A/N: Hello! Yes, I am actually holding to my update plan. I have no desired to be stabbed to death with pencils :)

I do appreciate reviews, as I've said before, but I guess I need to reiterate that I prefer constructive criticism over flames. I had one review recently that said my work was "boring" and "trash", but offered no suggestions to improve my writing. I don't mind constructive criticism – I relish it, actually – but I do mind flames. They're not nice, and they're not helpful. So please review, but remember: no flames.

Those around the room blinked. Rodney was right, they all realized at once. She had said "our kind".

Madeline smiled softly, looking directly at her team when she explained. "I was not born Madeline Marshall. I was born Hermione Granger, and I am a witch."

Sirius's heart stopped altogether. He recognized that name! He knew this girl, but from where he wasn't sure. She was a good deal younger than him – probably she was connected to Harry. A new memory flashed before him, one of Harry and two friends – a boy and a girl. The girl had brown, bushy hair, though, so he wasn't sure if this girl was the one he remembered.

"That's not possible." John said flatly. "There are no witches or wizards on Earth."

"I highly doubt that." Marcus disagreed with him. "I refuse to believe that the Brotherworld is without magic." The other Lorenians nodded. It would be impossible. The Prophecy spoke of those from the Brotherworld as if they were magical.

Hermione sent him a thankful grin. "It isn't. We just don't show ourselves to Muggles if we can help it."

"Muggles?" Rodney repeated.

Hermione sighed. "Non-magic folk like you."

"And you." Rodney added. "You aren't magical."

"I am." Hermione insisted with a laugh. I am. She repeated to herself, amazed that she could still admit it out loud. Not that she was ashamed of it, just that she had hidden her magic for so long. She'd often wondered if she'd ever be able to admit to her true identity.

Ronon watched the bundle in his arms with concern. Now he understood what her earlier debate was all about – she recognized Certus the minute he walked into the room, but didn't dare believe that he was back from the dead. He could see how that would cause anyone extreme shock. If he saw Elizabeth alive and well… Ronon shook his head, just as Made- Hermione had done, to clear his head.

Hermione stood up suddenly, knocking Ronon's protective grip out of the way. "Let me show you." She whipped out a stick about a foot in length and pointed it at Rodney. The scientist blinked, confused but not concerned. "Wingardium Leviosa"

Before Rodney could question the odd words, he felt himself rising slowly off the floor. Soon enough, Hermione's wand had seemingly lifted the scientist three feet in the air. He was still rising, though, much to his chagrin. Rodney watched the Lorenians, trying to find one of their wands. He was sure they were doing this to him.

But the only "magical device" that was out was in the hands of Atlantis's newest diplomat. And she was pointing it at him, moving it in little circles and guiding it upwards at the same speed he was going. "P-p-p-" Rodney stuttered. "m-m-m-"

Hermione smiled. After years of eating breakfast every morning with Ron, she was fairly good at deciphering incoherent noises coming from someone's mouth. "Do you believe me now?"

Rodney glared at her in shock. He was not going to admit that magic existed on Earth. He was not going to admit that he, Rodney McKay, was wrong. He was not going to admit that things could happen that defied the laws of physics, and that this – this girl could control them. He stubbornly shot his nose into the air and folded his arms.

John grinned at his teammate's obvious discomfort. "Rodney doesn't like admitting he's wrong about something," John explained to Made- Hermione. "It'll take him a while to come around."

"Mmm." Hermione commented. "Then perhaps I should leave you somewhere to mull things over a bit?" She guided him to the left, sending him halfway across the room. She looked around, as if searching for a good spot. "Ah!" She noticed a window above the banners behind Marcus's desk. It had a ledge just big enough for Rodney to sit on. "There we go." She announced, releasing Rodney from the spell after guiding him to the ledge.

John, Ronon, and Lorne chuckled. It wasn't every day that someone deflated Rodney's ego, and the three thoroughly enjoyed it when it did happen. Now, they could see, Rodney was trying to find a way down from his ledge.

