Alexia, Cassiopeia, and Cassiopeia.

That afternoon was filled with nerves for the Unspeakable couple.

It was an experiment on the multiverse machine, one that they'd spent weeks developing. It connected Alexia directly to the machine, making it easier to control - hypothetically, that was. They'd spent countless twelve-hour days in the small room together, working on the update and double and triple checking their work.

Finally, that day, they both agreed they were ready.

"Okay," Alexia said, her hand shaking as she held it above the machine. "Okay. It'll be okay. We can do this."

"You can do it," Antonin told her softly, speaking English for the recorder they had running for their notes that would go to Bertie. "Go ahead."

After taking a slow breath, she pressed her hand on the spot she needed to. She gasped as it felt like it held on, unwilling to release. She held her breath as she waited until finally, the machine roared to life. "Yes!"

"Careful," Antonin warned. She nodded and calmed herself down until she felt like she had better control. "Open a portal. Just somewhere here."

Silently, she focused on doing as he said. It was more difficult than turning the thing on, and she felt it fighting her. It was almost winning, much stronger than she expected, so she tensed up and put in some extra force.

That was where things went wrong.

The machine let out a loud roar as it was forced to comply. Faster than ever before, a portal opened. And then another. And then, as if it were natural, the portals twisted into magical balls of energy. She fought to get rid of them, to free herself from the machine, but it wasn't working. She could see that the portals - if they could even be called that - were barrelling forward in whatever universes they were in.

The first portal hit a young woman, knocking her off her feet. With her came a tall, skinny man with deep black hair. Before Alexia could process that, the second portal hit two other young women, and they fell to the floor. Finally, the machine released Alexia, and she stumbled back and into Antonin, who wrapped his arms around her. "Dorogaya, are you hurt?"

She shook her head, looking at the group on the floor. When they began to untangle, she gasped and rushed forward to help. "Cassie!"

The girl shoved her away and put up her wand cautiously. "Who the hell- you look… this has to be Polyjuice. How did you- Dolohov?"

"Um," the girl to her left touched Alexia's arm. "I'm Cassiopeia. What's happening? We're really busy, Lexi."

Alexia backed up and looked between the two small groups. "Shit."

"Lexi," Cassiopeia sighed at her. Looking at her friend, Alexia realized she didn't look good. She looked tired, and angry, and just done. "Please. It hasn't even been a full day since the last time- look, we've got a house full of Hogwarts students and their parents, and if I disappear, Theo's going to think I'm hexing Blaise again. Or worse."

"Look, I wasn't even opening a portal to a different universe," Alexia sighed, rubbing her forehead. "We updated the machine, and it- clearly it didn't work as well as we'd hoped."

"Great."

Alexia turned to the others in the room and observed them. One was Astoria Greengrass, but the other was identical to Cassie. She tried for a smile. "Hi. Sorry about the- all of it. This was an accident. I'm Alexia, and she's Cassiopeia Black. What's your name?"

"Cassiopeia Black," she said, narrowing her eyes slightly at Cassie. "What is happening?"

"You're in another universe," Alexia said in a calm tone. "My universe, to be exact. Cassio- Cassie, your alternate self, she's been here before. I know her- we're friends. I am also an alternate version of you, but… further off than Cassie. I promise you're safe here. We're going to get you home as soon as possible. Antonin?"

"You've fried the main circuit," he said from his place behind the machine, where he'd removed the back casing. "A few hours. Take them home."

Alexia sighed, and her friend immediately tensed. "Lexi, come on! I have to get back. At least Sirius has to get back! Things are bad. If we're not home, there's a large chance they'll assume we've been kidnapped or something and- please."

"Come on," she said, waving them out of the multiverse room. She took both pairs back to her office and glanced between them. "Antonin said a couple of hours. I may be able to get a message to Mia in the meantime, and she should be able to get over to your universe and let them know what's going on. We just need to get back to Potter Manor."

"I still don't understand," Cassiopeia said with her arms over her chest. "How did- I don't get it."

"Look, it's a lot," Cassie told her alternate self. "There's a multiverse, Lexi and her husband study it as their job, and accidents happen. It's safe here."

"And you're actually Cas," Astoria said, looking at Cassie with a frown. "Shit."

"Come on," Alexia waved toward the floo. "Go to Potter Manor."

