Hey guys! I'm back with another chapter. I know this one took a while but I really wanted to make it as simple as I could. Hopefully it isn't very off tangent.
I particularly enjoyed writing Ro's interactions with Dumbledore!
Also, welcome Mr. Tom Riddle Jr.
Reviewers:
MyBeewing: Here you go! Thank you for reading! Hope you enjoy it.
The doors banged inwards as I marched in, uncombed hair flying in the air with each step. The flat heeled uniform shoes made harsh sounds on the flagstones even as I climbed the steps across the DADA classroom.
"Professor," I called loudly, not bothering to know, knowing there couldn't be anything that he could say that would deter my outrage right now.
Lupin was standing near the desk, bending over a patched cloth bag while he arranged quills in it. He turned at my rude entrance before turning away again.
"You can never quite trust magic with some work, don't you think?"
I stopped short, my mouth open to counter any form of rebuttal yet I was struck dumb.
"Um…what…" I stuttered.
Lupin turned, smiling. "Some things are very delicate, Miss Alton. Magic is helpful, yes, but sometimes we just need to use our hands." He said, swiping his bag of quills and adding it to the tagged luggage that was collecting near the window.
I gaped at him for a second before shaking my head. "Professor, it isn't true, is it? You're not leaving." I said.
There was a sigh. "I'm afraid it is true, Rose. My tenure at Hogwarts is at an end."
I colored red. "I can't believe Snape could do that."
"Maybe he could've found a different way of ousting me, however, I would've been found sometime or the other."
"Of course not; you were protecting Harry! You just made a mistake."
"A mistake that could've ended grievously," He stopped packing, looking at me keenly. "I know who it was I attacked in the Forest."
This time I colored for a very different reason.
"I'm sorry I was –,"
He raised a hand. "Don't apologize for trying to protect your friends. I would've done the same but you did still run into a fully transformed werewolf. I could've killed you had Sirius not interfered. I would've never forgiven myself, nor be able to look Harry, Ron and Hermione or Dumbledore in the eye ever again."
He shook his head. "It is better I leave before parents start raising objections against Dumbledore. Better leave with some dignity instead of on the charge of killing my favorite student."
I pouted. "I can't change your mind at all, can I?"
He smiled – maybe a little bitterly. "I wish I could stay, however this is for the best."
"You're the best Defense against the Dark Arts teacher we've had." I pleaded.
"Dumbledore will find someone else, I'm sure. But for now," He stretched his hand out, encasing mine in a shake. "This is goodbye."
Our eyes moved down to the map of Hogwarts he had had opened on his desk, seeing another familiar name move on it.
"I'll…send you an owl, later then." We let our hands drop.
Lupin smiled one last time. "I would like that."
Waking up was a slow, dreadful process. There was a heaviness settled throughout my body and yet it felt phantom, as if I was somehow disconnected from my own self. I wondered if my body would react if I were to raise my hand.
The throbbing in my head had subsided, leaving behind an annoying buzz that wouldn't die down. It made my eyelids flutter, jittering away from the irritation.
"…she seems to be moving, Madam Blishen."
"Finally, I was beginning to get worried. I was this close to calling someone from Mungo's."
"Surely not, Madam, we have faith in your abilities."
A man and a woman, I deduced from the voices; Standing close to me maybe over the soft bed which I was slowly feeling under me. There was a touch at my wrist, feeling for my pulse.
"…her pulse is much stronger; she's ready to be woken up."
Was I really? I could still feel some vestiges of the vibe that I had carried from the plane of nothingness. What would happen when I woke up? Would I still be dead?
"By all means, Madam Blishen,"
Another poke, only this time it was wood, right under my throat. It rested there for a short time, a bloom of warmth blossoming in the skin, spreading through the strange form that housed whatever was left of my consciousness. It stitched through me, connecting feeling back.
I felt my fingers jostle as sensation flooded through me yet again.
With surprisingly no difficulty, my lungs pulled in a deep inhale and my eyelids obediently lifted open.
It was light, almost too light. For a moment, I was afraid that it had been unsuccessful, my journey up till here. Had I walked for nothing? Had I died, for nothing?
