Concurrent Existences

Chapter 31: Unpleasant Greetings

It is too late,

the time has pass.

The only way out,

to change the past.

Time to work. With minimum amounts of rest and a little luck, Hermione calculated she would able to complete her work by the next day and finally use the completed version to locate the dark witch. The next day would be the third day away from Bellatrix. She hoped to Merlin that Bellatrix was okay.

Stay safe, Bella.

The preliminary work on her new artifact started the day she woke up, but knew that she needed to be at her peak to be able to truly synthesize her artifact. Magic fully replenished and body fully rested, Hermione woke up early the next day and continued her work.

All of the wands that were created today only used one core and then covered by a magic conducting wood that would allow the wand to reliably control the spells used with them. Hermione believed that older wands during the time where wizards and witches were almost always at war, held more than one core, but to reduce the risk and power that wands held, they stopped their creations. She could almost compare it to how the muggle world all agreed to stop manufacturing nuclear weapons.

The leftovers she had gotten from the Ministry would all be used now.

Dragon Heartstring as a proper base core... It didn't mean she couldn't manufacture her own arsenal. It was widely accepted that wands only have a singular core, maybe because everyone thought wands could only have one core that nobody tried to produce something more or it was a practice that had simply been forgotten. Dragon Heatstring had always been the base of her wand, and she needed more of it to be able to hold and stabilize everything else.

Phoenix Feather. Harry's wand core, makes more general spells easier to use, although hard to be chosen by the artifact, but being chosen wasn't a problem.

Unicorn Tail Hair. Ron's wand core, stabilizes the consistency of the spells making even failures not fail with casting spells. It makes the artifact bond strongly to the first user, making it work in synchronization with the Phoenix Feather.

Here's where it got a bit trickier.

Thunderbird Tail Feather. A legendary bird that is closely related to the Phoenix used by Shikoba Wolfe, one of the four wandmakers during the early twentieth century. Difficult to master and control, but the power given is unparalleled.

Rougarou Hair. A hair from a werewolf-like creature used by Violetta Beauvais, another one of the four wandmakers during the early twentieth century. It helps with dark magic affinity and Hermione needed to learn more about dark magic after the last fiasco.

Both of these cores were from the United States making them highly rare, but not exactly sought out for, since wandmakers in Britain tend to use ingredients more common in the area.

And yes, Hermione was going to use all five cores.

It was sad that she was about to make a breakthrough that these past wandmakers could have done if they had collaborated with one another. Or maybe they did try, but kept failing over and over by not being able to stabilize the cores. Maybe that was when they deemed it 'impossible', but it really wasn't.

Some cores attuned to one another, the others repelled, but the most important issue that the wandmakers most likely failed to realize is they needed goblin knowledge. Goblins knew how to forge weapons and wands. Humans thought they were vastly superior to anything created by the goblins and thus never used techniques from them while forcing the goblins to never use wands.

Hermione wasn't able to gather knowledge from other races, but she was sure able to get knowledge from the goblins on stabilization.

The witch began to levitate all five cores, the Dragon Heartstring almost twice as much as all the others.

Innervate. Magical energy began to course through the cores, attuning them to one another to begin a merging process.

First to merge were the Unicorn Tail Hair and the Phoenix Feather, creating a balance, but Hermione still exerted a vast amount of magic just to keep the balance from being lost. The Thunderbird and Rougarou came next, both merged after being combined first with Dragon Heartstring, so that Hermione had much more control over them.

This is where the wandmakers started to fail. They'd probably already have failed during the first core merge without knowing the proper spell weaves that the goblins had calculated themselves, but she wouldn't. She had read that true Elves, Fae and other races had their own spell weaves for cores, but she would work with what she had.

Hermione could feel the energy try to implode and consume itself, trying to destroy and swallow the other cores and even try to swallow her as well, but it held...

... it held, but Hermione knew it was only a temporary merge. It was like when you have five children all fighting, the professor pulls them apart to keep the peace, but as soon as the professor is gone, it all starts again.

The brunette had a solution for that though. A localized Fiendfyre was supposed to suffice, but she had something better.

Essence of a Flame Sprite. A magical flame that would allow the cores to truly meld. Fiendfyre would have been fine, but the Essence would allow a much gentler melding. It would allow the cores to be brought together slowly, more efficiently and not just smashed together head on.

Hermione could feel the molten core of magical energy forming just outside of her grasp, she could feel the power that rivaled ancient tomes, ancient texts and whatever else she had found in the Ministry. It could easily rival the Elder Wand even if the Deathly Hallow was created by a different means that would probably be impossible to replicate.

The burnt pieces of her old artifacts floated towards the swirling core of magic that was still being affected by the flame. The fragments were slowly thrown into the tiny maelstrom, it was almost complete. All it needed was a container, just like the wooden wands or their metal counterparts, but she had something better, something more flexible...

