Weasley Time Tourism

20 August 2011

"Ok, George, what's so important that I had to get up on a Saturday?" I sat across from George Weasley in the back of the Diagon Alley location of Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes and took a sip of tea. "I mean, I've got to start getting ready for September, plus Melody…"

"Is extremely pregnant and cranky, I know, Hank, I was at her birthday party. Just like you, Professor Muggle…you need to drink that tea and become human. Twin girls; definitely make life interesting for you and Melody and all that. Right, but this is big. Big! This could change everything!"

I'd heard that before so I rolled my eyes. "Right. Just like the…"

George waved me off. "No, Hank, this is different; besides, I rebuilt that house. As a key investor I thought you might want to tag along on the first official trip."

Trip? What the fuck? "George, I have to be home at five because Lane's coming over for supper and the kids…"

"Yes, yes, I know, fix a wonderful meal for your Mum-in-law, right, but I can guarantee you that you'll be home in plenty of time. Time." He laughed. "Time's not a problem."

I took a look at my watch. Half eight and partly cloudy. Well, my watch face was partly cloudy, anyway, and even though I knew the watch was enchanted to just show the weather I usually thought of it as a portent of sorts. "Fine. So what's the big invention that's going to change the world this time?"

He snapped his fingers at me. "You've hit on it exactly. Time. You know about timeturners, right?"

"Yeah, sort of. Didn't Hermione use one…but I thought they were all lost in the Ministry a long time ago. You know, when Harry and everybody, in the Department of Mysteries…"

"Yes, but it's along the same principles but with a few special improvements." He took out a Quidditch Quaffle and sat it on the table. "It's not active now, but in about fifteen minutes it will be. Hank, how would you like to go back in time?"

"What?" I pushed my glasses up on to the top of my head. "George, what the fuck…"

"Time travel, Hank. Not only that, but time travel tourism." He sat back in his chair and gave me a big smile. "Think about the possibilities? Want to see the ancient Egyptian wizards build the pyramids? Done. Stop by Macchu Picchu and watch how those wizards built that place? Step right up, for a modest fee, of course."

Oh hell no. No, no, no. "Can't, George. Butterfly effect. Bradbury wrote about it, he's got a short story. You could end up changing everything!"

"Oh yes, read that. Interesting little piece of fiction. But you forget, the men in that story weren't wizards."

"What? You read a Muggle science fiction story? Who are you and what have you done to George Weasley?"

"Funny, Hank. I did some research and even the timeturner lot referenced that story. I put a few enchantments on the portkey…" He motioned towards the Quaffle "…and it's taken care of. I've already had a trip this morning. Watched Mum and Dad in their last year at Hogwarts." He shuddered. "I'll never look at Mum the same way."

"That's it exactly, George. Maybe we weren't meant to see some of those things."

"You sound like Ang. 'Oh George, you'll alter the very fabric of time and space,' blah blah blah. Come on, this is just a little trip. Thought you might want to see some things you missed out on being a giant Muggle over in America. Aren't you the least interested in seeing what your wife was like when she was younger?"

Ok, now that definitely got my interest. I put my glasses back on and rubbed my bald spot. "How far back are we talking, George? I don't want to see her when she was six or something."

"Oh no, that'd be boring. How about a nineteen-year-old Melody Bramble? A year or so out of Hogwarts and working with the Harpies, perky little…"

"George, that's my wife you're talking about." I shook my head and took a look at my watch. The face was now brilliantly sunny, so I took that as a good omen. I should have known that omens lie like a fucking rug.

