*Author's Note:

*This is the fixed version of chapter 11. There was an error when uploading the document and it accidentally copied the last section twice. This is now FIXED.

Surprise! A fast update! I'm beginning to steer the story in more of the original direction that I intended, so here you go. Let me know what you think! Cheers!

Chapter 11

Monday came all too quickly for Hermione's taste, and she soon found herself awake, once again, at 6:30 in the morning. As Hermione got up from her bed, she glanced over to Nagini's bed and found it empty. Further down the dormitory, Florence and Lucille remained fast asleep. Hermione quietly picked up her clothes and walked into the bathroom to get ready for the day.

As Hermione got ready for the day, she couldn't shake the feeling that she was slowly beginning to lose her purpose in traveling back in time. Her sole purpose should be to kill Tom Riddle, to kill Voldemort. Instead, she found herself getting caught up in Hogwarts.

Well, it's not exactly my fault. I think that's it's clear that I can't kill him while we're in Hogwarts; there's no way out once I do. Hermione thought as she attempted to style her hair, realizing that she wasn't just making excuses for herself; she was right. There was no way to kill Tom Riddle while inside Hogwarts, especially since, at the moment, she had no way of getting back to the future when she did. Sighing Hermione, quickly finished styling her hair and exited the bathroom.

When she arrived back into the dormitory, Florence and Lucille were both starting to stir, and Nagini was still missing. Assuming Nagini to be at breakfast with Tom already, Hermione grabbed the book of ancient Runes that she had checked out from the library the week before and dropped it in her bag, leaving the dormitory before she would be forced to talk to Florence and Lucille.

The Common Room was completely deserted, and the fire was cold. It sent prickled up Hermione's spine to see the usually populous place so quiet, and made her inexplicably nervous. Shaking off the feeling, Hermione sat down in one of the comfortable armchairs and opened the old book.

The book was strange, to say the least; its very title, The Future, was strange enough to begin with, but something about the way the book was written sent chills to Hermione's heart. It was written in first person, although no author was given.

I believe in The Future, a place where wizards will not hide anymore, and where the Wizarding World will be the real world, and the only world. I have great faith in The Future, for it is bright for wizards. We will continue to throw off the oppression that has buried us under hundreds of years. When I was a boy, I dreamed of this world. I dreamed it. Now, I shall live it. And by doing so, I shall. . .

Hermione read fairly quickly, the runes not giving her problems until she reached the word "shall." After that, the runes were spider-like and thinly scrawled, looking handwritten, and they were unlike any rune she had ever seen before in her life. Hermione brought the book closer to her face, trying to decipher the runes without much success. Suddenly, Hermione heard voices.

"You must understand the issue, Tom. They're suspicious." A girl that sounded like Nagini said up the stairs. Hermione heard a door close. Thinking quickly, Hermione cast a Disillusionment Charm on herself and then grabbed her bag, moving to the far end of the Common Room. She hid her bag behind the bookcase and then crouched next to the fireplace, hopefully out of sight of Tom and Nagini as they came down the staircase. A few moments later, Tom and Nagini did arrive into the common room, heads bent together and to Hermione's great disappointment, whispering.

"No! You can't do that!" Nagini suddenly said, sounding angry. Tom smirked a little,

"Shh, not so loud, Nagini. Do you want the entire Slytherin House to hear you?" He snapped. Nagini looked livid for a moment, but then seemed to calm down,

"You're right, of course." She responded, dropping her voice down lower again, "But you can't do that. It's too risky."

"Nagini, I have to. There's no other way for this to work." Tom Riddle replied with an uncharacteristic amount of patience. Nagini shook her head quickly,

"No, I won't let you." She said firmly, surprising Hermione once again. Who was Nagini, telling Tom Riddle, Voldemort, no? Tom's face seemed to reflect Hermione's reaction as well. Nagini, however, continued talking, "If you do that, Dumbledore's going to be on you in half a moment, maybe even faster. You know that he's watching you. If you k-" Suddenly, Tom put up a hand to stop her,

"No another word, here." He said quickly, looking around the Common Room, suddenly drawing his wand, "I thought I heard something." He slowly began to look around the room, pointing his wand as he went.

"Tom, just leave it. Come on, let's go to breakfast. We can discuss it later." Nagini said softly, and, much to Hermione's surprise, Tom turned to follow her,

"Yes, that would be best, I think." He said, pocketing his wand, but still looking around the room. Nagini moved forward and opened the door leading out of the Common Room, Tom following her. Hermione, relieved, got ready to move out of her hiding place.

