Disclaimer: JK Rowling is the creator of the HP universe and its characters. I do not own anything except the rather strange plot bunny, and I solely profit in reviews.
Years Ago From Now: Chapter Five
March 25, 1980
It was no surprise that Hermione barely slept that night. Her brain was too occupied with what to say to Lily Potter the next day that sleep was definitely on the outs. She cursed herself for being so shut off from the bulk of the world, even post-war. If she had made more contacts, with people in the Department of Mysteries perhaps, she would probably have someone better to turn to for help.
As it stood, though, she was sure that any people that knew that she was destined to be thrown back in time and become Narcissa Malfoy would have warned her or, at the very least, acted awkward around her. No, if she was meant to seek out advice it was from someone that was knowledgeable, dependable, and incapable of giving it away almost two decades into the future.
And the idea of meeting Lily Potter…
She had always imagined during her childhood, when people had spoken of Lily, that they would get along fabulously. She knew Harry felt the same way, and she was sure this belief in part caused their friendship to be as strong as it was.
She had gone downstairs at nine-thirty, after glamouring the dark bags under her eyes, to see if Lucius was there for breakfast. She had hope that he could be a bit of a distraction. It was probably for the best that he had already left for the day, though.
She tried not to focus on the disappointment in eating breakfast alone. She was lonely, of course. She was sure that anyone in her situation would be.
Hopefully, that probably would be rectified soon.
The next hour and a half passed as slowly as a flobberworm crossed a quidditch pitch, and she sat at her vanity, making sure her makeup was perfect. She wore, as promised, a full skirt that dropped to just below her knees and a dusty, pink silk blouse that puffed out at the sleeves a bit before elegantly buttoning at the wrist, a style that Narcissa seemed to favor. Her hair was up in a neat chignon, and she had a small black purse to put her wand and some money in.
Finally, she took note of her wand vibrating lightly on the marble top. It was time. She summoned her shoes to herself and quickly put them on, frowning at the fact that it had taken her two tries to get the spell to work. Narcissa's wand was becoming less and less willing to do even the simplest of spells. She was sure it was caused by the fact that (on the inside) she was not Narcissa Malfoy at all. She knew the time was nearing to get a new one.
Carefully, she took the black purse she'd selected and stored her wand inside before placing it on her right shoulder. She grabbed the wooden block, looking at the carefully carved letter, and then she felt the hook through her navel, pulling her through space.
The spinning stopped with her practically on her knees in what appeared to be a bathroom stall. She was lucky she hadn't landed in the damned toilet, but it was slightly larger than usual to be wheelchair accessible. She was thankful that her rather short heels had not caused her to topple over.
She stepped out of the stall and, seeing that the bathroom was unoccupied, left the room.
She emerged into what appeared to be a moderately busy muggle pub. She frowned, wondering if she was in the right place. Looking around, she tried to catch a glimpse of Lily Potter's famed red hair. Straightening her pink blouse and pushing the strap of the leather purse slightly higher up on her shoulder, she finally spotted her.
Lily sat at a table to the side but near the center of the restaurant, eyes already fixed on her. A green velvet baker boy cap that Hermione had seen Lily wearing in some of Harry's pictures was perched on top of her hair, and Hermione smiled assuming it to be one of her favorites. Lily did not smile in return, in fact, she raised an eyebrow to complement her pursed lips. With her left hand, she gestured to the seat in front of her.
Hermione approached quickly and sat down, putting her hands flat on the top of the table, then folding her hands together to look more natural to anyone watching.
"Do you know what a gun is, Mrs. Malfoy?" Lily said, coldly.
Hermione felt a smirk threaten to find a spot on her face before pushing it away. "Yes."
"In that case, you should be aware that this is a pub frequented by some of London's best policemen. Like muggle Aurors; they are highly skilled. Some of them have guns, and if you attack me, I will scream. Even if they don't have guns, they have other ways of stopping someone. You are outnumbered. I already mentioned to a few at the bar that I was meeting a woman that had been very cruel to be in school, so I am sure they are watching."
