October 1st, 1976

Gryffindor Common Room

By the time Anabella had gotten back to Gryffindor, the crowd had dissipated until it was James and Lily studying together on the floor in front of the fire. She made her way over and dropped down on James' other side. "I am going to kill him!"

James's head shot up with a wince. "What'd Sirius do? Did he flirt with you? He promised he wouldn't."

"What?" she shook her head. "No, ew. I don't want to talk about it until Sirius gets back, anyway. It's his stupid fucking brother."

"Well, if you need a distraction, look at this," James told her, dropping a book on her lap. She looked down at it and blinked.

"James, is this the Hogwarts student registry?"

"Yes," he said shamelessly. Lily rubbed her brow tiredly.

"If I could give him detention for it, I would. Apparently, students are allowed to borrow it," she explained to Anabella, who shrugged.

"Okay. What's important about it, exactly?"

"You're not on it."

Her head shot up and to James. "James, back off."

"But you transferred here," he argued. "And even if you… y'know, what you told me, you should still be on here, but you're not."

Anabella waved her wand over it, taking some scans Alphard had shown her. When the results came back, she winced. "It's not synced… that makes sense. I wouldn't be on here. And you're not going to find anything else about me through it, so don't bother trying."

James's reply was cut off by the portrait hole opening. Sirius walked in, twirling his wand through his fingers. He came to stand behind the couch they sat in front of. "Hey, Bel. You look…"

"Glad you're here," she said honestly. "Your brother is a fucking imbecile."

Sirius snorted. "What'd he do?"

"He swore fealty to me! On his wand and magic!"

Silence fell. Not just between them, but through the entire common room. She hadn't realized she was speaking so loudly. Sirius stepped around the couch to stand directly in front of her. "Anabella, did you just say my brother laid his life down at your feet?"

She coughed uncomfortably. "Yes."

"Why?"

"Well, we were arguing," she began slowly, well aware everyone was listening. "We were arguing about Yaxley. He thinks I put myself in danger when I could've avoided it, and I told him I won't leave a friend in danger. So he kissed me, and our bond was… intense, and then he swore fealty to me. And he smirked about it."

"Shit," Sirius cursed, threading his fingers through his long hair. "The kid's gonna get himself killed."

"You have no idea," she muttered, thinking to the future and where she'd left from. If he made it there- when he made it there, how much danger would swearing fealty put him in?

"You don't understand how serious this is," Sirius said, and she knew he was stressed for lack of the "Sirius, serious" joke.

Anabella made a face at him. "I'm muggleborn, not stupid, Black. I know what fealty means. I can't exactly do anything about it now, can I?"

"No, but-,"

"I, more than anyone else, know how much fucking danger he's put himself in," she told him sharply. Neither of them noticed Lily leave or James and Remus watching the argument. "God, you don't even know! You don't know what I made it out of, or what's coming to me when I go back."

"When you go back?" James frowned at her. "You said it was dangerous. That you're safer here. Won't all of this be for nothing if you go back?"

She looked at him in irritation. "You want me to abandon them? Give up to him? I came here for a reason. Regulus is just fucking everything up."

"You're being more honest now than in the weeks I've known you," Remus told her softly. "Why don't you tell us where you're really from."

Anabella looked at him. "I don't know what you mean."

"I tried to stop him, Bel, but he wrote to Beauxbatons," Sirius told her with a wince. "You were never a student there."

She looked between the three boys, feeling mostly betrayed, but partly impressed that they'd torn her story apart so easily. "I assume this is why you've got the registry, James?"

He shrugged. "I know you changed your name, but… you had to be in here somewhere and you're not. You said something about it not being… synced. What do you mean?"

"I really need you guys to drop this," she requested quietly, looking between them. "It's dangerous."

"No chance," Remus shook his head. "You've given us no reason to trust you, and you keep befriending Death Eaters."

She tilted her head to the side. "Yeah, I will admit that it looks sketchy."

"So?" Sirius questioned. "What's going on? Who are you?"

She looked between them and the common room. There was no one within ear shot, but she didn't trust it to stay private. "Let's go somewhere private and I'll tell you who I am and where I'm from."

