"Envy, anger, revenge and hatred give birth to murder."

Félicité Robert de Lamennais

A few weeks had passed, and September was already upon them. After much research, the two wizards had finally solved the riddle. The largest forest in the world was undoubtedly the Amazon. And most of the Latin American countries spoke Spanish, so it coincided. In addition, the Andes Mountains were quite well known and ran along the continent. But it went through more than half of the countries in South America, so how could you tell which one was the right one? And this old mountain was the one that had caused the most trouble for the two friends. They had explored many possibilities and Remus had finally found the most likely one. The most famous "old mountain" was in Peru, known as "Machu Picchu". This Inca city was located near the city of Cuzco, between the Amazon and the Andes. The location was explicitly mentioned in the riddle. No sooner had they solved the riddle, than Remus had gone to the agency that rented the house to them, to tell them they were moving. Hermione had rushed to the airport to buy tickets to Peru.

This was how they said goodbye to Australia, which had been their home for over a year. Their flight was six days away, and the friends had so much to deal with that they had to cast a dozen or so confusion spells. Although they avoided using too much magic, the Australian Ministry of Magic could spot them, they had never used it as much as they had in the last six days. But all that had passed and now they were on a plane to Lima.

"It's alright Hermione, I know you don't like flying but it's not much and it'll go by quite quickly, you'll see. And you don't have to read all the books about Machu Picchu, I can do that too, you just have to read a book you like, well that way you'll think about something else."

"I'm not afraid Remus Lupin!" she said in a higher than normal voice. "I just don't like to entrust my life to a stranger during eleven hours of flight. she answered by clenching her teeth and holding on to her armrests. We'll drive from Lima to Cuzco, right?"

The wizard sighed, the discussion had been the same for the past few days, Hermione brought up the subject every time.

"It's out of the question, we've already discussed it. It'll take us an hour and forty minutes to get there by plane as opposed to twenty hours by car. You can imagine how much time we'd lose. No, Hermione, don't look like that. You know very well that we have to speed up. We can't wait another year for the second phase to be completed, that's far too long. Voldy controls the whole of Europe. We can't wait any longer."

Remus finished his tirade and grabbed a book about Peru, specifically Machu Picchu. His eyebrows were still furrowed and he was concentrating on what he was reading, trying to avoid thinking about his argument with Hermione. He hated it, she was the last person in this world that still mattered to him but he couldn't stand her when she acted like that. It wasn't hard to put up with an extra hour on a plane! As for Hermione, she understood Remus' reaction perfectly, but she had always hated flying. Whether it was at Hogwarts on a broom or in a plane, she couldn't stand it. But at Hogwarts, she was still in control, whereas here, her life did not depend on her own actions. And Hermione was a control freak. No matter how hard she tried, nothing changed. Thinking about Hogwarts had brought back many memories, many buried memories that she didn't necessarily want to dig up. She thought of Harry, Ron, Neville, Luna, Ginny and all the others. Lost in the void. She struggled to control her tears, but they were too strong. They poured slowly and heavily down her cheeks. She did her best to hide her tears from Remus, but she only got his attention, moving around.

"Hermione, what are you d- But you're crying! Mione I didn't mean to make you cry. I'm sorry."

"I'm not crying because of you, I've just been thinking about Hogwarts, and then Harry and Ron-"

The end of her sentence died in her throat and she choked back a sob. She hated crying in public and even more so in front of her friends. Remus took her in his arms and rocked her gently to sleep.

Hermione and Remus had arrived in Cuzco a few hours earlier and were now in their hotel room. They had only booked one, the last one available. Luckily, there were two beds so they could each have a minimum of privacy. They had not gone to an agency that rented flats, as they did not intend to stay in Peru for very long. According to their research, the Machu Picchu site was much smaller than the Great Barrier Reef. It should not take them more than a month or two.

The two friends had gone down to eat in the hotel's small restaurant. They were sitting at a small table, away from the others. They were eating quietly when Hermione quickly looked up and called out to a waiter.

"Camarero, por favor, ¿puede subir el volumen del televisor?"

"Claro que sí señorita."

"What did you ask him?"

"Shh, listen!"

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. On the news today, the terrible attack that took place in the United States. At this hour, more than six thousand people have been injured and more than two thousand killed."

Remus leaned over to Hermione and gave her an implied look, which she did not seem to understand. He checked that no one was listening, but the other guests in the hotel were all either listening intently to the news or glowering at Hermione, exclusively parents who didn't want their children to hear such atrocities.

"Do you think it could be Him?"

