Chapter 15: Worthy Possessors

Potterverse

"Count them again," Theo said, which wasn't strictly necessary, but considering everything, wasn't nearly not.

"One," Draco said, holding up the Elder Wand.

"Two," Harry offered hoarsely, eyeing the Resurrection Stone between his fingers.

"Three," Hermione finished, gripping the Cloak of Invisibility with both hands.

A pause.

"Not especially relevant, but I can't believe we almost went to a shack for this," Theo said eventually, which served to wake Harry from something of a trance, prompting him to leap to consciousness.

"Okay," he said. "So. Nothing's happening."

"Nope," Draco confirmed, glancing at Hermione, who shook her head. "Nothing."

"Right," Harry said, frowning. "But we know the wand works, right?"

"Yes," Draco said slowly. "But the stone…?"

"I don't see anything," Harry admitted with a grimace, though he was quick to add, "which isn't to say it doesn't work, right? I mean, if we stick to our whole 'worthy' hypothesis about the wand, then maybe it's not working because I lied to get it."

He paused to glare pointedly at Theo, who shrugged.

"Well, do you really want to die?" Theo asked, and Harry hesitated.

"I mean, I'm just not sure if—"

"You don't," Theo snapped impatiently, "so stop it. Worst case scenario, we're not worthy to see some dead people, or the Hallows are fake. We do still have all three," he pointed out, "so maybe there's… I don't know. We can read the story again and look for more hints," he suggested. "Or maybe the Hallows won't work until we destroy all the horcruxes."

"I'm pretty sure they're unrelated," Harry said.

"Well, you were also pretty sure we had to go to a shack, so pardon me if your certainty isn't exactly a selling point—"

"Hey," Hermione murmured, taking Draco's arm and nudging him away to speak to him in pseudo-private. "Do you think maybe they won't work because of me?"

"What?" Draco asked, frowning down at her. "Why wouldn't they?"

"Because I'm not who he thinks I am," Hermione whispered nervously, tossing an apprehensive glance over her shoulder at Harry. "Don't you think that's a factor? If the Hallows only work properly for people worthy of possessing them, then—"

"First of all, that's just a guess, and secondly, you absolutely can't tell him," Draco warned in a low voice, shaking his head. "For one thing, he'd want to bring her back, which I don't know how to do. I initially thought the Hallows would be—"

He stumbled to a halt, realizing he'd never shared his intentions with her, and she arched a brow, expectant.

"It's not that I want her instead," he assured her, hesitating. "It's just that, you know, if it were possible to bring her back, I assumed the Hallows would be the only way to do it. But if they're not working, and we can't get her back, then telling him would just be cruel, wouldn't it?"

"He's bound to eventually notice I'm not her," Hermione reminded him. "His life's not in danger anymore, so he's less likely to be distracted by murderous Dark Lords, isn't he? And anyway, your logic is ineffectively cyclical. You're saying we can't tell him the truth because the Hallows don't work," she grumbled irritably, "but that hardly stands to reason if we can't work them because we haven't told him the truth!"

"I know, I know, it's flawed," Draco growled, rubbing frustratedly at his temples. "But how are you expecting him to react to the news that one best friend abandoned him, and the other is trapped in a parallel universe—"

"Is it such a foreign concept to you that maybe he might like me for, I don't know, me?" Hermione demanded. "I know I'm not the real Hermione to you, but I don't know, maybe Harry would—" She inhaled sharply, obviously struggling. "Don't you think he might—I mean, if he knew, if he knew that all I wanted to do was help him—"

Draco glanced over, checking that Harry and Theo were still arguing before pulling Hermione out of sight behind one of the chamber's outrageous pillars, tucking her into his arms.

"I'm sorry," he murmured to her, and she buried her forehead in his chest, torn between frustration and what was obviously a significant degree of hurt. "I never meant that you weren't real. I do think he cares about you, genuinely. Or would care. But what you're asking—" He hesitated. "I'm just not sure. I'm not sure about anything."

