Chapter Title: "Bridge over Troubled Water" is a song by the American folk duo Simon & Garfunkel, released in January 1970 as the second single from their fifth studio album, Bridge over Troubled Water.
There was A LOT of curiosity about Theo's Golden Cord, but I won't be giving away anything yet!
Late July 1970
Draco
"Oh good you're here," Dedalus said, marching into the kitchen. "I need your help in the yard."
Draco followed the older man outside. When they arrived he groaned seeing the large pile of stones resting in the middle of the let out a groan, which made Dedalus chuckle. "Alright, my boy," he grinned, "we need to make that into a new fence."
Since coming back to the 70s, Theo, Hermione and he had been trying to assimilate into the culture. It hadn't always gone as smoothly as Draco would have liked. Shockingly, things before their jump had been calmer and easier to navigate. He'd thought, maybe foolishly, that going back in time would be easier since there wasn't an active war going on.
Earlier that week, they'd had their first large row after someone had made a snide comment about Hermione and him in Muggle London.
"You're not going to say anything?" he hissed at Hermione who had blinked twice at the angry looking man on the other side of the store.
"Not here, Draco," she said quietly, dropping her eyes and looking nothing like his fierce, lioness.
He clenched his jaw. "I'd thank you notto make sure comments about my wife," Draco spat back at the man.
The man laughed, "I see someone has decided to play around in the mud, what ever did your Mummy and Daddy say when they found out you'd lower-" Draco punched him and was quickly led out of the store, and asked not to return.
Hermione, if anything, looked embarrassed, apologising profusely to the manager of the store. "You're lucky we even let you in," he said with a sneer. "The two of you are not welcome back."
Draco saw her blinking back tears as she walked away towards the Apparition Point. "Love-" he started, but quickly stopped when she sent a glare his way.
"Not. Here." she bit out. He took her warning and quietly followed behind, taking her proffered arm when she Apparated them away. When they arrived at Granger Estate, he followed her towards their bedroom.
"I don't understand, why didn't you say anything?" he asked after a few tense moments of silence.
"God you really don't get it, do you?" she said turning towards him, face blotchy.
"Get what, Granger? Get that you were being a coward?" he spat back, regretting his words immediately.
She laughed darkly. "I thought you did all the reading, Malfoy?" she spat. He cringed at her use of his last name. "You were so quick to tell Theo and I that you understood, but it turns out that you can't see past your own nose!"
"What are you talking about, Hermione?" he asked sharply.
"No," she said firmly. "You don't get to 'Hermione' me here. Not during this," she gestured between them. After a moment, she sunk onto the chair across from them. "Draco, the Muggle world isn't like the Wizarding World. People, my people, were enslaved for ages. There are so many people who still don't see me and my Mum as deserving of equal rights."
Not for the first time, Draco felt his gut clench at the thought. He had done that to her in the Wizarding World. "I-"
"Let me finish," she said softly. "All those things that Tom promised to make happen for so long to Muggleborns? They happened already to my ancestors. That is one of the many reasons I've fought so hard to stop him. I don't want my-our children to have to deal with the same bigotry that I did growing up, in either world."
"Granger, come on, I've changed, I didn't mean-" he started, trying to show her how apologetic he was.
"That's just it though, Draco," she said softly. "I know you've changed, but I don't think you totally understand yet." She sighed. "When you think of Magic users in Africa or the Caribbean, what do you think of?"
"Well…" he trailed off. He understood her question right after she asked it. He thought of the stories of cannibalistic tribes and evil voodoo practices. He thought of strange, foreign magics that didn't make sense. He thought of people in huts that didn't eat off of china, but instead with their hands.
"That," she said quietly, "is what I'm talking about. The British, both Muggle and Magical, have this very skewed view of my people. Curry is practically a national dish, but most Brits don't even think about the things that happened in India. The Trans-Atlantic Slave trade, colonization…" she dropped her head against the back of the couch.
"I'm sorry," he whispered.
"I know you are," she said. "I just… I can't fight a battle that I have no chance of winning, Draco. I have to save the Wizarding World before I can eradicate Racism… and even then…"
"You shouldn't have to do everything, Granger. Let me help. I-I want to help," he ended quietly.
"I'm not sure you can help with this," she said as she stood, leaving the bedroom quietly.
After their conversation, Draco had doubled down on his efforts to understand the political climate. He attended talks and rallies. He found Muggles to talk to about their own experiences. He even found a group of other Mixed Race Spouses. He hadn't told Hermione about any of that, because it wasn't about validation, it was about understanding. They hadn't broached the topic again, but Draco had discussed it with the other group members and he knew he needed to.
