Chapter 3

Hermione slowly made her way across the room and headed back towards the door. There was no way she was going to be staying in a room with some big fluffy rat!

Thats rich! You can face Bellatrix Lestrange, but you're chased out of a room by a rat!?

Hermione ignored the patronizing voice and continued to back up.

Maybe I could try and get those robes? Yeah, that would be a good idea. Don't want muggles finding out about Hogwarts, now do we? Hmm? That was all the excuse she needed to convince herself to leave the room.

Once she was at the door, she turned and softly placed her ear against the door in order to try and find if she could hear anyone still up. After fully convinsing herself that no one was still out in the hall, she took a couple of deep breaths, bit down on her bottom lip and grasped the large brass handle, trying to forget about the small presence in her room. Slowly she pulled the handle down, shutting her eyes in the proccess. However, Hermione's eyes opened straight back into focus as she found the handle wouldn't even budge.

Hermione stepped back from the door with her hand on her hips, still keeping a good hold on her teddy/wand and furrowing her brows. Rat suddenly forgotten, Hermione quickly came to the conclusion they must have locked it. For reasons she wasn't quite sure of but it was all she could come up with. Hermione waved her hand over the lock area, casting a quick 'Alohamora' wandlessly.

Satisfied with herself, Hermione again went to open the door, only it still wouldn't budge.

"This is getting bloody ridiculous," Hermione murmured, frustrated with herself.

Hermione stood there glaring at her new arch enemy. Fully annoyed, Hermione let her bear/wand drop to the floor, and grabbed hold of the handle with both hands. She pulled with all her might, only managing to move it about a centimetre. She was left, practically trying to pull it off it's hinges.

Stupid...yank...bloody...yank...body...yank...I'm gonna...yank...murder...yank...that bloody...yank...Bellatrix!

By now Hermione had her feet propped up against the door, still attempting to pull down. Except, when the idea finally hit, Hermione mentally scolded herself for being so stupid.

Heeelllllooooooo Hermione! Your a witch! Harry's voice again popped into her head.

Hermione let go of the door and bent down to pick up her bear. Hermione felt her face burn. No wonder! She was sixteen looking like a six year old and fighting with a dirty looking old door! Hermione quickly turned her bear back into her wand. She walked back up to the door, tapped it twice, whilst muttering an incantation. Hermione gladly watched as the door disappeared before her eyes.

Hermione poked her head out her bedroom door, looking for anyone that might still be up. When she was sure that the coast was clear, Hermione headed out the room, and down the hall - but not before she regrettably replaced the door - in the way she believed was in the direction of the kitchen, and where Hermione also believed was where the boy would be made to clean her robes.

Hermione made her way quietly down a set of stairs.

Hermione didn't understand why he would be made to do them this late at night, unless whatever happened had happened shortly before she came. If she remembered correctly, orphanages during these times weren't particularly nice to it's residences. Hermione supposed that she had been treated with care and tenderness, possibly because they still believed there was a chance that her parents might still be alive.

She walked across another hallway and went round a couple of corners.

Aaaaaand they probably don't want to gain themselves a bad reputation for mistreating the children. Hermione added as an after thought.

Through all the thinking, Hermione suddenly found herself in front of a large, white painted door.

I'm beginning to think it would be a good idea to shrink everything. This small thing is really beginning to become a major thorn in my side!

Hermione being Hermione gave three small knocks on the large door, praying to god that they hadn't already had him start.

When no answer came Hermione let out the breath that she hadn't realised she'd been holding in. Good God! This suspense is killing me! Hermione shot a quick glare at the handle before grabbing hold of it and pulling it down. To Hermione's utter relief and also annoyance the handle came down easily and Hermione pulled the door open.

Hermione did a small check of the kitchen/canteen and was glad to see her robes on top of the sink still dirty. "Phew."

However, Hermione's calm demeanour quickly vanished as she heard two voices come from around the corner. She dived inside, making sure to close the door behind her. Panicking, Hermione glanced around looking for somewhere to hide. For once Hermione was grateful for her current figure, as she spotted a small cupboard underneath the sink. She ran forward and shoved herself inside. Just in time it would seem, for as soon as she shut the cupboard door she heard the two voices walk into the room.

Hermione used her wand to make the cupboard door transparent, allowing her to see outside, whereas they would only see the door as it was before.

"I must say that I was utterly repulsed by your attitude earlier, Tom. Don't think that just because you'll be leaving us soon, means you can go and act up like that." Hermione heard Miss Cole's firm disapproving voice.

