I do not know what I have done but I do not know that I can undo it now. Hold onto your hats cos hell if I know what is going on here. Apparently we have new cast members!
Also, if you know a Liverpool supporter...hug them. Hug them tight and hold them while they cry. We are not okay.
-0-
Lucia took some deep breaths as she surveyed their rooms before her. Her worries about Minerva had abated as they felt Hermione deal with the immediate danger, but the need for them to be together had only grown. She had no idea who this new Draconvir was - if they even knew them at all - but she did not want to leave her young loves to deal with it on their own. She catalogued the things she and Amalle lived with and as the reality of their decision sunk in, she realised she would miss none of it. Even as she did so, Amalle adjusted the armour under their tunic.
Her fears were suddenly very very real.
"What if this doesn't go to plan?" Lucia whispered. Amalle paused and looked up at her as Lucia traced the leather straps over her lover's shoulders.
"Would you prefer not to try?" Amalle said gently.
Lucia studied them and shook her head.
"No," she muttered. "But if we are caught and if we -"
"If we are caught, we are dead anyway and that is as big an adventure as we have ever had."
"But if you -"
"Lucia," Amalle whispered. "I would go to the ends of the earth with you. I would endure a thousand tortures for one more moment with you. It will be alright, my beautiful love. One way or another it will be a resolution."
"Do not do that," Lucia sniffed. She chuckled as Amalle stood and wiped her tears. "I am not much like Minerva. She is so brave; fearless. I could not be that."
"You and I both know Minerva is just as scared sometimes." Amalle smiled. "She just hides it better when it is time for battle. I know her as I know you."
"Not quite as you know me," Lucia whispered.
"No," Amalle grinned as they cupped Lucia's cheeks. "Not quite."
They had made love through the night like when they were first met. When one fell, the other picked up, over and over until they had fallen beside each other in tandem and held each other until the sun blinked above the horizon.
"Speaking of," Amalle whispered. "We must go, or the guard will already be changed."
Lucia nodded and picked up her knives. She preferred to fight with two smaller, while Amalle wielded the heavier single blade. When they were younger, they would spar often, enjoying the rush as much as the practice, but as they grew together, it fell by the wayside and as their lives got more empty, they had not picked it up for some time.
"We will be alright, Amica mea," Amalle whispered. "With any luck we will not see anyone else at all."
Lucia kissed her fiercely and when they separated, they felt each other's resolve harden. Under the cover of the rushing dawn, they slipped from their rooms and turned opposite ways down the corridors to their destination.
-0-
It was Minerva who woke first, though she did not know why. She stretched out her body, grinning ruefully as her thighs and and her arms seemed to unwind themselves. She surveyed her rooms and found nothing out of the ordinary and dropped back onto her pillow.
Hermione murmured in her sleep but Minerva could not shake the feeling that something wasn't quite right. When Hermione stirred again, Minerva was in two minds about waking her, but when she cried out in fear, Minerva shook her a little and kissed her eyelids.
Leannan, you should wake.
Hermione's eyes flashed with fire when they opened and Minerva sat up.
"Something is happening," she muttered as she stood. "Something but I do not know what."
"I don't -" Hermione frowned and looked around the bedroom. "I'm not -" She shook her head and looked over at Minerva with a strange look on her face. "It's none of us?"
"That's your department, love," Minerva chuckled. "Could it be Lucia?"
"Possibly? Or Vo-"
Minerva flashed into a cat and then reappeared at the other side in time to cover Hermione's mouth.
"Hermione," she chastised gently. "Be careful."
"Shit," Hermione groaned. She put her head in her hands. "Sorry, I don't know what's wrong but I don't like it. My head is fuzzy, like there's interference."
"Let us dress and we will eat something quick in the hope that whatever it is, passes or -" She gave Hermione a pointed look. "We will be ready for it."
Hermione nodded and they got dressed quickly and quietly. They ate a quick breakfast and then shifted to the sofa. Between them, they sat quietly for barely ten minutes and then Hermione got up. She paced quietly behind the sofa while Minerva pretended to read. Every now and then one of them would reach out gently within their mind, almost like a touch, before they continued waiting.
"This is ridiculous," Minerva snapped, shutting the book loudly. "What are we doing?"
"What can we do?" Hermione groaned. "Truly. I have no idea what's happening. If I did, I'd go there but I just -"
Minerva held her tightly and they rocked together in front of the windows in Minerva's rooms.
