Chapter Text
harry steps inside the room slowly, looking at everything all at once whilst rubbing his eyes- they’re heavy and he feels heavy and his arm is bothersome and the only thing he can think about is sleep - it seems. he takes in his surroundings, noticing that the room is small - he isn’t the least bit surprised since the whole building itself is as tiny - and that there’s a lone bed in the middle of the room, lamp and wardrobe on one side, a table carrying a glass of water and an apple in the other, which he suspects is for him. dubiously, he walked towards the end of the bed, fingers twitching at his sides. he didn’t arrive with anything, not even his wand - and he’s feeling the worst type of loss due to that.
he knows he should feel better now that he has a place to stay tonight- a place where he can finally rest, he should be downstairs giving the kind woman a hearty thanks, with the most relieved and satisfied smile on his face - the one he usually always wore.
but he isn’t feeling particularly up to it, it would be fake and ugly- blimey, he can’t even muster a grimace, and he wouldn’t want to approach her whilst feeling unpleasant, she deserved to be thanked in a much better way. the way he’d responded to her questions earlier.. he was lucky to have met her really, she hadn’t pressed him for answers and he hadn’t given her any that lacked proof, other than the standard ones he thought were okay to give, you know, the fact that he had gone back in time? his clothes were enough for her to believe him, thankfully.
he had this feeling that she was very familiar (probably from the book of photos that belonged to his parents which he had looked through, courtesy of hagrid), and the way her expression went white at the reveal of his full name, now that, that had made him go into a spur. he was supposed to be making sure he didn’t bump into anyone that knew his parents, yet here he had gone and done so, unknowingly, whilst mentioning his name.
(as if he was supposed to know every single one of their acquaintances, he told himself.)
she hadn’t said anything though, afterwards, which resorted in him thinking she was probably not a threat.
probably.
although the reveal of how far he had gone back had disrupted their quiet, wary not-so-much-of-an-interrogation, harry had made sure to collect himself just in time. it would not do to lose himself, especially in the past.
he turns around to the door, and remembering her warning of its uncooperativeness, he tries to use his full body to shut it completely, only having difficulty when it brought the carpet with it. satisfied, he grips the lock in his hands and twists it, assuring that no one would come inside.
it complies with a lingering sound, and thus, the relief that washes over his body is indescribable. he could finally, finally think to himself.
think about what to do, think about who did this to him, think about who he will trust, think about what his next course of action will be, think through some kind of plan to understand this situation better, think about how in the world he managed to be thrown in 1979, where his parents are still alive, still breathing, still living.
and how he’s going to have to keep his distance.
since he’d come here, he hadn’t had any time alone, not once, even when tending to his injury, he had still been asked question after question. he relished in the first moments alone by himself - even if they were to be his last - and breathed. the strain and the stress has caused him to stay awake for too long, alertness seeping from every part of him and he thinks, he has never really felt this kind of tension before. it was uncontrollable, he barely managed to stay upright down there.
so when it breaks, when it cracks violently, when his legs are too tired- too unwilling to hold him anymore, and his eyes are pouring with unwanted tears, he allows it all. he allows it, allows the vulnerability and the hope and the hurt to crash and settle over him, he allows the mental and the physical exhaustion to take him down, he allows his chest to feel as if it is being compressed. it heaves, heaves and heaves until his hands are flatly pressed on the dusty unclean wooden floor, using the last shred of strength in his body to keep himself from falling completely- even as his arm throbs and the burning sensation sweeps over him. arms, legs, stomach - everything shook with the turb that shot through him, merciless as it gave push after push after push.
(maybe if he tried hard enough, maybe if he did enough- remus would let him stay with him. he looked after him, went through spells with him, fed him and took care of him at his lowest, supported him enough that he didn’t dive into a path of darkness and loneliness- so surely that meant he cared for him?)
his vision was nothing but blurry light - humorous since the room itself was nothing but darkness; darkness and reeking of isolation, and saw nothing but noise. he felt it too, it was loud, but not loud enough to cover his hiccup of a sob. it escaped from past his lips without consent, a terrible ugly sound that he had felt only once before, one that he had wished he would never hear again.
and suddenly, the memory of his godfather, the situation he was currently in, the fact that the two breathing souls that created him were not just names on a grave anymore- but alive, the distrust of dumbledore - the only person who could get him out of here and back home, the dursleys, the bloody cupboard, the years he suffered, not having remus to guide him through this- that was all he could think of.
it was too hot, too warm, his body was an overheating machine - the sweat crawled from his pits to his arms, from his stomach to his waist, from his forehead to his eyes, until he was drenched with it. it soaked his shirt, mixing itself with the tears he spilled, and he felt too uncomfortable in his own skin.
harry opened his mouth wide, clenching his teeth and tried to gain control again, eyes squeezing themselves shut and suffering from the saltiness of the remnants of his tears. it was hard, so hard, but he held it there.
