Disclaimer - This wonderful world belongs to JK Rowling & Co

A/N - Thanks so much for reading and reviewing! I really can't believe...I mean there are so many new followers/favoriters? Hello friends! There are so many more visitors/views too which like...my sister told me to shut up bc I kept saying "omg..look at how many...omg" and just thank you so much for choosing to hang out with me! I truly appreciate it.

Six

Hermione showed up at Abraxas' house later that afternoon, nearly hitting her head on the Floo after not heading Imogen's warning to duck on the out. Abraxas and who she could only assume was his wife came into the room, staring at her as though she'd lost her mind.

"Merlin's beard, guys," she grinned, dusting the soot off of her robes. "When was this house made? 1704? I'm not even sure someone of average height could-," she stopped herself, smiling brightly. "No matter. You must be Abe's wife, Mathilde. I'm so happy to finally meet you."

But, Mathilde didn't smile back at her. Instead, she'd turned to Abraxas, who Hermione realized was looking at her with an incredible mixture anger and resignation.

"My love, this is my sister, Mimi," he was saying.

Hermione watched as Mathilde sighed, focusing on the floor for a long time before finally saying, "I didn't realize you were...back."

"She knows!" Hermione exclaimed in surprise.

"That you were away, yes," Abraxas remarked. "Tilda, would you mind-"

"I do," she hissed, eyes looking sharply between her husband and his sister. "I don't know what is going on here. I don't know why, either. But if you-" she pointed harshly at Hermione- "think you're just going to waltz in as though you haven't damaged this man, you've lost it. Which wouldn't be all that surprising, considering you're that...that Halfblood's wife."

Hermione's eyes went wide. "You'd do well not to speak of my husband that way, witch. I don't care who you are to Abraxas; I'm not above-"

"Hermione," he cut in. "Please just...Mathilde. Would you listen to the truth?" He finally turned his eyes to his wife, silently pleading with her to listen. He touched her shoulders, leaning in to kiss her forehead when she nodded shortly. Their eyes met over his wife's head.

"I was with Grindelwald," Hermione told her. "I'll kill you if you tell him," she explained as Mathilde turned quickly to stare at her.

"And Burke?" She questioned.

Hermione considered her for a moment before saying, "Burke was held against his will, at first. He was...too smitten to leave after."

"With you?" Mathilde glanced at her husband very briefly. "You just love that, don't you? Wrapping these wizards around your fingers to do whatever it is you're hellbent on doing-"

"Eradicating supremacy in the Wizarding World. Ensuring that anyone who is willing to work hard and put in the time to achieve their goals and dreams is able to do so. Killing my husband-"

"Chist, Hermione," Abraxas hissed at the same time Mathilde said, "What?"

As though they hadn't interrupted, she said, "To ensure that he doesn't get in the way of my goals. Because he does that. With his charm and his handsome face and the incredible connections he's formed.

"There are other end goals, of course. But those are a few to prove I'm not whoever or whatever you think I am." Hermione gave Mathilde a hard look, finally observing her pregnant stomach. It wasn't quite time for Lucius to be born, but Snape -not her Snape, but the one she'd met when she'd attempted to return- had told her of a daughter. She glanced at Abraxas to see that he's noticed where her eyes had fixed.

"Now that you know, perhaps you could trust your husband with me? He is my brother, after all. We are Malfoys-"

"As am I," Mathilde rushed, her hand on her stomach.

Hermione pursed her lips, nose very slightly upturned. She hadn't expected his wife to be so outspoken, just as she hadn't expected to feel so threatened by her. Despite what Abraxas had said, about being able to leave if she asked him to, she couldn't see him going anywhere without Mathilde. His eyes shined with too much love when he glanced at her.

"Marriage is a funny thing, isn't it? Blood, too."

"Mimi," Abraxas warned.

"The loyalty that presents itself and forces-"

"Your husband," Mathilde started, "does he know that your views clash with his?"

"Yes. He knows that every single thing about me clashes with his views. Except my loyalty."

"Yet, you abandoned him for Grindelwald. You would kill him."

"Mimi was taken, Tilda. She was...vulnerable when she ended up with him. It easy to be indebted to someone when they save your life."

