A Twist of Fate

by Lady Merope Riddle

What would happen when the brightest witch for her age meets the darkest wizard of all time? Find out what happen when Hermione Granger, who had travelled back in time by drinking a mysterious potion that she made herself, copes with the situation when she is about to face Lord Voldemort! Would Hermione change the future, and turn things around? Or was it just a twist of fate?

12. Chapter 12DUMBLEDORE'S PROPOSITION CONT

Chapter 11: Dumbledore's Proposition [continued]

Hermione felt glad that she was able to get back to her classes again. All her fellow Gryfindors welcomed her back with warm smiles. They hugged her tightly in a warm embrace and flashed her broad grins and waved joyfully at her as she joined them at the Gryfindor table. Hermione was very happy about this. She ate her breakfast merrily, and joked and laughed along with her friends. She felt that her appetite was returning, hence she piled her plate with more food than before. Minerva and Charles merely looked at her as she forked eggs and bacon into her mouth whilst laughing along with them.

"Watch out, girl! Don't get choked," Charles said, giving Hermione a grin.

"Don't worry. I will take care of that," Hermione said, stuffing her face with more food. Minerva gave her an exasperated look.

"Sorry. I'm starving. Couldn't eat much at the hospital wing as my appetite had not returned yesterday," Hermione said.

Minerva just nodded, but did not wipe the look of exasperation away from her face. Hermione chuckled at this. Minerva was in some ways like the Professor McGonagall back in her time.

As the day continued, Hermione felt much better. Even Mariana had stopped teasing her about Riddle. Hermione was glad about this. Finally, the girl had seen a bit of Riddle's true colours, and was probably too shaken by the experience. Roger and Bilius also stopped throwing compliments about Riddle in front of Hermione. She was quite glad with this turn of events.

The day passed by in a flash, with Hermione attending all her classes together with Minerva and Charles. They joked and laughed a lot. Alphard joined them during lunchtime at the Gryfindor table. Hermione could see that his cousin Lucricia was not too pleased with this, as she kept throwing dirty looks at the Gryfindor table once in a while. Alphard just pretended not to notice it, and continued to chat merrily with Hermione and her group of friends. He try as best as possible to avert his gaze from Lucricia's blazing eyes, which was enough to sent daggers flying at him in all directions. A few Slytherin girls, Millie Parkinson among them, noted this with displeasure. They patted Lucricia on the shoulders and whispered something in her ears. Lucricia just pursed her lips in a tight line, and continued to glare furiously at the Gryfindor table. Hermione chuckled at this. She was pleased to find that some things never changed; Alphard was just like Sirius, with the same persona and looks. She liked him that way. At least she was able to find comfort in his company, as he reminded her so much of her past. She smiled at this thought, and continued to eat her lunch, glancing once in a while at the Slytherin table. Riddle, it seems, was not at the table on this particular afternoon. She wondered where had he gone too. She had seen him earlier in most of her classes, sitting as quietly as usual at his usual spot at the front row of the class. He had not answered any questions at all that morning, which had even surprised her further. Hermione had happily raised her hand as always when every professor asked a particular question, and answered all of them. The professors beamed at her, and awarded her points for every correct answer that she gave. Minerva and Charles offered her fleeting smiles throughout the lessons, and Hermione returned them with winks and broad grins.

Riddle seems not to have notice it at all, or rather pretended not to notice it. He sat straight up in his seat, casually tapping his fingers on the table while looking out of the window for most of the lesson. Even the professors noticed the change in him. Professor Beerie had walked up to him and asked him whether he was all right. Riddle just smiled and said that he had a headache. The professor patted his shoulders and gave him some encouraging comment before walking off to observe other students, who were busy scribbling on their parchments, as this was a theoretical class. When the last bell rang, signaling lunchtime, Riddle packed up his things quickly, and left the classroom before the other students did. Hermione just watched his tall form disappearing round the corner of the corridor curiously from the corner of her eyes. Ah, why must she care about him so much? He is Lord Voldemort after all. He knows how to take care of himself and do whatever he liked. She would not give a damn at all. As long as she was concerned, the sooner she planned his demise, the better it would be.

However, as she eats her lunch now, her curiosity overtook her again. What was the matter with that psycho now, Hermione wondered. Why was he so quiet for the whole morning and never turned up for lunchtime? Was he really suffering from some kind of sickness just like Alphard had suspected earlier?

"Oh, why would I bother about that at all? He's probably in the library or somewhere else. This is none of my concern. I'm going to kill him, and I'll be sure to do it," she scolded herself, before stabbing her knife into her roast potatoes angrily. She imagined that the potatoes were Riddle's body, and she continued to stab it with content. She smiled as she tried to imagine Riddle, clutching his sides, and begging for her to stop. A murderous smile crossed her face.

"Merope, are you okay?" Alphard asked, looking at her with concern. "It looks like you're going to cut a hole in your plate if you continue like this."

"Wow, look at her face!" Charles exclaimed, rolling his eyes and grinning at Hermione. "What did the potatoes do to deserve such a death glare, Merope? You looked as though you're going to murder them, you know."

"Oh, Charles. Indeed, I'm going to murder someone. Don't worry, the potatoes were innocent and did not deserve to be killed," she scoffed inwardly, before looking up at her friends. Minerva was eyeing her with a worry expression on her face. Alphard and Charles were giving her concerned looks.

Hermione quickly covered her face in embarrassment, and put down her knife.

"Sorry. I was deep in thought just now. I didn't realize that I used such a great force on the potatoes."

Luckily, the others believed her story, and did not question her further on the subject. Hermione let out a sigh of relief, and continued to eat her lunch.

After lunchtime, Hermione excused herself, as she had no more lessons for the day. Charles was going to have Divination, and Minerva had promised to meet Alphard at the Quidditch pitch, after he had bugged her into seeing him practice. Alphard had asked Hermione whether she would like to join them, but Hermione politely declined his invitation. She told him that she was tired, and wanted to take a nap. However, this was actually not the case. She had planned to stay in her dormitory for the rest of the day, and read up on the three thick tomes that she had duplicated from Riddle and also McKenna's journal. She figured that she would have the whole commonroom to herself, as Riddle was attending Divination at the North Tower with Charles and a few other students. She would use this opportunity to gain as much knowledge as possible, and figure out how to complete her task.

"Okay, maybe next time, Merope," Alphard said, his face falling slightly. "You better get some rest. We'll see you later."

Hermione offered him a smile. "I'm sorry to let you down, Alphard. Next time, I'll definitely be there to watch you practice."

"No worries, Merope. I understand. You really looked a bit pale. I think you better go straight to bed for the rest of the day."

"Yeah," Minerva agreed, giving Hermione's hand a light squeeze before letting go.

Both of them started to head out of the doors of the castle. Alphard waved merrily at Hermione, and she waved back, giving him a wide grin.

"See you guys later," Hermione called out, before turning away and walking towards the staircases. She headed straight to the seventh floor, and turned into the corridor leading to her dormitory.

"Hello dear," the Pink Lady greeted Hermione. "Password?"

"Nice to see you again, my lady," Hermione greeted. "Caput Draconis."

She stepped into the commonroom and the portrait hole closed quietly behind her. She made her way upstairs, and dumped her schoolbag onto the floor next to her bed. Then, she headed for the bathroom to take a quick shower, before beginning her activities for that evening. She figured that she would have at least five hours to read through all four of the books and do some quick planning, before she would meet Dumbledore in his office, as it was Friday.

At the thought of meeting Dumbledore, she begins to ponder possibilities in her mind. Should she tell Dumbledore about the future and about her task? After all, it would not change the timeline at all, according to McKenna. She could ask Dumbledore to help her accomplish her mission. She was not sure whether he would agree with her plan, but she figured out that it would do no harm trying to make him see the reasons behind her plans. After all, he had had his suspicions on Riddle already. If Dumbledore refused to help her, she would have no trouble at all, as she was sure that she would be able to complete the task alone. After all, she had been through so many complicated and challenging moments together with two of her best friends during her time period.

She was just beginning to mull over possibilities in her mind when she heard a loud swish. She looked up, and saw a streak of red feather heading towards her. The next moment, she was looking into two bright and glittering eyes of a bird which is too familiar to her.

"Fawkes!" she exclaimed, reaching out excitedly. The phoenix swooped in through the open window in the room, and perched on top of Hermione's shoulders. She stroked its head gently. It let out a beautiful sigh, and held up its legs.

