This follows eleven years after BoS. Carina and Hermione took in Teddy (who stays with Andromeda just about every weekend, and she babysits the others as well) and had Rigel Aries, Caelum Asterion, and Rosalind Callisto Black (because Hermione thought the tradition the Blacks had with names was fascinating and she did get the daughter named Rose she always wanted). Carina became an Unspeakable in the Travel Chamber (I made it up, it's for interdimensional travel, travel through dreams, etc) and Hermione is Minister of Magic. They are also married and have been since they were twenty-two/three.
I decided to give this a shot, not really sure where it will go. You'll have to remember here though, it's been eleven years and having children, becoming a mother, it changes someone. You may see some differences, but I'll try to keep her true enough to who she is and not just make all her problems disappear (because I feel as though what's happened to her would have fairly lasting effects that spring up occasionally). Please be sure to review and tell me what you think!
We do not grow absolutely, chronologically. We grow sometimes in one dimension, and not in another; unevenly. We grow partially. We are relative. We are mature in one realm, childish in another. The past, present, and future mingle and pull us backward, forward, or fix us in the present. We are made up of layers, cells, constellations.
—Anaïs Nin
If there was one thing twenty-eight year-old Unspeakable Carina Black knew, it was that people were not supposed to just fly through portals, much less two raven haired teenagers. When she had taken the job in the Travel Chamber at nineteen to study interdimensional travel and other dimensions in general, she had learned a lot. She had learned that if she jumped through the portal in the chamber, there was a very high chance she might not be able to make it back and would be stuck in the dimension she was in. She had learned that she may not even make it through the portal and might be torn to shreds; she had also learned about the origin of such portals.
They were hard to make. Very, extremely hard. It would take a very powerful witch or wizard (or more) to create such a portal, and few had the actual innate ability to portal jump and not be lost in any dimension they went through with no way back. No, portal jumpers could go through unharmed, bounce straight back from whence they came, and there would be no problems except for whatever havoc they had wreaked in the other dimensions. The witch or wizard creating a portal had to channel all their magical energy into it, and she was positive it would leave them in a coma for weeks after because of the extreme toll it would take on their magical core, if it did not kill them first. Some people were simply lucky enough to make it through and back to their own dimension without needing to have or be a portal jumper.
The portal in the Travel Chamber had been created many, many years ago, and Carina had...tested it, for lack of better word. She did not go through, but she did send things through, and depending on the number of things or how large they are, the portal would be affected. The more things, especially larger ones, would cause the portal to shut itself off and take weeks to regenerate, even months (that had taken some explaining to do with her partner in the department), for it was taxing on the magic of the portal. Smaller things did not affect it much.
She knew a lot of things. But, two teenagers did not just fly through portals like that, because the only real portal they could access was in the Department of Mysteries, and why would they be there in the first place, if at all?
She dove over the desk she had seated herself at to study, wand in hand in an instant, and she aimed it down at the two intruders, who were groaning and sitting up carefully.
She tensed, prepared for anything, but it struck her, then, seeing her own sixteen-year-old, scarless face staring back at her; the boy with the emerald eyes, glasses, and lightning scar beside her didn't help Carina any, either.
"Whoa!" breathed the girl, eyes—gray eyes—widening. "That's me? Bloody hell, and you thought I'd be all sweet and delicate looking!"
She stuck her tongue out at the boy next to her.
"Well, we can clearly see I was wrong," he shot back, rolling his eyes. "Instead she's tall, scarred, and terrifying!"
"I'd go with tall, dark, and extremely fit, but whatever floats your boat."
Carina kept her wand trained on them, and, noticing that they were not paying her any mind other than mindlessly ogling at her, pointedly cleared her throat.
They ignored her.
"We float in the same boat, mate. I just have different taste than someone who looks nearly exactly like my sister."
Sister? The raven haired woman inwardly winced. Merlin, I hope this isn't going the way I think it is.
Her younger counterpart, still on the floor, eyed her up and down and then turned back to the dark haired boy, who was adjusting his glasses. "True. Would it be wrong if I made a pass at myself?"
"I don't know, would it?"
"I just asked you that."
"Carina," the boy groaned, obviously exasperated. "I don't really know. That would be taking the whole love yourself thing to a completely different level, wouldn't it?"
Bloody hell, please don't tell me I fancy myself!
"Maybe," the other teen shrugged, and then stood, brushing herself off; the boy followed. She took a step closer to Carina, who gripped her wand tighter. The raven haired girl shot the woman a charming grin. "Carina Black. Pleasure to meet you, me."
