Hello! I am posting this because I got a crazy fucking concussion at work (tanning beds are dangerous y'all) and have been told in no uncertain terms to… not think. Which is difficult, because all I ever do is think. My ADHD, autistic ass can't not think. But anyway! Here's this because I'm not allowed to write right now (let's see how long that lasts…)

Enjoy!

Estelle, Emilie, Alexia, Adelaide, Mia, Cassiopeia, Founders Hermione

Alphard was at work, and it had been a long day. One week a month, he was permitted to work on the only case that had his heart - his daughter's case. It was the first day of that week, and he'd decided to try a new direction. The previous week, he'd finally come to the conclusion that the ring that sent her there was no longer anything but a ring. There was absolutely no trace of residual magic to work on, and whoever had made it had fled the second they heard the DOM was looking into it.

Which led him to something else. It was tricky magic, truly, but there was only so much research on displacing a person in time. In fact, there was almost no research on it. That was why he was looking into displacing a person to someplace else instead of sometime else. If he could get the basic understanding of how it worked to move a person in such a sense - different from Apparating - then maybe he could get closer to potentially sending her home.

That was how he found himself standing in front of a machine in a hidden room in the DOM. It was rather large, and somewhat intimidating. Upon questioning Croaker about it, the man had shrugged and said he'd never seen it before. It only had a small plaque to describe it, and it didn't help much.

"Delivering one to another for the knowledge you lack."

Despite how intimidating it looked, it also looked overwhelmingly simple to control. There was a small switch, a few screens, and a red and green button. Alphard hazarded a guess and pressed the green button to turn it on. When that did nothing, he tried the red one. When that failed as well, he finally flipped the switch and watched the screens come to life and a light appear under the red and green buttons.

On the screens, Alphard didn't notice anything odd. They seemed to be of places, most of which he knew. On one screen, he saw Charlus and Dorea in Potter Manor with two young girls and another with her back to the camera. He noticed it was that way on every screen - there was always a young woman with her back to him.

With his wand in his hand, Alphard decided to take the plunge. He pressed the green button again and watched the machine sputter to life further. It made him slightly nervous as it continued on. The first change was a bright light to the left of the machine. It seemed non-threatening, but after nearly five minutes of just sitting there, it turned a dark blue and began to grow.

It was at that point that Alphard cast the emergency spell to call for Bertie.

But as abruptly as it had changed colors, it exploded. Alphard was wrapped up by it, and unable to move. It felt thick and dangerous, like it was going to swallow him whole. It was an agonizing three minutes before he was released, and when he was, he found himself in a place he'd certainly not been before. The walls were a dark blue, and it appeared to be some sort of sitting room.

When he looked up, he caught sight of the others in the room, but not the people that had been there before. Instead, he saw the young girl and her friend to his left. Breathing out sharply in stress, he moved over and waved his wand over his daughter. "Stella."

Her eyes slowly blinked open, and she looked up at him, confused. "Dad? What- I was at Hogwarts."

"Black," the blonde boy by her side said slowly. "What the hell-,"

"Dad, wands," Estelle said sharply, nodding behind him. He looked back and finally saw three others in the room, all of whom had their wands pointed at him, though the kids - both Estelle's age - were standing behind the man.

"Lord Rosier," Alphard greeted carefully, though the man looked slightly different than he'd last seen him. Younger, maybe? And his eyes were a different color. All the same, he was sure it was Rosier. "It seems an experiment of mine has failed. I apologize. Are we in your home?"

"Uncle Evan," the girl behind him said slowly, staring at Alphard in shock. "That looks like Alphard Black."

"Stay back there, Avi," he ordered her. "Watch her, Daav. Don't let her move."

"I'm not stupid," she muttered. Despite her words, the boy next to her grabbed her hand within his own tightly.

"Dad," Estelle said nervously.

"Malfoy," Alphard called, expecting the same from him. Since Lucius was set to marry Narcissa, he'd certainly watch Estelle. Aside from that, he knew the boy was friends with his daughter. It was as close to a sibling as she had outside of Sirius and Regulus. "Lord Rosier-,"

"She looks like me," the other girl exclaimed, finally settling her eyes on Estelle. It was only then when everyone looked between the two twelve-year-old girls and noticed that they did, in fact, look almost exactly the same.

"Well we don't have another twin," the boy pointed out, though he was squinting at Estelle. "Polyjuice?"

"Explain," Rosier demanded. His eyes travelled to the kids behind Alphard and he stopped short at the sight of Lucius. "Lucius? What the hell-,"

"'Delivering one to another for the knowledge you lack,'" Alphard quoted, looking around as a horrible idea slowly pieced itself together. He offered the girl across from them a small smile. "You are correct, I am Alphard Black. Who might you be?"

"Emilie Nott," she said cautiously. "This is my brother, Theodore. Don't call him that, though. Call him Theo."

"Well, my daughter's name is Estelle," Alphard explained. "We call her Stella. I'm afraid my experiment may have gone far more wrong than I originally believed."

"Experiment," Evan repeated. "Of what sort?"

"I'm afraid my vows will not allow me to tell you the exact nature, but the machine I found was meant to help me move someone. Unfortunately, I believe I did not fully understand exactly how it would be moved."

"And you believe you know now?" Lucius asked carefully.

"I believe we are in another universe," Alphard confirmed. Eyeing Evan, he sighed. "And another time. Stella, this is Evan."

"Evan," she repeated, narrowing her eyes. "Evan is- Dad, he's my age! Actually, he's a few months younger!"

"What year is it?" Alphard asked as he put a calming hand on Estelle's shoulder.

"It is 1991."

"So he might be your age," Alphard told her. "But that's in 1971. Twenty years in the future…"

Estelle's eyes widened. "Dad… we're in the future? I'm… back?"

