World – Harry Potter/The Musketeers

Title – Stand By You

Plot – Azalea Potter has had it with magical relics and time travel. Next time, she's going on holiday with Ron and his family, and not the curious best friend who got into them into trouble in the first place. Damn Hermione and her curiosity.

Face Claim for Azalea 'Lea' Potter – Holliday Grainger (Just recently finished watching Strike, in which both Holliday and Tom Burke – our Athos – star in together, so I'm using her. Also, she's a red-head, so in this story, our FemHarry has red hair…

Pairings – Azalea/Athos, Hermione/Porthos

Author's Note – The timeline is a little all over, but basically, I've brought up the timeline a little. Our FemHarry was born in 1995, with the death of her parents occurring in 1996, and the battle of Hogwarts occurring in 2012. I've brought the time up for reasons (in case I reference or say something etc that exists now but didn't in the 1990s where Harry Potter takes place). So, in this story, our FemHarry is turning 25…

Prologue –

Paris, 1630 AD

Lea's POV

"This is all your fault you know…"

"How on Earth is it my fault?"

I sighed, checking my surroundings before ducking back down again. "Well for starters, you could have obtained the stupid thing, shoved it in magically contained safety box and then we would have brought it back to headquarters and then allowed the specially trained Unspeakables do their jobs and study it but no, Miss Curiosity had to examine the bloody thing and thus opened a portal that brought us Merlin knows where. Damn you and your curious self!"

"May I remind you, that it was you who said the incantation and opened the portal?! And it was also you that made the decision to fall through the vortex. But no, let's blame the curious bookworm who was just examining it!"

"I wouldn't have read the incantation if you didn't feel the need to pick up the bloody thing! You know, once upon a time you would have scolded me for even thinking about doing something so rashly. And you lied to me! You said we were going to Paris for a holiday, not to obtain some magical relic! Hence, it's your fault!" I uttered.

"And once upon a time you would applauded my curiosity and then thrived on the thought of going on an adventure. I didn't hear any complaints when we went to the Land of Oz or Narnia. But now, you're scolding me and blaming me for your mistake? Mmhmm…" Hermione Granger, my best friend and sister in all but blood, muttered underneath her breath.

I sighed, realizing she was right. "Beside the point. And, it's not the adventure I'm mad about – it's the fact that bloody thing sent us back in time to go knows where and now, we have men dressed in armour chasing us!"

"Keep your voice down! Do you want those bloody idiots to find us? Magic can only hide us so much! If you only you brought your cloak, we wouldn't be in this situation." Hermione whispered.

"Well, I didn't think I needed it because I was on holiday! Be thankful I still have the Elder Wand!"

I then sighed, remembering just how we managed to find ourselves in the past, and hiding from a group of guards we had apprehended on our way to Paris.

(Flashback)

Paris, 2020 AD

It started out innocently, Hermione asking me to go to Paris with her for a little break after our last mission and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to see Paris, and explore the magical world there. However, a day into our little getaway, Hermione revealed that it wasn't just a holiday, but a mission too. We had been asked by the Parisian Department of Unusual and Rare Mysteries aka the Bureau des Insolite et Rare Mystère – mainly the French version of the Department of Mysteries, which was where both Hermione and I worked in the Ministry of Magic. Anyway, we had been asked by the Parisians to obtain a rather rare and curious object that had been causing all sorts of magical mischief in the small town of La Fère, in the country side of France.

The area used to be owned by a Count, many years ago, until the Count had given the land to the people, and since then, the people worked the area, and the surrounding areas including the town Pinon. In Pinon, was where the local magical community located, residing within the muggle community as well. It seemed that the majority of the community was a mixture of muggle and magical folk alike, but the mayor simply stated that magical beings were more accepting in France, due to a magical saviour that saved the town as well as the country during the 16th century. I then remembered a story that Fleur, Bill Weasley's wife and Ron's sister in law, once told about – how magic, well more like witches had saved the country and since then, France was more acceptable of magical folk than other countries were. There rules were a little different in France, and while the Statue of Secrecy existed, there were some smaller towns that had a mixture of both magical and muggle.

It was the same in La Fère, with their residents being mostly muggle, but a few magical folk as well. It wasn't too difficult to speak or understand the language, considering Fleur taught both myself and Hermione French during our school years as she was always hanging around the Weasley Manor. The mayor was very peculiar – strange even, when he saw us. At first I thought that he might have recognized us, considering it had only been nearly 8 years since the Battle of Hogwarts and defeat of Lord Voldemort. But the way he acted, it seemed that he had been waiting for us for a little while, as when we had asked why the Parisian Ministry didn't handle it, he simply said that it had to be us. Strange, a little creepy but as we had been through many experiences, we didn't press on the matter further.