Carina ignored her outstretched hand.
"Now you decide to pay attention to the witch with the wand pointed between your eyes?" she mumbled, rolling her eyes at the child.
"The stunning witch with the wand pointed between my eyes." The grin did not waver, and Carina wondered if her other self was completely off her rocker.
"Rina!" the boy screamed, covering his eyes. "You're scarring me, you nutter!"
She paid him no mind. "So, an Unspeakable, huh? How old are you?"
"Too old for you," Carina told her flatly, stowing her wand away. They were no threat, that was definitely sure. "Twenty-eight, married, and with four children."
"Well, hell," the girl sighed dramatically. "And here I thought I'd see how good a kisser I am."
"Kiss your hand," the woman waved the teen off, before groaning. "Just tell me what dimension you came in from. Tell me about it."
"And why should we?" the boy suddenly chimed in with a cheeky grin, all sense of fear seemingly gone for now. "You've done nothing for us in return."
"I haven't killed you yet, but I wouldn't test my patience," Carina smiled wryly at him. She had already been here rather late and wanted to get home, but she couldn't with these mischievous little brats having fallen out of the portal, which was now smoking; she knew it would take months, at least, for it to regenerate. "I'm not a very nice woman."
"I like the naughty ones," her counterpart flashed her another smile, wiggling her eyebrows; Carina hoped she was kidding.
Carina sighed and crossed her arms, attempting to reign in her growing irritation. It was small, but slowly building. "Your perverted preferences aside, I asked you two a question, and I expect it answered."
The boy put on an innocent face and shrugged. "I've nothing to say. I mean, I'm still not seeing any offers for the information."
The raven haired woman closed her eyes for a moment and tipped her head back, opening them to stare at the ceiling. She did not speak. She had a few clues as to who these two had been raised by and the kind of dimension they had been raised in, if their well cared for, healthy appearances and general recklessness were anything to go by. She did not know why they had come through her portal, and she wanted her answers now.
"She's not talking," she could hear the boy whisper to the girl. "What's she doing?"
"Thinking, I suppose," the girl whispered back, and then shrieked when she and the boy were suddenly strung up in the air by their ankles; Carina held no wand. Her hands were not raised; her eyebrow, however, was.
"Yes, I was certainly thinking," she told them sweetly. "Would you like to know what I was thinking about?"
"Let us down!" the boy shouted, attempting to grab for his wand, but both, his and the girl's, soared into her outstretched hand. "Oi, no fair!"
Carina ignored their protests. "I was thinking about how, since I'm married to the Minister of Magic, I could get away with murder right now. If I were to just...drop you…" Her brow shot back down, and the teens were suddenly falling, screaming; the brow rose again, and they froze in midair. "Well, your pretty little heads would splatter all over this nice, clean floor. I'd have to clean it up, but," she shrugged. "that's what magic is for. Too easy. And I do quite love watching people, especially obnoxious teenagers, fall to their deaths."
"Alright, alright!" the girl yelled, panicked. "We'll tell you anything, just let us down!"
She let them down, alright; they both plummeted again, but were stopped mere inches from the ground. The two breathed out sighs of relief, before they fell upon their heads with twin groans, both grumbling as they rolled over and got back to their feet.
Judging by the way they looked at her, however, it could be seen that she might have knocked some sense into them.
"Alright," the girl repeated, swallowing. "We were raised by my Dad and Mum, and Voldemort's been dead in our dimension for fifteen years. He's gone for good. Our best friends are my cousin Draco Black and Ron Weasley, and we're in our sixth year at Hogwarts, and we're all in Gryffindor. Draco stays with us a lot because there's nothing to do at the manor with his mum, and his dad is dead; Ron is over almost all the time, too, to escape his siblings. We both just turned sixteen. We came here because we wanted to have an adventure."
Draco a Black and a Gryffindor, Voldemort dead, my parents alive...sounds like they've had a good life, Carina thought a bit bitterly. Good for them. But I've got one thing they apparently don't, and that's Hermione. They didn't mention her. And, really, an adventure? I've had enough of that to last myself a lifetime.
"Is that all?" the boy asked hesitantly, his entire mood having shifted.
"No," Carina let out a breath, regarding them with sharp eyes. "We need something to call you both since you're obviously stuck here awhile."
"Er, she can be Rina and I can be James?"
"There's already a James here, and Rina is still too close to my name. There would only be confusion."
"He can be Evan and I can be Rose?" her counterpart suggested.
