Chapter 1: Waking up

"Lucianna, Lucianna wake up!"

"Mmmhmm."

"Lucianna we'll be late for breakfast. And you promised you'd introduce me to Ammos."

She felt someone shaking her and stirred slightly stretching out her arms above her head, slowly her eyes opened. She saw herself surrounded by a dimly lit room. This is wrong! Something howled within her. Her head shot to take in her view in a heartbeat. To her right were large windows illuminated by green, different creatures floating by it. Very soon and to her absolute horror, she realized that she was looking into the Black Lake.

"Lucianna, happy birthday! You're fourteen!"

Her head shot towards the source of the sound and her heart stopped for a few seconds. There with a green package in her hands stood the younger version of Mafalda Hopkirk. Memories of impersonating her stirred through her head, instantly giving her a headache, she groaned as her hands shot to her head.

"Lucianna are you alright?"

"Who is-" She was cut short as another pain shot through her mind and her memories began to stir.

She was sick with the cold. Sneezing, coughing and having to clean her nose every five minutes were the side effects. But, nothing couldn't stop her from her little adventures. She was walking through the corridors quietly, trying not to be noticed. As a child who has lived for eight years she had been expected to attend school since the age of five, however, her parents didn't want their 'perfect little daughter' to be mixed with some common folk's children. So, after a week of her fifth birthday a governor was hired to homeschool her.

It was often boring in the house as her two older brothers weren't interested in her activities and had often neglected her. Whenever they did have time to spare, it was spent reading or having 'extra' fencing lessons which they insisted to take after leaving France. They were older than her by 7 and 9 years but she knew that they loved her in their own way. Even though they could only show it by gifting her presents.

Today she had decided to sneak into her father's study. Her brother's weren't home, her governor had given her a weekend (due to her illness) and her father had went away on a business trip. She smiled mischievously. She reached a big wooden door. Pulling out a key from her pocket-that she snuck out previously-she put it into the lock and turned twice. Keeping as silent as possible she entered and closed the door behind.

Since it was early spring and her father had given her vague hints about a holiday trip, she suspected that a trip around the country (or out of it) could be announced soon. Excitement bubbled up in her stomach and she smiled before sitting into her father's chair. She loved his office. She knew that she couldn't yet get into his locked drawers-which had held 'adult business stuff' as her brother-Lysander called it-but she still liked to look over her family's medical papers. Smirking she reached for the third drawer from the floor and pulled them out.

Her father's was on the top followed by her mother, then Lorenzo and Lysander and then she reached her own. A photograph of her at age six with her bushy hair and slightly bucked teeth smiled at her. She decided to read out loud, it made her feel important.

"Lucianna Rosalind Hermione Riddle. Born nineteenth January nineteen sixty. Female. Nationality: UK-"

"Lucianna?" A cold voice called from behind the door.

She barely had enough time to slip the papers back into the drawer and stand up, slight fear on her face. Her mother entered the study.

"What are you doing here Lucianna?" This was a voice restraining anger.

"I-I… I miss father."

Her expression softened "I miss him too but you're ill. Go back to your room and do not come here again, not until you are healthy and have your father's permission."

"Yes mother." She replied and quickly headed back. Her mother could be a very angry woman and she did not want another scolding session.

She opened her eyes again to meet the hazel ones of Mafalda. She felt disgusted with herself. She shared the same name and, bloody hell, blood with Voldemort! "I need the washroom." She said. "Urgently."

Mafalda helped her stand up and pressed her hand to the forehead of the girl who turned paler by the second. "You're burning, we need to take you to Madam Pomfrey, now."

Unfortunately, she did not have enough time to get to the hospital wing. "I'm gonna be sick." Was the only thing that she said before the grey-blond haired witch quickly took her to the bathroom just in time as she threw up. Mafalda held back her hair while running fingers over her back. "You'll be alright."

After she finished, she had washed her teeth using the toothbrush Mafalda gave to her. She splashed some water into her face before drying it. Before turning to Mafalda she caught herself in the mirror. She gasped a little but was truly relieved.

