January 7th, 2018

MACUSA; NYC

8:32 PM

"Why do we have to wear these?" James Potter looked pitifully to his mother. "They're itchy…"

"I know," She said, sighing heavily. "But I've heard you complain enough about it, and it's starting to get on my nerves."

"What exactly are we doing in the US?" Albus asked, still a bit awestruck by his surroundings. "Apart from dad being asked to make an appearance."

Ginny glanced to Harry as he nervously adjusted his glasses.

"Primarily that," Harry eventually admitted. "Although it's good for all of us to take a step back from life in the UK every once and awhile."

"Jesus Christ!" A woman in long, shimmering dark dress shrieked upon Lily Potter tripping into her and causing her to spill her wine. "Watch where you're going!"

"She's just a child –" Ginny protested as she ran towards her daughter to help her up.

"That doesn't –" The woman snapped, pulling out her wand to fix her appearance.

"Is everything alright, Dr. Quahog?"

The British Minister of Magic stepped over to her and helped her off of the floor.

"Missus Potter," Kingsley said calmly as he steadied the woman. "This is MACUSA's head of the Department Of Magical Law Enforcement. She's been in the position for…how long has it been?"

The woman pursed her scarlet lips. "Nearly five years." She turned to Ginny a tad irritably. "I graduated from Ilvermorny several years early at the age of fifteen, completed my no-maj studies, was licensed as an auror, and achieved a doctorate of psychology from a prestigious university."

"Minister," Harry said with half a smile as he caught up to his wife. "Good to see you here."

"Good to see you as well," Kingsley said, then motioning to the woman. "Caitlin, are you alright?"

She scowled. "I've been better."

"Dr. Caitlin Quahog," Kingsley said, quickly attempting to diffuse the tension as he addressed Harry. "One of the most accomplished members of her field."

Harry nodded. "And what field is that?"

She raised an eyebrow as she glanced to him. "As an auror, although I am a doctor of psychology. In the last five years since my appointment as the head of MACUSA's Department Of Magical Law Enforcement, I've caught numerous dark wizards that were killing our people, I've reduced general crime levels, I was granted an Order Of Merlin, First Class, I've survived numerous attempts on my life, I've effectively tracked every single person that we feel the need to, and that's merely the basics. What is it that you've ever accomplished, might I ask?"

An uncomfortable silence fell over them, although the music did not cease.

"I beg your pardon?" Ginny questioned, dislike rising in her. "You do know who my husband is, don't you?"

"I'm not stupid," She replied. "Allow me to rephrase. What is it that you've accomplished since…I don't know…1998?"

Harry stared at her. "Well…I…"

"Reforms in the Ministry," Ginny began. "Trials for former death eaters –"

"Relatively unnecessary," She said dismissively. "Those were show trials, and you know it."

"That's not entirely accurate –" Harry interjected.

"And…" Ginny trailed off, struggling to go on. "He was the youngest head of the auror office in Britain."

Caitlin rolled her eyes. "Undeservedly, I imagine."

"You're a bitch," James said defensively, although he paused awkwardly upon receiving dark looks from his parents. "What? She is a bitch, and she should know that she's a bitch –"

"Is something going on here?" A tall, older man stepped over towards them. "Mister Potter, so glad you could make it. I see you've met my daughter."

"President Quahog," Kingsley shook hands with the man almost affectionately. "You're looking well."

"Well, we haven't had any messes to clean up," He replied, half-jokingly. "My son-in-law was involved in quite the hassle a few years back, what with stealing Hans the Augury. Good news is that we can finally laugh about it."

"Emily can't," Caitlin informed him. "She's still quite mad at her brother. To be perfectly honest, I have to agree with her."

"I heard my name?" Emily Picquery smiled as she wrapped an arm around her wife. "Are you talking about Lucas again?"

"Your grandmother would be so proud," Caitlin said dryly. "Or, more like it, she'd be annoyed and demand to know what the hell he was thinking."