"Already a Rose here, too," the raven haired woman shook her head. "But Evan can stick for him."
"Callidora?" the newly dubbed Evan (formerly Harry Potter) tried. "It's a C name. It's even got Dora at the end, like Nymph's does." He glanced at his godsister.
"Alright," she nodded willingly. "Callidora and Evan. Close enough."
"Good," Carina finally allowed herself to nod once, and then turned on her heel and headed for the door. She stopped in the entryway and glanced back. "If you want a place to stay, I suggest you follow."
The two teens could not move fast enough.
~~~xxx~~~
When Carina entered her home, it was midnight and the moment she stepped through the door, she was accosted by three three-year-olds and an eleven-year-old, shaggy blue haired Teddy Lupin. She was quick to swing little Rosalind, or, rather, Rose, into her arms, seeing as the little brunette had reached her first. Next came Caelum, who tugged at her hand until she fell to her knees, and their brother Rigel clambered onto her lap beside his siblings, each fighting for attention. Teddy dropped to his own knees beside her and shifted so that he could sit cross-legged, yawning as he pressed into her side; she smiled at that.
He was not too shy when it came to affection like most boys his age were; he did not mind hugs and occasional kisses to the head or cheek. She was happy he had grown up so well, seeing as it had been she (with the help of Hermione) who had raised him. He called her Mom, Hermione Mum, and Carina didn't mind at all anymore; at first, she had been rather panicked, (she was only eighteen, after all) but now she was used to it and embraced it. He was hers.
She glanced up at hearing a chuckle, and saw Hermione leaning in the doorway, looking rather tired but with a fond smile on her face as she watched them; Carina felt her own lips quirk up when she heard her three youngest all yawn.
"Mumma," Rigel mumbled, pressing his cheek to her shoulder. "We waited. We go to bed now?"
This time, she actually did smile; Mumma was what Teddy had called her when he was their age. Hermione had been Mummy, until he had changed their names off as he grew. She was sure the others would do the same someday.
"Yeah, kid," she told him, brushing aside his dark hair. "You go to bed now."
"They wouldn't sleep until you came to tuck them in," Hermione remarked softly, reaching down to scoop up Caelum and Rose. "I tried everything short of slipping them a potion. They wanted you here."
Carina got to her feet, hoisting Rigel onto her hip, and slid an arm around Teddy's shoulder as he leaned tiredly against her. "There were some...complications at work." She nodded toward Evan and Callidora, who were standing in the doorway and simply staring, unsure what to make of the sight. "I'll explain after we get them all to bed. You two," she narrowed her eyes at the teens. "find the living room and go sit down, it's just over there. We'll be back in a minute."
The two nodded and hurried off, while Carina made her way up the stairs and down the hall with Hermione; Teddy was deposited in his doorway first, and he blearily bid them goodnight before heading straight for bed. Next, they found themselves in the triplets' room.
The raven haired woman gingerly lay Rigel on his bed and pulled the covers around him, seeing from the corner of her eye Hermione doing the same with Caelum and Rose, dropping kisses to their forehead. Carina watched as she moved to do the same with Rigel, and then the two quietly crept from the room, shutting the door softly behind them.
Once in the living room, they found Evan and Callidora seated on a loveseat together, looking, still, rather uneasy. It appeared that they did not know their adventure wouldn't be all fun and games.
"Alright," Hermione announced, squeezing into an armchair beside Carina. "Explain."
"I was working and about to head home when these two," Carina gestured to them. "fell out of the portal. Came flying out, actually. They're from another dimension." She, at least, was allowed to tell this story because her wife was the Minister. She did not have to tell the things she studied or found out unless in a dire situation, but this was a simple enough matter that needed said, so no harm was done at the moment. "One where Draco is a Black and their best friend, his father is dead, Ron Weasley is their other best friend, they were raised by my parents, they're all Gryffindors, and...oh, did I mention that bloody Voldemort has been dead for fifteen years?"
"Dead?" Hermione frowned. "But that can't be. Here, he came back."
"Different dimension, different details. They decided they wanted to have a little adventure, and now we're stuck with them until the portal regenerates itself."
"It could really only be you and Harry that could get into this situation, you know," the brunette glanced at her, looking almost amused.
"I realize," the raven haired woman said dryly. "I thought the same."
"I just need to say something right now," Callidora interrupted, leaning forward. "Everything where we're from is great, amazing, really. But learning about other dimensions just seemed so wicked, you know? Definitely not an opportunity we could pass up."
"So we broke into the ministry," Evan added. "That's how we're here. We found the portal and just...jumped through."
