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Masters of Manipulation	By : Nerys Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Hermione/Voldemort Views: 28506 -:- Recommendations : 4 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 19
- 20
- 21
Masters of manipulation

Chapter twenty

Another crack and they almost toppled over as the dragon rammed a way through the passage into the marble hallway. Goblins and wizards shrieked and ran for cover. The dragon went for the metal doors…

'I trust this is Salazar's book I am feeling underneath this shirt,' Riddle said to Hermione in a calm, serene manner, like he was riding the train to Hogwarts.

And she knew what would happen next…

'Hold on to Ron!' she shouted at Harry.

Hermione let go of Ron's arm the moment the dragon entered Diagon Alley and spread its wings to fly off into the sky. She heard the familiar hissing sounds coming from behind her. She heard Ron screaming her name. But a dash of bright silver light surrounded Tom Riddle and Hermione Granger, and a second later they were gone, back on their way to 1945, as Riddle had intended.

Crack! Flash! Bang!

And they smashed inside the corridor at Hogwarts. Hermione grabbed her beaded bag, pulled two more vials of Invigoration Draught out of there and quickly drank hers, while Riddle swallowed his. She looked around. They were back from where they came. She noticed Riddle was looking rather smugly at the blue-bronze book in his hands. He was holding Mind over Matter from Rowena Ravenclaw! Hermione stared at it in astonishment.

'How did you get a hold of that?'

She snatched the book out of his hands and started flipping through the blank pages.

'Nicked it,' Tom answered triumphantly. 'Right out from underneath that champion of commoners, of Mud…' and he halted mid-sentence when he looked at Hermione, who was glaring at him from behind the book.

'Well, I took your example and snatched the book from the Dumbledore family vault. My counterpart told me it might be there. Ever since Grindelwald told us that the book stayed with its owner and that only the owner could give it away…' and Tom eyed Hermione suspiciously.

'And Gellert said something else of interest,' said Tom softly. 'He said that you would have had help from Dumbledore in order to get to the book at Durmstrang. So my older self figured if dearest Albus helped you back then, he would certainly make sure you would get the book after he became owner of it. And I was right, the parcel addressed to you was right there in the vault. Dumbledore gave the book to you and by doing so he broke the bind that existed between the book and Rowena's wand. I've got to admit though I was expecting you to be a bit quicker on arriving at Gringotts as well, but I'm glad you made it eventually, even if you did bring those two idiots with you along for the ride. You know, for a while I thought I was going to be stuck in there for eternity, since Dumbledore made certain the book could not be moved if you weren't in the vicinity of it. However, our Blood Bond seemed to do the trick. I guess you forgot to mention that detail to the love-mumbling fool of a wizard.'

Hermione stared at Riddle in confusion. What was he going on about? She could not remember any conversation between them and Grindelwald about Rowena's book and what was that bit about Rowena's wand? Did he mean the Elder Wand? Did he just overlook the entire Hallows' quest? And did he really think she had come to Gringotts, because of the book? Riddle was staring at her, noticing her confusion. And Hermione realised she had to be quick, before he would put the link between his Horcruxes and her arrival at Gringotts and hide the damn cup elsewhere. She picked the one thing that could set him at ease about her confusion.

'What conversation with Grindelwald are you talking about?' Hermione asked. She was keeping her fingers crossed that this would work.

'Oh, I forgot you weren't there. Well, you were, but not you… Ahh… whatever…,' Riddle said, frustrated with the temporal changes.

'So you had an interesting conversation with Grindelwald, before you found it necessary to use Eternity in Time again,' Hermione said, and she made sure to sound slightly irritated, which wasn't a problem, because she was actually feeling slightly irritated about it.

'A very interesting conversation, Granger, so would you care to inform me about your allegiance with our wonderful Transfiguration Professor,' and he spat out the last three words with venom.

Hermione narrowed her eyes at him. 'And why is my involvement with Professor Dumbledore such a surprise to you, Riddle?' she said softly, but she didn't wait for a reply. 'I mean why wouldn't I be in allegiance with him? It's not like we are friends or anything else remotely like it. I'm a Mudblood after all. You despise everything I am and stand for. And I can assure you the feeling is quite mutual. Magic is Might, pffftt…' she spat, and she was building up steam.

