Hermione sat in her high chair in the kitchen in high dudgeon. Her mother was on the phone again.
"Dan, you have to get a someone to fill in for you and come home. Something has happened to Hermione. What? No, she's not bleeding. DAN! Just come home!"
Hermione took another spoonful of her applesauce. Those strained peas were the dog's lunch. Oh gods, I fed my poor children those horrid things.
"Hermione, Mummy wants to know if you're all right, dear."
Hermione rolled her eyes. "I'm fine, Mother. Morgana, wasn't I talking before? Now Mother we have to get to the Potters'. It's the thirty-first of July 1980, according to your paper, and they would have just had a baby. Soon they'll be going into hiding and that's the wrong thing for them to do. Now they're living in Godric's Hollow in Scotland. They'll either be at St Mungo's, the magical hospital in London, or at home. We'll check St Mungo's first."
"Hermione, you can read!"
Hermione failed to resist the urge to put her head in her hands and growl.
Miles away from the frustrated Hermione in Surrey, Ginny sat on the stairs in the Burrow southeast of Ottery St Catchpole in Devon. Luna was walking, floating—spiriting?—around the house. Ginny sat thinking. So they had erased the timeline. Luna said Hermione was alive and that it was Harry's birthday. That meant that baby was Ron, born this past May. She would apparently be born next year. Morgana, how was that going to be? Urrgh, better not think about that again. If there was anything she didn't want to see up close, it was that part of her mother.
"Luna, can we communicate with anyone besides ourselves?"
Luna's head came through the wall. "We should be able to if we try."
"Well, come on then."
"Where are we going, Ginny?"
"To find Hermione, Luna. I have to talk to her; she has to know why—why I came over last night."
"But you don't know, Ginny. Something told you to come over and to bring Harry's wand."
"How do you know?"
"Oh, I know lots, Ginny. I am a seer, after all. Fairly good one now."
"Really?" Ginny stood up and started walking. Luna followed. "So, Miss Seer, what do we do now, then?"
"Go find Hermione, of course, silly. Watch out for Nargles."
"Luna, stop that!"
Luna sighed. "Just practicing for my childhood."
"You aren't going to have that childhood, Luna. We know what happened and we're changing it. No mother dying, no people stealing from you, none of that."
Luna beamed at her. "Good! I was so hoping that's how you would feel. Ginny, what about Harry?"
Ginny stiffened but kept walking. "What about him?"
Luna smiled gently behind her friend's back. "He does love you."
"Then why does he call Hermione's name every night in his sleep?"
"Cause he loves her too, silly."
"Hrmmph."
"Ginny?"
Ginny gave a long-suffering sigh. "What, Luna?"
"Why are we walking? We are witches and you do know how to Side-Along? Apparate."
Ginny stopped and stared at her friend. Then she huffed and grabbed Luna's arm and the pair disappeared.
In Scotland Harry was hosting a raging internal debate. He had been unable to make much other than squawks, and his body was doing very interesting things. Ye gods, it was horrible getting his diaper changed. And Mother insisted on breast-feeding and babbling at him; Merlin, what a nightmare.
