Tom had two diaries.
One a Horcrux, the other... Some sort of horror book which he wrote down all the unspeakable things he wanted to do to me.
This was the absolute last thing I wanted to find out while on a mission to save Daniel. I just stood there frozen in place only thinking to move once Tom stood up from his armchair and made his way to the stairs. I was so scared when he passed me that I sucked in a breath, and to my absolute horror didn't realise I had gasped out loud. Tom froze for a single moment, and for one paralysing moment I thought he heard me. But just as the thought hit he had already walked past and had up the stairs to his room. I had to follow him. I couldn't go back to the present yet. I had to find this damned diary. I had to steal it.
Was it wrong to steal something that belonged to Tom?
Of course not! Just think about what it could contain!
I almost tripped over Harry's cloak walking up the stairs. I was surprised I didn't just fall on my face. It was in situations like this all personal coordination flew out the door, I was surprised that I even made it back to Tom's room in one piece. I stepped inside tentatively, hating myself for coming back to the lions den. Tom was only mere feet in front of me searching his room like a F.B.I agent scouring for drugs.
I couldn't help but think what he would do if I realised I was standing in his room with him right now. He'd probably curse me to death. He hated when I defied him. I couldn't for the life of me understand why he wasn't raging about Daniel not being where he was meant to be, trapped in his basement room. I watched as Tom pulled a loose floorboard up, extracting a single leather bound diary. Without so much as a single glance he had carelessly thrown on his bed and walked over to his bookshelf. So he didn't lose the diary then. So why did he tell Xavier he couldn't find it? Confused, I watched as he walked over to his bookshelf and pulled a book forward causing that horrific black veiled door to materialise in the wall beside him. Shivers erupted down my spine. Too many awful things had happened down in that room, I felt squeamish.
Tom entered through the blackened doorway in the wall and I took the chance to quickly collect his diary and slip it underneath the invisibility cloak.
And that's when I heard Tom's scream of anguish from down in the hidden room. I heard something heavy being thrown against a wall and smashing. My heart started accelerating, angry Tom was not someone I wanted to be in the vicinity with. I quickly left the room and walked down the hall only stopping once I was in the shadows of the hall leading to my room.
This was bad. I waited in the shadows as Tom came out of his room, his mere energy was emanating rage and it was terrifying even just seeing him walking down the hall, fury etched on his fine features. He would've not only known Daniel was gone but he would've seen his diary missing too. I don't think I'd ever seen him like this before. It was beyond terrifying when he was angry, but this was much worse. He looked ready to kill. He walked past me, coming to lean against the railing to the staircase appearing to be deep in thought.
"Homenum revelio." He said. And suddenly I felt as though something swooping came over me. I felt a spark of adrenaline hit my veins as Tom turned to look at the exact spot where I was. Oh shit.
I was doomed.
I stepped backward very slowly, making sure my footsteps couldn't be heard. Tom approached, walking very slowly too most likely so he could hear something. Not that I was going to give anything away. I kept moving backward as he advanced, only stopping once I'd reached the end of the hall. It was a dead end.
Tom came even closer, his dark eyes scanning the air hungrily as though they could catch a sign of me. My heart was pounding so hard. I was certain this was it, that Tom was going to realise I was under the cloak.... I was trapped, and now he was standing even closer. Two steps away. I couldn't open a door, he would obviously see it. He reached out a hand towards me, his fingers mere inches from my face and-
"Tom?" Tom spun on his heel to see none other than Xavier Malfoy at the top of the stairs. "What are you doing?"
I let out a breath I didn't even know I was holding, watching as Tom relented and walked away. That was close. Too close.
I waited for Xavier and Tom to leave. And the second they did I turned, entering in through the door to my room and closing it behind me, even locking it for good measure. This was it. Mission complete. Now I had to get back to the past that I had just come from. I pulled the invisibility cloak off with a flourish.
"Hermione?"
I looked up. Sitting on the bed just ahead of me was Jade Black.
"Jade." I said, entirely thrown off guard. "What are you doing here?"
Jade looked quite sickly, her black hair tied back and her pale skin shining with sweat.
