Albus stood up to take the book Hermione had passed over. His eyes roamed the page.

'Plausible,' he murmured, 'Iris. Can we see your memories?'

Iris nodded and stood, taking them to the Black Pensieve. She went back in with them in case they needed to ask questions.

She watched the shock on their faces at the writhing, blood raw bodies on the ground in the capitals and she explained what had happened. The veil collapsed. Nuclear war. The end at Hogwarts. Albus's eyes were wide-eyed in misery when he witnessed the death of the unicorns and all the lost souls.

Severus and Kingsley stood mute at what they were witnessing. Riddle's final death caused a flash of light in Albus's eyes.

They exited as Iris looked at all three of them, 'I think Draco is on the right track. Hermione agrees with him. That's good enough for me. Even if he has got this wrong and it's just a bomb we can end this and go to Equilibrium. Can you see it now? A proper death is preferable to that future. We were talking earlier. Even if we defeat Riddle early then the Nazis and Death Eaters are still there. Their minds have gone. They still have all their weapons. There will just be another Riddle to replace him. Judgement day is still going to end us. It's too late. Evil has corrupted our world for years.'

Albus was looking around the trunk with a considering look on his face. His eyes fell on the poster of Albert Einstein.

'I need to see the mirror,' he stated. Iris nodded as they made their way through the portal to Hogwarts.

Fleur spotted them down the corridor and after a physical struggle with herself, threw herself into a classroom as Iris flung herself against the stone wall. Albus gave a small smirk. 'The coast is clear, Iris,' he said lightly to a blushing Iris.

Iris stood next to the headmaster as he pursued the mirror, 'Draco said he read out this text,' Iris said as she passed him the book, 'I won't be touching it again till we're sure.'

Albus looked down and began to read aloud, 'Eight. The number of perfection. The Infinity...,' he carried on reading it out as Albus looked intently at the mirror. His eyes bore into it as he felt it vibrate. He had his hand on the frame and felt the 8 beats. He closed his eyes and focused.

'Draco thinks it will be as simple as taking the mirror off and me using the Stone to detonate it. They both represent resurrection,' Iris told him quietly.

Albus gave a slight tilt of his head as he explored the depths of this pulsating magic. Satisfied he drew his hand back.

'I think your cousin may be correct.'

'He thinks Riddle didn't put these mirrors on our Earth. We just assumed. Someone else planted this for us to find amongst the others.'

Albus nodded, 'Can you call Gabriel for me? There is much to discuss.'

Iris disappeared and returned quickly with the Angel.

'I'll leave you to it,' she told them. 'My memories are in the pensieve if you need to watch them again.'

Gabriel had a weary look on his face, 'I can see in your face the future is one of torment.'

Iris looked into those golden eyes and felt a flicker of peace, 'That won't happen. If we have to blow the lot to smithereens to prevent it, we will,' she told them defiantly.

Gabriel believed every word.

'I'll let Satan know what is happening,' Iris told them.

Albus still found himself gaping at these, to Iris, innocuous statements. Iris disappeared into the spitting scarlet and gold portal.

'Show me,' Gabriel said to Dumbledore. Albus opened his mind up to Gabriel of future events.

Many minutes passed. Gabriel separated the connection and for the first time, Albus watched an Angel weep.

Iris and Hermione made their way to Equilibrium. Hayley had been surprisingly warm and welcoming to them both. She gave them both knowing looks. Iris pretended not to notice as her mother fussed over Hermione more than usual. She was beginning to suspect their secret was somehow out of the bag. There were more pressing matters, however. James and Lily had already briefed Hayley on the events on Earth.

Hayley had taken this news as well as could be expected. She knew Riddle was diabolical. She knew her family and friends would move Heaven and Earth to prevent these atrocities. Hayley was moral support. She met up with the Hogwarts alumni occasionally. They would scout the Astral plane to report back the happenings globally. The Nazis and Death Eaters were destructive.

