Chapter Fifteen
Cedrella, Aberforth, and Melok were already waiting at Hog's Head when Hermione arrived with Dobby just before one o' clock the following afternoon. Sirius had gone ahead to the London Sanctuary to make sure Helen and James had everything ready for them there, although Hermione didn't expect otherwise. "Good afternoon, crew," she greeted with a friendly smile. "Is the bar already closed or do you need a minute, Aberforth?"
He shook his head. "All ready when you are, Hermione," the younger of the Dumbledore brothers replied. "I was just catching up with Melok, and we were getting acquainted with Mrs. Weasley."
Hermione offered a wry grin. "I somehow doubt formality will be standing by the end of today. Mrs. Weasley, indeed."
"I did tell them they could call me by my given name," Cedrella remarked, smirking.
"I was just minding my manners," the barkeep grumbled. "Where are we going for this meeting, anyhow?"
"We're going to the London Sanctuary," she explained calmly. "I'll explain what that is in more detail when we arrive and introduce you to both its keeper and to the leader of the Sanctuary Network. Dobby, if you'll bring Cedrella and Aberforth along, I'll take Melok."
"Yes, Mistress," the House Elf nodded in agreement. "Will you be needing Dobby afterward?"
"I don't think so," she replied. "How about you check in with Angus and his project after you drop us off, and then return to your duties at Grimmauld? I've been wanting a report from Mister Steward."
"Dobby can being doing that," came a calm reply. "Mrs. Weezy. Mister Dumblydore. If you would be taking Dobby's hands please?"
Melok naturally moved to her side, hand resting on her hip as hers found his shoulder, and in the space of a breath, they were gone from the bar and reappeared in the foyer of the London Sanctuary in the company of Aberforth and Cedrella, sans Dobby, who had vanished again just as soon as he'd dropped his passengers off. "This way," she ordered her companions.
Hermione led the trio to a small but comfortable den, set up with seven armchairs in a circle around a coffee table. A tea service was ready on the table, and Helen, James, and Sirius were already seated and waiting in three of the chairs, although they stood to greet the newcomers.
"Welcome to the London Sanctuary," James greeted. "I'm James Watson. This is both my home and my place of work."
"I'm Helen Magnus," Helen said, introducing herself. "The London Sanctuary is only one of a number of Sanctuaries around the world, and I am the Head of that Network."
"Magnus, you say?" Aberforth said, eyeing her curiously. "I knew a Gregory Magnus once. Any relation?"
Helen's eyes widened in surprise. "My Father."
"Whatever happened to the crazy old coot?" Aberforth asked with a reminiscent smile. "I was about to ask what the Sanctuary was, but knowing your Father, I'm willing to bet good Galleons it has something to do with the protection of creatures."
James answered that question. "Gregory has been missing for nearly ten years. At this point, he's presumed lost by most, although I doubt Helen has given up hope entirely. Yes though, the Sanctuary's mandate is, primarily, to protect creatures. The Ministry of Magic is limited in what they will recognize as a magical creature and what they'd expend resources on protecting or obscuring from mundane eyes, and Gregory felt, as Helen does, that it is our responsibility to protect all creatures which are too unusual for whatever reason that humans on a whole would find them fearsome or worth exploiting for their unique properties."
"Some call them monsters," Helen went on, "We call them Abnormals. We find and protect, and if necessary destroy these beings. We have five Sanctuaries up and running at this point, and hope to have number six established by nineteen sixty. The need is ever growing, and expansion is something we're anticipating being necessary for years to come."
"You are all welcome to poke Helen and James' heads about the Sanctuary at your leisure at a later time," Hermione said, "however that should offer you enough context for the moment to proceed with the topic at hand. Shall we sit?"
After they had all done so, Sirius nodded at her. "This is your show, love," he said softly.
She sighed. "As I'm fairly sure all of you have already guessed or been told, I'll confirm to begin with - Sirius and I both come from another time and place. Our place of origin is what we call Alpha. We both were born there, grew up, and in nineteen ninety six and two thousand five respectively, we each fell through an artifact called the Veil and were thrust unceremoniously into an alternate reality - although one running parallel in timeline. We called this place Beta. Six months to the day after my arrival in Beta, Sirius and I made an attempt to return to Alpha, via the Veil, and ended up more than fifty years in our own past, right here. We've known multiple versions of many people, although interestingly, in neither Alpha nor Beta did either of us meet Helen, James, or Cedrella. We knew Melok in Beta. We knew Aberforth in Alpha."
