Adelaide Snape's Universe
"I told you," Alexia scowled and leaned back in her chair. Avery was sitting across from her, also clearly annoyed. "All I know is that when I said it, I understood the intent. Something is happening. There's a reason we're jumping around and I think it's to find one of us in particular. It could be me, it could be Mia, we don't fucking know, so leave me alone before I fucking hex you."
"So I take it you need a break," Gideon commented as he entered the room. When Alexia spotted him, she breathed out in relief.
"You I like. I'm friends with you. No matter what this alternate Avery did for me, I know what they're capable of."
"Adelaide gets cranky when she needs to eat," Gideon told her in place of replying to her words. "When was the last time you ate?"
Alexia scoffed. "Well, we didn't eat in the last universe we were in for about ten hours and before that, it had been about six because we were at Black Manor for so long mingling and shit."
"So you're saying you need to eat?"
"...maybe."
"How about we go out? We can hand this stuff over to Bill and get back to it when we get back, yeah?"
Alexia sighed and got to her feet. "Yeah, okay. Thanks."
He nodded and waved her out of the room and then to the floo. In seconds, they were in Diagon Alley, where he led her through the shops to a small cafe near Gringott's. Once they were seated, he leaned back and looked at her. "Stressed, Pip?"
Alexia nodded shortly. She was uncomfortable in that universe. She felt something was just wrong, but she couldn't tell what exactly. With how many different versions of Harry around, plus two versions of Sirius and Fabian, she'd had difficulties telling which familial or even soul bonds weren't actually hers. It left her feeling off and just confused. "I want to get back home. I'm worried about Regulus. He isn't here. He could be anywhere."
"Regulus is tough," he assured her. "In any universe, I think. We'll get you back to him."
"It's not just him," she said tiredly, nodding in thanks when their tea arrived. "It hurts being away from my twin bond with Jamie. It wasn't so bad before because there were so many versions of Harry trying to uphold it despite not even knowing, but now… I miss my brother, you know?"
"I do," Gideon agreed with a sigh. "My twin bond is fucked too. Tell me about the runes."
"They don't make sense until they're said aloud," she began, more than willing to mull the situation over again. "And speaking them triggers this- this curse, or whatever it is. As I spoke them, I got it, but it wasn't like words. It was… intent, I think. When I read them, it felt like they were trying to thin the crowd, find someone, which suggests that the intent may have changed since we were all taken to that other universe. It's like these runes are alive, or somehow connected to something capable of complicated thought process."
"That's interesting," Gideon hummed. "Sounds a bit like an imbued object."
"A what?"
"Imbued objects are extremely powerful and dangerous," he began. "They're basically hyper haunted objects that don't really really on the known laws of magic to get things done. Like this, for instance. We don't know of any way to travel between universes, yet it's happened."
"How do you know about that?" Alexia asked in surprise as she considered it. "I've never heard of them before."
"Oh, they're more common in America," he admitted. "But they're known to pop up. They covered them a bit in our Auror training for dangerous magical objects. I'd bet Bill would know more about it than I do."
"That's great!" Alexia perked up. "We should go talk to him!"
OoOoOoOoOoOo
Amelia Black's Universe
Regulus rubbed his temples, his eyes closed and head resting on the back of his chair. "You aren't listening to me. I don't care how much it costs or where you have to go to get it. I need the potion, Mundungus. You can either get it for me or I'll supply Amelia Bones with enough memories to have you sent to Azkaban for the rest of your life."
Mundungus's eyes widened dramatically. "It'll be a few hours. I have to travel to Germany, you see, and-,"
"Get it to me in one hour," Regulus snapped. Before the squirrely man could argue, he put his hand up. "What are you waiting for? Go."
As Mundungus rushed out of the room, Regulus dropped his head into his hands and sighed. The potions that he'd been tasked with getting were made on a case by case basis, which meant that they'd need to steal them from people if they cared to get them in time. Regulus didn't exactly have a problem with that, per se. His problem was that his niece still had not been brought back. Harry too, he supposed. And Draco.
"I haven't seen Dung that nervous since we threatened him after he stole Kreacher's shit," Mia commented from the door. Regulus looked up at her in surprise and watched as she frowned at him in concern. "You're getting a headache, huh?"
