A/N: Hey guys! Now please, before you take out your pitchforks and rifles and whatnot, because I know you all want to kill me for taking so long, please consider that I DO HAVE A LIFE, JUST LIKE YOU GUYS, so please don't hunt me down and kill me. And also, I've made some changes and revised the previous chapters according to the suggestions and opinions of my lovely reviewers, so don't forget to check them out otherwise you'll be lost reading the rest of the story! I repeat PREVIOUS CHAPTERS HAVE BEEN REVISED, GO BACK AND READ THEM. Here's a vague list of some of the changes that I've made, but you should go back and just skim over the previous chapters.

Changes made:

- Names of Hermione's friends changed:
- Claudia Schliffer to Claudia Shillington
- Katarina Rodrick to Samantha Dixon
- Vivian Turlough to Vivian Whiting
- Meleina Everard to Angela Everard
- Ronaldino Weasley to Arnold Weasley
- Harris Potter to Charles Potter
- Sean Finnigan to Simon Shillington
- date changed from 1945 to 1944
- fact of Dumbledore's death incorporated
- some dialogue and grammar changes
- Madame Pomfrey changed to Madame McHarding
- Rushed scenes and scenes that did not seem right improved on critique from reviewers
- Portrayal of Dippet changed
- Duel scene in chapter 7 changed

So don't forget to just skim over them, just to update yourselves with the changes. If you find anything wrong again, just let me know in a review, and I'll fix it. And now, the list of reviewers from chapter 8, which I must say, I was very pleased with. Keep them coming guys!

Paige Halliwell-Matthews - Thank you for your review! I'm so glad that you like it!
VerbaVolantScriptaManent - So sorry that it took so long! But I thanks for your review! Hope to read another one from you soon!
Gueneviere - Ah, here's one of my constants. I like how you think! Thanks for the review! Anticipating another one from you for this chapter!
maripas - Thank you for reviewing! I hope you enjoy this chapter!
amrawo - Glad you liked the previous chapter, and I hope you like this one too!
Grace Slytherin-Snape - Ah, you'd be evil huh? I like that! Not going with the flow of the crowd? I love people like that. Ten hoorays for you! Sorry it tok so long for me to update, but I hope you enjoy this one and review again!
hpfanf - Thanks for reviewing! You're another one of my constants! Glad you liked the length of the previous chapter. I hope the length of this one is satisfactory as well. Hoping to read another review from you soon!
maximum-calories - Hey there! Thanks for the review! And please, don't ever change your name! I like you too. Because you would be evil, and you would actually admit that! Really cool of you! Hope to see another review from you soon!
Avery-88 - I'm glad you think so! I didn't want to do a typical time travel story, because there are so many out there, so I tried to make this as original as I could. I hope you enjoy chapter 9 and of course review it!
killtheenviousmoon - I'm sorry this took so long to post, but I hope you'll review this chapter too! I'm glad you like the plot, because I spent a long, LONG time thinking about it. I think it took me maybe a month and a half to fully develop it. Hope you like this chapter! And don't forget to review!
NERD1144 - I'm soooo glad you think so! I would be so glad to read another review from you for this one! Thank you!
lauraart123 - One of my favourite reviewers! You always seem to know what I'm planning, and you analyze the chapter extremely well! I hope you like this one! Thank you for reviewing!
sundance89 - Now there's a review with substance! Thank you so much for your constructive critism, I took everything you said into consideration when I revised the previous chapters! Thank you again and I hope to see many reviews from you in the near future!
M.E.Potter - I truly think that your idea was genius! And I tried to see if it would work, what with the circumstances of Voldemort's plan and the rules of time travel, and I was so sad when I came to the conclusion that it couldn't be done! But thank you for your suggestion! I hope you like this chapter!
nodoubtrox - Thank you for the compliments! I'm glad you think so, and I hope you enjoy this one! And review of course!
ReineMauvaise - I agree, Dumbledore is way cool. And the dark side is very enticing. Thank you so much for your review! I hope you review this one too!
Neara1 - Thank you so much for reviewing! I was so shocked when you said that it was one of the best you've ever read, but I'm so glad you like it! And as for the cloaked guy, you'll just have to wait and see like everybody else!
MugglebornPrincesa - Ha ha, I'm glad you think so! I'm terribly sorry for taking so long, but I hope you like this one! And please send me another great review!
V956970 - I'm glad you do! Thanks for the review!
iloveriddle - I love Riddle too! Well of course I'm not going to tell you the plan! You'll just have to keep reading and find out! Thanks for reviewing!
wildchild1017 - I'm glad you think so! Thank you for reviewing! I hope you like this one as well!

