Edit: Author's Note.

Hey! I promised this would be up probably months ago (I can't keep track of time working thirds, it could've been yesterday or it could've been a year ago) and it finally is!

For anyone coming from somewhere that isn't Alexia Potter's Most Fantastical Trip To The Past, welcome! Just for a little info: this is a What If from a fic I wrote (which is finally completed!) that I just saw so many different scenarios in.

Where we are right now is in the middle of Alexia's last year at Hogwarts in the seventies, but before Christmas. This is, admittedly, an extreme change from how things actually went, and that's the point. The entire time I was writing Alexia, I considered at multiple different points what would happen if she did change time. It isn't a scenario I've explored before, despite my numerous Hermione time travel fics - including the ones I haven't posted yet.

In this, you will see her sort of… lose her mind a bit. Drastic changes are made relatively quickly. My reasoning for this comes from my own manic episodes: if this Big Thing is going to happen anyway, why not just go full force at it so I'm prepared and not caught off guard?

Thank you for reading and enjoy!

What if Alexia had actually told the entire class that Peter was a Death Eater?

Part One

That week, Pollux was subbing for the DADA professor, Emilie Bowers, who had gotten hit with a shrinkage spell from Transfiguration that was meant for inanimate objects. It had sent her to St. Mungo's to be sorted out, which seemed to be particularly difficult. As she'd not left any lesson plans, he'd resorted to having them duel.

Alexia was not fond of that idea, if she were being honest, and she also was not fond of being picked out in that class yet again and being placed in charge of the duels. It felt a great deal like the awful day two years prior when Lily had found out Severus was a Death Eater.

She shot up a shield behind Emmaline, who had ducked to avoid a curse that she couldn't block. Instead of absorbing the curse, the curse twisted to the side and slammed into Emmaline's chest, cutting her open. Alexia used a spell to slow her fall, and by the time she hit the ground, Alexia was already over there and had pulled out her daggers for the precision work the dark curse required to heal it.

The spell, which she easily recognized as Sectumsempra, had hit Emmaline's chest at a curve and ended at the bottom of her ribs. It was extremely difficult to heal, having never used the counter curse before, but after a long minute, she managed to do it. She passed off her dittany to Lily, who had fallen to her knees next to her, and shot to her feet.

Peter stood stock still, staring at the scene. He looked afraid, but not for Emmaline - no, he looked afraid for himself. That fact alone sent Alexia's temper skyrocketing, and she stalked over to him. She backed him into a wall and held her dagger to his throat, a very familiar position. "Ash, I didn't mean to-,"

"I warned you!" she snapped loudly. "I fucking told you, Pettigrew, as soon as you hurt my friends-,"

"But it was an accident!"

"I don't care!" she shouted, her hair sparking. "Next time, she might die! You are reckless, thoughtless, and an overall shitty person and I am shocked that you've made it this far!"

"Lex, it wasn't on purpose-,"

"Do you want to tell them, or shall I?" she snarled at Peter, whose eyes widened dramatically. James stopped to look between them.

"Tell us what?"

"Yes, Peter, tell them what?" she raised an eyebrow. Despite all of her logical mind telling her to stop and that they couldn't know, she kept going. He'd fucked up badly, and it was an unsettling and aggressive reminder of what he would one day do. Without looking away from Peter, she raised her voice. "You wanna know why he's been disappearing, James? What he's been doing? His dad isn't sick."

"What're you talking about?" Sirius questioned her. "What the fuck does this have to do with Emmaline?"

"Why don't you tell them where you got that curse," she suggested. She poked the dagger harder against him, and he let out a small whimper.

"Ash-,"

"Don't call me that!" she yelled. "You're no friend of mine. Tell them."

"Alexia, please-,"

"Peter is a Death Eater!" she said loudly. The second she said it, she felt sick, though she wasn't sure if it was because she very well may have just fucked up time or because she'd finally told her brother the truth.

"You're delusional," Sirius said, looking at her like she was insane. "Pete's not a-,"

"Lift up your sleeve," Alexia growled at Peter. "Do it before I cut it off of you."

