Hermione feels as though her life has suddenly taken on a drastic turn, after her talk with Tom. With Voldemort. She is not allowed to sleep until Madam Purpentine has finished running tests on the extent of Hermione's injuries, but even if she were she is certain that she wouldn't. No Invigoration Draught is truly necessary, and it really wouldn't matter if the irritating Matron didn't exit her office to check on her patient's state every half an hour, because now that Tom Riddle knows who Hermione Granger really is… Will she ever really rest again? Images of Dumbledore's death plague her once more. His still, pale frame. The whimpers of fellow students. The devastation of their Professors… The hopelessness. The fear. It all comes flooding back. Like subliminal messages flashing within her mind. This is what happens when you go against the Dark Lord. The Dark Lord wants something from her, and that is what will happen if she ignores his request. He has already killed three people – what is there to stop him from killing one more?
She now knows what she has to do. But she has to speak to Dumbledore first, just to be sure. The following day Purpentine runs a few more tests using some advanced potions that Hermione is unfamiliar with. When the Matron announces that there are no signs of mental trauma the Gryffindor is released from the horrid Infirmary once more, but not before receiving a stern warning.
"I don't want to be seeing you in here again, Miss Granger! Take care of yourself!"
Hermione could not agree more with the Matron. She most certainly doesn't want to be back in that dreadfully boring place again… But she cannot help being clumsy. She leaves the Infirmary at lunch time and immediately heads up to the Gryffindor common room and changes in to something more comfortable before proceeding to Dumbledore's chambers. The castle is eerily silent when one wonders around alone. This doesn't help to comfort her whatsoever. After last night she feels as though she is living in a waking nightmare – every twist and turn within this place includes a potential risk, and Hermione may be impulsively brave but she is far from stupid. She knows just like the other students that when Tom Riddle wants you to do something you do it… Unless you enjoy the Cruciatus curse. Hermione cannot say that she has met many people that do.
Within each common room there are three different doorways – one leads to the male dormitories, one leads to the female dormitories and one leads to the private chambers belonging to whoever your head of house is. The other teachers all have a corridor with chambers of their own, but it is impossible for students to find them. Hermione had heard from Seamus Finnigan during her day and age that the Founders themselves placed a Fidelius Charm on the whereabouts of the faculty chambers in fear of the students attempting to hide toads in their underwear drawers or pulling any pranks on them in general. But this could not stop students from pulling pranks on their head of house, so Rowena Ravenclaw invented a magnificent spell that only allows the owner of those chambers to enter, and a single witch or wizard of today is yet to find a way to break one of these spells. Seeing as this spell is cast on Dumbledore's chamber Hermione has to ask him to leave his chambers to speak with her – something that he is kind enough to agree to.
"I am sorry to bother you during the holidays, Dumbledore, but it's urgent."
"That is quite alright, Miss Granger. Please, what is it that you need?"
They are sat around the roaring Gryffindor common room's fireplace; Dumbledore has a steaming mug of Butterbeer in his hands whilst Hermione has her Gryffindor bed quilts wrapped tightly around her. There is a storm brewing outside and the temperature of the castle has dropped dangerously low due to this. She would hate to be out there right now and idly begins to wander what the weather is like in 1996. It's probably the same; it had been this way constantly throughout her sixth year.
"I know that I'm not supposed to tell you about the future, but… But I can't do this alone. Tom Riddle is too powerful for a wizard of our age… Sir, I need help."
The Transfiguration teacher takes a sip of his Butterbeer and then purses his lips. Hermione waits, watching him patiently as his twinkling blue eyes glaze over in thought. He has to understand; the difference between the Dark Lord and people like her is friendship. Trust. Loyalty through emotion rather than fear. His 'knights' would abandon him in a heartbeat if they thought that somebody else had the upper hand over him, which is something that Hermione could have – if she were allowed to tell her friends about what is really going on.
"Is it my help that you are asking for?"
