Hello! I had no intentions of posting this until I had a lot more chapters finished than I do now, but as I want to post #4 of my ongoing Multiverse Series, I'll need some of this posted as well.

Enjoy and please review!

June 5th, 1985

London

Hermione Jean Granger was a curious young girl that often got lost in her thoughts. It was something that found her in trouble quite regularly, like that day when she caught sight of a peculiar building when walking with her parents in London.

The building was, upon first glance, old and decrepit. It seemed empty and, quite honestly, gross. Hermione looked away from it and realized her parents had moved ahead without her. She turned to look once more at the building, but she found it bustling with life as the door opened and someone walked out.

She would've ignored it, had she not seen a tray with glasses on it floating in the air. The sight pulled a gasp from her lips and she found herself hurrying through the door before it could close once more.

Inside, it was even more magical than before. There were all types of people, some of whom seemed impossibly magical. There was a man with a hunchback and another who had a tattoo of a shark that jumped from one arm to another into a pool of tattoo-water.

She was certainly the smallest person in the tavern. Because of that, no one noticed her and she managed to sneak between their legs and toward the door which people were coming in and out of toward the back. When she stepped through it, she found a brick wall folding itself open. Quickly, she walked into the street that had appeared before the small group.

The street was colorful and filled with even more magic. Things floated, changed color, and there were animals the likes of which she'd never seen before.

Hermione watched on in wonder as her rather logical brain reminded her that magic wasn't real. The issue was, she was seeing it. But because she knew it wasn't real, she realized that somehow, she must be dreaming. That made sense to her.

Keeping in mind that she was asleep, she slipped through the legs of the adults packed in the street. They were pushing and shoving, and she got caught up in it. Desperate for a moment of peace, she slipped into the first empty alleyway she saw.

It was significantly darker than where she'd just been, and the very sight of it gave her shivers. Despite that, she continued down, looking at the different magic. It wasn't light and innocent like she'd just seen - no, instead, it was dark and felt like it was going to grip onto her and refuse to let go.

The first shop she came across was the one she went into. She wasn't sure what was in it. It seemed like a variety of random objects that were, assumedly, filled with magic. Her fingers brushed over a table where a large, crystalline ball sat. When she moved closer to look at it, a figure in the ball jumped forward, causing her to jump back and let out a small shriek.

To her great relief, it didn't leave the crystal ball. She turned away in a hurry and pushed further into the store. There were books tied up in chains, skulls that she hoped weren't real, and a leathery hand sitting on a plaque on a shelf she couldn't yet reach.

Hermione soon found herself in what seemed to be the back of the store. There were a few trunks, and on top of one was a curious, small ring. There was a stone atop the golden band, and it looked as if something was moving inside of the stone.

It was when her fingers brushed the stone that it happened.

Her thumb ran over the opal-like thing and she felt something deep inside of her pulled to the surface. It was incredibly painful and prompted her to let out another scream. A golden glow fell atop her skin and abruptly, she was twisted to the side with a loud snap, removing Hermione Granger from her place in the world she'd just discovered.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

June 5th, 1965

Knockturn Alley

Alphard Black was not happy to be sent on the errand he was on.

Ever since he'd first been there, he'd done his very best to avoid Knockturn Alley. It was filled with people that he saw regularly, yes, but it was a place where they let their darkest of desires come to life. It wasn't a safe place, and he highly disliked venturing into the dark corners of the magical street.

His errand was one he was going on for Croaker. His boss had phrased it as a favor, but he knew it was best he went instead of the slightly unstable old man. Taking in a deep breath, he stepped into The Coffin House and glanced around for the shopkeep. He was irritated to find that the man was nowhere to be found, so he stepped to the back of the store where he knew the order would be kept to look for it himself. It wasn't unheard of that the owner would leave the shop unattended and open for days on end, so he gave no care invading their stockroom.

What caught his eye first was something - or rather someone - horribly out of place. There was a small child lying on the ground, unconscious and twitching. As he rushed over to help her, he noted that she wore odd muggle clothing, only furthering his concern and confusion.