"I'm sorry, you're saying you're from the past and you're friends with Uncle Evan?" Theo summed up, disbelieving.

"Actually, it sounds like she's saying she's from this time but stuck in the past," Emilie disagreed. "And she's friends with Uncle Evan. What's he like as a kid? I never imagined him as a kid. It must be weird."

"Well he worries a lot. About school, about me, but mostly about Alice," Estelle explained. "He also thinks Sirius is kind of stupid and gets mad when he's insensitive, so quite frequently."

"Alice was Maria's middle name," Evan commented.

"Maria is Alice's middle name," Estelle shot back.

"Wait, you know our Mum?" Theo asked with wide eyes.

"Alice is your Mum?" Estelle blinked, confused. She shook her head and looked to Alphard. "So you're saying those women... this is like that?"

"Yes, I am."

"Lord Black," Lucius said respectfully. "Perhaps we can focus on getting home. We were, after all, both in class."

"Right," Alphard shook himself. "Yes."

But just as he planned to get working, there was a loud crack in the room somewhat reminiscent of Apparition. A red light flashed throughout and when it disappeared, it left three people behind.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

It was almost unsurprising, at least on Cassiopeia's part. She was beginning to feel the difference in universes in the sense that different universes grated against her magic ever so slightly.

When she was dropped… wherever she was, she cursed and rolled with the fall. Unfortunately, she didn't land on the ground but rather on her brother - Harry, that is. Both of them groaned in pain, and he pushed her off of him roughly.

"Merlin, Cas," he muttered. "What- where are we?"

"Different universe," she answered immediately. She'd spotted the six others in the room, but she was more focused on her brothers. Regulus was moving over and waving his wand at her. She shoved it away. "Calm down."

"You're already aware you're in a different universe again," a man said, lowering his own wand. All three of them looked over, and Regulus stiffened. "Has this happened again?"

Cassiopeia eyed them in recognition. "Not until now. Nice to see you again."

Regulus frowned at the sight of the man. "He died after we… died. He met you a few times before."

"Yet another person Sirius refuses to talk about," she muttered. "I've met them before with everyone else. That girl's name is Estelle."

"Why's she older?" the one by a man that Cassiopeia recognized as Evan Rosier asked. The sight of the man had both her and Regulus on guard, both reaching quietly for their wands just in case. They didn't need their bond to agree that they were potentially in a dangerous situation.

"The time varies between universes," Cassiopeia answered cautiously. "It's not all that surprising that you're so young. I'm seventeen. Last time, we were in the 70s."

"Regulus," Estelle said with wide eyes. "Dad, he's older than me. It's weird."

"Cassie, I was in the middle of my date with Daphne," Harry complained to her. "She's going to murder one or both of us when we get back."

Cassiopeia made a face. She knew he was right. She'd inadvertently interrupted many of their dates, or caused them to be postponed. "I'll help you guys sneak out tomorrow and have Sirius get you reservations at that place you really like in London."

"A question to consider," Alphard said slowly. "Is why you are here and the others are not."

"Uh," Cassiopeia shrugged, looking at the man. "It happens sometimes, like he said last time. I'm not sure how this happened. No machines involved, no debilitating draining of my core."

"I used a machine," Alphard said slowly. "In the DOM. I was testing it to see if it could give me insight into a special case of mine. Instead, it did this."

Regulus stared at him, shocked. "You tested a machine that you knew little to nothing about? You're smarter than that."

"Maybe not in this universe," Cassiopeia muttered. Harry snorted, but she got a dirty look from both Regulus and Alphard. "What? We've seen vast differences between people in different universes. In Mia's, Avery's a good person. In Lexi's, he fucked her up pretty bad. Maybe in our universe and Lexi's and whoever else's, Alphard has common sense, but maybe here he's… more like Sirius."

Estelle let out a short laugh before covering her mouth. "Sorry, Dad."

Cassiopeia's eyes narrowed on Alphard as a thought occurred to her. "This is about Stella, isn't it? You- all of us told you to let it go, and you didn't, did you?"

"She needs to return to her own home," Alphard said quietly, though he looked unsure. Cassiopeia got the urge to hex him, and Regulus grabbed her wand from her hand before she could.

"It's not worth it," he told her calmly.

"It might be," she muttered, though she didn't try to hex him again.

"Can you take any guesses as to how to get back?" Rosier asked her, eyeing the sheaths on her thighs that clearly held daggers despite Regulus having her wand. She rested her hand on one, tense.

"Not at the moment," she admitted. "We were going to talk with Croaker about making his own machine, but I'm so busy that I can barely get out of school for the war council, much less talking to Croaker, who will want to do tests on me."

"War council," Rosier repeated. "What year is it in your universe?"

Cassiopeia grimaced. "Spoilers."

"Black, if you have information we need-,"

"Take a step back," Regulus interrupted, eyeing the man as he'd moved closer. "Or I will curse you."

"Has Rosier ever personally hurt Cassie?" Harry wondered curiously. Cassiopeia and Regulus shot him a look, but he just stared back. "What? I can't keep track of these people, okay? She has too many enemies. Usually, it's easier to assume everyone wants to kill her."

"He helped vote Umbridge into Hogwarts," she began slowly. "He voted against my change of name, and he also helped keep Dolohov out of Azkaban. So directly, no. Indirectly…"

"Quite a bit. Right."

"Why would Antonin go to Azkaban?" Emilie asked with a frown.

"It's a long story that no eleven-year-old needs to hear," Cassiopeia said shortly. "Man, why is this always depressing?"

Rosier stepped back slightly and visibly relaxed. "I am concerned for the safety of my niece and nephew. I do not intend to hurt anyone."

"You said there were a few ways you travelled universes," Theo looked at her curiously. "Aside from his machine, how else?"

