STARLIT SUPERNOVA. h. potter

xvi. Time-Turning Churns

starlit supernova
❛ xvi. time-turning churns ❜

━━━━━ WHATEVER WAS HAPPENING, it made Nova motion sick.

Air rushed around her, Harry, and Hermione wildly; Nova thought she could even see the sharp air spiraling around like they were in a small tornado. She had the sensation that she was flying very fast, and backward — but it turned to be so fast that she eventually felt like she was moving in slow motion. A blur of colors and shapes rushed past her, and her ears popped every few seconds. Nova tried to yell — probably to let out a string of curses — but she couldn't; she couldn't even speak now.

And as quickly as this started, it all stopped — like it never happened, but Nova knew it happened. It had to have happened because as her eyes focused, she saw they were standing somewhere that was not the Hospital Wing. She was standing next to Hermione and Harry in the deserted Entrance Hall. There were streams of golden sunlight falling across the paved floor from the open front doors.

"Hermione, what —?" Harry started to ask, looking around wildly. He started to tug at the golden chain hung around his, Nova's, and Hermione's necks.

Before he could do anything, Hermione unhooked the chain from around all their necks and dragged Harry and Nova across the hall to the door of the broom closet. "In here!" She opened it, pushed the two inside with the buckets and mops, and then slammed the door behind them.

"What — Ouch! That was my foot, Harry!" Nova snapped angrily, looking around the dark closet; her eyes narrowed as they tried adjusting to the sudden change of lighting. "Hermione, what happened? What the hell was that?"

"We've gone back in time," Hermione whispered as Nova felt painfully squished between Hermione and Harry in the dark. "Three hours back ..."

"Back in time ...?" Nova asked in a hushed tone; a hushed tone of disbelief. Then, she yelped; "Ouch! Who pinched me?"

"Sorry," apologized Harry. "Was trying to pinch my own leg."

"Let's make it even, then," decided Nova. "I'll pinch your nose —"

"Shut up!" hissed Hermione. "Someone's coming! I think —" She quickly pressed one ear against the cupboard door like a spying child. "I think it's us. Footsteps across the Hall ... yes, I think it's us going down to Hagrid's!"

"Are you telling me," Harry whispered, "that we're here in this cupboard and we're out there too?"

"Time travel, Harry," drawled Nova despite the fact she didn't entirely (or at all) understand the situation. "What Hermione said — we've gone three hours back."

Hermione had her ear still glued to the cupboard door, ignoring the exchange between Harry and Nova. "Yes, I'm sure it's us," she decided with a nod. "It doesn't sound like more than four people ... and we're walking slowly because we're under the Invisibility Cloak —" She broke off, still listening intently. "We've gone down the front steps ..." Hermione sat down on an upturned bucket, brushing curls of hair out of her face.

Harry frowned, looking like he was still trying to figure things out (but so was Nova). "Where did you get that hourglass thing?" he asked.

Hermione whispered the correction; "It's called a Time-Turner, and I got it from Professor McGonagall on our first day back. I've been using it all year to get to all my lessons. Professor McGonagall made me swear — swear I wouldn't tell anyone. She had to write all sorts of letters to the Ministry of Magic so I could have one. She had to tell them that I was a model student, and that I'd never, ever use it for anything except my studies ..."