Chapter 23

So completely shocked at the explanation she'd been given, Hermione nearly forgot herself, lowering her wand. "Kazakhstan? What? Why do you even…" Totally lost as she stared at the strangers, she nearly jumped when George snapped his fingers.

"Kazakhstan! The Izmenit' proshloye!"

The man that had called himself Yuri smiled wider. "Da! Yes! Our time device!"

Realization dawned and with it, apprehension. Hermione raised her wand again. "We didn't steal it."

The shorter man, Tanatar, said something to his companion in a language she didn't recognize. Whatever it was made him chortle and answer in the same language before returning his focus to them. "This we know, of course. For there is only one such device in existence and it is still in the bowels of our Ministry where we do our work."

George, looking as confused as she felt, opened his mouth to presumably ask the next pertinent question but Yuri cut him off.

"You'll be wanting to know how it is we found you, how we even knew about you and your little trip with our device at all, no?"

Both she and George nodded, but he held up a hand to interject before the foreign Unspeakable could continue. "First, where are our friends? Have you done anything to them? Are you planning to attack us too or is this more of an interview?"

Yuri shook his head but it was Tanatar who answered, an amused smirk sliding across his face. "Two men and muggle woman? They were in garden, plenty busy."

Hermione sighed in annoyance. They had less reason to be on their guard here. It was true, but honestly. The poor woman hadn't even sold them anything yet and two potential threats had slipped in without any of them noticing. She wanted to kick herself for having been caught off guard too.

"Don't worry, we do not mean to harm you. But we would very much like to talk. We apologize for surprising you like this but as we said, you've spent most of your time behind powerful warding or in crowded muggle London. I see opportunity so we take it." Yuri shrugged as he finished, crossing his arms and somehow managing to look intimidating while projecting an air of cordial interest.

Glancing up to catch George's eye, she arched a brow in silent question. He frowned and eyed the two men for a long moment before nodding at her.

"Alright. We can talk. But not here. We are a bit busy at the moment and apparently need to go interrupt in the garden." The two Kazakh men smirked at one another as she eyed their rather flamboyant robes. "There's a muggle cafe in the city we visited earlier. Meet us there in an hour, if you can blend in a bit better that is."

"We know the place. We will see you there." Yuri took a moment to admire the room. "This is a nice little house. I can see why you like it. Remote and perfect for hiding from Death Eaters. All it needs is a little magic." Anxiety shot through her at his words. Was he threatening them? How did he know what they intended for this place? "Let's go Tanatar. If they try to run we can just follow them like we did here."

And then they were gone, apparating away without a sound. Neither Hermione or George spoke for several seconds as they each tried to process what had just happened. Eventually, George stowed his wand and frowned down at her.

"So they've been following us for months? And no one noticed? Not any of us, not Dumbledore, not the Death Eaters also following us? How have they managed that?"

Unsettled, Hermione slid her own wand back into its holster and grabbed his hand, pulling him out of the room. "I've no idea, but I don't like it. That time-turner was advanced enough… for our day. Now they've been sneaking around under everyone's noses for months in the middle of a war? What else are they capable of?"

"Makes me wonder too…"

They made their way out of the stone house to find Gideon and Fabian walking up a garden path on either side of their real estate agent. Apparently, playing off of one another as they flirted with her was working for them. She was in the middle of laughing at something Gideon had said, her hand lightly touching his arm as they approached. If things hadn't suddenly taken such a serious turn, Hermione might have had a thought or two about Annette's professionalism. As it was, she was a little too preoccupied to care.

Obviously trying for casual, George dropped his arm around her shoulders and smiled indulgently. "You were right, Annette. It is perfect. We'll take it."

Smiling a little sadly, she clapped her hands together and took a step forward. "Wonderful. I told you, I had a feeling." She glanced back at Fabian with a sly little wink before gesturing to the house. "I am a little sad we are done already but, when you find the perfect place there's no time to wait. Come, let's get started on the paperwork."

Letting her lead the way, Hermione pushed George forward to talk to her and grabbed hold of Gideon and Fabian. Holding them back, she cast a quick Muffliato. "We have a problem."

Frowning in confusion, they glanced around quickly. "What happened?"

"While you two were out here competing for a dinner date…"

Gideon smirked, interrupting. "Who said anything about competing?"

Hermione glared at him until the smirk faded into an apologetic cough. "We had a couple of visitors. Two men claiming to be from the Kazakh ministry showed up. Apparently they've been following us for months but your wards kept them back. They want to talk about our little trip."

"Oh…" He looked around as if he might see them hiding behind any tree. "That is serious. You're not calling off the house hunt because of that are you? If they know about this place…"

She cut him off. "We're not sure if they're a threat yet. They said they just want to talk, but they did mention hiding from Death Eaters. We said we'd meet them at the cafe from earlier in an hour. They've been following us for months undetected by anyone. We could pass on this place but they'd just follow us to the next."

