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Holly Evans and the Spiral Path

Chapter 17: Twisted Tracks



2nd September, 1993



Harry,

There was this time right before the end of term last year when Hermione and I returned to Potions class. It was the first time Snape saw me as a red head. It was a bit odd, but it was a good memory. I captured it with the Quill but transcribed it to parchment because I didn't want to lose it but didn't see a reason to include it in the journal until now.

Transcription: 9th June, 1993 starting 8:01 AM GMT

Severus Snape (SS) stands at the front of a Potions lab classroom staring down at paperwork. Holly Evans (HE) and Hermione Granger (HG) enter the almost full classroom.

SS: Well, well. The sisters of Gryffindor return. I doubt even your efforts can save your pathetic House's standing in this class. I'm not entirely sure how you survived...

SS looks up and freezes, staring at HE. HE stops as well, looking back at SS. HG stands still as well, looking slowly between the two for a minute.

[pause]

Pansy Parkinson (PP): Sir, you were saying...

HE: (interrupts loudly)We are very sorry for disappointing you by surviving, Professor. Hermione and I will endeavor to die horribly, within the coming year if possible.

SS is shocked into smirking, and then schools his face into a mask of disdain. HE grins in triumph at having broken his normally imperturbable scowl.

SS: See that you do. A Gryffindor should always keep her promises. Take your seats!

Transcription ends.



The reason good memories like these matter to me is because of Fudge. Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge in his quite limited wisdom has decided that with the escaped convict Sirius Black rumoured to be heading to Hogwarts to attack the heroic Harry Potter, that the Dementors of Azkaban should be released from their isolated duties around the prison in the North Sea to surround the Hogwarts castle as a measure of defense. More importantly, Fudge has ordered that they roam the countryside looking for their wayward lamb. We were actually having a decent time on the Express until they came aboard to hunt for the convict and suck out my soul for a snack.

On the train, the Twins caught up with me long enough to relate these recent events and that public opinion puts you living in the castle since 'you always seem to be there when things get interesting'. As a sideline, they mentioned that they are almost positive that there's no way you're living in the castle."Believe us! We would know!" The level of certainty they conveyed with that simple statement had me so distracted that I hadn't noticed their sister had joined Hermione and Neville in our train cabin, though Neville wandered off immediately to find some snacks and give us privacy.

Ginny apologised for everything that she said and did, though she couldn't remember large parts of it and then she asked if we could start again with a blank slate. I answered her coldly.

"What a 'Nice' idea. It reminds me of Obliviation."

Hermione goggled her eyes realising how angry this little girl was making me, but before she could interrupt Ginny spoke again, somewhat sadly but with a challenge in her tone "sometimes it's better to just forget."

Hermione jumped in by stepping in front of me and laying her hand on my shoulder. She whispered a quick admonition. "Don't you think the Weasleys have been through enough this past year?" She turned to Ginny and looked down at the redhead who finally realised she had seriously misspoken.

"Holly and I have had bad experiences with Obliviation. What's more, your brother Percy's friend Penny was ...well ...if she was still alive and her memory was restored, she may have decided that death was better, but she would have been happy that there was a Spider stalking Hogwarts around Christmas."

After a minute Ginny gasped at the implication.

Hermione sat down next to Ginny and softened her tone. I just went back to lifting my trunk into place while listening to Hermione's voice.

"Ginny, your memories are what defines you, and teaches you what to expect. Without your memories, you won't learn what is unacceptable to you, nor think of how you may do things differently when faced with a hard decision. How would you know what to look out for, if you couldn't remember what went wrong the first time, nor remember the consequences?"

This was much more eloquent than what I was thinking; 'if you always forgive and forget the things done to you, you're nothing but a dog'. I decided that Ginny deserved a second chance, or else I was being just as limited in my thinking. I also realised that Percy was still a victim of the Slytherins and should be told at some point. Of course I couldn't do anything for him immediately, but I could do something for Ginny.

"Ginny, can I assume that the 'real you' was the one talking my ear off about Harry last summer?"

"Yeah, that's more like me."

"Well, if you can find it in your heart not to ever do that again, I'd like to know what else you think about. Even your brother Ron splits his time between Quidditch and food."