As Nagini stepped out of the Common Room, was it Hermione's imagination, or did Nagini look straight over to her hiding spot? Before Hermione had time to contemplate, they were gone.

Hermione decided that it would be best to wait several minutes before going down to the Great Hall for breakfast. She quickly removed the disillusionment charm and settled back into the armchair, deep in thought. Clearly, something was about to happen, and she was out of the loop. There was no doubt in her mind now that Tom Riddle had some type of followers group, and Nagini was his right-hand follower, if not practically his equal. The way she talked to Tom Riddle was not the way that ANY of his followers dared speak to him in the future. Of course, Tom Riddle was still at student, but something told Hermione that Nagini must be special to be able to talk to Riddle in such a way. After thinking for a few minutes more, Hermione decided that it would be safe to go to breakfast. Just as she was about to walk out of the Common Room, she was hailed by none other than Alphard Black,

"Blishwick!" He said pleasantly as he ambled down the staircase, "Good morning!" Hermione forced herself to smile,

"Good morning, Black!" She replied in a friendly way.

"You're going down to breakfast, right?" He asked, and she nodded, "Good! I'll join you. I'm getting a bit hungry myself." He said, opening up the door leading out of the Common Room for her. Hermione stepped through the door, saying thank you to him. Despite his pleasant tone, something seemed to be off about him.

"How are you this morning?" She asked, hoping to break the slightly awkward silence that had settled in between them.

"Oh, fine, fine." Black replied dismissively, then smiled, "I heard from Nagini that you might be our new Chaser this year." Hermione laughed,

"Oh, she's lying! Positively lying, the twit!" She said with another chuckle, "I'm pretty awful at flying! I just learned on Saturday, actually." Black shrugged,

"Well, you never know. You might be an instant star!" He said with a wink, clearly teasing her. Hermione shoved him in the arm in a good-natured way. Despite what Nagini and Tom Riddle seemed to think of Black, Hermione liked him. Perhaps she shouldn't trust Tom Riddle's judgment of people anyway; it probably wasn't the best idea, "Nagini taught you how to fly, then?" He asked.

"Well, not exactly; she was there and helped me a little later, but Tom Riddle taught me first." Hermione replied carelessly, but immediately regretted it. Black's jaw tensed up,

"You went down to the Quidditch Pitch with Tom Riddle?" He asked, trying his best to sound light-hearted, "That must be quite an accomplishment." He slowed down his walking pace and looked over at her. Hermione tilted her head, confused,

"What's wrong with that? I knew Nagini, Malfoy, and the rest of the Quidditch players would be busy, so I asked Riddle to teach me because I knew that he knew how to fly, but wouldn't need to go through drills." She explained. It was a perfectly sound explanation, but Black's jaw grew even tenser. Suddenly, he grabbed her arm, pulling her to the side and into an empty classroom. He closed the door and pulled her deeper into the room.

"Hermione, look." His use of her first name not escaping her, "I don't know what you're playing at, but I don't think you know who you're playing with. Tom Riddle is dangerous, and you need to stay away from him." Black said, grasping her shoulders. Hermione stared right back at him,

"Dangerous? How so?" She asked slowly, wondering if she would finally get some answers at last. Black shook his head, his hands still on her shoulders,

"I can't prove anything." He said at last, "But I do know this: there is something not right about Tom Riddle. People get hurt when they're around him, even his so-called 'friends.' Tom Riddle doesn't seem to have any real friends; those who hand around him are absolutely terrified." Black said, the passion in his voice rising a little as he got to the end, "He's taken an interest in you." He continued softly, "He walks you to class, he sits by you at all times, I've seen him stroke your hair, touch your back, kiss your hand, he appears out of nowhere to come to your rescue. . . Tom Riddle has never taken this kind of interest in a female before, or anyone for that matter, except Nagini, who you could say has something odd about her too. He wants something from you, Hermione. I just don't know what it is." He squeezed her shoulders, staring at her most intently. Hermione wasn't sure how to respond; all that Black said was true, but she couldn't make heads or tails of it either,

"I-I'm not sure either, to be completely honest." She admitted, and saw the disappointment in his face. Alphard stared her in the eye, pulling her closer,

"What are you trying to do by provoking his attention? You could easily say no to half of his offers and not have gone with him to the Quidditch pitch." His face was only inches from hers now, "Don't you dare lie to me, Hermione Blishwick. What's going on?" He asked, his voice soft and dangerous, putting deliberate emphasis on the last three words.

