Serenity
Back once again with this story. Sorry for the late update. I'm trying to make more time for my stories and get to the end of the series so I can move on to more original ideas. But please know that I am not giving up on this.
Also, I changed a few things in the previous chapter, so give that a quick read.
Please enjoy Chapter 4!
Chapter Four:
The Benefactor
The living room was silent, a little too silent for comfort. One could hear clocks and portraits in the background with little effort. The once cheerful mood from the night before was replaced with concern and the heavy burden of decisions to be made.
All five wizards sat on the couch, two on one and three on the other. After making breakfast from awaking from their sleep-in, they had gathered in the living room to hear what Severus had to say. They had some ideas on what he wanted to talk about.
Their mission was done. They had eliminated their greatest enemy after months of planning. Now it was a question of what to do next.
But what should have felt like a celebration from the night before, now felt like a bittersweet moment. Reality was settling in and they could feel it.
"So… um…" Liz spoke first. "I hear its quite the party out there."
Regulus chuckled.
It was already past noon and the news of the Dark Lord's death had already traveled far and wide. Wizards and witches all were making toasts and shamelessly wearing their wizard clothing out in the public of the muggles. Parties were being thrown and people were taking the day off. And the youth were also taking part in their own ways.
Severus cleared his throat, "First thing's first, lets go over what we know."
The four nodded.
"The Dark Lord is dead and that means that the Death Eater movement has lost the one person who was keeping it together. Lucius Malfoy and many high-ranking members were arrested for the Mark, which eliminates all funding and power. Even if they were able to talk their way out of Azkaban, their reputations are tainted, and my potion erased any memories involving Regulus and me being there-"
"Wait," Selena's head popped up. "How do we know for sure that everyone else will forget? It isn't like all the servants and elves drank from the same wine that Regulus brought to the party."
Regulus leaned forward, "I had Kreacher put the same potion into the drinking water for the servants. Little Dobby also helped out, after being convinced that his master wished for it."
"How did you manage to convince Dobby to do that?" Gideon asked.
Regulus smiled, mischievously, "It wasn't hard. One mention of his master in a harsh tone and he was our little mole."
Liz's mouth dropped, "You're so mean, Regulus!"
He shrugged, "Hey, it worked!"
Severus rolled his eyes.
"So, the servants have been taken care of?" Selena asked.
Regulus nodded, "I had Kreacher take Dobby to Hogwarts and leave him with Hagrid. And a little sock with Malfoy's name on it, plus a letter that will make him believe he has been released of the family's services."
"Won't that cause suspicion?"
"Nah, they'll probably just think he got himself drunk out of grief and came directly to Hogwarts for work. I hear the elves are great as cooks there. Not that I've ever seen them at work."
"You've never seen any kind of work," Selena teased, making Liz giggle.
"Hey, I helped you guys defeat the Dark Lord!"
"Admit it, that was just you wanting to be a hero. What teen wouldn't want to do that?"
Severus sneered, "Enough!"
The others turned their attention back to him.
Breathing calmly, he continued, "With no one to remember us being there, retaliation is of no concern. All high-ranking members are under the spotlight now and the low-ranking members are either going to Azkaban or left leaderless. Their campaign is finished."
The four smiled in relief.
"However, while we are safe, we are left with more pressing concerns."
The concern returned.
"While two of you are from different houses, the three of us are Slytherin. And the wizarding world will not find any sympathy for my house. Our future here won't be pleasant, and we will not be given a fair chance-"
"That's not true!"
The four turned to the source of the interruption.
Selena stood up, anger and frustration painted all over her.
"You're being too prejudice towards them! You're just angry because of what the Marauders did to you! If you're going to place your hate somewhere, then place it on Gryffindor!"
Severus felt his irritation rising.
"Gryffindor isn't the only guilty party."
"How?!" she demanded. "Aside from a few, no one else bullied you. You think you can just blame everyone for your problems and mistakes, that you're the innocent one in all of this. Well, let me be the one to tell you, Mr. Prince! Or Snape! Or… whatever the hell you like to call yourself now! You're not innocent! I'm sick and tired of hearing you whine and complain! You think you understand pain and suffering?! How about what the Slytherins did to me and others?!"
