Sleepless
Chapter 4: When wonders will never cease Part 1
Her brown eyes darted nervously through the room. "Harry? Ron? It isn't funny, take off the Invisibility Cloak already." Hermione's hand slid as subtly as she could manage to her wand.
A male voice chuckled amusedly. "Miss Granger, please do not panic. I apologise sincerely, it was not my intention to scare you."
Hermione froze.
Her world slipped into slow-motion as she turned around to face Professor Dumbledore.
Why did she feel so guilty all of sudden?
Oh, what a stupid question. Of course she would feel guilty and she had every reason to feel guilty, too.
This situation reminded Hermione uncannily of the few times when her mother had caught her with her hand in the candy jar. It was not pleasant. These few unpleasant situations when she had been caught by her mother had discouraged her to steal candy for several years. Hermione had always hated to be caught in the act.
She laughed a nervous, fake laugh. At the moment she made the sound, she wished already that she hadn't. Could she be any more obvious? "No problem, Professor Dumbledore. It was my fault, I was just a bit jumpy."
"Nonetheless I'm sorry, Miss Granger." Albus Dumbledore watched his student intently. The amusement was evident in his eyes.
Hermione felt all the more guilty. She averted her gaze demurely. "Is there something you would like, sir?", she blurted out. It was so hard to think straight when you were seized by panic.
Dumbledore always knew everything, didn't he? He would know what she had done…
"Actually, Miss Granger, I just came up here to watch the stars for a while. It's a beautiful night, you don't get the pleasure of a cloudless sky often at this time of the year."
Hermione felt incredibly stupid. Of course, why else would the Headmaster come to the Astronomy Tower? But she didn't quite dared to feel relieved yet. "Yes, it's beautiful, isn't it?" She cursed herself silently, she still sounded way too nervous. Even a Hufflepuff first year would pick up the blatantly faked cheerfulness.
Hermione wondered whether she had already attracted so much suspicion that it wouldn't matter anymore if she fled.
"Beyond doubt, Miss Granger."
She had already got herself into serious trouble, she couldn't make it all that much worse anymore, could she? And if she was very lucky for once, Professor Dumbledore would chalk up her nervousness and her hasty escape to her fear that she might receive a detention because she was out of the Gryffindor Tower past curfew.
Hermione stood up and flashed the Headmaster a nervous smile. "Well, it's late, I think I should return now to my dormitory. I have classes early tomorrow…" She smoothed out imaginary wrinkles and hastily walked to the staircase. She prayed that the Headmaster wouldn't stop her.
Dumbledore sounded even more amused, as he distractedly muttered, "of course, of course, Miss Granger."
"Good night, Professor Dumbledore." Hermione all but fled down the staircase.
She stopped to heave a sigh of relief only when she had reached the foot of the Astronomy Tower.
The Gryffindor Table buzzed with laughter and cheerful chatter.
Hermione felt ready to die. All she could do was to restrain herself so her head wouldn't fall into her bowl of porridge. There were bags underneath her eyes, she looked pale and weary.
She shuddered as she remembered last night. She had been so frantic after her encounter with Professor Dumbledore that she hadn't been able to sleep for the better part of the night. She had spent hours with horror fantasies in which she had been arrested by Aurors because she had consorted with Lord Voldemort and was sent to Azkaban. Even more sickening were the fantasies in which she'd been called to Professor Dumbledore's office, her wand was snapped and she was expelled not only from Hogwarts, but from the whole wizarding world. Professor Dumbledore told her that he was disappointed in her and that he would have expected better from her. Ron and Harry screamed at her, Harry asked if she was happy that his parents had been murdered, if she'd cheered Voldemort on. At some points, she had been unable to differ horror fantasy from nightmare.
Hermione determinedly stuffed porridge into her mouth. Despite that the Hogwarts porridge was better than every other porridge, today, it seemed tasteless to her. Or maybe she was just too preoccupied to taste it. It took all her self-control now not to sneak furtive glances as the wizened wizard, only the certainty that even more suspicious behaviour would spell doom for her gave her the determination not to give in to her instincts.
