Time Of Terror

Hermione felt Seamus stop rolling down beside her on the bottom of the stairwell. She started to get up, but suddenly felt the magical sensation of being brought back through time… or was it forward?

“Oh no.”

Swirling colors about her showed that Hogwarts was quickly moving some way in time. Students rushed past in almost light speed, yet seemed to move slowly. With the motion, Hermione was starting to get dizzy. So dizzy in fact, she fainted.

~

Seamus gaped for the longest time at where Hermione must have fallen. Then, with slow-motion movement, he turned back to look up at Draco.

“What happened to her?” He stuttered, staring at the former with utter amazement. “What happened?”

Draco, for his part, looked completely unsurprised. “She got what was coming to her.” Suddenly, his eyes rolled in the back of his head, and he fell forward right before the first step. Seamus looked up, expecting to see Neville or even one of the older students. However, it was Harry. Harry Potter.

~

Hermione woke with a migraine that made her hand feel like it only had a scratch. Her hand made her foot feel like it had only a paper cut. In short, Hermione felt like shit. Lifting her head without opening her eyes, she pushed herself in a sitting position and opened her eyes.

What she saw amazed her.

The castle interior she had been expecting was totally blown away. She was lying on a small bit of remaining stone floor amid a chaotic mess. The hall seemed to be blown apart! It reminded Hermione much of the ancient Mayan Ruins she had seen in her travels, crumbling and a sore sight to see.

“Surprising, isn’t it?” a voice behind her spoke. It sounded sad, regretful, and lonely. Slowly, as not to cause pain, Hermione turned around to see who had spoken.

It was…Draco?

“What are you doing here?” She asked. He looked just a bit older, sadder, and more pleasant. He was very handsome, just as Hermione had always he would look in about his mid-twenties. His face wasn’t lined with stress-wrinkles, his eyes were just as bright, and his teeth were pearl-white. His pale blonde hair was cut short; it was actually a buzz cut, army style.

“The same reason you are: to find out the truth. Right…?” Hermione looked at him again. This wasn’t Draco! His face was rounder, less pointy, and his eyes were brown. How she didn’t realize it before was beyond her, but maybe it was the concussion.

“Hermione. Hermione Granger.”

“I’m Ciro Malfoy. I’m surprised you don’t know me… when are you from?” The non-Draco asked. Hermione was surprised for a moment when he said when and not where.

“1999, last time I checked. You?”

“Ah, that’s it. I wasn’t born yet. Heheh,” the way Ciro laughed made Hermione uncomfortable, it wasn’t the same haughty laugh that Draco had... He seemed, so familiar, yet so different. “I’m twenty-five, and I’m from 2026. That would explain why you haven’t heard of me. See, then I’m a big star. I sing.” For some reason, Hermione felt a big shock of disappointment. She couldn’t quite place it.

“Where are we now… I mean, where in time are we now?” Ciro pulled a time turner out from under his loose, white shirt. He dangled it out in front of her until she pulled out hers from under her gray suit. It was almost like revealing her deepest secret, but Hermione imagined that Ciro already knew.

“I really have no idea. I imagine sometime in the future, Hogwarts is still in existence in 2026.” That settled it. She was sitting in the ruins of the famous school of Witchcraft and Wizardry.