Over the next two weeks, both Aria and Lucius were pretty busy, not only individually but also together. During the days Aria was off at work at the old theatre near Diagon Alley, meeting with her employer to talk about renovation processes, and also to help plan the theatre's grand opening which would hopefully get to happen in a month's time. It was a tight deadline, but with the use of magic to help along the process, Aria was certain it could be done.
While Aria was at work, Lucius could be found in the Manor library, his head buried in countless books and texts, as he researched all of the history he could about time travel, and specifically, time travel with Time Turners. He wanted to make sure he got the exact time and place correct. From what he had learned in the ancient journal from his past self, the time was around 300 BC and he knew from the journal as well that it was in Scotland. Somewhere very close to the Callanish Standing Stones, where Aria and Lucius' current selves had many good memories, as it was a place where they often made love under the stars. He knew he had to look towards the Highlands of Scotland to find his answer.
Whenever Aria would come home from her long days of work, she would seek out Lucius, who was equally as mentally drained, and the two would spend hours just coming back together in the most physical and emotional of ways. Kissing, touching, rubbing, cuddling, making passionate love, opening up their mental connection so that they could feel what the other was feeling. Coming together like that in all of those ways always helped them come back to the present and relax their minds and souls. Whenever they combined as one, it was always like a reset, and everything stressful always dissipated for the both of them after they were together so closely.
Finally, after two weeks, Aria and Lucius woke up on a Saturday morning, both of them buzzing with excitement and quite a large amount of nervousness, as they had decided that tonight would be the night that they attempted to go back in time to witness their past selves, during the moment that they created true love for the rest of the universe.
Aria woke to the pleasurable sensations of Lucius' feather light touch on her back, as he slowly flowed his fingers up and down her back.
"Mmmmm," she said as she slowly came out of her sleep. She scooted herself back a bit so that Lucius' body was pressed up against the back of hers, causing his arm to wrap around her and hold her tight as he spooned her.
"Are you ready for tonight?" He asked, his voice husky from sleep.
"Yes," she whispered quietly, as she closed her eyes again, her body tempted to go back to sleep since the warmth from Lucius' body was cocooning her in a comforted embrace.
Lucius kissed her back gently as well as her neck, and Aria was lured back in to sleep. She couldn't help it; he felt too comforting.
About an hour later, Aria's eyes fluttered open and she realized she was still cocooned within Lucius' warmth. She must had fallen asleep again as he had been kissing her and so she turned around, so that she was now facing him.
He was awake, and he smirked down at her and kissed the top of her head.
"Sorry love," Aria said as she buried her face into his chest. "You are just too comfortable, that you made me fall asleep again."
Lucius chuckled and rubbed her back a bit. "It brings me joy that I can be your source of comfort, and make you feel so relaxed, just by my mere touch."
"You do," she smiled. "I just feel bad for falling asleep during a conversation."
"Well I did wake you up, so it was really my fault," he smiled. "But I am glad you got some more sleep. You will need it for tonight."
Aria's body became excited and nervous again, as she thought about what tonight would hold.
"And are you sure you have figured out exactly how to use the Time Turner to travel back in time to that long ago?
"Yes," he said confidently, his silver eyes piercing hers. "Don't you trust me?" He asked half-jokingly.
"Of course. Always," Aria responded immediately.
As the day began and then wore on, Aria began getting more and more nervous. She was still excited, yes, but now her nerves were really on edge. This was a huge moment for the couple, as well as also moderately dangerous. They really couldn't mess up anything with Time, as it could disrupt the whole concept of love for the entire universe, as well as their epic love that they currently had together.
They needed to stay hidden. That is why, as soon as night began to fall and the first of the shining stars in the sky began to form, Aria made her way upstairs to her wardrobe and put on her long, midnight blue cloak that she had. She had used it several times herself when she had wanted to be sneaky, like when she had snuck into the Ministry of Magic to see Lucius when he was being held in their prison, or when she had gone back in time during Christmas to see Lucius' younger self. She couldn't help but smirk at thinking about that last memory; it had been so magical and sometimes seemed a bit like a dream whenever she thought about it.
All bundled up in her cloak, with the hood placed perfectly on her head, Aria made her way to where Lucius was getting ready and saw that he had put on a similar cloak to hers, although his was a very deep, forest green. He looked so beautiful, as his platinum hair shined brightly against the deep green of the cloak and something about the color also made his eyes seem that much more silver; like stars themselves.