A quick Rennervate woke the girl, and her eyes blinked open slowly. They met his and she frowned slightly as if not sure he was real. "Take it slow. I don't know what you touched, but any number of things in here could hurt you. Where are your parents?"

She furrowed her brow in frustration. "They didn't see this place."

"Knockturn Alley is dangerous," he warned, pulling out his wand. She watched, amazed, as he waved it over her to make sure she wasn't hurt. Physically, she was fine. Magically, her core was fluctuating at a dangerous level. "Your core is injured. You'll need to go to St. Mungo's."

"St.- I don't understand," she frowned at him. "Where am I, exactly? What's… Knockturn Alley?"

"It's the dangerous part of Diagon Alley," he answered. He cast another spell to check on the magic flowing through her body and stared at the results as they indicated that there was none. "Have you had any accidental magic yet?"

"Accidental magic?"

Finally, he looked away from his wand and at her face. She didn't look familiar, and he'd met most pureblood and halfblood children at society events. "What is your name?"

"Hermione Granger," she said firmly. "Who are you? Where are we? How did you do that thing with that bit of wood?"

Alphard sighed his understanding. She was muggleborn. "My name is Alphard Black, Miss Granger. How long have you been away from your parents?"

"I don't know," she shook her head. "I'm dreaming, right? None of this is possible."

"I'm afraid not. Would you like me to help you find your parents?"

She looked at him sceptically as if suddenly realizing she didn't know him. "Mum says not to go anywhere with strangers or they'll steal me."

He chuckled and reached into his pocket, where he pulled out his Unspeakable badge and offered it to her. "I'd agree with your mum, but I work with the government. I can help you."

Her eyes lit up. "Oh! Well… yes, thank you. I don't know where they went and I don't know how to get back where I came."

Alphard got to his feet and offered her his hand. She put her own small hand in his and let him pull her up. He didn't release her hand, but he knelt down to look her in her eyes. "I'm going to do another magic thing, okay? It's not safe for kids to walk through Knockturn Alley, and I don't want to take you out the way you came. I'm going to take us where we need to go using a special magic, but it'll make you feel sick. You might vomit."

She made a face at him. "What kind of magic is it? Why will it make me sick?"

"It's called Apparition. It makes you sick because it feels like you're being squeezed through a tube to be taken where you need to go. It won't be as bad for you because you're small, okay?"

She nodded firmly at him. "I'm ready, sir."

"Call me Alphard," he requested with a small smile. She gave him a second nod, so he held her hand tight and, with a quick warning, sent them to his office in the Department of Mysteries. When they landed, she did, in fact, vomit. He quickly vanished it for her and offered her a rag to clean off her face.

"Where are we?" she wondered. His office was filled with a few trinkets that actually held wards down. They looked magical as they hovered, turned in circles, and changed color and even temperature.

"This is my office," he answered. He used some wandless magic to push the door to Croaker's office open, prompting the old man to step into the room. "Bertie-,"

"That's not what I sent you to get," Bertie frowned at Hermione. "That's a child, Black."

"I'm aware," Alphard said dryly. "I found her in the Coffin House. She's a muggleborn girl, and there's something wrong with her core. She doesn't know where her parents are."

"Show me the core," Bertie requested. As Alphard pulled up the scan he'd done earlier, the older man knelt down in front of Hermione and held out his hand. "Bertie Croaker. What's your name, kid?"

"Hermione Granger," she replied, eyes wide at his messy white hair and crooked smile. "Do you have magic, too? You look like you have magic."

"I do," Croaker winked at her. "Can I tell you a secret?"

"Yes!"

"You have magic, as well."

"Bertie," Alphard interrupted. He looked up to see the scans above him and watched in wonder as they fluctuated wildly. His gaze turned back to the young girl.

"Hermione, how old are you?"

"I'm six," she said firmly. "How old are you?"

"Seventy-eight," Croaker answered, though he was frowning at Alphard. "Her core could not do this on its own, Alphard."

"She was in Coffin House," Alphard reminded him. "She could have touched anything."