Something that she would never lose, something that would be with her at all times and something that was more of a conductor than a container.

Unicorn Silk...

Unicorn Silk that she had magically stitched and infused directly into her right and left shoulder just yesterday that would be permanent. There would be no way to remove it from her, there would be no way in separating Hermione and her conduit of power.

Humans needed contact with their wands to cast spells, but Hermione realized that it was a fundamental flaw. Losing a wand would make many spell casters useless, to her it would only reduce her effectiveness, but to eliminate that flaw?

It was actually easier to become the wand herself.

Infundere! Hermione infused both her hands with her magical energy and grabbed the coalescing magical energies and split them with each of her hands. Without any pause, she pressed both masses of energies onto the opposite shoulder.

The witch could feel the burn, she could feel pain that was just on par with one of Bellatrix's Crucio spells...

..., but she would endure it.

She would endure forging this power source, she would endure forging... herself.

Bellatrix had known about her experiments, especially the one she dubbed as exploding bunnies.

The exploding bunnies were her trying to infuse a magic wand core into an animal. The time limbo afforded her several hundred hours of research, but her main testing could only be done when time had resumed, which was during the period she was stuck in the past.

And, it worked. Although, the bunny that was fully synchronized with the magical core quickly made itself scarce at the time. Apparently, the bunny had learned how to apparate somehow.

The stitching of Unicorn Silk on both her shoulders were invisible to the naked eye, but they currently glowed softly as the amalgam of energy continued to stabilize within her skin. The lines of thread could easily be made out of her arm forming some kind of intricate pattern that couldn't even be described. It was as if there were several intricate patterns that fell over one another, but somehow they kept shifting.

It was done.

Hermione could feel the power flow through her own body. She could somehow feel the magic flow through the air without even trying to discern it. She knew this was the pinnacle of magic and there would be no going back from it.

The girl tried to feel the control of magic throughout her body, trying to pinpoint one thing, the one reason why she had done all this.

Bella.

Hermione did not even wait to recover, she began channeling her magical energy to resynchronize with Bellatrix's artifacts to find her.

Pain.

She could feel the pain return several fold as tendrils of the Unicorn Silk began to expand slowly. As if the Silk did not want to stay in one place, as if it wanted to spread...

..., and it was.

Hermione felt the several hundred tiny microscopic threads extend itself, trying to spread from her arm while she continued to channel her magic. She opened her eyes, not even realizing that they were closed in the first place. She was almost there, she could feel herself almost grasp Bellatrix's location and at the same time, she could see one glowing thread on her arm extend downwards and begin to branch into more.

The Unicorn Silk was somehow acting like some sort of living tree root that wanted to further burrow itself within her own body. It wanted to grow.

What Hermione had experimentally created was more than what she expected. She had just proved that it was possible to fully integrate a wand core into a human body, but she forgot to account a few things.

Unlike a wand, the human body could grow. A wand was supposed to be static, something that would always have the same amount of power unless tampered with, but with the human body? The body was also a living thing, and it seemed as if a wand core had a different effect on a human body.

... shouldn't have lost that bunny...

Now, she could understand what a wand truly was. Hermione wasn't a wandmaker, nothing even close to it even if it seemed as if she had surpassed their craft.

But, she understood what it was. As with a lot of her realizations, they all came when it was too late to look back.

A wand is a buffer. It was meant to contain a wand core, no matter what material was used whether wood, metal or whatever else.

A human body is also a buffer. It was meant to contain a human magical core.

And, what happens when there is no more buffer? What happens when the container is lost? What happens when a wand core and a human core came together?

Well, Hermione was about to find out.

The girl's eyes slowly drifted close again, but not before she felt the connection re-establish. She could once again feel where Bellatrix's artifacts were. Her body was exhausted from synchronizing with her new creation as well as using magic just after its application and her body had just one response.

It shut down.

Narcissa's mind ran through dozens of excuses to tell her stubborn elder sister that was adamant in breaking into the Ministry, so far nothing was working, but she would not stop trying.

"Bella, be reasonable. You're pregnant for Merlin's sake." They couldn't even be sure if the news was a fact. Narcissa's source in the Ministry just stated that everything was in chaos and at the center point of everything was Hermione Granger.

Hermione Granger who just several days ago wiped out the last of the Death Eaters. The girl had also wiped out Hogwarts and put nearly the whole Auror Department into the infirmary. The brunette was already going to be printed as the number one most Undesirable for the massacre at Hogwarts. Even if Narcissa knew what truly happened at Hogwarts, it was a massacre.

"Reasonable?! She's the father of my child!" Bellatrix face soured, should it have been 'mother of my child'? Hermione did have a dick at the time so maybe... Not the time.

"And so what?! Your life is more valuable than hers!" Narcissa shouted, but immediately regretted it.

