7 Years Ago
"You're top of your class, Miss Granger." Professor Snape said, and Hermione beamed at the praise "Your intellect and work ethic are clear for all of your professors to see."
Professor Snape, Professor Lily Snape, that was, was perhaps the favorite of her teachers. In many ways, she was the person Hermione wanted to be. Most of her teachers were grizzled war veterans, or older women past their child-bearing years, but Lily was the exception. She was young, energetic, passionate, and brilliant. While she'd been married off like all women were, she'd been allowed to only bear one child so long as she focused on her work.
Her husband, the other Professor Snape, was another matter. The man had a cruel streak, going out of the way to antagonize students and play favorites. While he was a brilliant potions master, which had no doubt saved him from the front lines, he wouldn't be a role model for any decent person.
"Thank you, Professor." Hermione nodded, trying and failing to suppress her pleasure at her role model's compliments. "It means a lot to me, to hear you say that."
"It's a shame, isn't it." The professor continued.
"What's a shame?"
"That your obvious talents will be so wasted." Hermione sucked in a breath. She'd longed for a way to get out of what seemed like her unavoidable fate. At first, being a witch had seemed like a dream come true. She'd been plucked from a struggling clan of muggles making a meager living at the edge of existence, and she'd been given the opportunity to learn. Before, she'd hoarded books she found in old ruined houses like treasured relics, but now she had a full library at her fingertips. Hogwarts, with its moving staircases, talking portraits, the wondrous dining hall with its enchanted ceiling, and its picturesque grounds felt like something out of a fairytale. But beneath that sweet exterior was a jagged hook, the truth about being a witch. Women were meant to bear children and keep the household. They were meant to be rewards bestowed upon men skilled enough win victories in battle. While the boys were being enrolled in intensive combat classes, she was learning household charms, potions, and herbology. Not that her extracurricular studies were limited to those topics, mind you. "You are meant to be so much more than a housewitch, Miss Granger."
Hermione nodded "I always wanted to be like you, Professor." She admitted "I thought, if I did well enough, worked hard enough, I might… I might…" Escape, be granted a reprieve. It had been a vain hope, but it was all she had to cling to.
"I understand, it's okay." Lily said, her voice solid and soothing "I'm here to offer you another way."
"What do I need to do?" Hermione asked, and the Professor chuckled.
"At least hear what I have to say before agreeing, won't you?" Hermione nodded eagerly along with her. "Alright, alright." She pulled out a roll of parchment and slid it over to her "Read this over, and sign at the bottom."
"What is it?" Hermione asked.
"A contract." Lily explained "You know that I'm involved in research. My work is important, important enough that I have the Headmaster's ear. If I tell him that I need you, he'll override all objections and give you to me."
"Do you? Need me, that is?" Hermione asked, eyes wide as she scanned the dense wording of the document she'd been handed.
"Yes." Lily said firmly "Or rather, I need people like you. Young, bright, passionate people to help me with my research. You would play a crucial role in advancing our understanding of magic, you might even help us win the war. For obvious reasons, I can't disclose the full details of my research or what you would be doing until you sign. But I can promise you that this is more important than what any of your classmates will be doing when they get out of school."
Her words were impassioned, and Hermione was swept up in them. She browsed through the contract. The signer solemnly swears on their life and magic… will assist Lily Snape in her research in any way she requires… will be exempted from childbearing quotas… The wording was vague, particularly on what she'd be doing, but Hermione pushed that niggling thought aside. She trusted Professor Snape, and besides, it wasn't like she had another option. Even if her position wouldn't be as glamorous as in her fantasies, it had to be better than the alternative.
She picked up a quill and noticed that there was no ink. "You won't need it." Lily assured her. Self inking? Hermione mused, it'd be like the professor to use such convenient innovations. She signed at the bottom and winced as the back of her hand stung. Her signature had been traced in raw red along her hand, she rubbed it reflexively and glanced back down at the paper, realizing…
She had signed her name in blood.
-----
"We're secure, Sir." Neville said into the mirror.
Professor Riddle nodded in acknowledgement, flashing him a small, approving smile. "You made it back faster than I expected. What have you found?"
"Unfortunately, we were ambushed by Hydra on the way in, and Davis was killed. We were able to escape into the Time Vortex. We found something in the center of it, in the time room of the Department of Mysteries just like you predicted, Sir. But it isn't an artifact or weapon, sir, it's a person."
