A/N: Thank you for your reviews, favorites and follows after last chapter! Huge thank you to lanamarymack for alpha/beta reading this chapter as well! You can find me over on tumblr (nauticalparamour) where I post sneak peeks, story updates and answer questions.
Well, it's finally Election Day in the US. I'll be spending the day full of anxiety and dread. I hope this installment is like a little bit of a distraction for you if you want it to be. I am laughing a little bit that this ended up being the chapter that I would post today, but there is nothing else for it. I hope that you enjoy and I will be eagerly waiting to hear what you think about it. As always, be on the lookout for the next chapter in a few days.
It was strange to be graduating from Hogwarts as Hermione Black and not Hermione Granger. Through the conscious acknowledgement of this somewhat minor difference, she was gripped with a sort of melancholy that she hadn't experienced in a long while — too caught up in her studies and in Rabastan to think too much about the life that she left behind. Some day, in the distant future, would Harry and Ron be graduating from Hogwarts, too? In a more pleasant life than the one that she had left, one that was not marred with chasing Voldemort down year after year?
The thought was enough to brighten her mood. Things were bleak in 1979, but Hermione was more convinced than ever that her presence in the past could make a better future. Even though she had not wished to come here, she could at least make the best of it.
She liked to think that she had made the best of it so far. She'd already saved Regulus's life and she was on the way to bringing Sirius back into the fold. Even though she was certain she didn't have anything to do with it, Bellatrix had fractured the delicate balance that allowed the pureblood families to support the Dark Lord and she had to believe that Voldemort was less strong without the might of the Houses of Black and Lestrange behind him.
And in her personal life, she had found an unexpectedly welcoming family, who nurtured her academic interests and embraced her magical powers in a way that her 'muggle' parents never would have been able to. Even though it was rushed, she even saw her impending marriage to Rabastan as a positive.
Rabastan had been the biggest revelation thus far. She hoped with her nudging and prodding and love, he would never be the man who tortured Alice and Frank Longbottom or who dueled against her and her friends in the Department of Mysteries.
Riding the Hogwarts Express back from her home away from home for the last seven years was bittersweet, but with all her friends piled into a single compartment, Hermione felt her spirits being lifted the closer they got to London. It was a tight fit, but Hermione was happy to sit on Rabastan's lap, using absolutely all of her willpower to ignore Regulus's pointed looks when Rabastan's hand strayed just a bit too low.
Hermione was eager to hear what everyone's plans were once they left school. Mallory was going to try being a nanny for her brother and his wife, who were planning to move to Germany as her brother had gotten picked up by a Quidditch team there. Angus had been offered a job in the Ministry, procuring rare herbs and plants for officially regulated potions. Nella was off to travel the world with her family. Ansel would be starting with the Games Department. Elvira had decided to take the very unexpected and serious posting of writing for the business section of the Daily Prophet. Priscilla would be at home, under her parents watchful eyes, until she found a husband.
When they arrived at King's Cross, they all parted ways with earnest promises to remain in touch, with everyone tittering in excitement about Hermione and Rabastan's wedding at the end of the month, which was certain to be their first real reunion after school.
Hermione saw her parents waiting for her and Regulus on the platform and she smiled at them, but Rabastan was not willing to let her go that easily. He took her hand in his, pulling her around to face him. "When will I see you again?" he asked, staring down at her like she was the only one in the busy train station.
"I don't know when Mother will spare me," she said with a put upon sigh, knowing that she had tons of planning yet to do for the wedding. "I am sure that she has a million and one things planned for me to do." She took a step closer to him, wishing that she could just run away with him now.
"Don't keep me waiting too long," he whispered, pressing a rather chaste kiss to her lips, knowing that they had an audience. "The 30th feels too far away already."
"I wouldn't dream of it," she said brightly, pressing up onto her toes to give him a slightly more lingering kiss, wishing that he would snog her properly, but knowing that it wouldn't do to make a scene. "Goodbye, Rabastan. I love you."
"Love you, too, witch," he said, kissing her a third time — more possessive than the last. "I don't know how that is meant to last me, but it will have to do."
"Hermione!" her brother's irked voice shouted from further down the platform.
She gave him a regretful look, before pulling away, not parting their fingers until the very last moment. She wore a terrible blush when she greeted her parents, handing over her shrunk trunk to her father to carry (at his insistence). "I'm so glad to see you," she told them, honestly. It had been too long.
"I'm sure," Orion said, looking rather amused.
"Come along, Hermione," Walburga said, offering her arm. "We have an appointment that we have to get to."
"An appointment? For what?" she asked, already feeling exhausted.
"To fit you for your wedding robes, of course," her mother answered, with a sniff.
"But, I've only just returned home," Hermione said with a whine, thinking that she would have at least gotten one day to herself.
"Narcissa and Druella are already there, so we simply must not keep them waiting," she answered, bulldozing ahead. With Hermione's arm tucked under hers, she happily side-alonged them to the dressmakers.
As promised, Narcissa and Druella were waiting and sprung up to greet her when she arrived, before she was shuffled back into the shop so that she could change into her dress robes. Hermione gasped when she saw how beautiful she looked in the white dress, with its off the shoulder neckline and long skirts. She felt like a princess — it was secretly more than she'd ever dreamed. And it fit like a glove.
She stepped out of the small changing room with a huge smile on her face. "I don't know what's left to alter on this," she said, feeling pleased as punch. "It fits me perfectly."