"Hermione, are you all right?", Harry asked. He looked extremely worried, his forehead was creased into wrinkles, his green eyes bore soulfully into her skull. They shone with nothing but sincere concern.
Hermione glanced at him. "Yes, yes, of course I'm all right, Harry, I'm perfectly fine!", she hastened to reassure.
Ron gazed inquisitively at her. "But you don't look all that well, 'Mione. I think you should see Madam Pomfrey."
Pomfrey? Oh, what if she would tell Professor Dumbledore that she hadn't had a decent night's sleep for so long! "I'm fine!", she repeated sternly.
Harry and Ron's twin gazes were fixed on her forehead. Neither boy looked anywhere near convinced.
"I still think you should see Madam Pomfrey", Ron insisted. He smiled slightly when Harry nodded in agreement. "We're both worried. You're always tired, you barely spend any time with us anymore and even your grades have dropped, though you spend even more time than usually studying, that isn't anything like you. Ever since Halloween you haven't been yourself."
Hermione felt absolutely rotten. Her very best friends in the world were worried sick about her and here she was, betraying them to their worst enemy. She hung her head in shame. "I'm sorry", she said meekly.
Now the boys looked even more confused.
Hermione only realised that maybe she'd made a mistake when the boys stayed silent. She peeked at them cautiously and what she saw made her want to slap herself. They looked all the more wary now. Oh, they knew that was something was up, they certainly knew. What was she to do? The normally level-headed Hermione was very close to a panic attack. She could never have them know the truth, they wouldn't understand! "I… I…" Think, Hermione, think! She always knew the answer to every question in class, why couldn't she think of anything when she needed an answer the most?
While Harry still looked very confused, Ron's face darkened.
Hermione's heart dropped.
The lanky redhead, who sat next to her, growled, "is it a boy, 'Mione? Has he been hurting you? Just tell us his name and we'll take care of him for you!" His voice was grave, he wasn't joking, for sure not.
Harry still looked a bit puzzled, but just as solemn as he gazed expectantly at Hermione.
Oh, he didn't had a clue just how right he was…
Hermione almost smiled. Ron could be so dumb at times that she just wanted to hex him to hell and back and then he would say something so smart and insightful… If that wouldn't have made the boys worry even more about her, she would have liked to hug him. But she could hardly tell them, even if she wouldn't have to worry that they would think she had betrayed them. Harry and Ron endangered their lives quite enough, she wouldn't be able to forgive herself if she caused them to actively go after Voldemort to get revenge for something that had happened 50 years in the past. There was nothing they could do about her meeting with the young Tom Riddle, the damage was already done and nothing short of Obliviate would be able to make her stop her quest in the search for truth and reason.
Only when she felt their expectant gazes figuratively drill a hole into her head, Hermione remembered that the boys still waited for her to answer. She raised her head and hugged them both as good as she could, with the table that separated her from Harry. "I appreciate it, but it's nothing I can't take care of on my own." They both opened their mouths to protest, but Hermione raised a hand to quieten them. "And no, I'm not being hurt. It's just… it's a bit difficult to explain, there's just something that I think a lot about", she admitted reluctantly. Her answers were never so awkward and her best friends were excited by every secret, the vaguer the more enticing, she realised belatedly, certainly that would only spark their curiosity.
"We understand if you don't want to tell us, 'Mione, but it won't stop us from snooping around", Harry said gently. He smiled at Hermione. "And you must promise to tell us if someone hurts you."
"I will, I promise you", she vowed with the appropriate solemnity. Hermione realised that she would probably come to regret that vow, but it's the least her friends deserved. Hopefully it would at least ease their worry, even if it wouldn't do anything to calm herself.
Hermione, who busied herself with her porridge with fervour, missed the meaningful look exchanged by her best friends. Both faces shone with determination. The two Gryffindors would stop at nothing to find out exactly what bothered their best friend. This was a matter of honour.
