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Rabastan stood outside the Silver Serpent staring at the parchment in his hand, fresh and crisp like the note upon it. This was his only chance to change things, to alter the outcome. Was he doing the right thing? Merlin only knew. Right now the Ministry and the Order both presumed him dead, so it was best to try and stay that way; at least for now.
Rabastan walked through the shimmer of the temporal wall and into the Silver Serpent, the pub in which all timelines met and merged. The tingle down his spine was one that sent his skin into immediate gooseflesh. The feeling of someone walking on his grave as it were. He chuckled, perhaps he just walked on his own grave.
He looked around and realised that wizarding culture and dress had barely progressed much over the last few decades, let alone the last few centuries. It was hard to tell who was from what point in time. If he had to come every day to find whom he sought then he would do that, but he hoped that his quarry was here.
The Silver Serpent was a small establishment, a bar to the left and about a dozen small tables scattered about the room. Leaning against the hearth was a youngman with dark shoulder length hair and lean build. Rabastan approached the man and tapped him on the shoulder. The man turned and jabbed his wand under Rab’s chin.
“Easy Regulus, you’ll want to hear what I have to say.” Rabastan held out the parchment to him and went to the table closest to the fire to wait.
Regulus unfolded the parchment, the first words had him tempted to throw the parchment in the fire and kill the man in front of him. You will die June 28, 1979. Regulus crumpled the paper in his hand and sat across from the older man, wand clenched in his other hand, waiting for a reason to use it.
“I’m sure you only read the first line, as was intended to get your attention. I see that I have it.” Rab held up two fingers towards the bar and a moment later two fire whiskey shots appeared on their table. “Know that the info contained in that letter is the absolute truth.”
“And how do you know?”
Rab raised his brows at the boy across from him and just stared at him with a look that spoke volumes.
“I get your point, we’re currently talking in a time bubble, reality is suspended and I should be willing to believe anything.”
“You should continue to read, while I am uncertain if your fate can be avoided, I do know that we can change other things. The one thing I need of you is to relay this to my younger self in your timeline. Two years after your death I will spend nearly 15 years in Azkaban, only for the Dark Lord to lose not once but twice.”
While Rabastan drank his shot Regulus read the rest of the letter.
“Who is this Hermione person?”
Rabastan laughed, “she, not the Potter boy, is the reason the Dark Lord fell the second time.” Rabastan fell silent a moment, “that is one thing that I will lose when we change history,” he sighed, “her friendship has meant much to me these last few years, the one thing that has kept me sane while we worked out this plan.”
“Do you think this will work? Will your younger self believe your letter?”
“There are details contained therein that my younger self will have no choice but to believe, whether he follows it or not, only time will tell.”
Rabastan held up his hand again and two more shots appeared. He downed them one after the other. “Since we are in a time bubble, when we leave here, you will not experience any changes; however, I likely will, provided my younger self follows my instructions.”
Regulus drank the last shot, if the letter was true, he has nothing to lose and everything to gain. Perhaps if he can get the locket before the Dark Lord stashed it in the cave he could save himself as well. Unless the Dark Lord kills him first. Still, nothing to lose. “Alright, I’m in.”
“Best of luck to you, I do hope to see you survive, I know that it would please your brother to have you around and away from the dark.”
Regulus was speechless, he thought Sirius despised him, perhaps there was redemption to be had after all.
The two men stood and shook hands, they headed for the exit knowing that when they left it would be to separate timelines. Rabastan braced for the migraine that he had been warned may happen should the timeline change. He took a deep breath and walked out the door of the Silver Serpent and through the shimmer of the time bubble. Rabastan immediately hit the ground, his head bombarded with new memories, a new timeline, his clothes shifted and changed upon his body, a ring appeared on his left hand. He stared at the ring while he knelt upon the ground not noticing the woman kneeling down in front of him.
The woman’s hand rested upon his arm, her words took a moment to penetrate his mind, “you succeeded, my love.”
“Hermione.”
Her smile awwed him now as much as it did when he first met her in the last timeline.
“Do you remember?”
“Everything, both timelines. It’s a bit confusing, but it’s there, and you saved so many lives, including Regulus. He is waiting at Grimmauld Place to talk to you.”
Rabastan stood, taking in the new wizarding world around him; there was so much light now, no dark mark upon his arm, no haze of shadows, and a wife that he knew he would spend the rest of his life cherishing.