Tom, that son of a gun, decided to ignore me for an entire week after we came back to Hogwarts. Maybe it was something that Professor Slughorn said, but I had a feeling that he had gotten sick of me, as he was surveilling me for several days with little sleep. By the time an entire week passed, I was beyond upset or angry. I was infuriated, and it wasn't even directed at Tom; it was at Lance. I was worried that Lance told the Professors some idiotic story and Tom got blamed for something he didn't do.

"Alice, I think we should talk," Tom said when I sat down at the Slytherin table in the great hall for dinner.

"Why should we?" I asked, "You ignored me for a week."

"Alice, there's something you should know," Tom said, "It took me a week to come to terms with it, but I should be the one to tell you."

"What do you mean?" I asked, "Come to terms with? I don't understand."

"Alice, please come with me," Tom said. His wording was a bit strange, quite unlike his usual self, but I felt he wouldn't discuss it here, whatever 'it' was. So, I followed him to an empty classroom in the dungeons.

"What is it?" I asked as he locked the door behind us, "Tom, what is going on?"

"You're corrupting the timeline," Tom said in a voice that wasn't his as he pointed his wand at me, "You need to disappear, Azaroth Montague. I will do whatever it takes to get you to leave this place. If I have to kill you, so be it." I tried to remember if I knew of any of my incarnations having that name, but it didn't sound familiar at all. Almost as if it was a made up name just to get me to confess to not being from here.

"Who the fudge is that?" I asked, "Azaroth Montague doesn't ring any bells."

"Don't lie to me, girl," the voice said, "I know that you're Azaroth Montague. How could you not be? You're following the same exact path as he was." I then remembered that one of my enemies had that first name, in my first life. His last name wasn't Montague but Litchfield. How could someone confuse those last names so easily?

"Wait, are you talking about Azaroth Litchfield?" I asked, "My sworn enemy?"

"You don't know his married name?" the voice asked, "But I could've sworn... You said he was your sworn enemy? There's no way... You can't be Lars the Saint..." Lars was my original first name.

"I am Lars the Saint," I said, "What of it?"

"You were acting just like Azaroth," the voice said, "What do you mean you are Lars the Saint of whom he defeated?"

"Look, I don't know who you are, but please stop possessing my boyfriend," I said. Tom's body put down the wand. The voice whimpered and a ghost left Tom's body. It was a ghost of a young woman, who looked like she was from medieval times and looked about to cry. Tom looked at me very confused, but turned to look at the ghost with me. I realized that this was Adelaide Litchfield, Azaroth's younger sister.

"Why can't anything go my way?" the ghost cried, "I just want to see my stupid brother."

"Adelaide, you shouldn't be bothering the living," I said, "As you said, Azaroth killed me, so go look elsewhere for him." Tom turned back to look at me as the ghost left in a huff.

"What was that about?" Tom asked.

"She possessed your body, Tom," I said, "What's the last thing you remember?"

"I spoke with professor Slughorn regarding our winter break problem," Tom said.

"That was last week," I said, "But it explains why you ignored me until now."

"So..." Tom said, "Can you tell me exactly what I missed in our classes?"

"I figured that was what you were going to ask," I said, "I'll tell you all about it." I taught Tom what he missed for the week he was possessed until it was curfew time, then we went to our own dorms.

By the time I realized it, Lance had already left the school. Apparently everyone heard what had happened between Lance and the two of us by the time spring rolled around and he was officially kicked out of the school for reckless endangerment because he left two children alone in a cottage in the middle of a blizzard for several days.

"I think something isn't right," I said aloud, even though I didn't want to. I was referring to some homework we were assigned, because the answer that it seemed to want was wrong on all occasions.

"What do you mean, Alice?" Tom asked.

"Huh?" I said as I turned towards him, my face turning warm.

"You said that you thought something wasn't right," Tom said, "So what is it?"

"I don't know if I can talk about it," I said. Tom raised his eyebrow.

"And why is that?" Tom asked.

"This problem can't be corrected by a student," I said, "The answer he is looking for is simply wrong, because the real problem is the way you chant the spell, not just how you do the motions for the spell. In wandless magic, it has much less control even with the proper movements, which is usually not even hinted at in wordless magic. Even when wandless and wordless magic are combined, things do get iffy if you get even one syllable off. None of these three types of magic are taught in schools, but are rather handy after you've learned them."

