Congenital Magnetism

Morning found Harry and Draco asleep inside a little shack that lay deep in the forest. Draco was the first to wake, daylight peeking in from where he’d left the door ajar. The soft glow of embers in the fireplace provided the only other light in the windowless hut. Harry was still sleeping soundly next to him, and Draco didn’t move too quickly at first, not wanting to rouse the other boy from sleep. Draco knew that Harry had gotten up at five in the morning the day before, and Voldemort had tortured him with nightmares for a full week before that. This was probably the first sound sleep Harry had enjoyed in a long while. Draco inched himself away from the sleeping boy, taking care not to disturb him, and rose from the two sleeping bags that lay side by side on the pine-needle floor. After Draco got dressed, he was curious to see what the woodland clearing looked like in the morning. He noiselessly lifted the unhinged door open and then lowered it back down to close it.

As soon as Draco stepped outside the hut and surveyed the forest in the morning light, he was overcome by the impression of antiquity. He was certain that the forest looked exactly like this when the Romans had called the place Caledonia, beyond the frontier of their empire. But this place was even more ancient than that. This was how the world must have looked when it was very young, before human beings had ever spread across the earth. The primeval oak forest brought into being a world apart from Hogwarts, or Malfoy Manor, or any other place that was part of the modern age. The forest stretched out before Draco, offering a hiding place where no one would try to tear him apart from Harry. It could be a paradise, if only the two of them could stay. But life wasn’t like that. Reluctantly, he accepted the inevitability of returning to Hogwarts in the evening and went back inside the hut.

When Harry woke, he saw something he’d never seen in his life: someone who was sitting right beside him on the bed and patiently watching him. Draco smiled when he saw Harry’s eyes open and moved his hand toward Harry’s cheek, but he seemed hesitant to touch Harry, as if asking permission. Harry beamed, laid hold of Draco’s hand and shirt, and brought him closer. Draco ended up back down on the sleeping bag, exploring Harry’s body with kisses all over again, and they spent most of the morning entwined in each other’s arms before they bothered to venture outside.

The surrounding forest captured Harry’s imagination as it had captured Draco’s, and the two savored their remaining time together, knowing they’d have to return to Hogwarts by evening. The dense vista of emerald foliage was broken here and there by small streams, and they wandered through a kingdom of trees as each of them indulged their curiosity about the other’s childhood.

“You saw what Little Whinging was like when you were there,” Harry said. “Loads of suburban houses with little front yards and backyards.” He gestured to the forest that lay all around them and said, “We never had anything as grand as this.”

“I’ll take you to the woods near Malfoy Manor,” Draco said. “Not as mighty as the forest here, but when I was a child, I was always able to lose myself in those woods for most of the day. My favorite spot was a cave that was hidden away in the corner of the woods farthest from Malfoy Manor. I’m certain that I’m the only person who ever knew where it was.”

“That’s the cave you told me about a couple of weeks ago, when we were getting back from the bogs, isn’t it?”

Draco nodded.

“And no one else knows about this cave? No one at all?”

“Absolutely no one,” Draco said with complete confidence. “I went to that corner of the woods all the time, and I never saw another soul near the cave in all the years when I was growing up. I’ll take you there someday. It’s my own discovery.”

The sun sank lower and lower in the western sky, though neither of them cared to mention it. Finally, Harry couldn’t pretend anymore and knelt down near a stream they’d come to.

“We have to go back,” Harry said, looking only down at the water, “but I don’t want to. I don’t want to end up alone.”

Draco couldn’t imagine what Harry meant. “Why would you ever end up alone?”

Harry stayed where he was, kneeling by the stream, watching the water flow quietly past. Then he lifted his head toward Draco with a haunted look.

“It’s the only thing I’ve ever been afraid of. Being abandoned. I know it’s not my parents’ fault that Voldemort killed them, but I never had anyone. I know we have to go back to Hogwarts, but I don’t want to because… I’m afraid of losing you.”

Draco knelt down next to Harry, wrapped his arms around him and then held Harry’s head against his chest. Through some native instinct, Draco said the only thing that could fill the aching emptiness of Harry’s lonely childhood.

“I’ll never abandon you, Harry. I’ll always be here. No matter what happens.”

The two boys were soon flying over the same hills and fields they had first crossed the day before. They cast one last yearning look back toward the great oak forest, where there were no Gryffindors or Slytherins, and the only rivalry was between the fox and the hare.

Harry and Draco arrived back at Hogwarts that evening, and they agreed to continue their Potions project in the morning since the Potions classrooms were locked on Sundays. When Harry returned to his room, he found a pretty white owl patiently waiting outside his window. Harry opened the window and the owl deposited its rolled-up parchment and flew off. He unrolled the parchment and glanced at the words at the top: “From Fleur Delacour to Harry Potter.” Fleur had replied to the letter Harry had sent two days earlier. This could only help matters. If there were anyone in all the world who could answer Harry’s questions about Veela, it was Fleur. He began to read the elegant handwriting.

 

My dearest Harry,

Beauxbatons Academy forwarded your letter to my family’s home, and I can’t tell you how happy I was to hear from you. Ever since I discovered that our Veela grandmothers were sisters, I’ve wanted to share with you what knowledge I have of the Veela race. What an exhausting year you must be having, fending off your many suitors. I certainly can understand your frustration concerning your failed attempts to control the effects of your Veela powers. I’ve always wondered how Veela powers would manifest themselves in a boy who was more attracted to his own sex than the opposite sex, and what kind of mayhem it would create in the male population. Well, now we know, and the frontiers of science have advanced accordingly.

