Venenum

By Koryander

This chapter was edited on June 26h (2020) by my beta-reader Kcarmen .Please give her all the love for all the work she is doing in helping to edit the text to improve your reading.

Chapter 1. Pseudonaja - Time Turner

1998

Hermione was still standing, staring intently at the back of Harry Potter, who was making his way to his death. She took a deep breath, her chest aching and a lonely tear trickling down her cheek. Next to her Ron also stood. When Harry disappeared from their sight, both gasped, not knowing that they were holding their breath. Ron was the first to move, turning the opposite way from Harry, ascending Hogwarts' grand stairs.

"We need to help him, Ron," she said.

"You heard what he said. We have to wait and kill the snake. "

Ron continued up the stairs without turning to look at her, putting his hands in the pockets of his coat as if to hold himself back. .

"He can't go. He's going to die!" Hermione said, a little desperate. "There has to be another way. We can't abandon him! He's our best friend!"

"I know, okay!" Ron finally turned to face her. His face held an expression mixed with anger and sadness. There were tears in his eyes and he struggled to keep them contained. His lower lip trembled. "I know," Ron murmured softly. His voice reflected sorrow for all the friends who had been killed, for his brother Fred and now for Harry Potter, his best friend. "I know," He repeated again.

Hermione ran to hug him tightly, holding him like a lifebuoy, weeping in his arms.

"I just need to tell Ginny," He holds Hermione while hiding his face in the tangle of her hair. "She needs to know."

After a while, he released her and went upstairs. She sat up, tears streaming down her face as she tried to dry them with the palm of her hand.

Hermione was alone in the rubble of what once was the beautiful and magical staircase of Hogwarts and now in its place stood nothing more than destruction, dust and gravel, and the smell of death. The pressure of the environment made her tense, making even her small beaded bag feel heavy, the silence was making the sound of the wind seem ghostly. Alone, in there, she was nauseated and weak, sad and desperate. Everything around her seemed dead and hopeless. And now, with Harry walking to his death, the gravity of the situation finally seemed to be too heavy to bear.

No!

Hermione condemned herself for her faithless thoughts. She couldn't lose her courage now, otherwise, all the acts, the deaths, the time surviving, obliviating her parents, the sacrifices... Everything would have been for nothing. They can't give up now.

She lifted her gaze, determination shining in her brown eyes. Hermione wiped the traces of tears from her face, she breathed heavily as she stood up, her genius mind starting to make a plan to kill the snake. She had to go to Ron. They had to kill the snake.

As soon as she took the first step up the stairs, she froze. Her breath caught in her throat and a shiver ran up her spine. Hermione swallowed - she slowly turned to the source of sibilant whispers in a strange tongue, rare even in the Wizarding World, resembling Harry's. Similar to You-Know-Who.

She screamed for Ron, asking for help, alarmed at what was going on there and all she heard was the echo of her voice. She squeezed Bellatrix's unyielding wand, seeking some security and ready to attack whoever was hiding. There was only one small problem, Bellatrix's wand didn't want to bow to her and was extremely demanding. Instead of her magic running smoothly through, Hermione had to intently concentrate on the spell she wanted to cast. It was clear that she hadn't won the fidelity of the wand, and they simply didn't get along. It would be hypocritical to say that she had tried, but the truth is that Hermione hated this wand and the apparent hatred was mutual. Which left her a little at the mercy of luck if Bellatrix's wand decided to fail at the wrong time, and Hermione could surely die.

Against all the basic principles of survival that sounded in her mind, Hermione made her way to the constant whispers in Parseltongue. Hermione might not know Parseltongue, but she was smart enough to understand that there was a complexity in what was being said and there were also her instincts that she learned to never neglect. With her wand in hand, she walked out of Hogwarts, attentive to the slightest strange movement. The night was cold and morbid and combined eerily with the destruction of Hogwarts, akin to a late funeral.

She would never ask a stupid question like 'Who's there?', screaming and denouncing her position. They were at war and only a foolish person would do such an unthinkable act. When she pinpointed from where the whispers came, Hermione swallowed. The hand that held the wand tightly was shaking when she pointed the wand to the darkness of the Forbidden Forest.

Okay, maybe this should have been the time when she should have turned back and ran, went into Ron's arms, stayed near the Weasley family her classmates, and tried to keep a cool head to plan the next step for the battle. However, this didn't match her personality.