Hermione turned around in bed.
She told herself firmly that she wasn't to leave tonight. No, she certainly wouldn't. She couldn't risk to be caught by Professor Dumbledore again. Even if he hadn't been suspicious of her true intentions on the Astronomy Tower yet, he would certainly be if he caught her there again.
Three weeks had passed since Halloween.
Except the night after Halloween, she had visited the Astronomy Tower every night, even if she only stayed there for a quarter or half an hour before her tiredness won out, and often she studied up there instead of the Common Room or library lately.
Every night since her encounter with Dumbledore she had promised herself that she wouldn't go that night.
She groaned in frustration as she heaved her weary body out of the bed. Stealth and silence had become familiar companions in the last three weeks. Hermione slipped on the robe and cloak she placed on top of her trunk every evening before she went to bed. By now, she required to wear thick robes and her winter cloak for her nightly strolls. Hermione slipped on the shoes left next to her trunk and crept out of the dormitory.
Hermione felt strangely satisfied with herself that the Common Room was deserted.
She smiled a little self-depreciating smile as she hurried through the Common Room and out of the portrait hole.
It was frightening in a way that man was still such a slave of his own habits after millions of years of evolution and natural selection.
After three weeks, she had found a routine for herself. On school days, she woke up around one a.m., by now, she didn't required the alarm charm anymore that caused her wand to vibrate at a certain time. On weekends, she would leave only around three a.m.. These procrastinators who wasted half the night away in the Common Room had become the bane of her existence.
That urgent need to make good use of every chance, no matter how minute, to meet Tom Riddle again, frightened her even more than the boy himself did. She felt downright guilty whenever she passed up a chance. There were times when she feared that she'd gone insane to be obsessed like this with a boy who would grow up to be the most murderous wizard of their time.
Hermione walked up the stairs to the Astronomy Tower as she had done so often lately. Hermione thought that she must have paid the Astronomy Tower more visits during the last couple of days than in six years of Astronomy classes. By now, the erratic buzz of thoughts that always accompanied her little night-time journeys was familiar.
She never knew exactly what she expected to find, or what she wanted to find.
On one hand, she wanted to meet Tom again. To have learned his identity didn't answered her questions, rather in the contrary, it brought countless new questions up and Hermione knew that she would never be able to forget these questions just because they would stay unanswered, they would always plague her mind.
There was a rush of excitement, the sweet taste of the forbidden.
And yet at the same time, she dreaded the time when she would meet him again. She had enjoyed their last encounter and maybe it would be better to keep the fond memories. Hermione wasn't sure if she really wanted to familiarise herself with Tom Riddle's beyond doubt unpleasant personality. She didn't knew for sure whether she really wanted the answers to her questions.
The only thing that she was certain about was that she would lose more than she could gain, no matter what happened.
Their encounter on Halloween had been a mythical and surreal one-of-a-kind experience, a part of her wanted it to stay that way. That part of her was completely satisfied with a beautiful night spent in pleasant company.
Sadly, there was the inquisitive part of her that would not rest before it knew everything there was to know. Didn't the saying claimed that curiosity killed the cat? Hermione had often secretly agreed with that saying, commonly whenever the curiosity of the Trio had got them into life-threatening situations.
Maybe Hermione had a secret death wish.
For she knew perfectly well that the saying would prove to be true yet another time and still it didn't discouraged her one bit.
She looked forward to their next meeting, she was certain about so much.
Hermione didn't wanted to think farther than that, because these thoughts certainly would turn out to be unpleasant or at least unsettling.
But there was no sense in procrastination.
Hermione unshrunk a fluffy, thick blanket and Hogwarts: A History, both of which she had hidden already in her cloak before she had gone to bed – early as usual lately, since she had to compensate for the sleep lost in the wee hours of morning. She lightened the tip of her wand with the Lumos charm and continued to reread her favourite book.
This had indeed become frighteningly much of a routine.
