Time to Go Home

by purastella

It was obvious to Hermione that some outside force was at work here; Henry's strange appearance with a magical storybook in tow provided enough evidence that something bigger was going on, though what it had to do with her sister she was unsure. Hermione just hoped that he was wrong and that it had nothing to do with fairytales- she'd had enough of those to last her a lifetime.

7. Chapter 7

(A/N): Welcome back, ya'll! Oh man, I'm so excited for you all to be reading this chapter! I feel like it really starts to fully tie the world of Harry Potter into the world of Once Upon a Time and I can't wait to hear your thoughts! Just a heads up, there will be an OC in this chapter but I made him related to an actual character I found on Pottermore. I won't say too much here, because I don't want to spoil anything, but I promise that I will not be filling this story with OC characters that I pulled out of nowhere. Can't promise that there won't be any more than the one, but I will say that the majority of them are ones I found on Pottermore.

Shoutouts to Fear The Darkness Inside, FrumiousBandersnatch10, ndavis77, BlueBell phoenix, Martha, Elle Ryder, Elizabeth, Najada, Persephone Targaryen, Suzululu4moe, EraticMind, , NicoleR85, Another Random Human, RHatch89, and Guests for commenting! I love hearing your thoughts and I'm looking forward to your responses in the coming chapters when all your questions are answered! Also, the song suggestions are much appreciated!

Special shout out to fringeperson for all her help with this story and her overwhelming enthusiasm! Her love for this story has inspired me all the more!

This chapter is set during episode 5 and we will see a huge difference with this episode, mainly because a key thing is changed here. Any familiar dialogue belongs to OUAT creators, as per usual. Also, the timeline for things in the actual episode will not match up with how I do things here. In order to make this flow the way I wanted, things changed. I appreciate you guys being able to just roll with it!

Song lyrics this time around come from "My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark" by Fallout Boy.

Thanks to singingmyheartsong for beta reading this chapter!! You are glorious!

Hope you have a wonderful Friday! Enjoy!

---

Be careful making wishes

In the dark, dark

Can't be sure when they've

Hit their mark, mark

"Archie still doesn't believe me," Henry muttered when he came out of his therapy session and spotted Hermione sitting outside the office.

"Just because you think it would have been fun to be a cricket in another life doesn't mean he feels the same," she told him as she stood and walked over to him, throwing her arm around his shoulder and guiding him outside.

"I even told him about how there are no crickets here in Storybrooke and I know that's not enough to prove anything but it should still count for something."

Hermione paused, forcing Henry to stop as well as she listened carefully to the street around them. "You know, you're right. I never noticed that before. How strange. Why would the Evil Queen not want there to be any crickets in her town?"

Henry's brow furrowed in thought for a moment. "Maybe because she's worried that it would remind Archie of who he really is!" He began bouncing in excitement. "Maybe if we get him to listen to some crickets chirping, he'll remember something."

"He has to have heard them before though, on the television or something," Hermione pointed out.

Instead of looking disappointed that Hermione was poking holes in his idea, Henry seemed thrilled by the fact that she was taking him seriously. "What if he has to hear a live one for it to work?"

"And where on earth would we find live crickets? Because I, for one, am not going to leave town and then scrounge about in the woods for them; I've had enough of the woods, thank you very much."

"I thought this was a team effort," Henry sighed.

"Oh, it is. And to prove to you that I have been working on Operation Cobra on my own, I have some news for you." Henry stared up at her in anticipation and Hermione leaned over to whisper in his ear. "I've found Rumpelstiltskin."

Henry reared back in surprise. "You have?! When? How did you find him? Who is he?"

Hermione laughed at his rapid-fired questions. She wondered if this is how she had sounded to everyone else when she was his age. "I've been going around town trying to match people to characters from the book. Once I found someone who matched Rumpelstiltskin's description, I confronted him."

He gasped. "Did he hurt you? Are you okay? Does he remember?"

"I'm fine, as is he. And yes, Henry, he remembers everything."

Henry threw his arms around Hermione in excitement. "We did it! We've found proof!"

Hermione hugged him back tightly but after a moment, she felt her shirt start to grow slightly damp and she pulled back, alarmed to see her nephew crying. "Henry," she kneeled down so she was eye level with him, "what's wrong?"

He gave a small sniff, rubbing his eyes with his sleeves. "It's just… the curse is real. I know you said you believed me, but I was worried that you were going to change your mind and start thinking I was crazy, like everyone else. But you believe me and you're helping me and you found Rumpelstiltskin."

Feeling her heart break at the pain in his voice, Hermione led Henry over to a bench and sat down next to him, pulling him into her arms. "Now you listen to me, Henry Mills," she began, "I don't care what anyone tells you- you are not crazy. You are not imaging things. I know how scary this is. When I was younger and first started realizing that the strange things happening around me were because of me, I thought I was losing my mind. It all seemed so impossible. Then, when I was introduced to the world of magic, I was so relieved. Finally, there was an explanation for why I was able to do what I was doing. I wasn't crazy or possessed or any such nonsense and Henry, neither are you."