"Why? Because she's a mudblood? Because she's not a Black? I don't care about any of that Cissy. And you wouldn't either when you get your memories back. The point at where we lost our memories of her is the point when we all truly started to slowly lose ourselves." Bellatrix did not want to antagonize her little sister even if she had just said a thoughtless thing. The dark witch knew Narcissa just wanted her safe and she wouldn't hold that against her.

"What if she's not even there?" Narcissa tried once more, sounding very exasperated.

"Well, what if she is? What if she's waiting for me? What if they've been torturing her for information on whatever?! What if! What if! I have no time to deal with any more 'what ifs'!"

Andy just watched her elder and younger sister go back and forth. Andromeda didn't join the quarrel because she was going to say the things around the same line as Narcissa. Instead, the middle sister just cast a Muffliato over Teddy to keep him from the shouting.

Narcissa knew a fight she wasn't going to win. When had she ever won against her eldest sister? They could do this back and forth dance of reasons why she shouldn't go, but in the end none would be able to stop the raging tempest that was Bellatrix Black. The blonde could only hope that none would be able to stop her because she wouldn't be able to take losing her sister again.

The only other thing the sisters could think of is to help. Help the raging tempest destroy and claim what it wanted.

"I just don't want to lose you again, Bella."

"Cissy..." Bellatrix put a palm to her youngest sister's cheek to try and calm the woman down. "Everything will be fine."

Narcissa knew that everything would not be fine, but there was no stopping the dark haired witch. She could only hope for the best, she could only hope for her sister to survive and for Hermione Granger to survive as well because nothing would be deadlier than a broken heart.

"You do know that even if you save her, both of you will be on the run for your whole lives unless you can somehow clear this mess up right? Breaking into the Ministry isn't a good way to clear things up." The two lovers wouldn't be able to find peace if they went against the Ministry, but Narcissa knew that the two didn't have much choice.

Bellatrix only smiled while Narcissa and Andy could only sigh.

Teddy gave a soft fart, but the Muffliato caught it.

"Essence of Dittany, Invigoration Draught and Restorative Potions." Narcissa began adding more potions that Bellatrix could possibly use while infiltrating the Ministry. She would at least make sure that Bellatrix was prepared.

"Cissy! I don't need all this! And, can you at least give me a better bag?!" Bellatrix was almost horrified that Narcissa was planning to put them all in what looked like a fanny pack, she would rather die than wear the monstrosity!

"I, of all people, know how bad you are at anything restorative." Narcissa did adhere to changing the bag. Draco had brought the tiny bag in exclaiming how efficient it was in holding potions for muggles.

It truly did look dreadful though.

Surprisingly, Andromeda had actually offered Bellatrix a muggle weapon. A handgun that Ted had given her a few years ago that she had never used. Bellatrix had refused the weapon since she wasn't really comfortable in dealing in things she wasn't proficient with.

In the end, Bellatrix was armed with several restorative potions and a replacement wand. Her artifacts wouldn't be much use especially if they burned her and burned out during combat. The wand was, at best ,a tiny power up since she could do all her spells even without one, but it was better safe than sorry. She had also readied one portkey for escape incase she couldn't apparate or floo out. And, of course, she had her dagger with her.

Bellatrix wouldn't wait for a fourth day being separated from Hermione.

She would leave this evening and she would be returning with Hermione...

...or she wouldn't return at all.

Bellatrix bade quick farewells to her sisters. Both had wanted to somehow accompany her, but she wouldn't allow either of them to take any more risks. Both of them still had children to watch over. Draco was a big baby, so he counted too.

The dark witch stepped outside and looked up at the night sky and softly caressed her stomach.

"I'm sorry for being selfish, baby, but I can't live without your mommy." Bellatrix knew she really wouldn't survive without Hermione.

Either they would all live as a family, or they would all die as a family.

There was no other option.

Bellatrix was one of the smartest witches ever born, but she was also impulsive and future planning wasn't one of her greatest points.

There was no easy way into the Ministry. She knew that Hermione had a lot of secrets known about the Ministry, a lot of different ways in and out, but it never really came up in a conversation on how to break into the Ministry. Bellatrix had invaded the Ministry once along with the Dark Lord and a few other Death Eaters, but that was with one of the Ministry members working for the Dark Lord.

The best she could do with short notice was a Polyjuice potion of Andromeda.

It seems as if she might not even have needed the Polyjuice when she entered the Ministry. She could sum everything up in one word right now.

Chaos.

People were apparently still panicking for some reason. Had Hermione's destruction of Hogwarts create this much chaos alone? Bellatrix tried to keep an ear open.

"End of the world!"

"...magical terrorists..."

"...vampire attacks?"

"The goblins are..."

"... appearance of Fae..."

