Pure

The Return Of Fawkes

I clung to his damp robe and stroked the back of his hair with with my frozen fingertips. As much as I kept trying to forget about Fawkes looming in the backdrop of this moment, my mind kept swirling faster with every second.

"What happened?" I asked, as I finally managed to pull myself away from him with some effort, because it seemed like he was just as reluctant to let go.

"How much do you remember?" He asked, and as I relayed up until the moment I hit my head, I examined Riddle with clear eyes for the first time since I woke up.

His eyes pierced mine over and over again, and while his face still shone with the dark seriousness I knew well, he looked younger than I had ever seen him. But, above everything else, I saw that he was staring at me with an intense relief that demonstrated one thing... that he really cared about me-- more than his pride, more than the evil that was still at war with him. I never thought anyone would look at me like that, least of all Tom Riddle.

"What happened after I blacked out?" I finished.

"None of that matters now, Hermione. You're alive," he said, suddenly apprehensive to giving me a straightforward answer. He moved a fraction away from me, and I was about to push for more, when I decided against it. I closed my eyes and shook my head. It didn't matter. We were both alive.

Fawkes took that moment to swoop down from the branch he had been hiding on, and it was only then that I saw the tightly folded letter in the clutches of one of Fawkes' talons.

Riddle took a sharp breath when the bird landed in front of us, and drew his wand quickly towards Fawkes before he realized what it was. Fawkes looked back at Riddle with a calm intensity that demonstrated its power.

"Is that a phoenix?" Riddle asked and looked at the bird with a twinge of greed.

"It's okay," I murmured, and found my hand automatically pushing Riddle's wand hand down without a second thought.

Riddle looked at me quizzically but didn't speak, so I took the letter that Fawkes had held out. Fawkes took that moment to fly back to his original position perched on a nearby tree branch, but didn't stop gazing at our situation with those calm wise eyes. I took out my wand and unfolded the letter.

"Lumos."

Dear Miss Granger,

It seems that I will never stop learning even with the old age that I have become accustomed to. I've sent this letter for only one reason.

You must come home at once.

When I originally sent you on this mission, I believed that this past was not wholly solidified. Since then, it has come to my attention, for reasons that I do not dare to write in this letter, that no matter how far you have succeeded in the task that I sent you on, no amount of your pure heart can change what is to come.

So, at this time, I ask that you return to Hogwarts. Fawkes will return you to the precise time that you left.

I will explain everything when you return safely.

With my deepest regrets,

Albus Dumbledore

My hand covered my mouth in horror as I looked at the boy who had come so far, and at the painful future that I knew now that he would inflict. A sob choked through me.

"What's wrong?" Riddle asked tensely. He put his hand on my shoulder, an exceedingly comforting touch compared to all of the touches before this day.

"I'm so sorry," I whispered, and hung my head over the letter. Riddle positioned himself so he could see the contents of the letter.

"No!" I cried, and suddenly, the letter went up in cool flames that engulfed my hand but didn't hurt. It felt like air to me, but the letter blazed and crackled until ash was left at the center of my palm. I let it sift through my fingers until a small scattering pile of black and grey soot was between us.

Dumbledore must have put a spell on the paper that only let me read it. Why would clever Dumbledore throw me into this when I could change nothing?

Slowly, I stood, and accepted the chilling air that blasted onto my face and body.

Was the death of Thana the last straw?

I had failed. I wanted to cry, but the natural cold demeanor that had worked its way into me didn't allow me to do what I wanted to, so I stiffened and put on my figurative cold mask. I guess I had been training for this moment since arriving without even realizing it.

I failed.

"Hermione, what happened?" Riddle asked, annoyed as he joined me off of the ash covered ground. All hints of relief were but shadows drifting away from a dark scowl.

"I already told you," I replied angrily, "I have to go home."

Riddle stood, and now the darkness I had lost in him was returning with a vengeance. Just like that, his emotions were off again.

"What do you mean, Granger? Where is home?" he asked darkly.

I wouldn't answer truthfully. I couldn't.

"I don't want to find the sword. I don't want to make a horcrux anymore," I said.

"This is still about that Gryffindor isn't it?" he asked as though he already knew the answer. "Granger, none of that matters now," he said again.

"It doesn't matter!?" I exclaimed, "We essentially killed an innocent girl!"

"Of course that matters!" He yelled back at me, "But you have to stay here."

"Now you're the one not making any sense! Does it matter or not?" We were getting louder by the second. All of the animals that were awake this time of night scattered, and the trees rustled. Only Fawkes remained still.

"The only thing that matters, Hermione is that you stay! I don't need any more horcruxes. I don't need the sword. I'll even break up the Knights if I have to! You are my strongest asset. You are all that matters now. You are my match in every way," He finished, and held my waist with both hands. I stopped for enough time to reconsider everything and almost take him up on his offer, and then Dumbledore's words rang clear in my mind.

No amount of your pure heart can change what is to come.

I softened long enough for it to take effect on Riddle. I wasn't going to stand by and watch this boy turn into what I saw for a split second at the ministry.

"Tom Riddle," I whispered, and then pressed my lips to his. How can this boy who had captured my heart be a horrible monster? The truth was, he wasn't, or he didn't have to be.

Not until I pulled him into one last hug, and gave a tiny nod to Fawkes who swooped down and let me take a hold on his wing.

I sealed both of our fates, and then I disappeared from 1943. 

A/N:

Ok thats it! The story is over now. Hope you enjoyed!..........

 kidding. I'm kidding!! TOTALLY KIDDING.

How awful would I be if I gave you that ending? 

No, now we are just getting to the really cool stuff that is going to tie everything together! So hold your horses and wait for the next chapter if you want to learn about the craziness that happened while Hermione was blacked out in the next chapter! 

Always,

<3 rememberme525600