Summary:

Sent back in time with a secret mission, Hermione Granger finds herself facing 17-year-old Tom Riddle alone. Then, unexpectedly, Hermione fell in love and must learn to listen to her own heart.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter in any way, though I would love to. Everything written here is purely for enjoyment purposes and not to be sold for any profit.

Rating: T (just to be safe :D)

Spoilers: For almost every book.

Author's Note:

Hello! This is the first fan-fiction I've ever written, so please read and review! I know the the storyline is rather cliché, but I just love HG/TR pairing! So please give it a shot!
Anyway, I probably won't update very frequently, thanks to the heavy workload in school, but I'll try my very best to produce a new chapter as fast as I can :D If you find any grammatical errors/inconsistencies, please inform me.

And I have a habit of writing A/N's for every single chapter, so do bear with me :)

This story begins after Book Seven (ignore the Epilogue).

Chapter One: A White Christmas

Saturday, 25 December, 1997

7.40am

Hermione Granger woke up with a shriek as she felt someone tickling her toes. Opening her eyes sleepily, she saw a redhead standing at the side of her bed, grinning down mischievously at her.

"I was thinking you'd never wake up, Head Girl," Ginny Weasley laughed at her friend's annoyed expression, her warm brown eyes sparkling as she placed a box of chocolates on Hermione's bedside table. She drew the curtains apart in one swift moment, allowing sunlight to pour into the dark room, lighting it up at once. "Merry Christmas!"

You would have thought that sharing a common room with your best girl friend would be the best thing on Earth, Hermione shook her head groggily. Not if that friend is going to wake you up in the wee hours of dawn every day.

Averting her eyes due to the sudden brightness of the room, Hermione attempted to push herself out of bed. "Thanks, Gin," Hermione said rather sarcastically as she leaned against her pillow lazily, "For the present, not the waking me up part." Yawning, she reached over the side of her bed and emerged, seconds later, with a neatly wrapped present. "Merry Christmas to you too. What time is it?"

Ginny glanced at her watch and smirked. "7.45am, and if I'm not wrong, you promised to meet Harry and Ron in the common room 10 minutes ago."

"What…? Oh no!" Hermione exclaimed, as she realized what Ginny was implying. Her hand shot up to her mouth as she stole a quick glance at her alarm clock on her bedside, just to confirm what Ginny had told her. Frantically searching for her comb, she rushed through her usual morning routine. Barely 5 minutes later, she grabbed the pile of presents under her bed and waved a hurried goodbye to an amused-looking Ginny.

Bursting into the crowded Gryffindor common room, Hermione spotted Harry Potter and an impatient looking Ron Weasley sitting on two armchairs by the fireplace immediately. Ron's striking red hair was definitely hard to miss.

Harry, Ron and Hermione had been offered one more year at Hogwarts, since they had spent almost their entire 7th year finding and destroying Horcruxes, and eventually defeating the Dark Lord, Voldemort. When they had returned to Hogwarts, Hermione was naturally appointed as Head Girl, given her good brains and quick judgement, and Harry the Head Boy. Ron, on the other hand, was improving so rapidly in Quidditch that he had now took over Harry's place as Gryffindor's Quidditch Captain, much to everyone's surprise.

Pausing to catch her breath, Hermione smiled to herself at the sight of Harry busily opening the heap of presents beside his chair. Harry had turned even more popular since the start of the school year, and the fact that he dueled and killed Voldemort, restoring peace in the wizarding world, only added on to his popularity. He had also sprouted a good three inches over the holiday, his hair grew out and became less untidy, and with his undeniable good looks, one could easily see why so many girls were attracted to him. Ginny however, was not particularly enthusiastic about the circle of girls who always surrounded him, and Hermione was subjected to her dozen or so complaints about it ever since.

Ron was tapping his fingers on the arms of his chair, looking at Harry's presents jealously. He was with Lavender, his current girlfriend, who chose to stay on another year just to keep Ron company. Hermione was secretly amazed at how easily Lavender could manage to persuade Dumbledore to let her remain in Hogwarts, but she would never tell that to Lavender - she had a rather high self-esteem as it is already. She leaned against his legs, chatting away happily, completely oblivious that Ron's attention was diverted.