That little voice in the back of her head told her that a Big Bang was inevitable. There was no recovery from this torment that was being wrecked on the Earth. She had it confirmed the Nazis had managed to duplicate the magical gene. She had suspected their intentions for a long time. Riddle had warped dark Witches and Wizards to insane levels. The Nazis would warp the Muggles. They were violating every universal law known to humanity.

Hayley had thought for a long time there had been something more than friendship between her daughter and the brightest Witch of her age. Hayley was a modern woman. She understood completely her daughter's aversion to the Pureblood men due to Morfin Gaunt and the very real threats a union with one of them would bring. In hindsight, this may have been more of an excuse. Perhaps one even Iris hadn't been consciously aware of when she was young. Hayley had watched this relationship grow over the years and become as tough as steel. Life had thrown everything at the pair of them and they still stood by each other. All in all, Hayley was pleased with her daughter's choice.

Iris had seen the worst. In stilted tones, she had told her mother all that could happen if they didn't act now.

Hayley had held her daughter close. Anything could happen if they opened that mirror. Draco only had a theory. Hermione had faith in him. Hayley bit her lip. All lay in the hands of a seventeen-year-old and a library book. Yes. Draco was a smart lad, but to think that the situation had become so dire they would even consider this was nauseating. This was literally a leap of faith.

'You see, if we don't do anything more than defeat Riddle, his past self has already manipulated the future in our world. China won't listen to us. They have locked down completely. They will launch. Riddle has already turned those bombs around in this timeline,' Hermione explained. Hayley nodded her understanding as Iris's temples began to ache with the mental gymnastics. 'Our only advantage is he doesn't know Iris was also time travelling and she has come back. If we open the mirror and this removes our Earth and his physical platform to time travel then it destroys the fabric of any future timeline.'

Hayley nodded sagely to Hermione, 'Of course. That makes perfect sense.'

Iris attempted to ask again, 'He was so sure of the future. A thousand years in the future. How can he have been that sure? What if this Big Bang doesn't work?'

'Because he went forward from a place before we all died in that timeline. You survived longer than him in his timeline to go back to this time. You can affect this timeline by doing what wasn't done in that timeline,' Hermione explained.

Iris's went cross-eyed, 'I sort of get that. But what I don't get is why didn't his future self go back to prevent Harry from killing him? He must have known what happened. Why was he so confident that he survived? He was gloating that in the future there would be a statue of him in the Great Hall. He said he saw it. What about Judgement day? How is there still an Earth in the future? Why did he think there wasn't a Judgement day? I saw it happen. I saw the mountains fall. The Earth fell apart. Why does Riddle think everything is still there in the future?'

Hermione and Hayley frowned, 'Perhaps his arrogance would assume he would defeat Harry...,' Hermione patiently explained as she trailed off. Her eyes became glazed over.

'Judgement day,' she whispered.

'No. I still don't understand,' Iris shrugged.

Hayley tried to explain, 'You have come back from a fixed point in time after he died in his original timeline. He could no longer time travel if he was actually dead to warn his past self. He would assume everything worked out if he saw the future. You can change this by changing your actions and doing something different to what you did before in Riddle's timeline,' Hayley told her.

'I'm never going to get it. I don't get why he didn't prevent his death. Or I suppose his future self split off in a different timeline and went back to go forward and, no, I just don't get it.' Iris shook her head and sighed in defeat.

Hayley looked at her sympathetically, 'I have to admit it doesn't make sense.'

'Shall I just focus on putting the ring in the mirror?' Iris asked plaintively. 'That's simple.'

'Yes,' Hayley sighed. 'Just put the ring in the mirror, darling,' her mother said with a gentle smile.

Iris brightened up.

Hermione was still staring into space. She glanced at the Peverell ring that seemed to sparkle at her. The mirrors in the Dungeon. Strategically placed around the world. The Prophecy. The infinite that Iris travelled to. The magical source. The locked doors in Iris's mind that even Gabriel dare not go in. The test. Riddle's arrogance. Death's full possession of Iris when Riddle was inside her.

