I do not own any of the characters in the following story, except for those not found in the Harry Potter Series. I only own the plot and Anastasia Adhemar.

PROPOSITIONS.

Albus Dumbledore sat behind the large mahogony desk in his office, the surface relatively clear with the exception of two items. The first was a leather-bound book, the cover faded and slightly dog-eared, a hole in the center with burn marks around it. A dark red liquid was still fresh around the edges of the circle, as well as the faded, yellowing parchment pages inside. They were all blank, which suggested that it may have once been a diary. Dumbledore turned the thing over in his hands a few times, before there was a sharp knock at the door.

"Come in," he called, setting the book down gently on top of the desk. The doorknob turned and a second later, a fair-haired girl with an ivory complexion opened the door and stepped over the treshhold, shutting it quietly behind her. Dumbledore motioned for her to sit in the chair in front of the desk. The girl walked forward, her uniform skirt swishing back and forth in a certain rhythmic grace with each step. Sitting down in the chair, she tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear and folded her hands in her lap, the Head Girl pin on her chest resting just above the silver and green crest on her robes that read 'SLYTHERIN', a snake gracing the patch. Her dark eyes, the color of sapphire, met those of the Headmaster, and she cleared her throat.

"You wanted to see me, Professor?" She asked, soft but not at all weak. Dumbledore nodded.

"Yes, Miss Adhemar. Due to recent events, I have a job that needs to be filled, and due to your excellent academic performance in charms, potions, transfiguration and defense against the dark arts, I have selected you, personally, for it." Dumbledore stood as he paused, walking over to the window and looking out it, before turning his gaze back to the girl. "It will be a very difficult, as well as undoubtedly dangerous task, and I would not ask it of you if I did not think that you would be able to handle it with exceptional skill and grace under pressure. Will you be willing to accept?"

The girl raised an eyebrow, blinking. "May I know what the task is first, Professor?"

Dumbledore nodded slowly, leaving his position by the window and walking over to his desk, where he took a seat upon his chair once more. "I expected you to ask this, and am glad you have. Miss Adhemar" he spoke, making eye contact once more, "I am asking that you travel back in time, with the use of a time turner, to the year nineteen forty-five. It is pertinent that you find a Slytherin student by the name of Tom Riddle and you thwart him somehow. Befriend him, reveal his secrets - the way you do so does hold much importance. What does is that you are victorious in your mission. If you choose to accept, you will be departing to nineteen forty-three within the half hour. We will give you clothes dating back to the time period, as well as current schoolbooks and a cover story. You will be a transfer student from America, where you lived in an orphanage because your parents died when you were five years old. You decided to transfer to Hogwarts because you wanted to better your education, as well as be in a safer envrionment. Do you understand?"

The girl nodded, before swallowing hard. "Professor... This student, Tom Riddle... is he?"

"A wizard we now know by Lord Voldemort? Yes." Dumbledore then paused, his expression calm. "Do you accept?"

The girl, by the name of Adhemar, sat still and silent for several moments. Then -

"Yes, sir. I accept."

Dumbledore's old and whethered face split into a smile, and from behind his desk he produced a trunk. "This contains everything you will need. Textbooks, supplies, clothing, even a book on slang and behavior customs. I trust you will be well mannered enough to get by, anyway. Can you fake an accent?"

Miss Adhemar cleared her throat, then spoke in an even tone, pronouncing every letter in every word. "Of course."

"Excellent." He then pulled the second object off his desk. It was an hourglass attached to a glittering, golden chain. Passing it to the girl, he added, "It has already been turned to the appropriate time. All you have to do is spin it. Are you ready?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good luck, Anastasia," Dumbledore spoke, handing her the time turner. Anastasia placed it around her neck carefully after wrapping her fingers around the trunk. A moment later, she flicked the outer circular piece of the time turner, and held still while the setting around her rewound itself backwards in time. Before she knew it, the blurring slowed and she was now standing in the same office, but with less pictures covering the wallks and different objects in the room. Letting go of the trunk, she took the time turner from around her neck and stuffed it into the pocket of her robes, next to her wand. She walked towards the window, looking out over the bright and sunny grounds of Hogwarts, furrowing her eyebrows at the blank space of grass where the Whomping Willow should have been. Well, that's a bit odd, she thought, before turning to her left and slowly walking the perimiter of the room, drinking in the books and the portraits, the oddities and the like. She had made it to a carved wooden cabinent, when she heard the doorknob turn nearby. Her breath caught in her throat, and she quickly ducked behind a large stack of books atop a wooden case. She wasn't sure who was behind the door, but she knew that she didn't want to be caught.