Severus rose from the couch, his eyes narrowed at her, hands formed into fists.
"I know nothing?!" his voice rose. "You lecture me about placing blame on whoever I choose, yet here you are, placing blame on all of Slytherin! Like you know all of us and our struggles!"
Selena scoffed, "Struggles? The only struggles Regulus and Gideon know of are their families pressuring them into joining a Wizard Nazi Death Cult!"
Regulus glared at her, "If you were in my shoes, you would have done the same!"
"Well, it's a good thing I wasn't born into pureblood, royalty!"
"At the very least you got to grow up without the expectations of your parents weighing you down! Or that you must lie to them about how you really feel about their politics and beliefs!"
Tears filled up her eyes, "Yeah, sure! Let me tell you all about my life and what it means to be-"
"Guys!" Gideon spoke up.
The three turned and their emotions nearly evaporated at the sight of Liz's crying, with her brother holding her in his arms.
"Enough of this!"
Severus nodded and sat back down, with Selena doing the same.
After taking a moment to calm down, he resumed, "Regardless of our victory, there are those of us who will be judged. Society already views Slytherin as a house that breeds evil wizards and witches. Gideon, Regulus and I are most likely not to have a good final year if we go back to Hogwarts. And I do not plan on going back."
The others looked at him with curiosity, though not surprised.
"But… what will you do for your final year?" Liz asked, sniffling.
Severus closed his eyes and took a deep breath, "The person who helped us with our mission to kill the Dark Lord has offered an opportunity to start fresh somewhere else. I do not know where, and despite my better judgment, I am considering his offer. He has requested that any of us who want to take this opportunity to meet him at the Tower Bridge at nine tonight."
"Okay, I feel that I speak for everyone on this, so let me ask the million-dollar question…" said Selena. "… Who is this man?"
"You ask this now?" Regulus raised an eyebrow.
"In case if you haven't noticed, I've been asking it for quite a while. Even Liz and Gideon have asked too. And never once did Severus give us a straight answer."
"I don't know!" Severus lowered his head. "I have no idea who he is, only that he knows things before they happen."
"So, he's a time-traveler? Were we always meant to kill the Dark Lord and put an end to this war before it began?"
"No," he shook his head. "He made it sound like that our actions will change the future, not create a paradox."
"But, isn't that how a time-turner works?" Liz asked.
"Yeah, that's how time-travel works. No one in the Ministry has ever been able to create a time-turner that always changes to the time-line."
"What he was using wasn't a time-turner!" Severus looked up, staring off into space.
"What?!"
He struggled with himself to share the knowledge he had, remembering the warning the man had given him about his own reasons for refusing to his own secrets.
"I don't know what he used but it wasn't a time-turner. He predicted things that I witnessed came to be after and his knowledge helped us defeat the Dark Lord."
Selena's eyes lit up, "The cool gadgets came from him, aren't they?!"
"Well, considering muggle technology hasn't gone past the radio that should be obvious!" Regulus teased.
"Shut up!"
"Can we trust this guy?" Gideon asked, continuing to hold his sister.
Severus remained silent as he looked him, "He has given no reason for us not to trust him. What he gains from this I do not know, but I know his feelings are genuine. He wishes to help us."
"But why?" Selena folded her hands together. "What's his reasons for doing this?"
"I… don't know…" Severus bitterly admitted. "But regardless, I'm thinking of taking his offer. I've done my part in eliminating the Dark Lord to be free. Now I'm offered another step in gaining much more!"
They flinched at the anger in his voice.
"You're right, Selena. I do think of myself as a victim, but I do not care if you believe I am one or not! And honestly, I don't give a damn! I was brainwashed by own house, manipulated to join them. And the worst was that they did so without taking away my free-will. I lost my best friend and I slowly lost everything else until he showed up. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have met you guys or discovered the truth of what they were doing to me and everyone else in Slytherin. I need… No, I want this!"
Everyone stared at him with serious eyes.
