Hello! This is my first time posting here, though I've been posting stuff on AO3 for a year under the name TopicalAmazon. Anyway, this is a plot bunny that popped into my brain and wouldn't let go until I finished it. I originally conceived it as a one shot, but 23k words later and here we are!

*BOOM*

The ceiling is crumbling. Slowly, yes, but it's been getting more and more beat up over time. I only woke up an hour ago, and it was only that constant blasting that woke me up. I've been frozen. Not necessarily in fear, but in disbelief… I've studied the room, of course, and the ceiling. I've come to the conclusion that, wherever I am, this building is populated by muggles.

It's easy enough to tell, if you've spent enough time in medical offices. This is clearly a room meant for a… doctor, I believe they're called. A muggle healer. Some parts of it are the same, such as the table they make you sit on, but other parts are clearly suspect. The lack of quills. Instead of quills, they use those pens that muggleborns always insist are better than quills… and honestly? I can't really disagree with that. Plus the various signs, which don't mention things like "six common ways for diagnosing a malady" or "muggles: what you can catch from them and what you can't". Actually, considering the colorful nature of them, as well as the complete lack of interesting language, makes me think this place is for children.

Children, muggles… in reality, there's a much more important thing I should be thinking about. I have no idea where I am. Absolutely zero idea. Last I remember, it was late June. My father informed me that we were having a very important guest over, and that we should look our best. I figured it was just something to do with my… betrothal, or Cissy's betrothal, or some sort of work coll… haha, I can't even imagine my father working at a job. He's too busy being of the Most Noble and Ancient House of Black to actually WORK. I was looking for an outfit that was just on the cusp of presentable, and then… nothing. I must've been Stunned, or at the very least Obliviated...

If that was true, it probably wasn't for very long. I'm still in the same dress that I collapsed in, and it doesn't really have any stains, or marks, or other signifiers other than the trace amounts of debris that fell while I was sleeping. I must've been obliviated, because considering my skill, I have a hard time believing someone caught me un-

*BOOM*

Shite. This is no time for speculating, I have to escape. No matter how sturdy this building is, at some point it will fall. With this strange, curious blasting going on somewhere. I haven't the faintest idea where it's coming from, because this room has no windows. I believe it's underground, somewhere. Especially considering the staircase, which looks sturdy enough… I've just been too cautious to ascend and have it possibly come down on me, or collapse beneath my feet. Breathing in, I step forward onto the staircase.

Climbing the stairs, clutching the railing just in case… I move slowly, patiently up the narrow staircase. Though the stairs are notably free of debris, that doesn't mean it'll stay that way. Once I get up one set of stairs I speed up a little, knowing that a bomb (or whatever that weird blasting is) may come at any time… It's actually three sets of stairs before I see a door that seems to lead outside. Looking outside, it's… familiar, almost.

Wait, is this LONDON? Was there some sort of war going on, without my knowledge? I do not pay attention to the muggles and their goings on, usually, but I have a hard time considering I would miss a bloody war. I pride myself on knowledge, after all! Still, I can clearly see familiar sights. There's one of those odd, double-decker buses just outside. It's empty, and very very close to another car, but this must be London. These sights just seem so familiar...

*BOOM*

Wait. The explosion sound seemed quieter, almost… was the other side of the building being bombed? That seemed a little unrealistic, that I'd just pick the right street. Or was the building itself getting shelled? Either way, it was likely safe to leave. From this side, at least. Gingerly opening the door, I reach for my… wand…

Where is my wand!? I was mildly worried before, but now… I have no recourse against anyone I might run into! Much as I pride myself on my magic, I've hardly trained with wandless magic. I couldn't see anyone outside, but there must be someone in the city, and if they have a wand… Or they're a muggle… I might be in real danger. Plus, this was London, after all. Most populated area of the country, so there must be SOMEONE here. Wait, this is London... could I get to Diagon Alley? Get a replacement wand for the time being?