Nodding into her shoulder, Henry whispered, "I was so scared before I found you guys. What if you didn't believe me? What if you thought I was crazy? But now I'm so glad you're here. You saved me, you and Emma, and I know you guys save everyone else. I believe in you and Emma, even if neither of you believe in yourselves."

"I believe in you too, Henry," Hermione whispered, pressing a kiss to the top of his head. "Never doubt that. Come what may, I will always do my best to be there when you need me. You'll never have to feel like you're alone again. I promise."

And besides in the meantime

I'm just dreaming of

Tearing you apart

I'm in the details with the devil

"I cannot believe that woman!" Hermione ranted to her sister after she had walked Henry home. "What she's doing is utterly despicable!"

"What's really going on?" Emma finally asked her, having sat there in silence listening to Hermione for almost 15 minutes as she recounted her conversation with Henry.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean," Emma started, standing up and walking over to stand in front of the brunette, "why haven't you gone all soft-hearted after hearing Regina's story? You are the champion for the underdogs, the girl who sympathizes with those society ostracizes. Hell, you are basically the reason Draco Malfoy wasn't thrown in Azkaban after the war and that kid not only terrorized you during school, but he stood there and watched as you were tortured in his own home!"

"That wasn't Malfoy's fault," Hermione automatically defended. "He was just doing as he was taught by his parents and he was as much a victim in that war as any of us were; he had to share the same house as Voldemort and constantly live with the knowledge that, should he mess up, his mother would be the one who would pay the price for it. He did the best he could in a terrible situation."

"That!" Emma exclaimed, pointing at her sister. "That right there is what I'm talking about! Draco did awful things and you still supported him because you know his past. I'm not a fan of Regina or anything, but even I feel bad for her after hearing all that and I'm way more of a cynic than you are. So, what's the deal?"

Hermione turned away to stare out the window at the town square. "It's different."

"Really? Because I'm seeing some pretty hardcore similarities between the two of them. Regina's situation was worse, which is why she has way more to hold against her, but their stories are otherwise the same. Why is Regina so different? What about her is making this so personal for you?"

Finally, Hermione admitted the fact that had been hanging over her head since they'd arrived there. "That could have been me."

"Who?" Emma asked softly. "Who could've been you? Regina?"

"No," Hermione snorted, "Henry. If things had gone differently, I could have been in the same place Henry is now." Emma was quiet for a moment, waiting for the other girl to continue. "It's like I told Henry: I know how scary it is, to see things one way and for everyone else to be unable to recognize what you do. Everyone thought I was a freak when I was younger," her tone turned slightly bitter. "Strange things always happened around me and I was too intelligent and awkward so they all avoided me. But I could handle all of that because I had you and our parents. No matter what happened, I knew I wasn't alone because I would always have you. But, before us, who did Henry have?"

"No one," her sister answered, finally understanding. "Henry was alone."

Turning back to her, Hermione asked, "Do you remember that day I came home from school crying? Do you remember what you said to me?"

Emma swallowed. "I told you that it didn't matter what any of those other kids thought. That you were different and being different was good. And even if no one else could understand that, you would always have me. I promised to never turn my back on you, no matter how many freaky things happened around you."

"You had no idea what was going on," Hermione whispered, fighting back tears as she remembered a teenage Emma desperately trying to comfort her. "You had no idea, yet you did your best to help me and not once did you ever make me feel like there was something wrong with me. Regina knows that Henry isn't crazy, that there's nothing wrong with him, and she'd still rather hurt him than admit what she's done. She's supposed to be his mother, she's supposed to protect him and love him like our mother did for us, but instead she's just slowly breaking him. If we hadn't come when we did, if he hadn't found us, how do you think things would have turned out for him? If Henry was left alone, surrounded by people who told him he was imaging things or that he was crazy, how long do you think it would have taken for them to completely break him?"

Tears were stinging at the corner of her eyes as Emma saw the portrait Hermione was painting for her. "That's why you're being so hard on Regina, why you refuse to acknowledge her as Henry's mother."

"She hurt him. She keeps hurting him and she's doing it deliberately. If you really love someone, then you place them above yourself. You don't hurt them in order to save yourself."

Despite everything she had been through, fighting a war and standing tall in a bigoted society to name just a few of the horrors her baby sister had faced at too young an age, it was never more obvious to Emma just how young Hermione still was. She had been sheltered at Hogwarts, spending most of her time with just Harry and Ron. Ron, who had come from a large, loving family and Harry, who had been abused by relatives that openly declared that they didn't care for him at all. It was all so black and white for her. The Weasley's loved Ron and therefore never hurt him on purpose. The Dursley's hated Harry and hurt him because of that. Her scope was so limited, but Emma's wasn't and as much as it angered her, Emma could understand where Regina was coming from, could understand the fear that someone you loved would turn on you when they heard that you'd made a terrible mistake. Hermione wasn't ready to hear that though.

"He's not alone," Emma finally said. "He's got us. We'll make sure that Henry is never alone again, and we'll prove to everyone that he's not crazy. Whatever it takes."

So now the world can never get me

On my level

I just got to get you off of the cage

I'm a young lovers rage

You still picking Henry up from school?