"What's going through your mind, son?" Dedalus asked after a long stretch of silence.
"Just thinking about Mia and I. We were out in Muggle London a few weeks ago and this man said something very rude about us. I didn't handle it well," Draco ended sheepishly.
"Ah," Dedalus said quietly. "Yeah, Inaya and I had a rough go with that at the beginning."
"What changed?" Draco asked curiously.
"Well we don't go out into the Muggle World much together," Dedalus said quietly. "When we were younger it was worse than it is now." Draco just stared at him. "We've been fortunate that the Magical World doesn't care much about skin colour or Muggle religion."
Draco looked at him thoughtfully. "I have heard some things about Muggle Religion, but I can't help but think that there isn't much difference between the different sects?"
Dedalus chuckled, "Don't let them hear you saying that, people tend to be very protective of their beliefs." Draco nodded in understanding. "Inaya and I have discussed what her beliefs mean to her in depth. Religion and Magic here really diverged after the Church split from Catholicism in 1534. Before that most people spoke about Magic and Religion in the same ways. Most Islamic countries still do. I know there is a chapel at the Vatican that focuses on Magical ceremony."
"Why have I never heard about this?" Draco asked with a huff.
"Because the Sacred 28," Dedalus said with an eye roll, "stomped out any talk of religion rather quickly and efficiently, especially after the Witch Trials."
"I think I have more research to do," Draco said heavily. "I want Mia to feel welcome and…"
"If I've learned anything during my marriages," Dedalus said with a grin, "it's that you should talk to her about all this."
"You didn't see her face," Draco said softly. "She was so… disappointed."
Dedalus looked at him shrewdly, "From everything you've told me about her, she was feeling overwhelmed by the experience and just needed her own time to process."
"You might be right," Draco said with a sigh.
"Looks like that's the last stone, let's join the women inside," Dedalus said, clapping him on the shoulder.
Hermione
They had fallen into a routine with Dedalus and Inaya. Most weeks found Hermione standing in the kitchen with Inaya, learning to cook. While Inaya's food wasn't the same as the foods that her own mother had cooked, she found that the techniques could be fairly easily replicated in her own cultural dishes.
Hermione reveled in the attention from the older woman. Inaya was much more domestic than her own mother, but was whip smart and had lived an ambitious life alongside her husband. She'd worked for years at the Ministry and had spent quite a few at Hogwarts working as the Arithmancy Professor, having retired only the year before.
Dedalus and Inaya had gotten together after they'd both raised families. Inaya had left Pakistan in the mid 60s with her children to settle in the UK and Dedalus' first wife had passed during WWII.
"Have you and Dedalus ever had issues?" Hermione asked one afternoon as she was learning to make pie.
Inaya chuckled. "Of course we have. Everyone fights, especially when they're in love. Now tell me, what happened?"
Hermione swallowed heavily and sighed. "I'm not sure how much you know about the Muggle World but…" she looked up at the older woman. "We'll I'm sure you've seen some of the racism present with people who look like me?"
"Aye, it was a rather stunning transition when I arrived," Inaya said with a sigh.
"Oh?" Hermione asked.
"Well sure, I came in the 60s. I'm a half-blood by British standards," she added with a shrug. "I went out into the Muggle world fairly often when I first arrived, better variety at the market,"she added with a grin. "The first time Dedalus and I went out together was an absolute train wreck."
"What happened?" Hermione asked, fully abandoning the pretence of working on dinner.
"We were practically chased from the store. Some rot about our culture," she added. Hermione nodded and waited for her to continue. "Finally we stopped going out into the Muggle world together. He didn't have much experience with it anyway and I didn't feel like it was necessary to my day to day."
"It didn't bother either of you?" Hermione asked quietly.
"I think it bothered him more than me, to be honest," Inaya said thoughtfully. "I'm used to it. It's not always been the most welcoming place to be like me, I've learned where I stand with things, I suppose."
Hermione sighed, she didn't want to have to constantly be guarding and protecting his feelings. She felt like she'd been doing that for men for so long, and she was exhausted. He was her Soulmate, it shouldn't feel like such a challenge, should it?
"You should talk to him," Inaya said, knowingly, "Be the Gryffindor I know you are, he might surprise you."
Theo
Theo had put his thoughts about any potential soulmate aside, he'd started bringing Alan to places that he knew Ted Tonks and Andromeda Black frequented. It was a good way to kill two birds with one stone as it were.
"Theo?" Alan asked one afternoon when they were sprawled on a blanket in PARK.
"Hm?" he asked absentmindedly, pulling his attention from the book he'd been reading.
"Do you ever wish we were normal?" Alan asked, twirling a dandelion in between his fingers.
