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Tom was watching her, trying to deduce whether she was lying or not. She looked confused herself at the revelation as though her mind was trying to figure out how it was possible that she had been born in 1979 when it was only 1945.

For Tom, this situation was perfect. It didn't matter that she wasn't a Seer – this situation was 100% better. She was from the future. She had seen and experienced the world where Lord Voldemort had existed. He wanted to know everything – all of the good and all of the bad, to create the perfect plan for the new and improved future to come. He turned to face Nott, a sly smile extending across his face.

"I am satisfied for now. Nott, get Binky to bring her something to eat. We can't have her wasting away on us." Tom said, suddenly energetic. "Once you're done, come and meet me in the conference room." Hermione remained tense until Tom had left the room. Nott turned to face her, kindness in his eyes. He approached the bed and Hermione moved back instantly.

"Now now, silly girl. I'm not going to hurt you." He laughed. Her eyes zeroed in on the door and Nott sighed. "He means well. He just takes a little bit of getting used to." Hermione didn't dare speak. Little parts of memory began trickling through. Memories she would have much rather have forgotten. She closed her eyes and remembered as Nott left the room to find 'Binky'.

"Cruuciiiiiiio!" The older witch squealed in delight as Hermione's body contorted and twisted, her shrieks echoing through the halls. She kept her wand trained on the younger girl, turning it cruelly. Her smile grew as the shrieks increased in pitch and volume. "What's the matter you filthy little mudblood bitch?" She cackled. "You want some more do you? Want some more?!" She cackled, recasting the spell and kicking Hermione back with her bare foot. "How about some of that? Want some more?!" Clinging onto her sanity, Hermione sunk her teeth into the top of her foot, her only defence. Bellatrix screamed, kicking her in the nose, her anger rising. The younger witch rolled away, her nose pouring profusely over the marbled floor. "Look at your filthy blood dirtying these mighty halls, you ungrateful little –" She could have killed her there and then, but the Dark Lord would never have forgiven her and Bellatrix couldn't bear his rejection. She screamed her frustrations to the ceiling before she cast Crucio once more, holding it in place.

As much as the memory pained Hermione, it reminded her of one of her better personality traits. She was strong. She was resilient. And in the face of danger and death? Brave.

**ATTM**

Nott walked down to the kitchens alone, searching for Binky. She would be around here somewhere, she always was.

"Binky." He said simply and she appeared, dressed in a makeshift dress.

"Yes me Sir? What can Binky get for you today?"

"There is a girl within Master Riddle's quarters. Take her some food for me." Nott addressed the house-elf. Her ears turned downward at the mention of Tom, her nose twitching. Her hands started to wring themselves as she peered nervously around Nott as though looking out for someone.

"M-master Riddle, me Sir?" She asked, her fear apparent.

"Just his quarters Binky. Only the girl resides there. See to it." She disappeared in an instant as Nott turned down the corridor and headed for the conference room. He rapped on the door, expecting the room to be full. The door opened slowly, revealing Tom deep in thought as he poured over books in front of him. Nott stood anxiously in the doorway, not wanting to disturb him. Tom slammed a book shut a few moments later, his blazing eyes settling on Nott. A single shiver passed up his spine as he tried to maintain his authority and dignity.

"Can you believe that there is not a single mention of time travel in any of these books? Nothing substantial anyway. Nowhere does it say that it is possible that you can travel back in time 50 years." Tom was angering himself, Nott could read the tell-tale signs. His fingers were twitching, his eyes flashing warningly. His jaw was held firm, his teeth gritted.

"Maybe we're just not reading the right books." Nott tried to diffuse the situation. Tom straightened himself up, his fingers grazing past his pocket where Nott knew his wand resided. What is he thinking?

"Or…" He spoke coldly, threateningly. He amused himself at his own thoughts, laughing emptily.

"Or?" Nott repeated, not sure where Tom was going with this.