"Get me down, Marshall, or so help me-" Rodney started.

"You'll what?" The diplomat interrupted. "Kill me with your laser eyes?" She smiled at the outright laughter from the others. "I won't get you down until you admit that you're wrong." She put her hands on her hips. "Trust me, Dr. McKay, not everybody is right all the time about everything."

"I am!" Rodney retorted angrily.

Ronon rolled his eyes. "So, Mad- Hermione, you said you could explain how you know Certus is telling the truth?" He decided it was time to get things back on course.

Hermione nodded, still grinning madly. "Sirius is my friend Harry's godfather. He died 13 years ago. Or at least we thought he had."

Sirius's head swirled. Now he remembered. James had made him godfather. Not Remus. Not Peter. Him! "I'm his godfather," he remarked with a grin.

Hermione nodded. "Yes, you are."

"I don't understand." John interrupted. "Why did you leave?"

Hermione sighed. "It's a long story, and like I said it's not technically legal for me to tell it, but since you already know about us…"

"You don't think you'll get in trouble for telling us." Ronon finished for her.

"No, I don't." Hermione confirmed. "And besides, they'll probably want in on the Stargate program when they find out."

John glared at her. "You signed nondisclosure forms when you were sent here, didn't you?"

"Yes, I did." Hermione stated flatly, glaring right back at him. "But I-"

"Then you can't tell anyone about the program. No matter how much you want to." John interrupted her.

"John, just listen to me!" Hermione said irritably. "Sirius has every right to go back to Earth. How are we supposed to explain his sudden reappearance?"

"Not by telling the entire Magical community of Britain about the Stargate program!" John answered. He didn't think much of rules and regulations, but this was one that they could not break. They played with so many lives if they did.

"Of course not. We'd come up with some wild cover story for the general population." Hermione agreed. "The Wizarding world believes its government to a fault. Anything it says is taken as truth. Sirius and Harry both have been at the wrong side of that over the years."

"We need to leave this decision for our superiors. It's not our call." John said. "What will help matters, though, is if you decided to tell us exactly why you left the 'Wizarding world'. The beginning is typically a good place to start."

Hermione sighed. She wasn't surprised John reacted the way he did; if she were in his shoes she'd have reacted a lot worse. Now… where to begin… Hermione looked up. "This is a long story, so I would appreciate it if we could get through it with as few interruptions as possible." She began after the others nodded. "When I told you I helped fight a gang in England during my youth, I understated things a bit. It was more of a cult than a gang, not dissimilar to the Nazi party in WWII.

"In fact, it was shortly after that time when a young man named Tom Riddle first discovered he was a wizard. Riddle was disturbed; mainly because of the poor treatment he got as an orphan. None of the professors at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry sensed what he had the potential of becoming in those first seven years. If they had, I'm sure history would be very different.

"You see, Riddle hated the Muggles at the orphanage for how they treated him. That hate built itself up until it expanded to all Muggles. It consumed him so much that he changed his name to disassociate himself from his own Muggle father. This was the birth of the most evil wizard of all time: Lord Voldemort." John snorted at the name before the diplomat continued.

"Voldemort gathered followers . He and his Death Eaters started terrorizing Muggles and the wizards who protected them sometime in the 1960's. For over a decade, the Wizarding world waged a silent war between light and Dark.

"Few dared to oppose Voldemort. One was Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts and the only wizard Voldemort ever feared. Dumbledore overheard a prophecy that spoke of a Chosen One who would have the power to defeat the Dark Lord. He put the clues in the prophecies together and sent James, Lilly, and Harry Potter into hiding, convinced that one-year-old Harry was the Chosen One."

"Sorry," John interrupted. "But how did he know that Voldemort was the Dark Lord?"