Cassiopeia sighed and crossed her arms over her chest. "I don't know. It was this weird energy that fed off of my core, and it hurt. We think these things happen when Lexi is distressed, which… just worries me. When the energy happened, she said she had nearly stepped into a room filled with Fiendfyre. Before that, someone that had hurt her very badly had been released from Azkaban, acquitted of all war crimes he'd been charged with."

"And now the question is, what happened this time?"

OoOoOoOoOoOo

Ten minutes later, wands had been put away and tea had been requested. They'd all introduced themselves, though for the most part, everyone knew who everyone was. Alphard had been given permission by Cassiopeia to run a few non-invasive tests on her, but he didn't find anything he hadn't learned the last time.

They were in the middle of discussing what they would do if they were there for an extended time, since there was a Wizengamot meeting the next day, when another light appeared in the room. Just as the others, it disappeared quickly and left three people.

Alexia stumbled slightly as they fell a few inches to the ground and was caught by James, who held her hand tightly within his as he looked around.

"Lex…"

Alexia's eyes wandered the room, noting her husband putting up a shield in front of them to protect from the wands pointed at them. When she spotted Cassiopeia, she grimaced. "I see."

"You look relatively fine," Cassiopeia commented, eyeing Dolohov warily. The more she encountered Alexia's husband, the less she was afraid of him. At the very least, she didn't think he'd hurt her unless she hurt Alexia. That was good enough for her, since she wouldn't hurt Alexia. "I'm glad, after…"

Alexia stared at her quietly for a moment. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay."

Despite the fact that Cassiopeia didn't really believe her, she moved on. They could talk privately later if they had the time. "All of us have others along with us again. I really have to wonder why that keeps happening."

"I was at work," Alexia said hesitantly. "Antonin was…?"

"Family business," he told her. "I have found a pairing for Feliks."

Alexia screwed up her face. "I was with him when this happened. He's… I'll tell you later."

Antonin's eyes flash. "Did he-,"

"I'll tell you later," she repeated firmly. Her eyes drifted over to the alternate version of her. "Cassie, were you touching-," she glanced past Cassiopeia and nodded. "Were you touching Harry or Regulus?"

"Harry was on a date and Regulus was at home, I assume," Cassiopeia disagreed. "I was actually touching Snape. I was sort of moving too fast trying to get Draco to his dorm, and I nearly fell, and Snape grabbed me. Idiot is drunk again - Draco, that is - and he's going to get himself suspended if he keeps getting caught. I was practically carrying him back to his dorm."

Harry let out a laugh. "So if we got taken here, he's just somewhere in the castle, drunk?"

"Yes. Hopefully Snape grabbed him, but that motherfucker is slippery when he's smashed."

"We should discuss it with Cissa," Regulus sighed. "Something is clearly wrong with him. She should talk to him."

"No way," Cassiopeia shook her head quickly. "I'm not running to tell on him to his mother, Reg. If anyone should talk to him, it's one of us. I'm heir, and I'm one of his best friends. I'll talk to him, and if that doesn't work, I'll get Daphne to threaten him."

"I think she was already planning to," Harry cut in.

"You have an alcoholic Draco during school?" Alexia asked, horrified. "Man, he was just a dick in… you're still seventeen? In sixth year?"

"Yeah."

"Yeah, he was just a dick then. Kinda depressed, maybe, but no alcohol involved."

"Narcissa," a young Lucius interrupted. Alexia's eyes fell on him in surprise, and she found herself staring. "Narcissa is-," he cut off, noticing Alexia's stare. "Yes?"

"Uh," was her brilliant response.

"In our universe," James rolled his eyes. "Lex dated you when you were about that age. Fourteen, I'm guessing?"

Cassiopeia screwed up her face in disgust. "Ew, Lexi!"

"What?" She said defensively. "I can guarantee he's different from yours! He's a perfectly kind person in my universe."

Lucius cleared his throat, getting their attention again. "You mentioned Narcissa."

"Look, we're in an alternate universe," Alexia told him calmly. "My career is centered around them now. I can tell you that there is a chance that you will never experience the things that the Lucius of my universe did - meaning you may not have a Draco. Maybe you'll have a daughter instead. Maybe you won't have kids at all. Telling you much about the you of my universe, or Cassie's for that matter, is extremely pointless and a complete waste of time."

"I'm really confused," Estelle said. "I'm just- you dated him? Like… romantically?"

"That's typically what dating means, yeah."

"And you wanted to be with him like that."

"I loved him quite a bit at the time," Alexia confirmed. "I get it, though. Actually, Cassie gets it. I dated her brother. I was engaged to her brother."

"Must you remind us?" Regulus asked, disgusted. Alexia snickered quietly, earning a smack from James behind her.

"What if we found a universe where we dated?"

The face she made was answer enough.

"You said your career was focused on the multiverse," someone cut in. Alexia stopped, recognizing his voice. It wasn't the first time she'd run into an alternate Alphard, or even that version of him, but it wasn't any easier. She still carried a great deal of guilt over his death, and now he was staring at her, waiting for her to answer him. When she didn't, he kept speaking. "Have you learned anything new?"

"Lex," James said softly. "It's not him."

She shook herself slightly and grabbed for Antonin's hand, which he gave willingly. "Bertie transferred me to the new multiverse department, which consists of myself and Antonin."

"Lexi built one of the machines," Cassiopeia added quickly. "It's how we got out last time."

"What is your understanding of any immediate side effects? Is it any better than before?" Alphard asked her, grateful to have an expert on the subject. Alexia made a face at him.

"Being in another universe, it… it grates against your natural magic. See, our universes are filled to the brim with magic. It's everywhere, in everything. It's in the air we breathe and the very matter of which we are made. Each universe has unique magical patterns. That means that being here… well, we don't fit. It weakens us, because this universe doesn't want to cooperate with magic from another universe. That's typically fine, for a short period of time, but in the instance that we're here for an extended period of time, it gets dangerous. The longer we're here, the more this universe will try to bully our magic into changing, into cooperating, and our magic cannot do that."

