The portal could not be described as anything less than perfect.

He didn't know what else to think, really. There were so many events that happened one after the other, and he didn't know what astounded him the most. One minute he was standing quite alone in the Restricted section, reviewing a book of spells that Tom had suggested reading – something that the prefect rarely did – and the next minute, a whirl of powerful, almost sucking magic spun out of thin air, and in the midst of its intensity, spat out a thin figure.

Even after the spiral disappeared, he could feel the magic crackle around him. For a few moments, it felt like he'd been hit by a powerful stunning spell – he couldn't even perceive his surroundings, or think properly; all he could do was wait for the unsettling waves to pass, to startle his senses, his very being.

But finally it left. He was doing his best to control his breathing, and quickly crept behind one of the shelves. It was cowardly, but for all he knew, it could have been Grindelwald, or his men. Although he was Quidditch captain, he wasn't stupid enough to think he could beat a fully trained dark wizard.

But even after the strange mist cleared, and he realized that the figure was a fragile, bruised girl no older than him, he refused to step out of his spot. For although there was nothing remarkable about her actual features – thick brown hair, delicate build, brown eyes, sort of pretty if you noticed well enough – it was her magical aura that startled him. He never saw himself as a Seer, but was fairly confident of his judgment, and to normal eyes, the girl was just a tired, sad, dirty little thing.

But to his eyes, stood an incredibly powerful, incredibly capable, incredibly enraged witch.

And really, the emotions swimming in her wide eyes shocked him – anger, despair, struggle for control, and blatant desire. A sort of killing desire, but the determination to achieve was evident. If he hadn't been shaking with fear, he might have even admired it. But her ragged breathing and exhausted stupor did not in any way decrease the fearsome magic crackling around her.

Not for the first time, he wondered if your emotions could truly contribute to your magical capacity. If that were true, than the girl before him appeared to have enough fuel to kill twenty people with one flick of her wand.

After a while – his own patience to see what happened next surprised him – she calmed down. She looked around – he stopped breathing for a second – and after being convinced that no one was going to bother her, she paced out of the library confidently, her strange robes flying after her, and it struck him as odd that this strange girl, whom he had definitely not seen before in Hogwarts, seemed to know her way out of the library.

And even though he was no Seer, he could sense the precise moment where his life was about to change.

Allowing himself a half scared, half amused smirk, Abraxas Malfoy ran after the strange girl.

A/N: Well, I've always been a fan of Tom Riddle Junior/ Hermione Granger ships. I thought I'd take a shot. I must warn you, although it may seem like the usual time travel fic, the characters are going to seem different. I can't exactly say OOC, because the books don't describe his personality in detail, and no one really knows what his true nature was like. That's what FanFiction is for, don't you think?