Hermione had been back in 1997 and getting tortured by Bellatrix Lestrange had been a good reminder for her of what Riddle was going to do with his life. Something she had been pushing to the side the week they had spent together in that tent on the Durmstrang terrain.

'Do you really think I've forgotten about everything you did or are going to do? That disgusting statue in the ministry, those poor Muggle-borns you allowed Umbridge, Umbridge of all people, to play judge and jury about,' she fumed. And her temper rose, when she remembered how that toad-face had sat there, how much Umbridge had enjoyed herself looking at innocent people's misery.

'Let's face it Riddle. The only reason you and I are even talking is because we're stuck with each other due to these books. And don't think I don't realise that the very moment that dependency vanishes, you're going to try to get rid of me and my oh so despicable blood line. If you haven't already tried to do just that, because I'm confident that was no health potion you gave me, mister. Now, I suggest we get this all over and done with. We still have a week of vacation time, before everyone returns back to Hogwarts. So we read those damn books thoroughly and we don't stop, until we've finished meeting every requirement of that blasted Unbreakable Vow we took. That way we can finally stop seeing each other altogether and pretend to like the other.'

Riddle plainly watched her as she ranted on. Hermione was so ferocious that she did not pick up on any of his emotions and feelings at the moment, and his typical blank expression, after everything she had just said, pissed her off even further. So she did not wait for his response, but snatched Salazar's work out of his hands, dumped it in her beaded bag along with Rowena's book, and turned to go to the Room of Requirement. She took one step when she remembered something else. Furiously, she swirled around and she threateningly said, while poking him in the chest with her index finger: 'And if you ever, EVER lay one hand on Ron again, I swear that no freaking prophecy will stop me from killing you myself.'

And she turned to walk away again, but he grabbed a hold of her arms from behind and menacingly said: 'My turn, Granger.'

At the end of the corridor, a couple of books hovered by and they were followed by a very, tiny wizard. Tom and Hermione stood frozen still, until the man had disappeared from sight.

'Oh no,' Hermione said, concerned. 'That was Professor Flitwick. We're still in 1997.'

'That's not possible,' Tom said, but he didn't sound as convincing as he normally would have. 'I specifically told the book to take us back to January first of 1945.'

'Well, maybe you mispronounced or made some other error as usual, because that was Flitwick, and I don't remember him being around in 1945,' Hermione said sarcastically.

'I don't make errors like that, Granger,' Tom replied haughtily.

'Yeah, you're infallible, I forgot,' Hermione sneered.

'I'm telling you, there is something not right with the book, it's not working properly,' Tom stated certain.

'So, now the book is to blame. Dear me, it couldn't possibly be your own faulty ways,' she mocked and rolled her eyes to the ceiling.

'Wait up! Remus!' The shouts came from across the corner.

'Dissendium,' Tom whispered, while Hermione turned to watch the corner. Tom pulled her by her collar into the secret passageway behind the statue.

Hermione looked at him questioningly.

'If I recall your reaction correctly, then this castle is taken over by me in 1997, so I think it would be prudent if you're not found here. I have no idea if my other self is even in the vicinity to help us out in...,' Tom stated calmly, but he got interrupted by Hermione shushing him, when she heard the familiar voice come from the corridor.

'Sirius, I really don't have time for those pranks of yours right now. I have to finish my Potions essay and it is not my best subject. You know that,' Remus Lupin replied to his best friend.

'Come on, Moony, it will only take a few minutes. I have a great idea to get back at Snivellus. You really don't want to miss it,' Sirius mischievously said.

A sigh sounded, which Hermione deduced must have come from Lupin. Riddle began whispering in her ear. 'Shh…' she shushed angrily, and she placed her finger at his mouth in support of her shushing statement.

Riddle shrugged his shoulders.

'There you all are,' a joyous, male voice said.

Hermione did not recognise this one, so she peeked through the crack in the wall and saw a spitting image of Harry, except for the eyes.

'Have you heard the good news, Padfoot?' James Potter said happily.

'What is it, Prongs?' Sirius asked. 'Don't tell me Evans, finally, accepted your pleas to go out with you. It is getting a bit embarrassing, you know.' And he snorted.

'Ah, go chase your tail,' James replied. 'Now, I might not tell you the news about old Snivelly after all.'

'Is it … good news?' Sirius asked, positively delighted at the prospect.

