Harry Potter and the First Ones

Sheridan in Trouble

Professor Albus Dumbledore sat in his office, doing paperwork. It was his least favorite part of being Headmaster, and he leaned back in his chair, took off his half-moon spectacles, and rubbed his eyes. When he replaced his glasses, he saw a wizened figure in a far corner of the room. Dumbledore stared, taking in the ancient, lined face; the sparkling eyes; and the voluminous robes.

"Lorien?" Dumbledore asked in amazement. "Is that you? It's been a long time."

"Longer than you know," the stranger stated. "I have come to ask you a favor." Lorien stepped aside to reveal an unconscious man wearing a dark blue uniform.

***

Harry and Ginny sat in the Gryffindor Common Room, playing wizard chess. It had been about three weeks since their adventure on the Babylon 5 space station, which had actually taken place nearly 300 years in the future. Harry was still puzzling over Dumbledore's first assignment in their private lessons.

At the moment, Ron and Hermione were at a prefects' meeting, and Harry had done as much homework as he wanted to for the evening. Suddenly, Harry looked across the room and noticed Dean and Seamus in a far corner, talking.

"Er, Ginny, don't take this the wrong way, but shouldn't you be spending your free time with Dean?"

Ginny looked over her shoulder briefly, following Harry's gaze. Then she turned back to him with a half-smile.

"What? Can't I have any other friends?" she asked archly.

"Of course you can," he said evenly. He decided it was wisest not to say any more.

"Well, to tell you the truth, Dean and I broke up. He didn't buy Dumbledore's story about why I was gone last month. If I told him the truth, he'd just think I was making up some elaborate ruse to get away from him or something, so what else could I do?"

"Ginny, I'm sorry." He was, too, for her at least. For himself, however, he was rather glad. Even though he was not yet sure whether he would actually pursue her, it was nice to have her free for him to have that decision. Before he could say anything more, a translucent figure appeared between them. It was Delenn, kneeling beside the table they were using.

"Please, you must come," she pleaded with them. "John has gone to Z'Ha'Dum. It was foretold that he would die if he went there! Please."

"What's Z'Ha'Dum?" Harry asked. But Delenn was gone. Harry looked around quickly, but no one else seemed to have noticed anything.

"Well, that was...odd," Ginny commented. She peeked in her sack and carefully pulled out the device she'd received from Draal after their visit to Babylon 5. "It's not blinking."

"Yet," Harry responded. He checked his watch. "The prefect meeting should be done soon. Maybe we should swing by and get Ron and Hermione, then go see Dumbledore."

Harry and Ginny practically ran all the way down to the second floor room where the prefects typically met. They found that the meeting was already over. Some of the prefects were still milling about, but Ron and Hermione had left.

"Great," said Harry. "There are a dozen ways back to the tower. Should we just go back and wait for them?"

"Oh, I doubt they were in much of a hurry to return to the Common Room," Ginny answered with a sly smile. "Follow me." She led the way down the corridor and around a turn, where she stopped in front of a tapestry. Somewhat dramatically, she pulled it aside to reveal Harry's best friends, snogging rather enthusiastically. They broke off as the lamplight hit them, Ron turning bright red as he saw the source of the interruption.

Ron and Hermione's relationship had been progressing quite well over the last few weeks. Harry tried to suppress the jealousy he felt at what the two of them were able to share. They had done their best to be considerate of him, so he really couldn't complain. They spent perhaps a little more time in the "library" than before, but they still tried to spend adequate time with him and were generally careful not to be too demonstrative in front of him. Harry was honestly glad that they were happy. He just had moments of self-pity when he wished that he could be similarly occupied. Harry glanced over at Ginny's amused smirk and decided that he definitely did not want to know how she'd guessed the location of the couple.

"Terribly sorry," Harry said sincerely. "But something's come up. We need to go see Dumbledore."

The four hurried to Dumbledore's office, Harry and Ginny trying to give breathless explanations as they went. When Dumbledore's voice permitted them to enter, they practically tumbled inside. Once there, though, they simply stood there, uncertain how to begin.

"I was just about to send for you," Dumbledore informed them curiously. "How did you know?"

"Er, well, we've had a sort of visit," Harry responded.

"Delenn, from the Babylon 5 station in the future, appeared to us," Ginny added.

"Ah, well, as you can see, I've had a bit of a visitation myself," the headmaster replied, gesturing toward the corner behind and to the left of his guests. The four turned as one and gasped when they saw a familiar uniform.

"Captain Sheridan!" Hermione exclaimed, rushing to his side.

"Don't try to touch him," Dumbledore warned. "He is here, and yet he is not. My old friend Lorien asked me to watch over him for a while, until he decides where to be."

"He's alive then?" Ron asked nervously.