Then came the dilemma of what was causing the mischief – at first, I thought it may have been the a group of young witches or wizards causing the trouble, but after speaking to the mayor – who was magical himself, it became clear that this wasn't the work of a few young kids practicing their magic. After all, they wouldn't know how to make a whole person disappear through a vortex of a sort, even if they knew a spell to allow them to teleport a person. Then we had to ask the people residing in the church in La Fère, where most of the disappearances were occurring in the area surrounding the church. The priest of the church was more than happy to answer any inquires and if the priest knew about magic, he didn't say anything when we arrived. He informed us of his own disappearances from his church – a few nuns and a page boy had gone missing around the area. He was under the impression that they might have ran away to escape but he then dismissed that idea when strange things started to happen. One of the nuns informed us that she would often hear horses' hooves galloping on the ground, along with the sound of swords clashing when there was no one there.

It was at that point the priest informed us, in a joking manner, that it might have been the enchanted necklace that resided in the dungeons of the church – a room that no-one, not even previous priests or nuns had been in for centuries. I remembered Hermione sharing a look at me, and then trying to persuade the priest to allow us to look at the necklace. The priest had protested at first but then realized that it could have very well been the necklace as it was placed there during the 16th century by two unknown women. He had been informed by previous pastors before him that the room was to remain locked until the time comes. He said that others have tried, but for some reason never could. It was like magic, apparently.

It should have been at that point where I should have stopped Hermione from trying to get into the room, but I had to admit that my curiosity peaked then too, wondering if there was more to the story. And so, with access to the mysterious locked room, we went in. First it was the smell, then the dust and then I felt myself go through a ward of some sort, and I realized that this was no ordinary room and that the relic, or necklace as we came closer to it.

The necklace was resting on a red velvet cushion, held up by a mahogany stand of some sort underneath the only light from the sun that was filling the room. The necklace itself was a pearl, ruby and diamond necklace – while mostly white pearl, the diamond and ruby melded together in the form of a star, and there was an extra pearl drop on the bottom, with a silver clasp to clip it. It was beautiful, that's for sure, but there was a feeling of powerful magic behind it.

I should have stopped Hermione from reaching out to touch it, but it didn't harm her. I was then confused, as usually enchanted necklaces would have some curse behind them but this one didn't. Then Hermione touched it, lifting the necklace and examining it. She then flipped the necklace, frowning. She then showed me, and I looked, noticing a scribe of words on the back of one of the diamond stars that was hanging with the pearl drop.

"Look at this…it's some sort of inscription…It's in Latin…I think…" Hermione told me. I looked closer, the words standing out and I couldn't help but say them out loud.

"Dei tempus, sit nobis reddere, iter recipere, ut heri…" I chanted. Then, the room started to shake and I grimaced as I realized that it was a spell, and not an inscription or words of poetry.

Hermione then groaned. "Really? You had say it."

She then placed the necklace back on the velvet cushion and we turned around, wands at the ready when suddenly a large purple vortex emerged in the middle of the ceiling. Purple smoke also filled the room, surrounding Hermione and myself before disappearing into the purple vortex. I then felt a pull towards the vortex, and so I fell to the ground, before grabbing a hold of the mahogany pillar that held the necklace, thanking my lucky stars that it was bolted into the ground. I watched as Hermione fell as well, and I screamed at her to hold onto the pillar. She did, her feet lifting themselves up in the air due to the force of the vortex pull.

"What do we do?!" Hermione shouted over the roaring sound of the vortex

"I don't know! But it's pulling me in! I think we have to go through it! It's the only way it will stop!"

"Are you mad?!"

"Well, do you have any better ideas?!" I screamed.

"If we die for this Lea, I'm going to kill you again just for this!" Hermione growled.

Then, as if fate was deciding for the both of us, the mahogany pillar that we were holding onto dear life with, broke – snapping into pieces. Both Hermione and I looked at it as it broke and then the vortex started to pull us in. I quickly grabbed a hold of Hermione's hand, and she accepted it, squeezing it as I tried to hold onto the ground with my other hand. She tried the same, but it was no use. The vortex was determined to pull us in.

Without nothing to hold on, the vortex pulled us both closer into the large gaping black hole. With one last look at Hermione, and holding onto her hand for dear life, I sighed, accepting the pull and allowing the vortex to suck me in. I could tell Hermione accepted it too, and as the blackness covered my vision, I only hope that we would be okay and that wherever we ended up, we would be able to face it.

