Cast Aside

Traveling and Disappointment

Chapter 3

Hermione had made George take her to Knockturn Alley to speak to Darby, only for him to be unable to find the shop. They'd spent nearly an entire day combing the seedier side of the magical shopping district only to come up empty. Apparently, the mysterious man had packed up his shop and moved on again. Somehow, despite her better judgment George had been able to convince her it didn't matter.

So she spent the next several days studying the Russian time travel device. There was precious little information on the region's magical culture available in England and absolutely nothing on particular time travel theories. The idea of jumping into this without knowing exactly how it would work made her more than a little nervous.

George, bless him, was doing his best to be patient with her. She had pondered aloud if there was time to travel to Kazakhstan to see if more information could be had but the look she'd received made her believe he'd leave without her. It had already been five days and he was starting to get irritable.

"I told you everything that Darby told me. He showed me how to use it per the man that he bought it from. Aside from tracking down one of the Kremlins that made the thing, which is definitely impossible, we'll never know more than we do now."

"Kremlins? What? No that's not..." After getting the full story, she had tried to explain about the Cold War, Soviet Russia and what little she knew about the period of Magical history, mostly tidbits from Viktor. While he had listened attentively, he was clearly more focused on plotting out how to save his brother and she couldn't fault him for that.

"You're right, George. I know it's just... this is dangerous at the best of times. It's frustrating we don't have more information and not knowing everything I can feels like a massive mistake."

Dragging the chair out from the table beside her, George sank down and took her hand from where it still clung to the edge of yet another useless book.

"Hermione. Love. You don't have to come with me, I can do this on my own."

Laughing softly, she closed the book. Fingers lingering along the edges of the worn leather cover, Hermione thought about all of her doubts. They were legitimate no matter what some random, black market Kazakh said. Despite all of their losses, all of the lingering heartache, they'd still won. If they put their trust in this mad idea that they could actually change things, it might ruin everything. Saving just one person, being seen... But the idea of George going it alone was even more terrifying still.

"I know you're a powerful wizard, George, but don't be ridiculous. You're going to need my help." His bright, eager grin was the first hint at his old self she'd seen since Bill's wedding and she couldn't help but smile just a little too. "And you're right. As terrifying as it is for me to just trust the magic, we'll never learn more than we know now. We've planned everything as best as we can and I've got my bag from my time on the run stocked for every possible outcome. At the very least we can survive in the woods somewhere until we catch back up to ourselves."

Apparently that was all he needed. Shoving up from his seat, George—still holding her hand—dragged her along behind himself away from the kitchen and into the cramped sitting room. After deciding to go with him, Hermione had practically moved in and their things had been packed for days. Her beaded bag and his own napsack that she had extended for him were sitting on the sofa waiting for her to decide she was ready.

"Finally. Here..." She caught her bag out of the air as he tossed it to her, slinging his own over his shoulder. "Let's go now. No more overthinking it, no more books." Light flashed on the gold dials of the device as he pulled it from its box and reached his free hand out to her.