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25. The End is the Beginning

Hermione picked up the child in her arms and turned to Harry, "You need to retrieve Eileen's husband while I retrieve our little one's sister. Hopefully, nothing horrible happens to her in her first six months of life. We will then meet backup at Prince Manor." Hermione turned her vision to all of their allies, "We need to leave this timeline because we need to fix it. I am not sure if you will remember us with you being who you are, but I know this isn't goodbye but just the beginning. I am sure that we will visit Nicholas and Perenelle when our children are a bit older. I have confidence the rest of you will be born and grow up with our grandchildren if you go to Hogwarts. Who knows Sundra, maybe we will bump into your previous incarnation?"

Perenelle pulled Hermione into a tight hug and kissed the top of Chronia's head, "Nicolas and I will find a way to send a message to ourselves so that we are expecting your arrival. We look forward to being the Parrains for your Enfants. Bring the two of them to us and we will help with the ceremony."

Hermione smiled, "We would love to have you as our twins godparents. You would surely teach them right from wrong and they will perform even better than their mother did at Hogwarts with your help. We will make sure a stop at your and Nicolas' house will be our second stop in 1960."

Harry smiled at her, "I'm so glad you're planning our future." He then disappeared in a gold tornado causing Hermione to laugh.

Everyone looked her wanting an explanation, "It was all decided when we merged in the timestream. He's just joking about me planning everything. We planned it all together. He also agrees with you as the godparents of our children. I think he's still dealing with the fact that Severus Snape was his uncle this whole time. It puts the whole 'in love with his mother' thing into a totally different light."

Everyone burst into laughter at the remark. Hermione then nodded, "I must leave you now, but know that I hope to meet up with you in the new timeline. Remember this isn't the first time I have had to say such goodbyes and I fear it isn't the last." Hermione returned to the timeline and used the bundle in her arms to find the child's duality. They arrived in a shabby looking orphanage. There were several cribs with babies sleeping. It was what she feared. There were not enough care workers to give the children the connections they needed. Hermione did a quick swipe with her wand to see if any others had magic as well. She needed to make sure they prevented another Voldemort from rising. She found another boy and girl who shared a crib who were older than the Chronia twins. She reached out to Harry knowing that she would need his help.

He appeared along with Eileen's husband. She handed each of them one of the children and she took the two Chronia's with her. Eileen's husband held onto Harry and Hermione as they transported everyone. They all arrived in the entrance hall to Prince Manor. The house elves had been at work while they were gone. The Ballroom was decorated for a wedding. Hermione reached out to Harry, "What did you tell him?"

"He had just discovered Grindelwald's deception before he was sent to the time of Cromwell. He was preparing to be hung as a witch, but I intervened. His Phoenix was crying at him, but he still didn't listen. He was in a pretty dark place because he had left his love, to join Grindelwald's cause and was then forcefully sent back in time. He was very willing to accept a new time, a readymade family, and a new existence. Have you picked a name yet?"

Hermione looked at the young wizard, "Aurelius is a great roman name, which is the trend of the Prince Family. It would fit, however, I fear that you are not comfortable with that, so we will make it a middle name. How about Cassius Aurelius Prince? How do you feel about that name?"

He looked to her with his deep brown eyes. She smiled at him, "I am going to adopt you as a brother and make you a Black-Malfoy before your marriage to Eileen makes you a Prince. We need to change your appearance so that no one who knew you in the past will recognize you."

She turned to Eileen who had appeared at the noise of them appearing in her home. Her green eyes were wide in surprise, "What do you mean with bringing Grindelwald's right hand man into my home. You cannot possibly expect me to marry someone so dark."

Hermione shook her head no, "He was misguided by Grindelwald. He was never a true follower. He was displaced and sent back to the Third Civil War with Cromwell. I can feel how powerful he is, but he has been abused. He's learning to accept his magic and in doing so, he will be a perfect husband for you. I am adopting him as my brother, and we will have proper vows in your bonding that will protect you and him from abuse." She paused to look around, Hermione rubbed her hands together, "Now, I just need to know where the Prince ritual rooms are."