Still, without my wand, I need to be very careful. Jumping outside of the door frame, I let the iron door shut itself while I hide behind the outer doorway, looking up and down the street for people. Oddly, there was no one, but if there was bombings in the area everyone might've evacuated, or hide in their homes. Scanning again, looking for odd sights… the cars seemed different. The bus was similar enough to the ones I'd seen, and it's not like I was keeping track, but the cars were definitely different. A lot of oddly shaped… vans, I think. Though definitely modeled different, and the plates on the cars…

I only remember this because Andi asked me what the license plates signified, as her desire for information about anything Muggle lead her to ask many questions… I think it was to impress her secret boyfriend. Of course, I had no idea, so I decided to ask that horrid hag, Umbridge. No one liked her, really, but she was often the only one who knew anything about muggles in Slytherin, as her father, who was an art dealer, dealt in the muggle world often. So she was mildly popular, despite her general unpleasantness. She told me the letter on the right of the plates signified what year it was that those plates were made. A for 63', B for 64'...

So why were those letters on the left!?

Looking at the bus I was now hiding behind, I saw it started with W… and the cars I could see, they all had various letters in front as well. Nothing earlier than R, though. Shite, did that mean anything? I definitely remember her saying they were on the back, and after Andi asked me and I told her what Umbridge had said, I definitely noticed them from time to time, despite my general uninterest. My own memories told me they were on the right, and I'd noticed them enough times to trust in my memories. It's easy to Obliviate ONE memory, but not several.

I'm not sure if she was right. Umbridge had a habit of lying to make herself seem more knowledgeable than she truly was. If she was, then… there was a certain problem.

Because I can do the math.

No. Best not to think about it. That wasn't important right now. The most important thing, right now, would be to find out where I am. Which… how I am supposed to figure that out? It's not like there were maps around town that pointed out where you were in terms of the city layout. That'd be ridiculous. No, I would need to find something worthy of noting on a map, and then find one. definitely not the building I was just in; it was 2 stories above ground, and looked dour. There were plenty of important buildings in London, after all, many of them worthy to be put on… a map...

Wait, was the bombing done? I had noticed some odd irregularities about the situation. The bombing seemed to be on a timer, almost. Every two minutes or so, I'd hear a shaking of the ceiling, but I hadn't heard a single one since I went outside. Did that signify anything? Was it because the bombers had seen me leave the building? If so, what did that even MEAN?

I'd better make my way through to the other side to see the effects of the bombing, if it was truly done. So I slip back into the building I woke up in, passing by some sort of lobby to what seemed like the front entrance, through a very odd pair of doors that just opened as I got close, and… what? What the...

The other street looked perfectly fine! A bunch of cars parked oddly, most of them waiting for a street light that would never change, but nothing out of the ordinary except for the lack of people. Surely, if I felt the bombs three stories down, I would've seen something… and looking at the rest of the building, that looks fine too. Wait… if I head back in...

Looking back at the lobby, that seemed fine too. Nothing out of the ordinary. There was the customary stack of magazines that, strangely, was something very similar to our world. What were the bombs? Were the bombs just noise? No, I felt them. And as soon as I left… they stopped, and they seem to have permanently stopped.

That made me even more worried. Was I being stalked by someone? Not a muggle, like I thought, but a witch or wizard? That bomb blast I kept hearing COULD'VE been a blasting curse; though they usually don't sound like that, I could see someone figuring out how to change the sound of the blast. Though that only brought more questions. I didn't see any muggles outside. I actually didn't see ANYONE outside. Nor were there any in this buildin... well, now that I think about it, I haven't checked yet. There may be people on the upper two floors.

Heading back to the stairwell, I call out loudly, "Hello? Can anyone hear me?"

After a brief second, I actually hear someone. Someone I know very well…

"Bella!? It's Cissy! Help!" The familiar whining tone of my sister kicks my legs into overdrive as I take the stairs three at a time, almost tripping on my robes in the process. Cissy was here!?

"Are you on the second or third floor!?" I ask loudly once I get to the second floor, and I hear her voice call out again above me. Third, right. Taking my robes in my hands, I ascend the last of the staircase and I burst through one of the doors, finding Narcissa… looking just as I'd last seen her, but infinitely more worried and confused. I rush over to her, holding out my arms, and she does the same. We embrace, and I feel… relieved, almost. This situation is still extremely worrying, and really, MORE worrying knowing that Narcissa is here, but somehow… it makes me feel a little better.

"Bella. Do you know where we are?" She whispers into my shoulder, fearfully, and I sigh. She really shouldn't be acting like this, she's 14… but it's not like I stepped into action right away, so I can give her some leeway.