"Why wait six months to make the attempt to return to Alpha," James asked, "when you were in Beta?"
Hermione took a sip of her tea. "This will be a bit of a long explanation so bear with me. To begin with, my entire childhood, and most of Sirius', revolved around a fight against a Dark Lord who called himself Voldemort. Voldemort's most loyal followers were called Death Eaters, and had a brand upon their arms depicting a skull and snake. That isn't to say he didn't have followers who weren't branded. That brand was known as the Dark Mark. In any case, in Sirius' childhood, the war got quite bad at the tail end of the seventies and into the dawn of the eighties. There was a great deal of death, and many families were hunted to extinction, or near enough to it. Then, a prophecy was made suggesting that a boy would be born at the end of July, nineteen eighty, who would be Voldemort's downfall. Voldemort did his homework and determined that this boy was a child called Harry Potter."
"Dorea and Charlus?" Cedrella asked.
"Their grandson," Hermione confirmed, "through their only child - James. That said, Dorea and Charlus were already dead by the time the prophecy came into play, victims of the war."
"Oh, Merlin," she said. Hermione knew Cedrella was fond of Dorea.
"I'll go back into more details of that era later, but the key here is that Voldemort attacked the Potters at the end of October, nineteen eighty-one. They were killed. He then went to kill little Harry, and for some reason that was never really answered to anyone's satisfaction, the killing curse backfired upon Voldemort, destroying him, and leaving Harry unharmed. Harry would go down in history as The-Boy-Who-Lived. Voldemort was, as far as the public was concerned, defeated," Hermione continued. "That said, what nobody understood at the time and only one man suspected was that Voldemort was not truly gone. He'd been beaten back, certainly, but he wasn't gone for good. He began making attempts to return as early as ninety-one, and did manage to return to corporeal form in the early summer of ninety-five. The war began again in earnest, only this time, Harry was not a helpless baby. He was still young, yes, but he wasn't helpless and he had the Headmaster of Hogwarts at his back, as well as two friends who were willing to follow him through hell."
"I'm going to guess you were one of those friends," Aberforth commented.
She offered a soft smile. "I share a Kinship bond with Harry. Yes. I was one of those friends. The other was a boy called Ron Weasley. He'll be your grandson, Cedrella, through Arthur. The three of us were inseparable all through our years of Hogwarts and beyond. We defeated Voldemort together. Sort of hard to make petty arguments drive you apart when you've gone through that sort of thing together. When I left, Harry was getting ready to marry Ginny, who was Ron's little sister."
Melok snorted. "How many children does Arthur end up having?"
The deaths of Arthur's children in both Alpha and Beta crossed her mind, causing her to pause before answering. "In Alpha, he had seven, and six survived the war. In Beta, he had six, and as of when Sirius and I left, four were still living."
"Was the war worse in Beta?" Helen asked softly.
"Sirius, you want to take this bit?" Hermione inquired.
He nodded. "Alright, so you need to understand that despite the war in Alpha lasting two bloody generations, it remained contained. The Statute of Secrecy was in place, and for the most part, it stayed in the United Kingdom. Voldemort never made it even as far as France except for short missions, and he certainly never made it to Asia or the Americas. People still lived in their homes, and the only folks who used Fidelius or other sort of heavy warding were the ones who knew upfront they were targets of Voldemort because they were already openly fighting the prat. When I arrived in Beta, I was surprised to wake up to a world where everyone lived in camps, Magical and Muggle alike. The streets were a mess, from years and years of major battles being held in them, and the homes and businesses along them had long since been stripped bare for resources. The Statute of Secrecy was shot, and had been for years. There, it only took a couple of years for Voldemort to come back to full power after what happened in eighty one. There, he'd taken over the world. There, we had nuclear fallout because of the Muggles trying to fight back. There, nobody had ever figured out how to bring Voldemort down for good, so even though we managed to kill him a couple of times, he just kept coming back in a new body, stronger than ever. Beta was hell on earth."
"You asked, James," Hermione said, chiming back in, "why we didn't make a go at getting back to Alpha right off. The Veil was located in the Ministry of Magic, down in the Department of Mysteries. In Beta, the Ministry was Voldemort's Headquarters. We had to defeat Voldemort - my second go of doing so - before we could make the attempt."