Eileen sighed, "I am only doing this to protect my children from that monster. Keep in mind, I am going along with this because you saved me and I trust you unerringly, but he better not expect me to warm up to him right away. Now, with that being said, I will have the house elves take your children to the nursery so they can be cleaned and prepared for their attendance at the wedding."

Hermione watched as two Prince elves showed up. One was dressed as a nanny. The nanny dressed one took their twin Chronia's with her and the other took the two toddlers and they disappeared to the nursery. Hermione looked at Harry knowing that she was just leaving him in the ballroom, but he just shrugged in response.

Eileen proceeded to lead them to the cellar and passed numerous rows of bottled wine to a room near the magical nexus of the lands. Hermione nodded and Eileen sighed, "If you can do me a favor and make him more attractive, I would appreciate it."

Hemione rolled her eyes and led Cassius with her into the room. She started the chant in Ta'Entian because she knew it would be stronger and less likely to be discovered. "Ég Hermione Lyra Black-Malfoy, nefni Cassius Aurelius sem bróður minn, av blod, magija, og i ånd. We zullen in dit leven als broers en zussen gebonden zijn en geen van beiden zullen eenzaamheid opnieuw kennen. Rwyf yma i rannu ei faich ac mae yma fel fy amddiffynwr." She cut her palm and his palm over the stone basin in the middle of the room. She switched to English, "I Hermione Lyra Black-Malfoy, name Cassius Aurelius as my brother by blood, by magic, and in spirit. We shall be tied as siblings in this life and neither shall know loneliness again. I am here to share his burden and he is here as my protector. Do you accept my vows and offer your own?"

He nodded, "I accept your vows and offer my own. I Cassius Aurelius denounce any name or ties I had previously. I am now the brother of Hermione Lyra Black-Malfoy. I offer her protection as my sister and I will share my burden with her. I will accept that I am no longer alone and accept my magic. I will let go of the darkness of my past and allow her to bring me into the light."

Hermione gasped as the gold light of chronodust encircled them. She hadn't thought about the effect of time magic when she started the ceremony. She watched as his appearance changed. His hair grew in length and fell in a riot of gold curls. His eyes went from brown into the familiar Black grey. He looked far more handsome than he had moments before. However, it was the change of his magic that awed her the most. The black creature that spun around him in the past when he let the magic out turned gold and slowly seeped back into him. When the gold light was nowhere but inside of him, he smiled at her and pulled her into a tight hug. "I have never felt this light before. I feel like you have lifted every dark memory and burden from me. I feel loved. Is this what having a Magical Family feels like?"

Hermione nodded, "Yes, and it gets even better. Admittedly, I have not experienced this in my younger years. I thought I was a muggleborn and only recently discovered my ties to two pureblood individuals." Hermione folded her arms across her chest when her thoughts diverted, as they always do, "However, I do wonder how Regulus Black was impregnated by Lucius Malfoy." She looked up at her new sibling, "I want you to come with me to determine the reason. I fear what that deteriorating timeline will show me. Now that you are my brother and my newest protector I will need your strength. However, you will also protect your wife and your children. Yet before we go, I want you to go through the magical bonding process with them. They will be yours in name and any paternity spell will list you as their father."

Cassius smiled at her, "Of course sister. We have quite a few wrongs to right. Might I suggest after my bonding ritual, we start with the circumstances that created you in our old timeline. Maybe it is something we can prevent? Maybe it is something that should be prevented. Currently you exist outside of time, so if I am right, changing this timeline will do nothing to you personally."

"Agreed, let's get things finished here and proceed." They completed the magic bonding with the twins the two set off on their mission shortly after. She knew leaving Harry behind would offer protection for the fledgling family. She stood in the room; she looked at Harry and the sleeping children they held and looked over at her new brother. She took Cassius' hand and the two of them went through the timestream.

