Tempus Magia

Part Three

Chapter 26: The Order

Hermione Granger made a grave error during the final battle that resulted in Remus's death. Working as an unspeakable she spends two years working on a spell using powder from time turners to go back to Remus's greatest hour of need. What if Remus's greatest time of need wasn't in *this* war?

Hermione woke groggily, bound and tied to a chair in a tiny room with little to no room to move in. A heavily cloaked wizard with untidy black hair that poked out from his hood, stood over her menacingly. He wrapped his gloved knuckles on the door behind him and it opened to admit another older, who was dressed similarly. They motioned to each other, clearly having been instructed not to speak. She didn't need to know their code to know that whatever it was they were going to do to her, was imminent.

She closed her eyes and reached out to her happy thoughts. She was only mildly surprised to find Remus and Teddy both mixed into her standard happy Patronus thoughts. She felt more than heard her Patronus knock the two wizards out in front of her. Quickly, she unbound herself and searched for her wand and her bag. The room held nothing besides the chair that bolted to the floor.

Upon exiting the room she found a short hallway with two other doors and a set of stairs leading upwards. There was barely any light from the building itself but Hermione's otter followed her illuminating her way as she investigated the two empty similar cells. When she doubled back to her cell, she found that the second man had collapsed over something. Pushing him onto the floor, she discovered a stool right outside the cell. On it was a parchment with her name on it and her description. Her wand and purse were shoved underneath the parchment.

Hermione grabbed her wand and her purse, beside her things was a blue potion and a syringe. She examined the potion for a moment until she heard the sound of shuffling chairs above her. Grabbing the syringe as well as the potion, she cast protective charms on them and stuffed them in her bag and began looking for a way out.

"Homenum Revelio," she whispered. Using wandless or wordless magic was draining and she needed all the strength she could get. There were six people upstairs and after a quick layout charm, she found all of the possible exits. Unluckily for her, the only way to get out of the basement was through the staircase in the center of the hall. The stairs lead into a room where the six people were seated around a table.

She was weak from casting her Patronus and knew she would not be able to take on six wizards upstairs, even with her Otters help. She cast spells around the basement to search for hidden passageways and to check the density of the walls and what was beyond them. Bill Weasley had taught her these spells in case she was ever in a bind when she got home to her timeline she would have to thank him and possibly offer to babysit baby Vicky.

Her spells discovered that one of the basement walls connected with the edge of a cliff. If she sent a bombarda at the wall and a holding spell at the ceiling right above it, she would have just enough time to jump through the hole. She would have to apparate midfall since she would need to wait until she cleared the wards. There was the remote possibility that whoever erected the wards thought to make them go all the way through the ground. She doubted it though.

Something was going on upstairs and she needed to move. She turned over each of the wizards and observed their arms. Death Eaters. Without a second thought, she cast her bombarda and jumped. She could hear shouts over the large roar of the building crumbling. She had cast two holding spells to stop the building from following her over the edge. A wise move as it turned out to be.

She rushed towards raging icy blue water and was fifty feet from it when she felt the wards release her. She apparated just as she felt a cool spray of water hit her face.

Hermione smashed into a tree in the Forest of Dean upon being spit out of her apparition. She wasted no time apparating again and again and again. She barely kept an idea of where she was going, only that she was. On her fourteenth pop, she landed in the edge of the Forbidden Forest and struggled as she made her way to Hogsmeade. Several people asked her if she needed help but she ignored them and limped as fast as she could towards the public Floo in Hogshead. She didn't bother to greet Aberforth and simply tossed some coins at him and stumbled into the Floo calling out for Godric Hollow; The Potters.

Hermione was so tired she collapsed as soon as she exited the Floo. Darkness was eating at the corners of her vision and she could feel Lily's fluffy blue rug underneath signifying that she had in fact fallen. She could hear people rushing to her, but it wasn't them that she was thinking of. It was the golden eyes looking down at her and knowing that she was safe in his arms, she let herself succumb to her exhaustion.