"Oh, did Dumbledore sent this?" she asked, untying a small parcel which was wrapped in brown paper from the phoenix's legs. The bird nodded, and gave her a wink.

"Thank you," Hermione said, stroking Fawke's' beautiful feathers fondly. The phoenix gave her another wink, before taking off again. "Remember to thank Professor Dumbledore for me as well," Hermione called after it, as she watched the streak of red feathers disappeared through the open window as the bird headed for one of the towers of the castle.

Hermione was getting excited. Had Dumbledore figured anything out already? What is it that he had sent her? She figured that it must be important, as Dumbledore would probably give it to her when they meet instead of sending it to her prior to their meeting.

She looked at the wrapped parcel thoughtfully for a while. Then, unable to contain her curiosity any longer, she picked up the parcel from the bed, where she had dropped it earlier, and started to unwrapped it carefully. She noted that it was very light. What might it be, she still wondered, as she carefully slid the paper off the parcel.

There was a slightly old and tattered black leather box, and Hermione picked it up. She squinted more closely at it. She turned it over for several times in her hands, trying to look for any signs or writing engraved on it. Finding nothing of that sort, she turned the box over in her hands for one last time, and opened it.

Her eyebrows shot up in surprise. Inside the box, there was a beautiful gold chain, which held a gold locket. The locket was gorgeous. She falls in love with it at first sight.

Two emerald gems lined both sides of the locket. They glittered beautifully. Hermione lifted up the locket from the box, and felt the cold stone of the gems against her palm.

As her fingers made contact with the locket, a warm sensation washed over her. Hermione felt the warmth traveling up her arms, and coursed through her whole body. She felt strangely calm and relaxed.

She took a deep breath, and looked down once more at the locket in her hands. Why had Dumbledore sent this to her? He must have figured out something after all.

With trembling hands, she tried to open the locket. She did not hear the familiar click as she tried to pull it open. She tried it again for a few more times, before putting the locket down. Why can't she open it, she wondered. Was this some kind of horcrux just like Slytherin's locket? At this thought, she shuddered.

"No, it couldn't be a horcrux. After all, Dumbledore had sent it to me," she reasoned at last.

She picked up the locket and was just putting it back into the black box when something else caught her eyes.

"Ah, I should have known," she said, excitement bubbling in her again. "Dumbledore would not send this without any explanations, would he?"

She smiled, and pulled out a roll of parchment from the box, which she had not noticed earlier. Carefully, she unrolled the parchment, and started to read the letter. It was written in the familiar thin and slanting handwriting which she had recognized for years now.

Dear Ms. Granger,

I'm happy to inform you that I had managed to figure out how to help you to get back to your time period, after doing a bit of research. I have discovered some very interesting things, which might explain how you ended up here too. However, part of the puzzle is still missing, and I hoped that we will be able to work it out together when we met on Friday. In fact, I'm still not quite sure whether my conclusions were correct. Never mind about that though, as we can figure it out later during our meeting.

As for now, I've decided to send this to you before our meeting, to give you a rough idea on what I've discovered. Try to think about it, and tell me whether you can make any sense out of this at all. I don't blame you if you don't, as the theory that I've discovered is one of the rarest ones that I had ever heard of myself. I hope that you received this parcel in time before our meeting. I've asked my phoenix, Fawkes to take this to your dormitory without anyone noticing it, and placing it under your bed covers, as you're probably still in the hospital wing. If you did not find it in time, Fawkes must have figured out that it was not safe to deliver it to you. He would instead deliver the parcel straight to you when you returned from the hospital wing.

Inside this parcel, you'll find a golden locket, which was originally owned by my beloved sister, Ariana Dumbledore. I would not bored you with the details of my wonderful sister and how she got the locket. So, you only need to know that the locket was handed down from my great-grandmother, who was a cousin of Harperlindo McKenna, the greatest potions master of the 16th century. Since then it had been in our family for years. I had kept this locket since the passing of my sister, and it had just crossed my mind a few days ago, when I started to research about your problem. However, I'm still not sure of the powers of this locket. So far, I had not discovered anything much about it yet.

Inside the locket, you would find a familiar portrait, and a scroll of parchment, which had been tucked into the small gap at the top right corner of the locket. I advise you to enlarge the locket in order to get a better look of it.

The locket would only open when the name of the person which it is bestowed upon was spoken aloud. Thus, as I had decided to give this to you, as I believed that you would be the rightful owner of it, you would need to said your name aloud, in order to open the locket.

Try to figure things out as much as possible, and let me know about your findings when we met on Friday evening. Best of luck to you. Make sure to keep the locket safe.

I'll be expecting you after dinner at my office. Take care and have a nice day.

Regards from

Professor Albus Dumbledore

Hermione's heart was racing madly. She reread the letter again. She couldn't believed her luck. Her earlier conclusions were indeed true. Dumbledore had also discovered something about McKenna. The puzzle was beginning to fit together neatly. She never imagined that Dumbledore's family would ever have anything to do with McKenna. Dumbledore's autobiography never mentioned about this at all. Perhaps that Skeeta woman had failed to dig up these details earlier, she reasoned.

She smiled happily. Luck was really on her side now. With the help of Dumbledore, she could definitely complete her task more quickly and easily now. She was sure that Dumbledore would help her out, if he knew what was to become of the future of the wizarding world.

She picked up the locket once more, and clutched it tightly in her hands. Her palms were beginning to sweat. She hastily wiped it on her robes, and sat up straight.

She drew in a deep breath, and held up the locket to eye level.

"Merope Granger," she whispered. Nothing happened. She blinked and tried again. Still nothing happened.

She sighed in frustration. Why wouldn't it worked?

A thought suddenly crossed her mind, and a small smile started to play on her lips.

"I wonder…" she trailed off thoughtfully.

Taking another deep breath, she held up the locket more closely, and whispered: "Hermione Granger."

There was a faint click and the locket opened. Ah, it had worked at last! She should have thought about this earlier. She was after all Hermione Jean Granger, and not Merope Granger. Her insides cringed in disgust at the thought of her fake identity. Why must she choose such a disgusted name at all in the first place, she still wondered.

She took a deep breath, and gazed down at the locket.

In her surprise, she almost dropped the locket. She quickly clutched it tightly before it slipped out of her grasp.

There, staring at her with warm brown eyes and the same dazzling smile was none other than the Pink Lady. The same portrait which guarded her dormitory. She looked down more closely at the portrait in the locket. The Pink Lady looked the same as she had last seen her a few minutes ago. Hermione smiled.

"Ah, my lady. I never would have thought…" she trailed off once more, tracing the outline of the Pink Lady's gown with her fingers.

After staring at the Pink Lady for a few more moments. Hermione started to turn the locket over, to look for the gap that Dumbledore had mentioned it earlier. She found nothing at all, and was beginning to get frustrated once more.

Then, she remembered what Dumbledore had written in his letter, and took out her wand from her robe pocket.

"Engorgio!" she thought, and flicked her wand. The locket started to grow in size. When it was big enough, she waved her wand once more, and the spell ceased to take effect.

She looked once more at the Pink Lady, and something caught her eyes. There, on the pearl which the Pink Lady held, were some letters, engraved in green. She squinted more closely at it, holding the locket up to the light. Her eyebrows immediately shot up, and she blinked. She could not believed what she had just read.

"Why is this happening to me now?" she muttered softly.

She stared once more at the five tiny words engraved on the pink pearl in block letters: I OPENED AT THE CLOSE.

She frowned. "Why must I go through this again? Is this another form of sacrifice that I must make now, just like Harry?"

She remembered Dumbledore leaving the golden Snitch to Harry in his will. The Snitch had bore the same message on it, written in Dumbledore's own hand. For Harry, the "close" was when he decided that the prophecy should be fulfilled and he was going to die. Dumbledore had predicted this early, but Harry had only found out about it a few hours before his death. Back then, Hermione had tried everything she could to decipher the meaning of the five words written in the late Headmaster's thin and slanting handwriting, but her attempts remained fruitless. After he defeated the dark lord, Harry had explained everything to both Ron and Hermione. Hermione was shocked to learn about this at first, but Harry managed to calm her down by telling her that everything was over.

"How could Dumbledore do this to you, Harry?" Hermione had screamed angrily, tears welling up in her eyes. "He should not have kept this from you for such a long time."