"Hermione's magic has changed," Antonin cut in, gathering some confused looks.

"Alexia," she told her husband with a slight smile. "I'm not giving them my entire life story, so just call me Alexia for their sake."

"I will not."

"Lexi's old name was Hermione," James explained for those that didn't know. "And it's what he calls her because in the past, no one knew it, so no one did."

"It has changed," Antonin repeated, moving on. "We are still doing tests to understand it completely."

"Issue is, it could be from the spell," Alexia explained, mostly to Cassiopeia. "Because Mia said hers changed as well, but that could be because she turned into a Legendary. Our only other theory is that my magic is changing because of all the multiverse trips I've been on. Actually, this one should help us figure it out. We were about to just start sending me on trips to see what would happen."

"Alexia!" James exclaimed. "You could get hurt!"

"Well, who else is gonna do it?"

"Him," he said, nodding at Antonin. Alexia made a face at him but didn't bother to berate him for his comment - he knew how she felt about it, and he made a face back at her.

"They're adults," Emilie said with a slight laugh. "They're acting younger than Theo and I."

"They're twins," Cassiopeia told her. "He knows what she feels and she knows what he feels, so he'd know she was irritated by his suggestion."

"We all know that," Lucius drawled.

"How is your magic transforming?" Alphard pressed. "How many of these trips have you been on in total?"

Alexia considered the question, glancing at her husband. "Well, there was the Ruby one, but that involved being shifted through multiple different universes. I think… including Ruby's and home, there were five trips that time. After that, there was that one where we got sent there during that raid and the Founders wanted to kill you, lyubov'. After that, there's that one with the Antonin that thought I was crazy for marrying mine-,"

"You are," James said quietly, but without venom.

"-which I went to with Cassiopeia. And then… oh, wait, the Founders sent us to Adelaide's universe so Avery could heal me, because I got cursed during that raid. Plus the one to Estelle's universe. So nine including this one."

"Merlin," Theo said, shaking his head. "No wonder your magic is changing."

"It probably has no sense of normalcy anymore," Alphard agreed, nodding. "How long have you been going on these trips for?"

"The first one was when I had that really bad episode because I told Regulus about you," Alexia glanced at her brother. "When was that?"

James thought about it. "Fifth year, I think."

Doing a little math, she tilted her head. "So maybe four years altogether."

"May I?" he asked, raising his wand. She shrugged, standing still as he scanned her a few times. "I don't notice any immediate difference or weakness in your magic. Can you give an example?"

"Mm," she looked around. "Whose universe are we in, by the way?"

"Ours," a young girl by Rosier said.

"Right. Rosier, I'm going to need you to do a couple of things for me. First, put up a rather dark shield. Then, while holding it, try to torture me."

"Torture?" Rosier repeated sharply, stiffening. The girl by his side also stiffened, staring at her in horror.

"There's no shield that can protect against that," the girl told her. Alexia offered her what she hoped was a calming smile. She could feel both James and Antonin preparing to refuse to allow it, but she shot them both a look to wait.

"There is one, actually. It's a dark blood shield that Antonin helped me learn," Alexia explained. "It's saved my life many, many times. The only thing we've come across that it won't protect you from is the Killing Curse." Her eyes drifted to Alphard, and she let out a short laugh. "Alphard caught Pollux casting the Killing Curse and nearly had a heart attack. I was fine - the family magic saved me. Alphard was the one that needed a calming draught."

"So you're saying," Rosier said slowly. "That if I cast this shield and then try to torture you… you will be fine."

"Yep."

"How will this prove anything?" Harry asked, lost. Cassiopeia nudged him.

"It will. But Lexi, are you sure this is a good idea? James looks like he's going to explode. Harry makes that face all the time. Plus, it hurts."

Alexia rolled her eyes. "Thanks, I'm aware it hurts. No one is creative in my universe. It's all torture, and it's very annoying. It's alright. I have Jamie and I have Antonin, both of whom I have extremely strong and sealed bonds with. It's the only reason neither of them are actually exploding."

"Uncle Evan, are you actually going to do this?" Theo asked, shocked. Rosier sighed and looked between the twins. "She could get hurt."

He looked back at Alexia firmly. "Swear on your magic that you will not get hurt, and that if you do, you will not hold it against anyone but yourself."

Alexia rolled her eyes and lifted her dagger in the air. "I, Alexia Dorea Dolohov née Potter, do swear on my wand and magic that if I do get hurt by the Cruciatus that Evan Rosier will cast at me, I will blame no one but myself."

When the tip of the dagger glowed, she lowered it. Satisfied, Evan nodded. "What shield is this?"

Alexia made her way over to him and quickly showed him how to cast it. When he'd done so twice without fail, she stepped to an emptier part of the room - she wasn't willing to risk anyone else getting hit. She hadn't told anyone, but she had felt Rosier's Cruciatus before. It had been before going to the past, during the final battle. It had lasted for less than two minutes before Neville had stunned the man, but it was long enough for her to know it was brutal.

"Ready?" he asked her. She gave him a firm nod and forced her hands away from her daggers. He cast the shield flawlessly, and he held that with the hand that didn't hold his wand. It fed off his blood, so truly there was no need for a wand or even daggers.

Next, he pointed his wand at her. He cast a couple of test spells, and none of them got through. In fact, the shield essentially melted them, if that were even possible. Finally, he stared at her and, taking in a deep breath, cast.

"Crucio!"

Alexia stood there calmly as the spell raced toward her. Just before it would've hit her, it was destroyed by the shield in front of her, leaving her completely unharmed.

As Rosier dropped the shield, she had multiple people staring between them in wonder. Alphard was simply the first to speak. "You said Dolohov taught you that?"

