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Chapter Eleven: We Roll Right through Our Years

Hermione was devastated to lose Allie, her only connection to her past life. Allie didn't send any owls or give any word of her and Saqi's safety. She even felt distanced from Minerva and Poppy. She felt like a third wheel hanging out with only them. So when Audley came back, Hermione spent more time with her. Audley hung off Hermione as much as possible. She had changed much, her temper was still present, but she wasn't as vocal. She would complain to the girls later, instead of expressing it in the moment. Her self-esteem faded too, and she didn't stand up for herself in an argument anymore.

Allie's parents were furious with Allie's disappearance. She didn't report to them before she left, and her parents gave Armando Dippet quite an earful for letting one of his students just disappear. However, with all of hassle of the war, there were too many missing persons for the Ministry to do anything to find Allie directly. There were simply "Missing" posters hanging around with the others who were missing, where the lanky Allie Ejiofor winked mischievously from her poster.

But Hermione wasn't alone for the summer. Lucy Audley insisted on Hermione staying with her. Hermione knew if the girl had the power, she would have adopted Hermione herself. Lucy was an only child, and her wizard mother passed away long before. Her father raised her, and he was a Muggle. Mr. Audley had bought a bed specifically for Hermione and rearranged Lucy's room so it would be fit.

Mr. Audley was exceedingly wealthy. Lucy admitted in private that it was the reason her mother had married him. She didn't tell Hermione how her mother had died, and Hermione never inquired. Hermione enjoyed her summer. Lucy may have been vain, but she did read avidly. She didn't have the same opinion as the other students of muggle books; she saw the merit in them. Her father worked long hours, and the girl had always been very lonely. She saw a bit of herself in the scarred girl. They spent a long time discussing English Literature. Lucy had a fondness for the Brontës, but she was interested in reading everything with a story. She liked historical fiction, but not straight history textbooks. Hermione loved the feeling of sitting in silence with the girl as they read separate books together. It reminded her of when Harry and Ron would be playing chess as she researched information for their next adventure. Hermione wondered if Lestrange had torn out Lucy's eyes in her timeline as well, but left her for dead.

By the end of the summer, Mr. Audley asked to speak to Hermione privately. "Lucy is all I have, you know," he said. "I was devastated when I found out what that monster did to her. I've looked into surgery to fix those scars, but Lucy will have none of it. She insists there isn't anything to be done."

He sighed, and he looked at Hermione fixedly. "She's changed a lot over this year. I thought she changed a lot last year, but it's been nothing compared to this year. I don't think she would have been all right if it hadn't been for you. I wanted to thank you, you have no idea how much it means to me."

He continued, "But we're living in dangerous times. I would not be surprised if this comes to England. I don't know much about you wizard's part in the war, but I do know about our part in it. So I am going to have to ask you for a favour, Hermione Abercorn."

"Anything, sir," Hermione replied.

Mr. Audley had been extremely hospitable to Hermione. He would buy whatever she needed, new clothes, her new textbooks. He helped Hermione set up a bank account at Gringotts, one that collected interest too. He talked about getting Hermione her own owl, but Hermione felt that it was too much. She was ready to do whatever he asked for, even if it meant changing history.

"I want you to protect my daughter," he said.

Hermione smiled. "I would have done so without you asking," she assured him.

"No, I don't think you fully understand what I am asking. I want you to protect her always. I want to adopt you so you have no excuse to stray from her side," he said.

Hermione accepted and hugged Mr. Audley tightly. Somehow Hermione managed to twine herself into a family again. When she went back to Hogwarts the following year, she was a part of something again.

This year also brought Hagrid, Olive Hornby, and Moaning Myrtle into the school. Hermione noticed that Hagrid stuck out like a sore thumb. Hermione, who was on better terms with Poppy than Minerva, approached Poppy and mentioned that perhaps they should take the boy under their wings.

"I trust your judgement, Hermione," Poppy said. "If you say this boy is kind, we'll do our best to keep him involved in the Gryffindor student body."

"You should have been a Gryffindor," Hermione said with a smile.

Poppy scoffed. "I'm not brave," she said.

