The Choices That Make History

Disclaimer: Thought I should make things clear, just in case anyone gets confused and thinks that I actually own Harry Potter because as much as I have often wished I do, I don't... This story is purely for entertainment alone and no, I don't make any money off it and neither do I own anything in the Harry Potter series. Clear? Hope so.

Summary: Hermione never thought that the consequence to running all those years ago would lead to this. Back in time to 1994 Hermione has lost everything she once held dear and it's all thanks to a certain dark-haired boy to match his equally dark heart. This leaves once final choice in Hermione's mind. Kill him. Or let the rest of the world suffer. It should have been so simple really- for someone who has nothing to lose. But with Hermione already hanging dangerously close to the edge of insanity- will she manage to overcome the darkness... or succumb to it? The line between what's right and what's wrong has never seemed so blurred. Time-travel!fic Dark!fic. Eventual TR/HG.

A/N: So I thought I'd try a Tomione fan fiction... for now, this is just an idea and I'm simply going to see how it's received before I decide to put a ton of time into it. This will be a fairly dark story... Tom Riddle will not completely change his ways and he certainly won't become some kind of fluffy romance sap who loves Hermione from only a few chapters in. It will be slow-paced and as such, will be a slow romance so if you want a pure, quick romance between Hermione and Tom Riddle then you won't find it here. As you will notice, romance is not the only genre for this story.

As with Tom not becoming all 'good' and 'fluffy', Hermione will also not become 'evil' and enjoy torturing innocent people all of a sudden, but she will become considerably darker as the story progresses. This is not solely a 'Tom changes Hermione' or a 'Hermione changes Tom' story, they will both make considerable differences on the other although as this is a darkish story, Hermione will be the one to change most but that is from both her experiences and personality as well as Tom Riddle's influence.

If you feel any parts are unrealistic please let me know, I won't be offended as long as you tell me in a polite manner, as I would rather know and change it than having the story seem far-fetched and unbelievable. Hermione will seem out of character but the war has changed her- she's got no one left and she's also become rather violent though not with magic... you'll see.

So, after this rather long author's note, enjoy the story xox

Test my reality
Check if there's a weak spot
Clingin' to insanity
In hopes the world will ease up

~Icon For Hire- Make A Move

Chapter one:

It was funny. Hermione decided as she stared at the deep cut on her skin. How a single choice could change everything. How, when you made that choice, you never even could have imagined the consequences. How just one choice could change your life forever, destroy the life you once had and even change the course of history.

She just wasn't sure, as she watched a single drop of crimson splatter on to the ground, staining the surface with red that would remain for the years to come, dimming slightly only with time, if it was for better or for worse.

And so, she looked back, back to before everything changed, back to where everything ended and everything new began and... back to when she made her choice.

0~*~0

It was over. Over. After everything they had done, everything they had fought for, it was over. Or at least, that's what she thought when she saw her best friend fall to the ground. Green eyes that once held so much hope, so much determination and so much kindness were now empty, void. Eyes that she would once look into with complete faith and would look back at her in undiminished trust now stared right through her, not seeing her. She wanted to stand up, she wanted to run to him and hold his head in her lap whilst she cried but more than anything, she wanted to fight. Fight for who he had been, fight for a war they had already lost and maybe, never had a chance at winning, because Harry James Potter was dead.

And as she stared at his lifeless corpse and felt a scream building in her throat she knew, knew that she should go down fighting, together, like they promised. But instead, she did none of those things, no- instead she did something she would always, always regret doing... instead she ran.

And as she ducked and dove around spells and falling pieces of the once majestic school alike- as she finally managed to escape the devastation and horror of what they had become, Hermione knew- she had made her choice...and there was no going back from it.

0~*~0

A young woman sat crouched down on her knees, head bowed and eyes staring distantly at the muddy ground with her thoughts a thousand miles away. No one was there to see her, this was her secret place, a place she made for remembrance of all those who had died fighting just like she should have. But she hadn't, she had made her choice and now she was suffering for it. Sometimes she wished she could die, go down fighting for what she believed in but in the end, when it truly came down to it she was too much of a coward. Some Gryffindor she was. She inwardly scoffed before sobering almost immediately.

She placed her hand to her chest, eyes misting slightly yet tears refusing to fall. She had to be strong, for them. For today marked the day of a whole year since the battle of Hogwarts, a year since they had lost, a year since Harry and Ron and countless others had died.