(sirius had always been there for him, gone through hell and back for him, taught him things only a father could, looked at him like he wasn’t useless, saw him as someone he loved and wanted to protect- he was the only one who got him. nights when harry thought that he finally wasn’t alone and that he had someone, someone he considered family, they weren’t just feeble attempts at trying to make himself feel better, they were finally a reality that filled him with hope. he had been the happiest during that time.)
he couldn’t think he couldn’t breathe, his hands were shaking and he hadnt any idea how to stop it - oh merlin he just wanted to go home.
time stood still for a minute, as he held his breath and waited, waited for this nonsense to pass. it was weak for him, he should have a clear mind and a full-proof-thought-out plan round about now, but instead of doing that he was crying like a stubborn child who didn’t want a bloody bath. and for what? over seeing his parents? over seeing sirius again? over remus? over something he had wished for at nights when picking the skin of the wood of his cupboard, his room, in the pitch black dark?
if everyone were to see him now, feet tucked as he held himself whilst on the ground, red in the cheeks as he suppressed another shudder of a cry - all this over the fact that he could meet the two people who saved his life- who are the reason for his existence and sirius, his godfather. the people he believed to be dead, that were now suddenly alive at this time.
he felt tugs in his chest again, and feared he would have another moment like that, but was thankful when it was only his stomach yawning deeply, informing him of its hunger.
he’d eaten hours ago, had a small meal with his saviour that consisted of bread and butter and not much else. he had noticed the apple was still there right next to him, but decided to leave it for the morning, he was sure he would be out of here by then.
(how uncharacteristically selfish of him, taking and taking and taking then bolting right after.)
harry coughed, the action causing his body to rattle and his teeth to chatter- how the temperature of his body changed so drastically, he would never know, whilst carefully trying to stand on his own two feet. he held the bed to support himself, wobbling as he tried the first time, before righting himself.
the sigh he let out was long, hard and hoarse, and as he settles, he makes his way to the bed - his bed now he supposes, laying down on its soft sheets whilst propping his feet onto the ends of the mattress, on the thin silver metal thats curved into a ball. it wasn’t comfortable at all but harry closed his eyes still in that position, hoping that his body would regain its energy for tomorrow.
he supposed, he should have expected something like this to happen, and to be honest, he should prepare for things like this and more. everywhere he turns, everytime he thinks he’s got it right - he gets pushed right back down to where he started.
PRESENT TIMELINE
it seemed as the hours flew by, luna was to expect a new reaction from her girlfriend (anger, sadness, excitement at finding a new way to uncover this exhausting puzzle of a situation, restlessness.. the list goes on.) due to harry potter’s disappearance and her anger at not being able to find out the cause of it, which led to hermione herself going absolutely mad.
the moment she stepped into the ravenclaw dormitory, she’d gone off on a tangent- luna herself only being able to make out some words and phrases like “harry”, “thrust into some kind of alternate dimension”, “absolutely dumbledore’s fault, you know harry warned us about him” and so on. it didn’t completely register in her head at first because she was too busy trying to get the girl’s attention, which is rather confusing in itself since she herself was the one to seek luna out, but as the words slowly began to sink it, she had to mull it over quietly, and came to the realisation that no amount of books would be of help.
“i have gone through every single one of those tatted, rusty old books, covered every page of my notes with any spell that is remotely linked to disappearances, time warps, time travel and time glitches- stealing scrolls from the headmaster, even, who i’m sure by now has noticed and is already on his way to throw me out-“
hermione.. stealing scrolls? how had she even gotten inside his office? luna found herself remembering the map that she always had clutched to her fingers, the one that belonged to harry’s father- had her hermione gone and secretly made her way into his office, undetected? she was almost worried at how proud she was, because this seemed so much like something hermione would be scolding the boys for doing.
“-hermione-“ luna gently tried to interrupt, even with a hand nearing the girl’s shoulder, but hermione just spun around again, her robes flying after her, and continued her rambling, completely unaware of her attempt to speak to her. it was like talking to air, really.