"Well, yes, Sir, but also the help of my friends."
"Which friends?"
"Augusta, Ignatius, Lucretia, Alphard, Yeilah and Elphie."
"Hmm…" His eyes become uncertain, "That is a lot of people, Miss Granger."
"I know," She replies with a nod, "That's why I want you to be the secret keeper."
His eyes widen slightly upon hearing her say that. She watches him whilst he ponders her request; wringing her hands nervously. She knows that this is a lot to ask, but he is the most powerful and trustworthy wizard that she knows and being the secret keeper herself would be far too obvious. When he continues to remain quiet for too long, she continues to explain.
"It's too dangerous for me to be the secret keeper, Sir. I have been going through a lot of strange things, and I seem to be losing my previous memories the longer I stay here. Tom Riddle knows about the memory charm. He is too strong to be completely fooled by it. This is why I need the Fidelius Charm – he cannot know anything about the future. It's crucial that he is kept from any information about it, and I know that it is only a matter of time until he becomes curious… He is the reason I wanted to come here and I need to buy myself time to continue searching for ways to better him. I know the risks, but I promise you the risks of my failure are far greater."
"I believe you," He sighs, suddenly looking very weary. "I will be your secret keeper. Are you sure that you know how to cast this charm? It is very tricky."
"Thank you, sir! Yes, I do. But first, I must tell you everything."
And so she does. Hermione tells Dumbledore everything from her friends Harry and Ron to their battles against the Dark Lord Voldemort. She mentions that a powerful faculty member had died rather than mentioning his name, though, from fear of changing the timeline. When she is finished the Transfiguration teacher is staring down at her in wonder - she uses this opportunity to stand and walk over to where Dumbledore is sat. She holds our her hand and he slips his in to hers so that they look as though they are shaking hands. Much like the Unbreakable Vow, a string of pale blue light leaves the tip of Hermione's wand and ties itself in to an eight shape around their wrists.
"Do you, Professor Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, swear to protect the secrets of my, Hermione Jean Granger's, mission and future under the Fidelius Charm?"
"I swear," He replies.
The string around their hands begins to glow brighter before snaking its way out of the 'eight' position it had previously taken. What seems to be the head of the snake-like string begins travelling over Hermione's hand and up to Dumbledore's wrist where it buries itself underneath his skin. Once it has disappeared inside of him he looks up at her with a comforting smile.
"And there we have it."
A newfound confidence puts a huge skip in to Hermione's step as she asks for Elphie, Yeilah and Lucretia to come with her to the Gryffindor common room. The trio follow Hermione whilst asking plenty of questions, but seeing as she can no longer speak of her origins or mission to anyone unless they are told about it by Dumbledore himself, she merely says that everything will be explained once they are in the common room. When the four students finally arrive they are pleased to find goblets of pumpkin juice and plates of toast waiting for them; they all sit on the sofas around the fireplace and watch their Transfiguration teacher expectantly. Whilst they enjoy their breakfast and Hermione drinks some more Invigoration Draught to keep herself awake, Dumbledore explains everything. When he finishes the three students from 1944 are staring at Hermione, dumbstruck.
"So, you mean… Wait, you're…" Elphie scratches his head, "What?"
"I've always known that Riddle's powerful," Yeilah murmurs, "But I never thought that he'd be capable of something like this… Prejudice git."
Lucretia, however, remains silent. She is the one with the most memories of Hermione, which makes the Gryffindor feel guilty when she notices the hurt in her eyes. She reaches over from her place beside her and wraps her arms around her tightly.
"I'm sorry, Luce. But our friendship is real, I promise. I feel everything you feel – they may have been put here by magic but it doesn't mean that our friendship is false."
"Doesn't it?" She asks; eyes glisten with tears. Hermione smiles comfortingly and shakes her head.
"No, because you are my friend. I swear."