There was a pause, in which multitudes of feelings, thoughts rushed through my mind, each gaining more clarity just before I was distracted.
"Dear," My ears pricked at the voice, gentle in my ear. "Miss, can you hear me?"
I shuffled, drawing my bodily extremities tighter to me, acknowledging the woman with a careful nod. "Good, Miss, can you tell me what your name is?"
My mouth opened obediently, used to such questions from Madam Pomfrey when I was cursed or hit, way too often in my time at Hogwarts. However, this wasn't her. I gulped down air; my words stuttering and trailing off in guzzle.
"Well, Miss, what is it?"
I was silent.
There was a pause. "Alright, and what would be the date?"
I turned my head completely at that. The woman at the side of my bed was petite, a little stout around the middle and a maternal face. Her hair was coiled in tight rings, coiffed off her face and held by a sleek white cap. The ruffled robe she was wearing, emblazoned with the Hogwarts crest wasn't what Madam Pomfrey wore and I flinched away from the unfamiliar visual.
"I don't know." I mumbled.
What date was it? It had been May when I'd died but now…it could be days, even months passed.
There was another pause.
"I see, dear, well, this is quite some bad business. You were found at the edge of our school grounds by one of our professors. You're not…a student here, are you?"
Yes, I am. Of course I am. I've been getting on so many nerves here; I should have my own wing.
I stayed silent yet again.
"My child, do you have any idea how you got here? You see, it's best we have some knowledge before we alert the ministry or the headmaster."
The word 'ministry' had me jumping up, nearly almost off the bed. One single word to any ministry official that Roselle Alton was alive would mean pain, torture…a return of Voldemort.
The lady clamped a hand down on my shoulder, making me lay back. "Now dear, no need to fret; no one will hurt you."
"I…you can't tell…wait, did you say headmaster?" I turned to her with big wide eyes.
Hadn't Voldemort said he'd killed Snape? Had I discerned wrong? What was going on? All these questions, but I knew I couldn't trust Snape anymore than I could trust the Ministry.
"Yes dear, Headmaster Dippet."
"Dip…Dippet," I tried out the unfamiliar name. Hogwarts had found another headmaster this fast? Shouldn't McGonagall be doing the job? Where was everyone? If I had come alive again, where was Harry? Ron and Hermione, Neville, Ginny and Luna…where were all these people?
I was about to ask the Matron when a new set of memories dredged up. Too clear, and too uncomfortable but I couldn't push then away.
"How…what would I have to do?" I asked.
He smiled. "You will stop a young Mr. Tom Riddle from becoming Lord Voldemort as we know him today."
I blinked. "You mean, kill him?"
"Not if you have other choices," was all that he said, Dumbledore continued his humming, letting me mull the thought over.
"I am dead though, how will I go back in time? Won't it change so…many things?"
"It will; things will be different from what you will be leaving. Nothing will be what it was when you come back to it. However, time is a very fickle thing. What you may leave behind can change to worse or to being much better. In some other world, you could be leaving behind time just the way it was. It is a chance we have to take."
I opened my mouth before closing them again, looking back up at the woman. The hair, the outdated dress…they all made sense now. I was alive. I just wasn't alive in my own time.
The realization was enough to knock me out again but I held strong.
I was alive in the past. I was alive in the time of a teenaged Voldemort.
I was going to vomit. Shaking my head, I looked up again. "Who was the professor who found me?"
"Why, it was Professor Dumbledore, he's our Transfiguration teacher."
The sigh of relief that crossed my lips must've alarmed the Matron. "I would like to see him, please."
"My dear, you're hardly up for it."
"Please…it's important."
I didn't know what I was expecting. My eyes were trained upon the door through which the Matron vanished, waiting for a flurry of movement, having been left alone quite a while.
I must have dozed off, because a sound of a shuffle, a slight screech of a chair being pulled back and then a huff of cloth woke me up with a start. I turned my head again to the door, only to find that my vision was blocked by a visitor.
And from then, began my uneasiness yet again.
"Good afternoon, Miss, I was told you wished to see your rescuer. Forgive me for making you wait but I had some errands to run."
I stayed silent, studying my former teacher…or was he still…I had no clue.
