July 4 Dear Hermione,

The father is. . .

Hermione sat and read the short letter from Lily a few times over. What was she supposed to say in response? She could not believe Lily would have done such a thing.

July 5 Dear Lily,

Are you serious? Do you love him instead of James? I'm a bit confused now. . .

Yours truly, Hermione (P.S. I think my mail might start being checked before it comes in and is being sent. . . So don't say things you don't want others reading after this!)

Hermione sent a school owl off with her letter and thought to herself. Tom was beginning to become more suspicious about what she and Lily had been talking about, because she would not let Tom read her letters. So she really would not have been surprised if he started taking them from the owls.

July 5 Dear Hermione,

Yes, him. . . I do not really want to talk about it . . . not after what you had said before. How did you do in your O.W.L.s? I got almost all of them! I want to be an auror.

~Lily

Hermione looked at the letter. She knew Tom had read it.

'This must be one of the reasons he wants to kill Lily and James,' she thought.

July 6 Dear Lily,

I got all O.W.L.s! I do not really know what I want to be, yet. I have a few ideas in mind, but I'm still tossing them around. Do not owl me back. I will send you another, soon. Until then, bye!

Yours truly, Hermione

Hermione knew Tom had also read that letter. She did not really care. She spent a lot of her time with him and Riddle. She was quite surprised at how nice he was to her and Riddle.

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Hermione had been called to Dumbledore's office one afternoon. She walked up to it and knocked. She was hoping it was good news.

"Come in," she could hear him say. She slowly creaked open the door and walked in over to his desk. On top of it lay a large key. He motioned for her to sit down in front of his desk, and she did so.

"I have found a way for you to get back. This is much like a portkey, but it is a timekey. Expect to be leaving tomorrow. You will arrive at the same exact date and time in this office 15 years from now, whenever you leave. All the work you did this year will count for your fifth year in the future. I'm sure someone in that time must know about this and has given an excuse."

"Yes, sir," Hermione said.

"Do you have any questions about this?"

"No, sir."

"You may leave, then," Dumbledore said, waving a dismissive hand. Hermione smiled and stood up then left. She would tell Tom right before she left.

She ran back to the common room and up to her room, ignoring Tom. She pulled out some parchment, ink, and a quill.

July 13 Dear Lily,

I have something to tell you. I'm from the future. Whether you believe me or not, I do not care. I wanted to say goodbye, for I doubt I will ever see you again. Please, PLEASE respond before tomorrow! I'm going to miss you and everyone else!

Yours truly, Hermione

Hermione rushed to send it. Tom had been too busy to have been able to check the letter. She had come back to the common room and Tom had been trying to get Bianca to watch Riddle. He was not doing so well. Hermione sighed and they stopped fighting. Tom did not seem to need to leave now that she was back. She was sure it had been for her letter. It did not matter; it was already sent.

"Tom," Hermione began and paused. "I'm going to be leaving tomorrow."

"Where to?" he asked.

"I'll tell you before I leave," Hermione said and settled down in front of the fire, lying on her side. She began crying silent tears over all of it. She was so happy to be going back, but she had missed so much, and she would miss so much by leaving. She knew she had to go back, though. Tom had come over and sat next to her, calming her down, even though he did not know why she was crying. She went to bed that night feeling awful.

The next morning she woke up early. She charmed her robes to have pockets and stuffed all her letters and tests in them. She also intended to put Bianca in one. She walked to the common room to find Tom and Riddle playing on the floor. Hermione smiled slightly but a few tears rolled down her face. She sat on a couch and stared at Tom.

"I'm from the future," Hermione said out of no where, staring blankly at him. Tom stood up and sat next to her; her blank eyes followed him to the seat he took next to her. He smiled.

"Where ever you are from, I'm sure we'll meet again somewhere in time," he said and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She did nothing. Water began flowing from her unblinking eyes. She was not sure what to do. Bianca was on the arm of the sofa and seemed to understand what was going to happen. Hermione leaned into Tom and cried into his chest. He looked slightly surprised and did not move. He let her cry, not sure how to handle her. He really did not know what had upset her so much. After a while, she stopped and wiped her face off. She looked up at Tom and gave him a small, brief smile. She stood up and picked up Bianca. She walked over to Riddle and picked him up. She cradled him in her arms and looked at him.

"I wish I could have had more time to find you a better house, but I am sure you'll love it where you go," she whispered to him. "I love you," she said and a few more tears slipped from her eyes. She turned and faced Tom, but did not look him in the eyes.

"Goodbye, Tom," she simply said. She turned and left with Bianca. Tom did not make any move to stop her.

Hermione went to Dumbledore's office and entered. She saw the timekey on his desk. He was standing behind it. Hermione walked up to him and placed her hands on the desk.

"Are you ready?" Dumbledore asked.

"Yes," Hermione said.