Chapter Text
For three weeks they worked. Day after day, they translated the notebook, slowed down only because they couldn't stay in one spot for too long.
It was on the first of September when they finally had a breakthrough. They were camped out on the edge of an abandoned farm, amongst overgrown dry grass and weeds.
Hermione was at the desk, filling in the blanks of the pages she had finished that morning. "Frush - no, fresh salamander ash?" Her brow furrowed as she tried to decipher what the words were saying.
Minutes passed.
She let out a shriek. "Bill! Oh my God!"
There was a loud bang on the other side of the partition. "Fuck!"
She winced, "Sorry!"
Bill poked his head from around the curtain, rubbing his head. Hermione suppressed the urge to laugh at him, even when he pushed her head lightly.
She gave another shriek, "Don't look!" She exclaimed, pushing him away. He held scarred hands up in surrender, collapsing at her side.
"Tell me," he said, "I'm on the edge of my seat." His dry tone earned him a slap on the arm.
Hermione cleared her throat. "Trial thirty-six is a success. Mixture of fresh salamander ash and ground unicorn hoof in addition to the combination of aconite and Ashwinder eggs is required for stability of blood on arrival in time period. It is concluded that fiendfyre, rather than the previously used immortal flame creates a protective shield around time dust." She looked up at Bill expectantly, "The exact process for the dust and casing is on the next page."
It was comical, really, the way Bill's mouth was wide open with shock. His freckles were more pronounced in the candlelight.
Hermione bit her lip, eyes filling with tears as she covered her mouth. "Holy shit."
Bill reached for her hands, his blue eyes filling with tears as well. He hastily wiped them off his freckled cheeks before letting out a startled laugh.
"Wh-What do we do now?" Her voice was shaky as she looked down at their clasped hands.
Bill's voice didn't shake as much as hers. "We call in every favour we can."
—
"-had ash but it certainly wasn't fresh," Bill was saying. Hermione nodded gravely as she gently moved around Ashwinder eggs in the glass jar she held.
"I've reached out to Gabrielle - her husband had some relation to Newt Scamander. They might be able to source live salamander," Bill continued, running through their notes. "How did you go?"
Hermione pulled out her findings from her purple beaded bag, setting an old cauldron on to their motel room bed. "I found this at a vintage store in muggle London of all places," She said with a snort. Iron had been stipulated thanks to its ability to balance out volatile potions ingredients.
"Professor Sprout had dried Mandrake leaves on hand, thank Merlin," she said, "She said the best place to find aconite is this field up north - It hasn't been found by Death Eaters yet as it's under Fidelius. I'm to meet with the Secret keeper on the Full Moon. You'll be okay alone?"
Despite the fact that he wasn't fully a werewolf, Bill still felt the effects of the moon. They usually showed in the form of extreme aggression and high levels of energy.
He usually burnt that energy off by fucking Hermione till early hours of the morning.
She didn't complain.
"I think I'll manage," he replied with a smirk. Hermione ignored him, continuing "That alchemy assistant still hasn't replied to my owl," she said. "I'm starting to worry about that."
The key ingredient that they were after was called Charmed Dust, a fine gold dust that could only be produced through alchemy. It was actually one of the ingredients for the Philosopher's Stone and once fired over iron with dried aconite, served as the sand in the time turner and could be melted down to create the gold device.
Bill nodded, brows furrowed as he looked over their copy of the letter. "We may have to look elsewhere," he advised, "Gabrielle might know someone."
"Let's hope," Hermione said.
—
Five months of searching and surviving had led them to this moment.
Five months of little moments that seemingly amounted to nothing all added up to this moment.
Hermione's breath left clouds in the cold February air. She and Bill sat side by side against crates, watching the flickering flames in a barrel rise slowly.
To her left lay her iron cauldron and assortment of ingredients that had required blood, sweat and tears to acquire.
Hermione carefully placed the final package on the blanket she had laid out; a delicate vial of Charmed Dust. This had been the ingredient that had almost broken them.
She had used a dark curse to torture the man that held the ingredient, a curse that slowly dissolved the Alchemist's bones while he screamed in agony.
She still remembered the look in his brown eyes when he realised he had given up the coveted ingredient, knew that his betrayal of his Order would lead to his death. Hermione tried to make it as quick as possible.
That was more for her and Bill to escape quickly then out of mercy.
The rest of the ingredients were easier to acquire, but that wasn't saying much. The night she left Bill on a full moon to harvest Aconite, she had been followed home and ambushed by Crabbe Senior and snatchers.
They left their bodies in a field twenty kilometres away before disapparating into the city to disappear.