Ginny smiled. Hermione laughed and they started chatting about Ron. Neville showed up again. We settled in, most of them chatting amiably about their summer, new clothes and upcoming classes. Eventually Hermione dragged me back into the conversation by talking about my Quick Quotes Quill. When they all insisted that I show them how I bit through the tip during a nightmare earlier in the summer, I pulled my trunk back down from the rack with Neville trying to help me. I was crouched down facing away from the door digging into the depths of my stuff (with Neville commenting on how strong I was for a small girl) when we picked up another visitor- Dean Thomas.

"Excuse me ladies ... and Neville, I was just swinging by to see if you wanted to sign up for a study group we are ...WHOAH! That is one fine derriere my dear! I don't believe we've met before. My name's...."

I had stood and turned around to face him with my hands at my hips and a stern expression coupled with a cocked eyebrow. Dean lost the train of his thought for a moment.

"Um... Holly. I'm sorry if I offended you. You really didn't look like this the last time I saw you."

"Yah? What of it?"

"Well, to put it a little more nicely, I think you look excellent. Your clothes do you justice and your hair color is quite a thrilling change. You're like a new woman. One I'd like to get to know better. I feel like an idiot for not seeing your beauty before."

Dean's switch from obnoxious boy into Casanova was not unwelcome. For sure I haven't been given much praise before and never for my looks. I took a moment to look back at him. He was known as a confident and attractive boy but I had never really cared to look before.

"You're not so bad yourself. I'll give you points for recovering your cool. Don't trip on anything as you leave."

Dean walked out but gave me a lingering look as he slid the door closed. Ginny started gushing immediately.

"Oh Merlin! I never would have guessed he would stop in here! That boy just exudes smexyness from his pores! Holly, if you're not interested, please introduce me!"

Hermione lost it when Ginny started abusing the English language.

"What sort of word is smexyness? What are you on about? I admit Dean has a pleasant face and all, but he's not a rock star or something..."

I couldn't hear what Hermione was saying after a short bit because I was starting to see visions in my head, and the room got very cold of a sudden.

The visions put me back in the Chamber, facing my worst injustices in trying to generate tears, and then I was reliving each of those horrible moments as if it was happening all over again. When we got past the frying pan, I had a muddled vision of being in a bed of some sort, looking upwards as a woman screamed and the room was filled with green light. Then I saw a handsome but unearthly man with a cruel expression point his wand at me and my mind exploded in a painful cacophony of sound and light.

As I came back to consciousness, I found I was lying on the floor of the cabin, my head in Neville's lap and Hermione rubbing my arms and pushing the hair out of my face with an expression of deep concern etched across her frown.

"Oh thank God, Holly! Here, eat this chocolate. Professor Lupin gave it to us after he chased away the Dementor."

Hermione leaned forward to whisper in my ear.

"We've all eaten some- it's alright. It really helps chase away the ...dread."

Hermione was right of course and I quickly was regaining my color and mental defenses with the lump of chocolate dissolving in my mouth.

"So, what happened, exactly?"

"Well we met our new Defense teacher!"

"Ginny!"

"He said we should focus on happy thoughts..."

Hermione turned back to me after everyone settled back into their seats and recounted her view of events.

"You looked very distracted, and then the room became cold like a meat locker. I could see Neville's breath! Then this wave of ...dread washed over us all and you collapsed onto the floor. I found I couldn't get up but I saw this ...creature in a black cloak slide into the room and put its hooded face down towards yours. There was this sound like a wind on a moor and you started to convulse, but then the door slammed open and Professor Lupin jumped in, with his wand emitting a white light that made the Dementor quickly turn away from you and leave. He introduced himself and then passed out these chunks of chocolate, which he said were prescribed for recovering from a Dementor attack. He sort of gasped when he saw you on the floor there, then checked that you were breathing and rushed out, mentioning we should give you some of the chocolate when you awoke."

"So, we might have a teacher who knows what he's doing for once. What's he like?"

"Well he's tall and thin, but sort of attractive on a just-been-mugged sort of way." Hermione whispered the next part, sounding almost like Lavender, I swear. "He gave you the same longing look Professor Snape did before you said we'd try to die horribly for him."

"You're all hopeless."

Neville piped up then.

"He seemed kind, did Mr. ...ahh ...Professor Lupin. He ...uuh ...he seemed to really care whether we were really okay or what."