From your reports, it sounds like the male students at Hogwarts regard you as sexual catnip. And so persistent, too, those boys in your country. I’ve often observed how determined Englishmen are when they’re chasing after something they really want, much like those flinty English bulldogs. But I digress. And how fascinating—from a scientific perspective—that your powers affect even those boys who have never regarded other boys as desirable. My word, Harry, you even have the straight ones eating out of your hand. My hat is off to you. Toujours l’amour!

Now to your question about Draco. You say that the effects of your Veela powers on others disappear when Draco is present. Of course, your guess is that Draco may be your mate. And if he is your mate, you want to know how long it will take before your Veela powers no longer cause a commotion, even when Draco is not present. This is a very complex question, and it would be best to continue our conversation via Floo Network. Just contact me at the destination listed below and we can continue our conversation.

Yours most affectionately,

Fleur

 

Now for a fireplace connected to the Floo Network. McGonagall’s office, where else? Harry grabbed his Invisibility Cloak and shortly was taking advantage of the fact that the teachers’ offices were generally deserted on Sunday. Harry threw a bit of Floo powder into the fireplace in McGonagall’s office, walked into the flames, stated the destination Fleur had given him, and he was presently looking into an elegant parlor. Fleur was sitting in an ornate Louis Quinze armchair reading a parchment, and she turned around when she noticed the sudden burst of green flames in the fireplace.

“Harry! I was hoping you’d reply to my letter. I’ve been verifying some data concerning Veela,” Fleur said, pointing to a pile of books and parchments on the table next to her chair. “I know how impatient you must be to discover who your mate is.”

Harry couldn’t keep from blurting it out all at once. “Fleur, things have changed since I wrote to you two days ago. Draco has to be my mate. There’s no way he couldn’t be. Draco and I…” Harry blushed quite red, which created a striking color effect since he was surrounded by green flames, “… we’re lovers now. That means he’s my mate, right?”

Fleur laughed as she provided Harry with all manner of unexpected information. “Harry, I’m afraid you’re still somewhat untutored regarding your Veela nature. It’s all well and good that you and Draco have become lovers, and I’m sure this is what short-circuits the unwanted effects of your Veela powers when Draco is present. But the effect Draco’s presence produces may or may not be temporary. It’s possible Draco is your mate, but it’s far from certain. Veela sometimes go through several lovers before they find their mate. Even when they do find their mate, it most often takes months before that person fully accepts the Veela as their mate, and only then do the Veela’s unwanted powers of attraction stop affecting other people.”

“Fleur, this is a joke, right?” One look at Fleur convinced Harry that this was no joke. “Months? This is going to take months?!”

“That’s assuming the best-case scenario—that Draco is indeed your mate rather than some other lover further down the line. And as I said, when you find your mate, it most often takes months for the mate to accept the Veela and the final bond to form. Occasionally, it can take as long as a year.”

“A year?! It’s only the middle of September. My sixth year at Hogwarts is going to be a frigging mess.” Harry lowered his head and his face was in his hands. “How can this be happening?” Harry lifted his head up. “Maybe Snape was right about me. Maybe I am a walking catastrophe.”

“There is a shortcut, though, but it’s only available under very specific circumstances.”

Harry’s eyes lit up. “A shortcut?” A tantalizing glimmer of hope was presenting itself for inspection.

“Veela come into their inheritance on their sixteenth birthday,” Fleur continued. “If the person who is destined to be the Veela’s mate makes their affection clear before the Veela’s sixteenth birthday, the final bond between them will take place as soon as the Veela turns sixteen years old, with no waiting period at all. This declaration of affection and attachment initiates the bonding process that completes itself on the Veela’s sixteenth birthday. The person’s declaration of affection for the Veela doesn’t even need to be of a sexual nature. There have been many instances of Veela and their mates who were what people call childhood sweethearts. So Harry… I have to pry. Were you and Draco close friends during your first years at Hogwarts?”

“We hated each other’s guts, or at least I thought we did.”

“Oh, I see. Well, that eliminates the shortcut method.”

“Wait.” Harry was grasping at straws. “Draco really liked me from the beginning, from our first year at Hogwarts. I know he did because he finally told me yesterday.”

“That really doesn’t help much, Harry. Draco would have to have told you at the time.”

“But Draco did something at the end of first year.” Harry wouldn’t give up on this last shred of hope. “He took something out of my suitcase, a school workbook. He told me he’d wanted a keepsake, something to remind him of me. Draco’s father caught him with my workbook and threw it away… but still, Draco liked me so much that he actually wanted something of mine to keep as a memory. That has to count for something, doesn’t it?”

“Erm… no, I’m sorry to say that doesn’t count for anything. I’m familiar with different historical cases of Veela inheritance. In order to bond instantly when the Veela turns sixteen, it’s quite necessary for the Veela’s mate to actually let the Veela know of their feelings before the Veela’s sixteenth birthday. Wait…” Fleur paused for a moment, lost in thought. “I remember reading about one unusual case in which a female Veela knew the boy who would become her mate, but they became geographically separated. When she was fourteen years old and the boy was fifteen, her family was forced to relocate for two years. The girl’s parents left their house vacant and neglected to tell anyone the location of their temporary residence. The boy was frantic during the girl’s two-year absence and sent owls to her original home. Although he hadn’t made his true feelings known before, he finally told the girl of his love for her in his letters. A sympathetic neighbor kept the owled messages, hoping the girl and her family would return. By the time the girl and her family returned, she had already turned sixteen and had come into her Veela inheritance. The neighbor gave the girl all of the boy’s messages, and the final bond between the two was instantly formed. But that was because the boy had written the letters before the girl’s sixteenth birthday. Draco didn’t write you any letters during your first years at Hogwarts, did he?”