"So, the question you are having problems with is number 7 from charms class, right?" Tom asked.

"Precisely," I said, "It seems that the answer he wants is that the motions are more important, but the spelling and annunciation is much more so, but he didn't even give that as an option."

"What do you mean?" Tom asked.

"Isn't yours multiple choice?" I asked. Tom looked at his papers then at mine.

"No," Tom said, "It's just essay writing, where is the multiple choice?" I looked over at his assignment, only to see that his was vastly different from mine. His were essays, but why were our assignments so different? I looked at mine again, but they stayed the same multiple choice questions, most without the correct answer.

"I don't believe it," I said, "This is ridiculous."

"But yours is the same as mine," Tom said, "Where do you see multiple choice?" I looked at him and frowned.

"You have eyes but can't see?" I asked, "Unless this is written in some sort of code that only I can differentiate, there's no way you can't see this tyranny!"

"Alice, I really don't have a clue what you're talking about," Tom said, "Maybe you should have your eyes checked." I frowned and used an disillusion spell to see if it would show him that I was telling the truth.

"What about now?" I asked.

"That doesn't look right," Tom said, "It looked just like mine a second ago, why would the charms Professor do that?"

"I think he doesn't want me to succeed," I said, "The other professors dislike me, but don't openly show it like the Charms Professor or Professor Dumbledore, but even Professor Dumbledore isn't stupid enough to provoke me like this."

"Why do you believe that they don't like you?" Tom asked.

"The ghost was right," I said, "I'm corrupting the timeline, but if I disappeared, what would happen to you? I can't just leave you here all alone."

"I'll be fine," Tom said, "Just do what you have to. I'll be fine and wait for you."

"Tom, even if you wait a long time, I might not come back," I said.

"And why not?" Tom asked his words coated in anger, but he didn't shout nor yell. It was almost like his words were coated in venom. I had never heard him use that ton with me.

"Tom, I'm destined to die," I said, "There's a possibility that I may never come back."

"But you can't, Alice," Tom said, "I need you."

"Tom, you don't need me," I said, "You're smart and talented and wonderful and I know you can survive without me. Besides, if I leave I would have to erase your memories of me. Everyone's memories of me."

"Then, I won't have any memories for the past three and a half years," Tom said, "Alice, you don't understand how devastating that would be to me. It could ruin everything I currently care about and I would become a completely different person as a result."

"Tom, you don't understand," I said, "I could ruin the timeline more than I already have. Who knows who you were supposed to become. Maybe it would be a good thing if I left. There is another possibility, but you would have to tell everyone that I died and live not knowing if I am still alive or not.'

"So, I'm left in the dark no matter what?" Tom asked, "Why would you think to have me choose and not give me an option to know what you're doing when you're gone?"

"Tom, I'd rather not have you die due to my stupidity," I said, "You don't understand how important it is for you to live."

"Alice, you aren't stupid," Tom said, "You're too smart for your own good and that's exactly the problem. You think too much about things that don't even matter in the end. You need to stop overthinking and just deal with what's in front of you right now. I don't want you to leave. In fact, I'm begging you to stay. I can't live without you, Alice. Not anymore."

"Tom, do you realize what you're saying?" I asked.

"I want you, Alice," Tom said, "Right next to me for the rest of our lives."

"Tom, you're going to regret saying that," I said.

"And what makes you say that?" Tom asked.

"Tom, your twelfth birthday was a little over a week ago," I said, "You haven't made any friends aside from me, you don't seem to understand that I have no choice in the matter, and worst of all, you refuse to understand that this thing between us would end in another six years anyway because I will die before my 18th birthday if the cycle keeps going as intended."

"So, you just assume that it's going to be the same no matter what?" Tom asked, "You told me that two things were already different when you started, how could it not have changed already?"

"But then..." I said, "Who would I become?" Tom pat my back.

"Whoever you want to be," Tom said. My mind was starting to go in all sorts of directions, but one thing stood out the most, I wanted to be with Tom for as long as I could.

"Tom, I don't know what to say..." I said.

"Then, don't say anything," Tom said.