There were frizzy brown curls above her own eyes. There was her own button nose with small freckles above it and her lips held the same shape as before. Though the hair was a tiny bit more tamed now no changes have been found in her eyes. The mahogany colouring had remained and looking closely enough she could see the small specks of gold lingering in there. She silently laughed out and to her joy she saw her nose sniff in the same way as before. She parted her lips to see (to a slight surprise) that her teeth were perfect. She assumed to have gotten rid of her bucked teeth faster in this life. Tears of joy slipped from her eyes. Robbing her of her name and life, Time had let her keep some reminder of her previous life.

"Lucianna, you should get dressed, we need to go to Madam Pomfrey, besides it's 07:45 and Amos will be in the Great Hall at 08:15. Remember your promise." Mafalda teased.

She snorted upon her name. Lucianna was of course, another name from a Shakespearean play (-The Comedy of Errors to be specific). Although, in some languages, it was also associated with the name Lucius, as it was a feminine version of it. "Mafalda what is my full name?"

The girl looked at her quizzically at her, but nevertheless decided to answer. "Lucianna Rosalind Riddle."

She frowned, why didn't Mafalda know her second middle name? "Why don't you shorten my name or use my other name?"

"You don't like it, just like I don't enjoy being called Alda by you." The hazel eyed girl said in as-a-matter-of-fact tone.

"Can you please call me Hermione from now on?" She asked.

"Lucianna-" She cringed at hearing it again. "I don't know what kind of sick birthday prank you're playing at or if you're actually unwell, so stop. You're scaring me."

"I'm not playing at anything, could you at least call me Cianna or Rosalind?" She snapped.

Mafalda looked at her with a raised brow but nodded her head anyway. "Alright… Cianna."

Just before she could thank her another wave of memories was splashed over her brain, coming with a painful ache. She closed her eyes.

She was laying in bed at the start of her second year and thinking it all through. There were only four Slytherin girls in her year, but that never stopped them from being mean. Mafalda was their pureblood leader, she was a cruel girl and though she couldn't scheme very well, she certainly had an ability to manipulate others. The other two girls were half bloods, one of them was Claire Fenwick, just a year younger than her brother Benjy (who was a Hufflepuff) and the other was Anya Alexandrova (her parents lived in Russia before the Russian Ministry sent her father to work in the UK).

Lucianna knew the cost of survival. She was one of those few muggle-borns that had gotten into the house, though that didn't stop them from hating her. She tried talking or befriending many of them but the only response that she had gotten was a series of hexes thrown at her. Lucianna saw Mafalda as potential protection, she-Mafalda-wasn't blood-prejudiced and the pureblood status gave her some power. Lucianna and Mafalda had an agreement of sorts that the latter did not fully see. Lucianna, as a terribly rich and spoilt child gave Mafalda presents and compliments, in return Mafalda declared Lucianna as her best friend and sometimes gave her presents too. This had caused many of the blood prejudiced and pureblood students to ignore her. They simply saw her as 'the filthy muggle-born who Mafalda clings to'. To most of them she was invisible. Luciana suffered from this terrible relationship, but she knew she didn't stand a chance against her house.

She remembered how her parents praised her after finding out that she was a witch. Their 'perfect little daughter' was extraordinary, and this only made their family better. Sure, they couldn't tell people the details of their situation but they did brag about how Lucianna was accepted into an 'exclusive boarding school for the gifted'.

Upon, finding out that there were houses in Hogwarts her parents demanded to know which one typically held the most influential people (in the Wizarding World). After their research, her father said that it didn't matter where she got in but Slytherin would be preferable, whilst her mother told her to specifically get in there. And anything her parents told her she did, for she had an aberrant fear of their judgement. She did not want them to see her as a failure, all she wanted was to make them proud.

Tears quietly streamed down the face of the 12 year old Lucianna. She didn't want to be in Slytherin, but the irrational anxiety of the thought of her mother finding out she wasn't in Slytherin drove her to beg the Sorting Hat for the house before it gave her it's opinion. Why were her parents doing this to her? Didn't they see how she suffered? Why did she agree? Why was she so scared? Carefully, she took out a picture of her family and hugged it dearly. She loved them, even though they tortured her, she couldn't stand the thought of losing them.

