A Wrinkle In Time

Chapter One - The Mysterious Present

Harry Potter slammed into the hard ground and fell against his battered school trunk. His gangly sixteen-year-old frame faltered inelegantly as he struggled to find his balance. Shaking his head to recompose himself, Harry remembered why he hated traveling by Portkey. Just as he was about to regain his balance, he was knocked to the ground again by a blur with bushy brown hair.

"Harry!" exclaimed Hermione anxiously. She had just come barreling from the Burrow's front door. "It's so good to see you again! How have you been?" Her grip tightened around him as she spoke breathlessly into his chest. She continued to hug him, and Harry had difficulty getting enough air.

"It's good to see you too, Hermione, but I can't...seem to...breathe...properly..." replied Harry, between labored breaths.

"Oh...sorry." She jumped off Harry immediately and ducked her head away to hide a blush. Just as Harry was getting up, Ron appeared and clapped him into a manly hug that once again left him breathless.

"Good to see ya, mate!" said Ron, as he slapped Harry's back enthusiastically. "We were wondering when you'd show up. Looks like Dumbledore finally realized that you needed to come to your real home, eh?"

"Reckon so. It's good to be here, Ron. I don't know if I could stand another minute at the Dursleys'." Harry momentarily reflected on his relatives with bitterness, and then he shook the thought away and gestured to his belongings. "I could use a spot of help with these."

"Right," said Ron, and he grabbed one of the trunk's handles. "Did you hear about the Cannons' new roster this year?" The conversation focused on Quidditch as they proceeded into the Burrow, Hermione taking up the rear with Hedwig's cage.

*

The boys were enjoying a game of Exploding Snap in the living room. Ron was just about to lay down a card when the stack burst into flames, singing his eyebrows and blackening his face. "Bloody hell..." muttered Ron under his breath. "How come you never get burnt, Harry?"

Harry chuckled silently to himself and shook his head. "I'll let you get revenge on me with a game of chess later."

Mrs. Weasley's voice carried into the living room. "Harry! Ron! Go get cleaned up for dinner."

"All right," said Ron to Harry. "But don't expect any mercy." Then to his mother he said, "We're coming, Mum."

*

They were almost done with dinner when Harry noticed several things out of the ordinary. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were speaking to each other in hushed but urgent tones. Unfortunately, the regular dinner banter was keeping him from hearing what they were saying. He also realized that someone had never shown up for dinner, and it was very important that he talk with that someone about one of his birthday presents. He unconsciously felt his jeans pocket to find a now familiar lump there. Ever since Pigwidgeon had delivered the present yesterday, he had been mystified about why Ginny Weasley would send him a rock for his birthday. It was nice as far as rocks go, but the smooth green stone was stunningly ordinary to his mind. Had he done something to offend her? Now she seemed to be avoiding him, as he sat at the dinner table wondering what he could do to win her friendship back.

His fifth year had allowed him opportunity to increase his friendship with many people at Hogwarts. He had become especially close with certain members of the defense club that he and Hermione had started. Ginny seemed to be a good friend, especially after what happened to Mr. Weasley and what they went through together in the Department of Mysteries. Harry thought that things were going pretty well between himself and the youngest Weasley, as Hermione had even told him that Ginny had been over her crush on him for months.

"Harry, pass the rolls, mate." Ron's voice broke through Harry's thoughts, and as he passed the rolls, he finally caught some of Mr. and Mrs. Weasley's conversation.

"...didn't want anyone to know, dear." Harry noticed Mr. Weasley glancing at the others at the table through the corner of his eye as he said this. "If what she believes is true, she could have every Death Eater in the country following her. We can't tell anyone, especially Harry. At least not yet."

"I know, Arthur, but she's my baby, and I can't help but try to protect her." Mrs. Weasley could barely keep her voice steady, but she stopped speaking abruptly as Mr. Weasley caught her hand and nodded at Harry. They must have noticed that Harry wasn't eating, because they stopped their conversation.

Whatever Ginny was hiding, Harry needed to find out, especially if she was going to get in trouble over it. What in the name of Merlin could Ginny know that would cause Voldemort's followers to go after her? No matter what it was, Harry was sure that it had something to do with him, and he was going to get to the bottom of it.

*

After helping clear the table, Harry and Ron started a game of chess in the living room. Harry was losing spectacularly to Ron as he tried to get his mind off the elder Weasleys' conversation. Just as Ron was about to move his knight in for the kill, the front door burst open, and a soaking wet Ginny Weasley entered the room.

