Time Will Not Slow Down
Chapter 5 - Time Will Not Slow Down
“Time will not slow down when something unpleasant lies ahead.”
- Harry Potter
October 29th 1976 - Black Manor, Surrey, South East England
Narcissa Black sighed as she stared at the various pieces of parchment scattered around her desk. At the age of 21 years old, the blonde witch was finally just over two months away from getting married. Her betrothal and wedding planning had been postponed due to the scandalous events that had taken place within her family, but she was almost there – and there was no shortage of things to do.
Narcissa supposed she should be happy. She was marrying her long term boyfriend and the love of her life, no matter how pretentious he was, and her wedding was set to be the biggest event of the year in Pureblood society. When she thought about her wedding day as a child she always imagined that she’d have both her sisters by her side – Narcissa could feel the familiar lump in her throat forming as it did when she thought about Andromeda. She had heard through the grapevine (her cousin Hermione) that Andromeda had a baby girl named Nymphadora. The blonde witch’s nose wrinkled when she heard – what an awfully ugly name.
She bit her lip as she pulled out a fresh sheet of parchment paper and began to write.
Dearest Hermione,
How have you been doing? I know it’s your first year at Hogwarts and I heard you were sorted into Ravenclaw. I can’t say I’m terribly surprised, you were never very Slytherin growing up.
I know this letter is unexpected and writing this has made me realise how long it’s been since we’ve caught up. We must go shopping together soon, perhaps even pay old Aunt Vinda a visit.
Pleasantries aside, with my wedding coming up soon, I’ve had a think about my future and recent events in the family – I’m sure you’re aware of what I am referencing – and I am beginning to worry. Lucius has not been quiet in his support and acquaintances with many dark wizards, though you are far too young to concern yourself with the details. With Sirius’ banishment and dark times seemingly imminent, I am writing to ask about Andromeda. I fear I have let far too long pass between us and wish to communicate with her. I miss her dearly.
If there’s any possibility that you could arrange for the three of us to meet, as I suspect it would be uncomfortable if it was just me and her, I would be eternally grateful. I know that this is a lot to ask and I understand if you do not want to ask or she does not want to meet, but you’re my last hope and we both know I am not brave enough to contact her myself.
Please don’t tell anyone I am asking this of you, I shudder to think what Bellatrix would say.
Lots of love,
Cissa
She signed off the letter in her elegant script and sent it off with one of the family owls, anticipation building in her stomach despite knowing it will take a week at the very least to get a response.
Back at Hogwarts, Regulus was still reeling in shock at Hermione’s casual divulgence of the Room of Requirement – or the “Come-and-Go Room” which is what she referred to it as. He gaped as he took in the large library Hermione had asked the room to become. Hermione groaned impatiently.
“Shut your mouth and sit down, Black.” The wizard clamped his mouth shut and obliged, settling himself on one of the comfortable armchairs that were scattered around the room. Hermione rummaged around her back and Regulus took this opportunity to properly observe the witch. Her curls were wilder than they had been earlier in the day – likely because whatever she used to tame her hair was wearing off. Her mouth was set in a line and her eyebrows drawn together in concentration.
The French witch had an air of maturity compared to the other students in her year, and it hadn’t gone unnoticed by Regulus. As he thought back to her previous explanation (her being a Seer), he supposed it wasn’t too far fetched, however there was something in her story that seemed off, and Regulus couldn’t put his finger on it.
Before the wizard could become totally immersed in his thoughts, Hermione pulled out a leather-bound notebook with a triumphant smile and moved to sit beside Regulus. Unwillingly, he felt heat rising to his cheeks at the Ravenclaw’s proximity, but Hermione remained completely unaffected as she began to flip through the book.
“I’ve made a list of Voldemort’s horcruxes,” she rolled her eyes as Regulus took a sharp intake of breath at the mention of the evil wizard and handed him the notebook, “we’ll need to start tackling them but I think we need a plan.”
“Rosier.” Regulus interrupted uneasily. “As… appealing as going on a hunt and risking our lives to destroy pieces of the Dark Lord’s soul sounds, how much are we going to actually be able to do?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, you wrote here that the Hufflepuff Cup is in the Lestrange Vault at Gringotts, and Ravenclaw’s Diadem is essentially lost. Not to mention, we have no idea where this locket is being kept, along with this ring.”