Fabian glanced up at a busily distracted Annette and George. "Do you need us to come with you?"

"Might as well. Molly and Arthur won't be expecting us back so soon anyways so you won't be missed."

Finally making it back to the kitchen, Hermione canceled the spell and rejoined George beside the table, now spread out with paperwork. "So, where do we sign first?"

Yuri and Tanatar were waiting for them in the cafe when they arrived, chatting quietly in what she now guessed must be Russian and sipping tea. Seeming to have guessed they wouldn't have come alone, they had requisitioned a large corner booth that would easily fit them all. When they saw the four of them, Yuri waved at the waitress and asked in perfect French for her to take their orders as well.

Drinks of their own in hand and now alone with the strangers, Hermione cast another Muffliato around their table. She knew both she and George had several questions but before either of them had the chance to open their mouths, Yuri leaned in and launched into his.

"So, what year did you come from? And where did you even get our device from? What are the pair of you up to here, eh? From what we could tell, the muggle couple you meet up with from time to time have the same genetics as you…" He indicated Hermione with a nod as he paused to take a sip of his tea. "And the young wizard… we aren't sure but we think he is a Death Eater." Shaking his head with a wry smile, Yuri looked between them. "Please, we are very curious."

Hermione stared at him slack-jawed. Who were these people? They'd been dodging Death Eaters and very likely Dumbledore's attempts at tracking as well but these two strangers had actually succeeded. How could they know about her parents? They'd only ever gone to meet them by apparating from inside wards.

Tanatar laughed at her obvious shock."You wonder how we know this, da? Do you no have people that do this? Follow people for information? How do you say… spies?"

"Sure but…" George shrugged and tugged anxiously at his ear. "You are just a bit better at it than we're used to… I'm sorry, how did you manage to track us so well? How did you find us or even know we were here at all?"

Yuri wagged a finger at him and smirked. "Oh no you don't. I asked first. Besides, we could haul you back to Kazakhstan and charge you with theft and no one would ever hear from you again." He shrugged. "But I can see you are too shocked and have many questions of your own. You answer my questions, we will do our best to answer yours as well. Like I said before, we really aren't here to hurt you… but we could."

Jabbing a finger in their direction, he burst into laughter when both Hermione and George leaned back in their seats and glanced at one another. Even with Gideon and Fabian, these two might be too much to take on. But their story was too dangerous to risk getting back to the wrong people.

"You know about the war and the Death Eaters. We'll answer your questions, but we need assurances that you aren't working for the Dark Lord or Dumbledore. I'm sure you can see how that could be dangerous."

A knowing grin split Yuri's face. "I like this one, Tanatar. She is very smart." Suddenly a wand was in his hand and a muggle repelling charm shimmered over her Muffliato. "As I mentioned before, my associate and I are what you call Unspeakables." Both men opened their mouths, revealing complicated runes underneath their tongues. "This conversation is entirely related to our work and as such we could not share the details with Dumbledore or this Dark Lord even if compelled. These runes are a curse, similar to the ones your Ministry employs to keep its own secrets. You have no need to worry about your story spilling from us."

"What about your minds? The Dark Lord is a master legilimens."

He shrugged. "There is a similar curse for that too. If anyone were to try to break into our minds, it would kill us."

George sucked in a breath. "That seems a bit extreme."

For the first time since they'd met them, Yuri's face darkened and he looked extremely serious. "We may not have a dark wizard at the moment, but the United Ministries of Eastern Europe have our own problems and their looming threat is extremely serious indeed."

Shuddering at his drastic change in tone and thinking of several new questions, Hermione nodded slowly. "Alright… I suppose we don't really have a choice either way." She glanced at George. "You found it, why don't you start, George."

He squeezed her hand and launched into their story. Yuri and Tanatar listened raptly as he spoke, fingers twitching as though they longed to take notes. When George got to the part about arriving on the day of his birth and seeing himself, Yuri interrupted.

"Wait, wait, wait. You are saying you misread the runes and missed your mark, and the day you landed on was the day you and your brother were born? Of all days?" He stroked his mustache and shook his head. "Fascinating… and when you came face to face with yourself nothing happened? You are both normal, no magical problems?" George shook his head. "Your younger self, have you checked his magical core?"

Fabian interjected for the first time since getting to the café. "My brother and I did the test ourselves before they met and again a few days later. Little George is going to grow up just as magical as this one."

Yuri nodded. "What about you, Hermione? The muggles are your parents, da?"

"Yes, but I won't be conceived until Christmas. You said we misread the runes, what do you mean? They weren't that difficult to translate once I found the right book…"

He waved a dismissive hand at her. "No, these particular runes are very difficult to translate correctly, especially when mixed with Kazakh letters. The idea was that this device was extremely dangerous so it was intentionally made difficult to use."