He looked younger – much, much younger. There was nearly no hint of white in his hair just yet, only a shade of brilliant auburn, and even his beard of the same shade was neatly trimmed, cropped to just a few centimeters from his face. His hair hung to his neck and he wasn't wearing his glasses. Those sky blue eyes, I remembered having been studied by them over a desk quite a few times were on me again, patient for me to speak after my perusal of the man whom I had known before.
"You…you found me?" I asked, croaky.
"Yes, I did." Dumbledore reached to the bedside table. A hand poured out some clear fluid into a glass before he was turning to look at me again. "My name is Albus Dumbledore. I am a professor here, at Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."
Don't I know it?
I thought back to all the times I'd joked with Hermione and Ron, wondering about how our Headmaster had been when young. None of our theories seemed to have been right.
"You're not what I thought you would've been." I tried to raise myself onto my elbows, propping my head onto the headboard. Dumbledore offered me the glass, the pleasant smelling potion soothing out some of the pins in my throat.
"You know of me?" He asked slowly, a hint of suspicion creeping in; despite the gentle calm he exuded.
"Yeah I do," I coughed. "Professor, I need to tell you something. It is very urgent and I don't know if you're going to believe me or chuck me in St. Mungo's for a head check but you need to listen to me."
"Of course, child,"
Words bubbled right at my tongue, tales of my time at Hogwarts, of Harry, of Voldemort…of my death and his mission to me. Words; died when I thought of where I was and of the time.
"Do…do you know how I came here?" I chose to ask.
Dumbledore blinked those serene blue eyes. "I would expect some very powerful magic. Hogwarts has excellent wards."
"I…Professor, I'm here on a mission." I finally stammered.
Dumbledore eyed me. Some of the blue in his eyes had hardened, fixing me with a look that was unreadable and untrusting at the same time. "What sort of mission, miss?"
"Well, it's…one you…it's one you gave me."
Another pause, albeit longer but it was official. Dumbledore's gaze had hardened. "I have offered no one any missions as of late, child."
He watched me watch him before collecting his robes to himself, making to stand but I reached out, impulsively gripping his wrist.
"Please professor, you have to believe me. I'm not lying! I…I'm from the future. From 1998, I died…I…"
Dumbledore froze where he stood before his wand was out. I flinched back instinctively but he never pointed it at me, simply shooting a streak of white at the Infirmary door.
He looked at me for a long time. "You must not say a word to anyone. You will not speak to anyone about anything of your life until we speak again. Do you understand me, child?" His voice was still gentle but I knew there was no leeway. I nodded.
"Good; I will come to visit soon. Till that time, do rest, get stronger," He waved his wand again and before I could get another word out, I was out.
The next I woke up, I was completely alone aside from the light sounds of a woman tinkering around in a cabinet at the far end. Madam Blishen, I recalled – Matron at Hogwarts in the year 19…something.
"Excuse me," I called out as loud as I could, the matron turning at the sound and bustling over.
"How are you today, my dear?"
"I think I'm much better."
It was true. The slow strain that had overtaken my body after pulling away from death itself had subsided completely. The burn of the curse Carrow had shot me with had sealed itself, fresh new skin covering my head now. I was for all intents and purposes…fine.
"That's brilliant. Soon you will be discharged." She assured, her face sympathetic as she patted my hand.
"Oh," I paused. "What's going to happen to me?"
That was the most pressing concern for me at the moment. I was a strange girl, with no money, no prospects, no parents, and no connections in a completely different era. It wasn't important if I would ever get anywhere near Voldemort if I was sent to St. Mungo's or Azkaban.
Madam Blishen hesitated.
"Well, that's for Professor Dippet to think about, child. I wouldn't worry too much about it." She gave my hand one final pat.
"But how long will that take?" I mused out loud.
"Not too long; Hogwarts is starting term again in one week."
She turned around to depart while I lay there, as miserable as someone out of time could be.
At least Dumbledore had kept his promise. Instead of just leaving me to rot on the cot in the infirmary, he visited yet again and this time around it was considerably milder.
Although there was still an air of suspicion hanging about him, he was genial at best, pleasantly inquiring about my health.