'Well, not for grease-face, it isn't,' James snickered. 'I saw Slughorn pass with his body. His face looked horrific.'

'It always looks horrific, Prongs. Tell me something I don't already know,' Sirius replied, grinning.

'Apparently, he was working in the dungeons on some potion when his cauldron blew up in his face and he got hit with a full load of undiluted Bubotuber pus in the face. You should have seen what he looked like,' and James guffawed.

'It could only have been an improvement,' Sirius snorted, before he roared with laughter also.

Hermione noticed Remus wasn't laughing and she wondered who on earth Snivellus was, if Sirius and James were having so much fun at his expense. Getting hit by pure Bubotuber pus wasn't exactly harmless. It caused some nasty painful boils to rise on the skin it was placed in contact with, so…

'YOU!' a girl shouted upset. 'Potter, what did you do to him?'

Hermione peeked sideways to check who else had arrived at the scene. A girl with thick, shoulder length, dark red hair and Harry's eyes moved into her eyesight. Hermione was looking at Lily Evans, who was watching Harry's father furiously.

'What have you done to his cauldron!' she demanded to know, and her hands were placed firmly in her sides.

'Whoa…, back up Prongs,' Sirius said proudly, 'you didn't say you were the one who blew up his cauldron.'

Hermione noticed James wasn't too pleased that Sirius found it necessary to share this information around the current company. Lily pulled out her wand and started poking James in the chest with it.

'You leave Severus alone, you hear me,' she said outraged. 'You big, arrogant bully.'

'I will if you go out with me,' James said quickly. 'I swear,' and he held up his hand, 'I will never, ever blow up any of Sniv – Snape's cauldrons again if you will accompany me to Hogsmeade Saturday.' And he eyed her hopefully.

'You disgust me, James Potter. You attack someone and then expect that I will go out with you as a reward or something? Besides, I can't. I'm already going with someone else,' she haughtily stated, and as Lily turned to leave, she kindly said goodbye to Remus, who stuttered something incomprehensible back.

'Well, you lucked out there,' Sirius said briskly, and he slapped James on his shoulder.

But James wasn't paying attention to him. 'Evans! Evans! Who are you going with, then?' James asked.

Lily turned and smiled triumphantly, and Hermione's jaw dropped when she heard Harry's mother answer that she was going to Hogsmeade with Severus Snape.

James Potter crumbled up the piece of parchment he held in his hand, and Sirius gave him an understanding glance, before he told him deviously: 'I have an excellent idea that can make those boils a more permanent feature on Snivellus' face. That is, if you're interested?'

James was definitely interested, and the three Marauders abandoned the third floor corridor.

Hermione was still in shock when she got pushed in the side. 'Now, can I say something? I mean, I so understand why you wanted to hear everything of that mindless conversation we just had to eavesdrop on,' Riddle said sarcastically.

'We're in the wrong period of Time, but why did we come to the Seventies?' Hermione said, puzzled.

'The Seventies?' Riddle said, surprised. 'I thought you said that was your Professor Flitwick.'

Hermione replied: 'He is my Charms Professor, but he has been teaching for ages. I just didn't realise…'

'…that he was looking a bit younger,' Riddle sneeringly finished her sentence.

'Yes, well, he hasn't changed much, and it was not like I had a whole lot of time to examine his features,' Hermione said cross. 'Besides, you were the one who messed up our transportation Riddle, so there is no need for you to be sneering at me.'

'What!' Hermione added, annoyed when Riddle's only reply to her statements was merely stretching out his hand towards her.

'The book, Granger,' he demanded, 'so I can get us out of here.'

'And take us Merlin knows where. I don't think so,' Hermione said bossily.

'We cannot stay here and I believe you are very well aware of that,' Riddle replied dominant.

Hermione grinned at him. 'Whether I am in the Forties or the Seventies doesn't really matter to me, Tom. And what makes you think you can get us back to your day and age anyway?'

He took a menacing step in her direction and his wand was at her throat. 'Hand me the book, Hermione,' Tom quietly spoke, while pressing his wand into her skin to back up the unspoken threat.

'Riddle, we need to read that book entirely before we use it again. We need to understand why those anomalies keep occurring first,' Hermione stated roughly.

He seemed to hesitate in his resolve to hex her, and she quickly added: 'You know I'm right. We could end up in any given Time if we don't find out the reason behind this flaw.'