"Let's find out shall we." He smirked as though they were heading off on an adventure. Nott had to take large strides to keep up with Tom's pace. He had a feeling of dread. Nothing good ever came from Tom being this excited.

**ATTM**

"Here Missy!" A voice almost like a wind chime spoke pulling Hermione from her thoughts.

"Hmm?" Hermione looked for the owner, spotting a small elf hovering at the end of the bed, holding a tray.

"Binky has brought you some soup and some bread and some sweeties, Missy." She said happily. "Eat up, tis yum. Very yummy." She placed the tray on Hermione's lap, encouraging her to try it. Hermione eyed the plate suspiciously. Was this a trick? A trap of some sort? Was Riddle waiting in a dark corner somewhere ready to ambush her? Finally, the elf's sad face became too much and Hermione sampled the food, just to keep her happy. "What does Missy think? Does Missy like?" Hermione smiled, nodding.

"Thank you – uh –"

"Binky." The elf said with pride.

"Thank you Binky." She had another mouthful of soup. "This is the most welcome I have felt in a very long time." Binky sat talking to her while she ate, clearing up the plate once she was done.

"Binky can go and get Missy some fresh clothes? Binky will ask Master –"The elf started happily before her face suddenly fell and her behaviour became more erratic. "Binky must go. Binky be back later." She vanished without another word, leaving Hermione confused. Had she been summoned? It didn't take long for the answer to reveal itself. Within a few moments, the door had been pushed open as Riddle strode through, Nott nipping at his heels. He regarded her with intrigue.

"I have been looking up time travelling." He informed her as he walked along the bottom of the bed, Nott standing motionless in the doorway. "Time travelling of this magnitude is unheard of in this time. Is it common in yours?" He turned to her as she kept looking straight ahead.

"For shorter periods of time, yes. A time travel of this magnitude? I've never encountered anything like it." Hermione spoke, carefully and simply. Riddle sighed.

"Well, that's bad news." He tittered. Hermione saw Nott tense up in the doorway. Something bad was coming. "That leaves me with only one real explanation." Something bad was coming, but it was nothing on what she had already experienced. She had faced the worst and she could face it again. Death was a warm blessing in comparison.

"What explanation is that?" Hermione spoke back, causing Nott to inhale. Riddle turned to look at her amused before he rounded on Nott.

"Did you have the elf feed her a potion?" He said, seriously. Nott shook his head, eyebrows furrowed. "Full of pep aren't you?" His lip curled into a smile as he sat himself down on the edge of the bed. Hermione didn't move, instead turning to face him. "It's going to make this so much more enjoyable." His hand reached out, grabbing her jaw and chin in its cold grasp. Her cheeks were pushed up her face as his grip tightened, holding her face steady before him as his eyes pierced hers. "Now don't lie to me Hermione." She could feel him in there. It was as though those cold, elongated fingers of his were pulling parts of her brain apart, searching. She focussed all of her attention on pushing him out, of thinking of something so boring that he couldn't possibly pull anything from it. His nails nipped into the skin of her jaw as his own jaw tightened. Hermione imagined herself slipping into a dreamless sleep, a dreamless sleep where her mind was completely blank and empty, devoid of anything. Tom growled as he pushed on further, his free hand clenching at his side. The more Hermione imagined the dreamless sleep, the more she could feel herself slipping towards it. Riddle's blazing eyes were slipping out of view as her body submerged itself into the blissful realm of sleep. Tom shook her by the chin but she sagged against him, eyes closed, mind closed. Growling in frustration, Tom threw her from his grip. She flopped against the bed, breathing peacefully. Nott stepped in quickly to subside the Tom's rage. He was just about to speak when Tom started laughing. Not coldly or wickedly but genuinely amused.

"Clever girl. The hard way is always the best way, don't you think Nott?" Tom mused more to himself than anyone else. He moved across the bed so that he was resting above Hermione, looking down on her, full of wonder. "Let's see if this works." He closed his own eyes and Nott watched as Hermione squirmed beneath him, her hands springing to her head. She started to make noises that made Nott feel uncomfortable. Her mouth opened, a constant scream coming from within as her fingernails tasted her skin.

