Chapter written by floorcoaster.
When Draco woke up the next morning, Hermione was still asleep, tucked against him with her back to his side. He wanted to stay there, to rest with her beside him for a little while longer. He knew they were beginning to turn their thoughts towards getting home. And even though he wanted to return, even though he didn't want to go through another war, didn't want Hermione to go through another war, there was a part of him that loved the simplicity of their situation. It was her and him, and they had no one else, no other responsibilities except to each other. He was definitely going to miss that.
Life at home was complicated, so much more complicated than here, and he desperately wanted them to work. But, of course, he didn't know if that was possible, so there was a small part of him that wanted to stay right where they were just a little longer.
She stirred and turned over, and he had to kiss her because he couldn't not. After a decent snog they stopped because he wasn't going to go any further in a tent surrounded by a whole bunch of people. He remembered well the talk about thin walls when they'd been in Naylen's camp.
"Hi." She smiled shyly, a delightful flush to her cheeks.
"Good morning."
"I, um, suppose we ought to get up then?"
He sighed. "Yes. We need to get back to the Order and see what we can do about the devices."
Hermione nodded but didn't immediately move to get up, so he couldn't get up either. They lay in the still, quiet morning, listening to the birds. After a few minutes, they heard the sounds of breakfast being prepared, and Draco's stomach growled.
She laughed and flung her legs over the side of the cot, pulling on her trousers. Draco followed, tugging on his own clothes, before they left the tent. Halfway to the breakfast area, he realized they'd just spent their last night in that tent. Though, he remembered Hermione had passed a few months in a tent with Potter and Weasley, and he felt an urgency to get her home that helped propel him forward.
He frowned. She must have been watching him because she took his hand, and he greatly appreciated the tangible connection more than ever. Now that one of their primary missions had been completed and they were turning towards home, he felt even more out of control than before. He felt a little lost and unsteady now that there was no immediate task before him. But having her there was everything.
When they reached the eating area, they saw Naylen, who waved them over.
"Morning!" he said brightly, shouldering a pack. "I'm ready to go."
Hermione and Draco exchanged a look. "Go? Where are we going? Have you seen Potter?"
Naylen looked surprised. "Oh, he went back last night with Theo."
"Why?" Hermione asked.
"They got to talking and realized that Theo's information was time sensitive. As soon as the Death Eaters realise he's defected, his information won't be as valuable. They'd do everything they could to cover their tracks. Though, from the sound of it, he had pretty extensive knowledge, so it would take some time to address everything he knew. From my understanding they want to get everything out of him they can and act on it as soon as possible."
Hermione nodded. "That makes sense."
"I suppose we should get going then." Draco gave her hand a quick squeeze.
"I'm going with you." Naylen stuck his arm through the other strap of the backpack. "Harry thought it would be a good idea, since he's been here and seen what we have, for me to go and see what you have at your headquarters. We're going to be working together, after all. I'm taking a couple of people with me."
"Oh! Well, did Harry happen to mention how that would work?" Hermione worried her lip. "We can only transport two other people with us."
Naylen's eyes went wide and he pulled an old shoe out of the backpack. "Ah! Yes, he gave me this. He said it's some kind of a port?"
Hermione laughed. "A Portkey! When is it supposed to activate?"
Naylen shook his head. "All Harry said was that once everyone who's going touches the thing, it will transport us. So whenever we're ready, we can go."
Draco watched with amusement as Hermione's eyes flashed with interest, but his own attention was drawn to the food. The smell of freshly cooked bacon had wafted toward them, and his mouth was watering. "Maybe we can eat quickly and then go."
"Sure. I'll round up the doctor and whoever else Naylen is bringing and meet you near your tent. Probably best if we disappear away from most of the group; they're still a little anxious around magic."
Draco led Hermione through the line, where they both took a plate of bacon and a piece of fruit, then trudged back to their tent, eating quickly. Everyone was waiting.
"Ready?" Naylen seemed strangely excited as he held out the shoe. "As much as I have hated magic my whole life, seeing what you lot do has made me much more curious and far less fearful."
Hermione beamed at him. "That's wonderful! All right, everyone grab the shoe." She held her hand back. "This is going to be an entirely new sensation, and there's really no way to prepare you for it. Just remember it will end. Keep your knees soft because when we land, there will be a little bit of a jolt. Once it activates, we won't be able to let go, and you wouldn't want to anyway because who knows where you'd end up?" The three Muggles exchanged nervous glances but said nothing. They didn't seem afraid, merely unsure. "Ready?"
Everyone nodded, the doctor lastly, and Hermione reached for the shoe.
Draco instantly felt the Portkey pull him by the navel, and he was reminded of the journey two nights before. It was much nicer to travel when not under threat of spell fire from enemy witches and wizards. In seconds, the trip was done. Draco and Hermione landed smoothly, while the Muggles staggered a bit as their feet hit solid ground.
They'd landed in the back garden of the Headquarters, and Draco briefly wondered how the Fidelius Charm worked with Muggles. Then the back door opened, and Remus came out to welcome Naylen and his fellow members. Lupin's warm smile was tired as he motioned for them all to come into the house. "Welcome to the Order of the Phoenix."
Draco watched the Muggles' faces go from confused to frightened as they watched the building pop out of nowhere. They exchanged looks with each other.
Remus smiled warmly. "I assure you, it's quite solid." He motioned for everyone to follow.
Hermione gave Naylen a reassuring pat on the back. "It's all right. Promise."
He swallowed hard and gave her a nod, though Draco thought he looked as though he might be ill.
Remus waited just inside the door and shook hands with Naylen. "I'm Remus Lupin, one of the captains of our little band. I'll be taking you to the living room where you'll be meeting with our leader in a few minutes." He turned to Draco and Hermione. "Harry asked that I take you to him when you arrived."
