Pure

Epilogue

It all felt surreal when we walked through the manor, hand in hand. I suppose there was at least one warden on the house because when we tried to apparate, it didn't work. So, we took the long staircase back to the manor's foyer.

I tensed when I saw the place I had been tortured again. This time, with Riddle by my side, I did look. It was a mistake though. As soon as I saw that marbled floor that had felt so cold underneath my body not too long ago, my breath quickened until I felt like I was choking, being drowned even though there was no water nearby. I only managed to stop when we got outside. I welcomed the fresh air eagerly while Tom just looked at me, with concern. It was a new expression for him, which made me forget a little, and smile softly.

"I'm sorry for whatever I did to you back there," he said solemnly. My eyes shot to his in an instant.

"That was not you," I said angrily, "You have been here, Tom," I pulled the ring out of my pocket and showed it to him. It gave off no movement anymore... no heartbeat. "You've been given a second chance by something. Call it whatever you want-- fate, or anything else-- but you ceased to be Voldemort since that moment in the forest."

Riddle flinched when I said Voldemort, almost like I had hit him with something. Was guilt clinging to him as much as it was to me? He still had destroyed three innocent lives while he was still attached to that curse. He nodded, but still wouldn't meet my eye.

"Voldemort," I said calmly, "is dead. And you are not... how could you possibly be Voldemort?"

"But Hermione, if part of me was capable of all of that in the past, what if I am capable of repeating it now?" I thought for a moment before feeling a weight in my pocket. I gasped a little.

"I can prove it to you... that you are not a danger to me, or to anyone." Riddle looked at me quizzically as I pulled out the enchanted necklace.

"What will that prove?" he said in an arrogant way that made me grin a little more. It really was just Tom Riddle, heir of Slytherin, but no longer plagued with an exceptional stroke of evil. And all of the weight of his and Voldemort's past deeds would fall on his shoulders, whether he now deserved it or not. I smiled less at that, and stepped closer to him.

"This necklace is magical. It would have shown me your true form. I've seen it work before. When I bought it, the shopkeeper turned into a ghastly snake-like beast before my eyes, and then when I stopped touching it, she turned back. If you were in any danger of becoming Voldemort, I would have seen it. I saw it once in 1943, when you were destined to become him, but just now when I touched it with my bare hand, I didn't see it. You are not Voldemort, and you never will be."

~~~

It took longer to convince Tom that he would never become Voldemort than it did even Harry and Ron. They were really the only ones who knew the association of the name Tom Riddle and Voldemort now that Dumbledore was gone. A few others in the Order had suspicions that I eventually quelled with the necklace after it was inspected to indeed be a truth revealing necklace.

Most in the Order knew Tom as once in league with the Death Eaters, but switched sides in the end. They primarily treated him the same way they had treated Snape, though without Dumbledore to vouch for him, it took longer to gain their trust. They tolerated him because of me.

People really only started to trust him when a surprise guest appeared one day and landed on his shoulder.

Fawkes, after months away doing who knew what, appeared and swore allegiance to Tom. Everyone had been completely shocked, including me, but that night while we were all nestled in the Burrow by a roaring fire, with Fawkes perched happily in the window cill, I knew that Dumbledore had planned this all from the start.

Perhaps at one point, he thought I could save everyone, but the more I thought about it, the more I started to believe that Dumbledore had sent me through time to save just one life that he knew had potential. For that, Professor Dumbledore remained my role model forever... to have the courage and heart to save someone that didn't deserve to be saved was a beautiful thing.

Harry and Ron also finally accepted Tom as a real friend after Fawkes came. They decided that if Fawkes trusted him enough, they might as well too. I still caught Harry staring at him sometimes in contempt, but eventually even that disappeared too, and I was left with an even stronger friendship with the two of them.

I kept my word to Abraxas too. When we were set to repeat our final year at Hogwarts (as even those who attended Hogwarts the year before did not receive a real education), Draco found me in the halls one day. He didn't really apologize, but he did tell me that through everything, he had remembered my hasty words to him in the hall during sixth year. For Abraxas' sake, and my own compassion for the poor boy, I forgave him before being asked for forgiveness.

Tom attended Hogwarts again, and thanks to the lack of technology and progress in the wizarding world, he caught up to the time extremely quickly. He, like I had been when I found myself in 1943, was already marked down as a Slytherin 7th year repeater like the rest of us. I was sure it was Dumbledore's doing yet again, though this time, Riddle did not get his own room like I had. Instead, new lodging had been made for all of the 7th year repeaters, and he ended up bunking with Draco Malfoy of all people. They hit it off right away as I had expected, and as Riddle had influenced people towards evil before, now he influenced people towards rebuilding and growth.

Tom still struggled with his past, as we all did. Hogwarts was kind to us though, and by Christmastime, we all felt a little less raw about what had happened in the past years. It still hurt. There were still holes. But things felt just a little better on some days.

I didn't bring my parents back to me until Christmas holiday, which was when Riddle found out I was a muggleborn. I was surprised that I hadn't mentioned it before, but Riddle took it in stride. He said that part of him had been gone for a long time, that it was part of Voldemort. He said he hadn't held any thoughts of discrimination after the forest,

Before, I would have frightened my parents with how much pain I was in, we all were in, every day. It had been warm in Australia when I found them, but we, Riddle and I, didn't stay for long. We essentially kidnapped them and transported them directly to St. Mungo's where, after listening to their ignorant complaints for a few days, finally remembered who I was.

It was a very sorry occasion, to tell them the things I'd been through, and then less sorry when I introduced them to Tom. I tried to share as much of our story as possible without frightening them.

I didn't even bring up time travel at all really. I said what we normally said to people... That Riddle had been on the wrong side, and had switched. Dad was worried for a while about that, but eventually we smoothed everything over. By the time we all got back to my old house, untouched by a living soul since I'd left it, Riddle had charmed his way into my family. He wasn't faking his charm anymore, but he was still good at it nonetheless.

We both spent the last few days of Christmas at Mum and Dad's, and even went to our old beach by the caves. Mum had thought it was a brilliant idea.

On the last morning of the holiday, Tom and I stood hand in hand in the living room and disapparated.

We solidified again at Hogwarts which stood proudly reminding us that despite the pain and bad dreams, we had each other, magic, and a future that looked brighter than the past. 

A/N:

Stay tuned for a big thank you from me that will come out soon :)

<3 Always,

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