Laughter followed for a brief moment, although it was quickly replaced with more uncomfortable tension.

"So," Emily said with a smirk. "I finally get to meet Harry Potter. You really do look like a scruffy looking nerfherder."

Harry looked at her in confusion. "What's a nerfherder?"

"Star Wars," Emily told him. "You look a bit like Han Solo."

James shook his head. "Nah, dad doesn't look like Han."

"Haven't you been in power for too long?" Albus snapped, much to Ginny's chagrin. "Well?"

"He's Edward Quahog," Emily informed him. "Not Samuel Quahog. Samuel is –"

"My grandfather," Caitlin said, then sighing heavily. "Mister Potter, I hope you know that we're not consolidated power. Some families just end up…being leaders. Actually, though we're more recent, we're similar to a no-maj political dynasty – the Bush family."

"I…" Harry trailed off for a brief moment, adjusting his glasses. "I don't really keep up with American, muggle politics."

"Of course he doesn't," Caitlin muttered to her wife, then glancing at the time. "I'm going up to my office to grab a few things, and then I'm going home. I'm sick of all of this."

"Caitlin –" Emily started, all but chasing her wife into the elevator.

"Well," Harry eventually said. "I'm sorry if I offended your daughter –"

"It's not a problem," Quahog replied. "She's easily set off."

"So I noticed," Ginny said dryly. "She has quite the temper."

"She's still incredibly accomplished," Kingsley reminded her. "And she's a genius."

"An arrogant one too," Ginny added. "She rubs me the wrong way."

"That's a common thread," Quahog admitted. "When she was in school – both in our world and the no-maj one – she was constantly in trouble for being too…vocal about her opinions. Although a lot of her teachers genuinely liked her spark. A few of them told me that they were impressed by her 'ability and willingness' to challenge a culture of consensus."

Ginny snorted. "Fancy words to call her a –"

"Gin," Harry said, gently taking her hand. "It's fine."

She shook her head. "It better be."

"It is," He repeated. "Really, I can handle dealing with a woman as thorny as her. She's no worse than Umbridge was."

Ginny considered that. "Could she perhaps be worse?"

Harry laughed. "No, she's not."

"I agree with him," Kingsley interjected. "Missus Potter, I know that you're defensive, but –"

"Mom has every reason to be defensive –" James started.

"Allow me to show you around," Quahog said, motioning to Harry who hesitantly left Ginny with their children and Kingsley. "I'm sure you have quite a bit you want to know."

Dr. Caitlin Quahog angrily paced around her office, her heels menacingly clicking against the floor. "There's a part of me that wants to change right now and go home."

Emily sighed. "Sweetheart, if you want to do that, just do it. You put an undetectable extension charm on various parts of your purse and wallet for a reason. You've got your entire damn wardrobe – including shoes – in one part of it. Just do it if you're going to so we don't have to keep going through this."

She collapsed dramatically into her office chair. "I keep all of my IDs, for MACUSA and for otherwise, all of my wardrobe, and an almost offensive amount of galleons in my purse because I want to be prepared for any eventuality."

"E.g. paranoia," Emily said, and her wife scowled. "Honey, look, I understand that you're irritated but he's just a person. I don't care if you're irritated by him for some reason you can't place, you can't just go around acting like you have to fight everything. Is Harry James Potter really the hill you want to die on?"

Caitlin considered that but then shook her head. "Of course not, I just…"

"You're not weak for not fighting," Emily told her sharply. "You're simply not."

Caitlin picked up her bag and slung it over her shoulder. Locking her office quickly, she took her wife's hand.

"Let's get out the faster way," She said, a faint smirk on her lips as she squeezed her wife's hand. "Now."

She apparated quickly with her wife for outside the Woolworth Building, but where they landed was not the Woolworth Building they knew. In fact, it was not anything they knew.