Regulus frowned when he realized that she was right. "How'd you know?"
"It's always the same face," she shrugged. "And you only hold yourself like you've got the literal weight on your shoulders when you're getting a headache. Or my Regulus, I suppose."
"I'm worried."
"She seems strong," Mia shrugged. "I'm sure she'll be fine."
"Just because she is strong does not mean I wish her to be in danger."
"Trust me, I don't think any version of you would want any version of me in danger," she assured him. "But something that my Regulus is learning is that danger is just a part of my life, one way or another, and I think that may be true for Amelia. Has she been in danger much before?"
"From other students," he offered. "We keep her out of trouble most often."
"She's lucky," Mia hummed softly. She walked over and took a seat in front of him and he observed the way her shaking had worsened and how often she winced in pain. "I turned eleven and that was it - I was in danger every year. I was pretty pissed to be a Light Lady. Avery suggested it, you know, and I threw a bit of a fit to your alternate self. He's extremely patient with me."
"How old are you?" he asked curiously.
"Twenty," she shrugged. "Why?"
"So for the past nine years, you've been in constant danger without a break?"
"Uh… sort of," she frowned. "I got a bit of a break at first when I went to the past because no one really knew me, but after the whole Dolohov thing, that got fucked pretty quick."
"Dolohov," he repeated. "He's dead here. Lily killed him during the war."
Mia's lips twitched happily. "Lily is honestly, truthfully, one of my favorite people in any and every universe."
"What happened with him? Dolohov."
"I don't think you really want to know, if we're being honest."
"What if Amelia is in your universe? How much danger is she in?"
Mia shifted uncomfortably. He had a point. While she hadn't gotten into deep specifics with the large group, she trusted Regulus and felt safe telling him alone. "It started because he slapped my arse. I slapped him and ran away. After that, I found him and Rabastan cornering Mary Macdonald in the library and stunned and hexed them both. Later on, they cornered me and Dolohov hit me with a pretty bad Sectumsempra."
"That could've killed you," Regulus breathed. Mia winced.
"That was his goal, yep. Let's see… Reg found me and luckily, Severus was there and he managed to save me. I think after that was the ball, where he sort of just bruised my hips and threatened me. He tortured me a little bit, too, but Gibbon saved me from that, which was nice because his Crucio is worse than Bellatrix- anyway, Voldemort got wind of a Light Lady to oppose him and then heard about me and had me taken from a raid that I sort of stumbled upon after Reg and I fought. Dolohov took me, Voldemort went through my head after days of torture and general fuckery. Then he told Dolohov to do whatever he wanted and to kill me by the end of the night. So, he did."
"Days of torture," Regulus repeated softly. "You died?"
Mia nodded quietly and lifted her shirt enough to show him the horrifying scar on her stomach. After that, she removed the glamour on her neck and let him glance at the bite mark. "I saw him during the final battle. He tortured me, hit me with Sectumsempra again - which, by the way, is how he killed me - and bit me. He escaped the battle and we don't know where he is."
"So if Amelia is in your universe-,"
"If she is and she, for whatever reason, decides to leave places that we know are safe, she could possibly be in danger. Dolohov knows that Sirius can bring me back to life - it was some dark magic, okay? - and because of that, he won't hesitate to kill me."
"We have to work harder," he demanded. "We have to get her back… why didn't they catch him? Why didn't they find him?"
Mia made a face at him, annoyed. "Originally? Severus found me and I had to take out a mental barrier so that he'd remember me and know to help me. He was far too disoriented to kill or arrest him. Aside from that, I was literally dying. Again. After Harry fought Voldemort? We were counting the dead and tending to wounds. After I killed Voldemort? Because Regulus and I were fucking dying, all of my Death Eaters were in a fuck ton of pain from my mark burning them as I died. We were a bit busy that day."
"I'm sorry," he sighed, rubbing his face. "I have never been so worried about her before."
"You guys are close?" Mia wondered. Regulus nodded.
"When Marlene died and Sirius begged me to help him out, I was… tired. Angry. I'd spent far too long around Horcruxes trying to destroy them, and it had messed me up."
"I get that," Mia assured him. "I did, too."
