A/N: Thanks to the following folks for their assistance in helping this story along: brownlark42, ladyofsilverdawn, SassenachStarbuck, and MrsBennettFrazier.

Sandra-Sempra made amazing cover art for this story. See it on my Tumblr crochetawayhpff. And let me know what you think of this chapter!

Chapter 14: The Unbreakable Vow

January 26, 1945

Hermione was reading in the common room after dinner. She didn't know where Tom had gone and was a little sad she hadn't seen him. Usually, they spent evenings together, either in the common room or library. Returning to his room for sleep. Hermione had not slept in her own bed since Tom's birthday. She was getting rather used to sleeping with the wizard. She frowned as she glanced at her watch and saw that it was almost curfew. Where was he?

No sooner had the thought surfaced, than Tom burst through the entrance to the common room, the wall slid shut behind him as he looked around wildly. He saw her and Hermione watched as he seemed to calm visibly. He stalked toward her and grasped her hand, and pulled her after him.

"Tom?" Hermione asked after he had ushered her into his room and shut the door behind them.

He whirled on her and kissed her deeply, passionately, pushing her against the door at her back. Hermione wasn't complaining, she loved it when he took charge like this. She moaned at the feel of his hard, lithe body against hers. Just as suddenly as the searing kiss had begun, Tom pulled away, panting heavily as he buried his face into her neck and shoulder.

"...sorry, I'm so sorry," he muttered over and over again into her hair.

"Tom? What's wrong?" Hermione asked. She didn't know what would have happened to make him act like this.

"I won't do it, Hermione. I won't become him," Tom spat as he pulled back to look into her eyes.

Hermione searched his deep blue eyes for a moment, "You viewed the memory?"

Tom nodded, "It was horrible. How could you have… why do you…" Tom trailed off.

He stepped back quickly, holding his hands up as if she'd burned him.

Hermione felt a wave of hurt course through her. She hung her head. Of course, Tom had seen her for the Muggleborn she was. He wouldn't want anything to do with her.

"I understand," Hermione said quietly as she pulled away from the door and turned to open it.

"No!" Tom said, startling her. "No, you don't."

His voice was strained and Hermione struggled to understand.

"I killed you. I murdered you in your timeline. I watched the whole thing, Hermione. How… how could you want me?" Tom asked, his voice small and his eyes tortured.

Suddenly, Hermione understood. Tom couldn't forgive himself for something he hadn't done yet.

"Tom," Hermione pleaded.

When he didn't look at her, she stepped forward and cupped his cheek in her hand, "Tom," she said again.

Tom finally opened his eyes and looked at her.

"You aren't him. Not yet. I don't think of you as Lord Voldemort. I haven't, not since before Halloween at least. You haven't become that monster. It's… I'm in a different timeline, we have time. We can change how history plays out… I love you," Hermione admitted.

She hadn't meant to say that, she wasn't even sure when she realized that it was true, but suddenly it was. She did love him. Not only did she want to save him in order to save the rest of the world, but she wanted to save him for his sake. She wanted him. Desperately, more than she'd ever wanted anything.

He swept his arms around her once more, burying his face into her hair, and Hermione held him. She ran her hands up and down his back, soothingly, smoothing his shirt. She guided them to his bed and sat down next to him. He curled himself up so his head was in her lap and she played with his hair with one hand and rubbed his back with the other.

Tom began sobbing and Hermione couldn't stop the tears from leaking out of her own eyes at the sound. A lump formed in her throat and it was difficult to swallow.

"Nobody's…" Tom began.

"Shhh," Hermione said. She knew what he was going to say. Nobody had ever told him that they loved him before. Her own heart hurt at the thought that this brilliant, beautiful boy had never known love in his entire life.

Tom calmed after a few moments, his face was still pressed into her abdomen, his arms curled around her waist as they held each other.

"I promise," he murmured, almost too low for Hermione to hear.

Abruptly, she felt a swirl of magic around them both.

"Tom?"

She grasped his hair and gently pulled his head back so she could see his face.

"I swear my love and fealty to you, Hermione Granger. For this life and every life after it," Tom stated seriously.

More magic swirled and Hermione gasped as it sank into her skin, causing gooseflesh to break out all over her body.