"We are normal?" Theo asked, confused by his question.
"No I mean like, that?" he gestured to Ted and Andromeda who were sitting on a bench eating ice cream.
"No, not especially," Theo said, shrugging. "I suppose I came to accept myself when my Father kicked me out and my Great Aunt took me in. Can't say I'm even a little sorry about him dying."
When his companion hadn't spoken for a few long moments, Theo turned to look at him. Alan was weeping, openly. "I- I have to tell you something," he said quietly.
"What is it?" Theo said, preparing for the worst.
"I'm married," Alan said quietly. "She's lovely. I wish I was attracted to her. Her name is-"
"I do not want to hear her name. I can't believe you'd lie to me," Theo spat. "Don't bother contacting me again. Good luck with your marriage."
"No Theo, wait!" he said, standing and chasing after him. "I had to- everyone wondered why I wasn't-"
"How long have you been married? Is this your first affair?" Theo asked, stopping, but not turning around.
"Eight years, you're only the second. After we had the first baby I tried-"
"You have a child?" he scoffed. "Good luck with your life, Alan. I have no interest in being the other woman in your sick little games. Your wife and your child deserve better!"
"Children," Alan whined pitifully.
"Of course," Theo scoffed. "I'm gone."
He spun on his heel and made his way to the closest apparition point, quickly disapparating to Granger Estate. The first person he saw was Hermione sitting listlessly looking out the window.
When he let out a sob, she was on her feet, coming towards him and wrapping him in a hug. "He is married," he sobbed. "They have children. I can't believe I did that to them."
"You didn't know, love," Hermione cooed, "it's not your fault. Shh… shhh…"
Theo and Hermione sat for a long time on the floor, until his sobs dropped off. Her fingers ran through his hair as he fell into a deep sleep.
Alan who? After he and Hermione binged on ice cream and chick flicks for a full weekend, locking Draco out to do whatever he normally did, he was feeling better. Not good, but better. He'd only known the man for a few weeks and they hadn't even had sex, something that Theo was immensely grateful for in light of the situation. He debated finding Alan's wife and informing her about her husband's choices. But the Sexual Offences Act had just been passed a few years before and being gay in Muggle Britain still wasn't welcomed.
In an effort to avoid thinking about Alan, his family, and Theo's own moral obligation to them, he'd started pulling up Nexus Vincula whenever he got a chance. He wanted to see if his gold cord moved, but no matter where he was in the country, his cord continued to point Southeast. So he did extensive research. He apparated to every town he could think of and took a train to the places he hadn't heard of.
He'd dived into building out his Pureblood persona. He was Todor Itzal (Theodore Shadow), a Basque wizard. It had a two fold purpose, there was a lot of mystery around Spanish, Basque, and Portuguese Wizarding Society. With the diverse cultural landscape in Spain and Portugal, there always seemed to be someone in disagreement. The different cultures in the countries were constantly pushing against each other.
The other part was that the Basque Conflict made both Muggles and Wizards a bit wary of the whole group. Theo would claim to be part of the Euskadi Ta Askatasuna ("Basque Homeland and Liberty" (ETA)), the Basque separatist group. The group had been founded in 1959 and had a covert Magical branch. Theo had a whole trove of information about the group that they'd collected before leaving. They're symbol, a snake (representing politics) wrapped around an axe (representing armed struggle), was an excellent way to connect with the Death Eaters.
He'd "court" the Death Eaters, offering to help connect them with some of the different magics, while continuing to pass knowledge along through Hermione and Draco. He'd already started spreading word about his curiosity in different places, hoping to catch the eye of a young Lucius Malfoy.
His second major task was to connect with Andromeda, and by extension Ted. He'd continued to track them though Muggle London. Like they'd told them before they left, Ted and Andromeda met like clockwork every weekday for lunch. She'd managed to convince her parents that training in midwifery would be a boon to their family.
He knew his time of watching and observation was coming to a close, soon enough, he'd have to make a move and talk to the witch in question. The problem was he needed to get her alone before he could talk to her about their time jump and their plans.
Regulus
"Please Andi?" Regulus whined. Gods did he sound pitiful. If only his older self could see him now, throwing a fit and stomping his foot because his cousin wouldn't take him to Diagon Alley.
"Reg, your Mother didn't give me permission to take you, she just didn't want to take Sirius out," she said with a sigh.
"I know she won't mind, she won't even notice," he said, turning up the puppy dog eyes.
"Just let him come," Sirius chimed in finally. "I only have a few more weeks with him, and…"
"Fine but if we get in trouble you're taking all the blame," she said looking between the two boys.