"Well, sort of," she shrugged. "Technically, Pollux gave me the book that held the curse. Antonin just caught me casting it incorrectly, told me how to fix it, and sent me to Lucius to get healed."

"It was foolish, attempting such a dark, dangerous spell by yourself," Antonin reminded her. She made a face at him.

"Remus was there!"

"Lupin left you before you even began to cast it, Dorogaya," he shot back. She blushed lightly.

"Well, it's not like I died."

"You would have, had I not been there."

"You were only there to scare me," she rolled her eyes. "Don't act like a hero, Antonin."

"Wait, why would he try to scare you if he's your husband?" Emilie asked, lost. "Antonin's… well, he's difficult, but he isn't mean. Well, sort of, but he's not bad. Not worse than anyone else."

"Antonin is perfectly fine now," Alexia assured her. "But when we were kids, just like Jamie, he really needed to stop being a dick."

"He hasn't quite achieved that yet," James said calmly. Neither his sister nor her husband reacted, though he gained a snort from Cassiopeia. He shot her a conspiratorial wink, and she offered him a small smile.

"All you've proved so far is that there is, amazingly, a shield that protects against the Cruciatus," Alphard interrupted. "And perhaps that you are reckless."

"I resent that," she huffed. "I got that enough from the you of my universe, I don't need it again. And I might be reckless, but it's the best and most obvious way to prove that my magic is weaker - that our magic is weaker."

"So what's the plan now?" Harry asked her.

"Well, I'll need Cassie's help with it. This time, she's going to send the Cruciatus."

"She cannot," Antonin said, slipping into Russian. They'd done rather well so far, but it was a hard habit to break. "The sealed bond you have will kill her for trying to hurt you."

"Damn it," Alexia huffed. She looked around until her eyes locked onto Regulus. "Fine, you can do it."

"I will not-,"

"Look, it's either you or Harry at this point, okay? Jamie can't do it for two reasons - he hasn't been on any multiverse trips until now, and because of our sealed twin bond. Antonin can't because he's my husband, and no one but you and Harry have been on more multiverse trips. So just suck it up and do it. You've cast it successfully before, Harry hasn't."

"My bond with Cassiopeia-,"

"Is held with Cassiopeia," she huffed impatiently. "Can you feel me? I don't think so. It'll be fine, Regulus, just torture me."

"Wow, that is a horrifying sentence," James commented. "Lex, this is a really bad idea regardless. If we go home and you've been tortured, Lily's gonna kill me. Not to mention if Mum and Dad find out. They might be portraits, but they can definitely inflict damage. Merlin, Harry will kill me. He hasn't gotten pissed at me yet and I don't want him to start."

"I'll handle them," she assured him. She quickly cut her hand and used the blood to put up the shield with the same dagger. Her eyes slipped to Regulus. "Ready whenever you are."

"Alexia-,"

"Regulus just-,"

"I don't want to torture anyone!"

"No one does," she shot back. "Cast it and lift it immediately. All we need to show is that everything is weaker. Even your Cruciatus will be weaker."

Practically glaring at her, he raised his wand. Slowly he pointed it at her, and she stared him down steadily, waiting. Finally, he cast it. The red light flashed through the air and, unlike the spells before it, passed through her shield. It slammed into her stomach and she bit down on her cheek to keep from screaming. Her body shook with the weight of the spell and the freshly opened wounds all over her body. He dropped it nearly immediately, but any amount of time under the Cruciatus felt like an eternity. She dropped her shield as well, and she felt her husband's arms wrap around her to keep her up. When they touched her skin, she felt some of the pain fade.

"I didn't know you had such a strong Crucio," was all she could think to say. Multiple people grimaced at that, but no one more than Cassiopeia and Regulus.

"I see your point," Alphard said after a silent moment. He made his way over and guided Alexia and Antonin over to a couch, where they sat and James joined them on her other side. "You believe both you and Regulus are weakened further than, say, I would be?"

"It gets worse the more trips I take," Alexia confirmed, her voice shaking lightly. "Since Regulus was involved with the Ruby business, he'd have issues, too."

"Right, and that will get dangerous as you've said," Alphard said thoughtfully. "Have you come up with any ways to suppress the deterioration?"

"Well, I've noticed that using the bracelet Lady Malfoy gave me helps a bit," Alexia said slowly. "It was actually Draco's idea to release the built up energy in it to give my magic a boost, sort of like the top of Lucius's wand would."

"Bracelet?" Emilie wondered curiously. Alexia raised her arm to show them the bracelet Lisette Malfoy had given her.

"I have a slight issue with controlling Fiendfyre. Sometimes, when I get really upset, I set things on Fiendfyre. Some shit went down and Amelia Bones ordered me to go to the Malfoy Matriarch to get myself fixed. We're working on it, but it can take years, so she gave me this in the meantime. It collects accidental magic and stores it until it can be released safely, or reabsorbed by myself."

"Do you believe this would assist you while you are still in this universe?" Alphard wondered curiously. Alexia's eyes drifted to Antonin.

"It wouldn't, would it?"

"It may, though I imagine not for long. Do not use it unless there is an emergency, Dorogaya. The magic built up in there is the strong magic from our own universe. Release and use that, and it will take you twice as long to build it up again."

She hummed. "Yes, but it'd be better if I held off until any potential emergencies come up. I'd rather not waste it."

"We are in my home," Rosier said, almost offended. "No one will come to any harm here."

"She did just get tortured," Estelle pointed out calmly. Lucius's lips twitched at her side, but he didn't laugh. At least, no one but Estelle noticed him laughing.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

It was painful, that time. Not because of the trip, or even because they fell about a foot to the ground when they got there - no, it was painful instead because of the bond Hermione had felt growing stronger, more insistent. As she felt something inside of her grow painfully tight, she wondered if her bond was tearing.

