“Have you calmed down? Do you want to talk about it? You know I can only help you if you tell me what happened,” asked Hermione, worried, after Atlas had stopped his five minutes of constant cursing.

“No, I mean yes. I just realized how fucked up memory manipulation can be. You know, I thought Ethan was kind of stupid, but I now realize that you can fall into someone’s schemes without even realizing it. I didn’t even realize I was missing something or that I was doing something that kind of went against my free will. I mean, not exactly against my free will, but I didn’t realize that I hadn’t even had the chance to decide. I will tell you later about it; for now, I really need to rest. That potion was really a little too much.” said Atlas and really looked quite exhausted.

“That’s fine. But can you promise me something?” asked Hermione a little more meekly than usual, almost nervously.

“Sure,” answered Atlas, and stared into her warm brown eyes.

“When this year is over, I want you to tell me everything,” said Hermione, her voice still a little wacky but her eyes fixed on his.

“Everything?” asked Atlas, a little confused.

“Yes. Everything. Do you think I didn’t realize that you were trying to keep things from me? That you know things you are not sharing with me? Things that seem to put a lot of pressure on you. You are always on edge, you know. Even before the incident in the forbidden forest, it looked like the passion and fascination you had for magic were overshadowed by something else. Something dark. I don’t know how to describe it, but you didn’t look happy at all, and even when we were together, I sometimes felt that you weren’t really there. I don’t want that. I don’t want you to be unhappy; I don’t want you to space out the whole time we are together. I want to understand you. And now you tell me someone manipulated your memories, and you don’t even tell me what happened or who did it. I’m worried, Atlas. Worried about you.” said Hermione, concerned.

Atlas reached out his hand to touch Hermione’s light, rosy cheek. He wanted to kiss her, but she pulled her head away, still waiting for an answer.

“I will tell you everything. You don’t even need to wait until summer, but I’m not sure you will believe me. Do you believe in reincarnation or the multiverse?” asked Atlas with an unreadable expression.

The discussion that followed led Hermione to change her expression multiple times, from disbelief to doubt to understanding, to anger to sadness and confusion, and then to something unreadable. Atlas had told her almost everything. The only thing he left out or changed was the part about killing Ethan and that the universe would be destroyed if he succeeded. It naturally was still quite difficult for Hermione to believe at first, especially when he told her that he had read books and seen movies about this universe. But after hearing about the stories from the books and about events that no one could normally know about, she started to doubt that he was lying.

The problem with knowledge that no one should know about was that naturally, Hermione couldn’t really check it, especially not in the middle of the night. So stories about the chamber of secrets, the prophecy, Snape’s love for Lily and his rivalry with James, or the Tri-Wizard Tournament could just be cleverly thought out lies. But when he told her about the topics of the upcoming exams, which aligned exactly with what she predicted, she started to believe him. He wasn’t sure if it was because it was really the most convincing thing he had told her or because she wanted to believe that all her predictions for the upcoming exams were right, but Atlas was glad that she didn’t think he was crazy. At least not entirely. Just when he thought about exposing Peter Pedigrew just to prove that his story was true, Hermione started to speak again.

“Okey, just let's assume what you are telling me is not a really, really really bad joke. What am I to you, then? Just a little kid that is entertaining to make fun of? A character from a book? A replacement for your wife? I mean, how old were you in your past life?” asked Hermione, and she got more and more upset and teary.

“Hermione, stop. Wait a moment. You know that it’s not that simple. You are not a replacement for everyone, and I really love you. I mean, at first, I really didn’t know how I should treat you and everyone else, but these books were about entirely different universes. You are you, and not just some character from a book. If you know it or not, you were the one who taught me that, just by being the way you are. You are the girl that was so fascinated by magic that she read every schoolbook before the lessons even started; you are the girl that sat hours with me in the library when Snape was trying to push me over the edge; you were the person I could always talk to; you were the girl that took all her bravery and kissed me on a dancefloor at the Halloween ball to the most kitschy song this world has to offer; and you are the girl that made me believe that despite everything, it can be possible for me to become happy. For that, Mione, I will always be thankful. But you are right, I am older, at least mentally, but I would say it’s difficult to say how old exactly because spending years as a child again and trying to act like one will change you. If you really want to know it, I was four years older than I am now. So, three years older than you at the moment. But exactly this difference was the reason I was so reluctant to accept you. Or anyone in general. This is the reason why I had to say that I would have never taken the first step to begin our relationship, and it’s also the reason why I will never take the initiative to advance our relationship. It’s something that is always in the back of my mind, and it’s like a blockade for me, but that doesn’t change the fact that I love you more than I ever loved anyone else.”

