Happy Friday! Hope you like this little bit of Weasley love with a dash of Hermione's "we're changing everything" plan. There's still a lot more to go and one more major character to introduce but we're definitely on our way now. :o)

A different note incase there's some awkwardness in the storyline: I'd originally intended for Molly to be pregnant with the twins and for Gideon/Fabian's deaths to have taken place right before they were born (so that their parents named them in remembrance) but realize in the early morning hours when we should all be sleeping (but next to none of us actually are) that I'd completely wrecked my math. For that storyline to have worked, Hermione would have had to have fallen back to January 1978 at the latest (since Google tells me Gideon/Fabian died February 10 but the year is iffy)...when The Marauders and Lily are very much still in school (and not living on their own) which doesn't work with what we've already got written. So things are being rework a bit to fit the new vibe we've got going. :o)

Another note: I put together the timeline of Voldemort's horcruxes using memory, supposition, and Google so if it's off from cannon, that's why.

Thank you so much for being here, thanks to those who reviewed, and a special thanks to pianomouse who is always appreciated!

Love Always,

Adrien

Disclaimer: I don't own any recognizable characters or settings, those belong to J. K. Rowling. I just enjoy making things in her sandbox.

Chapter Four: Some Things Stay The Same

This was simultaneously the first and last place Hermione had wanted to come. It was the place that had been more her home than her parents' house had been by the time she turned fifteen. It was one of the last standing safe havens of their war. The place that always kept its front torch on…until it didn't.

Until the family that survived everything was decimated completely.

Hermione had dreaded coming back to The Burrow because she worried that the only thing she would be able to see was that last night…but even in 1978, it was the only place she truly trusted to keep their secrets safe.

Even in 1978, the Weasleys were her family…even if they didn't realize it, even if they never did.

"Deep breaths," James murmurs, his hand pressing in between her shoulders in reassurance. She had asked him to come on instinct. He wasn't Harry but his magic still felt like home. But the more time she spent with him, which was a surprising amount considering she didn't live with him, the more Hermione realized how different Harry had been from his father. Where Harry had always felt like he was hanging on by a thread, desperate for any patch of peace he could find in their messed up lives, James held steady. Where Harry had needed mothering, James mother-henned everyone. Where Harry's fuse was always flaring, James's seemed to be dunked underwater. Where Harry had a tendency to turn on Hermione when their views skewed in different directions, James had shown up for Hermione even when she hadn't been able to give him an answer on whether or not she would be a Potter.

"This is a bad idea," Hermione states even though it really isn't and they both know it. "He might not feel it and, even if he does, they don't know me. I'm some stranger who literally appeared out of nowhere and started spouting out what I'm sure sounded like utter bullshit until you all saw my scars. They have a family, little babies to worry about and another one due in a bit more than a year. We can't ask them–"

"Can't ask them what?" Arthur's voice makes them jump.

"Mr. Weasley!" Hermione jumps, her back straightening and her hands twisting behind her back in the same way they had every time one of the elder Weasley's had caught her and various combinations of their children doing something they shouldn't.

"Miss Granger," Arthur replies, eyebrows raised and laughter tinging his tone.

"Hermione, please," Hermione could handle a lot of weird but not the kind of weird that would come from someone who had been a father figure addressing her in the same way that Dumbledore did.

"Only if you call me Arthur." The slightly older, though much younger than she remembers, man smiles at her kindly. "What did you two want to talk about?"

"Well…We…I had a few things to talk about." Hermione's words are stilted, still unsure if this is the best decision.

"I see…Why don't you come in? Molly always makes enough to feed an army and you two look like you could use a good meal."

"We couldn't impose," Hermione tries to object.

"It's not an imposition if you're given an invitation," Arthur replies lightly, corralling the other two toward the house. "We can talk about whatever scheme you two have concocted after everyone is settled for their naps. I get the feeling Molly will want to hear this too."

Hermione's already reluctant steps falter as they cross the threshold because this place, her home in the wizarding world, is exactly the same…even if the clutter includes more small toys and craft projects than textbooks and quidditch memorabilia. The same floorboards even creak under James's feet that had sounded the first few times Hermione herself had walked through the house as Arthur leads them in the direction of the kitchen.

"Mollywobbles!" Arthur greets his wife with the same exuberance he did nearly twenty years from now as he sweeps into the room and presses a kiss to her cheek. "Room for two more?"

