24A/N: Hehe…I'm back again with phase two :)!
Disclaimer: still (sadly) doesn't belong to me
Albus Dumbledore watched from his crystal ball and smiled. The plan had worked. Operation Get Granger and Malfoy Together had succeeded beyond his wildest dreams. Now, it was time to plan Phase Two.
Hermione Granger laughed joyously as Draco Malfoy picked her off the ground and spun her around after she had told him that she'd aced final exams.
"Well, Granger," Draco teased mockingly. "We finally made it through the year without one of us breaking a bone. Congratulations." Hermione lightly slapped him on the arm.
"Hey, that's not fair." She reached up and gave him a kiss. Draco deepened it, and at that moment, Harry and Ron decided to walk past the happy couple.
"Blimey, Harry. Three months and I still can't get over the fact that our Hermione Granger and Malfoy are…dating." Ron muttered under his breath. Harry rolled his eyes and pushed Ron along. Ron used to fancy Hermione, but Harry knew the real reason for his complaining- Malfoy was a bloody git. Heck, the boy had bullied the trio since the first year. But if Hermione was happy, then Ron had to build a bridge and get over it.
Ron couldn't take it anymore, and yelled back over his shoulder, "Get a room!" as Harry pushed him harder through the crowd of miserable wizards and witches, who had most likely failed the finals.
Hermione rolled her eyes and pulled away from Draco, gracefully untangling her fingers from his hair. "I can't stand Ron sometimes." She smiled and grabbed Draco's hand. "Sometimes?" Draco mumbled. "What was that, dear?" Hermione asked.
"Nothing." Draco replied, flashing a charismatic grin toward Hermione who returned it impishly.
"Come on, Draco. Dumbledore said that we can absolutely, positively cannot be late for his meeting. And we owe him this. After all, he did get us together." Hermione jerked their interlaced hands toward the Headmaster's office.
"By practically forcing us to." Draco protested.
"Are you complaining dear?" Hermione smirked, again using her specially reserved nickname for Draco whenever he was treading on dangerous territory with their relationship. Draco shook his head good-naturedly as Hermione spoke the password to the gargoyle guarding the entrance to Dumbledore's office.
Albus Dumbledore observed intently as the two sixth years- no, that wasn't quite right. After all, they had completed their sixth year but weren't quite seventh years yet. He watched them joke around and Hermione finally pulling the Slytherin onto the staircase to his office.
A sudden dark emotion flooded through Dumbledore as the couple ascended the stairs. It had been a while since he felt happy and truly carefree. Didn't they understand? Time was of the essence and they were prolonging his wait.
When he and she finally entered his office, Dumbledore gave a wry smile. "Welcome, Ms. Granger." He tipped his head at Draco. "Mr. Malfoy. I see you two have finally showed up."
Hermione lowered her head, ashamed. She had never been late to anything, especially not something involving the professors. Draco just settled back into the armchair that Dumbledore had conjured up, concern not present on his pale handsome face.
Dumbledore clasped his hands behind his back and paced to the window. "As you are very much aware, Voldemort has tried, on countless occasions, to attack Harry and take over the world. However, with the support of friends, Mr. Potter has managed to avoid him time and time again. This cannot be going on forever. The longer the wait, the more powerful Voldemort will become. Our only hope is to stop him before he becomes powerful- or, shall I say, deathly powerful. I believe you understand what I am asking of you both?"
Dumbledore continued to stare out the window absently, not even turning when Hermione gave an audible gasp.
Hermione's heart lurched. It was true; Voldemort had it out for Harry, but despite Voldemort's clever attempts to kill him, Harry remained the most optimistic person she knew. It was time for the responsibility for Voldemort to shift onto someone else's shoulders. But time was hardly something to be meddled with; Dumbledore had once said so himself. So why was he proposing…
"So you want us to travel back in time." Draco interrupted Hermione's train of thought. Suddenly interested, he scooted forward on the chair. "Headmaster, I certainly don't hope that you're implying that we should interfere with the delicate fabric of time? If one thread gets pulled, then…who knows what might happen. Especially since we'd need to travel back at least fifty years in time! What if we mess up? And how are we going to get there? Time Turners are rare; even it can't go back that far." Draco paused to take a deep breath, and Dumbledore turned around, his blue eyes clouded over.