Peter, shaking with her dagger pointed against him, slowly lifted up his sleeve for everyone to see. There were a few gasps as he bore the Dark Mark in front of everyone.

"That's a…" James started at the mark in horror. "That's really a Dark Mark. Fuck, Pete!"

"Potter!"

"What?" Alexia snapped. When she turned, she saw Pollux eyeing the situation and looking deeply frustrated. "Pollux, I had to!"

"This is your mess," he stated. "Get your friends out of here so we can clean this up."

"What about me?" Peter asked, his voice shaking. "Am I going to Azkaban?"

"Yes," Alexia glared at him. When Pollux went to argue, she pushed the dagger harder against his throat, making it bleed a little. "He's either going to Azkaban, or I'm killing him."

"We must Obliviate everyone."

"Like hell we will!" she yelled, her hair sparking. "It's too late, Pollux! I did it, it's over. They know."

"You cannot change-,"

"Well, I already did. Are you going to Obliviate the entire class?"

"If I must."

In one swift move, Alexia pulled her free hand up and cast a silent Obliviate. After pulling the past five minutes from her uncle's memory, she let him fall to the ground, unconscious. With that taken care of, she eyed James, Sirius, and Remus with Peter still quivering at the other end of her dagger. "We're going to his office. I'm going to lock the door, and we're going to talk."

"What the fuck are you guys going to do with him?" Marlene asked, her eyes wide in horror. "He's a Death Eater, Potter!"

"I'm aware," she said as calmly as possible. "I'll let you know as soon as we're done. As for the rest of you… class is dismissed. If anyone goes to Dumbledore, you'll regret it."

"You can't just threaten us," Marin, a Slytherin at the back of the room, told her. She shot him a look.

"I have a knife to Pettigrew's throat, I threatened to kill him, and I illegally Obliviated my own uncle. Do you fucking doubt me right now, Marin? Go ahead, tell Dumbledore. See what I do."

That threat hung heavy in the air, and he nodded a little and backed down.

As soon as students began to hesitantly leave the room, with someone levitating Pollux out to take him to the infirmary, she pushed Peter toward the office. Once inside, she bound him and shoved him into a chair by the door, which she locked behind her friends. Finally, she silenced Peter and stunned him while she explained everything.

"How long have you known?" James asked her quickly, feeling the resignation over their bond.

"Let's see… for about twelve years," she answered calmly. His confusion was potent. "There are some things I haven't told you, Jamie. Now that I've… I really fucked things up by telling you about him, I might as well tell you the rest."

"No, hold on," Sirius put his hand up. "You've known? That's why you've hated him for so long? You knew he'd be a Death Eater?"

Alexia nodded. "He has a lot to do with you and Jamie both. When we met him… I wasn't sure I could do it."

"Alexia, explain," James demanded. "What the hell is going on? He's not been a Death Eater for twelve years. I haven't even known you for twelve years!"

"Okay," she put her hands up. "Jamie, I need you to pay attention to the bond. Feel that I'm telling you the truth when I say this, okay?"

"Lexi, what are you-,"

"I'm from the future," she interrupted. "I came from 1998. I fought a war, the one we're fighting now but after a long break. It had just ended when I was sent back here. I wasn't going to change the future, but Peter- he just- it's too fucking important. Fuck the future."

James's eyes widened as he realized that everything she said was the truth. "Did you… win the war?"

"We did."

"Then why the hell would you risk changing the future?" he asked her, raising his voice. "If we won the war-,"

"Because you're dead," she hissed at him. Everyone froze, and she felt sick. In fact, she felt an episode coming on, so he surged forward and hugged her tight. It was enough to calm her down and shock her out of it, so she took in a deep breath and rested her head on his shoulder as she spoke. "I was best friends with your son, Harry. He was such a blessing in my life, Jamie. But you and Lily, you died when he was one. Halloween, 1981."

"Fuck," Sirius cursed softly. "And you were worried about me dying?"

"Padfoot died?" James asked, alarmed. "And Lily? And me? Was Remus okay?"

"Remus was alive, last I saw," she assured him. "I passed him in the final battle. I think he's injured, but alive. Padfoot died because he was- he got distracted and Bellatrix blew him into the Veil of Death. I watched him die. It was one of the worst days of my life."

