Chapter Twenty Five


Sirius was surprised when he looked up from his desk to see Minerva in the doorway, his infant counterpart in her arms. He frowned. "You alright?"

She smiled. "Fine, Sirius, I just thought that perhaps we could spend a bit of time together. Prior to learning about, well, all of it, I was Hermione's friend but I've been thinking about it lately and it seems silly to keep on treating you like my friend's husband. For Merlin's sake I just gave birth to a boy who…"

"... is me," he finished awkwardly. "So, what, you want to be friends now?"

Minerva shrugged. "After a sort, I suppose. I doubt our relationship will ever be anything resembling normal, given what we know about one another. Even before I knew about the time traveling nonsense I'd noticed that you treated me differently than Hermione's other friends. Whoever my counterpart was to you, if not someone you knew to be your mother, she was clearly important enough to you that you gave me more than half a glance."

He waved her into his office and toward a wingback, which she moved to and sat down. "The ironic part is that even though I never knew she was my mother, I still looked at her that way. She was my Head of House for seven bloody years, and I could always sense, somehow, that I stood out to her. She treated me differently than she did my friends. Looking back I understand why, but at the time it just made me feel cared for in a way Walburga had never cared for me, and so I looked at her like the Mum I never had."

The Scottish Witch sighed. "Obviously I can't actually speak for her, but I think that if I'd been in her shoes and had chosen to give my son to his father and his father's wife, swearing a bloody vow never to tell him the truth…" she paused, looking down at the baby in her arms.

"Yeah?" he pushed.

Minerva looked back at him. "Even if I'd been dead certain it was in my son's best interest to make the choice I had, I'd have been riddled with guilt over it. The guilt would have eaten me alive if I'd not done something, even if it was something small, to be a positive force in his life. If you looked at her as a Mum, then I expect that was because she was making every conceivable effort to give you the idea short of outright telling you the truth or blatantly telling you that you could look at her in that manner. She'd have known that outright saying something like that would have invited questions she couldn't afford you to be asking."

"That's fair," he agreed. "The way I see it, a vow is the only way I can see her not telling me the truth, especially once my father and Walburga were dead. Once I got out of Azkaban and I saw her for the first time at Grimmauld during an Order meeting when everyone was being brought up to speed about me not being an agent of Voldemort and all that, she came up to me after and looked me dead in the eye and said, 'I knew it.' That was it. She knew it. She knew I was innocent, or rather, that she had known all along and had never believed I'd betrayed James and Lily. So many of the others had to work through years of believing I'd gone bad before they could really trust me again, but not her. She was content to act like no time had passed at all, snipping at me to get my feet off the table and mind my manners and stop whinging about this or that. You know, her being her."

Minerva grinned. "That's a piss poor apology for not doing more to help you while you were stuck in Azkaban. Then again, I've never been very good at apologizing."

Sirius grinned right back. "Neither have I. Guess I got that from you. At least now I know who to blame!"

"Tell me more about her," the young Transfiguration Professor requested, "and about the other one you knew."

"Beta Min?" Sirius asked.

"I suppose. Is that how you keep the different versions of people you've known apart? Attach a Greek letter to their identity?"

"And the places," he calmly explained, realizing that while they'd given Minerva the pep talk about Voldemort, they'd really not discussed too much in the way of the different realities with her since she found out. She'd been so focused on the pregnancy and not been very active in meetings in the last year. It was no wonder she was starting to ask questions. "We refer to our starting point as Alpha, and that follows that Alpha Minerva, or Filius, or whoever else, would be the people in that reality. Then Beta Minerva would be the one we met in the second reality we went to, although fair warning, I've been known to just refer to her as McGregor. Try to keep up."

Minerva nodded. "Right. Hermione mentioned that my counterpart there married Dougal McGregor and went on to have a family with him. I do think of him now and then, admittedly. I was sorely tempted to stay in Tomdoun with him that summer, but the Statute being what it is means I'd have had to give up my magic to be with him. I can't fathom how your Beta Minerva managed to stand it."

"Well, in Beta, the Statute fell in eighty-five," he replied. "She pissed off to Tomdoun in the summer of forty-four, although while the Statute didn't completely fall for four decades after she left, from what she said Voldemort started making his first plays for the Highlands in the late sixties, after which she came clean to Dougal about who she really was, because she wasn't prepared to let her family sit defenseless when she could help muster wards and so on to protect the greater part of Tomdoun. They retreated to Ross Abbey at that point, and her and her Mum became the foundation of the Wizarding Resistance in the Highlands, holding the line there for decades. Voldemort never did gain a foothold there, which ultimately prevented him from getting a launch point from where he could strike at Hogwarts, or Hogsmeade Camp, which was one of the larger of our camps."