"Ginny dear, is that you?" called Mrs. Weasley from the kitchen.

"Yes, Mum, I'm home." Ginny glanced at Harry and nervously removed her sopping wet cloak and shoes. As she made her way to the entryway, Mrs. Weasley reached out a hand to stop Ginny from climbing the stairs. Then she used a spell to dry her off and enveloped her in a hug.

"We were getting a bit worried, dear. I hope whatever you were after was worth being out in the rain." Mrs. Weasley's eyebrows rose in question as she looked at her daughter. Ginny avoided her gaze and started up the stairs for her room.

Turning around, Ginny said, "I'll have to sort some of it out in this book first." She held up a large, dilapidated tome in explanation and resumed tramping upstairs.

Mrs. Weasley sighed heavily as she glanced at the boys, and then marched back into the kitchen to finish the dishes.

"What was that all about, Ron?" asked Harry, fixing his gaze upon his friend across the chessboard from him.

"I'm not quite sure, myself. Ginny has been acting a bit odd for a while now. I've caught her and Mum whispering to each other a bunch, and she always goes off somewhere just before supper." Ron started to clear off the chess pieces, which were busy congratulating each other on a fine game.

"When did this start?" asked Harry, intent on getting as much information as he could from Ron.

"About two weeks ago, I think. She doesn't fancy me marking her every move, you know."

"Well, I've got something I wanted to ask her anyway, so I'll try to find out for myself." Harry got up and started for the stairs, when Ron called out to him.

"Be careful, mate. She's been a bit on edge whenever anyone has asked her anything about it."

"Don't worry, Ron. I can take care of myself," Harry called over his shoulder.

Reaching the landing where Ginny's room was, Harry paused and considered how he was going to broach the subject with her. He wanted to find out how he had offended her enough to get a rock for a birthday gift, but he also wanted to know why Voldemort would be interested in her.

Steeling his resolve, Harry knocked on the partially opened door, which opened a bit more from the force of his knuckles.

"Come in, Harry," called Ginny from her bed.

As Harry entered, he realized that he had never been in her room before. It was neatly organized, with a narrow entryway that opened into a sparsely decorated, brightly lit area. A small closet was situated on the immediate right, with a simple bed in the far right corner and a beat up chest of drawers at its foot. In between the closet and bed stood a desk with a few stacks of parchment, quills, inkbottles, and books.

Focusing his eyes on Ginny, Harry asked, "How did you know it was me?"

Smiling up at him, she said simply, "No one else but you would knock."

"Oh." He made for the chair by the desk, but Ginny caught his attention and motioned for him to sit on the bed. Flushing a little at the thought of being on her bed, Harry hesitated but sat down anyway, making sure to sit as far from her as possible.

"Look, Ginny, I need to ask you something about my birthday present," he started, but she cut him off.

"I meant to tell you, Harry, but I didn't know much about it, either."

Harry furrowed his brow in confusion and tried to get some insight into her words by looking at her expression. "Well, I was wondering what I did to offend you."

Now Ginny's brow was furrowed, and she asked, "What do you mean? I'm not mad at you."

"Oh, well, you've never given me a present before, and while I'm grateful to get anything from you, it seemed a bit odd to get a rock. I mean it's a nice rock and everything, but I just thought that I must have made you angry, or you would have given me a card or something...." Harry was rambling, but he couldn't seem to get his thoughts in order. Ginny, however, was giggling and looking at him through scrunched-up eyes.

"Oh, Harry. I'm sorry if I didn't explain anything in my letter, but like I said, I didn't know anything about it then. In fact, I only just found confirmation in this book. See for yourself." She plopped the open book in his lap and pointed at one of the entries. It had a diagram of a stone that looked exactly like the one in his pocket. The entry was entitled "Wishing Stones."

Wishing stones are extremely rare magical objects that were created by the light wizard Merlin. No one knows how they were created, but history tells us that there were only twenty-four made before his death. Of the twenty-four, twenty were used by Merlin himself in his battles with two dark wizards. Three of the four remaining stones were destroyed to keep them out of the control of Grindelwald in 1942. The last stone is rumored to be lost and was last seen in the hilt of Godric Gryffindor's sword just before Godric's death.

