Summary: Everyone knows what happens to Tom Riddle who grew up unloved and lonely.

He split his soul in chase of immortality, lost himself in the process and became Lord Voldemort.

What if she could change that one thing? What if he didn't have to be lonely and unloved?

Six-year-old Hermione Granger stands before the doors of a muggle orphanage. She has no memories how she got there, but she's sure this path will lead her somewhere.

It does — to Tom


26 vials
And one memory to keep
Her hands shake as she works
The small bottles click against each other.

How much time?
She has no idea
How long before someone comes in?
Before they notice she's missing?
Before they can't find her body among the dead?

A memory of Harry's face when he falls almost stops her.
The image of Ron's expression when the green light hit him in the stomach.
The halo of a crunch human flesh makes when fangs of a giant snake penetrate it.

Tears leak through
But she can't stop
This is her only chance
The only hope for the world she knows and loves.
Everything else is already destroyed.

With still shaking hands
Covered in dried blood
She takes the vials
And runs for it.

The corridors are mercifully empty
All the aftermath is downstairs
They hopefully still have no idea she has escaped.

The Room of Requirement is in ashes
But she goes in anyway.
As deep as she dares to the burned ruins of once great All mighty magic
Buries the vials into the rubble.
And then plants the memory in her head.

That's all she can do
And then wish it works
That's the one last final hope
Not only for her
But for everyone she ever loved
Would have ever loved
Everyone like her
And the magic in general.

The small hourglass she fetches from her pocket feels like nothing at all in her hand.
For a fleeting moment she lets herself marvel the delicate item.

Last of its kind
Like her.

The last hope
Like her

Then she throws it to the ground
And the world around her drowns into thick blue smoke.

.

.

The front doors of the Orphanage feel like a gate to something dark and dangerous.
She's standing there with white frill socks, black shiny shoes and a grey skirt.
Trying to look older than her six years.
Looking up in fearful awe.

She has no idea how she got there
Where she had come from?
Who had sent her?
Where were her parents?

There was only one thought clear in her brain: this is where she needs to be.
This will take her somewhere.
This road will fill her dreams
Lead her to her fate
And give her what she desperately yearns.
Even though she has no idea what it is even herself.

They take her in.
Give her a home
Emotionally cold
And strict
And full of rules she finds at least a little questionable.
But a home nevertheless.

And there she meets Tom Riddle.

He isn't like the other children.
Her age
But far from what kids Her age usually are.
Other kids fear him
And he stays mostly by himself.

Doesn't even greet her when she arrives.
She detests him for that.

Does he not have common courtesy?!
Has no one told him it's rude not to greet new people?
Or is he just one stubborn imbecile?

Turns out he is the least imbecile out there. Stubborn yes, but not stupid.

Tom - even at the age of six - has this dark aura around him.
He might be charming and persuasive and collected
But it's an act.
A facade he keeps on to get what he wants.

Others do things for him
Follow him, kind of
And she has to say he's a natural-born leader.
But he's not close to anyone
He doesn't respect anyone
Not even the adults

Somehow she finds it enthralling
Almost admirable

She's not good with people
Making friends doesn't come naturally
Other kids aged six or seven are not as into books as she is
Other kids don't see the world like she does

The notion makes her lonely
Sometimes
Other times it gives her advantages no one else has.
Like when she learns to read Tom Riddle.
See through his pleasant act and fake smile.

And studying Tom
Finally brings her to him.
Because within months she realizes they share more than she thought.

Magic is not real
The ladies of the Orphanage tell her
It's just a story.
And still she can light a fire on her palm with snapping a finger,
Open locked cupboards by touching them
Levitate objects with thought
If it's not magic, she doesn't know what is.

Sometimes she catches Tom watching her with a thoughtful expression.
She smirks at him smugly

Bet he would want to know her secret.
Bet he hated not to know.
Bet he knew she somehow had leverage over him.

They're seven when she finds out he can talk to snakes.
That's how she tells him she knows magic is more than just a story.
And he lets her in

Reluctantly
But let's her in nevertheless

And that's how it begins

.

.

She knows she's clever.
For as long as she knew what cleverness meant she has known she is that.
Books have always been her refuge
Books have always given her answers
Books she understands

And so does Tom.

In the early days of their friendship books are the one thing they can bond over.
Books are the only thing they can rely on to give them answers about their special powers.

But of course answers are not hidden in publications they can find in muggle libraries.
They have to do the research themselves.
They have to find the laws
The paths
The possibilities
all on their own.