It wasn't fair. That people who only ever did something out of the good of their heart, who did it because it was the right thing to do and because everyone else was too scared, were the ones who suffered, the ones who lost and the ones who died and yet the cowardly ones, the ones who made the wrong choices got to lead, got to win and got to survive. No, Hermione thought as she glanced up at the dark sky and a single tear trickled down her face for the last time, it wasn't fair at all.

0~*~0

A couple months later in the blackened ruins of Hogwarts another choice was made by one specific witch. The kind of choice that would change history and yet, would never be known, never be recognised by anyone other than the person making it. The kind of choice that changed everyone's life forever... but they would never, ever know.

Said witch knew exactly what she planning to do, knew exactly what the consequence was going to be and yet, she was still going to do it. For everyone. Not just for the muggles, or muggle-borns, half bloods or even purebloods but for every living creature on this Earth.

She was going back in time, back to where she would find the source of all this and kill him. Because she had to, because no one else could because there was no one else left. The consequence? As soon as she killed him the world she knew would disappear, it would be like it never even existed and so, neither would she. But it also gave room for a new world to start, to grow and expand and not go down in flames like hers had. She was prepared to do this, prepared to sacrifice this world and her life because, in all honesty, there was nothing left of it to be saved anymore.

The day that she had chosen to run had started a series of events, and though she would always regret in her heart her decision to abandon everyone and survive, she also knew that it was supposed to happen, that if she hadn't made that choice then the world would continue to burn and cripple and die and so, as she gazed around her surroundings for the last time, her slim fingers deftly turning the once shinning device now caked in dirt and rust in her hand she realised, no matter how much she wanted to, no matter how much it killed her every day...She wouldn't change her decision if she could.

And finally, finally, she accepted her choice. And for the first time in over a year of regret, pain, should haves and what ifs- she felt the first thread of freedom again. Although maybe, maybe, if Hermione had known what the consequences of her actions would truly be... She would never have even gone near, let alone touched a time turner

0~*~0

The world around her blurred, disappearing in a split second and instead filling her vision with fragments, shattered pieces of the world over the years, time rushed by her just in the wrong direction, moving backwards instead of forwards and consuming her in it's pure expanse. If she wasn't mad before she felt almost certain she would be when-if- she got out of this. A sick sense of amusement filled her at the thought of someone in the 1940s finding her bloodied corpse and failing before she had even started.

Her plan? Find Tom Riddle and kill him. She would have the element of surprise and having nothing to loose on her side. It wouldn't matter if she did it in an abandoned classroom or in a crowded hallway because soon after she would be gone. She would cease to exist so what would it matter?

As far as plans went it was fairly simple... She should have known it wasn't going to be that easy.

She felt the brief sensation of falling and then a sharp pain that surprisingly seemed to clear her thoughts for a brusque moment before everything slipped from her mind, and sound, sight, smell, touch- everything disappeared and she was left alone in the silent darkness.

0~*~0

As the clock struck the sign of a new day, a figure groaned and rolled over onto her back. It took a moment for the pain in her head to diminish and when it finally did, she opened her brown eyes, eyes that instantly assessed the situation.

As far as rooms went, this one was fairly plain. She said fairly, she meant completely. Nothing but a cold stone floor and walls with not a single piece of furnisher in sight, not even a window greeted her sight and she cautiously stood up, preparing for anything that might come.

No spells zoomed her way and no one jumped out at her and after a few minutes of standing in complete silent, eyes and ears attuned to the environment, she realised nothing was coming. She allowed herself to relax- slightly.

A sharp pain in her chest caused her to pause and the glanced down. The time turner had shattered, whether from impact or from the sheer amount of power used to go back this far she wasn't sure. What she was sure of however, was that there was no going back now. Taking a deep breath, she steeled herself and in one quick, fluent movement, she yanked a large shard of glass from the skin above her breasts. She gasped, dropping the blood soaked shard on the floor and placing her hands on her knees.

Remembering she had something called a wand, she used a spell to remove the remaining, smaller pieces of glass and healed the deep cuts with a simple spell, the pain instantly relieving itself slightly.

Now she just had to determine if she was where she wanted to be. 1942, that had been her aim. Despite everything she had been through because of him and despite knowing what he would become, Hermione knew in her heart she wouldn't have been able to kill Riddle as a child, despite how much easier it might have made things. Therefore she aimed for a year she knew Riddle would be in Hogwarts but would have yet to make any horcruxes seeing as how his first was the diary when he opened the chamber in his fifth year.

Warily, Hermione made her way to the two doors on one side of the room, pausing a moment, she carefully pushed at one slightly, allowing her to peek out and finding, to her amazement and relief, that she must be in the room of requirement for opposite her, was the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy.