Well as you can see, the list seems to be getting larger, and I'm afraid that sooner or later, I can only list your pennames down, otherwise this section will take up too much room! But until then, I'll keep doing this! Anyway, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE! DON'T FORGET TO READ THE PREVIOUS CHAPTERS OVER TO SEE THE CHANGES THAT I MADE. Thank you. And now, a disclaimer.

Disclaimer: I would just like to say that nothing you recognize belongs to me. Only the OC's and the plot do. Thank you.

And a special note to:

jirayai - I hope you like this chapter buddy, since I'm letting you read it and all. And don't forget to review!

And now, please put your hands together for:

Chapter 9:

One Colourful Step Closer

"My lord?"

Silence.

"My lord?"

"What it is Bella?" the Dark Lord appeared.

"My lord, I don't understand why you did not choose me to do your task," Bellatrix said.

"I will not tell you again Bella, it must be Wormtail. No other can do the job without risking too much," said the Dark Lord.

"You know that I would do a better job than that vermin my lord," Bellatrix said firmly.

"I know of your dislike for Wormtail Bella, but I can assure you that he is much more suited for the job than you this time," Voldemort explained.

"And if he fails? What then will you do my lord?" The Dark Lord's lieutenant asked.

"Have faith Bella, Wormtail will not fail me. He knows the consequences of failure," said the Dark Lord.

"I don't see why you have so much faith in the little rodent my lord," Bellatrix said.

"All will be revealed in due time Bella…" the Dark Lord trailed off, "All in due time."

----------

The newly appointed Head girl awoke to the small strip of light that shone on her face through the gap between her bed hangings. Groaning slightly, she opened her eyes fully and rubbed the sleep from them, yawning and stretching widely.

Pulling the bed hangings aside to grab her wand, she checked the time, which read:

Sunday, October 5, 1944 10:15 AM

Yawning again, she stretched, and then remembered something important, eyes widening in realization and horror.

The meeting with Dumbledore! Oh shoot, I'm late! With this in mind, she shot out of bed and quickly stumbled into the bathroom to get ready. Oh no! Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no! I'm late, I'm late! How could you be so stupid Hermione?

Turning on the hot water and undressing at lightning speed, she took a two minute shower and stumbled out of the bathroom, searching frantically for a suitable outfit to wear. Why? Why did this have to happen today? Of all days! She thought as she hurriedly zipped up her sweater and grabbed her wand from her bedside table. She dried her hair with a charm while clumsily slipping into her shoes.

She checked the time again, which read:

Sunday, October 5, 1944 10:27 AM

Letting out a string of curse words she never knew she was capable of uttering, she ran down the stairs three at a time, nearly tripping over her untied shoelace in the process. Shoving the portrait open with a little too much force than she had intended, she sprinted down the corridor to Professor Dumbledore's office, which was, to Hermione's utter dismay, on the main floor.

And she was currently on the seventh floor.

"Oh dear Godric!" she groaned, blowing a stray strand of hair out of her face as she descended the stairs as fast as she could. After nearly falling off the sixth floor staircase, she decided that getting to Dumbledore's office late but alive was a much brighter choice than being a nice puddle of dead witch for Filch to clean up. So instead of descending the stairs at supersonic speed, she settled for a brisk pace.

Finally reaching the main floor, out of breath but alive, she jogged the rest of the way to Dumbledore's office, unable and more importantly, unwilling to carry on running. Well, at least you got here in one piece Hermione Granger. The little voice in the back of her head said. Yay me. She thought as she burst through the door into the office.

"Ah, good morning Ms. Granger," Dumbledore greeted with a pleasant smile. "I trust you slept well?" Being so out of breath, Hermione could only nod.

"Sorry… I'm late… Professor," she managed to say between gulps of air.

Dumbledore only smiled. "It's quite alright. I was a little late getting here myself, in fact." Again, Hermione could only nod in acknowledgement. Dumbledore motioned for her to sit down, and gave her a moment to catch her breath.

When she finally did, Hermione said, "Professor Dippet told me you wanted to see me."