"You look gorgeous," Aria said as she came up to him and grabbed his hands in hers.
Lucius slightly blushed, not expecting the compliment and leaned in to kiss her tenderly.
"As do you, like always," he smiled back. "These cloaks will do well to help conceal us, we should be able to blend in easily to the darkness of the night and remain unseen."
Aria nodded her head in agreement.
"First we need to apparate up North; to Scotland. Hold on tight my darling."
Aria grabbed Lucius around the waist and held on tight as she buried her face into the soft folds of his velvet cloak. Being with Lucius, Aria had been accustomed to his rather perfect apparating skills, and despite it being something that she really didn't like the sensation of, Lucius always managed to make her feel okay and soon enough, Aria felt the cold chill of the Highland air upon her and she removed her face from Lucius' chest to get a better look at her surroundings. He had apparated them so smoothy she hadn't even noticed.
It was fairly dark by now, but Aria could still get a good sense that they were definitely in Scotland. Although not near a body of water or on an island like where they always loved to go at the Callanish Stones, they were more inland here, but never the less, still definitely within the mysterious and mythical Scottish Highlands as the area's iconic towering and rocky mountains surrounded them on all sides.
"Glencoe, Scotland," Lucius said, as if reading Aria's mind as she wondered where exactly in Scotland they were.
"And you're sure this is the spot where our ancient tribes will be?" She asked, concerned they may have the wrong location, although the buzz she felt within her body and soul, slightly indicated to her that this was indeed the exact location.
"Doubting me again my love?" Lucius asked with a smirk on his face. He was always confident in his knowledge and Aria knew that.
"You're right…" she said apologetically. "I should never doubt you."
"Good girl," he purred into her ear. "Now…" he said as he breathed in a deep breath as he reached down the front side of his cloak to pull out from around his neck the gold chain to which the Time Turner was dangling on. "Are you ready?"
Aria swallowed hard, as her body involuntarily shuddered a bit. "Mhm," she said meekly.
"It'll be worth it, my love. Trust in me," he said reassuringly as he put the golden chain around her neck as well, so that they were both now encircled together within. Lucius held the Time Turner delicately between his two pointer fingers and thumbs and began turning.
It seemed to take forever. And it wasn't a pleasant experience, that was for sure. The more and more Lucius turned the little hourglass, the more the world around the two of them spun. Lucius must have been turning it over one hundred times and it still felt as if they would never reach their destination. Aria hated apparating, but this was one hundred times worse, as her stomach was feeling like it was doing somersaults within her body. It hadn't been this rough when she had gone back in time to when Lucius was a teenager, but she then remembered that was decades not millennia.
While the world was spinning uncontrollably around them, Aria tried her best to focus her eyes on Lucius' face. He seemed to have a grimace on his face as well, clearly not enjoying the experience. Seeing Lucius, someone who in her eyes was always so strong and fortified looking just as miserable, made Aria's stomach feel worse. She felt like she was about to puke…no…she felt as if she was going to pass out. Sure enough, as that thought entered her mind, the next thing she knew, she was lying on top of Lucius, both of them collapsed into the soft, slightly wet grass where they stood.
Aria felt as if her body had been turned inside out. In the back of her mind she was worried that she was crushing Lucius under her dead weight, but also at the same time she couldn't really move. She moaned a bit, as the pain in her body and her head ever so slowly dissipated, although it was very slowly that this was happening.
"I…I think we both lost consciousness," Lucius said, his voice a bit strained, as he too moaned a bit in pain.
"I feel as if I have been run over by a bus…" Aria said as she slowly rolled off of Lucius body. They were still connected though by the Time Turner which was still around both of their necks, and the way in which she had rolled off of him caused the chain to choke her a bit, and so she immediately raised the chain up and over her head, wanting it to get off of her as quickly as possible.
"I feel much the same.." Lucius said as he ever so slowly raised himself up so that he was in a sitting position, his face grimacing as he moved his body.
The more and more they stayed still, the more that the pain slowly faded away. Finally, Aria looked all around her. They were still definitely in Scotland, obviously, since the Time Turner didn't teleport the user, but where they stood looked a bit different. There were trees and foliage all around them, like they had been almost transported to a forest, and there was no roads or paths of course.
