What does THAT mean?
Narcissa opened her mouth to ask Hermione what she meant, but Hermione beat her to it. "Wait, when did that memory happen?" she asked, her voice laced with concern.
"It was early April 1968," Narcissa responded, her brow furrowing in confusion. "We snuck away from the castle to go see '2001: A Space Odyssey' at a muggle theatre. Why?"
Hermione took a deep breath and let out a heavy sigh. "That's really not good," she said, her voice barely above a whisper.
"What do you mean?" Narcissa demanded, growing increasingly frustrated with Hermione's cryptic responses.
Hermione took a deep breath, "It means that we are in an alternate timeline, created by whoever changed something significant in the past. We could be dealing with an entirely different reality."
Narcissa's eyes widened in shock. "But how is that possible? Who could have done such a thing?"
Hermione shrugged. "I don't know, but we need to find out. We can't risk making any changes to the timeline until we know exactly what has been altered and by whom."
Narcissa nodded in agreement, her mind racing with the implications of what Hermione had just revealed. "So what is our next step?"
Hermione took a moment to gather her thoughts before responding. "Our only clue right now is Bellatrix. We need to go back to the beginning, before Bellatrix started acting differently. We need to find out exactly what triggered her change in behavior and see if we can stop it from happening."
Hermione started typing into the console, "First, we need to find a memory from the original timeline to use as a reference point."
Narcissa nodded, "And then?"
Hermione turned to her, "And then we have to be extremely careful not to change anything. We need to be as inconspicuous as possible, so as not to attract the attention of whomever changed this timeline. We can't guarantee that their motives were pure nor that they don't have a way of monitoring the timeline themselves."
Narcissa thought for a moment before a sudden idea came to her.
"Wait, what about the memory of Bellatrix starting to date Rodolphus?" Narcissa suggested. "That was just before Easter break her senior year. We could compare the variation between that memory and my memory of going to the movies to help narrow down when the timeline change occurred."
Hermione nodded, impressed by Narcissa's quick thinking.
"That is a great idea. Are you willing to place the Bellatrix-Rodolphus memory in the Pensive? I saved the information from the first memory so you don't need to place that memory again," Hermione said as she began to go through the calibration setup on the console.
Narcissa concentrated for a moment and placed the memory of that breakfast in the pensive.
Hermione set the new memory as the calibration point and then ran the variation calculations.
Narcissa watched intently as the console output the results. Finally, Hermione turned to her, a look of triumph on her face.
"The variation between the two memories was over 5%. That may not seem like much but it does indicate the beginning of a deviation from the timeline. Typically, I observed variations between 0.001% and 0.35%, which incidentally was the range I have set my safety protocols. I never compared memories so far in the past with the present. The furthest back I have run calibrations is 4-5 years back during the war." Hermione explained.
Narcissa leaned back in her seat, deep in thought. "So, we know it happened between the movie and when Bellatrix started dating Rodolphus," she mused. "But that still leaves a range of a week."
Hermione furrowed her brow. "Do you think you can recall anything else from that week? Even the smallest detail could help us narrow down the time frame."
Narcissa thought for a moment, then nodded slowly. "Actually, there were a few things. I got frustrated at how utterly pointless Divination class was and I threw the teacup at the professor instead of reading the tea leaves."
Hermione couldn't help but laugh at the mention of Divination. "I can't blame you for that. I found the class was a waste of time. I may have accused Professor Trelawney of making generalized predictions that could apply to anyone. She retaliated by suggesting that I was close-minded and lacked the necessary spiritual insight to interpret the signs correctly. I was so frustrated that I finally stood up and stormed out of the class."
Narcissa chuckled. "I see that we are kindred spirits in that regard. That week was… umm… also when I received my first kiss."
Hermione raised an eyebrow. "Really? Who was it with?"
Narcissa blushed slightly. "It was with Chun Zhao. She was a Ravenclaw in my year."
Hermione's eyes widened. "Cho's mother?"
Narcissa nodded. "Yes, that's the one."
Hermione couldn't help but chuckle. "Well, you and Harry now have an interesting connection, your first kisses were to members of the same family."
Narcissa rolled her eyes, but a small smile played on her lips. "Yes, it seems so. Moving on, I also remember something that happened the morning before I saw Rodolphus and Bellatrix together. Lucius cornered me and started harassing me for a date, but luckily Bellatrix came up and hexed him before he became too insistent."
Hermione fell silent for a moment, deep in thought. "Okay, let's see if we can use those memories to narrow down the deviation point even further. I think I can reconfigure the system to take in multiple points and plot them according to changes in variation. It might take a moment." she said at last.