"Your family and friends will miss you," Hermione scolded them. "They're probably worried sick about you. If I know anything about Sirius Black, it's that he's most likely already tearing the place apart looking for you."
"Mum isn't here, is she?" the raven haired teen glanced back and forth between the two, suddenly seeming to realize something. "You haven't mentioned her once. And you," she leveled her gaze on Carina. "seemed a bit off when we mentioned her."
"She died two months after I was born," Carina sighed. She had never liked talking about it, much. Twenty-eight years later and it was still a sensitive subject. "I never knew her. And my—our—father was framed and thrown in Azkaban until I was thirteen. You've no idea how lucky you are, nor what you've left behind."
"We may as well make the best of it while we're here," Evan defended, pushing his glasses up his nose. "We might not have done the right thing, or the smart thing, but now that we're here there's no sense in being miserable the whole time. You know, unless you lock us in your dungeon or something."
"We don't have a dungeon," Hermione could not help, it seemed, but laugh. "And we're not going to hurt you."
"She nearly did!" he pointed an accusing finger at Carina. "She nearly dropped us on our heads and made us splatter on the floor!"
"Carina!" the brunette turned to the other woman, who shrugged and leaned back in her seat, tangling their fingers together.
"They're not dead," she dismissed, waving her free hand. "Yet."
"Carina."
"What?"
"Really?"
"If you'd have been there, you'd have found them extremely annoying as well," the raven haired woman pointed at her counterpart. "That one kept flirting with me."
Hermione groaned, dragging a hand across her face. "You know what? I'm tired. I think we should all go to bed now and discuss this more in the morning. There are two bedrooms at the end of the hall upstairs the two of you can sleep in, and there's a bathroom down here and up there as well." She paused. "What do we call you, since there are already other versions of yourselves here?"
"I'm Evan," the boy raised a hand.
"Callidora," the girl put in, copying his motion.
"Alright, now that that's settled," Hermione mumbled. "Let's get to bed, shall we?"
The teenagers went up the stairs first and found their rooms easily, and when the married couple made it to theirs, Carina immediately changed into more appropriate sleepwear. She had been in robes all day, and she wanted nothing more than to collapse into bed with her wife and get some rest.
When she turned, she found Hermione standing at the window, looking out at the field surrounding their home; Carina leaned in close to her and placed a hand on either side of the other woman's on the windowsill.
"What're we staring at?"
"I'm just thinking," Hermione did not turn, but her hands slid over so that they were pressed against Carina's. "This is exactly the sort of thing to happen to us, isn't it? It's spectacular that such a thing happened at all, true, but we always do seem to draw in trouble. When Harry finds out…"
"When everyone finds out," the raven haired woman corrected. "The other Weasleys are bound to be told, Harry and Ginny will insist. And Luna and Rolf will know, I'm sure." Rolf Scamander was Luna's husband, grandson of Newt Scamander, and he was a rather pleasant man. "After that, we'll have to figure out what to tell the press."
The brunette sighed. "Yes, I realize. It's my job to do it."
"My job, too, you know. They came out in my department. But I didn't say we had to tell them the alternate dimension story," Carina shrugged slightly. "We can just say they're relatives of yours or mine come to visit from somewhere across the country, and we're letting them stay."
"That doesn't sound like a bad plan," Hermione admitted, turning to face her. Carina looped her arms around her wife's waist. "Saying they're my relatives would be less suspicious. We can say they were homeschooled by their parents, who decided to take a vacation just the two of them or something of that sort, and we offered to take them for the summer. Does that sound alright? Believable?"
"Yes."
Hermione slumped in relief. "Good. I really didn't want to have to explain that we have an alternate Carina Black and Harry Potter from another dimension. But what about their looks?"
Carina shrugged again. "Transfiguration charms? If the other me is a metamorphmagus, she won't need to be altered, but we'll definitely have to do him."
Hermione only nodded and then yawned, detaching herself and making her way to the bed. "Come on, we've both had a long day and need some rest."
The younger witch followed along dutifully and slid beneath the covers. Two arms snaked around her waist as Hermione curled closer, and she could not help but smile.
She had never been luckier than when Hermione Granger (now Granger-Black) had decided to give her a chance. And now, they were married with children. It was definitely not a life she would have thought she'd have, but it was a good life, and she was happy, and for the longest time, there had been peace.
Until those two showed up.
But she did not dwell on the teens sleeping just down the hall, instead merely closed her eyes and allowed sleep to overtake her.