Dumbledore nodded. "That is correct. I trust you remember that a few weeks previously, I asked you to meet with me in my office to attempt to discover the meaning behind your presence here in the past. Unfortunately, the incident involving you and Tom Riddle in Defense Against the Dark Arts forced us to reschedule." Hermione nodded. "And so, here we are. I think a Pensieve will serve useful to us to determine what, exactly, happened to you." He got up and made his way to a dark, wooden cupboard. Hermione followed close behind, and stopped next to him.

He waved his hand in front of the cupboard doors, which opened, revealing a large stone basin that was the Pensieve. Hermione approached it and looked into it, seeing a glowing blue-silver substance. "Now, Ms. Granger, what was the last thing you remember before you found yourself in 1944?" Dumbledore asked. She thought back to the first day of fall term.

The night of the Welcome feast! She remembered suddenly. "Well, the last thing I remember before ending up here is going to the library on the night of the Welcome feast, then getting stunned. Whoever stunned me, I don't think that he was a student at Hogwarts. I've heard his voice somewhere before, but I can't put my finger on it exactly," she explained. The Transfiguration teacher nodded in understanding.

"I see. Well Ms. Granger, if you please, your last memory before waking up in 1944," said Dumbledore, pointing to the Pensieve. Hermione took out her wand and pointed it to her temple, pulling out her memory of the night of the Welcome feast. The silvery substance dangled from the tip of her wand as she discarded it into the Pensieve. "After you Ms. Granger," Dumbledore said, stepping back to let Hermione plunge into the Pensieve. She felt herself falling, farther and farther into the memory, until she landed on her feet in the middle of a corridor, Dumbledore appearing beside her soon after.

"There's the Great Hall," Hermione pointed out. "The students should be coming out of there soon." She said after she checked the time. Sure enough, the students of Hogwarts exited the Great Hall and made their way to their respective common rooms. Hermione spotted herself walking amongst the crowd, with Harry and Ron. "There I am sir," she pointed herself out to Dumbledore.

They both followed the long stream of students, up, up, up the stairs, until the Hermione in the memory broke away from the crowd. "This is when I went to the library," Hermione explained. "I wanted to borrow a book before I went to bed." Dumbledore nodded silently. They followed the memory Hermione into the library and watched the conversation between her and Madame Pince.

"Oh hello Ms. Granger. Come to borrow another book now have you?" said Madame Pince.

"Yes ma'am. I was just going to look for another book on Advanced Arithmancy." The Hermione in the memory told her, and she made to look for the aisle which contained the book.

"Oh just sit tight Ms. Granger I'll get that book for you," said the librarian. She took out her wand and summoned the book for Hermione.

"Thanks Madame Pince," said Hermione. She quickly exited the library and began to walk back to the main stairs.

After watching the conversation between the two, Hermione and Dumbledore continued to follow the memory Hermione as she made her way leisurely down the corridor. "This was when I started to feel a little bit uneasy, like someone was following me; I could almost feel someone watching me from behind." Hermione explained. Dumbledore merely nodded and said,

"I see." The Hermione in the memory whipped out her wand and spun around to check behind her. "You would make a fine auror Ms. Granger," Dumbledore said with a small smile.

"Thank you sir," she said with a smile. The two looked on as the memory Hermione began to jog. Following close behind, Dumbledore pointed at something on the ground.

"What might that be?" he asked. The thing he was pointing at was moving, fast. Hermione squinted to see, and said,

"I think it's a… a rat," she said, confused. I didn't know Hogwarts had rats. Then it dawned on her.

A rat…Peter Pettigrew!

"It was Peter Pettigrew!" she exclaimed.

"Who?" Dumbledore asked.

Oh right, Pettigrew wasn't born yet. She paused for a second, unsure of what to do. "I'm not sure if I should tell you sir, since that would change the past, and you once told me that that could be dangerous." Dumbledore nodded gravely, and said,

"Yes Ms. Granger, it could be very dangerous indeed. Try to tell me as little as possible."

Hermione thought about it for a minute, picking her words carefully. "Well…" she began, "Peter Pettigrew is a servant of Vol – a Dark Wizard in the future." The auburn-haired Dumbledore nodded almost knowingly, before saying,

"I see. And you think this Peter Pettigrew is acting on the Dark Wizard's orders?" Hermione nodded. They drew their attention back to the memory, in time to see Peter stun Hermione.

"That's him Professor. That's Peter Pettigrew," Hermione said, pointing to Peter, who was hovering over her body in the memory.