Harry had smiled at her, and had hugged her tightly. He coaxed her gently by telling her that he did not mind at all now. At first, he was also shocked to learn about his fate. "But I figured that my death is going to happen sooner or later. The prophecy should be fulfilled. What Dumbledore and I myself didn't expect is that Voldemort's final horcrux is none other than me. This backfired the whole plan."

Hermione had cheered up a bit then. Nevertheless, she was still angry with Dumbledore's decision.

Now, as she sat cross-legged on her four-poster bed, she was surprised to find that the anger which she still felt towards the future Headmaster did not come at all. In fact, she felt relaxed and calm. Perhaps this was how Harry felt when he received the Snitch, she gathered. However, she could not help wondering whether her case was the same as Harry's case.

What was the "close" in her case? Will it be the day she killed Lord Voldemort and returned to her time? Where was the pearl of destiny anyway? It must be hidden somewhere, if it would be in her possession prior to the "close".

"When the task is completed, all is well and the pearl of destiny will appear," the words of Harperlindo McKenna which she had read in "The Theory of Time Travel" rang out clearly in her ears. This means that the pearl will be in her possession once she had completed the task. Hermione smiled, as this piece of information fit into the picture. So, the only thing she had to do now is complete the task as fast as possible, and face the "close", which could be anything. She decided to not think about it now. She would focus on completing her task first.

Taking another deep breath, she reached up to the top right corner of the locket, where she had just spotted the gap mentioned by Dumbledore. Carefully, she pulled the gap wider apart, and saw the roll of parchment mentioned earlier. She lifted it out of the locket gently, and undid the yellow ribbon which sealed the parchment together. She unrolled the parchment, and read the writing on it quickly. It was written in the same green ink and in the same neat hand, just as the recipe of the Draught of Destiny which she had found in Snape's book.

Her heart begins to race again. She reread the poem. Of course it made sense to her. She was the one to complete the task, which she had already known two days ago. From her interpretation, she gathered that she would have two options in completing the task which was bestowed upon her by the Draught of Destiny.

The first option would be what she had guessed earlier. She must kill young Voldemort before he was able to rise to power, and dominate the wizarding world. To her excitement, McKenna also suggested the appropriate way to do it in his poem. Hermione could not believe her luck. She would have to befriend Riddle, get close to him, gain his trust and obey his commands first. Then, she would kill him easily, as he would not suspect anything at all. She smiled at this proposition. In fact, it was even not necessary to get close to him, Hermione gathered. She could just maintained a low profile from now on, trying to avoid getting in his path as best as possible and pretending to be weak and give in to him more easily. Then, when the time came, she could kill him and return to where she belonged.

Over the past few days, she had worked out a few strategies of how to kill him. She figured that she would have a few options. Firstly, she could kill him when both of them were alone in the Heads' Dorm. She would do it the Muggle way; using a knife instead of a wand. She had no trouble at all with this, as she had tucked a small dagger along with her in her beaded bag before Harry, Ron and herself went for the mad hunt of Voldemort's horcruxes a year ago. She smiled at this thought. Perhaps that would work when he was asleep, she decided. She could just stab him, and then pretended not to know anything at all when the other professors asked her about it. That would be easy enough. She could just put up an innocent student façade, just as Riddle. He had thought her a lot for the past few days, she noted with some pride. She now roughly knew how to pull the strings well and how to gain the whole school's respect and trust. Nevertheless, she decided that she would not use this to her advantage, unless it was necessary to do so.

Another thought suddenly struck her. True enough she had no problem with her first possible option of eliminating the psycho. However, she still had not figured out how good was the young Voldemort's reflexes yet. He might pounce on her anytime when she tried to stab him, and she would not dare to risk the chance unless she was sure that it would succeed. She would have to size him up first by carefully observing his every move. Then, she would know how to go about her plan.

Her second option was to poison Riddle. She would use the Muggle method again, she gathered. Nobody would suspect a thing, as some poisons used by Muggles were not listed in the books at the library and was unknown to most of the wizarding world. She had researched on this during her time, and the only thing she needed to do was to check it again in the library later, to make sure that her research was indeed true and applied in this time period. In fact, she already had a very good idea what type of poison to use. She had various dangerous poisons stored in her beaded bag, and this would be an advantage, as she would not have to obtain the poison from elsewhere, or made it herself. It would be more difficult for the professor to gather sufficient evidence to pin it on her. They would not suspect her at all if she managed to play her cards well. She smiled at this thought. Perhaps some arsenic may be just what she needed to terminate the life of that psycho. She smiled a little at this thought. After all, it was not a very bad idea at all, as the wizarding world did not know about arsenic the last time she checked. Her plan might turn up just the way she hoped it would, and all her problems will be over. She felt overjoyed at this thought. However, at the same time, her insides cringed with disgust.

"Look what had become of me," she mocked herself. "I can't believed that I've turned into a cold-blooded murderer myself, planning the demise of a particular person."

"Oh stop it and shut up. He deserved to die. Look how many lives were lost back in your time. This is for The Greater Good, and you'll do it just fine," another small part of her countered.

Hermione huffed in frustration. She slammed her fists hard on the mattress of her bed, and ran her fingers through her bushy brown hair, which had already, began to get messy.

"Fine. I'll just do it," she told herself firmly. "After all, this is the task, and I need to get back. Call me selfish or whatever you liked. I don't care at all." She straightened up, and started to put the parchment back into the locket. She quietly closed the gap, and shrank the locket back to its original size.

As she flicked her wand to stop the shrinking spell once the locket had returned to its original size, another thought suddenly occurred to her. If she was to choose her second option of killing Riddle, she would have to figure out a way to slip the poison into his food or drink without him noticing it. She would have to plan how to do it properly. After all, it was more challenging than the first option, in her opinion. Nevertheless, she shoved this thought to the back of her mind for the time being. She would deal with these thoughts and conjure up possibilities later.

"Maybe I can just kill him when the time has come," she muttered to herself. "I'll just flick my wand and say the killing curse, that's all." Hermione decided that she would put the thought at rest for now. She would just let incidents played out as it is for the time being. She would ponder her options later when she met Dumbledore and share what she had discovered with him.

As she was just putting the locket back into the box, she suddenly remembered something else. What was it that McKenna had mentioned in that poem? Was there another option? She was sure she had missed something. Sighing, she once again repeated her actions just now. She enlarged the locket, pulls out the parchment again, and started to scan the poem with a more critical eye this time.

She read the first half of the poem again. She let out a laugh as she read it.

The task

Though easy as it seemed

May have to be achieved through a different method

For not all battles are fought the hard way.

"This is a battle that must be fought using the hard way," Hermione scoffed. "McKenna certainly had no idea how many innocent lives were lost. I can't see another way round this one."

She continued to scan the poem again. Another laugh escaped her mouth and this time, Hermione was unable to control herself any longer. She burst into fits of giggles, clutching her stomach as she laughed hard. Tears were beginning to trickle down her cheeks.

"Ha! What a funny proposition, McKenna. I don't even think that this is possible. After all, you never met You-Know-Who before, right?" she laughed harder. She read the few lines which had amused her again.

Revenge is sweet and vengeance is venomous

But above all, the strongest emotions still lie

Waiting to be explored;

Where trust is essential and friendship is built

And truths are discovered and unleashed

Love will then unfold

And bond the light and the dark together.

"Love? Bah! This is simply out of the way. Just tell me when he ever has this emotion in him. If he does, he would not have fallen to his death so easily," Hermione said, suppressing her giggles. Her stomach hurts from laughing so hard just now. She brushed away the tears on her cheeks with the back of her hands. "There's no way that I'll ever fall in love with a cold-blooded murderer and psychopathic snake. Just think about that." She laughed lightly.

"Harry will be in St. Mungos with a severe brain damage if he knew about this. Ron will definitely crack up too."

With another chuckle, she rolled up the parchment, stuffed it back into the small gap in the locket, and shrank it again to its original size. She thought of where to put it so that Riddle would not have the chance to come across it. After all, Dumbledore had asked her to keep the locket safe. After pondering her options, she finally decided to wear the locket. It would always be with her, and she would know if it was missing easily enough. She would put a charm on it to hide it from view, and hid the locket under her robes. No one would notice it, unless they looked close enough. The charm that she planned to put on the locket would help to create the effect which she hoped for.