(End Flashback)

Now, sitting in the bushes, I could only blink as I remembered the events. Not long after being sucked into the vortex, we had landed somewhere in a serine country – but still in France, if the language was anything to go by. We had landed in the middle of a market of sorts – small one but filled with people dressed in clothing that went out of fashion many years ago. Dresses, rags and armoured suits – it was like we had landed in some sort of Renaissance fair and everyone was in costume. So different to what I was wearing, which was a black dress, denim jacket and knee high black boots, and what Hermione was wearing – which was blue jeans, grey t-shirt, grey cardigan and grey boots. But then it became clear that we weren't at a fair but sometime completely different when a woman dressed in strange clothing screamed 'Witches!' and it was then that I realized that we had landed in the past and if that was case, we were screwed…big time.

It's not we couldn't protect ourselves – considering after we got up from our landing, dusted ourselves off and gave each other a look, we decided to apparate back to the hotel we were staying in. At that moment, when guards dressed in what looked like armour and red leather headed towards us, all mention of Statue of Secrecy went out the window and I still had Hermione's hand in my own, and so I was the one that had apparated us out of there, pulling my wand out from its harness that was strapped to my arm and ignoring the rather clipped use of my name by Hermione.

The apparition worked – however, it didn't take us to the intended place I was hoping it would. No, instead we landed in what looked like bushes, trees and thorns. Which led us to this moment in time, in the very same thorns we had landed in. We must've not landed far from the market village, as we heard horses galloping and then saw a company of men who looked a lot like the men we were trying to escape from – we saw them on horses, heading to where the bushes were. And so, we then decided to hide, with Hermione quickly casting a cloaking spell to hide us.

"I've got a bad feeling about this…" I muttered.

"Yes…I think we've gone back in time…" Hermione whispered.

I snorted. "You think? Though, if that's the case, at least it's not bad like the last time we were in a similar predicament."

She frowned. "We're in the past, and I don't know about you, but the past really wasn't all that good, especially if we're in the medieval ages. Things weren't so pretty in the past, especially for women…oh and magical beings."

I shook my head. "I don't know…anything is better than those bloody giant flying monkeys. They make Gwarp look like a teddy bear, which I'm pretty sure he is…a large teddy bear on his good days."

Hermione rolled her eyes, looking out of the bushes. "Beside the point. I think they're gone. We need to find shelter or something…Ahh!"

Hermione gasped out in pain, clutching her chest. I then felt a sharp pain too, only I felt it on my thigh. I lifted the hem of my black dress, and gasped as I watched my soulmark suddenly burst into life. My words, 'I fail to see how your weapon of just a stick will defend yourself against the blade of a sword…' went from its ashen grey to a vibrant blue blackish colour and I marvelled at the sight. I then looked up to see that Hermione had lifted her shirt, and resting just below her breast, underneath the wire of her bra, were her words, 'You are tiny and no match for someone like me…' which had also gone from its ashen grey into the same colour as mine.

We looked at each other, knowing full well what it meant. It meant that in this time, in the past, our soulmates were here.

0*0*0*0*0

Hermione's POV

My soulmate was here…in this time…in the past…

I knew the importance of having a soulmate. After all, Lea and I were soulmates – platonic soulmates. When we had first met on the Hogwarts Express train many years ago, a bright light had surround the both of us. At first I was confused, but it wasn't until Ron Weasley, our other best friend – who had witnessed the bonding moment and had been nearby – explained that it was a soul-bond and that we were meant to be family and I fully understood the importance of our bond as together, we were strong. Of course, we considered Ron as the third part of the bond, but mainly it was just myself and Lea. Not that Ron didn't have his own platonic bond. Not long after Lea and I had bonded, he too bonded with another boy, Neville Longbottom and the two became brothers.

But the matter of our actual soulmate – the ones we were meant to be forever with, was entirely different. Ron had found his soulmate in the form of Luna Lovegood and as for Neville, well he was destined to be in the Weasley family as his actual soulmate was Ginny Weasley, Ron's sister. But their words had always been a black inked words on their body. Lea and I had grey words, indicating that our soulmates were dead. I mean, it brought Lea and myself closer, knowing that our soulmates had been dead even before we were born but it still hurt. I was often jealous of Ron and Neville, but Lea understood.

And now, here we were, in the past and our words had appeared.

"Out of all the things to happen, this was the last one on my mind." Lea muttered.

I looked at her. "Why now? I mean, not that I am not grateful but I wonder why now, in this time it's revealed itself. And if that is the case, then Fate has really screwed us over. I mean, what if we hadn't gone back in time? What, was the Lady Fate going to give us dead soulmates, or worse, we send us back to the wrong time and we would have had to wait for them? Why? Why have we gone back in time? Why has Lady Fate chosen this time to meet our soulmates? And, why on earth was the bloody mayor and the priest and that bloody community looking at us like we were gods?!"

Lea pondered for a bit as I tried to catch my breath. "You alright there? You were kind of going off."

I nodded. "I'm fine. It just…none of this makes sense. It's like we were meant to be sent back in time. But why?"