So, she led them from Gryffindor and to the Room. Once they got there, she found it was still occupied by Regulus, so she hesitantly stepped in.

When he saw her, he shot to his feet and over to her. He reached for her hand, and she let him take it. She wasn't sure he'd even noticed the boys with her. "Ana, we should talk."

"Maybe after I tell these idiots the truth," she waved at the three Marauders behind her. He blinked. "Yeah, they figured out I lied."

"This is getting dangerous," he warned her. "Me, Avery, and Antonin were enough as is, but adding them-,"

"I need them to trust me," she said simply. With a sigh, he nodded and led her over to the couch they always sat at. They sat close together, close enough that they were touching, and got started as the boys sat across from them. "I'm going to be very blunt and honest, and then I will swear on my wand and magic that I am telling the truth."

"If you lie, it'll kill you," Sirius warned her. She raised an eyebrow. "Just… be careful, Bel."

"My name is Hermione Granger. I'm a muggleborn girl from 1998. The war has destroyed me, and I'm unwilling to allow it to continue as it is. I came back in time with the goal of recruiting Death Eaters to, in the future, take Voldemort down. So far, I have Regulus, Avery, and Antonin. I'm meeting with Rowle tomorrow," she told them before raising her wand. "And I do swear on my wand and magic that this is all the truth." The tip of her wand lit up, telling them that she was telling the truth.

"There's no way," James said, staring at her with wide eyes. "You can't be from the future!"

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Tell that to Bertie. He sent me here."

"Oh, shit, she's from the future," he told Sirius and Remus, threading his fingers into his hair.

"So if you're from 1998, we're like… way older than you," Sirius grinned. "I could be your dad!"

Anabella snorted. "Say that again in 1996."

"What happens in 1996?"

"You took me in when I ran away from my parents," she admitted. "Took care of me."

"We know each other?" he asked with wide eyes. "How?"

"My best friend is James's son," she answered. "Your godson."

"So you know all of us in the future, then," James guessed. She tried for a careless shrug.

"I know at least of everyone. Remus, you were our third-year DADA professor. Best one we ever had."

Remus was still frowning at her. "I can't believe you guys just… believe her."

"She swore it on her wand," Sirius shrugged. "I also think it makes a lot of sense. Sometimes she knows things about me that she shouldn't know."

"We talked a lot," she blushed. "It's kinda hard to keep track of everyone. I'm trying to focus mainly on my Death Eaters, so some things get lost."

"Wait," Sirius shook his head, cutting off whatever James had been about to say. "Wait, so if- if you're from the future, you're mad because… shit, kitten, how much danger are you in there?"

Anabella grimaced and squeezed Regulus's hand, which she hadn't realized she'd been holding. "A lot. A… a lot of danger. I left from the only safe house we have left that I know of. Bill and Fleur took us in very kindly after Malfoy Manor."

"Malfoy Manor?" Remus frowned. She tensed up a little, and it was Regulus that answered for her.

"Where she was tortured."

"Jesus Christ."

"So in the future, when you get back, he's going to have to protect you from everything or…" Sirius trailed off, his eyes finally falling on his little brother. "Reg, you can't."

Regulus met his gaze coolly. "If I have to have something to fight for, to die for, I would much rather it be my soulmate than a liar and a murderer. I have the best cause to fight for. What do you fight for?"

"For what's right," Sirius argued. "You're going to get yourself killed."

"Look," Anabella cut in. "Look, I've got time to plan. While I'm here, I'm going to plan what to do when I get back to the future. How to end the war. I have to if I want to set my Death Eaters up right."

"You've got Regulus, Avery, and Dolohov," Remus said, waving at Regulus when he said his name. "What'll you do with them?"

"Well…" she frowned as she thought. "Antonin is, unfortunately, a good person. I'm going to have to either make him Vow to uphold time, or I'll have to alter his mind temporarily."

"By temporarily, you mean around twenty years," Regulus sighed tiredly. "You can't make him do that."

"Wasn't that bad."

"Ana!"

