Tom Riddle

Emilia stared at the muddy concoction in a tiny vial in distaste. She has failed again.

At this rate she would run out of ingredients and there weren't going to be enough in Slughorn's potion lab.

Emilia glanced at the potion quickly before looking up to see Pauline from the end of the table, her eyes pricked at the sight of her girls surrounding the others. They chatted with her, looked up at her with admiration...but that's where she belonged, not mudblood Fossil. Emilia could not understand what could she have done wrong.

She wondered to herself if she should poison the others anyways. Though she failed to make the potion, but surely the combination of ingredients alone would be enough to make someone sick... No, Emilia decided suddenly as a sinister smile lit up her face.

She cannot poison Pauline for now, it would raise Tom's suspicion, but that didn't meant she couldn't wait for her family to obtain the potion for her.

Emilia was surprised when she found out that Tom has landed himself in the Hospital Wing. Someone told her it was Pauline's fault, she was enraged and ready to rush to the Hospital Wing at the first chance he got, but one of his followers, Mulciber, stopped her and told her his lordship does not wish to be disturbed.

It took her a while to get the chance to talk to Tom again. She had been eager to deliver to his Lord the news that Pauline was a mudblood, but her Lord scoffed and called her a foolish girl.

Was that not what he had instructed her? To watch and find out more about Pauline Fossil?

Emilia shuddered when she remember the cold sneer that adorned his handsome face when he asked her of her progress in the Ministry.

She had shuddered from the coldness of his demeanor. Then hesitantly, she shook her head.

Everything went downhill from there.

When she had kneeled and pleaded with him to not let Pauline take her place, Tom, a cruel glint in his eyes, had caressed her cheek gently - an act that had never occurred before - and told her:

"You have failed me, Emilia, and that is your punishment."

His voice was soft like a lover's whisper, at first her mind couldn't process the message. His fingers had been icy. His touch terrified Emilia, the air of danger rolling off him made her shiver, but it also made her crave his touch more than ever.

Now that she thought about it, it was part of the punishment. The loving act had been a cruel reminder of what she could've had, but lost due to her failure.

But surely, he did not expect her to succeed on her first mission in the Ministry? She had tried her best, really, she did. If he had given her more time, then surely...

Emilia can remember when Tom first came to her, his presence bright and radiant as the sun, his noble goal - to cleanse the world of filth.

Emilia had expected there to be some kind of revolution. She joined Tom because she wanted to be the winning side. Despite the lack of progress, Emilia believed in Tom, but why was he wasting time with a pathetic mudblood now?

Emilia gritted her teeth when she heard Pauline's laughter from the other end, that witch! She must have poisoned Tom's mind! A slight maniacal smirk floated on Emilia's face, she would just have to save her Lord from this curse, yes, she would be awarded.

Hermione let out an exhausted sigh as she head toward Dumbledore's office, it was a chore to get away from Tom and the desperate Slytherin girls who insisted on "getting to know her better", Hermione rolled her eyes.

She raised her hand to knock on the heavy door, but before her knuckles could contact the wood, a voice came from within.

"Miss Fossil, please do come in." Hermione braced herself as she entered cautiously. Her eyes swept over the furniture discreetly before landing on the Transfiguration Professor.

Dumbledore motioned for her to sit, "Lemon drops?" Hermione shook her head.

The future Headmaster turned from the window and sat down across from her, benevolence and good will clear in his face.

"How are you doing here, Miss Fossil?"

"I'm good, thank you Professor." Hermione kept her tone low.

"I noticed that you've been staying close to Mr Riddle lately," Dumbledore paused for a second, "Has he been suspicious of your identity?"

"No." Hermione lied quickly, it's a bit of a complex story that she didn't wish to share, but Dumbledore continued on about Tom.

"...He's a bright boy, brilliant student in fact, it's good that you have him helping you with school..." Dumbledore kept his eyes trained on her carefully as he praised Tom Riddle.

Annoyance grew in Hermione, she could feel it coming, the interrogation. Guilt was stirring inside Hermione as if she's done something bad. She bit the inside of her mouth, frustrated by her lack of control over her feelings.

"...But it's best that you keep distance from him, Mr Riddle can be very persuasive, and sometimes he can be too curious for his own good." Dumbledore finished as he stared at Hermione expectantly. Hermione swallowed, there it comes.

"Are you suggesting, Professor..." Hermione had to pause to inhale before she could finish the sentence, "...that I ostracize myself so no one will ever find out secrets of the future?"

"Oh, no, Miss Fossil," Dumbledore raised his palms in a pacifying motion, "I would never expect you to make such a sacrifice. The staffs have agreed to let you keep your memories and I only wish to ensure that your knowledge remains safe."

Hermione nodded, she had not really considered the ramification of letting the professors know that she is from the future, especially professor Slughorn, but it seemed like everything played out fairly well so far.

"However, what were you and Mr. Riddle doing in the Forbidden Forest?" A blush crept into Hermione's cheeks, even though she knew Dumbledore couldn't be implying what she was thinking, but she couldn't help it.

"Nothing really." Hermione half stammered. When the other continued to look at her, she straightened up defensively.

"I believe that was already taken care by Professor Slughorn," Hermione paused, taking in Dumbledore's silence. After a few seconds, she added promptly, "my Head of House, sir."

It was a cruel comment indeed. Hermione moistened her lips, her voice was clipped as the words came crashing out of her lips.

Hermione had an urge to flinch at the hurt in Dumbledore's eyes, but she remained uptight. Her hands clammy as she looked at the future Headmaster nervously. Dumbledore didn't respond, there was a haunted quality to his eyes as he stared at her.

Both sat in silence. Hermione was growing more agitated, her fingers tangled themselves around her robe, twisting and winding.

"I believe that's all, Professor?" After a long moment, Hermione muttered quietly, she wanted to escape from here, pressure seemed to be closing in on her from all sides.

"Yes, that is all." Dumbledore answered in an equally quiet tone.

The man looked disappointed- no, grief-struck would be the better word. Hermione shuddered at the thought. She nearly fled from the office, a strange choking sensation in her chest.

Author's Note: I think I'm being really retarded about naming this chapter, but... *shrug* I haven't got much brain left lately. I'm sure most of you would be able to guess the identity of the mysterious figure that saw Tom and Hermione holding hands in one of the previous chapters by now.

I decided to not let Dumbledore talk down on Tom, simply because I don't see him as that sort of character. As for why he was hurt when Hermione stressed that Slughorn was her head of the house... Well, Hermione was a Gryffindor, so emphasizing Slughorn as her Head of the House is like saying "stop butting into my business". As a reminder from Chapter 3, I did place Dumbledore in charge as Hermione's "advisor" since when all the other staffs insisted that Hermione's memories of the future be erased, Dumbledore had fought against it. In fact, all Dumbledore wanted to do was to help, but he couldn't stop Hermione from seeing him as an enemy. Oh the other hand, Hermione felt betrayed that Dumbledore didn't stop Tom Riddle from turning into the Dark Lord when he saw through Tom's act, and he sort of turned Harry in to Messiah. When she got to know Tom (or saw Tom's acts), she began to resent Dumbledore for not giving Tom a chance when Tom could become someone good.

*hint hint* This story is mostly written in third person from character view so everything said by the character should not be taken as absolute fact as it may contain bias from the character. But one thing Emilia said was indeed true, she was brewing and failing to make a certain potion. ;)