"Thanks Neville. For once, I get the lowdown without the date-ability report."

We all sort of receded to our thoughts for the rest of the trip, though Ginny did start to get talkative again after about ten minutes. Professor Lupin did not make a second appearance.



That was not the end of the weirdness though. As we started to leave the train car in Hogsmeade, Ginny turned to look next to me and said "Luna, what do you think of Professor Lupin?"

I turned to my left to see the drowned-looking girl that was stalking me last March was sitting right next to me holding a magazine upside down in front of her, and seemed to have been there the whole time! Hermione and Neville were equally stunned, so I know it wasn't just me that missed her presence. 'Luna' mumbled airily from behind her periodical "I think he should be feeling much better over the next few days." Ginny and she walked off the train leaving me weirded and paranoid. Then the rest of us followed the two girls out to the station and I was hit with another unbalancer.

"What the hell are those?"
Hermione looked at me strangely and then said "Those are the carriages that take us to the castle- oh right! You missed them last year because of Ron and the auto. We just ride in them up to the front doors and head in- they'll handle our trunks."

"Not the carriages, Hermione. What are THOSE?!"

I pointed directly at the nightmarish skeletal winged horse that was attached to the front of the carriage, but Hermione gave me a sad expression.

"Are you sure you've fully recovered from the attack?" She pushed me into the carriage following Luna and Ginny, where I sat down but stuck my head back out the window to regard the creature once more.

Hermione kept assuring me there was nothing of concern out there, but then Luna piped up again from behind her periodical saying "Those are Thestrals. I can see them too. You're as sane as I am, at least in this."

I finally had my head in the game and started to defend myself to Luna for some reason.

"I think you've heard a few stories about me."

An unconcerned 'Yes' came from behind the oversized parchment.

"Well, I'm not as bad as they say."

She slowly lowered her periodical to stare at me with these bulbous eyes of hers and kept staring, then answered my challenge after a minute.

"Not yet..."

Ginny and Hermione were watching us like a tennis match. I felt like I was in a samurai movie, or maybe a spaghetti western, facing down an unknown opponent across a dusty street. Luna's stare was discomforting, but I kept my eyes locked on hers with my Occlumency at full defense. Luna broke the uncomfortable silence with a toneless question and a blink of her ocean blue eyes.

"Are you going to eat me, Holly Evans?"

I gave a half smirk and answered pleasantly "I hadn't planned on it."

Tensions in the carriage dropped back to normal levels and Luna raised her periodical in front of her face again. Then she added a comment that will have me guessing for days.

"Pity."



The feast was interesting, as the Sorting Hat joined Professor Flitwick's chorus for a piece after the sorting but before the meal. Since the whole train was fed bunches of chocolate by Lupin, only Ron was complaining about the delay. The chorus seemed to lift everyone's spirits. Dumbledore referred to it as 'a magic beyond any we study here', then suggested that while Hogwarts is under siege by Dementors that we keep the lights on and the conversation flowing. Hagrid was announced as the new Care of Magical Creatures teacher, but he was looking less than enthusiastic for his new role which did not escape the Slytherins who started all sorts of grumbling at the announcement. Dumbledore calmed the room and Lupin was introduced.

I have to agree with Hermione that he looked like he hadn't quite recovered from a rugby brawl, even aside from confronting the Dementors. His clothing was worn and threadbare with stitches of repair and his face had numerous scars, which only added to his beaten-down image. He makes you want to take him in and serve him a cuppa. I doubt his Defense technique amounts to looking like a kicked puppy but I just hope he isn't too smart. I just realised I owe him a life debt now.



Holly



*



3rd September, 1993



Harry,

Some mornings it's just great to hang around for a late breakfast.

Hermione just came back from her first class only about 20 minutes after it started, looking quite stunned. She asked somewhat haltingly "Did you know that girls aren't permitted to take the Centaur language course until after fifth year for some reason?"

She related that the male Centaur instructor was calling the roll and protested that she didn't smell like a Herman at all. "I said quite forcefully that I should be allowed to take the class no matter the clerical error, but then he ...then he..."

"He what?"

Hermione's expression recovered a bit of McGonagall at that point. "Our centaur instructor reared up in anger, clopping his fore hooves together quite loudly. I felt it was best to leave at that point." Hermione then sort of reverted to the shocked look she had when she first sat down.