Hermione's fingers tightened in his t-shirt as the rest of her wilted, resigned.

Abruptly, Draco remembered for a moment what his life had been like without her, and the consequence of everything that had happened since she arrived. He'd been hopeless before, hadn't he? Friendless. The most alone and the most abandoned he had ever been. Her presence in his life had forced the rigidness of his worthless edges into a more malleable (and perhaps even forgivable) shape. She gave him strength. She gave him courage. She made him into something he wasn't ashamed to know he was.

So how could he stand here and give nothing back to her?

"I'm not sure about anything," Draco repeated slowly, letting it out on a breath, "except for you." He glanced down at her, and she lifted her chin, frowning slightly with bemusement. "I couldn't stand to lose you. Please," he said softly, holding her face in his hands, "please don't make me do anything that might take you away from me."

She swallowed carefully, nodding. "But if it doesn't work because of me," she murmured, "I don't know what I can do."

"Hermione," Draco exhaled, tucking a loose curl behind her ear. "You're worth more than a few little trinkets. If the Hallows don't work, then—"

"Ah," came a voice beside them, and Draco and Hermione both jumped, startled to find Theo and Harry standing expectantly beside them. "So," Harry said. "This is what you've been keeping from me, then? You're…" He glanced between Hermione and Draco. "You," he said uncertainly to Hermione, "and Malfoy?"

"Yes, this is very much a surprise to me also," Theo declared gravely, which everyone (thankfully) ignored.

"I—" Hermione glanced at Draco, who was rifling through shades of panic. "Yeah," she said eventually, painting a doe-eyed look of apology on her face. "I'm so sorry, Harry, I just—I thought you'd be angry, and—"

"Honestly? I'm glad," Harry told her, as Draco blinked, surprised. "I mean, you've both been acting so strangely I thought it was something much worse. This is totally fine," he exhaled, and Draco let out a breath in the same motion, finding himself much more relieved than he probably should have been, considering he knew better. "I mean, I thought you liked Ron, but—"

"Oh, well, um. No," Hermione said, cheeks flushed. "And yes, I suppose I have been acting strangely, haven't I? But I mean, given our history, I'm sure you understand—"

"So listen," Theo cut in, providing Draco a blissful escape, "now that we're all on the same page, let's move on, shall we? For one thing, why don't you try this," he said, offering the stone out to Draco. "It's not working for me or Potter, but that's really not saying much."

"I like how we've just abandoned any pretense this is anything more than an exercise in trial and error," Draco muttered under his breath, taking hold of the stone. "I don't know what you expect me to see. For one thing I don't know anyone who's dead, and for another—"

He broke off, leaping back as a translucent image burst forth from the stone.

"Draco?" asked Hermione, reaching out for him. "Are you okay?"

"Um," he said, staring in confusion. "Can you not see this?"

"See what?" Harry asked, bemused, and the spectral figure before him sighed.

"Oh no," said Hermione Granger. "Not this again."


Grindelverse

"Did we really need to be woken up for this?" Draco grumbled the moment they apparated back into James' house, catching sight of Harry where he sat expectantly on the sofa beside the Floo. "Couldn't it have waited until morning?"

"No," Harry said flatly, rising to his feet. "Grindelwald is on his way to Hogwarts for some sort of recruitment exercise," he remarked without any particular change in tone, glancing between Hermione and Draco. "This could be our chance to take him out. And get the wand."

"That—" Hermione blinked. "That's quite abrupt, isn't it?"

"Well, it seems we have some unexpected allies we didn't know about before," Harry said, opening the door to his study and gesturing inside to where Theo was waiting alongside a rapidly-fidgeting James, a guilty-looking Sirius, and—

"Lily," Hermione said, startled, and Lily Evans looked up from where she sat at Harry's desk. Up close, she was remarkably lovely, and it was startling to see that what everyone had said to Harry was true—he did, in fact, have his mother's eyes.