'Riddle never went to the real future. The ring tricked his mind,' Hermione said in awe, 'They weren't his mirrors we retrieved. None of them was. That's why Riddle hasn't tried to stop us. The ring has done all this. It handed us his Horcrux.'

The ring seemed to hum as they all gazed at the white gem.

'Those locked doors in your mind. The ring planted images in Riddle's mind too when Riddle possessed you. We were so focused on Harry and Death we forgot about the ring. The Master Occlumens was bested at his own game!' Hermione beamed widely. 'Riddle thought he was a thousand years in the future. His perfect future. It was an illusion. His own arrogance let him believe it all. He must have thought that was his reality. A world where he defeated Harry and owned it all with a statue he had put up in the Great Hall bragging about it. It's why he was so carefree at the battle of Hogwarts. He thought he had already won. His death was not stopped in that timeline because he thought he had survived.'

Iris closed her eyes as her mouth turned up, 'I get that,' she said eventually.

Hayley was looking at Hermione with a grin, 'The ring tricked him.'

'So, he hasn't really gone that far in the future then?' Iris asked.

They shook their heads.

Iris sighed relief as she kissed the Peverell ring, 'You little beauty!' she beamed. 'That's one less thing to worry about. We have enough already on our plate.'

'We still need to end him before we open the mirror,' Hermione was adamant. 'I don't want anything left to chance.'

Iris and Hayley agreed wholeheartedly.

'They took care of the snake. We should have a bit of time to plan this. We need to catch him in this timeline,' Iris said.

'Do you know if Riddle was spotted anywhere before you arrived in the future?' Hayley asked.

Iris scrunched her eyes up, 'There was so much going on,' she closed her eyes completely trying to remember. The other two edged closer.

'I think,' Iris strained her memory, 'Grumpy Severus said something.'

Hayley and Hermione looked a little startled. Iris appeared to be going red in the face with this force of mental prowess.

'September. Berlin,' Iris breathed out. She took a sip of tea with a trembling hand.

'Are you ok?' Hayley asked.

'I don't like pushing my mind. It hurts,' Iris admitted. Hermione and her mother both looked at her with unimpressed expressions.

'What about Berlin?' Hayley asked.

'Riddle and Hitler both make an appearance there. Severus said it was to lay down the law to the rebellions happening in Europe.'

'What day?' Hermione asked.

Iris sighed and took another deep breath and squinted. After a moment she grinned, 'Your birthday. 19th September. That's it. I remember cause at the time I said, 'Oh, that's Hermione's birthday,' Sev had given me one of his looks. I prefer our Sev. This one is such a miserable bastard at the best of times.'

'Oh, you remembered,' Hermione said with a tender smile.

'Of course I did,' Iris grinned back as they held each other's eyes a moment too long.

Hayley hid a smile behind her hand.

Hermione went straight to business, 'It'll be as good a time as any. Berlin. Won't be difficult to find them. Harry can go for him then. I doubt he will need any persuading,' Iris took another sip of tea.

'Shall I ask Satan to send his best again? For old times sake? They can be back-up for the Order of the Phoenix,' Iris asked as she gazed at Hermione again. 'I promise I won't let Death possess me this time. I'll be there the whole time.'

Hermione smiled at her, 'I think that would make for a wonderful birthday present, Iris.'

Hayley stifled a strange noise.

'Wonderful,' Iris said with a broad smile. 'We may as well go out on a high. The Demons have been nagging me for another go. I didn't want to make a bad situation worse, but, well, things can't get any worse so let's cause as much carnage as we can globally before we bow out in November. They won't drop chemicals in Berlin. They have their main headquarters there. As long as we've blown the mirror by the time China nuke we should all, at worst, be able to move on properly to the afterlife. Even the enemy doesn't deserve that fate that Riddle has stupidly created. Decapitation? Yes. Slicing and dicing? Sure. Years in Hell? Absolutely. But not that. Lost souls in agony for all eternity? Ugh. At best, we get to move to a new planet. Believe me. When the Nazis and Death Eaters find that we prevented that they'll actually thank us. Hopefully, we can start over without the scum stinking the place up.'