“No,” Harry said, defeated, “definitely not.”

“Then, Harry, I’m afraid you’re going to have to find your mate the hard way. It would be wonderful if Draco really is your mate, but it’s still too early to tell. You’ll just have to be patient.”

 

* * *

 

The following morning, Harry and Draco were the first students in any of the Potions classrooms in the Hogwarts dungeons, having arrived at their separate Potions classroom long before Snape’s earliest class. They examined the parchment that listed the ingredients they had assembled, finally satisfied that they had everything necessary for their project. Harry had temporarily kept the ingredients in his private room on the sixth floor, but they were now securely locked in the classroom’s storage cabinet. This was the very same storage cabinet, Harry recalled, on top of which a lust-crazed Blaise Zabini had cornered him, intent on carrying out his amorous designs. Such were the very special memories that this Potions classroom would always hold for Harry.

Draco opened his backpack and took out the wooden board they had been using to communicate with the spirits from the Eastern Shore Network.

“Go ahead, Harry,” Draco said as he laid the board on the table and placed a blank parchment on top of it. “You do the honors.”

 

This is Harry. Draco and I are trying to communicate with the Eastern Shore Network. We have all the ingredients necessary for our Potions project. We need instructions on how to prepare the potion.

 

ESN Reply>> Harry, it’s so good to hear that you and Mr. Malfoy were successful in assembling your ingredients. Before we continue, we have an inquiry to make, which we’d like each of you to answer individually. Please answer honestly. Our magical abilities extend considerably beyond retrieving long-lost objects, although you seemed quite impressed when we performed that simple trick for you. ★

 

Harry and Draco exchanged a look, and Draco said, “I wouldn’t be surprised if they can tell when we’re lying.” More writing appeared on the parchment.

 

ESN Reply>> And now our question. Do you think you would have achieved as much success in this venture with the cooperation of some other student, that is to say, working with some other student rather than with each other? If not, in what way has each of you furthered the other’s success more than another student might have? Mr. Malfoy, you may answer first. ★

 

Draco didn’t even focus on the parchment in front of him. He seemed to be looking at something in the distance as he wrote down three short sentences.

 

Harry is my friend and I love him. I would do anything to help him. That’s all I have to say.

 

ESN Reply>> Thank you, Mr. Malfoy. And your answer, Harry? ★

 

Harry’s hand trembled for a second, but then was still. He began to write.

 

At first, I thought that whatever we tried to do succeeded so easily because Draco was brilliant at Potions. Actually, not just brilliant at Potions. Brilliant at love too. After a while, I thought everything was possible because I was discovering what was in my soul for the first time. Then I realized I was discovering what was in Draco’s soul, not my own. Now I’m not sure which it is because I can’t tell the difference between my own soul and Draco’s anymore.

 

ESN Reply>> You raise an interesting point, Harry. The spirits in our association have been gathering data for thousands of years, and we have occasionally run across wizards who have attempted to alter the boundaries of the soul. Some have used extreme forms of evil and violence to split the soul, while others have embarked on experiments like the process you describe. It’s the consensus here at the Eastern Shore Network that experiments such as yours generate more powerful results. In any case, we’re always fascinated with the results of any such soul-altering experiments. That’s how the frontiers of science expand.

We have now settled on a potion recipe that should suit your needs. However, we ourselves don’t have access to the recipe; we only know the location where you can obtain it. You’ll need to travel to London. You’ll also need to travel into the past a bit, since this particular potion recipe isn’t available in your current time frame. You did mention before, Harry, that you have access to a time travel device, did you not? ★

 

Yes, the Time-Turner. That’s the pendant I told you about.

 

ESN Reply>> Excellent. When you and Mr. Malfoy are ready to leave for your destination, you’ll place your Time-Turner on the same parchment we’re using to communicate with each other, and we’ll program your device to transport you four time units into the past. The English word for the time unit is

 

Harry and Draco waited while the message from Eastern Shore seemed to stall in mid-sentence. More text now appeared on the parchment.

 

ESN Reply>> We’re trying to improve our translation abilities at the moment. As you already know, our own language is Proto-Semitic, and we have quite a few languages to cope with since we correspond with wizards from everywhere. Our translations for time units are still being updated. Give us a moment, won’t you? ★

 

After a long pause, the message from Eastern Shore continued.

 

ESN Reply>> The English word for the time unit is “week.” When you place your Time-Turner on this parchment, we’ll program it to transport you in both time and space: to London, four weeks into the past. The only restriction is that you are not allowed to take any magical objects with you other than the Time-Turner. That means no wands and no brooms. Now then, Harry, in our previous conversation, we asked you to give us the names of two emergency contacts, and you named Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, and told us we could send any packages to you care of Ron Weasley, if you weren’t available.