Hermione’s shoulders slumped as she listened to the Slytherin’s reasoning – she knew that he was right and there really was no room for argument. He continued.
“Realistically, the only one we would even be able to access is the diary in Malfoy Manor, which you wrote unsure in brackets next to, might I add. Regardless – even if we could hypothetically gather all these horcruxes, how would we destroy them?” His voice softened ever so slightly as he regarded the downcast look on Hermione’s face. “I really admire your bravery, Rosier, Merlin, you might even give my brother a run for his money, but I am not confident in the slightest that you and I would be able to pull this off. Now, perhaps if we got someone else involved—”
“No!” Hermione cut him off vehemently.
“No? Not even, Evan?” Regulus raised an eyebrow.
“Not even him.”
“And why can’t we tell anyone else about this? You’re starting to worry me, Rosier.”
“Because—” she spluttered, trying to come up with a plausible explanation, “because you’re the only one I trust with this, Regulus.” She looked up at him pleadingly and he peered down at her in uncertainty.
“More than your own flesh and blood?” At Hermione’s nod, Regulus questioned loudly. “Why?”
“Because I am certain that you are brave enough to help me. As much as I love my brother I worry about telling him about this as I am sure he will try and convince me to change my mind and not go through with this.”
“And you think I won’t stop you?”
“I trust that you know how important this is; not only to me, but the entirety of the Wizarding World.”
There was a moment of tense silence before Regulus broke it. “Alright.” He conceded. “I’ll agree not to tell anyone about this, as long as you promise that we won’t discuss it again until we have a clear plan.”
Hermione clasped her hands in delight before bidding the wizard goodbye as they parted ways, Hermione thanking him profusely. As Regulus snuck back into the dungeons, he couldn’t help but wonder fondly, ‘what have I gotten myself into?’
“Black.” The small smile on Regulus’ face froze as a lamp flicked on, illuminating the dark interior of the Slytherin common room. Evan sat there with a calculating look on his face.
“Rosier.” Regulus swallowed imperceptibly, schooling his features into an emotionless mask.
“You were out late.”
“I suppose I was.”
“Were you alone?”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t realise you were my father.” Regulus defended, crossing his arms.
“You’re avoiding the question.”
“Yes I was alone, not that it’s anything you should concern yourself with. Regardless it’s been a long day and I would appreciate it if I could get some sleep, is that okay with you?”
Evan scowled at Regulus’ sarcasm and watched the younger wizard leave with narrowed eyes, wishing there was someway he could tell what he had been doing and who he was with. It had not escaped his notice that this wasn’t the first time that Regulus had been sneaking around and he had heard through the grapevine (Rabastan being nosy) that his sister had also been seen out of the common room at night on more than one occasion, though he supposed she was very curious and she could just have been innocently roaming around and lost track of time.
Evan sighed as he headed to bed. In his heart he knew that he couldn’t keep an eye on Hermione forever, she was a pretty witch and she was bound to get attention from guys as most pureblood witches tended to. However he wasn’t blind to how Slytherin was full of scumbags and death eater worshippers, so he would much prefer if Hermione gravitated to a wizard from Ravenclaw or even Hufflepuff.
On the other side of the castle, Hermione cursed as she made her way towards the Ravenclaw Tower in what she hoped was a stealthy manner.
Unfortunately, luck was not on her side as she bumped into a prefect, who immediately cast Lumos to identify her.
“Hermione?” Remus looked down on her. Hermione was quite a tall girl at five feet and seven inches, but that was nothing compared to the six foot four Remus, who towered over her easily. She smiled sheepishly.
“Hey, Remus.”
“It’s after curfew.” He stated obviously. Hermione winced.
“Yeah, I noticed.” She replied sheepishly. The pair began to walk side by side, though neither of them noticed. It felt so natural.
“I should report you for this.” Remus raised his eyebrow sternly. “I will let it go this time, though.” Hermione felt a pang of sadness as she remembered him as Professor Lupin
“Thank you, Remus.” She said sincerely, making eye contact. Now that he thought about it, Remus realised that Hermione was actually quite adorable. Especially with her pale green eyes that shone in appreciation, her long, kind of wild brunette curls and cute button nose. She reminded him of the dolls that his Muggle cousins would play with when he visited. He supposed this was why he found it hard to dislike her.