"She could tell you what she touched," Hermione cut in, slightly annoyed. "I'm not a baby, you know."

"Go on then, kid," Croaker nodded. "What'd you touch?"

"It was a ring," she began slowly. "With a golden band and a white stone that had these colorful flecks in it. I touched it and it… it hurt, and then I was waking up on the floor."

"An opal ring," Alphard guessed. "I did see one on the floor, but it's such a mess in there that I assumed it had been dropped."

"Go retrieve it," Croaker ordered. "I'll stay with the kid."

Alphard hesitated. "Bertie… she's six."

"So is your nephew, and I haven't damaged him yet, have I?" he pressed. "Go get it. Her core will reach dangerous levels if we don't help her soon."

Reluctantly, Alphard knelt down to look at Hermione. "I'll be right back, okay? Stay here with Bertie, but wait to ask questions until I get back."

"Is something wrong with me?" she asked him nervously. He repressed a sigh and nodded slightly.

"We're going to figure it out and we'll help you. You'll be okay, Hermione."

She didn't reply. With one more firm nod, he twisted on his ankle and sent himself back to the shop they'd left from. When he landed in the back, he found the shopkeep had finally arrived and was cleaning up the mess that had been made, and he let out a shout of surprise.

"You can't Apparate back here!" the man snapped at Alphard, raising his wand slightly. "This is for employees only!"

"Unspeakable Black," Alphard said, his eyes running over the floor. He cursed when he realized the ring had been moved. "You have a ring back here. I need it."

"No way in hell I'm giving you anything, scaring me like that," the man - Laurens - glared at him. Alphard met his gaze without patience.

"You'll give me the ring or I'll get Aurors in here," he warned, holding his hand out, palm up. "Ring. Now."

Laurens scowled darkly, but he shuffled over to a small box sitting atop a table and opened it. Inside was a matching set of jewelry including a necklace, bracelet, earrings, and the ring in question. He plucked it out of the box and tossed it over to Alphard. "Was activated. Don't suppose you have anything to do with it, eh?"

"I might know who did," Alphard pocketed the ring. "What can you tell me about it?"

Laurens leaned against the cupboard on his left. "S'only experimental, you know. Never been used before. Supposed to send someone to the past."

Alphard blinked a few times. "This is a necromancy shop, Laurens."

"Don't need necromancy if you got time travel, do you?"

He couldn't really disagree with that, he supposed. "How does it work?"

"Jus' touch the rock and it'll send you back," he answered. "Not worked for us so far. We moved it to our vault with failed projects. Someone musta returned it today."

Alphard wished he hadn't heard that, a bad feeling growing in him. "I will return for Croaker's package this evening."

"Better give me a damn good tip," Laurens muttered as Alphard Apparated back to his office. When he appeared there, he found Hermione watching in wonder as Croaker showed her a spell that was vaguely dangerous.

"Bertie," Alphard snapped. Croaker looked up, startled, and dropped the spell. "She's a child."

"She's fine!"

Alphard shook his head and made his way over to Hermione. She sat in one of the two chairs on the other side of his desk, so he sat down next to her. "I've got a couple more questions for you, if you don't mind."

She offered him a smile. "If I answer them, will you show me more magic?"

"I think we can do that," he agreed. He sucked in a breath, preparing himself. "Hermione, can you tell me the exact, full date?"

She nodded. "It's June 6th, 1985."

"Holy mother of Merlin," Croaker exclaimed. Alphard shot him a look to shut him up.

"Thank you. Can you tell me your date of birth?"

"September 19th, 1979," she said easily.

"And do you know your parents' full names?"

"My mum's name is Helene Maria Granger, and my dad's is Ruslan Granger. He doesn't have a middle name."

Alphard nodded at Croaker, and the man moved around the desk to write on some parchment in a rush. When he was finished, he waved his wand at it and it folded itself up into a paper airplane, which he then sent off out of the room. With that done, he turned back to Alphard.

"It's a ring meant for time travel," he told Croaker, handing it over. "Careful with the stone. Laurens said it doesn't work, but clearly, it did."

"I'll take this down the hall for testing," Bertie told him. "See if we can't send the kid back."

