Alycia Locks opened her eyes again, and fought to suppress the nausea she felt from the portkey. She looked around and found herself standing on a sandy beach; the sun had set when they left Victoria Park, now it hung just over the horizon, maybe an hour from setting. The five others were standing there with her, unfazed by the sudden trip.
"I felt this was a safer place to arrive than at her door. James, you and the others stay here with Alycia, there's a spot through that clump of trees that's nicely shaded and you may find an old thatched hut." He reached into his pack and pulled a small object that had been carefully wrapped, and handed it to Sirius. "Here, take this and I'll let you know what happens."
Before he took Hermione by the hand, he picked up an old boot that had been discarded on the beach, held it as it glowed lightly. "Here's a portkey to get everyone to her flat." And with a wave and a familiar pop they vanished.
He planned to arrive near her flat; the others were safe on the uncharted island. Together the couple climbed the stairs to a familiar flat on the third floor. After a few moments they stood in front of the door to the flat they knew from their youth. Before she raised her hand to knock lightly on the door, she looked to her strength.
"Harry, what if this is a dead end? What then?"
"We'll at least have your family together and safe. Now let's talk to your cousin."
She knocked on the door and was greeted by a face they knew so well, but with a look of terror, as if she expected ill from these two visitors.
"Eileen Madison?" she asked.
"Who wants to know?"
'Crikey, here we go again' Hermione thought. "You don't know us, but…" the door began to close, "please wait," she pleaded.
"Eileen, stop. We're here to talk." Harry insisted as he held the door open. "Listen, we know who you are. More importantly, we need some information we think you have."
"I said go away, if you know who I am then you should be worried. Now LEAVE!"
Harry had had enough, first the Marauders, then Hermione's mother, now Eileen. He struck the door with his hand and it exploded off the hinges, sending Eileen to the floor like a rag doll. She raised a wand she had hidden and with a grabbing wave, Harry held it in his hand.
"Now listen to us. I'm getting tired of this shit." He stormed into her flat, his eyes burned with a passion and ruthlessness that took Hermione by surprise, he grabbed at the air and held her fast pinning her to the floor. She tried to stand and fight him off, but he held her down with a downward wave. Hermione could see anger in him she hadn't seen in years. Her palm burned with that anger, and she knew he was close to losing control. She stepped to his side and grabbed his free hand, giving it a hard squeeze. To Eileen it appeared as though she stood by him not to calm, but to motivate him. She held his hand until he began to relax his grip on the woman splayed on the floor.
After a few brief moments his anger subsided enough to address her in his Auror voice of authority. "My name's Harry Potter and this is Hermione. You're the descendent of a wizard named… what was his name?"
"Haimon Madison, born 1460 AD and died in 1653 AD." Hermione added as if she were reading from a book.
"He had a sister, Hermia, who was put on trial in 1479 for witchcraft. Hermione is her descendant. We found ourselves here through a strange twist of fate and we're looking for answers. We believe you have those answers."
"You're both fucking crazy; that is the most far fetched story I ever heard. Why should I believe either of you?" She struggled in an attempt to stand, but he still held her down.
Hermione released his hand and stepped forward, "Eileen, listen to us, you and your family have watched over my side for five hundred years. You can't deny that."
"Look, I don't have a clue what you're talking about, you both are insane."
Hermione knelt at her cousin's side and continued her pleading. "We know things had changed as far back as the 1940's but there's no reasonable explanation for it. I can't find anything about my father; he was a direct link to Hermia. And there's no trace of any of his side. I believe you may have some insight."
"Haiman Madison didn't have a sister, at least not one anyone knew about. If you don't believe me, I have a family history documenting all births and deaths. Would that satisfy you?"
"Yes, that should shine some light on this." Harry agreed for them both.
He allowed Eileen to stand, and let her go to the bedroom. She walked down a hallway to the main bedroom, just as they remembered. Across the hall was the smaller second bedroom; the toilet was located between them. When she returned, she had a large book under her arm and a spare wand hidden in her pocket. She lugged the large book into the kitchen area, leading the two intruders to the table. She maneuvered herself to one side with Hermione in the middle, assuming she was the weakest of the pair. She would wait for a moment and use this witch as a shield against the man, hopefully negotiate with these people for her life.
Hermione began and opened the massive tome to the listings for the mid fifteenth century; she stopped at Haimon's entry and noted he had a broad and long life in the wizarding world. There was one footnote attached to him, that of a sister who died from the tortures of the witch hunts. The very brief listing for Hermia consisted of brief statistical information. Hermia's death was listed as September 19, 1479, the same day Hermione found her and rescued her.
