An: Just… uugh. Between work, school, and an improv. Troupe I managed to get myself into. I haven't had a second to write. I swear I will have more time now because I JUST finished my last exam! YAY! Summer break for me!

Chapter 8: Night at the Museum

"Hermione can we take a break?"

Hermione paused and looked down the boy next to her. Tom was slumping in exhaustion and his feet dragged slightly as he pulled up next to her. She frowned.

"I don't know…" she was reluctant to stop; she only had one more day before she travelled and she needed to find a pensieve while she still could. God only knew where she would end up next. The note her future self had given Tom provided some clues, she knew what dates she would go to, but not in what order. It made planning impossible, much to her frustration. Today could be her last chance to see the memories for a long time. But we have been searching since breakfast…

Tom's jaw clenched and his eyes went to his shoes. "Please. I'm tired."

Hermione sighed. He must have been exhausted to have admitted to being tired, the boy was stubborn as a mule. "Alright Tom, we will stop, but only for a few minutes." She glanced around until she spotted a tiny restaurant on the corner of the street. "How about there?" Tom shrugged. Hermione took that as an OK. "Let's go then."

They made their way across the bustling street and into the building and Hermione let out a small sound of contentment. Cooling charms were merlin's gift to wizards. A man was instantly there to greet them.

"Hello, welcome to The Hole in the Wall let me take you to your table."

Hermione smiled at the server and followed along behind him to a small table in the back. The place was quiet and except for one other table, empty. It suited Hermione just fine. The man set menus and silverware down for them before returning to his post at the front of the building.

Hermione took the opportunity to look around as Tom glanced over the menu in front of him. It wasn't a very large place, with no more than twenty booths all the same shade of brick red lined up in neat rows. There were four doors in the place. Two to the bathrooms next to her, one to the kitchen a few feet to her left, and one back out the front door. It was always good to know where the exits were.

Unless there is a way out through the kitchens we would be trapped here. She thought uncomfortably, wanting nothing more than to leave and start walking again. She hadn't seen the Paradox Chasers yet, but she was convinced that should she stop….

She shook her head and tried not to think about it too much. The thought didn't stop her from eyeing the door every few seconds though.

A girl made her way out of the kitchen. She was younger than Hermione, probably no older than sixteen years old with long curly blond hair pulled back out of her face. She walked over to them with a bright smile.

"Hello! My name is Darla and I will be looking after you today. Can I get you anything to drink?"

"Water," Tom instantly responded, "lots of water."

The girl grinned at the boy. "Lots of water? We can do that." She looked over at Hermione "How about for you?"

"Same thanks." The woman flounced off, high heels clacking noisily with each step. Not even a minute later, she was back with two sweating glasses and a large pitcher of ice water.

"Charmed to refill as often as you like," she told Tom with a smile. She looked between the two of them. "Is there anything else I can get you right now? Something to eat perhaps?"

"…I'm not sure. Can you come back in a few minutes?" Hermione said.

Darla looked disappointed for a minute before nodding and rushing back into the kitchen. When she was gone Hermione let herself slump down onto the table, resting her head on her arms, still keeping half an eye on the front doors. She hadn't realized just how exhausted she was.

Across from her she heard Tom gulping down cup after cup of water. I shouldn't have kept him out in the heat so long. She looked at the child across from her. Sweat had plastered his hair to his scalp and his cheeks were an alarming shade of red.

He should have told me the cooling charm I put on him had faded…

"Can I get you two anything else… besides more water?" Darla was back. Apparently the concept of a few minutes had changed since her time.

Hermione was about to say no but Tom looked cautiously over at her in silent inquiry. "Well I don't need anything, but if you like you can order something Tom."

The waitress turned to the little boy and her smile grew even brighter. "What would you like dear?"

Instantly, Tom's expression shifted and Hermione watched in fascination as his eyes grew a fraction wider and his shoulders slumped a bit. "Just some fish and chips please."

"Ohh, such a polite boy," the waitress cooed. "I will put that order right in for you." She zipped away without another word.

"Why bother with the act Tom?"

His expression faded into his usual stoicism. "People tend to give me things if I look pathetic."

Hermione shook her head. He was such a manipulative child. But really weren't all children manipulative when they wanted something? She recalled more than one occasion when she begged her parents for something and had gotten it by pouting for long enough.

"You still shouldn't manipulate people like that."

Tom shrugged and returned to his water.

A few minutes later the waitress returned with a large plate of fish and chips and a slice of cherry pie.

"For after your fish, it's on me."

Tom beamed at her. "Thank you."