"Your arrival clearly shifting the balance of power," Aberforth said. "However you've already mentioned that you hadn't begun your Mage training until you met Melok's counterpart there, so while you'd still have been powerful, I don't believe it is merely that you were a Mage that caused such a shift. How did Voldemort keep himself alive? You must have brought that answer."
She eyed the barkeep warmly, appreciating his cleverness, and hating how she was about to ruin his day. "Horcruxes," she replied. "He had seven Horcruxes."
Both Aberforth and Helen hissed in fury. "Bloody hell," Helen let out.
Hermione raised an eyebrow. "I expected Aberforth to know what a Horcrux was. I had not expected you to know, Helen."
She shrugged. "I may not be a Witch, but I do have all of the books from the Magnus family Library. They're not in my main Library, mind you, but that doesn't mean I haven't read them, and the Magnus' have been Slytherins and Purebloods generations back. To say the least, their Dark Arts section is very enlightening."
Sirius laughed a little. "She'll be wanting a look at that Library later, Helen."
A pout formed on her lips, but she didn't deny he was right. "So what if I like books?"
"Anyone going to tell me what a Horcrux is?" James asked, looking a bit put out. "I'm assuming it's somewhat relevant to the conversation at hand."
Cedrella decided to answer for her. "In short, through the act of murder, a Witch or Wizard is able to use certain dark spells to hack a part of their soul off and store it in a container of their choosing. This container can be anything they like - anything from a favorite button to a priceless necklace. I've even heard stories about Horcruxes being housed by living creatures. If a Horcrux is in place, the person who owns one can have their physical body destroyed, but their soul remains anchored to this world, allowing them to use other magics to rebuild a body and reattach their wandering soul to that new form. In short, it's an avenue to immortality."
"It's an abomination is what it is," Melok spat.
"Nobody is debating that, Melok," Hermione said, reaching to her left and touching the Goblin's arm lightly. "In any case, all of that is to say that we know full well how to defeat Voldemort. We've done it twice. I'll not see him rise to power like he did in Alpha, much less how he did in Beta. In Alpha, Sirius was the last of the Blacks still carrying the name, and when he fell through the Veil the name was presumed lost to the ages. The only reason the Weasleys were still around was because Arthur was so bloody prolific. His brothers were both dead. The Prewett boys all died in the war. Aberforth, in Alpha, you were the last Dumbledore standing. In Beta, it was Albus. Melok, in Alpha, Filius never married. In Beta, he did marry but he and his wife were too caught up in responsibilities to the war to fuss with having children of their own, although they did foster a little girl at one point after her mother died in childbirth. Helen and James - I never knew about the Sanctuary network in Alpha, so I can't say what became of it there. In Beta, I can only say that some part of it survived because Gregory, Newt Scamander, and Silvanus Kettleburn chose to abandon the rest of the world in favor of protecting the creatures. I don't know how or where, but they evacuated somewhere. I knew Nikola, like I've told you, and from what he said the Abnormal population was somewhere around fifty-thousand. That's world-wide population."
"That's not even a fraction of the current population!" Helen exclaimed.
"Considering there were only about twenty thousand Witches and Wizards in the United Kingdom there," she mused, "I'm imagining your counterpart felt blessed to have saved that many."
Helen nodded. "Context does make a difference, but still, the losses…"
"The idea here is to avoid such losses," Hermione reminded her friend.
"You're not just changing the course of the war though, are you?" Melok commented.
She sighed. "No, which is why Sirius and I agree that it's wise to bring you all into the loop. Playing God in regard to the war is one thing, but when you change one thing in the course of history, there are ripples. There are certain people, certain lives which it seems to be pivotal that they remain on a certain course, however we ask ourselves what right we have to interfere in that manner. What right do we have to ensure that people we remember, know and love, come to be born, even if those lives seem pivotal to the war effort, or to the happiness of others we know and love?"
"Can you give us some examples?" James requested.
"I've already mentioned Harry Potter," Hermione said immediately. "He is, to my memory, the son of James and Lily Potter. My memory suggests that his birth is pivotal to the downfall of Voldemort. That said, I know, because of our time in Beta, that there was someone else that James loved before he loved Lily, who continued loving him even after they parted ways, ultimately raising his son in his stead after he and Lily died. Who is to say that this person should be set aside in favor of Lily in the instance that this time around, James decides not to break things off with this person?"