You should also inform Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger that they can follow you and Mr. Malfoy to your destination time and place, if they wish, using a guest account with less privileges. A guest account simply means that we at Eastern Shore Network will let Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger know beforehand how long they will be allowed to visit your destination time and place. If they choose to use their guest accounts, they will return to their current time and place automatically at the end of the specified time period, although they will arrive later, depending on how much time they spend in the past. You and Mr. Malfoy, on the other hand, will be able to return to your current time and place whenever you choose, since the two of you will have the Time-Turner, and you will also arrive later, depending on how much time you spend in the past. Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger, like the two of you, will not be able to take any magical objects, such as wands and brooms.

One last detail. While you are in your destination time and place, you and Mr. Malfoy will be the only genuine time travelers, and the two of you will have access to your current memories. Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger, if they use their guest accounts to follow you, will not be real time travelers, but will only be experiencing their existences as of four weeks ago and will only have access to their memories as of four weeks ago, not their current memories. However, all four of you will retain your memories of what happens to you in the past upon your return to your current time frame. We’ll give you some time, Harry, to give Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger their instructions. Contact us when you and Mr. Malfoy are ready to travel in time and space. Until later. ★

 

The writing disappeared and Harry was left staring at the blank parchment. He felt Draco pressing against his back, wrapping his arms around Harry.

“Draco? When the spirits asked you about me… you meant what you wrote?”

“I’ll always love you.” Draco turned Harry around in his arms and gave him a very deep kiss. “All right, angel eyes, ready to go to London with me?”

“I’ll go anywhere with you.” Harry couldn’t resist stealing another kiss. “Meet me up in my room in an hour. I have to let Hermione know what’s going on. And wear your school robes. We might have to make it clear that we go to Hogwarts when we’re in London.” Harry’s brows knitted together. “I think I’ll only tell Hermione about using the Time-Turner. She’s usually more sensible than Ron in situations like this.”

“I think it’s safe to say that anyone is more sensible than Weasley in situations like this.”

Harry left the Potions classroom laughing. Draco’s remark about Ron was biting but accurate. It was still before breakfast, and Harry was hoping he could catch Hermione before she left for the Great Hall. When Harry arrived at the Gryffindor common room, there was a small gaggle of students near the Fat Lady’s portrait. Harry peeked from around a corner and caught Hermione’s eye, and she was at Harry’s side in an adjacent hall in an instant.

“Harry, you’ve been gone all weekend. What on earth were you up to? Were you working on that Potions project with Malfoy?”

Harry led Hermione into a nearby empty classroom. “There’s too much to talk about here in the corridor.” Once inside, Harry closed the door and gestured toward a seat. “Hermione, you should sit down for all of this.”

“That sounds ever so dramatic,” Hermione said, taking a seat at one of the front-row desks.

Harry remained standing, leaning against the teacher’s desk. He took a deep breath and looked Hermione straight in the eye. “Draco and I are lovers.”

Hermione’s hand flew to her mouth. Her hand lay frozen against her mouth for a moment before she could bring herself to speak.

“Merlin save us,” she whispered.

“Listen to me, ’Mione. Draco loves me. He—loves—me. I know it as surely as I’ve ever known anything in my life.”

“There’s no stopping it then.” Hermione slumped a bit in her seat, giving herself a comfortable amount of time to absorb this novel piece of information. “It was meant to be. There’s something between the two of you. I’d be a hypocrite if I said that I didn’t see it. It’s just so surprising. Everything is pitted against the two of you. Malfoy’s family, the Slytherins, the Gryffindors… Whatever it is that binds the two of you to each other, it’s so strong that it crosses the bounds of family, society… everything.” Hermione shook her head weakly. “Does this mean Draco is your mate? I mean, does this solve all the problems with your Veela powers?”

“I thought so, but I wrote to Fleur Delacour because she knows more about Veela than anyone I know, and she wrote back to me. Fleur isn’t so sure Draco is my mate. She told me that most often it takes months for a Veela and their mate to form a final bond, and that I just have to be patient. Which means this Potions project is still the best hope for controlling my Veela powers. So this morning, Draco and I got in touch with the spirits from the Eastern Shore Network.”

“You mean that weird spirit association in the Middle East that you told Ron about in the Room of Requirement?”

“Right. They’ve helped us get all the potion ingredients together, but now they’re sending us to some location in London to get the potion recipe.” Harry reached into his pocket and pulled out McGonagall’s Time-Turner. “And I have to use the Time-Turner because the potion recipe is only available four weeks in the past.”

“Harry! You’re not even supposed to be using the Time-Turner.”

“I know, but I’m only using it for today, just this once, then I’ll put it back in Professor McGonagall’s office.”

“And how do they send you to London?”

“Draco and I are going to let the Eastern Shore spirits transport us from my room on the sixth floor. We have a wooden board we’ve been using to communicate with the Eastern Shore Network. You just put a piece of parchment on it and write down your question or request. All we have to do is hold the Time-Turner on the parchment, and they’ll use the Time-Turner and the communication board to transport us to the correct destination and time frame. Whenever we’re ready, we can return to the present time frame, but we’ll arrive later, depending on how much time we spend in the past.” Harry smiled and adopted a soothing tone. “I don’t think it’ll take more than half a day to find the potion recipe, but in case it takes more time… I told the spirits at Eastern Shore that you and Ron are my emergency contacts. They told me you and Ron could follow us and go to the same destination in London, four weeks in the past—only if you need to, that is—you know, if there’s some kind of emergency.”