"I don't know." Hermione answered as deliberately as she could, his closeness making her nervous.

"I said, don't lie to me!" He snapped angrily, "I'll ask one more time: what's going on?"

"I told you; I don't know! I honestly don't know!" Hermione said almost pleadingly. When his iron grip didn't come off her shoulders, she tried to push him back, since she was unable to reach her wand, "Let me go, Black." She demanded furiously.

"No." Black replied, regaining some of his dangerously quiet calmness, "I'm not letting you go until you tell me exactly what's so important to you that you would put yourself in this kind of danger." Hermione tried once again to push him back, but now he grabbed her wrists and squeezed them almost painfully,

"Let me go!" Hermione demanded again, struggling against him, but he was so much bigger than her that her attempts were almost useless. His grip on her wrists tightened to a painful degree, "Stop it!" She gasped. Suddenly, the door flew open, and none other than the handsome Tom Riddle step through the door,

"That will do, Black." He snarled, his wand pointed right at Black, clearly ready to attack if the need arose. Black stared to Tom Riddle for a moment, looked down at Hermione's wrists that he held far too tightly, then into Hermione's eyes. He released her wrists, looking towards the empty side of the room for a long moment. Hermione stepped away from him as Tom Riddle walked towards Black, his wand still drawn and pointed towards his fellow student. Suddenly, Black looked right at Riddle,

"I won't let you do it." He said quietly. Tom Riddle held his wand steady,

"Threatening another student in an empty classroom, actually trying to hurt her; that's serious, Black. Very serious. Fifty house points deducted from Slytherin, and I will alert the Headmaster to your display of violence. Now get out!" Tom ordered, flicking his wand towards the door. Black stared back at him,

"I said, I won't let you do it!" He roared, "I won't let you do her the same way you did Myrtle!" A slightly red glint appeared in Tom Riddle's eye,

"That is a very serious accusation." He said, his rage barely suppressed, "That case is closed. The one responsible has been expelled, rightfully so, and the monster is gone. No thanks to you, I might add, but because I solved the mystery. I made sure that it would never happen again." Tom spat arrogantly, "This conversation is over."

"I know you did it! I know you did." Black shouted, waking towards the Head Boy, drawing his wand.

"Why don't you prove it?" Tom Riddle said, keeping his wand trained on Black. When Black simply stared back, jaw clenched, Tom Riddle smirked, "I thought as much. Now get out."

Black turned, casting one final look at Hermione, before storming out of the room, slamming the door so hard that a few flecks of dust fell from the ceiling. Tom Riddle continued looking at the door for a few moments before pocketing his wand and turning back to Hermione,

"Let me see your wrists." He said, walking towards her. Wordlessly, Hermione showed him the deep red marks that still remained. Tom look her right wrist, examining it closely for a moment, "I don't think it will bruise, although it might very lightly." He asserted, letting go of her wrist and looking into her eyes, "What was all of that about, Miss Blishwick?" He asked seriously. Hermione shook her head a little,

"It's nothing. . . he was angry that I wouldn't go to Hogsmeade with him, that's all." She lied. Tom Riddle again looked into her eyes,

"Do you expect me to believe that, Miss Blishwick? That Alphard Black, who never takes anything seriously in his life, actually almost caused you hard over a Hogsmeade trip?" He asked, "No, you're lying. It's okay; I know his actions were not your fault. Tell me." He prodded. Finally, Hermione sighed,

"I hardly know know happened myself. We were walking to breakfast when he started to question me about flying at the Quidditch Pitch on Saturday. When I told him that I went with you, he got angry and dragged me in here, where he started talking about his dislike for you. By the end, he had gotten very angry when I my answers to his questions weren't the answers he wanted to hear." She explained, leaving out the details, but still telling the basic truth, "I think he harbors an intense dislike for you, Mr. Riddle. That, or intense jealously." Tom Riddle continued to look at her most intently, but seemed to accept this explanation,

"Yes, Alphard Black has never been particularly fond of me." He conceded, "He must have been very angry indeed, though, since his actions were so uncharacteristic." He paused, picking up her bag from the ground, "Come; I'll walk you to breakfast. And don't be surprised if the Headmaster calls you to his office to ask a few questions; he takes student violence very seriously." He began to walk to the door, Hermione following him.

"I'll keep that in mind." Hermione replied, walking alongside Tom Riddle as they mounted the last staircase coming up from the dungeons, "Mr. Riddle?" She asked suddenly. He looked over to her,

"Yes, Miss Blishwick?"