"You are cuter than a bug's ear!" She squealed and looked like she wanted to do nothing more than to embrace the little boy. Before she could give into the impulse Hermione decided to speak up.

"If you could get us our check we should be finished here."

Darla nodded and scurried off.

"Told you." Tom smirked, and dragged the pie to him.

"Oh for goodness sake Tom eat your fish first. You need the protein."

"Yes mum."

"Unless your snark will get us closer to a pensieve, I would appreciate it if you would be civil."

Tom scowled and looked like he was going to say something cross when the waitress reappeared with a small tray that held their bill.

"Here is your bill, when you are ready you can put the money on the tray…" she paused, hesitating at the edge of their table. "I don't mean to intrude, but I heard you are looking for a pensive?"

Tom and Hermione fixed their attention on the nervous waitress.

"You know where we can find one?" Tom asked intently.

The woman nodded. "Yes, there is one open to the public at the National Wizarding Museum in South Kensington. You go in through the muggle Natural History Museum, in the main hall there is a statue of Charles Darwin. Tap his head and say Evolution."

"That is keen!" Tom said with a grin. The waitress blushed under the sudden praise.

"Oh it's nothing really. My uncle goes to use it all the time so I thought I would pass the information on. Still good luck and have a nice day." With that she retreated back into the kitchen.

Tom turned to face Hermione, joy lighting up his features. "Let's go!"

Hermione was eager to go as well, she was running on limited time after all, but she finally said.

"After you eat."

Tom glared down at the fish like it had personally offended him and quickly stuffed his mouth. She had never seen the boy look so improper doing anything. She had to resist giggling at the sight of his bloated cheeks as he tried to stuff two pieces of fish into his mouth at the same time. When Tom turned to the pie Hermione pulled the check to her and laid a few sickles on the tray to pay for the food and a few more on the table for the tip.

"Ok I'm done, come on Hermione. Shake a leg." Tom was up and moving.

"Oh slow down Tom, you don't even know where we are going!"

A quick bout of apparition and a password later Hermione and Tom were in the middle of the National Wizarding Museum. It was bustling with people. Hermione had been surprised; the muggle part of the museum was almost empty when they arrived.

"Wow." She heard Tom mutter.

Hermione looked around and couldn't help but be impressed. Things were moving, flashing, glowing, hovering, and making all sorts of noises. There was so much to look at and touch and listen to. I wish I had known about this in my time, I would have spent hours here.

Hermione was sorely tempted to rush over to a case filled with old tomes to look them over but her mental clock reminded her of how little time she had left. A few hours at the most. With that in mind she tapped Tom on the shoulder to get his attention and made her way over to the information desk.

Behind the desk an old wizard sat. He had giant glasses that magnified his eyes to about three times their size, white fluffy hair that stuck up every which way, and bells tied to his long droopy beard. They twinkled softly as the little man looked up at Hermione as she made her way over.

"Evening Miss, how can I help?"

"I was looking for the public pensieves could you-"

"Oh I could and I would, but I can't, all the public pensieves are booked up for the rest of the week."

Hermione paled, "The rest of the week?" I don't have that kind of time!

"Yes, I can pencil you in for Thursday though."

"I'm sorry but I will be… out of town. Is there any way I could use one now?"

The old wizard frowned and his magnified eyes crinkled as he thought. "Well… I suppose if someone misses their appointment I could let you take the slot. But only if someone doesn't show up."

Hermione sighed in relief, hope flaring in her chest. "Thank you sir, if you don't mind I will wait here to see if something opens up."

The old wizard beamed. "I have no problem with a pretty witch keeping me company, but what about your… child?"

She looked down at Tom.

"I can wait here with you." He offered, but his eyes drifted out toward the exhibits.

"You don't have to. Go and explore. Just make sure you check back in with me in a half an hour!" She called after him as he disappeared into the crowd.

Why do I feel like I have let loose a bull in a china shop? She wondered as the little wizard pulled over the chair next to him for her to sit on.

"Thank you, sir," she said with a smile.

"Oh, don't bother with sir call me Bertie. Bertie Bott."

She jolted at the name. Couldn't be… he is much too old his father perhaps?

"Ok, Bertie. Quick question, you don't happen to have any sons do you?"

"Sons? No. I do have a daughter though." He pulled a picture toward him from his desk and handed it to her. "Love of my life that girl." The girl in the picture waived at her upon being noticed. She had brown hair and blue eyes, a slim figure Hermione envied greatly, and a gentle smile. "She just got married last month. A good man, if a bit absent minded. He owns a sweet shop in Bath."

"Do you get to see them often?"

Bertie smiled sadly. "Not often enough for my liking."