If Hermione wouldn't have been crept out by the very hint at such a kind of relationship with Tom Riddle, she might have complained to herself that he had condemned her to act like an obedient little wife that waited for her husband's return.
At some point in time, Hermione must have nodded off.
She couldn't remember that she had fallen asleep, but she was aware of it when she woke up.
Hermione mewled softly in displeasure. She stretched very cautiously. Her back hurt terribly from the bent position she'd sat in for god knew how many hours and she didn't even wanted to think about her neck. "Muscle relaxant potion from Madame Pomfrey first thing in the morning", she muttered under her breath.
It's only then that it occurred to her to wonder about the cause of her awakening.
Panic seized her. Filch? Dumbledore? Mrs Norris? Or, even worse than all of those, Snape?
But no matter how intently she listened, she couldn't pick up a single noise that could have woken her up. Sure, owls screeched occasionally, sounds from the Forbidden Forest sometimes reached the Astronomy Tower. But all these sounds must have had occurred the whole time, there was no sensible explanation why they should have woken her up at that exact moment.
Hermione's neck prickled uncomfortably.
This felt suspiciously like a déjà vu of the night when Dumbledore had caught her.
Talk about haunted castles…
"Boo!", someone shouted directly into her ear.
Hermione jolted up and screeched at the top of her lungs, Filch be damned.
Roaring laughter answered Hermione. But it was not the sound of the voice of an old man, or even a middle-aged man, this was the sound of a young man's voice. A very, very smug young man's voice.
Hermione tried to calm down her racing heart and whirled around. Both angry and afraid, she screeched, "just what do you think you're…" Hermione trailed off, her jaw dropped. She felt faint, her knees wobbled and she could virtually feel how her face was drained off all it's colour. Hermione stumbled a step backwards. She stuttered, but no discernible words left her mouth.
The boy smirked. He looked exactly like the proverbial Cheshire cat that had just eaten the canary.
"Tom Riddle!", Hermione finally managed to gasp.
Said Slytherin was again perched precariously on the tower's sill and looked so extremely smug that Hermione would have best liked to slap him, just to wipe that irritating smirk off his face.
"Why, I see you've done your research", he quipped, "good girl. But don't you think it would be polite if you would tell me your own name, too?"
Hermione huffed with righteous indignation. "Just what did you think, to scare me like this, Riddle?", she snapped. "Did you think at all! The shock could have killed me! And by the way, my name is Hermione Granger, not that you deserve to know my name, after you scared me like this."
Hermione was so indignant and angry at the moment, that the fact that she screamed at Lord Voldemort, current Dark Lord, extremely powerful Dark wizard, infamous mass murderer of muggle-borns and Slytherin's Heir, had completely slipped her mind.
If she would have been in her right state of mind, Hermione would have been horrified at herself.
Tom didn't even had the decency to look abashed. He just looked extremely pleased with himself. "Why, that was the point of the whole ordeal", he said flippantly.
With a frustrated groan, Hermione realised that Tom Riddle apparently was in a cheerful mood tonight. He was a bloody annoying cheerful person. "I like you much better when you're all gloom and doom", she grumbled.
"Ah, so you admit that you like me", he stated triumphantly.
Hermione wondered if he did that on purpose. The last time she'd met Riddle, he'd acted completely differently. And frankly, she hadn't been ready for a confrontation with a Tom Riddle on a sugar-high, or whatever it was that had made him so damn chipper. Maybe he just hoped to catch her off guard. At least that would explain his confusing behaviour. Or, she realised with a groan, maybe he just suffered from extreme mood swings. Considering what she'd read about Voldemort's unpredictable behaviour, it really shouldn't have surprised her.
Hermione heaved a long-suffering sigh. She marvelled at her own calmness. Maybe all these adventures with Ron and Harry paid off, after all. Not even a time travel phenomenon managed to ruffle her feathers anymore, now that's really something very few people could truthfully claim. "Stop it, Riddle, we don't have time for your silliness. I don't know how much time we have and I don't know either if we can ever meet again, so I'd like to swap research notes with you. If you were only half as good a student as everyone claims, then you should have done some research on our mysterious encounter."