"Who is this other woman?" Melok asked.
She smiled a little. "Not a woman. James loved a man called Severus Snape. Aberforth, I've mentioned him to you a time or two."
"The Potions Master?" the barkeep asked.
"The very same," she said with a nod. "Another example that comes to mind is your son, Melok. Filius, in Beta, married my niece, Andromeda Black. They were incredible together, by all accounts. That said, in Alpha, Andromeda was married to a man called Ted Tonks. By all accounts, they were an equally wonderful couple. What's to say she belongs with Ted more than Filius, or Filius more than Ted?"
Helen looked thoughtful. "In the case of Harry Potter, his life, unfortunately, is very much attached to the war. While we could make every attempt to bypass the prophecy, we won't know until it gets to that moment if we've been successful in doing so, and if we fail, he'd be the only thing that stood between the world's doom and Voldemort's reign. As much as I hate to deny Severus and James a future together, I feel like a relationship between James and Lily must be encouraged. That said, Andromeda is under no such pressure. Her future, and Filius and Ted's, could be left up to fate and their own choices. For all we know she might choose another spouse entirely."
"I agree with Helen," Melok said after a pause. "You're right in suggesting any action we take will cause ripples. Some of those ripples will need to be contained, but some of them, I believe, can be left to just naturally resolve themselves. What other couplings do you think are worth attention?"
She sighed, glancing at Cedrella. "If worse comes to worse and our efforts do fail, Harry will need my younger counterpart, and Ron Weasley, by his side to defeat Voldemort. Both of us were essential in his task. For that reason, I would struggle not to justify the union of Arthur Weasley and Molly Prewitt."
The Weasley Matriarch nodded. "You'd already insinuated as much, and they're already quite close. That may fall into place without our interference, although I can certainly do what I can to encourage it. Who else?"
Hermione took another sip of her tea, pausing to gather her thoughts. "You must understand that in Beta, it was a war torn world. Sexuality - all hangups about it - were ripped away. Women engaged in relations with men primarily to reproduce, rarely involving themselves in marriages because the commonality of death was so prevalent, and nobody wanted to sign up to have their heart broken like that. Otherwise, sex was recreation, and the gender of one's partner was of little concern. It was common to have a lover who was of the opposite gender, and nearly as common to have a lover of the same gender. Nobody thought less of anyone for it."
Helen smiled a little at that, and Hermione found herself wondering if the Squib was bisexual like she and Sirius were. "I trust you're making a point, Hermione."
She nodded. "Arthur loved Molly dearly, both in Alpha and in Beta. That said, in Beta, Sirius and I learned that there was a man whom he loved equally, and had been his paramour for many years, with the knowledge and consent of both of their wives. While I absolutely want to encourage the union of Arthur and Molly, Arthur's lover and his wife had a happiness of their own that I'm keen to see replicated, if for no other reason than to ensure that he is distracted from Arthur in a world where having a lover on the side is not readily permitted."
"I don't know why you keep hesitating to name drop," Aberforth grumbled. "Who was the lad?"
Hermione narrowed her gaze. "In this case, because I know Cedrella and she'll not likely approve."
The ginger sighed. "Oh Merlin. Out with it. Who did my son bring into his bed that I'd not have approved of?"
"Lucius Malfoy," she replied softly.
"Malfoy!" came the expected yell of indignation.
"He wasn't a bad guy," Sirius said in Lucius' defense. "At least, not in Beta. He was a right prat just like his father in Alpha, to be fair, but Hermione and I are certain that with a little interference we can ensure he turns out more like Beta Lucius than Alpha Lucius this go around. We do think that the chances of that go up if he marries Narcissa - who was his wife both in Alpha and Beta - both because we know they had a good relationship and because we know Cissa will be raised right this go around, and will be able to further help him grow beyond the standard Pureblood values."
"Who is Narcissa?" Cedrella asked. "What family?"
"Ours," Hermione replied. "She's the little girl Druella is pregnant with right now, and the last child she and Cygnus will have, presuming they don't have more children this go around."
"Well, that's two out of three of their daughters," Cedrella mused. "What's little Bella's fate, out of curiosity?"
