Keeping Time by electronicquillster
Chapter Notes: This story is a one-shot written for Oppungo for the Secret Spew II Story Exchange of 2007. Thanks to my betas, lurid and bymerlinsbeard, and those who also test-read this fic.
Somehow they’d ended up where they always finished the school year, although the three of them hadn’t attended Hogwarts for the year of their N.E.W.T.s. Sometimes vanquishing an evil dark lord is more important than standardised testing.
Ron couldn’t remember a lot about what happened after Harry had given that cry of triumph that had broken into anguish, followed by the thud of Harry falling to the ground.
That moment played over and over again. Defeat, victory, and then the fall.
Voldemort was gone; they shouldn’t be here in the Hospital Wing, waiting day in and day out to see if the hero would wake up. Ron refused to leave the side of his best friend until he did wake up. He had to. That’s how the world worked. Good always triumphed over evil, and no matter how bad things had gotten over the last year, Voldemort would not have the satisfaction of ruining the one true law of the universe with his demise.
He stared intently at Harry. The scar on his forehead was fading - something no one could have guessed would happen. However, the change was only visible to Ron; he’d been scrutinising it for long enough.
Ron finally broke from the endless void of painful thought and intent watching when a warm hand was placed on his shoulder. He turned to see Hermione looking at him. She wore the same pained and worried smile he was giving back to her. Ron placed a hand over hers and squeezed. He didn’t think he could get through any of this without her by his side. He was desperately glad that through all the losses that had come from this war, Hermione was still here. (Harry would be, too. He had to be.)
She turned her gaze to Harry, and so Ron turned his head back as well. It was a comfort to have her hand, so he didn’t let go.
At length, Hermione took one of those deep breaths. Ron turned, knowingly, to hear the important thing she was about to say. She had a resolved, yet nervous, look in her eye, but her gaze dropped to somewhere that was probably Ron’s knee as she began to speak. “Ron, I...” But that was all she managed before biting her lip.
He was still studying her, brow raised. “Hermione,” he whispered, bringing her eyes back up to meet his.
“I’ve been thinking lately - well not just lately - but I didn’t want to say anything - but it’s no use not saying it, even if this isn’t a good time...”
Ron almost wanted to laugh. His Hermione didn’t stutter unless she was flustered and exceedingly nervous. “Just tell me.”
She took another deep breath, recomposing herself. “Right.” Another pause. “Ronald, I love you.”
He smiled a real smile this time. “Hermione, I-”
“No, don’t,” she interrupted, closing her eyes. “I mean I love you, Ron.”
He let silence linger for a minute before saying anything. “I knew what you meant. Why else would you say it?”
She gave a strangled cry before throwing her hands up to cover her face. “Ron! That’s not what you’re supposed to say!”
Ron couldn’t help but chuckle now, and he was so happy that his mind barely registered how foreign the joy of life felt after days of worry and despair. “Hermione,” he said, “I-”
But then they both stopped their interlude, turning their full attention to the figure that had seemingly materialised out of the long shadows cast into the room by the late afternoon sun. The two had wands drawn without having to think about it, but the strange intruder didn’t carry a wand. The figure was draped in flowing green robes that swished silently with any movement the stranger made.
The stranger didn’t need the stares from Ron and Hermione that demanded explanation before speaking. “No one let me in. I do not need wands or your sort of magic to go places, and your magic cannot keep me out.” The man’s voice was rich, deep, and had a root of enthusiasm or expectation. It was a voice unlike any human’s; it penetrated the listener’s mind. “I am the Keeper of the Present Time. It is my duty to make sure that time keeps pressing forward”that things happen. Will you come with me?”
Ron and Hermione both glanced at Harry and then looked at each other nervously.
“It is his time to lie here in peace.”
If this was some sort of dream, then Ron could trust that nothing would happen to Harry, and if this was real, he wouldn’t doubt the Keeper of Present Time. Still, he looked to Hermione. Ron was assured by a small nod from her that they weren’t doing something completely mental.
“We’ll go,” he answered the stranger.
Suddenly they were no longer in the silent, sterile and stifling Hospital Wing, keeping vigil over their best friend. They stood in a green wood, bathed in delicious sunlight, streaming green through the leafy areas. Small yellow, white and pink flowers popped out here and there along the grassy ground, and some of the trees were wrapped in vines of ivy.