It was the second time in this timeline that Hermione had woken to Professor Dumbledore standing over her. This time, however, her head was in Remus's lap and he helped her sit up. The room was crowded with Order members and Hermione realized, belatedly that she had crashed an Order meeting.

Well, at least it wasn't the first time. In the future, Sirius had sneaked Harry and her into an Order meeting under the Invisibility cloak. Professor Dumbledore knew they were there, but it was the secrecy of it all that was exciting. They hadn't talked about anything interesting just names of suspected Death Eaters and patrol lists.

"Hermione?" Lily was kneeling in front of her patting her head with a wet cloth, James and Sirius at her side. "Hermione we were so worried. Remus got an owl but he only opened it after you left your meeting and…" Lily jumped into her arms and being as weak as she was, Hermione fell backward into Remus.

"Miss Peverell, did they inject you with anything?" Professor Dumbledore asked, great urgency in his voice.

Hermione shook her head, "No. They didn't get the chance. I was abducted by someone whom I thought was Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts. Shortly after I woke up I used wandless magic to stun two of my attackers. I found my wand, bag, and a potion with an applicator. I have both in my bag.

"There were an additional six people above me in the house and one house elf. I found one wall that connected to a cliff and I used a hex to break the wall and hold up the ceiling. Once it was open I jumped off of the cliff and apparated once I was out of the wards purview. I believe I was being held captive in Rowl Tower, but I could be mistaken. I also do not believe the two abductors in the basement lived through the cave-in. I confirmed on their arms that they were in fact, marked Death Eaters.

"After I made my escape I apparated to fourteen different locations and then walked from my last apparating location on the edge of the Forbidden Forest to Hogsmeade. I took the Floo out of your brother's bar in Hogsmeade with a Notice-Me-Not and a Misdirection spell to keep anyone from following me. I would have used at least four different Public Floos but I was exhausted and was barely able to get into the first-"

Remus gathered her into his arms tightly while he held her, his entire body shaking. She looked around the room and realized that as crowded as it was, the room was entirely silent.

"Err…. Remus, why is it so quiet?" Hermione poked her head from out of his shoulder to find a room of gaping wizards and witches. She looked at misty-eyed Lily sitting in front of her, "Did I er... miss something?"

Everyone began to talk at once until Dumbledore roared for silence. "How about we explain what happened on our end to Miss Peverell before we start asking her any more questions? Great, I'll start. Hermione, shortly after you left to meet with your informant Remus received a tip from the Head Alpha that Death Eaters were planning to kidnap you and test a new potion on you. Lily received a similar letter from an old school mate minutes later. He said he only happened on the news accidentally and had just in fact met with you. He rushed back to the apparition point but you were gone and there was no evidence of a struggle. We began to fully worry when Sirius's clever tracking charm that he has planted on your person stopped working."

Severus had gone looking for her?

"We had just started our meeting when his letter arrived and we immediately sent as many members as we were able to spare. After our first wave left, we received a message via the Death Eaters that you were taken and it was a lesson for what would happen to any werewolves that defied Voldemort."

"Remus and James freaked the shit out," Sirius commented from the back. "Also, Lily and Alice cried."

"Thank you, Sirius," Dumbledore said wryly. "Yes, Miss Peverell our members were concerned and we were about to seek help from Aurors we trust within the Ministry when you quite literally landed in Remus's lap. James, would you mind passing me the potion?"

"We've been trying but none of us can get this damn thing open," Hermione looked up to see Saul Croaker holding her bag. "Hey, Hermione. How are you feeling?"

"Like shite," she replied honestly. "Here, I'll get it. The wards on the bag will only allow myself or Remus to open it."

Hermione extended her hand and stuck it all the way in until only her shoulder was poking out. If the Order hadn't thought her interesting before, they did now. She could have just removed the enchantments and summoned it but she wasn't about to open her bag so anyone could look inside. She had been slowly filching things for Harry. Pictures of Lily and James. Little love letters that the couple wrote to each other. Pictures of them sitting on the couch reading to Harry or talking to him through her belly. There were more than a few of Lily scolding her unborn son for bouts of nausea.

