I don't know since how long I had been passed out. My brain was still whirling and I felt a pain in my arm. Might have hurt it when I fell. But I don't exactly know what had happened. I gradually opened my eyes and tried to get up. The darkness was still there. 

When my vision adjusted I saw that I was in some sort of a forest because there were thorny bushes all around and weird noises could be heard. Uh oh. The last thing I remember was exploring the castle with Fred and George and then I had slipped into a vault like place with a tapestry. And that freaking tapestry had sucked me inside. Weird as hell. 

This place is kind of spooky and I don't know whether I should light my wand or not. Well... I can't possibly come to a conclusion on where I am without any light so yeah I guess I'll risk it. I checked to see if my wand was intact. Good thing it hadn't broken despite the uncanny swirling and whacking. 

"Lumos," I lit up my wand. 

Looking around I could just guess that maybe this was somewhere in the Forbidden Forest. The howling sounds drew nearer and I backed off in fear. No, I don't want my weird nightmares to come true. Not at this moment. 

There was a movement in the thorny bushes in front of me and I held my wand at the ready. To be honest I was shaking but all the defensive spells that I had learnt from the twins were swirling in my mind. 

The bat bogey hex, the stupefying spell, the shield charm, the impediment jinx and goodness knows what. 

Something was surely in those bushes. And then that something stepped out. I waited. Because obviously I could not just attack someone without knowing whether it was a friend or foe. And what if that someone was none other than Fred or George? Big possibility. 

"You can put your wand down. I'm not having any intentions of hurting you," the voice was of a boy but definitely not someone I knew, "and I don't even have my wand with me at the moment so you can rule out the option of challenging me to a duel." 

Wait, what? 

The boy stepped out of the shadows. It was dark so I couldn't make out his features clearly but one thing was sure; he was wearing the school robes. Oh good, that means I'm probably near the school grounds. I wonder if that tapestry was a secret exit out of Hogwarts? Fred and George would love to hear about it then. 

He held out his hand, "come on, get up." 

I considered. I don't even know who he is, he could be an impostor for all I know. But one thing was certain, I definitely could not get up from this mess I have fallen into on my own (without any help, that is). I dubiously took his hand and he gently helped me up to my feet. 

"Thanks," I mumbled. 

He laughed silently, "oh no problem at all. Though I do wonder what a pretty little thing like you is doing out in the woods, all alone, after curfew." 

Oh that. It is a routine habit of mine but I don't think telling him that would be of any help. "I just got lost," partly that's true even. I mean I don't know how I'm gonna get to the school from here. 

He nodded, "oh I see. This is the Whomping Willow by the way. If you like I can take you back to the school." 

Uh yeah sure. He's been nice so far so I think I can trust him. I had hesitated in answering so he spoke up, "well if you are worried about any of the prefects catching us and our house points getting deducted then it's no big deal. My best friend is Head Boy here. And besides there are a lot of secret passages to the castle." 

Really? Head Boy means Percy and Percy means family. Surely my brother's best friend won't possibly be a threat. Okay so I guess I will trust him. And then I followed him as he led me through a tunnel and then we climbed out of a portrait hole right into one of the school corridors. Pretty amazing. 

Now in the light when we could see each other more clearly I saw he was wearing the Gryffindor robes. Oh good. Probably one of our house mates. He had comparatively long hair almost reaching the collar of his robes, grayish storm like eyes and all in all he was quite attractive. 

"The name's Padfoot," he introduced himself. 

Padfoot? What kind of a name is this? I do wonder that I have never seen him around despite the fact that he's in my own house. Perhaps Fred and George might know him? But then obviously if someone had the name Padfoot and was in Gryffindor then I would have seen my twin brothers teasing him day and night about his crazy name. Well but who am I to say something. It's his name and I shouldn't be the one judging him for it. 

"Oh nice, you're also a Gryffindor," he remarked seeing the color of my school robes, "but it bothers me how I don't know about you. Why haven't I seen you around?" 

I shrugged, "dunno. Same here. I don't know why I haven't met you before either." 

He led the way to the Gryffindor common room, "yeah pretty strange. Because everyone in the school knows us. I mean me and my friends. Either you're a nerdy geek or you're very unobservant. No one at Hogwarts can not happen to simply not know the Marauders." 

No, I'm not either a nerdy geek or unobservant; thank you very much. "Big mystery," I mumbled. 

Though on the way I noticed that a lot of things were not the same as I had seen last. The arrangement of portraits was changed and everything seemed a lot different from yesterday. 