Tom sighed. 'There is nothing written down in Eternity in Time that explains the problems we've been experiencing, Granger. So hand me the book.'

'How would you know? We haven't reached chap…' and she stopped in the middle of her sentence and stared at his blank, emotionless features. However, inside of her she experienced quite a lot of smugness at the moment. And now she knew why he sometimes had such a hard time recollecting where Salazar had written down certain, specific parts of the text.

'You've already finished reading the entire book, haven't you?'

He smirked. 'What can I say, guilty as charged. I probably could have read it ten times by now. It's not my fault you're such a slow reader, Granger.'

'There is nothing wrong with being thorough, Riddle. Maybe if you would have read it a bit slower, or reread it those ten times you claim you could have, then maybe, just maybe, you would have found the thing you've obviously read over, because you were in such a hurry to finish the book,' Hermione snarled. She felt troubled that he had finished reading it already, but she handed him the book just the same.

He lowered his wand upon receiving it. 'I think all our problems may be connected somehow,' Tom said thoughtfully. 'Just out of curiosity, before we started travelling in Time what were you thinking of?'

'Why?' Hermione asked suspiciously.

'Do you have to reply with a question every time I ask you one?' Tom replied tiresome. 'I'm trying to determine why we got stuck here, Granger. And I'm beginning to think our Blood Bond might somehow be involved in this.'

'How do you recon?' she asked thoughtfully.

'Because those times that our transpo… Granger, that time at the Astronomy Tower, when I tried to go to 1981, what was on your mind when you jumped in my arms?' Tom said, excited.

Hermione stared at his excitement and the revelation unfurled before her eyes as well. 'I was determined to go with you! You think we are stuck here, because I was thinking about Ron and Harry in 1997 and your mind was on returning to 1945.'

'And we got stuck somewhere in between,' Riddle said satisfied. 'It explains everything.'

'No, it doesn't,' Hermione, suddenly, said disappointed. 'I was thinking we were returning to 1945 when you sent us to 1997 to get Ravenclaw's book out of Gringotts. And I'm certain that when we left 1981, I might have wanted to go to 1944, but I think you were pretty determined on staying there, so you could kill Harry. So why did the Time Travel go smoothly then?'

Riddle's satisfied expression had faltered during her speech. He was in deep thought again. 'Because I did not initiate those transports!' he shouted. 'My older version did… I must have overlooked something.'

And he started skimming the pages of Eternity in Time again, not noticing the sudden pleased expression on Hermione Granger.

'So you admit this is your entire fault, and that it might have been better to read the book slow and thoroughly, instead of rushing through it,' she mocked victoriously.

Tom did not respond to her victory, but hissed at the book. He closed it up, flung his arms around her and pulled her close. 'I had more important things to attend to during our meetings than read that book, Granger,' he said smirking.

'Obviously not,' Hermione said evenly, but she was rather shocked by this announcement.

Could this be how he was always one step ahead of her? Had he been going through her mind during those meetings all along? She had not noticed it, but she was occupied with Godric's book at the time. It would certainly explain how he knew all those things he wasn't suppose to find out about. And she realised Minerva had been right that she had not wanted to tell her everything. Hermione kept her face in a blank expression, while she told Riddle she really didn't care what he wasted his time on, when he should have been getting thoroughly informed about Salazar's writings.

But he laughed in her face. 'Nice try, Hermione, but even though I might not be able to read your mind anymore due to some incomprehensible reason, I can still feel all you feel. I am experiencing your emotions, and they betray you even more than your thoughts did.'

'You wouldn't know how to value true feelings and emotions, Riddle. And I doubt you're able to assess them correctly. It's not like you understand any of it,' Hermione stated boldly.

'Don't I, really?' Tom said, amused. 'Think Hogwarts, Room of Requirement, December 25th 1944.'

'Who says I want to go there?' Hermione teasingly replied.

'I do,' Tom said certain.

Another hiss, a silvery dash, and they were on their way again. And when they arrived in the Room of Requirement, Tom told the Room immediately they were in need of knowing the date. A calendar appeared on the wall and a circle was drawn around the 25th of December 1944. Tom looked very pleased at Hermione, and his expression turned incredibly smug when he spoke his next sentences. 'See, I was right. You do love being around me, Granger, admit it.'