Lea shrugged. "Who knows why? And to answer some of your inquires, it hasn't been that long since the war, so maybe that's why they considered us gods – though you might be onto something about the priest. He wasn't magical and yet he recognized us but the mayor may have because we are kind of famous…in our time that is…Now, we're in the past, and our soulmates are here and those men are gone. So…maybe we can go and try to find some sort of help – preferably magical help as they will be the only ones to believe us. We try to tell a muggle we're from the future and I think it's safe to say that we'll be either dead or thrown into a mental institution."

"First we have to find out what year we're in. Judging by the clothes those people wore and the guards, I'd say 16th or 17th century give or take. If I remember correctly, the Statue of Secrecy didn't come into effect until the late 1600 hundreds, and so, the Ministry Of Magic or government wasn't established until the 1700s, so trying to make our way to England to see them is out of the picture. The French ministry hasn't been formed yet either – it was formed late in the 1700s." I remarked.

"What about Beauxbatons Academy? Surely they would exist, considering they were founded not long after Hogwarts was." Lea pointed out.

"Of course! I completely forgot about the schools! They'd be well protected though. And so would its founder…well, one of its founders. He was a student at the time when the school was founded and I think since then, he has been attending to the school." I stated.

Lea frowned. "Who?"

I sighed. "Really? I would have thought you'd remember considering in our first year, all we did was obtain information on him and you did kind of obtain a magical stone that he created."

She tilted her head, her eyes squinting in confusion but she got it. "Nicholas Flamel. He's French?"

I gave her a look. "Really?"

She shrugged. "What? All I remember about the bloke is that he created the Philosopher's stone that allowed him to live as long as he did. I don't remember much of anything else about the bloke or did you forget that was we weren't the only ones looking for it? Voldemort was too, along with Professor Quirrel?"

"Oh…Well, one would be more focused on defeating the dark lord then remembering one of the most famous alchemist of our world." I noted.

She sighed. "I know but that's why I have you, Miss Cleverest Witch of her Age."

"You're good at things too…I may be clever, but you're the brave one. After all, you defeated an evil wizard at the age of 17…" I pointed out.

It had been nearly 8 years since the Battle of Hogwarts and the defeat of Lord Voldemort and his army. Though, to us, it seemed like it was only yesterday. Lea had gone through hell and back to defeat him – we all did, Ron, Lea and myself. Out of all of us, Ron was the one who had managed to move on. Lea couldn't – she had the need to protect the world. That's why we all thought that she would be an Auror but, she didn't. Instead, she joined me in becoming an Unspeakable. But then, I guess by being an Unspeakable, she was protecting the world in some way – our jobs consisted of tracking down the unusual and rare mysteries and trying to solve them before they wreaked chaos. After all, she was a rare and unusual object herself, given her role as the Mistress of Death.

"I know. You helped me through that too. Which is why, I know we can figure this whole thing out and find some way home. And if we find our soulmates, well then I hope they are will to come with us back home." Lea remarked.

"You hope…so, what's the plan?" I asked.

"The plan is to find Mr. Flamel, or Beauxbatons Academy, and figure out what to do there. I'm sure Mr. Flamel would be able to help and if not, there is always the school…and Hogwarts if we're desperate. But we have a problem."

I frowned. "And what's that?"

"Just how are we to find the most famous alchemist of world and convince him of our tale?"

I stood up. "Well, sitting here is not how we find him. I think they've gone. Let's go."

We hurried out of the bushes, the both of us dusting the leaves and dirt of our clothes. That was another thing we would have to do – change our clothes. But that would have to wait till we had found somewhere safe.

"We'll start in Paris. It is a popular city – I'm sure we would be able to find him or someone who knows about him there." I suggested, pulling out my wand from the inside of my boots, laying it flat on my hand. "But first, we need directions to get there. Apparation is out for now, so...Point me Paris..."

The wand spanned around in a circle before stopping and then pointed the way down the dirt path that we were on. I looked to Lea who tilted her head.

"Alright, let's find ourselves an alchemist."

0*0*0*0*0

Third POV

Trainee Musketeer Charles d'Artagnan grumbled under his breath as he rode his horse through the vast forest of the countryside of France. He could hear the sniggers behind him as he rode, knowing full well who was doing the most of sniggering. But a bet was a bet and he'd be damned if he was going to back out now. After all, he wasn't one to back down from a challenge, even if said challenge was ridiculous. He pulled on the tight skirt his comrades had made him wear and fixed the rather feminine feathery hat that Porthos du Vallon, a fellow Musketeer and one of d'Artagnan platonic soulmates, had managed to find during their raid to find women's clothing.