Hermione pressed her hands to her head and noticed her tear stained cheeks. What was she doing? Lucianna was also a part of her. A part driven by the need to satisfy her parents but it was her nonetheless. Hermione remembered herself doing so too (even though it wasn't in such extreme conditions). Lucianna had the same fears and morals as her. Lucianna and her shared the same face. Why was she hating Lucianna? No, she shouldn't do it. Lucianna and Hermione are the same person. She closed her eyes and opened them again as a million thoughts entered her mind. The mission. She panicked.

She didn't think of it when she cried at night, for all she knew that Harry was alive and she got the note by mistake. She zoomed out of the bathroom and searched her bed. Where was that blasted book? There was nothing on the bed. Her mind echoed to the memory of her hugging the picture. The nightstand! She opened the drawers. There it was, 'The tales of Beedle the Bard' given to her by Dumbledore in the times of Hermione Granger, the only thing that would travel with her. She took it out.

"Lucianna, I'm starting to worry. We should get you to the Hospital Wing." Came a voice behind her, she didn't pay attention as it was completely on the book.

"Lucianna are you even-" Mafalda froze at the sight of the book. She came closer. "Is that a first edition?"

She turned her head. "Yes."

"Who gave it to you? Where did you get it?" Jealousy was evident in Mafalda's voice.

Hermione-Lucianna didn't have time for this. "I need to go to Dumbledore." She put a black cloak over her pyjamas and quickly slid her feet into the closest shoes and rushed out, leaving a confused friend behind.

"Lucianna come back! I need to get changed!" Were the last words she heard before running into a turn.

Walking out of the Slytherin dormitory has been a problem, there were many corridors made of grey stones and with each turn it seemed that she was getting more lost. She couldn't even get into the common room. Oh, how she wished for a map. After ten minutes of pointless wandering she saw a bunch of first year girls walking to breakfast, silently she followed them into the common room, mentally taking notes on the turns. After asking one of them for the password that she'd 'forgotten' she ran out of the dungeons and up toward the seventh floor where stood the statue of a gargoyle.

Upon running up she saw many of the Gryffindors give her strange glances. She didn't care, as long as she could speak to Dumbledore. One of them did, however, catch her attention. He was a boy in her year with yellow blonde hair and innocent eyes. He also had a complexion of an…

"Evil manipulative rat who throws his friends under a snake-faced bastard." She whispered angrily to herself. All she wanted to do in that moment was to delicately put her hands on his neck and slowly choke him to unconsciousness. After that she'd have to make sure that he snogged a dementor.

She opened the book to distract herself and read the note again. If she didn't arrive in 1926 why was the Riddle family alive? Why wasn't she a Gaunt? What was the Wizarding World's situation? Is Voldemort alive? More important: is Tom Riddle still a crazy subhuman creature who wants to enslave the muggles? She read the letter again hoping it would give her some answers.

If you happen to be needing my trust…

How could she have forgotten? She changed her direction and headed towards the left corridor. She only hoped that Dumbledore didn't take the wand. She paced about the wall for three times. "I need a place to keep Ariana's wand safe."

Two giant magnificent wooden doors with metal spirals started materializing from thin air. As soon as they appeared she zoomed into the room but had stopped with shock. The room was empty and small. The walls seemed to be painted with dust and so was the floor there was no light, so her only source was the open door. The place was setting her nerves to go haywire, shivers crawled up her spine. She refused to stay here more time than necessary.

She reached the middle of the room and bent down, there under her feet, lay a petite red box. There were faint shadows of ancient carvings on them. She reached her hand towards it and the universe froze. The silence of the room became deafening and the small puffs of dust froze in mid-air. She held her breath, the world seemed transcendent. She took the box in her hand and stood up. Her mind was in a beautiful trance. She exhaled with a smile that only broke upon realizing that the door had closed. The darkness blinded her eyes.

…

Author's Note: So… Umm… I don't really know what to say except for: Thank you for reading this chapter, I hoped you liked it. But anyway, thank you for reading this chapter, I hope you liked it. I would love to hear/read any of your thoughts and suggestions (if you want to share them). Goodbye and until we meet again (in chapter 2 or part 3, whichever you like to call it).

-Alli