"Precisely, Draco. However, I'm afraid we don't have much choice. Would you rather fight him as a powerful-but slightly less powerful teen, or as an incredulously powerful Dark Lord? Your choice, but make a decision now."
Hermione's head was spinning from the rapid conversion. "Headmaster, if you don't mind me asking, exactly how are we going to travel to the past? No magical object has that kind of ability." Dumbledore gave a small smile, always amused at Hermione's hungry thirst for knowledge.
"Years ago as a young man, I stumbled upon an Ancient Rune book while teaching transifiguration here at Hogwarts. One enchantment caught my eye, and without meaning to, I cast the spell. The spell, known to few alive today, was identified as 'tum foribus' or simply, time portal. It opens once sixty years, and can only bring back those who are bond by love. The portal I cast in this room, and it only opens for two months at the most. If you fail, you will forever be trapped in young Tom Riddle's time. Unless, of course, you reach age seventy-seven…" Dumbledore cracked a lopsided smile at his attempted joke.
"Sorry, Al, but there is no way Hermione and I are going to-" Dumbledore's eyes darkened.
"We'll go." Hermione cut in. Dumbledore beamed. "Well done, Ms. Granger. You shall leave tonight. Let's see… May 26th. You will have until the 26th of July then to complete your mission. I wish you the best of luck. I have taken the chance and packed a small bag of necessities for the both of you. I have already sent them back in time, but be careful. No one must know your true identities. Lie if you must.
"I have provided documents and arranged a plan for you, which I have right here." Dumbledore handed each wizard a fine piece of parchment. "Now remember, your job is not to kill Tom Riddle, but to destroy the Voldemort inside him. I wish you the best of luck."
Draco stood up from his position in the armchair. "I don't know, Hermione. This is risky."
Hermione's expression was grave. "I'm sure that our love will survive anything, Draco. Now, you first."
Dumbledore had somehow activated the tum foribus and was patiently waiting for the duo to step through.
Draco was clearly hesitating, pondering his options. "Hermione, there's something I need to tell you-"
"Oh for Merlin's sake, Malfoy, quit stalling." Hermione gave Draco a little shove, and he tumbled through the vortex. She was about to step in after him, when Dumbledore called out, "Be careful who you trust. Only an act of true love can open the portal."
Hermione squeezed her eyes shut, and felt herself spin into nowhere.
Hermione opened her eyes, and realized she was in an empty classroom. Funny, I thought that would hurt more. Something had broken her fall. She pulled out her wand and whispered, "Lumos." The wand tip lit up, and the floor began to move.
"Ow! Get off me, Hermione!" Hermione's face turned red when she realized that Draco had broken her fall. She quickly got up, apologizing. Draco just glared at her and dusted himself off.
"I know you're in there." A masculine voice echoed in the room. Hermione jumped and held out her wand in the direction of the voice. She turned to face a handsome boy who was leaning casually against one of the vacant desks. He raised an eyebrow, and ran a hand through his slightly curly, raven hair.
He looks familiar, Hermione thought, suddenly remembering an image which had popped through her head a long time ago, right before she was paralyzed by the Basilisk second year. Wait, Basilisk. She probed his face more carefully, mentally checking off the signs. His bored face (check!), his pale skin (check!) and his height (check!), which towered at least five inches above Hermione's.
"Tom Riddle." She breathed. He cocked an eyebrow. "Who are you?" He asked, a flicker of fear and curiosity in his dark eyes. "Never mind, I don't care. You should go see Headmaster Dippet though. I'm sure he won't appreciate two students lying in an empty Potions classroom." He said, coolly, before he exited the Potions classroom.
"Hermione."
"What?" she snapped, partly because of shock from meeting soon-to-be-Voldemort in person.
"There's a teeny, tiny problem with this mission." Draco said, carefully.
"No shit. I have no idea how to destroy him and no idea what we're supposed to do now." Hermione growled.
Draco chuckled nervously. "Yeah, um...that's not all you have to worry about. We can't get back to our time."
Hermione's head snapped back toward him, eyes narrowing. "What, Draco?" She asked, as if each word held Basilisk venom.
Draco turned away, not meeting her penetrating brown eyes.
"I don't love you."
A/N: Ooh, plot twist. I promised that there would be more coming, right? And there you have it folks! Chapter one of Phase Two. Time travelling! As you may have already noticed, I have changed the "complete" status in the summary, so…now you have more to look forward to. :)
~dreamy mocha