"Yes," she confirmed, rising to her feet. "You're Hermione?"

Hermione nodded numbly, but it was Draco who managed words.

"This is your source?" he asked Harry, sounding less than impressed.

"In part," Harry said with a shrug, and Draco's grey gaze slid to Lily's.

"Interesting," he said, in much the same scrutinizing tone he'd used upon first meeting Hermione. "You ran," he noted succinctly, "so forgive me if I find your sudden interest in being here rather surprising."

"Oh, good," Lily said. "An accusation from a spoiled child. My favorite."

James choked on something that might have been either opposition or a laugh, and Lily glared at him.

"That wasn't about you," she said, sparing the meanness of the message for James before shifting her attention back to Draco. "I wasn't running away. I was looking for answers. The moment James found me I knew what it might mean, and as soon as I knew I was right, I came here. Tom told me what you're all up to. Irresponsible parenting, for one," she said, with another shot at James and Sirius, "and a whole lot of hubris, for another."

"Hubris?" Draco echoed, loftily doubtful. "Last I checked I wasn't a Roman emperor."

"Well, glad you're aware," Lily noted drily, "but still. Killing Grindelwald isn't going to be as easy as you think. Or, at least, it wasn't going to be," she clarified with a glance at Harry, "but it can be now, if you follow my explicit instructions."

"I'm sorry," Hermione cut in, glancing warily at Draco's furrowed brow, "but… you've been hiding in secret for almost—what, seventeen years? And now you suddenly want to be involved in all of this?"

For a moment, something flashed on Lily's face. She glanced at Harry, considering him, and then turned back to Hermione, having apparently gauged an answer.

"Yes, I do. Because Grindelwald stole my life from me," Lily said firmly, fixing her green eyes on Hermione's face with a look of thunderous certainty. "Because I've wanted him dead for years. Because I've been waiting for the chance to do it, and I'm not the only one. Because it's about time he got what's coming to him. But most importantly," she finished, one hand tightening at her side, "because my son is in danger. So yes, Hermione." She swallowed, lifting her chin. "Suddenly I do very much want to be involved in all of this."

Hermione blinked, surprised. The other statements had clanged with bravado, but the last one had quivered slightly—which meant that most of what Lily had said had been a lie, Hermione was fairly certain, but the last one had been true. Very true. The kind of truth, Hermione knew, that people lived and died for. Lily was genuinely worried about Harry, that much seemed real, but why? Why now?

Hermione tucked it away, not quite certain she was ready to trust Lily Evans.

"All we need is a way into Hogwarts," Theo supplied, glancing at Draco. "And we have one. Well, several," he corrected himself. "I assumed Hermione would get you in, but we can't all burst in in packs, can we? So Harry and I have our own method of entry. A ginger one," he clarified, "specifically. And one with a bit of an inferiority complex, if we're being honest."

"You don't mean—" Draco frowned. "The Weasley, really?"

"Ron?" Hermione echoed, half-squeaking it. "You're getting back into Hogwarts via Ron?"

"We're basically pen pals already," Theo assured her, "so, personally, I'm ready to make the leap to accomplices."

"You just met him—"

"Yes," Harry confirmed, "and during that meeting, he told us at least three ways to get into the castle and the easiest times of day to do it. So we're going in about mid-afternoon," he finished, with a glance at his mother. "And Lily," he said, carefully enunciating her name, "will be there to help make sure Grindelwald's people are distracted."

"How?" Hermione and Draco asked in unison.

"I have friends in the castle," Lily said. "People who oppose Grindelwald as much as I do. There's a fairly considerable following of unrest at Hogwarts."

"You mean McGonagall, don't you?" Hermione asked, and Lily's attention slid back to hers.

"Maybe," she said, and Draco straightened, obviously not convinced.

