The Time-Meddlers [Harmione]

8. Catching Scabbers

"I do believe you're a bit better at dueling now than you were when we killed ourselves," commented Hermione. She and Harry were in the Room of Requirement training, and had ten minutes left before they had to leave. He was fighting three dueling dummies at once, whereas she'd only fought one just before his turn came. She knew her muscles would be sore the next morning after the workout they'd had, but realized that she needed to get herself in good shape if they were going to prevent the war with Voldemort.

He grinned as he blasted one of his opponents to bits. "It helps to have proper training facilities." He ducked at that moment, barely avoiding getting hit before using a cutting hex to decapitate the magical mannequin. By this point, he was panting and his brow was filled with sweat.

"I suppose I should be glad you haven't done that to Draco yet."

"It's no more than he deserves! Sectumsempra!" He shot his final opponent in the throat, ending the match. He turned to his girlfriend. He thought she looked cute with her awkward bushy hair and buckteeth. While there were a few attributes that he missed from her older self, he still felt very attracted to her. "So, are we clear in what we're doing about Wormtail?"

"Yes."

"Can we share a good luck kiss?"

"You are incorrigible," she stated with a grin so Harry knew she wasn't really mad. "We already discussed that. What am I going to do with you?"

"Kiss me?" he suggested.

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The happy couple left the training room at the proper time (after going back an hour), showered, and went to breakfast. After an uneventful meal sitting across from Neville, the couple went into the same room they'd used the day before, disillusioned themselves and silenced their shoes.

Holding hands, they made their way to Gryffindor Tower, with Hermione revealing herself and telling the password to the Fat Lady. The door opened and they walked in, ignoring the painting's warnings that she'd be late for class.

They climbed the stairs to the first-year Gryffindor boys' dorm, and Harry, still invisible, opened the door. Hermione had kept in the hall, in case Pettigrew managed to run out of the room. Harry had his special wand in his hand as he looked at the rat, who was currently staring at the door to see who had entered the room. He thought, "Stupefy!" and Scabbers was hit between the eyes with a red beam of light.

"I got him," Harry announced, so that Hermione would know to come in. He took off his watch and resized it to be his trunk. He then re-stupefied the rat, put him in the full body-bind, and incarcerated the traitor before locking him in a secure compartment of his trunk where he could not escape. Then he opened a different compartment and pulled out a few black cloaks, tossing one to Hermione.

As she put it on, pulling the hood over her face, she asked, "Are you ready?"

He nodded while shrinking his trunk back into a watch and putting it on his wrist. He attached his cloak as they walked down the stairs. Together, they snuck through the One-Eyed Witch passage and into Hogsmeade. They didn't bother opening the trapdoor to Honeydukes, opting to apparate straight out of the passage to their destination once they were out of Hogwarts' wards.

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They found themselves in a secluded spot in Diagon Alley, where they were not likely to be noticed. They looked around, and seeing no threats, began to make their way toward Knockturn Alley. Within ten minutes, they were inside the shop called Wendelin's Wands.

The pale, dark-haired woman behind the counter asked with her silky voice, "May I help you?"

"Yes," said Harry, using the same rough-sounding voice he'd done last time as he summoned the wand she'd made. "A few months ago, you made this wand for me."