The wishing stones were created to allow the holder a single wish, but could only be used to complete tasks that would otherwise be performed magically. They could not be used to kill, nor could they bring back anyone who had been killed. Upon the successful completion of a wish, the stone became unusable and disappeared.

Harry read through the entry twice before he looked up at Ginny, his eyes wide with wonder. Pulling the stone from his pocket, he asked her, "Is that what this is? A wishing stone?"

Ginny stared unblinkingly into his eyes and nodded twice, a small grin forming on her lips. "I'm pretty sure now, but I didn't want anyone else to know. With owl post being watched, I didn't want to say anything before you got here."

"But Ginny...." His eyes were still wide and searching. "Where did you find it, and why did you give it to me?"

Ginny's eyes fell to her hands, which were now twisting in her lap. Harry thought he detected a twinge of pink on her ears, but her head shot back up, and she pinned him with her eyes. All pretence of shyness was now gone from her face. "Harry, I have an idea, but you need to hear me out before you say anything. I need you to understand that this stone could change the course of the war if Voldemort got his hands on it."

"All right, but don't leave anything out." Harry felt uncomfortably warm and a little bit nervous about what she was about to tell him.

Ginny took the book from Harry's hands and placed it on the desk. Moving closer to him, she kept eye contact as she explained how she found the stone.

"Well, you remember the Chamber of Secrets, of course." Harry nodded. "After you destroyed the diary...." She stopped talking at this and looked as though she couldn't breathe, but quickly recaptured her composure and continued. "I noticed that there was this stone on the floor between you and the basilisk. I guess you didn't see it, because after you helped me up, you were focused on the entrance to the Chamber. It was the only thing on the floor besides the dead basilisk, so I grabbed it and followed you out.

"I kept it hidden in my sock drawer inside an old pair of socks, but I guess I forgot about it. I only found it again a week after we got back from Hogwarts, when I was running low on socks, and there it was.

"For some reason, I knew that I had to give it to you," Ginny continued. "Since I didn't know what it was, and since the whole situation was really strange, I decided to ask Mum for help figuring it out. She told me to ask Mr. Glazier, one of the other wizards in the village who collects rocks, if he had seen it before. He said he hadn't, but he let me look in his library to see if there was anything about it there. That's where I was tonight, and this book is his." She finished by pulling her legs underneath herself on the bed.

Harry was still confused. "So you find this stone in the Chamber of Secrets. Then you dig through loads of books to find what it is. Obviously, this is the wishing stone that was in Gryffindor's sword. It must have fallen out when I was fighting the basilisk." He said this last part almost to himself. "And you still want me to have it? You realize you could have all the money you wanted, or a new house, or...or you could be smarter than Hermione!" He grinned wickedly as he said this last bit.

"Harry, I don't want any of those things. Besides, I said I have an idea for what to do with the stone. Voldemort would kill to get a hold of this." She took the stone from Harry's hands and held it up between them. "We have to use it before he can. I think you should use it for something you really want. Something you've wanted your entire life."

"Wha--what's that?" Harry's face became ashen as he thought back to the Mirror of Erised. Seeing his parents was the thing he most wanted then. But what about now?

"Don't you want to see your parents and get to know them?" Ginny asked incredulously. "I know that you would really like to have Sirius or your parents back, but we can't have that. I thought that since we needed to use the stone to keep it out of Voldemort's hands, and since we can't use it to kill him outright, we might as well get something else from it, something almost as good as having your father and mother. It's your birthday present, Harry. I gave it to you, and you need to decide what to do with it." Ginny's eyes were shining with unshed tears as she finished quietly.

Harry was dumbstruck. How could she just give this to him? When he came into her room, he was trying to figure out what he had done to make her upset with him. Now he was wondering how she could sacrifice so much for him. How did Ginny know him so well? He knew hardly anything about her, but he knew that what he wanted most was to see his parents. Now he also wanted to somehow share this with Ginny.

With a serious and thoughtful expression, he asked, "What would you wish for, Gin?"

She considered him for a moment and then seemed to have an internal debate about something. At length, she let out her breath and said without wavering, "I want you to be happy."

For only the second time in his life, Harry felt like someone truly cared about his happiness. Not since Mrs. Weasley held him after the third task in fourth year had he felt this loved. He just couldn't get past feeling wholly inadequate and undeserving of such attention. But if Ginny wanted him to be happy, he had an idea of how it could happen. "All right. I'm going to see my parents, but I want you to come with me."