However, Hermione was completely and utterly unprepared for what the Tom boy was about to say next.

"Do forgive me if I didn't see the point," he spat. Although, all Hermione could see was his back, Hermione could tell that he had a certain power about him, "in taking part in normal classes here when I will be leaving for Hogwarts in only a matter of days."

"WHAT?!"

The conversation between the two came to an abrupt stop. Hermione sat there gaping at the boy.

Oh shit! Please say I didn't say that out loud; please say I didn't say that out loud.

"What was that?" Miss Cole questioned.

Fuck! 1944, orphanage, Hogwarts, please don't let his last name be Riddle!

"Hmm...I'm going to check around the building to see what that was, you, however, Mr Riddle, can get started on those clothes." Miss Cole said as she made her way towards the door, but just before she shut them in, she turned around, "and don't think that you'll be leaving until they're spotless!" Miss Cole stated as she slammed the door shut and locked it behind her.

Oh. My. God! With all the Toms in the world, I had to be stuck with him?!

That woman is getting more stupid every passing day! That noise obviously came from in here. Tom thought to himself with a roll of his eyes.

Hermione watched nervously as Tom spun round. Hermione didn't know at that moment and time what she feared the most: the fact that Tom Riddle was absolutely drop dead gorgeous, with ebony, wavy hair that contrasted amazingly with his pale completion and handsome face and tall structure, or the fact that he was staring right at her!

Well...technically the cupboard.

Hermione felt the grip on her wand tighten immensely, as he began walking towards her. However, Hermione was in absolutely no fit stage to fight, and she doubted he would actually harm a six year old.

Hello, Hermione! This is the future Dark Lord we're thinking about! Of course he won't hesitate to kill you! A small voice nagged at Hermione. It didn't really help that it sounded almost exactly like Harry.

Yes, but why would he? He wouldn't get away with it.

Are we talking about the same person?

Shut up! You know I'm right! He'll probably think I'm just a nosey kid.

Then why are you still grabbing onto your wand so tight?

Hermione inwardly growled at her Harry counter part, and then quickly turned her wand back into the stuffed bear. She was so busy arguing with herself that she didn't notice how close Riddle actually was. Hermione let out a small yelp as he stopped in front of the cupboard.

Tom could have sworn that the noise had come from in this room. He also had small suspicion about the cupboard. He couldn't seem to shake off the idea that someone had been watching him since he entered the room. He wasn't being paranoid or anything, something just didn't seem right for him when he came in, and the cupboard could be a good hiding spot for some nosey kid that's out of bed.

Bending down, he placed both hands on both cupboard handles soundlessly. He waited a couple of seconds before finally yanking the doors open, looking forward to a good scare.

However, all he got when he opened them was a load of dust that fell onto his face. He immediately stepped back, attempting to cough out the dust that had entered his mouth and began banging his fist against his chest. When the coughing died down a bit, he started to look around the room some more before even thinking about actually starting on the clothes. He had fair idea, judging by the smell that had attacked his nostrils when he came in, that he would be here all night trying to clean them without the use of his magic.

"Are you o.k.?"

Tom Riddle spun round at the hearing of a small girly voice.

There standing behind him, hugging a small, sandy brown teddy bear with a curious face was a small girl, who appeared to be no older than six years old. Tom quickly straightened himself out, returning to his full height. "Fine." he spat. "Who are you? I've never seen you around here before. How did you get in?"

Hermione was silently thanking the gods that she was still able to apparate. Casting a silencing charm, she apparated away just seconds before he opened the doors. She had found herself just outside the door to the kitchen and was about to run back into her room, but remembered that she still had to somehow stop him from noticing the Hogwarts robes. She decided that she probably had a better chance getting to the robes if she acted the cute and curious little girl she was always known to be.

"I'm Hermione!" she said in a fake sweet tone, which almost made her feel like gagging. "I just got here tonight. I'm waiting for Miss Cole to track down my
mummy and daddy so I can go home. She left her keys in the door, so I just had to turn them." She managed to stretch a small smile across her face, answering all his questions in order.

"So you're the one those clothes belong to I guess." He stated, gesturing towards the pile of clothes on the sink.

"Yup! Sorry there such a mess." she lied. "I fell and scraped myself a lot on the way here."

"Good. Well seen as you're here, you can clean up your own mess while I go back to bed." He bit, as he headed back to the door.

"Erm...how old are you?" Hermione called out.