"So, lets put it to a vote," he raised his hand. "All those who favor of going to meet this man and hearing him out on this new life, raise your hand."
Silence followed, with everyone thinking hard about their decision.
Regulus raised his, smiling at his friend, "I'm with you until the end."
Liz raised hers next, followed by Gideon as he sighed.
They all turned to Selena, who was still deciding. A few seconds later, her hand raised as well.
"On the condition that if we end up taking his offer, I can come back on occasions. I still have friends I want to keep in contact with."
Severus sighed, "If it's possible, then yes."
"So, how does all of this work?" Regulus asked. "We meet him and then… what?"
Severus sneered, "We listen to what he has to say. Be ready to head out by six."
"Six?" Liz asked.
"Better we arrive early. In the event that I am wrong about this guy, I want to have an Plan B in place."
Lily Evans was used to mornings bringing refreshment to her life, especially during the summer. She always had a plan of action of how to start her day, even if it was an off-day. Sure, she would often sleep in like any other teenager would, just not to the extreme. Summers were also no exception, though one exception being that she didn't always need to wake up so early like at Hogwarts.
But this morning was something different.
At seven in the morning, she found her window being pecked at by a couple different owls, awakening her from the beautiful dream she was having. At first, she was irritated and grumpy, wishing to go back to sleep. She let the owls in and took the letters meant for her, feeding them a treat, despite how tempted she was to shoo them away, before sending them off back to their owners.
She looked at the letters, knowing some of them were from Mary, Alice and Emmaline, though two others she didn't recognize right away. Too sleepy to care, she climbed back into bed for another two hours before going to take a shower, making sure Petunia got to use it first, just to satisfy her sister's attitude. She would shower at eight and Lily at nine, a nice plan to try and grow closer to her sister.
Once dried and dressed in a sun dress, she headed down and made herself a bowl of cereal, reading the wizard news that was delivered. And before she even took a bite out of her cereal, she read the title of the headline and gasped, unknowingly making the cereal fall back into the bowl, though the splash got some milk onto the table.
THE DAILY PROPHET
:
MAIN HEADLINES
:
'HE WHO SHALL NOT BE NAMED'
IS DEAD
A few minutes passed before her brain began to work properly again. She blinked a few times before re-reading it. She blinked again, unable to believe what she just read on the paper. It took another minute before she came back to her senses and ignored her breakfast, giving the paper in her hands all the attention she had.
Once she had read it for the third time, she instantly remembered the letters and ran back up the stairs to her bedroom, quickly opening them.
The first two were short.
Lily,
Did you hear?! The Dark Lord is Dead! My mother was at the Malfoy Manor throughout last night! Even she can't believe it!
Dumbledore was also there!
They don't know who killed him, though my mother thinks it may have been an internal struggle for power.
Please write back! I'm going crazy over this!
Emmaline,
LILY!
HE'S DEAD!
THE DARK LORD IS DEAD!
I just read all about it in the newspaper! I can't believe it! It must have been Dumbledore!
Write back when you finish this! I'm so excited to read your reaction!
Mary,
Dear Lily,
You probably heard already, but the Dark Lord has been killed. Frank just told me before the newspaper got it out in time. I was so shocked that I was convinced I was dreaming. I'm so relieved because that means Frank is no longer going to be in danger because of this. Though that means no hexing Death Eaters once my training is complete. Ugh!
Lily smiled.
He can't say what is going on, only that they have no idea who killed him. He did say that everyone at the Malfoy Manor was unconscious, even the elves and servants. Whoever did this is good at covering their tracks and well prepared.
I feel some are going to claim that this was a power move, but I don't get why they would take out the entire Death Eater network. If they wanted his position as leader, then the logical move was to take out the loyal ones and leave the rest to believe that someone else did it. But this? No one is gaining anything from this who is in the Death Eaters.
I don't know what to think.
I'm just glad that it's all a win by this point. I mean, they lost so much influence that they can't even prepare a proper raid on some village without attracting too much attention.
Hope to hear from you soon.
