Disclaimer: these characters are not mine – they belong to JK Rowling
AN: Hi All! As I've mentioned in the AN's from ny other recent fic updates, October has been a rough month for illnesses in my house - my twins started full time daycare at the beginning of October, and since then, they have been constantly sick...but, they are doing better the last few days (finally) and I wanted to take advantage of the respite to update my fics! I hope you are all still with me! Thank you so much for all of you who have favorite, followed, and reviewed, you guys are the best! I hope you enjoy this chapter, and look forward to Tom being in the future! Please let me know your thoughts! xo
The next morning at breakfast not many students made it down to the Great Hall after the ball the previous night. Hermione was relieved to see that there was still no sign of LeStrange and the others. She took her seat across from Tom and Harry, and for the first time in what seemed like weeks, she felt a weight had been lifted.
"Right, so after breakfast, let;s meet in the library. We can figure out all the details then." Hermione said cryptically as she looked back and forth between Tom and Harry.
"So he's coming then?" Harry asked in surprise.
Tom raised his eyebrow at Harry and smirked, "Yes, didn't Hermione tell you?"
Harry grimaced, "No, it must've slipped her mind." He said glaring at Hermione who had the decency to look sheepish.
"We'll discuss it in the library." She said through gritted teeth towards Harry, as she plastered a fake smile on her face.
"Fine" Harry acquiesced and went back to buttering his toast.
"Well, well, if it isn't the belle of the ball." Tom said just loud enough for Harry to hear as Dorea walked into the Great Hall.
Harry's head rose sharply, and his gaze met hers. To his relief, she gave him a small sad smile and took the seat on the other side of Hermione.
The remainder of breakfast seemed to pass by uneventfully, until Cygnus, Orion, Edmund, Abraxas strolled in, looking exhausted and hungover. Hermione tensed in her seat, but she breathed a sigh of relief when Edmund LeStrage only spared them an uninterested glance and took his seat at the end of the Slytherin table. She let out the breath she had been holding, and met Tom's eyes.
"You have so little faith in my abilities?" Tom said smirking at her, completely unfazed.
"Do you think the others will notice? I mean, you were a part of their clique, and suddenly you're not…I mean, it will look suspicious, won't it?" Hermione whispered
Tom merely rolled his eyes, "Hermione, love, you really are a terrible Slytherin. Unlike Hufflepuffs, Slytherins aren't exactly known for their loyalty. People will assume that we had a difference of opinion, and that we no longer share a common interest. It happens all the time."
Hermione gaped at his casual explanation of Slytherin 'friendships', "That sounds horrid."
"Well, it is what it is." Tom shrugged.
Dorea leaned into Hermione, "Don't listen to him, we're not all like that." She said and winked over the table at Tom.
"Well, you may be the exception. The rest of them however, are only in it when there is something to be gained. I should know." Tom said as he winked at Hermione.
Hermione smirked back at him, "Yes, and that has worked out brilliantly, for you so far, hasn't it?"
Harry snorted and choked on his coffee next to Tom, to which Tom glared, "Shut it, Jones."
Tom then turned back to Hermione giving her a playful grin, "Actually, it has. I have you, and I have no intention of letting you go ever again." Tom said giving her a heated gaze.
"Alright, I'm trying to eat here." Harry interrupted pinching the bridge of his nose.
Hermione blushed furiously, as Tom smirked at her over his coffee cup.
Hermione cleared her throat and changed the subject, "Well, since the room of requirement is no longer occupied, I think we should meet there instead. It'll be much more private. Dorea, will you join us?"
Dorea shook her head knowing that this would most likely be her last chance to say goodbye, "Of course."
~~{0}~~
Harry reached the room of requirement first, and paced in front of the door, remembering the room he and Hermione had shared when they had first arrived in 1943. A few moments later, Hermione entered with Tom and Dorea.
"Right, so I'm not sure how much the two of you know…" Harry began until Hermione interrupted.
"They know we are from the future. Tom knows quite a bit more about how things had turned out the first time around, but we have changed so much already, that it's only logical that when we go back, everything will be different." Hermione said looking at the three of them.
Hermione continued, "Harry and I arrived here accidentally using a time turner-"
"-That you shouldn't have been using to begin with", Harry interjected
Hermione silenced him with a glare, "Shut it, Harry. If I hadn't been using it, and we hadn't argued, we never would have ended up in the past. If I'm right, and I believe I am, we will have saved a lot of lives." Hermione said silencing Harry's protest.
"The point is, time-turners can't take you forward in time, only back by their design, however, we think we found a way to do it." Hermione explained.
"How?" Tom asked raising an eyebrow at her.
"A reversal charm. Quite simple really." Hermione said grinning.
"A reversal charm." Tom echoed, "That seems too easy. Are you sure it will work?" Tom asked skeptically.
"I was skeptical too at first, but after studying the equations, and researching the passage of time, I'm quite certain it will." Hermione stated confidently.
"Well, I suppose there's only one way to find out." Tom said as he took the time turner from Hermione's hands and studied it intently.
"So when are you going to do it?" Dorea interjected
"Tonight." Harry answered, and he met her gaze with an apologetic look. Dorea nodded, and looked down at her feet.
"I suppose this is goodbye then." She said quietly.
"Not goodbye; more like see you later." Harry said grabbing her hand.
"Much later" Tom interjected and Hermione elbowed him, and shot him a glare to keep quiet.