"What strays did you bring home this time, Arthur Weasley?" Molly's voice is lighter and more teasing than Hermione has ever heard it as two plates float from the cabinet to the table without a second glance from the woman controlling them.

Before Arthur can introduce them, a ruckus is heard from the backyard before two familiar figures stumble into the kitchen.

"What strays did you bring home, Molly Weasley?" Arthur mimics his wife's query, tone and all.

"Who're you calling strays?" One of the twins shoots back like it is second nature, which it probably was if their nephews were anything like them.

"Couldn't be us," the other twin continues.

"Would never be us," the first twin concludes.

"It's always you," Molly cuts off any further banter from her brothers, reminding Hermione more of Ginny in that moment than the older woman ever had in the future.

"Cut down," the second twin gasps dramatically.

"By our own sister," the first twin concludes just as dramatically.

"You'll live," Molly replies dismissively, her eyes never leaving the food in front of her.

James snorts, finally losing his composure at the clearly familiar scene playing out in front of them, and drawing the room's attention to the only two non-redheads in the room.

"The other strays I take it," the first twin comments, grinning mischievously at the two magicals who weren't in his family.

"It would appear so," Hermione replies, returning his smile easily and offers her hand. "I'm Hermione."

"Gideon," the second twin scoops her hand easily into his and drops a kiss to the back of her hand.

"Fabian." The first twin bumps his brother out of the way, pressing his own kiss to her hand before adding, "Though your introduction was unnecessary."

"Couldn't forget a pretty thing like you making an entrance–" Gideon continues.

"–the way you did the last time we saw you, love," Fabian finishes.

"James," James introduces himself unnecessarily as he places himself between Hermione and the twins, his hand once again hovering protectively between her shoulder blades.

Hermione's cheeks burn but she rolls her eyes at James's action. The twins didn't mean anything by it and they weren't harming anything. If she was uncomfortable, she could put a stop to it herself.

"You two stop teasing the guests," Molly cuts in, shooing her brothers toward the table as she begins levitating lunch in the same direction.

"Didn't you and Arthur just say–" Gideon starts the objection as he takes a seat at the table on one side of the already seated and happily squealing baby twins.

"–we were guests too!" Fabian finishes, flopping down on the other side of the twins.

"I'll actually count you as guests when you make more of your own meals than I do," Molly replies easily before turning her attention to the two non-redheads. "It's lovely to meet you, Hermione, and it's a happy surprise to see you, James. Pick any seat you want, the little ones will be down in a moment." Molly immediately turns her attention toward the stairs and yells, "LUNCH IS UP!"

Hermione takes her usual seat at the table without flinching but James jumps at Molly's volume before sliding in beside Hermione.

The thunder of footsteps is fewer and lighter than Hermione has ever heard it but still familiar as the three Weasley boys race down the stairs. The ruckus freezes with Bill and Charlie's movement when their eyes land on the two unfamiliar magicals at the table. Little Percy's much quieter steps could still be heard thudding cautiously down the stairs but the older boys kept their curious gazes trained on the new arrivals.

"Who're you? I'm Charlie," Charlie blurts out in a manner that is equal parts brash and friendly.

"I'm Hermione and this is James," Hermione replies, smiling brightly at the little boys. She'd always wondered what the burly dragon tamer was like as a little boy, apparently he was just as brash and friendly as he was as an adult. The kind of charming that would do wonders for him in the future both as a dragon trainer (and with his revolving door of significant others that all the Weasley knew about but kept to themselves so Molly wouldn't meddle).

"My name's William but everyone calls me Billy," little Bill replies, smiling widely at the two newcomers as he takes the seat between his uncle and his father while Charlie rounds the table to sit next to his mother.

"Nice to meet you both," Hermione and James reply in unintentional unison, making both little boys' eyes light up.

"You talk like them!" Charlie exclaims, gesturing toward their uncles and making the two non-redheads laugh.

"I'm sorry to say that was an accident," Hermione lets the little boys down gently. "James and I aren't nearly as cool as your uncles when it comes to talking at the same time."

"Speak for yourself!" James objects goodnaturedly, nudging Hermione in the side and making the little boys laugh.

The last of the Weasley boys finally makes his way into the room and freezes in the doorway when he sees the two unfamiliar faces just like his brothers had. Unlike his brothers, though, Percy's gaze is immediately wary as his eyes flicker from the unfamiliar faces to the rest of the table and back again as his hands tighten around the picture book he'd brought with him.