Hermione hated when Emma texted her and stuck to a one-word response: Yes

"What are you doing here?" came Henry's voice from behind her. She turned around on the bench to smile at him. "Where's Emma?" he asked, throwing himself down beside her.

"Being deputized by the Sheriff. I thought I'd come pick you up and then we could go pick up some snacks from Granny's and surprise them."

Henry beamed. "Hot chocolate with cinnamon?"

She smirked. "Do you think I would suggest anything else?"

"If you had lost your mind, sure."

They had just started heading for the diner when the ground started to shake beneath them. "What's going on?" Henry cried, clinging onto Hermione.

It stopped a moment later, but Hermione kept a tight hold on Henry, just to be safe. Once she was sure it was safe, she let go and answered, "I would have thought it to be an earthquake except those don't happen in Maine."

"Do you think it's something magical?"

Hermione got another text then and she hurried to open it. "Emma says that some tunnels collapsed on the edge of town." She glanced over at her nephew, who looked as if he was readying himself for some reason. "Shall we go take a look for ourselves?"

He stared at her with widened eyes. "You're not going to try and make me stay behind while you go look?"

"Now, why would I do that? You'd just find a way there on your own if I did. This way, I can at least keep an eye on you." After all, that was what she would have done, had actually done, when she was around his age.

"Wow, you really are smart." Henry looked so impressed by something so small and Hermione found herself wishing that he would always see her in such a good light.

"The brightest of my age, or so I've been told."

The words that had been repeated so many times in the past few years, said in tones anywhere from awe to mocking, meant little to the ten-year-old. "It must be the mining tunnels, they're on the other side of town. It'll take us at least half an hour to walk there."

Hermione smirked. "Are they near where the town sign is?"

"Yeah." Henry tilted his head slightly at her. "Why?"

"How would you like to see a bit more magic?"

Henry's face lit up. "Yes!" he cheered.

Pulling him into the shadows behind a shop, Hermione wrapped her arms around him. "Hold on tight then. And try not to throw up when we get there."

Gonna need a spark to ignite

My songs know what you did

In the dark

So light'em up, up, up

Still on a bit of a magic high, Henry was bouncing on the walk to the tunnels. "That was so awesome! We have to do that more often!"

Hermione laughed at his enthusiasm. "I must say, Henry, I was very impressed by how well you did. Most people throw up the first time they apparate."

Henry straightened up with a pleased look. "I mean, I felt a little sick but that wasn't enough to stop me." They stepped out of the trees and studied the chaos around them. A crowd of people were standing around a large hole in the ground, chattering at each other in hushed voices in order to try and not catch the eye of the woman standing at the front of them, glaring down in rage. "Oh no," Henry groaned.

"This is a big deal, it only makes sense that the Mayor would be here."

He looked up at her with hopeful eyes. "Can you sense any magic here? Does this have something to do with the curse?"

Closing her eyes, Hermione pushed her magic into the earth. She knew that her magic was different than others in her world, that they would deem her as being dark or unnatural if they found out just how powerful she was. Even Dumbledore, who was thought to be the second-coming of Merlin to some, was nowhere near as strong as she was.

The rest of the British Wizarding World centered themselves in core magic but Hermione had known from the moment magic became a tangible idea to her that she was centered in the elements. Fire raged from her when she was angry, water soothed her when her mind was chaotic, nature strengthened her, and the wind released any thoughts or feelings that weren't beneficial to her. British wizards were fools, believing the old magics to be too dangerous to learn and so had kept them from Hogwarts. The only reason Hermione had been so powerful with a wand was because the elements around her had added their strength to hers.

It wasn't until recently that she could call her powers so easily though. Apparently, there was a perk to being almost tortured into insanity by Bellatrix Lestrange- the bars keeping her magic as an almost separate entity had been shattered and now power was constantly flowing through her. Directing it was what was proving to be the real challenge now.

"There's something there," she finally told him. "I think it was brought over in the curse because of the energy surrounding it but by the look on Regina's face, she didn't expect it here." There was also something coming from the town square that concerned her but she pushed it from her mind for now.

"We've got to find it," Henry declared, face set in a determined mien.

"You look just like Emma," Hermione told him softly and he blushed. "You're right though, one of us will have to get a closer look. How about you distract her and I'll see what I can find."

"Divide and conquer," he nodded in approval, "I like it. Let's do this."

So light'em up, up, up

Light'em up, up, up

Light'em up, up, up

I'm on fire

In the dark

The arrival of Emma on the scene, along with Henry's loud questioning, provided the perfect distraction for Hermione to disillusion herself and sneak the piece of glass Regina had slipped into her pocket away. Moving back into the forest, Hermione dropped the spell and studied her prize. Why was this so important to Regina? Why had she looked so angry at the sight of it? It looked so ordinary. If it had been a piece of mirror, Hermione would have had more of an idea of its origin but this glass could have literally come from anywhere. Unless she was willing to take a trip down into the mine shafts, it would be very difficult to determine anything.

Stepping out of the woods, she spotted a group of figures standing near a police car. Hermione watched Regina and Archie with narrowed eyes after the Mayor had sent Emma and Henry in different directions. The shard of glass Hermione still held in her hand cut into her skin as she clenched her fingers and she quickly relaxed her grip. Slipping the glass into her pocket and silently healing the gashes, Hermione observed the way Archie paled as Regina spat at him and the way the threatening gleam in the other woman's eyes- the Evil Queen was making an appearance now.