"Do you think we made it?" Asked Aria, as she gently got up into a seated position as well.
Lucius looked all around him, his eyes shining like shooting stars in the light of the moon that was shining down upon them, breaking through the canopy of trees.
"I think so…our bodies reacted violently to the time travel…but I think it's safe to say we made it," he said with an exhausted smile as he looked at her. "Sorry that wasn't something I had taken into account to warn you about."
"It's okay my love. You were there to catch me as I passed out. Well your unconscious body was," she smiled a bit.
Lucius smiled back, and reached his hand out to lightly run his finger along her jawline in affection. He noticed her hood had fallen down during her fainting spell and so he reached his hands down to bring it back up over her head, to hide her face and shining blond hair so that she could blend in more easily into the darkness of the night and the trees. After making sure his hood was securely over his platinum hair as well, he slowly got back onto his feet, his body protesting a bit, and then reached down to help Aria up off the ground.
After the two got their bearings, Lucius grabbed Aria's hand and began leading them through the thickets of the forest. Truth be told, he didn't know exactly where the Veela Village would be, but he knew it was around this area. The two only walked less than a mile when Lucius' eyes caught in the distance the glowing of what seemed like lit fires. The village perhaps!
"Look!" Lucius said, excitedly but in a whispered tone. They had to be very careful from this point on.
"I see it!" Aria said as she saw the warm distant glow of a village.
The two walked a bit faster, but as light as their feet could carry them, so as not to make any sound of their approach. Sure enough, as the two got closer and closer to the lights that were now visibly coming from fires that were lighting the village so that its inhabitants could see, Lucius and Aria huddled behind some tall shrubs to get a better look at what they were seeing.
It was as if they had entered a history book. The Veela Village was incredible to behold. Little huts, all wonderfully constructed seemed to grow out of the trees themselves. The little fires everywhere had many Veelas all around them, eating, laughing, warming themselves, talking. It was a village that was clearly one built on camaraderie and sociability. It was amazing to see so many blond and platinum headed magical beings in one spot too. Lucius and Aria, should they have taken their hoods off and made their way into the village, would have fit in quite well, and both of them could clearly see where they got both of their blond tresses from, here in this pure Veela Village. All of them slightly seemed to glow too, as if all of their skin was dimly lit within from the light of the stars. They were all very ethereal, and both Aria and Lucius finally could see where their special magic came from on those nights where their skin lit up from within.
"This is incredible," whispered Aria into Lucius' ear. He nodded his head and smiled at her, his hand resting on her lower back as he took in the scene.
It really was mind-blowing that they were here, in the time of their past selves. Both of them being very scholarly in terms of their interests, their history-loving brains were in overdrive as they witnessed such ancient magical beings.
"Where do you think your past self is?" Asked Aria after a few more minutes of watching the goings on of the village.
"We shall have to seek him out. He is probably going to seek out your past self soon too, if this is the night I think it is, the night that they combine as one and create love for the universe," Lucius pondered. "Come, my love, let's move a bit to try and find him," he said as he took Aria's hand in his and led her stealthily around the perimeter edge of the village, staying close to the darkness of the trees of the forest.
It was rather difficult to tell many of the Veelas apart. With each one of them having fair, glowing skin and light heads of blond hair, they all quite looked very similar. The men also all had rather long heads of hair too, so that made differentiating even more difficult. Luckily, the villagers all wore similar thin, white tunic type fabrics draped around themselves, some of them looked more like the robes Aria and Lucius currently wore, but the thinness of the fabric made it easy to tell females apart from males.
Just when Aria was ready to give up on finding Lucius' past self, a Veela out of the corner of her eye, immediately grabbed her attention, as she thought Lucius had stripped off his cloak and joined the village. She was about to cry out for him to come back, when she realized her Lucius was standing right beside her, hidden in the darkness of the forest. The man she had seen in the village looked extremely similar to Lucius and that is why she had been momentarily confused. It was him. Lucius' past self.
"Lucius!" Aria exclaimed quietly as she squeezed his hand in hers tightly. "There! There you are!" She said as she pointed at the beautiful Veela who was walking towards one of the wooden huts on the far left side she had spotted him. He was carrying with him some thin sheets of paper, which appeared to have his writings on it. The journal! It was definitely Lucius' past self.