"Percy, this is Hermione and James," Arthur introduces the two newcomers to the little boy as he scoops his youngest into his arms and carries him to the empty spot between Hermione and Charlie.

"Hello," Percy greets them quietly.

"Hello, Percy. It's nice to meet you," Hermione replies softly, giving the nervous boy a soft smile.

James doesn't greet the little boy verbally but gives him an openly warm smile.

"It's nice to meet you too." Percy's voice is still shy but the small smile he shoots to unfamiliar adults is genuine as he places his book underneath his leg.

The rest of the lunch passed with a familiarity that was equal parts comforting and crippling for Hermione. The people and conversations around the table were different but the love was the same as it had been since the first time Ron had tugged her to the table for lunch when she visited the summer between her first and second year. She hadn't realized exactly how much she had missed it until she was sitting back in it.

When everyone was finished eating, it felt like second nature for Hermione to start cleaning while Molly and Arthur put the boys down for their naps. The other three men at the table followed her lead and the kitchen was spotless by the time Molly and Arthur made their way back down the stairs.

"So what did you two want to talk about?" Arthur asked, holding out Molly's seat as the witch levitated her seemingly ever ready kettle and mugs to the table.

"We, well I, have a favor to ask of you. But before we get into that. I wanted to share a bit of my story with you so you understood why I'm asking you here like this instead of in a big Order meeting. Especially you, Molly, since Arthur and your brothers weren't able to share what happened at the last Order meeting."

Molly's eyes flash dangerously from James to her brothers to her husband before landing back on Hermione: "What exactly happened at the last Order meeting?"

"I fell back in time from the turn of the century," Hermione answers simply but honestly.

"Purposefully?" Molly asks warily. She always had been wary of meddling with certain magics. Hermione could still remember the earful Molly had given McGonagall when she had found out the school had provided a thirteen-year-old with a time turner, it was the first time she had realized that Molly Weasley saw her as her own and the first time Hermione had ever felt truly protected by an adult.

"Accidently," Hermione corrects and Molly's face falls as she reaches out for the younger woman's hand.

"I'm so sorry," Molly says earnestly.

Hermione gives the older woman a wobbly smile because it's the first time someone else hadn't jumped into asking questions. It's the first time someone acknowledged how horrible falling back in time unexpectedly was…even if the future she came from was desolate. It had been hers. She had had people she loved and things she had fought for and none of it would be the same now that she was changing things.

"I know you created your contract for a reason, that there was a necessity behind the magic you used. But is there something else we could use for Molly?" Arthur asks, pulling Hermione's attention back to the task at hand. "We're trying for another and magical pregnancies are finicky with even the most mundane magic. I just don't think we should risk it…even if it would be in the early stages right now."

"The contract? I wouldn't bring that here." Hermione would never bring borderline dark magic into a home of people so staunchly against that kind of magic. Especially when those people were the Weasleys…even when she knew for a fact Molly wouldn't be pregnant again for a good few months now and that her contract was perfectly safe for the older woman to sign.

"You…didn't bring it?" Arthur's tone is equal parts surprise and disbelief.

Gideon and Fabian's eyebrows shoot up in disbelief.

James's gaze sparks with curiosity.

Confusion clouds Molly's normally clear gaze at the faith being displayed by a literal stranger. But there isn't a single world in which Hermione Granger wouldn't trust Molly Weasley.

"It's my story and my plan, I can share it with whoever I please. Contract be damned."

"So which of my kids were you friends with?" Arthur's question draws everyone's attention to him.

"What?" Hermione's tone matching the surprise on everyone's face except Molly.

"You clearly trust my Molly and me otherwise you wouldn't be here for help especially without some kind of contract. Which means you knew us quite well in your time. When you crossed the boundary line, I could only sense James. Which means that my family's magic is braided with yours. When I startled you, you jumped and called me Mr. Weasley like I was an authority figure but not necessarily a family member. When we came into the house, you avoided every creaky or imperfect board in the floor like you'd been sneaking around my house your entire life. You didn't flinch at all when Molly called the boys down for dinner even though most people jump out of their skin like James here did. And now…now, I can feel more than one Weasley life debt owed to you."