As soon as Regina had walked away, Hermione hurried over to the good doctor. "So, you're Jiminy Cricket?"

The man startled and turned to her. "What?"

"Henry tells me that your alter-ego is Jiminy Cricket."

The man tensed at the sound of the ten-year old's name. "Yeah, he has been claiming that." He shuffled back and forth a bit. "I wish I could stay and talk but I really must be getting-"

"I've always appreciated," Hermione interrupted, stepping closer to him, "just how clearly children can see into the truth of things, the truth of people."

"I, what?"

"It's all so clear to them," she continued. "So black and white. No worrying about the tiny details that we adults are made up of that force us to try and explain away the darker parts of each other, lest someone judge us solely based on our own. The woman in power who lives for the towns fear of her is an Evil Queen. The woman who refuses to bend to her will is the Savior. And you, the man who tries to be voice of reason in a senseless world, are the living embodiment of a conscious. Wouldn't it be so much easier if things were as simple as that? Rather than the alternative, I mean."

"The alternative?" he echoed.

"Oh, yes," Hermione's smiled turned cold. "The one where, instead of being a guiding light, the man is really nothing more than a spineless coward who would rather bend to the will of a monster that is ordering him to break a child than stand his ground and do what he knows his right. Don't look so surprised," she continued at the look of surprise on his face, "it was plain to see what Regina was demanding from you, even if I couldn't hear the exact words she said. What did surprise me was how quick you seemed to fold under her gaze."

"She's his mother," Archie argued, though his eyes betrayed the conflict he felt at what he was being ordered to do.

"You're a doctor," she countered. "Because of your profession, you have a duty to help those in your care the best you can, regardless of personal feelings. It is your job to support Henry in the best way you can. If you do as Regina is asking, if you attack Henry's beliefs the way she is telling you to, you will be betraying everything you stand for. So, I guess the question you need to ask yourself, Dr. Hopper, is this: who do you actually want to be? Are you a coward or a conscience?"

If this were a movie, Hermione would have dramatically walked away after telling him her thoughts and left him to ponder what she said. However, she knew that Henry had another therapy session tomorrow and she needed to know what he would be facing when he entered that office, if he would need her support after all was said and done.

"I don't know," Archie finally whispered. "I don't know who I am."

"Then I suggest you figure out who you want to be and go from there. It's always best to start a quest with a clear goal in mind."

"You really care about him, don't you?"

That question gave her some hope for the man. "I love Henry. I may not have known him for very long, but he is still family and I will not just stand by and watch as Regina or anyone else hurts him."

Archie nodded at her before slowly turning and walking away.

"Moving spiel there, Granger."

She tensed at the sound of her name and spun around. "Thomas."

Thomas Quahog leaned against a tree. "Been a long time, hasn't it?" She stayed quiet. "We need to talk."

The writers keep writing what they write

Somewhere another pretty vein just dies

I've got the scars from tomorrow

And I wish you could see

They sat in tense silence at the girls' room at the inn. "Well," Hermione finally said. "I assume you have something very important to say if you've come all this way."

Thomas nodded. "I'm here on behalf of the President and the British Minister." Hermione's eyebrows rose in surprise. "Not what you expected, huh?" he drawled. "Samuel would have come himself, but the President of the Magical Congress of the United States disappearing to the backwoods of Maine would have brought some unwanted attention."

"So he sent his cousin instead."

"Yep," He smirked, blue eyes sparkling. "You've caused quite a splash, Hermione. Everyone is beside themselves, wondering where on Earth the Golden Girl could have run off to. The truth is much more outlandish then any of their theories though."

The dark-haired wizard grinned at her and Hermione allowed herself to relax slightly. "It's good to see you, Thomas. I missed you."

"Yes, that was clear from the many cards and letters you sent me this past year. Oh, wait," he teased.

If it had been anyone else, Hermione might have grown defensive but this was Thomas. She'd known him for years, since they had first visited the states and he had helped her when she'd accidentally used magic. "What can I say, saving the world is a rather time-consuming endeavor," she joked.

"To think that the girl I helped almost ten years ago after she accidentally set fire to a bush would go on to stop a bunch of bigoted terrorists. Though, it seems you've now moved on to invading a mysterious magical community that's been unapproachable for the last 28 years." Thomas leaned forward. "You just had to involve yourself into another mess."

"I take it Kingsley got in touch with Sammy then?"

"Sam almost fell out of his chair when Kingsley told him where you were. Did you know, we've been trying to come to this town since it first appeared but we couldn't get past the wards. Not even the Gringott's Curse-Breaker's we brought in could breach the security surrounding this place. Then you show up out of the blue and was able to create a few cracks for people to get through. What the hell are you doing here, Hermione? And how the fuck were you even able to get in?"

Hermione sighed. "That's a long story, Thomas, and it a bit unbelievable. The short of it is that this town, everyone in it, is from another land and were brought here by a curse."

"No shit, Sherlock," he snorted. "MACUSA already figured that out for themselves."