Eileen began to slide her hidden wand from her back pocket of the shorts she wore. She was a bit surprised that she had got this far, but didn't fool herself, she knew that the wizard was very powerful. She thought if she could just get the upper hand, she could get out of this mess. She stood to the side as Hermione began to read the notations out loud.
The obvious truth unfolded. When Hermione reached the sentence talking of Hermia's fate, Harry had to continue as she began to choke on the bile that tried to force its way into her throat. "Hermia had died just as the trial resumed on September 19th, but her death did not end the proceedings. The one paragraph dedicated to her detailed how she had been desecrated in death. She was beheaded, disemboweled and then drawn and quartered. As was the custom, her head was displayed on a pike on the infamous London Bridge, her arms and legs also put on display before unceremoniously being discarded across the city. Her entrails were draped along the bridge as if they were Christmas garlands," he paraphrased from the book.
This was a notation Eileen never read, as she had never given her family heritage much thought. It pained Hermione to know that because she was not there to help and protect her, this brutal sacrilege awaited. Harry stood rubbing her back in a comforting manner, the details were now clear.
Hermione had never stopped the bleeding while they waited for the trial to continue. Hermia had died because Hermione was not there to save her.
"We're sorry for barging in, please forgive us." Harry spoke softly, "Come Mione, there's nothing she can do."
Dumbfounded, Eileen stood as they turned to leave, her wand still in her hand; it was obvious he had seen it and had done nothing. Harry motioned to the fragmented door to return to its hinges and it complied. The past was now clear to Hermione, she had never saved Hermia. Hermia had died in the torture chamber and never married, the bloodline ended there, Hermione's father was never born. She was never born. She wouldn't be able to return and save her own ancestor.
Hermione had never met and befriended Sir James, who never met and befriended the Weasleys of his time. He did not pass that knowledge and friendship to his children. They had not maintained a relationship with the wizarding world. Harry's mother Lily Evans would never have known her role.
The bandits that should have died lived on; possibly one of them had a descendant that helped change the course of history, helping the Nazis win the war against England, and preventing the United States from entering. With their superior U-Boat force and V2 rockets, Germany was able to force the world to kneel at Hitler's feet. Hitler in turn bowed to Grindelwald, who both had in turn been killed by Voldemort.
She never returned to the Chamber of Secrets and made a simple change to a handwritten book, giving Voldemort a power that he had obviously used to bend the world to his will.
Harry stood with her; again holding her as she suddenly turned and retched into a rubbish bin.
Eileen still had nothing to say, she had read the same notations, but they didn't have the same impact. "Would someone please explain what this was all about?"
Neither Harry nor Hermione could explain, not now. "Eileen, can I ask one last indulgence? Her mum is waiting with some friends; if I can get them here maybe Alycia can explain it."
Compassion overcame the woman and nodded, stepping into the role she savoured in another reality. She took Harry's place helping Hermione to suppress the nausea brought on by this new information to give him the opportunity to gather his friends.
Harry left the kitchen to retrieve his rucksack from the lounge when it was deposited when they arrived. He pulled a package similar to the one he handed to Sirius from his pack. He carefully unwrapped it and produced a mirror fragment, about an inch square. Eileen watched him carefully and before she asked he explained.
"I had received this as a boy, but the other half was lost. I shattered it in a rage and was left with two good sized fragments."
Without further delay, he called to the mirror and an image appeared in it. "It's clear here; make sure you all hold the boot."
"Right, we'll be there shortly," Sirius replied from the mirror.
The others had taken his advice and were sitting inside the thatched hut, quietly talking and elaborating on their world to Alycia. The brief time she spent with the Marauders helped her understand this world was not where it should have been,
"Moony, Prongs, we have to go. Stag and Spirit called for us." Sirius called to his friends.
They all left the hut and stopped on the beach ready to go to Eileen's house via the new portkey. They all held an old boot Remus found and momentarily found them selves around the corner from Eileen's flat.
"Stag," Sirius called into the mirror, "We've arrived. Which way to her flat?"
"Go into the front of the three floor building, and to the top floor. First door on the right side as you leave the lift," Harry replied. Within moments the now enlarged group found seats in and around the flat.
While Harry began to brief everyone in the room about the new events, Hermione had been left to collect herself in the bedroom and tried to calm her nerves. James sent Harry off to be with his wife, since the Marauders now knew the story, as told from the diary pages, and were capable of filling in the blanks for Eileen. She in turn, related the new details to the Marauders.