"I did grow up in this house…" Hermione admits slowly, sadness bleeding into her voice. "After I learned about the wizarding world, I'm pretty sure I spent more time here than anywhere else besides maybe Hogwarts. At one time or another, I snuck around this house while the two of you were asleep with literally every one of your children. They were all my friends. You were all my family. But this is probably why I didn't trigger your wards." Hermione activates her charm before pushing up her sleeve to display the glowing words on her arm, "Ron, he's the one that will come after your twins, he poured a lot of his magic into this. He and Harry wanted to make sure that I would be ok."

A sharp gasp brings her gaze back to Molly, whose own eyes are scanning Hermione's arm as tears stream down her cheeks.

"What–?" Molly's voice cracks before

"In my time, I lost…everything…My rights, my freedom, my parents, my friends, my brother…you all…Now that I'm here, I want to change that."

"What can we do to help?" Arthur's voice is rougher than usual but his gaze is sure despite the fact that Hermione hadn't really shared anything about where she'd come from with him and his family.

Molly nods in agreement when Hermione glances her way, giving the younger woman the courage to explain her idea.

"I want to ward off part of your land so that we can practice combat and safely keep any information or resources we don't want unintentionally stumbled on or stolen by others. I was thinking the far corner of the apple orchard on the other side of the pond so that the boys can't get near it even with it being warded."

"We can get started on clearing out the area today," Arthur agrees. "We're to keep this under wraps, yes?"

"That would be best," Hermione confirms, unsure how to handle how easy this conversation had gone. How much trust this family was putting in someone they knew nothing about.

"Who will know?" Arthur asks, a determined gleam in his eye that tells Hermione he won't tell anyone she doesn't want to know about what she has asked of him today. It was the same look he'd gotten in his eye whenever she'd asked about the very illegal magically enhanced muggle objects that always seemed to find their way to his shed instead of his office's artifacts. The same look he'd gotten when he turned a blind eye to the sweets Fred and George smuggled to Privet Drive for Dudley. The same look he'd had in his eye when Sirius Black nearly strangled Mundungus Fletcher for endangering Harry.

Hermione had often questioned how the Weasley family as a whole had made it through two wars nearly unscathed. How their family was the last standing batch of blood traitors in Bellatrix's regime. She'd often chocked it up to luck and their infamous Weasley tempers. But sitting here now, seeing how similar this version of the elder Weasleys is to the version of them nearly twenty years from now…Hermione finally understood. It wasn't luck. Intentionally or not, they used their charisma and kindness to their advantage. That's how Arthur had become head of his department insoute of how many people in power looked down on his choices. That's how Molly Weasley was able to take down one of the most powerful witches of their generation with minimal effort.

They were seen as the lesser threat compared to those around them because they were kind and charismatic but they were also deceivingly powerful and unfalteringly loyal…They had just put their trust in the wrong man last time. Though, Hermione could grudgingly admit in her own mind at least, that Dumbledore was likely the best choice they had in the original timeline.

The fact that he wasn't the best or only choice now is something Arthur, Molly, and the Prewitt brothers all seemed to realize instinctually even without knowing Hermione's entire story.

"Just the Potters, Sirius, Remus, and myself will be working there for now. And…" Hermione turns her attention to the twins at the table for the first time. "...if you're willing to help, I'd like to have you both working with us. There is a lot we'll have to keep a secret for the time being but from what I heard, you're some of the sharpest Aurors in the DMLE."

"We'll be there," the twins' reply is in unison but their tone is more serious than any they'd used today.

"Whatever you need," Fabian states firmly with Gideon nodding his agreement beside him.

"You shouldn't make promises like that before you know what you're getting into." Hermione doesn't want blind loyalty, she wants people to stand by her because they understand the risks and think that her ideas are worth it.

"Given the fact that the first thing you did after coming back was chew out Dumbldore for keeping things too close to his chest, I get the feeling you wouldn't let us do anything without knowing exactly what risks we were taking." There is laughter in Fabian's voice but honesty in his eyes.

"But if it would make you feel better, you can tell us where we're starting once we get the land squared away." Gideon smiled impishly at the curly-haired witch.

