Time Of Terror

Draco awoke with a throbbing pain in his skull and tenderness in his neck. He also awoke at the top of the stone, carpeted stairs, leaning precariously over the edge. Surprised, for the first time in a long time, he scrambled back furiously. He could hear his heart beating irregularly and felt his hair fly all over, but for the moment, he didn’t care.

“Draco could have landed in the hospital wing.” He muttered, converting to third person speech, as always when he was upset or scared. As always, it didn’t happen too often.

“Draco could have landed in the hospital wing? Is that what you said, dear?” A silky voice behind him made Draco turn so quickly he became dizzy, and made him see little spots in front of his eyes. He swore as soon as he saw who it was, relieved. “Draco doesn’t sound too healthy right now. Maybe Draco should go take a nap, or better yet, a nice long bath.”

“What do you want?”

“Come on Draco, dear, you know what I want. I want you to settle down and stop with the fainting at the top of the stairs. Its quite dramatic, and so unlike you.”

“Oh no, I’m actually suffering from schizophrenia and delusions that I’m not actually myself, that I’m one of the aliens living in the suits of armor. With this delusion, I tried to fit into the suit of armor’s helmet, but fell backward and landed here. Thank you for your concern of my well-being.”

“Whatever you say dear.” The silky, seductive voice, along with the person speaking, seemed to fade away as Draco closed his eyes, exhaling so the silvery hair in front of his eyes fluttered. “Whatever you say. Oh, and by the way. Great trick, she’s gone and so are the problems. You’re going to be fine.” 

Draco stood, feeling groggy and frustrated, rubbing his hands over his eyes and walking backwards. Finally, he turned back around and headed towards the Great Hall, his steps echoing throughout the stairwell.

~

Charlie laughed, “And then, we found out that he had schizophrenia, so he wasn’t talking to dragons after all, he was talking to himself!”

The entire Weasley clan seemed to erupt with laughter as Ginny entered the hospital room once again. “Hey…” She gave hugs and kisses to everyone, ending up with Ron. She sat down next to him, crossed her legs, and put her head in her hands. “What did I miss?”

“Oh not much, Charlie was just entertaining us with stories from Romania.” Bill smiled, running a hand through his free flowing hair.

“And I was just about to leave.” Percy stood, much to the groans of no one but his mother.

“Oh, Percy. Do you really have to go?” Mrs. Weasley stood up and gave her son a hug. She patted his back as he sighed heavily.

“Yes Mother. I’m afraid that now Ron is ok, there is no need for me to put off my work at the Ministry.” Percy gave his father a hug, said good-bye to everyone else, and left the room. Instantly Fred gave a chuckle.

“I wonder if he’s really going to the Ministry?”

“Fred! What are you implying?” George looked appalled, even managing to hold back the smirk that everyone knew was going to appear on his face.

“I dunno. It was just a thought.” Ginny smiled at this remark, her brothers were definitely happy with life, especially now that their business was thriving and Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes was a household name. Suddenly, among the success of her family, Ginny felt inferior. Every one of her siblings had done something great. Fred and George: They had started a joke shop. Charlie: He was famous for his work with dragons. Bill was almost head of the security at Gringotts. Percy was rising quickly in the Ministry, and even Ron was continually saving the world.

The most life-altering incident Ginny had ever done was killing a bunch of chickens and writing in red paint on the walls of Hogwarts. Even then she wasn’t doing it; someone else was making her.

But all that was about to change…

~

Hermione was getting sunburn. Ever since taking off her cloak and long sleeved jacket, the hot sun began to beat down on her. She could feel the warmth in her cheeks too, the unpleasant sensation of pain as she pressed her hands against them.

Ciro, however, looked like nothing could touch him. His face was still lightly bronzed, his tall, lean figure rippling with muscles under the loose, white tee shirt. Even though he wasn’t extremely burly, it was still enough to make a woman drool.

“So…” Ciro continued. “Do you have a boyfriend, or something, back home?”

“No…” Hermione admitted. “Do you have a girlfriend, or something, back home?”

“No.”

“Ironic. Two single people from absolutely different time periods stuck together in the middle of a secluded clearing of forest. What to do?” Hermione laughed.

“We’re not stuck… I assume Hogsmeade is still just down the road?”

“I wouldn’t know. Maybe whatever got Hogwarts, got the village?”

“Might as well find out.” Ciro began walking, taking long strides toward the old path that lead to the town. Hermione quickly gathered herself up and started to follow him.

The Forbidden Forest loomed around them, not changing in however long they had traveled to the future. The couple could hear sounds of animals, non-animals and magical beings bellowing into the darkness. Dark leaves, like a black oval diamonds, glittered with recent rainwater. The bark of the trees was even sinister, scratched away by something to make long jagged lines, creating patterns that looked like demons’ faces… or worse. Hermione had seen too many bad things in this forest to not at least get a little spooked.

“Ciro?” She mumbled. “Can we go a little faster? I’m getting a bit… jumpy.” There was no reply, and then she heard a grunt from behind her. Hermione turned, and screamed.