Love, Alice
Lily read the names of the next two letters and saw that they were from James Potter and another friend who was from Ravenclaw. She ignored James' and read the other. Once done, she wrote back to her friends and ran back downstairs to share the news with her family, crying tears of joy.
And while she celebrated, the rest of the wizarding world did the same.
It was nearing nine as Severus stood amongst the crowd of muggles, dressed like a normal civilian. He had the earpiece ready as he looked around searching for his target. Regulus was also amongst the crowd, though far enough away from Severus.
High above the sky, Selena, Gideon and Liz flew on their broomsticks, with a 'do not notice me' spell that kept them from being exposed to the world below. They each had binoculars to see around the area.
Right on the clock, nine pm came and was slowly passing by.
"Okay, where is this guy?" Selena asked, impatiently.
"Yeah, it's been almost a minute," said Liz.
Severus sneered, "He's most likely hiding in the crowd."
"Did he tell you how to find him?" Regulus asked.
He didn't answer, too focused to search his surroundings in the large crowd around him. He began to fear that making the others hide may have been a bad idea. The last thing he wanted was to scare this guy off.
Then again, why was he so dependent on this guy's promise of a new life? He's now got the money and influence to just move away if he wanted. Their deal was done, there was nothing more to it aside from a promise for something more.
Was it his curiosity that drove him? Or something more?
Suddenly, something caught his eye.
He turned and searched through the crowd, trying to catch a glimpse of what it was that he saw.
"What is it?" Selena demanded.
"Was it him?" Regulus's voice was full of concern.
He ignored them, moving slowly through the crowd. Until he saw a man over by the rails, his back to him. But it wasn't the man himself that made him suspicious, it was his shirt. A shirt that had a red 'X' on it.
He spoke into his microphone on the side sleeve of his shirt, "I found him. Stay back and let me do the talking."
"I don't like this," complained Selena.
"Me neither," replied Liz.
"He won't do anything out here, not with this much public around. Just wait for my call."
He turned off the earpiece and approached the man, careful not to spook him. He stood about two feet from him, waiting to see if he has noticed his presence.
"Ah," the man chuckled. "I figured you might show up. That promise of a new life must have really be that tempting for you."
His heart rate rose, beginning to fear he may have made a big mistake.
The man turned and looked at Severus, leaning against the rails. Unlike the last few times, the man wasn't wearing anything to cover his face. He had brown hair; a normal face, good teeth, dark eyes and an athletic body under his clothing, which hugged against him.
"No need to feel uncomfortable, I am no threat to you."
"And how would I truly know that. This is the first time I'm being allowed to see your face."
"Because if I had wanted to harm you, I wouldn't have told you everything you know now. The worst fate I could have left upon you was the one you were traveling down almost a year ago."
Severus stared at him, conflicted.
"Call your team over," the man demanded. "This concerns them too."
"Why?"
"Because I need your help."
Severus was surprised by this.
"What do you mean by that?" he demanded.
The man sighed, "I forgot how stubborn and arrogant you can be. But I'm happy that last year has grounded you, just in the nick of time."
"Enough of these riddles and vague explanations, just spit it out what you want from us. First you offer a new life and now you're demanding our help?!"
"The offer of a new life still stands, the help I need from the five of you is something separate. Everything I have done has been a test. A test that you and your team passed."
Severus frowned, "A test? For what?"
The man stared at him, "To help me in my mission to prevent the inevitable."
"Oh, for the love of- just tell me what you need us for!"
"I don't know!"
Once again, Severus was left surprised, "You… don't know?" He almost started laughing. "What do you mean, 'you don't know'?!"
"I don't know because I don't have all of the pieces yet. All I know is that a cataclysm is coming."
Severus looked deep into his eyes and found nothing there to convince him of any lies buried there. Nothing about the man shouted that he was a threat, except for his mysterious nature. Then he thought about everything he had done for him, the information he gave and the revelations that shattered his whole world back during his sixth year.
If everything since then was a test, then it made sense to him. He and his team had done the impossible at the time. He may have supplied them with the tools and information, but it was their teamwork and skills that pulled it off, including help from others they used to their advantage.