"Me?" she said, but it wasn't surprise displayed on her face. Instead, she looked happy. "Really? You mean it?"

"Of course. There isn't a proper way for me to repay you for giving me this, but I reckon I have to start somewhere." Harry got off the bed and began to turn for the door, when he stopped.

"We better get to sleep. Let's try it tomorrow, after we've worked out what exactly we're going to wish for." He turned back to face her, bent down impulsively, and kissed her on the cheek.

"Thanks, Gin. This is the best birthday present I've ever had." With that, he left a very shocked but happy Ginny Weasley to her thoughts and went upstairs to Ron's room.

Chapter Two - Making Plans and Finding Feelings

Harry woke up early the next morning in anticipation of making his wish. The sun was just lightening the sky in the east as he crept out of bed. He tried to stay quiet so he didn't wake Ron, but Ron wasn't in bed, either. Harry shrugged to himself and made his way downstairs.

As he descended the stairs, the smell of freshly baked muffins and cooking bacon assailed his nose. He breathed in deeply and then let out a contented sigh. His stomach responded with a loud growl, and he instinctively grabbed it with his hand.

"I'll assume that you're hungry, then?"

He looked up at the source of the feminine voice and noticed that it wasn't Mrs. Weasley at the stove, but Ginny. All thoughts of where Ron had got to left his mind. "Sorry," he muttered sheepishly. "I guess your cooking just brings out the worst in me."

She huffed and shot a withering glance in his direction. "Well, since you've never tasted my cooking, I don't see how you'd be one to judge." Her nose was slightly raised in the air, and a smile was barely visible through the feigned hurt on her face.

Harry popped a muffin into his mouth and devoured it quickly. "Seems okay to me. I guess I could force myself to eat it." He turned and made to get some plates from the cupboard. Before he could open the cupboard door, however, he was pelted in the head with a soft but heavy object.

"Hey! What was that for?" he shouted in mock pain. On the floor was an oven mitt with a bulge in the end. Harry picked it up and extracted a good-sized orange.

"Maybe next time you'll keep your comments to yourself, eh, Potter?" Ginny's eyes were twinkling as she set her hands on her hips, challenging him to fight back.

Massaging the back of his head, he calmly walked over to where she was standing by the sink. He placed the mitt and orange on the counter and looked directly in her eyes. Her eyes softened a little at this, and Harry almost lost his resolve. She was looking so intently back into his eyes that she didn't see his arm moving up from the sink.

In a blur, Harry launched a cup of water at Ginny's head, drenching the top half of her body. Ginny's face was frozen with shock, mouth agape, hands shaking as she wiped water from her eyes. "You. Will. Pay. Potter!" she ground out.

Harry may have been foolish enough to get Ginny worked up like this, but he wasn't stupid. As quickly as she got these words out of her mouth, he was sprinting out the back door into the garden. Much to his combined dismay and delight, he could hear her light footsteps behind him.

He made his way to an oak tree near the top of a low hill, still within the boundaries of the protective wards around the Weasleys' property. Slowing his pace to allow Ginny to catch up, he noticed that he didn't hear her footfalls anymore. Turning around, he couldn't see her at all, and his face fell with disappointment. Maybe he was too fast and she had given up. Just as he bent over to catch his breath, knowing he would have to return to face the wrath of Ginny Weasley, he heard an almighty screech behind him. The next thing he knew, he was tumbling down the hill with a pair of arms around his chest and something person-sized on his back.

As they rolled into a small hollow and stopped turning, Harry realized that he could barely make out the trees around them through his cracked glasses. As his head stopped spinning, he realized that Ginny was pummeling his chest with her fists and she was yelling at him.

"If you ever do that again, Harry Potter...." Harry started to laugh at this point and couldn't force himself to stop.

"What's this?" Ginny shouted. "Think it's funny, do you? Attacking an innocent girl and then running off into the woods!" Her face was twisted with a mixture of anger, shock, and a tiny bit of amusement.

Through his fits of laughter, Harry managed to get out a few words. "Oh, you were hardly innocent! Besides, the look on your face...priceless."

With a final punch to his ribs, Ginny sat on her backside heavily and folded her arms. Looking a bit mollified, she started in again. "I can't believe you threw water at me." She held up the still dripping ends of her hair as if to offer proof. "If any of my brothers had done that, they would be worse than dead."

