faderift | (no subject)

WHO: Harry and Hermione
WHAT:
WHEN: A bit after the open Rifter Log (enough time for them to get from Western Approach to Skyhold)
WHERE: Skyhold's library
NOTES: None yet

Traveling from the desert to the mountains on foot had made Harry miss Apparition more than he could really say. He didn't dare risk it though, not with his wand in the state it was in. The long journey had given him time to examine it and the cracks were not where near as bad as it had been after Godric's Hollow, but his spells all seemed to miss their mark when he tried. He was terrified of stressing it out with a wrong spell and breaking it again. He had been without the holly wand long enough during the war, he didn't plan on going completely wandless in this strange new world.

Then he was at a castle, so unlike the castle he had loved back home, and there were people all around. He still wasn't entirely sure what to make of this place, but so many had tried to explain as much as possible. After making sure Sansa and Tyrion were both okay (Wynonna seemed like she could take care of herself) he wanted to find a quiet place where he could think.

He wasn't sure why he thought of the library. He was never one to find solace in books. That had been Hermione. Maybe it was thoughts of her that had prompted him to come to this place. It wasn't like they had a Quidditch pitch for him to mope over Ginny in.

And then he saw her, sitting in a chair with a book, and for a moment he felt he had to be home, a year ago, before they had started their hunt for Horcruxes. The only thing out of place were her clothes.

"Hermione?"

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Hearing his explanation for being in the library made Hermione crack a small smile of her own, the first genuinely happy one she'd smiled in a long time. It showed that he thought of her, even if only subconsciously, and remembering that people from home still thought of her made her feel a little less hopeless.

That made his question that much more surprising, though Hermione came to the conclusion that he must not be sure whether she'd come to Skyhold as soon she'd disappeared. "About as long as I'd been missing, I assume," she told him, going over the months in her head. "About seven months, give or take. I suppose that makes another year that I'll be delayed in taking my N.E.W.T.s. I'll be the oldest person to graduate Hogwarts, at this rate."

Harry's frown deepened at that. "Seven months?" he asked and the expression on his face makes it seem like he thinks that is impossible. "Hermione, the war just ended six months ago. I'd have noticed if you missed out of the Battle of Hogwarts... Unless..." The idea that she had been replaced with an impostor was too much to take. He takes a step back, uncertain.

"Listen. we should do that question thing, right? What animal did you send on Ron after that mess with Lavender?" Given what happened to her during the war, he can't really be mean to Lavender, so he's careful not to blame anything on her.

Hermione frowns slightly in return at his incredulity, and it only deepens when he explains that she'd been gone longer than the war's been over. Just as he seems to have reached his own conclusion, Hermione realizes that this time nonsense that has made things confusing ever since meeting people from other versions of Earth doesn't just apply to people from different alternate universes or what have you. Harry is from her future. Granted, not very far in her future, but the discrepancy is still there and strong enough to be marked.

"Canaries," she answers immediately, response as automatic as it is absent-minded. "And that was more at the start the mess than after it." She doesn't really doubt that this is Harry, but just in case, she asks, "How did Ron find his way back to us after he'd left us while we were in hiding?" Since they're clearly talking about Ron's mistakes, after all.

Harry doesn't seem to mind them focusing on Ron's mistakes. Those are one of the things they had had to survive together, after all. "The Deluminator," he responds. "Dumbledore left it to him because he knew he'd want to find a way back to us." His shoulders relax a bit because he's reassured that Hermione is real, but he still has the sort of baffled and confused expression that Hermione has seem him have before - it just usually applied to coursework.

"So we're us, but something else doesn't line up. Did those Rift things mess with my memories, you think? Make me forget you were missing?"

While Hermione's glad enough that the tedious task of confirming one another's identities was out of the way, she still frowns a little as she shakes her head. "It's not memories, I don't think. It's time. We're from different points in time."

Meeting Harry's eyes, she tries to explain it as well as she can. "I've met a few other people like us, who've fallen out of rifts. And while most of them are from Earth or some Earth-like place, we're all from different points in time. As far as I've been able to see, we're the only ones from the 1990s. One man, Jamie, is from Scotland in the 1960s, I believe. And then there's Kirk, who's from Earth but was on a spaceship of some sort sometime in the 23rd century. But they're not quite the same versions of Earth, from what I've been able to figure out. There are slight differences; the rifts don't just open up across different worlds and times, but different... realities, I suppose. So the Hermione you thought you only saw recently wasn't me, and the Harry that I'd last seen before coming here might not have been you. I mean, they were, but different versions. If that makes sense." It doesn't. She knows it doesn't. But that's about the best she can think of for why there was another Hermione in her stead leading to Harry never knowing that she'd been missing.

The more she talks, the harder it is for Harry to keep up. This all seems like such a weird dream. "That sounds like science fiction," he admits after a moment.

"Or some sort of really strange dream. If it hadn't already lasted so long I'm be trying to wake myself up."

"It's not much science or fiction, I'm afraid," Hermione replies, and for her part, she at least does sound sympathetic to that end.

"You could probably use more rest than anything, actually, depending on how long ago you've come in. And some food would do you good, too. When was the last time you've eaten, Harry? I don't want to have to start channeling in Mrs. Weasley." Though really, it's a rather easy thing to do when it comes to how protective she can get about Harry or Ron.

Harry smiles a bit at the idea. "We ate a bit on the trip up here." The fact that she's instantly trying to take care of him comforts him. She might not be his exact Hermione, but she's still someone he knows he couldn't do without.

"I could do with something to eat. Why don't you show me where to go to get some food?"

Hermione had never been overly fussed about food, but at least she'd always had enough common sense to know that she has to take care of herself if she wants to come out of most situations on top, and so she's rarely let herself go without at least an apple or bit of bread while at Skyhold. The temptation has been strong, especially given that the kitchens don't look nearly as sanitary as Hogwarts', but she's forced herself not to be stubborn and she's not about to let Harry get away with it either, even if he doesn't seem to care to.

"Come," she tells him, automatically taking his hand and tugging him towards the staircase. "I'll give you the grand tour."