Hermione did not get a reputation for being authoritative without reason. She was knowledgeable of the rules, a perfectionist, known to impose order and was a little judgmental - almost always correcting people. The vast knowledge she had, combined with her intelligence exceeded all expectations.

This side of her personality almost convinced The Sorting Hat to put her in the Ravenclaw, but there was another side of her personality that made the Sorting Hat stand in extreme doubt.

Hermione remembers how the Hat took four minutes to decide which House she should be sorted in. Ite seemed to quarrel with itself, almost as if it had known her before, and though it said that her brain was impressive, the part of her personality that was curious, determined, courageous and loyal seemed to catch the attention of the Hat. In the end, she entered Gryffindor and to this day she didn't regret where she had been placed.

It was a fact that Hermione was a lover of rules, but she lost the count of how many rules she broke while she was with her friends. Even though she was a stickler for rules, firmly believing in logic and intelligence, the part of her curious and brave nature always spoke louder. Like now, when her curiosity and determination made her enter the Forbidden Forest. The type of curiosity that made her have almost suicidal tendencies.

She knew there was danger. It could be the Snatchers, the Death Eaters or Voldemort himself who might be stalking her, but Harry could be there too.

The whispering stopped abruptly. Hermione clenched her jaw and narrowed her eyes in the darkness of the forest. The silence became disturbing and whoever or whatever was there, was staring at her. Hermione could feel the attention she was receiving.

She squeezed her wand further, preparing herself. It's someone. It's someone!

Her eyes widened quickly but before she could make any move or cast any spell, the wand flew from her hand, heading into the darkness of the Forbidden Forest. Her heart began to beat faster.

A non-verbal Expelliarmus! Whomever her attacker was, it was someone powerful. A non-verbal spell was always very difficult to perform and required mental discipline. Bearing in mind that the strength and speed with which the wand flew from her hand, whomever her attacker was should not be underestimated.

Before she could have a second thought, Hermione was hit by a green light and was turned upside down, as if an invisible hook had lifted her from her ankle.

Levicorpus . She recognized fearfully.

From her upside-down view, she noticed someone approaching through the fog of the Forbidden Forest. Hermione narrowed her eyes in the hope that she could tell who it was that was coming toward her, her heart pounding against her chest and her affliction mixed with adrenaline began to rise in the pit of her stomach.

She was released from the spell, banging against the ground, the impact on her craned head shocking her slightly, and before she could even stand up completely she was trapped by the Incarcerous spell.

After all, what did she expect? Courtesy? She snorted mentally at this thought.

Hermione finally looked at her attacker and instantly her skin froze.

Who was this person? She couldn't tell. There was a black robe covering the whole body of the person, leaving no idea to distinguish if it was a man or a woman, but she assumed it was a man from his way of walking in her direction. The sleeves of the robe covered his hands only showing half the wand he held. But what scared her the most was the face. The hood of the robe covered the head of the person, but the face... Where his face should be, or a partial view of it, there was only darkness. Void, dark as if nothing was there. But she knew better.

Some kind of Charm, maybe? There had to be a face there, the person just wasn't willing to show it. It was a very realistic portrayal of how the personification of Death. He only lacked the scythe. Whoever it was, he approached her with calm steps, with deliberate slowness, stopping just in front of her. This wasn't an ally, he resembled more a Death Eater in those clothes.

Hermione swallowed, but refused to show fear and instead cast him a fierce glare.

"Who are you?" She asked, her voice sounding more confident than she actually felt.

Hermione would not ask something like 'What do you want?' to a possible Death Eater, because it was very clear what they all wanted. But she thought it fair that at least she knew the identity of her attacker if she was going to die now. She took a deep breath, soothing her heart that beat against her chest. She supposed that at the time of her death, she should feel more desperate or should cry, but she was frankly surprised that she was not feeling any of this right then. Maybe it was because she had no regrets that she carried with her. She had fought bravely for everything she believed in, she had protected her parents, she was recognized for her student efforts, she had danced at the Yule Ball, she had true friends, she had kissed the boy she liked.

Her attacker tilted his head to the side, analyzing her and Hermione could swear he was almost smiling behind this Charm of Darkness. She writhed within the ropes that held her as she watched him approach her. He was holding something in his left hand and she leaned back, trying to distance herself from his grasp.

