holding on {t.r.}

Hogwarts - 1993

Alexandra sat at her desk, opening her drawer to find the items Dumbledore had gifted her many years ago. She had considered throwing them away a number of times, but decided against it for reasons she was never really sure of.

"You asked to see me, professor?" A young girl asked, entering the classroom.

"Yes," Alexandra smiled, pulling an item out of the drawer. "I believe I have found a solution to your class conflicts, Ms. Granger."

"A time turner?" A young Hermione Granger smiled, opening the book to find the hidden item.

"I'm sure you're very aware of the uses of this item, as well as the dangers that come with it. It's been restricted so that you may only travel back five hours' time. No more no less. Understood?"

"Yes," Hermione grinned, still astonished by the item she held in her hands. "Thank you, Mrs. Riddle."

"I do have two rules for you," Alexandra told her. "You cannot tell anyone you have this. Not even Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley. And you will return it directly to me at year's end."

"Of course."

Alexandra smiled, gesturing for Hermione to take her seat as more students piled into the classroom. These students included Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Draco Malfoy. Class went on as normal, Alexandra stopping Malfoy on his way out at the end of class.

"I couldn't help but over hear your loud distaste for the bowties your mother sent you, and I thought you'd like this," she smiled, handing him the black tie she'd been holding on to for decades.

"Thank you," he smiled lightly, slightly confused but thankful at the same time.

"What are you doing?" Tom asked, entering the classroom as the final cluster of students left.

"I'm returning these items to their rightful owners," she smiled lightly, holding up the knitted hat.

"How do you plan on returning that?"

"Like this," she winked, watching Fred and George pass by her classroom. "Mr. Weasley. I believe you left this behind in my classroom."

"Oh, thanks," Fred grinned, taking the hat that could've only belonged to him despite him not remembering the last time he wore it.

"And thanks for getting us out of detention," George smiled.

"Again," they said at the same time, waving to the couple before heading back to their common room.

"You're not upset?"

"Of course not," Alexandra smiled. "I'm very happy with how my life has turned out, and it's even better now that I've accepted my past. Although, it did take me almost fifty years to learn the truth about it."

"Your tone leads me to believe I'm to blame," Tom stated, sighing when Alexandra didn't deny it. "I altered your memory one time. The rest was all Dumbledore."

"You also hid the fact that you knew this entire time. But, don't worry, I'm not angry anymore," Alexandra assured. "Dumbledore, however, is a different story. I happily await the day where he leaves and you become headmaster. Everyone knows you're next in line."

"Just because Dumbledore has a liking to us doesn't mean I'll be offered the position," Tom stated, knowing Alexandra was in the running with him. "Besides, with our luck he'll outlive us anyway."

"You were given the Head of Defense Against the Dark Arts position not a year into your employment, you're head of Slytherin house and you're already deputy Headmaster."

"You know none of that guarantees me the position, Alexandra."

"But it does guarantee you're a strong contender," Alexandra smiled. "You're much more modest than you used to be."

"This was in the book she gave me," Hermione told her friends back in the common room, holding up a blank photograph with burnt edges.

"What do you think it is?" Ron asked, squinting as if a picture would magically appear in front of him.

"Give it to me," Harry said, taking the picture from Hermione. On his lap sat Tom Riddle's diary, an object that had somehow found it's way to him just last year. The pages were blank, any ink written in it disappearing seconds later without a trace. The only writing that remained was Alexandra's name scribbled at the top of one of the pages. He didn't know why, but Harry hadn't been able to stop thinking about the page since he first found it. He knew there was something more to the diary, but didn't know what that was, and it bothered him. He felt a connection to it, but couldn't explain why... until today.

He placed the picture down on the page, watching with wide eyes as words began to reveal themselves. The trio watched in awe as a story appeared; a story about Alexandra River that was otherwise hidden from the world. A story about who she was before meeting Tom Riddle, before she traveled back fifty years and never returned.

"Look at the date written here," Hermione pointed out. "That's two years from now."

"I don't think that's what we should be focusing on," Ron stated, turning pale. His friends followed his eyes to where he was looking, landing their own on the photograph that had slowly begun to reveal itself. "That's us. Fred, George, Ginny, all of us. At the Burrow."

"Do you think she wanted us to find this?" Harry asked.

"Well, if she didn't, someone did," Hermione pointed out. "But why?"

"Did you give the book to the Granger girl?" Tom asked Alexandra. She nodded, and he smiled. "Good."

——————
Note:
Don't hate me, but this is the end of Holding On!
I thought I'd end this book a little differently, ending on a little cliffhanger so you guys can ultimately decide what happens from here. Just to be clear, there will be no second book (unless the demand leaves me no choice), but I'm honestly not sure where I would go with a second book unless I decide to go crazy and tie it into the Fred fic I'm planning on writing in the near future but I don't even know how that would logically work. ANYWAY, ignore my rambling, I hope you guys enjoyed reading this as much as I've enjoyed writing it.
I've had some readers message me asking me to read their stories recently, and I encourage you all to shamelessly plug your stories in the comments or in a message. I will happily check them out in my free time.
Until next time, aka when I get bored and decide to publish another book, thank you all so much for reading through this series! I loved reading your comments (I read all of them) and seeing your reactions and of course hearing your feedback throughout all 4 books. I love each and every one of you and I hope you're all staying safe and healthy wherever you may be.
Lots of love,
modern-july
❤️