"Amelia was just… so bright compared to everything else. I've done everything I possibly can to make her happy and safe. If I'm being honest, without her, I don't think I'd even be in contact with Sirius or anyone else."
"Well, we just have to hope that she's smart enough not to go anywhere public in whatever universe she's in," Mia shrugged. "And I'm sure she is. It'll be okay."
Regulus nodded quietly and straightened. "Your potions should be here within an hour. Until then, I think we should go do more research."
"Let's go."
OoOoOoOoOoOo
Alexia Potter's Universe
1976
When Adelaide got back to Potter Manor an hour later, she was clearly frustrated. She said nothing to anyone there and instead grabbed some parchment and a quill and began writing furiously.
"Uh… what're you doing?" Sirius asked her nervously.
"Alphard can't help me," she muttered, mostly for Avery, who she'd sat next to. "He needs more specifics. He doesn't want to risk those jumps again. If we try it and I jump too far-,"
"It could be dangerous," Avery agreed. "We don't want to spend months here. What are you doing?"
"I'm trying to remember everything we did to it to get it to work. At the very least, we can make yours," she assured him quietly. "You'll get to the future just fine. Worst case, I spend a bit longer here than I expected."
"Addy, no," he disagreed sharply. "You can't."
"Safer here than our universe," she muttered. "Less of a chance of jumping to the common room and having Dolohov Imperius me into kissing him."
"Fucking- he did that?" Sirius asked. Adelaide glanced at him. She'd almost forgotten he was there.
"He did a lot."
"You were using it as a portkey, too," Avery reminded her. "You don't have to do that."
"I do, actually," she shrugged tiredly and set her quill down. "The reason I was gone for so long that first time was because the sands of time got ahold of my core, which is sort of made of sands, and so it just… launched me further ahead. The portkey kept it away from my magic."
"How long were you gone?" James asked. He'd been sitting quietly across from Sirius, who was on Adelaide's right side. "And why?"
"Um," Adelaide glanced at Avery. "How long was I gone? All together, I mean. I know it was about a month or so the first time, because Reg was… stressed."
"He was more than stressed," Avery muttered. "Your bond was stretched to oblivion. All in all, I think it was around two months."
"As for why," Adelaide nodded along. "I'd figured out that I was basically a walking time turner thanks to Arcturus's library. I realized that I could make time turners without dying, and went to Alphard and Abe with the idea. We argued over it for some time, but they agreed in the end. Alphard likes to experiment far too much to resist. It took a lot because of my core. I went to the common room after that first jump, then after Fabian and Alphard got Dolohov away from me, I jumped to the Shrieking Shack - bad idea, Moony was out and only partially dosed, and I broke my ankle to shift to stay safe - and then after Sirius carried me to the infirmary, I jumped to Abe, and that's when it actually worked."
"When did you go back?" Sirius wondered. "After that?"
"Merlin, no," she shook her head with a small laugh. "I had to stay to help Reg. I also didn't want to leave…" James met her gaze and she quickly looked away. "I didn't want to leave my family."
"Lexi sometimes says that as much as she loves being here, when the bad shit happens, she sort of wishes she hadn't come," Sirius told her. "She always looks so ashamed when she says it."
"I don't really blame her," Adelaide admitted. "I wouldn't change my time for the world, but there were definitely times when… it was just too much. Losing another parent was hard."
"I can't believe you knew," James muttered, glaring at Sirius. "And you didn't tell me!"
"She made me take another Vow so I wouldn't tell anyone without her permission first," Sirius made a face at him. "Just because I almost accidentally told Peter."
Adelaide sucked in a sharp breath and exchanged a glance with Avery. It was probably a good thing he'd taken that Vow.
"Another Vow?" James asked in confusion. It took him a second to understand. "That mark on her arm, the Vow was with you?"
"Er- yeah, sort of."
"Why?" Adelaide wondered as she began writing again. She'd gotten most of it down and just had to add more details that she vaguely remembered telling Alphard - anything that might be important.
Sirius glanced at James hesitantly. "Um… because she sort of watched me die and wanted me to swear to not die."
"You died?" Adelaide asked while James looked sick. "When?"