Hermione leaned back in her seat and sighed in frustration at the ceiling. "Of course it was. No wonder… we were lucky to have ended up when we did. Who knows where we might have landed! Imagine how much more dangerous it might have been if we'd ended up hundreds of years in the past! We could have completely wrecked the present!"

Clearing his throat, Yuri looked somewhat sheepish, Tanatar glaring at him with mild annoyance. "Yes well, some of us thought misuse would land the thief in some kind of limbo. Lost to time for their trouble. Not everyone agreed… but eh. It worked out for you, da? I would be extremely interested to know how you being here before conception will affect your ah, younger self. Perhaps you could send me an owl when you know. We likely won't ever have another case to study, you understand."

Panic suddenly flared to life. "Do you think my being here will affect her? I mean me? I mean… Well, I'm not entirely sure how magical pregnancy works. Would me being here from the start really take her magic?"

This time it was Tanatar who answered. "No one knows. How can we? Time travel is not so well understood, and magic and genetics, even less. But he was fine, there is no reason to assume you would be any different."

"So." Hermione jumped when Yuri set his empty tea cup down harder than necessary. "Now that you're here, what are you up to with the Death Eaters? We managed to get a hold of one of your shield hats. Very impressive. But that sulky young man, he is a Death Eater, no?"

"Yes… how could you possibly know that?"

"He had the same dark, infected aura as the others we'd seen following you. Well, trying to follow you." He laughed. "They've had even less success than we have… it really doesn't seem like he's set his most intelligent people after you if I'm honest."

She huffed a shocked breath. "I have to say, I'm more than a little impressed… and feeling like we've been terribly lax with our security."

He waved her concern away. "Don't feel bad. The expression, 'necessity is the mother of all invention,' fits us nicely. Much like your hats. So, you're working with a Death Eater? We thought he must either be a spy, or you are secretly working for the Dark." Nodding when Tanatar offered to pour his tea from their pot, he took a satisfied sip and shrugged. "If I can be honest, it is not our inclination to get involved in your little civil war. We have enough problems of our own at home. It's why we haven't bothered with the Death Eaters attempting to follow you. But I must ask, whatever it is you're doing… you're trying to change the future aren't you?"

When they didn't answer, he nodded, taking their silence for a yes. "The whole reason we created that device was as a safety measure against the worst outcomes. Judging by the vague picture you shared of your future, it seems like that is what you've decided to do. Assuming you're in fact working against your Dark Lord."

"Obviously." George shifted uncomfortably and looked down into her face for a long moment before turning back to Yuri. "You'll answer our questions now?"

Yuri smiled. "Da. Unless of course we can't." He gestured to his mouth. "You understand."

George nodded. "How did you know about us in the first place?"

"This is not so difficult." Yuri shrugged. "We know why we made the Izmenit' proshloye. As a fail safe, mostly against our own problems, but foreign dangers were taken into account as well." He gave them a significant look before continuing with a small shrug. "We figured out how to trace the device's magical signature. It is quite unique after all and left measurable… hmm I would say magical residue, when we tested it for small jumps. This seemed prudent given why it would likely be used. When you landed here, it registered. All the way from England. You are impressed, da?"

Unbidden, Hermione found herself nodding. "Yes actually. That's quite a distance. How did you find us once you came to England?"

"This was a bit harder. We found the apartment you landed in but since you only used the device once from there, your trail was less clear. The man there was able to give us his memory, and there would have been residual magic sort of… surrounding you for a time. It was a powerful set of spells after all."

Hermione wondered if Dumbledore had sensed that residual magic. Perhaps that had been the reason he'd been so interested... before the prophecy anyhow.

"You could have gone anywhere, but thankfully we could trace you at least to Hogwarts. After that the trail went cold. We guessed Dumbledore had something to do with that. The strong warding at the castle kept us from tracing further, and from there we assumed you floo'd or apparated to another location."

Absently, Hermione shook her head. "You can't apparate on Hogwarts grounds, it's in…"

George shot her an amused look as he cut her off. "Why would they have read Hogwarts: A History, Hermione? Honestly."

She blushed slightly, not having realized she'd spoken out loud. "Sorry… go on."

Yuri only chuckled. "Well, this is good to know. Anyway, from there it was more of a waiting game. We knew who we were looking for, so we disguised ourselves and waited around Diagon Alley mostly. Eventually we got lucky." He laughed again. "You three sure had quite the day around London on those ridiculous trains!"

"You followed us? All day?" Fabian looked indignant. "We may have been enjoying ourselves—" both Gideon and George scoffed "—but we were aware the whole time. We know there are Death Eaters tailing us and we shook them before we made it to the train terminal."

Tanatar thumbed his nose. "Yes, you did. They're not too bright. Us, we have much better tracking magic."

