An: I want to thank everyone for their encouragement and interest in the story, it warms my heart and makes me write faster!

Chapter 1 Tom Riddle

She was at Hogwarts.

Hermione backed into a wall ask quickly as she could, wrapping her arms around herself and crouching down in a weak attempt to cover herself. What had happened to her clothes? To Harry? How had she gotten to Hogwarts in the first place?

The sound of rapid footsteps reached her and she immediately scrambled to try and find a place to hide.

"Here girl- conceal yourself behind me."

A tapestry of an old crone beckoned and Hermione was quick to comply, ducking behind the heavy fabric and huddling in the small niche she found there. The footsteps grew louder and louder before stopping. Hermione dared not breathe.

"Hermione?"

A voice called cautiously, the low timbre of the speaker's voice sent chills down her spine.

"Are you hiding from me?" The man asked incredulously.

Hermione bit her lower lip as she weighed her options. He, whoever he was, seemed to know who she was and where she was hiding. She had no wand, no back up, no idea if he meant her any harm. Instinct decided for her when a long fingered hand wrapped around the edge of the tapestry and her senses were assailed by the heady scent of spicy cologne.

She lunged, smacking into someone's chest with a loud thunk and sending them both down to the ground. In-between them the tapestry shrieked in indignation as two arms came up and around her, swaddling her in piles of screaming fabric. The sudden constriction only served to fuel her panic and she thrashed in the strangers firm grip.

"Sweet Merlin woman, stop struggling," he hissed in a tone that was meant to be obeyed. It didn't have the desired effect, she fought all the harder. With a quiet hiss of rage the man flipped them both over in one swift move, pinning her down with his body. She saw his face for the first time, large dark eyes framed by long black lashes, a narrow face with high cheekbones and porcelain pale skin, slightly flushed from the effort of holding her down. His lips were thin and slightly curled in a snarl.

"GET OFF ME THIS INSTANT!"

The crone shrieked making them both flinch at the sound. Without a word the man brought up his legs to straddle her, pinning her arms to her sides while he reached into a pocket and pulled out his wand. Hermione shut her eyes and looked away.

"Silencio."

The crone fell silent and Hermione opened her eyes in shock. He was staring down at her intently, black eyes tracing every feature of her face as if trying to memorize it.

"I am not going to hurt you," his voice was low and soothing. "I'm going to let you up now," he spoke slowly; as if she were a spooked animal he was trying to keep calm. "Promise me you are not going to run."

Hermione considered running, she considered lying to get away. But this man had not hurt her yet, if he had been a death eater that wouldn't have been the case… he could be trying to trick her, but he didn't seem malicious in the least. Even when they were fighting he only tried to pin her. I will have to trust him until I can figure out what is going on.

"I-" she swallowed heavily, "I promise."

He stared at her a moment more before nodding and slowly sliding off of her, carefully rising to his full height and taking a step away. Hermione struggled to sit up, keeping the heavy fabric of the tapestry rapped around her. She bit her lip nervously; she could not stand up without exposing herself.

Without a word the man quickly shrugged off his robe and held it out to her. She took it cautiously.

"Could you turn around?"

He seemed amused by the request but obliged her. Quickly, she unfolded herself from the wall hanging and all but dove into the long fabric of the robe. It was worn, but it didn't have holes, and it completely covered her. She clenched the front of the robe together to be sure it wouldn't fly open and took an experimental step forward. The hem was long, but if she didn't move too quickly she wouldn't trip.

"Are you finished?"

"…yes." He turned and looked her over slowly; she could see his pupils dilate briefly before he looked away from her.

"Then I need you to follow me."

Hermione scowled, "No. First tell me how you know me, and how I got here."

He sighed heavily. "I have known you my entire life Hermione, and for now I am going to leave it at that. Right now I need you to follow me; we have a lot to talk about and very little time."

He reached into his pocket and she tensed until he pulled out a small black book with a golden name she couldn't read on the back. He flipped through it for minute, eyes scanning the text before quickly putting it away.

"We have exactly a half an hour before you have to leave."

She frowned. "Why a half an hour, what happens then?"

"I will explain after I have gotten you somewhere safe."

"Safe?"

"Yes, safe. Now come."