The Prewitts remind her so much of their nephews in the moment that it brings a sad, wistful smile to Hermione's lips. For a moment, it felt like she was in fifth year all over again with the twins signing her contract before she even finishes describing what would happen if they broke it. But with a blink of her eyes, she's back in 1978. In a house that had been her home for almost as long as she could remember, across the table from an entirely different set of twins and an eerily familiar set of people who deserve to hear what they're getting themselves into…

"When the boys and I came up with our plan to steal the last time turner, we weren't planning on going back this far. We didn't even plan to go back to the beginning of the second war with Voldemort. We had only planned to go back to The Battle of Hogwarts. Time magic is untested, unpredictable, and all together something we didn't want to mess with but it was also the only option we really had left so we decided the four of us would go back the literal shortest amount of time possible…Coming back nearly a quarter of a century was was never on the drawing board. So when I landed here, I knew I needed time to think. To see if anything from the original plan would work and figure out what information I had that could actually be used during this time period. But I also knew that I couldn't say that to The Order, especially after cutting off Dumbledore the way I did. So I told them to do what I thought they should have done when things took a turn in the first war, what we should have started doing the first time Harry faced Voldemort in our time: researching wards and strengthening both home bases and safe houses even if they aren't currently under threat. Extra, seemingly excessive, protection has never hurt anyone when it comes to keeping each other safe. Especially if you are participating in a secret organization."

Hermione pauses and takes a deep breath because she knows rambling like this doesn't help anything but when she looks at the five magicals around her, their attention is still as sharp as it was when she had first started talking. Their gazes aren't impatient or frustrated or just plain glazed from the information overload she is giving them. Instead, they are engaged and, when they realize Hermione is taking a breath, encouraging. It's grounding.

"I've always thought that The Order needed to train harder in this time and in my own. I just had to figure out how to make that a reality since training as a mass group, while good for initial instruction, is not conducive for individual growth. Now that I've had time to think, I think having a set group of trusted leaders to which the rest of The Order reports to and practices with would be our best bet. Even if Dumbledore doesn't necessarily agree and the groups have to be held informally, which is likely because he likes to be able to oversee everything. This will ensure that all members of The Order are being used to their full potential while also ensuring the individuals are growing at the best rate possible. It will, hopefully, make group meetings run more smoothly because people will have a chance to talk things through with their smaller groups before bringing them to the group as a whole."

"And you think the three of us, Sirius, Remus, and Lily are your best bets for leaders?" Fabian asks, gesturing to himself, his brother, and James as he voices his question.

Hermione smiles brightly at Fabian's question. It was nice to see someone following along with her train of thought, even if there was a bit of surprise at her choice in leaders.

She'd expected surprise. She also expected many of the older Order members to rebuff her idea entirely when it was brought to their attention. But she stood by her decision.

Lily Potter was a potions prodigy on par with Severus Snape, who had been the youngest potions master of the century in Hermione's own timeline. Sirius Black was a dab hand at DADA and he was raised in a dark household. Even if he had rebelled against it, he had an intimate knowledge that being raised by a member of the light never would. Remus Lupin's strength were also in DADA and his physicality as a werewolf would be instrumental in getting less fit members up to par. He was looked over because he had been conditioned to take up as little space as possible but his physicality naturally outclassed literally everyone else in The Order. James Potter was a prodigy in transfiguration, being the youngest person in centuries to become an animagus before helping his friends follow in the same feat. Admittedly, Hermione didn't know much about Gideon and Fabian but she did know they were powerful and, if their nephews took after them at all, they would be her best bets at integrating tandem casting into their group as a whole.

The Marauders and Lily could also work together seamlessly, which Hermione had seen first hand in a domestic light, and that skill would work well with the bonded twin pair. She had high hopes that the groups would pair well when it came to working with The Order as a whole. But most importantly…

"I think you all are people I can trust with the second part of what I need the leaders for which will be our biggest obstacles. I would have added you, Arthur, as a leader but…you have so many little ones and even more on the way. I just—I couldn't—" Hermione falters, unsure of how to explain her thinking with seeming too invested in someone's life who didn't really know her.

"I understand," Arthur cuts her off with a kind smile. "Thank you for taking my time with my family into account."

Hermione nods, giving the older man a tight smile before pushing forward with the next step.

"I won't lie. The second task I had in mind for the leaders is going to be an absolute bitch. The boys and I almost died multiple times completing it on our own in my timeline. But it is necessary. Do you know anything about Horcruxes?"

As expected, James, Arthur, Molly, and Fabian's faces remained blank but Gideon's reaction surprised her as his face contorted with horror.

"Voldemort made one?" Gideon's tone is twisted, like he's about to be sick.

Hermione doesn't blame him, Horcruxes are probably the most disgusting magic she has ever seen both in theory and in reality.

"In my time, he had eight. Seven that he had purposefully made and one that was made accidentally."

"How do you make something like that accidentally?!"