“How would we do that?”

“I’ll leave the wooden board in my room, so it’ll be there if you or Ron need to follow us to London. I’ve already shown Ron how the communication board works, when we were in the Room of Requirement. I really don’t think you’ll have to use it, though. I think we’ll be able to find the potion recipe and get back by the end of the day. But if you need to find us, just write your request on the parchment, and the Eastern Shore spirits will tell you what you have to do. I’ll leave my room unlocked.”

“Look, Harry.” Hermione played nervously with her hair. “This whole thing sounds so dodgy. It’s not enough for Ron and me to be the only ones who know where you are. We have to tell Dumbledore.”

Harry groaned. “Draco and I have made it all the way through this Potions project without telling Dumbledore or the other teachers about the Eastern Shore Network. Why now?”

“Because you’ve been safe and sound here at Hogwarts, but now you’re going to let these spirits send you to London, and you’re going to use time travel on top of everything else. What is it… four weeks into the past?”

Harry nodded.

“Nothing you and Draco have done up until now has been this risky. Dumbledore should know where you are, just in case something unexpected happens.”

A look of uncertainty crossed Harry’s face. “Wait an hour before you tell Dumbledore, OK? I just want to make sure Draco and I have already left before Dumbledore finds out. And wait an hour before you tell Ron. You know how worried he gets.”

“Ron will be fine with it,” Hermione said, smiling. She rose from her seat and gave Harry a sound hug. “I just hope everything in London happens according to plan. Can you and Draco at least bring your wands and brooms with you?”

Harry shook his head. “The Eastern Shore spirits told us we couldn’t bring any magical objects except the Time-Turner.”

Hermione made an exasperated noise. “Do you at least have any Muggle money?”

“Yeah, I have a little in my room.”

“Bring it with you. You never know. You might need Muggle money for something. You might need to…” she waved her arms weakly, “… I don’t know, call your uncle and aunt. Just make sure to bring Muggle money with you… and be careful.”

Hermione gave Harry one last fierce hug, then said, “You know, it’s really unnerving to be right next to you. I’m surrounded by all this glitter stuff bouncing off you in all directions.” She stood at the door of the classroom and watched him disappear down the corridor.

Minutes later, Harry arrived at his room on the sixth floor. Draco was waiting outside the door wearing his school robes and said, “All set?”

“Yeah,” Harry said. “It’s show time.”

Inside Harry’s room, Draco pulled out the communication board, put a piece of parchment on top and wrote down a statement of his intentions while Harry changed into his school robes.

 

This is Draco Malfoy. Harry and I are ready to leave for London.

 

ESN Reply>> Fine. We will transport you and Harry to two different locations in London. Mr. Malfoy, your location will be of the most use in finding the potion recipe, but Harry will find instructions at his location about how to find you, and Harry will remain in possession of your time-travel device. If this is clear, place your time-travel device on the parchment and then place your hands on the device. ★

 

Draco shrugged. “Who’s going to argue? They’re in charge.”

Harry placed the Time-Turner on the parchment and then let go of it. Harry and Draco simultaneously moved their hands close to the Time-Turner. The instant Harry and Draco placed their hands on the Time-Turner, they were gone.

 

* * *

 

Hermione was seated in front of the Headmaster’s desk, shifting uncomfortably in her chair. Explaining Harry and Draco’s whereabouts involved a tangled narrative.

“London?” Dumbledore wasn’t sure he’d heard correctly. “What would Harry and Draco be doing in London?”

Hermione made a timid squeak, and her hands flopped about in her lap. “They should have told you before… Ron and I should have told you, but Harry didn’t want any of the faculty to know about it, at least for a little while. He made Ron and I promise we wouldn’t tell anyone.” Hermione’s eyes darted up at Dumbledore, and she decided to plow through the worst of it right away. “Harry and Malfoy have been getting outside help in their Potions project.”

“From another student?”

“No,” Hermione’s answered, her voice an octave above normal. She forced her voice to lower back down to a normal pitch. “They’ve been getting help from an association of spirits—disembodied spirits from somewhere around Lebanon.”

Dumbledore interrupted. “In the Middle East?”

“Yes, that’s right, Professor Dumbledore. They lived their earthly existence a few thousand years before the Roman Empire. They’re actually quite savvy at Potions. At any rate, they helped Harry and Malfoy assemble all the ingredients for their Potions project, and they just sent Harry and Malfoy to London to find the potion recipe they’ll have to use. The errand in London actually requires a bit of time travel… four weeks into the past. Harry borrowed Professor McGonagall’s Time-Turner, just for today.”

Dumbledore’s eyes widened. “Time travel?” He heaved a long sigh. “So at this moment, Harry and Draco are in London, four weeks in the past, which would be the middle of August. And what method of transport did these spirits use?”

“Harry and Draco have been using a wooden board to communicate with these spirits. I don’t know what magical properties this board has, but you put a piece of parchment on it and write down your questions or requests. Harry’s already shown Ron how to use the communication board. I think Harry and Malfoy were transported when they held the Time-Turner down on the parchment. Harry told us he chose Ron and me as his emergency contacts, so if we need to, we can use this communication board to follow him to London. Do you think I should get the wooden board from Harry’s room and bring it here for you to look at?”

“No, no, don’t do that,” the Headmaster said. “There is no telling what dangerous properties a magical object such as that might have. Moving it might activate some unexpected charm. Just leave this object where it is.”