The task that had led up to the bet, well more like dare was simple. Defeat Porthos in a sword duel, and d'Artagnan would be allowed to escort the Count Jekhov – their mission for the week – through the doors of the Palace and finally earn a Musketeer's commission, despite only just starting his training with Musketeers'. However, should the young trainee lose, he would have to do Porthos's bidding for the day – meaning the young lad had to do whatever his elder brother told him to do. One of his other platonic soulmates – his brother and another Musketeer, Aramis had warned him of taking the bet, with the elder knowing full well that Porthos loved to cheat. But it fell on deaf ears, and the younger lad went ahead and fought the larger Musketeer. Of course, Porthos came out victorious, and after the amused Count was safely delivered to Paris, Porthos cashed in on the bet, informing the younger of the first dare that d'Artagnan had to do.

The only brother that wasn't having anything to do with it, and thus was staying out but enjoying the annoyed looks of his younger brother, was the leader and the eldest brother of the lot, and the last soulmate, Athos. He was amused, watching d'Artagnan fiddle with the dress and Athos sighed, knowing full well he would have to be the one to explain the situation with the Captain of the Garrison Treville.

The Quattro – Athos, Aramis, Porthos and d'Artagnan were brothers: brothers in arms, brothers in soul and platonic soulmates all around. It was quite a shock when the young lad had turned up to the garrison that fateful day, wanting to fight Athos to avenge his father, only to stumped when a brought white light filled the area and encased all the men. They were meant to be brothers – even though there was no blood relation, it was Fate that destined them to be brothers in arms and in soul. Athos always knew he had shared a connection with Aramis and Porthos, but it wasn't till they had found their fourth, he knew that they were now complete.

Then came the case of their actual soulmates. Out of the four, only two had found their true soulmates – d'Artagnan, and Aramis. The boys knew who d'Artagnan's soulmate was – the Madame Constance Bonacieux. Boy, that was a dilemma with no happy ending – after all, she was already married, and her husband was a piece of work and so, Charles and Constance had to keep their love secret, but Athos and the others knew. Aramis had a soulmate – though, he wouldn't tell anyone who it was. Despite others trying to coax out the name of the woman that had Aramis's heart, the romantic Musketeer did not say a word. The only two who didn't have a soulmate, were Porthos, and Athos.

Athos's words, 'I'll have you know, Athos, this isn't just a stick and given the right situation, it can cause quite a bang...' written just below his clavicle in an elegant script, was coloured a bright shiny white. The same with Porthos's soulmark, the words, 'Why is it that you men just love to underestimate women?' embedded on his wrist and coloured that shiny white. White meant that their soulmate had yet be born. Given his age now, Athos wouldn't count on meeting her. Even if she was born now, by the time she had come of age, she would still be too young.

Athos sighed again, his amusement turning into a smile as he saw Charles huff about the clothes he wore.

"You could have picked a looser skirt. This contraption makes me feel for Constance when she wears her corsets." d'Artagnan complained.

"And you should have known better to make a bet with Porthos but you still went ahead and did anyway, despite warnings from both myself and Athos." Aramis chuckled.

Porthos laughed before hissing slightly and crying out. The others turned him but then Athos cried out, putting a hand to his shoulder, pressing over where his soulmark was. A white-hot burning pain went through him sharply and he rubbed his mark. D'Artagnan turned his horse around, making his way over Athos as Aramis tended to Porthos.

"It's my soulmark…its changed colour!" Porthos exclaimed, his sleeve pulled up. Gone from the white colour and in its place, a red, maroonish like colour with hints of gold through it.

"That can't be right…" Athos whispered, before lifting his leather jacket slightly and peeking at his mark. He gasped as he saw it was no longer white, but now a blackish emerald colour.

"Mine has colour too…" Athos informed the others.

"That's strange." Aramis murmured.

"How do you mean?" Porthos asked.

"Colours only come into the mark once the intended has reach their coming out age. If your soulmates are now alive, or born, they would be black but no, they're in colour, which indicates that they are now of age – adults. It's what happened with mine. It was black but then one day it changed to a beautiful blue and I realised that it was the colour of my soulmate's eyes. If you both have colour, your soulmate is now an adult. But that's not even the strangest thing." Aramis informed them.

"What else?"

"Why have your soulmarks emerged now, and not before? What has changed?" Aramis asked. "Curious, isn't it?"

Athos frowned, rubbing his mark. "Very curious…"

Then, the sound of shouting could be heard, and Athos held the reins of his horse as it moved around. The sound of gun fire could be heard, and he sighed.

"We will sort out the soulmate problem later. We've got company."

He pressed ahead, taking the lead with his horse and heading towards the sounds. He could only hope that he will get out of this unscathed and be able to get back to solving just who his would be soulmate is. He couldn't wait for that moment, for he had been waiting a long time. Both he and Porthos…

Little did he and Porthos know – that moment would come a lot sooner than they thought.

0*0*0*0*0

Azalea's POV

"BANG!"