"What?!" Hermione gapped at him. "You already knew? How is no one else aware?"

"Our sensors went haywire when this place showed up and auror's were immediately sent to see what was going on. They couldn't get in though, so the Major Investigations Department was sent in to see what was up. They found that the magic in this town was nothing that had been seen before, something previously unknown. We've had this place under surveillance ever since but the only person who's ever come out has been the Mayor, which should be impossible since they'd have run out of food and supplies by now." Thomas pulled out a file from his pocket and handed it to the British witch. "Our version of the Unspeakable's were able to tell us that the town came from another world and that, upon further analysis of the magical readings taken here, there was enough similarities between our magic and theirs to determine that it was some form of Dark Magic that brought them here but not much else."

Setting the file down on the table next to her, Hermione studied her oldest friend. "Why are you telling me all this?"

Thomas sighed. "On behalf of the President of the Magical Congress of the United States of America, I would like to offer you a job as an Independent Contractor. Basically, we want you to find out what the fuck is going on in this town. We need to know more about what they're doing here, their future plans, and how their magic differs from our own. As of right now, the International Wizarding Confederation has no idea about Storybrooke and we want to keep this as quiet as possible so that we don't have to deal with their crap until we absolutely have to."

"This will cause an international incident," Hermione noted. "America will be heavily censured if they find out you've kept quiet about this for nearly three decades."

"Hey, we didn't break any rules," Thomas spread out his arms and Hermione absentmindedly noted just how much her friend had changed over the past few years, from a scrawny teenager to a tall, broad-shouldered adult. "We monitored the situation, made sure that there was no threat to the world at wide or the International Statute of Secrecy, and even brought in outside consultation to help us. This happened on American soil and we weren't about to let a bunch of foreign wizards come in and start making demands before it was necessary."

"I'm not judging any of you, Thomas," Hermione sighed, exasperated. "I would have done the exact same thing if it had been my call. But, as soon as the wards around this town fall, you'd best be prepared to deal with the consequences. The other countries, specifically China, Britain, and Germany, are going to be critical. You may even have an official sanction brought against you."

"Considering how busy they are trying to deal with explaining to the world why they sat back and did nothing as another Grindelwald rose up in Britain, I think we'll be fine." Hermione scowled. Yes, most of the major European countries were in trouble for respecting the late Dumbledore's wishes and allowing Britain to deal with their issues themselves, but they would take any opportunity they could find to distract everyone from their mistakes and focus their ire somewhere else. "And they'll be a lot less angry if they read reports brought to them by the Hermione Granger. Despite what the British media is trying to say, most of the world knows just how important you were to the war efforts and that Potter would have lost without you. Two British Halfbloods fighting against one another is run of the mill but a Muggleborn being named Undesirable Number Two by a Pureblood Regime? That made people take notice."

Hermione groaned. "That's just what I need right now, the attention of the world when I'm trying to keep a low profile."

Thomas leaned forward to grab her hand. "Hermione, you don't have to worry about people finding out you're here. You and your sister are both American citizens thanks to your mother and the President promised you that you'd be safe here and he meant it. We kept her and your parents safe while you were gone, didn't we? This isn't Britain, Rita Skeeter isn't going to be stalking your every move. And if you don't want to be a part of this then that's okay, Sam and I just thought that, since you're already here, it'd be easiest for you to keep an eye on things instead of us sending more people in."

Biting her lower lip, Hermione considered his proposal. "I'd need a guarantee that no one else from the American Ministry comes into town without alerting me first. There's a lot going on here and things are already in a delicate enough position."

"Fair enough." Thomas perked up. "So, you're agreeing, right? You'll keep an eye on things here for us, get a handle on the situation."

"Yes, fine. But only because I don't want any of you coming here and mucking around!"

"Don't care about the reason, just the end game." He winked. "But before we get into all the boring details, care to tell me more of this long story? I'm dying to know what you've found out."

Hermione pulled the large, leather-bound book out of her bag and passed it to her friend. "Once upon a time…"

That you're the antidote to everything

Except for me

A constellation of tears

On your lashes

Emma didn't get in until after Hermione had already gone to bed that night so Hermione wasn't able to tell her sister about Thomas until the next day. Hermione had gone down to the diner to pick up some lunch and brought it back to the room. "God, I love you," Emma declared once Hermione handed her a container. "Yesterday was such a mess, I don't even think I ate dinner."

"Everything alright?" Hermione asked, taking a seat across from the blond.

"Yeah, Graham just wanted one of us to stay by the mines at all times in case some idiot kids decided to do a test of courage or something and try and go down there."

"And how is Graham? Is your new boss playing nice?"

"Stop," Emma ordered. "Do not go there."

"Too late," Hermione sang. "I'm already here and I'm setting up shop."

"What were you and Archie talking about?" The change of subject wasn't at all subtle but Emma didn't care.

Hermione scowled. "Regina ordered Archie to force Henry to stop believing in magic. I didn't hear the entire conversation but I was able to catch the tail end of it where she told him to 'take that delusion out and crush it'."

"But Archie said that doing that would hurt Henry!" Emma protested. "That it'd just make it worse!"

