"Did we make it?" Harry whispered after a moment or so had passed in silence, whilst Hermione fumbled with the clasp on the time turner.
"I'm not sure…" She replied, finally succeeding in freeing them from the thin golden chain and tucking it into her pocket once more.
"Well, only one way to find out." Harry said after another silent moment passed by them, before taking some of the bags and moving towards the hallway, Hermione trailing behind him, looking around the walls around them. Her research appeared to be correct as this house was still standing around them and was clearly uninhabited, the walls which were covered with pictures and certificates etc. in the present day were now bare and not painted in the cream colour they were when they'd first come to this house. Shaking her head slightly as they stepped carefully out of the front door (Harry proceeding her and checking outside first), Hermione reminded herself that as they had no gone back in time "technically" this was their "first" time seeing this house.
"All clear." Harry murmured, leading them down the small pathway and out of the gate. They'd only gone a few feet when they spotted a couple holding hands and talking to a man in a suit who was holding a stack of papers and talking animatedly about something. The closer they got they caught words such as "Light airy kitchen" and "Kitchen garden". As they passed the couple they nodded briefly to them before continuing on their way.
The minute they had gone past Hermione turned and looked back at them, sure enough they had stopped in front of the small cottage like house she and Harry had just left.
"That was close." She breathed, glancing back at Harry.
"Never mind that… Did you see their clothes?" Harry began excitedly whilst Hermione nodded, allowing herself a smile too.
"We must have made it."
"Yeah," Harry agreed, as they set off once more.
For a while they simply walked in companionable silence, only speaking briefly to point out interesting points of scenery or other points of interest which had either changed so dramatically they felt bound to make a comment on them; or else had stayed exactly the same causing a smile. A great example of this was a small sweetshop down a side street, which still bore the proud imaginative name of "Sweetshop". The only difference between this shop and its more modern counterpart was that this version bore a fresher layer of paint and had more old fashioned sweets in its windows. Spotting a series of small plaques of card in the advertisement section of the window Hermione indicated this to Harry and they both stepped closer to read what they said.
FOR SALE:
Table and chairs set – like new – see seller for details.
LOST:
Small brown dog, answers to "Frankie".
The list was endless, however one thing which was the same was the year scrawled next to the date.
1942.
"We really did make it! 1942 Harry!" Hermione gasped, before blushing when a nearby woman who had just left the shop gave her a funny look. Chuckling lightly Harry placed his arm around her and smiled politely to the woman.
"Excuse my wife, she likes to play silly games every so often." He offered by way of explanation, before and asking her if she knew the way to train station.
After the woman had given them some vague directions he thanked her and watched as she set off walking back the way they had already come. No sooner than she had left Hermione mock punched Harry on his arm and glared up at him.
"What was that for?!" He hissed, rubbing his arm.
"I don't play silly games!" Hermione responded tartly, before marching away.
"That's what that was for?" Harry asked sounding confused, "I thought it was obvious Mione… We are in 1942… It's just fitting with the time for me to talk like that about you."
Realising he was right, Hermione felt herself blushing more than before and slowed her walk somewhat to match Harry's.
"Whatever." She mumbled after a while, causing him to laugh beside her as they followed the directions given them by the woman.
They reached the station in good time, but still hurried through the various stations till they reached the one they were looking for. From the information Harry had relayed to her on the life of Voldemort, it was likely he would already be here anyway, probably had been all morning. Sure enough, no sooner had they come through the barrier (having seized a brief moment when the station guard had turned to point a woman with two children in the other direction for them to lean against the wall and slowly sink through it) than they spotted a dark haired boy sat in one of the carriages, already wearing his Hogwarts robes and looking intently at a book he was reading, his pale hands linked together around the binding as he held the book carefully, as though it were a precious thing not be treated lightly. Nudging Harry gently by lightly tapping him with her hand Hermione looked pointedly at the carriage till Harry also noticed him.
In that moment it seemed Harry froze up, staring at the man – no boy – who had gone on to kill so many people.
"I can't believe he looks so normal." Harry whispered, still watching Tom Riddle. As though his name had been called, Riddle chose this minute to look up and out of the window as though he had heard himself being summoned. As his eyes settled on Harry and Hermione, the latter who had nervously turned to look at Harry having expected his scar to hurt him. Harry seemed to share her sentiment and confusion appeared on his face as he ran a hand over his scar as though checking it was still there.
"I can't feel anything." Harry admitted after a while, looking back to Hermione as Riddle returned to his book.
