Disclaimer: these characters are not mine – they belong to JK Rowling
AN: Thank you all so much! This story has 78 favorites and 171 follows! I am so happy that you guys have stuck with me on this crazy ride! I want to mention, I went back to the last chapter (ch 19) and made a few small revisions, so please go re-read that chapter before you read this one…This story, is about half finished, or maybe a little more than half! What will happen when they return to the future?! Please let me know what you think! I want to give a special shout out to LadyK – thank you for your awesome reviews! I would thank many more of you personally, but so many of you review as guests, so I don't know who you are…but still…THANK YOU!
If you haven't checked out my other Tomione stories, please show them some love! I know many of you are probably also reading Bound, but I also have some fun short stories, as well as 3 other longer WIPs: Beauty and the Beast (this is my take on Beauty and the Beast with Voldemort as the Beast, and Hermione as Belle!), Closer (Hot Goth Rockstar Tom as "Lord Voldemort" and Bookworm Hermione meet at a private party…lots of smut!), and Elixir of life (Vampire Tom! And waitress Hermione - this is my HP version of "True Blood"!)
~~{0}~~
Dorea looked up into Harry's green eyes, her own eyes searching his, and pulled him towards her bed. He seemed to hesitate for only a moment, but his protest died on his lips when she let the red satin gown fall to the floor.
"Are you sure?" He asked, swallowing thickly
"Come here, Harry." She said evenly, holding out her hand to him.
He stepped towards her, pulling her to his chest as his lips met hers. She tasted sweet, like strawberries, and his attraction towards her warred with the knowledge that she wasn't meant for him. He pushed the thoughts away and focused on her creamy porcelain skin, and her fingers that were undoing the buttons of his dress robes.
His lips trailed down her neck, and he could feel her pulse hammering wildly beneath them, as she pushed his robes off, exposing his pale chest. He guided her back towards the bed, and she pulled him down with her, never breaking the kiss. She curled her leg over his hip, pulling him closer as he slid his hand down between them, making her gasp when he slipped a finger into her. Her eyes locked with his, as she rocked against him, and she hooked her thumb into the waist band of his pants, pushing them down until she felt his hardness against her thigh. He pulled back from her, sliding his hands down the undersides of her thighs as he sunk into her with a groan. Dorea cried out as he entered her, throwing her head back and biting her lip as he moved against her. His head dipped down, and sucked one of her nipples into his mouth as she moaned his name, leaving crescent shaped marks from her nails in his back. He picked up his pace at her encouragement, her moans becoming more frequent as her eyes slipped shut, and he could tell that she was close.
"I'm going to…" she began to say before she arched up into him and cried out, pulling him against her as he climaxed just after. He rolled onto his back beside her, still breathing heavily, not sure of what he should say.
"Harry, I…" she began to say, before he silenced her with a kiss.
"I can't stay." He whispered into the darkness, and he felt her stiffen beside him.
"What do you mean, Harry?" She asked nervously.
Harry sighed, "There's a lot you don't know, Dorea. You and I, aren't meant to happen, as much as I wish we were."
"I don't understand" she said, anger lacing her voice. Had he just done to her what he did to Effy?
"If I could change things, I would, I'm sorry." He said looking at her sadly.
"Get out! I thought you were different!" she said as her face crumpled, and she began to cry. His heart was breaking as he looked at her, and he reached for her to try and soothe her when he found her wand pointed at him.
"Get. Out." She said evenly, and he held up his hands and grabbed his clothes from the floor, covering himself as he backed slowly away. As soon as he was in the hallway, he pulled his pants on hurriedly, and ran to the boy's dormitory.
~~{0}~~
Tom leaned up on his elbow and looked at Hermione as she lay naked in his bed, her hair sprawling wildly over his pillow.
"You're beautiful." He whispered, tracing her collarbone with his index finger.
She blushed, and bit her bottom lip, and she glanced up at him before she furrowed her eyebrows seemingly deep in thought.
"I can tell when you are thinking about something intensely. What is it?" he asked nuzzling his nose into her hair.
"Tom, what if…what if you come with us?" she suddenly blurted out.
It took him a moment to understand what she was saying.