She remembered the early days, when she would dutifully write down the names of every person that she had killed. One day that list had gotten far too long.
Today will be the end.
'Today will be the end,' Hermione thought desperately. She carefully lifted the iron cauldron over the flames. Bill began to carve out symbols into the ground around the firepit at her instruction.
"Iratz on the forty-five," she said, "then exactly three centimetres to the left is a vohn." Bill's carving was meticulous, his skills honed from years of cursebreaking.
"Then the lamb's blood dotted every three runes," she read out, "the centre dot should be perfectly in line with the handles of the cauldron." He followed her instruction carefully, his forefinger dripping blood in between runes.
When he was done he licked his finger clean, earning a disgusted look from Hermione. "Jesus," She hissed, "You're going to catch something."
"Don't be ridiculous," he replied, "We've had much worse." That was certainly true.
"Okay," she continued, "Once the sun has set I need to start, this all needs to be done before the moon fully rises."
He backed away from the cauldron, allowing her space so she could work. She ignored the hope in his eyes. Bill Weasley may be a pretty liar, but there was no doubt that he was hoping for this to work, for her to bring back his love, his family.
Today will be the end.
The process was slow. They had managed to find things to replace the use of magic. Fire started instead of incendio, bottles of water to replace aguamenti. At some point she would have to use her hand, but Bill was prepared to cast protective spells around the warehouse they were working in to buy time.
It had been three years since the Battle of Hogwarts and they were finally getting somewhere.
Hermione worked steadily, locking her feelings into the little room in the back of her mind. There was no room for emotion right now, not when they were so close.
She carefully managed the flame as she added her ingredients, first the Ashwinder eggs, then the snake skin.
She carefully dropped in a spoon of Charmed Dust, setting the rest aside for later. The sigils around the cauldron glowed gold momentarily before settling into a dark blue. She puffed out a breath of relief.
"Twenty three minutes to moonrise," Bill said softly, tucking away his aged pocket watch.
She nodded in understanding, watching the contents of the cauldron gently simmer before grabbing her blowtorch and adding heat into the cauldron.
She slowly added the Salamander ash as she torched and watched with bated breath as the liquid slowly dried out into fine dust. She let out a shaky breath as the sigils change colour, the blood slowly moving towards the centre of the circle of runes. The first stage was complete.
"Wands out."
Bill quit his pacing, pulling out his wand from his holster and holding it tightly. Hermione saw his knuckles whiten.
She looked down at her cauldron, swallowing hard.
Then she began.
Hermione slowly began to pour the remaining Charmed Dust into the cauldron, her voice echoing through the abandoned warehouse as she recited the spell, notebook in hand.
It was a tedious process, the Dust falling at its own pace.
Time seemed to slow down. She could feel the power of the sigil circle surround her, the runes glowing. The magic embedded into the cauldron filled her as she sang her spell
Her heart beat seemed to slow, and she could no longer feel Bill's presence. She dared not look up from the cauldron as the moon began to shine through the skylight in the roof.
Her breathing stuttered, but she didn't stop reciting the spell as the Dust seemed to settle at the bottom of the cauldron, melting down to liquid gold.
She could feel the heat of the flames intensifying and the urge to take a step back.
The sigils glowed brighter and brighter as she recited the spell, the words looping again and again as the liquid gold pooled over the fine dust from the potion. A breeze had picked up, the magic from the sigils swirling around her and the cauldron.
Her hair was going to be a mess after this.
She watched as the gold rose, creating a waterfall in the cauldron, swirling around. The wind picked up and Hermione struggled to keep her eyes open - the magic held onto her tightly and she could barely hear herself.
The swirl of gold sped up, and then stopped.
And fell.
And the sigils flickered out.
And the wind died.
And all that was left was the delicate gold timeturner at the bottom of the cauldron.
Hermione's breath stopped and she raised her eyes to meet Bill's. She gently reached in and picked up the delicate instrument. The metal was cool to the touch.
Her heartbeat was loud in her ears. She could hear nothing else.
"-have to go!" Hermione looked back up. Her ears were ringing.
Bill was casting something, she could not tell what. But he was agitated. She shakily held up the time turner.
It looked exactly like her own - perfectly formed hour glass with a gold case. The fine dust in it was stagnant, and the mechanism was shiny and stiff like it had never been used.
She did it.
"Hermione!" She looked back at up. The ringing in her ears dying down. Bill reached her, grabbing her arm. "We have to go now. Death Eaters will be here any -"
Bill cut himself off at the loud cracks that echoed through the warehouse.
"Fuck."
Hermione let out a shaky breath, bringing the chain around her neck and dropping the timeturner under her sweater. "M- my bag," she let out.