After Remus deposited the Muggles, Draco and Hermione followed him into the lower levels of Headquarters to one of the many nondescript doors off the hallway on sublevel two. The aesthetics on this level were different than those on the hospital level, but Draco still felt a rush of memory as he walked the hall.
Remus knocked before opening a door and motioned for them to go in. This room was more like a sitting room, with plush armchairs and soft carpet and warm wood paneling. In the room they expected to find Harry and Theo, but were also surprised with Sirius, Lily, and Molly and Arthur Weasley.
Harry looked up at them when they walked in and gave Hermione a tired grin. Molly jumped up and started fussing over Hermione and Draco.
"Oh, I'm so glad you're back. My least favorite part of all of this is whenever someone is away on a long mission."
Sirius leaned back in his chair, extending his legs in front of him briefly, then standing to stretch his arms. "We're finished here, so we'll leave you to it." He clapped a hand on Harry's shoulder and gave Theo a nod.
Lily beamed at Harry, then followed everyone else from the room.
When it was just the four of them, Theo let out a long breath and slumped in his chair. "That was exhausting."
"Surely you haven't been at it all night."
"Unfortunately, yes." Harry stood and stretched, yawning as he did so. "I'm exhausted, and I'm sure Nott, here, must be as well. But he had a lot of information, and there were various groups within the Order who needed to hear certain parts of it…" He chuckled and dragged a hand through his messy hair. "It was a very long night."
"Why did you want to see us?" Draco asked, amused by how Theo's eyes were drooping.
"Right, yeah." Harry crossed the room and held out his hand.
Draco stared at it for a moment, then hesitantly shook Harry's hand. It felt so strange, considering the offer of 'friendship' he'd once made to Potter their first year of school which had been rebuffed.
"Thank you for everything. We can't possibly hope to repay you for what you've done for us and given to us, but for now you're free to work on the devices. We know you need to do something about them in order to get yourselves home, and if there's anything any of us can do to help, please let us know." He yawned again. "I've got to sleep. Nott, come on, I'll show you to a room. And Hermione, I'll show you two where our Draco did his work. You've been there, I think, but just in case you don't remember where it is."
Hermione smiled. "Thank you, Harry. I don't think I could find it again. And we'll let you know if—or, more likely, when—we need your help." She took Draco's hand and together they followed Harry.
He led them down the hall, down another set of stairs, then finally stopped before a green door. Draco and Hermione exchanged a look. Draco rolled his eyes.
Once inside the room, Harry pointed to a table. "Both the devices are there, the one made by our Draco and the one from Naylen. Again, let us know if you need anything."
Draco thought for a moment. "We might need you, Theo. You're good at programming, and we know nothing about it. But we'll have a look first and let you know."
Harry nodded, trying and failing to stifle another yawn. "Right then. Just don't need anything from me for at least four hours."
Hermione laughed. "We'll do our best."
"Let's go, Nott." Harry passed Theo, who'd leaned against the wall by the door and closed his eyes, and nudged him lightly.
"Coming. I'd do absolutely anything to be allowed to go to sleep right now."
Draco and Hermione listened to Harry and Theo walk away until their voices faded. Finally, they were alone, and he let out his breath, feeling like he could fully relax now. He looked around the room, his eyes drifting over a large work table, a smaller table, a desk, bookshelves, and a bank of computers, plus a few cabinets. Nothing immediately jumped out at him, and his gaze finally landed on Hermione.
"Well I guess we'd better get busy."
She nodded. "I'm going to start with those bookshelves over there."
Draco chuckled. "Of course you're going to start with the books."
"Of course." She grinned.
The storage cabinets were housed beside the bookshelf, so Draco went over to them and started pulling open doors and drawers. He found an odd assortment of things he didn't understand, but rather than dismiss things just because they were unfamiliar, he decided it would be best to bring everything out. With his wand, he Conjured more tables and started to pull out everything that he found. He came across the notes and plans they'd been shown when they first arrived and set them on the table with everything else.
After half an hour, when he was working to organize all of the contents of the drawers and cabinets, Hermione let out an excited cry.
"I think I found something!"
He looked over to see her arm completely hidden, but by what, he couldn't clearly see. Her lips were pressed tightly as though she were reaching for something. Finally, her expression turned triumphant.
"Got it!"
Draco leaned back against the table to watch as she pulled out what looked like a journal.
Upon further examination, she was reaching behind a row of books, and the bookshelf she'd been going through appeared to have a hidden compartment. He thought it was strange that the journal had been hidden—and it was clearly intended not to be found by anyone—simply by physically hiding it rather than by some magical means.
Hermione brought the journal out and set it on the nearest table, her expression eager. Draco joined her so he could look at it as well. Hermione opened the journal and Draco immediately recognized his own handwriting, though a cursory glance showed that it was slightly different. Hermione sucked in a breath. "This belongs to other Draco."
Draco smirked. "You mean Fake-O?"
She chuckled. "Exactly." Her eyes were fixed on the journal, and she slowly flipped through the pages.
Draco Conjured two chairs and they sat side by side, giving the journal a quick skim to begin. He noticed there were many pages of the journal that had nothing to do with the device, but towards the middle they started to see sketches of various parts of it, and finally, about three quarters of the way through, they found a sketch of the full device. The sketches all looked slightly different than the plans they'd found before.
Hermione and Draco exchanged an excited glance.
"Why don't I read through this while you keep pulling things out of that cabinet?" Hermione pointed to something sitting on the table. "I'm pretty certain I saw a drawing of that, so who knows, it might be important."