"Well, we had a plan…I think that plan has gone out of the window for now!" I shouted over the sound of gunfire hitting the trees surrounding me.

"If only they would stop firing their pistols and listen. Men, honestly…" Hermione grunted, leaning against the tree opposite mine. "We need to get out of here, and fast."

"We could apparate, but we wouldn't know where to go. If we're in the past, I doubt the hotel we're staying at would be there." I pointed out. I then sighed, lowering the Elder wand strapped to my harness on my arm. "There is another way…"

Hermione looked at my wand and shook her head. "No! Magic against muggles is forbidden!"

"We're being shot at! I think we can a get a pass for this one. And besides, there are no ministries, so it wouldn't be detected, and I wasn't going to use magic to harm them! I'm just going to cast a sleeping spell and hope that it will knock them out!" I promised, in which she gave me a look and roll her eyes before nodding her head.

"I'll cast a shield spell, so that the bullets don't hit you. Cast the spell and fast. When they're all asleep, we'll cast the memory spells on them all. Get ready…" Hermione ordered.

I waited for a bit, and then as I heard the guards reload their guns, I stepped out, pointing my wand at them. This of course only prompted the guards to reload their guns quicker, with others pulling out their swords and pointing them towards me. Hermione quickly casted her shield spell and watched as I was engulfed into a cosy cocoon.

"Oh, come on boys…I only want to play…"

I heard Hermione mutter underneath her breath, and I turned back to her, shrugging. I then lifted my wand, wordlessly casting a sleeping charm, pointing the Elder wand at each of the guards. One by one, the guards began to stumble, before falling to the grounds, and falling asleep. The others, who had yet to be hit began to panic and some were about to run away but I was quick, casting the charm over them all. In total, 12 guards fell – unconscious on the cool ground, fast asleep.

I looked back to Hermione, who emerged from behind the tree.

"Nice work…" She approved. "I had my doubts that you wouldn't be able to not harm them slightly by using a sleeping charm but you casted the charm and didn't harm the muggles."

"You wound me with your doubt. I was going to cast a stunning charm on them all but they're just doing their jobs. It was our fault that we appeared in thin air and caused chaos." I remarked.

She snorted. "Right…shall we? The quicker we remove their memories, the quicker we can get to Paris."

I looked over at the horses nearby and gestured towards them. "Perhaps this time we'll take a horse with us? The two of us can fit on one horse. If we take two, we're just drawing attention to ourselves, so I think riding the one horse will do us." I suggested.

"Can't we just transform into our animagnus?" Hermione begged, her eyes gazing over the horses.

"Because a black cat riding an even bigger cat just screams anonymity does it?" I stated, twirling the Elder wand in my fingers as I gave her a look that said, 'Really?'

Another plus in our bond – our animagnus forms were similar. Hermione's form was a lion – which suited her well given her ability to protect those she loved. Her fierceness and warrior strength inspired me every day and I was glad to have her as my family. My form was small but lethal, well in my eyes I'd thought of myself as a big scary cat but really, I was simply a black cat, with emerald green eyes (as they were my colour eyes). If anything, I was lazy, slept all day and ate a lot. Much like a cat…which suited me.

She sighed. "I just feel bad when I ride animals – like horses shouldn't have to pull carriages or carry humans. They should just be free to be an animal. Not for riding or going into war."

"Shall we start a society for the horses then? We'll call it the Society for the Inhuman Treatment of Horses…SITH, for short...Hey, you could be the SITH Lady…" I joked.

She gave me a fake smile. "Oh haha, very funny."

"How funny indeed…"

We both froze at the sound of the voice, my eyes going wide as I slowly turned around and Hermione followed suit. Behind me, there were four men, dressed in peculiar clothing and while the man whom I assumed had spoken was standing in front of me, the others were mounted on horses. The clothing was peculiar as they all looked like fancy dressed men who stepped out of a Shakespearian play…so much leather…all, except one were dressed in too much leather for my liking. But I shouldn't talk – the feel of leather was luxurious on my skin. Only one man was dressed in women's clothing and was looking slightly annoyed but focused on the situation at hand.

I frowned. "Let me guess, dare gone wrong? Cause you kind of look ridiculous but with some make-up and maybe a wig, you should be good to go! Unless, you're into that sort of thing and if so, good for you! You go you good man!"

Hermione gasped before slapping the back of my head and I inhaled sharply, rubbing where she had hit me. The annoyed man rolled his eyes as the others sniggered in surprise.

"Speak for yourself Madame. Besides, it was a bet, not a dare. And I don't think you should talk. I've never seen two maidens dressed in strange clothing this far out in the country. And you're also standing in field of bodies." The annoyed man remarked.