"So," Dumbledore sighs, smiling at his four students comfortingly, "Do you all understand what I have told you? Miss Granger asked me to be her secret keeper for this knowledge, which means that you do not have the power to tell anybody – she trusts you, but it is Mr Riddle that this has to be kept from. This knowledge could prove to be highly dangerous if he discovers it."
"We understand," Elphie replies, nodding his head so that his honey-blonde hair falls in to his vivid green eyes, "We'll help you with Tom, Hermione."
"Of course we will!" Yeilah says, narrowing her eyes at the burning flames of the fire, "If that prick is going to do all of that to fellow muggle-borns then we have to stop him!"
"And my family may be prejudice but I'm definitely not," Lucretia adds, "Plus I'm at an advantage. Alphard will tell me anything."
"Actually, I've asked Dumbledore to let Alphard, Ignatius and Augusta know, too. That way we've got two Slytherins, four Gryffindors and a Hufflepuff on our side."
"What about a Ravenclaw?" Yeilah asks, "Some of my closest friends are in that house, some of which have been bullied by Riddle's servants since our first year."
"Teresa," Elphie murmurs, earning a nod from his girlfriend.
"Who?" Hermione asks, looking over at Yeilah who fidgets awkwardly.
"Tom… Er, well… I'll leave it up to her to tell you. But, honestly, you can trust her."
"Ok, we'll set up a meeting once school has started again. That way Dumbledore can let Ignatius, Augusta, Alphard and possibly Teresa what's going on… I'm sorry to ask you all for help with this, but I just don't know what else to do. Voldemort has no one to trust, so I just feel that with people to trust I can best him. But I really need you all to help me."
"This isn't just about you, Hermione," Yeilah murmurs, patting her hand comfortingly, "It's about everyone. If Riddle is going to do all of these things then we have to put a stop to it. It's our future children and grandchildren on the line, here."
"You're right, it isn't just about me, but regardless of who this is about we've got to get this mission done."
"Wait," Elphie says, holding his hands up, "Can you explain this again?"
Yeilah nudges him with her elbow and rolls her eyes at Hermione.
"This may take a while."
~x~
"But still," Augusta hisses in a whispered voice, "I can't believe you never really-"
"Aggie, shut it!" Ignatius growls, shoving her shoulder as they walk towards their first Potions lesson of the spring term, "They've cast the Fidelius on this for a reason!"
"Do you actually know anything about the Fidelius charm, dearest cousin?" Augusta asks, "Even if I mention something to you two it will go straight over everybody elses heads, and if I attempted to tell somebody about it then my voice would just stop working. Only Dumbl-" At this point Ignatius covers Augusta's mouth with the palm of his hand. Hermione offers him a grateful smile.
"So, 'Mione, what did you do during the holidays?" He asks to keep Augusta quiet.
"Well, we basically went through the books in both the usual part of the library and the restricted section. I can't tell Dumbledore that I stole the time travel book from him because that could stop him from allowing me to get it in the first place-"
"Isn't that a good thing?" Alphard asks from beside Ignatius, "If he stopped you from getting the book then you would have never come here in the first place, meaning we wouldn't need to get you back home."
"My first priority isn't getting home anymore, Alph. I'm putting my objective first – that way we can kill two birds with one stone."
"So you're saying that you'd rather stop you-know-who, right?"
"Right."
"Do you realize that makes my life a little difficult?"
"Don't blame 'Mione, Alph," Lucretia growls, "You're the one who joined Riddle's little cult, not us."
"It's hardly like you can just say no to him, Luce!" Alphard snaps, "I'd like to see you do it."
"I do say no to him, dimwit!"
"And I have to work twice as bloody hard to ensure that he doesn't hurt you because of it!"
"HEY! Don't blame me for-"
"SHUT IT!" Augusta bellows, hitting the pair of arguing Blacks on their arms, "For God's sake, you're worse than Slughorn and Grubbly-Plank after a couple of Firewhiskeys!"
