A/N: Chapter title taken from the song from Alice Deejay, 'Better Off Alone'. I just found a CD filled with all my fav old clubbing songs.

Thanks to deeps85 to point out the error. I write as quick as possible most of the time and hardly check, since I have to finish other work.

Hotkat144

deeps85

blindfaithoperadiva

Ms willow gosermer

silverwisps - woah. I think that was the longest review I've ever had. And yes, I agree, I hate fics which show Hermione as some flake who is practically Mary Sue, apart from spates of idiocy.

mcdreamy1992

snackadils - yup. That's what it means.

luv-icecream-hyper - bwahaha. thank you. I feel special :)

Princess And The Pea

Darkness-Lightness

Selene98

Dracos-gurl123

Chapter 21 - Do You Think You're Better Off Alone

Truth be told, Hermione was scared witless after the incident.

She wasn't afraid of Grindelwald's supporter, no. She was afraid of the words Tom had said.

I won't go anywhere without you, okay?

It was when they came back, it finally struck her. She had blindly forgotten, due to her crush on Tom, that she was a timetraveller.

A Timetraveller who had no idea when she could or would leave this time.

There were no books on timetravel that Hermione could find. As many had warned before her, "To meddle with time would be a dangerous thing."

She had finally found herself, at Dumbledore's door, knocking.

"Come in," came his voice, and she steeled her nerves as she entered.

The Transfiguration Professor looked at her wisely, the look in his eye asking her to speak her mind.

"It's about Time," she spoke, as vaguely as possible.

Dumbledore nodded, and he set up wards around his Office, ready to give her anything he knew on the subject.

---

Tom had noticed the worried look on Ana's face. She had naturally forgiven him after he snapped at her – it was a defensive mechanism, but she seemed even more worried before.

He watched her enter Dumbledore's office, and close the door. She seemed to meet up with the old codger a lot, even as a Slytherin.

But his ears pricked yet again, as he heard a snatch from a conversation he wasn't supposed to hear.

"It's about time," Ana's voice had said, and the rest of the conversation faded away due to wards.

Tom swore Dumbledore either could see through walls and doors, or he just had dumb luck, being a Gryffindor. It was most likely the latter, anyway.

---

"You're worried about going back in time, right?" asked Dumbledore sagely, looking at Hermione, "You do not need to worry."

Her eyes snapped to his. "What?" she exclaimed, shocked.

"You can choose whenever to go back. The future is not waiting for you – instead, it is forming as we speak. You could, if you wished to, stay in this timeline for the rest of your life. But…" He raised his hand to Hermione, stopping her interjection, "I will give you the choice. My friend Nicolas Flamel is embedding the spell into a small object that you can carry around you, just in case."

On the inside, Hermione was conflicted. If she stayed in the present, she would not see Harry or Ron till she was an old woman. Yet if she left, Tom would probably…

Her head felt like exploding at the migraine headache.

"Do not think too hard on it. Go up to Madame Auclair's to get something for your headache," he murmured, as she exited.

---

After one mildly-bitter potion, her head was feeling better.

She would be making Harry's life better if she stayed. And she would still see him again, anyway, as well as Ron.

Sighing, she pushed around the food on her plate. "Are you alright?" whispered Tom, seeing the worried face on her still. She murmured affirmative, and his arm went over her shoulder and he gave her a peck.

Perhaps she would be staying after all.

---

Adonis felt even more alone as he watched the happy couple from his seat.

He didn't know why, but even when Ana tried to talk to him, he shied away, unwilling to utter a word.

It's your fault for not telling her what you felt earlier. Get over it.

Having spent most of his time moping, knowing that he did not want to break them up, he knew he could make it up to her for his absence. It was Christmas soon, and even if he was going home over the holiday, he could get her something more than just a typical box of Chocolate Frogs.

As he watched them stand up and leave, he tapped Ana on the shoulder. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

---

Before, the gap between them seemed to be ever-widening. But as Adonis spoke the words, she felt it closing again, as if they were the close best friends they were.

"Yes, Adonis?" She had told Tom to meet with her later, but his reaction was unreadable.

"I'm sorry for ignoring you. I had some things to think about…"

"Ah. It's nice having you back." She pulled him into a bear hug, and he complied, missing the hugs they had before.

As they pulled back, he whispered conspiratorially, "If he hurts you, tell me. I'll give him…"

She slapped him happily on the back. "Okay, okay. I'll come to you if he does. But you're going to have to deal with his dead mangled body first," she joked. Adonis could never fight Tom and win. Perhaps not at the moment, anyway.

"Oh, and my sister… be careful of her. She's been oddly quiet lately."

Hermione nodded. "I know. Anyway, I'll see you later in class, alright?" She gave him one last hug before disappearing to find Tom.

Adonis wasn't sure if the knife in his gut had been twisted in further or the wound had started to heal, as he watched her leave.

---

Christmas was coming soon, and Eileen was finally back on track. It had taken a long time to create her unique potion, with its own unique effects. She had tested the previous prototypes on mice, and watched as each one succumbed to the aftereffects.

The fruits of her labour had come to this. A vial of dastardly green liquid, with flecks of silver and black, in the ring she had on her finger.

As she swept through the halls, she hoped she could think of a suitable sob story to get back closer to Burke.

Her horrible marriage of course.

She could use that to her advantage.

---

Hermione picked up one diary volume, and cast the spell in her mind. On the first page, neat black, it printed, "Property of Tom Riddle."

It had taken her a while to think of a quote to place in the diary permanently. After much searching and thinking, she had settled on one.

Picking up a quill and charming the ink to become permanent, she wrote it down herself.

Do you think you're better off alone?

Somewhere there is someone that dreams of your smile,

And finds in your presence that life is worthwhile,

So when you are lonely remember it's true,

Someone somewhere is thinking of you.

He had been lonely for too long – and if she somehow failed her mission, Hermione hoped it would curb it.

Delicately, she wrapped it in forest green, and attached the label, "To: Tom Riddle, From: Ana"

She could no longer fool herself. Everything she did pointed to the inevitable thought – she was falling for him, hard and fast. She had already given Adonis his own present, and they had spent a while together, like they used to, messing in the snow. But she had saved Tom's for the last, and it appeared he had too.

Sitting down at her seat, she hid his present in her cloak, and took a sip of pumpkin juice. She was always early for lunch, and surprisingly, Eileen was there too.

"Look, I'm sorry about everything before," Eileen glumly muttered, "You deserve Tom anyway… You two are perfect."

Hermione was unsure. It was too… coincidental?

"I know it seems so abrupt, but my parents," her voice dropped down, "They are forcing me to marry Crabbe in Christmas."

That broke through to Hermione's stubborn, righteous Gryffindor side. "What? That's evil! You can't be stuck forever to some stupid bloke like him!"

Eileen gave Hermione an uneasy smile. "Well, either I marry him or I get disowned…" Tears started forming, on the brink of spilling.

Throwing caution to the wind, Hermione couldn't help but hug the girl and try to comfort her.

---

Tom had entered the Hall, but spotted Ana hugging Eileen and stopped in his tracks. He hid, and peered into the empty hall, to see Eileen fiddle with her ring. Liquid from the ring poured into Ana's goblet.

And then Ana turned to take a sip at her drink…

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A/N afterwards: Yeah, I know I'm evil.