And just why did it feel so bloody surreal again?
With a sinking feeling of dread, Hermione realised that maybe this time, it's really just a dream.
Maybe she'd fallen asleep in the Astronomy Tower, just as she guessed, but she hadn't woken up yet. It wouldn't be the first time that she dreamt of Tom Riddle, just that the other dreams had been easily recognisable as such.
Hermione blushed as her mind supplied her unbidden with memories from the dreams.
No, bad mind, she wouldn't go there while she had to deal with the real version of junior Dark Lord.
Tom's amusement wilted and died within seconds. Now, he looked at her in the same way that she looked at a fascinating animal specimen she encountered in one of her Care of Magical Creatures lessons. "So my assumption was correct", he simply stated.
"Well, if your assumptions are just a bit like mine, then, yes. Why don't you tell me your assumptions?", Hermione asked. She had adopted a businesslike tone as well now, the Gryffindor girl was proud of that achievement. After all the time she had spent obsessing about Tom Riddle, she believed it to be quite a feat.
Tom hesitated for a few moments, he seemed to ponder how much he would give away.
Hermione pursed her lips as she waited impatiently for the boy to answer her.
Tom graced her with a benevolent smile that stroke Hermione as rather patronising.
She itched to get out her wand and at least smack him with it over the head, if she wouldn't be able to curse him through space and time. Alone for that smirk he deserved some of Ginny's bat bogey hexes, though, no doubt there.
"Do you want to hear my assumptions or do you want answers?", Tom asked smartly.
Yes, definitely some bat bogey hexes. And some Furnunculus as well. Hermione's wand hand twitched, she graced Tom with her best glare of doom. "Both, if you would be so kind", she said sarcastically.
Tom's lips twitched and broke into an amused smirk.
Oh why, why did all these Slytherins have to smirk like that? Didn't they knew just how infuriating that was? On second thought, of course they would know, they're Slytherins, after all, and masters at all things annoying. Hermione didn't knew why she had fallen prey to such illusions, but she had really hoped that Tom Riddle, though Slytherin's Heir, would be a bit less infuriating. Now in the aftermath, of course, she realised just how naïve that had been. It was probably in these snake genetics of his, too.
Reality returned, trickle for trickle.
Tom Riddle equalled Heir of Salazar Slytherin.
Heir of Salazar Slytherin equalled Lord Voldemort.
Lord Voldemort equalled very nasty, big bad, Dark wizard who enjoyed to kill among others innocent muggle-born teenage girls.
She had snapped at the Dark Lord.
Was she still alive?
Irrational as it was, Hermione wouldn't have been surprised if she would have found the translucent body of a ghost when she looked down her body. After all, Binns apparently hadn't noticed either yet that he was dead, maybe she could have been killed by Avada Kedavra and not have noticed it. To have snapped at Lord Voldemort, after all, hadn't been an act of intelligence, either. Maybe she had cracked under the strain, just like Harry had warned her she might if she continued to study at that pace.
Hermione was very relieved when she found her body intact and solid. She was certain that her face was drained of all colour, but at least she was still alive.
Ever so slowly, she raised her head again and gazed at Lord Voldemort.
But he wasn't, or was he?
Where Hermione had been convinced that Lord Voldemort would have been furious with her cheekiness and probably would have cast Cruciatus on her already after her first impudent sentence, Tom Riddle merely looked extremely amused.
He stretched leisurely on his breezy perch and gazed out of heavy-lidded eyes at Hermione. "Why, I do pride myself on my impeccable manners", he drawled loftily, but he still looked merely amused, not angry.
Hermione cleared her throat nervously. Okay, so he hadn't cursed her yet. That didn't mean that he wouldn't think of it later. Maybe it would be best to keep him distracted, she could always listen to his side of the story later. And while she talked, while she recited facts and the results of her research, at least she would be distracted, too. Research was her forte, it was unlikely that she would do something stupid or have a slip of tongue that might anger Tom Riddle enough to cast an Unforgivable on her, after all.