"And you knew Peter's a Death Eater because you're from the future. You just know about all the Death Eaters?"

Alexia's gaze drifted to Peter and she hugged her brother tighter. "Jamie, Peter was the one that gave Voldemort your, Lily, and Harry's location. He gave you to Voldemort and you all died. He framed Sirius for your deaths, faked his death, and got Sirius sent to Azkaban for twelve years before he broke out to take care of Harry. He died a wanted man because of Peter. I saw it in him… that anger, you know. He was really good at not showing it, especially around Harry, but sometimes we'd get talking and- and I knew he was still pissed. Sometimes I thought he was pissed at me, which would make sense, had I not just changed the entire future by telling you about Peter."

"The entire future?" Remus shook his head. "James and Lily's deaths were that… important?"

Alexia closed her eyes tightly. "James and Lily died, but Lily had put a sort of protection on Harry. Voldemort was actually there for Harry, because there was this bullshit prophecy that- well it doesn't matter. He tried to Avada Harry but it rebounded and killed him instead. All Harry got was a scar on his forehead and a rather nasty… souvenir of the encounter."

"Wait, if Voldemort was dead, why did the war come back?" James shook his head. "He's the guy we're trying to get."

"Because he wasn't fully dead," Alexia sighed. "It's some really, really dark magic that he did. I'll spare you the details. He came back to life at the end of our fourth year. It was- it was bad. Things got really bad. It was a year after that when Sirius died. About a year and a half after Sirius died, we had to go on the run. Dumbledore was dead, he left us with an impossibly large task and very little information, and we had to end the war while being hunted by Voldemort. All of it, it's Peter's fault. If he'd just been a loyal friend- fuck, even if he'd just kept his head down as a Death Eater, everything could be different. Regulus found out about the dark magic Voldemort used, and he was going to- he died trying to get rid of it. I'm going to… I mean, he isn't going to stay dead, obviously, but- fuck."

"You said you can't change time," Remus reminded her as gently as possible. "So what does this mean?"

"No, wait," James put a hand up. "They both knew?"

Alexia grimaced. "Sirius found out at the ball the year I got here. He saw my real birthdate and made me explain. That same night, I accidentally showed Lucius some rather telling memories trying to track down Antonin in my nightmares, and- well, Remus found out after Antonin shoved me down the stairs, because I was complaining to Lucius."

"She wasn't complaining," Remus disagreed. "She blamed herself for Dolohov hurting her."

"Because I'm not a fucking idiot," Alexia made a face at him. "With what I knew then, I should've been smarter than to help Reg dose him. It was my fault, no matter what Lucius says."

"Wait, are you saying you knew Dolohov in the future?"

Alexia immediately drew back, unwilling to tell him things he'd need to once more tell her to stay away from him. "I think the question is, really, what we do with Pettigrew now. There's no way we can get him sent to Azkaban. If we try, Dumbledore will block it, Arcturus will find out and he'll demand we set things right so time can continue on the way it was supposed to. Which means, really, we should probably kill him."

There was a long minute of silence before James spoke. "He's our friend."

"No, he's not," she disagreed. "He got you and Lily killed, Jamie. He made Harry an orphan. He listened to me be tortured for hours on end and did nothing."

"He- he was there?" James asked, raising his voice. She winced, but she nodded.

"He was guarding the dungeons. He could hear me if Harry and Ron could. He could hear me, and he knew I was Alexia. He knew who I was, Jamie."

"No!" Remus exclaimed. "No, we can't just- just kill him!"

Sirius scowled at him. "Have you been listening? He got James and Lily killed, sent me to Azkaban for twelve years, and listened to Ash be tortured for hours and you still think-,"

"I think it's wrong to just kill somebody!"

"Well then it's a damn good thing I'll do it," Alexia said, moving her glare to the terrified boy that was trying to struggle his way out of the ropes binding him.

James and Remus stared at her, both shocked. She was tough, she had a different set of morals from them, but they'd neither seen nor felt her be so cold in terms of killing someone.

"Lexi, do you realize what you're saying?" James asked her as gently as he could. "This is… it's Pete. Maybe he… this could be a misunderstanding. Maybe he was Imperiused."

