(I'm really sorry for the monstrous size of the notes but they'll clear up some stuff)

Notes about Fracture: Hopefully, this fic will become a multi-chaptered story and not just a one-shot :P It was inspired by Avalon Kore's Tom Riddle/Hermione Granger story called Corrupted By Light and a Tom Riddle/Voldemort/Hermione video by Monica Citrina called Last to Know. I want to thank both Avalon and Monica for being absolutely awesome and inspirational (seriously go read and watch their stuff, they're blooming brilliant). I'm making no promises about regular updates because I don't want to tempt fate or anything buuuuuuut on special occasions I may just post three chapters at once. Fracture is set in the DH time period to start off with but it also uses the concept of time travel so the time periods will change. I know there are loads and loads of fics out there using time travel for Tomione but I'm hoping the ideas I've used in this fic will keep it interesting and believable for you. The POV may change sometimes but the majority of it will be written in the point of view of Hermione and Tom (mainly Hermione).

A note on Hermione: Throughout Fracture you may notice characteristics in Hermione that you wouldn't have particularly thought she would have; it's because I want to show how Hermione's personality evolves when she's subjected to different situations and experiences. Although I'm really hoping that I still manage to keep her in character, I would absolutely love feedback on what you think about her; especially if you think I've stepped over the line and into the world of OOC.


Fracture

Bitter coldness tore into Hermione Grangers skin and seeped into her bones. Sat on top of the remains of the astronomy tower's roof, she watched as the raging wind tore pieces of the ancient tiles away and wondered if it was also ripping her apart piece by piece too, scattering her in the wind along with the tiles. She felt like it was. In fact, she felt so far removed from the reality happening below her inside the castle that –just for a moment- she dared to believe that none of it was real at all.

But then the scene that she'd witnessed between Voldemort and Harry would play across her mind again; bringing unbidden tears to sting at her eyes and a laden feeling that would settle inside her chest, reminding her that with just two short and simple words, Voldemort had taken away all that she loved and hoped for. Harry was dead. Ron was missing. Half of the schools population were either dead or being tortured. Hermione's head dropped to rest on her knees. She didn't even remember how or why she'd gotten onto the roof of the astronomy tower anyway.

Cold droplets of rain falling onto the back of her neck eventually brought Hermione out of the dark state of mind that she'd tumbled into. When she raised her face to look at the sky so she could use the sun to attempt to figure out what time it was, she was given a cold shock. The clouds were still shaped like the dark mark above the castle and the empty pits of eyes in the skull seemed to be leering straight down at her. A shudder of revulsion ran through her body, causing something to poke painfully into her side with the sudden movement.

Hermione reached a hand into the pocket of her robes to find out what had jabbed her side and pulled out her time turner and the elder wand; not quite knowing how either of them had gotten there. A high-pitched, lilting laugh echoed in Hermione's ears, accompanied by a piercing scream that made her flinch in shock and frayed her nerves.

She glared down in disgust at the wand she now rolled between her thumb and forefinger. It was disturbing, she realised, that she was now in possession of the wand that had killed Harry and tortured others. Especially seen as she couldn't even remember gaining its possession. Then again, everything that happened after she witnessed the startling flash of green light that ended Harry's life was murky and sludgy in Hermione's memory; she couldn't help but shy away from trying to remember it all.

A darkly gleeful feeling reared its ugly head; perhaps she'd gained the wand by killing Voldemort after he'd killed Harry. The realisation that taking joy in killing Voldemort would make her just as bad as the Dark Lord himself quickly swept away any feeling of joy that the thought had given her. She shuddered again, unsure whether it was because she was horrified at the thought of being like the Dark Lord or because she secretly wished for his death so much that it scared her.

Either way, she wasn't going to allow the wand to stay intact and working. All it did was leave a trail of death and destruction behind it. She would have to destroy it. The side of Hermione that loved all things academic screamed inside her at the prospect of destroying such a historical and legendary object but recent events and her conscience just wouldn't let her keep it intact. Not when someone else could abuse the power it held.

Hermione turned her face away and closed her eyes as she held the wand up with her hand extended in front of her. Almost reluctantly, she applied enough force to break the wand in two, flinching slightly at the snapping sound it made. She let out a long, drawn breath that she hadn't realised she'd been holding and peeked at the wand. Her eyes widened in panic.