“Where are we?” Hermione whispered. Everything felt surreal, very magical, just as the Keeper’s voice had seemed so strange, and just as he had explained his magic was more powerful than that of witches and wizards.
“You are in the Timeless Forest,” the man explained, motioning for them to follow him. “This is a place that existed before anywhere else on the earth.”
Hermione thought she may have read a myth about this place once, but there was nary more than a few words about it. She listened intently to what their guide was saying as she and Ron followed him along a small path. The Keeper showed them flowers and trees she’d never seen before in any book, fascinating creations of nature that were kept secret in this magical wood. The further they walked, the more she had a feeling of never wanting to leave this enchanted place.
As they walked, the trees also changed. There was an area of aspen trees, and next they passed through a span of pines, then cedar trees, and so it went. Even though they seemed to be endlessly walking, it was as if no time was passing. They stepped into a small clearing, and the flowers here were crowded and competing for room in the glorious sunshine. Off to the left, Hermione saw an area of trees that was much more dense, and intermittently between those trees there were numerous small pools of water.
Back into the trees again, they plodded on serenely. Walking through this enchanted wood was soothing to their aching souls. As they passed through a patch of delicious smelling fruit trees, they noticed another figure not terribly far off, the first sign of any other human life in this magical place.
It was a tall woman, who moved with exquisite grace. Her lithe form was draped in deep blue, and her blonde hair cascaded over her shoulders and down her back. She was picking apples off of a tree, placing them into a small basket hanging from her arm. She didn’t seem to even look in their direction, completely focused on her task.
“Who is she?” Ron asked quietly.
“She is the Keeper of the Future.”
Presently they came to a smaller clearing than the one they’d already passed through, and an aged woman sat upon the ground there. She stood and turned to greet them. She was dressed in a deep, rich, brown garment that looked much like what the Keeper of the Future had worn.
“You must be the Keeper of the Past,” Hermione spoke as they approached the woman. There was little doubt in her mind it could be anyone else.
“And you are Hermione Granger,” the woman said with a warm smile. “You have achieved much greatness at such a young age. As have you, Ronald Weasley.”
Hermione noticed the slight coloring that came to Ron’s face at this grand lady’s compliments. This woman’s magic radiated off of her, and Hermione felt a deep sense of honor to be in this woman’s presence, let alone to have the Keeper know her name and give her praise.
“Come forward, young man,” she said to Ron, stretching out a hand to him. “I wish to speak with you.”
She led Ron away, speaking to him in hushed tones that Hermione couldn’t hear. When they were gone, she let out a sigh and turned back to face the Keeper of the Present. She gasped when she saw her guide sitting at a small table with a lovely tea and a chair waiting for her to join him.
“Your love for him is strong,” he said as he poured some of the warm tea into the white cup in front of her.
Hermione’s first instinct was to panic at his knowledge, but then she relaxed and smiled. She shouldn’t be worried, or even surprised, that the Keeper of the Present would know this about her. “It is. I just hope he feels the same.”
“Do you not know?” he asked, as if she were being rather daft about the matter. He laughed at the expression on her face.
“Do you?”
“I’m only allowed to know things of the present, and I’m only allowed to tell a person about themselves when it comes to certain matters. The knowledge and existence of a Keeper of Time is complicated.”
“If you don’t mind me asking, do you have a name?” Hermione inquired.
“I do not mind you asking, but no, we do not have names. We existed before names,” he answered simply. “You have more questions yet.”
“Why are we here, exactly?”
The Keeper of Present time waited for a moment to answer, finishing his bite of cinnamon cake. “There are rare times when a person has a chance to change one thing in his or her life. Ronald has been given that chance.”
“How can that happen?”
“As I said, it is a rare thing. The person is brought here to our wood and our Lady Past allows him or her a chance to see how their life would be different if one thing were changed. She gives them the time they need to contemplate which action they would change. When they are ready, they are given a glimpse of what their life might be like with that one small modification.”
Hermione nodded, and he continued. “Then, he or she can decide whether or not they wish for the change to take place.”
“Do the people that come here usually wish for the change?”
“Only twice has that happened.”
It was only natural for Hermione to ask her next question. “How many people have come to the wood? Or is it hard to keep track after so long?”