She felt Lucius squeeze her hand right back as he finally noticed his past self. He must have felt so bizarre seeing it. To witness one's self, thousands of years ago. They didn't dwell on that too much though, as they now knew they needed to follow him so that he could lead them to where he would meet up with Aria's past self.
The Past Lucius walked into the wooden hut briefly, before coming out again wearing a thick fur cloak; the journal no longer in his hand. Past Lucius looked around briefly, before he headed off towards the edge of the forest on the far right side. Still keeping to the shadows, Aria and Lucius followed him ever so quietly, making sure that their feet only stepped on the softest of moss and leaves. They really mustn't be heard.
Past Lucius walked for a bit in the dark forest, however the light of the moon made it so that the atmosphere was almost a silvery, misty like feel and so it was easy not to get lost. Finally, the forest opened out into a beautiful small clearing, where a small bubbling brook could be heard and seen, the water of it almost like unicorn blood, the light from the moon making it reflect a gorgeous silver, blue color. Higher up on a hill near the running water, were a few ancient standing stones; well maybe not so ancient, as they were now in the time of the druids, the time where these stones would have been used as a place of worship and reverence. It was incredible, this beautiful little spot in which Aria and Lucius found themselves hiding within the shadows of the surrounding trees.
Past Lucius stopped and stood in the middle of the clearing. At first Aria and Lucius were confused on what he was doing, but then almost as if appearing out of nowhere, the most ethereal like being stepped out of the other side of the clearing, and came to be in the center to meet where Past Lucius was. She was simply gorgeous and it gave Aria chills to realize this stunning creature was her past self. It took her a bit to realize because this version of her had extremely long platinum white hair, like how white-blonde Lucius' was. Her hair flowed past her bottom and her pale skin was extremely luminescent, even glowing more brightly then the other Veelas of the village that they had seen. She seemed so small and petit, especially in her flowing white robes, and the way she moved seemed as if she was floating on air. She spoke in a melodic language, that Lucius and Aria couldn't understand of course, it was an ancient tongue, but whatever she said made Past Lucius smile brightly and his hands reached out to her, to embrace her and bring her in close to his body.
Aria looked over at Lucius, who was staring transfixed at their past selves as they embraced warmly and began touching each other all over, as if trying as hard as they could to discover all parts of each other. He couldn't stop staring at the scene, knowing that true love was about to be created, but he saw Aria looking at him from the corning of his eye, and he briefly glanced at her with wonder in his eyes.
"This is it…" he whispered, his voice breathless.
"Yes," she whispered back, knowing that this was the moment they had come here for.
The two looked back towards the ethereal couple, as Past Aria slowly removed her robe, revealing her shimmering, slim, pale body to Past Lucius, who drank her in with his big, wide eyes. It was odd, but Aria got a brief sense of jealousy that her current Lucius was seeing this Past Aria naked; she was so beautiful, but then she realized….that was her and there was nothing to be jealous of…and soon enough Past Lucius removed his clothing as well, revealing his strong, powerful body to his lover. As the two stared at each other, reminding Aria and Lucius how they stared at each other every time they made love, Past Lucius laid Past Aria gently on the grass under the standing stones, the light of the moon shining down upon the couple; the couple that was about to become soul mates and create true love.
With one last gentle kiss, Past Lucius entered Past Aria, and the two beings cried out in happiness. So similar to their present selves, as they began making love.
Aria blushed, even though it was dark and she was hidden. She felt so voyeuristic, and yet it was such a gorgeous sight she couldn't look away. She inhaled a quick breath, causing Lucius to look over at her, his eyes sparkling with delight and excitement as he smirked a bit over at her, and then looked back to their past selves making love passionately; their sounds of bliss seeming to echo off the stars in the sky. Aria and Lucius also noticed that the air around them somehow wasn't as cold as it had been before the couple began making love, the air around them was warm and simply electric. Just like whenever they were together under standing stones experiencing their love with each other.
Lucius had began growing hard as he watched the couple. He of course couldn't help it, it was such an erotic and gorgeous sight, and he couldn't help but surprise his Aria by reaching his hand out to grab her gently behind the neck so that he could bring her in for a kiss, that was surprising in its intensity. "I need you now…in this moment." He said, still whispered but urgently.
Still breathless, Aria looked back one more time at the gorgeous couple, themselves, making love and felt her womanhood tingle with butterflies and need. "Yes," she practically panted back.
