October 1st, 1996

"Are you sure you have the memories?"

"For the thousandth time, Hermione, yes," Theo snapped, "I'm sure."

"Excuse me for wondering," Hermione muttered as she tugged her boots on, "And for worrying about it. Merlin forbid we get there and-,"

"All here," Theo said quietly when she'd been expecting a spat-out response, "See?"

Hermione peered into the magically anti-break bag to see the six vials clacking lightly against each other. She picked one up, reading the title on it- only a date present on the label (November 23rd, 1996), before setting it back down. She gave a hum of satisfaction.

"You would be more upset if I didn't bother," She said, trying to smile, "If you were doing it alone."

"Yeah, I guess Draco would have been nagging me too," Theo admitted, "Though, he'd also have his memories."

On this point, Hermione could not help. The times she'd met Thorfinn Rowle were few and far in between. She recalled that he was a 7th-year student when she was a 1st year, but even then it's not as though they talked in the halls. She only recalled him being tall and imposing, someone Hermione would not have wanted to run into late at night.

The times he had met her was when they were more or less trying to kill each other. So, not helping the situation.

Hermione frowned, biting her lip, "So that's it, then?"

"Aye, that's it." He said, zipping the bag closed and waving his wand over it as if to lock it. Memories were vital; they couldn't be falling into just anyone's hands.

Hermione checked her reflection (Emilia stared back at her) one last time as Theo waited for her patiently.

"You really, really ready?" Hermione questioned.

"I am," He said, squeezing her hand, "What's with the third degree?" He said, but she could feel how sweaty his palms were.

"Just checking. Then I am too. And I trust you." It didn't need to be said, but Hermione felt like she personally had to. Sometimes, it was nice to be reminded.

Plus, Hermione had enough trouble with saving Theo's soul. She had no idea about how to go save other Death Eaters. It seemed too monumental of a task, which is why she was relieved Theo was taking the lead.

Hermione inhaled in preparation for them to apparate and there was the familiar pulling on her navel. She breathed out hard when they landed, trying not to spit up on the sidewalk. She would rather fly on a broom than side-apparate any old day.

Theo caught her as she stumbled as she took stock of their surroundings. They were at the gates of yet another mansion, one not as opulent as the Nott's or the Malfoy's, but still impressive nonetheless. This one certainly looked more foreboding, like something that a cliche villain on TV would live in. Hermione tried not to shudder as they entered.

"Dreary," She said with a snort.

"Yes, well, the Rowle residence does remind me of a dungeon." He gave a wry smile, "Either Thorfinn will love the aesthetic and be disappointed in the flat we've acquired him or he'll jump for joy and never want to leave after it all."

"How well do you know him?"

Theo considered this carefully. It was probably a question Hermione should have asked him before, but alas. "Well enough," He replied. "You don't just...participate in such dreadful things without getting to know your fellow men and women, I suppose," He said with a deep frown, "Perhaps that's part of it. We all keep each other's worse secrets…"

"Do I want to know the things he's done?"

"I'd guess no," Theo narrowed his eyes, "But just remember, you don't condone killing," He scoffed, "And one less Death Eater is one less off the board. Either way, though, it might all come out tonight. The things he's done and those things he will do. So, uh, no judgment?"

"I think I hold the right to judge," Hermione said as she watched Theo casually disable the wards and alarm system, "Or else we'll just give anyone a pass. Doesn't mean I'm going to mess this up, though."

"Shh!" Theo gave her a half-frustrated look. Yes, they still had to be quiet- his wife was in the castle somewhere- but it was more that he was partially annoyed with her.

They crept silently through the halls. They'd put a muffling spell on their feet and a notice-me-not over their bodies. There was no reason for anyone else to be around, but they didn't want to have portraits or a stray house-elf alerting Mrs. Rowle to their arrival.

Mrs. Rowle was in one of the studies, sitting on a sturdy leather armchair in front of a roaring fire. A wizarding radio was on, playing the Weird Sisters, and she hummed along faintly to the melody. She was knitting a pair of small green booties and the scene made Hermione smile a bit. Apart from the medieval structure around them, it seemed normal in this house.

Theo snuck up behind and cast Petrificus Totalus on her. Hermione threw down a cushioning spell seconds before she hit the ground.