“Hermione”—Dumbledore rose from his desk now—“I must ask you to meet Professor Snape and me in Harry’s private room on the sixth floor one hour from now. I need to get Professor Snape’s recommendations before we proceed. Oh, Hermione, since Harry seems to have told Ron about using this communication device, bring Ron along with you when you meet with us.”

Hermione had gotten out of her seat. “We won’t be late, I promise. I just have to explain everything to Ron, but he’ll take all of this in stride. I know he’ll be nothing but sensible and helpful.”

 

* * *

 

Hermione and Ron had no classes until later in the morning and dropped into the Gryffindor common room for a nice quiet chat. It was fortunate that most students were either in classes or corridors, and nowhere near the Gryffindor common room.

“What?! Harry’s using the Time-Turner to go to London four weeks in the past… with that SNEAKY FERRET?!” Ron’s head looked like it was about to explode.

“Ron, calm down.”

“Calm down?” Ron was pacing furiously back and forth, from one end of the common room to the other. “You’re telling me that Malfoy is alone with Harry somewhere in London—four weeks in the past, no less—and there are no witnesses anywhere in sight to keep a watchful eye on that piece of scum? Who knows what nasty plot Malfoy might be cooking up? He might be getting ready to hand Harry over to You-Know-Who right now.”

“You know as well as I do that You-Know-Who has been threatening both of Malfoy’s parents. I believe Professor Dumbledore when he says that Malfoy has switched sides.”

“Well, I don’t. Who’s to say he isn’t trying to get in good with You-Know-Who. He’s a scheming ferret, and he might sell Harry down the river just the same as he’d sell his parents down the river.”

“Ron, stop pacing back and forth across the room like that. You’re like a lion in a cage.”

Ron ignored Hermione and continued pacing.

Hermione shook head. “You know, Malfoy does the exact same thing as you’re doing now.”

Ron stopped in his tracks. “What exact same thing?”

“Whenever he’s all agitated about something, he paces from one end of the room to the other, like a lion in a cage, just like you’re doing now. I’ve seen Malfoy do that loads of times.”

“That ferret and I have nothing in common,” Ron said, making sure not to pace back and forth.

“Ron”—Hermione’s patience was exhausted—“Harry and Malfoy are lovers.”

“They’re what?” Ron sputtered for a bit. This exciting new piece of information took him by surprise, but he recovered quickly. “So, Malfoy’s seduced Harry, making it all the easier to betray him and hand him over to You-Know-Who. It figures that Malfoy would sink that low.”

“Then why didn’t Malfoy object when Harry named us as his emergency contacts?”

“His what?”

“If Harry’s not back by this evening, we have the right to follow Harry to his destination to find him.”

Ron had a shrewd look on his face. “And how does that work?”

“Harry told me there’s this wooden board he uses to communicate with the Eastern Shore Network. He left it in his room, and his room is unlocked. He said he showed you how to use it once.”

“When we went to the Room of Requirement. Yeah, he showed me how to use it. So I just ask these spirits, and they’ll send me where they sent Harry and Malfoy?”

“Yes. The only restriction is that you can’t take any magical objects like wands or brooms with you. But this is for an emergency, Ron. There’s no emergency here.”

“No magical objects?” Ron was already heading toward the boys’ dormitory. “But I can get a knife from the kitchen or one of the greenhouses, can’t I?”

“A knife?! Ron, are you crazy?”

“I’ll show that bloody ferret an emergency,” Ron shouted, running up the stairs. “If he thinks he’s going to hurt Harry, I’ll tear him apart and bury the pieces in different locations.”

Hermione considered running upstairs after Ron and bursting into the boys’ dormitory, even though it really wasn’t good form for a girl to be up there for any reason. She didn’t have long to think about this, though, because Ron was now dashing back down the staircase, running past Hermione and out the door. Ron took advantage of the fact that he had his wand and Hermione didn’t, and cast a locking charm on the door of the common room. It was a simple matter for Hermione to run up to the girls’ dormitory, find her wand, run back downstairs and cast the countercharm to unlock the door. In doing so, however, she lost precious minutes. She now stood just outside the entrance of the common room and looked down the corridor, first in one direction, then in the other, but Ron was nowhere in sight. There was no telling whether he was headed to the Hogwarts kitchen, the greenhouses or Harry’s room on the sixth floor. There was no time to think. Not knowing what else to do, she ran in blind desperation toward the Hogwarts kitchen since it was closer than the greenhouses. This decision resulted in Hermione losing even more time since she had to go from the seventh floor to the basement, only to find out that no one had seen a trace of Ron—not students, not house-elves, no one. She had now given Ron the advantage of an enormous head start, and she arrived at Harry’s sixth-floor room out of breath to be greeted by Dean Thomas, who was standing just outside the open door of Harry’s room.

“Hermione, do you have any notion where Ron ran off to?”

“I was about to ask you the same thing, but why are you looking for him?”

“I was just up in the dorm room because I’d forgotten one of the books for my next class, and Ron comes running up into the dorm like the house is on fire. He started emptying out one of his drawers and stuffing money in his pocket. It looked like Muggle money. Then he runs over to me and asks to borrow my switchblade.”

“Switchblade?!” Hermione willed herself to calm down. “Isn’t that a Muggle knife that flips out of its case when you press a button?”