Draco nodded even though he really wanted to be the one to read through the journal. After all, it felt like his—even though he knew it wasn't.
Hermione kept up a running dialogue of what she was reading, though, so he found that it was all right. Twenty minutes later they had gone through an extensive description of the device, how they thought it would work, and what it was supposed to do. Unfortunately, there was no mention of interdimensional transport.
Hermione sighed. "Well, maybe it was an accident and we'll never figure out how to get home."
Draco looked at her sharply, took in the slump of her shoulders, and felt a surge of anger. "No." His tone was clipped, and he pulled the book away from her. "This can't be the end." He returned to his chair and went back to the beginning of the journal, this time reading through everything, even the things that seemed to have nothing to do with the device. About a quarter of the way through, he found a mention of a potion, next to which his alter ego had written 'signature mask?' Feeling in his gut that he had found something of import, he stuck a blank sheet of paper into that page and kept reading.
Near the end of the journal, he found a drawing that included the device but also contained three poles on tripods set up to make a perimeter. The device was connected to one of the poles, and inside the poles was a ball. However, the drawing had no labels and no context, and even though he felt that he found something important, he didn't know what it was. He slammed the journal shut in frustration.
"Are you hungry?" Hermione asked. "I think some food might do us good."
Draco grudgingly acknowledged that she was probably right, and together they made their way up to the kitchen. There was no one there except Molly, who quickly made them some sandwiches, which they took down to the basement again so they could eat while they worked.
"Harry and Theo looked awfully tired." Hermione gave Draco a sideways look. "Did you happen to notice…" She trailed off, her cheeks pinking slightly.
"I don't know what you're talking about." He gave her a significant look which said he knew exactly what she was talking about.
Hermione bit her lip. "I wonder… I mean, my Harry is with Ginny, but…" She trailed off again, chewing thoughtfully but not saying anything more.
Draco remembered his friend had once—and only once—mentioned that Potter seemed awfully fit during a Quidditch game, but he'd never noticed Theo pay much attention to him otherwise. He'd have to ask him about it, if he ever got home.
Draco continued to flip through the journal while he ate, going over it again to see if he missed anything. When he got to the end of the journal on his third review, he happened to notice what looked like a little wedge of paper sticking out from behind what he thought was the book binding. Curious, he gave it a little tug, and it must have been magically concealed only for his—or other Draco's—eyes because when he pulled the little corner, an entire sheet of parchment came out.
"Hermione, look at this," he called and unfolded the piece of parchment.
She was by his side in an instant, looking over his shoulder. "What is it?"
"It looks like a drawing. Like he took a page out of the journal. But then he hid it, using magic this time." On the sheet of parchment was a clear drawing of the device, the three pillars or poles that he had seen earlier, plus a drawing and description of a potion remembered from earlier in the journal. Also on this drawing were detailed descriptions of everything, and as he read he let his excitement build. "Listen to this, Hermione. He wrote, 'The only way to defeat a magical signature detection device is to mask our magical signatures. This potion is the work of many months and needs only to be tested to ensure its efficacy.'"
They exchanged an excited look, then turned to read more. As they read over the ingredients of the potion, Hermione's eyes grew wider and wider.
"Do you realize what this means?" she asked.
He nodded. "It means they not only knew about the device Naylen was working on, at least in theory, but they were also trying to work against it, to find a way to mask their magical signatures so that Naylen's device, and others like it, wouldn't detect them. And it seems he was close, so close that they felt ready to test it. I'll bet anything that when they were testing it they were accidentally sent to our universe."
Hermione nodded eagerly. "Yes! I think that's exactly it, and somehow, instead of masking the magical signatures, they connected to ours and swapped us. I don't know how or why, but I'm not sure that we need to know how or why. All we need to do is test our theory and then duplicate it if it's a success. Then we can go home."
"So it wasn't a programming error after all, as Gilbert had theorized?"
Hermione shook her head. "I think, with his Muggle-based worldview, he couldn't even conceive how magic might play into it. But I believe we'd have to consume this potion for the device to trigger the cross-universe jump. They were testing the potion to see if the device, designed to detect magical signatures, would find them. But something went wrong, and the device found magical signatures of us, only they were in a different universe. It pulled them here, and since the second law of thermodynamics states that matter cannot be created or destroyed, it had to send something back to our universe of equal mass. Our counterparts were both right there, in close proximity, and had drunk the potion which started everything, and so it made the most sense!"
Draco gave her a wary glance. "That… sounds incredible. And highly improbable."
She laughed. "But that's magic! It's all highly improbable, magic breaks laws of science all the time—at least, the laws as far as Muggles understand them. Theoretical magiphysics is a fascinating branch of magical research where witches and wizards try to reconcile Muggle scientific theories with magic. Being Muggle-born, as most of those researchers are, I'm drawn to it and read their work from time to time."
He chuckled. "Of course you do. There's a problem, though. I don't really fancy testing an unknown potion and then zapping myself with a device to see if it transports me back to my home dimension."
Hermione frowned slightly, biting her lip. "No, I don't fancy that either. However, I think we can work something else out. What are these poles in the drawing?"
Draco flipped back in the journal to the page where he had seen them and showed her the drawing of the poles connected to the device. When he read it now, it made more sense. "It looks like the device powers the poles and limits the range of the device to a certain area."
Hermione looked closely. "Did anyone see or recover any poles from the rubble of my flat building?"
Draco shrugged. "I have no idea."
"All right, that's a question for Harry. Why don't I go ask him to come down here for a moment?"
He shook his head. "Let's wait just a few minutes, see if we can't think this through really carefully before we bring anybody else in. We're going to need to have answers to any questions they might ask."