-ooo-

So there I was, in Holyhead with George Weasley, though anybody who actually knows George wouldn't have been able to recognize him. He'd decided that since he was well known he would go in disguise, Polyjuiced, actually, so instead of one-eared George he was a tall, good-looking bloke about six feet tall with wavy brown hair. Popping into the year 2000 had been surprisingly easy; George had drawn some runes on the table in chalk, sat the Quaffle in the center of the drawings and when it began to glow a brilliant neon shade of purple we'd both touched it. To be honest it felt like a regular portkey, the whole being turned inside-out from your bellybutton thing, but when we landed outside of the pub both of us were only partially visible for a while. We ducked behind a building and I watched as first my arm materialized, then my feet. George's brain came through first, and it was quite disorienting to watch his body being rebuilt from the inside. Nasty, actually. I had to look away to keep from vomiting. After we'd fully formed George took out a notebook and began writing things down.

"I take it that wasn't part of your plan?"

He shook his head. "Have to adjust for multiple time-travellers. Just change a rune or two."

"Great." I pushed my glasses up on the top of my head and froze as my hand hit something I wasn't expecting: hair. "George?"

"Don't call me that, just in case. I think I'll be…Thor, that's it. Thor. Good strong name."

Even in my shocked state that made me laugh. "Thor? I'm not calling you Thor, Loki's more like it. Um, I have hair."

"Of course you do. Why Loki?"

"Norse god of mischief. Seriously, though, look." I bent my head down.

"Oh."

I snapped back up and looked at him. "That's all you can say? Oh? I don't have a bald spot anymore, Geo…Loki. What the hell just happened?"

"Looks like you turned into the younger version of you. Your little beard's gone, too."

I reached up and felt my face and, sure enough, no goatee. "Ok, this is too much. Get us out of here, George!"

He shook his head. "Loki, remember? Besides, the return portkey won't work until tomorrow morning in this timeline. Don't go spare, mate, we'll pop back in the shop as if we just blinked. Besides, we can't do anything here. We're just observers."

Just observers, can't interact with anybody…ok, that might not be too bad. "So now what?"

He smiled, and even though he looked like a movie star I could still see George's smile. "We go to the pub! I just so happen to know that the Holyhead Harpies will visit this pub to celebrate their win over the Ballycastle Bats. Melody's sure to be there eventually."

I rubbed my head and it felt weird to not feel skin. "Too bad we can't do anything because I could sure as hell use a drink."

-ooo-

Not knowing if we could walk through walls or anything we waited until someone walked into the pub and followed them in, making sure we made it through before the door closed. It was a dark, smoky pub filled with ancient wood booths and tables. The pub wasn't in full roar yet but it was obvious that the Holyhead supporters were happy, as the place was almost packed to the gills and it was noisy as hell. George, or Loki, and I stood next to the wall as far out of the way as possible. So far, so good. At least, that's what I thought until the barmaid walked over and asked us if we wanted to wait for a table or sit at the bar. As we stood there in shock I managed to mumble that we'd wait for a table so she told us it'd be a few and headed back into the throng of customers.

I elbowed George. "I thought you said we're just observers!"

He had his notebook out, flipping through a series of runes and calculations. "Can't be, worked perfectly for me earlier. Don't understand, I…oh."

"What?"

"Forgot about percentages." His voice was very quiet. "Whoops."

"Whoops?" I hit him on the arm, hard. "Whoops? That's all you're going to tell me, whoops? What the fuck…"

The barmaid appeared before us once again to tell us that our table was ready. We followed her over, sat down and I ordered an entire bottle of Old Ogden's firewhiskey. After she'd left I looked over at George. "Ok, Ge…Loki, what in the hell happened? What did you mean, percentages?"

He grimaced and rubbed the side of his head. "Oh yeah, I have an ear now. Um, you know the percentage of stock you have, right? The percentage?"

"Right, one point…no fucking way."

"Yep, afraid so. Forgot to take into account the amount of Muggle, you don't have that much magical blood, and…well, can't be helped now." He stood up quickly. "I have to go find a few things in the shops. Just stay here until I get back."

"You are not leaving me here by myself." I pulled the cork on the Old Ogden's and took a long pull straight from the bottle, causing some smoke to leak out of my nose and ears. "I'm at a pub in Wales, I have hair, it's the year 2000 and you're just going to pop into the shops for a bit? I don't think so."

