Author's Note: Just your average time travel fic. I wanted to try it lol. I tried to make it a bit funny but Tom is Tom. Damn him.

Warning: 1940s sexism

She arrives in mysterious circumstances. They say that she comes from Grindelwald's war, that she is a refugee.

She looks the part, at least. Hermione Granger is all skin and bones. The haunted look in her eyes indicates that she has seen bloodshed and that she has lost people important to her.

Tom Riddle pays her no mind, at first. Though he finds it curious that she stiffens up in his presence.

It isn't the kind of stiffness that happens when he approaches a lovestruck girl, or when a person realizes that they're in the presence of the popular Tom Riddle. No, it is the kind that a prey has realized that they're in the same room with a predator.

Curious, but not that noteworthy.

She's suspiciously average in the classroom, however. When called, she gives textbook answers yet her homework are all A's and not E's or O's.

Sometimes he's beside her in Potions. She drops incorrect ingredients into her potion with a look of absolute concentration. He remembers her textbook answers and believes that it's impossible for her to forget the right way to brew the potion.

Hell, her textbook is beside her so she can check anyway.

Unless she's pretending.

And so Tom, with nothing to do, investigates.

In the guise of helping her with her potion (she stiffens again when he talks to her), he reads her mind.

"You'll need to add lionfish spines before the flobberworm mucus," says Tom, pointing to the ingredient.

When she makes eye contact, Tom takes this chance to read her mind.

I know that, you dolt. Do you know how frustrating it is to purposely mess up my potion?!

He blinks in surprise.

Why is she sabotaging her own potion?

"Oh!" she says, unconvincingly, as if she only noticed the lionfish spines just now. "How careless of me."

Yes, how careless of her.

After that, he intentionally bumps into her in the library, where she always stays, now that he noticed.

He's just curious, he tells himself. In between killing Myrtle, and planning world domination, and keeping up his good boy act, nothing much goes on in his life. Hermione Granger is a passing interest, that's all.

And so he goads her into revealing her intelligence.

She's a Gryffindor, and Gryffindors are always so predictable when it comes to provoking them.

He helps her with her essays, and she's too polite to turn down his assistance. Though he's amused to observe that she seems offended that he thought she needed help.

At first, he tells her the wrong information. He starts small, like saying that the Wiggenweld Potion can't cure someone who drank the Draught of Living Death.

Her eye twitches but she writes it down.

The next time, he feeds her even more false information.

She purses her mouth, and says, "Are you sure?"

He nods and reads her mind.

She's cursing him inside.

When he couldn't help but laugh, he covers it up by saying that he's teasing her.

She isn't as amused as he. "I think I'll do my own essay, thank you."

But he tells her that he's the top student in Hogwarts with the best grades in centuries. She sniffs in derision at that, albeit silently.

"I apologize for teasing you," he says. "I just want to be friends."

She says nothing to that and continues with her essay.

He doesn't repeat with hindering her with her work so often to warm her up to him, and instead gives her actual facts that help her. Bit by bit, she starts to relax around him. And bit by bit, he's starting to find her adorable.

Without realizing it, he has started to memorize her tells.

She scrunches her nose when she's purposely writing down wrong details, as if it disgusts her to do so, she chews on her quill when she's brainstorming for ideas, her eye twitches whenever she sees him, her mouth quirks when she's amused but doesn't want him to know.

And, for some reason, she likes to look at his nose.

She makes funny jokes out of it too.

He retaliates by telling her handing her wrong books for their homework.

One day, she just snaps.

"Why do you keep giving me wrong information?" she whisper-yells at him.

He furrows his brows. "I don't under-"

She waves his reply away. "Oh, don't pretend like you always do, Tom. You've been doing this since you offered to help me!"

Hook, line, and sinker.

He grins. "If you knew that, then why did you still write them down."

And pretend like he always does? She knows about that? She might be sharper than he gives her credit for.

She opens her mouth. Then closes it. Opens it again like a fish.

"I- well- er-"

He leans toward her until their faces are inches apart. "Why are you hiding your intelligence, Hermione?"

She stutters, "H-Hiding? What hide? I'm not hiding anything."

He reads her mind again, expecting something funny like men won't offer her hand in marriage if she's smarter than them, or maybe she was teased because she's a bookworm.

