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The last person Hermione Granger expected to see when she stepped out of the room she was in was a calm, serene looking Harry Potter. He stopped dead in
his tracks and looked her over, obviously not expecting what he saw.
"Here, now, Hermione, what were you doing in the men's bathroom, and how the devil did you suddenly become pregnant?" he demanded hotly. "You weren't pregnant
this morning."
"What do you mean, Harry?" she asked uncertainly. "I'm almost five months along, you know that. Tom and I are ecstatically happy about it."
"Tom? Tom who?" he said. "Have you been stepping out on Ron?"
"Ron?" she scoffed. "You know very well Ron and I ended things ages ago. Whatever are you talking about?"
"Something very odd is going on here," he said. "And we're going to get to the bottom of it just as soon as I come out of there. I'll be right back, Hermione.
Promise me you'll stay there."
"Oh, I will," she told him.
When Harry had returned, Hermione had figured out exactly what was going on. This was an alternate reality to the one she knew. Obviously in this one, she'd
stayed with Ron and Harry had taken some job or other in the Ministry, or he wouldn't be here. But would his job be similar to the one her Harry had, working
side by side with her husband each day, or would he still think of Tom Riddle as the evil Dark Lord Voldemort, and try to harm him?
She wasn't sure she wanted to reveal the mirror spells or her husband's identity to the young man who now stood before her. But if she didn't tell him about
the mirrors, how was she supposed to get back to her own reality, and the Tom Riddle who loved her with all his heart?
"Now, Hermione, I want you to tell me exactly how it is you ended up in the men's bathroom and how you turned up pregnant," Harry insisted as he returned to
her side. The two of them began to walk side by side, and actually turned into the same office as she'd left with Tom earlier.
"What job are you doing from here?" Hermione wanted to know.
"Muggle Relations," he explained. "Minister Malfoy felt that since I'm a half-blood, and have actually lived among them, that I'd be the perfect man for the
job."
"Lucius Malfoy is your Minister of Magic?" she clarified. "I find that hard to believe, Harry."
"Why would that be hard to believe?" Harry asked. "He was the primary provider of the restitution funds the Death Eaters provided. He even made a public
apology. The people really love him."
"And did he also apologize to all the Muggles he killed?" she wanted to know.
"Don't you remember, Hermione, he even had you up on the stage with him."
"Listen, Harry, this is going to sound very strange, but there's a reason I don't remember any of this," she said. "I'm from a different timeline, and I'm
not sure when or how it skewed. I'm hoping very much that I won't have to figure any of this out. All I need to do is figure out how to get back where I
belong and you'll never have to see me again."
"Hermione, if you weren't standing there pregnant in the middle of a Ministry hallway you don't belong in, I would have called you loony, but instead I think
I'll just ask if there's any way I can help," said Harry as he looked her over once again.
"I'm not sure," she answered. "Tom sent me through the mirror to keep me safe, and I have no idea what happened in my timeline afterwards. He said that he
would come for me as soon as he could, but I don't think I can stand around and wait for him in the middle of the men's bathroom. Maybe we should wait in
here. This is your office in our timeline as well."
"Who is this Tom you keep going on about, Mione?" Harry wanted to know as she sat down in one of the chairs and put her feet up."
"Well, it's a long story, and I'm not sure I should tell it, but if my husband were to show up here without you knowing the whole story, I'm afraid you'd
try to kill him," Hermione commented with a wry smile.
"Your husband?" he repeated, dumbfounded. "Hermione, when did you get married?"
"Just recently, though I fear that event may have skewed the timeline a lot farther back than that," she explained. "You see, my name is Hermione
Riddle now."
"Riddle?" Harry gasped. "You're married to Tom Riddle?"
"Yes, ironically enough," she laughed. "But not the Tom Riddle who became Voldemort, though," she hurried to add. "Voldemort was actually just a copy of
my Tom. He never did any of those things."
"So you're telling me that in your timeline Tom Riddle copied himself and came to the future just to marry you?" Harry scoffed.
"It does sound rather odd when you spell it out that way, but yes, I am," she said. "My Tom is actually a member of a committee dedicated to changing the
mindset of purebloods to accept the need for Muggleborns and Half-bloods if they want the Wizarding world to continue to exist in the future."
"That sounds absolutely crazy, but it must be true," said Harry as he rubbed his temples. "Nobody could make up a half-baked story like that one."
"Yes, but here's the thing," Hermione said. "Does anyone around here other than you know what Tom looked like when he was younger?"
"No, just me and a few others, why?"
"Because if you didn't know what I'd just told you, and Tom showed up, what would you be most likely to do?"
"I think I'd better go keep watch in the men's room," Harry commented as he got to his feet. "You stay here and rest comfortably. I don't think you need to
be running about in your condition."
"Harry, I haven't told you everything yet," said Hermione urgently. "The Ministry was a warzone when I left it on the other side. I'm not sure Tom will be
able to come get me, or even if he's still alive."
"Bloody hell, Hermione, I thought you said your Tom was a good guy," Harry said irritably.
"He is," she assured him. "But he's trying to stop the bad guys as we speak—or should I say the bad girl?"
"Do I want to know who he's fighting?"
"Dolores Umbridge, who is now Dolores Goyle, the leader of a group of supremacists who want to take over the Ministry and destroy anything non-magical they
can get their hands on. Voldemort was tame compared to her. He at least was willing to enslave us. The Goyles want to wipe us out completely."
"Perhaps your Ministry could use a bit of help," Harry speculated. "Ron and the other Aurors could prove useful. Do you know where Tom was headed when he left
you?"
"The basement level," she said. "Are you seriously thinking of bringing in reinforcements in a war that isn't even yours?"
"I am," he told her. "If what you say is true, your Tom is going to need all the help he can get."
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