Well hello everybody. Do you remember me? I do believe we've met once or twice. Though it could be a trick of the light. . .
But in all seriousness. . . Goodness has it been a while! I could lax on about all the things that have been distracting me and keeping me busy, but that sounds entirely too close to an excuse, and I've made enough of those at the beginnings of my other chapters. (This does seem to happen a lot, doesn't it?)
I know I have nothing like a constant updating style, (has it really been 2 YEARS?) but I love all of you who have stuck with me so far. I'm dreadfully sorry it's taken me so long, but hopefully I won't ever make it stretch that far again.
I'm finishing up my last year of high school now, and starting college at the same time. So, while my schedule has been a bit busy, I most definitely want to make room for this little baby agian. I feel oh so guilty for abandoning it for so long.
If you're still reading and keeping up with me, cheers! Reading all of your comments while I was out of tandem made my heartstring twitch with guilt with each and every one.
I hope you enjoy this latest chapter, and thank you all for all of the support you've given this absent author!
Hermione looked down at the book she was reading in consternation, absolutely unable to concentrate. It had been nearly three months now since she had 'fallen' into this time, and it seemed like nothing was going to go her way. Every day was the same thing – Get up, re-organize, read, then the work of dragging herself off to bed after a fruitless and frustrating day.
The library she had turned into her makeshift home was looking a little bit better, but she had hardly made enough progress to make herself feel better about any of this. It was one of her biggest faults – She was horrible at working in a mess. Every time she tried to settle herself down with a book that might be helpful in figuring out just what had happened to her, she kept thinking of another one that might be hiding in a dusty corner, its pages folding and gathering mold as she sat ignoring it. And so she would clean. And the entire time that she alphabetized and dusted, she felt the sinking feeling that book knowledge would not help her was growing in a pit in her stomach. Every day that passed made her studious faith diminish little by little. She had sat down with Godric at the beginning, trying to get every detail she could out of the situation as she could. Unfortunately, that conversation ended in a dead end as well, neither of them being able to figure out anything odd with what had happened aside from her sudden appearance.
She had been recently hiding away from the founders themselves as much as possible, too. They generally kept out of what she had come to think of as 'her' library, preoccupied by much bigger and better things. Rowena joined her a few times during the beginning, but she was often dragged off just shortly after she had begun rearranging shelves with Hermione. Aside from the fact that each of them seemed to hold a certain air of fantasy in her mind, she just felt uncomfortable around them. It wasn't every day you met up with wizarding legend, after all. It had taken a few weeks for it to really sink in. In the back of her mind, it had all been a weird dream, or a spell that held her daydreaming somewhere that would eventually fade away.
But every night that she woke to the bangs and shouts from the great hall, and every time she had to filch breakfast from the kitchens because the ceiling was still pouring rain on the stones, the reality of it all seemed to harden in her mind.
You could probably say she was in a certain state of shock now, really. Her entire existence here just seemed so fragile, and having had time to reflect on all the things that she could mess up here. . . Being around people that she could influence just made her fingers run cold. A single word could change the future if she wasn't careful. She hardly knew if she hadn't already fumbled things up already. The thought of any of her 'life' in her own time twisting or being unreal was uncanny, and gave her shivers and horrid nightmares once the sun went down. Hermione bit her lip as she looked down at the book in her hands, not even able to read the cover very well. It was faded and worn and it just made the frustration that was threatening to strangle her build. She hardly even liked looking around the library anymore. It was like working for hours to clean a spot out of the floor tiles only to stand up and watch another appear a few feet away from you.
She ran a hand through her ragged hair, letting out a huff and a sigh of breath. She needed to relax, she really did. She felt stretched thin and stressed, and it was hardly helping her situation any. The silence in the place was oppressive, and she found herself longing constantly to hear – Somebody. Anybody. She could almost welcome Draco's horrid drawling at this point.
Another sigh escaped her lips, and she fought an annoyed snigger at the thought of how old and whiny she sounded to herself. Standing up slowly, she placed the tome in her hands down, walking out of the library without a second glance. She really did need away from it at this point, and hanging around staring at a page she couldn't read wasn't going to help her any.
She found herself wandering aimlessly through the halls, trying to recall in her head how every corridor she passed was supposed to look. There were only a small number she really remembered that well. Wanting to find an area she could link in her mind easily, her feet took her to one place she would never have trouble remembering.
She blinked a few moments at the empty hole in the wall that would be someday covered by a painting of a very well-endowed shrill lady. She felt the corners of her lips tugging as she stepped through, looking around her common room with an awkward feeling in her chest. It was empty, of course. She hadn't expected anything else. The cobwebs hanging in the corners and the draft coming from the cracked window made her heart twang, though, in a way she hadn't known it could. She let herself sink to the floor, her legs curled next to her, and buried her head in her hands.