No. What he finds is time travel.

Now that the cat's out of the bag, Tom makes sure to tease her with her essays.

He gives her wrong information left and right and now she won't believe a word that comes out of his mouth when it comes to academics anymore.

It's fortunate for him that she's an intelligent time traveler. There are magical advancements that she knows of that he doesn't. He can use her.

He courts her then, intending to use her information of the future for his plans.

How far into the future was she? Does she know of him? Is that why she stiffens sometimes in his presence like she's prey?

If so, then that only means good things for him.

One day, he gives her flowers in front of a crowd. They ooh and aah but Hermione is just confused.

"What's this for?" she asks. And isn't it obvious?

"It's for you," he says.

Her eyebrows shoot up to her forehead, shocked.

He delves into her mind it is full of what the fuck's and Voldemort and flowers do not belong in the same sentence and Am I dying.

She knows of the name Voldemort.

His flower-giving is a success.

Kind of.

Her reaction wasn't ideal, he gives her that. But he has gleaned information from her that she wouldn't have given had he not courted her.

He has to charm her better.

So he accompanies her to her classes, waits for her outside classrooms, and offers to carry her bag for her.

She thanks him always, happy that she wouldn't be burdened with her heavy textbooks.

Every time, he reads her mind to see if she's seeing him in a favorable light. And yes, she does.

As a friend.

What century is she in that accompanying her every day means that they're friends?!

He has to work harder. Because if she falls for him, she can tell him all about the future willingly. He is not satisfied with the crumbs that he's getting from the Legilimency that he's performing on her. Tom only brushes her mind with Legilimency after all, or else she will notice his intrusions.

And so he holds her hand.

Usually, skin contact makes him recoil in disgust on the inside but Hermione's touch is tolerable. Her hand is warm and soft, perfect for holding.

He smiles sweetly at her, delighting in the way that she returns them with genuine smiles. Sometimes he tucks stray curls into her ear, feeling the silky texture of her wild hair.

Every time, he reads her mind.

Every time, he's just a friend.

Actually, no. He's been upgraded to best friend.

What. Will. It. Take?

The flowers didn't work. The hand holding didn't work. The hair thing didn't work. And he can't kiss her because that's just improper behavior not suited for a proper girl like her.

Or are the social customs of the future that different?

Or are his skills of wooing insufficient?

He has never attempted to court anyone before, finding everyone boring and uninteresting and dumb. Perhaps he's the problem? Maybe he needs to be more assertive.

So he asks her to accompany him to Hogsmeade.

She bites her lips and gives him an apologetic look.

Ah. So after all this time, she never saw him as a potential love interest. She's refusing his offer to a date.

"I'm sorry, Tom," she says. "I would love to go with you but no one can sign my permission slip to go to Hogsmeade."

Oh! So that's all. She's not rejecting him. It's only because everyone she probably knows is dead so no one can sign her slip.

Tom lets out a relieved brea-

What? Why is he relieved?

Never mind that.

How will he court her if they can't go on dates? Dates are supposed to be in public so everyone will know that she's spoken for.

"I see." He sighs, letting her know he's disappointed.

She bites her lips again and furrows her brows. She's thinking of a plan.

Tom edges closer to her in anticipation. Is she going to propose a different place for their date?

"I know of a way to sneak into Hogsmeade though," she tells him. She sends him a mischievous look. "Would you like to see?"

He doesn't know that!

How come she knows more about Hogwarts than he does? His ancestor owns this castle!

Oh. Right.

Time travel.

Still, he's a bit jealous.

But the fact that she's willing to sneak into Hogsmeade means that she's accepting his date, right? It means that he's something more than a friend, right?

He takes a peek into her head again.

Damn it!

He makes sure to be the perfect gentleman in Hogsmeade. He buys her chocolates from Honeydukes even when she insisted to pay for it herself, they stroll the bookshop with her hand tucked into his arm, and Tom seats her on her chair at the Three Broomsticks.

He asks her what she will order and she says she'd like a kidney pie.

He orders for them, like the perfect gentleman that he is.

But then she got annoyed.

"I can order by myself, you know." She crosses her arms. "I have a mouth to speak with."

Tom furrows his brows in confusion. "Yes… you have."