“-and you know what? i don’t think that i even deserve to be expelled over something like this, it isn’t entirely my fault as it isn’t my secret- dumbledore is the one with all the knowledge and experience, and i ought to tell him about all of this of course but i can’t because harry trusts me not to, and i can’t even find a way to get him back because i just read bloody books in the library!” she yelled, her hands waving about in the air, cheeks red from frustration. she was absolutely sick of this, she wouldn’t be a sitting duck whilst harry was in danger, kidnapped by time-turnerless people. she wouldn’t have it. but what could she do?
the only thing on her mind currently was the fact that he had disappeared out of nowhere, gone, vanished- he was no more, and no one knew anything about it. at first she suspected it had something to do with voldemort because, hello, he absolutely hated him. but in the end if voldemort had taken him, surely he would have done something or made a public announcement? it was, after all, voldemort they’re talking about. any interaction with harry that ended with him in victory was a chance for him to boast.
after she calmed down for a few moments, she noticed that the blonde she’d been scouring to find earlier was staring at her in amusement, eyes sparkling with something so luna-like that she couldn’t explain, and suddenly her bearings came to. had she- did she really come into the ravenclaw sanctuary, without an invite, and ignored her girlfriend as she went on about something she didn’t even bother to explain to her? the absolute disrespect she had just shown to her made her feel absolutely shameful.
although, she knew that luna wouldn’t be angry at her for this, she seemed to be okay with everything hermione did for some reason, always approaching her incoherent rambles with ease, she was very thankful for her, especially when she kept a level-head when dealing with one of her episodes.
the first person to have appeared in her thoughts after the realisation that harry was gone, was obviously luna. she had somehow gone from her friend, her confidant, her girlfriend, her safe place, to her parter-in-crime. it was startling how fast they were moving in their relationship, but hermione had a feeling it was mostly because of her erratic self. she felt luna was much more equipped to handle her than anyone else, her calm and collectiveness was soothing and a great change from hermione’s fizzy and quick personality. they blended well together, she thought to herself.
“i uh, probably ought to knock next time,” she said sheepishly, scratching her neck whilst holding onto her wand. she wasn’t exactly sure why she had her wand with her- maybe incase dumbledore came marching into whatever room she was in, threatening to drag her out of hogwarts? yeah probably.
she was about to go back into the deep dive of her restless thoughts until she felt.. hands. hands gripping hers. soft, silk-like fingers delving into the empty spaces of her own and firmly interlocking them together, soothingly caressing the skin of her palms.
hermione felt her words die in her throat as her eyes made their way back to the blonde, who was very close to her, (she didn’t see her get up- or move at all, how did she do that?) and smelling of something so rosy and vanilla, something so very distracting that she almost didn’t realise the wand in her hand was being plucked and thrown to the side.
“luna?” oh how hermione was adorable when confused, she thought to herself. but now was not the time for gushing, no time for that- she had to try and get rid of the red and yellow spurts that flew in waves from the girl, colours that were very dangerous when put together, and oh were they so bright they almost blinded her. it wasn’t good.
normally her girl was giving her greens and pinks, sometimes maroon when she was in a studious mood- those luna enjoyed the most because she could sit there and watch and bathe in the gorgeous vibe of the colours, but never both red and yellow. that was new and luna didn’t really like it all that much.
“when was the last time you ate?” she asked plainly, no hint of amusement anymore but only a bit of worry- she realised didn’t sound stern at all, but lenient and soft. it seemed whenever she tried to pretend to be anything but enamoured by her, she failed humorously, which was no surprise because she didn’t like deceiving anyone with false moods.
“oh, is that what you got from all that? goodness luna, harry is in danger how can i think about scarfing food down my throat when he is probably helpless and alone somewhere in the time dimen-“ she was going to go off again, wasn’t she? luna tried to hold in a sigh. this was a serious situation where hermione wasn’t taking care of herself and normally luna wouldn’t have to go to great lengths to get her to listen, but it seems like this will be one of those times.
now, luna was not completely immune to her nerves either so she understood why hermione reacted the way she did, but it simply was not healthy. she would make sure that they came to a perfect conclusion and a solution for the problems that threatened to combust hermione’s beautiful and well-constructed train of thought, so that she would not be weighed down to the point of exhaustion - right after this girl is fed with the finest food hogwarts has to offer.
but as of now, she needed to unwind- and luna knew exactly what to do.
“i believe,” the blonde began, nearing, if possible, even closer to hermione with her eyes light and playful and completely pausing the girls incessant talking (luna adored her and everything about her but this was painful), “that you spend entirely too much time thinking,” brown eyes stopped to try and understand what she was doing, before they darted down to faint pink coloured plump lips. then back to silvery grey eyes with unhid tension.
hermione, noticing the change in her whole demeanour, wondered what her girlfriend was doing. she couldn’t even think straight anymore, she was unfocused now, which she suspected was luna’s goal in the first place; which she was successful in doing, and her palms were starting to sweat. was she really about to pause everything, her search for answers for harry’s whereabouts, to let luna play with her? and what on earth was luna thinking? did she not just hear everything she had said about harry being in dange-
all she could suddenly think about was how her brain was supposed to be saying no, as luna advanced towards her gracefully, but it seems like both her heart and her brain were betraying her these days.
licking her suddenly dry lips, hermione saw the girl’s stern, gentle expression melt into something completely wicked. her hair was like a halo- or was that just the light coming through from the window and illuminating her entirely to the point where she looked like something of a tempting creature from a fairytale? it made luna possibly even more alluring than usual.