"He wasn't," she said, trying to match his tone only because she could feel how horrified and generally scared he was. "Aside from the fact that you can't be Imperiused to take the mark, he went twelve years without Voldemort and still went to find and assist Voldemort's shade because he wanted to."

"Just- before we do anything, I need to… talk to him," James decided. At the immediate denial she began to give him, he shook his head. "Lex, you're telling me we need to kill one of my best friends. We're not doing anything until I talk to him."

"Fine," she sighed, glancing around. Before she removed the silencing charm, she set up a few thick wards on the door to make sure that if he chose to yell for help, no one would hear him. With that done, she waved her hand at him and he was free to speak.

"James, James, she's lying!" Peter began immediately, crying as he began his bit. "You can be Imperiused, it happened! Dolohov Imperiused me-,"

"You dumb motherfucker," Alexia interrupted, frustrated. "Antonin didn't."

"He Imperiused me and he made me- made me hurt people and-,"

"Stop," Sirius snapped at him, shutting him up quickly. "Stop it, Wormtail. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think I trust Dolohov more than I trust you right now."

"She's insane!" Peter tried, shifting tactics. "She can't know the future! She's not a Seer!"

"No, but I'm from the future," Alexia rolled her eyes, irritated.

"But that's impossible!"

"Pete, you gotta give me something more than telling me she's lying," James rubbed his forehead, frustrated. "Why'd you do it? Really, why'd you do it?"

At that point, Peter broke down into loud sobs. His body shook as he cried harder and harder with tears streaming down his face. "I- I had to," he cried. "He was- he- you can't say no, Prongs!"

"You can," Sirius snarled. "I did!"

"And you were- you were tortured for it," Peter hiccuped. "They wanted to kill you! Lexi's the only reason you're- alive, but she would never help me! She's always hated me!"

"That's no excuse," James snapped. "Alexia isn't responsible for making sure you don't become a murderous bigot!"

"But he came to my house!" Peter insisted. "He wanted me to be a spy… to make sure Alexia wasn't- that she's not too dangerous! But he was right, James, don't you see it? She is dangerous! She wants to kill me!"

"Because you murdered my brother!" Alexia shouted at him, shaking slightly in her fury. "And my sister-in-law! And you left my best friend, James's son, an orphan for Lily's sister to raise and mistreat for his entire childhood! You put Sirius in Azkaban, left him there, and then had the gall to beg for his mercy when he found you twelve years later. And you know what? I didn't understand then, even with what you'd done, why Sirius and Remus could ever wish death upon you… but I do now, and I'll be damned if I don't get what I want."

"Okay," James touched her arm gently. When she tensed, he lowered his hand and grabbed her hand to squeeze it tight and calm her down. "Okay, I get it, Lex, but-,"

"No!"

"But I don't know if killing him is the best idea," he continued, talking over her denial. "Think about it, okay? If you kill him, what will you do with his body?"

"Take it to the Room of Requirement, ask for a Room specifically for this, and leave him there."

Sirius grimaced while Remus silenced Peter again. "I'm on your side, Lexi, but… what about that other body? What'll happen to him if you change time like this?"

Alexia hesitated. "Does it matter?"

"Well, sort of. If you're changing time, will that room even exist?"

She grimaced. "I can figure out a different room if that one doesn't work."

"How do you plan to get him there without anyone noticing?" James pointed out.

"The cloak."

"You can't levitate someone and have the cloak over them," he disagreed. "You'll just levitate the cloak."

Alexia cursed rather loudly and in every language she knew. "What the hell do you want to do, then?"

"Ask for help from one of your Death Eaters," Sirius suggested. "I mean, my family won't help, but Malfoy's might."

Immediately, Alexia disagreed. "Lucius would tell Arcturus and then Arcturus would sort it out so none of you remember this and everything is back to normal. Severus wouldn't have the means to help me, either."

James sighed. "I don't know then. Do you have any other ideas?"

She hesitated, mostly because she did. She had an idea, and she was fairly certain it would work. The problem was, what would she have to pay for it? Surely whatever it was would be better than James' death. Taking in a sharp breath, she nodded once. "I'll handle it."

