An Unlikely Ally
A/N: I hope this clears up the plot a little. I hadn't planned on writing the prologue originally and it ended up a lot longer than I expected (and was a real pain to write too). The actual story comes a lot easier and yes, it's been plotted and the ending's been half written already, so I know where it's going. Be warned that this is basically a shameless fluffy Hermione/Tom Riddle love story disguised as something with a real plot.
---
She felt like she was floating down the halls. Perhaps she had died and now she was a ghost hanging in the air. She knew she was higher up than normal.
Or maybe she was walking for she could almost hear the even solid footsteps like they were echoes of echoes.
She slowed as she saw a shadowy figure ahead of her.
"Twenty points from Hufflepuff, Crawly." The voice came from her but was not hers. "Get to bed."
The voice sparked a memory and she knew she had heard it before. But where had she heard it? She could not quite grasp exactly who the voice belonged to but she knew it was important.
The boy skittered past her, head facing resolutely downwards.
She glanced down and saw that she was in fact walking for feet touched the floor beneath her – feet in shoes many sizes larger than what she normally wore. As she continued on she realized that her stride was longer as well. It took a little thinking before she finally figured out that the legs and feet doing her walking were not really hers.
They were, however, taking her down a path that she knew intimately and she allowed herself to be pulled along. A hand that was not hers lifted a wand and unlocked the large door to the library, allowing her to slip inside. The door closed silently behind her and she turned. She crossed the library and headed straight for the restricted section.
The same hand reached up and pulled a book off the shelves. She recognized the book. She had read it at the end of last year after Harry filled them in on what needed to be done. The hand placed the book open upon the desk and the pages fell open to the section on splitting and un-splitting one's soul.
Something blew across her face. She flinched as she thought for a second it was a tuff of someone's breath. Then she realized that it was more than a breath. Wind that should not have been in the library started blowing around her, picking up enough speed to start whistling. Holding her hair to keep it from lashing her face, she watched as the shelves wobbled under the onslaught.
The volume of the wind continued to increase, enough so that it sounded like it was something shrieking in pain. She covered her ears with her hands and ducked her head as papers were pulled off of the bulletin board along with the tacks and flew around her, some managing to cut her face.
Just as the sound had gotten loud enough to hurt, it stopped suddenly. The loose papers and tacks fell on the floor. She could still hear the echoes of the wind's scream in the silence.
That was when the voice floated through her. It was the same one that had snapped at the boy earlier, familiar yet different, clear yet indistinct.
"Help me."
---
She was awake in an instant. Having spent so much of her time in the library, it took a few moments for her to become aware of the fact that it was very late at night and she was not supposed to be there. The realizations that she was standing in the restricted section and that she was in her pajamas followed closely behind. She looked down and saw it – the book. It was the one she saw every night in her dreams and then when she woke. It sat squarely in the middle of the table in front of the shelf and was opened to the page detailing the Horcrux. She backed up a few steps and looked around. It was probably three or four in the morning and the library was empty of course.
She waved her wand at the book and it folded itself back into its space in the shelves. Hermione rubbed the back of her neck with her hand and moaned. These dreams have been pulling her out of bed for six nights now. It was not the dreams that bothered her so much as having to walk back to her room in the middle of the night barefoot and in pajamas.
It had been a long week since the first day of school. The morning after the welcoming ceremony, Harry had led her and Ron down to the Chamber of Secrets during their free period to pick up some fangs. Apparently it had been Dumbledore's idea and Hermione made a mental note to "thank" the Headmaster the next time she saw him; it had not been a pleasant morning.
In fact, the whole thing had been downright repulsive and creepy. Not only was descent into the Chamber of Secrets unnecessarily dark and ominous but the Chamber itself was rather horrifying.
They had only their wands to illuminate their way and the ambiance was not helped by the skeleton of the Basilisk in the middle of the room. The place was like some sort of evil tomb.
As Harry wandered down the memory lane from hell, she and Ron were left to decide the best way to get the fangs into the charmed bags they had brought. In the end neither of them had wanted to handle the things, even through the magically protected sacks.
Just as she had picked up a fang with her wand, she felt a chill surround her. She almost dropped the darn thing. The chill crept through her skin and up her spine and she shivered hard for a few seconds. Ron had looked up at the sound of her teeth chattering and she could only give him a confused shrug back. Luckily it stopped within seconds.
They looked for Harry when they had finished their deed and found him staring at the statue of Slytherin.
"What are you thinking?" She left Ron by the door and walked up to stand next to her other best friend.
"Just wondering how this school year will end," Harry said.
"Well the Chosen One will destroy Lord Voldemort with the help of his trusty sidekicks, of course." She grinned at him, holding up her bag and shaking it, watching the fang bounce inside.
Harry grinned back. He turned back to the statue. "It all started with him you know. We're all fighting in his war a thousand years after he died."
"He lost last time Harry," she said with conviction, "and he'll lose again. We have Hogwarts on our side."
