Journey of Time
Breea
DISCLAIMER: All Harry Potter characters are property of J.K. Rowling, plot based off her books and also Timeline by Michael Crichton. And you never know when a quote from Buffy the Vampire Slayer might jump in.
Ginny giggled before taking another sip of her pumpkin juice. She rolled her eyes to Hermione who was busy suppressing her own giggles. The two girls exchanged looks and simultaneously broke out into a new fit of laughter.
"Would you two stuff it?" Ron complained angrily. He was sitting two chairs down from Hermione at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall. Harry was across from him.
"As soon as you two grow up," Ginny reached over and poked her brother's arm.
Ron and Harry had taken to heavy competition with each other in their final year. Wizard's Chess every evening in the common room, Quidditch practice every weekend for hours. And staring contests. Every meal started or ended with a staring contest. So far, Harry was ahead.
They always started out funny. Ginny and Hermione would roll their eyes and laugh for the first few minutes. But Ron and Harry could be at it for longer than it was funny. The longest record so far was 30 full minutes before Ron had finally blinked. He still swore to this day it was because a bug flew into his eye.
Neither boy responded to Ginny's comment. She shrugged and turned back to Hermione who was shaking her head, slightly irritated. Ginny was opening her mouth to ask her a question when an obnoxiously loud, familiar voice interrupted her thoughts.
"Personally, I don't know how you can stand to look at that face so long. I think I'd rather be blind," Draco Malfoy approached the Gryffindor table from behind Ginny and Harry. He was flanked, still as usual, by Crabbe and Goyle.
Ginny knew that once Malfoy, or any other Slytherin interrupted a game, it was declared a draw. Ron broke the stare and looked over Harry's shoulder at Malfoy.
"Which one of them are you talking to?" Crabbe asked in his slow, stupid speech.
Malfoy shrugged, glaring back at Ron coolly. "Either one, the specky git or the poorhouse weasel. They're both pretty hard on the eyes," He sneered.
Ron stood up from the bench, his face going from red to maroon. From his look, Ginny figured he was about ready to deck Malfoy. To avoid the round of detentions and lost points that would surely follow a physical confrontation, Ginny jumped up and spun around to face Malfoy and his goons.
"You're one to talk, Malfoy, have you looked in the mirror lately?" She retorted hotly, causing Malfoy to turn his attention from her brother to her.
"Yes, I have, and I don't see a thing wrong," His tone was neutral but his eyes gave away a flash of anger. He looked her up and down and gave a snort of amusement. "Not like you're a prize, Weasley," He added.
Ginny could feel her face getting warm. "Shove off, Malfoy. You're opinions mean nothing here," She hissed.
Malfoy took a step toward her. "Maybe I don't want to leave," He challenged, glaring at her threatenly.
"Stay away from my sister," Ron growled. Out of the corner of Ginny's eye she could see him struggling against Hermione's restraining arm.
"What is the meaning of this?" McGonagall's sharp voice stopped them all dead in their tracks.
Ginny got one last glare in toward Malfoy before dropping back in her seat. "Nothing, Professor." She mumbled.
Ron and Hermione sat down as well, saying nothing. Ginny looked up to see McGonagall's piercing eyes were on Malfoy. She didn't have to turn around to picture his smirking, confident expression.
"Just a civilized discussion, nothing more." She heard him say. "This isn't over, Weasley," He added quietly.
Ginny turned but he was already walking toward the Slytherin table, Crabbe and Goyle not far behind. She wasn't sure if he had meant her or her brother. She supposed it didn't matter, Malfoy was all talk anyway.
"Start again?" Ron was looking to Harry, the fight so routine it was already out of his head.
"You're on," Harry grinned.
Hermione rolled her eyes and groaned loudly. She looked to Ginny, "Not again!" She complained loudly. The girls sat back and waited, not having a choice.
* * * *
It was dark. Pitch black. She stuck her hand in front of her face but she couldn't' see it. For some reason, this didn't bother her. She thought she would at least feel uneasy about being in such a strange environment, but she was surprisingly calm.
She reached her hands out, feeling for a wall or a doorway or anything familiar. Turning slowly, she saw a crack of light on the ground a few feet away.