He then asked about her family and Hermione told him as much as she could without giving too much away. The talk then turned to Bertie again. He told her about his work at the museum ("Restoring old and forgotten things, it's an art I tell you!") and about the people he had seen coming through the museum over the years. ("One woman came in her wearing an outfit made entirely of feathers. Let me tell you all the fellas got an eyeful when a gust of wind came through!")

They kept up their conversation as time passed and people came and left. Every once and a while Bertie would glance down at a manifesto of names and one by one they glowed and disappeared. "As each person goes in to use it, the names are crossed off. They get an hour and after that hour the next person can come in. If the name doesn't disappear, that person didn't show up."

He explained when she asked. There were two names left when Tom finally wandered back, eyes glowing.

"There is so much here," he all but gushed. "I have questions-"

He was so eager and excited she didn't have the heart to scold him for showing up so late. He quizzed her on all she knew, even managing to get Bertie to talk about some of the magical artifacts the museum had to offer. The old man warmed to Tom quickly and soon the two were in their own little world and Hermione couldn't help but be fascinated by Tom. For such a young boy he was asking questions way beyond his level and she was almost flabbergasted by his intelligence.

In a few years… what could he be?

She knew Voldemort had been smart, definitely highly intelligent. She knew that when she was trying to study his dark marks and recreate the spell for the DA's use. She had never associated the Dark Lord with this level of brilliance though. Right now he is at the level as I was at when I was eleven… I think he might be smarter than I am.

The thought winded her. There were very few people she considered smarter than her, and none of them were younger than she was.

"…and there goes the last name. I am sorry Miss. Granger, but that's it for today."

Tom and Bertie were staring at her. Bertie's eyes were large and sad and Tom's were sharp and slightly narrowed.

"What?"

"The last name, it glowed. The museum will close in the hour they have to use the pensive in. I am sorry."

No!

"Oh…"

"Hermione can I show you something before we have to go?"

Hermione blinked "Er, sure Tom."

The boy raced forward and grabbed her hand and started to drag her deep into the museum.

"Where are you taking me?" She asked when they were out of earshot of the other patrons.

"To the pensieve, I found the room it was in while you were talking to Bott."

"But Tom there is someone in there-"

"So we make them leave."

"We?"

"Yes, I am going to help you."

"Tom I am not putting you in danger again!"

He rolled his eyes. "Nothing can hurt me if I don't want it to."

Your arrogance is going to get you killed. "If you keep underestimating people you could get seriously hurt. We are going for the pensieve yes but, hold on a second."

Tom glared at her in frustration. "Why? We are running out of time."

Hermione didn't respond and instead pulled out her wand. She ignored his flinch and tapped him on the head, watching as he slowly disappeared under the disillusion charm. She then tapped herself and shuddered at the feeling of runny eggs going down her spine.

"You made us invisible?" Tom sounded impressed.

"Sort of, it's more like we blend into the background. We will still have to be quiet though… now take me to the pensive room." If Tom nodded she didn't see it. A second later he grabbed her arm and started tugging her though an exhibit that had to do with the evolution of memory charms. There was no one around.

"It's past that door over by that orb," he whispered.

"Alright… I am going to go in. Stay out here and let me know if anyone is coming. If you see anyone coming toward us, try and lock the door and alert me."

"…Ok."

Hermione slowly loosed herself from his grip and crept toward the door, doing her best to keep her footsteps silent. It wasn't locked she discovered upon turning the knob and slowly swung the door open. There was the pensieve sitting in the middle of the room on a stand, glowing brightly from the memory inside. Next to that stand was a table with a small rack to hold potion vials. There was a single empty glass container in the rack.

Hermione moved over to the pensieve and peered down inside. There was an older man; she could see him watching a young couple kissing on a stone bench. The man in the memory looked like a younger version of the older man who was watching. He was reliving memories of his youth. She cringed at the thought of disturbing him before steeling herself. He could come back again. She couldn't.

She reached into the pensive and felt around until she caught something solid. With a great tug she tore the man out of his memories. The man came flying out, landing flat on his back, dazed.

With a quick flick of her wrist the man was stunned, staring blankly up at the celling. "I'm sorry." She whispered to him as she bottled his memory and slipped it into his frozen hand.

With that Hermione reached into her own pocket and pulled out three vials. She quickly uncorked the one labeled first and slowly dripped it into the pensieve. When it was empty Hermione carefully set the vial aside and gently touched the silvery memory, letting it pull her in.

