Night Changes

“I didn’t take anything. I didn’t take it- I didn’t take anything.”

She woke up in a cold sweat to find that the sky was dark. How long did I sleep? she mouthed to herself. She almost bit her tongue at the act.

She felt the bitter remnants of her dream- more like her nightmare- in the scars on her forearm and neck. Every time. Every time she dreamed of that moment her scars would reopen as if they were as fresh as the day she received them... maybe that was the curse of the blade, she once mused to herself alone at night. 

To be slowly bled to death for years by way of psychological terror... 

She mentally slapped herself to get it together. Apparently, she was still their prisoner by the way they bound her wrists again- they do know she could just get out of these at any time, right?

And by the way she was moving- and by the way my bum felt like a bitch- she recognized that she was on horseback. 

As she became more cognitive, she also realized that she was riding in front of someone. She could feel their chin brush against the back of her head and their chest rub against her back. And was that an arm wrapped around my waist? She looked down. It was.

Oh, Merlin, was it Levi again- no it couldn’t be. This person was too tall to be Levi if their chin was jutting into the back of her head like it was.

Then who was it?

She heard Armin’s voice speak to her but couldn’t understand the words. 

So I’m stuck with Armin? Just my luck. 

She tried fighting the smile that forced its way on her face. She really did want to be annoyed with her situation, but she really couldn’t help but smile to herself. I’m stuck with the Ocean eyes guy... Well, she wasn’t particularly against this turn of events.

She turned back so that he could partially see her face. Then pulled her hair back and pointed to her ear as she shook her head; she did as best as she could on horseback and hoped that he would understand.

She felt him nod against her hair and turned back around to find her wand. After a few moments of stressful searching, the arm wrapped around her waist lifted to point at her beaded bag. She brought the bag closer to his hand and looked back to see the answer in his eyes. He nodded again.

Alright, it’s in my bag... just a quick Accio in the bag then.

Wand in hand, she cast the translation spell. “I can understand you now.”

“Oh good,” he chuckled warmly, “I was getting kind of tired of nodding.”

She smiled, “And I’m getting kind of tired of performing this spell... teach me?”

“Hm?”

“Teach me your language- oh, I mean- please teach me your language.”

His grip around her waist tightened, “Alright, I’ll teach you our language... if you teach me yours.”

“It’s a deal then,” she leaned her head back against his chest, looking at the unrecognizable star patterns. Different world then... why am I not surprised...

“Mm, yes, just- just don’t tell anyone else yet,” he whispered into her ear, “You’re, technically, still in our custody, but I have a feeling you’ll be out of it sooner or later.”

“Well, that’s good then. I don’t particularly like being tied up like this,” she shook her tied wrists in irritation, then sighed in defeat. They won’t like it if I escape again, and this time I won’t have the distraction of battle to shield me from the consequences...

“I wasn’t too fond of you being restrained either, but those were my orders, and well- we don’t trust very easily.”

“That’s understandable.” Considering what she’d seen them have to fight... It was brutal out there. She stared straight ahead of her, “Then I hope we can cooperate smoothly going forward.”

“Yes, I hope so too,” he answered diplomatically.

Hermione could hear him cough to clear his throat, “I- I would also just like to take this moment to thank you-”

Thank me? For what?

“-for helping bring me back. My comrades told me you played an important role in my “Ressurection”,” he sighed.

“I wouldn't say I was that important, but I played a role, yes. And you’re welcome of course- I’m- I’m glad I did it.” Even if she had to watch cannabilism in the process. She felt both content and disgusted with herself for feeling that way.

He cleared his throat once more, “I’m glad you think so… I’m sure seeing the… transformation process was quite gruesome for you- and for that, I am also sorry.”

She shook her head, “You were non-cognizant, unaware of what was going on- you didn’t even make that call- we did actually. So you have nothing to be sorry for, okay?”

“Mm.” 