"Camps?" Minerva inquired.

"Oh," he said, realizing that while perfectly normal to him, that was likely beyond her comprehension. "By the late eighties nobody lived in houses anymore, in Beta. They'd all shifted to cramming into one of about two dozen camps all over the UK - it was pretty much the same in other regions, mind - so they'd be protected by better wards and strength in numbers. Honestly, I have a hard time sleeping sometimes when it gets too quiet in Grimmauld. I was in Beta for nearly a decade, and there was always some noise there. Work shifts were on a rotation so all hours of the day there was someone milling about. We couldn't afford the risk of everyone sleeping at the same time. Too big a chance Voldemort would attack if we did."

She looked aghast. "I can't imagine."

"I'd hope not," Sirius said pointedly. "The whole point of us changing the timeline, Minerva, is so Voldemort never, ever gets that powerful. It wasn't that bad in Alpha. There, he got beat back in late eighty-one and was pretty much gone for about a decade before he came back. That gave us time to regroup, and by then we were ready for him. It only took us seven years to bring him down, from what Hermione told me. I was gone after five."

Minerva frowned. "I don't think I realized you and Hermione went to Beta at separate times. I thought you'd been together all along."

He let out a barking laugh. "Hardly. I fell through the veil first, and it wasn't until a bit over eight years later that she showed up. By then, she'd already fucked Voldemort in the arse in Alpha and was rearing to do it again when she realized he wasn't gone in Beta. Woman has a real hard on for the bastard."

"I really did not need that imagery, Sirius Black," Minerva deadpanned. "One would have hoped that you'd have inherited some of my and your father's sense of decorum. How in Merlin's name did you end up so crude?"

He grinned. "An old girlfriend. I started out at Hogwarts fairly well spoken, albeit a bit rebellious. My Second Year was Camille's First. Meeting her, well… even in her first year the girl was prone to drop a casual fuck. She was Muggleborn, and her Da worked on a Fishing Boat."

Minerva sighed. "So she swore like a sailor because she was raised by one. Charming. Assuming that this Camille will come to Hogwarts just as she did in your Alpha, dare I ask her surname so I can keep my son far, far, away from her?"

Sirius crossed his arms. "Not a chance. Camille and I weren't lucky enough to have a future together because the bloody war took her life. If history manages to repeat itself, your son will be a lucky bastard if he does meet her, and an idiot if he doesn't marry the Witch. Merlin knows I love Hermione, but it's been decades, Minerva, and I still miss Camille."

The Transfiguration Professor looked properly flummoxed at that. "Fine then," she said after a pause. "Anyone else I can be on the lookout to keep him away from? Someone you wish you hadn't had in your life?"

He frowned, thinking. "Yes, but no. Actually, you feel up to being recruited on a mission?"

She laughed. "I'm confused. How in Merlin's name did my question lead to that answer and that question?"

Sirius leaned forward. "So, there's this bloke, Peter Pettigrew," he said. "In some ways, I suppose it would be best all around if I'd never met him because to my memory, he's the prat who betrayed me, and betrayed James, and so on and so forth. Before all that though, he was one of my best friends for all my time at Hogwarts. I looked at him like a brother."

Minerva nodded. "His name has come up in the few meetings I've attended with the circle of trust. What about him?"

"Well the thing is, Min," he went on, "it never made any bloody sense that Peter turned on us. James was stupid rich and Peter knew full well that if he needed Galleons he could have asked James for help. Same with me. I had some money because Uncle Alphard left me a bit when he keeled. Peter already had powerful friends. He had James and me and Remus and bloody Dumbledore! He was in training under bloody Moody to be an Auror, fast tracked through the Academy. I just don't believe it was because Voldemort offered him some special training or power or anything. Anything Peter wanted like that, he was already getting. It just doesn't make any sense, you know? What made him turn? Why would he do that? As I looked back on things, I realized that while I knew a bunch about James' family, and I knew a fair bit about Remus' family, I knew basically nothing about Peter's. He said he was Muggleborn so asking more than that was basically a Statute violation, from his point of view, so we didn't push. I'm just wondering, all said and done, if there was something happening at home that had we known about it then, it could have changed how things went down."

"So in short, you want me to get his address from the book of expectant students when he's born," she concluded, seeing the plan in Sirius' head. "Then, we pay his parents a discreet visit and see what we can glean, potentially see about getting a foothold in his life sooner, not unlike what Hermione did with the Evans'."

"Basically the sum of it," he said. "You up for it?"