There's no doubt it's magic what they have.
No doubt it's extraordinary
No doubt it gives them power no one else has.

With mutual secret she and Tom become close.
Friends
Best friends

She grows up with Tom
Learns Tom
Knows how he uses people
How he lies effortlessly
How he gains trust
And uses fear on his benefit.

There's darkness in Tom
Darkness she has never seen on anyone else.
But also light
Pure and brilliant.

They're ten when she realizes Tom doesn't lie to her.
She has known him for four years
Grown with him for four years before she really understands the depth in which their connection goes.

"How come lying comes so easy for you?" She asks him one late evening.

They're in his room, reading a book that looks older than time itself, about witch hunts.
She has created a small flame and trapped it into a glass jar. It gives them all the light they need.
And no one will know they're not sleeping
And that she's not in her room.
Mary-sue, the girl she shares a room with, will never dare to tell on her.
Tom doesn't have roommates, everyone fears him too much to fall asleep in the same room.

"I don't lie to you." He says, not lifting his eyes from the book, "I don't lie to people who matter to me."

"And that includes me and… who else?"

He looks at her
Bores his dark eyes into hers.
And gives her a slight, rare smile.
He never smiles truly outside of his room.

"Only you."

She doesn't return the compliment
But feels like he can read it in her mind.
The glimmer in his eyes tells her she's not entirely wrong.

She scowls "How do you do that!?"

"What?"

"Read my mind through my eyes! Why can't I do it!?"

He looks away, "I don't know. I just look and it's there."

"It's unfair!" She protests.

"It's not something I can control."

She eyes him, "You said you don't lie to me!"

"I could try to teach you."

She nods, okay.

.

.

Albus Dumbledore comes to them at Tom's eleventh birthday.

She stares at the man as he speaks.
Partly exited
Partly disappointed
Somehow her and Tom being the only two people on earth who could do magic sounded exiting
Special…
A promise...

Tom plays his angry and slightly unbalanced orphan act and she stays mostly silent beside him.

Twice she feels Dumbledore trying to dig her mind.
But by then they've both learned to guard their thoughts.
She's glad they gave effort to it.

Dumbledore leaves.
And they are left to stand in the middle of her room.
Staring each other
Letting everything sink in.

Next year
They're going to leave this godforsaken place
They're going to go to a school
And learn about magic!
Someone was going to teach them to harness the power they've found.
And they were going to be together!

She felt so giddy she thought she was going to burst out of her skin.
Like in sync they reach for each other.
She swings her hands around his neck.

"This, this has to be our destiny! You and me, we're going to rule the world." He talks into her hair.

And she laughs out loud
Because she loves the sound of it.

.

.

Diagon alley
A gateway to all magical

No one bothered to tell them how to get there
No one bothered to check if they knew how to get their school things

But it's not like they'd let something insignificant - like a lack of information - stop them.

Slowly they had come to a conclusion that probably the new world was not so different from the one they were living in now.
Probably they could still rely only on each other.

They walk the wide lively alley
His hand in hers
Like it belonged there
And she can feel the magic pulse around her.

Tom doesn't smile
Doesn't burst with excitement
Doesn't almost run to the bookstore like she does.

Someone who doesn't know him might say he's indifferent.
But she knows he's not.
She can see the sparkle in the back of his eyes.
She can feel it in the way his hand grips hers.
And she can hear it in the tone of his voice when he answers to her babbling.

Somewhere deep inside of her
She feels kind of glad she is the only one who knows him.
It makes her feel special
Makes their connection feel unique
Makes him more hers than anyone else's
And she likes that he's hers.

They don't need wands to do magic
But since it's in the list of school necessities they consider it's not usual to do magic without it.

His wand has a phoenix feather core
And hers a dragon heartstring

It feels light in her hand and if she concentrates enough she recognizes there's power just to be unleashed.

They go back after sunset
No one dares to discipline them for it
She moves her things into his room
There is a place for a roommate anyway

Does she care that girls and boys are supposed to sleep in different rooms? No
No one comes to drive her away
No one dares to even mention anything to them.

Power is a deceitful friend
But oh so very addictive

.

.

The night before leaving for Hogwarts is restless.
It's not that they're unprepared
They've read the Hogwarts - a history more than once.
Trying to memorize every detail.

But life here has been… predictable.
Controllable
They hold power here
And here they're together
Hogwarts is everything new
Like beginning the game on a fresh board.

"Hermione," Tom whispers from his bed.