"You said you talked to Tom," Draco said. "When? He told us he hadn't seen you since you left his employment."

"I didn't go directly to Tom," Lily told him, scoffing a little under her breath at his presumption. "He's not exactly someone you go to when you need answers. He's more of a 'look for answers first, come back later with leverage' sort of person," she clarified, which Hermione found was a deeply relatable sentiment. "I made a point to have words with one of his more public associates."

"Oh, is that what I am now?" asked a voice behind them, and Hermione jumped at finding Remus in the doorway, having evidently made himself what looked to be a highly carnivorous sandwich. "And here I thought the tattoos and marginal lack of humanity made me so mysterious."

"How did you know about Remus?" Hermione asked Lily, frowning. "Tom told me you'd never met."

"And we hadn't," Remus confirmed, shrugging. "She found me."

Lily, meanwhile, fixed Hermione with a supreme look of boredom. "You don't actually think I survived in this world for so long without learning everything there was to know about it, did you?"

Well, Hermione thought. That was certainly a valid point.

"Hold on," Draco said, turning to Harry. "Why didn't you call me sooner?"

"Oh good," Harry sighed impatiently, "so we've progressed from 'couldn't this wait' to 'why didn't you call me sooner'—"

"Harry, we need to speak privately," Draco said flatly, "now."

"Draco, I would think—"

"Actually," James blurted abruptly, "in terms of speaking privately—"

"There's nothing to say," Lily snapped at him, which appeared to be a micro-argument they'd already had before Hermione and Draco's arrival. "What do you want me to do, apologize? I can't, James, and we don't have to pretend you're happy to see me, because that isn't what this is about—"

"Mum, Dad, please," Theo said. "You're upsetting the children."

"Excuse me?" Sirius demanded. "I hardly think—"

"I wasn't talking to you," Theo said. "Obviously Draco and Harry are Mum and Dad."

"Oh," Sirius said, and then frowned. "Wait a minute, does that mean we're the children?"

"You certainly are," Remus informed him, and Sirius scowled.

"I don't even know why you're here—"

"Listen, I hear 'hostile takeover' and I just come running—"

"I don't understand what you're so upset about, Draco. Did you suddenly not want to topple Grindelwald's regime for some reason?"

"That's not the point, Harry, and you know it—"

"LILY, I WILL NOT CALM DOWN, I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD!"

Hermione sighed, suddenly more exhausted than ever, and caught a glimpse of something on Harry's desk. It was the ring, she realized—which she'd forgotten entirely about, and forgotten to even ask about, having been caught up in Tom's bewildering web—and before she quite realized what she was doing, she had leaned over to pick it up, eyeing the facets of it more freely now that she was without Tom's unnerving observation.

Idly, she wondered if Harry had found it yet. She'd lent it some thought by then and determined it was probably what Dumbledore had hidden in the snitch he'd given Harry, though that wasn't particularly helpful if he couldn't get it open. If he had, though, that meant Harry had all three Deathly Hallows, and that meant—

"Um," she heard, and looked up in the midst of the roomful of heated arguments to find Draco Malfoy—not the Draco Malfoy she'd arrived with—was staring vacantly at her. "Can you not see this?"

He wasn't talking to her, she realized.

But he was definitely seeing her.

"Oh no," she sighed, glancing down at the ring in her hand and realizing what must have happened. "Not this again."


Potterverse

"What are you seeing?" Harry pressed, but Draco swallowed hard, shaking his head.

"This is private," he informed Harry hurriedly. "It's… my grandfather," he determined with a glance at Theo, who unhelpfully frowned with bemusement, not quite grasping the message. "He's, uh. I just wasn't expecting to see him, but, Theo," Draco attempted wildly, "do you remember my grandfather? You know, and how he went to… another place?"

"Death?" Theo asked drily.