"Sorry little Mudblood, but I don't get rid of you, you'll become a great hindrance to his plan, so you need to come with me." They both watched on as Wormtail silently and swiftly made his way down the corridor and out of sight with the unconscious Hermione.

"I believe it is time to return," said Dumbledore softly. Suddenly, Hermione found herself back in the Transfiguration office, standing next to Dumbledore in front of the Pensieve.

"Well Ms. Granger, I think it is safe to say that we have uncovered the culprit behind your kidnapping," said Dumbledore. Hermione nodded in agreement. "Peter Pettigrew was it?" Again she nodded. "And he was acting on a Dark Wizard's orders."

"I think that's it sir," Hermione said. Dumbledore nodded, and looked pensive for a moment. There was a long pause before he spoke again.

"Well Ms. Granger, it would be a burden to know that it was I who robbed you of your free time. Good day," Dumbledore said. Hermione smiled in return and exited the office.

Well, there's another step closer to finding out what happened to me. She thought. Her stomach growled hungrily, and she decided to grab some food. Navigating through the corridors, she ran into her friends in the entrance hall. They were on their way back from Quidditch practice, though some of them were only watching, the others practicing.

"Hermione!" Charlie called when he saw her.

"Hi guys! How was Quidditch practice?" Hermione asked, falling into step with them on their way to the Great Hall.

"It was great. I have a feeling Gryffindor'll win the Quidditch cup this year! There's a lot of fresh talent this year!" Charlie said enthusiastically.

"Charlie, you say that every year," said Samantha, who had emerged from behind her book to say the comment.

"Yeah well, I'm always right aren't I?" Charlie asked, chest puffing up in pride.

"No," answered a smirking Vivian.

"Shut up. C'mon let's catch an early lunch," Charlie said, pointing to the Great Hall with his thumb.

"No, it's a late breakfast. It's still 11:00," said Vivian, checking the time.

"It's not morning anymore, so that would make it an early lunch," Charlie replied.

"Well it's not afternoon either, so that would make it a late breakfast."

"Well it's not morning –"

"It's not afternoon – "

"So that would make it – "

"A late breakfast."

"No, it would be an early lunch."

"How could it possibly be an early lunch? It's only 11:00!"

"That's exactly my point! It's 11:00, it's too late to be breakfast; it's an early lunch."

"No, 11:00 is still counted as morning – albeit late in the morning – but my point is, it's still morning, so that would make it a late breakfast."

"No, it would be an early lunch. 11:00 is too late to be counted as part of a morning, so it obviously couldn't be a late breakfast."

"Oh sweet Merlin," muttered Samantha. She closed her book and pushed the two arguing Gryffindors aside so that she was walking in between them. "Just so we can all eat in peace, I pronounce this meal brunch. Alright? Good Godric you two are like children!"

"Are not!" Vivian and Charlie said in unison, sounding very childish while doing so.

"And there's my proof," Samantha said, shaking her head. They all entered the Great Hall and sat down to eat brunch.

"Where's Angela gone off to?" Hermione asked the group once she took a bite of her toast.

"We dunno. Woke up this morning and she was gone again," Claudia replied, shrugging slightly before going back to her oatmeal.

"That's strange. What has she been doing all this time?" Hermione asked them, confused.

"Here's your chance to find out," Claudia said, pointing at the entrance to the Great Hall. Angela walked through the giant, golden doors, and upon spotting them, waved happily and began to walk to where they were sitting, but not before stealing a quick glance to the side at the Slytherin table.

What was that about? Who's she looking for? She wondered as Angela seated herself next to Samantha and grabbed an apple.

"Hey guys, what did I miss?" she asked, almost too cheerfully.

"Wah's wih' yoo?" Arnold asked through a mouthful of food. Angela looked at him in disgust, frowning slightly.

"Would you please swallow your food? What are you a barbarian?" she said scornfully.

"What's up your arse?" Arnold said after swallowing the mouthful of food.

"Your inescapable stupidity."

"Must be PMS," Arnold mumbled before stuffing another spoonful of food into his mouth.

"You should know exactly what that feels like then," said Angela with a smirk. Everyone burst out laughing, their laughter echoing throughout the entire room. Arnold made a face before stuffing another spoonful of food into his mouth. They were all still laughing about Angela's remark and didn't notice when Arnold began to choke on his food. He frantically tried to get their attention, waving his arms and banging on the table, and by the time someone took notice, he was slightly blue in the face.

"Charlie!" Samantha called, pointing to the blue-faced Arnold.