"There was this fight at the Department of Mysteries and-,"
"Oh," she frowned to herself. "Ron died there in my universe. You had to hold Harry back from trying to grab him."
"You died?" James asked sharply. "What the fuck Padfoot?"
"I didn't do it on purpose!"
"He hasn't done it yet," Avery pointed out. "And despite how clearly reckless Alexia's actions were, you won't know what happens until it happens, so perhaps we should focus."
"I just want to know why she didn't tell me," James frowned to himself. "She doesn't trust me?"
"She trusts you," Avery assured him. "She loves you more than anyone and she trusts you. If we're being honest, Adelaide was a bit reckless in telling as many people as she did about herself."
"My friends are shit secret keepers!"
"Which is why you told me," he raised an eyebrow. "Why did you tell them?"
"I told Sev because I trust him and he knew there was something wrong with me," she began with a shrug. "My friends like Marlene knew I was adopted because we were sitting together and Lily, the kind, amazing girl that she is, was way too absent when James asked how long she's known me. She said since July."
"Lexi told Lily in first year," James told her. "She had a huge panic attack and Lily and I went to find her. Once we had, she just told her. It was Christmas first year that she told me, Sirius, and Remus that she was actually nineteen and had fought in a war."
"That was a terrifying nightmare," Sirius muttered, remembering the night. "I'd never heard anyone scream like that before."
"Reg found out because he convinced me to start learning Occlumency and let him teach me in second year," she continued thoughtfully. "Except instead of the memory I meant to show him of going to the library with my parents, I ended up showing him a memory of me at fourteen with fucking Crouch Jr Polyjuiced as Moody and teaching us to throw off the Imperius. He was… a little suspicious."
"Merlin," James blinked in shock. "Moody? Isn't that man untouchable or something?"
"I assume that's why no one bothered to do any sort of security check," Adelaide agreed. "He was there my entire fourth year. Taught us all about the Unforgivables. Anyway, I told him about everything then because… well, he'd just seen it."
"I can't believe you let him in your head," Sirius made a face. "The mind is a fragile thing."
"He couldn't hurt me if he wanted to," Adelaide pointed out. "Our bond would've revealed itself if he tried to and that would've stopped him."
"Regulus," James shook his head. "You're bonded to Regulus."
"Married, actually," she rolled her eyes at him and then the look Sirius gave her. "It's more than just me, you know. Mia's bonded to him as well, and clearly Alexia is dating him. Seems like something just draws us together in any universe, even if we're not dating. Cassiopeia was his sister and they had some weird fealty bond."
"Wow, I feel so much better now," Sirius muttered bitterly. "What the fuck do I do if she doesn't ever want to be with me?"
"Find someone else to make you happy," Adelaide said as if it were obvious. "Whatever you're doing now, pouting, it's not helping you. I got lucky in that I had no interest in anyone else before or after we found our bond and neither did Regulus. If he had or I had, we wouldn't have gotten together so quickly. Try not acting like the bond is inevitable, maybe, and treat it more as a nice option."
"I've tried telling him," James shook his head at her. "He doesn't get it really."
"Don't you like anyone else at all?" she asked Sirius with a frown. "Isn't there anyone else that interests you? Anyone you want to spend time with?"
"Well… I kinda liked Marlene, but I was a dick to her when she asked me out," Sirius shrugged. "Not much I can do about that now."
"You can apologize and ask her out," Avery stared at him. "It isn't that hard."
"You make it sound so easy."
"Mate, you ask girls out all the time," James rolled his eyes. "Just do that but be sincere."
"And now you've reached the issue!"
Adelaide rolled her eyes silently and looked back down at her parchment to read it over before handing it to Avery. "Let me know what you think of this and add anything from after if I was acting weird or anything."
"Not weird, just manic," Avery shook his head as he looked it over. "And that's not too rare for you."
Adelaide scrunched up her nose. "The wizarding world doesn't exactly have medication for bipolar disorder, Avery. I have to rely on calming draughts."
"It looks good to me," he assured her as he handed it back. "I still don't think this is a good idea, Addy. I'd rather be here with you to protect you."
"Believe it or not, I do know how to protect myself. Dolohov is my weak spot, I get that, but in this universe, he isn't the sick bastard we know."
"The Carrows? The Dark Lord?"