"Right, yes, funny how death is like another universe, isn't it?" Draco said helplessly, as Hermione registered his intent first, eyes widening. "Anyway, I just need a moment of privacy, things to discuss; parting words, reverent praise, updates in re heirlooms, et cetera—"

He stumbled away, casting a discreet Muffliato and then staring at the image of Hermione, who was rolling her eyes.

"That was subtle," she said.

"Did you die?" he demanded.

"No," she replied. "Did you?"

"No," he said, confused. "So how are you here?"

"Same way we were last time, I expect," she said, frowning, and then added, "Are they listening?"

"No," he said. By then, Theo had gotten the point, managing to successfully distract Harry with something else. "What about on your end?"

"They're all fighting about," she began, and paused. "Well, nothing important. Anyway, I slipped out without much of an issue. I'm alone, if you want to talk."

"Oh. Right. Well," Draco said. "What's new?"

Hermione arched a dubious brow.

"I don't know," he retorted irritably, hissing it through his teeth as she shook her head, loftily derisive. "What am I supposed to say? We had a lovely outing killing the Dark Lord and now we have all three Hallows but they don't fucking work—"

"That seems like a perfectly good place to start," Hermione cut in sharply. "What do you mean they don't work?"

"They just don't," Draco said. "Nothing's happening. Potter can't get the stone to do anything, which is why I have it—"

"Hm," Hermione said, frowning. "Nothing happened when I held it earlier, either. And I guess technically nothing's happening now," she added, pacing slowly through whatever room she was in. "Not how it's supposed to, at least, seeing that we've established neither of us is dead. So unless the stone has some sort of summoning charm that mimics the resurrection of the dead and it's somehow similar to the summoning charm in the Room of Requirement—"

"Can we not get all academic about this right now, please?" Draco asked. His head was already hurting at the thought of her posturing. "Just tell me what's going on there."

"Oh, well, Tom Riddle is pretty much a disaster," Hermione sighed. "We might be able to get rid of Grindelwald, but the moment we do, Tom will be waiting. That's Voldemort, by the way, in case you didn't kn-"

"I know," Draco said impatiently. "What else?"

"Well, once Grindelwald is," she began, and then grimaced. "Dead, I suppose—"

"Yes," Draco confirmed. "That does seem to be the state the other me would prefer."

"—then we'll have all three Hallows, so." She stopped. "Wait. Did you say Voldemort was dead? You killed him?"

"Actually, you did, mostly," Draco informed her. "I mean, I helped, but. You—she—threw the knife."

He watched her mouth the words 'me' and 'knife' in apparent disbelief.

"Oh," she managed eventually. "I take it Harry hasn't noticed she's not me?"

Draco hesitated.

"If it helps, he definitely noticed something," he determined after a moment, finding that to be a positive spin. "But obviously he wasn't going to help me if you weren't you, and now it's kind of a difficult subject to broach. Particularly because you seemed like you had something you were doing over there," he added hastily, and she considered it, lips pursed with barely-suppressed disapproval.

"Well," she said, and gradually sighed. "I guess you have a point."

Draco instantly let out a breath of relief.

"But you do realize you still have horcruxes to destroy," she told him.

"I do realize that, yes," he confirmed. "Unfortunately, Potter's attention is somewhat elsewhere."

"Hm," Hermione said, thinking. "Well, that sounds like him. You'll have to keep him focused."

"I'm trying," Draco grumbled. "It's hard to do, though he's a bit more susceptible to guidance now that Weasley's gone—"

"What?" Hermione demanded. "Ron left again?"

Draco paused. "Again?" he echoed, and Hermione grimaced.

"He left us for a bit," she admitted. "A few months."

"Oh," Draco said, blinking. "I guess that's why Harry's been…" He considered it for a moment, but ultimately came up short. "However he's been."

Unpredictably, Hermione chuckled.

"What?" Draco demanded, balking. He assumed, not unreasonably, that her amusement was some form of mockery, though he guessed it might have had softer edges than that.