It was difficult explaining everything to Hermione, but he came to realize that if he really wanted Hermione to come with him, she had to know about everything beforehand and still decide to follow him. Naturally, without knowing she would die if she didn’t want to come along with him. Otherwise, he would always blame himself for putting her in the same position as himself. A dreadful and isolated position that promised to have more suffering on its way than a person would normally have to endure in a single lifetime. He naturally hoped that she would accept when he would offer it to her, but he would force himself to accept her decision if it really came to it.

Hermione looked like she was also in deep thought. Atlas was happy; she at least didn’t cry, but was sure that just believing him was difficult, much less accepting who or what he was. “Can you tell me about your past life? I really want what you told me to be true, but I want more than just a summary of your past life; I want to get to know the real you. And tell me about those books; I want to know what happened in that strange parallel universe.”

---

“Virtual reality schools? How was that like?”

“What you had colonies on the moons of Jupiter?”

“Your parents sound really nice.”

“She sounds like a funny and… open person, do you want me to try to be that way too?”

“Do you miss them?”

---

"Quirrell, is what? We have to tell Dumbledore.”

“Do you think Dumbledore also knows about the chamber?"

“A Time-turner would be so practical. I really should ask Professor McGonagall for one.”

“How terrible. We have to save Sirius. Do you have any idea how terrible Askaban is? I have read about it, Dementors suck every bit of happiness out of you.”

“A dragon really?”

“Me and a brute of a Quidditch player? Never”

“How can Fudge be so dump? How did he think Cedrik died then?”

“I hope we never get this Umbridge, she sounds like a real monster.”

“Just for a prophecy from that quack?”

“Ohh noo, Sirius!”

“Naturally, Harry could never beat me in potions without cheating.”

“Me and Ron, never. Never. Do you hear me? I don’t know what books this Adam gave you, but this would never have happened! Not in a million years!”

“Horcruxes, that’s the proof you have about his survival, right? And Dumbledore really knows too?

“Snape killed Dumbledore?!”

“Harry and Ron’s sister really?”

“Could have expected that the ministry would fall soon after Dumbledore’s death.”

“Umbridge is really a sadistic monster”

“Is the elder wand really that powerful?”

“What Harry’s cloak too?”

“We broke into Gringotts and survived?”

“The Diadem of Ravenclaw! Really?”

“Dumbledore had a brother?”

“Snape is so pitiful.”

“So Harry won in the end?”

“Minister of Magic and two children! With Ron?!”

---

“Ethan is from another world too?”

“Voldemort knows everything?”

“So it will really be tomorrow?”

---

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

“Mione, can I have to ask you something?” Said Atlas and waited before Hermione focused on him again while snuggling to his chest.

“Yes.”

“Do you forgive me for not being honest with you the whole time?”

“I don’t know. I mean, the feelings for you are still there, and I know it’s not something you would just tell anyone, and it’s strange that you had a wife and everything, and it suddenly feels like you are so far away from me, but I also know you really meant what you said. I guess I will need more time. Can we maybe just lie here like this for some more time and not talk about it?”

“Well, that is kind of the problem. If we succeed tomorrow, I will probably be returned to Adam, and he will send me to another universe, if I want to or not.”

“What? Why? Does it mean you will die in this universe and I can never see you again?”

“In a way, yes. I won’t be able to come back, but that leads me to my next question. Do you want to come with me? I know it’s much to ask for, especially if you have to decide so fast, but I really want you to come with me.”

“Atlas I” began Hermione but was interrupted.

“Wait, don’t answer now, answer me tomorrow before we enter the trapdoor. I want you to think about it clearly, because the decision would not be reversible.” Said Atlas and put a finger on her lips to silence her, and she slowly nodded.

“I guess we should also start to” “beep beep beep” “sleep now... It looks like we talked the whole night. If you are tired, I can give you a pepper-up potion.” said Atlas.

“Atlas, before we get up, can you promise me something?” asked Hermione.

“Quite many promises for one night, but sure.” answered Atlas, and could see Hermione blushing a little.

“If I go with you, I know you are much older than me, and my mother told me a man at a certain age can have some... some desires.” She said and her small blush turned into a big one. “I want you to wait for me, regardless of that. Wait for me, and you know... only with me.”

“Mione, I promise you, if you really decide to follow me, I will do everything I can to make you happy, and you don’t have to worry about that. And while your mother is right that men have certain desires—desires that women have too, by the way—these desires are in most cases trumped by the desire to be with the right person. At least in my case, that is more important than some casual sex or something like that. So you really don’t need to worry about it. We will do it if you are ready for it.” answered Atlas and gave her a small peck on the lips, glad she allowed him to do it again. “How come this is the first thing that comes to your mind when it comes to visiting other universes with me?”

“You know that what you ask me to do is basically to marry you, don’t you? I mean, going with you would really be till death does us apart, or maybe even longer. It just reminded me of a talk I had with my mom after Christmas, and we talked a lot about this and that and marriage and things that came after it.” tried Hermione to downplay her embarrassment.