"Theo! Pregnant!" Hermione waved her hands at him and toward Deneba Rowle. She jumped over to the frozen figure, the woman's fingers still locked in their knit one-purl two, and did a quick diagnostic charm.

"Right, sorry," Theo's voice quivered. She looked up, briefly, and realized that Theo was rattled. He'd made a dumb mistake, his mind probably a million different places.

She stood, tucking Deneba's wand into her pocket, just in case she woke prematurely.

"You're lucky all looks right," She said shortly, "That would have ruined our entire plan, you know."

"Yes, I do," Theo swallowed thickly. You could do all the planning in the world, but when it came to actually put it into motion, Hermione realized as well as anyone that things often went wrong.

They couldn't afford that. She was mentally taking notes of everything they were doing, planning on a grand sit-down after this was over and reliving each step, and trying to troubleshoot what went wrong. Of course, this was easy enough. Don't knock over 8-month-pregnant witches on stone floors.

They laid Deneba on the couch, not too close to the fire so that she'd overheat, and magically sealed the room. Theo's charms were strong and she would not wake until they were ready, but they also weren't taking the chance that something went awry.

Next, they scouted Thorfinn's house for the perfect intervention location.

He was too familiar with his office, Theo argued, and if anything went wrong on their end, there was a whole host of nasty hexes he could grab from shelves and seriously harm them. And sure, arguably he knew the Rowle estate well everywhere, but he was far less likely to have something nasty just in finger's reach in the loo than in his office.

Yes, Theo had said that with a tinge of humor, trying to alleviate what Hermione surmised was his own nervousness, but even in jest, it wasn't a bad idea.

"Well, I mean, if things go south, it'll be easy to clean up," She pointed out, "Or if we need water or an area to hold him in, a tub isn't the worst choice," She said logically, "Plus it's out of the way and it's unlikely a house-elf would interrupt us in there."

Theo paused, closing the door to his pantry and humming in thought.

"Okay, sure, let's find one that works," He agreed after a second. What he meant by that was one with a fireplace. In a normal house, this would be an outrageous expectation. In an old manor like this one, one that looked straight out of Beowulf? Well, the master suite was well-heated by a fire in the corner.

It was also quite large.

Theo spun in a circle, biting his lip.

"Yes, sure, okay," He said, fingers playing with his wand, scratching the wood, "Time?"

Hermione threw up the charm, "Twenty-three minutes before he usually floos home," She read out loud.

"Let's do it in thirteen," Theo said with a grimace. If only humans always worked like clockwork, and for as much as Thorfinn stuck to his bar schedule, there was a chance (especially with his wife so close to the due date) that he may come home slightly earlier. They did not want him to arrive home before they were ready for him.

The first tasks they split between themselves; Hermione readied all the memories and dragged a chair from the master bedroom to hold Thorfinn in. She made sure they were prepared with medication, water, and towels. Theo realigned the floo system in the fireplace so that all other rooms were shut out, only Thorfinn could come through, and that it diverted him from where he'd usually pop out- his study- into the bathroom. Admittedly, Hermione was slightly better with charms, and Theo maybe should have been handling the memories, but Hermione didn't know the house and if there was any miscalculation, it could spit him out at a random floo gate and they'd spend half the night playing hide and seek with him.

After they finished this, however, Hermione put a sensor on the system so that as soon as he entered the vicinity of the floo station in Knockturn Alley, they'd have about a minute or three to prepare for his imminent arrival. She'd read this charm in a book for men to 'control their wives'. Absolutely antiquated, but helpful. Hermione would never turn her nose up at a book.

Then, they both sat, twiddling their thumbs, obsessively checking the time. Hermione absolutely felt like there should be more they were doing but she wasn't sure what else.

"Uhm, he's usually not late," Theo said when they were a minute past time.

"I mean, maybe a friend caught him there and they're chatting." Hermione said casually, "Do you-,"

"I don't know what he was doing today, no," Theo swallowed, "I would have been at school, yeah?"

"Oh. Right." Hermione pursed her lips, "I think I was probably obsessing over Ron or wondering why Harry was doing so brill in Potions around this time."

"You-,"

Whatever Theo had been about to say was cut off by the chiming of the bell. Both the young witch and wizard jumped, and then shared a look and a laugh, so cagey that Hermione's own warning sign had nearly given both a heart attack.