Suddenly remembering what Viktor had said about Durmstrang, how they taught Dark magic, an idea began fermenting in the back of her mind.

"It was easy to follow you home from there. Your wards are excellent but we at least had a home base for you. We knew about France because of the trace we put on you," he gestured to Fabian, "Left your home and Tanatar followed you to the Ministry."

Outraged, Fabian stood from the table and started to yell before he remembered where they were and sat back down. "You put a trace on me? Impossible! I would have noticed!"

"The way you think of magic here, this black and white way… is no good. You limit yourself too much. We have many kinds of spells you do not, many are new and invented out of need but… this particular one is not new. Don't worry. I remove."

Yuri drew his wand and waved it in a complicated pattern. Runes appeared in front of all four of them. Hermione's eyes ran over them rapidly, trying to understand what they meant but they faded too soon. "When did you do mine?"

The men across from them shared a dark look before Yuri answered. "When you were in the Alley and it was attacked."

Now it was Hermione's turn to be indignant. "You were there? Why didn't you intervene? We could have used your help! People died, innocent people."

Hanging his head, Yuri sighed heavily. "Da, they did. And perhaps we could have saved a few. But… we aren't here officially. In fact it would be very dangerous for us to be discovered by your Ministry. Officially the British Ministry has recognized the Russian Ministry's claim over the smaller bloc countries. It is a false claim, we resist. But…" He shrugged. "If we were caught they would contact the Russians. That cannot happen."

"Why? I thought you said any attempt to break through your curses would kill you?" George gripped the edge of the table. "Was that not true?"

"Nyet! No. It is true. But, perhaps you will understand how important it is that we return home alive. The risk we took to find you, to come here…" He held up his hands for emphasis. "Huge! We must return home. Our people need us. Well, not mine. I left mine in Russia when I defected and fled to Kazakhstan, but we are important to our cause as perhaps you are to yours."

Frowning, Hermione pushed, knowing it wasn't necessarily her business but curious anyways. "What is your cause exactly?"

Yuri gave her a long assessing look, as if deciding if he should say whatever it was he wanted to say. "In your future, does the muggle Soviet Union still exist? What do you know about the state of the magical governments in the region?"

Only giving it a moment's thought before deciding it wouldn't hurt, she answered. "The Soviet government fell in the early 90's. From what I know, any unity amongst the former bloc Ministries dissolved as well. I knew a man from Bulgaria and he mentioned once that it was good not to worry about the Russian Ministry any more. Something about Quidditch honestly and I don't remember the details. Why?"

A sigh that sounded like relief escaped Yuri and he sat back in his chair, whispering something in Russian. "The Russian Ministry has become as corrupt and power mad as their muggle counterparts. They believe that the magical populations in the countries the Soviets control should be under their authority as well. But we resist, especially in Kazakhstan. In attempt to break us they urged Chairman Khrushchev to use an area near the magical community to test their new bombs."

Knowing what he meant, Hermione sucked in a horrified breath and grabbed George's hand. "Explosives can be defended against, but the poison in these—radiation—was like nothing anyone had ever seen before. Semipalatinsk was, to muggles, an empty steppe. But it was in fact a decent sized magical community. The largest in the region besides the capital city. I learned of this before it happened, it is why I left. I tried to warn them… but it wasn't enough."

Overcome with emotion, Yuri hung his head, his hands fisted on the table. Tanatar turned to him, placing a firm hand on his shoulder he murmured something in Russian. She didn't understand his words, but the meaning was clear. After a moment, Yuri nodded.

"I brought my family with me, naturally. The blast, we avoided that easily enough as did most of the rest of the people there. But the radiation…" He blinked several times, staring intently at a spot on the ceiling. "For a time everyone that survived fled and we devoted everything to coming up with some kind of shield or warding to protect against it. After a few years of testing we finally succeeded. And we never stopped innovating."

Sitting straighter, Yuri looked determined and proud. "Tanatar, myself, a handful of others from Kazakhstan and several other countries have dedicated our lives to our people's freedom. We invent, we test, we risk our souls to develop magics to protect our people. The Izmenit' proshloye was one of those innovations. Now that we know how you came to possess it and what you're doing, we can return home. With it of course?"

That took her aback. Everything he'd just shared had shaken her, the topic change was sudden. "Um… I have it with me." She pulled it from her beaded bag and held it up. "We can't go back somehow, can we? It's permanent, like any other kind of time travel?"

When Yuri shook his head, she sighed and smiled sadly at George. "It was worth the ask." Before she passed it back, she remembered the idea she'd had earlier. "First, I have one more question. What do you know about horcruxes?"

A/N I have always been interested in what the Wizarding World is like in other places and especially as a history buff, how significant muggle goings on effected it. While this isn't the thread that inspired this fic, it is perhaps the 2nd or 3rd.