“Oh, I had this talk with my dad too. Believe me, it is always embarrassing. I probably know more about the biological aspects of it than any other person on this planet, and it was still one of the most embarrassing moments of my life. But you are right, it is similar to a marriage. I hope you will forgive me if I won’t be able to get you a ring in this life,” said Atlas, and tried to go on a knee while also being in a position to look up to her, which turned out to be more than just difficult as Hermione was barely sitting upright on the bed.

Hermione giggled a little. “I will forgive you just this once. Atlas, I don’t need time until this evening. I will come with you.” Said Hermione and pulled him close, giving him the longest and most intimate kiss they ever had.

“Are you sure? What about your parents? Won’t you miss them?” asked Atlas, looking down on her face, seeing no hesitation in her mimic.

“I will miss them. But when you told me about the other Hermione, the one from the books, I realized something. While I don’t plan to send them to Australia, I would still live in a completely different world from them. At most, I would see them on Christmas or other holidays, and even then, they wouldn’t be able to understand anything about me or about magic. That naturally doesn’t mean that I don’t love them; it’s just that I think it would hurt me more if I lost you.”

---

After leaving the bed and refreshing themselves, they went together to get breakfast. On their way there, Hermione was studying the marauder’s map, fascinated by its magic.

“So, we will just wait for Quirrell to enter the trapdoor, and then we will follow with Ethan, Harry, and Ron?” asked Hermione, a little confused.

“Yeah right. Why? Is there something wrong?”

“Yeah, many things. If Harry really only needs to touch Quirrell, why are we waiting for him to enter the trapdoor?”

Luckily, Atlas quickly came up with an explanation.

“Because he knows that Harry can do that. He will be prepared to block him, and even if we fight him to give Harry an opportunity, he would probably flee as soon as Harry comes close. The stone is the perfect bait, because Harry can get the stone and give Voldemort a reason to get close to him. He would also have difficulties fleeing with a physical body as the last room is surrounded by magical flames. “

“Mmh okey. I’m still not the greatest fan of the idea, if I’m being honest. Why don’t you let a teacher do the fighting? You have seen what Quirrell can do in the forbidden forest. Why do you think it would be different now?” expressed Hermione her concerns.

“First of all, he needs unicorn blood to keep that strength. And second, Ethan is far more powerful than he has shown. He is probably more powerful than most professors.” answered Atlas and explained what he knew about Ethan's system, giving her another story she had difficulties believing.

As they entered the great hall, they could see that Dumbledore was missing. Professor Ward was sitting on his chair discussing something with Professor McGonagall, and Professor Quirrell was talking with Professor Snape on the left side of the long table. The newspaper that arrived midbreakfast showed a picture of Dumbledore, Fudge, and several Aurors in the main hall of the ministry. The headlines were denouncing the terrorists, and some headlines even called them out as cowards and lazy good-for-nothings who were unable to wake up early two days in a row. It was obvious that Fudge wanted to use the daily prophet to provoke the attack as soon as possible, as his preparations against the attack basically stopped all work in the ministry.

After breakfast, they were all heading to the room of requirements again. Ethan, Atlas, and Hermione were just doing something half-heartedly, and Atlas would even swear that Hermione started to sleep instead of working on her occlumency.

Once in a while, Atlas was looking at the map to see if Voldemort had entered the trapdoor, but so far he was just walking around with Snape near the kitchen and a few Hufflepuffs.

After more than five hours, he realized that Quirrell had disappeared from the map. At least that’s what he thought when he found him five minutes later again, slowly strolling from the first floor with Snape and, to Atlas' surprise, Cedirc Digory.

What was even more shocking was that all three disappeared on the third floor at the trap door.

Unluckily, the rooms after the trap door weren’t on the map as they were specially created to protect the stone and weren’t there when the marauders were active in Hogwarts. Either that, or the protection charms there even blocked the ability of the map.

Seeing that, Atlas gave Ethan a signal.

“Guys Guys, I just realized something. Come here, Harry, Ron, Amy, Leona!” Yelled Ethan.

The yell jolted Hermione awake as the others quickly stormed out of the training chambers in panic as they thought something had happened.

Atlas was unsure if Ethan had an acting skill, but listening to his story about how he had just realized that Quirrell’s purpose in Hogwarts was to steal the stone and that now that Dumbledore was away would be the perfect time for him to get it, and that they should try to get the stone before him.

If Atlas hadn’t known that Ethan was acting, he would have been fooled too. His expression, the urgency in his voice—everything was so realistic.

“So I propose that we try to get to the stone as soon as possible. Leona and Amy will inform the professors and, if needed, use their families' influence to get the professors to listen to them. Any questions before we go?” finished Ethan.

