Author's Note: Thanks to all the reviews and constructive criticisms. Always appreciated. Some of you have made some really good guesses about who the mystery stranger is. The next two chapters will reveal who it is with a slight twist. Remember this is totally A/U. I hope you like it. Enjoy! =]

CH. 15-Finding You

Harry's POV

Tucking my keys and my wallet into my pockets, I quickly closed my car door and headed towards our favourite spot at the park. Usually I would walk here, but I was running a little late due to the 'heated' argument I had with Sirius earlier about taking responsibility and the like. I admit that it was very unusual to see Sirius in discipline mode, but I appreciated the effort. Ultimately, it failed horribly. I really enjoyed his version of being grounded, which was basically non-existent. The one thing I learned from the whole experience was that the next time I took the Aston Martin out, I needed to make a mental note to fill the gas tank up to the same amount that it was before.

Arriving under the tree, I was disappointed not see Hermione. Frowning, I looked down at my mobile to check if I had missed any texts from her. It was really weird for her not to be here. She was always so prompt. I suddenly started to get the odd sensation that something was not right. Dialing her number, I listened as the mobile rang for a couple of seconds before going to her voice mail.

"Hey baby, I am at the park waiting for you. I thought you would be here already. Where are you? Call me back when you get this," I said into the receiver leaving a message.

I was about to settle down and wait for a bit under the tree when I saw one of Hermione's books lying half open against the tree. I reached for the book and noticed that the opened page had a note in it. I felt my heart stop as I read the note. This could not be happening…I quickly ran back to my car, praying to the heavens that Hermione was okay.

"Alright calm down Harry, are you absolutely positive about this?" Sirius asked trying to get me to stop pacing around our living room.

"I am more than positive. Now why aren't we calling Remus and Arthur Weasley to get on this right away! Hermione is in danger, she may even be hurt!" I shouted in frustration as I clenched and unclenched my fist.

"I think that you might be jumping to conclusions. Have you called Ginny? What if she decided to go out with her instead?" Sirius suggested.

I glared at him before picking up the phone and called Remus myself. Sighing, he grabbed the phone from my hands and started to talk to his long time friend about the situation at hand. I was back at home and still completely unnerved about the note left in Hermione's book. I knew that it was him who had taken Hermione and it made me feel horrible to know that if anything happened to her, it would all be because of me. She never deserved any of this. She had gone through enough in the past couple of weeks to last most people for a lifetime.

"Remus and Tonks are on their way now. After they get a feel for the situation, we will see if Arthur needs to be notified," Sirius said to me, putting the phone back on the hook.

Remus and Tonks are both detectives for the London Metropolitan Police Department and Arthur Weasley, Ron's father, was the head of the Criminal Investigation Department. Growing up, Ron used to hate being teased about his father's career status. Kids would say stupid things like, 'oh no don't cross Weasley, he may just get his father to put you in jail!' But in that moment I could not be more thankful if that extra connection would prove beneficial toward finding Hermione safely.

"Harry, if you think it's him behind it, then I believe you. I guess it's just hard for me, for all of us really, to even consider the fact that he is back. I want so much to believe that Hermione is completely safe, off with Ginny somewhere. That girl does not deserve another ordeal of this magnitude ever again," Sirius told me sitting down at the couch.

I nodded at him and took a seat on the opposite end of the couch. He was only trying to be supportive and I had no right to bite his head off about it. But when it came to Hermione's safety, I tended to go into extreme protective mode. I promised myself that I would never let a situation like what happened with McLaggen occur again and yet once more, it was happening. I would never be able to forgive myself if I lost her.

Waiting impatiently for Remus and Tonks to arrive only made things harder. Before I knew it, I had slipped into a deep sleep.

Flashback, age 5—

"Would you like to play with me Hermione?" I asked looking down at my best friend.

"Harry, you know I am not good with any physical type of activity. I am perfectly fine watching you play and reading my new book," She answered from her position on the bench.

"Come on Hermione, I can teach you. Sirius said I am getting really good, like my dad. Maybe I can even go pro one day," I said, desperately trying to get her to play.

"You are very good and that is exactly why I think you should continue on your own. Practise makes perfect."

"Hermione!"

"Okay, okay. Just don't try anything too hard," She relented, getting up to face me.

I grinned uncontrollably and pulled her closer to me and kicked the football to rest at her feet. "I promise. Now lets try your aim. I will be goalie and you try to get it past me," I said, walking away from her towards the net my Uncle Sirius had bought me recently.