Hermione had been dropped into a large, unfamiliar room. There was an enormous fire place casting a gentle glow through the room. On the mantle was a flower pot filled with what she assumed was floo powder and pictures filled with people she had never met before. There were two giant armchairs on a plush rug in front of the fire with a small table in-between them. On the table was a paper.

June 17th 2013

"If you turn to look at the walls, I think you will be very happy with what you find."

Hermione knew that voice.

A figure moved into sight, and Hermione was looking at herself- but an older version of herself.

Future Hermione was more…womanly. Her hips looked wider, her breasts plumper, and her face looked a bit rounder. She looked tired, there were dark shadows under her eyes and there were slight wrinkles around her mouth from either constant smiling or frowning. Past Hermione really hoped it was the former.

Doing as she was told Hermione glanced over the walls. They were filled with books, new books, old books, rare books, common books- going up three floors. This is what she had always imagined her library to look like.

"It only took being a time traveler to collect this many." Her older self said with a smile and settled down into one of the plush chairs by the fire with a content sigh. "It was all about being in the right place at the right time and sometimes I had the luck to stumble into an author whose book I wanted."

Her older self's eyes found the place Hermione was standing and Hermione was suddenly nervous at the exhaustion she found there. What had happened to make her so tired?

"Life happened." The woman replied, much to Hermione's surprise. "I know what you are thinking, considering I once WAS you… but not quite the you, you are currently."

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked out loud.

"You are asking what I am talking about, I am almost positive of that. What I mean is I am not you, and you may never become ME because of my meddling." The older woman's eyes were far away as she looked into the fire. "I am not sure if that is a good or bad thing yet, and I will never know because of my current choices."

Hermione said nothing as questions bounced around in her brain. The older woman smiled. "I will try and answer your questions as best as I can. But I can only answers the ones I, myself, asked when I was in your situation." The woman settled back into her seat and closed her eyes for a moment as if she were thinking very deeply.

"It was so long ago it is hard to remember everything I wanted to ask. I wrote it all down once but I lost it when we moved… I think I should start at the beginning of our story though and answer the questions I would have wanted to know as I go." Before she could start a young house elf popped into the room with a tea tray.

"For Miss," The little elf declared proudly and put the tray down on the table in-between the chairs.

"Thank you dear, you can go back to your chores now." The elf bowed and popped away.

"Sweet little thing," future Hermione said with a smile, picking up a very fine looking cup and taking a sip of the tea. "He makes a good cup, gets that from his mother." She set the cup down on a saucer on her lap. "Now where was I? Ah yes, the beginning."

"A very long time ago the first Hermione traveled back in time to the 1800's and from then on moved forward at a pace of about three to five years remaining at each place she traveled to for about one year at a time. This Hermione did a great many things, learning and studying and making friends of all sorts before making it back to her own time." The woman took another sip of tea. "No, she didn't age in all that time until she hit the year of her birth. Only then did she start to age again. In essence, as long as we are traveling back before our first birthday we are immortal unless we are killed… and we CAN die Hermione, don't forget that."

"What you mean by the FIRST Hermione?" she asked, despite knowing this person couldn't hear her.

"I bet you are wondering about my terminology. It's not exactly correct; we are, after all, the same person. But each of our experiences has made us so different from one another that we might as well be entirely different people. My life isn't going to be your life... at least I hope it will not be." The woman looked down into her cup and traced the rim with a finger. "Not that my life is bad by any means, I merely wish things had turned out differently."

Regret hung about her aura and for a moment Hermione thought the older version of herself had forgotten her until she spoke again. "I have been so blessed with my life, I have made wonderful friends and allies and I wouldn't trade a moment spent with them. But sometimes I wonder… if I have been wrong this whole time about certain things. That is why I am here talking to you, to give you a chance at a happiness I never got to have because of fear."

The woman sighed and shook her head. "But I am getting ahead of myself. I was telling you about the first Hermione… she lived her life, and she died after living to a ripe old age after changing the world for the better. There wasn't much information about her by the time I came along." She took a sip of her tea. "The second Hermione went through something similar, except she followed the events of the first Hermione in the wrong order. She was the one who figured out that there would be a Hermione after her and was the first to try and create a system of guiding the next version of herself."

The woman smiled slightly. "It continued on from there until it turned into what I first found in the wardrobes in the vault. There was so much inside, memories from all the past Hermiones, parchment paper with new spells worked on for years between all of us, new potions to cure and kill and a bevy of other things. We formulated new mathematical concepts, learned how to care for and find rare plants, and where to find lost cities of magic. We even discovered a new planet. All the while we left hints and tips of who we should talk to and the patterns of where we might end up next and who to trust with our key. Who had broken that trust, and who hadn't, what bits of information to give to who, when, what should be changed and what should never be changed."

