Time Has No Boundaries

Hermione's astonishment caused her to break her concentration, and with her gasp, Tom came crashing to the ground. Luckily for Tom, he didn't land on his head, but rather, on his stomach.

"You were the one who stole my book?"

He looked taken back. He said as he slowly got up, "Of course not, it was lying beside you when you were knocked out." He picked up the book and handed it to her. She raised her eyebrows in suspicion.

"Did you perhaps take a glance at this book?" she asked.

"No, I didn't read it," he said, becoming rather offended that she was questioning him rather than thanking him. Sensing her hostility, he turned away to leave.

"Why thank you for being so kind," she said sarcastically. "You would have read it, though, if I hadn't put a spell on it."

He stopped short of the door. Does she realize how much she's pushing my temper? But he held himself back. "In regards to saving you, you're welcome, Hermione," he said through gritted teeth. He slammed the door on his way out.

Hermione studied her book. Her suspicions were confirmed when she opened it without any effort whatsoever; the spell had been broken. If he did steal it, wouldn't he have fixed it before he gave it back? Unless he wanted me to figure out it was him.

She flipped through the pages and realized that her writing was gone. She paused for a moment, then suddenly reached over for her quill. Her instinct told her he had probably done something to the diary.

She scrawled onto the parchment:

Hello, Tom. I know what you're doing. I'm onto your lies and tricks.

Sure enough, the diary answered back. Why hello, Hermione. I think the same can be said for you.

Hermione slammed the book shut and put it under her bed. She knew what the spell had done to Ginny.

***

Tom was walking through the Forbidden Forest. It was something he did often to get away from his problems.

He liked the darkness, the quiet. He was convinced he was more powerful than anything in this woods, so the fear of meeting a wild beast didn't intimidate him one bit.

The girl he had just left was far more intimidating to him than anything he would come across in the forest. Her magical abilities blew him away, he had been tricked by her cunning, and it was getting harder and harder for him to go on with his plan.

He cursed loudly, kicking a tree trunk. "Well, we will just see how good she holds up after she starts writing in her little diary tonight. The Heir of Slytherin will always be more powerful than some witch with dirty blood."

"Tom!"

The voice took him off guard. He had never seen another soul in the Forbidden Forest before, especially at night. He quickly turned around to see Anna. "Anna? What are you still doing here? Why are you following me?"

She pulled out her wand. "I'm here to redeem myself. I've come to stop you."

***

The nurse had told Hermione that it would be her last night in the hospital wing. Tomorrow she would start attending classes. Her eyes were shut, but she wasn't sleeping. She wondered if she could ever sleep again after tonight.

"Shhh, we have another one in here," Hermione heard Mrs. Croney whisper. Hermione opened her eyes just a little bit to see the nurse and another professor that Hermione didn't know carry in a body and lay it on the bed beside her. It was Anna Malfoy!

"Where did you find her?"

"She was outside the girls' bathroom unconscious," a man's voice said.

Mrs. Croney turned towards Hermione. "Oh, dear. I hope this sort of thing doesn't end up being a regular occurance at this school. We better talk in my office. I don't want to wake her up. The poor dear needs to be rested for tomorrow."

Once she heard the door shut, Hermione slowly crept out of her bed to look at Anna. She was bruised and beaten everywhere. Her eyes were both black and swollen, and she had a bloody lip. What made Hermione gasp was the large cut that looked exactly like Harry's scar, a lightning bolt towards the right side of her forehead.