"Does it matter?" He barked, but after he saw her expectant look he said, "Sixteen."

"Well..." I'm gonna have fun with this. "If you're that old then you should be smarter than me and realise that when Miss Cole comes in to check on you, she's gonna find me here and you in your bed, meaning that you're just gonna get yourself into more trouble than you already are." Hermione said, trying to sound as innocent as possible.

Tom glared at the small girl, annoyed at what she had said. Especially considering that she had made a fairly good point, but had pretty much insulted his intelligence a long the way. "Fine, I'll sit here while you clean those rags you call clothes, and when I hear Miss Cole coming back we'll just switch places." Tom smirked at her.

Typical bloody slytherin, typical bloody smirk!

However, despite the fact she was annoyed about cleaning them, she was also relieved that she would be able to hide the Hogwarts badges. Hermione grabbed a small stool and set it at the bottom of the sink, opposite the cuboard she had been hiding in only moments before. She emptied the bag of clothes into the basin and started the hot water, pouring in some washing up liquid.

Hermione stole a glance towards the future Dark Lord-to-be, and saw that he was sitting with his back turned to her with his feet propt up on another chair. Hermione turned back around and sat her teddy/wand on the window ledge next to the sink and her.

Hermione lent over and grabbed the first piece of material she could get. After she checked that he wasn't looking at her, she placed her hand over the Gryffindor badge, then removed her hand, she quickly checked to see if the glamour charm had worked and was happy to see no sign of the badge but instead plain black cloth. She did the same with the rest of the robes, but remembered to take her time doing them so he wouldn't suspect her amazing cleaning skills. Once complete, she cast a quick 'scourgify' on the robes, making them completely spotless and was happy to see that the glamour charm had remained intact.

Hermione turned around again, this time seeing him closely examining his nails.

"How long has it been?" She asked.

"Half an hour." He replied, with a bored tone.

To hell with this, half an hour is long enough. "Oh. Alright."

Hermione grabbed the towel and dried her hands off and then picked up her teddy/wand, before jumping off the stool and heading off towards the door. She was almost there until her way was blocked by Tom.

"And just where do think you're going?" He asked calmly.

"Eh . . . bed?" She asked, furrowing her brows a bit. As if I need your permission.

"Eh, no," he partly mocked.

"W-why?" Hermione stuttered.

"Don't think you're leaving me to clean that filth over there. Get. Back. To. Work. Miss Cole wants them spotless, not just scrubbed." Tom stated, enjoying the feeling of bossing the kid around, even if she was new and only six. He intended to show her her place in this orphanage, just like he did with all the others.

"B-but they are cleaned. Look." She said, pointing in the direction of the basin. "I-I di-did m-my best." She claimed, this time pretending to sob.

If there was one thing on this earth that Tom Riddle couldn't stand, it would have to be crying. Fed up with the idea of scaring the girl, Tom turned on his heel and marched up to the sink in order to inspect the clothes. However, to his surprise, he found that the clothes actually where 'spotless'.

Hmm. That girl could maybe come in handy.

Except, when he turned around to address her, she wasn't there. He quickly scanned the room to make sure.

When he was pretty sure that she had in fact left, he scoffed and made his way over to the kitchen door shaking his tired head. Oh well. I'll probably see the kid tomorrow. I might as well as go to bed for n-

Tom never got to finish that sentence, however, because when he went to open the door, it was locked!

Stupid, stupid, stupid...

Hermione continued insulting and scolding herself until she finally made it back to her room.

Once inside, Hermione dived onto her bed and finally let the true tears she had been holding back, let loose. The actual situation hadn't even fazed her until after she had apparated back out of the kitchen.

Dust and parasites forgotten.

She was alone.

All her friends, Harry, Ron, Ginny, Lavender, Neville and even her parents were all dead. Hell! She even missed Draco! and that's got to mean something if she's sunk that low!

There was no one close that she could turn to for comfort. No one.

What was worse was the fact that she's now stuck fifty odd years into the past; living with the one person she hates the most. The person who had made her life a living hell.

Tom bleedin' Marvolo Riddle! A.K.A. Lord Voldemort!

Hermione looked out into the stars that she was able to see threw the window. "I-I'm s-s-so s-sorry guys. I-I don't know w-what t-t-to do."

Hermione pulled the covers over her small body, and wrapped them tight around her. Hermione hugged her bear/wand closely to her chest with her face cuddled into it, as she allowed the blissful sensation of sleep to claim her.

R&R