Sonata
Exposition
Hermione sighed deeply to herself while attempting to count sheep.
'It's really not as easy as they make it out to be' Hermione thought to herself, struggling to imagine the somewhat dirty, soft, white fleece of a lamb right before a shearing. Just imagining the sheep was okay, but then to see them jumping or prancing, especially over objects like a fence, became a lot more difficult. Frustrated at not being able to do something so easy, Hermione sighed deeply again before shifting uncomfortably in her bed.
It was not extremely late, or extremely early, but most of the students were already asleep. Being a head of the seventh year at Hogwarts, Hermione had her own dormitories to share with the Head Boy, Draco Malfoy. It wasn't making itself out to be much of a problem, however, as thankfully he had been out of the picture throughout so far of this year. Which, realistically, she thought to herself, wasn't that far.
'Only a few weeks' Hermione thought to herself again, before pushing back the blankets and sitting up in bed. Stretching like a cat from being in a single position for too long, Hermione got out of bed.
Looking around her rather vacantly, Hermione considered her predicament. She normally read a book until she fell sleepy, but she was without books. 'Stupid third years' Hermione sighed, remembering the severe damage that had accidentally befallen the library. They told the students it would take at least a few weeks to fix, leaving Hermione without any new books to exploit and without any new knowledge to obtain.
"Well I do not want to stay awake all night" Hermione proclaimed softly to herself, before putting on her school robes over her pajamas (cotton shorts and a tight tank top), and pushing open her bedroom door. Stepping as softly as she could on the carpet that stood outside her and Malfoy's bedrooms, she turned and approached the portrait that stood as the entrance to their dormitories.
"Come on Clearance, please let me pass" Hermione pleaded quietly to the creaking portrait of a small girl sitting on an old and rusted swing. Silent and frowning slightly, the girl just stared at Hermione until the portrait door swung open.
"Thanks, Clearance" Hermione said brightly, grinning widely in the girls' direction as she bounded off quietly down the hallway. Inwardly smiling to herself, Hermione toke a few minutes just to take in the silent hallways and dim lights that could be seen through the bottom of a handful of doors.
Feeling relatively loose, Hermione started wandering around the school, quickly scanning hallways before she went down them and listening over-consciously to every noise around her. Upon hearing even the slightest tap she quickly and quietly rushed to a crevice in the hall or to the shadow just behind an unmoving man of armor.
'This really isn't as hard as Harry and Ron make it out to be' Hermione thought to herself, recalling the boys' wild exclamations of the terrors of being out of bed. Snape, Filch, Mrs. Norris, they said, were only a handful of the difficulties.
'But then' Hermione continued to think to herself, 'they do have horrible luck.' Still wandering aimlessly, she soon wound up in front of the library.
Staring forlornly at the charred and locked front door, Hermione just stood there for awhile. Her ears already so acute due to the prolonged silence, however, she began to hear the slightest creak of a chair, the rustle of a turned book, and the swish of someone's school robes hitting the side of a bookshelf. Reminding herself of the presence of ghost's at Hogwarts, she cautiously stepped forward.
Surprisingly, however, she stepped back again as she found the burnt door already open, hanging on the axis of the pivot points at its side. 'Someone's already here?' she thought to herself, before reminding herself of her position. 'You are a Head of the school, it is your job to prevent scandalous things like this. Go in and confront the person' Hermione scowled to herself, as she stepped forward.
Experiencing a little difficulty getting past the door, Hermione scrambled up after tripping on the doorway and creating a crash. 'Way to be subtle' she thought to herself with an ironic tone, quickly standing erectly due to embarrassment and brushing off any pieces of wood or dust that had collected themselves on her being. Discovering a painful slash located just below her knee, however, she swore loudly before hopping forward. Finding a chair she sat down and began examining her wound.
"What an extraordinary entrance" a sarcastically clear male voice said from behind her, followed with a small and mocking round of applause.
"I do try" Hermione responded acidly, before wiping down the ash covering her wound with the sleeve of her school robes. Finding it sufficiently wiped, Hermione whipped out her wand. Muttering a spell, water soon appeared from the tip of her wand which she used to further clean the cut. Ripping the hem of her robes off in a rather symmetrical strip, she used it to tie around her cut so no more of the red and swollen flesh was visible.
Keeping her wand out in her right hand, Hermione slowly stood up and turned around to face the boy. Slightly startled, but remaining expressionless, Hermione found a very good-looking boy about her age with fashionably longer dark brown hair and very shallow, pale-looking skin. Upon finding the wearer in Slytherin robes and carrying an obvious arrogant attitude, however, she frowned. The boy proceeded to smirk.