"Aside from that, I need Antonin to protect some people he supposedly killed. His torture not being bad never made sense to me because, next to Bellatrix, he was meant to be one of the worst. So, I was protected the way he'll be protecting other people for me. He supposedly killed Amelia Bones, so I'm going to have him hide her for us until after the war."

"Are you just… looking at history and saying fuck it?" Sirius wondered. She shrugged.

"I guess so, yeah."

"What about Avery and Regulus?" James questioned.

Anabella sighed. "I'm still working on my plan for Regulus. I have to work on it with Bertie and Alphard first. As for Avery… he's coming with me."

"Why?" Regulus frowned at her. "I could go with you."

"You have to stay for something," she told him with a sigh. "Avery, apparently, is supposed to die this year or next. It's all I can remember reading about him. I'm not about to let him die, so he'll come with me and help me handle things before everyone else arrives."

"Everyone else?" Remus raised his eyebrows. "Who else?"

She made a face. "The Prewett twins, Alphard, probably, and… I don't know. I want to be prepared. There's people whose deaths I- I think I can… not change, but fix."

"That's the same thing as changing them, Bel."

"Shut up," she screwed up her face at him. "There's things I can't or won't tell you guys. Just… trust I'm doing everything I can to make things better."

"You really just decided you were sick of it?" Remus wondered. He watched her face darken with memories of the people she'd lost, the things her and her loved ones had gone through, only to still be on the run and losing the war.

"Yes."

"Thank you for telling us," James told her softly. "We won't say anything to anyone."

"Mum and Dad know," she told them. "So do Bertie and Alphard, plus Regulus, obviously, and Avery and Antonin."

"That's a lot of people," Sirius said in surprise.

"Just be careful," she warned them. "These secrets are my life in your hands."

"We'll protect them with our lives."

OoOoOoOoOoOo

October 10th, 1976

Room of Requirement

Anabella and Regulus had made up as soon as the three Marauders had left. It had been made clear that she still thought he'd done something insurmountably stupid, but there was nothing to do about it anymore.

They had also kissed again, and quickly after, decided that it was stupid to waste time not being together.

Meeting with Rowle had gone well, she thought. He'd come in, immediately flirted with her until Regulus had given him a death glare, Anabella had made a disgusted face, and Avery had rolled his eyes and told his friend to back off.

Just as Avery had said, Thorfinn wanted nothing to do with Voldemort. In fact, he was more than willing to help destroy the monster.

No meeting had been called that day. No one had mentioned going to the seventh floor to anyone but Anabella, Regulus, and Avery. Still, it wasn't long before the others began trickling in, and soon, the room was filled with all of the Death Eaters she'd been working with.

"It's just a question."

"I am telling you, she won't answer it," Antonin told Thorfinn.

Anabella looked up from her notebook, where she was detailing everything she'd need each of them to do over the next twenty years. "What?"

"I was wondering how you managed to collect all of us," Thorfinn told her simply. She made a face at him.

"I suppose pretty much everyone else knows as well. Antonin, make him take a Vow, please. If he refuses, Obliviate him."

Antonin's lips twitched upward a little. "I am quite proficient at Obliviation."

"I'm a Light Lady," she told him. He just stared. "I really am. And obviously, if Voldemort found out-,"

"We'd all be dead," Thorfinn understood. "This is more dangerous than I thought it would be."

"I'm not exactly blasting the news around school," she shrugged. When he just nodded and moved to take the Vow, she turned to Regulus. "I've got something for you. For us, really."

"Who told you it was my birthday?" he frowned at her. She grinned.

"You think you could show me that bookcase with multiple books on Black family members and I wouldn't use it to find your birthday?"

"...no?"

She laughed and handed him a somewhat small box from her bag. "Open it."

He did. He pulled out a bracelet that was a pendant connected to a leather strap. The pendant was clearly goblin-made, and it had a lion on it. "Ana, it's beautiful."

"It's not just a bracelet," she told him, plucking it from his hands. She motioned for his arm, and he gave it to her willingly. She spoke as she put it on him. "It's special. I connected it to me. The back of the pendant will light up with my location, and it'll glow and heat up when I'm in danger."