"What have you done?" she asked, slightly terrified. It felt like a Vow, like an Unbreakable Vow.

"I won't become that monster! I won't become the man that murders you! I won't be the reason that wizarding Britain loses two-thirds of its population!" Tom criedemphatically.

Hermione nodded, it was done, he'd made an Unbreakable Vow to her.

"I accept," she said seriously, her eyes not leaving his.

"Thank you," he mumbled and buried his face into her stomach once more.

Hermione nodded. But she didn't understand, not really. What had they done? What would this mean for them?

February 11, 1945

"Tom?" Hermione asked.

They had just entered his room for the night and could talk freely once more. She had been wanting to ask about his Horcruxes since he'd made the Vow to her several weeks ago. But she had been putting it off. She knew it was bound to cause a fight. And then there was the problem of the diadem. She'd been trying to see if there was a ritual used to combine soul bits that was unrelated to the repent needed to reverse a Horcrux, but so far she hadn't found anything.

What would happen if she destroyed the diadem in this time? Would it affect Tom? She was hesitant to destroy his other Horcruxes now. She was sure that the act of destroying them would make Tom less human and she wasn't willing to risk that. Not now.

"Hmm?" Tom asked as he dropped his bag next to his desk and began loosening his tie.

"What about your Horcruxes?" Hermione asked in a whisper.

Tom stiffened and Hermione winced, she knew this was going to be a fight.

"What about them?" Tom asked carefully.

"Well, maybe we can try to fix them?"

"How?" Tom snapped.

Hermione sighed. "A Horcrux can be reversed if you have true remorse for the death that made the Horcrux," she quoted.

"Which book states that?" Tom asked.

"Magick Moste Evile," Hermione said with a shrug.

Tom sighed heavily and sat on his bed. He dropped his hands into his head, rubbing at his scalp. Hermione was relieved he hadn't begun an argument over it and sat next to him, she rubbed his back lightly.

"I was going to make six," Tom admitted.

"I know," Hermione said.

"You really think I can reverse them?" he asked.

"I don't know. Only you know that."

"Maybe I can find some remorse for Warren," Tom said quietly.

"That's good," Hermione encouraged.

"I know I cannot find any for my father," Tom spat suddenly.

"Alright, that's... that's okay. It might work out anyway," Hermione replied, thinking about the diadem.

"What do you mean? I'd still be down a portion of my soul."

"Maybe not," Hermione said. She reached into the beaded bag and pulled out the diadem.

Tom looked entranced as soon as he set eyes on it again. It was kind of fascinating how drawn Tom was to a piece of soul that maybe didn't belong to him. Or did it? It was confusing to think about.

"This is a Horcrux," Hermione said, emphasizing the diadem she was holding.

Tom reached for it and she allowed him to take it from her.

"Who's?" he asked.

"Yours."

Tom's brow furrowed and he tore his eyes from the diadem to look at her once more.

"From the future? His, you mean?"

Hermione nodded. "Yes."

"How could I have remorse for a death I didn't cause?"

"I think there might be another way to force your souls to meld. I've been looking into it. There are other soul injuries, though they are rare."

Tom nodded and Hermione didn't like the look in his eyes. She slowly reached out and took the diadem from him. She stuffed it back into her beaded bag and watched as Tom shook himself, seeming to come back to the present and not wherever the diadem sent him each time he saw it.

March 3, 1945

Hermione had been looking for weeks, and finally, finally, she found the ritual she was looking for. It was part ritual, part potion. And they'd need a circle, a natural circle that was close to a ley line. Hermione rubbed her head, circles and ley lines, these were things that most modern witches and wizards didn't bother with. Not since adopting wands more than a thousand years ago.

She knew that Hogwarts was a very magical place, so it only made sense that there were ley lines nearby. Maybe Armando would know? Hogwarts was ancient, there had to be a ritual circle or two nearby as well. She'd hate to have to go all the way down to Sainsbury. Stonehenge was the only one she knew about, but the Picts were a magical people, there had to be circles in Scotland as well. Hermione sighed as she gazed at her watch, dinner wouldn't be for another hour and a half or so. She gathered her books and headed for the Headmasters office.