"Besides," Ron said as he came up on Harry's other side, "fellow's a nutter."
"Butter," Hermione added automatically. She and Harry both cracked up as Ron looked on, confused.
"Muggle thing?"
"Yeah." Harry clapped his arm on Ron's shoulder.
Ron gave her a sly wink. They had never discussed it but they both considered themselves Harry's cheering up squad when he decided to start brooding.
"Let's get out of here," she said, putting an arm through Harry's free one and tugging him away.
"Don't have to tell me twice," he mumbled, kicking at the skeleton as they passed by.
---
It had felt a lot better as soon as they made it to Myrtle's bathroom but even then the chill did not completely disappear. It was almost as if some memory of the place still lingered in her heart.
And now the dreams she from her second year had come back, though without the main actor. She wondered at the connection. Unlike the last time around, she had a good idea of who she was dreaming about but could not wrap her mind around the implications. After all, he had been destroyed, right?
Definitely, she assured herself. Every piece of evidence pointed to that. She was probably just losing it from all the stress of attacks and knowing what she did about her forthcoming graduation. It was enough to unnerve most people and sleepwalking was a natural reaction to stress and anxiety.
Hermione slowly made her way back past the library door and towards her Head Girl's room near the Gryffindor Tower. She idly wondered as she walked if Head Boy Draco was asleep. It had been a difficult summer for him. Somehow the two of them had formed a report during his stay at Grimmauld but it started off a little rocky, she remembered with a sigh.
Hermione was sitting on an armchair in the library studying when Draco Malfoy entered. The past few weeks have not been kind on the young man. His hair was unkempt and his clothes were not entirely clean. He had lost a great deal of weight and there was a listless look in his eyes. At the end of the school year he had orchestrated an attack on Hogwarts that failed and his mother and Professor Snape had worked together to get him to safety. Professor Snape died rather mysteriously but Narcissa had been killed quite clearly, publicly and rather surprisingly by her sister on the grounds of Hogwarts.
"Granger," he greeted tonelessly not looking in her direction. He sat on the bench next to the window with a textbook in his lap and just stared out.
"Malfoy." She put down her book and looked at him. If he had heard her he did not show it. His brooding reminded her much of Harry after their fifth year – perhaps it just was a natural reaction to losing a parent or parental figure. Malfoy looked far from his usual haughty self as well. He sported a bleak expression and hallowed cheeks everywhere he went. Hermione felt the stirrings of pity watching him.
"You've been looking at me like some sort of abandoned Kneazle and I don't care for it," Draco spat, startling her.
"I'm sorry," she replied quietly.
"For your pity or for the fact my mother died to save my life?"
"Both."
"Well it doesn't help either way, so leave me alone." His voice shook slightly, either out of anger or sadness or perhaps both.
"Mrs. Weasley is going to be serving dinner soon, you should probably eat something," she said, getting up to find another study space. He grunted as she closed the door.
---
Ginny and Ron and their parents lived at 12 Grimmauld Place with Hermione and Draco with the rest of the Order frequently passing through. Charlie was staying with the newly married Bill and Fleur at Shell Cottage and the twins with their own apartment in London. The latter fact frequently started many arguments in the Weasley clan. They were loud and had Molly Weasley on one side and the rest of the family on the other.
"But mum, the two most dangerous people in London are living in the apartment, why would they need all those extra security measures?" Ron had asked one night at dinner, earning him a glare from his mother and giggles from Hermione and Ginny.
Ginny and Ron spent most of their time in the small kitchen at Grimmauld Place huddled over a radio listening to the quidditch games as they were being broadcast or rerun. That left a lot of time for Hermione to start on her NEWTs studying.
She and Ginny also sent letters to Harry a few times a week, using Pigwidgeon and Hedwig as couriers. It was his last summer with the Dursleys and his letters had gotten progressively more enthusiastic at the prospect of leaving for good. If he was upset about the death of Professor Snape, he did not show it.
Dinner that evening after her little talk with Draco in the library was a quiet affair. Draco himself walked in halfway through and sat down without a word, picking at his food as Molly Weasley fussed over him.
"Draco, I don't think it's safe for you to go to Diagon Alley with us next week but I was wondering if there was anything I could pick up for you?" Molly Weasley asked in her most cheerful voice. She was pushing it a little, Hermione thought.
"No thank you Mrs. Weasley," he replied politely.
"Call me Molly, dear."
To her right Hermione caught Ron pretending to throw up. He stopped when he saw her glare. Turning her attention back to Draco, she saw him cover his surprise with a forced smile.
"Thank you…Molly." He then resumed his previous activity of pushing his food around his plate.
"How bad are the attacks right now?" Ginny asked quietly.
"Less than we would expect," her father answered. "Not quite safe enough to just walk into Diagon Alley but Moody and Dumbledore are setting up a team of Aurors at strategic locations so that students can buy their materials on certain days this summer.
"What about disappearances and deaths?" Hermione asked, not looking in Draco's direction.