"Go with you…into the future?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes. I've been thinking about it, and it makes sense." She said as she looked up into his eyes, "I want to be with you, but I can't stay here. What would happen to me fifty years from now when I am born? I could suddenly disappear, Tom." She said.
He looked down at her, thinking about what she was saying, and seemed to be working something out in his head when he nodded, "A time correction. It's entirely possible."
"But moving forward in time would not have the same result." She added.
He seemed to mull over what she was saying, but he hadn't yet responded.
"It could be a fresh start, Tom." She said reaching up her hand to cup his cheek.
His eyes slid to hers, searching their depths, and he finally nodded. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down to her, kissing him passionately.
They were interrupted by the sound of someone entering the dormitory, and Tom looked down at Hermione and pressed his finger to his lips to signal her to remain quiet, and his grabbed his wand, and poked his head out from behind the bed curtains.
"Oh, it's just you." Tom said looking at Harry's rumpled appearance and the pained look on his face, "What happened to you?" he asked him.
"Nothing that I care to discuss with you." Harry snapped rubbing a hand over his face.
"Harry?" another voice, Hermione's, could be heard from behind the curtain, and then her face suddenly appeared beside Tom's.
"I thought you were with Dorea?" she asked looking at him in confusion.
Harry sighed, he really did not want to discuss it while the two of them were probably still naked…
"Could you maybe, put some clothes on?" Harry said in exasperation.
"Oh, right…hang on." Hermione said before she disappeared back behind the curtain, pulling Tom in with her. A few moments and a giggle later, they pulled the curtains and climbed off of the bed fully dressed.
"What happened?" Hermione asked going over to sit at the end of Harry's bed, while Tom stood beside her, his arms crossed over his chest.
"I slept with Dorea." Harry said pinching the bridge of his nose.
Hermione looked up at Tom, and had to bite back a smirk when she looked back at Harry.
"So why do you look like someone just died?" Tom said not bothering to hold back his smirk, "Was the sex that bad?"
Harry narrowed his eyes at Tom, "No, you berk, I just…feel guilty." He explained.
"Let me guess, you shagged her, and then tried to back-peddle?" Tom said laughing, "Merlin, you are worse than me."
Harry glared at Tom, and Hermione caught his attention, "Is she…alright?" Hermione asked. She had grown close to Dorea, and no matter what had happened, she didn't want to see her get hurt.
"Well, she's right pissed off at me at the moment. I knew I shouldn't have done it, but I just…" Harry trailed off, and Tom interrupted.
"You were horny. It's not a crime, Jones." Tom said flatly, and Hermione turned her glare on Tom and slapped him on the arm.
"Ouch! You're always hitting me." He whined rubbing his arm.
"You deserve it!" she said laughing at Tom and turned her attention back to Harry, "Maybe I should go talk to her?"
Harry nodded, looking away, "Tell her I'm sorry."
Hermione nodded, and stood, making her way back to the Girl's dormitory. She knew the only way to make Dorea understand was to tell her the truth.
~~{0}~~
She knocked on the girl's dormitory door, before opening it softly and stepping inside.
"Dorea? It's Hermione…" she said and saw that the girl was lying in her bed, sobbing into her pillow.
"I don't want to talk to him." Dorea mumbled into her pillow.
Hermione sat gently at the end of her bed, and laid a soothing hand on her back, "I understand. Dorea, there's something I need to tell you…" Hermione started, and she saw the girl stiffen, and finally sit up to face her as she brushed the tears from her cheeks.
"What could you possibly say? He let me believe…and then he treated me just like Effy. I was so stupid." She said angrily, shaking her head.
"No, you don't understand…" Hermione said again softly, placing a hand on Dorea's shoulder.
"Then explain it to me." Dorea said flatly, meeting her eyes.
Hermione sighed, "You must know, we couldn't tell anyone about this. The only ones that know are Tom, and Professor Dumbledore. Harry and I are not really brother and sister." Hermione began, and Dorea gaped at her, putting the pieces together in her brain.
"You mean…You and Harry are…" Dorea stammered in shock
"From the future, yes." Hermione said, and Dorea's eyes widened even further.