"I am grateful for your rescue, but I must ask; how did you know where I was?" She questioned, brows knitted. Tom Riddle raised his eyebrows,

"I didn't. I was simply on my way back to the Common Room and I heard voices coming from an empty classroom. I listened for a moment, and when I heard your distress, I came inside." Hermione nodded; it seemed plausible, even if she didn't completely buy it.

As they entered the Great Hall and made their way over to the usual group of Slytherins, Hermione noticed that Tom visibly tensed for a moment. Looking around, Hermione tried to discover the source of his tension, but did not see anything that looked too out of the ordinary. Then, Hermione saw it: Alphard Black was talking with Professor Dumbledore. Tom Riddle quickly steered her towards the Slytherin table. Nagini smiled at them as they approached, but the smile quickly faded at Tom's expression,

"What's wrong?" She asked immediately, sliding over to make room for Hermione and Tom on the bench.

"I found Miss Blishwick here cornered in a room with Alphard Black, who was about to practically twist her wrists off." Tom Riddle snapped, grabbing Hermione's wrist and showing Nagini the fading red marks. Nagini immediately became angry

"That bastard! Merlin help me, I WILL hex the shit out of him now!" She said loudly, starting to get up. Lestrange quickly caught her arm,

"As much as I agree with you, Nagini, that's probably not the best idea." He said, pulling her back down to the bench.

"What did he want?" Malfoy asked icily, looking over to Hermione with a face that almost looked concerned. Hermione sighed,

"To be honest, I'm not exactly sure. He was just angry about the fact that I tend to hang out around all of you." She said, noting the way that Tom was looking at her. By the looks of it, he didn't want her to tell them everything, though she was not exactly sure why.

"It has to be something more than that. Black doesn't get angry that easily." Lestrange commented thoughtfully. Nagini, too, was looking at Tom. After a moment, she shrugged,

"I guess we'll all just have to be extra careful." She looked around with a significant look, "Until we get to the bottom of this, at least." Suddenly, a lot of students began to file out of the Great Hall.

"Well, I guess it's time for Potions." Abraxus Malfoy said, standing up and slinging his bag over his shoulder. Hermione quickly took another quick bite of toast before standing up and doing the same.

"Walk with me, Hermione." Nagini insisted with a smile that did not quite match her eyes. She looped her arm through Hermione's and they began to walk out of the Hall. As soon as they were a decent distance away from Tom and the rest, Nagini looked over to Hermione, "So, what really happened?" She asked softly. Hermione shook her head,

"Black was walking with me to breakfast when he started questioning me about my weekend at the Quidditch Pitch. When I told him that I went with Riddle, he started acting weird. He pulled me into a classroom, and at first, he seemed concerned about my spending time with Riddle, and about our behavior. When I tried to assure him that it was nothing, he demanded to know what was going on. When I told him I didn't know, he became angry. It was shortly after that Riddle came in and then they got into a spat." Hermione paused, "Black accused Riddle of doing something to a girl named Myrtle." Nagini stopped in her tracks,

"He WHAT?" She asked, her face unreadable.

"I didn't really understand. . ." Hermione lied, "He said 'I won't let you do you the same way you did Myrtle' and then he kept on saying 'I know you did it.'" She paused, "What does he mean?" Nagini sighed,

"Myrtle was a Ravenclaw that was killed last year when the Chamber of Secrets was opened. The Chamber of Secrets was built by Slytherin as a way to purge the school of mudbloods. Myrtle was a mudblood, and so the monster from the chamber attacked her. Luckily, Tom caught the culprit, and the boy was expelled." Nagini explained, "I guess Black wants to blame Tom because he hates Tom so much. I don't understand though; that's a serious accusation that can have serious consequences." She paused again, "Besides, I don't understand Black's comment; even if Tom did have something to do with Myrtle, why would he do the same to you? He likes you, I'm sure of it." Hermione looked over at Nagini,

"I was hoping that you could tell me. You know Tom Riddle and Alphard Black better than I do." She commented.

"I do, but I don't know what's going on. It doesn't sound good; it sounds like Black has a thing for you to me. I think he's jealous. At any rate, I would stay away from him as much as you possibly can. Resorting to anger and violence instead of mockery is very unlike Black; I think something else might be going on with him that we don't know about." Nagini said slowly, looking intently at Hermione. Somehow, Hermione felt that Nagini was telling more than she meant to.

"Something else going on? Like what?" She asked, truly curious. Nagini shook her head,

"I can't say, but I don't think its good." With that comment, the pair arrived in the Potions classroom.