"For those of us who don't know what Horcruxes are, can one of you explain?" James cuts in, drawing Hermione and Gideon's attention back to the rest of them.

"Horcruxes are some of the most gruesome, dark magic you can partake in," Gideon is the first to reply. "They were forbidden at large for good reason. Information on them is restricted, even within the ministry. The only reason I know that much about them is because I saw the aftermath of an unsuccessful attempt at creating one when Fab and I were separated for training in our first year…I wouldn't wish that aftermath on my worst enemy."

No one pushed for a description of what exactly that aftermath had looked like. If it made normally unphased man have that adverse of a reaction this long after his instatement as a full-fledged Auror, they didn't need to know.

"Horcruxes are forbidden because they go against the very nature of magic itself. To create a Horcrux, you shatter your very essence. Everything that makes you, you, is broken down: your magic, your mind, everything is sliced apart into separate shards of your once whole soul. The only way you can do this is by committing a murder with the ritualistic intent to place your fragmented soul into a separate entity. It is said to be more excruciatingly painful than being under the Cruciatus of the person who hates you most in the world and more draining than having your soul leached away by a Dementor."

"Then why do it? Let alone more than once?" James asks in disbelief because she hadn't gotten this far with the rest of them yet.

"Immortality. Or at least the idea of it. By placing a piece of your soul in something else, your life is protected as long as that separate vessel remains undamaged. Voldemort is obsessed with his own self interest from his idealised version of the future to ensuring that his place in the world is permanent. The pain, the instability, is nothing to him if it means that he will out survive his enemies. In this time, Voldemort has anywhere from four to six Horcruxes. If we can keep accurate tabs and our knowledge underwraps until the end of next year, all six of the Horcruxes will be in existence and we will know exactly where they are being kept."

"You want to keep everything as close to your timeline as possible then…at least until next year?" The clarifying question comes from Arthur this time.

"Yes…Like I said, I don't know enough about this time to make purposeful changes…aside from Pettigrews betrayal and…"

"And what?" Gideon prods gently.

"Your deaths," Hermione tells the twins probably a bit more abruptly than she should have…Then again, there wasn't really a best way to tell someone when they were going to die.

"When is it supposed to happen?" Fabian asks this time, his voice tight.

"I don't know for certain…You, Molly, you hated talking about it…I know it happens before your next one is born in 1980…But if I had to guess more specifically, I would say sometime in February because you were always a bit more in touchy that month, hovering as much as you could through care packages and letters and more than a few howlers if something was right… Which means it's either February 1979 or February 1980…I wish I could be more specific but like I said we weren't planning to come back this far so I didn't check…the only reason I know some of the specifics from that day is because of how you reacted when I was in the hospital my fifth year…"

"When you were in the hospital?" Molly cuts in.

"There was a battle, the first real battle of the second war with Voldemort, and I was hit with an unknown spell by a man I later found out was called Antonin Dolohov."

A sharp intake of breath is heard from around the room. Apparently that name was one already known in even the earliest stages of the first war with Voldemort.

"And you survived?" Fabian asks even though she is sitting right in front of him, his tone equal parts wonder and astonishment.

"Barely," Hermione confirms, her hand unconsciously tracing the scar that bisects her upper body underneath her sweater. "Had I not silenced him before he threw it and had I not had the combined efforts of the youngest potions master in a century and an entire hospital wing at my disposal, I wouldn't have… Molly…Molly, you didn't leave my side the entire time I was there…I didn't understand why at first but then…then I heard Madam Pomphrey and Professor McGonagall talking about your brothers when you had nodded off in your seat…Two fiercely protective Aurors who stumbled on a Deatheater initiation lead by Antonin Dolohov. You managed to take out the majority of them before Antonin Dolohov took you down."

A stiff silence falls after that statement. The twins' gazes are grim but determined and thankful in a way that makes her slightly uncomfortable especially considering she hadn't done anything yet. Molly has tears streaking down her cheeks as she holds Arthur's hand like a lifeline as he strokes her fingers in quiet comfort.

James's leg presses covertly to hers under the table, drawing Hermione's attention to him. He has a silent question in his concerned eyes: Are you ok to keep going?

Hermione gives him a small, slightly grim but thankful smile in return for his concern.

She wished she could tell him how thankful she was for having him here. For the fact that he let her ramble her and tell her story in her own way without interjecting his thoughts or feelings before she could finish. For the fact that he didn't push her for more information than she had to give or try to invade her train of thought if he didn't think she was moving fast enough. For the steady, silent support he was showing her in place of the over-the-top, often combative, protection she was used to.