"Tom." Nott spoke, trying to catch his attention. It didn't work. Hermione's face was growing paler as her screams became shriller. Hoping for the best, Nott closed his eyes and shoved Tom as hard as he could, sending him sprawling from the bed and onto the floor next to it. He slowly rose to his feet, glaring at Nott, his lips drawn back, eyes narrowed. "Look at her." Was all Nott could think of. Tom cast an uncaring eye on the girl. Her face was still twisted, her fingertips covered in blood and stray pieces of hair that she had rived from her own head. "You were killing her Tom. Killing her from the inside out." Nott tried to reason with him. "When you first stumbled upon her, you regarded her as a gift. Something that was given to you, to us – to help us shape our future. Something that needed to be treat with patience, handled carefully and tentatively. Have you changed your mind Tom? Do you just want to plunder her for whatever scraps of information you can get here and now? Have you really become so impatient?" Tom's face remained stoic as he listened to Nott. He had been stupid. He had been a fool and he had nearly blown the whole thing. He wasn't going to admit that though. Nott's head was big enough as it was.

"Get your blasted house-elf in here and get her cleaned up." Tom grumbled, turning on his heels, his robes whipping behind him as he stormed from the room.

**ATTM**

Tom had maintained his distance from her as she recovered, afraid that his impatience would run wild with itself once more. Nott had in turn kept his distance from Tom, after his outburst. Tom really should have punished him but everything he had spoken had been true. It would always be the thing Tom hated the most about Nott – just how well he knew him. A sharp knock on the door brought Tom from his thoughts. Maybe this was Nott now, here to apologise.

"Come in." Tom shouted from his study. He had been using it for all purposes over the last few days, seeing as Hermione had taken over his bed. Tom was surprised to see Abraxas Malfoy storm into the room, a large smile stretched across his face.

"How long were you planning on holding out on me?! I thought we were supposed to be friends!" He teased with his boyish charm.

"I haven't a clue what you mean." Tom sneered, feeling like he was missing out on the joke. Abraxas sat himself on an arm chair, leaning forward, with his elbows resting on his knees.

"I saw her in your bed Tom. You dog." He teased. Tom's face hardened. He was well aware of what he was referring to.

"She is a project. An experiment if you will. Nothing like that Abraxas – will you stop looking at me like that?" Tom demanded as Abraxas wiggled his eyebrows at him suggestively.

"'Project' sounds positively sordid…" Abraxas teased, Tom starting to lose his temper.

"Abraxas!" He said warningly before Abraxas sighed.

"Sorry. It's just my parents' house was awfully dull and I couldn't wait to get back to where all the fun was." He shrugged, resting back into the chair as Tom ran a steady hand through his hair. "So, I suppose it begs the question are you going to tell me what this project is about?"

Tom divulged the information to Abraxas, in a hope that he would prove himself useful. He told him about his initial thoughts of her being a Seer, her reaction to his name, the time-travelling theory and about his experience with her in his bedroom a few nights ago.

"Well that's one way to blow a girl's mind in the bedroom…" Abraxas teased, instantly apologising once he saw the look on Tom's face. "You need to loosen up a little. Relax."

"I will never get anywhere or become anything if I let myself do something as trivial and pointless as relax." Tom spat back.

"Case and point." Abraxas looked smug. "I think it may help you with the girl." Tom's attention was peaked.

"In what way? How could it possibly help?"

"You said that her mind was open to you in the bookstore. Correct?" Tom nodded. "She was comfortable in the bookstore with you Tom, she was relaxed around you. She didn't need to hide her mind because there was no threat. You could look upon it to your hearts content. Now I ask you, what's different?" Tom could see his point.

"Noted." Tom admitted. "I need her to relax. Not to be relaxed myself." He added, desperate to have the last word on the matter.