"Sorry, Hank. If they've got what I need I can make the adjustments in the morning. Won't be long. Just drink up and wait for Melody and the Harpies to arrive. I'll be back in an hour or two."

Before I could complain or try to convince him he was up and out of the door, leaving me alone at my table with a full bottle of firewhiskey. I felt in my pockets and was glad to find out that I had enough Galleons to at least pay for the bottle. I knew I should have thought twice before going on a goddamned time-travelling portkey with George. Melody was going to kill me. I poured the firewhiskey in the two empty glasses on the table and drank both of them down as quickly as possible; if I was going to be here, waiting for George, then by Merlin I was going to do it up.

-ooo-

The light was entirely too bright as I opened my eyes, and I remember distinctly thinking that I'd just had the craziest dream. I pulled my arm out from under the sheets and rubbed my face, and since I didn't feel hair I realized that the shock that I didn't have a goatee was the least of my worries. It wasn't a fucking dream! Where the hell was I? I began to sit up and that was when I realized that I was naked, in bed, and I wasn't alone. Next to me was a figure mostly covered in the sheet with a pillow over her head. Funny, I thought, even going back in time this was how Melody and I got together. I leaned over and pulled the pillow away and that's when I saw it: red hair. Red hair? Melody doesn't have red hair. Oh shit. Carefully I lifted up the sheet and saw very pale skin with freckles, no Hufflepuff badger tattoo. Who the hell was I in bed with and what had happened?

My head began throbbing as I put the sheet back down, sat up against the headboard and looked around the room. It was a bedroom, but it definitely wasn't in Melody's old house. Definitely not Thorn Cottage. I looked over and saw my glasses and watch on a night stand, so I picked those up, and when I put on my watch I realized that I wasn't wearing my wedding ring. Holy fucking hell. My companion rolled over in bed and that's when I saw the things on the floor. Two pairs of crumpled up jeans. My boxer shorts. Lacy green knickers and bra. The Holyhead Harpies bag. No.

"Mmmm…my head."

I knew that voice. I definitely knew that voice. "Um…Ginny?"

Ginny Potter rolled over and gathered the sheet around her chest. "Morning. I'm going to have a bloody massive hangover. Are you any good at potions?"

I blinked several times and finally found my voice. "Uh, no. Crap."

"Me too. I'll get one of my roommates to make them." She leaned over and gave me a kiss on the cheek. "Last night wasn't too bad for an old man."

At this point my mind was just about ready to lose all functionality. I couldn't speak. Not only was I in the year 2000, my wedding ring was gone and I'd just slept with Ginny Potter. Ginny Potter. Wife of Harry Potter. The room began to spin and everything went black.

When I woke up three women were standing over me, one of them Ginny. I didn't recognize the other two initially, but once my faculties began to re-engage I realized that they were part of the Harpies Harem that I met the night I attended the red carpet event and the first night that Melody and I…Melody. What the hell was I going to tell Melody?

"Never seen a hangover like that." The woman chucked Ginny on the arm. "What'd you do to him, Weasley? Completely wear him out?"

I sat up put my head in my hands. I was going to die. If the hangover didn't kill me first, Harry would later. "Where am I?"

The two women patted Ginny on the back and told her that I was all hers and then left, leaving me sitting in bed, naked underneath the sheets which I had pulled tightly around my waist, talking to Mrs. Harry Potter. Great. Now I had to…wait, they'd called her Weasley… "Um, sorry about that. Where am I?"

"My apartment in London. Are you sure you're ok? Here, drink this." She reached over and pulled a few vials of hangover potion off of the nightstand and handed them to me.

I knew what those would do, and I sure as hell needed it, so I popped the corks and drank them down straightaway. After about ten to fifteen deep breaths I could feel things finally coming somewhat close to normal. "I'm sorry, I apologize. Firewhiskey's never bothered me like that before."

"Oh, it wasn't the firewhiskey. You really don't remember, do you?"