Her question was lost in the void, Hermione was just listening to the Muggle reporter. Remus didn't understand much Spanish and the reporter was speaking very fast, so he stopped listening, Hermione would give him a summary. After more than five minutes of staring at his plate, Remus saw Hermione slump back on her chain, a neutral expression on her face.

"Can you explain it to me? I really don't get it. Journalists should learn to speak more slowly. They don't think about foreigners trying to understand what they say."

"Yes, come on, let's go upstairs, I'm not going to tell you this here, someone might hear us."

The two friends walked in silence to their room. Hermione closed the door and cast a silence spell, one could never be too careful.

"What's up?"

"It's okay Rem', calm down. I saw the pictures on TV and I thought I'd check. There's been a terrible attack in the United States. And if he managed to take over the United States, it would be a real disaster. It's the last major magical body that's not under his control, you understand?"

"So what?" Remus asked impatiently, his nerves on edge.

"So they said it in the end. They're a group of extremist Muggle terrorists. Nothing to do with Voldy."

"Phew, well not for the muggles but for Him."

The next day, at six o'clock, the two wizards were in front of the ticket office to get tickets for Machu Picchu. The salesman had suffered a slight spell of confusion, he refused to sell tickets to these strange individuals who wanted tickets for a week. Seats were scarce, he wasn't going to sell fourteen of them either, for only two people. But at last Remus and Hermione had their seats, he was finally going to be able to explore the place. When they arrived at the site, they split up to scout the place out first. Hermione left immediately, but Remus took the time to admire the scenery before him. Coming here had always been one of his greatest dreams. He had discovered the site through a book when he was ten years old, just a few months before he entered Hogwarts. His parents had never been able to take him and he had promised himself that he would go when he was an adult. The first wizarding war had come and he hadn't had time to go. There had been the death of James and Lily, the supposed betrayal of Sirius, and the supposed death of Peter. That was the end of the marauders for him, and he was too busy moping around to think about traveling. The year he was lucky enough to teach at Hogwarts saved him. He never thought that teaching could bring him so much comfort. But Snape had snapped, and denounced his condition. He could no longer stay there. This year had been a kind of enchanted interlude. And even though he was no longer teaching, Sirius was innocent, and that was a new release for him. The following year he had wandered the country, on Dumbledore's orders, to gather as many werewolves as possible for the Order of the Phoenix. Needless to say, his mission had been a complete failure. Shortly after its completion, he had met Nymphadora, and the months had passed without him having the opportunity to travel. He never thought he would have to go on a suicide mission.

But now it was no longer time to remember the past, but to safeguard the future. Remus now had a mission and it was his duty as a survivor, as a wizard, as a human to accomplish it. He had no choice. Remus had searched all day for a trace of magic, in vain, another day lost, on top of the previous ones, already too many.

The week had passed, at the same pace. The wizards were still busy searching. However, today was a special day for the two wizards.

"Stop grumbling Hermione! Come on, not today."

"Great, yay, I'm so happy! I'm twenty-two."

"Oh, fine! I remind you that you did that to me last year."

The wizards left their hotel room, less discreet than in previous days. He had decided to stay in the small hotel, the room being clean and the meals served for not too much money. Although she had a lot of money thanks to Harry, Hermione had only converted a third of it into Muggle money and she didn't know how much longer they would be in this world. And going to a wizarding bank was beyond foolish, so she preferred to save as much as possible.

As usual, they walked to the site. This walk was a way to decompress during the day, and to do some physical activity as well. They never apparate, they didn't want to risk being discovered. They split up again and each went off to explore his own place. An hour had passed, when Remus felt a glance at him. He turned around, no one. He shook his head, cursing his imagination and paranoia once again. He refocused on his research when he heard a voice calling out to him.

"Well, look who it is! The most mediocre wolf on this planet. Good at hiding in the depths of America."

"Avery." he answered in a neutral voice. "I don't suppose you came alone, where are your little dogs? Oh, or did you? They've probably taken you on a scouting trip."

"Shut up, Lupin!"

"Malfoy! I'm so happy! I've missed fighting Death Eaters!"

Remus drew his wand, which he always carried, even though it had been a long time since he had used it. He felt his magic flowing down his body, into his arm, then into his fingers, and finally into his wand. The first spell went off, followed immediately by a dozen more. The two Death Eaters had not expected their opponent to retaliate so fiercely. The spells were coming faster and faster. Remus had to parry the spells of the two Death Eaters, and even though his wand, because he hadn't used it in a long time, was more powerful than normal, it was still difficult.

"And your favourite mudblood, isn't she here to help you? I mean, two monsters together must be tough, right?"