"I have brought up your case to Professor Dippet." He said finally, auburn head tilted as he surveyed me.
I looked up at those blue eyes, knowing he was finally coming to the point of his visit. "And…what's the verdict?"
"Headmaster Dippet is of a cautious nature. While he is still deep in review, he has wished for me to gain guardianship of you, seeing as I was the one to have rescued you. Of course, we will still try to establish contact with your family up till the point that you regain whatever memories you have."
"Professor, that's futile. I already told you,"
"I am here to have you discharged and set you up somewhere comfortable till Professor Dippet arranges your enrollment into Hogwarts." Dumbledore cut me off, a warning glint to his eyes when I noticed Blishen eyeing us keenly from her desk. He missed nothing as usual.
I quelled my tongue. "Yes Professor."
"Fantastic. I shall give you time to collect yourself then." He stood up, moving over to Madam Blishen as the curtains around the cot magically drew closed to offer me some privacy. I looked at the package Dumbledore had left on his chair and sighed, resigning myself to follow orders.
As I dressed, noting with some apprehension the A-line skirt and blouse with stockings, I contemplated what must have been happening back home.
Was my arrival to this time going to change the time line completely? Was I ruining something? Was I hurting my friends and family somehow?
I let my hospital robes lay on the bed, wondering where the robes I'd been wearing when I died were. Were they burned?
"Are you ready, Miss?" Madam Blishen called.
Once again, taking a quick look around my small space that had provided some measure of safety to me, I called back. It was strange, being so foreign in a place that I had once called Home.
"Yes, I'm ready."
To my surprise, Dumbledore didn't apparate us directly to where he wanted to. Instead, he walked right through to the edge of the School Grounds, from where he apparated us first to the small alley corner in what I recognized as Diagon Alley in the 40s.
I gaped unashamedly at the changed settings. Most of the shops had been unchanged over time, even my mother had said so when we'd come shopping for my first year. However, some changes were perceptible. The topics blazoned on the newsstands, the display stands, proprietors…
I looked around the shops, barely noticing where Dumbledore was leading me.
It wasn't until we were nearing the end when I spoke up. "Professor, have you considered what I had said?"
To his credit, Dumbledore didn't once seem uncomfortable. "Yes, I have, Miss. However, considering the fact that you cannot even tell us who you are and how you came to be where I found you, I am wondering how I should deal with the matter."
What in the world?
"I can tell you all those things, professor. I just didn't want to back there." I said quietly.
Dumbledore paused in his steps, inclining his head thoughtfully. "Right through here then,"
He walked up to an all too familiar brick wall and pulled out his wand, a simple one which had me frowning in confusion. He tapped the brick that opened the archway and flourished an arm at me. "After you,"
The Leaky Cauldron was exactly the same – untouched by time. The same bar, the same booths and tables, the same winding staircase that led up to the rooms.
Dumbledore sat us in a corner as he nodded. "Now, then, last time you said you were from the future." He began quietly.
I nodded. "Yes sir, my name is Roselle Alton and I'm from 1998. You see sir, I died and I saw you." I stopped when he raised his hand.
"If you really are from the future, there are things you cannot tell me. Where is your time turner?"
I blinked. "I don't have one. Which is what I'm trying to tell you; I saw you and you sent me here."
Dumbledore stapled his fingers together, eyeing me. "I sent you here…brought you back to life?"
"I suppose so. I don't really know what you did to me, if I'm being very honest. You just told me to,"
He shook his head. "Don't tell me anything of the future."
"What?"
"You cannot tell me anything that happens in the future, my dear. It would lead to many changes that could lead to disastrous events in the future. Things that were meant to happen might not, things that could've been stopped, might take place."
I fell silent under his pensive gaze. "You don't believe me." I surmised.
"It isn't about my belief in you. It would take Veritaserum to truly interrogate you and I don't wish to do that in the event you're right and you blurt out something that isn't for my ears. However, from what I can see, being an apt Legilimens, if I do say so myself; you're being truthful."
He paused, looking around once.
"Of course, the first you told me, I believed it was another one of Gellert's tricks. As I see it, you could be valuable to him still; it's best if I keep you somewhere safe, where I'll be able to keep any eye on you."