They spent the rest of the day going back and forth with ideas and theories, researching each potion ingredient and trying to determine just exactly how the potion, combined with the device, would send them to another universe. In the end, the best they could hope for was to test it.
"But how would we know it would go to our universe?" Draco asked. "Why not send it to another one? You've mentioned that there are a lot of universes, if I remember correctly."
Hermione smiled, and he could see the glint of excitement in her eyes. "Because in the theory of multiple universes, some are closer than others. In this universe where we are now, many things are the same, though many things seem different. The general evolution and progression of world history seems very much in line with where we are from. In other universes, things would be drastically different. For example, there might not be magic at all."
"No magic? At all?" He couldn't hide his surprise. "How? Why?"
She shrugged. "Whatever evolution or progression that led to magic in our world might never have happened somewhere else. Or, for something possibly more relatable, Dumbledore didn't defeat Grindelwald in 1945. That's a recent example, but you can imagine the difference it would have had. If Dumbledore had died and Grindelwald succeeded, Riddle might have joined up with him. I mean, it's possible they met, anyway, but—"
"I see your point." He frowned. "So you're telling me there's a universe out there with that scenario?"
"Possibly. There are an infinite number of universes. There are many in which we don't even exist, for all sorts of reasons."
He shook his head. "You work in the Department of Mysteries for a reason. If they don't understand how incredible you are after this..."
She gave him a brilliant, breathtaking smile. "Anyway, I believe the device will send us to the closest universe to this one, which happens to be ours—it's why we came here in the first place."
He crossed his arms over his chest. "If there are universes 'close' to each other, then why not send us to the next one over?"
Hermione looked thoughtful. "Well, I think because we've already exchanged with this universe, chances are it would happen again. Plus, our magical signatures are drawing us back home, just like theirs must be wanting to be back here. We don't really belong here, and the universe knows it. Mainly, though, I think it's because our universes are so closely connected, so close to each other in the time space continuum."
Draco looked at her and just shook his head. "You're so unbelievably smart. It's very… distracting." He had a few more things he wanted to say, like just how distracted he was, but he wasn't sure they were quite there in their quasi-relationship yet.
She blushed. "You're not so bad yourself," she said saucily.
He grinned. "We'd better get busy or we're not going to get anything done."
Hermione sighed and nodded in agreement. "I think the first task is to find out if there are any poles in the rubble of my building. Then you and I need to sort out how we're going to test this."
Draco went back to the page in the journal on the poles. "It says here how to build these. If we don't find them there, we can probably make our own." He pushed the journal toward her to read. "I saw…" Comprehension dawned in a burst. "Wait!" He jumped up and went to the table where he'd been organizing everything from the cabinets. "Look, these look a bit like the poles in the drawing." He held out three poles, on tripods, about eight inches high. One of them had a cord sticking out from it.
"They do, only they're rather small." She held out her hands. "But… hang on." She set the poles on a small patch of clear space on the table. Draco hurried to move some things to give them more room to work. Then Hermione took their device and found where the loose cord might connect to it. When she plugged it in, nothing happened, and her face fell.
"Did you expect it to work the first time?" Draco asked with a chuckle.
She huffed. "Honestly? Yes. Oh, wait." Hermione flicked a switch on the device and it hummed to life. With the device turned on, when she connected it to the cord, a light on each of the three poles, which were apparently also connected, began to glow. "This is fantastic!" Hermione clapped her hands. "Let me see the loose sheet again?"
Draco handed it to her and watched with amusement as her eyes continued to light up.
Then she tapped the page with her finger. "Okay. Here. See?" She waved him over and set the page on the table. "This drawing shows nothing in the middle of this field, unlike the previous drawing with the ball. Obviously, a ball couldn't consume a potion, so maybe they put some of their magical essence into the ball as a way of testing it before they tried it on themselves."
"If they'd done that, though, wouldn't the ball have simply disappeared?" Draco frowned as he peered at the drawing. "Assuming our theory is correct, of course."
Hermione bent over the parchment again. "Good point. Only... What did it say about the drawing with the ball?"
Draco went back to the page with the poles and the ball, then read a few pages before that. "It says that they used the ball to test that the device would detect a magical signature. Not to test the potion. They did everything on a small scale first, which is why we have these small poles."
"Fantastic! So the device was able to detect magical signatures, but when they needed to test the potion—"
"They needed people. So… we can only send living things?"
"I'm not sure. Before we test this, I'd really like to send a note to Harry..." She trailed off, deep in thought as she examined the poles. After a moment, she threw her hands up in the air. "I don't know!"
At that moment, a knock sounded, and both Draco and Hermione automatically turned to the door, which opened to reveal Harry.
"Hope I'm not interrupting." He glanced around the room with an amused expression, then pointed to the table covered with the contents of the cabinets. "What is all this?"
"Parts and models and all manner of things I don't recognize." Draco shrugged. "I suspect only a small percentage of it will be useful."
"I'm glad you're here, though, Harry." Hermione motioned him over to the table where they'd set up the small version of the device and poles, pointing to one of the latter. "Did anyone retrieve anything like these from the rubble of my flat building?"
Harry frowned and peered closer. "I don't think so. Why?"
"We think they're important." She glanced at Draco. "Would it be possible to send someone back to look?"
"Absolutely, if you think it's necessary." Harry reached out to touch one, then seemed to think better of it. "May I?" Hermione handed him one of the poles not attached to the device. Harry turned it over a few times, a look of concentration on his face. "I'll go myself. Ron and I haven't been out in the field together in a while, and it would be nice."
"Thanks, Harry!" Hermione gave him a relieved smile. "We're really close to something, it's on the tip of my tongue, but it's eluding me. One of my coworkers would know, if only I could owl her, I'd…" She trailed off and her expression lightened. "That's it! Thank you, Harry! Oh, does the Order use owls for mail?"