Tom was off doing, Merlin knew what, Hermione hadn't questioned him when he'd made some vague remark about things he needed to do. Maybe he was disbanding his Knights? Hermione snorted at the thought as she whispered the password to the gargoyle guarding the headmaster's office.

"Hermione, my dear!" Armando greeted as she stepped through the doorway. "Have a seat. Would you like tea?"

Hermione smiled and nodded at her guardian. He poured for them both as Hermione settled into an armchair in front of his fireplace.

"What can I do for you?" Armando asked as he levitated Hermione's teacup to her.

"I was wondering what you knew about ley lines and ritual circles," Hermione began. No use beating around the bush, Dippet wasn't as thick as he liked to pretend. He was rather like Dumbledore that way, except less biased against Slytherins.

"Oh! Doing some ritual magic are we? Hmmm, well there are several ley lines that cross the Hogwarts grounds, of course. There may be a ritual circle in the dungeons somewhere, but I'm guessing you need to do the ritual under the stars?"

Hermione nodded.

"Yes, yes, well I think your best bet would be the stones near Killilan. You know where that's at?"

"I think so," Hermione nodded trying to remember where Killian was in regards to Hogwarts. "Maybe fifty kilometers southwest of here?"

"That's it. I've been before if you'd like to me Apparate you there. That way you can get there on your own in the future."

"I'd like that," Hermione grinned at him.

"The Killilan stones are used fairly frequently, so be sure to stop at the White Wyvern in town to see if anything local will be going on before you begin a ritual."

"They won't mind that I'm not a local?" Hermione asked.

"Nah, Killian's stones are used by everyone north of the borders. Tiny little hamlet, hardly any Muggle's around, and the ones that are, are pretty much in the know anyway."

"Really?" Hermione was fascinated. She didn't know there were communities like that.

"This far north, the Ministry tends to turn a blind eye as long as nobody complains," Armando shrugged. "Am I allowed to know what sort of ritual you are doing?"

"Er… it's not for me," Hermione said.

"Ah, say no more, my dear," Armando grinned at her.

Hermione spent a few more minutes with him before making her excuses. She had a potion to brew and still needed to find Tom. It was Saturday, so the earliest they would even be able to get away for any ritual would be next weekend. And she still had to get Tom to agree. It wasn't going to be easy, melding two bits of his soul together, but it should at least be less painful than the remorse needed to reverse a horcrux. Or at least that's what she hoped.

She was finally able to track Tom down at dinner that evening. He'd been holding court with his Knights when Hermione walked in, she knew who they were, Abraxas Malfoy, Thoros Nott, a Lestrange, Selwyn, and a Dolohov. Tom smirked at her when she walked in and made Abraxas move down the bench, creating a spot for her between the two of them. Hermione was still wary of Abraxas, he had tried to kill her after all, but Tom assured her it had been handled. She wasn't sure if she should feel bad about that or not. She suspected it had been a painful lesson for Abraxas.

Dinner was a stilted affair, as it always was when Tom made her eat amongst his Knights. They generally ignored her, but at the same time, clearly, didn't feel comfortable enough to speak about anything when she was present. So there were lots of heavy, awkward silences. All in all, Hermione was glad when dinner was over.

"I have some news," Hermione muttered to Tom as he pulled her up from the bench.

Tom lifted a brow at her and she smirked up at him. "Maybe we should retire early?"

Tom's grin turned wicked. "I'll be going to bed early tonight, gentlemen," he announced to the group as he led Hermione from the hall.

Hermione allowed him to pull her into his room and things heated quickly. She really had meant to tell him about the ritual, but the things his tongue did to her body made her forget all else.

They lay in bed afterward, Hermione half-laying on his chest, as Tom played with her curls.

"I found a ritual for the diadem," Hermione announced.

"Really?"

"Mmm-hmm, it's complicated. We need a stone circle, near a ley line, and there's a potion you have to drink too. But it'll work."

Hermione tightened her arms around him and Tom responded by rolling them until he hovered over her.

"Truly?"

Hermione nodded and grinned happily.

"You are fucking amazing," Tom breathed as he dipped his head and kissed her.