tamchronin | Erised - Chapter Eighteen (Reply)

Yes, that's right, it's another lame chapter, and another lame attempt at lame humor to point out that this is not another lame disclaimer, and that the actual disclaimer (which is also lame) came at the lame first chapter because the lame author is too lame to come up with a better way to shamelessly pad her lame word count (which is actually rather impressive for this time in the month!)

We all know by now that Sirius Black or Remus Lupin would rather have died than to give James Potter and his family over to the non-existent mercy of Voldemort. What if, what if, what if?

What would you have done if you were Peter Pettigrew? How many people are actually true heroes, and how many people just wish they could be while circumstance pushes them around, further and further away from the ideals they once had as children. When black and white aren't as striking a contrast as Dumbledore and Voldemort, how far do most men bend?

"I have nothing to say to you," Peter told Regulus Black, with a bit of a superior sneer. He had the best and brightest and most virtuous friends, after all. What did Regulus have? The Blacks, who were stupid enough to cast Sirius out, and a slew of the darkest and most disreputable people Peter had ever had the displeasure to meet.

"Of course you don't," Regulus replied as he sat down at the bar next to him. "I just wanted to offer up a few congratulations, though, is all. If you'll pass them on to my brother, that is."

"You can tell him yourself," Peter said, twitching a little. "Or are you too good for him these days?"

"Oh, on the contrary. He's too good for his poor, deluded baby brother. That, and Mother would skin me alive." It was a wry grin that he offered to Peter, and a lot warmer than the other was expecting.

"Yes, well, be that as it may," Peter said, squeaking a little on the 'yes'. "You'd probably face just the same from associating with me, you know."

Regulus nodded, starting to turn away, and then he turned back to Peter and smiled winningly, looking much like his older brother when he did. "You'll pass it along, though? About being best man for Lily and James, I mean. Quite the status play. Impressive. Even Mother had to grudgingly admit that much. Worthy of a Black, if she weren't Muggle born. Well, maybe even then, seeing as how she's so well respected among most of the wizarding community, right?"

"I suppose so," Peter said, expression darkening just a bit in envy. His hero worship of those two was beginning to wear thin, now that they were out of Hogwarts and merely being their friend wasn't good for much more than, well, being their friend. In fact, he was starting to feel the depression that many men have, when constantly compared to others who are consistently better in everyone's eyes. Sidekick syndrome, or something like that.

"Yes. I've heard that it was the place to be seen for the season. Even you were lucky to get in, even being their long time friend and all."

Peter just nodded, then curtly turned and ordered another drink, his mood darkening.

"What's wrong? Did something happen at the wedding?" Regulus made a show of paying for Peter's drink, and another one on top of it, leaning forward solicitously.

"Can I confide in you? I mean, if I say something, can I count on you not to repeat it?" Peter twitched a little, but his eyes were dark and he just had to get some of this out before he burst. And, really, it was almost like talking to Sirius after all. Brother of a good friend, without having all of the emotional baggage of talking to Sirius directly. They both had about the same vibe, and Peter needed to let it all out.

"Of course you can," Regulus said smoothly, resting a hand on Peter's arm, giving him an ear when he sorely needed it, and nudging him a little more and more into his confidence as the night wore on.

The Dark Side had their foot in the door, at last.

Chapter Eighteen

Your Job, Should You Accept

While everyone had been introducing themselves, and bantering quite a bit on the side, Hermione had been paying close attention and measuring every personality in the room. Severus Snape and Harry Potter were so serious it was painful to watch, while James Potter and Sirius Black reminded her more of Ron's older brothers Fred and George. Remus Lupin and Lily Evans seemed rather balanced and reasonable, though they played along with the silly antics of James and Sirius more easily than Hermione would. She knew Ron wouldn't have any problems fitting in with such a group, but she wasn't sure if she, herself, would fit in.

When it came down to it though, Hermione didn't really have to fit in. She had to persuade them all to help her, and that was the extent of it. It was everyone else who would have to get along, some way or another. She wasn't entirely sure how to handle that, though. Some of them seemed like they would rather let the universe collapse in on itself if it meant they wouldn't have to work with someone else in the group. Others of them would never get anything accomplished, because they'd be too distracted with playing around, she thought.

On top of it, she realized her other great mistake in trying to get the entire group to work together on the project. It hadn't quite hit her, how large a group eight people were, in trying to get them from one place to another, until they'd tried getting up to this room. Now it seemed impossibly unruly, and completely impossible when it came to stealth.

"So, what are we all doing?" James finally said, looking at Ron and Hermione. "Aside from having time travelers fall in our laps, we don't have much information to go one."

It was the perfect opening, and everyone in the room (including Ron) looked at Hermione expectantly. The problem was, Hermione wasn't sure where to begin, now that she was here.

Well, being blunt couldn't hurt, in this case. "I need everyone here to help me to save the universe."

She was met with gawks and stares, and thought that perhaps, yes, that had been a little too blunt. She couldn't take it back now, of course, but it was a place to start from.

"It's not enough to save the world from Voldemort, but now I have to save the entire universe as well?" Harry looked at her with a strange expression, as if he were trying to fight laughter and hysterical screaming at the same time.

"Think of it this way, Harry," Sirius began in a soothing tone. "You can't very well save the world, if there's no universe to stick the world in, right?"

"Yeah. Thanks. I hadn't thought of that," Harry deadpanned. The neutral expression lasted a full three seconds before his mouth betrayed him by turning up at the corner.