She stiffened at the question, fiddling with the hem of her sleeve. "The man she married in Alpha is not an option this go around. I won't allow it. Period. In Beta, she never married."
Melok eyed her critically. "What aren't you telling us, Hermione?"
"In the different realities," she mused, "there were many things that were the same, many that were similar, and then there were some things that were radically different. The fate of Bellatrix Black was one of the most extreme cases Sirius and I saw. In Beta she was the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor at Hogwarts. She sorted to Hufflepuff when she went to school. She was well respected among her friends and colleagues, and aside from being ornery as hell and a bit irritating when she couldn't have something she wanted, she was one of the best people I've ever known. In Alpha…"
Sirius said it for her. "In Alpha she was the right hand of Voldemort. She was a bloody Death Eater. She sorted to Slytherin, she got herself slapped with an arranged marriage to another Death Eater who probably raped her on their wedding night, and she was a right bitch one hundred percent of the time. She's also the reason I ended up in Beta. Hit me with a stunner. That woman rarely used the killing curse in battle - she liked to knock her victims out so she could wake them up, torture them, and then kill them after she had them well and truly broken."
The group looked completely mortified, especially Cedrella and Melok, who knew Bella from various family functions. "I had an encounter with Alpha Bellatrix during the war," Hermione said softly. "To say the least when I woke up in Beta and she was there being all cheerful and talking to Sirius like they were best friends, I was stunned."
"So, to say the least, you'll be wanting to urge little Bella to be more like her Beta counterpart," Aberforth concluded.
"To say the least," Hermione agreed.
"Surely romantic relationships are not the only things you mean to influence," James postulated. "Bella being a fine example of this, of course. What other elements are you concerned about?"
Her gaze fell to Aberforth. "Let's start with Albus Dumbledore."
"Oh bother," the barkeep muttered.
"In Alpha," Hermione said, rolling her eyes a bit, "Albus was well known as the only Wizard Voldemort feared. He was the Transfiguration Professor when Voldemort - then known as Tom Riddle - was in school, as well as Deputy Head under Dippet, and while young Voldemort was able to charm the rest of the Hogwarts staff into thinking he was quite harmless, Albus always felt something was off with him, and Voldemort never forgot. Years later, Albus would be the one to identify Horcruxes as the means by which Voldemort was staying alive, and he'd be the one to lead the resistance against him, known in Alpha as the Order of the Phoenix."
"How bloody Gryffindor of him," Aberforth scoffed.
"At least half the Order was Gryffindor," Hermione admitted begrudgingly. "This, among other reasons, is why I am disinclined to allow Albus to lead the resistance this time around. While I do believe he'll have a pivotal role in things and I know that with or without my permission, Albus will fight against Voldemort and attempt to gather forces to that end, ultimately Albus' great failing is that he needs to be the one to know everything at the expense of those around him knowing next to nothing. I personally have a problem with this. I feel like if I'm asking someone to fight for a cause, they ought to know the details."
"So you mean to lead the resistance, this Order, yourself, this go around?" James inquired.
"I'm not calling it the Order, but yes," she nodded. "Like in Beta, it will merely be referred to as the Resistance. Nothing more fancy than that is necessary, nor does it imply any sort of House allegiance, unlike how Phoenix often becomes synonymous with Gryffindor. We'll need help from all sorts, end of story."
"Agreed," Helen said. "I can't imagine Albus will like being excluded, however. He may move against you when he learns you are leading a Resistance without him."
"It is, for that reason, imperative that he does not learn that I'm the leader," Hermione concluded. "It will be impossible for Albus to go too long without learning that there is a Resistance in effect, however I think it likely that he'll assume someone other than the Muggleborn bride of a powerful Pureblood Lord would be the most likely suspect. Ironic considering how out of the box Albus is personally that he'd be so sexist mentally. He looks at women very dismissively."
"Might be because he's never seen the value of one," Aberforth remarked. "At least, not since our sister died."
"Perhaps," she conceded. "In Beta, Albus was a bit better, but that was only because he hid himself away after Grindelwald, only getting back into the fight after I dragged him out by his beard. I had to break through his wards - wards set by Flamel - to get at him, and ultimately he followed my leadership there. One way or another, the longer we can last before he realizes that I'm in charge of things, the better. In the meantime, while in time she'll be drawn into our Resistance, it's imperative that Minerva McGonagall be encouraged to nourish her relationship with Albus. That I personally don't care for the man doesn't change that in two realities, the pair of them are a bit of a dynamic duo. They never become romantically entangled and I have no expectation of that happening here either, but they are good friends and able to hold one another accountable in ways few others in each other's lives are able to. They need each other, end of the day, and I'd not rob them of that relationship just to be petty."
