To a Better End

Chapter 24

November 17th 1943

When it came to nightmares, Hermione's were like reruns of old movies. The same terrifying memories had been on an agonising rotation for years, only occasionally did a new one manifest. But each time a new one was added, she was able to pinpoint the experience that brought it on.

Instead, in the dead of the night, Hermione found herself lost in a nightmare that wasn't hers. She could feel it before she could see it.

Pushed and pushed. Laughing. But she wasn't laughing with them.

"You're a freak! No one will ever want you." The words were accompanied with a force to her face.

She could feel the tears streaming down, but these weren't her tears and it wasn't her face. When she focused her vision, she could make out the faces of several young boys she had never seen before. She could feel the anger surge through her. She couldn't control it. Suddenly one of the boys in front of her was holding his throat with panic filled eyes.

Hermione tried to stop it but found she had no control. This wasn't her mind.

The boy fell to the floor, gasping. He only took a relieving breath when a matronly voice yelled out.

"Tom!"

Hermione jolted upright and clutched her chest, her hand meeting hot metal. The ring. She'd fallen asleep with it around her neck. Gasping, her heart pounded beneath her ribcage. She was hot, in a full sweat. She needed to get out. She needed to walk.

Slowly getting out of bed, ensuring her roommates would not wake, she slipped out. She placed a cooling charm on herself as soon as she was on the other side of the door and made her way to the common room. Once she made it there, a figure sitting in one of the chairs with his head between his knees jolted her to a stop.

"Tom?"

He looked up at her. His face had a sheen of sweat. Hair was tousled. He was in his pyjamas with the top few buttons of his shirt unbuttoned.

"Hermione? What are you doing here?" He sounded out of breath, full of unease.

"I had a nightmare." She eyed him cautiously as she continued to close the gap between them.

"I heard about those. I can help you with that if you want. You just have to trust me enough to let me in." His offer was both an interesting and terrifying thought. Tom being inside her mind had the power to destroy everything, even more so than he already had in her future.

"It wasn't my nightmare, Tom." She lowered herself to her knees so she could level her eyes with his. "It was yours."

His eyes dropped down to the necklace around her neck. He let out a shaky sigh. The pain and guilt in his face tugged at her heart.

"I'm so sorry, love," hand cupped her face. "I didn't even think about it when I gave it to you. I just thought... I suppose I thought it would bring us closer."

"I think it's time you told me what it really is," she whispered, bringing her hand up to cup the one on her cheek.

"You're a brilliant witch. You know what it is, Hermione."

"I suppose I just need to hear you say it." She was pushing, maybe too much. But his admission would be the ultimate trust.

"The ring is a Horcrux."

With a sigh of strange relief, she said, "Thank you."

"For what? For giving you an item that is essentially the embodiment of dark magic? For doing unspeakable things? For being the reason for your nightmare." He went to move his hand away, but Hermione grabbed it with both of hers pulling his knuckles to her lips.