Disclaimer: I am not JK Rowling.

A/N: I decided to play around with an idea from earlier this year. It's a modern AU one-shot; magic is real but the Wizarding World isn't...I've completed writing it, so I'll update every few days, so long as things get edited timely. There are five parts total. Hopefully you can enjoy.

Same Old Love

DKM

"...All beginnings are always, inherently, so beautiful..."

-Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet

I.

"Would you like to get coffee?"

Hermione agreed, unable to find a reason not to.

They ended up at a café just down the road, and ordered food instead of coffee. She felt slightly restless, desperately wanting to know what it was like to have a clock that didn't work. Plenty of people just didn't have one at all, but this situation was incredible. She'd never heard of it.

"Did you go to Eton?"

"I attended a school in Scotland."

"Oh. I'm sorry, you just…look familiar."

Tom smiled, dark eyes shining as he sipped his Cherry Coke.

"If you don't mind me asking, where is it?"

"My clock? It's over my heart."

Hermione gasped, her eyes widening with sadness. "How cruel," she murmured.

He seemed amused. "Would you like to see it?"

"Well, yes, but that's highly inappropriate."

He shrugged, "You are wedded, and mated, Ms. Granger. I am simply a man god couldn't find the time to fate."

"That isn't a positive way to talk about yourself."

He chuckled, unbuttoning his shirt carelessly. "It is how those like yourself view me. I have no qualms about it."

She blushed, looking down at her soda. "This is so inappropriate."

"Just look. You want to. Why deny yourself?"

She did, her eyes instantly finding the broken timer. She felt an odd tug in her chest for a man she didn't even know an hour ago. "How does it feel?"

He leaned over and grabbed her hand, startling her frozen. Before she could consider what was happening, he was rubbing her fingers against his chest. His heart beat soothingly beneath her touch.

She pulled away as though she'd been burned. "I meant knowing, but not knowing."

Tm buttoned his shirt quickly, leaving his neck undone. It made him look so casually cool that Hermione was forced to relax as well. "It doesn't feel like anything."

"Are you in a relationship?"

"A sexual, unemotional one."

She blushed again; he laughed.

"What is it like for you?"

Hermione blinked. "Are you serious?"

"Yes. I have always wanted to ask," he informed her, an incredible lack of curiosity in his tone.

"You've never been with someone fated?"

"You lot are a pretty tough one to crack." He was teasing, she saw it in his eyes, but his tone was so serious.

"So your conquest isn't fated?"

"Conquest?" He laughed. "No. It's a bit complicated. I…Like you, she is wed to her mate. She just," he shrugged without concern. "They maintain an emotional and intellectual relationship while seeking pleasure elsewhere."

She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "I…do you know her husband?"

"Yes. She picked his conquest," he laughed again, "and he picked hers."

Hermione smiled, uncertain and uncomfortable with what she was hearing. Stirring her lemonade, she said, "Perhaps that isn't something I needed to know."

Tom smiled toothlessly, sipping his soda. "Telling me your story would have been more comfortable, I'm sure."

"It doesn't seem fair for me to rave about my life and marriage, Mr. Riddle."

"Tom. Please call me Tom. And I'm asking. I genuinely would like to know. It isn't something I can even imagine."

"Much like me trying to comprehend your life," she remarked lowly before leaning on the table, glancing at her wrist. Her Twenty~4 was covering the markings, but she knew what it looked like. "I met Ron at Eton. My best friend had a sports event, and he was there. As it turned out, they're siblings, but I hadn't known. She has a lot of- well. That isn't important.

"I never made a big deal out of my clock. My parents don't have one, and it just wasn't something I gave much thought to growing up. I checked it maybe once or twice a month, and it was always changing anyway. So, I wasn't really impacted when it said I was on my last week. But, when it said I only had an hour, I got nervous –we went to an all girls' school, and at Eton there were just so many boys around, I was almost horrified to think that he could have been standing in the room-anyway, when there were only a few minutes left I hid in the bathroom, waiting for it to change again."

She laughed, remembering what I was like to realize she'd meet her mate in five minutes. It'd been unreal. "I started hyperventilating when it didn't. I don't know why. This person was supposed to be my soul mate. I should have felt calm and ready and, I don't know, Tom. I was just nervous, you know? I'm not the prettiest witch. I'm not the kindest or most giving –not to mention I was at an athletic event, with not a sporty bone in my body."