"What do you mean by one day Minerva will be drawn into our Resistance?" Helen asked. "To what extent?"
She let out a breath. "I believe in due time, not only will Minerva join us in the fight, but she will join our little circle here of those in the know about mine and Sirius' past. We knew Minerva both in Alpha and Beta, and she was someone we both trusted implicitly. That said, right now she's very young and still quite innocent, and unless she begins to guess at things as Cedrella and Aberforth did, I mean to allow her to maintain that innocence for a number of years. In reality, she won't be of much major use in maneuvering things until at least the mid sixties when some of our key players start to grow up and are under her care at Hogwarts. Bella will be the youngest among them, and she won't begin her education there until - what - sixty two?"
Sirius nodded in confirmation. "Bella's not the youngest though. Delilah Crouch starts next year. Fabian and Gideon start in fifty-eight."
"I know we have some children who start sooner," she said with a nod, "however Bella is the first whose fate I feel is in question, and who may need a guiding hand. After her I'll want special attention on Petunia, Severus, Barty Junior, Regulus…"
"Why are we concerned about Petunia?" Sirius asked, looking confused.
Hermione looked at the group. "Petunia Evans, born a few months from now. In both Alpha and Beta, she was born the non-magical sister of a Muggleborn Witch. In Alpha, she raised her nephew Harry - Lily Potter was her sister - and was not kind to him in the slightest. She was neglectful and allowed her husband to be abusive. That said, in Beta, she integrated with Wizarding society as the war raged on, was a great support to her nephew and raised him as if he were her own son. I want to ensure that this timeline sees that version of Petunia, because if worse comes to worse and James and Lily do still end up dead, and Harry does still end up raised by Petunia, I would prefer Harry not go through that abuse again. One of my plans for helping prevent that fate is to use my gifts as a Mage to alter Petunia's genome just a little right after she's born to ensure that the magical potential within her is realized. Even without being a Witch, Petunia mastered many Potions in Beta, and was a well respected Healer among her people. I can only imagine how she'd flourish as a fully fledged Witch."
"If you can alter someone's genome like that," James said thoughtfully, "is there anyone that you might be inclined to take out of play by forcing their magic into recessiveness?"
That had never occurred to her, but it wasn't stupid. She looked at Sirius, an idea coming to mind almost at once. He seemed to have the exact same notion, the same name spilling from their lips at the same time. "Carrows."
"Do you know what year they're meant to be born?" she asked her husband.
"Sometime in the middle of sixty-one," he said thoughtfully. "I remember Mother and Father talking about the Carrows expecting at the same time as she was expecting Regulus."
"So Regulus is your brother?" Aberforth asked. "You mentioned him in the people to look out for. Who were your actual parents, anyhow?"
Sirius grumbled. "Orion and Walburga, unfortunately. And yes, Regulus is, or will be, my younger brother."
Cedrella chuckled. "You poor sod. Walburga."
He glared. "Yeah, well, my younger counterpart is going to be welcome to escape her evil fucking clutches at any and all opportunity, which is a lot more than I can say that I had. You know who my Godparent was? My great-uncle, Ivan Crabbe. Worked for Grindelwald, he did, and later joined up with Voldemort. Lucky for me that bastard died in one of the early battles against the Order when I was still in school, not that he'd been very kind to me before that. All he ever did was try to turn me into a damn Death Eater. This go around I'll make sure my younger self gets a decent Godparent, at least."
Hermione raised her hand to silence her husband. "One of many things to be remedied. My younger counterpart will need addressed as well. While I had a fairly happy childhood in the early years, before Hogwarts, and sans a war I don't see why the rest of my youth won't be perfectly happy, I grew up ignorant that I was a Mage, and that's unacceptable. That said, the odds of two people being born within fifty years of one another, named Hermione, who both happen to be Mages is astronomical, so it is imperative that the general public never learn that I am a Mage. That shall remain a closely guarded secret among our group, and perhaps select members of the family as time goes on. My counterpart, when she is born and begins to grow up, should be alerted of her magical potential, I think even prior to receiving her Hogwarts letter. I'll pay the bloody fee at the Ministry for violating the Statute if necessary."