"Homesick. You silly girl, this doesn't help anything." She muttered to herself, rubbing her face briskly and trying to gather herself together. It felt like she was going crazy. She could imagine this place how it should be. The fire crackling and popping behind the grates, a pen whispering over a scroll from some corner table, chattering coming from the sofas. . . Footsteps walking calmly and assuredly down the dormitory stairs-
Her head jerked up. Those steps were certainly not in her imagination. She was on her feet with a wand drawn long before the shadow made an appearance into the light, her frayed nerves jumping and quivering in anticipation.
There was a tense silence between her and the figure, until Hermione's arm dropped and her face flushed, feeling incredibly stupid and awkward. Her eyes were wide as she looked up into the harsh face of Slytherin, feeling rather struck dumb simply standing there staring at the way his eyebrow really did look rather thin when he curved it above his eye like that-
"While I'm sure my heart pounds for your sorrow, you are hardly welcome here."
Hermione jumped, flushing more as she realized he had been privy to her show earlier, and she felt her hand clench in a fist around the wand that she hadn't put away.
"Well do excuse me for interrupting you!" She snapped, feeling harassed and annoyed and- She let out a frustrated growl, both at Salazar's highhanded attitude and her own haphazard mental state at the moment. She contemplated spinning on her heel to walk away, but a fierce feeling of protective belonging rooted her to her spot. This was her home, darn him!
He simply stood there, his arms crossed over his chest and a sneer covering his face as he obviously waited for her to flee his presence, just like she had every other time. She felt a jolt of excitement at the look of indignant surprise that crossed his cool features as she crossed her arms as well, mockingly imitating his stance.
She didn't exactly know what she was doing, other than the fact that being defiant, in one way or other, was feeling rather good right now. She was hardly a quiet individual, and if Hermione Granger had an opinion to give, she usually expected someone to listen to it, rather she deserved to be giving it or not. Living in the quiet solitude she had enforced on herself had gotten to her more than she had thought it would.
"But really, thinking about it, why should you be able to bully me out of here? I wasn't bothering you, you could walk out just as well as I could." She tilted her chin up defensively, trying to ignore the shivers of cold worry the dark look in his glare was giving her. 'You've seen much worse than him, 'Mione,' she reminded herself.
"You impertinent-" He started to hiss out, fury obviously the reigning feature on his face.
"You really do like that word, don't you." She interrupted, feeling a jolt of adrenaline at the simple pure danger that nearly wafted off of him. She didn't move when he stepped towards her, but her entire body twitched, her eyes wide and staring at him with all the determination she had. "I was just- just sitting here. I didn't even know you were here, so you could be just a bit more polite, you know. It's not like I wanted to be here!"
Anger made way for a scoffing look, and she found herself bristling under his mocking look. "You poor darling," he all but drawled, half-lidded green eyes boring into hers, "Do let me pity and care for you, as these big bad mean wizards have trapped you against your will in this horrible pit of despair."
He stepped forward again, his over-dramatic statement whispered in an all-too compassionate voice. If she had closed her eyes, it really would have seemed like an honest statement, but the look on his face erased any of that possibility from reality instantly.
Feeling embarrassed and stripped dry by his mere presence, Hermione scowled, fumbling for a response as he loomed over her. She was cursing herself as nothing came to mind, and she was stuck standing there looking up at him. She must have looked like a half-wit, anger obvious in her stance, and yet she was standing there looking up at him as if she were brain-dead.
"Get out." This was spoken in the very same tone, and it sent a shiver of goose bumps through her arms.
"You're horrible." She accused, but even she could hear how childish that sounded. She would have winced if she didn't think it would make her look worse in this situation. As it was, it only made that horrid smirk on his face widen.
"So I've been told."
Huffing quietly, Hermione simply conceded her defeat, turning and walking angrily out of the dormitory. She walked straight forward, not slowing or stopping as she rounded the corner, and certainly not turning back. Which, really, was a good thing. The confusion that would have enveloped her if she saw the intrigued and amused gaze that followed her retreating back would have been just one more emotion to twirl around in the turmoil of her mind.
Godric looked up at the door for what seemed like the millionth time that morning, and Salazar couldn't help letting out a snort of annoyance. His friend gave him a bright smile and shrugged his shoulders."It's just unusual that she wouldn't appear for breakfast to at least grab something." He looked back down to the delicate process of spreading cream cheese on the piece of toast in his hands. He didn't miss the smug look on his friend's face, however.
"You didn't say anything to her, did you?"
"Are you insinuating I would waste my own time to hunt down that chit of a girl simply to say a few mean words?"