"Thank Godric for Potions," Ignatius mutters, agreeing with his cousin as they enter their classroom. Hermione bids her friends farewell and then heads over to the seat beside Tom. He is already sat down with his legs stretched out in front of him and his arms folded behind his back; he looks so perfect with his lean body, to-die-for black curls and glowing pale skin that Hermione finds herself becoming envious again, especially after she trips up over her own feet on her way over to him. Blushing profusely, she pulls out her chair and sits down. Relief washes through her when she realizes that he is refusing to acknowledge her presence. Well, at least for now. Good.
"Welcome, students. Welcome back! I trust that you all enjoyed Christmas?" Slughorn stammers whilst fussing around the dreadful pile of books on his desk, presumably looking for today's lesson plan. "Now, what were we doing…?"
"Sir," Hermione calls, holding her hand up. He stops fumbling through the mess of knowledge on his desk to look her way, "We're doing the Polyjuice Potion. You asked us to work with our seating partners and-"
"Ah, yes! Thank you, Miss Granger. Take five house points for your helpfulness."
"Bumbling fool," Tom scoffs under his breath to his head of house, earning a glare from Hermione.
"Do you all have the ingredients required for the Polyjuice Potion, everyone?"
"Our Lacewing flies finish stewing today, Sir!" Augusta calls.
"But some of us haven't been able to collect any Fluxweed."
"And who has?"
"I have, Sir," Tom calls out, along with Alphard (who has it growing in his back garden) and a couple of other students who live in Godric's Hollow. Apparently it grows there, too, but the rest have to wait a few weeks until they can collect theirs.
"Well then, it looks like we are in quite a pickle… Yes… Well, if some of you have already stewed your lacewing flies and have your fluxweed then I see no reason for you to not complete the potion now, otherwise I am afraid the rest of you will have to just have to read in to it some more until you can get your hands on some fluxweed. If you have already stewed your flies and cannot brew the potion today then you must…" Hermione switches off at this point as she heads over to the cauldron on the side where her lacewing flies are stewing. Whilst Tom silently begins setting up his cauldron she sieves off the flies and places them in to an empty jar before pouring the water down the classrooms stone basin. Slughorn sends the students without fluxweed off to do their research in the library – all that is left in the end is a couple of Gryffindor pairings, Alphard and Ignatius, Lucretia and Augusta and Tom and Hermione.
"Right," Hermione sighs once she returns to Tom, "We need to begin by adding three measures of that fluxweed to the cauldron… Where is it?"
"Here," He replies, holding up a jar that's contents include sixteen scruples of fluxweed. She beckons for him to hand her the jar and, with signs of irritation of been told what to do, he does so. Hermione then adds three measures of fluxweed along with two bundles of knotgrass (that Slughorn has provided for them) to Tom's cauldron. "Stir that three times, clockwise," She orders, and surprisingly enough Tom does as he is told. She can feel his cool, silvery eyes studying her the entire time, though. His gaze makes her feel as though somebody is pressing blocks of ice to her spine; every time she turns away from him the cold sensation is there, and she can't help but shiver. Her cheeks flush angrily when she notices that he is smirking about it.
"…But leeches are disgusting!" Hermione hears Lucretia yelp, distracting both her and Tom when they are a little further on in to their potion-making. A shriek soon follows this and both Tom and Hermione look up from their cauldron once again to see that Alphard has grabbed his cousins hands and pinned them behind her back whilst Ignatius dangles one of the fat, slimy creatures in front of her face.
"C'mon, sweetheart. Open uuuuuup," Ignatius drawls. Augusta is bent over and holding on to her desk; her entire frame wracks with breathless, soundless laughter at Lucretia's petrified facial expression.
"You lot are mental," Hermione calls to them, giggling whilst she watches Tom add their leeches to the potion.
"Granger, add two scoops of lacewing flies to the mortar and-"
"Crush them," She nods, "Ok. Pass me the mortar, will you?"