Hermione puffed up at the opportunity for smashing up more Nazis and Death Eaters, 'That sounds like it will be very cathartic, Iris,' she said in her no-nonsense voice.

'Spoken like true Gryffindors,' Hayley smirked.

'We'll let the others know when we get back,' Hermione said.

They continued to chat with Hayley about more mundane things as a comfort. Hayley's garden was coming along nicely. She missed Sirius. She asked questions about the new additions to the Greengrass home. Hermione watched uncomprehendingly as even the sensible Hayley lamented the treatment of her alter nieces.

'No spa? They forced them into H&M's cheap clothing?! Ugh. Those bloody savages,' Hayley commiserated with Iris.

'I know, mother. You and I can't even begin to imagine the indignities they suffered. The bastards killed their Fabio!'

'Oh, my!' Hayley was in shock. 'I can't even imagine. How are they coping here?'

'They're recovering well. Fabio was brought in within the first ten minutes of their arrival. He stopped the lankness and grease. Greengrass hair is formidable but months of neglect did so much damage. He gave them his top of the range treatments. They got the full works. Bless him. He was in tears at the state of their locks but he powered through like the professional he is. Grandpa Gareth threw his gold cards at them. They mugged Oxford Street. The whole family rallied around to help. I took them here to recuperate physically. It's just bad memories for them now. Anthea has been talking them through their trauma. Daphne and Astoria say she's been wonderful and really helpful in getting them back to a place of healing. Although, our Daphne and Astoria are now suffering from survivor's guilt. It's been gruelling for all of us.'

'Time, Iris. Time. We will all get through this. We're Greengrass's. Si bene Bonam. Always remember our family motto.'

Iris gave a brave smile, 'Si bene Bonam,' she said reverently.

'Pardon?' Hermione asked curiously.

'It's Latin. If you look good, you feel good,' Hayley told her with an elegant smile.

Hermione blinked, 'That is the Greengrass family motto?' she asked slowly.

'For twenty-five generations,' Iris told her proudly.

Hermione bit her lip to refrain from saying something offensive about this incredibly vapid attitude to life. She took a good look at Iris's mother. She looked very different from her daughter but they both had the same warmth. A cat from outside came sauntering in.

'Oh, hello Tiddles,' Hayley said as she picked up the big white fluffy cat.

The purring was very loud. Iris gave plenty of fuss to the big ball of fur.

Hermione paused for a moment to simply enjoy the simplicity of the moment. Here at Equilibrium, it was sometimes difficult to imagine what was happening on Earth. She glanced at Iris who was rubbing noses with the feline. A part of Hermione wondered at the girl's tenacity in keeping going when she could just walk away from it all. Iris could live this lovely life of leisure and peace. Then she looked down at their joined hands. Iris kept coming back for her, for them. Hermione felt her own magic surge into Iris who gave a small jolt. Turning to Hermione she smiled softly and squeezed her hand.

Hayley nodded to herself at this small gesture.

They spent some more time together chatting about what had been happening. Walburga had settled into Equilibrium nicely and was now living back with her husband, Orion. Regulus had been around a lot to see them. He had a wife now. A woman by the name of Margaret Bleaker who was a delight. She had been a Muggle on Earth but had taken to the new found magic in Equilibrium like a duck to water.

Hayley mentioned a lot of whispers from Origin about the situation on Earth. The four founders had been supplying them with all relevant information about these alternate universes. It was obvious now the Peverell ring had directly affected the trajectories of these other Earth's. Investigations had begun into the Earth's that had already been destroyed and the disturbances in the timelines.

Apparently, in news that astonished Hermione, these alternate universes were known of by a few in Origin, but they had been forbidden by international universal law to enter into them or interfere in each other's timelines. However, due to the dystopian events and collapsing planets, international laws had been breached. Rowena Ravenclaw was one of many who were both mortified and excited by the sequences of this evolution.