"Interesting." Riddle said inscrutably. "Tell me more."
"His name is Harry Potter. He was clearly affected by temporal magic of some sort, it was visible on his body. He was being held in a stasis of some sort, but awakened when he was touched. He can navigate the vortex without the aid of your time turner. But there's more…" Neville paused, at a loss for how to explain this. Riddle merely raised an eyebrow, a silent indication that he should continue.
"He, er, knew us. He said he was from another timeline, where events unfolded differently. In his world, there was never a war between the Order and Hydra. He's also powerful. He can perform conjurations wandlessly and wordlessly with only a few seconds of preparation. He was able to defeat a Hydra squad in under a minute, without a wand and with minimal support. His fighting style is unique. He's a wizard, but he moves like a super-soldier." That was an understatement if anything. He wielded both his body and magic naturally- striking, dodging, rolling, parrying in fluid motions. Neville had considered himself to be very experienced in combat, but Harry made it clear that he still could learn a lot.
"Remarkable." He said, after a moment, and Neville felt the tension in his gut relax "We'll need as much information from him as possible on this timeline and how he came to be here."
"He's been pretty forthcoming, so far." Neville said.
Riddle shook his head "Everyone has something to hide, Neville. And if half of what he says is the truth, then you can be sure that he's keeping even more from us. We will need to get that information from him, by any means."
The logic was sound- Neville was confident that Harry had left out parts of his story in his abridged retelling. Nevertheless, it sat wrong with him. Riddle was ruthless to their enemies, and that hardly set him apart from anyone. But Harry was a friend, or a potential one, at least. They couldn't afford to alienate him, and Neville didn't want to alienate him.
"We wouldn't have gotten out of there without him, I think he deserves some amount of trust." Neville said "With respect, Sir, I don't want to alienate him by treating him with suspicion."
"Do you think that he may defect to the Order?" Riddle asked.
"No, not at all. He hates them." Neville said. They'd made sure of that.
"Then he really doesn't have any other option, does he?" The Professor said "Neville, we have all the cards right now. We can set the terms."
Riddle was right, Neville realized. He couldn't see Harry joining the Order, but he doubted that even Harry could survive in this world on his own, especially with his limited knowledge of it. There were other groups out there- mutants, muggle resistance groups, clans of magical beings like the goblins Neville had lost his eye to- but they were mostly small and highly exclusive.
"I know that it's harsh, but we cannot afford to relax our guard. Our situation is delicate, and what this Harry Potter has is incredibly valuable- information." He sat back, thoughtfully "I'm going to tell you something important, Neville. I trust that you will never speak of it." Neville nodded vigorously, his doubts unwinding at the show of trust. Even if he couldn't always see why, Neville knew that Professor Riddle had good reasons for everything he did. "There is more to this world than it seems. It is something that I believe Dumbledore has noticed, and if Hydra's interest in the Time Vortex is any indication, they have too."
"What do you mean, Sir?"
"Events don't quite add up. Oh, in the big picture, everything makes sense, but if you get down to the granular details…" He let the statement hang.
"I- I don't understand." Neville said, feeling lost.
"What happened to your parents, Neville?"
"They were tortured to death." He said dully. He had been just a baby, he barely remembered it outside his nightmares. Their screaming, the dim flicker of a red light…
"Ah, but by who, and why?" Riddle pressed, and Neville felt like he'd been dumped into the sea, set adrift.
"I- I-" He fumbled… why had they been tortured? For information, right? By who? It must have been Hydra, who else could it have been? His confidence returned as suddenly he remembered being told as a child by his gran what had happened to them "They were tortured by Hydra for information." He said firmly "Why did you ask me that?"
"You didn't see what just happened there, did you?" Riddle said, pressing at the cracks of his memory. "You didn't know, not until you thought about it, and when you did, the answer was given to you."
-----
Harry barely noticed the goings on around him- Neville walking off, Ron checking the perimeter of their clearing, Ginny hanging near him indecisively until deciding to leave him to his thoughts.
His thoughts were a formless storm, pinging around from one topic to another. So much had happened, so quickly, and the weight of it all threatened to crush him. He wouldn't let it, too many people were counting on him, even if they didn't realize it. He needed to center himself, to make sense of what had happened and where he was.