Cassie moved first, Sirius following her quickly. They stepped through the floo with little hassle, but the remaining two girls didn't move. Cas spoke. "Why should I trust you?"

Alexia shrugged. "Don't trust me, trust you. Cassie was right - we do this daily. We'll get you home, and you'll be safe in Potter Manor. My family is there, plus a few trusted Death Eaters. The thing you need to know most about the multiverse is that some people can be very different than who you know. I just need to know if there's anyone you don't feel safe around so that, if they're there, I can get them to leave."

"Dolohov," Astoria said for her. "You're married to him?"

"I know the things he's done in other universes," Alexia told them softly. "We're studying the differences between my version of him and the bad ones. I promise you, I will swear on my magic, he will not hurt you unless you hurt me."

"Lucius," Cas added. "Abraxas."

Alexia's eyebrows shot up. "Abraxas is alive in your universe? I haven't seen him since 1978. He died before I left."

"He faked his death, along with Orion," Cas said shortly. "He's back. They both are."

"Okay," she nodded. "Well, Abraxas is dead here. I don't believe Lucius is home. How do you feel about Narcissa?"

"She's my godmother," Cas said slowly. "What Death Eaters do you have in Potter Manor?"

Alexia took a second to think about it. "Regulus, for one. Lucius isn't home, he had business with Lisette, so- um, Draco took the week off for House matters, so he's probably there, too. I think I saw Theo and Blaise at breakfast. Severus is at Hogwarts with McGonagall. Then Antonin, but he won't be coming home until he's got it fixed."

"Okay," Cas said slowly. "Okay, fine."

"Great! Go on through. I'll be over after I get this message out."

The two girls made their way through the floo and came out into the floo room, which held Cassie, Sirius, and a familiar couple.

"Ah!" James exclaimed, pointing at Cas. "There's another one of you."

Cassie rolled her eyes and glanced back. "Is Lexi coming?"

"She said she had to send that message first," she said quietly, looking at the couple sadly. "Harry should be here."

"Huh?" the man in question stopped short as he went to walk past the room. He stuck his head in, blinked, and shook it. "Someone tell Mione she needs to warn us before she does this. Did I tell you I had a nightmare of a room full of Miones but I couldn't find the real one? There's too many."

Lily shot her son a look. "Harry, I doubt they can help that they're here. Lexi's job is…"

"Good luck finishing that sentence," James snorted. "I've been trying to define her job since 1978 and I still can't do it."

"Look, I just don't get it," Astoria looked between the two Cassiopeia's again. "How can there be two of you?"

"We're probably slightly different," Cassie sighed, rubbing her forehead. "I really need to get home. Two-thirds of the Black heads going missing after evacuating Hogwarts is- it's the last thing we need."

James's eyebrows rose. "You evacuated Hogwarts? What happened? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she said. Sirius scoffed loudly, and she shot him a glare. "Don't start. I'm already fighting with my friends and the Alliance, and fucking Blaise just yelled at me, if you start now I'm going to fucking stun you."

Sirius sniffed. "Yeah, kitten, you're just peachy."

"Dumbledore literally tried to murder me today, don't you think I'm allowed to be a bit tense?"

"Woah, what?" Cas's eyes widened. "Holy shit. Why did he- what?"

"Are you okay?" Lily asked with wide eyes. She scanned her with a slight frown. "You do look a bit pale. You should probably sit down, Cassie."

Cassie resisted the urge to snap at the woman. Instead, she sighed. "I'm fine. By the time I woke up, we found out they were moving on the castle, and we had to do an emergency evacuation. Dumbledore barely hit me, thanks to Draco."

Cas shifted a little and looked around, eyeing James and Lily. "How are you… alive?"

"Lex," James said with a slight smile. "My sister probably would've fought Death himself to bring us back. Luckily, it was a bit easier than that. It is a long story, though."

Cas sighed. "You guys considered adopting me before… before Orion decided to go another route. Charlus told me."

"That's two universes," James shook his head with a small smile. "Hopefully there's one out there where we did adopt you, and we're happy together."

The floo lit up and deposited Alexia. She stepped through and didn't stop until she dropped her head on James's shoulder with a heavy sigh. "Mia is thick."

"Lexi," Cassie scrunched up her face at her. "Did you get the message through or not?"

