Back in Time

Chapter eleven

After a while, they both got up and decided to go back to Malfoy's cabin, since they had a couple of hours to kill before dinner. A small part of Hermione would love to use these hours to explore the ship, something she would never get the chance to do when they got back to the future again. If we can get back to the future that is, Hermione thought, nibbling her bottom lip. And what changes will be made to the timeline if they keep the ship from sinking? We would be rewriting history... In all her worrying Hermione didn't even realize they were already back at Malfoy's room. He was walking a little bit ahead of her, lost in his own thoughts, and got into the room first. Hermione walked into the room as well, closing the door behind her. Malfoy already headed to his bedroom, probably to change, so Hermione plopped down onto the sofa and hugged her knees to her chest.

She had thought of it before, about them changing the timeline, but she felt like they didn't have a choice in the matter. They had to keep the ship from sinking, or they would probably end up dead. But what if the choices they made were too drastic? Time traveling can be very dangerous and Hermione knew that first hand, with the time turner in her third year... she decided she would discuss it with Malfoy.

When Malfoy entered the room again, he had already changed into his dinner clothes. Hermione sat up and played with a little loose strand on the sofa.

'Malfoy, if we stop the ship from sinking, the timeline will change. Of course you've thought about that, but what if we change it too much and the world we get back to in the future is entirely different?' Malfoy looked a bit taken aback. He frowned and sat down in one of the chairs.

'I don't think stopping the ship from sinking will change the entire world,' he said, raising an eyebrow. 'Some things will be different, yes, but I don't think it will effect us much.'

Hermione shook her head.

'The smallest changes can make huge differences, Malfoy. We have no idea what will happen to the world as we know it.'

Malfoy still didn't look convinced, but then he didn't know much about time traveling. When Hermione had gotten her time turner in her third year, she had gone to the library and researched every book on time traveling she could get her hands on. She knew just how dangerous time traveling could be and how making changes they could completely mess up the world as they know it. She also didn't understand how they were able to go back in time as far as they had, since it was proven that magic could only get you around five hours back in time. Everyone that had gone back in time to relive more that five hours had been seriously harmed. But somehow they had gone back to 1912 and both of them were fine, so she decided not to spend her energy on dwelling on that little fact. At least they didn't have to worry about running into their past selves, since they weren't even born in 1912. Hermione sighed, not knowing what to do. Because they could just let it happen of course and not change the timeline. But that would also mean that they would probably die when the ship sinks.

If we keep the ship from sinking we would save a lot of people though... Hermione thought, thinking about how many people died that dreadful night. She swallowed thickly and thought it would be best to wait until dinner, to see if they can even get an appointment with the captain. Because if they can't, the ship will sink anyway. Just like it did before. Since she was so lost in her thoughts, she didn't notice Malfoy getting out of his chair and almost jumped when he suddenly walked in front of her, to get to a bookshelf next to the fireplace. She hadn't even noticed it was there before. 

She studied him while he skimmed through some of the books. When they were suddenly sent back in time, they had just started their sixth year. It surprised her how civil they were, thinking about how much they loathed each other back when they were at Hogwarts. Of course, he was still annoying and infuriating, but he wasn't as mean and just not as much of a git. Hermione wondered if it would stay like that when, or if, they get back to the future. She almost snorted at that. Probably not, knowing they were only tolerating each other because they needed each other to survive right now. She sighed and leaned her head back against the sofa. Closing her eyes, she tried to think of possible ways to survive this. They could tell people that they are from the future and that the ship will sink, but that would probably end up with them being locked away somewhere. People would assume they had gone insane or something. 

She hated the feeling of not being in control. She felt the need to plan their survival, to ensure they would make it out of this alive, but it just seemed impossible. their only chance would be talking to the captain, but that wasn't an easy thing to do, since their attempts to talk to him always seemed to fail. When she looked up, she found Malfoy already looking at her, one of the books forgotten in his hands.

'Would you stop worrying already? Just wait until dinner, we still have a chance,' he said to her, closing the book in his hands and putting it back on the shelf.

Even though he didn't mean it to come across as comforting, Hermione did feel a bit more at ease. He was right, they still had a chance. And if it didn't work out, they would find something else. They had to.

Malfoy sat down next to her on the sofa, another book in his lap. Her curiosity got the best of her and she walked over to the bookshelf as well. If they didn't have anything to do for the time being, she might as well read a book herself. She smiled softly when she let her fingers slide along the spines of the books. She picked a book and sat back down, cozying up on her side of the sofa. Almost immediately she forgot about the world around her and got engrossed into the story. After they spent quite a while reading, she looked up when Malfoy's breathing became heavier. The book he was reading laid flat against his chest, his head leaning back onto the back of the couch, his eyes closed and lips slightly parted. Hermione raised an amused eyebrow at this; it wasn't everyday you got to see the oh so mighty Draco Malfoy in a position like this. Even like this he looked a little bit annoyed at something, with his brow furrowed. She shook her head and continued to read her book. 

When she looked at the clock after a while clock, her heart skipped a beat: they only had half an hour left until dinner. She had spent hours reading the book. It had just been so peaceful, with the burning fireplace and Malfoy's snores in the background. She didn't mind him so much when he was sleeping, she decided.

Hermione closed her book and stretched. She got up, put the book back on the shelf and got into Malfoy's bedroom to pick another dress from the closet. She picked on a blue dress, reminding her of the dress she wore at the Yule Ball. She got into the bathroom and changed. She combed her curls as best as she could and pinned them back, letting a couple of strands loose to frame her face. Without her wand, that was the best she could do. 

She got out of the bathroom and walked into the living room again, where she found Malfoy still in the same position. She grinned and shook her head.

'Do you always stare at people when they sleep?' Malfoy's voice voice cut through the silence and made Hermione jump. She clamped a hand over her heart.

'Git,' she muttered under her breath.

'I see Weasley's vocabulary rubbed off on you, how nice.' He smirked at her, his voice still a bit hoarse from sleeping and he finally opened his eyes.

Hermione rolled her eyes and decided to ignore him.

'Dinner is in fifteen minutes,' she said, pointing at the clock. He raised an eyebrow, surprised and got to his feet.

'Right,' he said and made his way to the bathroom. When he walked past her, she saw how ruffled his hair was from sleeping on the couch and grinned to herself. She secretly hoped he wouldn't see it in the mirror, which she doubted because it was hard not to notice. It would have been a nice little revenge for scaring her if he went to dinner with his hair like that. 

To her disappointment, Malfoy came out of the bathroom with his hair looking perfectly normal again. 'Ready?' She asked him, taking a deep breath. He nodded at her and they made their way to the dining area, and possibly to their last chance of speaking to the captain.