"I don't think…" Molly seemed about to cut off the conversation but Mr. Weasley seemed determined for them to know.
"Low considering the last few years, but that makes it almost worse since we're almost certain that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is planning something."
They ate in silence for a few minutes as the students all absorbed that.
"Is Harry coming with us?" Ginny finally asked.
Hermione had to hide a smile. Even though Ginny and Harry had broken up at the end of last year due to Harry's reluctance at putting her in the line of fire, they were still on each other's minds all the time. Even if they never got together again, they were undoubtedly now fast friends for life.
"Actually that's why we are going on Harry's birthday dear. Headmaster Dumbledore's going to personally bring him to Diagon Alley and we'll bring him back here with us. He will not have to go back to his aunt and uncle's again if he doesn't want to."
"I can't imagine why he would want to," Ron said, rolling his eyes.
"They're family," Hermione snapped, though she did agree with him for the most part.
"Yeah, I don't think so."
"Harry will be in a good mood," Ginny said loudly before their back and forth turned into an argument.
"Yeah, no kidding, and we'll be able to listen to the Cannons play the Tornados that evening too! Might even be able to convince Charlie to come over." Ron's eyes brightened at the prospect.
The conversation then degenerated into quidditch and family for the rest of the meal, allowing Hermione and Draco to eat silently.
---
Members of the order started showing up later that evening when the students were gathered in the upstairs den.
"I wish we had a way to hear what they were saying," Ginny complained, shredding a draft letter to Harry in her hands.
"I have a way," Hermione told them. Ron and Ginny immediately moved closer to the couch where Hermione sat. Even Draco leaned forward from where he lounged in the corner. "It's something I picked up from Lavender's Love's Trials and Tribulations catalogue." Hermione blushed a little as she pulled out a little glass cube and placed it on the coffee table. She tapped it three times with her wand.
"Nothing's happening." Ron sent her an accusatory glance.
"It's a Lover's Wall-fly. I put the other half under the kitchen table but it doesn't activate unless someone there says my name. It's used by people to see what their lovers are saying about them," she explained.
"And which lover's opinion were you particularly worried about?" Malfoy's tone was dry but slightly amused.
Hermione turned around and rolled her eyes at him, pleased that he was himself enough to make fun of her. "I got it for this purpose actually, and a few others. People often overlook it as something childish but it uses Name Magic and is a lot more powerful than most people suppose. I was amazed it was in the catalogue actually, the rest of it was mostly rubbish. I mean potions that will make someone only speak by serenading, seriously!"
"I don't know – might give Weasley a chance to actually bag a girl."
"Look Malfoy, I don't need any help…"
"…Hermione and Ron graduate?" The cube Hermione had put down had changed colors as Molly Weasley's voice drifted out of it as clearly is if she had been sitting in the room. The students all a few confused looks at the ending of the sentence.
"We don't even know if that's what You-Know-Who is planning Molly."
"It's the last thing Snape reported to Dumbledore!" Molly's tone was indignant and frightened at the same time. "And now you all say that there's no activity? Clearly He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is planning something big!"
"A large scale attack at Harry's graduation does sound in character for Lord Voldemort," Remus said reluctantly, probably hesitant to incite Molly further. In the den, both Ron and Ginny flinched slightly as Hermione and Draco looked exchanged a look at the implications of what was being said.
"Don't say his name!" a number of people in the kitchen snapped in unison.
"I assure you that we will be doing all we can to end the war before it comes to that Molly." Dumbledore's calm voice floated into the room and his confidence made Hermione feel a little better.
The Order did not speak too much longer as orders are given out privately by Dumbledore for security reasons. A few plans floated around for protection for the students and the school once term started but nothing set in stone.
"I was able to gather a dozen Aurors with much difficulty for protection duty at Diagon Alley on the last day of July. Luckily a few of the more influential parents stepped in or Scrimgeour might have denied the request altogether. He wants us all across the country being seen, though what we can do in pairs..." Kingsley sounded so tired that Hermione's heart went out to him.
"That will be of great help," Dumbledore said gratefully. "I also encourage those of you that can make time to go shopping on that particular day to do so. I shall see you all back here in a fortnight. Have a good evening."
Hermione pointed her wand at the cube, shutting it off as sounds of the crowd dispersing filtered through the cube. None of them said anything for a minute.
"Well…bugger."
"I loathe admitting it but I agree with Weasley." Draco looked more thoughtful than worried. "It was an inelegantly expressed sentiment but apt nonetheless."
Ron's lack of a response was a testament to how disconcerted he was.
"I wonder just how bad an attack will be if Lord Voldemort needs to spend a whole year planning it," Hermione wondered out loud.
The four of them sat in the den for a good fifteen minutes in silence thinking on the possibilities. Finally Draco got up to go to bed.
"Well," he said in a fake chipper tone, hand on the knob, "at least we know that graduation will be exciting."