Casually, she lifted the locket out of the box, where she had put it earlier, and put the chain around her neck. She fastened the clasp of the necklace, and let the locket fell down until it touched her chest. It dangled beautifully and glimmered as the sunlight from the open window reflected upon it. She gazed down dreamily at it, admiring its effect on her. The glittering emerald gems matched her fair and slightly tanned complexion perfectly. She smiled at this.

Just as before, Hermione felt a sudden warmness enveloped her as the locket touched her skin. The warmness began to spread throughout her whole body, and she felt that she was charged with energy. She could feel the magic inside her crackling strongly around her. A wonderful sensation washed over her. She smiled. Perhaps she was really the rightful owner of the locket after all, as Dumbledore put it.

She tucked the locket under her dress and quickly casted the charm on it. Then, she stuffed the black tattered box into her beaded bag, and straightened up. She swung her legs over the bed, and paced the room for a while, to relieve the cramps in her muscles which had started as a result of sitting down too long on the bed in a fixed position.

Then, she flopped down once more on the bed, and glanced at her wristwatch. She still had another two hours before dinner. She could do with a few quick readings, she noted.

She tiptoed to the bedroom door, and opened it quietly. She padded across the landing softly, and peered down into the commonroom. Riddle was no where in sight. Sighing with relieve, she returned to the bedroom and pulled out McKenna's journal and the three books which she had duplicated from Riddle earlier. She figured that she would read the three books quickly first. After all, she was not so interested in dark magic, and was merely planning to take a quick look at what the psycho was reading now.

However, Hermione soon found out that she was wrong. She found various interesting spells as she thumbed through the three thick and dusty tomes. Unable to resist the temptation, she took out a few rolls of parchment and a bottle of ink. She grabbed a quill from within her schoolbag, and started to pen down as many spells as possible. After all, it might become handy in the days to come in helping her to complete her task.

"Oh my God, this may take ages," she sighed frustrated. She put down her quill after realizing that she had used up twelve rolls of parchment without knowing it. She stuffed the first two books which she had already managed to summarized back into her beaded bag. Then, she glanced at the third tome, and shook her head.

"No, this can wait until later," she muttered to herself, putting "Secrets of the Darkest Arts", which was the final tome which she had not yet read away into her beaded bag. She figured that she would read McKenna's journal first, as it might help her to understand more about his theory. Furthermore, she would be able to discuss it with Dumbledore when they meet later in the evening after dinner. To top it all, her fingers were beginning to ache, as a result of writing too much just now. She flexed them irritably, and huffed angrily, before calming down.

She settled herself more comfortably on the bed this time to avoid her muscles from getting cramped again. She lifted up the journal, and ran her fingers across its dusty binding. She traced the title, which was printed with golden letters on the cover of the small book lightly with her fingers.

"Potions and Their Greatest Potential," she whispered. "Harperlindo McKenna."

She opened the book, and thumbed through the pages. It was blank, as she had known it would be. Remembering what she had to do, she reached out her finger, and deliberately ran it across the sharp edges of the pages. Trickles of blood were beginning to appear on the pages, as the paper cut into her skin. She let the blood drop onto the first page of the journal, before wiping her hands on her robes. With a flick of her wand, the wound immediately healed.

She waited patiently for a few seconds for the blood to disappear. She closed her eyes, and counted until thirty. Then, she opened them again.

Joy overtook her, as writing had began to appear on the pages. In no sooner than five minutes, all the blank pages were filled with writing, and Hermione squealed happily. She picked up the journal and started to read.

Just as his first journal, this book was really interesting. The first part of it explained how McKenna had brewed the Draught of Destiny. Hermione could even find the same recipe written in green ink on one of the pages of the journal. She scanned it once more, before smiling and turning to the next page.

In the next three pages, McKenna had explained how the Draught of Destiny worked more precisely than before. Hermione read this quickly, as she found that most of it had already been explain in the previous book. She scanned the pages with a matter-of-fact manner, before turning to the next page.

Her eyebrows shot up in surprise when she read the title printed on top of the page.

"The Pearl of Destiny," it read.

Excitedly, she started to read the text on the page, making sure that every word sinks in deeply into her mind.

In the previous chapter, explanation had been given about how the Draught of Destiny worked. Some may wonder and asked the question of whether there was anything that can complement this wonderful draught. In other words, there would be questions or thoughts of whether there was anything to help the particular time traveler get back to his or her time after completing the task and after achieving the desired destiny.

Throughout the years, I've tried to research this myself, and tried to develop the thing which complements my greatest creation of the century. I'm happy to discover that my attempts were not fruitless after all. Towards the end of my life, I've finally managed to create another of my greatest inventions of the century. This particular object is known as the Pearl of Destiny, and it would be exactly the object that complemented the wonderful draught that I've made.

This ancient pearl was originally discovered in the dark forest of Albania, where I had traveled to during my old age. I discovered it in a beautiful flowing creek, which ran throughout the heart of the dark forest. The waters were glowing beautifully, emitting a pink glow. I noticed the pearl at first glance, placed on top of a large boulder at the center of the creek. I had retrieved it after making sure that it was safe, and after countless researches, I finally managed to gather that this pearl had a very great power indeed and might be useful to me. Thus, I had come up with an idea. I would not bored all of you with the details of my idea. Thus, all you need to know is that I created the Pearl of Destiny to be the complement object of my wonderful draught, and this still remained the case for the time being, as I had already mentioned above.

I had stored the pearl in a place where no one would be able to find it. It is only when the task is completed that the pearl would appear and all would be right once more. The person who was sent to complete the task would get to return to his or her own time, as the pearl will only appeared at the "close".

The task bestowed upon that particular person would be set by the pearl of destiny itself, as I've created it with the power to detect any flaws in the current timeline, and the pearl would set out the task for the person. Various events which were not originally there will also be happening, as the pearl created them for the purpose of aiding the particular traveler to complete the task.

However, the uses of the Pearl of Destiny were not limited to the above. I've created this object so that it would be able to aid the wizarding world as best as possible. It is through various careful research and long nights that I've finally discovered the true properties of my own greatest inventions. One would never believe that such a pearl would hold many wonderful powers other than that mentioned above.

The page ended there. Hermione flipped to the next page and started to read again. Her heart was racing madly, and she tried hard to focus on what she was reading. A sharp intake of breath escaped her when her eyes scanned the first paragraph of the page.

One of the hidden powers of the pearl is it could heal almost any form of disorder, especially those which were inflicted by very strong and dark curses or magic. One of the most dangerous form of disorder which the pearl [and only this pearl, I assure you [can heal is a form of disorder called Horcruxotoma Soultosis, or better known as Soul Splitting Disorder. This is a form of very dark and advanced magic, which I have no desire to disclose in this volume. However, I'll only say here that this is a form of disease which is caused when one decided to create a horcrux, which is….

Hermione heard a soft click from behind her.

"Damn," she cursed silently, slamming the book shut. "Why must he be back so early?"

Hastily, she stuffed the journal back into her beaded bag. Her heart was pounding harder than before. She never imagined that the pearl hold so many interesting powers. What the hell was Horcruxotoma Soultosis, she wondered. She wished she could read and find out more. She gathered from her readings just now that it had something to do with horcruxes.

"Was this just a coincidence?" she muttered to herself. "Everything seemed pretty much related. How does McKenna know about horcruxes anyway?"

Footsteps could be heard from across the room. From the corner of her eyes, she saw Riddle, striding with a confident gait to his side of the room. His dark hair was neatly parted as always, but he looked tired. When he reached his bed, he dumped his schoolbag onto the floor, and straightened up. His robes were as smooth as always, without a single crease. The setting sun from outside reflected upon his Head Boy badge, proudly pinned on his chest, making it glitter slightly.

Hermione straightened up, and pretended to fake a yawn. Then, she started to head out of the room.

She had just taken a few steps towards the door, when the young dark lord held up a hand, and beckoned her forward.

Hermione raised an eyebrow in surprise. What was he up to now, she wondered. He was not going to curse her again now, was he? Nevertheless, she hastily feels for her wand which was still in her pocket before walking confidently to where he was standing. She figured that she would not back down so easily this time. She would fight him if he tried to curse her again.

She stood a few feet away from Riddle, and gave him an enquiring look. His face was still as emotionless as always.