Hermione looked around and noticed that, indeed, a few men were looking their way with curiosity. They didn't seem to expect a fight, though. Not physical, at least.
She had to admire Lily's thought to have their meeting here. It was a way to show who Lily assumed to be a horrid blood purist that muggles were not the weak, pitiful beings that Narcissa assumed them to be. She also had people with weapons all around, able to intervene if Narcissa had tried anything. Knowing that she would be coming alone allowed Lily to control the possibility of being overpowered.
Hermione nodded. "I promise I have nothing but respect for the muggle police force."
Lily snorted, but continued on. "So you are also aware, my wand is in my hand under the table, aimed at you. Do you remember when we dueled in your last year of school? Beaten down by a fourth year, what a pity."
Hermione felt her eyebrows raise in surprise. "I don't recall. With good reason, which I am here to share with you today."
Lily rolled her eyes. "Very well then. Commence with your lies, and then I will go about my day. I was hoping that this wouldn't be a waste of time, but we both know it will be. There's only one good Black alive, and he has his moments of being more insufferable than the lot of you."
Hermione laughed lightly, nodding, before sobering and really looking at the woman seated across from her. With the height of the table, she was unable to see how far along in her pregnancy Lily appeared to be. What she could see was that Lily was just as beautiful as she was in Harry's pictures, or even moreso. She prayed for the opportunity to be able to go back and show Harry her memories of this part of her horrifically traumatizing misadventure. Her green eyes were narrowed but sparkled with intelligence, and her hair appeared very thick, falling to her breasts. There was not a freckle to be found, a thought that made Hermione realize that when you were face to face with Harry's mother, it was easy to see that she did not share much resemblance to Ginny Weasley at all. Her hair was several shades darker, and her vibrant eyes were a sharp contrast to Ginny's brown. Their skin tones were also different. Lily's seemed to have a truly fair complexion, cool and smooth. Ginny had more of a peaches and cream look with cheeks prone to blushing.
"Mrs. Potter, Lily, I have reached out to you because I have nowhere else to go. I… need help most desperately. I have researched the Malfoy library, quite extensively, and have found nothing. I know you are a talented researcher for the Order as well as someone that can ask questions of people that I cannot."
"Why would I help you with anything?" Lily said, looking annoyed but also slightly interested.
"I'm going to be very frank with you. I am more than willing to take Veritaserum if you have it, or make a wand oath to tell the truth. I cannot do that here with these people about, though."
Lily looked around at the muggles about them.
"You talk. If I find what you say to be compelling, I will question you later under truth serum or oath that what you said was the truth," she agreed.
Hermione was quiet for a moment and then nodded. "Could you perhaps make sure no one can hear us?"
Lily rolled her eyes, using her left hand to push her hair over her shoulder. "Already done. Get to it."
Hermione cleared her throat before beginning, crossing her arms on the table.
"I would start at the beginning, but I am not quite sure where that is. So, I will begin with the thing that happened to bring me here. Narcissa Malfoy invited me to Malfoy Manor for tea. She said several strange things to me while we ate and drank, and then I passed out. When I woke up, I was in her bedroom in Malfoy Manor… in her body."
Lily's passive expression did not waver but for a slight twitch in her left eye.
Hermione took a breath and continued on. "Unfortunately, that is not the worst of it. The things she said alluded to the fact that I already was her. Or that she was already me. My meeting with her happened in March of 1999. I woke up here… nineteen years prior. In fact, and I have already confirmed this, my mother is currently raising my six month old self in Hempstead. My parents are dentists."
Lily's hands came out from under the table and she placed them on top of it, leaning in. "You are telling me that Narcissa Malfoy did some sort of… body swap with you in the future and then brought you back here?"