---
In the end, after many hours of shouting, Molly decided not to let Ginny go with them to London. Hermione had promised to get the list of things she needed and decided that she might as well pick up some of Draco's books as well. Draco had no money now that Lucius had disowned him from prison. Pending his trial, the elder Malfoy still had control of the family assets. Luckily Hermione's parents exchanged too much every year and she had enough saved at Gringotts to more than pay for both their supplies.
She could not quite explain why she felt that she should be buying Draco stuff. Certainly it just seemed like the right thing to do.
Harry gave her a look as she picked up two copies of their new History of Magic textbook.
She sighed. "He lost his mother Harry, you of all people…"
"I'm not saying anything," he interrupted quickly, arms up in defense.
It was great to have both her friends with her again. They hit Gringotts and then the usual suspects, stopping for a few minutes to look at Mr. Ollivander's still empty shop. It was now completely boarded up and the new first-years had to settle for the Wands Warehouse down the street.
The day was overcast but it was not due to rain until four thirty-seven if the wizard on the radio was to be believed. That left them over an hour to get new robes and they decided to stop at Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes for a break.
"I hope you don't expect Malfoy to be able to fit into your robes too Hermione," Harry said as they browsed one of the candy aisles.
She rolled her eyes at him. "I was thinking that he might fit into one of yours," she grinned. "Or maybe we should use Ron's instead – you'll probably need another growth spurt to go to catch up." She ducked as Harry threw the first object he reached for at her.
Fred, she thinks, caught the florid chunk of clay in midair. "You don't want to be throwing these around Harry!" he said, turning and chucking it at George who was on a ladder.
It exploded into a cloud of dust on George's shoulder. When it cleared, George, to put it politely, had makeup befitting a French whore.
Hermione and Harry both doubled over laughing.
The three of them had gotten some of the less dangerous candy and were wandering back towards Madam Malkins slowly. It was then that Hermione happened to turn and look into a small side alley just in time to see an Auror apparate away. She stopped walking and stared. The Aurors had been walking around all day though not doing much more than making all the students and their parents feel better. The Alley had been more crowded earlier but there were still a significant number of families still wandering around and there was no reason for any of the Ministry appointed security to leave.
Harry and Ron both turned and looked her.
"That Auror just disapparated," she said worriedly.
"What?" Harry looked around confused. "I thought they were supposed to be here till five."
"They are," she said, pulling her wand down her sleeve a little with her other hand so it would be easier to reach. "Come on, let's go find another Auror and tell them."
They ran from one side of Diagon Alley to the other before being forced to admit that the Aurors seemed to have completely disappeared.
"This is not good," Ron stated unnecessarily.
Just as he said it, Tonks' bubblegum hair came into their view. She had come out of a small side alley and immediately went over to them.
"Where are the Aurors?" all three asked in unison.
"We've gotten called back to the Ministry," the older girl said, clearly worried.
"Called back?" Harry said in disbelief.
"There's been an attack on the Ministry of Magic and Scrimgeour called everyone back. Kingsley is checking it out now but I said I'd stay here."
"Were you the only one that did?" Hermione asked.
"Yep."
"What…how…" Ron seemed stunned.
"The Aurors all have to answer to the Minister of Magic," Hermione said, in case he had forgotten. "Come on; let's go find your parents."
"My parents?"
"There could be trouble; the attack on the Ministry could have been a diversion. Voldemort must know that it's my birthday."
"Don't say his name," Ron snapped half-heartedly at Harry, looking around for his family.
"I wish Dumbledore hadn't left so soon to go back to Hogwarts," Harry said with a frown.
"If we can find Charlie, we can send him for the Headmaster," Hermione said as she scanned every passerby for flaming red hair.
"Good idea, I'm going to try and find Remus. He's around here somewhere," Tonks said before running up the Alley.
It did not take them long to find Charlie and they sent him to Hogwarts at once. "I'll be back with Dumbledore in a jiffy," he had promised before disapparating.
The three of them looked around after he left. All three of them were fingering their wands and shooting occasional uneasy looks at each other.
"So what do you think are the chances of the Ministry attack being a diversion and an attack on Diagon Alley being the real thing?" Ron finally asked.
If Hermione had said that she was not expecting the loud bang followed by a lot of screaming, she would have been lying. Even so, she flinched before spinning to face the direction it came from. Of course it would be Knockturn Alley.
"Good, I'd say." Harry looked around and saw a small half-wall in front of a shop which he gestured them to, diving behind it himself.
Hermione followed but Ron seemed to hesitate.
"I'm going to find my parents and tell them," he said with worry. He pointed ahead. "I think they're at the Junk Shop browsing for muggle rubbish."
Harry nodded. "Okay go, and tell any Order members you come across!"
The two of them had a clear view of the entrance to Knockturn Alley when they peered over the wall. Hermione took Harry's cauldron of stuff and put it with hers behind a crate where they were hiding. They could see people scattering behind them but there were some who were frantically running around looking for family members.
"Harry there are still a lot of people around," she said softly.