"We might need to take a calming potion before the next one," Theo gave a rough laugh, shaking his head at himself as they both stood before the Floo gate, wands at the ready.

Thorfinn Rowle ungracefully stumbled through the gate, bumping his head on the low mantle of the fireplace, eyes hazy with a slight buzz.

"What the fu-,"

Before he could finish his confused exclamation about being deposited in his bathroom, Theo had sent a stunner at him. They'd pre-cushioned the floor this time.

"I thought I was going to-," Hermione said but cut herself off, "Theo!"

"Sorry, I just acted!" He choked out, "I mean, he's out."

Hermione reigned in her frustration, knowing they'd have to get rid of any trigger-finger spell casting from Theo's end. Sure, it didn't matter too much in the long run who took down who, but it was the principal of their plans and Theo's nervousness. Hermione was nervous too; she was standing with a Death Eater and non a reformed one like Theo. To be so close to someone who more than once wanted her dead made her stomach curl.

Hermione used a feather-light charm to make it easier to move Thorfinn to the chair. He was built like a rugby player and without it, it would have been a struggle to move him.

Once he was sitting upright, bound with magical and unbreakable rope (or, nearly unbreakable, Theo was still working out the right potion to douse it in), and everything was secure, Theo and Hermione checked the silencing cone they'd put outside the bathroom door one more time.

"Ready?" Theo asked.

"Well, we can't very well back out now," Hermione said.

"Right. Would you, uh?" He motioned. Hermione gave him a raised eyebrow.

"Not going to do it out under my nose again?"

Theo gave a heaved sigh, "Look, you-,"

"I'm just giving you some shite," Hermione said, offering a weak smile, "I'm not as good at jokes as you." She spun on her heels to Thorfinn, " Rennervate ."

Thorfinn came to immediately and nearly toppled his chair over in terror to see the pair standing in front of him. He shook at his bonds, which Hermione was confident he would not break and began to shout quite a ruckus.

"Shout all you want," Theo said casually, "No one will hear."

"You're here to kill me! Like you did with Old Nott!" He spat, "Murderers."

"Well, I suppose by technicalities…" Theo shrugged, then registered his words, "Wait, what? Thaddeus' death was an accident I thought." He covered quickly.

"Bloody bullshite." Thorfinn sneered, "The public may believe that but none of us are stupid. And you just admitted it."

Hermione glared at Theo. Theo held his expression.

"We're not here to kill you. You probably have quite a headache...all that Firewhisky and a stunner to top it all? Clearing potion?" He offered.

"Yeah, like I'll accept that from the tikes of you lew," He slurred his words, "No. Likes of you two!" He looked proud for getting there.

"He's plastered," Hermione muttered, pouring a stronger dose of the potion.

"We're not...Thorfinn, we're not here to kill you!" Theodore snapped in frustration, "Do you want me to drink it first?"

"Probably already took the antidote," Thorfinn spat at their feet.

"For all the!" Theo threw up his hands and grabbed his wand. Thorfinn flinched a smidge, sure that an Avada was coming his way, "Look!"

Instead, Theo pulled back the mask to reveal his real face.

Thorfinn's eyes bugged.

"Theeeeoh?" He said in a long and slowed slur, "Merlin, I must have knocked my head...or I'm dreaming…Thorfinn! Wake up!" He told himself in a strong, unwavering voice. He blinked and opened his eyes smiling, but his smile dropped when he realized he was still tied in his loo, "Wake up! Wake up! Wake-," Thor broke off, "It's not working."

"It's me, you're not dreaming," Theodore said, sitting on the edge of the tub, "Hullo, Thor."

"But you're in school. And you're...old."

"Old?" Theodore repeated in offense, glancing at Hermione, "Old?"

"Theo, really," Hermione muttered.

"I'm hardly old. I'm still younger than you!" Theodore said, jumping up and pacing around, "Okay, well, we're almost now the same age, but kettle black, Thor, calling me old!"

"You just...you look different. I don't believe it." Thorfinn said definitely, which honestly was a fair assessment. But of course, they'd planned for this.

Theo looked at Thorfinn, "Ask me something. Anything. Something only the real Theo would know."