The thought slipped away as a hand fell on her arm and her eyes opened to see Godric looking down at her in concern. She moved to sit up but groaned in pain and almost fell back down. Luckily, the man grabbed onto her just in time and helped her sit upright. "Hermione, are you hurt?"

"It's… I think it's my wrist," she managed, offering the wrist to him. He took it and waved his hands over it, giving her time to look around. The first thing she noticed was Ron, who was rubbing his head as he sat up. "Ron! Oh Merlin, are you alright?"

"Fine, Mione," he assured her. "I was sleeping. What happened?"

"Well, if that's Gryffindor," someone said across the room. "Welcome to the party, Hermione."

Her eyes shifted over Ron's shoulder to where she saw Cassiopeia standing with Regulus and Harry. She took in a sharp, surprised breath. "Cassiopeia?"

"I'm here, too," Alexia called from a couch. Hermione tensed at the sight of Dolohov, and she started looking around for her wand or even daggers. "Hey, relax! I know it sucks, but this is mine, and he's focused solely on me."

"Yeah, she just got tortured," someone - was that Theo? - added. Hermione stared at Alexia in concern.

"You were tortured? Are you okay? Are we in danger?"

"We're fine," the person on Alexia's other side said. It was James Potter, and he looked irritated with his sister. "Lexi just had to prove to Alphard that we're weaker here, so she made Rosier and Regulus both try to torture her. Only Regulus did."

"Sprained," Godric said, casting a numbing charm over her wrist. "We will have Helga heal this for you when we return. Are you hurt elsewhere?"

Hermione hesitated. "It feels like… it tore."

"With the strength of it increasing, it may," Godric told her sadly. "We are far away from our own universe, Hermione."

"You know this woman as well?" another man asked, looking pained. Cassiopeia and Alexia both nodded.

"That's Hermione, the Founders one," Cassiopeia explained.

"Yeah, we call her that because the man next to her is Godric fucking Gryffindor," Alexia continued. "When we first met her, she was with bloody Salazar Slytherin."

"Also, she's cursed and it's shit."

"Guys," Hermione snapped, shooting them a glare. "Ron, d'you have your wand and sword?"

"Here," he pointed at his hip. "Are we doing this again? Is there another evil, murderous version of you?"

"Nope," Alexia shook her head before pausing. "Well, probably somewhere, but not here. In this universe, the us is this kid… Emilie?"

Emilie nodded, waving at them. "Emilie Nott. That's my brother, Theo."

"And you know the rest of us," Cassiopeia nodded between her, Alexia, and Estelle.

"Odd," Hermione commented, looking around. "Before with Ruby, we went with the people we were touching, right? But I was nowhere near Professor Gryffindor or Ron. I was actually with Draco and Blaise. Then last time, we didn't come with anyone at all."

"Who were you touching?" Alexia wondered.

"Draco," she said, rolling her eyes at the look of disgust Ron shot her. "Calm down, Ronald, he was showing me how to cast a spell Narcissa created."

"Sure."

"What about you guys?"

"I was touching Snape," Cassiopeia shrugged. "Because my idiot cousin made me trip."

Hermione blinked a few times. "Cassiopeia, you have many cousins. You're a Black."

"Draco. I mean Draco. He's the biggest idiot in our family, barring Sirius."

Harry snorted by her side. "I'm telling him you said that."

"Do it. I'll tell him to his face. Did you hear he tried to buy Azkaban? An entire prison? What the hell do we need that for?"

"Privatized prison is bullshit," Alexia cut in. "It's an excuse to justify slavery. If Sirius ever does buy Azkaban, it better be to transfer the prisoners elsewhere and fucking destroy the place."

"I believe that was the plan."

Hermione sighed at Alexia. "And what about you?"

Alexia grimaced. "Feliks."

"Who?"

"Feliks- Feliks Dolohov, a cousin. Crazy bastard, tried to force me to marry him. He's why Antonin and I got married so suddenly."

"Explain to us all, Dorogaya, why he was touching you," Antonin told her, staring her down. He looked as if he'd lost his patience and was already prepared to murder him.

"Antonin-,"

"Hermione."

Alexia grimaced. "It's not really… appropriate conversation, Antonin."

"Ew," Emilie screwed up her face in disgust. "But you're married! Why would you do those things with someone else?"

Alexia shot the young girl a glare and looked back at her husband, who seemed to be holding in his rage. Taking in a deep breath and switching languages, she nodded. "Feliks seems to be under the impression that it does not matter who I've married so long as he can still… sire my firstborn son."

Dolohov's eyes flashed with fury. "He touched you."

"Not much. It really isn't a big deal, Antonin, we got taken here anyway, so-,"

"Alexia."

She deflated slightly. "He grabbed my throat like Nikita did. I think he was going to choke me out. He also… touched me a little bit. He didn't get that far."

He reached out and waved his hand silently over her throat. A glamour that had been hastily put up immediately upon switching universes fell, revealing colorful bruises all over her throat. His fingers brushed over them, and she hissed in pain.

"Oh my god," Cassiopeia whispered, staring at her friend in horror.

"Fuck!" James said loudly, throwing his arms up angrily. "Dolohov, if you don't get control of your fucking family-,"

"Jamie, stop!" Alexia yelled. Someone's accidental magic - no one was sure whose it was - threw sparks at a wall, leaving a dark mark on it.

"What happened to her?" Ron asked rudely, gaining himself a smack from Hermione, who was horrified as she slowly made her way over.

"Everyone quiet!" Silence fell over the room, and most people looked over to Rosier, whose wand had dropped down into his hand. He stalked over to them while waving it and as he knelt down in front of the couch where Alexia sat, a few potions flew into his hand. "Alexia, have you been hurt anywhere else?"

It was a question that, in retrospect, someone really should've asked earlier.