She sighs, mumbling about stupid archaic values and the like.

Did women order for themselves in the future? Well, that isn't too bad, he guesses. What he did is nothing to be annoyed about though.

Food arrives and they eat.

They debate on the uses of Dragon's blood when she slips that there are twelve instead of eleven.

He narrows his eyes at her. "Twelve? Do you know something I don't, Hermione?" He says it in a teasing tone so she won't suspect that he has knowledge of her time travel.

He wonders if she's going to give him a hint of her secret.

"I misspoke," she says, sheepish. "Sorry."

She isn't going to then.

She doesn't trust him enough yet.

He pays for their food, and she gets annoyed yet again, saying that she can pay for her food. But he is the man on this date, why should she pay?

Are the men in the future so barbaric that they have women pay for themselves?

What atrocity!

They're women. They're soft, and demure, and-

-and not like Hermione at all.

Hermione is fierce and independent. She might try to disguise it but underneath all that poorly made mask of hers, she's determined and won't let anyone talk her down. She's just like her hair: untamable.

Are women like her in the future?

If not, then Hermione should be the model woman. She's intelligent and won't have others take care of her.

He needs to pay though.

"Please, let me. I insist."

He has to be the gentleman. Social customs say that the man must pay.

"No!"

He sighs.

Fine.

If dates in the future mean that the woman pays too then he's going to tolerate it just this one time.

Next time will be different though.

He uses Legilimency yet again to see if he has won any points and is angry to see that she's remembering her time with her friends.

Her male friends.

How improper can people in the future be that men and women can just be friends like that?!

He's going to kill this Harry and Ron for even becoming Hermione's friends.

Months pass and Hermione still thinks nothing of his attempts to court her.

Whenever he would say something casual like, "We're like a married couple." or "This almost seems like a date."

She'd reply with a laugh and say, "That's what others say about my friends too. I guess we're close like that."

Tom is ready to tear his hair out.

When Tom told her about the rumors that he's in love with her though, she let out a bellowing laughter that echoed the halls. Tears were in her eyes.

He was so insulted he never repeated that particular rumor to her ever again.

Gradually though, he helps Hermione come out of her facade of the average student. He tells her that it's a pity that she can't share her intelligence and asks why she does it.

"Er… Men- men won't like me if I'm more intelligent than they are." She doesn't meet his eyes.

"Don't worry, I'll be here for you," he hints.

He ponders over what the real reason is, because it is a real pity. She should want everyone to know that she's above most people.

Nevertheless, he's starting to like the witch and he finds that he doesn't mind courting her.

"Thank you, Tom," she says.

Wow, I didn't think Voldemort would become my best friend.

Aaand of course.

Tom wonders if he should give up.

If Hermione does consider himself as her best friend, then that means she likes him enough to protect him with her life. That's what she did with the ones she calls Harry and Ron.

Which means she must like him enough to trust him with her secret.

A few days after his revelation, Hermione does tell him that she's a time traveller.

She guides him to the Room of Requirement and confesses.

"I'm from the future."

Tom pretends to be shocked.

"What?" he gasps.

To his surprise, she bawls her eyes out in front of him.

What- why is she crying?

"I don't know why but your future self sent me here fifty years from the future," she sobs. "Tom, you bloody idiot!" She punches him on the arm and damn that hurt.

He isn't pretending anymore.

He rubs the spot she punched and says, "But why would I send you?"

He pictures himself 50 years in the future. He sees Hermione, intelligent, loyal, and brave. Was he successful in his plans? Is that why he sent Hermione? Because she helped him rule over the wizarding world?

That seems likely.

He then asks her how she knew him in the future.

She has stopped crying, though she avoids his question in her Gryffindor-ish ways by saying, "Oh look at the time! It's almost dinner."

It's two hours before dinner.

"Don't evade the ques-"

But she has already run away.

Tom can see that Hermione still needs time to tell him about her secret.

It's okay. Tom is in no rush. What matters the most is that she will help him rule the world.

Though it puzzles him that he still continues to court her even when it has no use to him anymore.

"Would you like to go on a date with me to Hogsmeade?"

Hermione bends over with laughter. "You're too funny, Tom. Don't you ever do that again."

He gives her an unamused stare.

Bloody hell.