Adelaide narrowed her eyes. "The Carrows were holding Marlene at wandpoint. If I hadn't gone with them, she would've died. Voldemort can go fuck himself."
"Adelaide!"
"Sounds like Alexia," James muttered with a small smile.
"I'm going to take this to Alphard," Adelaide told them. "I'd appreciate it if you guys could keep working. I know Malfoy said he would be in Malfoy Manor and Narcissa was going back to Black Manor. I really want to get back as soon as possible."
"I'm going to come with you," Avery told her, closing his book and getting up. When she went to argue, he raised an eyebrow. "Adelaide, I do not trust you not to try to test them on your own."
"...Fine."
OoOoOoOoOoOo
Founder's Universe
Godric sat in the office with his friends and sighed. "What do you propose we do about it?"
"I have never heard of anything like this," Hegla commented softly. "Rowena, you and Salazar-,"
"We theorized," Rowena nodded. "We thought there might be other universes similar to ours. How much did he differ from our Sirius?"
"It was hard to tell," Godric admitted. "But it seemed that Hermione trusted him."
"But she's okay?"
Godric hesitated then. "She is overwhelmed and afraid, but safe."
"Did she speak of them? These other versions of her, Harry, and Ron?"
"Not much. I sent them to Grimmauld Place. It seems they may know how this happened."
"I suggest we talk to them and try to figure out why these particular versions of these people were taken there," Rowena said slowly as she thought. "Who was it? Hermione, Sirius, and who?"
"Regulus Black," Godric answered. "He was frustrated. He said someone named Alexia did this."
"Let's go, then."
By the time they got over to Grimmauld Place, Sirius, Regulus, and Remus were all in the library working over a single line of runes copied out of a book, which sat in the middle of the table.
"That's it?" Rowena asked, moving over to them immediately. She plucked the book off of the table and got to work with them.
"Where's Hermione?" Helga questioned, her brow furrowed in concern. Sirius and Remus both looked up at her together.
"She went to talk to someone," Remus shrugged. "I told her to stay here until we figure this out."
"Speak with who?"
"Didn't say," Sirius muttered and turned back to the runes.
"Let's give her some time," Godric suggested before Helga could sneak off to find the girl. "She has had a lot on her plate recently, and she might need a moment to think."
Despite disagreeing, Helga nodded and began helping everyone else figure it out.
OoOoOoOoOoOo
Hermione stepped out of the floo and brushed herself off. Moments later, Draco came out behind her and gazed around. They were in a house that had apparently belonged to Narcissa before she'd been married. It was one of the properties Sirius had decided was safe enough for Theo, which meant he could go there when he was bored or wanted to get away. "You're sure he won't mind?"
Draco rolled his eyes at her and walked past her into the hall. She followed him up the stairs to a small sitting room where they found Theo lying on a rug and holding a book above his head. "Visiter."
Theo glanced at the door and leaned up. "Hermione. Is everything alright?"
Hermione hesitated before she shook her head. "It's a long story that I don't fully understand. I need your help."
A hand settled on her shoulder, making her jump. She grabbed it and tugged hard, eliciting a yelp from Blaise.
"Fucking hell, Granger!" he exclaimed, pulling his hand back. "It's just me."
"Hermione, why do you need help?" Theo asked, ignoring his friend. "What happened?"
"It's… sort of hard to explain. Would it help if I told you that Harry, Ron, and Professor Slytherin are currently… not in our universe?" All three boys just stared at her and she groaned in frustration. "What if I told you that Regulus Black is currently alive?"
"...okay," Theo agreed, jumping to his feet. "Where are we going?"
"12 Grimmauld Place," she answered, surprised when it let her. It took her a second to remember that they'd removed the Fidelius and replaced it with the Black wards that were meant to be on the house - wards that relied on the Lord and Heir to keep the place safe. Blaise called it out and went through and after Theo left, Hermione followed behind. Once back in Sirius's office, she closed the floo. It was only when she turned around that she found Remus frowning darkly at her. "Um… hi."
"I told you to stay here," he reminded her, clearly frustrated. "We thought you'd been taken again, Hermione!"
"Theo's father is a curse breaker," she told him in place of apologizing. "I think he might be able to help."