"What?" Hermione asked irritably, dusting off her shoulders to remove the rest of the ash present there. Still frowning, Hermione gazed down on the boy with a hard stare.
"Humph." At this, the boy's smirk disappeared only to be replaced with a frown similar to the one on Hermione's lips. Eyes narrowing, the boy proceeded to stare at Hermione viciously.
'What did I do?' Hermione asked herself with a bemused expression, before angrily turning to stare at the boy just as ferociously. Narrowing her eyes, her pupils growing hard, she put her hands on her hips in a somewhat territorial fashion.
Finding a challenge, however, the boy seemed to find it not worth his time. Obtaining a once-again expression-less face, he turned around. Losing her expression and her stance as well, Hermione pouted slightly before trailing after the boy.
Walking through the bookshelves in a very systematic way, Hermione could tell at once that this is where the boy spent most of his time. 'So why haven't I seen him before?' Hermione asked herself, before abruptly stopping as the boy suddenly turned around.
Carrying an irritated expression, the boy looked at her despicably before saying, "Do you mind?"
"Not at all" Hermione said smirking in an almost Malfoy-like way. 'Honestly' she thought to herself, 'why should someone who is as rude and stuck-up as he is receive any respect?' It was almost like being nice to Malfoy; not even considered. And it really didn't help that he was a Slytherin.
Still carrying an annoyed expression, the boy turned around and walked a few paces before turning to face Hermione again. Hermione simply proceeded to walk those simple steps until she was standing by him. Clearly upset now, the boy toke out his wand with a steady and practiced movement.
"I warn you, I am more than exceptional" the boy said precisely and nastily towards Hermione, before engaging in a duel position. 'Someone's mad' Hermione thought to herself, before holding out her wand in front of her and considering her predicament. She was also considered above exceptional at dueling, she thought to herself, recalling second year when everyone was forced to duel because of Lockhart. A challenge would be most refreshing. She was, however, a Head and should follow in that example. Choices, choices, she continued to think, furrowing her eyebrows in thought.
"Relashio!" the boy shouted, breaking Hermione of her thoughts. Hearing the sound of fallen books and instinctively dodging to the side, Hermione shouted out the first spell that came to her head.
"Impedimenta!" Hermione yelled from her position crouched on the floor. Also dashing slightly to the side so that the spell hit a pile of books, the boy shouted back another curse.
"Stupefy!" the boy shouted, darting forward with the movement of his wand.
"Protego!" Hermione shouted in the nick of time as the stunning spell was repelled due to her shield. "Expelliarmus!" she shouted again, gesturing with her wand at the boy's one, which was still pointing out at her somewhat awkwardly, but in the process of a swish.
Instantly his wand found its way towards her hand. Inwardly smiling, Hermione gratefully thought back to the training she endured in Dumbledore's Army and the Order of the Phoenix. Obviously angry, the boy growled while stepping back cautiously. "Stupefy!" Hermione shouted at his retreating frame. Narrowly missing the spell, the boy quickly turned around and toke off at a run.
"Argh, get back here!" Hermione shouted at the boy's back. He was out of bed after hours, in a restricted area that was undergoing construction, he attacked a head of the school, and he was a Slytherin. 'There can be only too many strikes against him before something bad happens' Hermione thought, taking off after the boy and trailing him as he made his way through the labyrinth of bookcases.
Creeping up to the crouching boy, Hermione's attention was suddenly drawn to a lantern that could be seen from the door of the library and a series of voices that made their way into the room.
"I swears, I hear'd 'em shoutin' an' causin' up a ruckus" a guy said from the door whose voice was unrecognizable to Hermione.
"That's alright" a strong sounding voice said, before footsteps started to approach. Turning around towards the boy, Hermione could see him giving her a calculating look. Eyes narrowing in concentration, she found what he was figuring. She had his wand, but he was closer to escape.
'Stupid games' Hermione thought, before silently approaching the boy. Upon reaching him, she grabbed a hold of his sleeve and started dragging him towards a secret passageway she had discovered Crookshakes escaping to during third year to catch mice.
Pushing open an indent in the wall, visible only extremely up close due to a slight peeling in wallpaper, a crawlspace opened up. 'Never thought I would actually have to use it' Hermione thought to herself as she crawled in the small hole first. Crawling forward as unconsciously as possible, Hermione had to remind herself not to feel claustrophobic. Extremely dusty, she reached the end of it and pushed open a vent that clattered nosily onto the floor. Standing up, she turned around and offered a hand to the boy.