Being as quiet as they could in a flurry of cloaks being pushed aside and clothes being stripped off, Aria soon found herself underneath Lucius, as he entered her as urgently as he had told her he had needed her. She controlled herself enough so that she didn't make any noise, but it was so arousing to hear the noises of their past selves as they cried out into the night as they made love for the first time.
As Lucius made love to Aria, she turned her head to the side so that she could still see their past selves, in the same position and act as they currently were, and it made her pleasure all the more intense. Lucius looked to the side too, as he thrust into Aria as quietly as possible, his movements into her were shallow but fast, causing the two of them to breath heavily where they lay amongst the shadows of the trees.
As the two couples loved each other, the past versions of themselves soon began moaning louder and louder and it was becoming more and more erotic to the current versions of Aria and Lucius. Aria's eyes were shut tight with searing hot pleasure, but soon she heard Lucius whisper in her ear, "Look Aria….look!"
As soon as Aria opened her eyes, she witnessed true and pure magic. As Past Lucius reached his orgasm and came into Past Aria, all of a sudden wind and light and what seemed as if the stars themselves began to swirl all around the couple…that same wind and light and stars even reached into the shadows of the trees were current Lucius and Aria made love, causing them both to breath in with wonder as they felt the magic of true love being created. "They're becoming soulmates….true love is being created," Aria whispered as tears of amazement flowed down her cheeks, as Lucius continued to thrust into her.
Aria couldn't believe her eyes, and what she felt must have been so powerful, that she didn't even realize that a soft blue light was beginning to emanate all around her…her swan patronus was forming…her happiness and magic was so intense, her patronus was coming out of her without her control. She was worried she may be seen, but all of a sudden Lucius' own swan patronus also appeared, and began swirling around them. Their past selves didn't notice though, they were so focused on their own conjoined bodies and the swirl of the stars and magic all around, that the shimmering blue light of patronuses couldn't be noticed.
Then all of a sudden, even as the wind and stars moved all around the couples, a new phenomena happened. They all heard a voice…reciting something that Lucius and Aria recognized, even if their past selves didn't know it yet. It was the prophecy! Their prophecy was being created in this moment….the one from the book Lucius had found in his library almost a year ago. He recognized the Latin language of it, and he looked down at Aria one last time before he closed his eyes tight and came so intensely inside of her that he had to collapse his body and head onto of her so that he could bury his face into her neck to that he wouldn't moan aloud.
Aria too buried her head into Lucius shoulder as he came within her. Something about this time, although they had made love countless of times before, felt so different. This was the most spectacular night her or Lucius could ever dream of. She didn't know what it was, but this time with him inside of her, as they listened to their prophecy being made, and as the warm swirl of love magic shimmered all around them, in this time of thousands of years ago, Aria knew she would never be the same. All surrounding her lower stomach and her womanhood she felt a tingling and a magic that she couldn't describe. "Lucius," was all she could say as she closed her eyes, as Lucius moved his weight off of her so that he was holding her now from the side.
As the power of the night faded a bit, Lucius and Aria wrapped each other up in their cloaks, like cocoons, and just held each other as they lay down in the darkness of the trees that surrounded them as they looked upon their past selves who were also laying together, absorbing the magic that could be felt. Eventually the ancient Veela couple slowly got up and embraced, their nude forms luminescent, almost like two beacons of light in the night, and just held each other for a good while longer. Aria and Lucius watched them with hazy eyes, as they were still drunk on their own love and power, and as their past selves slowly walked hand in hand back towards their village, Lucius and Aria rested their eyes for a bit as they dreamed about what had just happened.
A few hours later, Aria awoke with a start, having momentarily forgotten where she was. Her and Lucius were still huddled up together under their warm cloaks in the shadows of the trees. The sky had grown slightly lighter as they had slept, as dawn was slowly approaching, and the whole forest was shrouded in a mythical silver mist. Lucius himself, sensing movement and Aria's brief distress, woke from his slumber as well and looked all around him at the encroaching mist. He reached his hand out to brush Aria's slightly disheveled hair behind her ear, and picked out a few of the sparse branches and leaves that had gotten caught in it.
"We should go," he whispered, his voice husky, but full of love. He stood up, his body aching from the night they had had.