"You're beautiful," he remarked. When she glanced up at him, she realized he was watching her intently. He meant it.

"Oh…thank you. You're very handsome as well." She couldn't look at him anymore. She wasn't really sure why.

"Anyhow, I sucked it up and left. I nearly passed him, you know? He stopped me and said something stupid, I can't remember what, and I actually prayed that he wasn't my mate. All this red hair and freckles galore- they weren't traits I thought was attracted to. And he was funny. You know how you just meet someone and you know they're a joke?" She laughed, and he did too. They both thanked the waitress that brought their food. "I'm not a funny person. To this day I still don't really care for people that are."

"Except for him?"

"Well, yes. It doesn't bother me anymore. It never did, I guess. Anyway, I checked my clock to see how long I had to get away from him, and I saw that it'd stopped. He…he has a clock, too. Which isn't really normal. Usually only one mate has one, and the other has a matching tattoo or a half-birthday is their birthday, you know? So, that was really incredible. It really set the tone for our relationship.

"We graduated a few years later and went to the same college. He ended up getting picked up by Chelsea and when I graduated I decided to open up a few bookstores while I worked on my masters and PhD."

"Children?"

"No," she answered quickly, and laughed nervously. "I'm not ready for children. I'm only 25. There is too much left for me to do."

"But, he wants them?"

She swallowed, and ate a French fry to postpone answering. "He comes from a big –big- family…You know, most people would be interested in the team."

He seemed even less impressed than before. "I've a few friends in football. They're of no concern to me- how can you be soul mates if you do not agree on having children?"

"There is plenty we don't agree on, Tom. Soul mates or not, relationships are about compromise."

"Perhaps it is my circumstance, but I don't understand. This isn't you all deciding who's family gets you for Christmas. It's-"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"My apologies."

"What about you?" It was an open-ended question. She didn't care what he said as long as she didn't have to explain anymore. Thankfully, he took mercy on her.

"I'm a professor at the Cambridge."

"Are you? Impressive. Have you thought about settling down, then?"

"I hadn't considered it before."

"Before what?"

"You asked."

Hermione laughed. "What about children?"

"They are not at the top of my list of life requirements."

She smiled, watching as he took another sip of his soda. "What is?"

Tom licked his lips. ""Well. I'd like to live forever, I suppose."

Her smile became a grin, "Wouldn't we all?"

II.

"Good morning, Tom."

He smiled, leaning on the counter. Setting a cup of coffee down, he met her eyes charmingly. "I guessed. Triple shot hazelnut latte with soy milk." At her surprised expression, he said, "I promised you coffee."

"Thank you. This is…my favorite."

"Curious."

"Why?" She asked, taking a sip.

"It's mine, too."

Uncertain of what to say, she smiled and said, "Your books came in last night." She pulled a bag from under her desk, ensuring his name was on the tag. "Interesting titles. Are you writing a book?"

"Not exactly. I'm researching herbal medicine and natural healing."

"For?"

"Fun."

She laughed, and he smiled. "Is this about wanting to live forever?"

His eyes danced, but he said nothing, simply watching her heavily.

"I could help," she told him, fingers tugging through her hair. "If you need further assistance. I'm…I'm a witch."

His brows rose. "I thought you were kidding."

"No, I don't…I mentioned that last week?" She frowned, unable to recall even bringing it up. It wasn't the first thing on her list of things to tell people. It'd taken her four years to tell Ron.

"Yes. What type of witch?"

"Um…I'm a healer."

"So, you could help me, then."

She shrugged, bottom lip between her teeth. "I could certainly try."

He smiled warmly. Too handsomely. Her skin chilled and chest tightened.

"Did you already know that? Is that why you asked me out?"

He thought about it, the decision of whether or not to lie obvious as his thoughts played out over his face. It was odd, because he'd been so guarded in every moment before this. "No," he finally decided. "I asked you to coffee because you were familiar." At her puzzled look, he said, "I've dreamed you for years."

Hermione dropped her coffee on the floor. "You need to leave."

"Have you dreamed me, too? Is that why I was familiar to you, as well?"

"Please. Just go. I don't know what you mean."

"Okay," he agreed. He left a card on the countertop after grabbing his bag. "Call me if you change your mind."