A/N: See, I told you it'd be out soon. And it's super long and super explaining and super in-character. Maybe not super, but not nearly as bad as last chappie coughLisaRiddlecough. Teehee!
"I said, 'where are we?'" Hermione repeated.
"I know what you said, and how am I supposed to know?" I answered coolly, sticking the ring in my pocket for safekeeping.
Hermione looked around for a moment. "Well, I guess I do know where we are," she said matter-of-factly.
"Oh, yes, and where is that?"
"We're at Hogwarts."
She smiled sarcastically as I looked around. Dammit! We were at Hogwarts.
"And how exactly did we get to Hogwarts?" I asked, dying to see a puzzled expression from Ms. Know-It-All.
"I don't know."
"It's not like you can just Apparate into Hogwarts," I told her.
"You say that like I don't know it," she snapped.
"What the hell was the matter with that mirror you stole!"
"I didn't steal anything."
"Whatever."
Hermione opened her mouth to reply, but before words could come out, we heard voices drifting through the hall… and straight towards us.
"Duck," I said, pushing her into an empty classroom to our left. I closed the door to where I could just spy out through it.
"'Duck' wasn't even applicable there."
"Shut it!" I said, attempting to put my hand over her mouth and missing rather fatally, hitting my hand on the desk behind her and cursing.
"Now, I wrote an eight foot parchment on the theory. That's not too much, is it?" a young girl's voice rang out.
"No, I'll be more than delighted to read a paper where someone was actually fascinated by the subject," came a second, more familiar voice, followed by a familiar laugh.
Right then, two female figures walked past our hiding spot. One was a girl of about sixteen with long, blonde, curly hair, the second was…Hermione!
Hermione and I looked from each other, back out to the woman in the hallway and our mouths simultaneously dropped.
We could only see her for a second, but I took in everything I needed to in that second. The other Hermione had much shorter hair and walked with a clicking noise. High heels that my Hermione would never dare to wear. She seemed to be a…teacher.
I shut the door as quietly as possible and turned to Hermione. "Did you see…?"
She was taking deep breaths and kept mumbling, "Oh my, oh my, oh my…"
I sat on top of a desk, and folded my hands together, thinking.
After a couple of moments, Hermione hit me on the leg. "Ron!"
"What?" I asked, massaging the spot on my leg.
"Ron, do you know where we are?"
"No?"
"Ron, I think we may be…you know the time split and how there're two alternate universes? Ron, somehow that mirror, it…it showed us ourselves from the other universe…and now we're here!"
I sat still, baffled for a moment. "Well, that's a brilliant theory, Hermione, but there's nothing to prove it."
"Does the fact that I just walked through the hall and I'm sitting right here not help my case at all?"
I sighed, not apt to agree with anything she was saying at the moment. "I suppose it is a rather good theory."
"Well, you know what we need to do, right?"
"Click our heels and say, 'I wish I was in my universe'?"
Hermione looked at me oddly for a moment. "Pardon?"
I shrugged. "Harry said something like that once."
She shook her head in my direction. "We need to go see Dumbledore!"
"Dumbledore's not here. Remember, I told you, he pretended to die so he could do more undercover work for the Ministry."
"Ron, if we're in another dimension, there is no Voldemort, have you not forgotten! We killed him; this is a happy world, with no problems whatsoever. Dumbledore is still here." Hermione ran a hand through her hair. "This cannot be happening."
"I say you're jumping to awful large conclusions in an awful short amount of time."
"I've seen that reflection of myself in that mirror hundreds of times—and that was the reflection—walking past this room we're in now."
"Well, let's go then," I sighed.
"C'mon," she said, leading the way out of the room, me following close behind her.
We traced the familiar hallways of our youth to the stone gargoyle hiding the Headmaster's office from wondering eyes. I looked around, bemusedly.
"So, what's the brilliant plan, love?"
Hermione looked daggers at me. She thought it was cute when I called her 'love' when we were getting along; when we were fighting, she thought I was the devil himself, no matter what I called her.
"Well, we need the password," she replied as if I were slightly dense.
"Professor!" she suddenly screeched as an Asian looking man walked down the hall perpendicular to us.
The man stopped and gave Hermione a funny look and myself an even odder one. So, apparently, I wasn't a teacher in this world either; big surprise there.
"Yesssssssssssssssssss?" the small man replied.
"Professor, I've forgotten the password. Any chance you could remind me?" Hermione asked sweetly. I rolled my eyes; run away while you can, buddy.
