Book Two of the Mercury Series: Poisonous Mercury {A Harry Potter Fanfic}

Five Hour Patronus

Fayette POV

I awoke in the Gryffindor girls' dormitory by a wispy white-blue Patronus  The phoenix was perched at the end of my bed, looking like royalty as phoenixes usually do. Normally, Patronuses carry messages. This time though, the bird made a wild gesture with it's head towards the door. It wanted me to follow it.

I pushed the covers back in my bed and looked around. Everyone (Jessica, Lily, and a couple other girls who I didn't really know but I believe their names were Alice and Mary) was still blissfully asleep. What time was it? Probably really early, because Lily generally got up at six thirty.

I carefully pushed myself up from the four poster and planted my feet on the ground. The floor was freezing and I was barefoot. Not the best decision I'd ever made. I considered changing out of my night clothes, but the bird was pretty insistent on getting me out of the room as fast as possible. So, I quickly dragged my fingers through my white hair, trying to calm it and make myself presentable.

The phoenix glided out of the room through the (rather suspicious) open door. I followed, naturally. The bird lead me down the stairs, through the common room and out into the corridor. Regretfully, the floors were still cold. I felt like a criminal, walking through the halls after hours (or was it before hours? Technicalities, I suppose.). But the bird made me feel safe so that feeling was only a bit of an edge.

I paid attention to my surroundings, half expecting a teacher or Filch to pounce on me with detentions from now until summer holidays. Did I really count as a student here though? Maybe they would contact Durmstrang, though I don't know how well that would work out.

The bird and I arrived at a large gargoyle of which I remember to be Headmaster Dumbledore's office. I haven't spoken since the days I could hear but it turns out that I didn't need to utter a single word. As the two of us approached, the gargoyle spun out of the way to reveal the vaguely familiar spiral staircase that I had visited not too long ago with Remus when I had unceremoniously fell into the past.

At the oak door, I knocked thrice. I didn't hear any of the three knocks. The door opened in front of me, despite the lack of sound. I knew that it was magically opened for no one was standing there in front of me. Instead, Dumbledore sat at his magnificent desk at the back of the circular study. I loved his office, it was so strange.

Dumbledore, in all his magical glory, gestured for me to sit and I did. His phoenix Patronus swept up onto his shoulder and disappeared in a swirling cloud of wonderful. The headmaster smiled at my wide eyes and slid a piece of paper in front of me. I picked it up and held it next to the candle slowly burning in front of me so I could read it. Long, loopy handwriting decorated the parchment. I automatically wished for his writing to be mine.

Miss Grey,

Due to recent circumstances, I am requesting that you take special lessons with me on every Friday. I have informed the other professors and they will not expect you in classes anymore, unless you wish to go to them. I suggest now, though that you head to the library. I suggest looking in the Restricted Section. Madame Pince has been informed that you are allowed unlimited access to the library for your research of getting home. Good luck.

I looked up at Dumbledore and nodded twice. I folded the parchment paper and stuffed it in my pocked. I was guessing that was all that he had to say, so I turned around and walked back the way I came, only this time straight to the library. Looking back on it, I had forgotten to change out of my pajamas.

The library was silent. It actually felt normal for once, because libraries are supposed to be quiet. It gave me a small sense of security. I drifted through the ridiculously tall shelves and eventually made my way back to the Restricted Section, completely ignoring the rope that separated it from the rest of the room. The shelves back there were completely organized, but completely dusty. I'm pretty sure that the only people that have been back here in a half-century are Madame Pince and the Marauders when they need to research for their pranks.

It took me twenty minutes to find the time section and another ten to load a giant stack of books into my arms to carry them out into the main library. There were no research tables in the Restricted Section. I couldn't risk my friends finding me (they didn't know where I was from), so I found a secluded table in the corner and made sure that I was so buried in books that I wouldn't even be able to find myself.

I opened a book that was on top of the haphazard pile and began to read.

A Time Turner is a Ministry-approved device. It is shown here (picture) as a necklace with an hourglass attached. The number of times that the hourglass is turned is how many hours that the subject is pulled back in time...

Three hours carried on like this until I found something rather strange: The longest period that can be travelled back in time without serious chance of harm to the traveller or time itself is around five hours. I was about to get up from my seat and run to Dumbledore when I saw a hand wave in front of my face. It was James. He was with the other guys (Sirius, Remus, Jacob) and all of their arms were full of Leglimency books and textbooks with ears on them. We looked at one another with a high level of suspicion. We were at a standstill. What was one another doing in the library of all places?