"I think we're somewhere in London. I don't know where…" I glance outside the window behind her shoulder, to see if I can see any noticeable buildings from the third floor, but unfortunately it seems to be broken, and a cursory examination of the window reveals that I can't push it up.

"Oh. You don't have a wand either, right?" She asks slowly, and I can tell she's beginning to calm down. I let her go gently and shake my head. She frowns as well, and without a word goes to search a nearby desk. This seems to be a healer's office as well, though it's in pretty rough shape.

"Have you been searching in here already?" I ask, and she nods slightly. Oddly, I want to laugh. She's always been messy, and it's honestly been a secret dream of mine for Kreacher to finally be brave and tell her off for leaving so much stuff everywhere. Not that he would, because he's, you know, a House Elf, but the look on his face while he sees what she's done is pretty hilarious too.

"I haven't found much, just some… vague scribblings. I think they look like notes, but whoever wrote them can't actually write. This thing is pretty odd, though. Right?" She points towards the box with a screen that almost looks like one of those… TV's muggles use. If I knew how to turn it on, it might be useful to us, but alas.

"This whole situation is really odd. I've looked down both streets and I didn't see a single person, muggle or otherwise. I thought, originally, there was a war going on outside, but it was very clear. So I originally thought it was some sort of blasting curse, but… it doesn't really make sense if you haven't seen anyone else either."

"Oh, yeah, that weird boom sound." She nods, "I heard it coming from downstairs."

"Downstairs?" Maybe we should comb through this building thoroughly. If we both woke up here, surely there was something important of this place. Before I could suggest it, however, Narcissa ducks quickly, grabbing the edge of my robes. Backing away slightly, "What do you mean to do, Cissy?"

"Oh, I just wanted to check to see if you had a tattoo." She says, slightly oddly before stands and pulls up her own robe and I see… an odd tattoo. It was black, and very severe. Compared to my sister's usual perfect skin, it was more than a little off putting. Not to mention the content; all it was, was a fraction. 115/120, in roman numerals. I know my sister well enough to know that she would never get a tattoo at all without my parents permission. I also know my parents well enough to know they would never permit her to get a tattoo. Ruin their darling, precious, perfect daughter's perfect skin? Why, how obscene! How… very muggle!

"Check, Bella!" She urges, and I pull up my robe as well. She gasps, and I look down to see it as well. Mine looks very similar to hers, but… the writing is a little smaller. Well, considering what it says, that can't really be helped.

Hard to fit 899995/900000 around my calf muscle… What in Merlin's court is going on...

"Why is your number so much larger?" She asks, examining it thoroughly. She tries scratching it, and I just feel her nail scratch my skin.

"I guess only Merlin knows that one…" I murmur, slightly worried. Shaking it off, "We should check the other floors. I might've missed something."

Well, the second floor was full of nothing in particular. Just piles of boxes. Another sweep through the lobby area on the first floor hit nothing as well, though Narcissa was quite intrigued by the wheelchair that was there. Pulling her away, I tell her to check the first basement floor, while I checked the second. Climbing down the stairs simply, I open the door wide open, assuming there was nothing in there.

"Took you long enough, Bellatrix." A feminine voice grumbles, and I instantly jump back a little. I don't know this…

…

Amazing picture of feminine beauty… Her curly, brown hair is expertly cared for, her brilliant eyes shaped in a suspicious glare. Her gorgeous lips, shaped in a frown that is surely hiding her best qualities… Merlin's beard, how much I want to turn that face smiling. She's not wearing any makeup, but her perfect skin doesn't need any.

And her body… hidden by robes and a long sleeve shirt underneath, but over the years, I've gotten good at determining how delectable my prey is, even under those frumpy robes… She's clearly fit, shaped like a dream...

"Er… Bellatrix?" The beautiful woman asks and I tear my eyes away from her shapely legs, "What… what were you doing?"

"I was… making sure you were… you had… I was checking to see if you had a wand. I'm not carrying one, after all.." I say with false bravado, and I can't help but be proud of my quick thinking.

"You mean the wand I was clearly holding in my right hand?" She waves it around, and… yep. She was already holding a wand. Merlin...

"Er… Well, you know… checking for… a second one?" I say weakly, and she just gives me an odd sort of look. Surprised, and also suspicious.