She grinned. "Does a Niffler fancy gold?"

Sirius whooped. "Best Mum ever!"

Minerva blushed. "For Merlin's sake, Sirius, don't call me that."

Before conversation could progress any further, his brother-in-law Herbert came rushing into his office, a grin on his face. "Time to go, mate!" the other man said cheerfully. "Bel's in labor!"

Sirius glanced at Minerva quickly as he rushed to his feet, not wanting to be rude. "Go, go," she urged, waving him off. "Tell Belvina good luck, and for Merlin's sake, don't hover!"

He ducked down and pressed a quick kiss to her cheek. "Bye Min!" he called from behind him, hot on Herbert's heels. There was no way he was going to miss this. It wasn't every day he got to be there as his sister gave birth.


Cedrella smiled as Edmund and Xeno played together. The boys were only a few months apart in age and got on well, she and Quana often getting together for playdates for their sons. Peter, who was nearly twelve now and Arthur, who was ten, were both on some grand adventure with Svetlana today, leaving her quite free to enjoy the afternoon with the Lovegoods. Bringing Svetlana Lestrange into her life and into her home had been an unexpected joy. Her boys loved her, and the young woman had become something of a little sister to Septimus, the pair often spending evenings poring over Arithmancy.

More power to them, she thought with a huff.

"Oh, bother," Quana said suddenly, back straightening.

She raised an eyebrow. "What is it?" There was no sign of trouble, but she was well used to Quana sensing danger long before anyone else could. Her hand automatically went for her wand.

The blonde woman shook her head. "It's no danger. More of an annoyance. Abraxas is en route. Merlin knows I'm always pleased when he deigns to allow a visit between Lucius and Xeno, but usually we arrange a neutral place to meet. He hasn't just decided to show up here since, well, before your aunt set the new wards. Will they even let him in?"

Cedrella sighed. "Aunt Hermione says they'll allow him entry, but react violently if he attempts to do you or Xeno harm."

Quana looked completely calm. "Therefore, if he attempted to do you or Edmund harm, I merely need to get in the way of an oncoming hex, and the wards would then expel him, as he would have inadvertently caused me harm."

The cool Ravenclaw logic was one part amusing and one part terrifying. "Let's just try not to irritate him to the point of wandfire, shall we?" she suggested.

Quana nodded and then stood, heading toward the door. A knock sounded when she was half way there, causing Cedrella to shake her head in amazement at whatever extra sensory perception her friend had.

Xeno's head popped up. "Lucy!" the four year old exclaimed.

Clearly, she thought wryly, it was a genetic trait.

Quana opened the door and ushered Abraxas and six year old Lucius Malfoy inside, the little boy rushing off toward his brother, seemingly unconcerned by the fact that there was another boy there already for him to play with. He merely introduced himself to Edmund and got on with it. Abraxas, on the other hand, was much more hesitant, and fumbled in an attempt to come up with a plausible excuse for bringing his son to play with Quana's son.

"Lady Weasley," he greeted tersely. "I don't know if Ms. Lovegood has mentioned our sons are friends."

Cedrella couldn't help it. She laughed. "Did you think I didn't already know, Abraxas? For Merlin's sake, Xeno looks just like you. He's so clearly a Malfoy it will be ridiculous if others do not pick up on it when he starts at Hogwarts. Lucky, I suppose, that Quana also has blonde hair. The gray eyes though, certainly didn't come from her. Don't you worry your aristocratic head over it. As my Aunt likes to say, everyone lies. I understand your reasons. Just know that there won't be a magic on earth to protect you if you think to harm Quana and her child. Are we clear, Lord Malfoy?"

He looked annoyed. "I noticed on my way in that the wards around Quana's home had been upgraded. Very upgraded, in fact. Would that have been your doing?"

"Not personally, but I will take credit for arranging it," she shrugged.

Abraxas crossed his arms. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think those wards were set by a Mage."

"And if I had a Mage in my robe pocket, I imagine you would be very concerned right now, wouldn't you?" Cedrella returned, not giving anything away but threatening him all the same. "You'd certainly be on your very best behavior, wouldn't you?"

"I'd know if a Mage had surfaced!" he hissed angrily.

Quana patted his cheek lightly. "No, you wouldn't. You never listen to the Nargles. Of course, Nargles always favor Mages. They have domain over fate, do they not?"

In a very brief moment of common ground, both Abraxas and Cedrella looked at Quana with puzzled expressions before resuming their argument. "I'd expect that if a Mage had surfaced," she said carefully, "they'd only make themselves known to whom they wished to be known."

"And just why would a Mage wish to know you, Lady Weasley?" Abraxas wanted to know.