We reached the Fat Lady. She was snoring as usual. 

He cleared his throat, "mind if we step in?" 

She rubbed her eyes, "at such ungodly hours! Black, you're the limit. Password?" 

Black, as in the pureblood Blacks? I don't remember having any Black in our house. 

He looked at me, "you give the password." 

Okay. I spoke, "Fairy Lights." 

He raised an eyebrow suspiciously, "that was the password a week ago." 

Nope, I remember very well, last week's password was Pumpkin Cauldrons. Let's see what the Fat Lady says then. "Wrong password!" 

What! Not possible. 

"It's Sugarplum," he replied, "a lot like you, y'know." 

Stop flirting, Padfoot. Honestly? The portrait swung open and we stepped inside. Can't believe it. The setting of the whole common room was changed. There were different posters and all the couches were placed in a different arrangement. I wonder if I had stepped into a parallel universe. 

"You still haven't told me your name, Green Eyes," his eyes were sparkling with mischief. Oh great, most probably another prankster like us. 

"My name's quite long but you can call me Kat," I replied. 

"Pleasure meeting you, Kat," he bowed slightly, "and you can call me anytime, anywhere you wish. A pleasure it would be." 

He's quite funny though. But something's fishy in here. "What's the date, Padfoot?" I asked. 

"27th of October," he replied. 

"Tell me the year," I really think that tapestry was not merely an exit out of the castle. 

He shook his head, "you remind me of Sleeping Beauty at the moment. Slept one night and lost track of the years. It's 1977 of course." 

What? 1977? Freaking Hell! That's about 15 years back from the time I live in. So does that mean that the tapestry was a time portal? 

Oh my God! 

"Hello...? Can I know why you have paled so suddenly," he waved his hand in front of me causing me to come out into the reality. 

"We have a tiny little problem here," I don't know how to explain but I'd have to tell him since there's no other choice left, "I'm not from this time period. I... I'm from the 1990s. I accidentally time traveled and I don't know how I ended up here. You people are about 15 years back from my time." 

His eyes widened but soon enough he started laughing, "oh come on, I'm sure you could think of a better excuse than that."

I frowned, "I'm not kidding. I really time traveled. It's not like I wanted to be here in the first place, and also fifteen years back from the present. Not a very pleasant situation to be in." 

He looked thoughtful, "so you're from 1992?"

I nodded.

He looked straight in my eyes as if deciding whether I was really telling the truth or just pulling his leg. But then as if he had decided, he nodded back. He looked quite pleased with himself as if he had solved the mystery, "so that is why I don't know you. The future, of course." 

But the real problem over here is that how am I supposed to go back into the time where I belong? Big question with no possible answer. 

As if he had read my expression he spoke, "come on don't be so anxious. My friend, Moony, is a total bookworm and has read a lot on different subjects. He'd know what to do in your case. Don't worry we'll help you out. But you'll have to stay the night here since Moony right now is a little busy." 

And where exactly should I stay? In the common room? I don't think so. 

He replied, "tell you what, we have an empty dorm in here. Prongs became Head Boy this year so he has a special dormitory. And because of that his own dorm has a vacancy board applied on it. You could sleep over there." 

Um, I don't know what to say. Also, did everyone in 1977 has such weird names? Prongs, Padfoot... Or maybe these are just nicknames. Whatever.

"Come on," he led me towards the boy's dorms. He seemed to be quite fond of being in charge. He opened the door of one of the dorms and ushered me in. It was a lot like the dorms I had seen but was a great deal messier. 

"Oops," he mumbled and hastily picked up the blankets and the scattered books. I know. All boys are the same in this aspect. You can take Fred, George or Ron as an example. All my brothers are like that. Except Percy that is. Thinking of my brothers, I wonder what they're doing now. If time is still passing in the future then probably they're worrying about me. 

"That's Prongs' bed. We used to share this dorm before he became Head Boy but anyways. You can have it if you're comfortable, that is. Or else I have no problem in evacuating. The common room's just as nice." 

Of course I can't kick him out of his own dorm. "No, it's okay," I replied. 

But he pushed his bed to the extreme side of the dorm and arranged the curtains so I could have my privacy. How sweet of him. He sure knows how to be gentlemanly. "Thanks Padfoot," I spoke. 

He shook his head silently smiling to himself, "oh no problem. We don't normally get a guest from the future, you know, so when we get the honor, we tend to be hospitable."

***