The corridor itself was shrouded in darkness and Hermione hazard a (obvious) guess that it was night. She wasn't sure whether that was a good thing however.

Letting the door fall from her grasp and shut she backed once again into the room of requirement, which instantly acquired to her needs; providing her with a simple bed. She needed nothing more.

And so, still in her tattered and bloodied clothing, Hermione collapsed onto the plain yet surprisingly soft bed, drifting off into oblivion almost as soon as her head touched the pillow.

Then the nightmares started.

0~*~0

Early in the morning, Hermione woke, sweating and gasping from a nightmare she already couldn't remember. Swinging her legs off the side of the bed, she let her head drop, eyes squeezed shut as her mind chased off any remaining threads of the nightmare. After she had managed to calm down, she cast a quick tempus to find it was just gone seven in the morning. Rising to her feet, she exited the room of requirement in almost a daze.

The corridors were practically bare, but the few awake students stared at her and she didn't blame them, she must be quite a sight. Her feet carried her no where in particular until she was in an isolated corridor. There she got out her wand and muttered a locating spell. "Tom Marvolo Riddle." She whispered and her wand span around before finally pointing in a single direction.

She was really going to do it, Hermione realised as she followed her wand, her mind distant. Soon it would all be over. She would be gone, her world would be gone but most importantly, he would be gone. Her wand led her through corridor after corridor before finally it found him. It was almost as though fate was on her side she thought as she saw him and hatred bubbled inside of her.

For there he was, standing with his back to her. At the balcony of the Astronomy tower. Her mind instantly rushed to the day Dumbledore had been hit with the killing curse off the very same tower and she almost laughed at the irony.

She raised her wand silently, confident he hadn't heard her and steadied her resolve. She had to do this, she had to. There was no other choice really. For the greater good.

With that thought, she whispered the two words she had once sworn she would never use before she could change her mind. "Avada Kedavra."

0~*~0

It had started off as any other day Tom thought as he stood at the edge of the Tower. He woke earlier than most of the pathetic excuses for wizards and witches in the castle and ate his breakfast in the kitchen. He'd then made a split decision to go to the Astronomy Tower rather than his room in the head dorms or the library.

It was whilst he was standing there that he felt a presence behind him. For once he hadn't heard a sound and it was for this reason he didn't turn round, curious as to who it was but having a suspicion. After all, that kind of power didn't radiate off just anybody. Therefore he was extremely surprised when he heard those two words whispered, not by Dumbledore who had been his original suspicion, but by a girl, said so quietly he couldn't identify the speaker.

He could feel the power of the spell as it shot towards him and it was only thanks to his quick reflexes gained from the dreaded orphanage that he was able to move out of the way of the spell that, Tom realised, wouldn't have ended his life anyway. The spell was too weak.

He whipped round, wand out instantly and disarming the person in a second who seemed slightly surprised he had dodged her spell. He then cast a quick 'Incarcerous' at the offender who didn't even attempt to move out the way of it's path.

Hermione was internally kicking herself as she fell to the ground, ropes tying her down. She should have never underestimated him, he would become the most feared Dark Lord after all and she should've known he wouldn't have been unable to defend himself as a teenager.

As he stalked towards her, she took him in properly for the first time and noticed just how old he appeared to be. Not old exactly but he definitely wasn't in his forth year- more like his sixth or seventh and Hermione wanted to break down. Something had gone wrong.

She was too late.

Her eyes spotted a ring on one of his fingers and she knew, almost distantly, that she had somehow messed up. He'd already made his first and second horcrux. A new mission filled her mind, she'd have to destroy them first. How she wasn't sure, she doubted she'd be able to hold the sword of Gryffindor and she'd never be able to get a basilisk fang. She wanted to scream, she wanted to loose herself to the insanity hanging at the edges of her mind but for now, she managed to hold herself together and forced her eyes up to meet his.

Her anger burned just seeing him so close to her. It was him that had destroyed everything. He didn't deserve to live but suddenly Hermione realised, she had been stupid and naïve to think she could just kill him like that, like a Gryffindor. If she wanted to end his life, she'd have to act like a Slytherin as much as it killed her.

Which was why, as he grabbed her chin in a harsh grip, she kept her face perfectly blank, refusing to show any sign of weakness in front of him.

Then, much to Riddles confusion and curiosity, she smiled at him as though she hadn't just tried to kill him. Hermione forced her entire body to fall limp, collapsing forward and forcing Riddle to catch her. It was a cowardly way out, she knew it was, but she was out of options.