Taking it reluctantly, the two toke the next few minutes to rid themselves of dust with the use of spells and a great measure of sweeping. Adequately swept off, Hermione looked around the room. Sighing, she found herself in a space extremely small and containing a number of brooms, mops, and household cleaning products. 'Great. A closet" Hermione thought to herself sarcastically, before reaching the door. Putting her ear to it and hearing nothing, she proceeded to open the door slightly to look out.
Seeing nothing, she led the boy back to the Head dormitories. Technically this wasn't allowed, but even just outside of the dorms she would have some excuse for being there. Reaching the familiar portrait of the small girl on the creaking and run down swing, Hermione let out a large sigh of relief, before sliding down the wall.
The boy similarly slide down the opposite wall, and started staring at Hermione suspiciously. Thoroughly irritated at the lack of gratitude, Hermione spit out, "I'll give you your bloody wand back. Be patient, please." After this proclamation, Hermione closed her eyes for a few minutes, before looking back at the boy.
"First, however, I have a few questions" Hermione said, holding her head up a little higher in hopes of appearing to have more authority.
"As do I" the boy responded arrogantly, his head tilted upward in the same fashion as Hermione's.
"What were you…?"
Both started at the same time, only to stop and look at each other.
"How did you…?"
"Go on" Hermione said, slightly curious towards what a student had to ask one of the Head's of the school. 'Seriously' she thought to herself, 'as if he should have more authority and more right to be out of bed than I had'. 'Which wasn't much of a right' she reminded herself, slightly ashamed for being careless enough to make that much noise.
Still staring at her in a calculating and cold manner, the boy proceeded to cough slightly to get her attention. Upon receiving Hermione's gaze, he continued to say, "Could you please explain to me how you know the location of the Heads' dormitories?" he asked her through narrowed eyes and a suspicious gaze.
Jutting her chin out stubbornly, Hermione responded, "I should think that would be obvious. I am one of the Head's of the school."
Upon hearing this, however, the boy just laughed cruelly. "What a joke" he said, now smirking menacingly before continuing. "Not so funny, however. I am a Head of the school, and do not much care for your disrespect." With this the boy sat up straighter and crossed his arms possessively.
"Well, do not forget I am the one with your wand" Hermione said acidly, before reaching into the pocket of her robes. Upon finding her Head's badge, she threw it in the boys' direction. After he caught it, she continued with, "Do you think I wear and carry that thing around for a fashion statement? I was instated Head by Professor Dumbledore."
Examining it thoroughly, the boy tossed the badge back roughly before giving Hermione a disgruntled look. Reaching into his own pocket he grabbed something and threw it in her direction. Catching it, Hermione was surprised to see a Slytherin Head badge that could have been identical to the one Malfoy wore snobbily on his chest as he paraded around the school. Giving the boy a disgruntled look of her own, she threw back the badge.
"New questions" she announced, before beginning an inquisition of sorts. "I would imagine you are in your seventh year by your position, but I have never seen you before" Hermione said curiously, intrigue obviously showing on her face. "What year is it?" she asked with a slight tilt present on her head.
"1950" the boy responded just as curiously, but dangerously too. "My turn" the boy said with a slight nod in her direction, before saying, "So what year are you from?"
"1999" Hermione said with a confused expression on her face, her eyebrows furrowed and a frown dominating her features. "Oh, it's too early in the morning to think about this thoroughly" she said, before pulling her knees up to her chest and burrowing her head in her knees after giving out a large yawn.
"You're from the future?" the boy asked with definite intrigue present on his face. With a slight sparkle in his eyes he leaned forward from his position on the floor.
"It would seem so" she said wearily, rubbing her closed eyes with her hands. Standing up, she walked away from the dormitories.
"Wait! Where do you think you are going?" the boy asked imperviously, before bounding off after Hermione. Walking down the hallway, Hermione was calculating. 'Dumbledore wasn't Headmaster this long ago' she thought, 'he was Transfiguration teacher. So I should go to McGonagall's office."