"You know a lot about monsters, don't you, Malfoy? I remind you that your son betrayed you, and your master trusts you so little that he's taking you to get me, the wolf, the monster."

Lucius Malfoy hesitated for a moment, but it was fatal, as one of his spells backfired, landing in his chest. He bled to death immediately, and died on the spot. Avery looked at him dumbfounded, but quickly recovered, the duel continued, without either of them giving in.

"Remus, what the fuck are you doing, I called you ten t-" Hermione began. "Oh shit," she continued as she saw the two wizards fighting and a corpse, covered in blonde hair. "One less Malfoy, one. How are you Avery? We missed you, but you should have told us, we would have sent you a postcard!"

Avery, so surprised to see the most wanted person in the world by the Death Eaters, turned abruptly to her, allowing Remus to finish her off.

"Well Rem'! You're questioning your principles! Two 'people' killed in one day! That's your record, right?"

"Are you trying to be funny now?" the wizard replied, with a sneer. "What can we do with the bodies?"

"We can send them to the Death Eaters, they'd be delighted."

"Hermione, we're not going to leave them here, it's bad enough that no Muggle saw us."

"Don't grumble Rem', as you pointed out to me this morning, it's my birthday. So I'm the only one allowed to moan today. For the bodies, a simple reducto of dust will do."

So Remus did as Hermione suggested, and the bodies disappeared, as they had come, as if by magic.

"And what's all this about a call? I didn't get anything. It seems to me that your magic is failing you, my dear."

"That's strange, I'm sure I sent it to you. Perhaps you were too absorbed in your battle. Besides, didn't we say 'no magic, we don't want to be spotted'?"

"It's okay, Miss-I-send-a-call-that-never-gets-through."

"Yes, well, what did I mean? Oh yes, I spotted a strong magic footprint at the foot of the mountain. I thought we should go and have a look together."

Hermione walked towards the place she had explored earlier, accompanied by Remus.

"Can you feel it?"

"It's amazing, I've never felt anything so powerful. On second thought, I did, just before I passed out, in Australia, near the Great Barrier Reef."

The wizards took their time to soak up this magic, so similar, yet so different from what they were used to at Hogwarts. At that moment, everything seemed to breathe magic. In their blissful state, they did not immediately notice that a wooden door had appeared before them. It was Remus, when he sensed a slight change in the magic that he saw it. He shook Hermione and motioned for her to turn around. They looked at the door in fascination, and slowly approached it in silence and growing impatience. They couldn't believe it. How could they find the second jewel after a short week of searching when it had taken more than a year to find the first? Was it a mirage? Or a curse? A hallucination of their brains? But they couldn't see the same thing. And judging by the look on Hermione's face, the young woman was seeing exactly the same thing as Remus. The door sparkled and she seemed to be calling for the two wizards to join her.

"Hermione, it might be a trap," he said with a look of conviction that was not at all convincing.

"But no, Remus, come here."

Remus, although mixed, let himself be drawn in by the call of the door. The further he went, the more the call grew. He realised that he was no longer advancing on his own, but that his bag had been passed in front of him. Something wanted to come out of it, and Hermione took care to open the bag. The Book of Time darted towards the door, while the Necklace of Time headed for the lock. Remus turned the jewel and the door opened. The book went on its way, but Remus was careful to hold the necklace between his fingers and put it around his neck. The room was dark, so Remus couldn't see how big it was, but it felt quite large, he didn't feel trapped inside.

"Hermione? Where are you?"

"She's not coming back," a voice announced.

Remus turned around but, still in the dark, saw no one.

"Who are you?"

"Oh, well, I'm the Guardian of this temple."

"This temple? But we're in the mountains..."

"No, not at all, it's all an illusion. I assure you."

"Very well, Guardian, where is Hermione?"

"Hermione Granger is no more, Remus Lupin, I told you."

"That's impossible, Hermione can't die."

"Oh, I didn't say she was dead."

Remus looked at the guard, bewildered. He didn't understand her gibberish of 'no more but not dead'. He was thinking about what he was going to do to get out of this, when the sitter revealed herself to him. She looked like a woman in her thirties but Remus knew she was much older. There are some things that time does not erase, like the look. This woman had lived, Remus was sure. She had long black hair, as did her ebony eyes. Remus had never seen such a beautiful woman. She was almost unreal.

"What are you going to do with me?"

"I'm going to test your emotional potential."

"My emotional potential? What's that?"

"You'll see, I won't spoil the surprise."

The guardian approached Remus and took his head in her hands and leaned towards his left ear.

"A word of advice, you should have asked me my name Remus Lupin. My name is Proserpina."

And she broke his neck.