"That was a successful night," Ginny said, twisting out her red hair in the sink in the bathroom of the hotel suite she, her husband, and their children were staying in for the week. "Of course, we could have done without Dr. Quahog being the greatest bitch I've ever had the misfortune of meeting."

Harry shook his head. "Gin, can you please let it go?"

"Let it go?" She raised an eyebrow. "She's –"

"Ginny," Harry said gently. "It's going to be fine. And just because I agreed to take the work here in America –"

"And you couldn't be bothered to ask me if I am okay that?" She stared at him in the mirror and then sighed, setting down her hairbrush as she turned to face him. "Harry, I love you, and I support you in this, but I'm still angry that you didn't tell me that you're going to all but abandon us for a year! I'm you're wife! Do I need to be worried?"

Harry stood up, jamming his hands into his pockets. "Of course not, Gin, and you're right that I should have told you –"

"Well, then," She said, crossing her arms. "Why didn't you run this by me tonight and accept President Quahog's offer…I don't know, the next day?"

"Because I…" Harry hesitated. "Because I was worried you wouldn't approve because I'll have to work with his daughter in MACUSA's Department of Magical Law Enforcement."

Ginny snorted. "She's not a threat to me sexually, Harry, if that was your concern. She's attractive as hell, sure, with her stupid bright green eyes, those heavy, dark rimmed glasses, that perfect hourglass figure, pale as milk and clear skin, dark, bronzy, wavy hair, those stupid side bangs, intellect, sense of style –"

"Ginny," Harry said, stepping over to her and embracing her tightly. "That was never my concern. Besides the point, she's married, as we are, and she's gay. Nothing would happen between us, and I don't want anything to happen between me and her. She's rude, aggressive, haughty, domineering, and selfish. I don't want anything to do with her beyond pure professionalism."

Ginny nodded. "Sorry, I'm probably just tired and still annoyed with what she said."

"I'm annoyed with what she said too," Harry admitted. "But it's not a big deal, not in the end."

She rested her head on his shoulder as they stepped through the door into the bedroom, but they did not step into the bedroom. Instead, they felt themselves falling to the ground and, when they managed to get up, they were on the grounds of Hogwarts – except not the Hogwarts of their time or their children's.

"Hey, I'm walkin' here!" A grease covered man shouted, angrily waving his cap at Caitlin and Emily as they scrambled off the ground and tried to take in their surroundings. "And where are you two off to? Work at the brothel?"

Caitlin straightened her back irritably, sending the man an equally angered look. "I am a doctor of psychology, highly esteemed in my field –"

"A woman with a doctorate," The man snorted. "I don't believe it. It's only 1926…what have we come to?"

"Caitlin," Emily said nervously. "Can we please –"

"What are you doing wandering the streets?" The man sneered at Emily. "Where I'm from down south, you'd be lynched –"

"And if you're not careful, you'll find yourself in prison for hate crimes and racial contempt," Caitlin snapped. "So, please, move along."

The man stared at her in shock before stepping away in both slight fear and in confusion.

"Honey," Emily whispered as she tightly embraced her wife. "I don't think we're in New York anymore."

Caitlin raised an eyebrow. "We are in New York –"

"Not the New York we know," Emily's voice remained soft. "Look around, this is not our time. It's…ninety-eight years ago."

"I know," Caitlin said, releasing her wife. "And we have to be –"

"…I am spreading the truth!" A woman shouted not too far down the street, catching the attention of both Caitlin and Emily. "…Witches live among us, and…"

"Alright…" Caitlin said, her voice shaking. "I don't think –"

"Let's go…" Emily murmured.

Caitlin took her wife's hand haughtily in hers as she reached for her wand in her purse in the other. Swiftly, she dragged her inside of the Woolworth Building which immediately transformed into MACUSA's open hall. Continuing to shuffle around her bag, she quickly pulled out her MACUSA ID and wand and her wife did the same. Still, the two women could not help but look around at everything around them. There were quite a few familiar sights and sounds, but, at the same time, so much was different and so much felt out of place. Swallowing hard as she started to contemplate the impending history. Fear spread through Dr. Caitlin Quahog faster than anyone could have expected, and Emily tried, despite never having been able to, reading her wife's mind with her legilimacy but nothing happened.