"I was waiting for you." She said to me, her eyes were shining brightly like she was holding back tears. "I'm leaving Hogwarts... I can't explain my reasons right now. But I didn't want to leave without saying goodbye, first."
"Where's Shalini? Is she safe?"
Jade smiled sadly. "She is safe. For now. We won't be truly safe until we have left here, however. You have to promise me you won't tell Tom you have seen me here."
"I promise I won't tell him." I said honestly. Jade smiled again. "Thank you, Hermione. I'm confused though... I saw you in the Common Room unconscious just moments before I snuck up here. I would've helped you but Tom.... Anyway... Are you ok?" Concern was etched on her face. I realised she couldn't have helped me at all since Tom had banished her from Hogwarts entirely.
"Yeah." I said. "I'm fine."
I couldn't tell her that the girl that was unconscious wasn't actually the same one that stood before her. At least, not the one from the same time as her.
"Jade, you have to listen to me." I said very clearly. If Jade left the room and saw me down in the Common Room unconscious after seeing me in front of her right now I could seriously damage the past, I could alter time as I knew it. It would lead to too much confusion, which was something I couldn't risk.
"I have a way to get you out of here." I improvised. "But you must trust me."
"I already know how to get out." Jade said reassuringly. "It's ok."
"No," I said, "It's not going to work. Tom is really angry at the moment. It wouldn't be safe for you to try to leave at this moment. I need you to trust me. My idea is going to work."
"I trust you." Jade said simply. "So what's the plan?"
"I will take you back in time so you will be able to leave in safety. Because seriously, it's too dangerous out there right now. He's furious. And he knows someone is here who isn't supposed to be."
Jade's eyes widened in shock. "He knows I'm here?"
I frowned. Not exactly.
I held out my Time Turner.
"Know what this is?" I swung it back and forth like a pendulum.
"You're kidding me." Jade's eyes widened in understanding, her attention solely on my Time Turner. "Fucking hell, Hermione. Who gave that to you?"
"It's a long story and I can't explain it."
"Well, that makes the both of us, then. I can't tell you what I'm doing and you can't tell me."
We both looked at each other and started to laugh. The situation was absolutely ridiculous. I knew Jade was binded by oath to Tom to not tell me about what was happening. And I was binded by the laws of time travel to not give anything away. She didn't know that Shalini had already left a note telling me the situation, however. We stopped laughing after a moment, becoming serious again as the weight of the situation fell back into place.
"We can't waste any more time." I said to her. I walked toward her, putting the Time Turner around the pair of us. "We both need get out of here."
I adjusted the Time Turner once again. But this time, only adjusting it ever so slightly so it was the night before. I knew by the time that there was no way in Hell Tom was going to be lurking in the Common Room. He only ever stayed up til about 1pm at the latest....
Instantly our surroundings started to morph, I heard Jade gasp in shock beside me. And almost as soon as it had begun it had ended. I took the necklace off from around the pair of us. It was night outside.
"Do you know how to cast a Disillusionment charm?" I asked her.
Jade smiled, pulling her wand out from her cloak and waving it in one slow motion over herself. "Yes."
I couldn't see her anymore.
"Thank you, Hermione." Jade said from some place I couldn't see. "You've been an amazing friend. I hope we get to meet again... under different circumstances, of course."
"Right. Same." I blinked back tears. What were the odds of running into someone who didn't come from the same time as me? This was the last time I was ever going to speak to Jade. Seeing her again would be risking too much. And I had been more than foolish with time as it was.
I felt a warm hand touch my shoulder lightly. "You'll get through this." Jade said from beside me, mistaking my sadness about time travel as something else. I couldn't see her, I could only feel her hand on my shoulder. "You will defeat Tom. I know you will. Goodbye, Hermione. Until the next time."
"Until the next time." I said with difficulty. "Take care of yourself, alright?" I felt the hand squeeze my shoulder once before lifting. I saw the door open, the handle twisted by an invisible hand before the door had closed behind her. With a very heavy heart, I adjusted the Time Turner for myself. It was time to go back again. It was time to find out what was in Tom's other diary.