Sighing, he turned on his earpiece, "Come down to me. He wishes to speak to all of us."
"Severus! Don't you dare ever turn that off again! Do you have any idea how close I was to diving in and snatching you from the ground?!" Selena's voice ringed in his ears.
"She's not kidding," said Liz. "Gideon and I have been trying to keep her calm."
"Are you sure we can trust him?" Regulus asked.
Severus studied the man, long and hard, "Trust, maybe not. But he is no threat to us. Let's listen to him."
As the two waited, Regulus was the first to show, followed by the others a few minutes later, once they had found a place to land without drawing any attention. The five surrounded the man, who showed no concern.
"So, this is your team," the man smiled. "I already know your names, so it seems fair that I tell you mine." He bowed, slightly. "I am Adrian Grimm."
"So, you're the guy who's been helping us," Gideon studied him, like as he was a bomb about to go off. "Why?"
"A rather good question that should have been answered in the beginning," Selena added.
Adrian pointed towards Severus, "Because of him."
Severus raised an eyebrow, "Care to explain?"
"If I am correct that you've already guessed it, I come from the future. About fifty-five years to be exact I lived in a world where Voldemort-"
The name made four of the five flinch.
"-was not defeated until much later in life."
Nobody moved, slowly trying to process what they were hearing. Only Severus seemed to take it in strides.
"Then why risk changing the future? You could have made it much worse. Just time-traveling alone is dangerous enough."
Adrian nodded, "I learned that the hard way the first time I time-traveled. Unlike time-turners, the way I did it completely disregards the predestination theory. But it came with a price."
He allowed for the information to sink in before continuing.
"When one time-travels, the only way they can go back to their timeline is if it is predestinated, where nothing has changed. But if one was to do it the way I did, they become what is known as a 'Time Remnant'."
"And that means… what, exactly?" Regulus asked.
"It means that I am a remnant of a timeline that no longer exists. Time is like a river; it always continues forward. If a drop of water was to somehow to jump backwards, it would create a ripple effect that can disrupt the tide until it settles back to normal. Or rather, a new normal. But imagine if that drop remained, a remnant that now exists in the new current."
"Wouldn't the remnant no longer exist because of the change?" Liz asked.
Adrian shook his head, "The problem with that belief is that it would always continue on a loop, unable to continue forward. I believe that time, in a way, knows this and allows for the remnant to exist. After all, when a rock causes a splash, it is behind the wave that changes everything, so it is left unaffected. The remnant is forced to exist in the new timeline but is forced to see a different version live in its place."
"In other words, to change the timeline is to mean that you have no home to go back to. There would be a different you," Regulus added.
"Yes, exactly!"
Severus nodded, "So when you said that you have no home to go back to, you were meaning-"
"That the home I once had in the future is now among a couple of others that no longer exist," he finished. "This will have been my fourth time-travel. The first two resulted in terrible results, until the third resulted in a slightly better future. I've never gone further than 1981 until now, so this new territory for me. But I wanted to try something else as well."
"You wanted to change our fates by having us be the ones to defeat the Dark Lord," said Severus. "To give us a chance."
"Proof that my father was right. I'm satisfied with how the events turned out this time. I look forward to seeing how events will turn out for now on."
Severus sneered, "You promised a new life in your message to me."
"Straight to the point," Adrian smiled, "Time-travel isn't the only thing I know how to do."
"Like what?" Selena asked.
He paused, "This is going to sound insane to you, but please, hear me out."
"Um, dude, we just spent months planning our revenge against the Death Eaters for what they did to us, went on a scavenger hunt for Horcruxes, took down an evil wizard organization, and killed the biggest threat since Grindelwald. Plus, we learned that changing the future is possible. I think we can handle whatever else you can do."
Adrian laughed, "Very well. What if I was to tell you that your world exists amongst an infinite number?"
Everyone was silent, with only the sound of cars and the crowd behind them.
"Eh… what?" Liz was dumbfounded.
Adrian laughed again, harder this time, "Okay, let's back it up and go from there. I may come from this world, despite my timeline no longer exists, but I've found a way to travel to different worlds just like ours. And I've learned some things along the way, met some new friends and made some enemies too."