"How will you explain even knowing about her?" Aberforth asked.
Melok nodded, being one step ahead of everyone. "That's simple enough. I'm an expert on Mages, and that's known to anyone who knows to ask. I'll merely make up some shite about having sensed her. That's not actually how it works, but nobody would question me."
"That was my thought as well, Melok," she smiled, relishing in how in tune they were.
"When are each of you meant to be born?" Helen inquired. "I hate to be pessimistic here, but I'm concerned about entropic cascade failure when that happens."
Hermione let out a heavy sigh. "Sirius is born in late sixty. If cascade failure becomes a problem, then I already know my abilities as a Mage will allow me to alter someone at the genetic level, and I believe I can do that to Sirius so that he will be different enough from his counterpart that it won't continue being an issue. I won't be able to do that to myself, and I dare not do it, to that extreme, to a child. Therefore, when my birth happens in the autumn of seventy nine, I'm unsure. I do know there is another Mage that, in Alpha surfaced in ninety-one…"
"Flamel?" Aberforth asked.
"Flamel," she confirmed. "If I can find Nicolas Flamel, I expect he can do for me what I intend to do for Sirius. That said, I won't do it proactively. If cascade failure symptoms arise, and we'll be looking for them, then we'll cross that bridge. It isn't as though Sirius and I won't be close to Orion and Walburga and able to keep an eye on them and their child."
"It may be necessary to bring the two of them into your confidence in regard to who their son is destined to become," James suggested.
"Only as a last resort," Hermione said firmly. "I'd be more inclined to trust Orion if we had to. Frankly, Sirius and I have been open about my status as a Muggleborn since our arrival, and while most of the family has taken that in stride, Walburga is still very much put off by the notion. I spent much of my teenage years in Order Headquarters, which at the time was Grimmauld Place, and listening to the portrait of Walburga Black screaming at those of us with less than pure blood. It's difficult to move past being called a Mudblood and trust someone who still looks at me with contempt."
"Forgive me, but what's a Mudblood?" James asked, ever the Ravenclaw.
Helen answered for her. "It's a slur, James. It refers to a person born of Muggle parents, but they themselves are magical. It means dirty blood, and is not a term used in polite company. I'd not suggest adding it to your vocabulary."
He looked embarrassed to have asked. "My apologies, Hermione."
"In general, the word hardly fazes me anymore," she shrugged, pulling up her sleeve slightly and offering the scar on her forearm for each of her guests to view. In my mind, it is merely a reminder of what I've survived."
Cedrella looked ill. "Who did that to you, Hermione?"
Schooling her features, she met her niece's gaze. "Just some Death Eater," she lied. Well, half a lie. "Harry, Ron and I were captured toward the end of the war in Alpha, and taken prisoner. During our brief stay before we escaped, I was tortured extensively. This, and some pesky nerve damage, was the result."
"Cruciatus?" Aberforth asked seriously.
She nodded. "Don't worry so much. I was treated for the after effects, although not all of the long term effects were mitigated. I'm just happy to have my sanity in tact, frankly, which is probably only true because I was an Occlumens. Aberforth, I already know you're an Occlumens, and Melok, Goblins are naturals at the mental arts. Cedrella, are you an Occlumens?"
"No," she said, shaking her head.
"We need to get you up to speed on that sooner rather than later, then," Hermione determined firmly. "Aberforth?"
"I'll deal with it," he confirmed. "Weasley, drop by the Hog's Head sometime later this week and we'll set up a schedule for lessons."
"What about Helen and I?" James inquired.
"Vampire blood makes you both immune to attacks on the mind," she said, grinning a little. "That's something Nikola worked out. He thought it was brilliant, and I tend to agree. It does make sense, though. Vampires had great mental discipline, so it would stand to reason that like Goblins, they are genetically predisposed to being natural Occlumens."
"So what are our immediate goals?" Melok asked.