"I did. She just took a while to understand- I just need to go over how her machine works with her again. She doesn't seem to understand how connected it is to ours. She can't come here because the connection is tied up, but she's going to go over and let Regulus know what's going on. She's going to stay there until you get back."

"Mione," Harry said. She lifted her head slightly to spot him before dropping it down again and prompting her brother to hug her. "Tired?"

"Telepathic connections with machines is hard," she complained. "And tiring, and apparently so easy to get wrong."

"Telepathic- what?" Sirius asked, his voice rising an octave or two. "How?"

"Well, not how we just tried," Alexia said bitterly. "I just fried part of the machine. This upgrade is going to take a while."

"In the meantime," Cas said, looking to Cassie. "I really want to know, how are we different?"

Cassie shrugged tiredly. "James and Lily did adopt me. Orion is definitely dead. I went to the Dursley's with Harry."

"Oh," Cas frowned. "Orion gave me to the Grangers in the end and faked his death."

"This is really interesting, though," Alexia said, unable to help herself. "Two Cassiopeias! We've never run into this before. We've run into Hermiones, but we've come to the conclusion that Hermione is the most common baseline for alternate versions of us, so she's- she's the typical. Two Cassiopeias? Fascinating. I wonder why? Why now? Why not any of our other various trips? Cassie, have there been any significant changes lately?"

Cassie was silent for a moment too long. Alexia shifted to look at her, and she reached out to take her hand and ignite their bond. She sucked in a sharp breath and squeezed her eyes shut. Her voice was a whisper. "Cassie."

Cassie tore her hand back. "It's fine. We've abandoned Hogwarts, that's all."

"But you-,"

"I said, it's fine."

"Cassiopeia-,"

"Alexia!" Cassie snapped loudly, her hair sparking once with the outburst. "Drop it."

Alexia looked between her alternate self and Sirius with wide, worried eyes before she backed up until she stood at James's side again. "Right. Um… Jamie, Lils, can we talk for a minute? Harry, can you stay with them in case Antonin comes home?"

"Yeah, sure," her friend agreed. He entered the room while the trio left, and Lily put up silencing wards around them so they could talk privately.

"Jamie, she's…" she chewed on her lip, her brow furrowed. "I don't want to lose her."

"What happened?" Lily asked her gently.

Alexia shook her head. "I'm not sure how to… it was just a feeling, one buried deep, probably so Regulus wouldn't notice it, but it's overwhelming. She's just- she's done. She's ready for it to end, one way or another. How do we help her? She's clearly unwilling to talk about it, so-,"

"Let's focus on getting her home first," James suggested. "Or you can. Distract Sirius and I'll see if I can get Cassie alone to talk."

Lily tilted her head from side to side. "Distract Sirius… how?"

"He seems more ser-," Alexia winced automatically, grateful when the joke didn't come. "I think he's different. Maybe if we can give him something to help with the war, he'll leave her side for a bit."

"But what can we give him?" James wondered.

She considered the idea for a moment before her eyebrows raised with an idea. "Insight. Insight into what, in whatever situation they're in now, Voldemort may do. C'mon, Lily, help me get Lucius and Severus back here. We need them."

After a little bit of organizing and a few messages being sent, James and Lily walked back in. Cassie spotted them first. "Where's Lexi? Is everything okay? Is she-,"

"She's fine," James assured her gently. "She had something she needed to do."

Lily offered a smile. "Sirius, there's something I want to give you. Would you mind coming with me?"

Sirius looked between Lily and his little sister, torn. "Lily, I can't leave Cassie-,"

"Go," Cassie shoved him a little. "I'll be fine. No one in this universe wants me dead. I'm safer than at home."

"I don't know, kitten," he hesitated. "What if-,"

"You told me to back off, but you have to know I wouldn't let her get hurt," James frowned at him. "You do know that, Pads? She's safe with us- with me."

Sirius scowled slightly, but he finally gave in and followed Lily out of the room. With him gone, James started to speak, but Cas spoke first. "How are we safe here? I mean, the war's still going, so-,"

"Actually, it's not," Harry told her. "It ended months ago."

"Lexi's in 1998," Cassie added quickly. "She's a bit ahead of us."

"Cassie," James smiled. "Can we talk for a few minutes?"

Cassie hesitated, but she gave a short nod and followed him out of the room next. They stopped in the nearby sitting room, and she watched him frown to himself as they sat down. "What is it?"

"Well," he said slowly. "We- I'm worried about you."