"That's one of the names he went by." Hermione explained. "Most people were too afraid to say his name, so they called him You-Know-Who, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, or (if you were a Death Eater) the Dark Lord.

"Anyways, Dumbledore knew – thanks to spies – that Voldemort was searching for the Potters. Dumbledore hid them well, but Voldemort eventually found them." Hermione paused. "On Halloween night, 1981, Voldemort murdered Lily and James Potter with the Killing Curse, Avada Kedavra. No one survives the curse. No one, that is, except Harry Potter.

"Harry's mother was protecting him when she died, infusing him with old magic that forced Voldemort's spell to backfire. The curse hit him instead, leaving little Harry with an iconic lightning-bolt scar where the spell hit. And thus started the legend of the Boy-Who-Lived…"

***** Earth, the same day *****

Harry Potter paced his living room. He didn't know what else to do. They'd floo-called the portrait maker, asking if there was some sort of mistake. The wizard looked at Harry like he was a nutter, stating quite clearly that the spell weaved into a portrait never fails. It was so hard to believe that after all these years Sirius was out there somewhere, alive and well. "I just don't see why he wouldn't tell me he's alive." He fumed.

Ginny watched her husband go back and forth in front of the fireplace. She wished Hermione was here; the older girl had always been able to reason with Harry when he was like this. "I'm sure he has a good reason for it, Harry."

"WHAT reason?!" Harry exploded. "SIRIUS WOULDN'T DO THIS!"

"No, Harry, he wouldn't." Ginny agreed. "He hated going into hiding, anyone could see that. No, I'm not sure he even knows he's Sirius Black."

Harry stopped. "You think he's been Obliviated?"

Ginny shrugged. "It's possible."

Harry shook his head. "No it isn't, Gin. I saw him fall behind the Veil. I saw him die." Harry looked back up at the portrait now hanging in between Ron and Hermione.

"We don't know what that Veil does. For all we know, it Obliviated him and sent him into the Muggle world somewhere." Ginny reminded him. "They never did find his body, after all, did they?"

Harry shook his head again and slumped into a couch. He hung his head. "What are we going to do, Gin?"

Ginny sighed. "I don't know, Harry, I don't know. I'm not entirely sure we can do anything."

Harry looked up at her sharply. "What are you saying? This is SIRIUS we're talking about. He's family. We don't leave family behind."

Ginny smiled sadly at her husband. "Harry, we wouldn't have the slightest idea where to look for him. He could be anywhere. There are six billion people on this world, Harry, do you seriously suggest we bring in each one for questioning?"

Harry rose his eyebrows. "Of course not, but I can't just sit here and do nothing while my godfather is still out there somewhere." He stood up and grabbed a handful of Floo powder.

"Where are you going?" Ginny asked worriedly, standing up herself.

"To get some answers." Harry threw the Floo powder into the fireplace. "The Minister's Office." He enunciated before stepping into the fireplace and vanishing in a puff of green smoke.

Ginny took her own handful of Floo powder and followed her husband to the Ministry.

A sunset poured through the window above the tapestries in the Prolium's office in Tara. It had taken nearly two hours to tell the entire story of the Second War and Hermione's role in it, and she still wasn't quite done.

Hermione sighed after a long pause. "The last few months I lived with the Wizarding world were wonderful. A lot of work, of course, but incredible all the same. Kingsly Shacklebolt was placed as a temporary Minister, since everyone from the Order trusted him. We were rebuilding the government bit by bit, starting from the top. We replaced the department heads Voldemort had hired with more trustworthy people and rebuked all of the anti-Muggle legislation his regime had shoved through in the last year. I helped a lot with the reorganization of things; Kingsly said I had a good head for that sort of thing and looked to me for advice.

"Harry and Ron worked with the Auror department, tracking down the last of the Death Eaters. After they were caught, the three of us helped organize the prosecution for their trials."

"You still tried them?" Rodney asked. He'd long since agreed that he was wrong, and Hermione had taken him down from the windowsill.