I suggested that the problem may have to do with their lack of clothing and our lack of maturity, and they wouldn't send an unescorted foal into human territory to teach us girls the language no matter how much we paid. Eventually her brain kicked in to agree with me.

"Um, yes. That's makes some sense I suppose."

After a pause I offered a quiet assurance to my lost-looking friend.

"It's distracting, isn't it?"

"Yes, very." she mumbled quietly.

"About as big as your arm, if I recall."

"I really couldn't say, and would rather not spend the time estimating if you don't mind."

Ron was finishing his fourth helping of a late breakfast and piped in "Sausage?" Hermione glared at him and the overstuffed cooked meat he was offering at the end of his fork, and then bolted from the table to head out of the Great Hall. I turned back to Ron and gave him a happy smile which he returned, then realised he didn't know why I was smiling and got concerned.

"Did you want some?"

"No. I really haven't a taste for it these days."



Holly



*



20th September, 1993



Harry,

I came back here to the dorm to look for something, but I figure you might want to know how things are going. Life under Dementor siege is hard, but I have been involved in a masterful plan to improve the lot of all affected, even if I had no intention of changing things as they stood. You see, I'd rather keep Hermione in my bed than help the rest of the school sleep better. This all starts with me visiting Hagrid.

After the welcoming feast I went to see Hagrid, knowing that he might be having a time dealing with Dementors again so soon after his unjust stay in Azkaban last April. Hermione had been called to Prof McG's office so I followed him down to his hut alone. Hagrid invited me in and immediately started thanking me again for supporting him- he knew I had forced his early release. I chatted with him a while, eventually using my experience on the train to make him feel protective of me with all these spectres about. Hagrid was having a hard time resisting their depressing influence for his own sake, but saying I needed him to be strong and protect me from them just jump-started his courage. Once Hagrid had perked up, he proudly introduced me to his new friend and first class topic, the Hippogriff Buckbeak. Hagrid tried to show me how you bow in submission and respect to the horse-eagle, but Buckbeak was having a serious issue with my presence so we went back inside the hut to let him calm down. We chatted some more about his classes and Hippogriffs and Thestrals until curfew approached. As I left I was struck by an inspiration, so I went back around to Buckbeak's paddock for one more try. Hagrid and I had agreed that I shouldn't try flying on Bucky for the first class if he was going to be this skittish around me, but I really wanted to relate to this magnificent creature. Standing across from Buckbeak, I bowed low and waited for him to do the same. When he nodded forward and returned to his defensive wariness, I pulled out the flute Hagrid gave me so long ago and started to play a tune Hedwig had taught me. Hagrid was pleased as punch when he came out from his hut to see Bucky prancing his forepaws back and forth to my tune, and I was almost giggling when Hedwig landed on the fence next to me to bark out the rhythm, shifting back and forth on his talons just as Bucky was.

That night the girls in our dorm came to an understanding that has been the source of much torture and happiness for me. Parvati was complaining that the effect of the Dementors was making it impossible to get warm, even with multiple warming charms and a double-sized hot chocolate. The logical solution according to Hermione was for us to share beds together- the Dementors induce cold and feed off feelings of isolation, so having someone to share warmth just made sense. Lavender looked at Parvati and shrugged. Parvati looked pensive for just a moment and then smiled and said it was a wonderful suggestion. I didn't say a thing. Hermione confessed that night as we held each other under four blankets that she was glad to be sharing a bed with me instead of one of the others, as I give off a lot of heat when we hug. I ran through my nighttime meditations twice as hard to make sure I kept my nightmares at bay and my hands in the safest places. By the end of the week, everyone was asking Par and Lav how they kept a sunny disposition through the siege and 'their' solution swept through the grapevine like wildfire. The boys were generally of the opinion that they didn't need anyone to keep them warm (especially not their dorm mates) and the evening announcements on Friday included a warning that the House heads and male prefects would be patrolling the boys' dorms to ensure no indiscretions betwixt couples were committed by using this 'Dementor Defense' excuse. The defenses on the girls' dorms were considered sufficient deterrent to not require scrutiny. I guess their priority isn't acts of lust so much as unwanted pregnancies. Watching the results unfold at the House tables, I was seeing a pattern. The Hufflepuffs seemed to be in the best mood overall. The Slytherins didn't seem to be affected universally- I have a feeling the patrols there are scheduled and announced, so anyone in their dorms who already had a partner was getting good rest. Either that or they're used to being haunted by an isolating dread so this makes no difference to them. The Ravenclaws were interesting as they seemed to be having the worst time with this, apart from some very content looking same-sex pairings, plus Chang and her constant companion Marietta something. Chang looked well-rested, but I sensed that her red-headed friend was being tortured much like I am. The difference is I've been wrestling with nightmarish demons of poison and fire in my head and body for five months, so my Occlumency has become a well-trained reflex. Marietta must be rubbing the polish off her wand something fierce.