"Occasionally, though the Muggles know about owls and they shoot down any they see with notes or packages. It hasn't really been safe to use them, but they're fairly reliable, so sometimes we'll risk it at night if there's a timely message that needs to be sent."
Hermione nodded. "Great. I'll need an owl to send a letter. Thanks again, Harry."
Harry glanced at Draco, who shrugged. He had no clue what she was talking about, as Harry had interrupted before she'd been able to share her thoughts.
"Right, then. I'll head over to your building and have someone bring you an owl. See you soon." With that, Harry left.
Draco chuckled because Hermione barely noticed, so focused was she on what she was doing—which, at that moment, was rereading the information on the potion.
"It says here they made enough for three trials, but surely they only used one set." She rushed back to the compartment where she'd found the journal, stuck her arm in again, and started feeling around. "Aha!" With a triumphant grin, she brandished six bottles of what, Draco assumed, had to be the experimental potion.
She uncorked one and took a sniff. "This must be it; it smells strongly of anise, which is an ingredient listed in the journal."
"But Hermione, surely you won't be so foolhardy as to drink the potion without being completely certain… Right?" Her mischievous expression made his heart start to pound, and not in a good way. "Right?"
Hermione was already rifling through the things on the counter. "We need to test one of these vials to be sure it's the right stuff." In minutes, she'd set up a makeshift Potions lab and was hurrying through a basic battery of spells to determine the ingredients of the potion. He tried to busy himself with reading through the relevant journal entries but found it hard to concentrate.
"I'm nearly certain it's the same thing. How could it not be?"
"Are you going to tell me what the owl is for?" He crossed his arms with a playful smirk.
She practically bounced she was so excited. "We're going to send a letter to Harry at home with an owl! Of course, we need to test it on something much smaller first—I was thinking an ant. We can set up outside, in the back garden. But if it works—oh, Draco, if it works!" She squealed and gave him an impulsive kiss on the cheek, then began shoveling things into a box she Conjured—the poles, device, the potion, the journal.
"Wait… what? You want to send an owl to them? Not figuratively, but an actual owl?"
Hermione nodded and started speaking rapidly. "Our theory is that only living things can transport between universes, as the potion must be ingested. We're not going to test it on us, obviously, because there's no guarantee that our other versions will come back. We need to send something and then retrieve it. Then try something bigger—the owl. Only we'll include a letter to Harry with the owl, which should arrive right here in Grimmauld Place—or there, I mean. We'll wait an hour, so Harry can reply, and we can set up a transfer. If our other selves are in roughly the same place in that version of Harry's house as we are here, I think we're virtually guaranteed to swap!" She grinned, then sighed. "Assuming we can get the ant to drink some potion. Come on, help me out."
"We weren't together when we traveled here originally." He remembered waking up in a half-destroyed Malfoy Manor.
"That's true. But I don't want to risk it, do you? They'll probably be together anyway, and things are much less likely to go awry if they're in the same place we are."
He shook his head with a chuckle. "Whatever you say, Hermione."
Over the next hour, as they waited for Harry and Ron to return, they tested the device on a few ants. They set up the poles and device on some pavement in the back, then Hermione sprinkled the potion. When an ant crept up to the drop and took a drink, she activated the device. There was a small flash and the ant was gone, replaced by another ant—at least, they thought it was a different ant. It was impossible to tell. So the next time, once an ant had drunk some potion, Hermione Charmed the ant blue.
She gasped and clapped when the blue ant disappeared, replaced by a regular black one. Then she quickly activated the device again, and the blue one reappeared.
"Do you know what this means?" She cast some spells on the blue ant, checking to make sure that it was fully intact and had nothing wrong with it. "We're ready to try the owl!"
Draco hesitated. "Don't you want to try something a little bigger first, perhaps? Say, a mouse?"
Hermione shook her head. "We already know it's capable of sending people through because we're here."
"But… and I hate to mention this, but I've had a little bit of experience tinkering with a magical object that transports things from one place to another."
She stilled in her admittedly adorable excitement over their success with the ants and looked at him, her expression full of emotion.
He continued when she said nothing. "I sent a number of things through that cabinet, but they didn't always make it in one piece. How can you be sure that the Draco and Hermione from here made it there?"
Hermione glanced down at the blue ant. "Her. She's here. In one, amazing piece."
Draco watched the blue ant crawl around as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened to it, pausing to drink more potion whenever it encountered a drop. "Do it again. With the blue ant."
She nodded and activated the device. Again, the blue ant was exchanged for a black one. Hermione decided to turn that one red, and soon they were both swapped once more. She did it a few more times, and each time both the blue and red swapped back and forth, until finally he said she could stop.
"All right, then. Owls now?"
Hermione nodded once. "Owls. With a letter. It's also time to let the Order know what we're doing."
As they packed up once again, something occurred to Draco. "You know, it's highly probable that we're going to get Fake-O in trouble. Once the Order knows he's been working on this potion—"
"That's to help them, though!"
"—and testing it on himself, they might not be too happy with him."
"What's to say he didn't try it on ants first, too?" Hermione hefted the box and thrust it into his arms with a grin.
"There are no notes about any tests. I've read that journal cover to cover more than once." Draco followed her back inside the townhouse, down the hall, and into the main room the Order used for meetings. "Besides, he wouldn't have tested it on ants! They were trying to see if the potion would mask their magical signatures. They had no idea it would transport them out of their universe."
Hermione paused in her unpacking. "That's true. Very good point." She looked at him with a sly expression. "You're not just a handsome face, are you?" She resumed setting up the device, placing it and the poles on one end of the long table.