Remus also knew from the gossip he had heard around Hogwarts that Hermione was an extremely bright student who excelled in all her subjects. Of course, he had no idea that this was her second time completing the fifth year curriculum.
As the pair walked towards the Ravenclaw Tower, Hermione couldn’t help but realise how natural being with Remus felt. It was like the pair had formed a bond already despite barely even speaking.
“So,” Remus began casually, startling Hermione, “are you going to tell me why you’re out so late.”
“Studying?”
“From what I’ve heard you don’t need to study. You know, your arrival has practically shaken the whole castle.”
“Really?” Hermione found that hard to believe.
“Many of us aren’t sure what to think of you. When we heard your name we thought you’d be some typical Slytherin Death Eater spawn, but you surprised us. Well, you surprised me; Sirius has always been convinced that you’re one of, what he calls, the ‘good ones.’”
“My father,” She had to think very carefully of her next words, “doesn’t concern himself much with politics. In turn, me and my brother aren’t very involved either.”
Remus seemed to consider her statement for a moment before nodding. “So you were raised in France? What was that like?”
Hermione couldn’t help the fond smile that settled itself on her face. “It was… different. Beauxbatons is smaller than Hogwarts, so everyone is much closer. It also starts earlier, meaning we have a wider curriculum. I suppose that’s why I seem so smart here, Beauxbatons already touched on most of this content.”
Remus opened his mouth to reply but stopped when he noticed how close they were to the Ravenclaw Tower. “You’re different than what I expected.” He murmured. “Don’t let me catch you after curfew again or I will take points.”
“I won’t. Goodnight, Remus.”
“Goodnight, Hermione.”
The following week brought about the first Hogsmeade weekend of the year. Hermione sat at the Ravenclaw table as she listened fondly to Alice rambling about the date Frank had planned. “It will only be a matter of time before he proposes!”
Hermione blinked in surprise. “Merlin,” she breathed, “I always forget we’re near that age.”
“Yeah.” She leaned in playfully. “Before you know it, it will be time for you to find someone.”
Hermione pulled a face. “No thanks.”
“I suppose your parents probably already have contracts signed for you.” Hermione shook her head gleefully which caused Alice to gasp in shock, before grinning.
“Good for you!”
Before either of them could reply, Frank made his way towards their table, placing a kiss on Alice’s cheek and giving Hermione a friendly smile. “Excited for your first Hogsmeade weekend, Hermione?”
“I have high expectations from what everyone’s been telling me.” The French witch replied with a small smile. “I’ll give you two some privacy.”
Hermione headed towards the Slytherin Table to greet her older brother, and took a seat beside Regulus. “Morning, Ev.” She smiled sweetly.
“Morning.” He replied, not even bothering to look up from his plate. His sister scoffed indignantly.
“How rude.” He smiled.
“Hogsmeade plans?” He inquired as the morning owls flew into the Great Hall, one heading straight for them. It stopped just in front of Hermione and held out a letter for her.
“Isn’t that Narcissa’s owl?” Regulus raised an eyebrow. Hermione ignored him and reached to take the letter, affectionately petting the owl in the process. She remained silent as she scanned over the contents of the letter, her face not betraying her feelings.
“Well?” Evan asked impatiently. “Is something wrong? Narcissa never sends us letters.” The French witch allowed herself a few more seconds of silence before folding up the letter neatly and placing it into her leather satchel, shooting an annoyed look at her brother.
“I’ll have you know that me and Narcissa regularly correspond with each other. It’s just you she doesn’t bother with.” She sniffed haughtily. Internally, Hermione was conflicted. From what she remembered, Narcissa and Andromeda’s relationship was dead and buried by 1998 and neither sister had made any attempt to contact each other after Andromeda’s disownment. Whilst Hermione knew that by her being here, the timeline would inevitably change, she hadn’t anticipated seeing the effects so soon. If Narcissa and Andromeda reconciled, was there a chance that her wedding wouldn’t even occur? She could kiss her chance at retrieving the diary goodbye.