"Nothing," she said. "You just called him Harry."

"I—" Fuck. "You must have misheard."

"Mm," Hermione permitted sagely. "Of course I did."

"Get back to the point," Draco insisted, glaring at her. "What are you doing next?"

"Trying not to get killed," she replied, and waffled in thought for a moment. "You, meanwhile, should look for the next horcrux. I suppose you do have more time now, don't you? But still, he could come back if you don't."

"Right, yes, I've heard. Oh," Draco said, remembering. "One more thing. What reason could there be for Potter to have to die?"

Hermione frowned. "What?"

"Potter told us about the prophecy. Taken with the whole 'I open at the close thing,' it's all a little suspicious—"

"Oh." Hermione swallowed. "Yeah. I'd really hoped I was wrong about that."

Draco glared expectantly at her. "Meaning?"

"Well," Hermione began, pained, and stopped. "You know Harry can talk to snakes, right?"

Draco shuddered at the memory of their ill-fated duel second year. "Yes."

"Right. And he can see into Voldemort's mind, which isn't very common," she continued. "I did extensive research, obviously, because I thought the whole thing was really quite disturbing, and he was doing so poorly with occlumency—"

"Get to the point, Granger," Draco sighed, and she nodded hurriedly.

"Right, well, Dumbledore wanted all of the horcruxes destroyed before Voldemort could be defeated," Hermione said slowly. "Which means that if Harry was supposed to be able to open the snitch before then…"

"You think Potter's a horcrux," Draco registered, blinking, and Hermione nodded slowly.

"To be clear, I don't think so," she said. "But I do think Dumbledore thought so."

"So you think Dumbledore really did set Potter up to die," Draco said. "Is that it? We're going to search for the rest of the horcruxes and then he'll just… die?" He blinked, disbelieving. "He'll just… be dead?"

"Well, maybe not," Hermione said, chewing her lip. "You have the Hallows, don't you? Maybe you'll figure out a w-"

She broke off, startled, and fidgeted rapidly with her fingers. Then, in an instant, she'd disappeared, and Draco was staring into nothing.

"Granger?" he asked, staring at the stone. "Are you…"

He paused.

"…there?" he finished.

Nothing.

Well, she probably wasn't dead, he reasoned, so he dissipated the silencing charm and wandered back over to Hermione.

"Hold this," he said, and she held her hand out for the stone, letting him place it in her palm. "See anything?"

She waited for a moment, and then shook her head. "No. What happened?"

"Yes," Harry said, noting Draco's return and bounding over. "What happened?"

"Oh, nothing," Draco said quickly. "Grandfather's doing well. Was just checking on how we were doing, you know. Normal things."

"Oh," Harry said, disappointed, and turned to Hermione. "Well, listen, Nott and I were just talking about where we might find one of the horcruxes, and—"

"Hey," Theo said, catching Draco's arm before he leapt to follow them (worried, as ever, about what Hermione might reveal) and yanking him back. "You talked to her? Is she coming back?"

"Not yet," Draco said, and at Theo's look of skepticism, he wrenched his arm free. "What?"

"Oh, nothing," Theo scoffed, "only a tiny, hardly noticeable case of I don't believe you, seeing as in my experience, the things you say aren't necessarily… what's the word? Oh, yes," he determined, flashing Draco a scowl. "True."

"I thought we'd moved past this," Draco muttered, and Theo tutted softly, shaking his head.

"I said I'd help you, and I have," Theo reminded him, "but that doesn't mean I've had a fucking memory modification. I know you're willing to lie to people if it means you can do whatever you want."

"Not telling you my job was to kill Dumbledore was hardly a lie," Draco snapped. "Much less something I wanted—"

"A lie of omission is still a lie, Draco. Look it up," Theo retorted, and Draco clenched a fist.

"This isn't the same thing," Draco warned, and Theo shook his head.

"No, it isn't," he said flatly, "so try not to make the same mistakes."