He chuckled. "You think I'm handsome?"
She ignored him but he saw her cheeks flush prettily. "Let's call the Order."
Twenty minutes later, everyone who was familiar with what was going on had filed into the room, including, to Draco's surprise, Naylen. He seemed slightly more at ease but still kept to the back of the room, near the door with all the magical people in front of him. He gave them a small wave.
Hermione did the work of bringing everyone up to speed, and when she was nearly done, Harry and Ron came in, three large poles in their hands—though only two were whole. "Third one was destroyed when the building collapsed," Harry said apologetically as he sat down.
"The next step is to send an owl to the other universe. Draco and I will draft a letter to the Harry Potter from our world. This is his house, now that—" She faltered, her expression turning to horror. Draco knew that she'd been about to mention the death of Sirius, who in this universe was sitting at the far end of the table with his arms crossed over his chest.
"What is it?" Lily prodded.
Hermione gave her a timid smile. "I'm sorry. Things… are quite different there. Grimmauld Place now belongs to Harry. I'm almost certain that he'll be there. Assuming that eight o'clock in the evening here is eight o'clock in the evening there, he'll be here. There." She blushed with embarrassment, and Draco tried to give her a reassuring smile. "We'll tell our Harry to gather your Draco and Hermione in his home at a certain time to ensure the success of the transfer. Then... You'll have your members back, and we can go home." She looked over at him as she finished, a bright gleam in her eyes.
Home.
"Any questions?"
A few people raised their hands, and Hermione fielded them expertly. When the full plan was set, including a time and a specific owl to send, the meeting was adjourned. Harry hung back, a wry sort of grin on his face.
"I can't believe you've solved it."
Hermione shrugged. "Well, we're not home yet. But I think we're on our way."
Harry shook his head. "I should have known Hermione Granger would stop at nothing until she got her answers."
"As much as we've learned from our time here…" She looked at Draco and her expression softened. He felt like his heart might burst at the promise, the possibility, in that look. "We don't belong here." She turned back to Harry. "This isn't our fight."
Harry chuckled. "It's amazing what you've told us. It could very well turn the tide of this war."
"I truly hope so. Now, it's nearly dinner time, and Draco and I have a letter to compose. I suppose restaurants aren't exactly functioning right now, during this war?"
"Er, not exactly. You'd have to get well out of the city, and even then, you'd have to hope you didn't run across a band like Naylen's, intent on destroying all magical beings." Harry shrugged. "Molly makes a mean steak and kidney pie, though, and I think that's what's on the menu for tonight…"
"Sounds delicious. We'll be there."
Harry nodded to both of them and left.
When it was just them left, Draco let out a long breath. "That was… you're incredible, you know."
She blushed and busied herself with a stack of parchment and a quill she'd pulled from her beaded bag. "Running meetings is hardly exceptional. We should get started, yes? Then we can eat when they call us for dinner."
Draco sat in the chair beside hers, and together they worked out what they would say to the Harry Potter they knew.
Harry—and probably you're there, too, Ron—
I'm all right! I suspect you got quite a surprise a couple of weeks ago, and you've been completely at a loss for what happened to bring you a very different version of me. It's my hope that she, the Hermione from where I am, found Draco Malfoy, and that nobody has come to blows over any sort of misunderstandings. Ron here tried to kiss me, which was very awkward, but he handled the truth rather well. Ron—can you imagine?
Anyway, Draco and I have had quite the adventure here, and we've finally sorted out how to get ourselves home. If you're reading this, then we managed to send this owl from where we are, and in one hour, we'll be retrieving him. Please be sure he's in this same room, the dining room at Grimmauld Place, at that time so that we can make the transfer. When matter from our side transfers to yours, something from your side must come here. At the time of this letter, we don't know what we'll get from your side, but we'll return it.
Then, in twelve hours, if all goes according to plan, Draco and I will make the transfer ourselves. We need you to be sure that the Hermione and Draco who are in your world come to Grimmauld Place and are in the dining room there for the transfer.
"Hey, Hermione."
She paused in her writing and looked at him expectantly. "Yes?"
He frowned slightly, not sure if he should bother mentioning it, wondering if she'd laugh at him. But then he took a breath and plunged forward, deciding that she already liked him, and he didn't think this would change that. "I want to bring the sword back."
For a moment, her eyes danced with mirth, and he thought she was going to make fun of him, but then she gave a curt nod and returned to the letter. She started to write, but then paused. "We need to determine its mass." After casting a quick charm, she scribbled a number on a slip of parchment. "I'll add this to the letter."
In addition to our counterparts, please have, in Draco's hand, something made of steel that weighs 2.7 pounds. I'll explain later.
Draco smiled at her, feeling heard for perhaps the first time in his life. She hadn't laughed or made fun of him for wanting to keep the sword; she'd simply done as he'd asked.
I can't wait to see you, Harry, and tell you everything. And I am sure you have stories to tell me as well. Please keep this between you and Ron as much as you can.
Hopefully, this transfer goes well. Please send back a letter with the owl we sent so that we know you got our message.
Hermione
When the time came to send the owl, Draco and Hermione were joined by Harry, Ron, and Theo. Draco couldn't help but notice the way Theo seemed to gravitate towards Harry. He didn't know if it was conscious on Theo's part or not, but he also noticed that Harry didn't shy away.
"Ready?" They'd cast a shield charm around the area to prevent the owl from flying away, then Hermione activated the device. It powered up for five seconds before reaching full strength, then she pressed a button. There was a bright flash of light, and the owl was gone. Nothing appeared in its place.
Draco looked at Hermione. "Did it work?"