Aria nodded her head in agreement as she took Lucius' outstretched hand as he helped her up off the soft earth.
Lucius reached around his neck to grab the golden Time Turner, and went to put it around Aria's neck. However, he stopped himself, his brain suddenly thinking of something, and his eyes going wide. "Wait," he said excitedly and suddenly.
"What is it Lucius?" Aria asked, worried something had happened.
"There's one last thing I have to do…but we have to jump forward a few weeks. Can you do this with me my love?" Lucius asked, his eyes excited.
"Of course. Anything. But what is it?" She asked, growing anxious.
"You'll see," Lucius said as he put the Time Turner around both of their necks again. With a big breath in he began turning the time turner, only about a dozen times clockwise. The world spun around and around, and Aria instinctually closed her eyes, but this time the horrible feelings were barely able to start before the journey was done and they were at their destination.
The forest appeared to be exactly how they had left it. There was still that same mystical mist that floated all around them, and Aria held on steadfastly to Lucius' hand as he lead her through the forest, back the way they came, and back towards the Veela Village. It was still a dusky gray out, and the moon was still visible in the sky. The village was asleep luckily, and so they would certainly not be detected.
"Tell me what we are doing my love," Aria asked of Lucius as he led them back towards the hut that they had seen was Past Lucius'.
Lucius eyed the hut, as if there was something in there he desperately wanted. And truth be told…he did. "I am taking his…my journal. And then we are going to put it into that room in Oxford that you worked in, before you ever get there of course, to make sure that you find it, so that our future selves will discover what it means."
Aria felt as if she could cry. Everything in their universe was coming full circle. She had always wondered when she had found the little journal at Oxford, how it had managed to be exactly where she would find it, and now she knew the answer. Her and Lucius would bend time in a way to ensure that they would find it at some point in time.
"Oh my god…" Aria whispered. "It was us….we put the journal at Oxford for ourselves to find…." She said as she looked at Lucius with watery eyes.
Lucius nodded. Rather pleased with himself, but also pleased that Aria knew how important this was. If it wasn't for them doing this now, the precious journal could have gotten lost to time.
"But one more thing…why did we have to jump forward a few weeks? Why couldn't we have just retrieved the journal after we woke up?" Aria asked, confused.
"Don't you remember the last journal entry that my past self wrote?" Lucius asked. "He had said that over the next few weeks he had told the village about the new concept of Love and what he and your past self had created together. Then the Healer of the village, recorded down their prophecy for them. I had to wait until he wrote out the last bit of the journal before I took it."
"You think of everything, my amazingly smart husband," Aria praised him. It was true, Lucius really did cover all of his bases before doing anything. He was very smart, and never failed to impress Aria.
Lucius smirked, but looked down humbly, before he looked back towards the small, wooden house. "Stay here my love. I will quickly go in and retrieve the journal."
Aria grabbed Lucius' arm with concern. "But what if he sees you?" She asked, meaning if Past Lucius would accidentally see his future self.
"The village seems to be asleep….let's hope he is too…"he said as he breathed in one last deep breath before he let go of Aria's hand and quietly and quickly made his way towards the hut.
Aria held her breath with worry as she saw Lucius slip into the hut, as quiet as a mouse. She only had to wait in worry for thirty seconds or less before she saw Lucius' tall, cloaked form slip back out and run back towards where she waited amongst the trees.
"Did you get it?!" She said as he reached her.
He pulled out from beneath his cloak the pages, which were tied together with some form of cloth string.
Aria let our her breath and sighed out in relief. "Good job my love."
"He was in there, asleep with your past self…we looked so beautiful and peaceful and happy," he said as he leaned in and nuzzled her nose. "I wish I could have taken a photo," he laughed under his breath.
"We can go back to our own time, knowing that at least we will have that…have this…throughout our life times," Aria reassured him as she held him around the waist.
Lucius held her back around the waist, and put the Time Turner back around both of their necks. "One more stop…and then back home," he said. He then began turning the Time Turner forward. Over and over again.
Aria again closed her eyes and buried herself into Lucius, but the sped up time jump forward, thousands of years into the future, gave her that same horrible feeling that she had felt on their journey back in time. It felt again as if her body was being ripped in half, her mind turning into mush. Tears began, streaming down her face and she heard herself crying out for Lucius to make it stop. He didn't respond back and Aria felt a wave of panic wash over her, until finally she felt herself pass out into blackness, yet again.