Finally squelching his laughter, Harry propped himself up on his elbows and turned a serious face to her. "Well, I guess I'm lucky I'm not one of your brothers, then."

Looking equally serious, she looked at Harry and said, "Lucky for you. And me." This last bit was said in a barely audible whisper. The gravity of the moment lingered for a bit as they looked searchingly at each other.

"GINNY WEASLEY!" The booming voice of Ginny's mother made both of them jump, and the moment was extinguished. "WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?" Mrs. Weasley appeared in the doorway to the kitchen, her finger shaking in their direction.

They immediately got up and started jogging over to the house. "Damn," Ginny muttered to herself. More loudly, she said, "We weren't doing anything, Mum, I promise." Harry just then realized that he was still in his pajamas and that they were torn and stained with grass in several places from their tumble down the hill. Ginny's dressing gown was equally mussed, and anyone could easily jump to the wrong conclusions. Harry moaned inwardly at the thought of Mrs. Weasley's disappointment if she thought he was taking advantage of her daughter.

This thought jerked something inside him. Was he taking advantage of Ginny? Over the past year, they had certainly become friendlier with each other. The incident in the Department of Mysteries had formed a bond between them, as it had for everyone who had participated. There was something about putting your life in the hands of another that did that. So what was Ginny to him? A friend, certainly, but he felt different feelings for Ginny than he did for Hermione. Hermione was like a sister to him; Ginny was....

Mrs. Weasley's voice interrupted his thoughts as they arrived at the Burrow's back door. "What are you talking about?" she asked. "I wanted to know why you left the bacon on to burn." She pointed at the smoke now billowing out of the kitchen window.

"Damn," Ginny muttered again. "I'm sorry, Mum, I guess I got a bit distracted." She glanced sheepishly at Harry, who began to turn red.

"Next time, mind the bacon first, then the boys." Mrs. Weasley winked at Harry, and he felt his legs wobble beneath him. To Ginny, she continued, "And watch your language. A girl can't expect a boy as nice as Harry to keep calling on you if you carry on like that." If it were possible to bury himself under a rock at this moment, he would have found a way. Nothing was as mortifying as being teased about Ginny by her own mother. And as he made his way into the kitchen, he decided that he definitely didn't feel like Ginny's brother.

*

Just as they were sitting down for breakfast and Harry's flushed face was returning to normal, Ron and Hermione came downstairs with distracted expressions on their faces. Harry and Ginny glanced at each other and shared a knowing smile. Harry couldn't resist and said, "Have a good lie-in, you two?"

Hermione's eyebrows shot up at Harry, and she began to splutter incoherently as a flush crept up her neck. As amazing as an inarticulate Hermione was, it was nothing compared to a supremely self-satisfied Ron. He strutted to the table with a goofy grin on his face.

"So are you two finally together, then?" Ginny asked nonchalantly, as if asking the current price of flobberworm livers.

"Ever since last night," Ron proclaimed proudly. Hermione was still red-faced, but was sitting much closer than normal to Ron on the wooden bench.

"Well, it's about time. I wonder who won the bet?" Harry eyed Ginny again, and she took out a piece of parchment from her pocket. Harry could see that the parchment was blank and gave her a quizzical glance.

Ginny pretended to consult the parchment and said in a deadpan tone, "Not me. I wagered it would take them at least until Christmas this year."

"What are you on about?" Hermione went from shy to hawkish in the blink of an eye. "What bet? About Ron and me? Since when?"

"Well, since the beginning of school last year," explained Ginny. "It was Fred's idea, and everyone jumped on as soon as it was announced. We were betting on which day you would finally admit that you liked each other."

"How did you know? I mean, were we that obvious?"

Harry broke into their dialogue and said, "Between this git's jealousy and mood swings...." He gestured to Ron. "And the mooning and constant bickering, it was only a matter of time until you either killed each other or started snogging."

"Humph." Hermione crossed her arms and glanced between Ginny and Harry. "Well, it's still no excuse to break the rules and start a betting pool."

At this, all four began giggling and then finally started on their food.

After a few minutes of silent eating, Hermione asked, "Harry? What did you do to your glasses?"

He fidgeted in his seat for a second and looked down at his plate. "Nothing, I just fell down in the garden."

"Well, go and get Mrs. Weasley to fix them for you. You certainly can't see properly through those." Harry visibly relaxed and nodded meekly in response.