"And Draco?"
"Draco knew where Theo was."
"I suppose Blaise is here because they are, then."
Blaise shrugged and picked up a book that sat on the desk, clearly bored. "I have nothing better to do. She said Regulus Black is here."
"They want to talk to you," Remus finally sighed, looking at Hermione. "They want to know everything you can remember about the other girls. Regulus and Sirius already said everything they knew about Alexia and Cassiopeia."
Hermione sighed and walked past him to the library. Everyone else followed behind, and she winced a bit at the stares she received. "I only really meant to bring Theo, if that means anything."
"Cassie wouldn't be alive without those three, so I don't mind them being here," Sirius shrugged. The three teenage boys stared at him in confusion. "What? You're her friends. She stayed at Nott Manor with Harry before their first year. Straightened you out, Draco, and your prat of a father had her attacked."
"Father never cared enough about Granger to attack her," Draco scoffed.
"Cassiopeia is pretty different from Hermione," was all Sirius said in response.
"Hermione," Rowena said, gaining her attention. "Tell us about these other girls. Godric says they've had run ins with Dolohov as well, and Sirius and Regulus confirmed as much."
"He killed one of them," Hermione began hesitantly, a little bitter that Sirius and Regulus couldn't do it for her. She supposed they probably hated talking about it almost as much as she did. "She came back, but it sounded bad. Another one he used a curse on… I don't entirely understand it, if I'm being honest."
"It's a forced soul bond," Sirius explained for her. "She's bonded to Regulus, but she's also bonded to Dolohov."
"It is a step down from your curse," Godric told her with a sigh, apparently too distracted to remember that Blaise was in the room. "It allows her to be in relationships outside of the relationship with him."
"How do you think they feel about Obliviating students?" Hermione asked Draco quietly. He snorted.
"If they disagree with it, I'll help you."
"Hey!" Blaise exclaimed, a hand on his heart. "I thought we were friends."
"Aside from Adelaide," Hermione said, getting back to the topic at hand. "There was Cassiopeia and Alexia, but you said they already mentioned them?"
"They did."
"Let's see… there was that other Hermione who hadn't encountered him at all because the war had ended so long ago. The new girl didn't either, did she?"
"Don't think so," Sirius agreed.
"Then there was the Hermione whose universe we landed in. She'd only run into him at the DOM and he didn't curse her like he cursed me. I think that's it."
"Did anyone else have any run-ins with him?" Helga wondered. Hermione shook her head hesitantly.
"No, I don't think so. There were three other girls there, but they didn't see him. It was Alexia, Cassiopeia, Mia, Adelaide, the other Hermione and myself."
"Real quick," Blaise cut in. "So, Granger, you actually meant they're in another universe?"
"Yes, I did."
"So… what the fuck?"
"That's sort of what we're trying to figure out here," Sirius answered him. "Apparently, it's these runes."
"Alexia was trying to figure them out," Regulus explained, clearly still frustrated. "They make no sense and she decided it would be a good idea to speak them aloud. As soon as she did, we were sent here."
"I saw Adelaide, Fabian, and their Harry glowing as well," Hermione spoke up. "I'd guess it was everyone, not just us."
"It's not the runes," Theo muttered, grabbing the book. "These aren't- these are a distraction. It's not the runes that's causing this."
"How do you know?"
"Because this set of runes is used specifically for cursed books," he explained. "To distract from the curse itself. Have you checked the book?"
"There's a low level of intelligence in the book itself," Sirius shrugged. "Not enough to power this."
Theo let out a sigh and waved his own wand over the thing. Everyone watched him intently as the book lit up for a short second. Once that was done, he handed it over to Hermione, who had been watching over his shoulder. "Try it again. It shouldn't send you anywhere now."
"Are you sure?"
"Not about anything at all," he shook his head. "That thing is alive, not just intelligent. I just placed a magic suppressant on it."
Hermione looked down at it nervously and began reading the runes. At first, nothing happened, but then she, Sirius, and Regulus lit up. Theo tore the book out of her hand, but it was too late. All three of them disappeared in a bright flash, leaving the three teenage boys alone in the room with three of the Founders.
"Fuck."
OoOoOoOoOoOo
