Authors note: I hope you enjoy this chapter! I would absolutely love any comments or reviews.

"No way! that's stupid. If we add the leech juice, that would mean we have to add bloodroot, which would take two extra days to boil. That's not worth it."

"Are you serious?! Adding the leech juice would take a shorter amount of time than your insane idea to let the Ammoniac ferment before adding it."

"It's a better idea than yours!"

"No it's not!"

"Yes it is!"

"I'm not arguing with you anymore, you obviously have no idea what you're doing."

Hermione was fuming. "If i remember correctly, it was me who came up with the saltpetre solution to the problem YOU were having."

Riddle let out a frustrated groan. "You insufferable witch."

Hermione almost screamed. Her breathing was heavy and she wanted to rip her hair out in anger. Actually she wanted to rip his. During their argument, Riddle had backed her into a bookshelf and she didn't realise until now. He was close. Close enough that she could count the individual lashes on his eyes.

His dark eyes met hers. His pupils were blown so wide that she could not distinguish the difference between his iris and pupil. Riddle was breathing heavily too and his hair was messy from repeatedly running his hands through it in exasperation.

Hermione's mind was blank. She couldn't remember the last thing he had said.

Suddenly Tom's eyes glanced at her lips. His gaze was entirely focused on them as he licked his own. He leaned forward slightly. Closer, she begged internally. A small sound escaped Riddle's throat, like he was going to speak but didn't.

The sound of heavy books falling to the ground brought them both back. Hermione was absolutely horrified. It was like she was in a hazy trance of arousal and she didn't know how she got there. Hermione had never felt that way before. Not even with Ron or Viktor. Deep, burning hot shame settled in her stomach and she wanted to throw up. Hermione was a traitor. How dare she feel attracted to him. He was a monster. Tom Riddle will take the lives of good people. Innocent people. He will do incredibly evil, sinister things. He already has.

How could she have argued with him? Insulted him. Pretended as though he was just a normal boy. How could Hermione have forgotten, even briefly, what he truly was?

Hermione tried to make her face blank. She put on a mask of indifference. He couldn't know how horrified she was.

Riddle cleared his throat awkwardly and took a few large steps away from her. "I'm a busy person, I suggest we meet on Thursday to continue our assessment." Riddle said coldly. His face was devoid of any human emotion as he glanced at her briefly before gathering his belongings and striding out of the library.

Hermione wanted to cry. She didn't.

/

Tom was a powerful man. He was not plagued with the weaknesses of normal men. Tom had little desire for sex or women. He only valued wealth for the power it could provide, not for the desire of material things. He only valued beauty for its ability to seduce others, not for vanity. So, he could not fathom his attraction to her. There was no reason behind it.

Attraction was a weakness. He could not afford any of those.

The worst thing was the fact that he wanted so desperately to kiss her. He had never wanted to kiss anyone before. In fact, he found the prospect of kissing rather disgusting. But he wanted to see what she tasted like. What her lips felt like when he sucked, licked and nibbled on them. Tom pushed the thoughts away.

Hermione made him incredibly angry. The way she fought him, argued with him and disrespected him. It made him burn with fury. He wanted to kill her for it. No one had treated him that way in a very long time. And he couldn't let her think he was accepting it. Tom pondered, once again, the use of the Cruciatus curse on her.

To be entirely truthful the argument was oddly refreshing, in a bittersweet way. He liked watching her face turn red with anger. Liked that she was intelligent enough to be able to argue with him on intellectual matters. And honestly he liked her ideas. They were unique in ways he had never seen before.

Nonetheless it could not stand. She was keeping secrets and that was not acceptable. He saw how she had reacted after their interaction. She looked disgusted with him and herself. She'd tried to hide it. Tried to seem as though she was unaffected. But Tom knew better. He has not forgotten the information he had ordered Lestrange to get for him. Her story was fake. She wasn't who she said she was. Tom wanted to know what she was hiding.

And he always got what he wanted.

/

The next three days pass by in a blur. Hermione spent her time hanging out with Cynthia and Abraxas. She got along surprisingly well with the both of them. Abraxas reminded her of Ron in a weird way. He was fun to be around and made her laugh like Ron often did. Hermione wondered amusedly how Ron would react to being compared to a Malfoy.

And Cynthia was nice, she talked enough for the both of them and did not mind when Hermione contributed little to the conversation.

They were both good friends but they weren't Ron and Harry.

During the past three days, Hermione kept searching the restricted section for runes and rituals before finally deciding that it was time to confide in Dumbledore.

Hermione knocked tentatively on his office door. She was so nervous that she almost went to the headmaster's office instead. "Come in" Dumbledore's kind voice calmed her down slightly.

Hermione greeted the professor before taking a seat on the armchair in front of his desk. "Is there anything you wanted Miss Greene?"

"Granger" Hermione corrected. "My name is Hermione Granger, not Greene." Dumbledore looked confused. "Pardon?" Hermione had unconsciously thought that Dumbledore would already know. Dumbledore always seemed to know everything that was happening before anyone else. So Hermione hadn't truly prepared herself for revealing her most closely guarded secret. It was foolish, Dumbledore was only a man, even with all his power, he could not know everything.

With the first revelation of her name Hermione had spilled almost everything. She left out the details such as who the dark wizard was that started the war (though she suspected he already had an inkling of who it was). She did not tell him of anything that occurred before she arrived in this time, just in case.

"Well, i've got to admit, this is a very complicated situation" Hermione could tell that Dumbledore did not fully believe her yet, so she offered him her memories. She used the pensieve to carefully choose the memories she wanted to show him.

Once Dumbledore had watched them all, he quietly drained the pensieve and hid it behind his desk. He looked troubled. "What is it?" Hermione finally broke the contemplative silence.

"Those runes, there is something familiar about them. Unfortunately, I don't know where I've seen them" Dumbledore spoke softly, almost to himself

Dumbledore's head lifted suddenly, as though he'd forgotten she was standing in the room with him. He looked at her with concern. "How are you faring, Miss Granger?" He asked as he offered her a bowl of lemon drops. She took one with a tired smile.

Hermione was in a terrible situation, one that she'd been too distracted to really process. This conversation with Dumbledore brought all the sadness back. She still couldn't believe she was actually here, even after spending weeks in 1944. It didn't feel real, like it was a vivid, terrifying hallucination. She wished more than anything to be back with the people she knew and loved.

Hermione had arrived here in the middle of a battle, she'd still had adrenaline pumping through her veins when she landed in the past. It felt like nearing the end of a novel, only to have the last chapter ripped out and replaced with an entirely new story.

"I'm okay" she lied.