They reappeared in front of a dark Manor on a hill. One look and Hermione could feel that it reeked of death. She quickly conjured a black cloak for her and Cassius to protect them from negative energies. She had a feeling she knew what she was going to witness. They quietly entered the manor and stood in the back of a hidden room. The shadows helped conceal them as they watched.

The scene before them made her feel uneasy, yet she could only imagine what her new brother was feeling as they watched a frightened Regulus standing nude before a red eyed Voldemort. The demon of a man held his Yew wand to Regulus' forearm and hissed in Parseltongue. Hermione couldn't understand what he was saying at first. However, when she repeated it in her head it turned to English. Her soul bond to Harry helping her. "The youngest Black and proper heir, I bind you to me as a servant. You will call me lord and do my will."

Voldemort then switched to English after the tattoo branded Regulus as a Death Eater. "Which of my Death Eaters recruited this one?"

Lucius Malfoy stepped forward, "It was me, my lord."

Voldemort nodded, "Take your prize. It will be a delicious one I am sure. I can smell that he is still a virgin."

Hermione held in the gasp as Cassius pulled her to his chest. Regulus was mounted in the most barbaric way possible by his cousin's husband. When everything was over, Lucius threw a black robe and a silver mask at Regulus and demanded that he, "Clean up."

Hermione and Cassius followed Regulus when he apparated home. The two of them appeared in front of the crying wizard. He quickly stood, tears falling from his eyes. His hands looking for a wand that he had tossed to a table by his door. "Who are you?"

Hermione looked over at Cassius then back to Regulus. "Well, that's a bit of a loaded question. I can tell you that we are friends and we aren't here to harm you."

"Do you know who I am, who my lord is?" Regulus tried to appear dangerous, but his fear and uncertainty portrayed a different truth.

"I know more about you than you will understand at the moment but let me try to explain." She slowly approached him with her hands up and staring him in the eye the entire distance. Slowly, she lowered her hands, and placed one on his abdomen, "In answer to your question, I am the daughter you are going to give birth to nine months from now. The man behind me is my blood adopted brother."

Regulus pushed her back and stared at her in disbelief. "You expect me to believe you? Believe a witch who apparated out of nowhere?"

"I know this all sounds ludacris, but the truth is the truth. I am your daughter and in the future I have become a time witch. I came here to see how I came about."

"A time witch? How is that even possible? You expect me to believe you? You look nothing like me! Once my lord learns of your deception he'll-"

Hermione slapped his face, "Don't you dare pretend you're are angry! You left me with a muggle couple! I grew up believing I was Muggleborn and it was only recently I discovered my true linage. No one knew you were a bearer, did they? You hid it from everyone didn't you?"

"Hermione, you need to calm down. None of that has happened yet. You are confusing the man." Cassius spoke from behind her. He was right, she let her emotions get the better of her.

Regulus looked down at his hands, "You are right, if you are my daughter, you are right to be angry. I am in no position to raise a child, especially around…Him. Yet you are right, it is a long standing secret that all males in the Black family line are bearer's. Before what happened to me tonight, I was resigned to my destiny. However, I never thought I would be selected because I am attracted to witches. My brother is the one who has always preferred Wizards to Witches, so I thought I was safe. It was later that I found he has had many girlfriends, so he wasn't the only one to hide his true desires after all."

Hermione's eyes widened, "Why would he want to hide that?"

Regulus shrugged, "Even though it is accepted in many Pureblood families, my mother raised us that it is wrong and deviant. He's a Gryffindor as well, so he's probably been exposed to more of the Muggle ideas when it comes to homosexuality. He never looked into our family magic that much because he was shedding it as if it would rid him of Mother's taint. She loved torturing him from a young age. I have suspected for a long time that it wasn't Mother who carried him but our father Orion. It is the only reason for her hatred. It would also explain how we are only a year apart in age."