Suddenly there was a shriek from somewhere else in the house, and they all ran to investigate.
In the kitchen, they discovered an owl flapping wildly around Molly's head while she tried to bat it away. "Thing burst out of nowhere!" she cried. "Started pecking at me as though it hasn't eaten in ages!"
Draco quickly reached for the bird, speaking softly to it until it calmed down. When the bird settled, he looked around to find everyone gaping at him. "What? I like birds."
"Well, we've got our confirmation." Hermione checked the owl's leg and found it had no note attached. "This isn't the bird we sent over."
"Let's feed her and then she should go back into the dining room." Molly pulled a bag of owl treats out of a cabinet. "Can't risk letting her go outside."
Draco took the bag and carried the owl, still perched on his arm, back to the meeting room.
"I'll bring you something to eat!" Hermione called after him.
The meal passed strangely. Harry asked Draco, Hermione, and Theo to fill Ron in on everything that had happened, and it was almost like being among friends. Every now and then, though, something would happen to remind everyone that he and Hermione didn't belong.
Before they knew it, the hour had almost passed. Theo cleared away their dishes while Hermione and Draco gave the owl the potion and put a shield around it. They'd written a brief note saying that it had been a successful transfer and that, if the next one was as well, they would make the final transfer the following morning at nine.
As before, there was a bright flash of light, the owl disappeared, and they waited. Ten seconds later, another owl popped into existence in the room with them. It was a minute or so before they could calm him, and while Draco held him, Hermione excitedly detached a letter from the owl's leg.
"They wrote back!"
Draco released the owl to a perch someone had brought in and went to her side. He noticed her hands trembled as she unfolded the slip of parchment.
After a quick scan, she read aloud.
Hermione!
We can't believe it's you! The other you, the one here, and this Malfoy, have been trying to build whatever they had made on your side, but there's a potion ingredient we can't seem to identify over here. Malfoy here thinks it goes by a different name, but I'm pants at potions, and we haven't told very many people what's been going on. Anyway, they're thrilled at what you've done and can't wait to get home.
Everything you requested, including 2.7 pounds of steel, will be ready tomorrow morning. Ron and I can't wait to see you, same with Ginny, Luna, George, Mr And Mrs Weasley, your boss—who this Hermione has had a time dealing with—and a whole bunch of people who don't even know you were gone. We can't wait to tell you everything. Thanks for giving us time to get everything together. Need to round up Hermione and Malfoy—they tend to wander off.
Are you really coming home tomorrow? We will be ready. Can't wait to have you back.
Harry
Draco and Hermione looked at each other, and he felt an odd combination of things: thrilled it had worked and they'd be going home, apprehension about their future, and even some sadness over leaving everything they'd been thrown into and the people they had come to care about.
"We can always communicate with them." It was as if she could read his mind.
"But should we? This technology, this ability to jump between universes... I think it should be destroyed, honestly."
Her eyes went wide in surprise. "Really? But this... This is what I do, I push the limits of magic and science. I could take this to the DOM and—"
"And it could end up in the wrong hands, and then rather than trying to take over one world, Riddle would want them all." He shook his head. "You don't know him. You haven't seen him. We killed Bella's husband, so she'll dispense with any pretense and join him completely, and there's no telling what the two of them might accomplish."
"But—"
"Hermione." He stepped close, well into her space, and tilted her chin up so she would really look him in the eye. "Some things aren't meant to exist. Just because we can do this... Doesn't mean we should."
She bit her lip, and he could tell she was weighing it all: the endless possibilities, the chance to find cures to diseases, to help ease suffering. But then her expression clouded.
"I think you're right. I hate it, I don't want you to be, but you are." Her eyes flicked to his lips. "Dr Malcolm."
Draco blinked. He'd been expecting her to kiss him, not say another man's name. "Sorry, what?"
"Jurassic Park. He was one of my first literary fancies." She sighed.
He thought she'd kiss him now, but instead she laid her head against his chest and wound her arms around his middle. In some ways, it felt even more intimate than a kiss because rather than a brief snog, she wanted him. There was something she found in his arms that comforted her, and not just at night when their deepest fears had room to play. He pulled her closer, relishing the feel of her in his arms, the total surrender that came with placing his full trust in her, giving her access to his heart.
She let out a muffled sigh. "I've never wanted to kiss you more than at this moment."
Well.
He'd take that, too.
They spent the evening with their new friends who, despite being in the midst of a terrible war, tried to pretend none of that existed.
He, Hermione, and Theo had formed an unbreakable bond while working together to save Naylen's group, and they'd even bonded with Harry. Ron was so much like her friend that Hermione had no trouble falling into easy conversation with him, though Draco couldn't help but scowl at the looks Weasley gave her. He had to remind himself that this Ron was with that Hermione, and it was only natural that he'd be drawn to her as well.
Around midnight, Draco yawned. "Hermione, we should..."
She sighed. "Yes. We should get some sleep."
The three men all shifted awkwardly and nobody would meet their eyes. Draco wondered briefly what had happened but then realized they suspected he and Hermione would be up to business other than sleep. Then he smirked and took her hand. "Yeah, we have a lot to do in the morning. Don't want to be too exhausted." He winked at Hermione and Weasley grimaced.
Theo rolled his eyes. "Oh, just get a room already."
Hermione went red and turned around to look at Draco, swatting him in the stomach when she realized what had transpired. She pulled her hand from his and marched to the door. "Theo, Harry, Ron, goodnight. I'll see you in the morning."
She left without looking at him, but he suspected she was merely embarrassed. Draco decided to play it up, so he stood and straightened his shoulders, rocked his head side to side as though stretching, and gave them all a smug look. "Goodnight, gentlemen. The lady awaits."