"He gets his sense of humor from your side," James said, tickling Lily in the ribs.

She gasped and giggled. "Stop that!"

"Now, now," Sirius chided with a snicker. "Not in front of the children."

"We're as old as you are," Ron protested indignantly.

Hermione stood, walking over to the snack table so she wouldn't start pacing. At this rate, they'd make their first jump in time somewhere about next year, and all of her careful planning would be for nothing. She tuned the rest of it all out, just standing at the table for a minute until she gained a little control over her exasperated state.

"Can we get back to the issue at hand?" she finally said, turning around with a smile. "I really need everyone's help."

"Sorry, Hermione," Harry said, contrite. A few others echoed the sentiment, and then everyone waited expectantly.

She nodded and took a deep breath. "The problem is, recent history is pockmarked with alterations. Murders and accidents that cannot be explained are the first clues to the puzzle, but by themselves they are still not conclusive. I was doing a paper on time travel, though, and a disturbing trend began to show. With many of these incidents, there is evidence recorded in the Ministry that someone in that time and space abused some sort of time travel device or spell to change things.

"Each of us are from divergent paths of future and history which have been altered in this way, though from what I can tell Harry's is the purest of them. We've got to set things right, though, and as quickly as we can. It seems as though the very fabric of the universe is becoming...unraveled."

"That can't be good," James murmured, holding Lily closer unconsciously.

"Unraveled, how?" Snape challenged. "And why are you doing this, with a bunch of students from across time, instead of someone from the Department of Mysteries? They'd be far more qualified."

"I know," said Hermione, frowning. "It didn't make sense to me, at first. The problem is that in my time, the one who is behind a great deal of the contamination is also in complete control of the Ministry of Magic. I didn't know it at the time, but he's also the one who encouraged me to study all of this, probably because he was sure my loyalty to him would be assured, easily." She blushed a bit, but continued on. "I think he didn't count on the dissonance that resonates in our timeline, because the threads of reality have been pulled so taut. I received a plea for help, across time, and that is what brought me here."

"I thought it was just some old man you dreamed up," said Ron.

Hermione ignored him. "Now that Ron and I have saved Dumbledore's life, we can go into other timelines where the Ministry isn't completely taken over by Voldemort and his followers. That's why we've got all of you here. From what I've been able to find out, everyone here holds one key or another to Voldemort's downfall, and Severus I would appreciate it if you would stop cringing quite so much every time I said that name, thank you."

"Well, I would appreciate it if you wouldn't keep saying it, boldly as can be," he returned peevishly.

"In all seriousness, though," Remus said steadily, "I think Harry had a point. If what Hermione is saying is right, we've got much more to worry about and fear than speaking the name of a madman."

Hermione nodded in agreement. "We can't allow ourselves to be derailed by our fears. What we're about to face, should you accept, would make even the most powerful of men pale in significance."

"Not if he's also a time traveler, as you suggest," Severus pointed out. "If that is the case, we're in over our heads before we've begun."

"If we accept that, then he's already won," Hermione pointed out. "I don't believe that that's assured, however. Otherwise he would not have been so frightened by my actions."

"You scared him?" Harry looked at her, surprised and pride evident in his expression. "Good job! Feels good, doesn't it?"

That startled Hermione a little. It wasn't something she expected anyone to say about that, actually. After all, her first thought had just been of escape. She, herself, had been too terrified to think of anything except how terrified she was. After that she'd kept her mind preoccupied with other things, and the task at hand. She'd fretted a bit over disappointing Professor Riddle, not letting herself think too hard about his alter ego, or secret identity, or whatever it was.

If she didn't think of him as Professor Riddle though, it took on a new dimension in her mind. She'd scared the scariest man in the world, really. When the monsters fear you, you have nothing left to fear. "Yes," she said slowly, starting to grin. "Yes, it really does."

They shared the grin for a moment, and Hermione found herself warming to Harry. She'd thought she wouldn't, with the way he'd been so sullen and angry, or perfectly quiet, until now. Maybe there was more to him than that, though.

She cleared her throat, looking away at last. "I've got all the incidents I could find that might need correction written down, and I, er, borrowed a few books for this. I don't know how to go about this, but I'm sure if we all started looking through it all we could come up with what we need." Hermione brought out her book bag, making sure that Harry's cloak was still carefully at the bottom in case it was needed as a secret, later, as he'd mentioned when he'd handed it to her. "There's quite a bit to go through, sorry. I narrowed it down as much as I could, with the time I had."

"It's better to have too much than too little," Lily assured her, standing up to take one of the books. "I think we should all do this in sections, maybe in pairs. It would probably go faster that way."

"That's an excellent idea!" Sirius said. "Remus and I can work together. Lily and James should work together, of course, so they can get to know each other better and assure Harry's continued existence."

"I'll work with Hermione!" Ron spoke up quickly. "No offense, but, I just, well, we know each other better, and I'd probably just hold up anyone else..."

Harry frowned a little, but he nodded. "It's okay," he began, looking around the room.

It didn't take a genius to figure out that the arrangements were perfect, until you got to the last two. That's when it fell apart completely, and Hermione braced herself for an explosion.

"Actually," Hermione said with slow reluctance, "if you'd like to be paired with Harry, I could..."

"No," Harry said firmly. "At least I know we'll work, instead of getting distracted by making googly eyes at each other." He finished with a half-hearted grin.

Severus just rolled his eyes and held his hands out to accept a book from Hermione, and she complied as quickly as she could, silently vowing to make it up to Harry somehow, some day.