She offered a grin. "I'm a Slytherin and a woman, Lord Malfoy. Nothing much gets by me."

Lycoris was right. That really was the answer for everything.


Hermione Black continued to be a puzzle, Chelsey Keating determined. Every Resistance meeting told him more and more about her, and got him closer and closer to figuring out the big picture. He was convinced more than ever that one day she was going to trust him with a full disclosure of who she really was and where she'd come from, and he was willing to go out on a limb in the meantime and just trust and learn. As such, he turned his attention back to the meeting at hand.

"Manning," Hermione snapped, pointing toward a man he'd not seen before. "What's the latest report from Elizabeth?"

Who was Elizabeth? Chelsey wondered, and why did the woman's name make the poor bloke flinch?

"There have been attacks on Buckingham and Windsor since you set the new wards, M'Lady," Manning replied. "The wards have held, however, and we expect it will be the same at the other residences should attacks come to any of them. Her Grace does request some time from you at your leisure to discuss the possibility of tightening security for her during transport between locations, as it would be a difficulty to remain in one location indefinitely, and these attacks do indicate that the enemy is vying to destabilize the Crown."

Chelsey raised an eyebrow. Elizabeth had to be the Queen, then. No wonder the old boy had flinched to hear Hermione address Her Grace so informally. How in Merlin's name had their esteemed leader gotten to be on a first name basis with the Queen of bloody England?

"A fair request," Hermione agreed. "I'll pop by in the next few days to sort something out. We can likely have a rotation of Resistance Members added to her Protection Command on an ongoing basis, presuming that suits her."

"Thank you, M'Lady," Manning said calmly.

"Oh for Merlin's sake, Manning," Hermione said, rolling her eyes. "As I've told you repeatedly, just Hermione is fine."

He shook his head urgently. "I do think I'll address you properly, M'Lady. You hold nearly as many titles as Her Grace."

Chelsey raised an eyebrow at that one, and resolved to ask Hermione about it later. He watched as she grumbled over the man's stubborn resolve, and then continued with the meeting, discussion covering the recent attack on lower level Ministry officials and their belief that the end game was to replace those people with Voldemort supporters now so that in time those people would work their way up to higher level positions, and then by the time Voldemort was ready to launch a major attack, his people would be positioned in major Ministry offices. It was a long game, but smart. Chelsey had to admire Voldemort's tactical brilliance.

"Do we need to be concerned about him doing the same at Hogwarts?" Aberforth inquired.

Hermione shook her head. "I don't think it likely, although as a caution we'll be on the lookout. Voldemort does have a healthy fear of Albus, so as long as he remains in place and in due course advances to Headmaster, I don't think Voldemort will attempt to place agents at Hogwarts. He'll know Albus will root them out. From a tactical point of view, he likely knows that the Resistance already has Hogwarts, so he's taking the Ministry."

"Those two locations are hardly the only major tactical locations in the Wizarding UK," Constance said thoughtfully. "What are the chances that we could make a move to take St. Mungo's, or Diagon Alley? Prevent him from gaining a foothold in either location by stationing our people there ahead of time so any attacks he launches later might be countered?"

Sirius piped up. "I think Diagon Alley would be a smart move. Mungo's is a strong point, but it's only strong because it's where all the Healers gather. We can recruit Healers and effectively cover our arses in that regard, and not waste the manpower covering the whole of the location. However, Diagon Alley is a center for commerce and access to Gringotts. If Diagon Alley falls, then the economy suffers, and the long term impact of the war becomes far more reaching."

Hermione nodded in agreement. "Let's take a sort of a census of what shops are currently in Diagon Alley and where we can plant members as employees in businesses that are already up and running, and what storefronts are just sitting empty. The ones that are empty, we'll buy up and then come up with business models suited to Resistance members who have the time and interest in being business men and women, and we'll get you started. Anyone interested in Curse Breaking, we may also be able to plant a few people at Gringotts. Melok, I think, will have the contacts to make that happen."

"Certainly," the Goblin piped up. "Anyone who had good marks in Care of Magical Creatures could also get placement at Gringotts. The lower levels of the bank do house a number of creatures which on occasion require care. Goblins prefer having them as guards, but they themselves are not particularly suited to handle the care. We do outside contracting for that."

Olivia Dagworth, former Hogwarts Healer, spoke up next. "If we're not going to take Mungo's, I think as a point of priority we should have one of the locations in Diagon Alley be a Clinic. It won't be as big as Mungo's, obviously, but it could be where we staff a large portion of the Healers in the Resistance, giving them something to do when they aren't busy patching up battle wounds. On a more practical note, it would be a great location for students heading off to Hogwarts to go to for physicals instead of needing to hit Mungo's."