They grinned and followed their older cousin through the Floo. The appeared in the private floo maintained by the Blacks and made their way into the crowded streets. Regulus was a bit awestruck. The last time he'd been to Diagon, it had been all but abandoned. Now it was teeming with life.
Regulus grabbed Andromeda's hand and dragged them to Madame Malkins. "Go ahead Sirius, I want to pick something up while you're getting your robes fitted." Sirius pouted, but agreed begrudgingly. When his older brother had gone into the shop, Regulus dragged Andromeda to the Mágica Menagerie.
Sitting on a small perch we're a pair of Great Horned Owlets. The first time around, Regulus had gotten his owl, Canis after he'd been sorted into Slytherin, but he'd known that his nest mate hadn't been claimed.
"Andi," Regulus said, "can we get them both? I need an owl to communicate with you and Siri. Please?"
Andromeda sighed but chuckled, "There is no way you won't be a Slytherin," she chuckled. "Let's get them. Do you have names?"
"This one is Leo, he's for Sirius, and this one is Canis, he's for me," Regulus said proudly.
"Clever, Sirius is part of Canis Major and Regulus is part of Leo," Andromeda said with a nod.
"Then he'll always have a bit of me with him!" Regulus chirped. Was he laying it on a boy thick? Yes. Was he going to tone it down? Maybe. Was he glad he had a chance to redo this part of his life and make actual changes? Yes.
When they returned to Madame Malkins, Sirius was just stepping out. " I got you this, Siri!" He said proudly.
Regulus was sure he saw a glisten of tears in Sirius' eyes, but didn't say anything as he explained their names to his brother.
The rest of the afternoon the three of them flitted to all the shops, checking off all the things on Sirius' list.
They were sitting and eating ice cream together when Andi cleared her throat. "I want you two to know that I appreciate you two, you give me real hope for my sisters and I," she said.
"Has something happened?" Regulus said, playing innocent.
"No," she sighed, "nothing new, Narcissa is all a flutter about that ponce, Malfoy and Bella has been isolating herself a lot recently. I know Mother and Father have been trying to push her into a Marriage contract with one of the LeStranges."
"Marriage?" Regulus pretended to shudder.
"You're so cute, Reggie," she laughed loudly and wrapped her arm around his neck in a tight hug.
"I'm not cute," he scoffed.
"No we Blacks are dignified," Sirius pretended to sneer.
Andromeda laughed loudly again. Regulus was happy. He was going to turn everything around for his family, no matter what.
Later that evening after a strained dinner with their parents, Regulus had left his brother to read his Quidditch Magazine and gone into his own room. He paced back and forth for a long time, trying to sort out whether this strange dream was going to end. Or his memories from his "life" were just a long, drawn out nightmare? Regardless, Regulus was stressed.
There had to be changes, but he couldn't decide if it was all just a fever dream or if it was some sort of premonition. There was Seer blood in the Black line. He could just be coming into a very strange version of the Sight. He shook his head at the thought. There was no way that could be true. He was just Regulus. The Spare.
He flopped onto his bed, chuckling when his body bounced on the bed. He still wasn't totally used to being so small again. He'd really wasted his life last time around. He'd seen just how many people had died for a madman's illogical dreams. He'd taken to writing down all the things he could remember in a notebook that Kreacher had spelled for him. Which added another thing to his list of tasks. House Elf Rights. He hated the way his Mother treated Kreacher. He was a family member for Salazar's Sake… not that she treated her children much better.
He heard a knock at his door and dragged himself off the bed to open it. Sirius stood in the hall, with his pyjamas and his stuffed dog in his other hand. Regulus couldn't help but smile a little, Sirius had stopped bringing his dog anywhere after his First Year.
"Wanna have a sleepover?" Sirius asked, blinking at Regulus innocently.
"Why?" Regulus asked, not able to fully dispel the suspicion that his brother had fostered during their first time at Hogwarts.
Sirius sighed, and let his shoulders droop. "I'm leaving soon and we won't be able to have sleepovers. I just…"
Regulus stepped back and ushered his brother in. "Kreacher!" he called, grinning when the elf appeared. "Siri and I are going to have a sleepover, can you help us set up a Fort?"
"Oh the Little Masters must have the very best Fort!" he snapped his fingers and Regulus grinned as blankets and pillows began flying around. When everything was all set in place, Sirius and Regulus lay on the pile of blankets, trying to stay awake as long as they could. As Regulus felt his eyes closing, he couldn't help hoping that this was how it would stay.
Links and More information:
Basque Conflict: en. wiki/Basque_conflict
Euskadi Ta Askatasuna: en. wiki/ETA_(separatist_group)
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Thank you so much for reading!