The poor Gryffindors were the ones truly suffering. With the exception of Wood and his study partner, there wasn't a well-rested boy in the lot. Even the twins seemed less than jovial, putting to rest any fantasies our dorm mates had about them sharing /everything/. Half the girls were looking like walking death until we convinced them that sleep meant sleep, so long as they were /brave/enough to face each other in the morning.

During our Care of Magical Creatures class shared with the Slytherins Bucky kept nudging me because he wanted me to play the flute again. This prompted Draco Malfoy to approach Bucky with a life-threatening amount of disdain and Bucky tore at his arm to send him away. Draco fell to pieces over his shredded robes and the trickle of blood, forcing Hagrid to cart Draco off to hospital leaving everyone else just standing around. With nothing but a pushy Hippogriff to interest us, I decided to play a tune. I was eight bars into my version of "I can't help falling in love with you" (the version I heard from Hermione's collection included a tin whistle for the melody) when Hermione stopped me and turned to Seamus Finnegan.

"You know the song right?"

"Yeh, yeh, Granger. I know it. 'Sa Irish band y'know..."

So Seamus upturned a milking pail and started pounding out the Celtic drum part, I played the flute intro and Hermione started singing, much to the surprise and delight of everyone around. Bucky was dancing and everyone had a good time and for just a few moments, the siege was lifted for one class.

I tried to compliment Hermione on her singing but she ran off on a mission for the rest of the day. That night, she returned from her research to ask me to help her bring several large and heavy boxes back to the middle of the Gryffindor common room. We retrieved her unknown bounty from a spare room near Prof McG's Transfiguration classroom and once we had returned, Hermione dragged the twins over to pitch her idea.

"Everyone is depressed."

"Well that's brilliant deduction, Granger! Two points for stating the obvious."

"Fred, quiet. I have a solution."

"How d'you know he's Fred?"

"RADIOS!"

Hermione then unpacked a broken Wizarding Wireless from the first box and explained her plan.

"Everyone would sleep better if they could hear music to offset the Dementors' effect. We saw it today in Care. Unfortunately, the Wizarding Wireless only plays annoying music suitable for retired dancehall instructors. What we need is a local station, and music that our generation will enjoy."

"Y'know Lee would make an excellent announcer..."

"...and Dad would help us hook into the Wizarding Wireless signal. We just need a turntable or two."

Ginny sidled over and spoke up as she started to look through the supplies. "Box three has one."

Ron piped up "Maybe you could broadcast the Quidditch matches, too."

At that point, the most unusual player entered the discussion. Head Boy Percy stopped in front of us and put down an older Victrola and gently handed Hermione a vinyl record.

"This was Penelope's. Play it first, and I won't get in your way in the least."

Hermione looked down at the label and read it aloud. "What a Wonderful World, by Louis Armstrong."

I pulled Hermione away from the Weasleys, all of whom were gathering together in the center of the room to share in their new purpose and bond.

"That was a really nice thing you did, Hermione."

"Well, they needed it. I certainly don't want to be involved after this. We have too much else to work on, and you just know they'll try to make me sing again."

"You didn't seem to mind singing down at Hagrid's hut."

"That was for you. You never want to be the center of attention, so all the attention on you is bad. Now people may remember something good about you."

I love her.