Then Theo turned and followed Hermione and Harry, leaving Draco behind.


Grindelverse

"You think Potter's a horcrux," Draco had said, and Hermione, lost in thought, wished she had a different answer.

"To be clear, I don't think so," she said. "But I do think Dumbledore thought so."

"So you think Dumbledore really did set Potter up to die," Draco said. "Is that it? We're going to search for the rest of the horcruxes and then he'll just… die?" He blinked, disbelieving. "He'll just… be dead?"

"Well, maybe not," Hermione said, considering it. After all, things were different, weren't they? The world was nothing like she thought it was. There were more than one of them, for one thing, which seemed like plenty to go on, and outside of that, there were still options she would have dismissed had she not seen everything she had. "You have the Hallows, don't you?" she asked him. "Maybe you'll figure out a w-"

She broke off, though, when she caught a flash of red hair that meant she wasn't alone, immediately removing the ring from her finger and letting it fall to the ground as Lily bent, delicately picking it up.

"So," Lily said. "You don't trust me."

Hermione blinked. "I wasn't—I just—"

"You don't," Lily informed her. "Which is good, because I don't trust you either." She straightened, glancing over the ring. "This is Tom's ring," she murmured, and glanced doubtfully at Hermione. "Why do you have it?"

Don't answer. "Maybe Harry should tell you."

"Mm," Lily replied, unsatisfied. "Who were you talking to?"

Do. Not. Answer.

"No one," Hermione replied.

"That," Lily said, "is a fucking lie."

She reached her hand out, smacking the ring back into Hermione's palm.

"Call them again," Lily said, and Hermione hesitated.

"I don't think that's how it works—"

"Call them," Lily said, "again."

Hermione blinked.

Glanced at the ring.

Waited.

"He's gone," she said, and kicked herself. She hadn't intended to essentially limit half the universe's population by providing Draco's gender, but hopefully it wouldn't matter. Hopefully (and she couldn't believed she hoped it, but it was what it was) Lily was less interested in the other half of the connection than she was in Hermione, which seemed to be the case.

"Mm," Lily said, more displeased than doubtful. "Well, listen. I know you're not from here. And you're the same as me, too, if I had to guess," she added, giving Hermione a studious glance. "Which means you definitely don't belong here."

Hermione opened her mouth to retort and thought better of it.

After all, she had other weapons.

"Why did you leave Harry?" she asked instead, watching Lily flinch, which had been her intended effect. The Lily Potter Hermione knew had died rather than leave Harry, and she was willing to guess it wasn't so different here.

Maybe Lily didn't trust Hermione, and maybe Hermione didn't trust her, either, but she was fairly certain Lily wasn't dangerous. Something didn't add up about Lily's past, and whatever it was, Hermione was certain something else must have made Lily leave her only son behind.

"I didn't," Lily said, and then, after a moment of pained indecision, she stepped closer. "Listen to me," she warned, voice low, "because whether you trust me or not, I need you to know this. You can't kill Tom Riddle."

Hermione blinked. "What?"

"You can't kill Tom," Lily repeated, resolute in her insistence. "I know you're going to try. I know you are, and I had to stop you. You can't do it."

"Why not?" Hermione asked, and Lily hesitated for just a moment before letting out a breath, ridding herself of what was almost certainly a terrible secret.

"Because," she confessed flatly. "If you kill Tom Riddle, then—"

She broke off, swallowing, and glanced down at her hands, revealing the stripped-down layer of truth Hermione had noticed in her once before.

"If you kill Tom," Lily said quietly, "Harry will die."


a/n:annnnndddd happy Monday! Be back Thursday with more. Look out for Commoner's Guide late tomorrow night and a one shot featuring a pairing from the How to Win epilogue in Amortentia soon also, assuming I don't die at a wedding this weekend. This one's for darling draco, because I had the best time watching you read Ride or Die!