She plucked the potion and the syringe from within the depths of the bag. Several people looked in alarm as they heard several stacks of books topple over as well as several glass items crash. She really should have fixed the loose empty phials.

"They're just empty phials, no need to worry."

"No need to worry?" sneered a witch with a ridiculous green hat with a stuffed bird. "You could fit an entire person in there!"

Hermione ignored the witch and handed the phials to Dumbledore. He gazed at it for a moment before exchanging a look with James. Remus tightened his hold on Hermione. "Miss Peverell, you are a very lucky witch. The nature of this meeting tonight was to discuss this potion, in particular."

What murmuring was going on in the room was silenced. "If we have a sample, does that mean we can stop it?" asked the witch who had interrupted earlier.

"Yes and no," Dumbledore responded. "Without it, we were hopeless against it but even with it, we would need someone who has been under the Cruciatus curse for extended periods of time. Generally, anyone who has been under the curse for that long, they end up submitted to Saint Mungos or they die. So far, we haven't found anyone that meets the criteria. It's a fairly simple spell and the participant is in no danger. We mostly need their blood to help with the development of a cure."

"What does the potion do?" she asked Dumbledore.

"It mimics the cruciatus and attacks the body as well as the mind. The drinker seeing all of their worst nightmares being played over and over again while the potion tortures the body. The longest we've seen anyone last under the potion's influence is eleven minutes and it was mercy when he passed on."

Hermione rubbed her arm where Mudblood was carved in. She tightened her fingers on Remus and cut into the conversation about whether or not they should seek international help. "You can do the spell on me."

The only people that heard her over the noise was those she considered family. Sirius paled and dropped into a chair behind him. Lily burst into tears and buried her head in James' shoulder. She could feel Remus stiffen behind her and his hands begin to tremble.

"Miss Peverell-" Dumbledore looked at her incredulity.

"Just do the spell." She wasn't supposed to be making changes to the timeline but if they already knew she was here, was she really changing anything?

"Raise your wand arm," Albus Dumbledore casting a spell drew everyone's attention. "Please roll up your sleeve."

Hermione sighed, she usually kept her arm glamoured but with the amount of magic she used in one evening she had little to spare. The room collectively gasped as her arm was exposed and Hermione saw Dumbledore flinch. He waved his wand over her arm and it glowed bright gold.

"Well, it looks as if you have saved us in more ways than one," he nodded gravely at her and then at the rude witch from earlier. "Cordelia would you be able to relocate your work here?"

"No," Remus growled.

"Remus-"

"No one is poking or prodding her. My girlfriend was attacked today because there is a leak within the Order," Remus growled. Hermione noticed that Peter was absent. "She was followed and attacked and the only reason we knew was that people on their side warned us. You are all going to get the bloody hell out so that she can rest. Hermione and I will look into the antidote the day after tomorrow. Untthenhey you can all bloody well sod off."

James had finally regained his voice. "I apologize Albus, but I have to agree. Hermione has had a severe trauma tonight and she needs to rest. I understand what this means to other people that are potentially at risk but right now my family needs to recover and we can't do that with everyone here. I'll owl you in the morning but for now, we respectfully ask everyone for their space."

"This potion is more important than any one of us," Cordelia sneered. "No singular person is more important-"

"Maybe to you," Lily snapped back. "But our family comes first. Please see your prejudiced arse out Cordelia."

"Lily and James have a point. How about we all head home and sleep on it. We can recovene on clearer heads in two days." Hermione craned her neck to see Frank Longbottom with an arm around his wife, Alice. Hermione knew her from the WSAA and much like Lily, she was sniffling as she held onto her husband. "Lily, James, Remus, and Sirius always a pleasure. Miss Peverell, feel well and if there is anything at all you need please call on us."