She sat on the bed and pulled the t-shirt over her bare legs and I looked at her eyes quickly. Eyes, eyes, focus on the eyes, Harry's wife, Ron and George's little sister…oh fuck. I swallowed hard."Nope, not a thing."

The fifteen minutes that followed were some of the most surreal minutes of my life, as Ginny explained how she and the Harpies had come into the pub, their supporters were ecstatic, and that when Ginny and some others came over to borrow the chairs from my table I hadn't really responded. That made them suspicious, and after watching me for a while one of the Harpies came over and sat with me. Apparently my American accent had gone over well and soon I had a table full of Harpies, so some things were the same, but when I asked about Melody they said she'd gone off with some of the other Harpies straight back to London after the match. That led to an elaborate series of lies on how I knew Melody, well, the story I told Ginny was a whopper anyway, but then it was a drinking contest with Gwennog Jones that got me in trouble. One of the Harpies was in her cups and complaining about her ex-boyfriend, so I went off on my ex-girlfriend Janine. Alcohol plus sympathy plus more alcohol equals waking up in Ginny Potter, er, Weasley's bed.

Luckily I was spared any further questions as my watch began to make a large amount of noise, causing Ginny to move back suddenly; smoke crept up from the watch face and from within the cloud I heard George's voice: "Leaky Cauldron as fast as you can."

"What the bloody hell was that?" Ginny had her arms crossed against her chest and a look I'd seen her give Harry many a time.

"Um, that's my friend G…Loki. I have to meet him. Sorry. How far is the Leaky?"

"About a mile or so. Why? Just Apparate."

I shook my head. "No, um, the last time I was this hungover I, uh, splinched myself. Yeah. Bad. Ow."

She gave me an odd look. "Hmm…you're not a reporter are you?"

I shook my head ever harder than before. "Nope, just a…um, writer. Novels. I want to teach Muggle Studies, though."

"Merlin." She rolled her eyes. "You sound like my dad. Ok, tell you what, give me a few minutes and I'll pop you over there, ok?"

Once she'd left the room I hurriedly got dressed and began looking around her room to see if I could find any evidence that I'd screwed up about ten different timelines. I looked over at the pictures on her dresser and was happy to see one of her and Harry. Her family was represented as well, as there were several other pictures; Arthur and Molly outside The Burrow, Ron and Fleur… I picked up the picture and watched as Ron Weasley and Fleur, well, Weasley, held hands and kissed. What the fucking hell?

"Are you about…" Ginny saw me looking at the picture. "What are you doing?"

I put the picture back quickly. "Uh, just looking. You're brother's kind of famous, um, isn't he?"

"Bloody hell, don't say that." She walked over, took the picture from me and placed it back on the dresser. "Order of Merlin and he thinks he's…never mind. And don't get me started on his bloody wife."

-ooo-

After an embarrassing goodbye with Ginny (I kissed her on the cheek, which got me a dirty look) I barreled into the Leaky, almost knocking a goblin over and spilling a wizard's drink. Luckily George was waiting for me, but instead of George he was still Loki. He grabbed my arm and pulled me over to a dark, corner booth, almost knocking the butterbeers off the table.

"Hank, what the bloody hell happened to you?"

I started tapping my foot nervously under the table. "Uh…I don't really know."

"Well, when I went back for you the pub was closed up; I'm sorry, Hank, I lost track of time. You're not going to believe what I have to tell you! Things are…"

"A lot different?" I nodded. "No shit. Um, why are you still, um, you know?" I tugged on my ear.

"I don't know. I went back to London, I caught one of the Quidditch portkeys, needed things from Diagon Alley and my shop, but when I got there…" His eyes were wide. "Hank, Fred was at the shop!"

"What?"

"I went in the shop and there he was behind the counter talking to Verity. She called him Fred, too, no mistake."

"George…you didn't talk to him, did you?"

"Of course I did! And do you know what? He blew me off, can you believe that? Said he had a date and he couldn't be late. My twin brother! Only one thing to do then, of course."