But Hermione ignored his remarks and questioned his choice in date to come back to. 'Why did you pick the 25th? Now, there are two of us here. Time does not appreciate that, you know.'

'You'd rather explain to every nosey professor where we have been?' Tom retorted. 'Besides, the Durmstrang wards should protect us from running into ourselves.'

'But you're coming back here to pick up the books,' Hermione said questionably.

She agreed with Riddle that not having to explain where and when they had been was preferable, but she did not like the risk they took with it. She remembered very clearly the couple of close calls she had with temporal corrections during her Time-Turner days.

'And I know exactly when I'll be doing that. Besides, I took the passageway towards the Chamber of Secrets from the Forbidden Forest. I never set a single foot inside Hogwarts. All we need to do to avoid any mishaps is make sure we have Eternity in Time with us at all times, at least, until January the first. After that, we're in the clear,' Riddle replied calmly.

'But that means we have to stay together the entire time for eight days,' Hermione said shocked.

Riddle smirked. 'If you're having such a big problem with being around me, Hermione, then why are you still in my arms right now?' he teasingly asked her.

Hermione's first instinct after that remark was to push him away, but quickly something else came to mind. And she gave him a naughty smile, wrapped her arms around his neck, moved forward and got a rewarded by an alarmed expression on his face, before Riddle pushed her away himself. Hermione roared with laughter upon noticing he had even drawn his wand.

'One more attempt at that, Granger, and you won't live to regret it,' he menacingly said.

'What's the matter,' she asked in between laughter, 'afraid you'll pass out again if you experience some genuine emotions?'

'I have no problems with real emotions, Granger. I just don't need you trying to control me. Now, let me make some things absolutely clear to you. This is what we're going to do the upcoming eight days…'

Tom and Hermione had outfitted the Room of Requirement for their eight day stay. It had become quite a comfortable place to be in, because they had both slept in a cramped up tent for more than a week. So they had sort of gone overboard on all kinds of luxuries they, suddenly, found necessary for survival. There were huge couches in the room and the soft cushions swallowed you whole if you sat in them. Hermione had deemed that a water-bed was an absolutely necessity to sleep in, and after Tom had tried out her bed he seemed to agree, because his bed quickly changed into one as well.

Tom had designed an extra-ordinary large bathroom and had insisted that Hermione would use it first, since he claimed she was in desperate need of removing some of that odour that hung around her. Hermione had merely replied by telling him that his smell would never change, while she would be fine once she was through using that ointment of his.

And he had quirked an eyebrow at Hermione for creating numerous machines to make all sorts of coffee. She did not want to have to do without any type of blend she was in the mood for, and Tom had a lot of fun at her expense because of that. Unfortunately for him, Hermione had caught Tom using said machines after a mere hour, so he had no other choice but to stop teasing her about it.

The most important feature of the Room that Tom had created was a protective temporal shield. It made sure the one inside was safe from Time Corrections, which meant that only the person who left the Room had to hold on to Salazar's book. This enabled them to go places individually, since it might have become rather noticeable to the few people, who remained in Hogwarts, if they went everywhere together. Tom had left first, and Hermione was just getting comfortable, when he stormed back in, grabbed her by the arm and dragged her out of there.

'Riddle!' Hermione said outraged with his behaviour. 'What is going on? Let go of my arm.'

'You've got to see this,' Riddle replied, alarmed, and he dragged her down the staircase.

'Oh no, now what?' Hermione said, exasperated. 'If we have created a wedding chapel, then I'm leaving the premises immediately.'

'No, it's something much worse,' Riddle said, ignoring her pun, and he pulled her into the library. 'Look.'

Hermione looked around cautiously. She was worried something bad had happened to her favourite Hogwarts' area, but she saw nothing out of the ordinary. All there was to be seen were shelves filled with books.

'Good for you, Riddle,' she mocked. 'And the correct answer to your question is … yes, a library is used by people to store and read books.' And she patted him on his shoulder condescendingly. 'I'm glad it is no longer a foreign concept to you,' she added teasingly.

He rolled his eyes to the ceiling. 'Look at the Restricted Section, Granger. Don't tell me you're not missing anything?' he replied disbelievingly.

It was when she noticed it. 'The Founders' Section! The door is missing.'

'No, not just the door; it is worse,' Riddle told her. 'When I first came in, Olive Hornsby was still here, and she thought I'd gone mental when I asked her about the Section of the Founders. Apparently, it has never existed.'