Mathilde looked sharply at her husband. "Is it?"

Hermione realized there was plenty more about what had happened in her absence than she was told.

She looked back at Hermione, her expression blank. "I'm going to my sister's. I never saw you here," she told her emptily before turning away from them and leaving the room.

Hermione met Abraxas' eye. "She's lovely."

.

.

.

"You have no right showing up at my home," he murmured, turning his glass of water on the table.

Hermione continued to look over bistro menu. "I've no right to visit my brother? I will let our parents know that they are to be our go between. I'm sure they'll be pleased to know we're savages again."

"I love my wife, Hermione. I can't have you-"

"I wouldn't never hurt-"

"You threatened her."

She looked up to see he was staring at her, his eyes wide and confused and angry. "Your child, Abraxas," Hermione admitted quietly, surprised at herself. It was easier than expected, because she knew the man he raised was vile and evil. But, there was a possibility- "I would never hurt your child."

He watched as her hand covered his, waiting just a second too long before took hold of her fingers.

"How did you all meet, anyway?"

He laughed drily. "She's someone's cousin."

"Someone?" Hermione questioned, watching as he observed their joined hands. The waiter came over to take their orders, bringing a bottle of wine Abraxas had ordered. "Is she Burke's cousin? Is that why she asked of him?"

"A few times removed, but yes."

She hummed.

"Her family knows a good deal about the effects of time travel. It's a privately funded venture, on their part."

Perseus had mentioned that his mother was a Seer. Assuming they were related through his mother, she wondered if Mathilde's family was actually experienced in Time Travel, or if it was easier than explaining a family full of Seers.

"I know quite a bit, too," she mumbled. "I didn't come to upset you or your wife. I really missed you. And I really wanted to talk about...things."

"Please don't tell me you're pregnant."

"Merlin, no. Jeez, Abe. I've barely been back long enough to recover. You think I'd bring a child into this?"

"Right," he nodded once, using his free hand to sip his wine. "But Tom, Hermione. He would do anything to keep you."

"A child, Abraxas? He wouldn't...he wouldn't do that. He knows neither of us are strong enough for that right now."

Abraxas gave her a hard look, his jaw ticking in thought. "Hermione," he started again. "He would do anything."

She sighed. "Ok. I'm realizing that. That's why I wanted to talk to you, Abe." She pulled her hand away from his, lacing her fingers in her lap.

"Everything is a blur," Hermione admitted. "I don't- I can't remember the conversations I've had and who I've had them with since I've returned. For whatever reason, my mind is just...it hasn't caught up, though I hope that it will. I remember the past alright I just...get confused, I suppose. And I'm telling you this in hopes to earn back the trust and bond we shared, though I know it has been so damaged-"

"Little M," Abraxas laughed with a shake of his head. "You have it. Why do you think Tilda is so upset? It is- You are," he sighed. "I have always been loyal to you. I will always protect you before anyone else, Hermione."

She smiled softly across the table. "I appreciate the sentiment, Abraxas. I really do. But she is your wife. She will give you a child. Children, hopefully.

"I've met you together, barely an ago, and yet I can see the love you have for her. Me asking anything of you that would negate that would be unfair."

He hesitated. "She would make a better match for Riddle. If he wasn't a Halfblood. Mathilde is pleasant to look at and speak with when she is surrounded by that which makes her happy-"

"Aren't we all?"

He shook his head. "Beyond that, she is known supremacist. I married her knowing that. I married her hoping that she would mellow out once she realized that wasn't something important to me any longer. But" -Abraxas shrugged- "I married her because I knew that it would benefit you. Us."

Hermione looked away from him. She didn't like the way he said 'us,' his gaze too heavy and voice too fond. She didn't really know who he was talking about. Instead of mentioning it, she said, "When Perseus and I became friends, he told me a secret I'm entrusting with you now.

"He told me his mother was a seer. He told all of these stories about a girl, not unlike myself. All of these stories, fanciful and plentiful and realistic, ended the same way." She met his eye. "Without any rash acts on my part, I hold them true."

"And how did they end?"