"I know." He gave her a reassuring look before something caught his eyes.
Expecting it or not, seeing ten Death Eaters walk up the path was like something out of a nightmare. They all wore long black robes and grotesque steel masks. More screaming ensued behind her at their appearance. The Death Eaters raised their wands as one and started firing curses at anything that moved.
Hermione felt Harry tense beside her and she put her arm on his, looking around. "We can't just attack, we need a distraction."
"They're shooting Unforgivables!"
Hermione could actually hear a couple of Avada Kadavras being fired off and she prayed that they missed their targets. Her eyes landed on a cage on the table out front of the Menagerie a few meters behind them. "I've got it Harry; you get ready to attack and then run. There's a pretty good chance that they'll come after you if they see you, just wait for the distraction."
"Distraction?" he asked. His confusion turned into a wry grin as he saw what she had grabbed with both hands.
"Pixies?"
Hermione grinned at him. "Everything I know I learned from Professor Lockhart," she declared with fake pride. She launched her cage of freshly-caught Cornish Pixies at the group of Death Eaters with a quiet reducto and watched with relish as pandemonium ensued.
"I almost feel sorry for them," Harry whispered as the pixies did their work of pulling at hair, poking at eyes and dropping wands every which way. The Death Eaters were taking the brunt of it as almost everyone else had taken cover.
"Ready?" Hermione asked. Her hand tightened over her wand.
Harry nodded, and jumped up. "Expelliarmus!" he yelled. He could not have gotten their immediate attention faster if he had cast ten Unforgivables simultaneously.
Hermione yelled "Stupify!" a few times, pointing her wand at the general group before grabbing Harry and pulling him back. The Death Eaters had batted or cursed most of the pixies away by then and were coming towards them.
"Run." Harry pushed her ahead of him as they both ran down the Alley.
Curses flew past them and broke things and Hermione had to shield her face with her arm so that she would not get cut by any sharp pieces.
They both saw the group of first and second years at the same time in the distance. Without discussing it they both dove into the first side alley they came to. It was empty except for a magical dumpster at the side.
"WingardiumLeviosa!" Harry yelled as they ran in, lifting the bright red steel dumpster and dropping it in the middle of the small alley. They both ran behind it and were looking around their respective sides.
The screaming was getting louder. "I think they're coming for us," she said with an eye-roll.
She was not entirely correct however, as only five Death Eaters appeared in the entrance to the alley they held. Hermione quickly whispered an immovable charm on their cover and exchanged a glance with Harry across the back of it. He nodded slowly.
Hermione closed her eyes and took a deep breath before ducking out from behind the steel and shooting a quick stupify followed by a reducto. Half-a-dozen curses zoomed past her as she quickly withdrew.
Harry managed to take one down from his side while they had focused on her.
As she looked out to fire another curse she saw one being hit from the side. One of the three remaining turned to Ron's voice. Now that was better odds.
Harry moved completely out of cover and shouted the spell that he had learned from Snape's old textbook. The Death Eater fell with a scream.
Hermione's angry "Expelliarmus" sent his gawking friend flying back and hitting the shop at the other side of the Alley, wand making a long arc to her. She batted it aside.
The one facing Ron had realized just how outnumbered he was at this point. He shot a few rapid curses at her and Harry before dragging his bleeding friend into the small alley with them. They dove out of line of sight.
Hermione was about to engage the Death Eater again when she realized that the fight beyond their small alley had been heating up. She could make out a lot of new voices in the fray and one very old and very familiar one.
Dumbledore's angry shouting filled the children with relief but clearly had a different effect on the Death Eater. He threw a stupify in Ron's direction and a flipendo at their dumpster before grabbing his injured friend and disapparating away.
Ron ran in and Harry and Hermione both walked out to meet him. Hermione lowered her wand as she studied her friends. She and Harry both had some scrapes and Ron had a minor cut on his face.
Just then an Auror poked his head into the alley. She scanned the area, eyes passing over the trio, and shouted "Clear here!" over her shoulder.
Hermione sat down on the paved stones, wand still in hand. Her legs did not want to support her body anymore.
"Wow." Harry was still on his feet, and looked out into the open area of Diagon Alley. "They've gone from being impossible to find to bloody everywhere."
"That was fun," she said, leaning back on her elbows and looking at her friends. "Let's please not do that again."
All three of them were silent as Harry trudged back over to where his friends were resting.
"Oh hey, I just remembered," Harry said, collapsing on the ground besides her, "Dumbledore told me to tell you that you're Head Girl. Congratulations."
"Good job 'Mione!" Ron said from where he was propped up against the wall of the alley. He was still puffing slightly.
She just dropped her head down to the ground. The green Dark Mark hung over Diagon Alley and she closed her eyes at the implications
---
It turned out that a third-year Ravenclaw had been unlucky enough to catch a stray Avada Kedavra and another parent had gotten hit with one shielding their child from the Death Eaters. There were a few people with some minor injuries and others with more serious ones but they were repaired quickly by the people who came in from St. Mungos.