Maybe they weren't the sole cause after all. The dark witch wanted to hear more, to learn what else was plaguing the Ministry this much, but she still had only one priority in mind.

DLME. Department of Law and Magical Enforcement. The Auror Office. If Hermione hadn't been transported to another place, that's where she would be detained. Bellatrix was undetected so far and if all went fine, she might be able to get Hermione out before anyone noticed.

Sadly, the chaos in the Ministry wasn't enough as she could see one person approach her. One spell was already in her mind, ready to blast the person and make a run for the DLME as soon as possible.

"Miss Black. I have been instructed to deliver you to your appointment with the Head Auror. Please follow me."

Bellatrix evaluated her limited options. Apparently, the Head Auror already knew she was here. Well, if the idiot was going to lead her to where she wanted to go, then why not?

A quick glance at the Auror made Bellatrix wonder if her choice was a good one. It wasn't that easy to spot, but the dark witch of all people could spot it.

Imperius. The Auror was under some kind of subtle Imperius curse and somehow looked familiar?

The dark witch followed the Auror through the chaotic Ministry without uttering any words. She was hoping she would be able to end all this shite when she met the douche that had been orchestrating things.

Bellatrix wouldn't even make the guy suffer, she'd just Avada him into the next world. The spell was already ready in her mind, she just needed a clear target and their problem would be soon lifeless.

Bellatrix was on full guard while she was going through the DLME Auror offices. She could even recognize a few of the Aurors she had seen during the time Hermione had blown Hogwarts into nothing. Most of the Aurors were already fully healed, some she could still see recovering, and there were also a few empty desks.

The kind-of-familiar-but-not-really Auror finally stopped in front of a large office that was magically enchanted so one couldn't see from the outside. The door was opened for her and Bellatrix quickly strode in while keeping a vector spell active behind her just to fire off a spell if the Auror decided to backstab her, but all the Auror did was close the door.

Bellatrix wasn't stupid. She had already probed the area for magic fields and restrictions and the only restriction was apparating, which included the whole Ministry. She knew that this was a trap of some kind, but a trap without any anti-magic wards or trying to out-number her?

The fifteen year old would never deny that she had truly been evil at one point, even if it was under the influence of another. She also believed that she was adept at reading how dark wizards worked, even Voldemort was fairly predictable, but this?

She didn't know what the hell this all was...

..., but she was about to find out.

There was one other person in the office and Bellatrix could feel the underlying currents of power. This is the person they were looking for, this was the person they were against. This was the one person pulling the strings somehow. This person had a connection to everything. To Dumbledore, to Voldemort and to so many things that she didn't even know it was possible.

The person had to be ancient if he was manipulating everything for so long, or could at least be a multitude of people forming some kind of shadow council and Bellatrix was about to see who this was, first hand.

Well, she would quickly kill him too after finding out a few things, then find out who else is in on this shite. Bellatrix could feel her skin and body slowly reform to her regular form as the Polyjuice began to ran out, it didn't matter at this point anyway.

"Where's Hermione?" Bellatrix already had the replacement wand out, aimed towards the chair that was turned away from her. An Avada Kedavra spell was already charged on her other hand without the wand. Two vectors were already tossed towards the corners of the room to make her spells shoot from a different location, there would be no escape.

"Why, Miss Black, how nice it is to finally meet you." Bellatrix tensed as she heard the voice that sounded familiar and... young? First the Auror that led her here looked familiar, now the Head Auror sounds familiar?

What the fuck.

A restraining spell was formed on her hand with the wand. She needed to at least know where Hermione was before killing the idiot. He wanted to meet with her without any traps or backup? That was his fault.

The chair slowly swiveled around and Bellatrix's eyes caught bright green. The momentary shock stopped her from firing off any spell, but didn't stop her eyes from widening nor did it stop her shout.

"POTTER?!"

Well, shite.

Essence of a Flame Sprite - Bottling and sealing the last breath of life from a Flame Sprite.

Breath of an Ice Spirit - Bottled breath of an Ice Spirit only found in the arctic.

Shikoba Wolfe - One of the Four Wandmakers, known to use Thunderbird Tail Feather.

Violetta Beauvais - One of the Four Wandmakers, known to use Rougarou Hair.

Other two wandmakers: Johannes Jonker and Thiago Quintana

AN: Sorry for the late and somewhat sloppy update, I was with my family on a tour to Niagra falls for three days. Let's just say it was pretty meh aside from the falls itself. The chapter was rushed, sorry for any errors.

Best way to explain the spread of the Unicorn Silk is when Iron Man was poisoned by Palladium from his core, though it isn't poison in Hermione's case. The use of Unicorn Silk integrated into her skin wasn't actually supposed to happen, at first it was just an artifact reforge, but this idea just made a future chapter be more plausible.

Thumbs up for those that already know what happened. I think I've left enough clues~