Anamoran

Chapter 11: Multiverse

A/N: Thanks to the following folks for their assistance in helping this story along: brownlark42, ladyofsilverdawn, SassenachStarbuck, and MrsBennettFrazier.

Sandra-Sempra made amazing cover art for this story. See it on my Tumblr crochetawayhpff. And let me know what you think of this chapter!

November 22, 1944

Tom cursed himself for ending up in this situation. He sat in the Hospital Wing with his arms wrapped around a witch who was sobbing, and the front of his robes was soaked in her tears. He felt like an idiot.

"Shhh, Avens, shhh," he crooned as he rocked her.

He had no idea if it was helping, but it felt right. "It's okay, we'll work it out," he whispered into her hair.

Tom didn't know what else to do. She had nobody, and whatever dark and terrible future she came from, she wasn't getting back there. Especially, if Tom had anything to say about it. It was one of the reasons he wouldn't let her out of his sight.

He didn't want to examine what had happened all those weeks ago on Halloween morning. He was a red-blooded male, of course, he enjoyed sex. It didn't stop his traitorous thoughts from wondering if that was why he was coddling the witch in his arms. Was it the sex? Or was it something more? Or, as he kept insisting, was it just because she would be invaluable to him in the future: when he got her to break down and tell him everything.

Actually, he already knew a lot. He knew that he was alive in the future, as Lord Voldemort. He knew that she was scared of him on some level. He knew that she was Muggleborn, it was obvious in the oblivious way she treated him when he had enacted the Acts of Courtship. He knew that her time was so dangerous she'd managed to rack up at least three unacknowledged life debts. He knew that she was still fighting for a way back to her own time. He knew that the story Dippet told regarding being persecuted by Grindelwald was false and that Dippet had legally taken guardianship over her. He knew that Dippet was teaching her Occlumency, he suspected he was also teaching her Legilimency. He knew she was brilliant, he hadn't forgotten that little-beaded bag with the impressive layered charms.

So he knew a lot, and yet, as she quieted in his arms, he felt like he didn't know nearly enough. He was still puzzled by her actions and reactions. He knew she assumed her best friend was dead, why would that create such a strong reaction now? She'd been back in the past for months. Besides, wasn't he her best friend now? Not that Tom particularly cared for such silly designations, but still, she spent most of her time with him. Didn't that de facto make him her best friend? Who cared about this Harry bloke she would never see again even if she went back to her own time. Tom didn't know a lot about time travel, it was never a subject that appealed to him. Who cared about the past, you couldn't change it anyway. But he was curious about how she ended up so far in the past, and why. Time-Turners couldn't travel more than a couple of hours, Tom had seen the clump of melted metal she insisted used to be a time turner. No way was that going to get her back to the future. He'd seen some obscure texts in her bag regarding physics and quantum mechanics, but Tom didn't really understand what they had to do with time travel.

He looked down at the witch in his arms and realized she had fallen asleep. Tom sighed heavily, the witch trusted him. Nobody trusted him, not really. The professors did, but most of the people he knew his age respected and feared him. They didn't trust him. Not like this. How much trust did you have to have for someone to cry in their arms and then fall asleep on them?

Tom huffed as he eased the witch onto the bed. She mumbled a bit, and Tom summoned a pillow for her to hug instead of him. He smoothed the covers over her as he stood and gazed down. He truly did not understand this girl and her motivations. But he knew, he couldn't let her go. She was his, whether she wanted to be or not.