“Yeah. I’ve always had one because I think they’re ingenious. Very useful devices. Anyway, Ron asked to borrow it because he wanted to use it to test a charm for chopping Potions ingredients.”

“Listen, Dean”—Hermione was breathing more evenly now—“just go back downstairs. I’ll be able to find Ron with no problem. Ron and I will catch up with you later today.”

“You’re sure everything’s all right?”

“Absolutely,” Hermione lied, and she watched Dean walk away until he turned the corner of the corridor.

Hermione inched the door open and took her first cautious peek inside Harry’s room. She saw it at once on the writing desk: a rectangular board with a piece of parchment on top—and the parchment was glowing in a most peculiar fashion, a soft white light emanating from it. She crept slowly toward the writing desk, as if approaching a dangerous animal, and when she was standing a foot in front of the desk, she gasped at the words written on the parchment:

 

Most recent time/space traveler: Ron Weasley (Guest Account only)

Estimated duration of visit: 1 day

 

Hermione took a quill from Harry’s desk and gingerly wrote down her first question.

 

My name is Hermione Granger, and I would like to know if Ron Weasley has been transported to London, and also how you are even able to verify the identity of the person who is writing a request.

 

Half expecting nothing at all to happen, Hermione was startled by the promptness of the reply.

 

ESN Reply>> Miss Granger, how delightful to make your acquaintance. Harry named you and Mr. Weasley as his two emergency contacts, with guest privileges, and Mr. Weasley did indeed request to be transported to Harry and Mr. Malfoy’s destination in London. At Eastern Shore Network, we can identify the unique aura associated with any individual wizard or witch who is communicating with us. We simply send the molecular aura description to the international database, and the technicians who administer the database verify the person’s identity. When our spirit association was founded, several thousand years ago, the international database was in Egypt. The database has since changed locations, and the records are now kept in Geneva, Switzerland. Yes, we’ve verified your identity, Miss Granger, and you have the same guest privileges as Mr. Weasley. How can we assist you today? ★

 

I would like to be transported to the location in London where you sent Harry, Malfoy and Ron. I believe that will also send me four weeks into the past, is that correct?

 

ESN Reply>> We will send you to the destination in London, but please be advised that when you use a guest account, your privileges are more restricted than those of Harry and Mr. Malfoy. For example, you will not be able to access your current memories, only your memories as of four time units ago. That means that if you travel four time units into the past

 

The writing stalled momentarily.

 

Sorry for the delay. The translation for that time unit is “week.” If you travel four weeks into the past, you won’t remember anything that has happened during the past four weeks while you are visiting your destination. However, you’ll recall everything that happens to you in the past when you return to the present. And we’re afraid we must prohibit taking along any magical objects, such as wands or brooms. We will suggest a duration for your visit. Will one day, the same duration as Mr. Weasley’s visit, suit your purposes? ★

 

Hermione could scarcely believe she was negotiating this.

 

One day will be fine. What do I do?

 

ESN Reply>> If you place your hand on the parchment, you will be transported instantly. ★

 

Hermione searched in her pockets, reassuring herself that she had grabbed some Muggle money before she left the Gryffindor common room. Thanks to her Muggle upbringing, she even had the foresight to take a plastic banking card with her, in case she needed to use a Muggle automatic banking machine to get more money. Hermione reached her hand forward. The Eastern Shore spirits were true to their word, and Hermione vanished the moment her hand touched the parchment.

Shortly after Hermione’s departure, Dumbledore and Snape were making their way down the sixth-floor corridor toward Harry’s room.

“It is my experience, Albus,” Snape said, his voice dangerously low, “that some things are simply too strange to be fabricated. I have to conclude that Miss Granger’s story is so bizarre that she couldn’t possibly have made it up.”

Dumbledore and Snape were suspicious as soon as they saw the door to Harry’s room ajar rather than closed. When they spotted the wooden communication board on Harry’s writing desk, they were even more startled by the alternating color of the piece of parchment lying on top of it. The parchment was surrounded by flashing light, and the light alternated between neon green and neon red. As they approached the parchment, they saw the following message:

 

Most recent time/space traveler: Hermione Granger (Guest Account only)

Estimated duration of visit: 1 day

… … … … … … … … … … .

ALERT: Translation Error

Please contact our Help Desk

 

Dumbledore picked up the quill Hermione had used and submitted his concerns:

 

I have three questions. First, with whom am I communicating? Second, have Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy all been transported to London, four weeks into the past? And finally, what is the nature of the translation error to which you are alerting me?

 

ESN Reply>> You have contacted the Eastern Shore Network, Phoenician Network Subgroup. We’ve verified your molecular aura information through the international database. Albus Dumbledore, we presume? Yes, the four people you mention have all requested to be transported to London. The duration of Mr. Weasley’s and Miss Granger’s visits will be one day. Harry and Mr. Malfoy may stay as long as they need to; that is their decision to make. As we explained to Harry and Mr. Malfoy, we’re still updating our translations for time units. Our spirit association is thousands of years old, and our own language is Proto-Semitic. We receive queries and requests from wizards around the world, and we are truly doing our utmost to maintain accurate translations, but occasionally some errors fall through the cracks. We sent Harry and Mr. Malfoy to London during the time frame in which they would be able to find the potion recipe they’re looking for. That time frame is four time units in the past, but the correct translation for that time unit is not “week” but “century.” ★

 

Dumbledore and Snape exchanged horrified looks. Dumbledore felt compelled to verify the extent of the error.