"It'd make it worse because he's not crazy!" Hermione snapped. "He's not crazy, you and I have officially settled down in town, and now Regina's getting desperate. And you should probably know that I was paid a visit by Thomas on official MACUSA business."

Emma dropped her burger back into its box and buried her face in her hands. "For God's sake, why? What the hell do they want?"

"They want to know about this town. It's been here for 28 years, Emma, but until we arrived, they couldn't get in. Now they can and they want to know how a town that is from another world found a way to appear in the backwoods of Maine."

"They confirmed it? That these people came from another world?"

Grabbing the file Thomas had given her off a table, Hermione passed it to Emma. "Their Unspeakable's were able to, yes. Sam and Thomas thought it would be best if I took the lead on the investigation here, rather than sending in any other people. No one has been in or out of Storybrooke except for Regina and Henry the entire time it's been here so it would cause quite the stir if any more strangers made an appearance."

"I take it you agreed?"

"Of course I agreed. Better me than some random official who would try and drag you away for testing first chance they got since you seem to be the only person who still has even a small handle on their worlds magic."

Emma's jaw dropped. "I don't have any magic!"

"Yes, you do. It's not as obvious as my own, but it's there. It's the reason you can tell what type of magic I do, why you could enter the town wards despite being a total stranger, and why there was a bloody earthquake today while you were being deputized." Hermione held up a hand to stem her arguments. "You don't have to like it, Emma, but don't you dare try to say I'm wrong."

There was knock at the door then, and Emma jumped up to answer it. Hermione was absolutely right, she didn't like the idea that she had some otherworldly magic running through her veins, and Emma didn't want to have to keep hearing about it from her. "Kid?" Emma asked after she'd opened the door, surprised at the upset look on his face. "What happened?" Henry just threw his arms around Emma and hid his face in her stomach.

"Henry?" Hermione stood up and walked over, kneeling beside the boy. "Are you alright?"

Pulling away, Henry turned to his aunt and roughly wiped his eyes. "It's Archie. The Evil Queen got to him. He said I needed to stop talking about the curse because people will think I'm crazy and they'll lock me away."

Hermione reached out and gently took his hands. "Did Archie say he thought you were crazy?"

"I," Henry paused, thinking. "I don't think so. I was- I just said we should look in the mine to see what the Queen is hiding, and he said that it was too dangerous and then started talking about I needed to wake up."

"Going down in the mines right now is too dangerous, Henry." Hermione squeezed his hands. "You could get badly hurt if you went down there. I think you scared Archie when you started talking about going down there."

"I'm not crazy!"

"No, you're not," Emma sighed, pulling her sister up and leading them over to the couch. "You're not crazy, Henry, but you've got to be smart about this."

"You don't think I'm crazy?" Henry breathed. "You believe that the curse is real?"

"I believe there's something going on here," Emma slowly answered. "And that it's something magical. But I don't know if I believe that it has anything to do with fairytales or that I'm some sort of savior." She didn't want to hurt him, but Emma wasn't going to lie to him about this.

Henry jumped up and threw his arms around Emma again. "You don't think I'm crazy."

"Not any crazier than Hermione, at least."

"That's not saying much," Hermione whispered to Henry. He gave a small smile but they could tell he was still upset.

"I'm going out for a bit," Emma said abruptly, moving to grab her jacket. "Don't do anything dumb till I get back."

"Don't worry, we prefer doing stupid things in front of you so that we can see your reaction for ourselves." Rolling her eyes at her sister, Emma paused at the doorway before leaning and hugging Henry tightly. She let him go after a moment and disappeared out the door. "Let's sit," Hermione told Henry, leading him over to bed and plopping down.

Henry sat down next to her and fell back, resolutely staring at the ceiling. "I'm not crazy," he finally whispered.

"No, you're not." She also fell back and turned to look at her nephew. "But Henry, why does it matter if Archie believes you?"

"I don't know," Henry shrugged. "It just does."

"Alright. It's not Archie's fault though, I think the curse keeps them from seeing the truth, just as it causes none of them to be alarmed when they realize they don't remember anything of their lives besides the time they've spent here."

"So, no matter how hard I try, none of them are going to believe?" Henry turned to look at her. "But you did it! You found Rumpelstiltskin and made him remember! Is it because you have magic?"

Hermione turned onto her side. "No, Henry, he remembered without my assistance. He somehow found a way to regain his memories once Emma returned to town."

"Oh." It was quiet again for a bit before Henry whispered, "Can I meet him? Rumpelstiltskin?"

Her automatic response was to tell him no, but Hermione forced herself to actually consider her request. Gold already knew that Henry was aware of the curse, that he was in possession of the storybook that contained their history. It would be good for Henry to know that there was someone out there that also knew that he was right, that had actually suffered from the curse. If things somehow went wrong, she was more than capable of keeping Henry safe… "I need to ask him first, make sure he's alright with you knowing. And in the meantime, promise you won't do anything rash. Whatever is down in the tunnels should be left undisturbed for now, it's not safe and we can find the proof you're looking for elsewhere. Agreed?"

Henry's beam convinced her that she had made the right decision.