hermione was breathing a little faster, her pupils dilating a little bigger, feet suddenly feeling wobbly in the now warm room- it couldn’t have gotten this hot this fast could it? they didn’t put any charms-
they were still, so still, until-
-the way luna brought her closer to her with a beckoning finger was a positively sinful sight, and she almost felt her legs betray her to the point where she’d fall into a heap. what was she thinking about before? what was the reason she’d come in here again? she was trying to regain her focus when,
“don’t you think?” eyebrows rose, dreamy silvery pupils looked directly at her, as she asked her question with a daring tone. she expected hermione to follow through in this scene, have her eyes shy away or at least attempt to move away.
but she did none of that.
with one, painfully, last glance at her lips- hermione moved forward, mumbling a soft “yes,” before connecting their mouths and slipping her hands out of luna’s grasp to tug at her clothing, bringing her even closer to the point where their bodies meshed together- she could feel her, every part of her. it was intoxicating.
she didn’t really care about anything else, all she could think about was getting those fingers underneath her knickers- that mouth on hers, losing itself in her taste, that bothersome shirt clinging to her off her body, the nape of her neck that glowed, begging to be kissed, cherished and bitten.
the blonde herself seemed to be in a daze, even though she had been the one to begin this, not paying attention to the desk they’d bumped into, only on the fingers that crawled down her neck, shoulder, chest, hip-
the curve of hermione’s breasts pressed against luna’s own and it was delightful. all she could think, breathe, smell, see- was soft soft soft soft skin. it made her mewl, the way her fingers pressed against her hip, the way her lips slid over her neck, the way she was overflowing with this strong scent that made her so hazy.
she drunk her in, this moment of hermione being dominated then completely without even knowing it herself, taking control of which direction they went. it made her feel very, very nice.
luna, essentially, sighed in sweet relief as she felt the colours divide and mix into something of a more white, pinkish tint. she had effectively gotten the brunette’s attention, stopped her from worrying herself ragged, got her to think about anything other than harry and the impossible situation he was currently in- that she would obviously help her girlfriend with, right after she took care of her needs first.
the warmth that flooded between them as they kissed again, as her hands delved underneath the skin of the brunette, was oh so lovely and luna almost - almost - forgot about what she was meant to be doing before she finally held herself and pulled away (hermione letting out a incoherent whine at this, beautifully flushed in the cheeks) whilst still staying close.
and when her girlfriend tried to kiss her once more, luna made sure to cup her chin and gently tilt her face towards her, but not close enough for her to begin anything again. she also looked a sight, hungry and cherry red in the face. she protested when they paused, her fingers making their way through luna’s robes and underneath her shirt, completely rebelling against her.
“when was the last time you ate” my arse.
just as she was going to lift the offending garment, the one that she considered ripping instead, she was halted again by deftly smooth fingers that gripped her own and guided them out from under her clothing.
“please tell me you are not about to ask what i think you’re about to ask, because if you do-“ hermione swallowed, eyes drinking in the sight of luna’s lips which were now covered in her lipstick, her eyes that looked as if they had just been pulled out of a great erotic dream, that were now blinking at her, speechless. “i’ll be kissing you to shut you up.”
luna let herself giggle, still holding onto the brunette’s long slender fingers, swaying them even as she pulled back. she really loved this side of hermione, the one that was demanding and heated during a snog- luna could get used to this side of her.
“as much as i’d love that..” she replied dreamily, only glancing down once - just once at her lips, before a luna-like smile took over her face, “i’d like hermione to come dine with me even more.”
hermione was almost appalled at the fact that she’d been kissed to the point of oblivion- just so she would stop talking about timey-whimey nonsense and join the girl for dinner. she really needed to stop being surprised because.. it was so luna.
of course, of course she would do such a thing. the sight of hermione accompanied with plates of food all around her was much more compelling for luna rather than having her way with her in the ravenclaw dormitory. it was cruel how she messed with her like this, but hermione wasn’t all that mad- she would still get a taste afterwards.
even though she’d feel guilty for not spending the next half of the day looking for answers for her best friend’s disappearance, she supposed it was okay if it was because of her stomach. maybe after some food she could finally get the energy to brainstorm again. with luna. definitely with luna.
and harry? well, he could wait for an hour or two - she was rather hungry.
(oh how hungry she was..)
sighing in faux-regret as her lust-filled thoughts escaped her, she nodded slowly, feeling her heart blossom at the way luna brightly smiles in return. she was going to go in for another kiss, just one, but of course luna was having none of it because she knew what her girlfriend was like and instead decided to drag her out of the room and into the hallways where the smell of food drifted into her nostrils and wakened her belly.