"Harry didn't want anyone to go without a trial. He thought they might find someone who really was under the Imperius Curse, like most of the Death Eaters claimed. I guess he wanted to stop anyone who was innocent from getting the same treatment Sirius did." Hermione paused again before she continued.

"We were so influential in the Wizarding world that we had a pack of reporters following us wherever we went. None of us liked it much, so we all decided to get houses in Muggle areas." Hermione scoffed. "That wasn't the best idea."

"Why not?" Ronon asked. "It would hide your home from other wizards."

"Yes, it did." Hermione agreed. "For awhile." She looked down. This was the hardest part to tell. "Four months after the Battle of Hogwarts, Ron got the courage to propose. The next morning, a Death Eater – no one knows who he was - attacked him on his morning jog." She shook her head sadly. "I always told him not to go out of the wards, but he never listened…" Ronon wrapped his arms around Hermione, who had sat back down in his lap.

"I decided to go into hiding. Ron had been my rock those last months. His sudden death knocked me off of my feet. It wasn't long before I was jumping at shadows, where no one could possibly get at me. Harry tried to help, but it just wasn't enough. Everything reminded me of Ron. I couldn't live in the Wizarding world without thinking about him."

"So you ran." Rodney concluded.

Hermione nodded, even though she could feel Ronon tensing at Rodney's flippant remark. "I ran." She sighed. "The Ministry created a new identity for me and sent me into the Muggle world. I'd been studying Muggle classes while at Hogwarts, so I was able to get a high school diploma after a year. College was simple, since I threw myself at my studies, not wanting anyone to be used to get at me if the Death Eaters found me. It was a valid concern, rogue Death Eaters, after all. Anyways, I finished my degrees before I turned 25 and I became a diplomat at 26 with the Muggle Prime Minister. I worked in America for a year before coming to Atlantis." She fell silent. Merlin I hope they haven't turned on me.

John stood over her, staring down thoughtfully. "I don't think you've done anything worth losing your position here."

Rodney snorted. "Just wait until the IOA hears about this. The bastards will want her head."

Hermione smiled grimly. "I can deal with the IOA. They can't be worse than the Ministry I dealt with as a child."

John nodded his agreement. "What I'm more concerned about is what they'll do to you. I've no doubt you can handle them, but they'll want answers."

"I can give them that." Hermione said.

"You don't understand. They'll want more than just answers to their questions." Rodney said. "They'll want to figure out how magic works. At any cost."

Hermione shot him a look. "You're not suggesting they'd-"

"Yes, I am." Rodney interrupted.

"They can't." Hermione retorted. "Not unless they want an international incident on their hands."

Ronon saw what she was saying. "You're an English diplomat."

"And if they start running experiments on me, the Prime Minister will have their heads." Hermione said with a smile. "So will the Minister of Magic."

"How would the Minister of Magic know?" John asked.

"They've been keeping tabs on me, I'm sure." Hermione said calmly. "There's no way they'd let one of their war heroes disappear without having someone watching them." She paused. "Or at least being aware of said war hero's whereabouts."

John nodded. It made sense. He would probably do the same thing in their shoes. "We can deal with them later. Major Lorne, can you go check in with Carter? It's about that time. Tell her that we've met with the Lorenian leadership and we're still in discussions."

Lorne frowned. "Should I say anything about Hermione?"

John shook his head. "Not yet. We'll all go back down tomorrow and she can tell Carter herself. And yes, you should tell her about the five-day deadline. She needs to start preparing for everything."

"Levin, Apparate him to the Portal." Marcus spoke for the first time in a long while.

Levin got up and moved over to Lorne. "This will feel strange, but it is perfectly safe for those who've received the proper training." He put his hand on Lorne's shoulder and the two disappeared with a loud pop.

John turned to Marcus. "Now, what can we do to help?"

A/N: Mark your calendars. Two weeks :)