"Alex, you can't just leave it at that," Remus disagreed. "What are you going to do?"

"I know where I can get help from, but I need you guys to trust me," she insisted. "He won't be killed, but he won't be free, either."

"Swear it."

"What?" she blinked.

"You heard me," he stared at her intensely. "Swear it, Alexia."

So, she raised her dagger. "I, Alexia Dorea Potter, do swear that I will not kill Peter, nor will I have someone else kill him."

Satisfied, Remus relaxed. "Do you need help?"

"Just make sure everyone knows the classroom is off limits for the next few hours," she requested. "I'm going to bring help here."

"I guess we should probably tell the girls what's happening," James sighed. "Lily's bound to be losing it by now."

"I'll catch up with you guys as soon as I can," Alexia promised. All three of them agreed and slowly filed out of the room, leaving her alone with Peter, who was crying silently in fear. After they'd left, she raised her dagger again and cast a patronus. "To Antonin. I need you immediately. I'm in the DADA classroom. Please come quickly."

The otter swam out of the room, so she turned back to Peter and considered her options. He had heard far too much, she knew that at the very least. But what to do about it? Really, she supposed, the only certain option was to Obliviate him.

With that in mind, she stepped closer and began the spell. It took her a few minutes of precision mind magic to remove the correct memories. She left the memory of the entire class finding out he was a Death Eater but nothing else. When she left his mind, she stunned him at the same time and then tucked her dagger away.

"Pettigrew is the emergency."

Alexia breathed out in relief and nearly tossed herself into Antonin's arms. Instead, she nodded shortly. "He nearly killed Emmaline and I told everyone he's a Death Eater."

"Hermione-,"

"We're past the point of Obliviating everyone, so forget it," she requested. "I'm changing the future, Antonin. There's nothing to do about it."

He was tense as he stared at her darkly. "Why did you call me?"

"You said if I needed anything," she reminded him hesitantly. "Did you mean it?"

"Anything," he confirmed.

"I can't kill him," she said regretfully. "But I was hoping you knew of somewhere we could put him… a prison where no one would think to look."

"Uzhasnyy," he said after a moment's thought. "Russia's Azkaban."

Alexia hesitated. "I've seen two breakouts in Azkaban in the future, Antonin. I don't want him getting out."

"Uzhasnyy is high security," Antonin explained. "A bit like where Grindelwald is kept. He will never see the light of day again."

She trusted his judgment, so she nodded. "How will we get him there? As a matter of fact, how will we get him out of Hogwarts at all?"

That was when Antonin hesitated. He clearly had an idea, but it seemed to be one that made him extremely uncomfortable. "What price are you willing to pay for getting rid of Pettigrew, Hermione?"

"Anything," she said immediately. He gave her a disbelieving stare, so she met his gaze. "I mean it, Antonin. He killed my brother, my best friend. I can't let that happen again. I'd do anything to fix this."

"It will require a call to the Patriarch," he explained. "He can get him out of Hogwarts and to Uzhasnyy, but I guarantee he will do nothing unless you agree to marry me."

Alexia stared at him, trying to think instead of panic at the idea. Before, she'd had no reason to consider wanting to permanently be with the man before her, but now… now it was James's life at stake, so she found it easier to confront her feelings.

Those feelings were surprisingly strong already, frustrating her a bit. She did feel something for Antonin, that much she'd known for a while. Considering a future with him was slightly terrifying, but not altogether horrifying. In fact, the idea of indulging in the bond they'd sparked was one she enjoyed.

Really, it was a no brainer. Even if she didn't care for him, she'd do it. It was James's life, after all.

"Call him."

OoOoOoOoOoOo

Antonin sat with Alexia for the thirty minutes it took for Anatoly to get there. In that time, he updated her on the war as they warded the DADA doors so that only Anatoly would be able to enter the room. By the time Anatoly got there, Alexia was pacing and tapping her hand anxiously against her leg.

"Miss Potter," Anatoly said when he entered the room, looking much too pleased. "Antonin claims you require my help."