Hermione sighed and gently took his right hand and looked into his calm expressive eyes, "Just know that you are on the path you are meant to be on in this timestream. I am going to fix things for you when this one collapses. I will discover the truth and make sure that Walburga doesn't succeed in whatever she did in this timeline. I promise you; I will keep you and your brother together, and I will deal with that monster of a witch. What will happen? I will prevent my existence in this reality, but as for myself, the Hermione you see before you, I will continue to exist and watch over you as I am outside of time now. You are going to give birth to a Time Witch that hasn't been seen on the British Islands since Merlin."

His grey eyes widened, "Do you grow up well loved?"

Hermione smiled, "I was so loved by my parents. They were so supportive of me. I am the person I am now because of their love."

Regulus smiled, "I am very glad to hear it. To know you had a better life than myself is all a parent wishes for their child. Thank you for giving me a glimpse into a life I was denied, and now have something to live for."

Hermione placed her hand on his shoulder and gave it a squeeze, "We have to return to our timeline so that we can prevent these atrocities from happening. Stay strong and know, with every fabric of my being that I love you. Farewell"

She then took Cassius' hand and they apparated back to the ritual room. Excitement and hope filled Hermione's heart and mind. She turned to her brother with bright eyes. "So, what did you think of our father?"

Cassius' brow furrowed, "He's a sad character in our family, but also a bit of light as well. There is so much darkness in our line." Cassius paused, "I will know him as a child, won't I?"

Hermione smiled, "Oh yes you will. There is no way I'm not messing with that family. We will discuss betrothal contracts with the Blacks soon. I am sure that Severus and Sirius will make a great couple."

Cassius gulped, "Planning my infant children's future already, are you?"

Hermione laughed then shrugged, "Well we have to get the plan rolling. So, first things first we will need to speak with the Potters about a Betrothal contract for their son James and our Lily. I really would like to see my husband born and growing up happy in a way that he'd never experienced due to his horrible muggles relatives."

"Not to sound like some sort of killjoy or realist, but won't that essentially change who Harry is if he didn't face those adversities?" Cassius folded his arms across his chest and furrowed his brow.

Hermione paused her thoughts for a moment. She had to think about a logical answer to that. "Well, in a broader sense you are right. It would change him and make him different from the Harry you and I both know. But I am a firm believer that a person's true self is unalterable regardless of upbringing."

"Would that hold the same for Tom Riddle?" Cassius smirked.

Hermione knew what he was getting at and she laughed, "Yes even him. He was a victim of circumstance and if we do right by him I do feel even he is redeemable."

Cassius nodded and put his hands behind his lower back. "So, what preparations are needed for this bonding?"

Hermione smiled then announced to the room. "I need a Prince Elf to show Cassius to the ritual baths."

From an unseen corner of the room, a well-dressed house elf appeared and walked up to Cassius. The elf grabbed his hand and grumbled, "This way, My Lord." The pair popped away with a snap of the elf's fingers.

Hermione knew she had to see Harry again, so she made her way back to the room where she had left him. One look into his green eyes and her heart was lifted and she smiled. "I have set plans into motion. Once all is ready, we will need to invite Nicolas and Perenelle to the wedding. Once that is complete, we will discuss the welfare and upbringing of the children. I know they would like to raise a couple of wizarding children."

Harry looked at her, "We're not just going to pop over to their home, are we?"

Hermione shrugged, "I figured we could just send them an invitation to a wedding at Prince Manor. Surely, they will remember the ties to Slytherin and want to come as they are related distantly by blood. Then we can show them our journey and perhaps they will believe us. Maybe we can make it a triple godparent Ceremony? Us for Severus and Lily, Nicolas and Perenelle for our twin girls, who we still need to name, and Cassius and Eileen for the Flamel Twins."