While Hermione muttered to herself and made the necessary changes, Narcissa picked up the Rubik's cube sitting on the table next to her and began to solve it absentmindedly. She was surprised at how relaxed she felt around Hermione, despite the seriousness of the situation. Most people assumed that she was cold and aloof, but with Hermione, she felt like she could let her guard down.
Finally, Hermione straightened up. "Okay, I'm ready for those memories. Are you done with the Rubik's Cube?" she asked, looking over at Narcissa.
Narcissa smiled, holding up the completed puzzle triumphantly. "Yes, I am."
Hermione couldn't help but admire the relaxed, playful side of Narcissa. It was so different from the woman Hermione first saw at the Quidditch World Cup back before her fourth year at Hogwarts. And Hermione found it incredibly drawn to it.
Narcissa placed the memories into the pensive, and the machine began to run the variation analysis, plotting the results on the screen.
The plot showed a clear spike in variation between the memory of Lucius and the first memory of Bellatrix and Rodolphus together.
"We found it," Hermione said quietly, her voice filled with excitement.
Narcissa's eyes widened in shock. "Yes, we did! That's it," she breathed. "That's when it happened. And it gives us about a 30-minute window to investigate."
Hermione smiled widely in agreement, then noticed the time and realized it was quite late. She suggested they call it a night and meet up again in the morning to continue their investigation. Narcissa agreed, and they left the laboratory, making their way towards the living room.
As they walked, Narcissa stopped suddenly and turned to face the large windows. She gazed out at the stunning view of the London cityscape at night.
"This is quite breathtaking," Narcissa remarked.
Hermione looked out at the view as well and nodded in agreement. "Yes, it is. I sometimes forget how beautiful the city can be."
They stood there in silence for a few moments, taking in the twinkling lights of the city.
Turning and continuing on to the Floo, Narcissa turned to Hermione and thanked her again for agreeing to help. "I am so grateful that you are willing to do this, Hermione. I really am. I'm hopeful that we might finally figure out what happened to Bellatrix."
Hermione smiled warmly. "Of course, Narcissa. I'm happy to help in any way that I can."
Narcissa then surprised Hermione by pulling her into a hug. Hermione was taken aback for a moment but then sank into the embrace, feeling grateful for the comfort of another person.
As they hugged, Hermione noticed the scent of Narcissa's perfume. It was rich, floral, and heady, and she found it quite pleasant. Hermione couldn't help but compare the hug to those that Ron would give her, which often felt possessive and smothering.
Narcissa pulled away from the hug and Hermione watched as she stepped into the fireplace, grabbing a handful of Floo powder. "Goodnight, Hermione," she said with a small smile.
"Goodnight, Narcissa," Hermione replied.
As the green flames engulfed Narcissa, Hermione couldn't help but wonder if there was something more happening between them. She pushed the thought aside, chiding herself for being foolish. She had more important things to focus on at the moment, like figuring out what had happened to Bellatrix. Hermione shook her head and turned back to her lab. She still had work to do before she could call it a night.
###
Narcissa arrived back at Malfoy Manor with a smile on her face, feeling quite pleased with herself. The day spent with Hermione had been wonderful, and she couldn't help but think about how much she had enjoyed spending time with the younger woman. The woman had been brilliant, funny, and had captivated Narcissa in a way she had not experienced in years.
As she took off her coat and hung it up, she thought back to the hug they had shared before parting ways. It had felt wonderful, and she found herself wanting to hold on to Hermione for just a bit longer.
As she made her way up to her bedroom, Narcissa couldn't shake the feeling of being drawn to Hermione. She tried to rationalize it, reminding herself that it was just admiration for the younger woman's intelligence and strength. She couldn't help but think that it was something more.
As she got ready for bed, Narcissa continued to think about the day's events. The discovery that someone had already changed the timeline was mind-boggling, and she couldn't help but wonder what the original timeline would have been like. Would she have avoided bowing to the pressure of her parents and married Lucius? It was an incredibly tempting daydream, though without Lucius she wouldn't have had Draco and she wouldn't trade her little dragon for anything. She wondered if Bellatrix would have become an Auror, or would she have followed a different path? Would she have avoided falling under the Dark Lord's sway?
With a chuckle, another possibility came to mind. She imagined a timeline where Bellatrix had seduced McGonagall. It was a ridiculous thought, but the image of the stern professor falling under Bella's spell made Narcissa smile.
She sighed and climbed into bed, her mind turning back to Hermione and how she had looked when applying her impressive mind to a problem. Narcissa found herself wishing she could spend more time with her, and get to know her better outside of investigating Bellatrix and now the timeline.
As she fell asleep, she couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to be with someone, like Hermione, who could challenge her intellectually, who could keep her on her toes. The idea was both exhilarating and terrifying. With a contented sigh, Narcissa let herself fall into a peaceful sleep, her dreams filled with thoughts of the brilliant and captivating Hermione Granger.