"So that's why you let me close down the pub, you were stalking your brother."

"Yes, my dead brother, mind you. How was that possible? So I disillusioned myself and followed him and you'll never believe in a million years who he had a date with?"

"Um, not Fleur."

"No, of course not, don't be daft. Hermione."

I took off my glasses. "Hermione? Hermione. Whoa."

"Yeah, and that's not all. It was a double, and Harry was there, but he wasn't with Ginny."

Oooooh shit. What was George going to do to me? "Um…" I took a drink of my butterbeer.

"Cho Chang." He bugged out his eyes. "Potter got back together with Cho. Poor Ginny. Oh, did you see her last night?"

I spit out my drink. "Um, what do you mean, did I see her last night?"

"Melody, you idiot. Was she there?"

After exhaling deeply I took another drink of butterbeer. "Um, no, Melody wasn't there."

"Hank, after seeing Fred I considered staying here. I actually did. Followed him on his date and everything. When he and Hermione started snogging, though, that's when I knew I had to leave. Then I thought about Ang and the kids, and, well…too mental here anyway. And look at me!" He motioned up and down with his hands. "I look like, well, I'm not me."

"Plus nobody recognizes you."

"Exactly! Hank, I worked long and hard to be recognized, to build up the business after Fred, and well…Ang likes the notoriety."

Right. Angelina likes it. "So, um, do you think things that happen in this time will affect our time? You know, since we're not tourists and stuff, if something happened here…"

"Oh no, not at all. Einstein and those other blokes were smart, and that Bradbury guy had a good idea, but they didn't understand magic. This is a side reality, Hank. I should have realized it when your wedding ring disappeared. Well, and the hair. You look odd, you know."

Odd? "Really, you're telling me that I look odd?"

George put some money on the table and stood up. "Come on, we need to go. The time portkey's going to be active in about a half hour or so and I left it in the shop."

As we walked towards the Diagon Alley Wheezes shop I debated whether to say anything to George. He explained what a side reality was, one of the dangers of timeturners and time manipulation magic, but I really didn't pay any attention as I was trying to decide whether or not I was going to tell him about what happened last night; would it matter when I got back to my time, would it matter to Melody? Hi honey, it was interesting, George took me to another reality where we weren't married and I slept with Ginny Potter, only she wasn't Ginny Potter she was Ginny Weasley because Harry was with Cho Chang and I have no idea where you were, but it wasn't my fault because George left me in the pub and I got drunk. Oh and Fred Weasley's alive and with Hermione and Ron married Fleur. How was your morning? I would be fucking dead, either by George or Melody. Or Ron. Definitely Ron. Harry? Merlin's socks, pants and underwear. I was glad my will was updated.

"Here we are; I think I left it next to the Peruvian Darkness Powder."

George opened the door and I followed him inside through the aisles until we had almost made it to the counter. That's when I heard her voice. She was standing next to Fred, talking to him and Ginny. My God, she was cute, even then. Her hair was long, pulled back into a ponytail and she had on a Weird Sisters t-shirt. I reached out and pulled on George's arm. "There she is."

He turned back and looked to where I motioned. "Oh yes, like I said before, perky."

I smacked him on the arm. "Shut up, you asshole. That's my wife."

"Wife!" Ginny's voice came through loud and clear.

I closed my eyes tight. "Fuck. Um, Loki, I uh, need to uhm…"

Soon Fred, Melody and Ginny were right next to us, Ginny in full blown Wrath of Weasley mode. Ginny was beyond livid. "You're bloody married? I can't believe it, you, you, fucking…"

George stepped between us and looked down at his sister, who had no idea who he was. "What's the problem?"

"Problem?" Ginny shoved George away. "The problem is that he didn't tell me that he was married before we…"

Fred clapped a hand over Ginny's mouth. "All ages establishment, my dear sister. Now, I will be more than happy to let you try out some experimental things on this bloke, but you have to keep it down, please."

