It was an accident. A complete and utter accident. Hermione and Harry weren't sure how it happened. One second they were racing back to the castle from the Forbidden Forest, leaving Umbridge behind, then they burst into the entrance hall, startled by the sight of students they'd never seen before. No education mandates. No Inquisitorial Squad. But, one younger looking Albus Dumbledore and a Headmaster neither of them recognized.
Hermione and Harry huddled in the girls' bathroom, confused at first when Moaning Myrtle didn't make an appearance, but Hermione quickly noted that Myrtle Warren was currently in Ravenclaw Tower.
"What do we do, Hermione?"
"We just have to work through it, Harry."
"But, Sirius and the others -"
She gripped his arm. "It technically hasn't happened yet."
Harry groaned, but his voice caught in his throat. "Hermione, I can hear it."
"Hear what, Harry?"
"A snake," he whispered. "The snake."
"What are you two doing in here? This is the girls' lavatory." Tom Riddle stood in the doorway, hands on his hips, jaw tense.
Hermione scrambled to her feet, pulling Harry up beside her. "Just spending time together."
Harry's eyes widened. "Hermione," he said under his breath.
"What's wrong with you, Evans?"
"It's nothing." Hermione tugged on his arm. "We're leaving now."
"It's hungry," Harry whispered to her.
"What did you just say?" Tom's voice lowered, his eyebrows coming together in a crease.
Hermione and Harry exchanged worried glances. They completely and utterly failed in their mission to lay low, to remain under the radar of the future Dark Lord.
"You can hear it too?" Tom asked. He cleared his throat, noting Harry and Hermione's startled faces. "It won't come unless it's called."
"Don't call it." Hermione bit her lip, feeling Harry's hand tighten around her arm. "Please, don't call it, Tom."
Tom shot her a dark look. "It's my duty as Slytherin's heir."
"Please -"
"Why should I listen to you?"
She reached out to him, but Tom snatched his arm out of her hold. "If anything happens to the students at Hogwarts, you'll know what will happen. They'll close the school." She paused for effect. "You wouldn't want that, right?"
"Don't come back in here." He pushed past them, the bathroom door slamming shut behind him.
The situation proved direr when Prof. Dippet sent Hermione and Harry off to the orphanage with Tom. He ignored them mostly, until one day in mid-July.
Hermione knocked softly on his bedroom door. He slowly looked up from the book he was reading, his eyes narrowing slightly.
Her eyes moved between him and the book. "I was just wondering if you'd like to take a walk with me. Laura said there was a bookstore a few blocks away. I thought about browsing a bit," she said with a shrug.
"Go with Evans."
"Harry is currently occupied."
Tom quickly glanced outside and noticed her companion currently on laundry duty.
"It's okay." She shifted on her feet. "I'll just go."
Tom shot to his feet, putting his books away. He walked out and closed the door behind him. "Let's go," he motioned with his chin. He wouldn't admit it, but her brightened expression took him by surprise.
It soon turned into a weekly occurrence. Harry joined them on their walks. Often times, he escorted them to the bookstore before skiving off to the park to play a pickup game of tennis.
Hermione and Tom bent over the pages of well-loved used books and traced their fingers over the words of newly published tomes. She admitted to him how she longed to have her own copy of Pride and Prejudice, her mother's favorite book, the works of Shakespeare or Jules Verne, an author her father loved to read.
He shared he had a particular interest in history and the dark arts. They compared their mutual desire to learn about the world around them and to travel.
They let their guard down, talking and sharing as if they were friends who had been separated for a long period of time. He didn't even scold her or push her away when she reached out to him, placing her hand in the crook of his arm. The pair of teenage boys left her alone after that.
"Sorry." She began to move her hand away, but he held it in place.
"Let's go find, Harry."
Their sixth year began in a whirlwind. The three orphans shared many classes together and found themselves in each other's company more often than not, much to the surprise of professors and students alike.
Tom sat with Hermione as they watched Harry play Quidditch for the Slytherin House team. They discussed charms and transfiguration theories over mugs of hot chocolate and when it was icy and cold out, Tom would bring her hand to the crook of his arm as they went on their weekly walk.
Hermione snuck the boys into Ravenclaw Tower Christmas morning. They sat before the fire opening their presents. Harry stuck his head through the handmade sweater from Hermione and dug into the brownies Tom baked, completely astounded by his baking skills.
Tom wrapped his handmade scarf around his neck and petted the cover of the history book Hermione also gifted him.
Hermione pecked Harry on the cheek for his gift of Sugar Quills and she launched herself into Tom's arms when she unwrapped a beautiful edition of Pride and Prejudice and A Little Princess.
After breakfast, Tom and Hermione went out to walk the grounds. Her hand firmly clasped in his.
"Happy Christmas, Hermione."
She placed a kiss on the corner of his mouth. "Happy Christmas, Tom."
Later that night, by the light of the fire in Ravenclaw Tower, Hermione softly read from Pride and Prejudice, feeling his fingers slowly trace figures along her arm.