"Well, I have researched a lot in the library since we met for the first time, Tom. Actually, it took me a whole morning to find out your identity. Fortunately, you're a Slytherin, if you would have been a Ravenclaw, it could have taken me days to look up all the Head Boys." Hermione winced. She would have liked to be a House Elf right now, who could beat her head against the wall without that people would consider this unusual.
Way to go, Hermione, she scolded herself mentally. Insult his House. Wonderful. At this rate, she would be dead before the hour was over.
"How fortunate", Tom agreed wryly.
Again, Hermione cleared her throat. She thought that she started to resemble Umbridge in a very unsettling manner. "Anyway", she said sternly in a desperate attempt to regain her dignity, "I have researched all books on time travel phenomena that I could find in the Library, even these in the Restricted Section. But what happened shouldn't have happened. Time is a flux, I realise that, but we should still not have met. I thought that something would have been released on Halloween, something related to Samhain Lore. A release of raw magical power, probably. But it doesn't makes sense that it happened again tonight, unless of course, tonight is a night with similar powers as Halloween. But I doubt this greatly, I researched wizarding holidays as well and there shouldn't be one with such effects in late November."
While she recited all her steps in research, Hermione lit her wand tip and rummaged around her book bag for her notes. She always carried them with her, just in case she got a spark of inspiration. She made two neat stacks, one with notes and books that concerned their topic at hand, the other with her ordinary school things. Once she had got all notes, she returned latter pile into the bag and rummaged around her possessions for what notes she should give Tom first.
"Now it would be interesting to narrow down the possibilities and I think for that, we should do some magical tests. Let's cast some simple spells and see if they have any effect. If they do, we might possibly be in the same time at that moment, but if we don't, I think it's very likely that we merely meet as persons, we are still in our respective Astronomy Towers in our times. Of course, that you were able to give me your Head badge and it still existed in my time is also a clue. Say, what happened to the scarf, did you keep it?" Hermione didn't really expected Tom to answer her, not without further probing. She was used to it that her friends would either interrupt her monologues or zoom out soon after she'd started. So Hermione was quite surprised when Tom didn't missed a beat.
"Fascinating theorem, but do you have evidence for them collected? And yes, I do still have your scarf. Since you're apparently from a time after mine, it interests me more, though, if the Head badge looks old."
Hermione handed Tom the stack of parchments. "Here you are, all the evidence I collected. The badge still looks no older than when you gave it to me, I just checked it in the morning." Hermione blushed slightly as she realised the implications that came with this confession. Actually, she'd often discovered herself these last couple of weeks as she stared at the badge, lost in her thoughts. It had become an item that comforted and unsettled her at the same time, for it symbolised the happy memories she had of their first encounter as much as the internal conflict that came with it.
Tom lightened his own wand and fully immersed himself in Hermione's notes. "You're very organised", he noted wryly.
Hermione snorted, both amused and annoyed. She wriggled into a more comfortable position on the floor and wrapped the blanket tighter around her. She felt that it was very wrong that she would sit at Tom Riddle's feet, but it's too cold and windy tonight to preserve your pride.
Neither was sure how much time passed while Tom studied Hermione's notes and the book-marked sections in some heavy tomes she'd brought along. He concentrated completely on the work at hand and Hermione found that to be a welcome change from study sessions with Ron and Harry, who often quickly lost interest in their notes. Few words were spoken, they only broke the comfortable silence to comment on a particular note, explain something in more detail and discuss the mechanics of a theorem.
Tom seemed rather impressed with Hermione's thorough work and this pleased her more than she would have liked to admit.
When you ignored the fact that this here was the future Lord Voldemort and already a murderer with 17 years, which Hermione was very happy to ignore for the moment, it was actually fun to work with Tom Riddle.