Arthur clears his throat, pulling everyone's attention to him as he tries to pull their conversation back to the original topic: "So…if everything goes as planned, what will next year look like?"

"At that point there will be six and Voldemort will be hiding them among people and places he trusts most. The first Horcrux he ever made resides in a diary he held the same year he made his first Horcrux, when he was sixteen and still in Hogwarts. By the end of next year, this will likely be in Lucius Malfoy's care. Shortly after, Voldemort tracked down his biological family—all of which wanted nothing to do with him. He went on to murder his biological father and created his second Horcrux out of Marvolo Gaunt's ring before hiding it in the ruins of the Gaunt family shack in Little Hangleton which he himself had destroyed when his mother's family reduced to accept him. His third Horcrux was created sometime between when he left Hogwarts and when interviewed for the Defense Against The Dark Art position. He conned The Grey Lady, whose name is actually Helena Ravenclaw, into telling her where she had hidden Rowena Ravenclaw's Diadem then proceeded to make it into a Horcrux. When he returned to Hogwarts for his interview, he hid Ravenclaw's Diadem in The Room Of Requirement as a sort of final 'fuck you' to Dumbledore. This is the one I would like to go for first because–as much as he hates Dumbledore, he is also afraid enough of the man that he would never check on the Horcrux hidden under the old coot's nose unless he is absolutely certain it is in danger. The other two Horcruxes that will be created and placed by the end of next year are Salzar Slytherin's Locket and Helga Hufflepuff's Cup. The locket will be placed in a cave using Regulus Black's house elf in December and Helga Hufflepuff's Cup will be placed in Bellatrix Lestrange's Gringotts vault by then. The last one we will want to kill, rests in his body as it is now. That is the master soul even though it is also one of the smallest pieces of his soul because it inhabits his physical body."

Hermione takes another deep breath as the magicals around her process the overload of information she had just given them, wondering how she will tell them about the parts she's unsure of…if she should tell them now or wait for everything else to settle.

"That's not it, is it?" Arthur's query takes the choice out of her hands, his worried gaze watching her face carefully. She had made the conscious decision not to lie to the elder Weasleys now that she had come back in time, not like she and the boys had every time they'd gone on one of their half-cocked adventures. She wouldn't back out of that decision just because things got a bit hard.

"No…The hard part will come after we know for certain that Bellatrix has been given Hufflepuff's Cup for hiding…This is something we didn't know in my timeline…what made the future I came from so desolate…Sometime between Bellatrix being given Voldemort's Horcrux for safekeeping and being imprisoned after his disappearance in 1981, Bellatrix creates and hides a Horcrux of her own…This combined with her stay in Azkaban shatters her sanity entirely but her much more sane soul piece is safe and…when her soul piece is released, she proves to be a much more successful Dark Lord than the one she currently follows."

Hermione takes another deep breath and slowly takes in each face around her.

Fabian's holds frustration, fear, and determination.

Gideon's is equal parts determined and anxious, with an underlying tinge of disgust likely leftover from thinking about what happened when one failed to create a Horcrux.

Arthur's emotions flash across his face in a rotation so fast that Hermione can't catch them all with her glance but she is certain she sees determination, his familiar familial devotion, and the deep seated anger she only seen a handful of times when he felt something was wrong on a foundational level.

Molly's is heartbroken, furious, and righteously protective in the way it only ever was when her family was in danger.

James's is deceptively calm and, had Hermione not seen the storm of emotions gleaming in his gaze, she would have questioned his sanity. As it stands, the deceptive calm paired with the gentle press of his leg into hers tells Hermione that he is holding steady so that she isn't alone in the torrent of emotions going around the room.

Hermione presses her own leg into his as thanks because she doesn't have the energy to give him any other form of appreciation in that moment but the soft pulse of his magic brushing against hers tells her that he understands what she is trying to say.