After a few moments, she realized her and Lucius had landed both on the ground laying down, just as they had done going all the way back in time. Aria knew there was a reason witches and wizards must not have tried this as much. The feeling felt as if you were dying over and over again and Aria moaned and groaned as she rolled over and off of Lucius.
She heard Lucius groaning a bit too, as he clutched his head, digging his fingers slightly into his platinum tresses. After the two of them laid still for what seemed like an age, Lucius broke the silence.
"I am afraid I have to apparate us to Oxford now my love…"he said, his voice sounding a bit weak.
"Do you have the strength to?" She responded, sounding equally as in pain.
"I have no choice. We have to do this. We would have to do it anyways to get home, so we might as well. I've put us about a month before you are due to start your assignment in Oxford," he said as he slowly stood up, groaning out in more pain. He reached his hands down to her to help her up. "Here….grab me around the waist again. I promise I will apparate us there safely."
Without saying a word, Aria grabbed Lucius by the waist and felt bad that she had to lean onto him to support her weight, as she felt as if she couldn't stand. With a popping sound, Lucius apparated them out of Scotland and back to England, to Oxford. The two of them landed shakily, but still on their feet at least, right outside the Bodleian library. It was still very early in the morning, as it had been all those millennia ago, and so the streets of the typically bustling town, was eerily quiet.
With a quick Alohomora charm, Lucius had the doors to the Bodleian unlocked, and him and Aria put their hoods of their cloaks over their heads as they raced through the halls and shelves of books all the way to the back where the entrance to the Wizarding section was, beyond the green bookcase.
The two of them entered as quickly, as their tired painful bodies could carry them, through the bookcase and up the staircase into the room that Aria would work in. The room itself was a disaster, since Aria hadn't come to archive and organize everything yet, but Aria still knew exactly where the journal should…and would be found.
"Here, give me the journal," she said, "I know where to put it."
"Wait one second," he said as he pulled out his wand and cast a charm over the pages so that they became bound and covered in a nice quality leather cover. Lucius smirked at his handiwork. "I did always wonder why the pages looked so ancient and yet the cover of the book didn't. Turns out it was my rather fine magic," he slightly boasted.
Aria smirked back at him, admiring his confidence and skill, and reached her hand out to him to take the book.
Lucius handed her the delicate journal and watched as she placed it in the far Northeast corner of the room, under a stack of other smaller books.
"That's where I'll find it," she said, as her skin tingled with the full circle effect she had been having all night. "I can't believe this has all happened…it's incredible," she said as she turned back towards Lucius. "I will never forget this night….and how we witnessed our love being born," she said as she stood on her tiptoes to kiss him.
"I am so glad we could witness it together my love. It is a miracle," he responded back after he kissed her tenderly. "Now to go back to our time..back to our home."
The two made their way back out of the library and into the dusky early morning air.
"I am going to apparate us back to the Manor, and then we can use the Time Turner once we are on our Manor Grounds to go forward a month..finally back to our time," Lucius said, sounding already tired as he talked about it.
Aria moaned, not wanting to do any more traveling through time, but knew it would be over soon. Lucius held her close again and apparated them to the sprawling front grounds of the Manor, just steps away from the front door. Inside, at that very moment, the two of them were sound asleep in their comfortable bed, not even knowing that their future selves were just outside the door, having just had the most incredible adventure through time and space.
"One last time," Lucius said as he put the gold chain of the Time Turner around both of their necks once again.
"Thank the gods," Aria laughed, as Lucius began spinning the Time Turner; 14 times to be exact.
It was short, and the unpleasantness of it was fast, which was a blessing, and sure enough, Lucius and Aria had finally made it back to their time and place.
The two entered their home, and trudged up the stairs, shedding their cloaks along the way. After arriving in their bedroom, they shed the rest of their clothes and fell into the soft down mattress of their bed. It felt like pure Heaven. As the two cuddled up, it barely took them any time at all to both fall asleep, completely sore and exhausted from time traveling so many millennia back and forth. But as they both dreamed of a love so powerful that it changed the world, they were both comforted by the knowledge that they knew those dreams were, in fact, a reality. Their reality. What was only a dream to most, was real for them, and it was like Lucius had said about their love and their story…it was a miracle.