Long streams of golden flames were pouring out of the break in the two pieces of the elder wand. The strands began to circle around her, becoming larger and brighter until the golden flames began to eclipse any glimpse of her surroundings. It gained momentum. Swirling faster and faster until it was moving so quickly that Hermione could no longer keep track of its movements.

Her mind raced to figure out what the golden fire was and how she could get out of the middle of it. There was a solution, she reassured herself, there had to be a solution. All she had to do was just think.

The flames were getting faster, for them to do that they had to at least be tangible enough for forces to act on them. Her eyes lit up with intensity as she analysed the situation before her. Whatever it was, it had come out of the elder wand when she'd broken it so it was more than likely very powerful and old. She could also feel her own magic reacting to it, rising up inside her wildly as if it wanted to break free from her and merge with the flames.

Realisation dawned and Hermione began to truly panic. The urge to flee encased her mind. Stupid! She thought angrily at herself, mentally berating her own idiotic actions of breaking the wand without thinking about the consequences first.

Magic was sort of like energy -to the extent of her knowledge- it couldn't be created or destroyed, only transformed with direction. So, if you broke a wand that contained as much magic as the elder wand did, then all that magic was bound to be released and it would have nowhere else to go except out. It also wasn't being transformed into something else because Hermione hadn't used any spell or charm or anything to give it direction to transform into something. Hermione's breathing accelerated beyond control, some distant part of her wondered if she was hyperventilating.

The golden flames were magic then. Very old and very powerful magic. In its purest form.

She was pretty sure she should have passed out by now. Instead, her flee-all-of-the-danger instinct made her reach out to the swirling wall of magic to see if she could jump through it. As soon as her hand made contact with it electricity shot through her whole body. She tore away from the wall violently and her fists clenched in the pain, further breaking the remains of the elder wand and crushing the time turner that was still held in her other hand.

The wall of magic suddenly collapsed, rushing towards Hermione and into her body. She was thrown backwards as it hit her, her mouth opening to take in a gasp of air as she was propelled off the roof of the astronomy tower. The last thing she saw was the dark mark encompassing the sky as her eyes rolled into the back of her head.

-.-.-.-.-

Hermione awoke with a startled gasp, shooting up into a sitting position so quickly that it made her dizzy and almost threw her off the edge of a fully intact astronomy tower roof. Staring at the castle around her, she tried to comprehend how Hogwarts had gone from mostly-destroyed to fully built and intact. The dull stone it was made from even looked cleaner. Every tower stretched as high into the sky as they had before the final battle. Even the Hogwarts grounds no longer looked scorched and battle-torn anymore. A small frown of confusion created a grove between her eyebrows; she was pretty sure that the Womping willow had disappeared too.

As Hermione reflected on past events, the corners of her mouth turned downwards; casting her face with an uncharacteristic sad expression. The final battle had felt too real for it to all have just been a terrifying nightmare and the whole elder-wand-magic-thing had definitely been real; she held the proof of it in her trembling hands. And yet, it all seemed... Well, none of it seemed like it was real. As much as she hated to admit it, Hermione just didn't fully understand what had happened. It annoyed her. Greatly.

She didn't even have anyone to bounce theories and ideas off of which brought tears to her eyes again as she remembered the dead. She dropped the remains of the crushed elder wand and time turner to dig her nails into the palms of her hands in order to stop the tears from falling. The broken piece bounced on the roof tiles twice before falling over the edge of the tower. Hermione didn't dare glance down after them; it was so far down she couldn't even hear them land.

That is, she couldn't hear them land on anything. She did, however, hear the disgruntled yelp of "HEY!" which probably meant they landed on someone.

Hermione lay down on her stomach and popped her head over the edge of the roof, gripping so tightly to the tiles that her knuckles turned white. The person below her looked super small; she couldn't see the details of his appearance except that he had long, blond hair and looked like he was wearing Hogwarts student robes. Despite the hair, Hermione was still pretty sure the student was male. He was also looking up at her, more than likely with an expression of accusation for dropping things on him or with one of shock as he observed the bushy-haired girl all the way at the top of the astronomy tower.

A queasy sensation began to settle in her stomach as she looked over the roof edge but she continued to stare determinedly down at the student. With what Hermione considered as a burst of courage, she let go of the roof with one of her hands (whilst tightening the grip that she had with the other hand) and took her own wand out of an inside pocket in her robes. Casting a Sonorus spell, she addressed the student in a voice that she hoped he would interpret as no-nonsense instead of the fearful tones that she heard in it.