Luckily Verity, the witch who seems destined to work at Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes regardless of reality, side reality or whatever, Verity walked up to Fred with a Quaffle in her hand. "Boss, some kid left this over by the Peruvian Darkness Powder. Want me to put it in Lost and Found?"

"Ah!" George reached out and grabbed the Quaffle. "Exactly what I was looking for. Thank you, Verity."

She looked at him oddly. "How did you know my name?"

Ginny pushed Verity aside. "The hell with that, I want to know about his wife!" She poked me in the chest with her wand. "Who is the poor woman married to you? She needs to know about this! Who?"

I gulped and looked over to Melody. "Um, she is, actually."

"What?" Melody's eyes went wide. "Are you mental?"

"Hank, it's time!" George stuck out the Quaffle which began to glow.

I was never so glad to touch a portkey in my life.

-ooo-

George and I sat at the little table in the back of his Diagon Alley shop. I looked down and there it was; my wedding ring. I put my hands up to my head and my bald spot was there. George looked like George and only had one ear.

"Hank…" His voice was wobbly. "Do I want to know?"

I shook my head rapidly. "No! Um, you know how I fought to not be obliviated after teaching my first year at Hogwarts? Can I change my mind? At least, for that trip?"

He nodded. "Let me check some things first."

Luckily George's normal personality was such that a series of Floo calls to Hermione asking who she was married to, another to Harry and Ginny and another to Melody was nothing out of the ordinary. Hell, once I had answered the Floo when George asked me if Muggle socks were edible or not. Apparently we were in the right timeline. I took off my glasses and put my head in my hands, and that was when I shot up out of the chair and hung in the air with my feet close the ceiling. And upside-down George pointed a wand at me. Fuck.

"Hank Boyd, did you shag my sister?"

"Maybe? I guess? I don't remember."

"Choose your next words very carefully."

"George, come on, let me down!" After a quick wand wave I fell out of the air, thankfully on the small sofa. Once I'd gathered myself I went over to George. "I was drinking firewhiskey. I got blitzed and the next thing I know I'm, well, I'm in Ginny's apartment. Her roommates made me a couple of hangover potions and I had her take me…"

He held up his hand. "Stop right there. Her roommates?"

I nodded. "Yeah, they play on the Harpies. Why?"

George's arm fell down to his side and his shoulders relaxed. "Never had any roommates. When she played for the Harpies she had her own place. Personally I think Harry was over there all the time but I can't prove anything. It was a side reality, Hank."

I laughed nervously. "Yeah, it was fucked up. I mean, Ron and Fleur…"

"What!" George began laughing. "Ok, so you're putting me on, then. You and Ginny, that I might have possibly believed if she was blitzed, but Ron and Fleur? Icklie Ronniekins and Fleur?"

"Yeah, saw a picture of the two of them." I ran a hand through my hair and was happy to not find a lot of hair. "Ok, we're in the right reality and everything, but I don't think the time tourism thing is a good idea. And I don't want these memories. What do we do?"

He looked at me for a moment and raised an eyebrow.

"George…"

"I think I have the answer. Picked it up in Argentina on a research trip. I don't know Spanish, though, so…"

I picked up an empty biscuit tin from one of the piles of things around the shop and threw it at him. "Language chews? Hello?"

"Oh, right! Give me a mo."

I went back over to the table, put on my glasses and reached for my tea, but as soon as my hand hit the teacup I sat back. The bloody cup was still hot! I took a look at my watch and it was just as George had said before, it was almost as if no time had passed. After a few sips of tea I saw George put a large book on the table, open it up and blow the dust off, causing more than a few dust motes to land right in my tea.

"Ooh, sorry Hank. Now, if this works we'll all be a bit better off. I won't wonder what it would be like if Fred was still alive, and you…" He gave me a very dirty look. "You might get to live."

I sighed. "Ok, what do I have to do, George?"