*

Ginny had read up on how to use the wishing stone. After breakfast, she told Harry, "We've got to be specific in how we wish for something. So if we want to see a vision of your parents, you have to say that clearly."

"I think we should do more than just see a vision of them, don't you think? I mean, what's the point of having an all-powerful wishing stone if we can't use it to its full potential?" Harry looked almost pleadingly at Ginny.

"You're right, of course, but what should we wish for?"

"We could wish for a Pensieve with all their memories in it. But there's no interaction with Pensieve memories." Harry held his head in his hands dejectedly. "What about time travel?"

"Hmmm. Isn't that dangerous? I mean, didn't Hermione have a Time-Turner in your third year? Weren't there all sorts of restrictions on it, like not being seen and all of that?" Ginny closed the book on magical stones and focused on Harry.

Harry lifted his head from his hands and blinked his eyes in thought. "Yeah, but the Time-Turner was for short turns back in time. It was a real risk to be seen by yourself, since it would cause all sorts of damage. I bet if you went back far enough, the danger would decrease."

"Well, we are going to see your parents, and they would pick up on certain similarities between you and your dad." Ginny chewed on her nails and narrowed her eyes in thought. "What other relatives do you have on your father's side?"

"None that I know of. I guess I've never really thought much about it. Professor Dumbledore said that I have to stay with a blood relative of my mother to keep the protection charm she invoked working. He never really mentioned anything about my father's family."

"Why don't you send an owl to Dumbledore and ask him? I bet you've got cousins or something out there."

"But how will finding out about long-lost cousins help us travel back in time?"

"Well, if you have a distant cousin somewhere, you could just claim that you were him and wanted to visit some of the other Potters in the world. That way, there wouldn't be any harm to interact with them."

Harry's eyes lit up as he contemplated what she was saying. "I'll get on that owl right now. You try to figure out the wording for the wish."

*

Just before lunch, a large and important-looking barn owl flew in the kitchen window and landed on Harry's shoulder. After Harry took the letter from its leg, the owl immediately took off and flew back out the window.

Harry unfolded the parchment and began reading, just as Ginny came over to see who it was from.

Harry,

Your father had many uncles and cousins, but I am afraid that they have not been heard from since your parents' wedding. There was one uncle of whom James was particularly fond. His name was Edward, but he was killed shortly after your parents died.

I believe that I can find a Potter family tree, if you would like to look at it when your return to Hogwarts this year.

As always, take care of yourself, and let me know if I can be of further assistance.

Albus Dumbledore

Headmaster

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Harry folded up the letter after Ginny was done reading it and let out a small sigh of frustration. "Well, that does us a lot of good. We can't really wait around until September with this stone just asking to be discovered."

"Don't worry," said Ginny. "It sounds like your father wasn't really close with his relatives. That means that we have a chance of concealing who we really are."

Harry got up from the kitchen table where he had been sitting and walked into the living room with an armful of food to pack for their trip. "I suppose you're right. I just don't want to mess things up for my parents. I've been thinking about this since last night, and we can't tell them that they're going to die. If Voldemort didn't die that night because of what we might let slip, who knows what destruction he could cause between then and now."

"Look, Harry. That's one of the reasons I agreed to go along with you. I know how much you want to see your parents, but I promise that I won't let you tell them anything that would be too revealing." Ginny sat on the couch next to Harry and put a hand on his knee. "I've got the wording for the wish worked out if you want to see it."

Squirming a little on the couch, Harry motioned to the parchment in her hands and said, "All right, let's see it, then."

After working through some of the details of the wish, they finished packing and went up to Ginny's room.

"All right, Harry, you take the stone in your hand and read the parchment. I'll hold your hand to make sure that we don't lose one another." Ginny fidgeted a little with her T-shirt as she said this and looked down at the bed on which they were sitting. "I've also written a note to Mum telling them what we're doing, just in case something happens."

"That sounds like a good idea. I don't want them to worry, but I know if we tell them before we go they'll forbid us from doing it."

Taking his hand, Ginny looked up to Harry's face and said, "Right then, let's get on with it."

Harry took the stone from his pocket and held onto it firmly. Looking down at the parchment on his lap, he let out a breath and began reading.

"I wish to spend one week, fifteen years in the past, with Ginny Weasley and to return to this time with her when the week is up."

The stone glowed a bright green that lit up Ginny's room, and then it disappeared. A fraction of a second later, Harry and Ginny also disappeared with a small pop.