One week later, WWRX: Weasley Wireless Roxx- the prescription of music in the cold, cold night came to the airwaves from their lab built up in that spare room near McG's office. Like a muggle college station, the twins didn't need a huge transmitter to reach the extent of the grounds and they made back my initial investment in Wireless boxes (thank you Dobby and Florean) as the Twins resold them in the Great Hall to all comers. At first Led Zepplin and Jethro Tull looked to get heavy airplay due to a lack of other options; only devotees would bring albums to school they couldn't play. Hermione, Dean Thomas and the Creevey brothers then colluded on acquiring a wider selection from their homes and I sent Dobby to Hermione's house to leave a note and hijack half her parents' extensive Motown collection. The administration allows the radios to play except during dinner and from 7-10 PM to afford folks time to study, but the Weasleys have arranged it somehow to broadcast all night with a queued selection of calming classical pieces after midnight. Peeves makes for an interesting DJ on the weekend- he favors polkas on Sunday, starting around 4 AM. I can't yet reason why the twins taught him to spin discs- I suppose they'll need someone to take the mantle once they pass their NEWTs. I doubt the station will be sustained past the lurking Dementors, but you never know with these things.

Hermione was cuddled next to me in my bed last night when she asked me why I don't get more involved. I told her I am not the one to look for when seeking a way to ease the minds of nervous people. I didn't tell her I'd rather keep her in my bed than help the whole school sleep better. I did however let her know I was thinking about her another way.

"I have a confession to make, Hermione."

"You don't need to be so tentative, Holly. I think we're close enough to not worry about what the other person is thinking."

(Interestingly this reminded me we haven't tried any Mind Arts since returning to school. Back to the moment.)

"Alright. I wanted to apologise. I was wrong about the Muladhara chakra being concentrated here."

I touched the base of her spine where her tail had been, feeling her tense up a bit as I had to reach down under her waistband to touch her sacrum at the base of her spine. "That's actually the Svadhisthana chakra, source of creativity and procreation. The Muladhara chakra...is ...at the perineum." I hadn't shifted my hand at all but Hermione pushed her body back to look into my eyes, putting the low chakras further away from my reach.

"W-w-well you did touch me there, later."

"I did, but I didn't like that I got my facts wrong. You should be able to trust me."

I pulled my hand back up from her waist to cup her cheek with my hand. Hermione shuddered a little. I could feel her pulse racing. I jauntily said "Goodnight!" and turned over to face away from her.

When I woke up this morning, she was shivering at the edge of the bed. I encouraged her to sleepily turn back into my embrace. When she woke up an hour later I was holding her head to my shoulder and her arms were wrapped around my waist. She smiled up at me then got a confused look. I smiled back, waiting for her to say something. Hermione finally decided to forego discussion and got up for a shower, after which we escaped from the room with our day's needs. That was a few hours ago. I came back here just after eating breakfast with Hermione to look for something and write in the journal while she attends the Muggle Studies class. I just noticed that I Wasn't Supposed To Notice Hermione's bed and pulled back her bed curtains. It just proves something I've always suspected; if you're looking for only one thing, you may search for a long time without success. If you are looking for all sorts of things, you'll find something you didn't realise you were missing. I found Hermione. Again.



Holly



*



22nd September, 1993



Harry,

I need to go over the same time period I last wrote about to explain why Hermione was in her bed while also at class. There's a certain irony to that.

If you remember, I played a small prank on Hermione while she was petrified by signing her up for all the elective options offered for third years. For my own selections, I had chosen to add Care of Magical Creatures, Ancient Runes, Arithmancy and language groups- Romance. It's funny- in muggle school they study a single language; in the magical world you're committed to learning all the strains of an ancient root language as if they were dialects. My one language class covers Greek, Latin, Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Roma. It makes sense when you start breaking down the meanings into root words and structures. Scripts are more a determinant of difficulty, so learning Greek is actually the hardest part of the course. Anyway, my selections were accepted except that I was bumped from Arithmancy and assigned to Divination. After arguing with McG and the headmaster for a day, I resolved that the grades didn't matter- I'd just follow along with Hermione as she studied the Arithmantic texts and ask her to explain things I didn't get. She agreed, but seemed to take a few minutes in thought before doing so. I realise now that she was calculating how much time that would require.