He bent down at her level - which was on her knees - his hands reached around her, trapping something around her neck. A necklace? A medallion? Hermione couldn't say for sure, but she supposed it was a medallion from its weight.

What the hell is that? A new kind of ritual of the Death Eaters? A collar to identify Muggle-borns? She wouldn't put the last option past them, those people were very sadistic and enjoyed humiliating others they considered lessers.

Then she heard a noise, like a roulette wheel spinning, and he began to speak in Parseltongue as he held the medallion. Hermione's head snapped up to stare into the void of his hood - this wizard was the source of the whispering that had attracted her to the Forbidden Forest! Before Hermione could dwell more on this, she felt the beginning of magic activating. He was uttering foreign words at the medallion that he had tied around her neck. A spell.

Now she was starting to feel desperate. When he stopped, she stared intently into his darkness, this time highly alarmed.

"What did you do?!" she asked furiously.

He didn't bother to answer and took her wand out of his robes. Or rather, Bellatrix's wand and put it in the pocket of her coat. He returned her wand back to her. Hermione looked at him like he was crazy.

So, he's on our side? A 'click' came from the medallion and she looked at her chest, trying to recognize what was locked around her neck, but when the restraints of the Incarcerous spell fell apart, she looked at him again. Within seconds she was on her feet and aiming her wand at him.

"Who are you and what have you done to me?" Hermione asked deliberately slowly and menacingly. In a quick gesture, she grasped the medallion around her neck and looked at it. A Time-Turner? "Answer me!" She demanded fiercely, trying to pull the medallion from her neck, but it seemed to be locked. The Time-Turner on her neck did another 'click' before turning again.

Hermione was about to cast a Confringo when she heard noises in the forest. She looked at her - possible? - opponent, waiting to see if he would alert others and denounce their position.

She realized that in no time he withdrew his wand and aimed it at her, but since she had not trusted him in the first place, she was on her guard ready to cast a defensive spell.

When the noises grew closer to their position, Hermione understood that she couldn't stay there. The Death Eaters were too close, probably hunting Harry and there would be too many of them for her to deal with efficiency, especially with a wand that refused to respond to her completely.

She retreats a few steps, never taking her eyes off the person in front of her, the Time-Turner does another 'click' and turns again and Hermione is desperate to get it off her neck. The noises get closer and closer and she retreats more, yet the person in the cloak does nothing to stop her. So she concludes that he could very well be an "ally", but what he did to her, she has no idea.

Hermione takes one last look at him, before turning her back and running as fast as she could. The Time-Turner does another 'click' and spins again.

She is running in the Forbidden Forest with Death Eaters hunting, searching . She's not the prey they want - they want Harry Potter - but if they catch her, they'd probably use her as a bargain in exchange for Harry and Harry would certainly accept the exchange.

The Time-Turner does another 'click' and Hermione is worried, she wants to stop it and pull it away from her neck to analyze why this Time-Turner is making noise. Seems to be different and she's really scared of what this might mean. However, what makes her most angry is that the chain that holds the medallion is actually locked, stuck and doesn't look like it will open easily.

In the distance, she sees someone standing in a glade. Harry? Harry! It's Harry!

He's standing there alone and it looks like he's finished talking to someone. Hermione was surprised for a moment before calling him.

"Harry!"

He turns at the sound of Hermione's voice. Surprised, Harry is about to contest why she's there. She's not supposed to be there. Then he notices the movement behind her and starts to run towards her.

"Hermione!" He warns her of danger.

A Death Eater caught her by the hair, pulling Hermione back. She sees Harry pick up his wand and point it at the Death Eater as Harry manages to grab her arm. The Time-Turner makes one last ' click', sucking all three in.

It was like Apparating in the wrong way. That's how it felt. They were spinning and spinning in a fall that seemed infinite. Hermione only felt that the fall stopped when her body hit the ground. The impact made her sore and she was vaguely conscious of a few screams all around her.

The light of the sky in the afternoon makes her eyes burn when she opens them. Hermione tries to stand up to know where she is, but she is met with the sight of Harry being thrown in the air as a victim of an Expulso.