"He's not connected to you yet Harry." Hermione breathed in relief, allowing a smile to break out across her face which had gone very white as she watched and waited.
"That means we have a chance right?" Harry asked, "If he was destined to become evil and kill my parents I'd feel it regardless of time right? I felt it hurt in the chamber of secrets…" Hermione wasn't sure if they could bank on that, but she knew they needed to think somewhat positive and keep in mind the fact he hadn't done those crimes yet if they were to stop them from ever happening.
With this in mind, Hermione tapped the carriage door with her wand causing it to swing open allowing them to climb inside. They'd rehearsed practically every scenario countless times before coming here, and Harry nodded to Hermione once they were inside before setting off ahead of her towards the carriage they'd seen him in.
"Mind if we sit here?" Harry asked Riddle as he slid the carriage door open, not waiting for an answer he beamed at him and took a seat opposite him. Ignoring the look of frustration on the face of the future Dark Lord, Harry held out his hand tentatively and introduced himself. Nodding, Tom slowly moved to shake his hand, dropping it after one single shake and returning to his book.
"Harry?!" Hermione called from down the corridor, waiting for Harry to respond before setting off at a run after the direction she'd seen him go.
"There you are!" She called brightly when she arrived at the carriage Harry was now sitting comfortably in. Tom Riddle was now glaring at the text in his book, as though he felt two interruptions in the past five minutes was more than he could take.
"This is my cousin, Hermione." Harry said, indicating Hermione who was now sitting beside him.
"He ran off at the first chance of course and left me to find my own way." Hermione scolded, glaring at Harry jokingly before turning to Tom.
"Pleased to meet you Mr..?"
"Riddle." Tom muttered as though it cost him dearly to admit this.
"What are you reading there?" She asked his, tilting her head to the side to try to view the title better from another angle.
"It's a potions book." He said somewhat irritably, jerking the book shut and folding his arms around it.
"Can I have a look at it?" Hermione began sweetly, "Please." She added noticing he was on the verge of declining.
Slowly, as though it was costing him even more than admitting his name had, he reluctantly revealed the title of the book.
"Moste Potente Potions" Hermione read aloud before looking back at Tom, "That's a good read." She admitted carefully, wanting to observe his reaction. In reality, Hermione had hated that book and was glad to be rid of it after finishing the Polyjuice potion in their second year. The book was full of very dark, almost medieval in their design, potions which were created by dark magic.
"You've read it?" Tom asked looking surprised, as though he had not been expecting that.
"You'd be hard pressed to find a book she hasn't read!" Harry laughed, leaning back on his chair.
"I needed it for reference." Hermione explained shrugging, "Sorry for caring about my education."
"What were you researching?" Tom now looked intrigued and had set the book down properly. It would appear the conversation had finally interested him. Harry watched Hermione closely, wondering how she would respond.
"I was looking up Polyjuice potion."
"Right," Harry snorted, causing both Hermione and Tom to look at him, "She left out the part where she successfully brewed it without any help in her second year!"
"What house are you in?"
Taking a deep breath Hermione bit down the urge to say Gryffindor, and simply shrugged.
"We are transfer students, we haven't been sorted yet."
If this information was shocking to Tom (as it should have been given that Hogwarts rarely had transfers and definitely not in this time period) he did not show it and merely went on to demand another question.
"What year are you in then?" The way he spoke was almost like he was giving a command, and Hermione had to supress a shudder as she noted this. Judging from Harry's somewhat twisted expression beside her she gathered he'd recognised this as well.
"Sixth" she made herself respond, deciding to ignore it for now.
"Me too," he began, before pausing as though battling himself, "Perhaps we will have classes together."
I bet we will, Hermione thought to herself, she was planning to take so many subjects that this would be practically guaranteed. She could hardly say this though, so she simply nodded and smiled.
Seemingly satisfied with this as a conversation Tom nodded too before turning back to his book.
Taking out her own book Hermione tried to make herself concentrate on the words printed on the paper to distract herself from the unnerving idea of sharing a carriage and making small talk with the boy Voldemort.
Harry appeared restless for a moment, twirling his wand between his fingers for a while until he looked up out of the window and noted (aloud) that others were arriving now.
Yay, I finished another chapter! I'm not going to have Tom jump into a relationship with anybody or have him suddenly go fluffy and cuddly, I'm just trying to establish the fact that he is inquisitive and already has the knack for ordering/demanding or just generally being used to being a leader and having people obey him.
Thanks for reading. x