Following down the familiar path that led towards the Transfiguration classroom and Dumbledore's office, Hermione sub-consciously started making plans. 'Head boy, 1950, hm. This was close to the Basilisk attack, which means the boy beside me could be the soon-to-be Voldemort. He was definitely conceited enough to be him. What did Harry say his name was? Tom Marvolo Riddle. That's the one. But he knows I am from the future; if he is already becoming Voldemort this could prove to be problematic. I need help from Dumbledore to find out how I got back in time, how I could go back, and how I will manage in the meantime…'
Ending there Hermione abruptly found herself knocking on the door of Dumbledore's office. The large oak doors resonated strongly with the noise, and Hermione suddenly felt a burst of nervousness.
The door was opened a second later by a very red-headed and much younger looking Dumbledore, decidedly springy considering the time of day, who was peering at them from glasses that were shakily balanced at the tip of his nose. The image put out her nervousness.
"Tom? And who is this lovely young lady?" Dumbledore asked cheerfully, his brows furrowed in puzzlement as he opened the door more widely. Boldly walking in, Hermione could see few differences between his office and McGonagall's; except, perhaps, for different arrangements in books and a far greater amount of objects of curiosity.
Turning back around, Hermione bowed slightly before bursting out with a, "Please, I need your help Professor Dumbledore!"
"I can see that" Dumbledore responded, before taking a deep breath, turning around, and sitting down at his desk. Hermione sat down at one of the chairs on the other side of the desk, and Tom at the chair besides hers.
"So why are you here?" Dumbledore asked curiously, staring down at the students with that concentrated twinkled gaze of his.
"Apparently" Tom said, immediately taking charge of the situation, "this girl is from the future. Year 1999 to be approximate. That obviously presents her with some problems." Smirking somewhat smugly, Tom turned towards Hermione curiously.
"And what is your name, young lady?" Dumbledore asked, gesturing at her softly.
"Hermione Granger" Hermione responded, smiling fondly at her teacher, before turning to Tom. "Someone not to be taken lightly" she proceeded to say spitefully in Tom's direction while taking out Tom's wand from her pocket and laying it on Dumbledore's desk.
"I suspect then, that it was you two who led such a ruckus in the library?" Dumbledore continued cheerfully, smiling broadly in Hermione's direction.
"Apologies Professor" Hermione said humbly, bowing her head slightly in Dumbledore's direction.
"No worries, Ms. Granger. I'm just glad Tom didn't give you too much damage; I must warn you, he was obviously holding himself back" Dumbledore said, his smile fading softly as he gazed strongly in Hermione's direction confidentially.
"Trust me, no one needs to inform me of the capabilities of Tom Marvolo Riddle" Hermione said, before gazing at Tom with a hard expression on her face.
"Lovely then!" Dumbledore said, once again smiling broadly. "So how did you come about to be in the past?" he continued to ask, gesturing softly at her again.
"Third years had done similar damage to the library in our time. I couldn't sleep so started randomly wandering throughout the hallways in hopes of getting tired. Winding up in front of the library, however, I heard a noise coming from inside, so went inside to investigate only to find Tom" Hermione said, biting her lip with a slight amount of shame.
"No need to be ashamed, Ms. Granger. I often find myself pacing through the hallways in attempts to sleep as well. So you say your library was similarly damaged?" Dumbledore asked kindly, folding his fingers together and resting them underneath his chin.
"Almost exactly, sir" Hermione said eagerly and intently. Inside her brain was ticking fast. 'So the library was damaged twice in almost exactly the same way. That must have been the portal between the times. How would I get back, though? And say the remodeling was finished at the same time in both periods. If I didn't get through before then would I be stuck in this time? Or would I have to wait until the remodeling was finished?' Hermione thought to herself, her brow furrowed in thought and her head slightly tilted to the side.
"And Tom says you were a Head in that time?" Dumbledore continued to ask, after gesturing appropriately at Tom.
"That is right sir" Hermione said distantly, still slightly lost in thought.
"Well I'm sure you'll give the situation some serious thought" Dumbledore said with a slight, boasting laugh in his voice. "In the meantime, however, you need a place to stay" he continued, before slowly turning and giving Tom a long look.
Tom seemed to have gotten his meaning. "I hope you are not insinuating that I…" he started to say in slight anguish before he was abruptly cut off by Dumbledore.
"That's exactly what I am insinuating, Tom" Dumbledore informed him, before turning towards Hermione with a reinstated smile on his face. "The current Head girl is not here at the moment due to an unfortunate case of dragon pox. As my future self seemed to trust you enough to place you as Head in the first place, I feel no wrong-doing in placing you as Head Girl here. Tom, however, as your finder, will be obligated to show you the ropes around the school."
