Final Author Notes (Spoilers Ahead):
I read several Bellatrix / Hermione fics and kept looking for the "perfect" one, and when I couldn't find it, I decided to try my hand and write one where the two of them getting together made sense. There are plenty of fantastic writers here and I can only hope that you found this one enjoyable. I also tried to expand upon the existing world without breaking anything, which actually requires significant research and thought, much more than I originally expected it would.
Really this could have been three separate fics but as I started putting outlines together, I realized I could tie them all together in one massive fic. Yes, it was difficult, but in the end I feel it was worth it and I hope you feel the same way.
Originally, I included a lot of love scenes but I felt they started to distract from the story (and made some of the chapters excessively long), so I cut them down. If I did it all over again I would probably cut most of them down this way, and maybe try to rate the story T, to possibly draw in more viewers.
I tried to leave clues to GG's identity throughout the fic, with Hermione's realization that the deathly hallows symbol on top of the Aevum is actually GG's symbol as the big reveal for who the main antagonist is, and also serving as a reminder of all the ways he hinted at his identity. It was difficult to know how much to reveal, let me know in the comments if it worked out well. Some of the hints are how he's always about the greater good (without ever mentioning the phrase), the 7's were a big clue that he was around, as G is the 7th letter in the alphabet, and his initials are GG. The photo of the phoenix he has on his desk is there instead of a photo of Dumbledore (because obviously he couldn't have that). Also his suggestion that Hermione and Bellatrix leave on a grand adventure is something that Dumbledore and Grindelwald had wanted to do in their youth, and GG saw a lot of himself and Dumbledore's relationship in Hermione and Bellatrix. Another clue is that Bellatrix's mother mentioned the Aevum came from Europe via her aunt, and Vinda Rosier was a big supporter of Grindelwald during his rise to power. Another clue was the injury to Winthrop's shoulder (where Hermione smelled dittany), though this is tricky as it happens prior to Harry injuring 'Avery'. Did anyone else figure out that two Professor Winthrops appearing on the Maurauder's Map was due to a time turner?
I did include several pop culture references, mostly from the 90's, specifically Trainspotting, Saving Private Ryan, Shakespeare in Love, Final Fantasy 7 (Pansy's 'prediction' to Draco in Chapter 11, "What you seek will be yours, but you will lose something dear to you," is lifted almost word for word from Cait Sith's prediction to Cloud & Aeris), Goodfellas, Indigo Girls, Garbage & Shirley Manson, the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, Raph McTell (streets of London) as well as over a dozen Monty Python references, especially in the early chapters. Kudos to anyone who noticed.
Thank you to all my wonderful readers and reviewers who kept me motivated to keep going when I otherwise would have stopped.
Things I wanted to include but ended up having to cut:
A scene with Hagrid. I just couldn't find a way to work him into the plot in a useful way.
Explore a sadistic streak in Bella, maybe some bondage scenes.
More computer stuff with Alan, including discovery of electronic transfer of compromising videos to Europe. It would have made the story overly complicated and wasn't really necessary.
A rivalry between Mary and the girl at Martin's Halloween party, when Mary buys the drugs from the lumberjack.
A dual personality with Julia White and Bellatrix Black struggling for control.
A non-con scene between Rita Skeeter and Bellatrix Black.
Explore the difficulties Harry encounters from the older, more established Aurors, and expand on navigating the internal politics of the Corps. This would have required establishing more Auror OC's and then time would have had to be spent on the ways Harry is mistreated and on the grievances of the veterans, and his storyline was already complicated enough.
A second interview between Harry and Rita Skeeter, as they had agreed to one but we never got to see it.
Following England through the 1999 Rugby World Cup, and Michael Baker's exploits. It just wasn't important to the overall plot.
Draco making use of Veritaserum, because I mentioned it and initially had plans for him to sell some to Martin for a huge fee, but couldn't find a good place to work it in.
More strife shown between the foreign werewolves and local workers.
Delve more into vampire society. It just wasn't possible with the four POVs we had.