What was done, or in this case, not done, is now history and unchangeable. In his own reality, Harry alone had the power to defeat Voldemort; in this reality, Voldemort has that same power.
The Marauders and Eileen compared stories and filled in the gaps in each other's side. They used the tale described in Hermione's notes to map possible deviations and possible routes to correct those changes. Remus had spent a portion of the previous night writing as much of Hermione's tale as he could remember to avoid forgetting any key facts.
The stress Hermione felt stemmed from the fact that she was the focal point in this reality's troubles. That stress weighed heavily on her, only with the compassion and care from Harry was she able to simply survive that night. What was unclear was how this paradox began. If she didn't save Hermia, she wouldn't be born to go back and save her. A classic 'chicken and egg' syndrome.
The night grew old and the younger couple seemed to be gone for the evening, leaving the remaining five people in the main lounge to strategize. Each had a thought, each thought had merit, but none of them seemed to be a solution. Each plan had one requirement; the monster in power had to be eliminated. Harry had done that once in his world, but the burning question was could he do it again in this world. Compounding the problem was the minor fact that Voldemort had the manuscript, and that version had the spell unaltered as detailed in Hermione's documents.
As the night progressed, new friendships were forged between wizards from the new and the old worlds, and in one case, two people that had never met caught each other's eye. Alycia had in this life become unwilling to appear more then a lump of flesh moving from one day to the next, afraid to draw attention to herself. She, like her daughter, had an inner beauty that radiated out when either was with their husband, but Alex Granger was not part of this world and Alycia never allowed herself the luxury of falling in love.
While they spent the evening attempting to form a battle plan, James had found himself on the same sofa as Hermione's mother. He had, at the first meeting, noticed her innermost self, not the cliché inner beauty or her soul, but her suppressed warmth and caring nature. He noticed this in her home when Harry and Hermione tried to explain their predicament, and again when she was left in the care of the Marauders at the beach. At one point that afternoon, Remus and Sirius abandoned the pair in search of a fresh water source, leaving James and Alycia alone in case the 'children' returned 'home'. They were left alone whether by design or by accident the end result was the same; James noticed and felt something stir inside.
Neither would notice nor admit any such magnetism toward each other. The irony of Harry's father and Hermione's mother being attracted to each other was seen that afternoon by a wolf and a dog hiding in the brush near the hut. The search for water wasn't as interesting as watching this obvious dance of denial.
That was a lifetime ago, at least four or five hours ago. Now providence, or maybe Merlin himself, positioned them together on the sofa. The spark was further kindled during the discussion when Eileen returned with a tray of beverages designed for adult consumption; it was the last few bottles of her hidden stores. Two hands reached for the same glass and instead found the spark grew to a warm ember at the simple touch; the only response he received was a light, half hidden smile.
"Remus, you missed the point completely, don't you agree, Prongs?"
"Pardon? My mind drifted for a minute."
A few well placed 'hrumps' and a muffled faux cough from the scheming pair of Marauders against one of their own earned a round of well deserved "Sod-off's".
Eileen had missed the connection with the snickering and simply corrected the statement. "Remus thinks that Harry's here to fix our mistakes. Or at least find a solution we haven't."
"I don't understand how after all the years he's ruled the planet, that one man could stop this insanity." Alycia finally broke her silence. She had listened and watched the group of wizards in this heated discussion, and had points of ignorance that she needed correcting. She leaned over to the table as she spoke to refill to her glass, and when she sat back she nudged her way just a little closer to James. A subtle shift he did not miss.
"Alycia, there are different levels of wizard power, some never fully develop their abilities, we call them squibs, most have a fair ability to channel the forces we call magic, and they can accomplish small tasks such as manipulating an object's mass to rearrange it into whatever is needed. But that is temporary and that object will eventually revert back." Remus began his lesson, only to be interrupted by another teacher.
"Most people think we have a limitless power to alter objects and even affect the elements, we can't. Anything we change magically will, in time, revert back to its original state with certain exceptions. For instance, our wands have objects inside that have magical properties of their own, and we learn to channel the surrounding magic through our bodies through the wands to perform whatever spell or charm we intend, using an appropriate incantation." Eileen added as she handed Alycia her wand. All outward appearances displayed nothing more then a thin rod of wood with highly detailed carvings.
"My wand is made from spruce, it's a softer wood, but has a dragon's heartstring as its core. Most magic is done using a wand, although it is possible to cast spells without using a wand. But for most wizards results are unfocused and dangerous. Harry is one of the rare cases of a wizard able to perform wandless magic." Eileen continued in her lesson.