"This is a lot to take in," Hermione once again breaks the quiet. "I don't want to overwhelm you but I also don't want to lie to you, to pretend like I know everything that will happen in the next few years when I don't. This information is pivotal to the outcome of this war but it's also information that we can't share with everyone. All of the information on Voldemort's Horcruxes, and the two that will not be created in this timeline if we can help it, is information Dumbledore had. It's information he had that he didn't share with us before he died. Information that we wasted precious time, resources, and lives tracking down that we wouldn't have had to if he hadn't decided to play chess master. I didn't want to make the same mistake he did by keeping crucial information to myself but I also acknowledge that these Horcruxes should not be common knowledge. Even with the contract we have in place. This is information that I believe should stay between Lily, The Marauders, and those of us in this room. We can't have individuals going off with half-cocked plans and blowing up our element of surprise just because they think we aren't moving fast enough. And we can't tell Dumbledore because these are what killed him last time. Dumbledore died in my timeline because he overestimated his ability to track down and take care of these monstrosities. Despite my dislike for him, I would like to prevent that from happening again. I chose the people I chose to hold this secret because I think you can all withstand the darkness that comes with handling and defeating Horcruxes. I chose the people I chose because I think you will be the most effective and determined to succeed in bringing the timeline into a more natural path, a path that rights the balance wronged by the pseudo-immortality Horcruxes provide."

Gideon's eyes meet Fabian's in silent conversation before the twins nod in agreement.

"We're with you," Fabian states firmly, his determination unwavering as the twins both rise from their seats.

"Fab and I will get the area cleaned by the end of tonight then you can place your wards whenever you would like," Gideon adds in clear support of his brother's statement.

Both men clasp Hermione's shoulder as they pass, their magic pulsing softly through each of their palms with an unspoken bond of loyalty. The same unspoken bond Hermione had felt from Fred and George when they had sung their praises for the DA contract she'd written in fifth year, despite how angry they'd been with her not long before for interfering with their product testing.

A cry from upstairs pulls the attention of the elder Weasleys away from the table as the back door closes behind the twins.

Another silent conversation and nod of agreement passes between the couple before Arthur rises from his seat.

"I hope to see you again soon, Hermione, James. And not just for one of these secret meetings," Arthur's tone is teasing but there is an underlying bit of sincerity that tells Hermione how serious the older man was. That he accepts and supports her even in 1978…which is more than she ever expected out of this meeting.

"You will," James responds genuinely when words fail Hermione.

"Do you have a place to stay?" Molly asks when her husband is out of the room "We can make the room."

"I do, Sirius and Remus gave me their spare room, but thank you." The next part of her plan would require weird hours and she didn't want to disrupt the kids or bring more danger to this family than they were already in.

"Well if you ever change your mind or even just want a little bit of time away from the two rowdy boys you call roommates, you will always have a place here."

Tears flood Hermione's eyes and streak down her cheeks before she has a chance to bite them back but the familiarity of Molly's crushing embrace is what forces the first sob from the younger witch's chest.

"You will always have a home here," Molly repeats softly into Hermione's ear as her fingers make a familiar, soothing, brush through her curls.

Hermione breathes in the older woman for a moment before pulling away with one more squeeze and rising from her seat as she wipes her eyes.

"Thank you for listening…and…well, everything…I think it's time we head back to see how Lily's doing alone with my rowdy roommates. She mentioned something about convincing them to paint so the two of us didn't have to tomorrow. I can't imagine that went well."

"Thank you for everything," Molly reflects Hermione's words back to her with sincerity before she pulls both James and Hermione into one more hug. "If I don't see you sooner, I expect to see all five of you here for Sunday brunch. And don't even try to argue, I know exactly where to send my howlers if you aren't here."

"Wouldn't dream of missing it," Hermione replies honestly as the three of them make their way to the front door.

"Though I might forget to tell Remus and Sirius just to see their faces when your howler comes through," James adds in his own two cents with an impish smile at the threshold.

Molly's silent stinging hex to James's backside shows exactly who Ginny Weasley had gotten reflexes from.

"Only joking!" James backtracks, giving Molly his most charming smile.

"I'll see you ALL Sunday," is Molly's last reply before the younger magicals begin making their way toward the property's apparition point and she closes the door behind them.

The ten minute walk is quiet but not an uncomfortable quiet. James seems to radiate a sort of quiet, accepting support. One that lets Hermione know that he is more than willing to talk if she wants to but that he's also ok to continue on in content silence. There is no pressure or expectation. No acting.

It feels…how Hermione had always thought family should feel.

"James?" Hermione finally breaks the silence when they are outside her, Remus, and Sirius's apartment building because she wants to ask before they go back into the craziness.

"Yes?" his tone is open and curious.

"I'd…I'd like to be a Potter if…if that's still ok with you."

His response isn't verbal but the way her feet literally leave the ground with his bone crushing hug is confirmation enough.