"Sugar quill," the man whispered so we could barely hear him. With one last glance in my direction, he turned and walked away.
Hermione looked at me and grinned. "Sugar quill," she said, her gaze never leaving my face. The gargoyle hopped to life and sprang out of the way.
"Ladies first," I said, indicating Hermione should step onto the revolving staircase.
"Wow, the first civilized thing you've said all day," she retorted as we moved up towards the office.
When we reached the door, Hermione knocked and the doors swung open ominously. She and I walked in and found ourselves face to face with our former headmaster.
"Miss Granger, Mister Weasley, I've been waiting for some time now."
Hermione and I looked at each other and raised our eyebrows.
"Please, come, sit, sit. It has been awhile."
Hermione and I walked into the room and took two seats facing Professor Dumbledore, both awed at how quickly he recognized us. He flipped a piece of parchment over and turned to our faces.
"H-how did you know it was us?" I asked.
"Oh, I know a lot about what goes on over there—as I like to call it. By what means you arrived here is what I'm most interested in, though."
"Well, there was a mirror," Hermione began timidly.
Dumbledore nodded. "Thank Merlin the other one fell into good hands."
"Headmaster, let's cut to the chase, do you know why we're here?" I asked abruptly.
"Ah, yes, the chase," Dumbledore said, folding his long fingers together. "I believe the reason you are here is that you two are the ones who have arrived to finish it off, to complete the circle, remerge the worlds."
Wow, and I thought Spain was a big deal.
"I suppose the two of you know all about this, do you not?"
Hermione and I nodded.
"Well, of course, I don't know you two personally, I haven't since you were fifteen, but the Dumbledore you know is around. He's been busy, tracking things, keeping in contact with Mr. Potter and yourself, Mr. Weasley."
I nodded. "So, he has been waiting."
"For nearly two years," Dumbledore replied, a twinkle in his eye.
"How are we going to get back?" Hermione asked, concern etched in her face.
"That I do not know. I don't know how long it will take to find a way to get back, unless, by some miracle, you have the mirror with you."
I shook my head solemnly, but Hermione went on. "Professor, you may not know this, but Ron and I—we have a daughter."
Dumbledore nodded. "A five year old, Baker's a lovely name."
"Yes, but, we have to get back to take care of her, this is a life or death situation. Her life is in constant danger."
"I am aware, Miss Granger. As I am aware of your job, Mr. Weasley. I don't want to hold the two of you hostage here, believe me."
When he mentioned my job, I wondered what would happen when I got back to the right place. Would they send me on to Spain anyway? Would they find someone else? Did this Professor Dumbledore know about my mission; he certainly seemed to know about everything else in our lives. I found myself hoping against hope he wouldn't say anything about it in Hermione's presence.
"What about this whole 'saving the world' thing?" I questioned suddenly.
"I can't answer that; we can only understand it as time comes."
The three of us sat in silence for a moment, and I couldn't help but noticing Hermione twirling around a bracelet on her wrist that Baker had made her one day at Mum's.
Suddenly, I felt bad. I had no right to be mad at Hermione. She was concerned about me, and nervous about the future. Why should I yell at her when I should be reassuring her? Why couldn't I talk her through her doubts? More importantly, why couldn't I tell her about one of the most important things in our life together?
"Where are we going to stay?" Hermione asked suddenly, dragging me out of my reverie.
"I'll have you set up in teachers' quarters. Separately, I suppose." Dual nods.
Dumbeldore nodded, seeming to be staring straight through me. His forehead creased as he studied my face and I became nervous under his penetrating gaze. He turned to Hermione as I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. "Before I get someone to come and take you to your room, there's something else I must have you do. Someone you must meet."
Hermione and I looked at each other uncomfortably for a moment.
Without asking our opinion on the matter, Dumbledore pulled out his wand and cast a spell on his voice. Suddenly, we heard the scratching of a quill and gentle breathing through the tip of his wand.
"Professor Granger?"
"Yes?" came a reply using the exact same voice as the woman next to me.
"Would you mind coming up to my office for a moment?"
"Why, yes, Professor. I'm on my way right now." And indeed, we could hear shuffling as she stood up.
"Before you arrive, I must warn you; this could be a small shock."
Sounding curious, the voice responded, "All right. Be there in a moment. Finite Incantem," and the noise stopped.