The time stone had gotten caught in a feedback loop, one that he'd exacerbated in a desperate attempt to stop Hela from uniting the Deathly Hallows and opening the material world (and Harry) to Death's control. Space and time had fractured. He'd seen parts of the past of both of the worlds he'd lived in. Did that mean that the two universes had been interacting even before he'd summoned the time stone? Was that what had happened to cause this, the two worlds he'd known merging into one? But why? Why not just the universe he'd been in? Why not other universes?
He didn't know, and these questions were doing nothing but giving him a headache. Hermione would have been gleeful at having a problem like this to tease out, but Harry didn't work with theories- he needed a plan. Thankfully, he already had the beginnings of one in mind. It was an incredibly ambitious plan, but a plan nonetheless.
Collect the Infinity Stones and restore the world to how it should be.
That was the only way he could see to fix this mess, but it was far easier said than done. He knew where the Infinity Stones might be in another world, but not here in this one. The Tesseract, clearly, was in Hydra's possession, but nearly everything else was in question. Unfortunately, the Infinity Stones weren't the only problem.
Do not let anyone unite the Deathly Hallows.
It was a miracle that after over fifty years of trying, Grindelwald and Dumbledore hadn't managed it, but Harry knew that if they, or Hela, ever did, it would open the door to Death herself. That would be the worst possible ending for this world, and for Harry personally. Harry set aside the possibility that even if he achieved these two goals, Death still might enforce her claim on him. He'd traded his soul to her in exchange for the Soul Stone, but that was in another world. If that world was gone, was the contract still in force? He didn't know. Frankly, he was a touch fatalistic about it. He'd fix the universe, and if it ended up dooming him, so be it.
But as important and difficult as those two goals would be, the third item on his mental checklist weighed the most heavily for him. It was the one that kept his thoughts whirling, causing uncertainty and anxiety to boil up.
Find and save his friends.
He'd already found Ginny, Ron, and Neville, and he was willing to bet that more were out there. Hermione and Luna, Ginny had explained, had disappeared during each of their fifth years at Hogwarts. The professors didn't even acknowledge their disappearance, acting as if they'd never even existed. The Order was the obvious culprit, and it seemed like a fool's hope that they were still alive. Perhaps that made Harry a fool.
Then there was Carol, a victim of Hydra's conditioning, he was certain of it. Shuri had developed an antidote for it once upon a time. Harry didn't have the foggiest clue how she'd done it, but at least it proved it was possible. Steve was likely dead, and Thor… well he had no idea what the situation in Asgard was, but Hela's presence didn't bode well. Tony, Bruce, Clint, Stephen… he could only guess at what had become of them.
He hoped that Wakanda, and so Shuri, had been spared from Hydra's bombs and the worst of the war by its secrecy. But Nat, Skye, and Wanda… he didn't even know where to start, and any speculation on his part led him to grim thoughts. They had all had tough lives even when the world wasn't a war torn hellscape- he shuddered to think where they might be now. He hoped, desperately hoped, that they were out there, and had somehow slipped through Hydra and the Order's grasps.
He could admit to himself that his intentions weren't entirely selfless. As much as he knew he could help them, it was just as true that he needed them. He knew himself better now than when he'd foolishly tried to convince his friends that he should save Sirius alone. He'd grown up as 'the-boy-who-lived', but he'd become an Avenger. He needed his people, and even if he didn't go mad with despair on his own, the odds against him were too great. He needed all the help he could get. He needed the people he loved, his friends, his family, and he was going to get them back.
Harry stood up, a new resolve coursing through him. He already had found some of those people, even if they didn't know him. He could find more. "Feeling better?" Ginny asked, startling him. She'd been sitting on the other side of the porch the entire time. Letting him think in silence.
"A little less overwhelmed." Harry allowed.
"I can't even imagine." Ginny said "Being dropped into this, its got to be maddening."
"Well, everyone here has it pretty terribly." Harry shrugged "I'm just focused on setting things right."
"Yeah, you mentioned something like that." She was clearly leading the conversation somewhere, and Harry was fine with letting her. "Do you really think its possible, to set the world right, to how it was… before?"