A small, selfish part of her wanted to lie and tell Narcissa that her sister wanted nothing to do with her. She knew that Andromeda’s affection towards the blonde witch meant that she would never reject her attempts at peace, but having everything accurate to the timeline she knew was just easier. Deep down, however, she knew the Gryffindor Hermione Granger in her, would never allow herself to deceive her cousin like that. She let out a sigh as she made her way towards the carriages that would take them to Hogsmeade, settling herself beside her brother.
The carriage ride was short and Hermione feigned amazement at the views they rode past on the way to Hogsmeade, though in reality she felt nothing besides a small twinge of nostalgia. The witch remained caught up in her thoughts until she realised it was just her and Regulus, who gently grabbed her wrist and pulled her to an alleyway.
“What did Narcissa want?” He asked directly. Hermione frowned in response, leaning against the brick wall behind her.
“Is that any of your business?”
“No. It isn’t. But you seem so affected by whatever it was, meaning it must be important.”
“Promise you won’t tell anyone?”
“I swear.”
Her voice lowered. “She wants to reconcile with Andromeda.” Regulus remained silent but his eyes had widened momentarily, before narrowing.
“I thought you were supportive of Andromeda and her husband.”
“I am…it’s just, I hadn’t seen it coming in my visions. It caught me off guard and I’m worried it could change things.”
“Change things how?”
“What if Narcissa changes her mind about marrying Lucius? Our only hope at securing the diary would disappear!”
“Hermione.” Regulus began. “As pompous as Lucius is, Narcissa seems to really love him. One meeting with Andromeda won’t change that. Narcissa has always had firm values and beliefs but her questioning them doesn’t mean she’ll completely change and become like her sister.”
Hermione still didn’t look convinced.
“If you’re that worried then see if you can put it off until after the wedding, but, not to be rude, I don’t think you understand Narcissa as much as I would.”
“She’s my cousin too, Regulus.”
“I know, but you were in France, so you never saw the dynamic between her and Lucius. What they have, as disgusting as it is, is true love. Nothing will stop them getting married, so I think you should get Narcissa to meet with Andromeda. It might be good for her before her wedding.”
“Wow, look at you being all wise.” Hermione grinned. They left the alleyway to avoid suspicion lest someone they knew caught them, not that they had been close to each other or anything, and made their way towards Honeydukes’.
“And where have you two been?” Evan asked sternly, eyes darting between the pair.
“Tomes and Scrolls.” Regulus lied smoothly.
“Of course you’d go straight to the bookshop, Hermione.” Barty grinned pleasantly and the group soon fell into animated chatter. Hermione couldn’t control the grin that spread itself on her face; her first Hogsmeade weekend was proving to be nothing short of delightful.
James Potter, on the other hand, was having a less than pleasant Hogsmeade weekend. It had started on the Thursday before, a seemingly misplaced Charms homework – which he was able to “charm” his way out of getting detention for. However, his negotiating with Flitwick meant he was late to Transfiguration, a class taught by the formidable Professor McGonagall who was famously unforgiving towards latecomers, something which had regrettably started to become a habit for the Gryffindor.
“Detention, Mr Potter.” The Professor had told him firmly as she collected the homework.
“Sorry, Minnie,” Sirius chimed in, “we have Quidditch practice tonight.”
“That’s not an excuse. And do not call me that, Mr Black”
“Come on, I know you want Gryffindor to win the Quidditch Cup as much as we do. Let it slide this one time, please. James will make it up to you.” The wizard in question nodded his head enthusiastically.
“Just this once. I expect to see you at six o’clock sharp tomorrow evening, Mr Potter.” The two wizards thanked their professor and grabbed their bags, excited for their first proper Quidditch practice of the year.
Having said that, their Quidditch practice went so well that James scheduled a spontaneous one the following night, completely disregarding his detention. It was only after practice, when he entered the castle dripping with sweat and a smile on his face that he was informed, “Detention tomorrow, Mr Potter.”
His eyes widened as he realised he would miss the first Hogsmeade weekend, but nothing he could say would change McGonagall’s mind. Ordinarily, he wouldn’t be too annoyed, however this was his only chance to gather supplies for Sirius’s birthday the following week. It took James begging Minerva for the entire first half of his detention for the witch to relent and allow him to leave, desperate to get rid of him.