They rode most of the way in relative silence, short bursts of mini interrogations peppered in here and there. 

He asked her another question as they rode through a sleeping town, “Were you born a witch, Hermione?”

“Ah yes, but my powers didn’t manifest till I was 4 and tried to get a book down from a shelf. My parents told me the whole room looked a mess right after,” she chuckled.

“Always had a love for books then?” She was surprised at the observation but then remembered he had been one of the soldiers to enter her tent. “Yes, always,” she smiled fondly.

“We have that in common then,” he mentioned, a bit too casually to not mean anything more, but she chose to overlook it.

“Oh? Well, I’m glad that we can find some common ground. I would hate to be stuck here with no friends.”

She felt him freeze against her back.

“Stuck here? In the walls?” His mood seemed to change drastically.

“Huh?” Walls? There are more than just the two we’ve seen? “No- stuck here, in this world.” His horse stalled before running at full speed again. 

Nearby soldiers shot them dirty looks.

“You mean to tell me there are different worlds? Like- you mean to say entirely different universes?” He strained his neck to face her as she strained hers to face him. He was hard to read in that moment; his eyes swimming with a variety of emotions. He probably didn’t know what he was feeling either.

“I didn’t think it possible- well, till today,” she looked up at the now ombré sky, its hues ranging from navy blue to coral pink.

“Well, how do you know for sure? Couldn’t you just be from a different place- in the same world?”

She shook her head.

It was dawn, so their unfamiliar stars had already gone, “So… those stars that were in your sky...” He nodded for her to continue. 

“I didn’t recognize a single pattern they made. Not one constellation. And I know every single one from back home,” she sighed for what felt like the umpteenth time that day. “That’s how I knew for sure. Though, I did suspect something deeper than time travel when I first arrived here.” 

“So even time travel was also on the table? Is our society that archaic compared to yours?”

“Quite. However, not in the same way my world’s past is- you’re... very unique technologically speaking. It was the first red flag.” 

“Will you tell me about your world? Not just how your world differs technologically, or how our class structures may be different- but stories, like the one you were telling yesterday... or the ones you mentioned to me before going to sleep-” I mentioned some stories to him? Thankfully he didn’t notice her confusion and kept talking.

“-Something about myths and Shaking spears?” Oh!

“Oh yes, the origin of my name,” she smiled at his enthusiasm. “My parents were referencing a name from a play by a man named Shakespeare, but he got the name from a story from the ancient civilization of Greece... Do you have a Greece in your world?”

He coughed to clear his throat, “Well- we don’t actually know yet. We’ve been isolated from the rest of humanity, and we didn’t even know that till recently.”

“Oh? Is it that you’ve met the first foreigners here?”

He squirmed uncomfortably, “Something like that.”

“Must be confusing yet exciting to have your world expand like that...” Hermione reminisced on joining the Wizarding world.

“I’ve lived through something quite similar, you know. I could help you with it if you’d like?” She turned her head once more, looking him in his ocean eyes.

He smiled down at her, “Yes... I think I’d like that.”

She nodded, mesmerized with how his eyes looked against the dawn’s pinkish hues. She swiftly turned around, praising Merlin that her dark skin hid the blush she felt climbing up her cheeks.

She looked around, desperately needing something else to focus her attention on. She then realized that she was so engaged in their conversation, that she didn’t notice that they’d entered into a more urbanized city.

What an odd mix of eras...

“What year is it here?”

“... It’s 850.” Well if that isn’t proof enough...

“The 850 of my world is very different to this- also, in my time it’s 1999.”

“Truly?”

“Mm, I have a couple books about it. For now, you can look at the pictures and listen to me read to you, but once you learn “English”- my native tongue, you’ll be able to read them on your own.” She wished there was a written version of the translation spell, but alas Magic had its limits... odd that that was one of them.

He smiled eagerly, the grip on her waist tightening by just the smallest fraction. She let out a breathy laugh, I haven’t been touched like this in years... and the fact that it took traveling to a whole ‘nother world to feel it. 