"Were you… No, that's ridiculous. You wouldn't… would you?" She pinches the bridge of her nose with her wandless hand, "You weren't checking me out, right? Like, that's silly, right?"

"Of… course… that's... silly." Unfortunately, the veins underneath my face betray my true feelings.

"So… so you were. Checking me out. Wow… you were checking me out. That's… more than a little insane."

"Er… sorry. I'm very much aware that I despise men checking me out, and yet I do the same to women I... er, fancy, and I know my attentions can be… unwanted. So please believe me when I say I deeply apologize." At that, I incline my head, but she just snorts.

"That's definitely not the issue. That is… SO not the issue. Merlin..." She just shakes her head, with a wry smile, "Bellatrix, are you a lesbian?"

"What's that?" Is that a muggle term?

"...right, Wizarding World. A woman who is exclusively attracted to, or exclusively has sex with, other women." She recites, almost out of a dictionary, and I cringe… cringe at how accurate it sounds.

"Well… I am being married at the end of this… well, I was to be married at the end of 1969." I say, "So, I suppose I can't really say that." Much as I wish that weren't the case… Fucking arranged marriages.

"Hmm. Was to be married? What do you mean by that?"

"Well, from what I can tell, we're in the future. How far, I'm not sure, but this building is definitely not from my time. We spent a bit of time looking at the upper floors, and there were some odd looking contraptions."

"Hmm. Close enough to the truth." She says with an approving nod, "Wait, did you say we? Is there… someone else here?"

Leaning out of the door, I yell for Cissy. Once I hear her stomping her way down, I turn back to this strange, beautiful witch… to find her face contorted in anger. Why? Was she… hoping it would just be the two of us?

Merlin this is so not the time to be thinking that sort of thing...

"NARCISSA is here?" She's more than angry, she's LIVID. Something odd is going on here. Why does she look like she's about to exude steam out her ears? Was she just expecting me? Actually, hold on. There's something else that seems strange...

"Why do you know our names?" I admit to being caught off guard by an… extremely pretty face, but this strange witch was, in all actuality, severely suspicious. Even more suspicious than the lack of people besides us three. I didn't know her, and I doubt Cissy knew her either. Not to mention she was clearly older than the two of us; in her mid twenties, maybe. She also had a wand, and both of us were without. She could demand us to do anything we wanted, and it'd be hard to battle a witch without a wand. Especially considering neither of us are very… in shape.

She breathes out slowly before saying, "That's a very, very long story I'd rather not tell twice, if you don't mind." I shrug in response, and her response was a little relieving. Obviously she could be preparing to tell a lie, but at least she was preparing to tell us something. We could figure out if it was a lie once we got together, but at least this strange witch wasn't preparing to kill the two of us.

Well, hopefully.

"Bella?" Cissy enters the door and tilts her head towards the strange interloper, "Um, who are you?"

"That's right… You don't know me." She says slowly, staring at Narcissa with a considering look in her eye, but she holds out her hand anyway, "Hermione Granger."

"Oh, my name is Narcissa Black." They shake easily, and it comes to mind that I haven't even formally introduced myself. Even if she knows my name, it's still polite, right?

"Bellatrix Black." I offer her my hand and she grabs it, though not as easily as she grabs Narcissa. Once we touched, however, the warmness of her skin sent me into a shiver… She noticed it as well, though it didn't seem to affect her. She merely closed her eyes and looked towards the sky.

"Narcissa… and Bellatrix, actually. How old are you two?" She knew our names but not our ages?

"I'm 18, and Cissy is 14." At that, Hermione sighed deeply.

"Merlin. Okay. Okay. Let me think…" She starts pacing in this small little room, seemingly deep in thought, "Maybe it would be best if you ask what you want to ask, and then I can extrapolate from there. I know everyth- nearly everything about the current situation, but I'm honestly finding it hard to explain. I guess it'd be like… trying to rationalize and explain the galleon-sickle-knut system to a little muggle child. Not that I think of you two as children, of course!" She reassures, "But honestly, I'd be hard pressed to explain this situation to anyone, even if they WERE magical."

Hmm. Well, at least she's not doubting my intelligence.

"What date is this?" I ask, though it's hardly the most important question I have. I want to make sure Cissy keeps up, and considering I didn't tell her about my license plate thing, she needs to be on the same page.