Riddle held out a roll of parchment towards Hermione. She gazed at it for a while hesitantly. What was he playing at, she wondered. She did not dare touch the parchment just yet. She had to make sure that it was not cursed or something likes that. Hermione Jean Granger was definitely not risking any chances when she was in the presence of a psychopathic soon-to-be dark lord.

Riddle stared at her, and then smirked. He strode across the room, and thrust the parchment into Hermione's hands. Hastily, with her swift and quick reflexes, Hermione leap out of the way and threw the parchment which Riddle had thrust towards her onto the floor.

The young dark lord gave her another look, and then smirked again. An amused look passed over his face. He chuckled softly.

"Granger," he said, in the same smooth and silky voice which she had heard him use in front of the professors. "Whatever is the matter with you?"

She glared at him and did not respond to his question.

"Just pick up the parchment and read it. I don't give out bomb letters, you know?"

Riddle walked a few more paces towards her. Hermione started to back away, and made no attempt at all to pick up the parchment.

"Just pick it up, you stupid and insufferable girl!" Riddle was beginning to lose his patience as the seconds ticked by.

Hermione's insides were boiling. How dare that psycho insult her by calling her stupid and insufferable? She glared furiously at Riddle, and did not move from her spot.

"Enough of that nonsense now. Stop this instant before I lose my patience!" Riddle snapped suddenly, clenching his fists.

Hermione just ignored him and backed away further towards the nearest wall.

"I'm only giving you your patrolling schedule, girl. You'll be starting your duty as Head Girl on next week, together with me. So, you'll need to have a copy of this. What did you think I'm giving you, girl?" Riddle forced out, still clenching his fists.

Hermione felt stupid, and started to blush. "Of course. Why hadn't I thought of this earlier?" she scolded herself. Why had she acted so impulsively just now? She could just take the parchment and get out of there. Now, Riddle would definitely mock her for her silly actions just now.

Managing to find her voice back finally, Hermione managed to said in a low voice, "Oh."

Riddle's smirk widened.

"What do you think I'm going to do with you, girl? Curse you again?" he mocked. "Tsk, tsk. Such a pity, wouldn't you say? Such brains as yours are too mushy sometimes, you know."

Hermione remained silent. She tried as hard as she could to not lounge forward and punch that psycho. He was getting on her nerves now, and she hoped she would not have to hex him sooner. She clenched her teeth, and closed her eyes for a moment, before opening them again.

"I'll not waste my time with you any longer, girl. Take the parchment, and follow your schedule. I'll already worked out all your shifts. You'll be patrolling all the corridors together with me every single night. Headmaster Dippet already got a copy of this, so there is no need for you to worry about it. I've taken the liberty to hand it in earlier to him on this morning, and he was pleased with what I had planned. Do you understand?"

Hermione forced herself to nod, and then quickly looked away.

"Remember your mission?" she mocked herself. "Just ignore him and keep a low profile."

Riddle's voice jolted her away from her thoughts again. With all the patience that she could muster, she looked up and stared straight at the impassive and emotionless face in front of her.

"And one more thing before I let you go," Riddle said, advancing towards her, "Remember my warning, Granger. Do not undermine my authority or cross paths with me. The little incident two days ago had done enough damage to my reputation already. I'll appreciate it if such things never happened again. Am I clear on this?"

Hermione's temper was flaring now. How dare that psycho mocked her and threatened her again? She was not going to back away this time.

She finally exploded. She already had enough of this.

With three long strides, she crossed the room, and picked up the parchment from the floor. She unrolled it, read it quickly and stuffed it into her robe pocket. Then, she stood with her arms crossed, and glared at Riddle again.

"Answer me, girl. And don't you dare give me that look ever again!" Riddle's voice was dangerously raised now.

Hermione took a deep breath before opening her mouth.

"Mr. Riddle, I'll like to clarify a few things here with you. Firstly, as you've so nicely put it, I admit that my brains are sometimes mushy, especially after enduring two rounds of the Cruciatus curse. Therefore, I'm sorry for my…irrational behavior just now," she started. Riddle glowered at her. Before he could cut in, she continued.

"Next, as Head Girl, I've the responsibility of ensuring that the school is well managed. So, I'm obliged to patrol the corridors along with you. However, one thing you must know is that I would not tolerate your behaviour of bossing me around, as though I'm one of your servants. With that said, I'll carry out my duties as I pleased, and I assure you that it would not run out of the boundaries of the school rules, in case you're wondering."

"How dare you?" Riddle growled, and started to advanced towards her.

"I haven't finished yet. I also do not tolerate your threats, as you so nicely put them, Mr. Riddle. Who do you think you are? You cannot control everybody's life, you know. I know you've already had most of the professors wrap around your little fingers. What with the charming façade that you always put up in front of them? In their eyes, you'll always be the charismatic and dashing Tom Riddle, Head boy of Hogwarts. Most of them did not see your true persona yet. I don't care how you bossed other people around, or how you manipulate others. I'm telling you now once and for all that I…will…not…..tolerate…..this…..from…..you. Is that clear?"

Riddle had pulled out his wand from his robe pocket by now.

"I see. Trying to play with fire, eh?" he said in a slow and dangerous voice which sent shivers down Hermione's spine. "Let's see how is it then. Cru…"

Hastily, she pulled out her wand, and started to dodge the curse which was flying towards her.

"Protego!" she shouted before Riddle managed to finish his curse. Her shield was stronger than she had expected. She had worked on it to strengthen it last week in the commonroom with Harry and Ron back in her time period, and it had worked out well.

Riddle looked surprised and stood transfixed at his spot for a moment. Then, he recovered quickly and gripped his wand more firmly in his hand.

"I'll teach you once and for all now, girl! Let's see how wills this end, shall we?" Riddle said, laughing his high-pitched cold laughter.

"Crucio!"

Hermione dodged again, and the curse impacted with the wall, blasting it into pieces.

The room was now filled with dust and Hermione coughed loudly as some of the dust entered her mouth. Riddle took this opportunity to fire another dark curse at her. Hermione managed to dodged it again.

Pointing her wand at the nearest ornament, which was placed as decoration on the opposite side of the room, Hermione shouted, "Wingardium leviosa!" The porcelain vase immediately soared a few inches into the air, and Hermione levitated it towards where Riddle was standing.

Riddle looked up just in time, and managed to blast the vase into pieces before it managed to hit his head. The broken glass littered the floor, and Riddle stepped away quickly as Hermione fired a stinging hex at him.

"Expeliarmus!" Riddle casted.

Hermione's shield was still up, and she backed away further into the wall.

"Petrificus totalus!" she shouted. Riddle deflected the spell with a lazy flick of his wand.

"Stupefy!" she casted next, aiming at Riddle. With quick reflexes, he once again managed to dodge her stunner and deflected it with another flick of his wand.

"Impedimenta!" she tried again. Riddle was able to dodge the curse again, and it impacted on the opposite wall, shattering it into pieces. Splinters were flying in every direction now, and the room was in a mess.

After some time, Hermione's shield was beginning to break as Riddle hurled a dark curse at her, which she did not recognize at all. The blinding flash of white light impacted with her shield, and absorbed it completely. With panic, Hermione quickly casted it again. Another dark curse fly towards her, and Hermione dodged it just in time.

"Levicorpus!" she shouted, but Riddle managed to deflect it with a lazy flick of his wand yet again.

Her shield disappeared for the second time, as Riddle sent that blinding flash of white light at her again. Hermione was just trying to conjure up another shield and thinking what spells to hurl at the psycho this time, when Riddle flicked his wand again.

A purple light headed towards her. With horror, she realized that it was the same purple light which Antonine Dolohov had used upon her. The scars on her chest still burned from the effects of this curse and it would remain in her life forever.

With anger boiling up in her, Hermione flicked her wand and hurled as many dark curses as she could remember at Riddle, all the while trying to maintain her shield. The both of them continue to duel in that way for a few more minutes. Furniture's in the room were now shattered, and the window was already broken. The glass littered on the floor, and Hermione was careful to avoid stepping on them when she backed away further into the wall.

"Crucio!" Hermione bellowed.

Riddle waved his wand in a complicated manner and the curse change its course and hit another painting in the room. He laughed again.

"Trying to use unforgivables, eh?" he mocked. "Let's see more, shall we? After all, I would not stop you from showing your hidden talents. Tsk, tsk. Who knows Hogwarts had selected a very dark Head girl indeed, don't you think so?"

"Crucio!" Hermione tried again. Once again, Riddle deflected the curse, and it shattered another window in the room.

