To you, 30 years from now

Chapter 24 - Timelines

A week later, the forces of Bellatrix invaded the small country in which her lover was held captive in. Soon the government surrendered to her overwhelming man-power. Faced with the destruction of the government itself, the Wizard World of Romania, soon gave up the idenities of the ones responsible for the kidnapping. Bellatrix was seething with anger. She had given up so much at this point. Hermione was gone, Luna was as well. And now she was married to a woman she didn't love, one that prior to all of this, had been her prison guard. She hated herself for it, but she hated the world even more. She had the wish of burning down the world, of just seeing everything fall to ash, while escaping with Hermione to some place, where nobody would bother them. 

"Bellatrix, it's time we make the next move.", said Lisa. She now carried Bellatrix surname. Which made her Lisa Black. Lisa, her 6'2 tall wife, the woman who almost everyone feared by just looking at her. Bellatrix didn't feel much when looking at her. 

"You're right", Bellatrix sighed, "so what can we do now?", she asked. 

"Well we've encircled what we believe to be the main base", Lisa scratched her head, "but it won't be easy to get in there. We'll probably have many losses on our side, if we do it now.", she said. 

"Do it anyway.", Bellatrix commanded. "I don't want to lose her.", she looked at the picture of Hermione that she carried around with her. Then a sudden thought came to her. Didn't she rule over the mysterious hall in which the void, the only place that allowed one to actually change the timeline of the world, was in? The gate, she thought, could help her rewriting everything. If she could go back, she could change it... 

Meanwhile in a place somewhere in Romania...

Hermione was already awake. She wasn't tied to a chair, she wasn't in chains and outside of not being able to leave the room she was, she was free to do whatever she wanted. Everything except seeing Bellatrix, who she was sure, was now searching for her. Then the door opened and she saw Narcissa, the woman who had been her wife for the past few years, and who had been lying to her all this time. 

"What do you want?", asked Hermione. 

"I want you to understand.", answered Narcissa. "I'm doing this for the both of us.", she said. 

"Oh is that so?", asked Hermione. "How is kidnapping me and forcing Bellatrix to marry someone she doesn't love, for the best of us?", asked Hermione angrily. 

"I discovered it a while ago", Narcissa leaned against the now closed door, her arms crossed, "when you fell into that gate, something strange happened. There had been cases of people traveling back in time, but there had never been a case before, where those people had been able to actually change the past in any meaningful way. So when you went back, and when you met Bellatrix, you actually proved something, that a lot of Wizards had asumed to be the case before.", explained Narcissa. 

"And that would be?", asked Hermione after Narcissa paused. 

"That if someone manages to change the past, the timeline kind of splits itself. You actually created several timelines, Hermione", Narcissa showed a sad smile, "in the mirror of time, an object that is able to view the timeline from the past up to the current point, we saw four timelines.", replied Narcissa. 

"And what exactly was in each timeline?", Hermione was furious at Narcissa, but she couldn't hide her curiousity. 

"Timeline one is the current one, it's where you fell back in time, fell in love with Bellatrix and convinced her to betray the Dark Lord. Timeline two is one in which you never fell back in time. You would fall in love with Ginny, but then eventually grow apart from your friends and you would eventually meet me, and we would fall in love. It's my favorite timeline by far. Timeline three is one in which you and Luna fall in love, it's also one in which you never go to the hall and which also prevents you from ever really meeting Bellatrix, or me. And timeline four is the last one I saw", Narcissa paused, "it's one in which you never fell back in time, Bellatrix never changed for the better and in which she kidnapped you.", she said. 

"And why should I care?", asked Hermione. 

"Because you're actually the founder of those timelines. Without you, there'd be only one timeline. But now there isn't. There are four. And eventually, you will get the memories of each one of them.", Narcissa sighed. "And then you'll choose." 

"Choose between what?"

"Between which timelines becomes the real deal", Narcissa came a few steps closer to Hermione, "right now, this one is the "real" one, but at the end, you will choose which one is the real deal and your choice will rewrite the entire timeline from start to finish.", revealed Narcissa. 

"So... you want me to view each one of those.", concluded Hermione. 

"Yes.", said Narcissa. 

"What if I say no?", asked Hermione. 

"Then you'll get the memories anyway, but they'll arrive in a much worse way.", answered Narcissa with genuine concern for her on her face. 

"Then let's do it.", Hermione stared at her wife. "Show me all those timelines, and I'll guarantee you, that I'll never choose the one where I am with you.", she hissed in anger. 

"You'll say that now.", Narcissa then snapped her fingers, and with that, a bunch of men and women came into the room. They picked Hermione up from the bed she was sitting on, and brought her, along with Narcissa, to the room in which the now stolen Mirror of Time was in. 

"So, let's get started.", Hermione said and looked at the mirror in front of her. 

"Yes, let's do that.", Narcissa kissed Hermione one more time, before she unveiled the mirror and let Hermione view those timelines.