Merlin, what was going on?

She looked around to avoid the answer. 

It was getting later in the morning now. The more houses they passed the more people were out and about. 

Still, there were only a few civilians around- thankfully- but they all stared at her as they rode past. Get used to it, Hermione; there’ll be a lot more of that in the near future. 

She stared at their destination, it was a grand castle- not as grand as Hogwarts, but certainly grand for its time. Are they taking me to their government leaders? Their king? Queen? Do they even have a monarchy? What if they have a council...

They stopped at the castle's stables where their horses were to be collected and organized. Armin got off first, holding a hand out for her to latch on to as she slid off. How’d he get me up here in the first place?

She stumbled as she landed on the dirt floor. Armin had been ready to catch her but she shook her head to show that it wasn’t needed.

They began walking towards the castle, Armin slightly behind her to “keep watch”. She flexed her ankles. Her bottom still hurt and her whole body felt sore. She wanted to flex her wrists but feared she would receive a rope burn. She conceded to stretching everything else as much as she could... to pretty much no avail.

She hissed as she stretched her neck. She stopped in her tracks. Shit, I forgot- She looked down to see the beginnings of a line of blood seep through the top of her jumper. She hastily put her wand to her throat. Quick, I’ve got to-

“You’re bleeding? Are you alright?” His hand reached out to the cut on her neck but she flinched in response. She covered her neck in shame, “Sorry. Uh yeah, it’ll be fine. I’ll take care of it later.”

He took a small step forward, “No, it looks bad- Hermione, is your arm bleeding too?” She cursed to herself. How could she be so careless- well- I have been pretty occupied and I sure as hell wasn’t expecting to sleep in front of strangers. She sighed internally. Now, how to avoid this conversation...

“-did one of the scouts hurt you? Why didn’t you tell anyone? Or heal your wound-“

She brought both of her palms- as they were bound- to his chest to stop him, pleading with her eyes for him to just be quiet, “-it wasn’t anyone you know...” she looked away from his presumably pitying gaze, “It happened a long time ago. I’m okay.”

He seemed confused at her wording, “H- Okay. If you say so, but-“ he stopped himself from continuing and looked to the side with a slight blush on his cheeks. “Please heal yourself, I... don’t like seeing people in pain.”

She nodded, then turned to hide the sight of the inflamed slur on her arm. She soothed and sealed her scars to the best of her ability, but unbeknownst to him- they would never heal. She vanished the blood from her sweater and when she felt like every last drop had gone, they continued walking, the atmosphere a bit more tense than before.

When they entered, they separated from the main body of soldiers heading for a different wing of the castle. 

He opened a door deep into the opposite wing and gave her an apologetic look. Taking the lantern hung on the wall of its entrance, he led her down a set of stairs to some sort of dungeon.

Oh...

As he led her in front of a cell, she let out a nervous laugh. She tried joking to mask it, “Eheh, will this be my new home then?” She weakly elbowed his side.

He looked quite sad, it was starting to make her sad too, “No... not as long as you’re our ally. But…” He turned to begin unraveling the rope around her wrists, “I believe you are... This will just be where we hold you until they decide.”

Loose rope in one hand, he opened one of the cell doors, beckoning her inside. She nodded in return, letting go of the lighthearted facade, “Will you visit?” She stepped into the cell, tensing as she heard it lock behind her. She turned around and waited for his answer.

He looked at the ground next to him, “If I can,” he straightened his posture and looked her in the eye, “I’ll stay until the Commander comes, but- I don’t know if he’ll let me stay after that.”

Under the low, warm light of the lamp, his eyes became a Sea green instead of an Ocean blue- she found that she preferred the original. 

She spoke softly, more to herself than to him, “Yes, yes of course... I wouldn’t want to take you from your duties.”

He was about to speak when they heard the patter of footsteps climbing down the stairs. Was it the Commander? 