"Harry! You said nothing hard. How am I supposed to get it past you?" She replied, biting her lip.

"You can do it. I believe in you," I asserted, patiently waiting for her to kick the ball.

She sighed, looking down at the ball, muttering to herself. She looked back at me and I nodded towards her before she kicked the ball past the net and to the opposite end of the small park.

"Ugh!" She shouted in anger. "I told you that I couldn't do it!"

"Stop being so hard on yourself Hermione. I will go get it and I help you okay?" I said, walking closer in her direction. I put my hand on her shoulder as I saw tears spring to her eyes. "Why are you crying?"

"You should have played with Draco today.I only have my books, I'm just Hermione. I can't do the fun things that you like to do," She answered sadly.

"I play with Draco all the time. I know you don't like the things that I do and that's why I think you're cool. You try anyway. Let me go get the ball and I will ask Sirius to get us some ice cream," I said trying to cheer her up.

"Strawberry?" She sniffed with a smile coming to her face.

"Yeah," I nodded, grinning back at her. I patted her shoulder once more before I took off to go find the ball.

I ran past Sirius who was sitting down at the bench, speaking with Hermione's mum. I turned a corner behind the swings and reached for the ball. Man she had kicked it far. Before I could pick it up, a foot was placed on top of it. I looked up at the man with a curious expression on my face. He kicked it up with his knee before handing it to me.

"Cool move," I said with a nod, holding the ball in my arm.

"Years of practise. You're pretty good too. I saw you a couple of minutes ago. With moves like that at such a young age, you might even consider going pro one day," the man replied looking down at me.

"Thanks!" I responded with a grin coming to my face.

"You look so much like your father," He said softly with a shake of his head.

"You knew my father?" I asked in wonder. I always loved to hear new things about the parents I never got to know.

"I was one of the last few people he ever saw before he and your mum so tragically passed," He said with a smile.

"Really?"

"I wouldn't lie to you Harry."

"H-how do you know my name?" I asked with a frown. If Hermione were here, she probably would have told me not to talk to strangers but I just had to know…

"I know many things. I bet you would like to see them again wouldn't you?" He replied before bending down to my level. I nodded to him in response but I felt scared all the same. I did not know this man but he seemed to know a lot about my parents. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a note and handed it to me. "This is for you, but don't let anyone else see it. Do you understand?" He said.

I nodded at him, taking the note before I heard Sirius start calling my name. I turned around at the sound and by the time I looked back at the strange man, he was gone.

End flashback.

"Harry, wake up mate!" I heard Ron yell into my ear painfully. I groaned in irritation before I started to open my eyes. Surrounding me was Sirius, Remus, Tonks, Ginny, Ron, and Draco.

Sitting up, my mind started to clear and my thoughts were right back on Hermione.

"Alright there Potter?" Tonks asked kindly.

"Yeah I am fine. Let's talk about finding Hermione. And what are all of you doing here?" I said.

"I told them to come. Ginny of course has a right to know and I thought you might need some extra support," Sirius spoke up. I nodded towards him in appreciation before turning back to the matter at hand.

"Is Hermione really gone?" Ginny asked me softly.

I nodded sadly towards her. She gasped in shock before Draco placed an arm around her in comfort. "I went to the park to meet with her. But when I get there, she was gone. I thought it was odd because it's not like her to not show up where she is supposed to be (everyone in the room nodded as if to say "Of course"). I called her mobile and there was no answer. I was prepared to wait until I looked down and saw one of her books on the ground," I recounted.

"We should definitely go back to the scene of abduction. See if there is anything else. But Harry, what I am most curious to know is, why do you think it's necessarily him?" Remus responded as his wife Tonks took notes in her notepad.

"Because of the note."

"Note? What note?" Sirius asked looking at me.

I handed Remus the piece of paper. "I found that inside of Hermione's book. I received one just like that when I was younger. Same writing, same everything."

"It says, 'You will both be with them soon'," Remus read a loud.

"Yeah, except on my note the 'both' is omitted. He was talking about killing me and now he is going to kill Hermione unless we do something about it."

"You just got a dodgy note. How do you know it's him though mate? " Ron asked in confusion.

"Because I met him 12 years ago. Tom Riddle was the one who gave it to me," I said as the whole room stood still.

Dun dun dun. So were your guesses correct? The next chapter will discuss what good old Tom has been doing all of these years and why he has decided to make a sudden reappearance. Any guesses to why he came back? Click to the next chapter to find out!