 

Four hundred years in the past?

 

ESN Reply>> To be exact, four hundred years and four weeks in the past. We had already programmed their time-travel device for four weeks. When we saw the translation error, we just added the extra four hundred years. Their destination is London in the month of August—four hundred years ago, of course. ★

 

Dumbledore wrote down the first thought that occurred to him.

 

Will they know each other?

 

ESN Reply>> As we explained to all of them, only Harry and Mr. Malfoy will be genuine time travelers, and they will have access to their current memories; they will know everything about Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger from the present time frame, but nothing about them from the sixteenth century. Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger, who are using guest accounts, will be in the reverse situation. They will not be genuine time travelers like Harry and Mr. Malfoy, but will simply be experiencing an alternate life four hundred years ago. They will have access to their memories from their sixteenth-century existence, but they will know nothing of the present time frame. Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger may be acquainted with Harry and Mr. Malfoy four hundred years ago, but their relationships may or may not be the same. In their existences four hundred years ago, the four of them may have grown up under different circumstances. All four of your students will remember what happens to them in the sixteenth century upon their return to the twentieth century. We really thought we were providing your students with an accurate translation when we told them what their destination time frame would be. Oops. ★

 

“Oops?” Snape was quietly fuming. “The only thing these blundering spirits have to say is oops?! What kind of nutcases are we dealing with?”

Dumbledore tried to maintain a reasonable tone in his questions, but his irritation was beginning to show.

 

Are you actually telling me that four of my students have been transported to London in the year 1596?

 

ESN Reply>> We do our best, but we’re not perfect. We certainly apologize for any inconvenience. ★

 

* * *

 

The moment Draco touched the Time-Turner, he found himself in the middle of a street, although the term “street” was stretching the concept somewhat. There was no pavement of any kind. The “street” essentially consisted of mud. Draco, expecting to be transported to London, found nothing at all familiar—wizard, Muggle or otherwise. There were no Muggle automobiles, no artificial lights, no electrical apparatus, none of the modern Muggle architecture Draco was familiar with, nothing. The place looked positively… medieval. The muddy street had only horses and people, and the people were speaking English, but an archaic form of English. Fortunately for him, Draco’s parents had made sure that he was at least familiar with one Muggle author during his childhood—Shakespeare, the Bard. The Shakespearean English these people spoke was strange, but at least intelligible.

Draco saw that he was standing in front of a very grand looking town house. Someone grabbed him by the arm. “Master Draco Malfoy! The master of our house is waiting for you.” The man handed Draco a parchment, what looked like an invitation to a party. Somewhere near the top of the page, Draco saw the words “By the grace of God, Elizabeth R.”

Draco feebly pointed to the name. Feeling very disoriented, he asked the man next to him the only thing he could manage to think of. “Does this refer to Queen Elizabeth the Second?”

The man leading Draco to the entrance of the townhouse laughed. “There has ever been only one prince of this realm named Elizabeth, the daughter of Good King Hal.”

Draco’s singular thought was shit. The situation was looking worse and worse. The Eastern Shore loonies had indeed transported Draco to a location in London—sixteenth-century London. Draco was now inside the townhouse, although it was practically a palace. It would have put Malfoy Manor to shame. Draco noticed guards inside who were armed with spears. The man at his side was saying, “I am newly employed in this household, and I am to attend to you, Master Draco.”

“And who is the master of your house,” Draco asked.

“You should well know who it is. One of the richest and most powerful in England, though he be only sixteen years of age. Master Ronald Weasley.”

Draco’s eyes were on the armed guards all around him, and he considered the ghastly possibilities.

No, please, dear God, no, Draco thought. Weasley used his stupid “guest account” and followed us here. Will Weasley have me tortured to death?

Draco steeled himself for whatever horrible fate awaited him.

“Everyone is in such good spirits here,” the servant continued. “Master Ronald has promised to wed Hermione Granger. They will not wed until next year since they are but sixteen years of age, but their betrothal is still cause for celebration.”

Weasley’s getting married to Granger, Draco thought. Some things never change.

Draco now saw the servant beside him begin to smile and back away. Suddenly, Draco felt one strong arm wrapping around him from behind and a hand covering his eyes, and he felt a loving kiss on his left cheek, then on his right. Then he heard words whispered in his ear: “Welcome back, Draco. I’ve missed you bitterly. I remember all those times last year when I had you in bed with me. And I remember that cute little birthmark at the top of your left thigh.”

Wait. No one knew about that birthmark because it was so well hidden, at the very top of Draco’s inner thigh. There is no way anyone could have spotted it, even when he was showering in the Quidditch locker room. Draco was only in bed once with his erstwhile Ravenclaw girlfriend, and it was too dark for her to have seen it. Harry wouldn’t even have noticed the birthmark during their single sojourn in the forest near Hogwarts—the two of them were far too busy making epic love to each other. This was insane. Draco was in sixteenth-century London, the entire world had gone mad and the first person he ran across knew him very intimately.

The hand fell away from Draco’s eyes, and he looked down at the hard muscles of the two arms that encircled him. The boy behind Draco turned him around and planted the most affectionate kiss imaginable on Draco’s forehead. The eyes that stared straight at Draco were blue—the perfect light blue color of the sky when it’s sunlit and cloudless—and Draco froze, stunned beyond words, and faced the warm smile and loving eyes of Ron Weasley.