look into more incidents involving the names that I gave you?"

 

Hermione nodded, pulling out a scroll and handing it over.  "I've done everything I could to find out about them, but most of them are long since dead or discredited."  She glanced at Ron before continuing.  "The Weasleys, of course, were some of the few who were exempt from that, but that might be because of what happened to Mrs. Weasley's family just after she was married."

 

Ron watched Dumbledore scan the list for a minute before he managed to talk.  "You mean...what happened to my uncles, and my grandparents, might not--"

 

"Yes, and no," Dumbledore murmured, still looking over what Hermione had researched.  "In the time that I am familiar with, they lived a bit longer than what is listed here, but your uncles Fabian and Gideon died in the war against Voldemort and his followers."

 

The name made both Hermione and Ron shiver, but at the same time it was almost a comfort to hear someone say it aloud without fear.

 

"Sir, I think I know..."  Hermione hesitated, glancing around the room.  She then went on in hushed tones.  "I mean, I don't know if anyone knows who he is here or not, but before we left, we barely escaped because there were Death Eaters, and I think that maybe, well, he may have been Professor Riddle."

 

Ron stared at her, more because she'd been so uncharacteristically hesitant than any sort of disbelief.  It really wouldn't surprise him, much.  "Riddle is creepy enough, now that you mention it."

 

"Professor Riddle?"  It seemed to catch Dumbledore off guard for only a moment.  "Amazing what sorts of things happen, when I'm not around to prevent them."

 

Ron was about to ask what happened, when Hermione squeaked suddenly.  Ron and Dumbledore both looked at her in surprise while she scrambled to pull her pendant out from under her shirt.

 

"Sorry," she said with wide and excited eyes.  "It's Ginny.  They're okay.  They made it out okay, everyone did.  They're hiding, but they should be fine now."

 

Ron let out a long sigh of relief, all but collapsing onto the table.  He'd forgotten just how worried he'd been, until just now when he could finally let it all go.

 

Dumbledore stood.  "I would love to ask the two of you more, but now that you are in touch with your contact in your own time, you should attend to the task at hand, as quickly as possible.  I have only one request to make before you leave."  He slid the scroll back to Hermione, and motioned that they should join him outside.

 

They both also rose, and Dumbledore paid for all three of the butterbeers that they'd barely been aware of being served, or of drinking with all they'd talked about.  He ushered them outside, and smiled as if to himself.  "Just in time.  Harry, if you'll remove your cloak, please?"

 

Ron and Hermione gasped as someone removed an invisibility cloak, and their eyes only grew wider at who was revealed.

 

"What?  But...you two...weren't you just...?"  Harry turned around, looking back in the direction of Hogwarts.

 

"Since I cannot accompany the two of you on your journey, I ask you to take Harry with you."

 

All three of them stared at Dumbledore, and then all three tried to talk at once.

 

Dumbledore raised his hands.  "I am sure the three of you can sort this out, but, if you will forgive the pun, time is of the essence."

 

"Yes, of course," Hermione said.  "We've got a job to do."

 

Dumbledore smiled at all of them, and then looked at Harry.  "Did you manage to procure the item I asked you to fetch?"

 

"Yes, sir.  It was exactly where you said it would be."

 

"Then the three of you should be off."

 

Hermione handed Harry one of the eggs, obviously trying not to stare at him outright.  "You'll need this."

 

"Where are we going?"

 

Ron grinned.  "Not where.  When."

Comments

[cityxxlights.livejournal.com]

YAY!!!
HARRY!!!
<3<3

[twilightspirit.livejournal.com]

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

[christmasjedi.livejournal.com]

As if things weren't interesting, complicated, and confusing enough - this just keeps getting better!