Their rooms now.
"I like that," Hermione whispered. "Ours."
"They are that now, mo Leannan."
Hermione tightened her arms. Minerva breathed in her scent and breathed out even slower.
"I didn't tell you, but I suppose as the list of things this could be shortens, I should tell you," Hermione muttered as Minerva shifted her feet. "When you were with Severus, I dozed on the sofa and ended up with Lucia and Amalle. Something wasn't right, but they wouldn't say what it was. They said it was too dangerous to speak on it. But when we realised you were in danger, I left really quickly.
"Something I am thankful for," Minerva chuckled.
"Except Amalle said something as I left. I thought I'd heard wrong at the time but now that I think about it, I don't think I did."
"Show me?"
Hermione recalled the memory and Minerva blinked as she listened.
"Right behind you?" Minerva mused. "That sounds unusual. And ominous, somehow."
"Does it?" Hermione asked seriously. "I wasn't sure."
"Why would she say that, especially after what she had said to you earlier? That makes it sound as though they are -"
"MISTRESS!" Michael's booming voice made them both jump. "TROUBLE AT HOME."
They didn't wait, Hermione pulled her in and despite Minerva swearing quite badly, stepped forward, through the protections guarding Hogwarts and into the field behind the house.
"Hermione!"
Amalle's very, very, real voice caused her to whip around and she saw Lucia laying in their arms. Feedle had them under her magic as Hermione stepped between them quickly.
"Feedle, it's okay, these are our friends."
"Imposters!" She squeaked.
"No, no," Minerva said gently as she knelt by Feedle's side. "They are not. They are like us, like Hermione, Feedle. From another time. It's okay, please release them."
Feedle gave them both a look and then glared at Amalle before letting them go.
Minerva followed Hermione as she rushed to Amalle's side.
"What happened?" she asked quickly. "What have you done?"
"She wanted to be with you," Amalle whispered. "No." They shook their head. "That is not strictly true, I do not wish to make it sound like it was her alone. We were not happy back there. We wanted to watch you both grow -" A tear ran down their face and Minerva's heart broke for them. "Wanted to watch your children grow."
Hermione knelt before them and placed her hand on Amalle's shoulder.
"Let's get you inside," she said quietly. "Out of the elements and into safety. Are you hurt?"
"No, I do not think so," Amalle muttered. "She took a blow to the head before she got us here. I still do not know how she -"
"Details later," Minerva muttered as she held out her hand. "Come."
Amalle needed no help to pick up Lucia off the ground but they faltered as they started moving.
"Let me," Hermione muttered. "Min will help you."
There were no arguments as Minerva pulled Amalle's arm around her shoulders and managed to all get them both inside. They followed as Hermione made her way to the spare room with Lucia. Amalle, despite insisting that they weren't hurt, leaned heavily on Minerva's shoulder as Hermione placed Lucia on the bed and held her hand over her head.
What do you think? Minerva asked her.
I do not know. Hermione answered.
She glanced at Amalle but their eyes were fixed on Lucia and Minerva figured that perhaps with them all in the same place, it wasn't quite so imperative for them all to know every waking thought.
Good point. Hermione turned back to Lucia and pressed her hand on her chest as well.
"She's okay," Hermione muttered. "At least, I think she is. She's alive, at least."
"Gratias ago dis," Amalle breathed. "I wasn't -" They swallowed hard and Minerva conjured a bowl just in time for them to vomit into it.
"Easy," Minerva whispered. "I've got you."
Despite her words, she felt Amalle's energy going and summoned Hermione just in the knick of time. They dropped to the floor and was only saved from crumpling in a complete heap by Hermione's strong arms. They glanced at each other as they manoeuvred them to the bed, beside Lucia.
They ummed and ahhed between stripping them of their clothes before Minerva realised that Amalle was wearing some sort of armour.
"What the bloody hell did they do!"
"Well that's obvious, isn't it?" Hermione asked quietly.
"Well," Minerva stood back and leaned on one hip. "Yes, obviously, but why the hell did they do it!"
"You heard them," Hermione smiled softly. "They were lonely. And they wanted to watch our babies grow."
Minerva blushed deeply and covered her cheeks with her hands. Not that it helped; her hands were never very cold anymore.
Don't be like that, babe. I know you cannot wait.