"Write." He handed me a quill. "You write down exactly what you want to forget. The book's enchanted, some sort of memory spell. More details the better, I believe. Haven't really tried it out yet."

"Great. Well fuck it, give me the ink."

He held the ink a few inches away from my hand. "Hank, seriously…did you shag my sister?"

"She has a lot of freckles." I ducked. "Seriously, George, on my honor, on the lives of my kids, I really, truly have no idea. I just saw her mostly naked. That's it. Then I freaked out." He handed me the ink. "Besides, where did you go after you stopped by the pub? You never said."

He grinned that typical, shit-eating George grin. "Let's just say that Ang finds me irresistible, no matter what I look like."

2075

Andromeda Weasley sat on the sofa in front of the fireplace in the Gryffindor common room and blew the dust off of the book, causing her cousin Melody to complain that she'd blown dust into her tea. She ignored her, moved a mass of her long, red curls over her shoulder and focused her attention on the book. It was almost too good to be true, the book; she'd found it in a secret hiding place in George Weasley's old office in the very first Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes location in Diagon Alley over Christmas Holiday, but now that she was back at Hogwarts she finally had time to actually look at it.

"Come on, Andy, what is it?"

"Bugger off, Melly. Let me read for a bit." She sighed and shook her head. "Sorry, I don't know exactly what it is, but it had to be hidden for a reason." After looking at her cousin she moved over on the sofa, making room for the two of them to fit.

The two girls began reading through the book, and after a quick translation spell they determined that it was a Book of Forgetting. Whatever was written down in the book would be wiped away from a person's memory just like it had been obliviated.

"Andy, this is dangerous! You should take it to Professor Malfoy; she'll know what to do with it. Oh, maybe it's a dark artifact, you should take it to Professor…"

"My Great-Grandfather would not have any dark artifacts hidden away in his shop, Melody. Duh." She saw the look on her younger cousin's face and rolled her eyes. "All right, all right, I'll take it to Professor Malfoy after we read through it. Satisfied?"

Once they'd gone a few pages and read about some Argentinian witch's botched spells the found a loose sheet of parchment stuck between the pages. Andy took it out, and after reversing the translation charm on the parchment she gasped. "Holy hippogriffs, Melly! This is…do you know what this is?"

"You have to tell me, I can't read it since you're holding it."

"Oh, right." Andromeda put the parchment on the book between the two of them. "These are the notes to one of George's products that he never implemented. It's for a time traveling portkey!"

"Whoa." Melody moved her strawberry blonde hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ears. "Does it say why he didn't put it in the shops?"

"Let me see…" Andy moved her finger down the parchment. "Here it is. The first attempt went ok, but the second attempt was horrible. After that he tried one more time, but when the researcher went back in time they couldn't remember a thing about what had happened. Can't make any money off of a time travelling portkey if people can't remember they went on a trip, I guess."

"So why is that in a book from Argentina?" Melody tapped the parchment. "Does the book have anything to do with the portkey?"

Andy shrugged and began flipping pages until she got to the last entry. After a quick scan she saw a name she recognized and her mouth dropped open. "No bloody way!"

-ooo-

Catherine Malfoy sat in her room reading first year History of Magic parchment, dreading the fact that she'd only started. A pile of parchment from the second year class sat staring her in the face, a testament to the fact that over Christmas she'd decided to avoid grading papers and had spent the entirety of the holiday lounging at her parents' house. Forthingsgate, despite its size and rambling nature, always felt like the coziest place in the world at Christmas. The fact that all of her sisters and their families stayed there for the first Christmas in ages had made it impossible to get anything done, and compound that by the arrival of her Aunt Minnie and Uncle Alan…well, all hopes were dashed at that point. Yes, she'd ended up talking about History of Magic with her Aunt, as her mum's twin sister taught the same subject at Pryderi, but the parchment had stayed in her bag the entire visit.