"No, you don't deserve to be Head Girl after all. Dippet will have a fit if he knew about this. What do you think he would do to you, girl?" Riddle continued to mock.

Hermione continued to throw hexes at him. Her hand was beginning to ache, as a result of gripping her wand so tightly and bringing it down with a great force every time she flicked it.

Suddenly, without warning, with a quick flick of his wand, Riddle managed to crash Hermione's shield. Hermione tried to raise her wand to conjure the shield again, but Riddle was much quicker. She saw him flicked his wand once in her direction. She tried to dodge, but her legs suddenly gave way, and she fell onto the floor with a loud thud. Her breath was knocked out of her, and she closed her eyes. She waited for the curse to hit her, but surprisingly, nothing happened.

Moments later, Hermione felt a warm and tinkling sensation running up her body. She felt happy and wonderful, and her body started to relax.

"Come to me," a smooth voice in her head said.

"Huh? Where?" a small part of her wondered.

"Here. I'm right here. Just walk forward. Come on."

She looked up, and was entranced by a pair of midnight blue eyes. Such beautiful eyes, she thought. She was mesmorised by them, and continued to gaze dreamily into them.

"Come here," the voice in her head was back.

"Of course," she told herself softly.

"Wait, what am I doing?" another part of her asked. "This seems not right at all."

"Come to me now. Come on. I'm waiting," the voice in her head said again.

"Okay," she told herself. Her legs started to move on their own accord. She stopped in front of Riddle, and looked into his midnight blue eyes. They were so captivating.

"Now, that's a good girl. Give me your wand," the smooth voice in her head was back again.

"My wand? Why?" she wondered.

"Just give me your wand," the voice continued to taunt her thoughts.

"Why am I doing this?" she wondered. She looked at Riddle again.

"Hold out your right hand. Ah, that's a good girl. Now, look at me."

She felt her grip loosening on her wand as she held out her right hand.

"What am I doing?" she thought again.

And then, it hit her. She tried to back away, but her legs would not budge. The curse was too strong.

"Stand still girl!" the voice was now angry.

"No, I won't!" she thought angrily, trying to move again. Her legs still would not budge.

"Now, that's better. Loosen your grip on your wand."

Hermione felt her fingers relaxed a bit. She tried to stop it again, but she finds that her fingers were moving on their own accord.

"Let go now."

She felt her wand slid out of her grasp a few moments later. She tried to scream, but no sound come out of her mouth.

"Look at me." The voice was back again.

Unable to resist it, Hermione looked at Riddle straight in the eye. She quickly looked away after that, but her eyes strayed back to focus towards Riddle on their own accord.

She saw Riddle waved his wand again.

"Imperio strengtenum!" Hermione heard him muttered.

Her body felt more relaxed than before. The wonderful sensation in her muscles was now so soothing, that she leaned into it gratefully. Her logical thoughts were wiped out of her mind again, and her brain grew fuzzy and her eyes were slightly unfocused.

"Look at me now!"

"Why am I doing this?" she still wondered. "I'm not suppose to do this, right?"

"Just look at me. Trust me. I won't hurt you."

"Wait a minute," Hermione thought. "Why am I listening to him? He's Lord Voldemort."

Unknown to Hermione, the gems on the locket under her shirt began to glow. Hermione felt a sense of warmth enveloping her, as the glow grew brighter and brighter. And then, the gems stopped glowing.

A wave of energy coursed through her body. Her senses were slowly returning to her. Her vision becomes more focused and her brain was beginning to clear again.

Her strength was beginning to return to her again. Suddenly, Hermione was roughly jolted away from her thoughts. The tinkling sensation was beginning to fade from her body.

"Look at me. Now." The voice was stronger than before.

"No!" Hermione shouted, and immediately, she was regaining all her senses again. How dare that psycho do this on her? He had used the Imperius curse on her just now. No wonder she felt nothing at all when he flicked his wand. She had succumbed to the effects of the curse the first time he used it. She figured that he must have strengthened the curse the second time he casted it. However, she still wondered how she had managed to break his hold on her. So far, only Harry had managed to resist the curse.

Riddle was staring at her, unable to hide the shocked look plastered on his face.

Hermione was furious now. With all the strength she could muster, she reached forward and punched Riddle hard on the nose.

"How dare you, Tom Marvolo Riddle? Don't…ever…dare…pull…this…on…me…again…" she said, punching his nose several times. There was a loud cracking sound, as Riddle's nose broke, and blood began to trickle down his face.

Riddle hissed in pain, and reached up to grab his nose. His grip on Hermione's wand loosened, and she quickly snatched it from him.

With full hatred, Hermione raised her wand and directed it towards Riddle. All thoughts of maintaining a low profile were gone now. If Riddle wanted to play it this way, she would let him go ahead with it, and she is determined to fight him back.

"Sectumsempra!" she shouted, waving her wand in Riddle's face. Too occupied with masking his pain and taken by surprise, Riddle had no time to deflect her curse this time. His wand slipped out of his grip just as the curse fly towards him. A deep gash appeared on Riddle's right cheek, and he hissed in pain.

Hermione quickly turned away, and stormed out of the bedroom, closing the door behind her. She ran out of the dormitory, and sprinted down the corridors. She had no desire to be cursed by Riddle in case he decided to go after her.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Hermione ran and ran without stopping, until she reached Dumbledore's office. She was out of breath by now, and leaned against the wall to catch her breath. She looked around the corridor. Riddle had decided not to pursuit her just yet, she gathered. He would probably curse her again later, she was certain about it. After what she had done to him, he would not go easy on her any longer, she gathered.

Tears started to well up in her eyes. Unable to hold back any longer, she started to sob softly. Why must this be so difficult, she wondered. Couldn't she just go back to her time now? She was really not prepared for this. The lioness sprit in her had faded now, just as quickly as it had came earlier. She felt crippled and weak now. She wished that she could just dug a hole and hid in it now.

When she had managed to calm her nerves, Hermione knocked on Dumbledore's door. Tears were still streaming down her cheeks, and she tried as best as possible to wipe them away.

"Come in," she could hear Dumbledore's warm voice from within. She pushed open the door, and stepped into the small and cozy office. She looked around her. Dumbledore's small office was crowded with his trinkets, which were all buzzing merrily around the room. Fawkes the phoenix was perching on one of the top shelves on the chest of drawers next to Dumbledore's large desk.

"Ah, Ms. Granger. I see that you're quite early today. Have you taken your dinner?"

"Yes," she quickly lied. "Professor, we…"

"Sit down, Ms. Granger."

Blinking back her tears, she pulled out a chair, and sat down. It was only then that Dumbledore looked up, and noticed that she was crying.

"Why, may I ask what is the matter, Ms. Granger?" the old professor said, his expression softening.

Grief overcomes her again, and this time, Hermione let it take its tow on her. She started to cry. She could not bear it any longer. Riddle had made her life miserable ever since she had got here. She had been cursed trice, if she was to count the incident in the DADA class, and had been threatened twice. She could not endure this any longer.

Dumbledore pulled her into a tight embrace. He rubbed small circles on her back, and started to rock her.

"Now, now, calm down, Ms. Granger. Just tell me what happened."

Hermione continued to sob in Dumbledore's arms for a few more minutes. The old professor holds her close to him, all the while murmuring soothing words of comfort in her ears.

Finally, after managing to pull herself together, Hermione straightened up, and gave Dumbledore an apologetic look.

"I'm so sorry, professor. I should not have walk in like this. Please excuse my outburst just now."

"Not to worry, girl. I don't mind at all. Crying is a good thing indeed. Do you know that it made you better after you let out your sorrow?"

"Yeah. It certainly feels better. Thank you, professor," she said, giving Dumbledore a half smile. Dumbledore returned her smile, his blue eyes twinkling warmly.

"Professor, I cannot do this any longer. I must tell you everything now. I've already figured out my task."

The words tumbled out of her mouth so quickly, that Dumbledore raised his eyebrows.

"Oh?" he asked the hint of interest clearly evident in his voice. His blue eyes were twinkling madly with excitement behind his half moon spectacles.

"Professor, I would appreciate it if you listened to my explanation patiently and try not to interrupt me as I go along. I'll tell you everything from the beginning…"

"Tut, tut. Ms. Granger, before you begin, may I remind you the rules pertaining to…"

"Oh, never mind about that. McKenna's theory negates the usual effect of time travel."