"Sorry I'm late!" Hermione sank down in the couch beside them, out of breath. "Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas to you too, Hermione," Harry looked up with a smile. He reached out and placed a heavy square package in her hands. "You'll like it; it's a book Sirius once gave to me. Thought you'd like something to remind him of," He explained as he met Hermione's curious glance.

"Here," a grouchy Ron threw a rectangular box into her hands, eyeing the squarish present Hermione was holding suspiciously. "And don't tell me you got another book for me. You know I haven't even started on The Standard Book of Non-verbal Spellsyou gave me in our 5th year."

Hermione sighed in exasperation. "Ron," she said sternly, "That book would have helped you a lot in your O.W.L.s if only you had read it! I didn't plan on buying you another book anyway, you had enough to last you a lifetime given the speed at which you're reading them."

Ron opened his mouth, about to argue, when Lavender giggled and pulled herself up. "Hermy," she waggled a finger in Hermione's direction, "That's notthe way to treat my Won-Won!"

I swear she just calls me Hermy because she knows I don't like it.Hermione thought, rolling her eyes at Lavender's failed imitation of Professor McGonagall while Harry and Ron laughed.

"Do you or do you not want your Christmas present?" She asked, a hint of annoyance in her voice. Not waiting for his response, she took out a packet of FizzingWhizbees and dumped it into Ron's lap, ignoring his look of surprise and exclamation of "Bloody hell, Hermione, I've been looking for this for ages!"

Turning to face Harry, she handed him a circular object. "Thanks Hermione, that makes it the hundred and thirtieth present I've received today," Harry grinned widely, gesturing to the huge pile beside him before fixing his gaze on the object. "What is it?"

"It's a Remembrance Orb. I found it in Diagon's Alley the other day. If you look into it, it…it'll show the objects or people you miss the most." She said, in much softer tone than she had used with Ron. Her eyes were fixed on her friend, observing his reaction.

Harry was silent as he stared into the Orb. "Thank you, 'Mione," he finally whispered, without tearing his eyes away from the object he was holding. "This is one of the best Christmas gifts I've ever received."

Hermione thought she spotted a trickle of tears rolling down the side of his face. Her insides churned as she saw Harry's longing gaze, overwhelming her with pity for her best friend. This is ALL Voldemort's fault, she thought fiercely. If not for him, none of this would have happened. Harry's parents would not have died, and he would not have to endure so much pain! No one would have to die - not Fred, not Sirius, no one!

"Hey, mate, cheer up!" Ron slapped Harry on the shoulder, obviously in a good mood after receiving Hermione's present. "It's Christmas!"

Harry gave Ron a half-hearted smile as all four of them stood up, ready to go to the Great Hall for their breakfast. Absorbed in her own thoughts about Lord Voldemort, Hermione nearly bumped into someone as she walked down the corridor.

"Oh!" Hermione looked up and was startled to see Professor McGonagall standing in front of her. "Professor, I'm so sorry! I didn't see you…"

"Miss Granger," Minerva McGonagall cut her off abruptly. "Professor Dumbledore has asked to see you at his office, immediately. He would not disclose to me what the matter is, but it seems to be extremely important. Go, now."

Hermione stared at McGonagall for a second, surprise at the urgency in her voice. What could Dumbledore possibly want me for?She racked her mind for a list of things that the headmaster might need to say to her personally. Head duties? But then, wouldn't Harry be called for as well? Beckoning for her friends to follow her, she started up the stairs.

"No, the rest of you, stay here," Hermione turned around as she heard the professor's sharp voice again. "Miss Brown, Potter and Weasley, the headmaster has specifically only asked for Miss Granger to go."

Harry shot Hermione a worried but curious glance, as she shrugged, feeling rather clueless herself, and headed for Dumbledore's office on her own.

A/N: So there you are, my first chapter! I do hope it's okay, so please review so that I know that there are people reading the story :)