I shrugged. "A bet huh? Nice…And the guards were already like this before we got here. I'll have you know too, that what we're wearing just happens to be the latest fashion in London."

The other man, the one that was standing in front of us, scoffed. "I find that hard to believe, Madame, for we arrived just as you were mysteriously finishing fighting them. How you managed to take on a group of 12 men without injuring yourselves has me stumped. I bet that you were making them unconscious with your striking beauty, fair Maiden…"

I raised an eyebrow. So, this man was a romantic? Of course – he was pretty good looking, with a Van Dyke looking moustache and hair that came down past his ears. The navy-blue leather uniform didn't help, making him look like some sort of soldier, well more like musketeer and he had a sword attached to his belt, along with a pistol and was holding a large hat with a feather attached to it.

"Really? Out of all the pick-up lines you could have used, you go with that one?" I muttered. I then braced myself for another slap and cringed as Hermione slapped my shoulder. "Hermione, ouch!"

My eyes then went wide as I realised that I had revealed her name and so, I clenched my teeth.

"Sorry…"

The romantic man smirked as he looked at Hermione. "Ah, Hermione, what a beautiful name. Tell me Hermione, what on earth did you two lovely maidens do to make the Red Guards unconscious? Tell me now, or I will allow my friends to apprehend you both, tie you up and take you back to Paris for questioning and believe me, our comrades in Paris won't be so kind. I don't want to do that, unless I have too."

I snorted, causing everyone to stare at me and I let out a laugh before clearing my throat. "Sorry, I just find it funny that you think you can do all that to us, when clearly your eyes we've defeated a 12-person guard."

Hermione groaned. "Azalea Lillian Potter, so help me…Shut Up!"

I gasped. "Hermione Jean Granger! My name is not one to trash about!"

She snorted. "You revealed my name, so we're square."

"Enough. If you're not going to tell us, then perhaps another way. You were intrigued by the bet that my friend here has endured. Perhaps I'll make one for you now."

"Aramis…" The annoyed one warned. So, the romantic had a name?

"d'Artagnan, don't fret." Aramis assured his friend.

d'Artagnan? Aramis? What kind of names are these? Then again, we are in France and there were strange names all over. Mine included.

"A bet…I can do that." I piped up. I gave Hermione an assured glance and she sighed, nodding her head slightly.

Aramis smiled. "Excellent. Judging by the guards, one would say that you may have duelled before, yes?"

I tilted my head but nodded. "Yes, I have…in some circumstances."

"How peculiar. Ladies who know how to duel." Aramis frowned. There was a sound of a throat clearing. "Anyway, I propose a duel. You two, against two of us. A duel till one has been stricken down or rendered unconscious in a way that won't harm either of us."

I smiled. "Okay…easy. But before we go any further, can I ask what you are? A soldier? If I am go into a duel with you, I need to know what you are…well who you are..."

Aramis bowed his head. "Of course. Madame, I am Aramis, and we are Musketeers, the King of France's most loyal and trusted soldiers."

I nodded. Musketeers…from memory, they were soldiers who did the bidding of the French royal family for many years until the Monarchy of France was disbanded. I may not know much about wizarding history but the history of France I had been only recently been reading up on considering we were going to Paris for holiday. Oh, how wrong I was.

I then nodded. "Okay, I accept. Both Hermione and myself against you and d'Artagnan, was it?"

Aramis laughed. "Oh no, Madame. Not against me or my friend here. Against our leader, and one of our best duellers. Ladies, I'd like to introduce you to Athos and Porthos du Vallon…."

I took a breath as I noticed the other two soldiers, or Musketeers who were behind d'Artagnan made themselves known. The larger of the two smirked as he got off his horse, taking off his gloves and making his way over. He was tall, muscular and his black curly hair was poking out from underneath a bandanna of sorts. He smiled as he stopped near Aramis, pulling his sword out of his sheath. He had light coffee coloured skin, and also sporting a Van Dyke style moustache.

The other man was slightly shorter but again, muscular, and tall. He got off his horse, removing his large hat and placing it on the girdle that was strapped to the horse. Dark brown hair fell to his ears, and I looked at his face properly. He sported a more anchor looking moustache, and his upper lip was crooked in away – much like a cleft pallet lip that had healed over time. His eyes looked tired, like they had seen things but he stood out and I felt my body respond in a way that would make me blush but I held it back, putting my arms behind my back as I readied my wand.

"So, the bet is – Hermione, you shall duel my friend Porthos," Amaris gestured to the tall stocky man and then looked at me as he gestured to the other, "While you will duel Athos. Do we have a bet, Madame Potter?" Aramis asked.

I nodded. "Yes. We do. What's the bet?"

"I thought you'd never ask. If we win, you tell us exactly how these men were rendered unconscious and we take you back to Paris to be sentenced. If you win, we will give you a horse and let you both be on your way to wherever you're going. Sounds fair?"