She watched as Levi and the Goggled soldier stepped around the corner. “Arlert, you can stay. But don’t get in our way.”

“Yes Sir!”

The goggled soldier- despite their eyes holding a bubbling curiosity- held a professional gaze and seemed to be the one conducting the investigation.

“I am Section Commander Hange Zoe, this is Captain Levi Ackerman. We're both of the Scouts Regiment within the walls.” Hange looked at her as if expecting a reaction- but got none.

“Hello Hange Zoe, Levi Ackerman,” she nodded her head to them, “My name is Hermione Granger and I’m a witch from another world.” Way to outdo them, Hermione.

“A-another world?”

This went on for quite some time. For hours they went back and forth with theories and reasonings for the Multiverse. This led to a discussion on clarifying some things about each other’s worlds- technology, class structures, culture. What they chose to give her was limited, and the information they did decide to give her seemed disconnected. She couldn't be 100% sure, but they seemed to be omitting the most information on “Titans” and their government- probably keeping them from her due to her prisoner status. She sighed to herself. 

This’ll be such a tedious process.

Towards the beginning of the discussion, Armin chimed in a couple times to clarify small things about their world that she might’ve missed. But as the hours dragged on, Hange, Armin, and Hermione were equally engaged in their conversation.

They didn’t stop their talk to eat, their meals were served to them by a Scout named Floch and eaten right there in the dungeon. Rather than stop to eat, they just ate while they talked to continue the flow.

Soon enough, this “interrogation” became a full-fledged intellectual discussion- with Levi listening attentively, mentally taking note of key points of their discourse.

At one point, Hermione even began pulling books out of her beaded bag to show them pictures of their earth to try and compare them with their own but found that they only knew their walls and the surrounding area.

Maybe they didn't have much to omit in the first place...

They all stepped closer to her cell to take a look at her magically enlarged map. After much explaining on “globe to map” translations and helping them decipher the key of the map and its nomenclature, Armin slipped his arm through the cell bars and touched the paper in awe.

“So you're saying that the ocean is a real, definite thing in your world?” There was no hiding the happiness and hope on his face.

“Of course,” she couldn’t help but smile back, “See, most of our world is covered by ocean-“ she ghosted her wand over all the blue on the map, “I don’t see why it would be any different for yours.”

His shoulders loosened in tension. “That- that’s great.”

Levi stared at the map in satisfaction, “You know, you never finished your story from earlier.”

“The one I was telling on the wall?” They all nodded. I genuinely forgot.

“Oh. Well, let's see- where to start?” Hermione pondered into an empty space on the wall.

“The last thing you mentioned was a migration of sorts?” Armin offered.

“Yes! Thank you. Now, I'm not sure if this would apply to your world too. So let me frame it in a way that stresses that this is from my world- maybe not yours. But it may very well be the same…”

She levitated the map in the air and pointed to Mid East Africa with her wand, “This is where homosapiens began migrating to the rest of the world,” she pointed to the Bering Strait, “This used to be land too- before the sea levels rose. Humans were still able to cross over from Asia into North America to populate the continent.”

“Anyways, as people migrated out of Africa into much different environments- their bodies adapted to fit and survive in those environments. The original homosapiens from Africa- well, they looked like me.”

“How would our skin benefit our environment, how would yours?”

“So, dark skin is good in warmer climates because it contains higher levels of melanin. This is the pigment that gives the skin its color and helps protect the skin from some forms of sun damage. Darker skin also served as a better barrier to the body from dehydration and infections…” She began motioning to Europe and other Northern regions.

“Now as humans migrated North and farther from the hotter climate and longer days, they exchanged their darker pigments for a better way to store energy from the food they ate. Some also suggest that fairer skin causes the body to create more Vitamin D- a… chemical of the body that helps with bone health. Honestly, the body will not just waste precious energy to create traits that it will no longer need.”