She crawls on the ground, picking up her wand that she didn't realise she dropped before as she registers the Death Eater's intention to cast the Avada Kedrava into Harry. Before that happens, Hermione uses a Confringo , forcing her enemy to erect a shield.

Harry is unconscious and she is starting to feel dizzy, her vision also starting to blur, but she will not give up.

o0o

1943

Tom Riddle looked serenely at Slughorn, pretending to pay attention to the explanation he gave about a potion, but internally Tom was yawning and bored. He hated Slughorn's long lectures, but he had to put up with them. Being the Head of Slytherin House, it was always advantageous to have Slughorn as his ally.

He was counting the minutes for the Potions class to end, when a wave of strong magic ran through the walls of Hogwarts. He glanced at the classroom doors, his classmates copying his movement. It was impossible for anyone not to have felt this. The murmurs began, and Tom did not fail to notice when Slughorn grasped his wand. As a precaution, Tom also held his wand tightly.

Accelerated steps in the hallway were heard and the Potions students got up from their chairs immediately. It was impossible for an attack to happen at Hogwarts, because the school was extremely protected, but you never knew. Tom looked at his Slytherin companions, who were also on alert. Footsteps approached and then the doors opened with an audible thud.

"Professor Slughorn, Professor Slughorn ...!" He was a third-year student of Slytherin. "On the courtyard ... duel ..." He pointed out of the classroom, speaking breathlessly. "On the courtyard there is a duel!"

When the sentence was completed, the students rushed out to see, despite Slughorn's orders to stay in. It was impossible to stop the students from a good gossip, and they soon left Slughorn behind. The hallways of Hogwarts were quickly filled with students from other classes and years, all of them moving in the same direction towards the grounds, curious to see what was happening in the courtyard, all ignoring the orders yelled out over their heads by their teachers.

As he came close to the area of commotion, Tom saw a girl dressed in strange clothes aiming her wand at a man who had an aura he knew from afar. Dark magic, this man was a dark magic user. The girl seemed to protect another person, a boy, who was lying down and appeared to be unconscious. She lifts a strong shield before casting an Expulso on her opponent, who was thrown into the nearest wall. The sound was loud enough for everyone to hear and everyone murmurs about what they were witnessing. The girl limped to the unconscious boy, and kneeled to try to check him.

Tom wonders if he should or should not intervene. He analyses what he can gain if he helps the girl. Well, it is clear that it was the girl who is at a disadvantage.

In the end, he decides to go to the young woman's help. His decision has a bit of recklessness, but he assumes that being the best student in Hogwarts it is expected of him to come to the aid of a lady. He also enjoys dueling and he would gain more fame and Tom enjoys reminding everyone why he is considered the best student Hogwarts ever had.

He goes toward the then and as if on cue, the fallen boy begins to scream, and it is loud and horrible as if he were on the receiving end of a powerful Cruciatus Curse. Oh, Tom Riddle was more than familiar with this unforgivable curse. The girl cries in shock and tries to calm the boy, who seems to be convulsing. Tom frowns, realizing that the girl was very focused on the well-being of her friend and ignored her surroundings and her opponent, who now stands to attack her.

Tom points his wand at the strange man in black robes. He tries to control himself, knowing he can't use forbiddenly dark spells with a crowd around him watching intently the scene before them. He fights, and takes into consideration that his opponent is good at dark magic, but Tom is better.

However, when a Fiendfyre is thrown at him, Tom understood the kind of duel he was in. It was life or death.

For an instant, he considers what these two had done to incite this kind of attack, but his thoughts are cast aside as the girl stepped in front of him. Protecting him. And this is the moment when Professor Dumbledore and Headmaster Dippet arrive, disarming his opponent n and countering the Fiendfyre before it is released.

His attentive eyes analyze the girl, realizing that there is blood on her strange clothes and that they are also dirty and torn. Her hair - if it can be considered so - is more like a lion's mane. There are thin cuts on her face and she seems to be disoriented. She blinks several times as if she wants to adjust her vision and before she can take a step further, she faints, almost hitting the ground if he hadn't caught her at the last second. Tom looks at her for a moment before his attention turns to the boy screaming in agony. He notices that there is a lightning bolt shaped scar on the boy's forehead that is still healing and Tom thinks this was the cause of the boy's pain.

Tom holds the girl as he looks at Dumbledore and Dippet.