Dumbledore looked at her questioningly, and his face lit up. He then broke into a broad smile.

"Ah. So, it turned up that my conclusions were indeed true after all," Dumbledore said, leaning back in his chair, and crossing his arms.

"I'll explain it to you as we go along, professor. Please listen to me. I hope that I'll be able to tell you the whole story smoothly before I had another breakdown."

Dumbledore nodded with understanding, and urged her to continue.

"Okay," Hermione said, clearing her throat and leaning back in her chair.

"Would you care for a lemon drop before we begin?" Dumbledore asked, holding out a small bowl containing the particular candy towards Hermione.

Hermione smiled, and nodded. Some things never change, she noted. She took one lemon drop from the bowl and popped it into her mouth. The sweet taste of the candy lingered on her tongue, and made her feel better. She cheered up slightly.

"First of all, my name is not Merope Granger, as you've probably suspected," Hermione said, giving Dumbledore a knowing smile. "My real name is Hermione Jean Granger, and I'm Muggle-born, not a half-blood as I told Headmaster Dippet earlier."

Dumbledore nodded.

"However, the story that I told you in the classroom on the first day you cornered me was indeed true. I'll add in the missing details of the story now, to give you a clearer picture of the situation, professor.

As I had already told you, I came from the year 1998, which was fifty-four years from now. Nineteen years ago from my time, a particular Divination professor had made a prophecy concerning the fate of two persons."

"Prophecy?" Dumbledore asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, indeed. I would not bore you with the details of the professor who made the predicament. What you need to know is that the professor made the predicament without knowing it herself. The prophecy stated that "neither should live while the others survived"."

Dumbledore frowned, and did not say anything at all. Hermione could tell that he was getting more and more interested.

"It all started when one of the persons who were bound by the prophecy heard about it, and tried to destroy the other person, as he thought he would be able to survive that way. This was none other than the person who would caused grief to others in years to come to the whole wizarding world.

On a particular night, the person, better known in our time as You-Know-Who, or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, went to Godric's Hollow, and try to kill his so-called challenge. He failed, and lost all his powers. Some believed that he disappeared. The boy who he tried to kill was my best friend, and he was famous because he was able to survive the killing curse. He was known as the boy-who-lived in our time."

Hermione launched into the story about Harry's life, making it as short as possible, and then started to talk about herself attending Hogwarts and her various adventures together with Harry and Ron. All the while, Dumbledore listened to her quietly, without asking a single question. He smiled when he learned that it was his own self who had taken Harry to his uncle, and had known about what was to become of Harry's future.

When she had finished, Dumbledore looked thoughtful, and closed his eyes for a moment. He then took off his half moon spectacles and begins to polish them slowly.

"Ah," he said slowly, "I should have known. It seemed that my suspicions were indeed true. Horcruxes, you say? He made seven of it?"

"Yes. And we destroyed all of them. Harry was his last one, you see. He made it without knowing about it. His plan backfired, as he had destroyed his last horcrux himself."

"I see," Dumbledore said. "And love had helped all the way, eh?"

"Ah yes," Hermione said, her expression softening. "Love is so powerful, and if Lily did not sacrifice for her son, I could not imagine what would become of the wizarding world. You-Know-Who could not understand love, and how it worked together with magic. This was why he had failed."

"Hmm," Dumbledore said.

There were a few moments of silence, as Dumbledore processed what she had just told him. Dumbledore tapped his fingers on his desk thoughtfully, and frowned.

Finally, he looked up at Hermione, and his expression turned quite serious. He reached for the bowl of candy, and popped another lemon drop into his mouth. He cleared his throat before speaking.

"Ms. Granger, after hearing your story, I think I've a pretty good idea who are we talking about here. However, I'll still want to ask you about it, to confirm my suspicions."

"Ah professor. I think I know what are you going to ask me now. And my answer is yes."

"So, it was really Tom Marvolo Riddle then?" Dumbledore asked.

"Yes, he was indeed You-Know-Who. He rarely used his real name in our time though. He goes by a different name, which he had created himself."

"Oh? And how was that possible?"

Hermione flicked her wand, and a red ribbon began to appear from the tip of it. She moved her wand, and traced out the letters TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE in the air.

Then, she flicked her wand once more and produces another ribbon. This time she wrote I AM LORD VOLDEMORT.

"Lord Voldemort?" Dumbledore said slowly.

"Yes. It means "flight from death", and it suited his persona well, as he was afraid of dying. He wanted to be immortal, that's why he made horcruxes and wanted the Philosopher's Stone so badly."

Dumbledore let this information sink in slowly. Then, he asked: "What happened to him in the end?"

"Well, he died. Harry killed him."

She started to tell Dumbledore the ending of her story. After finishing it, she let out a sigh of relief. Finally, the burden had been lifted off her shoulders. She would no longer felt so tight inside anymore.

"Now, after hearing your story, I suggest we start straightaway to discuss your task," Dumbledore said, conjuring two large goblets. "May I offer you a drink before we begin the next session, Ms. Granger? Perhaps some butter beer or some tea?"

"I would love some tea, professor," Hermione said. Dumbledore flicked his wand, and a steaming teapot appeared in front of them. He poured the tea out into the goblets, and handed one of them to Hermione.

"Sorry about this. I've run out of teacups, you see. I just lent my tea set to Madam McCarthy, and I had not bothered to conjure more teacups for now. I hope you don't mind, Ms. Granger," Dumbledore said.

Hermione nodded in understanding. "I don't mind a bit, professor," she added with a half smile. "This is just fine for me."

Dumbledore smiled and sipped his tea.

Hermione took a long sip from her cup before putting it down on the table.

"Have you got the locket?" Dumbledore asked.

"Yes. I planned to wear it, so that it'll always be with me."

"Ah, very good indeed. Now, since you have figured out your task, care to enlightened me about it?"

"Of course. I would be honoured to do so, professor," she said, and started her story. She begins with the discovery of McKenna's first journal, and how she had nicked the second journal from Riddle three days ago. Dumbledore merely gave her a quizzical look as she rambled on. Dumbledore listened intently to her, and did not interrupt her while she rattled on continuously.

"So, after you sent me this locket, and after I've read the message on the parchment stuffed in the gap, I think I know what I'm supposed to do to change the timeline."

"Indeed, my dear. Care to share it with me?" Dumbledore asked, giving Hermione a knowing smile. Hermione somehow had the feeling that the old professor had knew all along about everything, but nevertheless she still thought that it would be appropriate to tell Dumbledore what she had learned.

She started to explain about the poem written on the piece of parchment found in the locket. Then, she told Dumbledore which option she choused.

For some reason, the old professor grew quiet after hearing what she had said. He seemed to be deep in thought, placing the tips of his fingers together and creasing his forehead in concentration.

"Ms. Granger, perhaps you should consider the other option?" he finally asked, without looking at Hermione. Hermione noticed that Dumbledore looked quite sad now.

"Professor, you don't understand. You haven't seen his full potential yet. It was so terrible. He was definitely not capable of loving anyone; he was emotionless!" Hermione tried to keep her voice down as best as possible. After all, Dumbledore had made her slightly irritated by suggesting that she try the second option, which she knew would be impossible and useless.

"Don't be so pessimistic, my dear girl. Why not give it a try?"

"Professor…"

Dumbledore held up his hand to stop her before she was able to continue her protest.

"Listen to me, Ms. Granger. Not all battles are fought the hard way, you know. Sometimes, the strongest emotion would be able to yield the greatest power in winning a battle. As you have told me just now, he never had experienced love in his life before. In other words, love is a foreign concept to him, and he did not understand what is it like or how does it felt like to be loved. Perhaps you're sent back here to teach him how to love and made him experienced it. Then, a brighter future would await the wizarding world. Shedding blood and taking lives should be used as a last resort."

Hermione processed what Dumbledore had just said in a few moments of silence. She still thought that it was impossible to make that psycho experience love. After what he had just done to her, she did not think that it would work out as Dumbledore had so simply put it.

"Professor, I'm afraid I cannot handle this."

"I think you'll do it just fine, my dear. Just be patient, and have the will power to continue trying. Don't give up easily." Dumbledore's words were somehow soothing and comforting. Hermione felt slightly at ease.

"Would it really be possible? Can someone turn from the dark side to the light side overnight? Bah! I don't think so," she scoffed inwardly.