It must be two or three in the morning and she hasn't slept an ounce.

"Come here."

Without a question she gets up and tiptoes to his bed.
They lie there
Looking each other in the dark room
Two kids who have no one else in the world but each other.

"Are you scared?" She asks him even though she knows his answer.

He ignores her question, "There are four houses. We could be separated."

She knows he's not frightened
Tom doesn't get scared.
But she is
She's terrified he'll get taken away from her
Drift away little by little
She's scared there'll be a time she stops to matter to him - A time he starts to lie to her.

"Hermione," He hums, "tell me you'll always be mine."

She takes his hand in hers, "I'll always be your best friend. And you'll always be mine."

"We're going to rule the world together." He vows again.

She leans to put their foreheads together, "Both worlds, magical and muggle."

No one takes it seriously when two eleven year-olds plan for world domination.
In their case no one even knows.
But in the back of her mind she knows it's more than a childish dream.
Tom does nothing in halves.
Neither does she.

They fall asleep holding hands.
The promise to always belong to one another wrapping them in a sheet of confidence and hope for the future.

.

.

Her hands shake a little as she helps Tom lift their trunks to the train.

Like Diagon Alley, platform 9 ¾ radiates magic.
But the buzz of people make her uneasy
She's not used to that much people
Even with Tom by her side she feels panic starting to grip her.

But with steady movements Tom holds her hand and guides her to an empty compartment. Closes the door and blocks the noise out.

"Are you okay?"

She nods, trying to hide her trembling hands.
He sits down next to her.

"It's fine, Hermione. We know more than probably most third years."

She takes two deep breaths and nods again.
They're going to be fine!
He's with her.
They're in this together and that's everything.

The train has already left the station when two boys slip in their compartment.

"Is this free?" Asks a boy with fair blond hair and straight nose.

Tom nods sharply.

The boys sit down.

"I don't think we've met" Tom leans a little forward straightening his posture, "My name is Tom Riddle and this is Hermione Granger."

The blond boy nods towards his companion, "This is Lestrange, and I'm Malfoy, Abraxas Malfoy."

He extends his hand to Tom.
Tom shakes it firmly and when he makes no move to shake her hand Tom clears his throat and nods at her direction.

Both boys shake her hand too.

"Riddle you say? Never heard of that before. What's your ancestry?"

"That's what I'd like to know too. We were raised in a muggle orphanage."

The word muggle flows easily from his mouth.
She tries not to stare.
He was always good with people
Good with words
And appearances
Far better than her.

"You're siblings?" Abraxas raises an eyebrow at her. Like he might be winning something.

"No," She speaks up, "We met by coincidence."

"Curious." Lestrange shrugs and the topic changes.

Malfoy and Lestrange are the heirs of an old magical bloodlines. They seem to think they're important because of their names. Seem to think they're above others.

She still finds she enjoys their company. They share information about the wizarding world willingly and answer her questions with a hint of amusement towards her excitement.

Tom is pleasant but cold towards them. She wonders if he's already forming a plan in his mind.
Because that's what Tom is
Always cautious
Always planning
Always on top of the situation.

Hogwarts is everything and more than she ever dreamed about.
Her heart swells as she looks at the castle from the lake.
She has no doubt that any education she might ask for Could be given here.
It is glorious.

Even Tom can't find words as he stares at the castle in awe.

But even all the wonder can't take away her fear. Tom seems to sense it because when they're waiting for the sorting ceremony to begin he takes her hand and links their fingers together.

I'll always be yours…

The words are there
But she fears saying them will jinx it
If she says it
It might sound like a goodbye.

The sorting hat gives them no mercy
It sorts her to Ravenclaw

And him to Slytherin
With Malfoy and Lestrange

He gives her a slight nod as he walks towards the Slytherin table.

A nod
That's all she gets.

By the end of the feast he exits the hall with other Slytherins.
She watches him go.

Feels like screaming after him.

For half of her life
All the life she can remember
Tom has been there
Only a hallway away from her.

Tom has been there
Almost at arm's reach

Tom who always knew what to do
Tom who always listened
Tom who never lied to her

Tom…
Her Tom

At Hogwarts your house is your family

She wasn't Tom's family
And Tom wasn't hers
Not anymore

She thought Hogwarts was going to give them everything
But as she looks his back getting further and further from her
She feels like it has already taken everything.

Everything she had
Just walked out the door
Leaving her as alone as an orphan muggleborn girl can be in a castle full of magic