"Accio portkey," Bill said harshly. Nothing came.
"Miss Granger, we know you're there!" Dolohov's voice echoed through the warehouse.
The temperature in the warehouse dropped. She could hear the footsteps of several.
"Evanesca." At her spell, the cauldron and the ingredients disappeared. She raised her wand in a defensive position, Bill echoing her movements.
"Protego maxima," he cast, his blue shield rising in front of them. He stepped forward into the clearing in the center of the building. Hermione followed suit.
"Crucio!"
She ducked, immediately retaliating, "Avada Kedavra!" She shouted, her Killing Curse barely missed the cloaked Death Eater that appeared behind crates.
"Sectusempra-" She cast at the second Death Eater, hitting the shield that they had just thrown up.
Beside her, Bill was dueling a third Death Eater. He threw curse after curse, never breaking except to dodge. His severing curse hit the Death Eater's leg.
"FUCK!" the Death Eater screamed, collapsing.
"Stupefy!" Hermione cast the spell, aiming the red light at the gasoline bottles at the far wall.
Dolohov's spells were silent and expertly cast. Hermione dodged the the purple light he threw at her.
"Come with us quietly, Hermione," he said, a leer at his lips. "Make this easy for both of us."
"Not a chance," She spat, "Avada Kedavra!" Dolohov moved quickly, his cloak swishing as he moved behind crates.
"Crucio!" He roared. Hermione ducked, the spell barely missing her arm. "Degare Astartum!" The spell hit the Death Eater that had moved behind her, trying to send iron chains around her body. The spell dispelled at her curse and the caster screamed as her curse hit him.
The smell was putrid.
"Igare Astum!" Her curse blew through Dolohov's shield. The fire that erupted from the gas bottles began to lick up the walls. The windows shattered.
Hermione bent over, shielding her head from the rain of glass and saw Dolohov do the same.
She ran towards the doors, sending a Sectusempra at the Death Eater lying on the floor, clutching his cursed leg.
"Avada Kedavra!" Bill shouted, his curse hitting his target. The Death Eater fell but his curse of red light hit Bill straight in the chest. Bill flew back, hitting the wall behind him.
Hermione swore under breath, stopping her tracks.
Her hesitation was her downfall because Dolohov's Crucio hit her in the back. She let out a shriek of pain as she collapsed forward onto her knees.
"Hermione!" Bill shouted, getting up onto his knees. The curse he had been hit with was a strong one, and it was only his werewolf blood that allowed him to get up.
"Expelliarmus!" Hermione watched as Bill's wand flew out of his hand.
She twisted, firing the same curse at Dolohov. He blocked it easily. "Nice try, Miss Granger. Or is it Mrs Weasley now?"
Hermione panted as the Crucio held on to her. "Fuck you, Dolohov."
Bill ran forward, dodging Dolohov's curse. Hermione fell forward in relief as the Cruciatus curse wore off, clutching her wand desperately.
"Stupefy!" Dolohov cast. It hit Bill, but he wasn't deterred. He grit his teeth and moved forward, getting up from the ground.
"Crucio!" Dolohov cast again. Bill collapsed forward, only metres away from Hermione.
She tried to stand but at a flick of Dolohov's wrist, her wand sailed out of her hand.
Her magic was weak. The spell had drained her.
"Three slippery years," Dolohov said with a sigh. Behind him, the fire continued to flicker, eating at the walls. He didn't seem too worried as the Death Eater Hermione had cursed screamed in pain as the flamed engulfed him.
"Seems rather anticlimactic," Dolohov said. He raised his wand and ropes erupted from his wand, wrapping around Bill tightly.
Bill growled, his eyes flickering gold and blue as he bared his teeth, Hermione could barely keep herself upright and couldn't pull herself away from Dolohov as he gripped her chin forcefully, pulling her face up to his.
"The Dark Lord will be very happy with me, I should think," he said, his Russian accent was somewhat muted these days. But she could still hear the lilt of it against some words. He released her harshly, and she fell to the cement floor, her head hitting it hard.
"You -" He had raised his wand to Bill's head, "- are just an animal at this point." Bill snarled at him, fighting against his restraints.
Hermione's breaths quickened.
Today will be the end.
Her fingers, shaking from the remnants of the curse, reached down her shirt carefully. She pulled it out of her shirt and cradled it with the tenderness of a lover.
She looked up to meet Bill's blue eyes. His snarls died down with realisation and he gave a firm nod.
Dolohov spun around, confusion marring his terrible face.
"Fuck you," Hermione said with defiance, and her shaking fingers twisted the knob on the side of the hour glass.
And she disappeared.
Today will be the end.