"Oh, sorry mate," Charlie said before pounding him hard on the back, making the piece of food fly out of his mouth and land in a Slytherin girl's hair. Said girl screamed in disgust and fled the room, evoking laughter from some students, particularly from the Gryffindor table.

"Good Godric Charlie, you didn't need to break my bleeding back," Arnold said, rubbing his back in pain.

"Hey I just saved your life mate, I don't think you're in any position to be making complaints," said Charlie with a smirk.

"Yeah whatever," Arnold mumbled grudgingly under his breath. "So wah' we gon' 'oo 'uhday?" he asked through another freshly stuffed mouthful of food.

"I have no idea. Anyone have any suggestions?" Charlie asked the group.

"We could always play some more Quidditch," Claudia suggested.

"Nooooo. No more Quidditch," Simon said, stealing a bit of Vivian's omelet.

"Hey! Get your own food!" Vivian exclaimed, slapping his hand away.

"Well what else can we do?" Claudia asked.

"We could always finish our Potions essay. You know it's due tomorrow," Gerald said quietly. The group went silent, staring at Gerald like he had just said that Slytherins were actually not gits.

"No way!" They all said in unison, minus Hermione, who, as usual, thought it not to be a bad idea.

I need to catch up with some homework anyway. "He's actually right guys, I haven't done any of my work yet. And I've missed a lot," Hermione said worriedly.

"Don't worry about it. We'll all cram tonight in the common room like we always do. Either way, it gets done. Don't listen to Ger-bear here," Claudia said dismissively.

"It was just a suggestion," Gerald said with a shrug. "And stop calling me that!"

"Well thanks, but no thanks. You of all people should know that we don't do our homework until the very last minute," Claudia said. "And no, I will not stop calling you Ger-bear."

"Well, we could always sneak out to Hogsmeade," Simon said, taking the plate of omelets and serving himself some after Vivian slapped his hand from her plate again.

"No, we've gone to Hogsmeade every weekend since school started," Angela said, resting her chin in her hand.

"No, we've gone to Hogsmeade every weekend since school started. You've just been off… somewhere," Vivian said.

"That's not true!" Angela said defensively.

"It is so true. Name one day when you've gone to Hogsmeade with us since the start of term. Hermione just got here and she's been hanging out with us a lot more than you have these days," Vivian said.

"Well thank the Gods for her then. I've got to go," Angela said angrily.

"Where're you off to now?" Charlie asked, looking up from his plate of food.

"Getting the latest scoop on the goings on of this school. Obviously I'm not wanted here," Angela said coldly.

"Angie, don't be like that. Vivian didn't mean anything by it," Samantha said, closing her book to deal with the problem.

"Yes I did," Vivian said, earning a sneer from Angela.

"I guess you haven't heard, but gossip is juicier when you're the first to know. You know me, I love juicy gossip. See you guys later," Angela said, completely ignoring Samantha, turning around and leaving the Great Hall.

"Why do I get the feeling that she doesn't like me?" Hermione asked the group, unsure of where she now stood with Angela.

"It's fine, don't worry about it. Angela's just got her knickers in a knot, probably about some stupid boy or something," Arnold said.

"Shut up Arnold, she seemed really mad this time," Samantha said, frowning at him.

"She's always really mad," Arnold muttered before returning to his food.

"Alright," Hermione said, still unsure. Maybe I should talk to her about it. Clear things up and whatnot. "I'm going to go talk to her," she decided.

"What for? She'll probably just bite your head off. She's a good friend most of the time, but sometimes she can be a real bitch," Vivian said. The group fell silent, staring at her in shock. "Well it's true," she said defensively.

"She's got a point there you know," Arnold agreed.

"I'll be right back," Hermione said, pushing her chair back and making to follow Angela.

"You're making a big mistake! We won't be able to save you if she's gone and chewed you up!" Vivian called after her.

"I'll be fine!" Hermione called over her shoulder. She caught up with Angela halfway up the main staircase. "Angela!"

"What do you want?" Angela snapped, clearly annoyed and miffed. She didn't stop for Hermione.

"Nothing, I – I just wanted to talk," Hermione said, frowning a little bit when the girl didn't stop climbing the stairs.

"I really don't have the time right now," Angela said.

If you would only just stop for a moment! "I just wanted to know if you were alright," Hermione said hesitantly, anticipating another snappish reply from her.

"I'm fine," Angela said, not meeting her eyes.