"2001. I'd tell you the specific date, but that's… irrelevant." Interesting choice of words.

"Oh! That's why… okay. That would explain that weird device we found on the second floor." Narcissa looks surprised for a brief second, but she gets it now.

"Oh, I believe that would be a computer." She brightens for a quick second, almost as though she wants to explain what those are, but slumps, "Honestly, I'd love to explain what it is and how it works, but that would take… approximately way too long."

"We're not stupid." I argue, but she shakes her head.

"You don't need to get indignant. I would simply have trouble explaining it, mostly because I actually know very little about HOW it works, and I doubt my explanation would be good enough."

"Fine." Really, not important, "Where is everyone else?"

"...Not here." She answers with a petulant smile, and I grit my teeth.

"I can see that, you… Mud-ggleborn." Clearly this woman is a... muggleborn. I've never heard of the surname Granger before, and she at least knows about muggle contraptions. Good thing I stopped myself from saying she was a mudblood, because aggravating the only person in our little group with a wand sounds like an easy way to get yourself hexed.

Oddly, though, she looks pleased, "At least you aren't completely different…"

"Seriously. Where is everyone else?" I press, and she just sighs.

"There should be… well, as far as I knew, there were 14 people, including me." She says, oddly carefully, "But I didn't know Narcissa was here, so I have no idea. More than 14, that's all I know."

"Where is 'here'?" I ask, hoping she would be a little more forthcoming.

"Well, not 'there'. That's for sure." She grins cheekily, and Merlin I would love to have my wand right now, so I could…

…

Hit her with a truth spell. Nothing else. I certainly didn't want to… punish her, for her cheekiness…

"Why aren't you telling us where we are?" Narcissa looks incensed, "Surely we need all the information we can get."

"...You're right. I can tell you something, at least." She moves over to a nearby countertop and retrieves a pen and some blank paper from a nearby cabinet. She hunches over and starts writing something. Staring at the odd, muggleborn witch, I examine her robes. They were of fine make, though not nearly as fine as how we were clothed. Not to mention the slightly different cut, most likely the result of 40 years of, well, the style changing. She was even wearing muggle trainers, and they were oddly colorful. They were also in a far different style-

"Um… Bella." Narcissa's voice interrupts my introspection, and I can see she's moved within arm's length of me "Are you staring at her butt?" She whispers.

…

"I was merely studying her… strange style of clothing." I say quietly, and Narcissa gives me one of those looks that she no doubt inherited from our mother. The one that she always uses when I try to get out of those stuffy balls I was always being forced to attend with horrid lies that would never work.

"Mmhm."

I don't think I could be less convincing if I tried. Merlin, what was it about this witch that enchanted me? Even after correctly assuming her status as a… muggleborn, I was still attracted to her. I've had those crushes before, but if they were of 'impure' blood, I usually just… ignored them. Publicly, at least. It wasn't ever worth the trouble. Of course… since they were in the future… Maybe our world...

"Here." Hermione pushes a paper into my hands, interrupting my thoughts, and I stare. It seems to be an approximation of a map, and it's definitely environs I've seen before. Across the Themes was the magical capital of the city! Oddly, she only drew the parts of the city that were within the Inner Ring Road. If her map was correct, and I had no reason to doubt her (about this, at least, because it would be a silly thing to lie about), they were only a 30 minute walk to Diagon Alley or the Ministry.

"Okay, okay." Narcissa nods, and I notice her looking around my shoulder, "You said there were supposed to be 14 people here… but not me. What does that mean?"

"...Not answering that." At my disbelieving look, she bites back, "We don't have time to answer 20 questions! We can talk more once we get across the Themes."

"Where are we going?" Narcissa asks, slightly sulkily.

"Across the Themes!" Hermione answers cheerfully, and at Cissy's angry glare she amends, "Honestly, I'm not sure of that myself. I've done some cursory investigation, on this side of the river, and everything seems normal. I don't think that'll quite be the case for the other side, however, and I wanted to wait for you to wake up, Bellatrix."

"Wait, you were awake before us? Wait a tick. You were the one casting the blasting curse... Why the fuck were you casting a blasting curse above my floor? Surely there were other ways to wake me up."

She only gives me that cheeky grin and I can't help but turn away.

...

In annoyance.