"Okay, you need to slow down. Way too much overload. I'm still trying to process this," Gideon rubbed his eyes. "Time-travel is one thing, but now multiple worlds? So, like, are you saying that different realities of us exist?"
"Yes."
"Yeah, I thought so. So please excuse me if I call bullshit on this!"
"Gideon!" Liz gasped.
"Hey, I'm allowed to curse after all we've been through. Hell, even just hearing this crap is more than enough. Severus, how do we know that this guy isn't crazy?! For all we know, he's just a Seer who has gone insane."
"Doesn't explain how he knows so much," Severus kept his eyes on the man who calls himself Adrian. "Even Seers don't see the future like as if it's a wave of a wand. It's not something that one can control that easily."
"Gideon has a point," Selena shook her head. "We can't just accept this guy's word as proof. He may have helped us defeat Vold-"
"Don't say his name!" Liz shouted, attracting some attention.
"Oh, please, don't be so scared, it's just a name. He's dead, so I can use it as much as I want. Anyway, he may have helped us, but that doesn't mean what he's saying is true. Let's head back to Regulus's place and celebrate our victory more. We can plan our next course of action there."
"And not give me the chance to prove to you what I'm saying is true?" Adrian smiled. "You thought I expected you to accept my word without proof?"
Severus frowned, "Alright, if you have proof, then show us."
"Yeah!" cheered Liz.
"I'll do more than show you. I'll take you to the world I was telling you about."
"Severus, I don't like this," Serena grabbed his arm, though he slightly shoved her hand away. "I don't trust him."
Severus and Adrian locked eyes.
"Very well," he replied. "Show us."
Adrian smiled and nodded, "Follow me."
After retrieving their brooms, they followed Adrian from the Tower Bridge to an abandoned storage facility by the docks, looking over towards the rest of London. They argued along the way about the decision, which Severus ignored.
"Why do you trust him?" Selena demanded.
"I don't!" Severus hissed.
"Then why are we following him to a secondary location? This could be a trap."
"It isn't."
"How do you know?!"
"Because he's known where we've been staying the entire time."
They turned their attention to the man in front of them.
He shrugged, "So?"
"Wait, how do you know that?" Selena demanded.
"Because I recognize his face now. I remember seeing you in Diagon Alley and at Hogwarts."
Their eyes widened.
"Wait, how did you break into Hogwarts' defenses?" Liz asked.
Adrian laughed, "That place has a lot of blind spots that can be used to sneak into. It's just a matter of knowing where to find them."
"Either he's really from the future or he was just that bored when he was young," said Gideon.
"Maybe both," added Regulus.
"Or he's just a deranged maniac who is going to kill us," Selena had her wand in hand. "You listen close, Adrian! If that is your real name! If you hurt any of these three, I'll personally kill you myself."
Adrian laughed, "I like you."
They finally arrived at the abandoned facility, carefully watching their mysterious benefactor as he opened the double doors to the place, walking on in.
"Coming in?" he winked at Selena, earning a glare.
They followed closely behind as he cast some light spells to allow them to see in the rather nicely sized room, they were in. They found themselves surrounded by screens they had never seen before and machinery that was far beyond what the muggles had. And in the center was a machine that was shaped like a circle, with a small platform on the bottom.
"Enough?" Adrian turned to the teens.
"Not quite," said Severus. "You may have advanced machinery, but that only partially proves that you might be from the future." He looked at the machine in the middle of the room. "And I'm guessing that's what allows you to go to different worlds?"
"Good guess. I call it the 'Transporter'. Got it from a friend of mine, Derek. Great guy! I think you'd like him."
"Show us how it works!"
"I'll do you one better. I'll send us to the world I promised you. A new world where you can start fresh."
"Severus, don't do it!" Selena pleaded.
"I agree," said Regulus. "We should just go. Or better yet, turn this guy into the Ministry."
"And expose our involvement in the Dark Lord's death? He'll rat us out if he is indeed what we expect him to be."