She let out a ragged breath. "Mostly it will be to get you all up to speed. I need you five as familiar with Alpha and Beta as I can manage. It's all in the details how things will play out, going forward. Yes, Voldemort has seven Horcruxes, but I don't think he's made all of them yet and even if he had, going after them now would be foolish in my mind. We need to wait to even begin hunting them until he's more actively focused on starting a war, which won't happen for another ten years or so. That said, the more we know about his movements ahead of the game, the more we'll be able to predict him when he's actively attacking. We're watching and waiting at this juncture, because if we were to go after him now, I fear that we'd be doing so unprepared and ultimately fail, tipping him off to an enemy who knows more than they should, and causing him to drastically alter his plans to a point we cannot predict."
"So in other words," Aberforth concluded, "we need to wait for a key moment. The prophecy. Eighty one you said?"
"I have been running the Arithmancy," she admitted. "It suggests that the death of James and Lily Potter and the survival of their son, Harry, may very well be a crux event. It may not be something I can change without history drastically changing in Voldemort's favor, and as much as I'd like to save the Potters, I cannot at the expense of the rest of the world."
Sirius sulked at this, despite being well aware of her stance on it. "Just keep looking at those numbers, alright?"
"I will, Sirius," she promised, "but you need to understand that if it comes down to choosing James or the world, I will choose the world."
Her husband nodded curtly. "I know."
Helen looked at Sirius tenderly. "I take it you were close to James Potter, in your timeline?"
"He was like a brother to me," Sirius admitted. "He was my best friend. Harry was my Godson, for Merlin's sake. It won't be an easy thing for me to stand back and let James Potter die, no matter how good the reason."
"Not that I'm unhappy to be brought into this merry little band," James remarked, "but why Helen and I? Why do you give a toss about the Sanctuary?"
Hermione smiled. "As I've mentioned, in Beta, I had the pleasure of knowing Nikola Tesla. I also discussed Gregory Magnus' mission briefly with Beta Melok and Filius during the course of my Charms Mastery…"
"You got your Charms Mastery under Filius?" Melok interrupted, looking amused.
"Then you went and made me his Godmother," she teased. "I cannot express how strange that is for me. He was my Professor in Alpha, as well. Twice a mentor, and now I'll be that to him. Boggles the mind!"
"Back on topic…" James urged.
"Right," Hermione smiled. "So between discussions with Melok, Filius, and Nikola, I became aware of what Gregory Magnus stood for, and gave my word that when the time came that I was in a position to, I would do what I could to ensure the Sanctuary thrived. Ultimately, I look back and recall in both Alpha and Beta, Voldemort did look to certain magical creatures to aid him in his rise to power - werewolves in particular - and so I think it prudent that rather than letting the Sanctuary stand alone, uninformed about the war facing the Wizarding world, that it be aware of what's going on at the very least so they can do what they need to do to protect the creature groups under threat from Voldemort. Further, as I promised Nikola, I do mean to do what I can to ensure that the Sanctuary thrives. The Blacks are wealthy, and with our foreknowledge of financial turns, will continue to grow our wealth and can use that to support your mission, among other worthwhile projects."
The Head of the London Sanctuary looked flummoxed. "It's just very strange to meet someone genuinely that altruistic, to that extreme."
She smirked. "I didn't say I gained nothing. Nikola and I discussed it in depth, and he supposes that in Alpha, there was always a division of labor between the Ministry and Sanctuary regarding magical creatures that created a lot of political problems because of arguments over jurisdiction. In Beta, because the Statute was gone, all creatures that were not suited for Muggle eyes were the Sanctuary's domain. While this was the result of a horrific war, it actually seemed to work better, and I think in the long haul, should be the aim of the Sanctuary here. Your counterpart in Beta, Helen, arranged for a few Wizards and Witches to be employed by the Sanctuary to handle the magical creatures who required being handled at wand point, although they were certainly able to work with other Abnormals as well. If you were willing to take my advice, this would be a future you'd work toward, ultimately culminating in the Ministry of Magic in the UK and the Ministries in the rest of the world surrendering all governing of all Magical creatures over to you and the Sanctuary Network."
Helen smiled coyly. "That sounds like I'm gaining, not you."
"There are resources being utilized by the Ministry to control the magical creature population as it stands," Hermione reasoned. "I plan to time things just so, and funnel the Galleons going into that department that will be no longer spent into projects of my choosing. It's all in the timing."
The Head of the Sanctuary Network leaned forward, looking interested. "What sort of projects?"
Melok shook his head. "Gods help the Ministry. That's all I'm saying."
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