Alexia did her best not to grimace. "I need to get rid of Peter Pettigrew, but I took an oath not to kill him or have someone else kill him. Antonin suggested we send him to Uzhasnyy."

Anatoly hummed. "Yes, that could work. Of course, it will take some favors… I will have to call Nikita… I suppose I would require something in return, as well."

"I am aware."

"I have tried for many years to have this conversation with you, Alexia," he told her, pacing toward the door to the office where Peter was. When he reached the door, he turned to look at her again where she stood stiffly at Antonin's side. "Your name is curious. Was it given to you at birth?"

"It was not," she answered, nervous. She didn't like the way she was at his mercy. "And no one picked it, really. It's a difficult situation to describe. I don't know where it came from."

"It is Russian," he said, though she already knew. "A beautiful name. Perfect for our family."

Alexia sighed. "Just tell me what you want, Anatoly."

"Your contract with Antonin will be sealed," he demanded. "And you will marry when you graduate. You will produce an heir within ten years under the assumption that this war ends in the next five."

It was, truthfully, not very strict. As a matter of fact, Sirius's old contract with Elora Zabini had been stricter. He'd told her about it the day he'd found out it had been broken. In fact, she figured it was better than anything she'd have gotten with Regulus.

Still, she felt slightly sick as she nodded shortly. "I can agree to that. Can you take care of Pettigrew?"

"Consider it done, Lyubov'."

OoOoOoOoOoOo

An hour and a half later, Alexia found herself walking into Gryffindor. The common room was rather empty, so she slipped up to the boys' dorm, where she found all of her friends, including the girls, waiting impatiently.

"Thank Merlin!" James exclaimed, rushing over to hug her. She patted his back and tried to relax, reminding herself that it was all for him - that he would live. "Lex, the Map said- it said Dolohov was-,"

"He was here," she confirmed gently. He stared at her, horrified, so she pushed him back into the room and offered them all a smile.

"He said you'd take care of it, but Dolohov?" Marlene looked at her skeptically. "I mean, how do you know he won't just kill him?"

"Jamie, when was the last time you checked the Map?"

"Not long after we got back here," he admitted. "Moony took it away because he said I was worrying too much."

"Well, that's probably for the best," she decided. "Antonin and I talked it out, okay? He helped me, but it required calling Anatoly Dolohov."

"Oh, fuck," Sirius cursed. "That crazy bastard?"

"So what did he do with Peter?" Remus wondered.

"He put him in the Russian version of Azkaban, Uzhasnyy," she explained. "I'm certain he's there, because I had Antonin go with him and make sure Peter was alive and in a cell. He's fine, but he's never going to leave Uzhasnyy."

"I don't get it, why'd Lord Dolohov help you?" Marlene wondered. Alexia looked around the room and shrugged.

"I might as well, I guess. He helped me because I'm distantly a Dolohov, apparently. He's been trying to meet me for years now, but my parents helped me avoid it, and then Lucius and Narcissa and Antonin… but I needed his help. There was no way around it."

"Lex, he's not just- why would he just help you, though?" James pressed. "I mean… they're bastards, but they're Slytherins and they're good at it."

"Yeah, I know," Alexia sighed. "We made a deal, Jamie. It's… you won't like it."

"What sort of deal?" Lily wondered quietly.

Alexia took a second to prepare herself before she spoke again. "Because I'm a Dolohov, Anatoly paired us together a few years ago so that, in the case that the House falls, Antonin and I can marry and produce a purely Dolohov heir. I hated the very thought of it, but… over the summer, we had sex and it created a preliminary bond between us because of the pairing."

"Motherfucker," Sirius swore loudly. "Alexia!"

"I didn't know it would create a bond!" she defended quickly, despite the fact that the bond itself wasn't what he was immediately upset about. "But it doesn't matter now anyway, okay? Because I- Jamie no-,"

"Alexia, don't fucking say what I think you're going to say," James said, his voice low and dark.

"I agreed to marry Antonin at the end of this school year."

James cursed and the window across the room shattered from his accidental magic. "Alexia, you are not marrying him!"

"I'd rather marry him than let Peter kill you and Lily!"