He'd gotten this from Hermione, of course, and how the Order greeted each other. When she'd asked how Death Eaters used to face this same problem, Theo had told her it had been showing the Dark Marks. Polyjuice and the Dark Mark just didn't have the same visual effect so it was easy to tell if there was an imposter.

Thorfinn swallowed hard, scrutinizing Theodore, "Fine," He finally said. Hermione saw, as he moved his hands to hold the ends of the chair, his Dark Mark slither around. She was glad Theo never got the chance to take it; the way it moved, the way it meandered, made her feel ill, "What was the name of the muggle you killed on your first test?"

Hermione couldn't help but nearly drop her wand in surprise. The sound of wood hitting ceramic clattered and echoed. Theodore had said that his father had been his first kill. Has that been a lie? Was this entire act built on distrust and was he good at masking everything, even though their bond? She'd always thought, up until now, that it was impossible to hide from what she'd experienced, but if Theo had killed someone previous to his father...and straight up told her otherwise…

"Theo?" She whispered in a confused, almost hurt voice.

Thorfinn seemed to notice her for the first time, "Who's the bird?"

"My wife, Emilia," Theo said quickly. They'd agreed not to show Thorfinn her true identity, not right away. Theo wasn't supposed to show his own face this early, but things needed to be improvised. They wrongly thought he'd just take the clearing potion. Either way, Hermione needed to keep her appearance up. Thorfinn may agree to escape Voldemort's thumb, but he was still a Death Eater and hated Muggleborns, especially the Golden Trio's muggle-born.

"Not looking good for you, 'Theo'," Thorfinn snorted, putting heavy derision on Theodore's name, "From what I know of you, you're not looking forward to marrying anyone, especially not a-,"

"Lots of things change," Theodore snapped, "And you're trying to trick me, but good," Theodore said, unruffled. He inhaled hard, "Samantha Yost. Twenty-one, a Uni student. We caught her coming back from a party," He grimaced. Hermione got the feeling he wasn't repeating all of this just to assuage Thorfinn's suspicion, but more because it was seared into his brain, "But I didn't kill her. In this timeline, last July, when my father brought me in we went on the mission together. And I couldn't do it, I panicked. You held my hand with my wand and did the spell so it would seem like I did it when He checked. You kept me from my execution that night."

Hermione listened with rapt attention, watching how Theo's face turned gray and cold, how his fingers quivered, as though the memory was eating at his wand hand right now.

Thorfinn met his gaze, leveling.

"Aye." There was a pause, "The potion?" He asked

Hermione tipped it for him to sip. He drank it down and in a few moments, Hermione could see his expression perk up and his body relaxed. He seemed to be digesting it all for a few moments, silent and his face unreadable until he said…

"You said...in this timeline?"

"Do you believe me?"

"I think…" Thorfinn frowned, tilting his head, "I think I'm open to hearing more. I'm not completely convinced, but I don't think even Draco knew that about you. About the Yost girl."

"He didn't," Theo said sharply, "I'm from the future, Thor. 2002."

"Shit, we lost, didn't we?" Thorfinn moaned, "How'd I go out? What about Deneba? And my son? Are they...shit, right now, is she-,"

"Fine. Emilia even did a diagnostic; your unborn son is perfectly healthy. They're sleeping in her study." Theo waved a hand, "And as for the future...we won," He said and Thorfinn's whole face relaxed for a second.

"Then why are you here, Nott?" He asked, as though the idea that Theodore wouldn't be tickled pink with the win was unimaginable. Hermione supposed that part of the whole ruse of Theo faking his death would only work if no one knew he was disloyal. Everyone back in the future would mourn the loss of such a young, bright, sadistic mind. And, at this point in his young life, he had no reason to be nor did Thor have any reason to think he wasn't.

"Because it's hell. Things will only get worse. You know what happens when a homicidal maniac has killed all those who oppress him? He starts seeing traitors in his own ranks. He turns, he makes our lives miserable. It was never about a better life, it was always about power. His power," Theodore spat, "And I'm not fucking letting that happen again, so you better listen and hear me well." His next words, the precision and absolute iciness of them sent a shiver up Hermione's spine, even if she'd lived through this herself.

"Voldemort will use you and leave you a battered, mindless husk, wandering a desolate lawless wasteland, and by tonight, you will believe me."