Hermione felt a headache starting but nodded slowly. "Well, I believe so. I am not sure the order in which everything occurred as I was unconscious. I don't know what happened to young Narcissa. Maybe she is in my body in the future? I just don't know. I have had Mink, her house elf, scouring the library for me and bringing me anything slightly pertaining to… possession? And time travel. Nothing has been useful, and there is nothing left to look at there."
Lily was looking at her with abject horror on her face. "And… and why come to me? Obviously, the people I spend time with don't tend to take tea with Narcissa fucking Malfoy."
Hermione felt a smile of amusement cross her face. She had never imagined Lily Potter cursing. "I am not in the habit myself. You see, the war eventually ends… in our favor. Yours and mine, ours. The Malfoys survive it relatively unscathed, but Lucius is imprisoned. I believed Narcissa was wanting me to try to get him out somehow. I have a measure of influence."
Lily shook her head. "How much influence could you possibly have? If you are six months old here… you are barely done with Hogwarts."
Hermione smiled painfully. "Now I can answer the 'why me' a bit more. I am a friend of… a friend of your son, Harry. My name is Hermione."
Lily's eyes bulged, and she looked down at her stomach in shock. "We… I haven't even brought that name up to James yet," she whispered. She slouched in her seat a bit as the weight of the fact that Hermione was telling her the truth seemed to be creeping in.
"Why does that give you influence?" she asked, quietly.
Hermione looked down. "First, I will preface what I tell you next by telling you that I time travelled before. Professor McGonagall gave me a time turner so that I could take all of the electives in third year. At the end of the year, Harry and I used it to… help someone, to save their life. As we did that, we realized that… well, we already had done it. We didn't see ourselves, but we did have to eventually avoid ourselves from seeing us. It's a big loop. If… if this is like that, everything I tell you is bound to happen no matter what. We can't change anything… even if we try. Fate is set."
Lily was eyeing her before she finally nodded. "I'm familiar with the theory behind it all. That begs the question… if you can't do anything about it anyway… if Narcissa Malfoy was already you when she sent you back here, why bother trying to get back?"
Hermione had finally been faced with the fact that she likely was stuck here. It might be her destiny. She looked at the table and reached a hand up to wipe the tears from her eyes. After a moment, she quietly said, "Do not go gentle into that good night."
She looked up to see Lily looking at her with sympathy. "Why are you significant to the future?" she pressed, finally.
Hermione frowned sadly before she spoke. "Your son is… will be… destined to defeat Lord… He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. I am with him through most of it, us and one other friend. We are to be known as the 'Golden Trio'."
Lily's eyes widened. "My son! Why would he be…"
Hermione cut her off. "There will be a prophecy. The Dark Lord will hear part of it. He will come for Harry. Harry finally kills him in May of 1998."
Lily shook her head in disbelief. "That's impossible. I would not allow my son to do something like that! Prophecy or not!"
Hermione smiled sadly, "Unfortunately, you can't do anything to prevent it, and I believe you try to. You and James try to keep him from being found. I… take comfort in the fact that, when I left, he was happy. He was dating a girl I believe he will eventually marry. He's safe and has plenty of friends and money to live on. The world is a dark place for a long time. Even if he hadn't been personally sought out… do you truly think he wouldn't have had a target on his back? The Order and their families are all targets."
Lily rested a hand on top of her stomach. "I understand you wanting to fight fate. How can I help?"
Hermione sighed in relief at finding an ally. "You… you will be going to hiding soon. You know a bit in advance, so you can go ahead and start to prepare for that. While I don't think we will be able to see each other in person very much… we need to be able to contact each other. Sirius… in my time he gave Harry a mirror to communicate with him. Could you arrange for something like that? We can't have something easily used by third parties, though."
Lily nodded. "Yes, I can arrange that. Severus and I used to have diaries. I could charm something like that… perhaps blood to unlock it, willingly given?"
Hermione raised an eyebrow. Using blood, and particularly specifying the way it was presented, was only used in dark magic.
Lily rolled her eyes. "Do you truly think that if there is an answer to your problem that it will be anywhere other than a dark magic book? Please. I am a researcher. I cannot turn my nose up just because some of the contents are… distasteful."