"It's all one and the same Tom." Abraxas retorted. "She's never going to relax around you if you're so highly strung all the time. I'm the most laidback guy in the world and even I find it difficult sometimes."

"Thanks." Tom laughed. "Question for you Abraxas."

"Try me."

"How do you get someone to relax around you – after you've used the Cruciatus Curse on them?" Abraxas groaned, holding his head in his hands.

**ATTM**

Hermione lay in the bed provided for her, staring at the ceiling. You can't lie here all day! She pushed the sheets back from herself, placing a foot on the floor tentatively. The hard wood floor made her toes curl under but she persevered. She had no idea where her shoes were but she didn't stop to look for them. Edging her way towards the door, she prised it open and peered around it. No one in sight. She crept through the living room cautiously and out into a hallway that she had only seen briefly when Riddle had dragged her here. Voices emerged from the base of the corridor and Hermione ducked into a nearby room. She peered through the gap in the door, waiting for whoever was out there to walk past. Her heart jumped into her throat when she was thrown into a wall, magically. A large and imposing man approached her, clearly the spellcaster. He had a devilish smile that wrapped across his whole face as he held her against the wall by placing his arm against her throat. His other hand was resting between them, a lone finger tracing from her knee up to her bare mid-thigh. A sickly feeling rippled through her as she tried to keep her mind clear and focussed. Accio Wand. She repeated in her head, trying to look away from the imposing figure in front of her.

"I knew Riddle was up to no good." He snarled against her cheek. "Keeping secrets like you wrapped up in his private quarters." He bit her earlobe sharply causing her to yelp. Accio Wand. Accio Hermione's wand. Accio my wand! The strangers hand had found itself further up her thigh, travelling higher until Hermione felt her wand smash into her hand. Her fingers wrapped tightly around it as she shoved it into his throat.

"Release me now." She said through gritted teeth as she pushed her wand into his flesh.

"Or what?" He growled, placing his wand against her chest.

"Or you answer to me, Dolohov." Dolohov immediately retracted his wand at the sound of Riddle's voice. He raised his eyebrows suggestively to Hermione as he stalked from the room, keeping his eyes trained on the floor when he walked past Riddle. "That was highly reckless of you." Hermione shrugged, trying to follow Dolohov out of the room. Riddle stepped into her path, blocking the only exit. Hermione cast a look to her wand, but Riddle seemed to read her mind. "Are you going to try and kill me again Hermione?"

"Are you going to try and torture me again, Tom?" Hermione repeated in a similar tone. A twitch of a smile was apparent on his face.

"Only if you ask nicely." He closed the distance between them. Hermione's eyes narrowed as she kept her gaze firmly locked with him.

"May I be past?"

"We need to talk first Hermione."

"No." She shook her head. "Move – out – of – my – way." She broke it down for him, expressing her views. A boy she had never met before walked past the door outside, looking at the scene unfolding within, clearly attracted by Hermione's shouting rather than Riddle's cool tone. Riddle moved him along with a glance before closing the door over and moving Hermione further back into the room.

"I'm here to make a deal."

"And if I don't want to make a deal?"

"You don't really have an option." He admitted. Hermione had expected as much. "I do not want to have to keep you forcibly locked inside my quarters. I do not want to have to lock you away."

"Then don't-" Hermione started.

"But –" He interrupted her as she had him. "I will not stand for you belittling me in front of my friends here. I will not stand for you undermining me or making me feel idiotic for allowing you these freedoms. As long as you can reign in your tongue and behave yourself, you are free to wander these halls."

"Deal." Hermione agreed. Tom's lip curled as his eyes sought out Hermione's.

"Not quite. In return, we will talk for an hour every night in my living room –"

"But –"

"No buts."

"Fine. Now can I be through?"

"You may – after we seal it in something a little stronger than words."

Thank you for reading!

Please feel free to let me know what you think!

All of my love,

Until the next time

~Sapph