Burn everything you love

Then burn the ashes

In the end everything

Collides

Hermione escorted Henry back to his house, not surprised to find Regina waiting for them with a scowl. "I told you to come straight back here after your appointment," she immediately said to Henry, stepping forward and pulling him away from his aunt. "I don't know where this disobedient attitude came from, but we are going to have to have a long talk later about what you are and aren't allowed to do."

Henry pulled away from her and raced into the house and up the stairs without looking back. Regina's eyes tightened when the slam of his door echoed through the mansion. "I don't know what you think you're doing," she hissed at Hermione, who stared calmly back at her, "But I've had enough of you putting ideas in my son's head."

"Oh, I think you're giving me far too much credit, Madam Mayor. Those ideas were already in his head long before I arrived in town. It makes one wonder what exactly you've done previously to make Henry even entertain the idea that you're not a good person."

"If you think you can come into my town and take my son from me," Regina snarled.

"I'm not thinking of doing anything," Hermione laughed, stepping forward. "I'm already doing it. A little bird told me that you were looking into my sister and I. Not very smart of you, I must say, but rather convenient for me."

"And what do you mean by that?"

"Just as I've said; you really are making things quite easy for me. I warned you, remember? I told you that out of the two of us, I'm the one holding all the power. Your digging into my past has caught the attention of several powerful individuals and I've found myself curious too. Tell me, how is it possible that a town that has been here for over 28 years has managed to pay not even a penny in taxes?" Regina paled. "Not a cent has gone to either the State or Federal governments. In fact, there's very little information on this town at all- just a town census that hasn't changed at all over the years. All the paperwork for the town is there, all good and proper, yet it also hasn't needed updating all these years because, miraculously enough, not a thing has changed. Care to take a guess as to how that might be? I myself think the most shocking bit is the fact that no one else checked up on things until now, as though the very knowledge of Storybrooke had just slipped their mind."

She crossed her arms across her chest. "Are you trying to imply something, Miss Granger?"

"Oh no, I'm implying nothing. Mostly because your actions have shown that you're apparently too stupid to grasp subtleties and that, if I am to get anything through to you, I'm going to have to be very blunt." Hermione set off one of the stones, overcharging it slightly to cause more damage when it hit the wards and increase the amount of pain Regina felt. "I have had it with your attempts to hurt my family," she told Regina softly, watching as the woman bent over in pain, clutching her chest. "You'd do well to set aside whatever preconceived notions you hold on your place in this world because I guarantee that everything you thought was real is wrong."

"What are you?" Regina gasped, looking up at Hermione with wide eyes.

"I think you already know the answer to that," Hermione smirked. "Chin up, your Majesty. I expect you to at least try and make things challenging for me. After all, this game isn't any fun if you're not playing."

My childhood spat back out

The monster that you see

My songs know what you did

In the dark

"Archie promised to apologize to Henry," Emma told her, sitting down next to her in Henry's castle. "Not sure how much good it'll do but it's something at least."

"That's nice. I believe I've convinced Regina that I'm the Savior, not you, so we've both had very productive days."

"You did what?!" Emma exploded.

Hermione glanced at her out of the corner of her eye. "Why are you so surprised? I told you that I was going to ensure that Regina kept her attention on me and not you. The only way to truly achieve that was to make her believe I was the bigger threat."

"I didn't think you meant that you were going to make yourself a target." Emma knotted her fingers in her hair, tugging uselessly. "God, Hermione, you can't do crap like this without telling me first. What if you're wrong about how much power she has? What if she comes after you?"

Her sister wasn't concerned. "If she had any magic here, she would have already used it, if not to attack me then to fix the damage I've done to the wards."

"Hermione Jean Granger," Emma snapped, sounding just like their mother. "It is my job to look after you. I just got you back- I refuse to lose you again, do you understand me?" Hermione stared at her with wide eyes and nodded. "Good. No more pulling stupid crap like this without talking to me first. No more going off on your own and doing things behind my back. And, for the love of God, no more messing around with people who have already shown themselves to be dangerous. You're the one who said Regina probably did kill her own father in order to enact this spell; I doubt a woman capable of doing that would have any problems with killing you too."

"I'm sorry," Hermione murmured, shoulders bunched around her ears.

Emma pulled her into a hug. "It's you and me, kid. Please don't forget that you're not alone anymore."

"I thought Henry was 'kid' now."

"You're still 'kid' to me when you're off pulling childish crap like you have been."

"It's not childish," Hermione pouted.

She was right, Emma silently acknowledged. Hermione wouldn't have acted like this even when she was at her worst as a child. This Hermione was still burned by the war she'd left behind, and Emma couldn't help worrying about what her baby sister was going to become once she'd finally made her way out.

So light'em up, up, up

Light'em up, up, up

Light'em up, up, up

I'm on fire

"You managed to get the Mayor into quite a state of panic," Rumpelstiltskin said in lieu of an actual greeting when she ran into him that evening after Emma had headed back to the tunnels to keep an eye on things.

"Please," Hermione waved his words away, "Regina's been that way since the moment we set foot into town."

"She was concerned with Emma's appearance," Gold corrected. "In her mind, you were just the younger sister who thought far too highly of herself. Now, now you're the real threat."