This girl is so hard to talk to! Hermione thought with a sigh. But she kept trying despite the obvious signs Angela was giving that told her she wasn't in any mood to talk, because she was determined to make peace with her. "And I wanted to know why… why you don't like me." Angela paused, then stopped climbing and turned to look at Hermione.

"Look, it's not that I don't like you. I'm pretty busy and I'm not in the best of moods. I'm sorry if it seemed like I didn't like you, it's just that, sometimes my friends don't understand me," Angela said with a sigh. "It's gets frustrating sometimes."

"Oh," Hermione said lamely.

"Yeah well, I've really got to go, so I'll talk to you later alright?" Angela said, glancing up the stairs meaningfully.

"Oh, right! Right. I'll talk to you later. Right, bye," Hermione said, before descending the stairs, to go back to the Great Hall. The group however, was already waiting for her outside.

"She survives!" Vivian said dramatically. "So what did she say?"

"She said she was just in a bad mood," Hermione said, still not quite sure she believed it herself.

"Right well, I still think it's PMS," said Arnold. Samantha rolled her eyes and smacked him on the back of the head. "Owww! What was that for?" he asked angrily, rubbing the back of his head.

"That was for being an idiot," Samantha replied, rolling her eyes at him again when he started to complain about girls and their PMS.

"We still haven't got anything to do," Charlie reminded the group.

"Quidditch?" Claudia suggested again.

"As much as I love Quidditch, no," Charlie said, shaking his head.

"Well that's a first," Arnold remarked.

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked, confused.

"Charlie's two loves are Quidditch," Claudia explained, "And Vivian."

"Hey!" Charlie frowned at her comment. Claudia rolled her eyes and smirked.

"He's had a secret crush on her since fifth year," she whispered to Hermione. "The only person who doesn't know about it is Vivian. She may be popular and all, but she doesn't date, and she avoids crushes like the plague," she giggled.

"I see," Hermione said.

"Well, we could always sneak off to Hogsmeade," Simon suggested.

"No, there's nothing more we could do there," Vivian said.

"Well what do you want to do then Viv? We've got nothing left," Simon exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air in frustration.

"Merlin, we're witches and wizards with access to magics of every kind, and we have nothing to do!" Arnold said. "How pathetic are we?"

"Not as pathetic as you mate," Charlie joked, earning a good punch in the arm.

"We could go and hang out in the Head's Common Room," Hermione suggested.

"Okay, it's settled then. Let's go," Charlie said. They began to climb the ever-moving staircases of Hogwarts all the way to the seventh floor, where Hermione led them to the portrait hanging in front of the entrance to the common room. It was the portrait of Sir Cadogan.

"Lady Hermione! How are you faring on such a fine day?" he boomed, nearly falling off his horse, and while attempting to regain his balance, the visor of his helm clanked shut, startling him and ultimately causing him to fall off his horse. Everyone laughed at this, and Hermione said the password. They climbed inside and sat down around the fire.

"You know, I could get used to this," Arnold said, putting his feet up onto the table in the middle of the sitting area.

"Well don't, you can't all come in here all the time. It'll annoy my head counterpart," Hermione said, rolling her eyes.

"How's it going then? Living with the Ice Man? Everything's been good so far?" Vivian asked from her place near the fire.

"It's been fine. We don't really see much of each other in here; most of our encounters happen when there are other people around," Hermione explained, "So it's not really that bad."

"I see. Well, you should be proud of yourself," Vivian said.

"What do you mean?" Hermione was confused.

"He's never talked to anyone unless he absolutely needed to. And here you are, getting him to talk to you like we do," Vivian explained. "He isn't what you would call a social butterfly."

"Oh," Hermione said. "You mean he's never talked to anyone before?"

"Well, he sometimes talks to some students," Vivian explained. "Of course, the only reason for that would be to give a nice ice-covered comment or to tell them to bugger off. Of course, he talks to the teachers too."

"A bloody kiss arse if you ask me," Arnold commented, snorting slightly.

"No one did ask you," Charlie retorted with a smirk, earning him another punch from the red head. "You know, you've got to stop doing that," he said, punching Arnold back.

"I suppose you're going to stop me?" Arnold challenged.

"Yeah," Charlie answered, tackling him to the ground. They wrestled around on the floor for a while, with the group laughing and cheering. Hermione laughed along with them as Charlie put Arnold in a headlock, and was then suddenly reminded of the day on the train, when Harry and Ron were wrestling over the Bertie Botts. She was then overcome with a strong wave of homesickness, almost bringing her to tears.