Hermione asked about volunteering in St. Mungo's this year and how her summer had been. Neither Minerva nor Poppy had heard from Allie since she had left. Poppy admitted she was concerned for her friend, and over the summer she expected to see Allie at any moment.

"Hermione," Poppy said, "If you don't mind me being blunt. Are you avoiding Minerva and me? I hope you do not feel uncomfortable without Allie there. Minerva misses having someone to fly with. I can't believe there are still no openings on the Gryffindor team."

Hermione sighed. "I admit that I do feel uncomfortable without Allie there, but I am doing something that Allie had asked me to do, and I think it will look more believable if I'm not fraternizing with any Gryffindors. My promise to you on the train last year still holds true. And I promise you it always will."

Hermione decided to use Allie has a scapegoat. How else could she explain her sudden interest in Tom Riddle and disinterest in Poppy and Minerva?

Poppy chuckled. "Oh I do not worry that you will harm us, but now you have me interested. What has Allie asked you to do?"

"I'm afraid I cannot say," Hermione replied. "At least not yet."

"If you need any help," Poppy said, "Minerva and I will stand by you. Things have been rather dull since Allie has left."

"Hopefully Hagrid will help to make things interesting," Hermione said. "And I will ask for help when I need it. I'm lucky to have befriended you two early on, and I'm sorry to disappear like this."

The next two years seemed to shoot by for Hermione. She felt like a student again, just studying and mischief. Her and Lucy Audley were quite inseparable, and on Hermione's darker days she was tempted to tell the poor girl everything that had happened to her. But Hermione held her secret tight to her, sometimes reviewing her memories and the few memories that Allie had put into it before she left. There were no outbursts of magic. Hermione spent an hour every day working off her extra energy. And with some of her darker memories out of her head, by her fourth year she was able to conjure an Expecto Patronum. However, she was surprised to see that her otter had shifted into a weasel.

Tom Riddle and Hermione were growing closer as well. She wanted quite desperately to kill him, but she felt wrong doing it without Allie's permission. She didn't have a reason to kill him, not anything he did in this timeline. Hermione also didn't want to admit that their conversations together began to get interesting. In their fourth year, Hermione had caught Tom with Grindelwald propaganda, papers he had written on why he was fighting this war. They were banned at school, of course. She spent some time debating with him on the value of Muggles and Muggle-born students.

"It is the pureblood families who produce the most number of Squibs, you can look up that statistic," Hermione said, in the common room one night after everyone else had gone to bed. "We need the muggleborn children, and even half-blood children, to keep the wizarding community strong. There is no evidence that Pureblood wizards are stronger than the alternative wizards. You don't even know what line you come from. I don't see where this bias could have come from."

"I have a feeling about where I am from," Tom replied. "And I agree with your breeding principles, but to keep Muggles in the loop seems absurd."

"Do tell me your suspicions, Tom Riddle. It will be for a good laugh," Hermione replied.

"That is reason enough not to tell you," Tom said. "You will think it to be a joke. I will only reveal it to you when I am certain of it."

"Well you should," Hermione said. "I wouldn't be surprised if I'm from entirely Muggle stock. They probably threw me out because I started to make my mobile spin."

"See, they're a superstitious lot," Tom said. "As soon as they see something different, they must destroy it. I don't even agree with Grindelwald. Controlling the Muggles seems like a waste of time. We're the ones who should control them. We obviously have more sense than they do. Have you seen some of the monstrosities they have made with this war? They are only finding more efficient ways of killing themselves. There are no positive developments."

"Medical research," Hermione said. "Through finding more efficient ways of killing themselves, they are finding more efficient ways of healing themselves. It's the mixture of money being in the right place and of the necessity for it that causes these advances."

"Isn't that in itself flawed? Why isn't there funding and necessity before? Half of their population is starving, and they're more focussed on what religious group offends them the most," Tom said.

Circular conversations like these continued for the year. Hermione doubted her influence on Tom. He didn't change his opinion or show any sign of faltering on his opinion. However, Hermione was enjoying the debate. Tom did a lot of research into the things he believed, and he was a formidable debate foe. She felt guilty for the amount of fun she had. Hermione was certain that the next year the chamber would open on schedule, and she would kill the student to save Myrtle and ultimately everyone else. She wasn't surprised at the sense of relief that came with this thought.