Running over, her footsteps making no noise, she fell to her knees beside it. It appeared as a crack of light would if coming from under a door. But the light only penetrated a few inches. She still couldn't see her hand.
She put her head on the ground, trying to see under the 'door.' She could see only light. When she was about to give up, the light began to fade.
She could now see. It was a room made of stone. It seemed to be in a castle, yet she had never seen it at Hogwarts before. Two pairs of feet passed into her line of vision. She could hear faint voices. She heard a distinctly female voice but the words seemed jumbled or in a language she didn't know.
The voices began to fade so she leaned closer, hoping to catch a familiar word. The door opened, surprising her. She fell backward and looked up to see the silhouette of a woman with long curly hair. She could make out anymore because the light coming from the room behind the woman was so blinding. She reached a hand to shield her eyes when the floor shifted beneath her. Suddenly, she was falling, the woman fading fast.
She fell for what felt like an eternity. She was beginning to wonder if she would ever stop when, just as suddenly as it started, it stopped.
She glanced around and saw she was in a ring of stones on an otherwise grassy hill. In the distance, to the east according to the sun, was Hogwarts Castle, backed by a serene blue sky.
She was about to stand up when a crashing sound in the nearby trees stopped her movement. She focused on the spot, wondering what sort of animal was making all that racket.
Her jaw dropped when a person appeared, running toward her at full tilt. She tried to blink when she saw who it was but her eyes were frozen wide with shock.
Draco Malfoy was running at her. In his hand, he held a very long, very sharp looking sword. The look in his eyes sent chills down her spine.
She tried to cry out, to tell him to stop. But she found herself mute with fear and shock. She saw the beginning of Draco's back swing then the glint of metal as he arched toward her head.
At the last minute she threw up her arms and closed her eyes, waiting for the blow. It never came.
* * * *
Ginny opened her eyes and sat straight up. She glanced around, disoriented. She shook her head and smoothed her hair back with her hands. IT was just a dream.
Wild dream, she thought to herself wryly. But it left her unsettled and the events would not leave her mind. The oddest part was that, even now, awake, the dream had felt real. She had never experienced such a jumbled, improbably collection of thoughts that seemed as if they actually happened.
Or were going to happen, a voice in the recesses of her mind added. Ginny frowned at the thought but dismissed it.
Sighing quietly, she climbed out of bed, threw a button up cardigan over her nightgown, and tip toed from the dorm room. She knew there was no way she'd be sleeping again anytime soon after that dream. She thought she might try to coerce the house elves into giving her a late night snack. If she didn't get caught in the halls, that is.
She was half way across the common room when something caught her eye. There seemed to be a solitary book on the table by the ever-burning fire. This was odd, because after everyone went to bed, the common room was supposed to be cleared. McGonagall would have a fit if she walked in the next morning and saw some one had disobeyed that rule.
Imagining the points she was saving for Gryffindor, Ginny made her way over to the book, checking first to make sure no one else was up. As she got closer she saw the book was not alone but had some sort of card resting on it. She stared down at the book and the card in front of her, but made not motion to pick either up.
The card was old and faded, but nowhere near as old as the book. The card had strange markings on it, one being of a triangle with an eye in it. Ginny recognized this from on of her divination lessons. Professor Trelawney's voice rang in the back of her mind: "Some Muggles claim to be fortune tellers and that they can see the future. They use what are known as Tarot cards to tell people what is in their past, present or future. In honesty, the cards have no such power for Muggles, but for one with 'the gift,' Tarot cards can reveal much,"
This card looked like a very old version of the Tart cards Professor Trelawney held up. This struck Ginny funny, however, because Tarot cards come in packs, not individually. Why would anyone want a single Tarot card?
Ginny reached a hesitant hand out toward the book and card. She watched her hand get closer and closer, as if in slow motion. Finally, she rested her fingers on it and picked it up slowly.
She felt a sudden calmness, much like the calm feeling in her dream. She began to flip the card over but stopped when she felt the card tug her hand. She stared hard at the back of the card, wondering if it had been her imagination.
The sensation of being sucked through a straw overwhelmed her immediately. It hadn't been a Tarot card after all. It was a port key.
A/N: Please review, it makes authors happy!!