Amy, to Atlas' surprise, didn’t look surprised, and he guessed that Ethan had told her beforehand. Leona, on the other hand, wanted to protest but was shut down by Amy, who said that even if she didn’t like to be that passive, it was the best decision for now.

“What about the dog? The three-headed dog that will treat us like a snack. And I’m sure there are other charms and curses to protect the stone that will surely try to kill us,” asked Ron, scared and not at all convinced of the plan.

“The dog sleeps as soon as you play him some music. I tried it a few times out of curiosity, and it only takes like a minute. Atlas and I also prepared for almost anything they could throw at us, be it potions or brooms, and I’m sure Atlas even packed Harry’s invisibility cloak in his suitcase. So let's go. The longer we wait, the greater the chance that Quirrell is faster than us,” urged Ethan.

“Let's go, Ron. We need to do it. For Neville. For everyone,” said Harry with a gloomy but decisive voice. He didn’t even question the reason why Atlas had the cloak, even if he hadn’t asked him beforehand.

With that, the group split up, and they made their way down to the third floor.

“So, now we just get in, clear the trials, and defeat Voldemort. Easy peasy, right?” whispered Ethan while running a little ahead, making Atlas unsure if he was really confident or just as nervous as he was.

“Yes, theoretically, but be careful; I don’t know why, but Quirrell isn’t alone. Snape and Cedrik Digory are with him, and I don’t know why.

“What? I mean, I could understand Snape, because he surely wants to get rid of him, but why Cedrik?” asked Ethan, confused.

“I don’t know,” whispered Atlas back.

Before Ethan could say something more, they had arrived at the large door on the third floor. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were a bit slower, mostly because Harry and Hermione had to drag Ron along.

"So, is everyone ready? I have a harp in my suitcase, but it will take a few seconds until he starts to sleep; until then, stay away from the door.” said Ethan, and with a flick of his wand, a small harp flew out of his suitcase, and with another flick, the harp started to play.

“Alohomora!” said Ethan, and the door sprang open and the harp hovered into the room.

Fluffy looked at them surprised and immediately jumped towards the far to small door.

Fluffy clashed with the doorframe and the wall next to it, and the clash made the walls tremble.

Everyone jumped surprised back. It was one thing to know that he couldn’t leave the room, but it was a completely different thing to see a giant dogface with bloodshot eyes rocketing towards you.

“Why isn’t he sleeping? You said you would immediately get tired and start to sleep,” questioned Ron, taking another step back.

“I… I don’t know. It worked just fine yesterday,” answered Ethan, equally confused.

“Can’t you see that he is bleeding? He is in pain,” interrupted Hermione and pointed at the small pools of almost dried blood on the floor between his hind legs.

“You are right. But it’s really not much blood. Do any of you see where he is wounded?” asked Atlas, studying the Cerberus Dog.

“Maybe he ate Quirrell. Maybe Quirrell too thought he would simply start to sleep when listening to music,” voiced Ron with a little optimism.

“His ears. His ears are bleeding. Quirrell destroyed his eardrums,” said Hermione, and Ron's faint hope was destroyed.

“Damn. How do we get past Fluffy now?” asked Harry with no intention to back down.

“I think I have something in my back, wait a minute.” Said Atlas and summoned a few potion vials.

“This potion is the draught of living death and should put him to sleep until someone gives him a wiggenweld potion. Wait a minute, I think I have a few rats I can drench in the potion.”

“We could also use a Wiggenweld potion to heal him and then put him to sleep like planned,” proposed Hermione, a little unwilling to use the draught as there was a not-so-low chance that Fluffy would never wake up again.

“We don’t have time for that. If Fluffy is already hurt, that means Quirrell is already on his way. We need to catch up.” answered Atlas while preparing the rat.

Two minutes later, the giant dog fell asleep, his head still in the entrance door.

“We should hurry now. I’m surprised Mr. Filch didn’t spot us yet.” Said Ethan, and began to climb the giant head to get through the door. Luckily, because Fluffy pounced forward, they didn’t need to lift him away, even though it wouldn’t be so hard with magic.

Just as Ethan was about to open the trapdoor, a loud voice echoed through the castle.

“All students on the second floor or higher must go to the Gryffindor or Ravenclaw coomonroom regardless of their house. Students in the dungeons go into the Slytherin or Hufflepuff commonroom, also regardless of their house. Students from the respective houses are to assist students from other houses to get there as soon as possible. Students on the ground floor or the first floor hurry to the great hall. This is an emergency. A basilisk was sighted on the first floor, making its way down. Do not fight the beast; do not look into its eyes; and flee immediately. This is not a test. I repeat myself ….” echoed Professor McGonagall’s voice from every wall.

“Shit! Shit! Shit!” cursed Ethan, and Atlas could see the worry in his eyes as he clenched his teeth and continued, “Come guys, no time to lose; this is just a distraction from Quirrell.“