The students at Hogwarts had a memorial service for the dead boy over the weekend and afterwards she sat alone at the side of the lake for hours until her friends finally found her. It had been the same place that she had spoken with Tom in that one dream in her second year. The fury at such useless deaths had mounted as the sun rose and set on the horizon and she almost wished that he was back so she could kill him again.
Without quite knowing why, Hermione found herself at the foot of the Astronomy Tower when her musings ended. She could have sworn she was heading back towards the Gryffindor Tower but here she was. She did not think she could get to sleep soon anyway so she started the climb up to the look-out. Perhaps the air would do her good.
When she reached the top she realized that it was the right decision. It was beautiful tonight. She walked to the rail and leaned over it, closing her eyes as the wind blew wisps of her hair across her face.
"The stars are exceptionally bright this evening are they not Miss Granger?" The Headmaster's voice came from right behind her and startled Hermione so much that she might have tumbled off of the tower had he not grabbed the back of her robes when he started to speak.
She took a moment to catch her breath. "Yes, they look lovely," she said, not bothering to even glance up. Something about his voice sent flags flying up masts in her head, and she could not help but feel that Albus Dumbledore with an agenda might be more dangerous than any Death Eater. She peered at him from the corner of her eyes but even twinkling, his eyes gave away nothing.
"Was there something you wanted Headmaster?" she asked finally.
"Can an old man not just enjoy a lovely evening in the company of a remarkable young lady?" he said with a smile.
Now she knew something was wrong. "No, seriously sir, what did you need?"
"Well now that you mentioned it," he said, taking a small candy out of his pocket and un-wrapping it, "there is a small task that you could assist me with." He popped the candy in his mouth and pulled out another, offering it to her.
She shook her head, even more suspicious now than she normally is of Albus Dumbledore. "What kind of small task, sir?"
"Oh just a small thing," he said calmly, "something that you are uniquely qualified for."
His repetition and evasiveness was making her very, very worried. Whatever it was, it would be bad. However she could not help but be curious at what she would be 'uniquely qualified' for and it pushed the thoughts of inevitable doom aside.
"What do you mean Headmaster?"
"It is closely related to your most recent nighttime activities."
"What activities?" she asked. She knew of course, but she had no idea how he did.
"I believe that you might have been having odd dreams since you went down to the Chamber of Secrets last week?"
"How did you…" She was flabbergasted. A part of her mind said reasonably that she should not have been surprised after having heard all of Harry's stories concerning Dumbledore.
"I've been following your evening escapees, so to speak, and making sure that you did not fall down stairs and the like."
So many questions occurred to her at that point that she was not even sure which to ask. Finally she settled on the most troubling. "Are you saying that you knew I was going to be having dreams?"
"About Mr. Riddle? Yes I suspected as much."
Her jaw dropped.
"It was always rather curious to me exactly why Lucius Malfoy had given the diary to Miss Weasley back in the summer of your first year," he continued, oblivious to her distress. "Horcuxes have a will of their own and a very powerful one at that. Mr. Malfoy could only have acted on its will or with it after having had the diary in his possession for so long. It seems strange that after so many years the diary happened to be in Flourish and Blotts on that day at that time."
"Well it was so Ginny…"
"Yes perhaps it was Miss Weasley," he said, interrupting her, "or perhaps not." He gave her a scrutinizing look. "Certainly the part of Lord Voldemort's soul that we know as Tom Riddle was being drawn to somebody at the book store, but it did not necessarily have to be the youngest Weasley. The interconnection of certain souls is a phenomenon as old as magic itself. People with souls closely linked will find one another though time and space, never aware of exactly how or why."
"Souls…drawn…" she said slowly. Then she realized he was saying. It felt like the floor had disappeared beneath and she had to stop herself from physically staggering against the rail.
Professor Dumbledore seemed completely undisturbed by the tremendous revelation he just imparted and even managed to have another candy as he waited for her to regain herself.
"You're saying that Tom Riddle and I are soul mates?" she asked finally, incredulously.
Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. "In a certain sense yes, although though perhaps not in the way you are thinking of the term."
She could not imagine what her face looked like at that moment but it would probably have made a great picture. "Soul mates?" she asked again, shaking her head as if that would negate what she was saying.
"Perhaps you would know more about your connection than I," he said calmly.
"Well, I did have some dreams about him in second year," she said slowly as she deduced where he was going. "I mean, back when Ginny, but, I can't..." she trailed off, totally unable to find any words.
"Tom Marvolo Riddle found you in your dreams Miss Granger. Did that not strike you as odd?"
"Well, odd sure, but, okay, I'm still having dreams. That can't still be Tom Riddle's soul because it was destroyed when Harry stabbed the diary."
"Souls are intrinsic truths of the world. You can rip them and scatter them with immense difficulty, but there is no power that could destroy a soul." His voice had taken a more serious tone and she couldn't help but stare.
"Are you saying that Tom Riddle is still out there in tiny pieces?"
