Chapter One
Bright sunlight streamed in through the windows, waking Carina from a deep sleep. Slowly blinking her eyes open, the sight of her Hogwarts dorm room greeted her. The same deep green fur pelt blanket that had lived on her dorm room bed for seven years was pulled up to her neck.
A smile slowly made its way across her face as she sat up and looked around. Her dorm was exactly as she remembered it. Two mahogany twin beds with closed trunks at each end and a chest of drawers between. Two desks occupied the space across from the beds, with a tall bookshelf tucked into the corner. The room appeared to have been tidied recently; Daphne’s bed was impeccably made as always.
The chilly air caused goosebumps to appear on Carina’s skin as she climbed out of bed. Her silk pajamas doing nothing to protect her from the cold air, she grabbed the sweater that was folded across her desk chair and slipped it on. She had just picked up the open letter on her desk to read when the door to her dorm burst open.
“Oh good! You’re up!” Daphne said, closing the door behind her. “I was beginning to think you’d sleep all day.”
The first thing Carina noticed about Daphne was that she had on her heaviest winter cloak, not attire that would be appropriate even on the chilliest of September days. The second thing she noticed was that Daphne looked far too old to be 13.
Rushing towards the floor length mirror in their bathroom, Carina was horrified to find her 16 year old face staring back at her. An involuntary gasp escaped her lips before she could stop herself.
“I know it’s a shock but I do think it looks nice.” Daphne says encouragingly. Leaning against the bathroom door frame she meets Carina’s eyes. “But maybe next time wait until you’re sober before you agree to let Pansy cut your hair.”
Slowly Carina began to recall the events of last night. The Slytherins had thrown a party in honor of Daphne and Blaise - they had discovered they were each other’s soulmates earlier that week. After one too many firewiskey’s Carina had agreed to let Pansy cut her once waist length hair to just above her shoulders. She had rather enjoyed the shorter hairdo she had throughout her fifth year before her Aunt encouraged her to grow it out again over the summer months before sixth year. Aunt Cissa said her longer hair made her look more feminine; less threatening.
But as she stared at herself in the mirror, one horrifying thing became clear - somehow she had been transported back to the middle of her fifth year instead of the beginning of third year.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Making excuses to Daphne, Carina quickly got dressed and left her dorm, promising to meet her best friend later for their normal Sunday night library study session.
Carina forced herself to maintain her composure as she wandered through the halls of Hogwarts in search of Ginny Weasly. For while she was in a slight panic, she also knew she had a reputation as the heir to the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black to uphold. What would her classmates think if they saw her running through the halls screaming out for a Weasley of all people?
She needed to determine how long Ginny had been in this timeline, or if she made it at all. Had Ginny been able to make any progress at all, if she did in fact make it to the originally determined timeframe. Carina couldn’t figure out what in the ritual went wrong. Why had she ended up in 1995, not 1993?
“God I wish I had that bloody map right now!” Carina huffs aloud to the empty hallway. Neville had told Carina all about The Marauders’ Map and how it showed the location of everyone on the Hogwarts property. Following the Battle of Hogwarts, hidden away at a safe house she had seen Harry staring at the map for hours on end watching. She could never tell why he still studied the empty map. The ruined castle wasn’t safe for anyone any longer - Order members or Death Eaters; the wards collapsing in on each other.
She had spent the last two hours searching anywhere and everywhere she could think of - the great hall, the library, even the quidditch pitch. With great reluctance, Carina began heading up the many sets of stairs towards Gryffindor Tower. She would simply have to intimidate some first or second year into getting Ginny for her. She’d only been inside of the Gryffindor Common room once before.
At first she was in denial about the true nature of her relationship with Neville to expose the bond to the school. Later, it was too risky to let anyone find out. It seemed safer to keep their bond on a need to know basis - especially since it hadn’t been sealed until after they left school. Most of her friends only discovered her bond during the Battle of Hogwarts when she killed a pair of Death Eaters who had ganged up on Neville. The way they fought together, always protecting each other made it clear whose side she was really on. After the castle was destroyed and the Dark Lord retreated, knowing there was nothing else they could do to save Hogwarts, she and Neville made their escape with other members of The Order.
Fred and George Weasley hurrying past her on the stairs each with an arm full of greenery knocked her from her thoughts. She needed to focus on finding Ginny - she could daydream about the past (or rather the potential future) later.
Watching the Weasley twins disappear down the hall, she had an epiphany. They were carrying mistletoe. It was December 10th…December 10th 1995. Tonight was the night she would discover that Neville was her soulmate. Leaving the library she and Neville would get trapped under one of the Weasley twin’s charmed mistletoes. Tonight is when their souls, their magical cores, would bond. They didn’t share a magical core prior to today so this was the furthest back she would be able to travel using a potion tailored to his magical signature.
A flutter of butterflies took root in her stomach thinking about what would happen in just a few more hours. The first time she had been so in shock that she ran away, refusing to acknowledge Neville for weeks. She probably would’ve gone on ignoring him if he hadn’t gotten the courage to corner her into a conversation when they returned after the winter holidays.
Arriving at the portrait of The Fat Lady, Carina began to pace waiting for someone to enter or exit. Even if she did know the password, a slytherin barging in would only spell trouble. It only took a few minutes before the door swung open and Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil appeared.
“Lavender!” Carina smiled as the duo sent her a weary glance. “Parvati.”
“Carina…” Parvati greeted in return.
“Have either of you happened to see Weasley this afternoon?” Parvati and Lavender shared a questioning look before tentatively returning their gaze to Carina. “Ginny Weasley.” Carina clarified.
“I think she’s in her room studying with Hermione.” Lavender answered after a prolonged beat.
“Would one of you mind going to fetch her for me? I don’t think the rest of your house would be too pleased if I waltzed into the common room.”
“Sure…” Lavender shot Parvati a side eye before disappearing back through the door.
“So how’s your transfiguration project going?” Carina attempts to break the suffocating silence that lingers between the pair. She never got to know either of Hermione’s roommates too well previously and didn’t foresee that changing this time around.
“What project?” Parvati asks.
“I thought I heard you were doing an independent study project with Professor McGonagall.” Carina supplies. “I must be mistaken.”
The portrait swings open once more as Ginny rushes out followed by Hermione and Lavender.
“What do you want Black?” Ginny bites out. Carina carefully watches the four girls in front of her before answering.
“Apologies for only just arriving now.” Carina watches as Ginny’s eyes widen just a fraction. “Circumstances caused a rather lengthy delay.”