The Gryffindor hurriedly made his way towards Hogsmeade, grumbling to himself as he recalled all the supplies he would need to get while also avoiding the birthday boy. As he made his way towards the town centre, he spotted a figure in a black cloak staring blankly towards the distance. Upon closer inspection he recognised her as Hermione Rosier and cursed himself as he realised his morality wouldn’t allow him to just leave her by herself.
“Are you lost?” He asked abruptly, startling her. She turned to look at him with shining eyes and he realised she had been crying. Hermione hastily wiped her eyes.
“No.” She looked around for a moment, before sheepishly adding. “Yes.” James raised an eyebrow.
“I’m surprised that your bodyguards let you out of their sight.”
“Bodyguards?”
“Your brother, Crouch, Lestrange. Baby Black. The list goes on.” At her blank face, he continued. “They hover around you like you’re made of glass or something. You’ve got quite the collection of snakes.”
“What is your problem?” He seemed taken aback at her direct questioning.
“What are you talking about?”
“Why do you care so much about houses? You’re so biased against me and I’m not even Slytherin. And don’t tell me it’s because of my last name because I’m sure you don’t need a reminder of who else comes from a ‘dark’ family.” The wizard remained silent. “See. You can’t even think of a reason to dislike me, it’s just bias.”
“I know you’re hiding something.” He snapped. “No one just randomly transfers to Hogwarts in their fifth year. It’s unheard of.”
She lifted her chin with a fierce look on her face. “Clearly I have a good reason if Dumbledore allowed it.”
“Oh really? Like what?”
“I don’t have to explain myself to you, Potter.”
“I knew you didn’t have an explanation.”
“Fine!” She cried in exasperation. “You really want to know why I transferred here so suddenly. I was attacked. My house was broken into and my grandparents were murdered in front of my eyes. They broke the windows, ransacked the place and tortured my aunt, all while making me watch.” There was silence between them.
“I am so—“
“Is that a good enough reason for you, Potter.” She sneered, wiping away a fresh set of hot tears furiously. Hermione shoved past him, ignoring his apologies, and trudged up the street. Unfortunately James didn’t take the hint and continued after her.
“I’m sorry, Rosier. I just assumed that it was something else. Some other reason.”
“Like what? Why would anyone willingly move schools after five years unless they were forced to?” She stopped and gave him a hard look.
“I don’t know, I was just being stupid. I’m sorry.”
“I don’t care.”
“Hermione!” A voice cut through their conversation and the pair turned their heads to see Evan storming toward them, a look of intense disapproval on his face. Far behind him were his friends who didn’t seem bothered about matching the French wizard’s pace.
“What the fuck are you doing here, and with him? Is he bothering you?”
“Yes.” She shot James an angry look, which he had the decency to look ashamed at. Evan turned towards him.
“Piss off, Potter,” Usually when told to go away, the wizard would protest or annoy the person asking him to leave by being unrelentless, but instead he shot Hermione an unreadable look and left. Evan turned to his sister, no doubt ready to lecture her but paused as he noticed her lips trembling.
“Are you crying?” Hermione responded by wrapping her arms around him and leaning her head on his shoulder.
“I don’t know how I ended up here. I keep losing track of myself and my mind.” She wept quietly. There had been times where she would have ‘episodes,’ as her parents would call it, and she would be in one place one moment and another the next. Time would pass and she wouldn’t even feel it. Her parents assured her that it was because of her mind magic and it would stop as she got older but it always left her spooked. The feeling of randomly finding yourself somewhere with no idea how you got there was uncanny to say the least. These episodes had stopped once she turned ten with today being her first one in five years.
Hermione had never fully understood her mind as Hermione Rosier. She had guessed that her so-called ‘mind magic’ was a result of whatever force had brought her here and learnt not to question it, but she was beginning to wonder if it held more significance than she realised – first the nightmares and now this.
Nevertheless, she removed herself from her brother’s embrace and quickly composed herself as her brother's friends joined them, schooling her features into an unemotional mask. “I’m heading back to the castle.” She announced.
