Both Harry and Hermione paused, stunned at her words. Back in sixth year? They were both even more stunned when they realized that was the truth.
Staring at each other, both of them said at the same time, "We need to talk about this."
Looking around the dark chamber, which was still only being lit by Harry's wand, he stood up and held his hand out to Hermione. "Well, let's not do it here. This isn't exactly the most comfortable place to have some headache-inducing discussions."
Grabbing her hand and helping herself up, she said, "You're right, Harry. Do you have a place in mind?"
"I don't know. Let's just get out of here first, though."
When they stepped into Myrtle's bathroom, their stomachs rumbled. He looked over to Hermione, who was avoiding his gaze and looking to the floor with embarrassment. Grinning, he grabbed her hand and led her out of the bathroom. "Well, that settles it. We'll talk about this in the kitchens. Come on."
On their way to the basement, Harry noticed the halls were empty and dark. It was clearly past curfew. How long were they out? He muttered with his wand "Tempus". 12:30. Just after midnight. They should have finished their project well after dinner, but before curfew... around 9:00 or so. They must have been out for a few hours. Another thought struck him. What if they were unconscious for more than a day? Quickly, he said "Calendata". June 19th, 1994. It was still Sunday of the Hogsmeade weekend. Harry let out a long breath in relief. They were only unconscious for a few hours. Hopefully nobody would miss them, other than their dorm mates, since it was still a weekend.
Hermione watched Harry verify the date and time. "You know, you could just combine the two with the Calentempa spell. That'll show you the date and time."
Harry looked at her and asked, "Is this another piece of that future knowledge you have?"
Hermione shook her head and smiled. "Nope, this is one I actually learned back in first year. It helps keep me organized, you know."
Harry chuckled. Of course, he thought. Typical Hermione.
When they arrived at the fruity painting in the cellars, Harry tickled the pear and made his way into the kitchens. Hermione asked, "How did you know to do that?"
Harry replied, "Freaky future knowledge." Hermione nodded, as that seemed to be a perfectly acceptable answer for their actions in the past half hour.
"Dobby! We're feeling kind of hungry, would you mind getting us some food?" With a pop, the crazy house-elf appeared in front of Harry and saluted.
"Yes, Dobby is seeing Master Harry is not being at dinner! Dobby is getting food for Master Harry and friend Herm-nee!" With another pop, he disappeared again.
"Master Harry? When did this happen?" Hermione looked at Harry inquisitively.
"Err... I don't know, honestly. I think it was probably when I freed him from Malfoy last year... but I didn't know that he made me his master."
"Harry, you've got to free him! This is slave labour, you know. Those elves work tirelessly every day and people don't even bother acknowledging them." Hermione was getting rather worked up. This was clearly something she was passionate about.
"Don't try that Spew campaign again, Hermione! You found out why they need to have masters, after all!" Harry retorted. "Besides, you know I'll treat Dobby with all the dignity and respect he deserves for all his hard work."
"Spew? What do you mean, Spew?" Hermione was taken aback, but clearly remembered something along those lines.
"S.P.E.W. You know, where you tried to free the house elves, but then they ended up refusing to clean Gryffindor tower afterwards? You tried that... next year." Harry trailed off as the conversation drifted into confusing waters once again.
"Oh, right. S.P.E.W. Well, why not? It was..." Hermione fell silent quickly as the memories came back to her. The house-elf bond, she thought. I forgot about that... they do need masters to stay alive.
Their silence was short-lived, however, as Dobby and a dozen other Hogwarts House Elves came running up to them with plates of salad, mashed potatoes, grilled chicken, ribs, pasta, and other goodies, as well as pitchers of pumpkin juice. Their hunger overrode their argument as they quickly loaded up food onto their plates and began to eat. After a few minutes, Harry spoke up first. "You know, Hermione... mm... seeing as how confusing all this is... nom nom... I think we should start at the beginning."
"Harry! Swallow you food before you talk!" scolded Hermione. "Honestly! You're as bad as Ron!"
Gulping down the mashed potatoes in his mouth, Harry grinned sheepishly. "I'm sorry, Hermione. I think it's the first time I've had as much of an appetite as him, though."
Hermione smiled as she speared another piece of chicken with her fork. "Well, let's start then. You remember the glowing runes in the chamber, right?"
Harry nodded. "Yeah, they were getting brighter and brighter. I was standing right beside you."
Hermione continued, "I remember that pretty clearly too. Then there was a flash..."
Harry interrupted, "...and that knocked us out, didn't it? It looked like it was going so well, and I thought the runework was perfectly fine..."
Hermione tilted her head and stared at him. "You were sure? You haven't even taken runes yet... oh wait, this must be the future stuff again."
"Well, at least we know it worked. I'm pretty sure we sent back memories from the future, and that's how we know all this stuff."