Tom stares at her for a moment with raised eyebrows, which causes Hermione to give him a 'what's wrong' look. After staying like that for a moment he leans in towards her – Hermione's heart suddenly jumps, and her cheeks flush further as she feels his breath fan out across her face. They are centimetres away from one another and she is frozen in place by the intense look in his eyes and sweet Salazar he smells good—But then he pulls away and holds up the mortar in front of her face, causing her to blink in surprise.
"It was on the desk beside you, idiot," He mutters, rolling his eyes before adding two more leeches to the bubbling potion. Hermione blinks again and then just stands there. She knows that gawping at him like this will not do any favours for her, but… But she had been so sure that he was going to… She shakes her head as though to shake those insane thoughts from her mind and silently crushes the lacewing flies in the mortar. Once she has added those to their cauldron they place their potion on a low heat and cast a couple of protective charms over it to prevent the meddlesome younger years from ruining it. Due to the extent of her flustered state she misses the small flush that colours his cheeks, too.
"Fantastic! Oh, wonderful!" Slughorn bellows, throwing an arm around both Hermione and Tom once he sees how their potion is going, "But it is perfect! Let's see, tomorrow, if you can brew the second part just as well! Ten house points to both Gryffindor and Slytherin, as you two finished first."
"Thank you, Sir," Tom says, beaming at him. Hermione raises her eyebrows at the Slytherin heir which causes him to look at her with feigned innocence. She scoffs at that and, without a word, heads over to her friends who are just finishing up their own potions.
"Hey, my little hermit, what do you do with these stupid flies now?" Alphard asks, giving her a puppy-dog look that has her rolling her eyes at him. Slughorn has just gone in to his private storage cupboard, so she makes her way over to him and takes the mortar from his hand.
"Tip two scoops in here," She says, holding it closer to him so he can do just that, "And then crush them. Once you've done that add them to the potion and leave it on a low heat and you're done."
"Thanks!" Alphard murmurs before taking the lacewing flies and placing a quick 'thank you' kiss on her cheek. Her cheeks flush pink from that, and when she heads back to her place to gather her things together she is smiling like a fool…
She doesn't know what the hell she has done wrong, but she must have done something, because there must be a reason for the crimson-eyed glare that Tom Riddle flashes at her before slamming the door to the potions classroom shut behind him; making all of its inhabitants jump.
"He's mental," Augusta mutters, suddenly appearing right beside Hermione which causes the confused Gryffindor to jump once more. She notices this and places a comforting arm around her shoulders, "Don't worry, we'll all take a look at that book of yours and its missing page at lunch. There's a reason he gave you that, so we'll figure it out together and put a stop to his weird antics, okay?"
"Ok," Hermione nods, but she can't get the image of his fierce red eyes out of her head…
~x~
"It's fucking freezing out here," Ignatius complains as the girls in their group of friends rush over to the snowless spot under the willow tree in the courtyard. Elphie shares a look of agreement with his fellow male Gryffindor whilst they follow on, shoving his hands in to the pockets of his winter robes for warmth.
"Stop being such a baby," Lucretia replies, walking over to place a quick kiss on his lips. "But if you're really that cold then you can snuggle up to me, sweetie."
"Get a room," The Hufflepuff mutters in mock-disgust.
"Says the one who sucks face with Elphie in the bloody corridors!" Lucretia replies, making both Yeilah and Elphie blush.
"We're trying to keep it private, Luce! Stop bellowing it to the whole school!" Yeilah replies, but the Slytherin just scoffs.
"Well you're not very familiar with the meaning of the word privacy then, are you?"
"When's your cousin going to ask Hermy out, anyway?" Ignatius asks, winking at Hermione once her eyes snap away from the book to him.
"Nate, you know that I couldn't-"
"Who says?"
"Well, I just don't think it would be a very good idea… I may go back to the future at any point. Although, with the way this conversation is going we'll never find a way to stop you-know-who."