"It's unimportant. I spoke with him before coming to see you. I had returned to my...I returned to the future and found that I couldn't exist there because I already existed there. As Tom's wife."

"Was I-"

"You were there, but you wouldn't come to see me. Anyway, I mention this to say that I spoke with him earlier to...examine reality, for lack of better phrasing, and determine where we stand. To determine how we could dictate the future in order to keep everyone in our circle satisfied and the world safe."

"Is it possible?"

"I did the numbers. He did the numbers. You aren't a fan of arithmancy, if I remember correctly," she laughed at the face he face. "Right. So, I could ask Lestrange-"

"Absolutely not. He is not to be trusted."

"He says the same of you."

"Of course he does, that little shit.

"You cannot trust him, Mimi. He will always support Tom unquestioningly."

She remembered the notorious brothers Lestrange, curious as to how they'd become that way. Perhaps Abraxas was right. But, perhaps, "I can change that."

Abraxas groaned, dramatically rubbing his face and tugging at his hair as their food arrived. Hermione thanked the waitress as he said, "You can't," so surely and tired, and then, he met her eye. "But if you must," he offered her his hand, which she took without thought. "If you must," his fingers twined around hers and Hermione sighed, deciding not to make him say it.

"I will reconsider it, Abe, but he is incredible at arithmancy."

"He shouldn't be brought into this. He doesn't know about your circumstance."

"That's the issue," she sighed. "And I could ask Tom. I could theorize that I cannot determine the future, but I could determine the path between where we are today and where we end up in my future-"

"Have you done that?"

"And more. We did the numbers, and I think it's possible, but someone should look over everything."

Abraxas laughed emptily. "Ask Konig."

"Like hell, Abraxas. You've lost it-"

He gripped her fingers. "Trust me," he told her. "Ask him."

She let go of his hand and began to eat her pasta. "Anyway, it is possible. If Mathilde's family is researching Time Travel, I would imagine that they are talented in arithmancy. Possibly one of them-"

"Out of love, I am going to stop that idea. We are fortunate that she hasn't figured it out-"

"I'm a boy, in the future. My parents had a son, because I was already there. I can't imagine what that will feel like, to be unborn. To survive it-"

"You are immortal."

"But not invincible."

"Yet," he supplied. "He counselled with me after your comment during dinner. You will be."

"What?"

When their eyes connected this time, it was different. "I cannot tell you how, because I don't know. Just know that it will happen."

"Will you take it, too?"

"If you ask it of me."

Hermione swallowed the lump in her throat. Repeatedly. Until she was forced to chug her water, and then her wine.

Abraxas half smiled. "You won't have to ask it, Hermione."

She nodded gratefully. "Why didn't Tom use your elixir?"

"He'd already created a Horcrux. It only works on a complete soul."

"He and I share a soul," she countered, looking down at her pasta as she stabbed at it with her fork. If she hadn't looked away, she would have seen his hesitation, his uncertainty, but it cleared by the time she looked back at him. "But, ok. This means he can only achieve immortality through his horcruxes."

"He could become a vampire."

Hermione laughed. "Yeah. Right." After a moment, she thoughtfully said, "But there must be something, Abe. He is worried for my invincibility and not his own?"

"Well," he started, "you do share a soul."

She didn't know what to make of his comment, so she didn't say anything.

At length, he asked, "Why did you agree to marry him? When you woke up at Hogwarts."

She dropped her fork. "I loved him."

"He hurt you. He killed you. That's sick, Hermione. How can I...I have been attempting to determine how to deal with it, how to deal with you marrying him and laying next to him at night when he broke you to pieces."

She closed her eyes.

"I am supposed to protect you. Should it be from him, or from yourself?"

"I don't know, Abraxas. I don't think about that day. It feels as though it never happened, when I do think about it."

What if I told you you'd already done it?

She opened her eyes to him. "I never planned to come back. But, things were not as I expected them to be. I had to. And, I will do what needs to be done to make the future right."

"What if you don't?"

"Do you know something I don't?"

"There is plenty I know that you don't."

She nodded slowly, but said nothing more.