I shrugged. "So, I stay with you?"
"No, but I do have a place in mind."
Taking the London roads was a surreal experience. On the muggle side of the world, Dumbledore and I set off at a brisk pace as he talked.
"We shall say you are a battle victim. An escapee from Grindelwald's regime," He said, looking both ways as we crossed streets.
I didn't have much of a choice but to agree, wondering where exactly it was that he was taking me. Finally, when we stood outside his 'safe place', I turned to face my teacher, all apprehension as to the temporal change forgotten. I glared at him, livid.
The building was a dreary grey building, regardless that London right now was dreary and grey as well but the infrastructure just looked…grim. The metal archway over the entrance had WOOL'S ORPHANAGE engraved on it.
"Professor, you cannot be serious."
"I am, dreadfully so."
"What even in the world? Why do I have to stay at an orphanage?"
"Miss Alton, the name you hold is pureblooded. At this precise moment, Hogwarts does have Alton students; in Gryffindor, no less. We simply cannot allow you to just walk into the halls calling yourself Alton. We will have to change your name."
"What…what will you call me?" I asked, crestfallen.
"Revel; you shall be put down as Roselle Revel. Let us not change any other crucial detail about you. You will still be half blooded, your parentage the same; witch mother, muggle father. Anything else might confuse you. Take care not to bring about the events of your life to anyone, not even me if you can help it."
I looked away. What was happening to me? The one person who was supposed to help me put an end to Voldemort didn't want anything to do with his own mission. How was I ever going to succeed?
"Why here?" I asked, instead.
"There is another Hogwarts student who resides here during the holidays. I daresay you will find him," Dumbledore hesitated, pausing in his speech, "intriguing."
"Who is it?"
"A young man named Tom Riddle; he is to enter his fifth year, same as you."
The mention of that name was haunting. I didn't even flinch at the prospect of entering fifth year again, didn't make sense of the fact that I was somehow fifteen again, didn't even balk at the idea of OWLs again. What I internally screeched at was the name.
Tom Riddle…
"Professor!" I nearly shrieked; catching up to the tall man who had begun striding up to the doors again. "I…I can't stay here!"
He looked stern now. "Miss, I beg of you to be reasonable. I don't like this any better than you do but we have no choice. I shall be back in a week's time to personally make sure you get on the Hogwarts Express safely, but for now this is all I can do for you."
"No, sir, you don't understand. I can't stay here with Riddle – he's,"
"Who on earth is making so much noise here?"
The sharp rasp of a voice had me shrinking back even as the door swung open. I half expected to be blasted off of the ground but nothing came in the form of an attack – only cold silence.
I looked to the side to see Dumbledore smiling pleasantly, a respectful bow in place. "Ah, Miss Cole, it is a genuine pleasure to see you again."
It felt like the lady dearly wanted to return the words but simple couldn't. Maybe it would've come as a lie. The lady was severe at best. Her starched black dress was right up high to the neck, the buttons probably constricting her air flow. Her graying hair was pulled back so tight, it would've given someone a head rush and the pinched mouth did not make her look agreeable at all.
Dumbledore's sight on her threshold only seemed to tighten her mouth.
"Mr. Dunderbore, to what do I owe the pleasure? Are you here to see Tom?"
"Actually no, Miss Cole, I was wondering if you have an open spot for a child at the moment."
"A spot," Miss Cole's eyes swiveled to me, taking me up and down. "I…well, you see."
"That is very kind of you." Dumbledore smiled, taking a step forward and he must've cast a spell because Cole put up no fight at all, simply backing up to let him come in, with me following at his ankles.
Cole led me and Dumbledore through an extremely narrow corridor, right to a door at the end. It turned out to be her office as she settled herself behind a desk.
"What is this about, may I ask?"
"Miss Revel here is…a new addition to our school. Unfortunately, she has had a troubling childhood due to the war. Her family was strictly in hiding, you see and she hasn't had much of any formal schooling. Her parents are gone now, departed, poor souls. They were people I knew so Hogwarts has been left the charge of her future. It isn't very pleasant." Dumbledore weaved the story so seamlessly; it even had me listening on tenterhooks, in awe of his mind.