I am not having this conversation with you, with them in the room. Minerva snorted at how silly it all was. Help me.
They ended up removing as much of the armour as they could and left them covered in a thick blanket. Minerva wasn't sure where they were from even though she was sure of when they were from but she figured it wasn't Scotland at least. Even with fire running through their veins, it would be better to keep the chill off. She summoned the blanket from the sofa and dropped that on top of them as well, just in case.
Hermione met Minerva at the door and wrapped her arms around her. Minerva snuggled into her neck, despite still being taller.
"You're allowed to snuggle," Hermione chuckled as she nuzzled Minerva's cheek. "You're allowed to be soft, mo gaol," she whispered further.
"Come," Minerva nodded her out. "So we don't disturb them."
Hermione tangled their fingers together and led them into the kitchen. A pot of steaming tea appeared on the table and Minerva smiled when Hermione thanked their elves for doing so. They still made their own tea, as a rule - she maintained the Elves couldn't quite get it right - but it was appreciated when they did their best.
"Come on, lover," Hermione smiled. "Come sit me while we ponder what effectively feels like our parents coming to live with us."
Minerva snorted hard as she followed her young love into the living room. She dropped, rather ungainly, onto the sofa and welcomed Hermione on her knee with a grunt.
"What the hell have they done," she muttered. "We don't know what this means. We don't know if it's," she shrugged. "Permissible? I mean -"
"I think," Hermione whispered softly. "That magic belies rather a lot of rules that non-magical humans made up, don't you think?"
"Well, what about all those rules about Time Turners! You're not supposed to see yourself and you're not supposed to - Mmmpfh."
Hermione kissed her and despite the indignation of being shushed, Minerva sank into it. They made out for quite some time before Hermione leaned back and sighed.
"Fuck, you can kiss, woman."
Minerva scoffed at the ridiculousness of it all and tipped them sideways.
"I am, as ever, inspired by your beauty."
"So romantic," Hermione muttered.
Minerva let her head drop against Hermione's shoulder for a while before she sat up and scooted forward to pour the tea.
"Now, before I was so rudely interrupted," Hermione chuckled as she lay provocatively where Minerva had left her. "I was going to say - we're not seeing ourselves when we see them. We're seeing two completely different people who just happen to look like us. They are not us. We're not time-travellers."
"Are we not?" Minerva challenged. She helped Hermione sit up and passed her a cup of tea. "And how do you know?"
"Because they feel different. They are different." She gave her a look. "Come on, you know that."
Minerva acknowledged that and nodded while she sipped. They were different, but how much of that was down to their time, rather than her own. She did not know and it was making her head ache.
"Don't worry," Hermione whispered as she spelled the knot on Minerva's head to unwind. " Just trust me, will you?"
"You know I do, completely," Minerva huffed. "I want to know which one of them decided on this ridiculous plan and why they didn't bother to at least warn us."
"Because we couldn't," Lucia said from behind them. Amalle was holding her up but she smiled when Hermione shot to her feet and wrapped her arms around her shoulders. "Hello darling," Lucia muttered as she kissed Hermione's hair and met Minerva's eyes again. "I know you think what we have done is ill-advised, but to be honest, Minerva, I do not particularly care. It is done now and there's nothing we can do to go back."
"We could send you -"
"They'll kill us."
"Well," Minerva huffed.
She turned back around and wondered why she was so bothered about their appearance in the present. It was dangerous here, but so was the journey and they knew that.
"Puella?"
"I dinnae like that at all," Minerva muttered with a huff.
"Puerum?" Lucia said gently. "What do you think of that then?"
"We are not your children."
"But I love you like you are!" Lucia argued gently. "Why can I not be here to hold you if you need it, or love you regardless of whether you want it? Why can I not be here to watch you rule over your kingdom in the grace I know you can. Why should I be deprived of holding your children and being so proud of all you accomplish?"
Minerva snorted and finally dropped her eyes from staring out of the window. She met Lucia's and looked over her shoulder to Amalle and then back again.
"You could have died. You could have damaged our present. You had no idea what would happen."
"We didn't." Minerva sneered at the obfuscation.
"It was irresponsible! You could have died."
"We didn't," Lucia smiled. "We are here."
"But you're not from here!" Minerva hissed. "I don't, I mean, I cannot -"
She got up and was almost on her way out of the room when Amalle's strong hand stopped her.