The corner of her lips twitched up in a smile, and a tear managed to escape before she could brush it away.
"Dorea, will you promise to do something for me?" Harry asked suddenly.
"Anything, Harry." Dorea said giving his hand a squeeze.
"Teach your daughters to be as accepting as you are. And if you have a nephew named Sirius, be there for him." Harry told her.
"Cross my heart." She said pulling Harry into a hug. Harry squeezed her back, and then let her go reluctantly.
"Oh, and one more thing-" Hermione interrupted, "Give this letter to Professor Dumbedore after we've gone." She said handing over a sealed envelope that had the professor's name written neatly on the front. Dorea took the envelope and nodded.
"Alright, Harry and Tom, go gather your things. We'll meet back here tonight just after curfew." Hermione ordered. She watched Tom and Harry stand, and then Tom whispered something to Harry, to which Harry shoved him back as Tom laughed. Hermione grinned watching them. She never would have imagined that Harry would one day be able to form a friendship with Tom Riddle, but here it was. The relationship between them was very different than the relationship he had with Ron, but it was a friendship all the same.
~~{0}~~
"Dorea" Hermione whispered as she swung her legs over the side of the bed.
"Yeah?" Dorea whispered back
"It's time for me to go…but before I do, I just wanted to say that you've been a great friend to me, and I'll never forget you. We'll see each other again." She said as she leaned in and gave her a hug.
"I'll miss you, Hermione. Be safe." She said as she hugged her back.
Hermione let her go and gave her a watery smile as she wiped a tear from her eyes, "In about an hour, give the letter to Professor Dumbledore, it's important that he gets it." Hermione reminded her, and then crept quietly out of the Slytherin girl's dormitory. Thankfully, Tom and Harry were waiting for her in the common room, with the map already open.
"We shouldn't run into anyone if we go right now." Harry whispered pointing to the map.
Hermione and Tom both nodded and they followed Harry out into the Dungeon hall. Aside from having to quickly duck into an empty alcove when one of the prefects decided to take a detour on their patrol, they made it to the Room of requirement without incident. Once inside, Hermione set to work casting the reversal charm on the Time turner.
"Theoretically, all we need to do, is change the setting to decades and give the time turner five and one-quarter turns, and then change the setting to months and give it two turns. That should send us back to when we disappeared. We can use the map once we arrive to watch ourselves disappear from the common room, signaling that we've gone to the past, then we can make our way down." Hermione explained.
"Wait a minute, what about Tom? We can't just hide him in the Gryffindor common room." Harry said.
"Hold on, no one said anything about having to be a bloody Gryffindor." Tom held up his hand in protest.
Hermione laughed, "No, you're right, Harry, we have to go straight to the Headmaster's office when we arrive. We'll need to tell him everything. If all goes according to plan, he should be expecting us."
"Alright. On three then?" Harry said
Hermione nodded and quickly adjusted the settings on the time turner, and wrapped the chain around the three of them.
"One, two, three…now!" Harry said as Hermione spun the small gold rings, and then grasped Tom and Harry's hands as she held her breath. The room began to spin violently before they all lost consciousness.
~~{0}~~
Hermione awoke on her back beside Tom, with Harry on her other side.
It was Harry who sat up first, "Did it work?" he asked rubbing his head trying to stop the pounding headache that was forming behind his eyes.
Tom groaned, "I don't know, but I think I'm going to be sick." Tom said and he rubbed his temples and squeezed his eyes shut tightly as he tried to make the room stop spinning.
Hermione lifted her arm and pulled her wand from her beaded bag and summoned 3 vials of pain relief potion that she had put in there just for this purpose. She quickly swallowed hers and sat up, handing each of them a vial.
"You're a goddess." Tom said as he quickly drank the contents and sighed with relief as he felt the pain in his head ebb away and the spinning stop.
"Not so, just highly logical is all." Hermione shrugged grinning down at Tom. She stood and moved over to the table by the fireplace, and closed her eyes wishing she had a current edition of the Daily Prophet. When it appeared before her on the table, she snatched it up quickly and looked at the date, letting out the breath she'd been holding.
"It worked! We're home!" She cried showing Harry the date on the Daily Prophet. It was the same day they had disappeared, September 15, 1996. Harry reached for the map in his back pocket, and pulled it out.
"There we are, in the common room." Hermione said pointing to their names on the map, "When our names disappear, we should go. The Headmaster is there in his office. As long as Dorea gave him my letter, he should be expecting us." Hermione whispered as they all stared down at the map.
"They're disappearing, look!" Harry pointed as their names written in ink began to fade on the map, leaving behind an empty Gryffindor common room.
"Right, let's go." Hermione said as she grabbed Tom's hand and pulled him along behind her. Harry used the map once again to make sure they could get to the Headmaster's office without being seen. Just as they reached the Gargoyle's steps, the stairs began to move, bringing the three of them to the Headmaster's office. The door at the top of the stairs opened before Hermione could raise her hand to knock, and she let out a relieved breath, and whispered, 'thank you, Dorea' before she stepped inside with Harry, pulling Tom in behind her.
"Punctual as always, Miss Granger." The Headmaster said as he gestured for them to take a seat.
Hermione nodded and took her seat, and Tom and Harry followed suit.
"It seems that you three have a great deal of explaining to do." The headmaster said looking over his half-moon spectacles at the three of them.