There were five other Earth's in their circle. Five other Equilibriums and Hell's. Five other Origins and Renaissance planets. The consensus was that the Peverell ring theory was absolutely responsible for the extreme divergences. There were differences in each universe before that but never to this extent. The Infinity wasn't quite Infinity but certainly circles within circles. The Peverell ring on their Earth was the first attacked due to the fact their Earth was indeed the first and last planet.

There were countless other universes throughout Infinity. Countless other circles but they were each in their own particular snake.

Hayley had listened in great thought to Hermione explaining the numerology behind the number 8.

'I think Draco is right,' Hermione said. 'It was staring right at us. The importance of seven Horcruxes. Seven Mirrors. Magical numbers. How we've been guided and helped by the Peverell ring all these years. These mirrors were never planted by Riddle. We assumed they were because of Riddle's reckless time travel. Being logical there would never be enough power to generate time travel to that extent. Someone else put them there. Before all of this. Someone who knew what the end would be,' Hermione stopped short. It was the first time she had said those poignant words, 'The end.'

Hayley frowned, 'Is it? The end?'

Iris and Hermione looked heavy-eyed. Iris nodded slowly, 'Gabriel has always said balance is vital. We, the human race, we've lost that. Even after what happened to millions of people in the Middle East, the powers that be just kept on trading. The one per cent would sacrifice anyone or anything for a penny. They're warped. Insane. That sort of twisted system is.., it's deeply embedded. They will never stop. And they are everywhere,' Iris spat out. 'They hold all the power. We can't beat them with conventional methods. Even if we destroy all the Death Eaters and Nazis then others will just start up again under a different flag. A different ideology.'

Hermione sighed, 'Unfortunately Iris is correct. A lot of people will continue to follow the status quo for some crumbs. For their own survival. Look at the planet My came from. They were genuinely frightened of the Blacks. The elite. Brainwashed. Eager to follow the rules of their Masters.'

Hayley sighed. She had seen more than enough in her time on Earth. She knew what they were saying was correct, 'Never underestimate the capacity of some people's cruelties,' she said in a vague tone.

'Rebirth. Resurrection. That is what the number 8 signifies,' Iris said to her mother. 'This world is dying. Judgment Day will not show mercy. I can't see that we are so much different than the other worlds.'

'Au contraire, Iris,' Hayley said in a louder voice. 'Unexpected people have fought back here. They were given a real choice here. A power. Strength to enable them.'

Hermione nodded her agreement, 'Look at Pansy and Draco. Their fates were very different in just the three worlds we know about. Look at the Weasley family. All of them are still standing in this world. All of them were killed in another. There are drastic differences. Look at my two other selves. Who knows about all the others.'

Hayley sat back as she looked at the ring again, 'The prophecy was true in the future about this world. Harry did have the power to defeat Riddle. I believe in destiny, Iris. Things happen for a reason. The mirror has shown you already it wants to be used. You gained vital knowledge. My advice is to use it again. This Earth is showing people's true selves without the burdens of weakness, ignorance and hopelessness. The ring has enabled more of a, shall we say, fair fight. Look at Narcissa Malfoy for proof of that.'

'Lucifer was a great mascot, Iris,' Hermione murmured.

Hayley drew her lips into a tight line at the mention of the Dark Angel, 'I cannot say I wholly agree, but yes. The true balance of Earth is both dark and light. Riddle and Grindelwald represent neither. Their disturbed magic caused only cruelty, destruction and waste. Even Satan can see these cycles must end. These tyrannical regimes are against Mother Nature herself.'

Tiddle's nestled further down into Hayley's lap.

Iris glanced at Hermione, 'It's worth the risk,' she stated to them, 'Sometimes you have to go back to start over.'

'I would say be careful but, well, I think you can only do what you have to do at this point,' Hayley said to them both gently.

They left Hayley to spend some more time at the waterfall. A place Iris had missed a great deal.

The Equilibrium magic filled the air as they both gained some strength to fight what was to come.