Hermione chuckled lightly. "I'm sorry. I was just always led to believe that Lily Potter would never use something like dark magic."
Lily stilled for a moment before continuing. "Yes, well, you should fucking believe it. I can owl you the diary, or perhaps we can continue to meet until I am forced to disappear?"
Hermione nodded. "I'd like that."
Lily smiled, seemingly for the first time since they had met. It lit up her face, and Hermione was shocked at the resemblance to Harry in that moment. "Also… if we consider that it is highly possible you are meant to be here, any information you have regarding the plans the other side has… could you be a spy?"
Hermione felt herself pale at the thought. The life of a spy was one she dearly hoped to avoid. "For personal reasons, I have no desire to have anyone aside from you know about my circumstances. As to what I can share… well, Narcissa is not heavily involved. She truly does seem to be just a rather vapid trophy wife."
Lily smirked, "I assume that doesn't mesh well with your own personality."
Hermione felt her lip curl in disgust. "Lucius and the healers believe I am suffering from amnesia. It helps in that I have a reason to not know a lot of things. Lucius, though, does not share much with me about…. Politics. He wants to protect his family, even if he hates the real Narcissa. I think… I think he likes me more, but he is keeping his distance. I have been keeping mine, too, of course. I am hoping to get out of here way before this baby is born."
Lily grimaced and stopped a passing server, requesting two cups of herbal tea. "Do you… do you know the child you have in there?"
Hermione sighed heavily, putting a hand on top of her own stomach. "He's horrible. If life had been as simple as school yard bullies, he would have been dubbed my mortal enemy. A spoiled purist that looks down his nose at everyone and threatens that Lucius will see him avenged for even the smallest of offenses."
As if in response, she felt a small nudge against her hand, and she looked down at the motion before slowly moving her hand away. Lily watched the action sadly.
A moment later, cups of tea were in front of them, and Hermione took the first sip, watching as Lily put a large amount of sugar in her own cup. "Sweet tooth?" she asked, remembering Harry's own fondness for the sugar bowl.
Lily smiled in response before going serious.
"I… I want you to tell me about Harry. What he will be like? What does he like to do?" There was a sadness in her eyes, and Hermione felt horrible at the fact that Lily knew her son was going to struggle so much in life. She was happy that Lily wasn't pressing on what would become of her and James.
Nodding, Hermione set in, regaling Lily with as many happy memories she could think of involving Harry. She carefully avoided anything related to the Dark or the Dursleys, watching as Lily laughed at the story of Harry receiving that horrible Valentine and rolling her eyes at the story of him gaining entry to the quidditch team in the first year.
Hours had passed and the last sips of tea had long gone cold when Lily leaned back in her seat, stretching her back as she did so.
"This has been the most interesting afternoon I think I have ever had," she said, quietly.
Hermione smiled, nodding. "It has been so wonderful to get to know you, Lily… here, I mean," she responded, watching Lily smile sadly as she made to stand.
"I will owl you with the journal once I get it figured out. Until then, well… if there is ever information you can offer, I will find a way to pass it on or act on it if possible."
"Thank you. Sincerely, you have no idea how nice it feels to have a someone that knows here, someone willing to help."
Lily smiled tightly before responding. "I'll do what I can, but… it sounds as if the Narcissa that sent you back her cared a lot for her husband. If you are fated to be in her shoes in the future, perhaps there are worse things than trying to become friends with him."
They stood at the same time, and Lily leaned in, hugging her.
"Until next time?" she said, quietly.
Hermione nodded. "I can't wait."
Author's Note: So, hopefully this chapter answers some questions as to the way time travel will work in this story. It will be unlike my others in that time is largely immoveable (as long as I don't forget something or screw something up). Whatever is meant to be will be. This will be largely true to canon as far as events. It will be more what is going on behind the scenes knowing "the truth". Hope you enjoyed it.