Godric seemed to muse on that, and then he grinned. "Certainly not, old friend."
A smug look hardly had the time to cross Salazar's features.
"I do however think you would take advantage of the situation if such a meeting were to incidentally occur."
This, of course, hit just a little too close to home. Salazar shot him a derogatory look, standing up from the table in a silent shuffle of robes and stalking away without another word to him.
Rowena frowned slightly as the edge of his robes disappeared around the door of the great hall, recognizing one of his black moods instantly. "It seems something really did happen, doesn't it? It normally takes longer for you to get him into such a huff."
"Should I go check on the dear?" Came Helga's worried voice, her eyes wide and doe-like with worry. "She really has seemed rather frail the past few days."
"Allow me. It would be a pity if you two were unable to finish your breakfast." Godric stood up with a gentlemanly smile, bowing his way away from the table.
A chuckle passed through Rowena's lips as he hurried off, her eyes dancing with mirth. "Hypocrite." She murmured, reaching across the table to filch his untouched toast, and biting into it with relish.
Hermione nearly jumped out of her skin as the library door creaked open, letting in a clear and happy tune of whistling. She stuck her head around a shelf, feeling dreadfully inconvenienced by the appearance of someone else.
'At the very least I know it isn't that horrible man,' she thought to herself, knowing that such a melodious enjoyment could never be coming from a man like Slytherin. Just the thought of him made her scowl, and it was this unpleasant face that Godric was faced with as he picked her out from among the stacks of books.
"Such an unhappy face so early into a bright and clear morning, my dear! I do believe that the dust is getting to you. Perhaps a walk will do you good?"
Godric's good mood seemed contagious, but Hermione faltered, smiling a little at him. "I'd rather not, I really do-"
"Ah-ah! I won't take no for an answer." He practically swept over to her, catching her hand in his and placing it on his forearm. After giving her one of his beaming full-teeth smiles, he promptly walked them off and out the door. Despite a few muttered complaints, Hermione found herself being dragged through the hallways, and she eventually gave up and stopped fighting, letting a grin settle on her face as she walked by his side, wondering where he was taking her.
Despite her earlier reluctance, she found herself enjoying the not-quite-silent calm around them. He had started whistling again, and his arm was warm underneath her palm. Their path had eventually taken them out of the castle, and the sun and slight breeze felt better than she ever imagined it could. The grounds were largely the same as she remembered. No quidditch pitch, but she could hardly find that a loss, really. She never did find the sport all that interesting anyways, and the lawn of the castle looked so lovely, with all that rolling green around them.
She found herself humming along with the catching tune Godric had been humming, and the stress from the past few days just seemed to roll off her shoulders as they finally settled along the edge of the lake.
They really were silent for a few minutes then, and she found herself staring contemplatively across the waters. She was so absorbed in her thoughts that she jumped when Godric started talking, and she flushed a bit in embarrassment."I heard from the grapevine that Salazar has been less than pleasant to you." He said lightly, looking at her with a warm brown gaze.
Hermione giggled, not looking at him. "The ever so long grapevine of, oh, three people?"
"It's much more challenging than one would think." He returned loftily, examining his nails with a joking haughtiness.
"I can only imagine." A silence passed by them again, leaving her wondering if he was going to press her for information. It didn't seem he was.
"It really isn't anything to worry about." She found herself saying despite herself. "He was just being his normal ornery self, I suppose. I shouldn't have been there anyways."
Her companion chuckled softly. "He isn't really that bad of a fellow. I suppose you could say he's simply not used to change."
Hermione flushed as he spoke, remembering that they were friends, despite whatever fights she had seen them in. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"
"No offense taken, my dear. " He gave her another disarming smile, and she wondered idly if his cheeks ever hurt from all the happiness he always seem to exert through his facial expressions.
"It's hard to give a chance to a person who is being hardly cordial to you, after all. I don't think he dislikes you all that much, actually."
Hermione couldn't help the snort that worked its way out of her, and she shot Godric an unbelieving glance. "Mm, yeah, I can just feel the friendly intent just flying towards me when he's around."
She smiled as he laughed. It was a very nice laugh.
"I hold true to my statement." He finally said, and she bit her lip at the funny gleam in his eye, then shook her head.
"I really do need to be getting back. . . I'll never figure anything out just sitting here." She stood up, giving him a thankful smile. "It really was pleasant, thank you."
"Just remember to take a break every now and again. You'll drive yourself mad if you coop yourself up in a book all day." He stood with her, holding his arm out. He obviously intended to escort her back to the castle.
"You sound entirely too much like a friend of mine." Hermione admonished with an affectionate smile, enjoying the feel of his sleeve as she laced her arm into his.