He chuckled. “No, it is not difficult to keep track. Ronald Weasley is only the fifth person to be given this chance.”
“How do you decide who gets the chance to-?”
Hermione broke off when there was a rushing sound, and a flash of blue whirring past them. There was also an agonizing cry of pain from the direction Ron had gone with the Keeper of the Past. Hermione immediately stood and began running in the same direction, knowing that voice. Another rushing sound and a deep green blur dashed past her, and then it registered in her head that it must be the green of Present and the blue of Future, both able to move faster than anything she’d seen before. She envied their ability in that moment, desperate to reach Ron.
She ran blindly through the trees, whipping between branches and stumbling slightly on the uneven, grassy ground beneath her feet. When Hermione found the Keepers and Ron, Future was pressing her hand to a gash on his arm. A moment later it was healed, and Present pulled a chair out of nowhere and guided Ron to sit. Hermione rushed to his side, taking his hand earnestly.
“Are you all right? What happened?”
He was panting, but nodded to indicate that he would recover. It was the Keeper of the Future that spoke to answer Hermione’s second question, though. When she spoke, the tones were crystal clear, though it sounded as though she didn’t use her voice much. “When a person chooses to see how his life would change if one event were altered, it bears a risk. If he choses to see a moment changed that determines whether or not he lives or dies, it... Well, that is the first time it has happened, but if we hadn’t gotten here soon enough, the vision may have killed him.”
“I would advise you not to change that moment,” the Keeper of the Past said, a grim smile on her face. Hermione guessed she had endured some trauma through the vision, as well.
Ron gave a hollow laugh, and Hermione frowned at how pale he looked. “I think I’ll leave it be.”
Present and Past tended to Ron to get him back to good health, and Hermione wished to help as well, but the Keepers seemed more than able, and her curiosity needed to be quenched. She quickly trotted after Future’s retreating form.
The Keeper of the Future turned when Hermione was only a few steps away. “I don’t see everything that will happen in the future. I see glimpses of what will happen, but things change as quickly as a person’s thought changes. Each person has her own free will, and her plans and wishes can change, thus having the ability to change the images of the future that I see. For example, I saw that you wanted to ask me about my ability. However, I only said something when you ran after me and I knew it was something that was sure to happen. You could have easily not pursued the knowledge you wanted. Though, perhaps not so easily; it’s in your nature to pursue knowledge.”
Hermione decided that talking to someone who could see the future was rather unnerving.
“You should go back now. Present will take you home.”
After dinner, Ron sat again at Harry’s bedside, Hermione sitting across from him, on the other side of Harry’s bed. The events in the Timeless Wood had been very draining, and he would have to surrender to the calls of his own bed soon. He entertained the idea of letting Hermione fret endlessly, but he decided he didn’t want to be awoken later if she then finally resolved to ask him which moment from his life he had considered changing.
“Do you remember our first year?” he asked her.
“Of course,” she answered, surprised out of the battle he knew she was having in her own mind - the battle of whether or not to demand he satisfy her curiosity or mind her own business.
Ron had thought very carefully about which moment he would consider changing. There was even a moment he felt sure would have saved Harry from these past weeks in the Hospital Wing, but he knew, even without the Lady Past showing him, that anything different in that final situation would have spared Voldemort, as well.
“I said horrible things about you on Halloween that year. I wanted to take them back.”
Hermione’s brow furrowed.
“But it would have changed too many things. You wouldn’t have been in the bathroom alone during the feast. Harry and I wouldn’t have gone to find you. We wouldn’t have faced that troll and then the professors and, well, without any of it, we wouldn’t have been friends that year.” Ron paused for a moment, then continued. “Ultimately, Harry could not have stopped Voldemort that year without so many things that you and I were there to help him with. You pushing to the library so often... There’s too much that wouldn’t have happened that year without you.”
Hermione smiled. “It’s true, I suppose. Neither of you would have been able to do a thing about the Devil’s Snare if I hadn’t remembered how to counter it.”
“I chose that moment because I love you, Hermione.”
He leaned forward, and pulled her forward as well, meeting her lips in a kiss.
“And,” he added when their lips finally parted, “when I say I love you, I mean that I love you.”
“Oh, wipe that smirk off your face, Ronald.”
...
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