'But…,' Hermione did not finish. She rubbed through her hair in frustration. 'I told you that Ballroom appeared because of us, because of our Time Travelling. And did that stop you from using that blasted book again? Noooo, you thought, let's see if I can mess up everything else, while I am at it.'

'You would rather be dead now, Granger?' Tom sneeringly asked, 'because I can certainly remember that for future references.'

'I thought I might find you both in the library, even though the vacation has started,' Professor Dumbledore said cheerfully.

He was wearing Hermione's Reindeer Head Hat, which made Tom jump several steps backwards, while Dumbledore looked joyous at the two Slytherins before him. His expression changed swiftly, and his eyes darted between them curiously.

'Did I interrupt something?' Dumbledore asked sharply.

It was, quickly, denied by the two people involved in the previous argument. Dumbledore eyed them for a moment and then sighed. 'I believe Headmaster Dippet would appreciate it if you two could also make it to the Great Hall for the Christmas Dinner.'

Hermione looked at the clock on the library wall. 'Dinner?' she said weakly.

She just ate an hour ago. Due to all that travelling around, her insight in Time had got pretty mixed up. And Tom didn't exactly seem like he looked forward to the prospect of an elaborate dinner either. They shared a mutual glance of understanding between them, before following Dumbledore to the Great Hall. It was as Hermione remembered it from her third year. A single table stood in the centre of the Great Hall and all the remaining students and teachers sat at it. It wasn't crowded in this day and age. There were twelve students that stayed over at Hogwarts and five teachers. Hermione realised why Tom had thought coming back at the 25th might be a better idea as to arriving at the first of January. Their absence would have been duly noted.

Hermione sat down next to Tom and looked around. It was when she got the second shock of the day. She nudged Tom in the side with her elbow and he gave her a slightly annoyed look in return. She pointed towards the wall with her head and watched how he turned paler than before as he too noticed the door to the Ballroom had vanished. It was not something they could discuss with Dumbledore sitting across the table from them, but they shared another meaningful glance between each other before turning their attention back towards their plates. After dinner they silently made their way back to the Room of Requirement. Hermione sat down at the couch before the fireplace, but Tom started pacing the Room. Eventually, his pacing worked on Hermione's nerves.

'Could you sit down? Those doors won't return due to your pacing,' she spoke irritably.

He flopped down next to her in the couch. 'I spoke with Olive Hornsby again during dinner. I believe she is now utterly convinced I've completely lost my marbles, because I asked her about the annual Christmas Ball. And guess what?' Tom asked Hermione irritably.

'Hogwarts doesn't have an annual Dance,' Hermione said tiresome. You would have to be a complete dolt not to see that one coming a mile away.

'Apparently, you're right. Hogwarts, indeed, doesn't hold annual dances,' Tom repeated, shaking his head. 'And there also was no Dance this year according to Hornsby. So where the hell we went to…?' And he threw his arms in the air in confusion, before landing them onto the back of the couch.

'I'm beginning to understand why Salazar Slytherin turned into such a nutcase,' Hermione stated. 'If I would have to deal with stuff like this on my own, I would have thought I'd gone mad, and with his ego, he probably thought the rest of the world had lost it.'

Hermione turned her head towards Tom. 'Are you sure there isn't anything in Eternity in Time that can explain these events?'

'Oh, believe me, Hermione,' Tom said, exhausted. 'If somewhere down the line Slytherin would have written down something about appearing and disappearing ballrooms, then I think I would have remembered.'

'There must be an explanation for these events. It cannot be a coincidence that these changes occur right after we've travelled through Time once more,' Hermione stated thoughtfully. 'Surely, Slytherin must have noticed these things as well.'

She turned to face Tom and pulled her legs onto the couch to make herself more comfortable. Her left side was now leaning against the back of the couch. Her head was supported by her left hand, whose arm was resting on the back of the couch, and she folded her legs up underneath her.

Tom frowned, and shook his head. 'Maybe,' he said doubtfully. 'But it's like you said, if you would have gone through this on your own, would you have told anyone about it? People won't believe what you say. They'll think you've gone mental. If Salazar even noticed something was off, then he sure as hell didn't write it down, because I can't recall a single reference to situations like these.'