"You cannot bear to lose another parent."
Her whole body seemed to shrink in on itself and she clenched her teeth together to stop herself from crying.
"I do not want to talk about that. You are not my parents."
"Then we are not," Lucia said softly. "Simply be our friends instead."
"But that is not who you will be, will you! That is not what you are and while you were there, it was easy." She growled and pulled on her hair. "I accept what you did, I do, I just think it was foolish and I am not required to like it."
"Like exploring a cave that was once held by witches and stunk of dragon?" Lucia challenged. "Like it's more foolish than anything we have done here? Together or separately?" Lucia looked at her pointedly and Minerva, for all her years, and all the ways she didn't want it to, it felt like her mother was telling her off. "I am sorry that our presence here pains you, but our presence there was dangerous. We were unhappy and all we wanted was to share the tangible love that you have. Is that such a bad thing?"
"Min," Hermione muttered. "Breathe, okay? It's alright."
"We don't know that! They could disappear at any moment. Worse, their presence could subvert ours somehow and we could -"
Lucia got up with Hermione's help and before Minerva knew it, she had wrapped her arms around Minerva so tightly that she broke down.
"I'm so glad you're here," Minerva whispered finally. "But I cannot do this again. Please don't make me."
Lucia rocked them gently and held on without comment. When Minerva nodded, she let go and they separated quietly, pausing to look at each other before Lucia kissed her hair and let her go.
Minerva let Hermione take over and listened as she explained a few important things that they needed to know initially. She sat quietly, wondering for all the world why she had reacted as she did. She watched her lover entertain the two of them like they'd been here from day one and as Lucia muttered something that made Hermione laugh, her gut squelched. They had been so busy that Hermione hadn't really laughed like that for a while, especially not at something she'd done. Love had been harder to get than it had been to Lucia and as the thought flitted through her head, Hermione stopped, mid sentence and looked at her.
"Min, that's not it at all!"
"I just said I do not -"
"Ama," Lucia muttered, interrupting them. "Take me back to bed so they can talk. I feel my energy waning anyway." Minerva watched a soft hand cup Hermione's cheek gently. "We'll reconvene later, little one."
"As ever," Amalle muttered. They slid their hands under Lucia's slight body and carried her back to the bedroom while Hermione looked at her. The hurt in her eyes made Minerva's gut squelch for a different reason.
"Min," Hermione asked. "What is going on? I know you're usually correct about these things but that thought you had a moment ago cannot be further from the truth! I love her in such a different way to the way I love you! And, you know that! I think it's a good thing they're here, why can't you?"
"Listen," Minerva instructed. "You are not so old that all the hurts of your parents have scabbed over and the pain of losing them can no longer be subverted by someone else. I will not open that wound up for anything, that is not my mother."
"I know that and so does she," Hermione said softly. "I know that more than anything because I have forgotten what my mother smells like. I've forgotten how my father sounds when he laughs but that's my fault. Yours were taken from you and I cannot imagine how that feels but you don't need to feel all that. You can just be thankful that we, I, am no longer alone in all of this. That we have people to ask questions of. Draconvir that have been Draconvir for much longer than us."
Minerva heard the unspoken plea in that and stared up at Hermione. In their life together, it was so easy to forget that she was so very young sometimes and she felt bad for that now. She sighed and held out her hand. Hermione went gladly and Minerva buried her face into her bicep.
"I am all of a bother," Minerva muttered. "And I have treated them poorly. And in turn, you as well. I am sorry, Leannan."
"Yeah," Hermione smiled as she kissed Minerva's nose. "You were a little, but they'll forgive you because they love you. Just like I forgive you for thinking I could ever love another, regardless of what they look like."
"They don't know me."
"They do, you said yourself. It's just confronting that they're here. Relax, okay? It's going to be okay."
Minerva gave her a look and she laughed, rather like she had earlier.
"You make me laugh, Min," Hermione whispered as she straddled her lap. "You make me so happy, every day of my life with you is the happiest I have ever been."
"I am scared," Minerva whispered, finally giving on to her truth. "I am scared of what this means, I am scared that I did not best the one we have locked up. I am scared that we are fighting one war and now there comes another. I don't want to fight forever," Minerva sobbed. "You promised me we would have peace."
"We will," Hermione promised as she stroked her fingers through Minerva's hair. "We will."