"Well," Dumbledore continued cheerfully, putting down his wand, "before Miss Granger, pardon," he said, nodding towards Hermione, "before Professor Granger arrives, I must lay down a few ground rules."
We both nodded again, and curiosity suddenly pounded through my body. Whatever I wasn't supposed to know, I had to know.
"Do not ask Professor Granger anything about her life here; that is her own business. She is going to be shaken to see you, Mr. Weasley. Say nothing about it; she will not talk about it with you. Do not question her about anything personal that has happened here, dwelling on these things will not enrich either of your lives. Most importantly, do not tell her about anything that has happened in your lives in the other universe; it has nothing to do with her, and she will never have it. Understood? You have no daughter, you're not engaged, and you never quit being friends. If she asks, it's not her business."
A sudden knock on the door met our ears, and Dumbledore approached the door gravely. "This will be difficult," he muttered, as he turned the knob.
"Professor, you needed me?" came that all too familiar voice. Hermione suddenly breathed in deeply and grabbed my hand. Obviously she needed me more than she needed to be mad at me right now.
"What if I'm--" she whispered, but with a squeeze of my hand, she stopped abruptly.
Dumbledore continued to mumble to Professor Granger when we all heard a gasp. Hermione closed her eyes as if it was painful, and I could feel her shaking next to me.
Much sooner than we were ready, the short, bushy-haired professor came in the room, and it was obvious to both of us she had been crying.
She seemed not to be the least bit interested in herself from the other universe. Her eyes never left mine from the time she walked in.
"Ron…" she mumbled, tracing her finger over her lips. "Is it really you?" Her crying began again. "Can I--" Her voice caught, and she turned towards Dumbledore, who had followed her back in the room. "I'm sorry, Professor, not today, not right now. I need to go lie down. May I be excused?"
She didn't wait for an answer before tearing out of the room.
My Hermione stood up and pulled me up, wrapping her arms around me. "I don't want to be here," she mumbled.
"I know," I whispered, kissing the top of her head. It was really amazing how much we needed each other when it came down to it, through all the bickering and fighting, we really did love each other.
Now why the hell couldn't I have thought of that before we got into this situation!
There was another knock on the door and a familiar Asian professor stuck him head in the door.
"Professor, I have come to get the…visitors?"
"Yes, Miss Granger, Mister Weasley, I'm sure neither of you know Professor Mai? He teaches Muggle Studies now. He'll be showing you to your rooms. Professor, these are Aurors Granger and Weasley. They'll be staying in teacher chambers. Could you show them the way there?"
"Yes, yes," he said, grabbing Hermione's arm and pulling her away from me, down the stair as fast as he could. "Do you know you look just like--"
"Professor," I said, turning back to Dumbledore.
"I assure you, you are in no danger of losing Hermione to Mai," he said, grinning slightly.
"No, it's not that. It's about the Ron that lives here." Well, I suppose he lives here. "Am I—I mean, is he…is he--"
"No. That is all I can tell you on the matter, Auror Weasley. I am sorry."
"No, it's fine." I nodded, turned away and followed the sound of Mai and my fiancée down the stairs.
A/N: Awesome, I only wish you guys could read the stuff Cheese Riot suggests I add into it. She's so much funnier than me! Ah, it's probably too kinky for a PG-13 (or whatever the queer ratings are now) anyway. Lol!
Hey, only nine reviews! I can do nine review responses!
Pinky the Snowman: Yey! I'm soooooooo super glad you like it:) Laurie! As for Harry/Ginny and the Big Secret, I suppose you will have to wait patiently, or not!
Alenor: Yes, Ron and Hermione are very immature, bad them!
Laury Weasley: Don't faint! And definitely don't die. I will continue!
Dancerrdw: glad you liked it!
Lisa Riddle: Oh, honey, you are so wonderfully honest. I hated last chapter, I plan to get back to it and rewrite it eventually. I just had to do something, you know? I didn't realize there were that many spelling mistakes, but I will check back. And I love criticism, I live for it!
Cheese Riot: Aw, hell, haven't I already written you something?
Alanpatty07: Ohmigah, you get the predictor of the millennium award, good job, you figured me out! You rock! But, now comes the question, DID they live happily ever after!
Lucid-03-days: You're a chapter behind, doll! lol, such a cool word!
LJ fan: Oh, thanks for your kind words, about my story and everything. I plan to at least somewhat explain Hermione psychosis next chapter!
Best Deception: I sure did fix it! Thanks! Read comment above yours!