OoOoOoOoOoOo

Four hours had passed and everyone involved was getting frustrated.

Croaker had been entirely unable to touch the magic on the stone, as it was deeply evasive. He'd passed the project onto a Junior Unspeakable in favor of taking Hermione to the Ministry Infirmary to check on her core. It seemed to be settling, but it looked much larger than a six year old's ought to be.

Alphard had been working on tracking down her parents to confirm everything she'd told them. It had taken him an hour and a half to find out that they were, at the very least, not married yet. Only upon speaking with Hermione again did he find out that her mother was from France and her father from Russia, which explained why Alphard was unable to track them down.

Hermione was getting tired, and she was getting frustrated. She didn't understand what was happening and it was not something she enjoyed. She was used to being answered when she sought out information, but both adults assisting her seemed rather reluctant to explain.

After ensuring she was safe and hitting multiple dead ends, the three gathered back in the same office they'd been in earlier to work things out. It was getting late, already ten p.m., and they needed to figure out what to do with Hermione for the time being.

"Take her," Croaker decided. Alphard glanced up from the note he'd gotten from a muggle contact in France that finally confirmed that Helene Maria Bisset was, in fact, a teenage girl still in school.

"What?"

"Home with you. You've got space, you've got money, and you're good with kids."

Alphard frowned. "We don't know when we can fix this. I can't just take her."

"I wasn't asking, Black," Bertie informed him. "The kid trusts you. You'll keep an eye on her at home and bring her in with you during the day."

"And if we can't figure out a way to send her back?"

"We'll discuss it when we get to it."

Alphard let out a sigh and glanced over at Hermione. She'd fallen asleep with Alphard's outer robes wrapped around her like a blanket and her hair had fallen in her face, shielding her from the soft light that came from the lamp on his desk. "Fine."

"Get home, then," Bertie waved him off. "Not much more we can do tonight, anyway."

Alphard got to his feet and moved over to Hermione. She was tense in her sleep and seemed to be having a bad dream. Gently, he put his hand on her own. "Hermione, wake up."

She jumped back slightly, her eyes opening. She stared at him with a furious frown for a moment before she seemed to recognize him again. "Oh."

"Tired?"

She rubbed at her eyes. "No, I'm okay."

"Well, I'm exhausted," he tried. She looked at him for a moment before she nodded slightly.

"Magic is tiring."

"Yes, it is," he agreed. "I'm going to take you home with me for tonight. We'll come back in the morning and keep working on figuring things out, okay? I've got a spare room… it's decorated for my nephews, unfortunately, but you can stay in there."

"You've got nephews?" her eyes widened. He nodded and helped her to her feet from the chairs she'd been sleeping in. She shed his robes and handed them back over, and he put them on his shoulders and took her hand.

"They're both about your age, actually," he confirmed. "Ready to go?"

Hermione hesitated. "Am I going to throw up again?"

"We're going to take my floo," he disagreed. "Since you're so young, you don't have to go on your own - I can bring you with me."

"What's the floo?"

He led her over to the fireplace and grabbed a handful of floo powder in his free hand, grabbing extra to cover the extra body going with him. They stepped into the fireplace together, and she tensed.

"You're not going to light us on fire, are you?"

He let out a small laugh. "Not exactly. There will be a sort of fire, but it won't hurt us at all, okay?"

"Okay…"

He threw down the floo powder and called out his address. They were deposited in his home, and he grabbed her by her shoulders so she wouldn't fall over. After stepping out, he cleaned them up and listened to her rapid fire questions.

"How did that work? Why didn't it hurt us? Why was the fire green? And why didn't you start to fall over? Where are we?"

He chuckled and began answering the questions as he shed his outer robes and levitated them to the coat rack. "Our magic protects us from the fire of the floo powder. It's why muggles can't floo anywhere. The fire is green because of the way the powder is made, and I didn't fall because I've got a lot of practice using the floo. As for where we are, we're in my home."

"But how does it work?" she wondered. He offered her an amused smile.