"Again, yes and no. He hovers in the immeasurable moment between life and death, trying to determine which way to jump."

"He might die?" Ginny asked in alarm. "But he can't! They need him there!"

"That is not entirely accurate," Dumbledore disagreed gently. "He has already put events into motion. If he dies, someone else will take his place."

"Delenn seemed to be summoning us," Harry finally rejoined the conversation. "Have you spoken to Draal?"

"I contacted him right after Lorien left. I expect that he will call for you soon. In the meantime, I suggest you pack a few items and arrange for your absence. From what Draal said, you will need to remain in his time for several months."

Months? There was a long pause as everyone digested that.

"How long will we be missing here?" Hermione asked.

"About three weeks."

"We have to miss the Halloween feast, then?" Ron said wistfully. Hermione rounded on him.

"How can you think about your stomach at a time like this?"

"I'll just miss it, that's all," Ron retorted defensively.

"I suppose I'd better cancel Quidditch practice for a while," Harry added. "Good thing we just had our first match. The team wouldn't be able to do much with just two chasers and two beaters."

"I've already prepared excuses for you all, to be distributed when you...disappear, as it were," Dumbledore informed them.

"We're going to miss an awful lot of schoolwork," Hermione fretted.

"What are you worried about?" Ginny said tartly. "You've probably got the books all read anyway."

"Yes, I recommend that you bring your schoolbooks with you," Dumbledore acknowledged. "You may find yourself with some 'down time.'"

There seemed to be nothing more to say, so Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione left Dumbledore's office and left to make their preparations.

For the next two days, the four friends went about their business edgily, carrying some basic necessities with them at all times and peering frequently at their temporal devices. Dobby helped them put together some food packages that would last. Harry made sure to keep his invisibility cloak packed. It wouldn't cover all of them, unless they were crouched down quite low, but he thought it might come in handy nonetheless.

At last, the summons came, one evening at dinner. Hermione was putting back a book she'd been perusing during the meal and gasped. She cast significant looks at the others. As arranged, they quickly went to the corridor and found a deserted corner. Harry waited until the other three had pulled their devices out of their bags. Then he reached into his own bag, and when his fingers touched the cold, unfamiliar metal, he felt a sensation of vertigo as Hogwarts dissolved around him.

It was replaced by the ancient workings of the Heart of Epsilon III. The Draal-avatar and Zathras stood waiting for them.

"Excellent. You're here," Draal boomed without introduction. "We must hurry. Sheridan is just about to leave for Z'Ha'Dum." The four teenagers exchanged confused glances.

"I'm sorry," Harry said politely. "I thought he'd already gone. That's what Delenn said."

Now it was Draal's turn to appear confused.

"Delenn? But she won't even know he's gone for a few hours!"

"An image of Delenn came to us," Ginny tried to explain. "We assumed you had helped her send the projection." Draal's eyes took on an unfocused look as he apparently concentrated on something internal.

"Ah, I see," he said at last. "That hasn't happened yet. When she comes to me for help, I will be sure to send her image to a point before you left. Come, come! No time to lose."

Draal then led the way to another part of the planet's interior.

"What is Z'Ha'Dum?" Ron asked.

"The home world of the Shadows."

"What!?!" Hermione practically screeched, coming to a halt. "You're sending us THERE?"

"It's where you're needed," Draal answered mildly. "The ship you'll be taking doesn't have jump capability, and we want to escape the station's notice, so you'll need to sort of tag along with Sheridan's Whitestar when it goes through the gate. Zathras will be your pilot."

The odd, hunched creature had been muttering to himself through this entire conversation but did not seem inclined to say anything aloud. At length, they reached a docking bay containing a large, blocky, rectangular object that looked half rusted.

"That's our ship?" Harry commented doubtfully.

"There are advantages to its looking that way," Draal assured him. "Don't worry; it will take you where you need to go."

"Well, no time like the present," said Ginny brightly. Then she grinned ruefully. "Or the future, as it happens."

"Er, do you have any instructions for us?" Hermione asked then, biting her lip nervously.

"Not really. You'll know what is needed when the time comes. There is one thing, though." Draal turned to Ron. "You will need to host Kosh again for a while. Not immediately, but before you leave. Is that all right?"

"I suppose," Ron responded. "It won't cause the same problem as last time, will it?"

"Oh, no. This should cause you no discomfort whatsoever."

Ron nodded his understanding. Then they all boarded, and Zathras took the controls. Ron and Hermione strapped themselves onto a padded bench running along the wall of the ship, and Harry and Ginny did the same on another bench across from them.

"Will take several hours," Zathras informed them all. "Make comfortable." Then he carefully piloted the ship out of the planet and into the shadow of Babylon 5. From what the others could tell, he stayed under Captain Sheridan's ship after it left the station and continued to hold that position as they went through the activated jumpgate.