The two left via Floo and soon the house was empty save Albus. Cordelia Vance left in a rather self-important huff, muttering that she would have words with Albus. Saul dropped a kiss on her forehead and promised to send some muffins over the next morning. Hermione rather hoped he wouldn't bake them himself. Sirius, Remus, and Lily were quiet throughout the affair and Hermione wondered if she was going to have her first fight with Remus that night.

"Hermione, I have left potions in the kitchen. Remus, please see to it that Hermione rests," he nodded to James, Sirius, and Lily. "Have a good night."

Professor Dumbledore was the last to leave via Floo. James shut it down and locked the wards to not allow anyone but the five of them. It was silent once he was done his spell work and then as if on some unbidden command all of them descended on her drowning her in a Marauder hug. Remus holding her the closest of them all.

None of them asked for details for which Hermione was grateful. Remus never left her side, even when they relocated for dinner. He sat next to her with his hand around her waist as if he needed the reminder that she was still there. Lily had made a stir fry for dinner and left it under a stasis charm for after the meeting. At nearly three in the morning, none of them had the energy to do much more than eating.

After about ten minutes of silence, Hermione couldn't take it anymore. She hated being pitied but more so, she hated not knowing what people were thinking.

"Sirius?" He jumped in his seat. "Are you alright?"

"I… I'm so sorry Hermione. I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around this."

Hermione nodded. "It's okay. Do you want to ask me questions?"

"How are you so calm? You were tortured in the-"

"Sirius," Lily hissed. Hermione sat back and looked around the table. She knew that Lily knew, but was it possible? No, that would be preposterous. She looked at each person in the eye finally landing on James, who couldn't meet hers. Sweet loveable James, couldn't lie to save his arse.

Yes, they all knew.

"How long have you all known?"

"Since you showed up here encased in time sand," said Lily when no one answered. "James's mother, Euphemia was… dying. She used legilimency on your mind and told us what we needed to know so that we would trust you. So that we would look after you."

"You lied this whole time? James made me list everyone I worked with at the MACUSA! He made me describe my flat and my roommates in New York!" Hermione threw a fork at him. "You quizzed me on it daily!"

James laughed dryly. "I was curious how committed you were to your story."

A horrible thought struck her, "Is there anyone else besides whoever is in this room that knows?"

"No," said Remus from behind her. "Euphemia was very specific that only the four of us were allowed to know. Anything else could change the timeline."

"Harry is the end goal," Hermione said.

Lily smiled. "Euphemia said that too me to."

"Well, he is."

James slung an arm around Lily and smiled. "So, you went to school with Harry?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "I'm not telling you anything except that he dragged me into mischief and that ruddy cloak of yours got us out of more detentions then you would believe possible."

Everyone laughed except Remus, whose hands were still shaking. They all had a toast to Harry and before long they all went to bed. Hermione said goodnight to Lily and James, Sirius having gone out for a smoke. Remus was standing beside her silently his hand still buried into her own.

Hermione had to practically drag him up the stairs and into her room. She shut the door and whirled around, "Remus, what- mmph."

Remus grabbed her arse roughly. She protested lightly but with no real conviction. His eyes were hooded and dark as he lifted her with ease and pushed her back up against the wall, rattling the frames and making them drop. She groaned as he sucked on her neck. " Remus! "

He forced her mouth open with the sheer amount of pressure of his lips on hers. When they broke for air, he bit her lips just hard enough that she moaned. When he leaned back she pulled his shirt up over her head. His hands traced the outline of her body and when he leaned back to look at her, she snapped her bra off from the back.

"Hermione, are you sure?"

"Remus, we're in the middle of a war that I'm not supposed to be a part of. The Death Eaters know who I am and the only thing I want right now is you properly in me. Do you really want to argue?"

Remus kissed her swiftly. "Not even a little."

Their first time was hurried and fast and while Hermione was sated and her bones exhausted, she wasn't ready for sleep. She straddled him and kissed him until he was ready to go again and they did, greeting the rising sun with Hermione bouncing on top of him moaning in ecstasy.