Alexia only shrugged. "A few curses here and there. We duelled a bit, but he got the wall behind me and sent me down." She scowled at no one in particular - at least, no one that was in that universe. "It's my own fault he caught me, really. Lucius tried to get me to prepare for that, but I thought he was the only asshole that would try something like that."

Antonin waved his wand over her, healing the unseen injuries. She breathed out slightly in relief as the pain dissipated.

Hermione turned back to Godric, her face tense. "Professor, can you use that bond you have to get them to bring us back? Then we can send them back as well."

Godric shook his head sadly. "Unfortunately, Hermione, our bond is no stronger than the one you have with Sirius. It does not extend through universes."

"So what's the plan to get home, then?"

"Wait for them to notice," Alexia answered for Godric. "Or Bertie to notice, but I don't want him messing with our machine. That man has no self restraint when he's curious."

OoOoOoOoOoOo

No one was very surprised when it happened again. In fact, they just stared and waited for the light to disappear. When it did, it left three more people, one of whom was swearing very loudly and without pause.

"-fuck!" Mia snapped. She'd landed in front of Cassiopeia and Regulus on her back, and she blinked up at them in frustration. "Great."

"Hello to you too," Cassiopeia rolled her eyes. "Where's your shirt?"

"You don't want to know," Mia muttered. "Anyone got a spare?"

"I do," Alexia called. She reached into her bag and grabbed the first shirt she could find and tossed it over. With a nod of thanks, Mia pulled it over her head and sighed.

"What happened this time, Dolohov? Got scared again?"

"Actually," Cassiopeia said, pulling Mia to her feet. She eyed Sirius and Severus absently. "It wasn't her fault. I mean, it would be understandable if it was, considering, but… Who were you touching?"

"Like I said, you don't want to know."

"For the love of Merlin," Regulus whispered, disgusted.

"So she was touching Regulus," Alexia gathered with a small laugh at the looks Mia was getting from the Black siblings.

"Remind us why that matters," Emilie requested, lost.

"Wow, she's tiny," Mia muttered, looking at her in surprise. "She here in place of Adelaide or something?"

"Emilie Nott," she introduced. "And that's Estelle. This is my brother Theo."

"We know who he is, by the way," Cassiopeia told her. "He's one of my best friends. It's just that in our universes, he's an only child."

"Also, we've met Estelle," Mia added. "Hey, kid."

"You're gross," Estelle declared, making a face. "He's my cousin."

"You're a Black. Being your cousin means nothing," Mia pointed out with a laugh.

"It matters who we were touching because it's been a theme so far that whoever we are touching is taken with us," Alexia cut in to explain to Emilie. "And now we're wondering… why aren't they here? I was nowhere near Jamie or Antonin, and yet they're here."

"I was busy," Sirius complained to Mia, stepping closer to her. She rolled her eyes at him.

"With what, Padfoot? Reg said you were pouting because no one wants to buy Grimmauld Place."

"Exactly!" he exclaimed. "Busy!"

"Sano, how are you feeling?" Severus asked her carefully. She shrugged lightly.

"There must be a Regulus in this universe somewhere, because I'm fine," she answered before pausing. "Well, I'm doing as well as I was doing ten minutes ago."

"Actually, I think you were doing much better ten minutes ago," Alexia snickered, earning herself a few glares. "What? I know I'd be doing better if I was doing what she'd been doing."

"Ew, Ash!" James exclaimed, horrified.

"And I don't think there is a Regulus," Cassiopeia said before pausing. "Not one open to your bond. I think that's all of us."

"Okay, let's focus," Alphard called out. "More of you keep appearing - who's missing?"

Cassiopeia looked around for a moment. "Adelaide, Golden Trio Hermione, and the new girl, uh… what was her name?"

"Macie," Hermione supplied.

"Yeah, her."

"Alright, so-,"

Alphard was interrupted by yet another trio appearing in the room, and he let out a sigh. This was going to take a while.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

Adelaide groaned, staring up at the ceiling. "Ow."

"Addy," Avery gasped, moving over to her. "Are you hurt?"

She paused for a moment to take stock of her body, but found nothing wrong. "Nah. What're we-,"

"Hello," Mia called, coming to stand over her. She reached down to help her up and Adelaide made a face at her as she took it. "Welcome back."

"Guys, I was busy," Adelaide frowned. "I was literally in the middle of the Wizengamot arguing with…" her eyes caught on Evan and she stiffened, reaching for her wand. "With him."

"Hey, it's okay," Alexia assured her. "He's not gonna hurt you."

Lips thinning, Adelaide released her wand. "So what's happening?"

"Uncle Alphard did something really fucking stupid," Cassiopeia explained. "Now this."

"Alexia was also distressed," Alphard cut in. "Which may have exacerbated these events."

Adelaide looked over to Alexia in concern. "Are you alright?"

She waved her off silently, which wasn't a yes.

"And she's got Avery and… Bill Weasley," Cassiopeia blinked at him curiously. "So, again, who were you touching, Addy?"

Adelaide sighed. "Theo. He was also fighting with Rosier. Mostly, I think he was trying to keep me from cursing him."

Alexia let out a snort. "Yeah, ever since I hexed Theo that one night, he's been trying to make sure I don't hex anyone else. Lucius says it's because I've got a mean curse and Theo's got a good heart and doesn't want anyone else to feel it."

"Why would you curse me?" Theo asked, looking troubled. "And why would you curse Uncle Evan?"

Adelaide stared at Theo. "He's your uncle?"

"In our universe, too," Cassiopeia told her. "And Estelle's. Probably yours, too."

"I cursed my Theo because he was being a prat," Alexia cut in. "In that he took my wand from me when I went to curse Antonin, who was being a fucking arse in an uncomfortable situation. So after I escaped, I found him and hexed him, because he forgot that I can cast perfectly without a wand or my daggers."