"I've never much thought to ask," he admitted. "Now, I'd bet you're hungry. Would you like some food before we get to sleep?"

She nodded, suddenly realizing how hungry she'd gotten. "I'm starving."

"Bruss!" Alphard called. The house elf popped into the room, giving Hermione a start. She let out a yelp and jumped back. "It's alright, Hermione. This is Bruss. He's my house elf."

"Hello, Little Miss," Bruss bowed. She stared at him with wide, amazed eyes.

"Hello."

"Bruss, could you fix us something for dinner? And prepare the boys' room for Hermione, please."

"Yes, Master," Bruss agreed. He quickly got to work, and Alphard moved toward the living room with Hermione walking beside him, glancing back down the hall curiously. When they finally got to the large couch, he sat down and she followed his lead, letting her little legs dangle off.

"What's a house elf?" she wondered. "Why'd he call you master? He's not a slave, is he?"

"He's not a slave," Alphard assured her, slightly startled at the suggestion. "House elves are a magical race that rely on the magic of witches and wizards to stay alive. We give them that magic, and in turn, they help us."

"But if they… rely on you to live, then aren't they slaves?" she frowned up at him. "That's not right."

"I can't attest to how all elves are treated, but mine are treated well. Bruss works on a contract. If he wants to leave, he can leave at the end of the year. If he ever feels he is being mistreated, he can break the contract, and we renegotiate at the end of the year."

"So he's free, then?"

"Yes, he is."

She nodded firmly and set that aside, satisfied. "You said you had nephews that were my age."

"I do. Their names are Sirius and Regulus. Sirius is six and Regulus is five. They spend most weekends with me while their parents travel for business."

Hermione fell quiet in thought for a moment as she gazed around the room. There were hints of magic all over the place. "What's it like… to live with magic?"

"It's just my life," he answered her. "I've known magic my entire life, the way you've known muggle science."

"I think I like magic," she decided. "What if I wake up and it's gone?"

He reached over and poked the middle of her chest. "You have magic right in there, Hermione. You might leave this place for a while, but your magic will never leave you. Someday, you'll learn to control it, to use it. Has anything unexplainable ever happened to you?"

Hermione thought about the question and nodded. "Two weeks ago, I got in trouble for reading when I should be sleeping. I kept turning the light back on, so my parents taped it so I couldn't turn it back on, but I looked at the lightbulb and wanted to read so hard that it turned itself back on for me."

Alphard chuckled. "Quite the innocent accidental magic."

"Daddy wasn't happy with me," she frowned, looking away. "He said I messed up the light, but I don't even know how I did it."

"It wasn't your fault," he told her firmly. "Accidental magic works off of our emotions. Our wants and needs. Have you ever been hurt before?"

"No," she answered, still frowning at her hands. "Why?"

"Your magic would likely heal you," he said. He watched her suspiciously, but his next question was cut off by Bruss popping in the room.

"Little Miss's dinner be done!"

"Wonderful, thank you," Alphard offered the elf a tight smile. "Well, let's get to dinner then, shall we?"

OoOoOoOoOoOo

June 8th, 1965

Department of Mysteries

Three days.

It had been three days and Hermione still hadn't gotten any answers. From what she could gather from overheard conversations, her parents were… unavailable. The thought didn't scare her as much as it perhaps should. Instead, she was excited to continue exploring the world of magic.

She'd realized it wasn't a dream upon waking the day after she'd arrived. She didn't think dreams were usually so vivid, not to mention so long. When she'd mentioned this revelation to Bertie, he'd laughed and told her magic was the realest thing in the world.

She decided she liked staying with Alphard. He was kind to her, and he'd answered all of the numerous questions she'd asked him about various things. When he couldn't answer a question, he promised to look it up and let her know. She'd figured he wasn't going to do as he'd said, but an hour later he'd come back and informed her that it was possible to simply teleport, but that it had the unfortunate side effect of removing ones hair entirely, which was why they opted to Apparate instead.

At the current moment, she was standing outside Croaker's office, where Bertie, Alphard, and a rather squirrely man she'd not met yet had gathered. She could just barely hear them talking in frustrated tones.