"Ah, Miss Blishwick, Nagini! Good morning!" Slughorn greeted them with a smile, "Just the two girls I wanted to see, actually. You see, I have a little group I like to call the Slug Club that meets for some dinner parties every so often, and I wanted to know if you two girls would like to attend next Wednesday night." Hermione looked over to Nagini, who smiled and answered,

"It would be an honor, professor! We'll be delighted to attend." She said, glancing over at Hermione.

"Wonderful, wonderful! It will be semi-formal dress. Now, off to your tables now!" He said, clapping with a jolly smile. Hermione marveled at the fact that the professor never did change.

As Hermione and Nagini sat down at their table, Malfoy and Riddle joined the table, Tom still looking slightly angry. He quickly wiped the expression off of his face as he accepted his invitation to Slughorn's Slug Club party and replaced it with a pleasant smile.

"Alright, class! Today, we will be brewing the Draught of the Living Dead, and extremely difficult potion, to be sure. Let's see, let's do it in pairs. Yes, Malfoy and Nagini, Riddle and Blishwick. . ." He went around the room, pairing everyone up quickly, "Oh, Septimus Weasley, our odd number! Why don't you work with Blishwick and Riddle? I dare say their expertise could do you well. Instructions are on the board and in your book, Chapter 4. Off you go, then!" Hermione watched with some amusement as Tom's lip curled as Septimus Weasley blundered up to the table,

"Hi." He said glumly, setting his cauldron down on the table. Tom Riddle ignored him, getting out his book. Hermione smiled a little at him,

"Hello." She replied.

"We'll use my cauldron." Tom announced, moving Hermione's and Septimus's cauldron off the table. Soon, the three began gathering and preparing the ingredients, with Tom and Hermione doing the majority of the work and Septimus looking lost,

"I knew I shouldn't have let my mum talk me into taking NEWT Potions. . ." He muttered. Soon, Tom Riddle had several sophorus beans on the table,

"This step is particularly tricky. It is quite difficult to cut the beans." He said, looking over to Hermione. Hermione, thinking in an amused way of her sixth year potions with Harry, smiled,

"Just take the broad side of the knife and crush them."

"B-but the instructions said to cut." The Weasley supplied,

"Shut up." Tom Riddle snapped at him. He turned his attention to Hermione, "Really?" He asked, interested.

"Yes, you get a lot more juice that way. See?" Hermione neatly crushed the bean, dropping the juice into the cauldron, "It's also a lot less messy." She commented as everyone else's beans flew all about the room. Tom nodded, intrigued,

"So curious, how such a small instruction can make so much of a difference." He commented. They continued brewing the potion, "Alright, now for the stirring."

"I'll do it." Hermione said, taking the spoon from Tom Riddle, ready to show off once more. She began to stir the potion seven times counter-clockwise, and then threw in one clockwise stir.

"What are you doing?" Tom asked, not seeming angry, just interested.

"Stirring it a better way." Hermione smartly replied, excited to have a leg up academically over Tom Riddle. Soon, the potion was complete. Slughorn came around to inspect it, he smiled, clapping his hands,

"Merlin's beard! It's perfect!" He declared, mimicking what he said to Harry that so infuriated Hermione their sixth year, "Well done, you three! Thirty points to Slytherin!" Septimus didn't even argue with the fact that his house was left out. To be truthful, Hermione felt a bit sorry for him,

"You know, you'll get better." She said with an encouraging smile. Septimus looked up at her, as if surprised that she was even talking to him,

"Not likely. I'm frightfully awful at Potions." He remarked with a shrug, "I'll clean up, since I didn't do anything else." He pulled out his wand, "Scourgify!" He said, and the charm worked surprisingly well. Tom sneered,

"Well, at least something worked right with you." He commented coldly, establishing his dislike for the Weasley's. Hermione supposed that they were still considered blood traitors even in this time. Feeling a soft spot for him, Hermione smiled at the Weasley boy,

"Just let me know if you need any help with Potions, okay?" She said. Septimus, looking surprised, nodded,

"Okay. Thanks." He slowly ambled off to the other side of the room once more. Nagini watched him go,

"I thought you had a thing for redheads!"

"Nagini!" Hermione said with a laugh. Nagini's smile quickly faded,

"Hermione. . . I've been thinking, and Black is really starting to scare me. Please, promise me you'll be careful around him."

"I promise." Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder; a pale, cold hand. Tom Riddle's hand.

"She doesn't have to worry."