Indistinct shadows flitted in reverse around Oleandra and Theo as time unwound itself in a blur of motion. There they stood next to the door, watching as the army of well-armed Dwarves marched backwards past them, with Draco, the Carrow twins, and Fenrir Greyback bringing up the rear— or rather, the front. On they went, retreating step by step through the Archway, which had begun to glow with blinding luminosity.
"Ouch!" Oleandra hissed.
"What's wrong?" asked Theo nervously.
It was the Time-Turner, which had somehow begun to heat up on its own. Oleandra lifted it gingerly by the chain, wincing as the metal seared her fingertips. The apparatus's once golden sheen deepened to orange, and then, slowly, it began to glow white-hot; emitting whitish fumes as it singed its way through their clothes, wherever it or its chain touched.
"What have you done!?" Theo hissed in pain. "That's not supposed to—"
The light from the Archway intensified, forcing Oleandra to shield her eyes. But when she reopened them… Theo was no longer at her side. The golden chain had snapped, and the Time-Turner was nowhere to be seen.
In Oleandra's mind, the rune shaped like an hourglass spun madly.
"Dagaz…" Oleandra murmured. "Did you protect me?"
It seemed the nearby activation of the Archway— a doorway through space-time to distant planets and other worlds— had interfered with the Time-Turner's proper functioning. As marvellous as the magical hourglass was, it didn't appear capable of affecting the timestream of far-off worlds… at least, not when activated from within Midgard.
Oleandra looked up.
Through the brilliant glare emitted by the Archway, she could just barely make out a solitary figure, which probably belonged to the Theo of the past. It seemed the Time-Turner had spat her back into the timestream moments before the Nidavellir Gateway opened.
Pressed flat against the wall, Oleandra reached discreetly across the doorway and turned the knob, taking advantage of Theo's distraction as he tried to make sense of the sudden shift in the Room of Requirement's layout and the appearance of the great stone archway. As she tiptoed out, she found herself wishing she knew the time and glanced back one last time, only for her gaze to land rather conveniently on a wall-mounted clock.
It was half past eleven— the Time-Turner's failure had robbed her of more than half of the full hour she had been supposed to gain.
Keeping in mind what Theo had said about Daphne arriving five minutes after Draco, Oleandra hurried down the corridor and descended the stairs to the sixth floor. She could already hear a multitude of footsteps echoing from above, which meant that the Death Eaters and Dwarves had already exited the Archway and made it into the castle.
Since it was still near the top of the Astronomy Tower, the sixth floor consisted only of a short, curved corridor leading to the fifth floor, where the Charms classroom was located. She slowed her pace, knowing that she risked running into the very person she was impersonating— but she was also very aware she would have to make her move, sooner or later. She couldn't remain hidden on the last steps of the stairs for much longer; an army of Dwarves would soon be descending to barricade them.
"Come on, Daphne…" Oleandra muttered under her breath, craning her neck to peer around the bend in the corridor. "Any day now…"
A few sets of footsteps echoed ahead, while a great many heavy footfalls thudded dully above. Oleandra held her breath, waiting for the perfect timing.
"Do you really reckon Snape'll try something just because Dumbledore's gone, or d'you reckon Harry's being paranoid again?" Ron's voice came up from ahead. "I suppose after last year, he'd know all about the Room of Requirement…"
"Well, if he's really up to something, then I'd like to see him try," Ginny's voice rang out. "We've almost got the entire R.C. gang spread out through the Astronomy Wing, so he's not getting past us."
The footsteps were growing closer on both sides, but there was still no sign of the inky black cloud of darkness that Oleandra had found herself in when she had first arrived. It was her only chance of making it through unseen…
POOF!
And right on cue, half of the corridor ahead suddenly turned into a dark void of nothingness, through which no light could penetrate. Daphne had made her move!
"It's an ambush!" cried Daphne, pretending as if she wasn't the culprit. "We should move back!"
"Everyone, hold hands!" came Hermione's voice. "…wait, are those footsteps? Come back, you're going the wrong way!"
Luna suddenly burst out of the darkness, but Oleandra was ready for her. Luna's eyes widened in recognition as she saw her, but Oleandra's wand was already pointed at her.
"Stupefy!"
"They're attacking!" roared Ron. "Stupefy!"
"Watch it, what if you hit one of us?" cried Daphne. "Let's retreat first!"
Oleandra dove into the dark void just as the Death Eaters and Dwarves leapt down the last steps of the stairs. She ran her hand along the wall to her left, hurrying towards the far end of the corridor— in a few seconds, her past self would emerge from an even more distant past, so she had to avoid colliding with herself.
"Come on, hurry up, they're coming from upstairs! Luna's still trapped up there!" Ron's voice rang out ahead. "Bloody hell, is that Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder? What were Fred and George thinking, selling that stuff to Malfoy and his goons!?"
Oleandra brushed against someone in the darkness as she inched forwards, but she persevered, emerging safely on the other side of the dark cloud.
Ron, Hermione, Neville, Ginny, and Astoria had retreated a safe distance away from the inky gloom, and were soon joined by Tonks and Lupin, who came running up the stairs breathlessly. But worryingly, Tracey was nowhere to be seen.
"Where are you going?" Astoria said, turning to Oleandra as she headed for the stairs. "That's the wrong way!"
"Have you seen Tracey!?" Oleandra asked urgently.
A beam of green light suddenly flew out of the dark cloud and exploded harmlessly against the wall, showering the ground with stone fragments.
"ELHAZ!!" came Oleandra's past self's voice from the darkness.
"…Oleandra…?" whispered Astoria, staring through Oleandra's chest at the dark cloud behind her.
The Glamour still held strong, but a single touch would shatter the illusion, revealing her true form.
"Astoria," Oleandra asked pleadingly. "Do you know where Tracey is?"
"You told me she didn't want to come, so I suppose she's still in bed," said Astoria, sniffing at Oleandra's clothes— and then her eyes widened in recognition. Though it was very faint, due to Oleandra's Dusk-Elven blood, Astoria could smell her missing sister's scent on her. "Oh!" she exclaimed softly. "Is that you, O—"
Oleandra slowly shook her head and pressed her index finger to her lips.