“I’ll come with you.” Evan immediately said.
“No, I’m fine. I’ll see you later.” Without waiting for a response, Hermione started walking, taking in deep breaths of fresh air. Unconsciously, her mind drifted towards James. He had been so different from the shy, caring boy she knew his son to be that it had caught her off guard. Not only his behaviour, but his lack of interaction with Lily Evans had left her feeling confused. From what she recalled from Sirius and Remus from cosy nights at Grimmauld Place during the winter holidays of her fifth year, James had been persistent in his pursuit of the redhead – yet from her observations they had yet to interact, at least, in front of her.
Later that night, James lay awake in his bed, also thinking about Hermione and how wrong he’d been in his assumptions. He cursed himself for always letting his ego cloud his judgement. She had been right, he had no reason to dislike her and he had no idea why she had such an effect on him. A small part of him wondered, however, if Sirius liked her so much, why did he not care that she spent so much time with his brother – whom Sirius swore he hated. There was an air of mystery associated with her which he couldn’t decipher.
Nonetheless, he felt extremely remorseful at how he treated her and he had the strong urge to gain her forgiveness, which confused him further. He wasn’t usually one to care about whether others thought of him; part of being one of the most popular boys at school meant that either people would forgive him without even so much as an apology, or they’d hate him and he wouldn’t care. The only other person exempt from this, besides Hermione now, was Lily Evans.
He sat up abruptly with a loud gasp. He couldn’t be …was he really —?
“James, go to sleep.” Remus’ tired voice cut in.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.”
“Well, you did, so you might as well tell me what’s been bothering you so much that you’ve been tossing and turning all night.”
“It’s nothing.”
“It’s clearly something.”
“Fine. It’s just…” he paused, thinking of how to explain. “What’s your opinion on Rosier?”
“Evan?”
“What, no! His sister.”
“Oh, Hermione. That’s who’s keeping you up? Thought it would be Evans.”
“She’s not keeping me up, there’s just something about her that’s confusing me.”
“Go on.”
“As you know, I haven’t exactly been subtle in my distaste towards her. But earlier I saw her in Hogsmeade all alone and she looked like she had been crying, so I started speaking to her and she brought up my hatred of her.”
“What did you say?”
“I, well I was an arsehole. I told her there could be no other reason for her transferring here and she must be evil.”
“Did you actually say that, Prongs?” Sirius’s chuckles of disbelief interrupted their conversation.
“I thought you were asleep! How long have you been listening?”
“Long enough to hear that. What did she say, I bet she tore you a new one.”
“Let’s just say, she made me look incredibly stupid. I tried to apologise but her brother sent me away and now I don’t know what to do. I usually don’t care if someone hates me or not but I have this overwhelming feeling to gain her forgiveness and I don’t know why!”
“It’s obvious, James. You’re maturing.” Remus explained with a laugh.
“What?”
“You’re starting to become less of a prat and more considerate towards others. It’s beautiful.” Sirius cried dramatically.
“Shut up, Pads. But seriously, what should I do? Do you think she’ll forgive me?”
“I don’t know…I could try talking to her for you.” Sirius suggested.
“I really don’t think that’s a good idea.” Remus began uneasily.
“What’s the harm? She likes me. I'm sure she’ll hear me out.”
True to his word, Sirius woke up early the next day and made his way to the Ravenclaw Table for breakfast – ignoring the curious looks people sent his way. He stopped in front of Hermione, who merely looked at him with raised eyebrows. “Can I help you?” She asked.
“Good morning to you too. May I sit?”
“I suppose.” He took a seat. “I’m guessing Potter sent you.”
“You’d be correct. He’s extremely sorry for whatever stupid things he said which he won’t tell me about.”
“Why does he care so much about whether I forgive him or not?”
“No idea. Remus thinks it’s his journey to becoming less of a prat.”
“If he thinks that apologising automatically makes him mature then he has a long road ahead of him.”
“I agree, that being said, you forgive him right?”
Hermione paused, thinking of what to say. “Ask me again tomorrow.” She said finally, grabbing her bag and getting up, leaving no room for Sirius to argue. As she left the Great Hall she put a hand to her head, already feeling a headache forming – so much for avoiding the Marauders’ attention.