"I can't make you any promises, Gin, but I'll do everything I can." The nickname slipped out unintentionally, but it had gone over well, judging by the pleased flush on her cheeks. There was also something in her eyes, a burning curiosity, something light and lively. After learning of just a fraction of what she'd gone through in the world, he wanted to nurture that look.
He grinned coyly "You can ask."
"What was it like, the way things were before? What was I like? How did we know each other?" Her questions spilled out one after another, and Harry grinned at her enthusiasm.
"Well, the world I grew up in wasn't… great, but it was a damn lot better than…" He waved his hand around vaguely "…this. There was a war that lasted three years when I was in my teens, and a lot of people died, but there were also good times. Like… do'you have quidditch?"
"My brothers used to play pickup games out back." Ginny said "But I was never allowed to."
"But you did sneak out to fly at nights, didn't you?" Harry teased.
Ginny grinned "You bet I did. But you were saying?"
"Well, I reckon you've never been to a Quidditch World Cup…" Ginny's eyes gleamed, and Harry knew he'd chosen a good topic. No matter what universe, Ginny Weasley was a quidditch fanatic. Harry went on to describe everything- the bigger-on-the-inside-tents, Fred and George's bet with Bagman that the Irish would win but the Bulgarians would catch the snitch, a bet which actually paid off, the Veela and Leprechaun mascots, watching the game with the help of ominoculars, the after party… he left out the Death Eater attack. Ginny was entranced by the scene, her eyes growing distant as if she were reliving it along with him.
"That sounds amazing." She breathed. "I wish I'd gotten to see a proper game." He took it that Hogwarts no longer held quidditch matches.
"Well, when I was growing up, Hogwarts had quidditch house cups. You not only watched plenty of games, you played in them."
"Really? What position did I play. Wait! Let me guess, chaser, right?" Her words tumbled out, one after another. When she was like this, he could almost pretend she wasn't a traumatized survivor of a war, that she was the girl he'd left. Of course, that was a vain and pointless fantasy. After everything he'd been through in the past ten years, if she had been exactly how he'd left her, how could a relationship between them possibly have worked? At least now they were both different people, trying to find their footing in a new, old dynamic.
"Right in one. Though you were also a damn good backup seeker." He said with pride.
"I remember…" She said thoughtfully "A quidditch trophy, a party in the common room… kissing you. Was that…"
"Yeah, that happened." Harry confirmed "Want to hear it?" Ginny nodded eagerly. He'd been worried about pushing expectations about their past relationship onto this Ginny. She might resent being held to the standards of someone she'd never been. It seemed to be the exact opposite- Ginny wanted to know everything about the life she had once lived, to try to live vicariously through it.
"Well, I'd gotten barred from the game. I'd seriously injured Malfoy."
"Draco?" Ginny clarified, and when Harry nodded she snorted "Good. Shame you didn't kill him." That was a more vicious response than he'd expected, but he could understand why this Ginny would have more hard edges. And it was entirely possible that her murderous animosity towards Malfoy was completely justified.
"So, you had to take over for me as seeker. You won the game for me, of course."
"Of course." Ginny agreed.
"I walked into the common room to a massive party. We'd won the house cup because of that game. You ran up to me… and it just happened. It was amazing."
Ginny beamed "I wish I could just… remember it. I only got a snippet, but I remember being so happy."
There was such longing in her voice that it made his heart ache. "I can show you it from my perspective, if you want." Harry offered. He was quite proficient with legimancy after training so intensely with Wanda, he should be able to show her his memory of that kiss.
"… I'd like that." She said. So, he touched his hand to her forehead, and gently unfolded that memory from a cherished corner of his mind. Together they shared a happy moment from another world, another life.
-----
Peggy made straight for the tree line, veering away from Ron, who was doing a check of the perimeter. Once she felt confident that she was out of sight and earshot, she fell heavily to her knees. The dried leaves crinkled and a stick snapped under her weight, and she drove a fist into the ground, churning up a swath of loose dirt.
She sobbed. It was a choked sound at first, but as the hot tears slipped down her cheeks, the floodgates open and she began to cry. When even that wasn't enough, she wailed, keening out her grief into the empty forest.