They ate in silence until after dessert. As he walked with her to the apparition point, he asked, "You and Perseus?"

She half laughed. "I feared him when we met. Do you remember? It was...To be named Medusa -literally, it was a joke between Draco and I-"

"You say that name so often. Who is he? Another Black? Your love for them is beyond anything I can understand."

"He is one of ours, actually."

"Merlin. We marry a Black? I'm certain it's one of your children. I would never," he grinned, and she did too, but the moment passed too quickly.

Hermione sighed. "It was a joke. But, it didn't seem so funny, to learn that someone so close to Tom was named Perseus. I was," she smiled darkly. "I was so afraid. Constantly, I would cry to Septimus and Imogen about how I couldn't do it. That they expected too much from me. That he would be my death.

"It worked out, though. He is on my side. And, yes...he and I. There is- what I mean to say is that there is nothing going on, there has never been, but there is everything between us. I would protect him like I would protect you." She touched her ring fondly. "In another life, perhaps. But this one isn't for him."

He nodded, opening his arms to her. It was an odd gesture from him to make in public, but Hermione accepted the hug, relieved that he didn't hate her because of her feelings toward Perseus.

"Does he know?" Abraxas asked quietly.

"Does who know?"

"Perseus. Does he know that you love him?"

Her eyes fell closed, and for longer than really appropriate Hermione decided to breath his familiar scent in, wondering how long she'd known that she loved him. It couldn't have been long, really, because she wouldn't have done any of this if she'd consciously known.

Belatedly, she realized that the elves washed his clothes in the same soap they used for Draco's, which only served to make her heart ache even more.

"Imagine how different life would be, if it'd been Perseus who I fell for first."

Abraxas pressed a kiss to her forehead before pulling away, holding her hand in his. "England would be a dangerous place."

"Why?"

"Because you tamed Tom, sure. But, you also nurtured his interests. Perseus is no saint, Little M. And, fortunately, neither are you."

She frowned. "What are you saying?"

"There would be two Dark Lords, if you'd invested yourself in Perseus. One backed by you and Grindelwald, and one left to his own devices." He squeezed her hand comfortingly. "You made the right choice."

"But, Abe, you are suggesting that I make Dark Lords."

He nodded slowly, his eyes wide and blank. "I am. You do. Don't be offended, Hermione. I don't mean it viciously. There is nothing wrong with being Dark. What matters is how you use your power, and how you encourage those around you to do the same.

"I hate Tom for what he did to you. But, you made the right choice. Because if things were so bad that you left behind what you knew to fix the world for people you don't even know," Abraxas shook his head as though he really didn't want to consider it. "You made the right choice, not allowing him to be left to his own devices."

He considered her a moment before saying, "It makes sense, when you think about it. You've already sacrificed yourself for this. Anything more, like what he did- well, no matter, Hermione. I've decided that I will protect you from yourself, because you seem to be pretty shit at that."

She laughed, forcing herself not to be offended by his earlier suggestion. "Do you know Tom's plans?"

"In terms of what?"

"Me."

He blinked. "No."

She nodded.

"Do you have a plan? Outside of hypothetical futures."

Hermione reached up to touch his scar, not pulling away when he flinched. "Of course." She offered him a small smile. Firmly, she said, "Everything will happen on my terms or not at all."

Abraxas gave her a funny look. "For your sake, Hermione, I hope you're right."

.

.

.

"Perseus," Hermione greeted, her brows raising when she walked into Riddle House's library to find him sitting in her usual corner, twisting his moonstone ring around his finger nervously. Moonlight streamed through the window behind him, offering the barest amount of light between them

He jumped when he saw her, his arms instantly coming around her. "I had a feeling," he spoke quietly into her neck, nose pushing away the soft fabric of her shirt to find skin. "I don't know how to describe it. It was darkness and fear and loathing. I...I thought the worst. All day."

"And you waited in the library?" She asked in a confused, teasing tone as she pushed away from him. She sat down opposite him, tucking her feet underneath her as she righted her collar. "If I was in danger, you're no help to me. Honestly," she was smiling, but his "feeling" suddenly bothered her to no end.

"Hermione," Perseus started. He seemed perplexed.