She found to her own amazement that she itched to ask Tom about more than just their pet temporal phenomenon. She wanted to hear his explanation why he had opened the Chamber of Secrets, she wanted to hear in his own words why he had created the diary with his memories, why he had killed Myrtle and blamed it on Hagrid.
And to her own horror, she realised that she didn't wanted to hear his explanation simply because she wanted to fill the gaps in her knowledge about the incidents in her second year or even because she was curious why he had done these horrible things. What she truly yearned for, that was a justification. She wanted him to make sense, she wanted him to be right, wanted it to be an accident or a crime committed out of anger, something, just anything that would ease her conscience.
It was alarming.
Hermione shook her head in amazement. She was truly on the best way to complete and utter madness.
And all that just because she'd suffered from insomnia on Halloween night…
She had to distract herself. Yes, just distract herself from these frightening, traitorous thoughts. She could always fret later, when she's back in the safety of her dormitory. But right now, she had to stay calm and just as level-headed as everyone expected her to be even in the most life-threatening situations. It's easier, though, she realised to keep her calm when she had friends to bring out of danger or someone else to help save than when she was completely on her own, with only her own, crazy mind and a dangerous Dark wizard to keep her company.
Hermione screwed her eyes shut. It would not do to panic. Calm. Calm was good. Very good. Focus on the problem at hand.
Okay, she could do that. Where were they again? Right, her research. So the next step would be his research, wouldn't it? Hermione recalled that whenever she had inquired about Tom's own notes, he had evaded to answer her. The best concession she had been able to tickle out of him was that he would tell her later, once he'd checked her notes so that he wouldn't just repeat what she already knew. Hermione hadn't been able to shake off that peculiar feeling that he knew more than he'd let on. And wasn't now a good point for him to spill the beans?
As casually and lightly as she could manage while she inwardly was close to a nervous breakdown, Hermione inquired, "since I didn't made any progress on the actual time phenomenon, I concentrated on the study of it's effects and consequences these last weeks, as you can see. Were you successful with research on the actual spell?" She craned her neck to gaze expectantly at Tom.
Tom lowered the scroll on the possibility of temporal paradoxes created by their encounters slowly. A smirk spread on his lips, a truly malicious one. "Why", he cooed, voice sweet and amused, "of course I was. I'm responsible for this meeting."
To be continued…
Review responses for both chapter two and three (and this is going to be huge, 62 reviews, you make me so happy!):
Luckylily: Actually, at the time you wrote this review, I
was wondering as well how I was going to give them a chance to meet
again. I still haven't fully decided on the purpose of my neat magical
tower, actually sheepish
Wanamaker: Sorry for having ended at such a mean place.
Problem was, I didn't knew exactly how to continue, so I had Tom come
first :-D
Riddled-Slytherin: Thank you very much!
Necro-Lord: Here it is
spaceyksee: Update is here, but I fear it wasn't soon... :-) I'm a horrible lazy writer hangs head in shame
Amy Lee: Thanks for the long review! I'm so glad that you think
that this level of ooc-ness is still believable, because I was really
worried about that.
sexy-less: Ah, and another long rewiew! Thanks for that and for
the very nice compliments:-) I'm glad that you liked it when Hermione
threw up, I felt a bit bad for doing it to her, but it's just too funny
to have the always composed Hermione react like this to pass it up.
Pallas Athena1: No, that's perfectly alright, I love questions!
I just fear that I can't answer them, because I haven't decided on the
answers myself yet. I'm really winging this story and hoping for
inspiration to strike me whilst I write, I think that's one of the
reasons why this takes so long (other than my extreme laziness). But
you will receive answers sometime soon, I think, since I'm itching for
a Hermione/Voldemort confrontation.
Zaralya: kicher Hab ein ganz schön dummes Gesicht
gemacht, als ich gerade beim nochmal durchlesen der Reviews zum
Beantworten auf einmal eines auf Deutsch gefunden hab. Und jepp, ich
bin sowohl bei O&U und Light & Darkness! Das sind auch zwei
meiner absoluten Lieblingsships, wenn auch zusammen mit Leather &
Libraries.