"I was going to say involved…" Dorea said in shock.
"Oh. No, no…" Hermione laughed, "Harry and I are not involved. He's my best friend, to be sure, but nothing more than that." Hermione corrected.
"So you're from the future then? How is that possible?" Dorea asked, still staring at her as if she was looking at a ghost.
"Well, you see, I was given a time-turner to use in my third year to take some extra classes. Oh, don't look at me like that, it was approved by my head of house! Anyway, I continued to use it over the years, and Harry was worried that I was using it too much. We got into an argument, and when he tried to take it from me, we accidentally set it off, and ended up fifty-four years in the past. We went to Professor Dumbledore, and told him what had happened, and he thought it best to keep the information to ourselves so we would disrupt the timeline as little as possible. We made up fake names, and a fake story about being home-schooled, due to Grindelwald's reign of terror, and were re-sorted into new houses." Hermione explained.
"You were never a Slytherin, were you." It was a statement, not a question.
"No, I was a Gryffindor." Hermione said giving her a small smile.
"You were a terrible Slytherin." Dorea laughed, "Merlin's beard, Hermione, The Future."
Hermione nodded, "You must understand, that we never should have been here in the past to begin with, and we could potentially prevent certain people from being born if we get involved with people we shouldn't." Hermione said squeezing Dorea's hand to make her understand.
"So Harry and Effy?" Dorea asked in confusion.
Hermione had to bite back a smirk, "Effy is Harry's Grandmother in the future, but he didn't realize that until I told him, since he never knew her. She is meant to marry Fleamont Potter, and give birth to Harry's father James." Hermione explained.
Dorea's mouth gaped opened and she laughed, "Oh my God, he snogged his grandmother?!" Dorea was doubled over in laughter, "No wonder he needed my help!"
Hermione snickered despite herself, "Yes, truly. The thing is, Harry I think genuinely came to care for you, only he knows that it can't happen either." Hermione said sighing.
Dorea was silent for a moment, and she looked up at Hermione, "What about Tom then? Why is it alright for you to be with him?" Dorea asked suspiciously.
Hermione did not want to tell her about Tom becoming Lord Voldemort, so instead she said, "Tom never married in the future that we experienced, and never had any children. His involvement with me will not prevent anyone from being born that otherwise should be."
"And what about me?" Dorea asked. Hermione hestitated knowing how dangerous it was to tell someone of their own future.
"You will go on to marry, and have children." Hermione said cryptically.
"Who is it?" Dorea asked, giving a hopeful look to Hermione.
"Cygus Black." Hermione admitted against her better judgement, "Please don't ask me anything more."
"Cygnus." Dorea repeated giving a mirthless laugh.
Hermione nodded, watching her intently.
"You know, if you had told me that before the ball, I would have been over the moon. But after everything that's happened…how can I be expected to marry him?" Dorea asked incredulously.
"You must." was the only answer Hermione could give, "He won't remember what took place tonight."
"What do you mean?" Dorea asked her
"Tom obliviated them in the room of requirement after we left. None of them will remember having any secret dealings with Tom at all, or what took place at the ball. He has given them false memories. They will wake up in the Room of Requirement tomorrow morning, with a lot of empty fire whiskey bottles, and believe that they drank too much last night."
"So Cygnus won't remember dancing with me?" Dorea asked furrowing her brows
"He may remember bits and pieces, but not the bad parts." Hermione assured her.
Dorea nodded.
"If it's too much, I can obliviate you too, if you wish me to." Hermione said quietly.
"No. I want to remember you. Cygnus is a prat, but maybe over time, I can forgive him." Dorea said
"I have no doubt you will. After all, I forgave Tom." Hermione smiled.
"That you did" Dorea smirked at her.
"He's coming with us." Hermione admitted, "There's nothing left for him here."
"So you're really leaving?" Dorea asked
"Yes, we have to. We knew we could never stay." Hermione said quietly.
"When?" Dorea asked.
"As soon as possible. Once we get a few things in order." Hermione answered.
"You'll say goodbye, won't you?" Dorea asked, and pulled Hermione into a hug.
"Of course, what kind of friend would I be if I didn't?" Hermione smiled and hugged her back.