"Department of Magical Law Enforcement," Caitlin said haughtily upon her and Emily stepping into the elevator with an irritable goblin operator. "I'm the future head of the department –"

"How in hell were you born in 1984?" The goblin questioned, his brow furrowing in confusion. "That's impossible –"

"What's impossible?" A female voice asked, adjusting her pale lavender coat as she stepped into the elevator as well. "You know my department."

"Porpentina Goldstein," The goblin remarked with a smirk, thrusting Caitlin's ID back into her hands. "I thought President Picquery fired you from the investigative committee."

She narrowed her eyes. "Just take me to my department. President Picquery is free right now, and I want to discuss the terms of my firing with her."

The goblin rolled his eyes and pushed in the buttons, not saying another word.

"Tina Goldstein, auror," She said, turning to Caitlin. "Who are you?"

Caitlin smiled slightly, adjusting her glasses. "Dr. Caitlin Leanne Quahog. Regarded psychologist and auror."

"Impressive," Tina said with an equal smile, sensing that the woman was not lying although she was a bit confused and wanted some answers to questions that were beginning to rise. Turning to Emily, she hoped for the best. "And you are?"

"Emily Kira Picquery, auror," She said, passing Tina her ID. "That's genuine, and you know how to prove it."

Tina's eyes went wide upon reading the birth date. "1984?"

"That's what I said…" The goblin muttered.

"What exactly happened to you two?" Tina asked them, shakily handing Emily her ID back. "And how exactly are you going to get back to your…your own lives?"

"Well, hello there, Snivellus," A long haired boy said with a smirk as he punched a greasy boy in Slytherin robes in the arm. "You still sniffing around Lily's goods? 'Cause you know she and James have a thing for each other."

"We're seventh years," The boy replied quietly. "Can we please be more mature? The two of them can have a relationship if they want, and I'll try not to interfere. Now, please leave, Sirius."

"Not a chance, Severus," Sirius replied, and Harry tensed upon hearing his godfather talk to anyone that way; the pensive when he had been fifteen had been bad enough, but, in true person, it was worse. "Now –"

"Is something the matter?" A calm voice asked, stepping around the corner just as Harry disillusioned himself and Ginny. However, he recognized the knowing sparkle in the man's eyes behind his half-moon glasses when they met for a brief moment. "Or could the two of you return to class?"

Snape and Sirius scowled at each other before marching back off to potions with Slughorn. A long moment passed in silence before Dumbledore turned towards the wall Harry and Ginny were disillusioned against and pulled out his wand.

"Revelio," He said softly, and the illusion fell away. "I never expected this. Follow me, I have a lot of questions."

"You're…a Picquery?" President Seraphina Picquery stared at Emily as she continued to look through her things. "Specifically…my granddaughter?"

Emily swallowed hard. "Yes."

Picquery sighed heavily, pressing a hand against her forehead for a moment. "This is a disaster. The tests I've performed prove your genuine nature, and that of your wife's, but…"

"But what?" Caitlin asked. "We can't do anything, we don't know how this happened –"

"I understand that," Picquery said calmly. "I just want to make…plans in case you're forced to stay here."

Caitlin looked at her wife, eyes wide in fear.

"Sweetie," Emily said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "We'll be okay, we just have to stay out of Europe –"

"Which I would recommend regardless for most Americans," Picquery shared a knowing yet sharp glance with Tina. "As a result of the threat posed by Gellert Grindelwald."

Caitlin twisted her wedding ring around her finger. "I don't want to think too much about him. He did quite a number on my family, including torturing – to nearly the point of death – my mother's father because of his position."