When I asked her if she got all the classes she wanted, she smiled in acknowledgement of my joke and said that she certainly did, except she dropped Divination and was denied access to Magical Society, Politics and Law for some reason. I didn't think much of it at the time, but I was surprised that she was still assigned to take Centauri when she came back shell-shocked that first morning. Hermione has been keeping very busy and always seems to be deep in a scroll of homework, but I hadn't suspected anything truly unusual was happening until I tried to find her after Transfiguration one day. I had followed her up towards the astronomy tower, but then saw her heading across a lower plaza towards the Arithmancy classroom. Sometimes she would be working on Romance languages, and other times the scripts were Cyrillic or Sanskrit. I know Hermione reads ahead when she can, but that would be at least three language groups along with Ancient Runes to work through. I was getting concerned she might start speaking Gobbledygook when I asked for the salt.

Well, finding a second Hermione made all that come together. Hermione hadn't dropped any classes she hadn't been forced to; she simply found a way to attend them all. No wonder she was looking frazzled.

I woke up the second Hermione and laid out my reasoning about why she was there and what was going on. Within moments she was crying about how she wasn't supposed to let anyone know but she hated keeping secrets from me and please could I just help her stay out of trouble with Prof McG.

I had to force her to calm down by holding her, then she confessed her 'dark secret'; Prof McG had given her a magic device called a Time Turner, to help her catch up with lost time last year. Hermione explained how the Time Turner worked and I made her a promise. I would help her get it all done. All she had to do was take me with her.

Hermione's mistake was in only using the Turner when she was falling behind or needed to attend two concurrent classes. The Turner allows a person to go back up to six hours and live a second time through the same time period, as a study and research tool. The important rules are these:

1. Don't try to change what has happened, as it has happened already

2. Don't interact with your other self or 'bad things will happen'

3. You can only exist twice during the same time; the Turner won't turn if it already exists twice in time. You can tell when you have caught up with yourself when the Turner is able to turn again.

4. Don't try to use a second Turner if you are already using one. More 'bad things will happen'

It's gratifying to know that there are enough of these things floating around that they would know that, and allow a fourteen year-old girl to play with one. The instructors must know about this arrangement or they'd get suspicious very fast. Also, I think this may have been something Prof McG was going to give Hermione even if she hadn't lost time being frozen last year. Justin Finch-Fletchley and Colin Creevey were frozen for most of the year, but they don't act like they're keeping track of two lives.

So now Hermione and I are living at double-speed. We get together in the morning and turn back six hours to study and do homework in her bed where the curtain and a Silencio cover our activities. We live through to lunchtime then turn back six hours and attend a second set of classes or get in some more studying. We eat a second meal in the dorm courtesy of Dobby then nap into the evening, then turn back to attend afternoon classes and evening activities. We get ready for bed then turn back to experiment in Myrtle's room, making it back to sleep the night with our dorm mates none the wiser. My only regret; everyone else is going to be subjected to my pleasant moods every two weeks when my cycle hits again. No wonder Hermione wanted us to sleep together- she needed her bed as a second privacy space.

With these new arrangements, I have begun attending the Arithmancy classes under the Cloak. I will not be deterred from learning what I want. Now I just need to convince Hermione she shouldn't bother with Muggle Studies unless she needs the comedic relief. 20 classes should be enough.



Holly



*



Author's Notes:

The line at the beginning about 'endeavoring to die horribly within the next year' was another Trek reference, this time from the Deep Space Nine episode"You Are Cordially Invited...".

CoMC class heard the version of "I Can't Help Falling in Love with You" by Lick the Tins, which I originally heard from the Some Kind of Wonderful soundtrack.

My expanded class list includes the following-

Core classes: Astronomy; Charms; Defense Against the Dark Arts; Herbology; History of Magic; Potions; Transfiguration

3rd year Core additions: Ancient Runes; Arithmancy; Care of Magical Creatures; Divination; Muggle Studies

3rd year supplemental: Accounting; Fine Arts; Household Skills; Magical Society, Politics and Law; Music; Personal Care Magics; Poetry and Literature

Magical Languages (available by arrangement with native speaker): Mermish; Centauri; Gobbledygook

Regional languages: Romance languages; Germanic tongues; Slavic speech; Islamic sources(includes North African and Near Eastern cultures); Buddha's path (Asian and Subcontinental tongues)

Other language groups available by arrangement with native speaker.

The only saving grace for Hermione is that none of my supplemental classes have an OWL or NEWT certification exam.