Vera-Sabe: If there would be a price for longest review, that
would be all yours glomps Can I marry you? ;-D Thank you so much for
all your great compliments! I was very happy when you mentioned that
underlying aggressiveness in my Tom that showed when Hermione told him
that she's a muggle-born, since it's only mentioned in one sentence, I
think. I'm trying to show both his darker and lighter sides, but I'm
always a bit doubtful if I really get the balance right. You have
reassured me very much there :-) I found that I'm actually enjoying it
a lot to write Ron and Harry as Hermione'soverprotective, yet clueless
best friends, so I think there will be more of them in the story than I
had originally intended. I'm already looking forward to it when
they find out who Hermione's been seeing. I'm glad I didn't make you
cry! I just couldn't be so cruel to them as to have their encounter
turn out to have merely been a dream.
Dragoness Kaei: Yeah, there's really a Samhain, it's the
Pagan/older version of Halloween, actually. I try to get my English
right, but in the end, there are always some mistakes that slip past
me. The sad thing is that the same happens to me when I write German,
too :-D My sentences are always really weird. But I'm happy when
someone points out mistakes for me, because I barely ever notice my own
ones.
The Mad Madame: Thanks, Mad Madame!
Sabrina: Thank you so much! I hope that I can hold up to your expectations :-)
Kalinda: Thank you, kalinda!
psychictraveller: Wow, thank you!
Tomo Star: I'm sorry that I did took so long to update, I'll try harder!
Cleo: blushes Thanks!
Serena: Thank you, Serena!
anonymous: Thanks!
Avery-Rose-Rain-Slytherin: Thank you, and I love the nickname, by the way!
Son of Evil: It's a pleasure:-)
FrEckLeD tRiCkStA: Thanks!
summer: I'll try now to update quicker.
Zaralya: And again, thanks for your review! By the way, I think you're the first reviewer for chapter 3 extra glomp
emikae: Thanks!
JellyBellys: I'm flattered that you think me to be worthy:-)
Artemis MoonClaw: Here it is!
scifichick774: Thank you!
Gywnn-Potter: Well, better late than never, right:-) I'll try to be faster, though.
Dreaming One: I'm sorry for my short chapters! If it's any
consolidation, I'll try to make chapter six, which I'm currently
working on, extra long.
Jaid Ziaen: joinsdance
Grizza: lach Für mich ist's auch angenehm, zwischen meinem verdrehten Englisch auf Deutsch zu antworten auf Reviews
Solitaire's Mornie: Thank you!
F75: Thank you!
GeekGoddess1: Thanks!
ebony ink: You made me very happy when I got your review, I hadn't had a clue that it would be so soon.
silver rose petal: I'm glad that you like it! Yeah, sadly, there are so few HG/TR out there :-(
Lady Evanescence: Yay! Thank you so much!
heaves huge sigh of relief And here Netscape closed itself and I
thought I had lost the review responses I'd just written in QuickEdit.
I'm all giddy now that I didn't!
Clairchen: I promise I'll try to make Tom falling for Hermione
as realistic as possible. And I'm not sure if she'll exactly part with
Ron and Harry... Since I don't have any real plans (more like no plans
at all), I can't say for sure yet. But I'll definitely keep your
warning in mind.
Engel Star 13: No, Tiberius is an OC.
Daxi: Thanks!
black-ranger: Thank you!
Dark Topaz: Here it is :-)
Sakuyu Kaleido: I finally did!
Kou Shun'u: I had almost forgotten the scarf and the hairs on
it... I'll keep that in store, I think I could make something of that
later in the story manic grin
Gah: I have kept written, though it probably didn't look like it, with
how long I hadn't updated. I won't abandon Sleepless, I love it too
much for that, but I'm so lazy...
Avery-Rose-Rain-Slytherin: It took me very long to do so, but now I have finally updated relieved sigh
Well, that's it! See you next time!