She was about to make another cup of tea when there was a knock on her door. She sat up, put the parchment down and opened the door with her wand. "Enter." Two of her students stood outside, and when Catherine saw who it was she stifled a smile. Andromeda Weasley and Melody Weasley, Gryffindor. Unsurprisingly Andromeda took the initiative.

"Professor Malfoy, sorry to interrupt, but I thought…" she looked over to Melody "…ok, Melody thought, and I agreed with her, that we needed to take this book to a Professor."

Catherine arched an eyebrow. "And where did you come across this book?"

"Um, research. Yeah. I was doing research over holiday…"

"I see." Catherine looked over to Melody. "Where'd the book come from, Melody?"

"She found it in George Weasley's office in the Diagon Alley Wheezes shop."

Andromeda elbowed Melody, causing the younger girl to rub her side.

"Enough. Bring it here, please." Catherine held out her hand and Andromeda walked forward and gave her the book. She glanced at it for a few minutes and then nodded slowly. "You did the right thing bringing it here. I'll give this to Professor Blatter tomorrow. It may not be a dark object, but it is still very dangerous if used incorrectly." She looked over to the girls. "Yes?"

"You didn't use a translation spell?" Melody looked at her History of Magic professor a bit oddly. "You can read Spanish?"

"Family history, girls. My father worked in the International Relations department at the Ministry for years. I've spent quite a lot of time in other countries, so English isn't the only language I know. Now, is there anything else?" She watched the girls look at each other and it was obvious that Andromeda was hiding something but wasn't going to say a word. "Very well. Good night, ladies."

As the girls were about to leave Melody turned back. "Professor? If there's something in the book that's written down, does that mean that it really happened?" Melody looked over Professor Malfoy's desk to the portrait behind it, the portrait that contained the sleeping form of Professor Muggle.

Andromeda shook her head and grabbed her cousin by the arm. "You don't get it, Melly; it was a side thing, not the real thing."

After that the girls hurriedly left her office, so Catherine prepared another cup of tea and sat down with the book. It was a fascinating read, so many private things from hundreds of years ago, a glimpse into Argentinian wizarding life that kept her turning pages until she found the very distinct handwriting of her Grandfather. She'd read many of his papers, had helped gather some of his writing for a book on their family for her mum, but his handwriting was the last thing she expected to see in this book, of all books. She sat the tea down on the desk and began reading. After chuckling once or twice she sat upright. "Oh. Oh my." Returning to the book she finished the entry, and then an entry by George Weasley before closing the book. She took out her quill, on a fresh sheet of parchment wrote the words 'old book a possible dark object, take to Professor Blatter' and then sat the parchment on the side of the desk.

Turning around she looked over her shoulder to see her Grandfather sleeping in his portrait. She tapped her wand on the frame and eventually he woke up and pulled his glasses from the top of his head onto the bridge of his nose.

"Ah, Kitty, how are you? How's Hogwarts today?"

Catherine smiled, as very few people called her Kitty these days. "I'm fine, Grandpa. I do have a question for you, though. Did you ever go on a trip with George Weasley, a time travelling trip?"

"What?" Hank rubbed his goatee. "A time travelling trip? That would have been great, I could have skipped a lot of unpleasantness like that asshole Flurbin. No, I don't recall that whatsoever."

Catherine smiled. "So, the idea that you would have shagged Ginny Potter before she married Harry…"

"Holy shit, Kitty! Are you kidding? Never happen in a million years. Harry would have killed me, plus all of Ginny's brothers…and your grandmum? Mel would have…let's just say there's no way you'd be here, Kitty, because she would have blasted my bits off. Where the hell did this come from?"

"Oh, you know, Grandpa, they write crazy things these days."

After a few more minutes of conversation Catherine watched her Grandfather leave his portrait to go to another location. She stuck the parchment with the note about a possible dark object to the front of the book and then flipped through the pages until she came to a blank spot. She dipped her quill into the ink and began writing.

A/N: Besides the Professor Muggle novels this story has connections with Absentiatus, Family History and Homework.