Ron pulled a face and pretended to be sick. Theo merely nodded, as though it were perfectly natural; Harry wouldn't look at him.
Unfortunately for him, he'd waited too long, and Hermione poked her head back into the room with a scowl. "Malfoy! Come on! I've had an idea for something I want to do. We need the journal, fresh parchment, ink, and a quill." She flapped her hand at the pile that was left on the table. "Grab those things, will you?" Then she was gone.
Ron burst out laughing, his face going bright red. "Doesn't sound like your night is going to go quite the way you'd hoped!"
Draco grinned. He'd never really thought he'd be sleeping with Hermione tonight. Part of him couldn't even think about that yet. They weren't home, back in their normal lives, and he had no idea if the relationship would even work. Plus, there were her friends, his friends—his parents. He didn't want to complicate things before they'd even really begun.
"You never know, Weasley." He gathered up the things Hermione had requested and left the room.
She was waiting for him, her foot tapping impatiently, and she grabbed his arm. "Come on. Let's get to our room."
He smirked at what she'd said but wouldn't let his thoughts wander. He needed to stay focused and on task, and she clearly had plans that did not involve them being naked together. He groaned; thinking about not doing it wasn't helping, either.
"What do you want to do, exactly? Why the parchment and quill?"
Hermione bit her lip as they neared the room they'd been given at Headquarters. Technically, they'd been given two, but the only night they'd spent at Grimmauld Place had been when she was in the hospital wing. They both entered his assigned room and Hermione shut the door behind her, locking it and casting an extra ward for privacy. "I think… I think we should write to our counterparts."
"Ah." He nodded, setting down the bundle and taking a seat on the bed. "What about?"
"I've been thinking a lot about what you said, about the technology. It was an accident, I'm certain. Fake-O wasn't looking for a way to cross between universes, but he found one, and it would be really dangerous in the wrong hands. Can you imagine Voldemort popping into our universe one day?" She shuddered. "I think you ought to write to him and explain everything. Tell him why we feel this technology should be destroyed. If he's anything like you, he'll agree. Hopefully he'll at least listen to you, at any rate."
Draco nodded. "I think that's a great plan. What are you going to write?"
She shrugged, avoiding his gaze, and picked up a quill and sheet of parchment.
"Hermione?" He retrieved his own set of supplies and Conjured a small table and chair. Rather than sit down right away, though, he crossed the room. Her back was to him, and she was about to sit down herself, but he put his hand on her waist. She stilled, and Draco stepped closer, placing a kiss at the back of her neck. She sighed and relaxed, tilting her head to give him better access. "What are you going to write?"
She spun around, eyes flashing. "Did you think kissing me like that would make me tell you?"
He chuckled. "I just wanted to kiss you."
"Well, if you must know…" She stepped out of his arms and sat down. "I'm going to tell the other Hermione that she should take some time for herself, figure out what she really wants. Based on everything I've heard about her, and about Fake-O, I think… I suspect…"
"They fancy each other?" he suggested, moving to his table and sitting down.
"It's possible. And considering what we've found here…" She glanced over her shoulder, giving him a tentative, warm smile. "I think she should be open-minded. That's all. I know how I can be, and I was so stubborn about Ron, trying to force things to work out, that it took me much longer than it should have to realize that we didn't work. We're much better as friends." Hermione turned back to her parchment. "That's all. Of course I've no insight into him."
"If they argue as much as we've been told, then yeah. He's definitely into her." Draco grinned to himself, imagining his Hermione in a righteous fury, magic crackling around her. Fake-O was probably completely in love with the other witch and wouldn't need much encouragement to act on it.
He turned his thoughts to his writing assignment and let the words flow.
The next morning was frantic. They'd woken late and hadn't been able to linger, much to his disappointment. They ate quickly and hid their letters where their counterparts would be sure to find them, charmed to be illegible to anyone except the intended recipient. Then came the business of saying their goodbyes.
Most of the Order members they'd interacted with came to wish them well. Draco hadn't been close with any of them in his timeline, but Hermione had a few long conversations with some—the longest was with Lily, to his surprise. When they concluded, both women had to dry their eyes, and they embraced for a long time.
The only people in the room with them as they left were Harry, Ron, and Theo. Together they prepared the room, setting the poles out in a larger area. When Draco stepped inside the perimeter, he felt a strange thrill. He was about to travel from one dimension to another. He'd been asleep for the last trip, and he was extremely curious what this would feel like. Was it like Floo travel or would it feel more like a Portkey?
Hermione had told Theo how to work the device, and when he turned it on, the poles lit up and the device hummed to life.
Hermione grabbed his hand, her grip far stronger than he'd been expecting. He turned and kissed her forehead, giving her hand a squeeze. "We've got this, Granger."
"I know. It's just… I've never done this before!" Her voice was barely a whisper.
"Yes, you have. We've both done this before, we just didn't know it was coming. And I'm here, I won't let go."
She nodded, forcing herself to take a deep breath.
"We're ready." Theo looked up at both of them. "Four minutes until nine."
Hermione released Draco's hand and flung her arms around Theo's neck. "Thank you for everything!" She hugged Harry and Ron in turn, her eyes watery.
Draco shook hands with Harry and Ron, then he and Theo awkwardly embraced, very quickly and with a good deal of throat-clearing and eye-avoidance. Then he and Hermione returned to the device, and she gripped his hand in hers like a vice once more. She turned to face him. "I'm so glad I went through this with you."
"It's nine." Theo nodded to them both and they downed a vial of the potion each before Theo pressed the button. As the device drew power to send them home, Theo stepped back to stand beside Harry. Just before a bright light obscured Draco's vision, he saw Harry reach for Theo's hand.