"That's… brilliant," he breathed.

"I've got one, too," she said, pulling it out of her bag and putting it on herself. It had a small snake on it. "I just have to connect it to your core."

He watched as she connected it to him. It glowed brightly in confirmation, and she smiled down at it sitting on her wrist. She was distracted from the bracelet by Regulus tilting her chin up with a finger. They sat close together, and he pressed his lips gently but firmly to hers for a long moment - indulging in their bond as they kissed - before separating. "Ana, I love it."

"I was worried you wouldn't," she admitted.

"Where did you find that spell?" he wondered, referring to the one she used to connect their cores to the bracelets.

"I've got a book on the soul and core from the library the other day," she admitted. "Snuck it out of the restricted section. It connects our cores to the bracelets. That's how we'll know where the other is."

"What if someone gets ahold of these?" he frowned at her. "That could be dangerous."

She frowned and shook her head, raising her wand again. She cast this spell quietly, and Regulus assumed she either knew it well, or had practiced it before. He watched as both of their bracelets lit up together, the same golden light from before flowing together between the bracelets and connecting them for only a second before it slammed back into the bracelets, fading abruptly this time. "There."

"What did that do?" he asked, frowning.

"They won't work for anyone but us," she explained. "You're right - it would've been pretty dangerous."

"You should probably be careful about this," Avery said, waving between the two of them. "If the Dark Lord gets ahold of the fact that his treasured upcoming talent has found his soulmate, he'll probably come after you."

"Truthfully, I expect he'll come after me at some point, anyway. We just have to be careful because of what this idiot did."

"I'm not apologizing," Regulus insisted.

"What did he do?" Avery asked, looking between them in amusement.

"He swore fealty to me! On his wand and magic!"

Silence fell in the room for the second time that she'd announced what her boyfriend had done.

"That's… actually a pretty good idea," Avery said after a quiet minute. He ducked when she reached out to smack him. "Sano, listen, it'll protect him from being forced to hurt you, which is a genuine concern. New and curious? The Dark Lord undoubtedly wants to know more about you already. Actually- you know what?"

"Avery, don't you dare-,"

"I, Frederick Avery, do swear fealty to Anabella Carter on my wand and magic," he said. His wand, which was in his hand, lit up in confirmation.

Anabella screeched furiously, and Regulus winced at the volume. "Fucking imbeciles, the both of you!"

"It protects us and you," was all Avery said.

"I, Severus Snape-,"

"Don't you dare!"

"-do swear fealty to Anabella Carter on my wand and magic."

"I'm going to kill them," she told Antonin. "All of them."

Antonin smirked a little and promptly swore fealty as well.

Anabella's hair sparked as, shrugging, Thorfinn did the same. She tipped her head back, let out a frustrated scream, and huffed. "I am going to kill all of you. I don't want you to swear fealty to me!"

"I think it's best to swear fealty to someone who doesn't want that power," Avery told her simply. "Now we're protected and so are you."

"I hate all of you," she hissed. "And I am going to Gryffindor to cool down. Reg, I will see you later. Happy birthday."

"Thank you, Ana," he laughed softly, watching her stomp her way out of the Room.

When she got to Gryffindor, she tipped her head back in frustration and slammed the portrait shut.

James looked up and laughed. "Doing well, then, Bella?"

"My friends are all fucking idiots!" she exclaimed, moving to slam herself down on the couch between James and Lily, who had put a decent amount of distance between them. "They all swore fealty to me. All of them!"

"Jesus, Bel," Sirius cursed. "That's a lot of Death Eaters ready to die for you."

"I know."

"Maybe it's a good thing," James suggested slowly, ignoring the glare he received. "Maybe we should-,"

"James," she said lowly, staring at him darkly. "I need you to understand that I am deadly serious about this. Do you understand?"

"Yes," he nodded, worried at her darkening mood.

"If you ever swear fealty to me, I will remove myself from your life. Permanently. Do you understand me?"

"Yes," he nodded quickly. "Jesus, yes, I get it."

"Good. I'm going to the fucking library."

OoOoOoOoOoOo