"-cannot stay here!"

"I dunno what to tell ya," the squirrely man replied in a huff. "Can't say how it was made, but it wasn' meant for repeated use. If the lass used it, she's stuck."

"There has to be something," Alphard stressed. "We can't just keep her here. She's six!"

"Lookin' in the wrong place," the man insisted. "All I can say is there's no way I can help her get back."

"She is six. She needs to get back to her parents, Laurens. What do you expect us to do with her?"

"Not my problem," Laurens insisted. "But she ain't goin' back to them, so you might as well figure it out yourself."

Hermione's stomach dropped as understanding passed through her. She may be young, but she wasn't stupid. In fact, she was bright, and as she tossed the door open, the look on Alphard's face confirmed to her what she'd just heard. "I can't go back to my parents?"

"Hermione-,"

"Don't touch shit that doesn't belong to you," Laurens sneered at her. "Little twit."

"Out," Alphard snapped at him, pointing at the door. "We're done."

Laurens, more than happy to leave, pushed past Hermione and left. Hermione barely had time to step out of the way to prevent being pushed down by the scrawny man stomping away. Once he was gone, she made her way into the room and looked up at Alphard with wide, scared eyes.

"Why can't I get back to my parents? Where are they?"

Alphard sighed and knelt down to look at her in the eyes. "This may be hard to understand, because we truthfully don't entirely understand it."

"Tell me!"

"You said you were in 1985, right?" at her short nod, he sighed. "Hermione, it's 1965. That ring you touched, it sent you twenty years into the past."

Hermione stared at him, horrified. "Time travel… there's no such thing."

"Same way there's no such thing as magic," Bertie spoke up. "In that it definitely exists."

Alphard shot his boss a glare before he turned back to the young girl. "We've theorized about time travel, of course, but never experimented in it. Apparently, the people that run the shop you were in have done some illegal experiments of their own."

"And you can't… I can't go back to them?"

"No," he said firmly. She stared at him with wide eyes. "We can attempt to… create something that would help, but Hermione, I don't want you to get your hopes up. The likelihood of us figuring this out in a timely manner… it's not good."

"But I miss my mum," she said, her lip quivering. He saw it coming before it happened, and he managed to pull her into a hug before her legs could give out. She broke down into sobs, letting her tears stain his shirt as she cried.

It took quite a while for her to calm down with Alphard's help, and in that time, Croaker had slipped from the room. Once her cries had ceased and she was left sniffling, he pulled back and put his hands on her shoulders. "I know this is the last thing you'd want to think about right now, but we're going to have to find you a home."

She shook her head rapidly and wiped at her eyes. "No!"

"I'm sorry, Hermione, but we need to."

"Can't I just go home with you again?" she asked, staring at him. He held back his grimace.

"I'm not exactly- you wouldn't want to live with me. My life is a bit hectic. I work long hours sometimes and there are nights I can't even leave the office."

"But you have nephews," she pressed. "You can take care of them. Can't you take care of me?"

Alphard opened his mouth and closed it again. He had a feeling Croaker had left the room specifically so he wouldn't have any backup when she asked the question, which suggested that his boss truly wanted him to take the girl. It made sense, considering how Bertie had been pushing him to get a life outside of work for months. He let out a sigh and rubbed at his face. "I've got a very demanding family. Bringing you home would mean changing your name to something more fitting of a Black."

"I never liked my name," she said honestly, screwing up her face. "And if I stay with you, you can let me know if I can go back."

The kid had some good logic, he had to admit. "Hermione, I'm sure there are plenty of families that would love to take care of you."

Her eyes widened slightly. "You don't want to?"

"That's not what I said," he rubbed at his head. "Are you sure? You don't want a family with a mum?"

Hermione stared at him defiantly. "I don't wanna replace my mom. I wanna live with you."

"Okay," he said finally. "Alright. But I mean it, Hermione, I'd have to change your name."

"I don't like it," she repeated. "I hate my name."

"Well," he sighed, shaking his head. "Then I suppose this will work out fine."

OoOoOoOoOoOo