"Caitlin Leanne," Emily said, wrapping an arm tightly around her wife and pulling her close. "We can't go around getting revenge in the past or changing our history or that of the no-majs. I know you want to, I know you want to prevent things, but you could destroy the entire future. Please don't do anything that we're not allowed to. Please."

Caitlin swallowed hard. "Do you honestly think that I don't know that? I have a PhD, a masters, and a bachelors –"

"How long did you spend in school?" Tina exclaimed, then awkwardly biting at her lip. "Sorry."

"I graduated Ilvermorny early and then flew through no-maj education to the post-graduate degree in psychology," Caitlin informed her, a bit of her usual arrogance rising in her voice. "And –"

"Madame Quahog," Picquery said tiredly. "I understand that you're used to being in charge, but I'm taking a serious risk placing you and your wife secretly on the investigative committee because of who you are and your credentials. Do not be testy, for all of our sakes."

The door to the office opened and quickly shut behind a well-dressed man in a suit with slicked back hair and a bit of stubble.

"Madame President," He said, and Caitlin's eyes narrowed just as Emily grabbed her arm. "There was another disturbance downtown."

Picquery glanced at Tina, Caitlin, and Emily.

"Madame Quahog, Madame…Vela," She said, a bit of trepidation in her voice and her eyes. "I will brief the two of you tomorrow, I'm sure it was a long trip from Texas. Goldstein…please leave."

The three women began to leave but Caitlin turned around to the man.

"I know who you really are," She said darkly, her eyes narrow still. "And your secret will never be truly safe."

He stared at her, an eyebrow raised though Emily read through his difficult to read mind.

"I don't know what you're talking about," He said simply. "My apologies, Madame Quahog. I'm Percival Graves, the head of –"

Caitlin clenched her fists and punched him square in the face, causing his nose to start to bleed. "You say you are." She said, then sauntering out with the other two despite the shock in the room.

"I know who you two are, but for reasons I am not proud of," Dumbledore said as he paced about his office, his firebird rubbing its beak against Harry's hand. "I used to be…very close with Gellert Grindelwald. He was a seer…and he prophesied a man with a lightning bolt scar and a wife with red hair that had defeated a great dark wizard would be sent back to see the world through a similar but different lens. He suggested something similar would happen to two women, but he had no clue who they would be. Other than both of them being related to an important, historical figure in MACUSA."

Harry looked to Ginny nervously.

"We might know who those women are," He admitted. "Although we only just met."

"That's an understatement," Ginny remarked dryly. "But, still."

"I do not know quite how to send you two back," He said, and Harry and Ginny both shared a look of deep concern. "But I hope I can figure it out. I want things to be set right."

"We do too," Ginny said. "We have lives to get back to, after all."

Dumbledore nodded. "Of course. We all do, in the end, don't we?"

"What the hell was that all about?" Tina asked Caitlin a bit incredulously as they stepped through the crowd in the cold winter air. "Assaulting Mister Graves, that is."

Caitlin sighed as she adjusted her pale pink trench coat, which covered her blouse and dress pants, her inky black boots peaking out as she walked.

"I can't tell you," She told her, and Emily nodded as she took her wife's purse onto her arm as well as her own. "Not until you figure it out yourself."

Tina raised an eyebrow. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"You know what I mean," Caitlin said, sending her a vaguely pleading look. "Please don't press the issue."

Tina hesitated but nodded. "Alright."

"Why exactly are we following this man through a crowd and bank?" Emily questioned, and Tina continued to eye the red headed man suspiciously. "Has he done something?"

"He's let lose a creature in front of no-majs," Tina said, finally getting a good angle on the man as he walked out of the alleyway. "Meet me in the alley behind and three buildings down."

Caitlin and Emily stepped into the alleyway and then apparated away, with Tina quickly grabbing the man by the arm and apparating to the same place with him.

"Who are you?" Tina questioned as she pushed him into the wall with Caitlin and Emily close by. "Who are you?"

He shifted awkwardly, setting the case down. "Newt Scamander…who are you?"