TimeLine

Chapter One

"Please?" Hermione Granger asked, her hand extended to Luna Lovegood, who looked like she didn't really want to give up her copy of the Quibbler to Hermione. Hermione had found her reading in the middle of Charms, saw the cover and begged to read it.

"You never wanted to read the Quibbler before…" Luna said, handing it over, a dreamy look on her face. Hermione smiled. What Luna didn't know, was Hermione had a subscription to the Quibbler since after the war. She always needed a good laugh. But her subscription had been cancelled when she started to run out of money.

What Luna also didn't know, was Hermione was desperate for something to keep her mind off the fight she had just had with the Head Boy. As Head Girl, they had to see a lot of each other, which meant fights were inevitable.

The Head Boy was Draco Malfoy.

Hermione took the Quibbler gratefully and buried her nose in it immediately. If a passerby had just glanced the way of the two girls in the library, they would have thought that Luna Lovegood had dyed her hair brown.

Why Hermione had to bury herself in the Quibbler instead of a regular book was a question frequently asked by Harry and Ron. She refused to answer. It was, however, because regular books made her think of Malfoy and his comparative intellect that rivaled her own. The Quibbler, to her, was utter nonsense, but it provided a wonderful distraction from the real world.

Ordinary books used to do that. Not anymore. Imagination seemed to be her only sanctuary.

The library wasn't a sanctuary. Because that was generally where Draco Malfoy knew where to find her. It was the first place he looked. And as he walked down the isles, he was surprised to find his bushy haired counterpart with her nose buried in the Quibbler next to none other than Luna Lovegood. He had to laugh quietly.

The Quibbler. Honestly. Granger would never cease to surprise him with her choice of reading.

"Well, Mudblood, it appears you finally found something with more intelligence than you to read," Draco drawled as he approached the two girls sitting in the alcove. Granger's head shot up and her face grew red. Luna looked confused.

Of course, Draco realized, she thought it wasn't an insult. But judging by the color of Granger's face, he noted, she understood what he meant.

"Back for more pain, Malfoy?" she snapped.

Draco laughed. "You really think your insignificant, pathetic excuses for comebacks are worth my time, Granger?" She glared. "No, I was actually looking to tell you that Professor Snape wants to see you in his office."

Granger stood, handed the magazine back to Luna. As she did so, Justin Finch-Fletchy rounded the corner, a worried look on his face. He ran right into Draco Malfoy, who toppled over onto Hermione Granger, who knocked over Luna Lovegood. They all fell onto the floor with a louder bang than was expected.

And then Hermione didn't know what happened because she blacked out.

Godric Gryffindor yawned and smiled over at his pet phoenix, Fawkes. Fawkes was older than him by several hundred years, but he'd always been in the Gryffindor family. Fawkes stretched his long neck out and Godric smiled. His office was cluttered, papers and other strange magical objects lay strewn across the floor. Others were on his desk and a table in the corner, whirring and puffing away.

He stood and stretched. His sword at his side clanked against the chair. It was more noise than he'd heard in the past four hours and it made him jump.

Fawkes made a sound that was almost like laughter…for a bird.

"I must be a sight, jumping at a little noise like that," he laughed as well, stroking Fawkes bright plumage. Burning day was approaching. He could tell by the way Fawkes feathers were beginning to lose their luster.

He chuckled and stroked the phoenix again. "I'll be seeing you then," he said with a smile and exited his office.

He was enjoying a leisurely stroll through the castle when he heard a sound. He stopped. He was in front of the Library. It seemed strange. Unless Sigga had suddenly decided to knock over one of his precious bookshelves, there was something in the library. And Godric knew it wasn't Sigga.

Godric carefully pushed the door open and slid inside. Then he heard the sound of voices somewhere in the back. He followed the source of the sound. The mumbling soon became words he understood with perfect clarity.

"Ow…geroff me!"

"This is strange… Perhaps a Wokenstill has veiled our eyes. I don't seem to see any books."

"This is all your fault, Finch!"

"My fault?!"

"Yes your – wait a minute, what's wrong with Granger?"

"She appears to have been knocked unconscious…"

"Good observation Loony…but what happened to her, I mean?"

"Don't call her Loony!"

"Geez, Finch! I'll lay off, just don't bite my head off!"

There was a groan and then silence.

"Hermione…?" There was silence again. The atmosphere suddenly grew tense as panic started to set in. Godric was about to walk into the alcove to see who was there when he heard a voice exclaim, "Who are you?!"

He jumped, knocking over a chair and a stack of books in the process. A pair of steel grey eyes were gazing at him through the empty bookshelf. Godric silently cursed his stupidity. Of course they could see him, he wasn't wearing his invisibility cloak and there weren't any books…

"Excuse me," he said, trying to regain his dignity after having knocked over the chair and books with his klutzy excuse for balance and that blasted sword he forgot about. "But I think that I'm the one who should be asking that question…after all you are in my castle."

The owner of the grey eyes froze. He leaned away from the bookshelf. Godric took this time to wander around the shelf and view the teenagers. There were four. Two boys and two girls. They were wearing black robes of very interesting material. They each had emblems on their chests but he couldn't make out what they were.

The girls were wearing skirts that, in his opinion, were far too short. The boys had on tunics that had buttons all the way up the front and were stark white. Strange attire for travelers. Even more so for thieves or assasins.

Godric ran a hand through his wavy brown hair, his eyebrows contracting together in confusion. The owner of the grey eyes stood at the front of the group, staring at Godric intensely. He had blond, almost white, hair and a demeanor of power.

The boy who was kneeling next to the girl on the floor had dark brown hair and confused but defiant brown eyes. The girl kneeling on his other side had long blonde hair that was untamed and unruly. But she had a look that radiated knowledge beyond understanding.

And his eyes finally landed on the girl on the floor. Her bushy brown head of hair was fanned out under her head. Her eyebrows were taunt like she was suppressing some pain. Her fingers were clenched around her cloak.

"Did you say…your castle?" the blond boy asked suspiciously.

Godric sighed. "Well…one fourth mine. I helped build it." This caused the three pairs of open eyes to widen even farther.

The blond boy seemed to be debating with himself. He took in Godric's appearance, from his deep burgundy robes with gold trim, to the ruby hilted sword at his side. "Who…who are you?" he asked slowly.

Godric took a step back, cocking an eyebrow. "You don't know who I am? Do you even know where you are?" They couldn't be thieves or assassins if they didn't know where they were or who he was.

"Hogwarts castle?" the blonde girl on the floor supplied.

That surprised Godric even more. They did know where they were. But for some strange reason, they didn't know who he was. He chuckled. The blond boy's brow furrowed.

"My dear children, this is indeed Hogwarts Castle. I am Godric Gryffindor."