"Nah, I wouldn't. And besides, they would have to let me go. Nothing here worth incriminating me for."
"He's right," said Gideon. "If anything, we'll be drawing attention to ourselves."
Adrian kept his eyes on Severus, despite two wands being pointe at him.
"I know this is a lot to take in, but I need your help. I need a team."
"For what?!" Severus demanded, his patience running thin. "If you have a machine, then why not grab a team from another world. Our mission was to kill the Dark Lord and that was it. It was supposed to be a one-time deal."
"You're right, I definitely could, but the thing is that I don't know if I can trust anyone else."
"You said you had friends."
"Friends I don't want to ask to join me on this mission because it might get them killed. I won't ask them to sacrifice themselves for what I am asking."
"So, you'll just ask us, people you barely know?" Selena glared at him.
"Yes and no! I'm asking you because I know I can trust you. What you did was proof to me that you're the team I need. I don't know what exactly is coming, I just know that I need to do all I can to prevent it."
"What's coming?" Severus demanded.
"I don't know. All I get are these visions-"
"Shit!" Gideon lashed out in anger. "He really is a Seer! That just proves my point!"
"Gideon, shut up!" Liz shouted. "I don't trust him but… I do believe him. I think he's telling the truth."
"You can't be serious!" Selena moaned.
"Shut up!" Severus shouted before turning back to Adrian. "You have one minute. Convince me what you're saying is true."
Adrian nodded, "I'm not a Seer. The visions I get are temporary effects of time-travel. They're events that could happen, but a lot of times from my experience they end up not becoming true. But the third time I time traveled; I got some of these visions of…. Nothing."
Severus raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean by nothing?"
"I mean exactly that, 'nothing'. I just saw a black void. I replayed those memories over and over, trying to understand them. I thought they meant nothing, until I did my fourth time jump and I saw it again. But this time, there was less visions of possible futures, just darkness. It was like… there was little to look forward to."
Everyone remained silent, the room becoming eerier as they listened. No longer were they worried and frustrated, they were beginning to feel dreadful. Scared. Every word they listened to held emotion in them, a genuine expression that told them that he was not faking this.
"But it got worse when a friend of mine came to me a few months ago, not long after I time-traveled. He himself is also a time-remnant of his world. And he told me that he experienced the same visions as well, that he was no longer being able to view as many possible futures as he used to. And that was when I knew that something was wrong. That something bad is about to happen to everything in the Megaverse."
"Megaverse?!" Selena frowned.
"It's what we call the space that holds all the multiverses that we know of. I can't explain it within the one minute that I have but-"
"Your one minute ran out," said Severus. "But I'm willing to extend past it after hearing that. Show me how this thing works and take me to this world."
"Severus-"
"Selena!" Regulus interrupted her. "I agree, I don't trust him. But I trust Severus. Let him do this."
She wanted to fight him over it but relented and lowered her wand, sighing.
Severus nodded to them and turned back to Adrian, who was already activating the machine from his advanced screens. The machine came to life and a bright light appeared, making them look away for a bit.
Adrian approached the machine and turned towards Severus, "I know this is a lot to take in, but I truly need your help. I'm willing to supply you with a new life in a new world, but I want your team with me in trying to prevent whatever is coming. Let me prove it all to you."
Severus stared him, while blocking the light from his eyes and looked towards his team, nodding to them, "I'll be back. If not… do as you will."
"Don't say stuff like that, I'll be waiting for you when you get back," Regulus did the thumbs up.
"Yeah!" said Liz.
"If you do anything to him, Adrian, I'll hunt you down!" declared Selena.
"Um, what she said," added Gideon.
Severus rolled his eyes as he approached the machine, walking side by side with Adrian as the two walked up the platform and into the light, with Severus closing his eyes as he allowed the light to embrace him.
Okay, I know that this is a lot to take in but I promise that this is all part of my grand plan for the story and the series ahead. Hope you all enjoyed it. It was a lot longer than I thought it would be. So at least there's that.
I'll try to get to the next chapter as fast as possible.
See you guys in Chapter 5!