Chapter 1

She stood by the black water. Memories cut at her like knives. It hurt to to just look around. It was all still so close to her and she wondered if it would ever leave her. Let her go... She opened her eyes finally. The pain was too much for her. A small gasp escaped her throat as she began sob at the memories racing through head, burning her heart.

**Flashback**

"Sorry I'm late.." he spoke coldly to her. A slight tremble in his voice that was barely noticeable, but did not escape her suspicious ears.

"Where were you?" Her gut feeling told her something was wrong and she begged it to stop. She couldn't bare it. Not from him of all people. He slowly walked in her direction, only to walk right by her as if she wasn't there. Her throat tightened as the fear started to grow. She stood there with her fists clenched, her body stiff. He strolled up to the edge of the water. He held himself very proudly and it tended to confuse her and only scared her more. He was very hard to read right now, as if he were hiding something.

"Hermione... you need to go back to your time and stay there." His words sounded very forced and they felt like a dagger to her chest. Her mouth fell open as the word "back" left his mouth. 'Back? Go back? And STAY?!' She whipped around so quickly, as if he would disappear before she could turn to face him.

"Why?!" Tears filled her eyes as she screamed at him. "What's wrong?! Have I done something?!" She walked up to him quickly, grabbing his arm tightly, telling herself to never let him go. He tugged at his arm slightly to pull away from her but didn't try very hard. He knew she wasn't going to let go; he'd have to pry her off of him after what he'd just said. Finally, he turned to face her.

"You've done nothing wrong. But... you can't travel here anymore. There are things you should know about me before you could ever stay with me and..." his voice dropped to a whisper and his eyes shut tight for a minute. It was obvious he was upset and she wished he would just shut up so she could get to the bottom of... whatever the hell was going on. At the same time, she didn't want him to stop talking. His voice was the only thing calming her, even if only a little.

"Tom please! Just.. stop! The only place I need to be is with you!" She looked him in the eye as she spoke, trying to make him understand. She wanted to shake him... or smack him. Anything to get him to snap out of it! Her hands gripped both his arms now and it was making him feel uncomfortable. He tried to back away from her but she only held him tighter. She pulled at him and started to cry.

"Hermione, stop..." He grabbed her wrists and pulled her hands from his arms but she fought him violently, pulling her hands away from him, trying to grab onto him again. She was frantic. He was growing angry with her now. To him, she was acting like a child, kicking and screaming because she can't get what she wants. His patience grew thin... "Hermione!" his voice bellowed and his eyes grew dark for a second. She was frightened at this point. She didn't want to let him go, but she also didn't want to scare him off. She stood there taking in sharp breaths as she cried, his hands still holding on tightly to her wrists. He wasn't sure if he should let her go for fear that she would throw another fit. He stared into her eyes intensely as he spoke. "Go back... and stay..." His tone was serious. She opened her mouth to protest again, pushing her body through the strong force of his hands holding her back. Then the light came to take her as it had so many other times. But this time was different. This time she wouldn't be able to come back. He wouldn't let her... She felt herself getting ripped away from his grip slowly. Every part of her told her to try, try, TRY to reach him. It was too late and he was almost out of her sight at this point.

"Tom, NO!" The light was gone and she sat at the desk in the Gryffindor common room again, Tom Marvolo Riddle's diary sat on the desk in front of her. She snatched up the diary. Holding it to her heart, she sobbed hard, calling out his name, begging him to let her come back.

**End Flashback**

Hermione stared out at the water just as Tom Riddle did that night. Her sobs had stopped, as she only felt anger now. There are so many things she could have done if she only knew then what she knows now. 'Why didn't you just tell me, Tom? I could have helped you...' She shook her head at the thought as she turned to go back to the castle. She stopped, thinking she heard his voice. She shut hers eyes, forcing back the tears, and continued on her way to Hogwarts.

Disclaimer: No copyright infringement intended! I do not claim any of the characters in this story! Harry Potter is owned by J. K. Rowling!