I glanced at Hermione and she sighed. I gave Aramis a swift nod and he bowed, before gesturing to us all to move into position. Porthos stood in front of Hermione, a few feet away while Athos stood before me. He gave me a curious look, like he was trying to size me up.

"Swords or hands only. No pistols…Are we clear?" Aramis inquired. We all nodded. "Might be best to produce a weapon of a sorts now….No…okay…this will be easy. Steady, ready - duel…"

I prepared myself as Athos withdrew his sword, lifting it towards me. But it was the words that Porthos spoke that made me take my eyes of Athos and gasp.

"You are tiny and no match for someone like me." Porthos scoffed. "I will enjoy winning against you."

Hermione gasped, turning to me and then turning back to Porthos. She then frowned at his words before rolling her eyes, annoyed. "Why is it that you men just love to underestimate women?"

Everyone stood still – including the musketeers. Porthos was stumped, lowering his sword as he looked at Hermione and confusion dawned on his face before he smiled, returning his sword to its sheath and cleared his throat, getting ready to say something but couldn't find the words.

"You're shocked, so am I but unfortunately we don't have time to sit around and chat…Azalea, end this now!" Hermione ordered me.

I frowned. "But…"

She gave me a pleading look and I sighed, drawing my wand and pointing it at the Musketeers. Athos, who was in still in shock, noticed my wand and frowned.

"I fail to see how your weapon of just a stick will defend yourself against the blade of a sword." He spoke, his voice rich and low. "But now that my companion has found his soulmate, there will be no need for a duel."

I gasped, words stuck in my throat. He is my soulmate?! What the heck, Lady Fate! Seriously, WHAT THE ACTUAL HECK?!

I shook my head and cleared my throat. "I'll have you know, Athos, this isn't just a stick and given the right situation, it can cause quite a bang."

He dropped his sword, looking at me in shock. Amaris, who had been silent at the turn of events, started laughing.

"My my, out of all the things I imagined we'd be doing today, this wasn't one of them…Oh what an interesting turn of events." Aramis chuckled.

D'Artagnan hopped off his horse and stood near. "Am I to understand that both Porthos and Athos have met their soulmates? They only just received their marks not that long ago! This must be some trick twist of fate."

"As interesting as this is, I'm afraid we have somewhere we need to be." Hermione quickly said before grabbing my arm.

"Wait!" Porthos shouted but it was no use.

The last thing I saw before we apparated, was both Athos and Porthos holding out their hands to catch us.

With a CRACK!, we were gone.

0*0*0*0*0

Hermione's POV

CRACK!

We landed on top of a building and I gasped, leaning forward as I tried to grasp my surroundings and my breath, and giving myself time for my body to catch up with me.

"Warn me next time you do that! We could've splinched ourselves!" Lea grunted, adopting the same position that I was in.

I sighed. "Sorry, I had to get us out of there. I panicked. Never did I think I would meet my soulmate while in the middle of duel you put us in. and I did warn you. I wanted you to finish it and knock them all out!"

She stood up. "Well I'm sorry, but I was in shock over Porthos saying your words and then I just happened to meet my soulmate, or were you to wrapped up to notice that Athos said my words and I said his?"

"I know…I wasn't thinking. I just had to get out of there." I stated. "We met them…our soulmates…in 16th century France…What the actual fuck?!"

"Language!" Lea exclaimed. I glared at her. "Sorry…by the way, where are we?"

"Notre Dame…Paris…" I answered.

"You apparated us to the rooftop of a church?" She questioned.

"Well, did you have any better ideas? And beside I knew that it was still in good shape. In our time, parts of it have burned down but in the past, it wouldn't have burned down and it would have been in pristine shape. So, Notre Dame it was…" I explained.

"I see your reason…But now we're in Paris."

I nodded. "Yes."

"We're in Paris, and we've gone back in time…"

"Yes…"

"We're in Paris, in the past and we've just met our soulmates."

I frowned, struggling to see the point she was trying to make. "Kinda struggling to see your point but yes."

"So what do we do now?"

I sighed. "Well, firstly, find some clothes. Don't suppose you have any reasonable clothing in that bag of yours."

She pondered before nodding. "Yes I do…don't ask how I got it. Just be grateful I do. And I have gold…I don't think 16th century Paris would accept paper money. So, I'll just transfigure it into the monies they use here and we can use that. And with some minor adjustments to the clothing, we should fit right in. Why?"

"Because we're in Paris and so should someone else be…"

She frowned before realising. "Mr. Flamel…Hermione, what about our soulmates?"

"I don't know…but we need to Mr Flamel first, and then we'll sort out the problem of the soulmates. But after the magic we showed them, who knows if they would be willing to talk to us?"

Who would indeed…