She'd lost everything- her friends, her family, her country, the man she loved. And there was no silver lining. Everything she'd worked for in her life had come to nothing, her country was no more, its people dead or in chains. The world she'd stepped in through was worse than her grimmest nightmares. She wanted to wake up, desperately wanted to wake up to Howard knocking at her door, barking at her to suit up because they had another mission, to a world where wizards were still fairytales and time travel was impossible.
It was only through necessity and a feat of sheer will that she'd held it all in for so long. She nearly broke down when Harry told her about his Steve, but somehow, she'd held it in. She didn't want to put him in that position- of dealing with his own grief and trauma and having to comfort a stranger. She didn't want to seem weak. Above all, while she had a mission, a purpose, she could put it all in the back of her mind.
What would she do with herself now?
Slowly, she put herself back together. Sniffling still, she pushed herself to her feet, and wiped her cheeks. It'd be obvious that she'd been crying, but she hoped that no one would call her on it. She didn't want to talk about it, not with these near strangers.
Harry at least, she felt comfortable with. Strangely enough, she trusted him. Like her, he had been thrown into this world, and for better or worse it had been his decision that had brought her here, given her another chance. She could tell that he was a good person, maybe a little too good of a person for this world, she hated to admit.
The other three wizards, she was less sure of. She could tell that they had good intentions as well, but even decent people could have hostile motives. They were deliberately hiding crucial information about who they worked for and what their ultimate goals were. That was suspicious, no matter how they dressed it up in the language of magic. Harry trusted them blindly, because they had been his friends in another life. Peggy did not, and she worried that Harry's faith in his friends was going to get him into trouble.
Maybe that was her new goal- to make sure Harry didn't stumble into a trap, or to help him escape if he did. And if they all got killed… well, it wasn't like she had anything to lose.
-----
"Hey." Ron said.
Harry turned to the man who had, in another world, had been his best friend. Now… he wasn't sure what he was. "Hey, what's up?"
"I need to talk to you about my sister." Ron said.
Harry stifled a groan. "Alright." If this was going to be an 'older brother talk', then Ron could just stuff it. He was expecting this, though. He and Ginny had worked together on dinner- unlike the Ginny he'd known, this Ginny had been taught how to cook- and she'd made a point of sitting next him while they ate. More than once, he'd felt Ron glancing speculatively, though not with any hostility, at them. Still, Ron hadn't attempted anything more than small talk that evening. The morning, it seemed, would bring something different.
"Just… be careful." He cautioned.
"Look, I'm not going to hurt her. And I think that Ginny can take care of herself." Harry said shortly.
Ron held his hands up defensively "Oh no, I know that. I'm not accusing you of anything." Harry examined Ron for a moment. Ginny was probably the most similar to how he'd known her. Neville he could easily see in the man he'd grown into at 17 rather than the boy he'd met at 11. Ron felt different. He no longer had any older brothers to live up to, Harry had no wealth or fame to be jealous of but by the same turn there were no shared experiences of camaraderie to bind them. Even their shared passion for quidditch was much less salient now. This Ron did seem to have a mind for strategy, but everything else Harry had known about him had been stripped away. Leaving… what exactly? "It's just, none of us are exactly… emotionally stable."
"Understandable." Harry said "But that's no reason not to try to make something work, is it?"
"No, it's not. I'm just worried that Ginny's going into this too fast, and she's going to get both of you hurt." Ron cautioned "She spent years hung up over Luna-"
"Wait, she… and Luna?" Harry asked, hesitantly.
"They weren't a thing in your world?" Ron raised an eyebrow. Harry shrugged, thinking back to Ginny and Luna's friendship. There wasn't anything between them that felt like a giveaway, even in hindsight, but still, he could see how it might happen.
"She's basically shown zero interest in anyone since Luna disappeared." Ron shook his head "Not that she had the legal ability to choose for herself, but even once we broke off, she kept to herself. And then she meets you, hears about what you had in another world, and now she's…" He waved his hand "I just think it's too much all at once."
That was actually a good point. "I see what you're saying." Harry nodded "But, counterpoint. None of us know if we're going to live another week. Let alone long enough to get all our shit together. Is it wrong to want to find happiness wherever we can?"
Ron snorted "Fair enough, mate. I just wanted you to know."
"Thanks." Harry said "Any word on when your benefactor will be ready to meet us?"
"No." Ron sighed "He sent Neville a message, said that something… came up. I'm sure it's important."