'Maybe he didn't even consider it was due to his Time Travel that things changed,' Hermione added. 'I mean he wrote down the theory. We've been rather careful with travelling, because we weren't sure on how it was done. But if he did it a lot, then it must have got messy real fast. And the changes we've seen were all rooms that were altered.'

'So he might not have even made the connection between Time and Space,' Tom added, and he nodded. 'That would make sense, and it explains why there are no references to any changes either. … What?' he asked upon seeing Hermione stare at him.

'Space,' Hermione said, flabbergasted. 'You said the connection between Time and Space!' and she grabbed a hold of his shoulder and shook it excitedly. 'That's it!'

She pulled out her wand: 'Accio Infinity in Space!'

She started flipping the pages while muttering: 'If you fool around in one dimension, you can inadvertently affect another too. It's like tossing a stone into a pond and slowly seeing every bit of the surface enter into the motion of the wave you've created. In Time the Space changes. A ripple-effect, I'm certain Godric Gryffindor wrote down something about cause-and-effect in creating new Spaces. Ah, here it is.'

And she started reading silently. Eventually, she looked up, thoughtful. And she shook her head. 'I don't get it. I need to read the rest.'

And she hopped backwards into the cushions, placed her feet on the living room table and started reading, until she heard the snickers come from beside her. Disturbed, she looked up.

'What's so funny, Riddle? Never seen anyone read before?'

'I was just remembering a certain someone who spoke of the benefits of slow and thorough reading not so very long ago,' he said snorting. 'It seems that there is something to be said about speed after all.'

Hermione shrugged her shoulders and continued reading, but after a while Riddle's staring began to bother her. 'Don't you have something better to do?' she muttered from behind her book.

'No, not really,' he replied, amused. 'I'm finished with mine, remember.'

'Yes, I remember, but you don't seem to remember what it is about, so maybe you should try rereading it, maybe then something will stick,' Hermione boldly suggested, and she flipped to the next page.

However, her little suggestion did not do the trick and she could feel his eyes, while she was reading. The glee, that he was emanating, was so humongous it overtook any emotion she felt herself. Their bond made it impossible for them to hide their true feelings from each other, and his feelings, plus the added continuing staring, were sort of distracting her a lot right now. So she looked up from her book and sighed. 'I'm going to read this book tomorrow when my mind is more awake and you have something better to do besides bothering me with this irritating staring you're seem to be keen on doing now. I'm off to bed.'

She closed the book, got up and went to the bathroom to change, leaving behind a laughing Tom Marvolo Riddle.

The next morning Hermione was sitting sideways on the huge couch, her back was resting comfortably against a large pillow, her legs were crossed in front of her, the book lay in her lap, and she had a ridiculously large bowl of coffee in her hands. She was reading from Infinity in Space, and she was concentrating on Godric's lines about cause-and-effect in creating Spaces. Her notebook lay beside her, and every now and then, she would scribble down some thoughts or questions that would come to mind. At one point, Riddle nicked her notebook and started reading what she had written down with a deep frown on his face. But Hermione snatched it back, saying that it was private and that he should bugger off, because he was distracting her.

Tom, calmly, smiled at her, and while he walked past the couch to fetch Salazar's book and leave the Room, his hand teasingly brushed her shoulder and neck. He was very pleased with her sudden compliance. She could feel it. And, suddenly, something, which had not happened before, occurred. His thought hit her mind. 'I've always been able to charm the people I need.'

The moment the door of the Room of Requirement closed behind his back, Hermione looked up from Godric's book and an equally smug smile became visible on her face. It had taken all her concentration to keep her emotions in check and she felt lucky Riddle was so bloody arrogant that he never even tried checking his assumptions by tuning into her feelings. Hermione held out Infinity in Space and told the book she needed a Space that would warn her if Riddle returned. After the book had provided her with just that, she tossed Godric's writings onto the living room table and pointed her wand at the dresser.

'Accio Mind over Matter!'

The moment Ravenclaw's book was in her hands, without Tom Riddle being present at the scene, the book emitted a bronze glow. Hermione really enjoyed her little victory when she opened the book and started to read from the no longer blank pages.

'Now, let's find out how I can master Eternity in Time,' she said to Rowena's book, which should describe how to manipulate objects according to Helga Hufflepuff's journal. And there was one object that she desperately needed to manipulate. It was Salazar Slytherin's book on Time.

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Masters of Manipulation