Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. I don't own Les Mis. I don't make money from this fic.
September 15, 2000 London, England - Office of Hermione and Theo, Time Room
Hermione took a deep breath as she pull her chair over to Theo's desk. They were expecting Draco at any moment and she wasn't sure why she was so nervous. Theo had arranged everything, had even informed Draco that Hermione was his partner and that she'd like to be there to talk things through. So then why was she so damn nervous? She chalked it up to being overworked and Ron's attitude the past couple days.
He stayed with Harry the last couple nights, which had simultaneously annoyed her and lifted a weight off her shoulder. She knew that they were fighting, and that she should make life-altering decisions during a fight. But she couldn't help feeling in her gut that something was wrong. She didn't want to go home at night because she was afraid Ron would be there. While that sent up red flags to her, another part of her brain kept spout bullshit excuses about how it was just because they were fighting. She knew they were bullshit, but that's what made it so confusing. She loved him. Of course she would defend him, even from herself.
"Hermione. What's going on in there?" Theo asked, his deep voice suddenly very close to her. His face was very close to hers, and he rested a hand on her knee, which was odd for him; Theo wasn't a very physical person. Hermione blinked a couple times, trying to pull herself out of her head. When her eyes cleared and focused, scanning his face for emotion, he smiled.
"There you are. Everything okay?" he asked her, a worried frown on display.
"Not really. But I have a feeling things are coming to a head. I have some thinking to do on it." Hermione sighed.
"Do me a favor." Theo said, seriously.
"What? Don't think about it on the clock?" She asked, one brow arched. One glance from him told her he wasn't amused.
"No. Don't think about it alone. Talk it out with someone, anyone. I honestly don't care who, it could be a total stranger. But that far away look you had just now scared me senseless." Theo confessed. Hermione knew he was telling the truth with just a look in his eyes, so she ducked her head in a nod.
"Good." he smiled.
"Am I interrupting something?" A voice from the door came. Hermione jumped, and Theo laughed.
"No, Draco. I'm just trying to get Hermione to calm down. She's been wound tighter than a coil for nearly two weeks." Theo said easily. Malfoy stood in the doorway, the box he'd had at Borgin & Burke's clutched in his hands. He looked very different from just a few days before. He wore cleanly pressed robes that fit him well, he'd obviously shaved, and had taken care of his unruly hair. He looked like a different man in all but his eyes. Hermione met his tired grey eyes and knew that though he looked like a presentable businessman, his mind was rundown and barely functioning. Hermione had never felt such a camaraderie with him before.
"Please, sit down, Draco and we'll get started." Theo spoke up. Hermione knew he'd seen the brief moment the pair had shared, she saw it in the little grin he wore. She could see gears turning in his head, but she was too distracted, overstimulated to understand anything.
Draco sat down in the chair Theo had grabbed from the unused office beside theirs. Their office was nearly too small for three people to fit at one desk comfortably. However, Hermione had squeezed herself in at the end of Theo's desk, so that she could make eye contact with both of them at as they spoke.
"So Draco, like I said, there's not a lot I can tell you about what we're doing, as most of it is highly classified Ministry affairs. All I can tell you is that we're interested in time, its properties, and devices used to theoretically or practically measure and/or manipulate it." Theo said, putting on his researcher voice. Hermione smiled slightly. She knew the speech just as well as he did; they were required to give it to anyone who inquired about what they did in the Department of Mysteries. Hermione knew it infuriated Ron that she wouldn't tell him what she did with Theo all day, and that was part of the reason for the increased tension between the couple.
Draco merely nodded with a slight shrug.
"I figured as much. You lot aren't called Unspeakable for nothing, right? Besides, Theo, wasn't our friendship at Hogwarts basically defined around the term 'need-to-know basis'?" Draco smirked.
"You've got a point, mate. Glad you understand. Sometimes people can get a bit -" Theo paused searching for the right word.
"Unpleasant." Hermione finished, speaking for the first time. Her nose scrunched up a little at the memory of Ron bursting into the office and demanding to know why Hermione hadn't come home the first time she'd fallen asleep over her research. Theo had, thankfully, remained calm and explained that they'd been working and she'd fallen asleep, and he hadn't the heart to wake her.
"Quite." Theo said, a sad, knowing smile thrown her way. Draco must have noticed the interaction, but he chose not to comment. Instead, he opened the little box, pulling out something wrapped in a white silk cloth. He laid the item, cloth and all, on the desk between them, before gently unfolding the cloth. Hermione peered at the silvery orb that lay on the cloth. It didn't look like much, until Draco prodded it gently. At his nudge, the little ball begun to hum gently and lifted up off of the table, looking much like a snitch without wings.