"You're sure as hell not marrying him for me," James snapped at her. "This is the rest of your fucking life! What about Regulus?"

Alexia winced. She'd yet to talk to her boyfriend and she didn't expect it to go well, rightfully so. "I care for Regulus, but I don't have a soul bond with him, Jamie. He's got a soulmate out there, you know that. Besides, he deserves someone that doesn't have all this bullshit in their life."

"And you're okay with this?" Lily asked, raising her voice slightly. "Marrying a Death Eater?"

"Marrying Antonin," Alexia corrected. "A bit, yes. I hate that he's a Death Eater, Lily. You can't really believe I condone the shit they do just because I've dated some."

"Sometimes it's hard to tell," Lily admitted. "You know a lot of dark magic and a lot of Death Eaters, and it's difficult."

Alexia fought the frustration she felt. "We can discuss that later, Lily. I promise I'm not like that. I was a bloody muggleborn until I came here, anyway."

"It's not impossible to learn bigotry," was all Lily replied with.

"Okay, but what's the plan now?" Marlene pressed, shooting Lily a look. "What do we do?"

"I have to talk to Regulus," Alexia said, tense.

"Yes, and then?"

She paused, stumped. "Well, I suppose we move on."

"Okay, but there's an issue," Sirius told her. "You wanted to keep this from Grandfather, but you left the entire class with the knowledge that we now know Pettigrew is a Death Eater. It's bound to have spread by now."

"Good," she said after a moment. "If news of class gets out, it's gone too far for Arcturus or Dumbledore to fix. That gives me a certain sort of freedom."

"Alex… have you thought about this?" Remus asked her quietly. "I mean really thought about it? You've saved James and Lily, yes. Are you prepared for the possibility that… you can't return to your time anymore since you've changed it? Or that the one you return to is radically different from the one you know?"

"You were going to go back?" James asked her. He was still clearly upset, but thrown off by the thought of her leaving. "When?"

"We'll have to do more tests," she sighed, running her fingers through her curls. "I'll go to the DOM later or tomorrow and see if anything's changed. Our theory - that being mine and Alphard's - was that what sent me back here would send me back to the future the day that I'm born."

There was a beat of silence.

"This war fucking sucks," Dorcas said finally.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

Alexia knew the news had spread because, when she went back down to the common room, all the noise stopped and she got stares as she walked out. The trek down to the dungeons was much the same, with students beginning to whisper as they saw her.

She didn't have to send the Patronus she'd been about to send upon reaching the dungeons because just as she grabbed her dagger, Regulus hurried out of Slytherin common room, panic in his eyes. He slammed straight into her, and she grabbed his arms as they both steadied themselves. "So you've heard."

"Alexia," he hissed. He shook off her hands and grabbed her arm tightly to guide her to an empty classroom down the hall. After shutting the door, he spun on her. "What have you done?"

"Spare me the lecture," she requested quietly. "I did what I needed to do to save my brother. Not only my brother, but yours as well."

"You have no clue the repercussions this could have!" He threw his hands up in stress. "You could destroy everything."

"But it's done," she told him. He stared at her hard as her words hit him, and he settled slightly, though he looked no less irritated with her.

"I suppose it is. What have you done with him? They're saying you killed him."

"I wanted to," she sighed. "Reg, we need to talk." His eyes sharpened on hers and she nodded to herself. "I made an oath not to kill him, and I needed help getting rid of him permanently. To do that, I called Antonin."

His eyes flashed. "Lexi-,"

"Regulus, please," she put up a hand. He quieted quickly and began to understand how serious she was about whatever she was going to say. "I called Antonin and we both knew what had to be done. Peter was placed in a Russian prison. High security. He won't be getting out. To get him there, however, I had to make a deal. I knew before he was called what would happen, but… Regulus, you have to understand… it's my brother. I'd die for him, so giving this up, doing this for him… there was no choice, and I'm sorry for that."

"Alexia," he said softly. He wasn't sure if what he felt was heartbreak or acceptance and understanding, or even a mix of them. "What did you do?"

"Antonin called Anatoly," she told him quietly. His last shred of hope that his guess was wrong was destroyed. "And I agreed to a contract between Antonin and I. We'll be married when I graduate."

