Chapter 3: When the Mirror Cracks

A heavy presence was all that Harry could feel as he came to. It had been his plan to use the blood sacrifice to power the runes and his pent up anger to focus him on his purpose for traveling back in time, lest he lose himself in the process. Things seemed odd though, everything around him seemed to be obscured by a dense fog once he finally opened his eyes and he was still in his original body at his original age. As he tried to figure out what had gone wrong, he noticed a figure in the fog, a figure he remembered from his past.

"What do we have here, James Potter? What could you be doing here during the school year?" That smooth voice that oozed charisma and confidence on the borderline of arrogance.

"Riddle...What the hell are you doing here and where is here?" The sight of the young Tom Riddle put Harry on edge as he had thought the memory destroyed with the diary horcrux along.

"You always were a surprising little thorn in my side. We are inside your son's mind, or at least what is left of it after I took it over. I have had control since his second year and I have you and your wife to thank for that." The haughtiness in Riddle's voice was palpable in his pride at his work.

'Second year...the horcrux, that damned diary. What is going on, I never had the diary in the past, it was Ginny that had it and was controlled by Riddle. What could it be?'

"Poor little Harry came to school that year feeling alone and unloved, it was so easy to make him think I was a person to depend on, someone to talk to about his problems at home. Like that he was mine. The more and more he wrote in the diary, the more of his soul that I took over until there was nothing left. Now I own this body."

'My parents alive, finding the diary myself and becoming Riddle, none of this makes sense other than this not being my time. What did Hermione call that again, an alternate reality? Hermione...Hermione!? What about her, could things also be different here with her? My whole reason for coming back was either to find answers in why she did what she did or stop it from happening. The only way for that to happen it to take back this body.'

[Harry POV]

I could feel control begin to return to me as the purpose in my mind solidified. This was for Hermione and, most of all, this was for myself. "I don't think you understand, Riddle. I'm not my father and this is my body." I could feel as my body shifted to that of itself during my Fourth year, only more filled and slightly more muscular.

"No, it can't be, I erased your mind and your soul, you can't be here!" The anger in Riddle's voice was almost amusing, he couldn't understand what was going on which was all the better for me.

Focusing on the self-taught lessons in Occulmency, I began to strengthen my hold on the body, pulling bit by bit away from Riddle's control and back under my own. Slowly, the memory of Riddle began to fade, the cries of agony being the final bit left of the consciousness before it too was gone.

Feeling the satisfaction that the memory was finally gone, my sight blurred quickly before I saw that I was in a luxurious bedroom, the first thing to be noticed was the weight on my chest. It was that of a woman slightly older than myself, one I'd never seen before, her long black hair being the only feature I could make out aside from her face as the rest was covered by the blanket that was covering them both. Pushing away from her in surprise revealed my own state of nudity, quickly grabbing one of the pillows to cover my modesty, waking the girl in the process.

"Mmm, good morning Potter. I have to say, you live up to your reputation of being insatiable in the sack, I still feel sore from last night." As she got out of the bed to stretch, showing off her naked form, the only sight I could focus on was the white liquid that was running down her upper thigh as a coldness clutched my heart in slight fear. Apparently she noticed my look as she started to laugh.

"Did our shag last night cause a bit of amnesia? I'm on a potion, don't need any little ones in my Fifth year. Beside, I prefer it raw. I'm Catherine by the way, Catherine Swan, just in case you want a proper girl unlike your toy, Granger. Now, I must be going. Catch you later, Potter." With a twitch of her wand, her body was covered in her school robes, green school robes, with a small badge on the front. A Slytherin and a Prefect at that.

'Wait...toy? Granger?' The thoughts of what that could possibly mean boggled my mind. 'What sort of person was I in this world and what did Riddle make my body do the last year or so?'

[End POV]

Harry left the bedroom, which turned out to be the Room of Requirement, and headed to the Gryffindor Dorms, thankful that being the same at least. As he reached the Fat Lady's portrait, he saw Neville Longbottom telling the portrait the password. 'He's not the same arse that was shagging my wife, have to remember that things aren't the same here as they were for me.' "Hey Neville, do you know where Hermione is?"

The look on Neville's face was one of contained disgust. "No one has see Hermione outside of classes for the year so far so I would say she is in your private quarters, Potter."

'Private quarters...the Married Dorms.'Knowing where he would find her, he rushed to the Married Dorms that were near the top of the magically expanded Gryffindor tower. Reaching the only door, Harry knocked on the door with a slight panic. "Hermione? Hermione are you there? Please open up, it's Harry." As the door opened, it wasn't the mousy girl that he remembered, it was like the life had been sucked out of her as soon as she saw him.

"Hello there Master. What can your Mudblood do for you today." No emotion could be heard in her voice other than defeat as she tried to look anywhere else but in his eyes.

A pain went through his body as he saw what her body language was saying. 'Don't notice me, don't hurt me.' Moving his hand to cup her cheek, she flinched when his hand got close. Cupping her cheek gently, he tilted her face so she would be looking at him. "Please Hermione, look at me. Mione..."

With no small amount of hesitation, Hermione looked into Harry's eyes, her own now beginning to water. While the charisma and confidence was still there, the look of caring and kindness was once again in his eyes. Could she dare to hope again? "Master...Harry." With only a nod as indication, Hermione leapt into Harry's arms, tears now freely flowing from her eyes and into Harry's robes. The pent up tears that she had hidden for so long flowed and flowed as crying racked her body. This was him, the Harry she though had been gone for good.

As Harry slowly pulled away from her, he gently lead her to the bed and patted to his side once he sat down. When she joined him on the bed, h Harry began his story. "For nearly the last two year, the spirit of Tom Riddle, known moreso as Voldemort, has been in control of my body. It basically became his because each time I wrote in that diary of his, the more my soul was sucked from my body and his replaced what had been lost until I wasn't there any more, just an echo like he had been."

Taking Hermione's hand tightly in his own, he continued. "I don't remember anything that happened over tha last two years and worse, I remember very little about my own life. I remember some faces and certain people but most of it is just gone. You could call it amnesia but it's more like those memories never existed."

Hermione couldn't help but snuggle closer into Harry, this was the most time she had gotten to spend with him in a very long time and she was going to take advantage of it. "It doesn't matter to me, Harry. All that matters is that I have you back and I'm not letting you go, Master." It had slipped out but after being made to call him that was something that would be hard to get rid of, if she even wanted to. In the world that was hers, one that was constantly changing and offered little assurance, having Harry as her "Master" made her feel safe knowing that it was a constant even when he had been at his worst, or Riddle's worst as she now knew. That and if she was honest with herself, the aspect was arousing to her ever since she had read a similar situation from a five pence romance novel.

The mention of "Master" brought a blush to Harry's cheeks when he heard it leave her lips the way it did, not a title used to avoid being hurt but one in happiness. He felt slightly guilty considering he was lying about his memories in a roundabout way but it made Hermione happy and that was all that mattered.

The two just sat there on the bed in each other's arms, enjoying the warmth of the other. Any problems that tomorrow would bring could be faced then, right now they had each other and that was all their world consisted of at that moment.