"His soul was dispersed in the Chamber of Secrets and had stayed there for the past few years. Now he's more around here in tiny pieces." Dumbledore sounded amused as he waved at the air around her.
Hermione could only stare.
"If his soul is drawn to you Miss Granger, which I believe that it is, it would have followed you out of the Chamber last week. No doubt it is the source of your current sleepwalking predicament."
She had to open and close her mouth three times before she was able to speak again. "I still don't understand Professor. So I'm haunted. What does that have to do with your 'small task'?" She could not keep the irony out of her voice. If she had been somewhat worried before about what he was going to ask of her, she was more than a little terrified now.
"You adapt to new ideas quickly Miss Granger," he said. "As it turns out, Lord Voldemort's Horcuxes could be anywhere, and we do not have a way of finding the other three, not counting Nagini. I'm afraid that there is a real urgency to the matter."
"You think he's going to attack at graduation," she said, realizing finally why he was coming to her for help.
A heavy and aged look passed over the Headmaster's face. "I think that we need to destroy Lord Voldemort before June at any cost."
"Any cost?" she repeated, feeling her stomach drop.
"Most costs certainly," he amended, smiling a little. "That is where you come in."
"Of course it is."
His eyes twinkled at her resignation. "It occurs to me that while Tom Riddle was the first to be pulled from Lord Voldemort, he would still have a good idea of where the other parts of his souls are."
"Okay?" she said, feeling slightly sick since she could make an accurate guess of where he was going now.
"What if I told you that you could gather up the pieces of his soul and put them back into a new journal?"
"Why on Earth would I want to do that sir? You're asking me to undo what Harry did four and a half years ago. That's…" insane, she wanted to say.
"It would not be easy, I admit, but I believe the advantages outweigh the costs."
"Wouldn't fixing his Horcruxes just make Voldemort impossible to kill again?"
"Fortunately, it doesn't work like that. You see, the diary was the Horcrux and Voldemort's anchor to our world and Harry has destroyed it. If you put Tom Riddle into a new book, he would just be an incomplete soul completely separate from Lord Voldemort himself."
"So let me get this straight, Headmaster," she could not have kept the disbelief out of her voice if she had tried. "You want me to repair, for lack of a better word, Tom Riddle and somehow get him to help us destroy Lord Voldemort?"
"Precisely."
She stared at him for a good minute, desperately looking for a sign that might indicate that he was trying to pull one over on her. She did not find any. "And what exactly am I supposed to offer him in return for his assistance?"
"Life, Miss Granger. Life."
"At the expense of his other self," she argued. "Why would he agree to that?"
"There is no guarantee that he will of course, but I believe that once separated from the rest of his soul, Tom Riddle might be an entirely different sort of person. After all, there was a reason Lord Voldemort had chosen to divest this particular part of his soul first."
"I don't think he's going to be that different," Hermione said, shaking her head. "He tried to kill me, you know. Our last conversation in second year didn't quite end amicably and the next day I was attacked by the Basilisk with Penelope."
At least the Headmaster had the decency to look slightly troubled by her revelation.
"And for him to regain his life, wouldn't he have to absorb the rest of his soul back, after we dust the other Horcruxes?"
"That would be required, yes," he said, nodding for her to continue.
"Well, repairing a soul is the opposite of breaking one apart. It requires a true selfless act to balance the heinous one of taking a life. There's no way that Tom Riddle can get back one, let alone six parts of his soul."
Dumbledore gave her an amused look. "You have been sneaking books from the Restricted Section."
"All the time," she said simply.
"I do not need to tell you that you are indeed correct, and that there is a good chance Riddle would be aware of this fact as well."
"Then why would he agree?"
"You and I both know that a truly selfless act is one of the most difficult things in this world to achieve. I assure you that Tom Riddle would not understand this. He would believe that once the Horcruxes are destroyed, he could just save a wounded animal or give money to the poor and retrieve the pieces of his soul." He paused and gave her one of his looks. "It would not be to our disadvantage to encourage that notion."
"You want me to try and trick Lord Voldemort?" she asked, scrunching up her face in distaste and disbelief.
"Of course not Miss Granger, although it would be nice if you were able to somehow trick Tom Riddle Jr." he replied calmly. "The book that will enable you to repair what Harry destroyed four years ago will be in your room tomorrow, in case you should wish to make the attempt."
He turned to leave.
"Headmaster," she called hesitantly, not sure if she wanted to ask the question. "What should I tell Harry?"
He gave her one of his typical searching looks. "I think, Miss Granger, that all this would be better kept to ourselves for the time being. I believe you could imagine what Harry's reaction to the idea of working with Mr. Riddle would be."
She nodded slowly, knowing he was right but not liking the idea of keeping things from Harry and Ron. "Will we tell them someday?"
"They will have to know one day not too far into the future, I assure you." He gave her a slight smile. "Now I believe it is time for me to turn in and perhaps you should make the effort to do so yourself sometime soon."