"Well, it's about time that she finally caught on." She joined the shopkeeper behind the counter and started idly flipping through a book he had nearby. "If that woman was half as smart as she thought she was, then she would be twice as smart as she actually is."

Gold smiled faintly. "If you keep expecting people to have the same level intelligence as you, then you will constantly find yourself disappointed."

Hermione gave a short laugh. "A lesson learned often in my life."

"Perhaps you are too confident in your own abilities if you've been taught the same lesson repeatedly and yet have still not managed to grasp the underlying message."

They sat in silence for a bit, both waiting for the other to give in and ask the first question. Rumpelstiltskin was far more experienced than Hermione though, and she eventually broke first. "Does Regina believe I am the Savior?"

"Her Majesty is currently very confused as to who you are. Having magical powers in this world would imply that you are the savior, but the age is wrong. Though, as she is unaware that there is a magical population in this world, Regina will probably be forced to believe you that you are and something unusual happened with the magic that brought you here. It'll help that your sister doesn't seem to know anything about magic."

Hermione sighed, resting her forehead on the counter. "Emma's powers aren't as obvious as my own, but they're there. I think the lack of your kind of magic in this world is what's limiting her, even though she almost seems to be made of pure magic."

He hummed but didn't respond, just waited until the young woman was a little more relaxed to ask his own question. "What were you like as child, when you were attending your magical school?"

Turning her head to stare at him, Gold could tell she was surprised by his question. "I…" she trailed off, mind searching for a reason for his query. "I wasn't well-liked. I was constantly trying to show off how smart I was, answering every question asked in class and helping other students without being asked, and I wasn't the most attractive child. I had trouble making friends and the ones I did make really only seemed to like having me around as a walking encyclopedia. We stuck together though. The boys were always getting into trouble and I was always the one scrambling to find a way to make sure we all made it out okay."

Things were slowly clicking into place for Rumpelstiltskin and he wasn't sure he liked the picture that was appearing before his eyes. "The war must have changed you and your friends greatly."

"Not as much as you'd think," she snorted. "In your world, what are the other main realms? Besides the Enchanted Forest, I mean, which is divided into at least seven different kingdoms, from what I can tell."

Rumpelstiltskin frowned. "There are many realms in our world, but the main ones other than the Enchanted Forest are Agrabah, Arendelle, Camelot, and DunBroch. There are different kingdoms within them, but those are the names of the main realms." He raised an eyebrow at Hermione's groan. "The only ones you should be encountering here in Storybrooke are citizens from the Enchanted Forest, unless you know something I don't."

"Oh, the number of responses that could be made after that comment is impressive," Hermione grumbled, shifting so she was face down on the counter again.

"I'm sure it is. Before you start though, I have one last question for you today: what was the change you wished to happen in your world that didn't occur at the end of the war?"

Hermione sighed. "Much like how I assume the royalty in your world is, lineage is very important in the British magical world. Those who had a long history of magical family members didn't approve of those like me who are the first magical user in my family and tend to try and make life more difficult for them. There was a bit of a civil war where they tried to gain control of the government but we managed to defeat them. Unfortunately, now that the war is over, people would rather try and go back to how things were than change things because people are 'tired of fighting' and some people think it would be 'better to wait'. Not everyone, of course, but enough."

"So you left." Hermione may have thought she was being clever in her attempts to hide the full truth by the minimum amount of facts, but Rumpelstiltskin had been playing this game for far longer. 'Make life more difficult for them' indeed.

"I prefer to think of it as shifting strategies." She didn't know why he wanted to know this, wasn't sure how it would benefit him, unless he was planning on making a trip to Magical Britain the moment he could escape this town. If that was Gold's plan, then Hermione wished him the best; his appearance would certainly shake things up. "Now that we're done with that, I have something to speak with you about. Henry would like to meet you, as Rumpelstiltskin."

"Considering your sister's disgust towards me, I would have thought any communication between Henry and I would be the last thing you'd wish for." Gold turned fully towards her and she finally straightened up.

"It wasn't in my original plans," Hermione admitted. "However, Henry has been having a bit of a difficult time recently and I think it's important to do what I can to prove to him that he's not crazy so that he doesn't go off on his own. He had this idea of sneaking off to search the mines for whatever Regina is hiding down there and I truly believe he wouldn't have hesitated to go through with it if it wasn't for the fact that I both believe in him and that I'm proof that magic is real. It could have gone a different way though, and that's why I believe Henry speaking with you might be for the best. You're proof that the curse is real and you're a famous character in his book. If I can provide him a support network of people who believe in the curse, he will hopefully come to realize that he doesn't need to go out on his own to find proof, that there are people willing to help him."

"Or I could just make things worse and Henry will become even more desperate and reckless to get Emma to fully believe and break the curse."

"That's a risk I'm willing to take. Besides, I know you won't do anything bad on purpose." She leaned in a bit and smirked. "You know full well where you stand and I'm sure you've heard enough from Regina to know that I'm not someone you want to upset."

"Of course not, dearie. You might want to keep in mind though, that you can't control everything. Some things will always be outside your control, no matter how powerful you are. Best be careful about what goes slipping through the cracks."

My songs know what you did

In the dark

My songs know what you did

In the dark

So light'em up

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