I wish I was back in 1997. She thought with a sigh. But then again, I've found wonderful friends here in the past. Things are good for me here. At least in this time, Lord Voldemort hasn't started terrorizing the wizarding world yet. Maybe staying in this time would be better for me. She thought. But what about Harry and Ron? You're abandoning everybody in 1997 for your own selfish reasons. The voice in the back of her head argued. But –

"What's going on here?"

The room went silent as the Head boy entered the common room. Charlie and Arnold had stopped wrestling on the floor, and the girls had stopped laughing. Everyone stared at Tom, unsure of what to do or say.

"Can I have a word with you Granger?" he asked, giving Hermione a hard stare. "Alone?" he added, glaring at the rest of the gang with an equally hard stare. They snapped out of their stupor and quickly scrambled to get out.

"See you later Hermione," Claudia muttered.

"Yeah see you," Arnold mumbled as he walked past her.

"Bye guys," Hermione said. When they were all gone and the portrait shut, Tom rounded on Hermione.

"What do you think you're doing?" he snapped.

"I was hanging out with my friends. Is that a problem?" Hermione asked.

"Yes it is. You can't just go using our common room as a party hall!" Tom exclaimed.

"We weren't having a party. We were just talking and having a good time, something you obviously don't know how to do," Hermione retorted with a huff. Tom ignored her comment and said,

"I don't want those animals to trash my common room."

"Didn't you just say earlier that it was our common room? So I can do whatever I want in here," Hermione argued.

"Not this! You didn't even ask me about it!" Tom said.

"I didn't know I had to!" Hermione countered.

"Well the next time you plan on hosting a party in here, don't," said Tom.

"Like I said, I wasn't having a party," Hermione said. Tom ignored her, and went to climb the stairs that lead to his dormitory. "Where are you going?" she asked.

"To get the ingredients for the potion," Tom said, not bothering to look back. Oh right. They were supposed to make the potion today. Hermione waited patiently for Tom, and helped him set up the cauldron once he returned with the ingredients.

After about a half hour of mixing, chopping, grinding, and stirring in silence, Tom said," I don't understand why we can't just use the spell on the food. It would save us all this time and labour."

"Using spells like that on food makes it taste artificial," Hermione stated, pouring the chopped billywig wings into the steaming cauldron. Tom looked at her with an unreadable expression. Hermione didn't notice until she looked up from stirring the potion. "What?" she asked.

"I'm impressed," Tom said.

"Wow. Do I get an award or something?" Hermione joked. Tom frowned, making Hermione roll her eyes. They worked in silence, before Tom asked,

"Who killed your parents?"

"A really evil wizard," Hermione said. She couldn't say Lord Voldemort, so she chose to remain vague.

"Grindelwald?" Tom asked.

"Doesn't matter who," Hermione dismissed. Silence fell over them once again, before Hermione spoke up. "What happened to your parents?" she asked. Tom didn't answer for a moment, a hard look in his eyes.

"My father was murdered, my mother, of natural causes," he said simply.

"I'm sorry," Hermione said solemnly.

"It happened a long time ago," Tom said. "I can barely remember it now."

"Who murdered your father?" Hermione asked, even though she already knew the answer. He was the one who did it, in a cold, heartless act. Of course, he would never reveal that to her, and so she was expecting a lie.

"They never found out," Tom lied, just as Hermione had anticipated.

"I see. I guess we've both lost something then, haven't we?" Hermione said. Tom stared out the window silently for a long time.

"Yes," he agreed. "We have."

----------

They spent the rest of the day working on the potion, making four batches by the end of the day, bottling them all up afterward. Tom had left them out on the table for the house-elves to pick up later that night.

"Well, good night Tom," Hermione said, climbing the stairs to her dormitory to get some sleep.

"Good night Granger," She heard Tom call before he too went up his stairs to his dormitory.

Still on with the last name. She thought with a sigh. She would work on getting him to call her by her first name, but some other day. Right now, she was too tired to think about anything, and fell asleep contently. Everything seemed to be alright.

For now.

A/N: Well, I hope that was long enough for all of you! Please don't forget to leave a review, I take compliments, critique, compliments, suggestions, compliments, and opinions. Just kidding. Well not about the reviewing part. I still want you to do that. Thanks for reading!

With love,
Elle Cee