Alphard was thinking quietly as they talked. Something was bugging him, and it was in the middle of their discussion that an idea occurred to him and he walked over to Alexia and Antonin. "May I borrow you?"

The couple exchanged a glance before nodding and getting up, leaving James behind. It was barely a second before James had gotten up and made his way over to Cassiopeia, Harry, and Regulus.

"Dad," Harry breathed, breaking the awkward silence that threatened to cover them. "Cas."

"I know," she said quietly, looking slightly heartbroken as she had the last time they'd met. "I know, Harry. He isn't our dad, though. He's just Lexi's brother."

James looked between them with a frown. "Yeah, maybe, but we've met a few times now, huh? I'd be pretty pissed at myself if I didn't at least talk to my own kids."

Cassiopeia tilted her head at him. "You know that makes no sense, right? You have no responsibility to know us. You're dead, we get it-,"

"Cassie," Harry hissed at her. "Stop it."

"But it's true," she insisted. "And getting attached to someone that isn't our parents is just going to end in us getting hurt. There's no point and I'm not interested."

Harry glared at her darkly. "You've always been like this about them, you know? Like you can't feel a damn thing in relation to them just because you're adopted, but they're your parents, too! God, Cas, just pretend you have feelings for once."

"Okay," Regulus said, grabbing her arm gently. He moved to guide her away, but James shook his head.

"It's okay," he told him. "Can we have some privacy?"

"Cassiopeia-,"

"Will be fine," she interrupted. The two stared at one another for a long minute before his lips thinned and he let go and walked away. Once he was gone, James looked between them.

"She's right, I'm not your dad. I can get why you wouldn't want to care about me, Cassiopeia. Too easy to get hurt if something happens, right? If we never see each other again. I get it. Despite that, I care. I care because when Lily and I came back, my son was fully grown and had survived a war. He only had Sirius and Remus, and not even Sirius after he disappeared. I want- I need you both to know that there's someone in the multiverse that cares about you and your wellbeing. If you can ever get to my universe, Lily and I will be there for you."

Harry launched himself into the man's arms, and James hugged him tightly while looking at Cassiopeia. She had stubborn tears in her eyes and was standing there awkwardly, as if she was totally unsure what to do.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

"What's the problem?" Alexia asked when they'd gotten some privacy. She stood in Antonin's arms and he was rubbing her bear arms, a move that Alphard knew was likely both to comfort her and help heal her from the moment of torture she'd endured.

"You asked about it," Alphard told her. "All of you were talking about it - why didn't those that you were touching come with you?"

Alexia shrugged slightly, letting her head fall against Antonin's chest as she stood with her back to him. "It's random sometimes, I've told you that."

"And I disagreed," he reminded her. "There's reason to it somewhere, we just can't see it yet, so let's try. It occurred to me… what if they were taken somewhere, but not here?"

The couple exchanged a glance that spoke of communication through their bond. It was a moment before Antonin answered him. "That would suggest someone may be doing this on purpose. The only other time we have seen that level of purpose or organization was-,"

"Ruby," Alexia interrupted tiredly. "But she's dead, so her husband."

"If that's the case," Alphard said slowly. "Why isn't he here? What is he doing? Why hasn't he attacked, and how does the machine I used fit into this?"

"You said Bertie claimed he'd never seen it before," she reminded him. He nodded slowly, so she sighed. "My husband is a smart man, Alphard, any version of him. Evil, despicable, extremely handsome, but smart."

"Yes, that last one was very necessary," Alphard raised an eyebrow. She shrugged as if it couldn't be helped.

"More than smart, Antonin loves me," she continued. At her words, Antonin squeezed her arm softly in agreement. "And Ruby's husband loved her, too. He knew before I did that Antonin loves me because he loved Ruby. So, smart and heartbroken, that's a bad combination. Antonin, what would you do?"

"I would plan," he said simply. "I would trap them and I would kill them and the people they love."

Alexia nodded. "Some of us, he didn't get quite right. Adelaide doesn't love Bill more than her husband. Mia's missing Regulus. But Antonin and Jamie are here. Cassiopeia has two of her brothers. Hermione's got one of her best friends. So combining that with your theory that who we were touching got taken somewhere… I'd guess we're not done yet. We're going to move again, hopefully wherever he's got them."

"It is possible that he cannot be quite as precise as he might wish," Antonin continued. He was holding Alexia tight against his chest at the mere idea that this man wanted to hurt her. "Ruby may have had a larger part in his ability to use their machine than we originally guessed. Taking whomever they were touching as well as trying for those he believes they are close with may be the best he can do."

"He could've just missed a few times," Alexia pointed out. "I mean, we've had a hell of a time with our machine, and we've never tried to forcibly move someone from one universe to another. The very idea… it would be extremely difficult, if at all possible."

Alphard took in a long breath. "You're suggesting he placed the machine there as a trap."

"Yeah, I just don't get it," she tilted her head. "Why you? Why Emilie? We're missing the other Hermione, too."

"Distractions," Antonin said simply. Alexia was quiet for a moment as she processed, and when she did, her eyes widened.

"Of course. He doesn't care about Cassie or Hermione or Adelaide. He doesn't care about Stella or Emilie. He cares about Mia and I because we killed his wife. He probably thinks by changing it up a little, we won't piece it together."

"Added to Alphard's vulnerability and desperation to send his daughter back," Antonin nodded slightly. "The perfect trap for a desperate man."

"Okay, so how do we fix it?" Alphard looked between them. His eyes caught on Alexia as she paled slightly. "What? Alexia, what is it?"

"Feliks," she said, looking up at Antonin. "Antonin, if everyone that we were touching is together, then Feliks is- he's going to be furious I got away from him again. He's going to hurt them, isn't he?"

Antonin tensed slightly. "Yes."

"We need to tell everyone what's going on," Alexia decided. "Now."

OoOoOoOoOoOo