"Goodnight Headmaster," she said to his back as he reached the top of the steps. Her mind was a mess of thoughts that she was trying to set into some kind of order.
"Perhaps you should come out and enjoy the breeze Mr. Malfoy," Dumbledore said negligently as he started down. "It's a lovely evening."
He was gone before Draco had fully dislodged himself from his hiding place behind a cabinet. Hermione looked curiously behind him.
"That looks to be a rather snug fit. What on Earth were you doing there?" She tried not to laugh at the image of Draco Malfoy, scrunched up and hiding in a manner befitting, well, her and her friends.
He tried to look nonchalant for a second before giving up and shrugging. "I was just up here thinking when I heard you," he said as he joined her at the railing, looking out over the lake. "I was going to come out before Dumbledore arrived. I'm glad I didn't though, or I might have missed that fun, fun, horrible conversation."
"I hope you enjoyed it." She tried to keep the terseness out of her tone but Dumbledore had set her on edge.
"I think the old man has finally gone bonkers, to be honest Granger."
"Well," she said carefully, torn between her loyalty to the old man and the insanity of the plan he had laid before her feet, "I don't really think he's crazier than he normally is."
Draco shot her a look that said clearly that he did not believe her words at all. "Do you want me to summarize his plan so you can hear it again?"
"No, that will not be necessary." Hermione rolled her eyes at his smug expression. She did not want to think about the plan at the moment; she did not really want to think about it ever. "So what were you brooding about up here?"
"My family, so to speak."
She frowned, looking at him to ascertain his mood. "That can't have been pleasant."
"Oh but it was," he said, blue eyes glittering. "I was thinking about what I'd do once I get my hands on Bellatrix."
"That woman," Hermione said with true hatred, "sure has a way of making enemies. Now it's a race between you, Harry and Neville to see who'll get your dear Aunt Bella first." She laughed without humor. "May the best man win?"
"Oh I plan to," he replied blackly.
"Is she really insane?"
"Oh yes, she would give Lord Voldemort a run for his money." Draco paused. "Perhaps that's why they get along so well."
Hermione shuddered slightly, and not from the wind. She looked out across the grounds to the mountains in the distance, not really seeing any of it.
"Do you think it will work?" she asked finally.
"Dumbledore's ludicrous plan?"
"Yes that one."
"Who's to know? It's absolutely insane, it has no precedent and it depends on a person who grew up to become Lord Voldemort."
"Okay, so success is difficult to predict at this point, but do you think it could make things worse?"
Draco stopped to think about that one. "It's hard to say. I think that neither of them will be willing to share power once they have it, even with another incarnation of his self. He's psychotic that way. So with any luck you'll end up with just one at the end. As to if it could make things worse…" Draco trailed off.
She sighed. "It's like pitting the Devil against the Devil. Does it really matter who wins?"
"At least the younger one will be sane," Draco pointed out, "or at least saner."
"And is sanity a desirable trait in a Dark Lord?" She asked the question as a joke but had to stop to really think about it. He obviously did not know either and they stood in amicable silence for a few minutes, both pondering the best level of crazy for an evil villain.
"So are you going to do it?" he asks her at last. He turned so that he was leaning against his side, looking directly at her. She turned her head to meet his serious gaze.
"Yes." She wondered if she should tell him the rest of her plan. He of all people would probably understand and agree with her. "If it works," she continued clearly, looking directly in his eyes, "and if Tom Riddle does manage to destroy Lord Voldemort, I am going to kill him."
Draco raised his eyebrow in surprise, either reacting to what she said or how she said it, or perhaps both. "Kill Tom Riddle?"
She nods slowly. "There isn't a wizard or witch in England who would call it a crime."
"You're probably right about that."
"I might need help." Her eyes moved down to his Head Boy badge before returning to his face. "In case I can't do it."
He gave her a long even look and nodded. "I may not have been able to kill Dumbledore, but I imagine that killing a future Dark Lord will be much easier."
"Dumbledore can say what he wants, but I don't believe that Tom Riddle will be any safer to the world than his counterpart," she said, looking up to the bright stars. "If there is going to be another Lord Voldemort, I shall not have it on my head."
---
A/N: The idea of magic based on names isn't mine. I read it in passing in a HG/SS fic a long time ago. If you know the fic, I wouldn't mind reading it again!
EDIT: Thanks for everyone who's reviewing! All 7 of ya! *hugs*
I get why these chapters aren't getting many nibbles and I hope things change when I introduce the "hero". I'm a fledgling writer experimenting and playing around so if you like a character or a scene etc., please say something or I might accidentally write it out. I am going to be making some changes to form, pacing and such over the next few chapters to see what works better. Please be patient with me!
Next chapter (An Unlikelier Ally) will be posted by let's say Saturday evening. Some more Draco, some Ginny and a lot of Tom Riddle.
EDIT: The next chapter has been delayed to Monday Evening due to Tom's character being a bitch to write. Thanks for your patience.