Poppy nodded eagerly. "Excellent suggestion, Olivia."

"I concur," Hermione said with a bright smile. "I'd also add on that it would be an ideal setting for those looking for apprenticeships. A bit more low key and personal than a busy setting like Mungo's. I can see a great deal of potential in this sort of setup. You have a go to coordinate this, Olivia and Poppy. Work together to outline a business plan."

The meeting went on for another hour, people shooting ideas back and forth for other business models, some good, some not so good, Hermione encouraging half of them and tabling others. She was like that, he noticed. She wasn't one to shoot down ideas outright. She called it tabling, so people understood that she wasn't going to dismiss their thoughts out of hand even if she didn't think it was suited for the moment. It was a mark of a good leader, and helped people to be more willing to continue sharing ideas, even if their previous ideas hadn't been readily accepted. You'd never hear Hermione Black tell somebody that their idea was outright lunacy.

Sirius had once told him that some of Hermione's ideas had been borderline lunacy, so Chelsey figured she had no room to talk.

The meeting was coming to a close now, and while most people were filing out, he still wanted a word with her so he made his way over to where she was talking to Sirius. "What do you think of me having darker hair?" she asked, spinning around a bit after using a charm to make her hair appear a much darker brown. "Not quite black, but dark enough that it would offset any comparison with her?"

He looked skeptical. "It would take some getting used to, but I do see your point. Just don't ditch the curls, I beg you."

"Caelum would figure out how to hex me if I did!" she laughed. "He loves my curls!"

Sirius noticed his approach. "Oh, hey Keating."

"Sirius. Hermione," he greeted. "I was hoping for a word with our esteemed leader.

The dark haired man laughed. "Well, that rules me out. I'll meet you at home, love. I'm going to swing by Belvina's and check on her and little Calliope."

"Bel is going to kill you if you bring that baby another toy, Sirius!" Hermione chastised.

"Which is why I'm bringing her a book, this time!" he countered. "I'm contributing to her future literacy. Aren't I the best uncle ever?"

Hermione laughed, and shoved her husband, the other man grinning as he walked away. She then turned back to the Head of Ravenclaw. "So, what can I do for you, Chelsey?"

"Well, to start with, indulge my curiosity," he mused. "You hold nearly as many titles as the Queen of bloody England?"

She groaned. "If Manning wasn't a Muggle I'd hex him. It's a long story, but the short version is that I descend from the Boleyns, as does Elizabeth. Different branch, but in the end we are many times removed, cousins. I am in all technicality a Duchess. I am also, via my marriage to Sirius, a Lady. I hold various other titles professionally speaking, being a Mage, and while a closely guarded secret that I will personally end you if you share, I descend from one of the royal Goblin lines on my mother's side, and therefore I'm…"

"...a Goblin Princess," he concluded with a nod. "Merlin, woman. No wonder you're so powerful."

"Magical power and political power are two different things," Hermione mused. "I've not taken advantage of my political power where the Goblins are concerned, although one of our Resistance members, Richard Feliz, is also a member of the royal line and he's an acknowledged Prince and is using his connections to gain the Goblins' neutrality. It's not confirmed yet, but it's something we're working toward. I was not willing to risk Sirius to put my own claim forth."

"They'd have insisted on divorce," he sighed, remembering this bit of information from when he'd researched Goblin culture awhile back when one of his students had begun courting a Goblin. In fact, the very Goblin he was now in the Resistance with, and whose children were the Godsons of the leader of said Resistance. It was funny how life worked out. "They'd have forced you to marry Melok."

Hermione let out a heavy breath. "A marriage to Melok would not have been a burden. Destroying Sirius in the process would have. I care very much for Melok. Genia will always been Filius and Caelum's mother, and I will do all in my power to ensure the boys never forget that, but at this point they are just as much my sons as they were hers, and Melok…"

He raised an eyebrow. "... is the father of your children?"

She nodded. "The father of my children, and my dearest friend. It is impossible not to love him, but it does not negate that I love my husband and could not do something to hurt him like that."

Chelsey shook his head. "Bloody Gryffindor."

Hermione smirked. "As I've told you, I was home educated."

"As I've told you, I believe there's more to you than meets the eye," he countered. "I do believe you best get on with being straight with me sooner rather than later. I'm a patient man, but…"

"... your patience is wearing thin?" she asked, a knowing smile on her lips.

Chelsey put a hand on her arm, trying to show that he wasn't threatening her. "But the curiosity is killing me."

She leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to his cheek. "Soon, my friend. Soon."


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