Riddle stared at the unconscious girl, taking in her bloodstained clothes and the scars covering her skin. There was no doubt that she had come from a war but what she was doing here he didn't know. And why had she tried to kill him? He'd done nothing to her as far as he knew.

But the power he had felt emitting from her stopped him from simply killing her on the spot. She'd tried to take his life after all despite her being messed up in the head and usually he wouldn't have hesitated. The fact that she clearly didn't go to school here would have just made things even easier. But as he stared at her bushy hair, all he could see was the pure power she had just shown and how promising she seemed. It was clear she was no Dumbledore after all even if her spell had failed- she had still tried to cast an unforgivable- the killing curse at that and also...

He wanted answers.

And so, mind racing with the possibilities, he decided to take her to the one place they wouldn't be disturbed. He wasn't stupid, he knew carrying an unconscious girl through the school would raise questions so he quickly cast a concealment charm on her before proceeding to levitate her body- unaware that said girl was currently awake and wondering if he was about to try and kill her.

Luckily it was still early in the morning and he hardly met anyone on his walk to the seventh floor corridor where the room instantly acquired to his needs. He created his usual room minus anything the girl might be able to use as a weapon should she wake before he got back. He then continued to dump her body rather carelessly on a couch.

Knowing he had to go to lessons he cast the strange girl one last look before leaving- giving the room strict instructions not to let her out knowing she'd wake up at some point.

Then he left.

0~*~0

Hermione was not in the least bit thrilled with how Tom bloody Riddle had haphazardly levitated her body through the school and then discarded her on a couch as if she was a rag doll of some sort. Nevertheless she remained unresponsive and was therefore thrilled when it paid off and the future Dark Lord had left her in what she knew to be the room of requirement- having peeked at where they were going.

Now that he was gone Hermione was free to stand up and she wondered to herself if Riddle had just had a moment of complete stupidity- or if it was all part of a plan. She soon realised it was neither however when no door greeted her eyes and no matter how much she tried to make one appear- nothing happened.

She growled in annoyance- kicking the arm chair she had previously been ditched in but only succeeding in hurting her foot. Debating whether or not she would be able to blast her way out she noticed- with an almost scream of frustration that the evil bastard had stole her wand.

"That insufferable git!" She screamed into the room- glaring at nothing in particular. The room was completely bare as well except for two armchairs, a small wooden table, a fireplace and a bloody empty bookcase. He hadn't even been considerable enough to leave her with anything to do. Not that she ever expected the Dark-Lord-To-Be to even think about lowering himself to do something considerate.

Knowing she was trapped and that there was nothing she could do about it- Hermione dropped herself ungracefully onto one of the green armchairs- the colour only succeeding in making her already sour mood even more unpleasant.

Staring at the wooden table Hermione was suddenly struck with an idea. Now- Hermione never usually considered herself a violent person- apart from that one time she had hit Malfoy in the face, but right now- after the man she absolutely despised had left her to be utterly bored in a room that wasn't even providing her with any food or drink... well violence suddenly seemed like a good idea.

And so- Hermione stood up and, bringing back her boot clad leg, she kicked the wooden table with as much force as she could muster. Luckily, all the years training in duelling had made a now 19 year old Hermione stronger than she used to be, and the table shattered under the strength of her boot. And while she got the effect she was after- a sharp pain shot up her leg on impact and it was all she could do not to cry out from the pain. Sitting down and breathing deeply for a few moments, Hermione eventually glanced up and was satisfied when she saw that the leg that she had kicked had snapped off- leaving a rather jagged end to the table leg.

Hermione couldn't help but smirk. Now she had a weapon.

0~*~0

A/N: Hope that was okay... I know I know, another time travel fic but I am trying to make it different. Let me know of any mistakes as I do want to improve my writing xx I know it might seem strange that Hermione ran from the battle but I didn't give her time to think. And as I said- she will always regret that choice. The only thing that's different is that she's come to accept her choice because she knows that if she had stayed with everyone else and died it really wouldn't have made a difference and Hermione is a girl of logic. She knows that she would've died had she stayed and then she wouldn't have been able to do anything to help save the world. As it is she now has another chance to change everything.

As I stated earlier as well- this is just an idea... a flame that might go out. Therefore I probably won't be updating that often. I have around 10 fan fiction ideas currently started on my computer and I decided to pick this one to post. Ironically this is also the only one that doesn't already have more than one chapter written up. Any concerns/ideas, let me know through review or PM xx This is more of an experiment anyway.

Thank you for reading xox