“Ah, I see…” Hange’s eyes gleamed with curiosity, “But then why does Mikasa look different? She still has lighter skin, doesn’t she?”

“Well her eyes were evolved to better block out the sun from her gaze. Many people of my ancestry share these traits as well, as they had them in the first place. But as of now, it is most common in East and Southeast Asians who come from here,” she circled her finger around the mentioned regions.

“It’s a very complicated thing and not as cut and dry as some would like to think. None of these traits mentioned are exclusive to one group of people but they do tend to be more common in some more than others. There are even a wider variety of traits than the ones you’ve seen in me or Mikasa. An infinite amount.”

“Do these differences serve as an issue in your world? Is there any tension caused by these differences?” Hange raised a knowing brow.

She sighed despondently, “...Yes. Some even use this difference in “race” to excuse their hatred and bigotry. But we’re all just human- that’s what I say,” Hermione shrugged.

“It seems…” Hange sighed in a bout of maturity, “That no one can escape that hell- no matter where they go.”

“No, it seems not,” she frowned. Just like her transition from the muggle world to the magical… 

She rubbed the scar on her arm in discomfort. Fuck, it stings...

Armin caught the act and sent her a worried look to which she dismissed with a shake of her head and a small smile.

She then guided them onto a much less depressing topic that ended up just as depressing as the last. She decided to openly discuss her theories on how she got to their world and why, making sure to let their ideas bounce off each other to come to a better, cohesive conclusion.

“Yes- well, it is highly possible that the moon may have something to do with it...” she twirled her wand between her fingers as she thought, “In my world, we had a Full moon. When I arrived, you had a New moon... There’s something about that moon...”

“Yes! I was actually talking about the moon when you arrived. I was all like, ‘It's a good thing the moon’s not out tonight, we might come across that new breed of Titan that moves with moonlight’,” their grin was wide, reminiscent of what had happened just a day ago.

Soft scratches could be heard as Armin took a written note of the entire conversation. He volunteered a while ago when he realized they were coming up with very important ideas that could aid them in the future.

“Mm, does the moon have any significant meaning to you?”

She stared at him, a bit wide-eyed. She had been holding off on telling them about werewolves and her work on the Wolfsbane potion. She wasn’t entirely sure why yet, but she did know this was something dear to her heart- something she felt was so integral to her as a person... She felt as though she would be laid out for them to pick at if she were to let them know. 

She hesitated, “Yes, but-“ she looked away from his curious gaze, “In my world, we have people who can involuntarily turn into wolf-like creatures on the full moon. They lose all humanity and become animalistic creatures that prey on humans... though, they do tend to leave animals alone unless they feel the urge to hunt for meat...”

“They suffer with something called Lycanthropy, and it’s spread through the bite of a “Werewolf” on a full moon,” she sighed, “A close friend of mine had the disease... In his honor, I was trying to improve a potion that would let their human minds control their “Werewolf” bodies. But as of yet, there’s no “cure”.”

They nodded solemnly, recognizing that she referred to them in the past tense. They allowed for a moment of silence, understanding the loss of a close friend.

Levi waited another moment before asking, “And you were in a forest at night, why exactly?”

“The potion I was making required that I gather the ingredients on a Full Moon.”

Levi nodded, satisfied with the answer. He nodded to Hange before they both stood up to leave the cells. With a surprising amount of seriousness, Hange addressed her.

“Well- it’s getting late. Sorry, but you’ll be sleeping here tonight. We’ll be back with Commander Erwin tomorrow... You’ll get his final verdict by then.”

Hermione nodded to Hange in understanding, then turned to see Armin follow shortly after.

He stilled before reaching the stairs. 

He turned his head so that she could only see part of his face.

She couldn’t tell if it was a trick of the light, but his cheeks seemed to flush a deep red, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow,” she echoed in a promise while leaning against the bars of her cell.

“Goodbye.”

“Goodbye,” he echoed in return, disappearing up the stairs.