He started walking away and Hermione, not knowing what else she could do, followed after him. Together they wound their way through Hogwarts, the man, whose name she still didn't know, set a quick pace she had trouble keeping up with at first. She kept stumbling over the hem of the robe he had lent her and almost fell flat on her face more than once. She almost wept in relief when they came to a very familiar stretch of wall.

"The Room of Requirement?"

"Yes. It's the safest place in Hogwarts I am willing to take you."

With that he paced in front of it three times and a door appeared. Without missing a beat he opened it and gestured for her to go on through. "Ladies first."

He didn't sound sarcastic when he said it but she still felt a small twinge of annoyance at the utterance. Without a word, she all but shoved past him into the room.

It was tastefully done, she thought in surprise after glancing around. The colors were muted, everything matched, and giant bookshelf lined one wall with everything from the muggle classics to advanced arithmancy texts.

She absolutely adored it.

"Like it?" she jumped in surprise at the feeling of breath on her ear and blushed hotly at the chuckle that followed.

"It's fine, now I want answers," she snapped.

"Very well, take a seat." The man gestured to a beige couch in front of a rather large fireplace (complete with crackling fire) and took a seat himself in a small armchair next to it.

She begrudgingly did as he asked, settling down into the plush cushions. I could spend hours just sitting here.

"Now you had questions."

A million of them.

"You said I had to go in a half an hour. Why?"

"Actually, we only have about." He reached into his pocket again and pulled out an old fashioned silver pocket watch. On the back was an engraving, To T. from H. Counting the minutes until we are together again. "Twenty minutes now. But that doesn't answer your question."

"It doesn't," she said tersely.

"To be frank I have no idea why."

Rage shot through her entire system.

"You have-!"

He held up a hand. "But I can tell you my theory. I think that during your fifth year at Hogwarts, while you were in the department of mysteries, some of the sand from the time turners in the Time room got inside you somehow and altered your magical core."

"How do you know about that?" Only someone who had been there could have known… or someone who had seen the damage after, but even then they wouldn't have been able to link it to her.

"You told me."

"I have told you nothing, I don't even know you!"

"But you will."

Her mind was a whirlwind, the pieces clicking together into a pattern she did NOT like. He gazed at her patently, letting her draw her own horrifying conclusion.

"I see you are beginning to comprehend."

"No. What you are suggesting is impossible."

"With magic nothing is impossible, power, money, fame… immortality- magic can provide it for you. But I digress; there are things I still need to tell you. First, the next time you meet me, ask for my key."

"What key? What is it for?"

He reached up to his neck and pulled out a fine silver chain, at the end was a golden key. "This key actually. It's for a Gringotts vault. Ask me for it and I will give it to you, then after you take it you will have-" he pulled out the black book again "Three days to get yourself situated."

"How do you know that? Why can't you just give me your key now? Where… when am I?"

"I know because you told me and I wrote it down so I could meet you. I can't give you my key now because you cannot take anything with you when you travel. As for when you are… November seventeenth, nineteen forty four."

Nineteen forty four. She slumped back into her seat and fought against the hysterical laughter that threatened to take her over.

"I would relax if I were you, stress can cause you to travel early."

"Why?"

He frowned "I told you I don't know-"

"No, why you… why this time?"

Why me?

"…I don't know." He gazed into the fire, lost in thought. "I met you when I was five years old," he finally said. "You asked me for help, and when I asked you why you said it was destiny." He turned and looked her in the eye, his face deadly serious. "I have always been a great believer in destiny. Even then."

A chill worked her way down her spine. A chill that spread all through her body, she started to tremble and the man sighed.

"But our time is up. Remember, the next time we meet ask for my key. Go to your vault. You will find answers there I cannot provide. I should be close by so you will not be alone for long."

"Th-thanks," she got out through chattering teeth "But who are you?"

"Ah, I had forgotten to introduce myself. I have gotten used to you knowing everything about me…" the smile he gave seemed half annoyed half fond.

"But I am Tom Riddle."

Fear, horror, shock, anger, all crashed through her body like a hurricane, her hands balled, her shoulders tensed, but just as she opened her mouth to scream or rage or curse she blacked out. The last thing she saw was Tom Riddle's smirk.