Regulus was quiet as he watched her. She looked so firm and so scared, like he was going to be angry with her. As much as he wanted to be angry with her, he also understood. She was in a very precarious position in which she could save her brother, her best friend's life. He'd have done it, too. "I understand, Little Lion."

She chewed on her lip as she stared at him. "I'm sorry. This wasn't the plan, but-,"

"I know," he interrupted. He offered her a slight smile. "We won't be together, but we can be friends."

Alexia nodded quickly. "If you want to."

He looked her over. "What will you do now?"

"Go speak to Croaker," she decided. "And Antonin, I suppose. We need to figure out how this is going to affect time and prepare for it. After that… plan."

OoOoOoOoOoOo

Arriving at the Ministry an hour later, Alexia felt her nerves spike. She hadn't considered the future when she'd told everyone about Peter, at least not to the degree that Remus had. As she made her way down to Croaker's office, she considered what Alphard would say to her. Nothing nice, she assumed.

She made it to the DOM with the guest ID that Alphard had gotten her and walked quietly around the halls. When she reached the office in question, she found not only Bertie inside, but also Antonin, who was glaring darkly at his boss.

"Ah, just the witch we were discussing!" Bertie exclaimed, grinning at her. "Here for tests, no doubt."

"Croaker, she does not require-,"

"Yes, I am," she interrupted Antonin. His glare turned to her, but she ignored it. "We need to figure out how this will affect the future, and my potential return to the future. Alphard trusted you, Croaker, so I will as well."

"You will run no more tests than necessary," Antonin cut in, turning his glare back to his boss. "The tests will be approved by myself before they are done."

"Yes, yes," Bertie waved him off. He reached down into a drawer and pulled out a rather thick file and let it fall onto his desk. "Now, Miss Potter, this is all of Alphard's research on you. I have read through it multiple times, and I believe it is time you do the same."

Alexia looked at it hesitantly. "Right."

"What is your most pressing question in this situation?" he wondered. She considered it and took a minute to reply. She had a lot of concerns in regards to the future and, more specifically, her future. Finally, she settled on one.

"Will I still be returned to the future on September 19th, 1979?"

"Great place to start!" he grinned at her. He raised his wand, but Antonin put a shield up in front of her.

"Croaker," he said, his voice warning.

"Oh, calm down," Bertie chuckled. "I believe the place to start would be to see if she even has the magic of the orb in her core any longer."

"And once we figure that out?" Alexia wondered.

"Well, I suppose it depends on what you want," he told her. "If you wish to stay in this time with your family and the orb magic is still there, we can work to remove it. If not, we will leave it."

Antonin dropped the shield, allowing Bertie to cast his spell. Alexia felt something tug at her core, and she grimaced at the pain it caused. When the spell dropped, Bertie looked much too excited. "It is still there! Fascinating!"

"But do I want it removed," Alexia whispered to herself. It was a good question. She'd always expected to return to her own time, to everything she'd known. She'd expected to go back to her friends, to the home she'd found. She'd expected to find her muggle parents and restore their memories, and to pick up the pieces of her life from there.

But now that things had changed… would it be worth it? To go back to a world where they'd won, sure, but so much had been destroyed in doing so. If she stayed in the past, however, she could recklessly save lives. She could change the future so aggressively that the one she came from was nigh unrecognizable.

She could make things better.

But how would she do that? How could she save lives if they had no reason to believe the things she knew? Such impossible things. She wasn't a Seer, and everyone knew that. It wasn't only in her time that she'd complained about how impossible it was to See the future, and how much of a scam it was.

Perhaps if she was reckless, she could do it. If she did the most dangerous, most reckless thing to date, she could save lives.

To do that, she'd have to do it before letting anyone know she was. She'd have to get it out somehow, and quickly before it could be stopped. She was well aware that it would put her in danger from Voldemort, the sort that Mia had been in, but…. Well, if she could save lives, then putting her own in danger was a sacrifice she was more than willing to make.

"I think I do," she decided. "Yes, I do. There's a lot to do, and I won't get it all done by my birthday."

"Right!" Croaker grinned. "Then let's get to work, shall we?"

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