Instead of letting him continue, she called for tea service before saying, "I'm glad you're here, though, Pers. I missed you."

He relaxed, if only slightly, and once the warm cup of tea was in his hands, he asked, "Did something happen today?"

"A lot, actually. Too much, really. I told Abe about my memory issue-"

"Are you keeping your journal?"

She offered him a soft smile, "Yes, I am."

He nodded firmly. "What did he say about it?"

"Nothing, actually. We jumped around a lot. I met his wife." She noticed his scowl and said, "He mentioned you all are cousins."

"Very removed. She's a Selwyn, you know?"

"Time travel," she commented, watching the way he rolled his eyes in response.

"Yes. Her grandfather's grandmother didn't get the gift of sight, as fate would have it, and married a man with the interest in Travel. I imagine Abraxas married her hoping to gain insight on you."

"Yes."

"She's horrible."

"He mentioned as much, but she seemed pleasant enough, considering I showed up unannounced."

"Don't be fooled. And don't get any ideas about trusting her."

"Abe said the same. He suggested Konig, to look over our notes."

Perseus met her eye squarely and slowly said, "That is not a bad idea."

She stopped herself from pursing her lips in distaste by sipping her tea. "Did I tell you what it was like?"

He set his cup down.

"Everything was all wrong, except for you. You were frozen at thirty two, and although you'd never met me, as I am before you, you'd been very close to whichever version of me existed there."

"Yeah?" He asked, not bothering to hide the interest in his voice.

She offered him a sad smile. "It wasn't like that. I wish it had been, though," she told him hesitantly. "I realized, earlier today, that we could have been something incredible."

He only stared at her.

"Abe thinks it would have been horrible, if it'd been you I fell in love with first, but I don't know. I don't think so. I don't think you'd be a Dark Lord."

His brows rose. "Abraxas suggested me in place of Tom?"

"He suggested you'd both exist. Heaven only knows what type of world we'd live in if that was the case." They both laughed. "Anyway, you were only thing that made sense, even if I couldn't understand your experiences, and you confirmed what I suspected a few minutes after my arrival."

"What was that?"

"I was dying. I had to come back. There wasn't an option," she reaffirmed. "I had to."

He nodded slowly.

"I think he is going to try and kill me."

"For fuck's sake, Mimi." He stood up, prompting her to. "Let's go. We're leaving. I told myself I wouldn't let you make these mistakes if you returned. I won't let this happen."

"Neither will I!' She yanked out of his hold, rubbing her arm. "I told you that in good faith, Pers. I won't let it happen. I haven't completely lost it. I remember."

"Do you?" He asked her coldly. "Because I don't think you do, Hermione. You married him."

"God. Are you going to lecture me on this, too?"

"Abraxas questioned you? I'm sure I told you before that you've certainly done wrong if he's worried."

"Everything is going to be fine!" She stared angrily at him. "I'll have you know that I am strong and capable and I've already done it, thank you."

He frowned. "Already done what, Mimi?"

What if I told you you'd already done it?

She rubbed her face tiredly, letting him wrap his arms around her when he stepped closer to her. For a moment, everything felt as though it was going to be alright, and she quietly told him, "I want he and I to work. I want to think that we can last in this comfortable place forever, but I will kill him before he tries to kill me.

"I'm here, and we are together, but only for as long as he can handle it. I won't allow myself to go down that road with him again."

He pressed his nose into her hair before saying, "I promised myself. And I've let you down. I've damned you."

"On the contrary," she pulled away from him, smiling tentatively. "You've given me the best kind of love, Perseus. I can only hope that I can make it up to you one day."

"I don't doubt that you will," he told her, a strange smile on his lips.

After a moment, he leaned closer to her, kissing her hair and leaving quickly, as though he's never been there at all.

A/N 2 - In the second ending written for this, before I realized that I couldn't have Perseus betray Hermione with no motive, he beheads her in the Malfoy's drawing room, with another version of Hermione and Draco on the other side of the door. It was so sad I cried and quickly realized I couldn't do that bc I started shipping them while writing this fic so...just a note of relative importance

Anyway, see you all soon!