Hermione frowned. She had seen nothing like that when she had opened the wardrobe. Perhaps it had been in the one next to it?

"It was hard to follow at first, there was so much to look at and study and I was so young and new to Time Traveling. Most of it went right over my head but the more I studied the more I learned and the more I tried to follow in my own footsteps… or the past-me's footsteps rather… as best as I could. All the past Hermiones had created a diagram to be followed on how to create a better more perfect world, tweaking and changing it over and over again… we are practically Gods Hermione. With our power we can change the world in almost any way we want to and I was positive it was all for the better."

The future Hermione sighed deeply. "I was very wrong, but by the time realized it, it was too late to fix. At least it is too late for ME to fix, there is still time to do the right thing instead of the thing I thought was right. So I burned all the information inside the wardrobe. All the diagrams, books, spells- they are all gone. I have left you all of our accumulated resources but nothing else."

"But what should I do? Where do I go?" Hermione felt the first stages of true panic set in.

"You will be fine, I know you will be. Just relax, don't panic, and choose your key holder wisely. I have left you two other vials with-"

"HERMIONE!" the shout reverberated around her. "They're here! I need help!" It was Tom.

"-I hope it will be enough. Break the chain Hermione. For all our sakes, be the one who breaks the chain."

The memory started to fade. "HERMIONE!" Tom shouted again, and with a great tug- she was back in the museum.

Tom was flashing in and out of visibility. Both of his hands were braced against the door and glowing a dark blue. The door was shuddering badly and a few parts had already broken in. Tom's hair was covered in wood shavings. "I don't think I can hold them back much longer!"

Hermione whipped out her wand and cast three of the strongest locking charms she knew. The door stopped its shuddering and Tom slumped to the ground. He was breathing hard and his hair glistened wetly with sweat. "What took you so long?" He gasped out.

"I'm sorry."

"Well… you are here now. Get us out of here."

Hermione glanced back at the two other vials of memory. She would not have the time to look them over... at all. She was going to travel soon, and she couldn't exactly take them with her. I can't give them to Tom either. I don't know what would happen if he got information about the future. Whatever it is. Regretfully she raised her wand again.

"Reducto!" The vials shattered under the power of the spell, and the silver memory inside dripped down to the floor. Useless. "Come here Tom."

The boy's gaze flicked in-between her and the glass for a moment and she thought he might not come near her until the door shuddered again. He was at her side in an instant. She took a hold of his shoulder.

"Hold on." She warned and tried to apparate only to hit a very strong barrier. They were trapped.

A chill worked its way down Hermione's spine. But it wasn't fear. This is what happened to me last time before I traveled.

Tom looked up at her "Well? Are we going or not?"

"I am about to travel." Hermione said weakly as she started to shake. Tom's eyes widened in surprise.

"Now?"

She nodded. She had to think and think fast. She would be safe from danger when she traveled, Tom would be left behind. I can't leave him in danger again. Then an idea struck. Hermione reached for her neck, pulling out the fine silver chain with the two keys on the end of it. One was for the vault, the other was the key to the flat she had added on that morning.

She cast spells in quick succession, trying hard to fight the trembling in her arm. I hope this works.

"What's this?" Tom asked as she placed the chain around his neck.

"One is the vault key, it's about time I gave it back to you, and the other… well that's a key to the flat. I made it into a portkey, it will take you back there if you give it the password."

"What will happen after that?"

"It will be a normal key again… I want you to keep it Tom."

Tom stared uncomprehendingly at her. "You mean you want me to have it until you leave." He asked slowly.

Hermione shook her head although it was hard to. She was trembling even harder and the cold feeling was spreading from her chest to the rest of her body. "No. I want you to keep it. Even after I leave, I want you to have access to the flat. I charmed it for permanence so when I travel it will not disappear."

Tom's expression went flat, she could see the gears in his head turning rapidly, trying to assimilate what she was telling him. "You… are asking me to live with you?"

"Yes you could put it that way. You don't have to if you don't want to though, you could go back to the orphanage and use it as a safe house…" She trailed off.

"…Why on earth would I say no?" He asked softly clutching at the keys around his neck until his knuckles turned white.

The door shattered and she saw the blond Chaser peer into the room. They were out of time.

"Courage." She whispered, and Tom, still clutching the keys, disappeared.

"We finally got you, Granger." The shorter Chaser, Booth, growled and prowled toward her.

Hermione's teeth stared to chatter.

"T-t-too late." She breathed out and before the older man could say another word or take another step, Hermione disappeared into the Time Stream.