Time Has No Boundaries

"Uggghhhh..."

Hermione moaned in pain as she felt the bandage on her head. She tried to open her eyes, but the brightness coming from the window by her bed made her head spin.

"Why is it so bright in here?" she yelled.

"Miss Croney, she talked! Miss Croney!" Hermione heard footsteps run out of the room and return shortly.

Hermione heard a woman's soft voice answer the girl. Hermione could tell by the tone that it was Pearl Watkins who had been by her bedside.

"Pearl, let me have some alone time with Hermione," she heard the nurse say.

Hermione slowly opened her eyes as the woman leaned over her bedside. As her eyes adjusted to the light, Hermione could tell that the nurse was a fairly young woman, probably in her mid-30's, and had a very gentle disposition. To a degree, she reminded Hermione of her own mother, who she dearly missed at that moment.

"How are you feeling, dear child? It's been almost three days."

"I've felt better," she said, sitting up in her bed. The nurse gave Hermione a cold glass of water.

"Do you remember anything that happened? Anything at all?" she asked with a concerned look.

Hermione paused, trying to recall what had happened.

"I remember that I was about to go in the common room, but someone hit me and I fell. My head was bleeding an awful lot. Then I felt really nauseous and dizzy. That's about it. Everything else is a blur."

"You didn't perhaps get a glance of who did this to you?"

"No. They must have snuck up behind me."

"Well, fortunately someone did see who hit you and turned them in." The nurse hesitated for a moment before asking, "Do you know Anna Malfoy?"

"Anna did this?" Hermione asked in disbelief.

"We're not sure, Hermione. Right now she's denying the whole thing, and we wanted to ask you when you had awakened before we expel her, just to be sure. But since you didn't exactly see who attacked you..."

"Who was it that saw her?"

"Tom Riddle."

Hermione couldn't believe it. "Did he try to stop her?"

"Why, of course! He told us that once he saw her hit you, he ran over as fast as he could and stopped her, shoving her against the wall. He burst through my office door, almost crying, with you in his arms. He had ripped off a strip of his cloak and used it as a bandage to wrap your wound. If he hadn't stopped her..." The nurse's voice trailed off.

After a moment of awkwardness, Hermione said, "How do you know he's telling the truth? Was there anyone else who saw this?"

Miss Croney looked shocked by her questions.

"No, Tom was by himself. Why would he lie about such a thing? He is the sweetest boy, the type of person who wouldn't harm a fly. Besides, I saw bruises on Anna where Tom had fought her off of you. Bruises that she could give no explanation for having. The other girls told us how Anna reacted to you when you first arrived. A troubled, young soul she is, has gotten into a lot of fights... but never like this," she said, shaking her head.

Hermione winced as she felt her headache getting stronger.

The nurse took a cool washcloth and held it gently to Hermione's forehead.

"Oh, dear, I shouldn't be questioning you like this! You've been through enough already."

The nurse gave Hermione some pain medicine which she said would probably make her drowsy. As her eyes started to get heavy, she prayed that when she woke up, everything would be the same again; she would be back in her own time, with Harry and Ron, where she belonged. The drug then overcame her mind, and despite everything that was just told to her, everything she was going through, she fell into a deep sleep.

***

"I think it's time for a name change, Potter... not for long will the title The Boy Who Lived suit you."

"Hermione, what's wrong with your voice? Why are your eyes red? Quit trying to scare me!" Harry yelled, having no clue why she was acting this way.

Hermione gave a shrill high laugh and pointed her wand at him. The plan had worked brilliantly. Harry, busy with Quidditch, had had no time to work on his Herbology assignment, which involved finding five rare plant species. On Hermione's suggestion, they had all set out the night before the project was due to the Foribben Forest, which was home to an array of plants.

"Foolish boy! So blindly you trust your friends! Don't you realize that they will always turn on you?"

"NO THEY WON'T!" said Ron, putting himself between Harry and Hermione. He glared at her, his face looking pure white despite his many freckles. "Who are you? You're not the Hermione I know, or rather, used to know."

Harry, in a sudden fit of rage, screamed, "You're working with Voldemort, aren't you? DEATH EATER!"

Hermione snarled and calmly said, "You think you got it all figured out, don't you?"

"Avada..."

***

"NOOOOO!" Hermione mouthed, wanting to scream, but she couldn't even seem to breathe. Her eyes shot open. She was in a state of panic, with her heart pounding and the bed sheets saturated with sweat.

She began to cry. Before, Hermione had only seen glimpses of what had happened on that horrible day. Hearing the curse, seeing the flash of green light, hearing the spell, seeing her friends' dead bodies lying beside one another, running for help; she had remembered these things in brief, individual glimpses, and her subconscious mind had filled in the rest with her own version of the story, the version that she wanted to believe.

The dream was the first time she had remembered the entire tragedy, and now the actual truth of the matter was revealed to her. Everything, except that it had been Voldemort who had possessed her body.

A hard slap struck his face, but he didn't even blink.

"I did everything you told me to, and this is how you repay me? By betraying me! You bastard! You'll rot in hell!" the girl screamed.

"Tom Riddle might die, but Voldemort will live on forever," he whispered.

The girl cried as she touched his shoulder, not hearing what he had just said.

"Tom, I though you loved me. I love you."

He suddenly threw her hand down and pinned her against the wall.

"Love? Well, Anna, do you love me like my father loved my mother?" he said through clenched teeth with his grip tightening on her with every word.

"Tom, please don't hurt me again. Please!" she pleaded.

He let go of her, saying, "Besides, I had to do it. No one will believe you if you try to place the blame on me. I was the one who saved her, remember? You're going to be expelled, and no one will care, because everyone hates you. You stupid girl, actually thinking I had feelings for you. Maybe now you'll learn not to trust anybody, because they will only turn on you."