"Who are you?" She could have sworn that he flicked his hair arrogantly over his shoulder in response. Nevertheless, he followed her example and cast a Sonorus spell to reply.

"I am Abraxas Malfoy. Who are you and why, in the name of Salazar Slytherin, are you on the roof of the astronomy tower?"

Abraxas Malfoy!? No, that isn't possible. That's not possible at all! Hermione shot back into a sitting position asthe gears in her mind started to spin rapidly. She did have the time turner on her before but she hadn't used it to- oh.

The elder magic. She'd crushed the time turner as the elder magic was beginning to flood her body. The time turner must have given the magic a direction to transform in. Consequently she had been transported back in time beyond what the time turner could do by itself. That would also explain the better-than-normal condition of the castle. But still... back in time? It was absurd. Insane, even. Maybe that was it! She'd cracked and finally gone insane. Hermione popped her head back over the roof's edge.

"Prove that you really are Abraxas Malfoy." She demanded.

"I don't have to prove anything to you-"a note of arrogance seeped into his voice "-you dropped Merlin-knows-what on my head for no apparent reason. Now, tell me who you are or I'm leaving."

Hermione absentmindedly chewed on her bottom lip. If Malfoy really was who he said he was then she shouldn't even be talking to him. This whole thing could also be some elaborate Death Eater trick, although Hermione saw no reason at all for why they would make the trick like this.

On the other hand, she didn't really have her own way to get down from the tower without a broom which –inconveniently- she didn't have. She couldn't think of any spells that would get her down from this much of a height without some nasty consequences and if the castle really was a Hogwarts of the past then there was no doubt in her mind that she would end up splinched if she tried to apparate. Her safest bet would be to see if Malfoy had a broom she could borrow or if he'd go and get a teacher for her. Besides, what harm could it do? He certainly sounded like a Malfoy, practically dripping with arrogance and an overly abundant ego.

"I'm Hermione Gr- Gritt." She almost hit her head against the roof tiles as punishment for nearly giving away her real name and then coming up with an unbelievable false name. Idiot she thought resentfully.

"I'm sort of stuck up here, is there a way that you could let me borrow your broom to get down please? If you don't want to because you think this is some sort of prank or something then I fully understand but could you at least go and get some help instead? I'd be awfully grateful, it's terrible up here."

Ha!- Her mind yelled triumphantly -see if he can deny that plea for help. She had purposefully emphasised the damsel-in-distress quality and knocked up the politeness so he couldn't find an excuse to leave her on the roof and still appear like the gentleman that most Malfoys liked to use as a disguise to hide the more uncivilised sides to them. The manipulation that Hermione had included in it made her feel a little bit better about her practically begging a Malfoy to help her. Assuming he is a Malfoy anyway.

He disappeared after that. Hermione assumed that he'd gone to get help, seen as a broom wasn't levitated up to her straight away. Either that or he'd just left. Typical Malfoy tactic.

While she was left on her own she began to try and sort through some things. Her first priority was to figure out what in Merlin's name was going on; depending on the outcome of that, she could then concoct some kind of plan. If she really had gone back in time then she would need to set up a cover story. Her breath caught in her throat as she realised that Harry and Ron wouldn't be dead in this time frame. Granted, they might not actually be alive yet either but there was still hope.

It wasn't until her apparent rescuer jumped off his broom gracefully and landed on the top of the roof that another thought struck Hermione; knocking the breath out of her and leaving her feeling empty. The fact that Abraxas Malfoy was a student at Hogwarts meant that she was in the time period where Tom Riddle was alive and kicking.

Hermione shot up to a stand and paced as much as being stuck on a roof allowed her to. If Voldemort was alive as Tom Riddle in this time period then she could kill him now and stop him from kil- no, no she couldn't. That would alter the time line which was something that McGonagall would definitely disapprove of. Of course McGonagall wasn't actually here in this time period... or was she? Hermione didn't know how old her transfiguration professor was in her own time period and-

Someone clearing their throat pulled Hermione out of her thoughts. It was probably a good thing because she was becoming a teeny tiny bit side-tracked. Right, first priority: get the hell off of the stupid roof.

Hermione twirled around to face the person that had cleared their throat for her attention. She opened her mouth with an apology ready to spring out but stopped dead when she took in the sight in front of her. Her face immediately paled in shock.

Tom Riddle, Tom Riddle was stood in front of her.

An undeniable urge to push him over the edge of the roof hooked its claws into her.