She tensed. "I just got here."

"Yeah, I know, but… you don't seem well," he said gently. "I just- I want you to know that we're here. I know you're in the thick of it in your universe, and I remember- I mean, it was only a few months ago when Lily and I… so if you want to talk about it, I'm here. Those dark days, the thoughts and feelings that came with them, I get it." Instead of answering him, she got to her feet and started to leave. He jumped up. "Cassie? What- Cassie!"

She spun around, her eyes flashing. "Stop it. Fucking stop it. Don't pretend you understand shit. Our lives are too different for that. You weren't stalked, attacked, kidnapped, scarred, raped by Dolohov. You didn't have your memories twisted, you had loving fucking parents to raise you instead of abusive muggles and their rapist son! My life is fucking bullshit. I've gone through too much goddamn shit to have you stand there and pretend you understand. I don't trust my own fucking brother, and we have a twin bond. I shouldn't fucking be here! I don't want to hear your shitty platitudes, your empty comfort and promises because you know what? Sirius was right. You should stay away from me. If you don't, something bad is going to happen to one of us. That's how it always goes. So if you're done, I'm going to go to the library, and I'm staying there until we can go home. If anyone comes in, I'll hex them."

James watched, unbearably sad, as she stormed out of the room and up the stairs.

Alexia was right. Cassie was ready for it to end, one way or another.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

By the time everybody - barring Cassie - got back to the floo room, it had been an hour. When Sirius, Lily, and Alexia walked in, Sirius stopped short. "Where is she? Where's Cassie?"

James exchanged a glance with his wife and sister. "She went to the library. She seems a bit… overwhelmed."

"Oh," he nodded, and went to head to the library. James grabbed his arm before he could leave.

"I… she wanted to be left alone," he warned him with a grimace. "Threatened to hex anyone that came in."

Sirius tensed. "I told you to just stay away from her. I told you she's too- damn it, James!"

"Okay," Alexia stepped between them. "I get that you're worried for her, but we are, too. Don't forget that I have a bond with her. Cassie's not good, Sirius, she's- I'm worried she's going to do something really, really stupid if things don't get better soon. You can't honestly think she's okay, do you?"

"Of course, I don't!" he threw his hands up. "God, we all know she's fucked, but what the hell can we do about it in the middle of this fucking war?"

"Make sure she doesn't get herself killed, for one."

Sirius's hand twitched toward his wand, so Lily put her hands up. "Okay! Alex, back off. Sirius, we're just worried."

"What's wrong with her, anyway?" Cas asked. She was tense as she watched them, and held tightly onto Astoria's hand within her own. "I'm fucked up, but I'm not…"

"It's a long story," Alexia managed. "It looks like you two have lived different lives to a point. If you're as old as her and not where she's at, then you're fine."

The floo flashed brightly, and Antonin walked through. He glanced around the room and wrapped an arm around his wife when she walked over to hug him, tired from the last few hours. "Excitement?"

Alexia grimaced. "Not the good kind. Are you finished?"

He gave a small nod and kissed her forehead. "Sending your friend home will be simple. It will take a while to find the other one's home. You can help with that."

"Someone has to go get her," Alexia grimaced. "I'll do it. Nothing she sends my way will get through my shield. You guys can head on over with Antonin and we'll be there in a minute."

She didn't give them time to agree. She ran from the room and took the stairs two at a time until she reached the library. With her shield up, she gave a short knock and entered. "Don't curse! It's me."

Cassie glared at her from her spot on the couch. "What?"

"He's done," she said quietly. "You can go home now." Cassie got to her feet and strode from the room, brushing straight past Alexia, who followed her down the stairs, still talking. "I know you don't want to talk, but I care about you. I love you, you're like a sister, and I'm worried. I want to help. I know this war is bullshit, but you have people ready to help you. Just say the word."

They were in the floo room at that point, and Cassie stepped into the fireplace and spoke as she grabbed some floo powder. "Why? So you can disappoint me like everyone else? I'd rather not, Lexi. Nothing against you, but I'm tired of trusting other people to protect me. Just let me finish this fucking war and then we can talk."

She threw down the powder and left Alexia there, staring at the green flames in concern.

Something really bad was going to happen, she could feel it. Worse, Cassie didn't want her help.

It wasn't going to end well, and there was nothing she could do about it.

OoOoOoOoOoOo