Miss Cole clicked her tongue, turning to me with some vestige of sympathy.
"I am terribly sorry to hear about your unfortunate circumstances, Miss Revel. I can offer you a spot at our orphanage. Lucky too, we've been filling up awfully fast due to this bad business. I suppose you'll want to stay near Tom, since you'll be schoolmates soon." She mused.
Actually, I would dearly like to be anywhere that is farthest away from him, thanks.
Cole was already reaching for a bell, before I could even complete my thought. The small tinkle brought a girl, some years older than me to the door, looking curiously at Dumbledore then me.
"Anne, could you please fetch Tom?"
The girl, was it my eyes, paled. She fidgeted where she stood before giving a curt nod, backing away to do what was bid. If Voldemort still had his…Voldemortness, I could totally sympathize with the poor girl.
The room filled with mixed awkward tension as we waited. Cole cast furtive looks at both Dumbledore and me to the door and back, almost as if she was a cornered mouse. I sat at the edge of the chair. If there was any chance that Voldemort was going to have a wand drawn when he entered, I was going to fling myself out the window.
Dumbledore seemed to be the only one at ease, leaning back in the uncomfortable wood chair as he hummed, smiling at some china plates Miss Cole had up on her wall. It strangely reminded me of Umbridge.
I was so taken with reminiscence; I didn't even hear the door open.
"Miss Cole, you asked for me?"
I froze, the cool albeit soft voice dredging up memories that would be hard to forget, even for me. I clutched the arms of the chair, turning to look at him.
It wasn't Voldemort.
I didn't know what I expected but I had a brief idea of what he was supposed to look at, listening to Harry talk about the young boy that haunted him much before he would become…the monster that had killed me.
The boy was tall, taller than an average fifteen year old. Midnight black hair swept off his face, waving away to reveal a pale forehead. His cheekbones were angular, a sign of a beauteous puberty or malnutrition, who knew, but it suited him. This was just a boy but even as he took a step into the room, dark eyes falling on Dumbledore something shifted.
Maybe it was the tad narrowing of those deep, dark eyes, a flaring of the nostrils but the temperature of the room had definitely chilled. Dumbledore turned, smiling at Voldemort as if he was just coming in for a cup of tea.
"Ah, Tom, how very nice to see you,"
Similar to Cole, it was obvious; it wasn't very nice for the young Voldemort to see Dumbledore.
However, the handsome boy in front of me tilted his head. "Professor, likewise; is something the matter?" he framed his features concernedly, before his eyes fell on me.
Everything in me screamed to run, lungs contracting and stomach roiling as I looked at those dark brown eyes. They were nowhere near red, just simple human eyes but the way they glinted, studying me in a way wholly different to Cole's had me panicking.
Get a grip; you have looked at Voldemort head on when he was the Dark Lord. This is just a boy. I told myself firmly, willing myself to look back at him, as unexciting as I could possibly seem.
It seemed to work because Voldemort soon removed his gaze from me, turning to look at Cole.
"Tom, this is Miss Revel. She will be joining you in Hogwarts for your new year and also will be living here till further notice."
Thankfully, his eyes didn't come back to me in light of this news, only inclining his head. "I see."
"Miss Cole, why don't you show Miss Revel to her rooms, I should like a word with Tom, if you wouldn't mind." Dumbledore stood up, his robes swishing and the boy stiffened, hostile again even Cole nodded.
"Yes, yes, come with me."
I looked at Dumbledore painstakingly as Cole moved to open the door, waiting for me to follow.
"I shall see you a week from now, Miss Revel. You will find your entire luggage when you come to Hogwarts." He bowed to me slightly and then I was being whisked away by Cole, up a rickety staircase, away from the Headmaster, away from Voldemort, away from both safety and the most dangerous thing to ever exist in my life.
Miss Cole stopped in front of a narrow door, her face pinched again as she threw it open.
"Well, this is it. Dinner is at 7 sharp. I will leave you to rest." She said, and with a flurry of her skirt, she was climbing back down the stairs.
I'm hoping to get more written but Corona is really taking a toll around me. With the self quarantine, it seems easy but it hasn't been.
Thank you for reading.
Feedback keeps me writing!