The other Black women all cooed at how lovely she looked. If Hermione wasn't mistaken, she was sure that she even saw tears in Walburga's eyes. The seamstress, however, tutted and attacked Hermione with a tiny pin cushion and a vision. She stood up on a little pedestal while the seamstress worked, looking at her from every angle, notes jotted down with a magical quill and paper.
After what felt like an eternity, she was released to go change, carefully leaving her wedding robes (her wedding robes!) hanging in the little stall. Narcissa's bridesmaid robes were next. They had not gone with white dresses for the bridesmaids, as Hermione held no such superstitions, but she was instead in a pretty blush colored dress that made Narcissa's pale skin look warm and perfect.
Hermione did not have enough interest in bridesmaid robes to keep her full attention on Narcissa and her eyes wandered. She was sure that she wouldn't have caught sight of the giant black dog hanging outside the front window of the shop if she cared more. Blinking twice to make sure that he was still there, she realized that it really was Sirius. But, what in the hell could he be doing here?
"I'm going to use the facilities," she announced, standing up.
"Oh, really, darling, it will only be a bit longer. Can't you wait?" her mother asked, disappointment in her voice.
"You are the one who took me directly here from the train station!" Hermione groused. "I'll just be a minute or two. I promise."
Without waiting, she walked to the back of the store, before slipping out of the back door and into the alley. Padfoot was making his way around the corner and once he was fully concealed by the alley, he transformed back into Sirius.
Hermione broke into a broad grin and jogged over to him, wrapping him up in a huge hug. "Sirius! What are you doing here? Come to see me in my wedding robes?" she teased. "Because surely, you should have received your invitation by now."
Sirius barked a laugh and spun her around. "I don't think I'll be going to your wedding, kitten," she said with a sad sort of smile. He took her hands into his. His thumb found the signet ring that she wore on her ring finger — a symbol of her betrothal. Rabastan had promised to replace it with something more grand, but Hermione wouldn't hear of it.
"It's my wedding," she said, imperiously. "I think that I am entitled to decide who gets to go to it."
"You seem to be taking this whole wedding thing well," he said, his grey eyes searching her face for any micro emotion that she might be hiding. "I remember just a few months ago you were determined to do anything to get out of it."
Hermione laughed. That seemed so long ago now. She'd been so stubborn and determined not to like Rabastan, but now that she opened her heart up to him, she knew they had something special. She scrunched her nose a little bit. "Yeah, well," she said, softly. "I've come around."
Sirius sighed and ran his hands through his black hair. "I made you a promise, Hermione," he started, pacing around in front of her. "A promise to return you to the life that you came from."
"I know, but — I don't want that anymore, Sirius," she said, willing him to understand. "I know that sounds crazy, but I really love Rabastan. I want to get married to him. I think... I think that I'm going to be able to change his fate and the fate of our family and the fate of the whole wizarding world."
It felt almost conceited to say — to think that she was able to make such a huge impact on everything. That she, Hermione Black, would be able to be so powerful as to change everything. But, what she'd managed to do in just two years was astonishing. She could only imagine what she could do in the coming years.
Sirius let out a frustrated groan and shoved his hands into his pockets. "You shouldn't have to make changes, Hermione," he said, looking at her with such pity in his eyes. "You are just a girl, really. This is too much knowledge for one person to carry."
She was confused. She shook her head. "I know, but it's something that I have to do. Something to make some change in the world," she insisted. "And, I have you and Father and Grandfather and Regulus and Rabastan to help me. We can figure things out, together."
He took a step forward and he wrapped her in a hug, his hand pressing her head into his shoulder. She could feel him let out a big sob as he held her in his embrace. "But I made you a promise," he repeated.
"Sirius, I don't hold you to that," she said, desperately letting him know that she didn't feel upset with him.
"And one day, you will understand that this was the right thing to do," he continued, like he hadn't heard a single word that she said.
"What?" she croaked, leaning back to look at him. "I don't want to go to the future anymore."
"I know," he repeated. "But it's too late."
Hermione reared back and that was when she noticed the chain around her neck, the time turner in Sirius's hands. Her heart stopped. "Sirius —" she pleaded, begging him not to do it.
But he let the time turner go.
All around her, the world was spinning in an insane tornado of color as day became night and day again — as summer became autumn and winter and spring. Year after year she felt herself tumbling forward and she wasn't sure if it was ever going to stop. She could feel her stomach twisting inside of her and she was worried that she might become sick. The magic was too much, the pressure was too much and she was sure that it was never going to stop.
Abruptly, the spinning came to an end. Hermione pressed her hand on the side of the brick building, looking for anything to anchor her down. Her senses were so overwhelmed, she wasn't even sure what was happening.
Slowly, things began to filter back in. It was night. She was still in the alley, luckily hidden from view. There wasn't much noise, so it must be very late, she thought.
Just when she thought that she was getting her bearings, the memories started to flood in. It was like her old life, but not. Little things, little differences, small changes were beginning to slot into place of where her old ones remained, two existences trying to occupy the same space. She clutched her head between her hands and cried out at the throbbing pain, flashes coming into view.
She was sure that she was dying, but slowly the sensation tapered off, leaving her feeling utterly depleted. Her eyelids slipped closed and she dropped to her knees, wondering where her energy had gone. She needed to get to somewhere safe. She needed to get to her family. Without thinking, she apparated to the library at Grimmauld Place, praying that she'd be accepted by the wards.
And then, she promptly passed out.