"Ok, ok," Ignatius sighs, falling down to rest his back against the tree trunk beside her, "Let's have a look at that book of yours."
So, Hermione hands the book over to Ignatius, who begins reading the translation whilst Augusta snatches up the original and reads the Runes as effortlessly as she would read a book written in English. Whilst they do that Hermione finally pulls that piece of parchment out of her pocket and stares at the title nervously.
Other Problems That May Occur From the Use of Time Travel.
When she had first seen the title up in the Infirmary she felt a rush of terror flood through her and, ever since then, she has not been able to bring herself to read the rest of that blasted page. She almost laughs – for the first time in her life; Hermione Granger has found something that she doesn't want to read!
Around an hour later everyone has read enough of either the translation or the original book to know what it the author was talking about. They sit close due to the lack of dry ground underneath the tree – unfortunately this is the only place Hermione could think to bring them without being eavesdropped on as she doesn't really feel like sharing the whereabouts of the Room of Requirement with them. Ignatius, who is holding Lucretia close from behind, rests his chin on her shoulder so that her hair is tickling his face. Those Weasley-esque eyes of his bore in to Hermione's, painfully reminding her of Ron once more. He takes the lonely page from her and begins to read the runes. I miss them so much, she whimpers internally.
"Hermione, this last page…"
"What does it say? Just tell me, I'll never be able to bring myself to read it," She gnaws her lower lip, restraining herself from covering her ears to block out Ignatius' next words.
"Well, it talks about those memory problems you were talking about. The magick you channelled to get you here in the first place will install false memories in to both you and the people you are surrounded with so that you'll fit in to that time frame, but your original memories will slowly fade away the longer you stay there. I think it's trying to say that if you can't complete your mission then you have to stay here, so time attempts to correct the huge hole you've put in it by fitting you in to our time and removing you from your own timeframe completely."
Her face pales, and she feels a lump beginning to form in her throat. It makes sense now. She should have realized sooner… This is why Tom had been so upset about her being here. But this still doesn't explain how he remembers everything, does it? Although him being the younger version of the Darkest wizard in History is explanation enough for that – she has already concluded that his power alone bests that of anyone that she has ever met, before, even at the age of eighteen.
"Merlin's beard," She whimpers; her eyes flood with tears of rage that is purely directed at herself. "I'm doomed."
"Hermione, don't think like that!" Elphie murmurs whilst wrapping a comforting arm around her and pulling her in for a hug, "You've told us now and we're going to help you. I promise you we'll help you get home, but to do that we've got to do exactly what you said before and stop Riddle, remember? We'll do it, 'Mione. Please don't cry."
But she can't help crying. She hasn't really cried about this for a while; even though she is surrounded by an amazing group of people that are willing to do anything for her she can't help but miss Harry's sarcastic comments, Ron's smile, her modern day teachers – hell, she even misses Draco's biting comments. She would take dozens of them over forgetting about her friends. She would take death over never getting to see Harry, Ron, the Weasley family or any of her other friends again. Ginny, Fred, George, Luna, Neville, her parents-
"What am I doing?" She asks, halting her sobs as she raises her head from Elphie's shoulder. "What am I doing, sat here crying. I should be working! We need to find more information." Although her cheeks are damp with tears and her eyes are puffy from crying, she smiles at Ignatius, "You just discovered something! That's a start!"
"But it doesn't exactly set us in any direction to find anything else," Lucretia mumbles. Augusta nudges her with her elbow and gives her a look that screams shut it!
"But it does!" Hermione yells.
"Mind telling us what that path is?" Ignatius asks.
"Can't you see? Riddle is the one that gave me that page in the first place! I bet that he tore it out of the book himself, which means-"
"That means that Riddle has read it," Yeilah's eyes widen as Hermione nods enthusiastically.
"Which means that we've got to go find Alphard."