"I've never tested it, nor would I want to, as my father told me once that it was extremely experimental. He did, however, explain to me how it is supposed to work." Draco said, reaching out and prodding the little silver ball. To Hermione's amazement, it separated into hundreds of tiny pieces, before condensing into the shape of a bowl upon the cloth. Above the bowl, hovering in a similar fashion to two magnets repelling one another, a dimly glowing blue light hung in the air.
"It's supposed to work like a mixture between a pensieve and a time-turner. You extract a thought, place it in the bowl, and a the light at the top is supposed to show you exactly when the thought took place. You can then turn the orb at the top once and it will take you to the moment in the memory that you selected." Draco said.
Hermione tossed a glance at Theo. She'd never even heard of anything like the device and wondered if Theo had; based on his expression, he hadn't. He looked just as in awe as she.
"Did your father ever tell you what was wrong with it? Why it didn't work?" Theo asked, examining the orb carefully.
"He mentioned a few things. First and foremost, the device didn't so much send you back in time as it trapped your consciousness within your past self. Only two people ever tested the device. One is dead, the other, well. He's in Azkaban. He went mental, started casting the Killing Curse in the middle of a Muggle shopping mall. Obliviators had a time of that one. Ministry swept it under the rug, claiming he was a supporter of the Dark Lord, but he was really a guinea pig." Draco sighed.
"The second thing was that, even if you managed to not get trapped in your own head, say, if you used someone else's memory, there's no way to get back. The first wizard I mentioned? Killed himself. Was sent back in time sixteen years. Apparently he left a note, you may even have it on file still." Draco said, darkly.
"How do you know all this?" Hermione asked, her eyes wide. "We were told several stories, and read more, of failed experiments in the department during our internships. I think they wanted to prepare us, should something go wrong. But I never heard anything like this, did you Theo?" He shook his head.
"Not even in my time in the archives." he said, brows furrowed.
"My father had some old records that were extracted as part of a Ministry cover-up. I'd offer them to you, but as far as I know, they're still at the Manor, or worse, lost in some dusty filing cabinet in the Improper Use of Magic office." Draco sighed.
"Draco, this is probably the most compelling lead we've had to date." Theo said, excitedly. Hermione smiled at her partner, her eyes bright. He rarely got excited over anything, especially recently. "Hermione, do you think you could do some digging and see if you can figure out where the documents confiscated in the raid went?" Hermione nodded.
"Of course. I'm not above using my personal connection to Harry to further my research." She said with a smile. "But I feel as though our search would go faster if we had Malfoy with us. He knows what the source material looks like, possibly where it could be. Not to mention, if it's in the Manor, the secret hiding places." Hermione said.
"Hermione, you know Robins will never go for that." Theo sighed. "He's not in the department."
"That's why I plan on working my charm with him." Hermione grinned, then turned to Malfoy. "If I were to talk to Robins for you, put in a good word, would you be interested in an internship?" she asked. Malfoy blinked a few times.
"Um, I- I suppose so. But I'm not sure I can contribute much, outside of my knowledge of this artefact and the others in my father's collection." Malfoy said slowly.
"Mate, you're bright enough for the job. Besides, you'd be an intern; most of the things we research would be above your paygrade. You'd be there for the menial labor, and sorting through stacks upon stack of archival records." Theo said, recalling his days as an intern. "Boring as hell, but the pay is decent." he shrugged. Draco's face lit up.
"A paid intern position?" Draco asked. Hermione nodded.
"They've almost got to if they expect anyone to work for them. Actually, I think the chances are pretty good. Didn't Hopkins just quit?" Hermione asked. Theo nodded.
"Stress got to her. She was the Unspeakable in the office beside us, few years older." Theo shook his head. "We're about due for a new round of interns, haven't been any in our department since me and 'Mione."
"I'll take it." Draco said, "If you can get me the position, I'll jump through however many hoops I have to." Draco said, his eyes bright. Hermione smiled; she'd known he needed the money, and they needed his expertise on this forgotten piece of magic.
"I'll talk to Robins tomorrow and owl you the specifics. I may have to pull some strings with the higher-ups, but it's been over a year since the trials proved you were innocent. I'll be sure to remind them of that." Hermione said, scratching down a few notes on her notepad, she stood then, returning her chair to her desk and picking up her purse.
"I'm sure you two will want to catch up some, and I have a man to see about a manor." She said with a grin. Draco stood, holding out his hand to her.
"Thank you, Granger. For offering to help me. I know I'm only a means to an end, but all the same, it means a lot." Hermione smiled and took his hand, shaking it firmly and meeting his eye. They weren't dark now. They were bright, and shone with a light she couldn't place. She made a mental note to ask Theo what they'd talked about while she was gone later.
"It's not a problem, Malfoy. I trust we'll be in touch." She said, then waved to Theo as she headed out for the Auror department to talk to Harry.