As though he had read her thoughts, Dumbledore said: "Sometimes we must believe in impossible miracles, you know."

"Miracle?" Hermione scoffed again. Dumbledore was really starting to piss her off now. Why can't he see thing from her point of view? That psycho was already very dangerous, and she figured that it would be difficult to make him turn over a new leaf.

However, Hermione did not want to hurt Dumbledore. He had tried his best to help her after all. So, she tried to control her temper, and pondered what to say next.

Finally, after choosing her words carefully, she said in a low voice: "I still think that it is impossible to do this, professor. Nevertheless, I decided to give it a try. If it did not work, then I'm left with no other choice than to kill him."

Dumbledore gave her a half smile. "All right. If this was really impossible, than I'm afraid killing him will be the best way to correct the flaw mentioned by McKenna."

"Fine. Let's try it for two to three months. If it cannot work out, then I'll start to plan his demise."

Dumbledore nodded briefly in understanding. "Yes, I'm afraid that this would be the case. It is for The Greater Good."

"Yeah, I know," Hermione said. She watched Dumbledore's glum expression for another minute before looking away.

Deep down inside, Hermione wished that she had not make the suggestion just now. She wished that she can kill the psycho right at this very moment. She took a few deep breaths to calm herself.

For the next few minutes, Dumbledore and Hermione chatted about other things lightly. Hermione was glad that Dumbledore never mentioned anything more about her task. She did not wish to discuss the topic again herself.

"Ah, I think I should not keep you more longer than I was supposed to, Ms. Granger. It's already past curfew hour. You better get back to your dormitory before your other counterpart gets suspicious."

"Oh no," Hermione screamed inwardly. "I would not go back now, not after what I did to that psycho. He would probably curse me into oblivion if I return to the dormitory now."

Dumbledore stood up, and started to walk to the door. Reluctantly, Hermione got up from her seat, and walked slowly towards where Dumbledore was standing. She had preferred not to tell Dumbledore earlier that Riddle had cursed her twice. She figured that it would be not much point in doing so, as Dumbledore cannot do much to help her. She would just have to face this herself.

"So, I'll see you next week, professor?" she asked in a voice which she hoped was not too weak.

"Oh, I don't think that will be necessary. We should meet again three months from now, to evaluate whether what you opted had work out well. Then, we'll see how to take things from there, shall we?" asked Dumbledore, still smiling at her.

"All right, professor. We'll see how things turned up," Hermione managed to force out.

"Oh, before I forgot, here's your pass to the restricted section of the library, as promised," Dumbledore said, waving his wand and summoning a roll of parchment from the neat stack on his desk.

Hermione took the parchment from Dumbledore and thanked him. Her heart skipped with joy. At last, she would be able to do more research on McKenna's theory [if there was indeed anything at all]. She still had to read up on the journal and the third tome which she had duplicated from Riddle. In fact, she should even check out her early theory of Muggle poisons, just to be sure of it and to put her thoughts at ease.

"Good night, professor," she said, before stepping out of the office.

"Good night, Ms. Granger," Dumbledore said quietly, before slowly closing the door of his office.

Hermione exhaled deeply, and then started to head up to the seventh floor corridor. She had no intention to go back to her dormitory just yet. She was not ready for another round of torturing from that psycho. What she really needed now was a peaceful and quiet place to rest, and to calm her nerves. She was still shaken from her duel with Riddle just now. She knew just the perfect place to go. She would return to her dormitory later, she figured.

She was just about to turn into the corridor leading to the staircases when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Instinctively, she pulled out her wand and turned.

"Merope…"

She gazed into the kind blue eyes of Alphard Black. She blushed in embarrassment, and quickly lowered her wand.

"Alphard, I'm so sorry," she started to said.

"Merope, where have you been? You missed dinner, and we're so worry. Did Riddle hurt you again? You looked as though you've been crying," Alphard said, giving her a concerned look.

"No, of course he didn't," Hermione said quickly. "I'm sorry. Professor Dumbledore asked me to see him in his office just now, to discuss something with me."

"I see," Alphard said, letting out a breath of relief. "Minerva and Charles were looking for you everywhere. I just joined in their search after I settled some matters with Lucy."

"Sorry for making all of you worry," Hermione said apologetically. "I'll make sure to inform all of you first next time."

"Yeah, be sure of it, Head Girl. Or we'll tear the whole castle down while searching for you," Alphard joked.

Hermione giggled and slapped him playfully on the shoulders.

"Okay, don't worry," she said. "I'll remember that next time."

They smiled at each other and started to walk down the corridor.

"So, I guess I'll see you tomorrow," Alphard said, after a few more idle exchanges.

"Sure. I'll meet you guys for breakfast on tomorrow," Hermione promised.

"Okay," Alphard said. "Let me walk you back to your dormitory."

"Oh, there's no need, Alphard. I'm not going back just yet. I need to patrol the corridors tonight," Hermione said quickly. She still had no desire to return to her dormitory yet.

"Oh, I see. Then I'll see you tomorrow," he said, giving Hermione's shoulder a light squeeze.

"Good night, Alphard," Hermione said, smiling at him.

"Good night to you too, Head Girl," Alphard said, before turning away and walking in the opposite direction.

Hermione watched his retreating figure for a while until it disappeared around another corner of the corridor. Then, she turned quickly and started to walk up the staircases leading to the seventh floor.

The corridors were very quiet by now. Hermione found comfort in the silence, and enjoyed every moment of it as she walked down the corridors, glancing once a while at the portraits hung on the walls and the suits of armour that had helped to fight the battle during at her time. She smiled at some of the portraits which she could recognized from her time as she passed, and some of them returned her smile, while others just nodded curtly at her.

Quietly, she turned into a deserted corridor on the seventh floor, and approaches the painting which was opposite a stretch of blank wall. She looked around her once again to make sure that no one was around.

When she was sure that it was safe, she closed her eyes, and started to pace back and forth from the stretch of blank wall.

"I need a safe and quiet place to clear my thoughts.

I need a safe and quiet place to clear my thoughts.

I need a safe and quiet place to clear my thoughts."

She repeated this for a few more time, while she paced in front of the wall. Then, she opened her eyes, and found a door had appeared before her.

"At last," she sighed in relief. "This is just what I needed for now. Room of Requirement, here I come!"

She reached for the doorknob, and turned it. Quietly, she pushed open the door and stepped into the room, closing the door behind her.

She pressed her ears against the closed Dorr, trying to hear whether there were any noises outside. After all, she still need to be sure that she was not being followed or seen by anyone. Relieve washed over her once more when she heard nothing at all. She turned around and observed the room.

However, Hermione was not prepared for the sight which greeted her as her eyes scanned the room. Apparently, someone had the same idea as her to spend a few quiet hours here.

The room looked cozy, with soft carpeting on the floor, and beautiful decorations on the walls. A few cheerful paintings hung on all the four walls in the room. There was a crackling fire in one corner, and a few comfortable looking armchairs were arranged near the fireplace. There was also a long couch, just like the couch in her dormitory. A large bed was placed near the window, which was wide open, sending in fresh fragrance of night flowers from outside the castle.

And there, lying on the bed, with his eyes half closed, was none other than Tom Marvolo Riddle. He had fixed his nose back, and the blood from his face and clothes were all gone.

For a moment, Hermione stood rooted to the spot. Her breath caught in her throat, and she cupped her mouth with her hands to prevent a scream escaping from it. This was the last thing she had ever expected, and she was definitely not prepared for it.

Hermione tried to calm herself, but her heart was racing so fast that she thought she would faint soon. She should have returned to her dormitory after all. Now, she was stuck in a place which was only known to herself and Riddle; the Room of Requirement. He could kill her easily in here, and just leave the place. No one will be able to find her.

"How could I be so stupid? I should have thought better about it before coming here," Hermione muttered under her breath. Her hands were now cold and damp with sweat. She tried hard to control her panic.

"I must get out of here now before he noticed me," Hermione decided finally. She started to turn away, but she was not quick enough.

Riddle blinked, and his eyelids fluttered open. With horror, Hermione stared into a pair of midnight blue eyes, which were now widened in surprised as they focused on her figure.

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** There you go! This is the next half of the previous chapter, as promised. Hope all of you enjoyed it! What a long chapter! Feeling great now as I managed to type it out at last!

** Please read and review! Next chapter will be up soon!

^^ Hermione Hean Fui ^^