"There have been wizards in our history that exhibited the abilities that Harry has, but they are rare. Lord Voldemort has a power that no one else had been able to match."
"The inherent problem with a wand is it takes time to conjure the spell and if the movements aren't precise, the spell either won't work or won't have the power needed. That's Harry's advantage. Without the wand, he can perform the spells faster with more raw energy, in theory, of course."
The magical theory banter between Eileen and Remus appeared to the others as a tennis match, one picking up where the other left off. James and Sirius watched in mild amusement at Moony's enjoyment at teaching magical theory to a muggle.
"The point is," Sirius jumped into the fray, "that all of this hinges on what Harry's willing to do. The truth is none of us really knows him or Hermione. All we have is their word and very little proof."
"I know you don't believe me. I understand that." Harry commented while leaning on the doorframe to the bedroom. "She's finally asleep, so I thought I'd come out to help figure this mess out, it looks like I was just in time."
"Look, kid, it's not that we don't believe you, so far everything you've said and done is true, from Alycia and Eileen down to that pile of scribble you claim is Parseltongue. I never knew it had a written language, and since you two seem to be the only ones that can read the bloody thing, you have to understand our, or at least my, skepticism." Remus verbalised. "And you've been creative in your side, what with me being a werewolf in your world. There's no doubting you look like James, but that's too convenient."
"So this is to be another interrogation, I thought we had that behind us."
"I think what Moony's point is, if we're to follow you blindly, we need some concrete proof." Sirius added.
Calmly, he walked into the room and joined the discussion. "The only proof I can give is my word. If that's not sufficient, then all I can say is when Hermione wakes we'll leave. We wanted to find answers to why we are here, not turn friends against us. I know I speak for her on this, I won't put any of you in harm's way."
"Then maybe this is all a waste of time. You built up our hopes to crush them. Thanks a lot." James ranted at Harry.
"We had to live like animals then out of nowhere you and that witch just happens to pop in…"
"We didn't just happen to pop in." They heard from the bedroom doorway. "There's something guiding us, I'm certain of it."
Harry stood and quickly went to her aid, only moments before he managed to calm her so she could rest. "Love, please try to rest, we'll figure this out somehow." He cooed to her softly.
She looked at him and rolled her eyes in frustration, "Really, Harry. How many times do I have to remind you, or have you forgotten who you are and who your parents' were?" She handed him his rucksack as if to settle a point.
Remus leaned to Sirius and whispered with a smirk "Guess that proves they really are married."
Unfortunately, she did hear that comment and shot him a look of death that made him cringe under her glare.
Harry held the sack in his hands with a confused look, causing her to sigh loudly as she grabbed the bag from his hands. She rummaged through one of the side pockets until she produced a very old and worn wizard photo of a wizard and witch playing with a baby. She handed this first to James who looked puzzled ant his picture with these two strangers.
"That's me? But who's the woman?"
"That's mum and me. Her name was Lily. You both died about a month after that was taken. Sirius took it shortly after he became my Godfather."
"And if you want more proof," she added, "I have a pensieve Harry gave me a long time ago, there are special memories…"
"No, this one will do." Harry produced his on the table, at which she sucked in a mouthful of air. She knew the specific memory he had thought about, it was still the most difficult one for him, even after twelve years.
"Harry, are you sure? I don't think you should."
"Yes, this will prove it. Sirius, since you've got the most doubt, there's one memory I have about you. I'll let you see it, if you want."
Hermione knew the outcome, and before he could open it, she grabbed Sirius' arm, "Please, don't. It's his memory of when you died." He could see the look in her eyes and saw the expression on Remus' face as he looked at Harry's picture; he recognized the girl.
"Sirius, this is that girl I told you about, when I tried to save Vicky." He said after watching for a few moments.
"What girl?" Harry demanded. Hermione pulled him aside, hoping the revelations wouldn't hurt as much from her.
"Darling," she began while holding his hands gently. "Remus witnessed a girl being taken by Voldemort's thugs. The girl he described had to have been Lily, but I wasn't certain, so I didn't tell you. That's why James never met her." Harry looked at her as she spoke to read any hidden information, in all the years they've been together; there were very few things she managed to hide from him. All he could read from her expression was this was the truth as she believed it.
She expected him to react differently, but he simply nodded and turned to Remus, "She was killed, wasn't she?" The Marauder simply nodded. Harry balled his fist and re-forged his resolve to deal with this vermin personally. Any doubts they still held vanished as they witnessed the personal interaction between the couple.
Hermione released his hands while muttering to herself about how she wished Ron were here to plan this out, and turned to the others. "We need a plan and I may have an idea."