"But sir, I already have plenty going on…" Tom attempted to say, before once again being cut off by Dumbledore.
"I'm sure you do Tom" Dumbledore said stately, but continued with, "this issue, however, is more pressing. I trust you to take good care of her. You are both dismissed." Starting to stand from his place at the desk, he was stopped by Hermione's voice.
"But, sir, where will I be from? Where will I get clothes?" Hermione continued to say, calmly but with a slight undercurrent of distraught.
"Very good questions Ms. Granger. Let's just say you are transferring from Beauxbaton's. Can you speak French?" Dumbledore asked Hermione, once again smiling.
"Yes" Hermione said smiling, before elaborating with, "My family owned a summer home in France where my grandparents are currently living. I have been vacationing down there every summer for a long time now."
"Excellent" Dumbledore said, before asking, "but you have an English accent because?"
Thinking quickly, Hermione lied by saying, "Because my father is English, and he toke it upon himself to tutor me privately. I went to Beauxbaton's, however, because that was my French mother's last wish before she died tragically when a spell backfired on her."
Smiling widely at himself, Dumbledore rose from his chair. "Well Tom will show you to the Dorm's" he said with a twinkle once again present in his eyes. "Your clothes will be provided for you."
Turning to the side, Dumbledore abruptly turned back around and said, "I see you are going to be a Gryffindor. Would you like the Sorting Hat to reconsider your position or would you rather stay where you are?"
"I would much rather remain a Gryffindor" Hermione said proudly, firmly instilled with house pride.
"Very well then. Just know that you have the option to change your mind at any period. Your schedule will be adjusted to Tom's, however, so you will have class with the Slytherin's" Dumbledore warned her.
"Fine" Hermione said confidently, before smiling broadly in Dumbledore's direction.
"Wonderful!" Dumbledore announced before continuing with, "Now if you don't mind, I need my sleep. A bit difficult to teach when you're snoring." After saying this he snorted softly, before ushering Tom and Hermione out of the room.
"Good Morning!" he said loudly, before closing the door behind him.
Somewhat disgruntled at the abruptness of their dismissal, Tom and Hermione slowly turned and stared at each other. Regaining his composition quickly, however, Tom toke charge of the situation.
"Well keep up" he said sharply, before turning around and taking long strides towards the Head dormitories. Rushing to keep pace with him, all the while cursing his long legs, Hermione managed to catch Tom just as he got to the portrait that marked the entrance to the dorms.
Reaching it Hermione toke two large gulps of air and bit down the pain that was pulsing from the cut beneath her knee, before turning towards the portrait. "Good morning, Clearance" Hermione said quietly while giving the small girl a soft smile. The girl simply proceeded to gaze at Hermione and Tom solemnly while slightly tilting her head to the side and tightening her grasp on the swing's chains.
Impatient, Tom roughly pushed Hermione aside to state, "Carpe Diem." Still staring at the pair solemnly, the girl with wide eyes slowly opened the portrait. Dragging Hermione inside by her sleeve he sat her down on the couch.
"Well it seems I am to be burdened with you despite my hectic schedule" Tom stated, crossing his arms in an annoyed manner and narrowing his eyes at Hermione. "So we should establish a number of rules for both of our sakes" Tom continued to say, still standing territorially.
"As a fellow Head I will be subject to all Head responsibilities" Hermione said, raising her chin proudly. She didn't expect instant respect from her peers, but she was willing to earn it.
"Right" Tom said somewhat sarcastically, before stating, "you don't touch my stuff, nor do you go in my bedroom."
"The same exists for my stuff and my room" Hermione said indignantly, before crossing her arms in a similar fashion.
"Very well" Tom said reluctantly. "What time do you normally wake up?" he asked Hermione decisively, his lip pursed slightly.
"Four. Why?" Hermione asked Tom curiously.
"We share the same bathroom, unfortunately" Tom informed her with a disgusted expression on his face. "I also, unfortunately, wake up at the same time. Who should use it first?" he asked, still obviously disgruntled.
"Wait, the same bathroom?" Hermione said, distinctly remembering Malfoy and her having separate bathrooms. Groaning loudly she said, "I normally take extremely quick showers, so if it wouldn't be too much trouble, I volunteer to go first."
"Fine" Tom said, before tiredly rubbing his eyes with one of his hands.
"I also propose we sleep in" Hermione said, looking at Tom's tired form and only feeling wearier.
"Tomorrow's a Saturday, I was planning to" Tom said acidly, before bringing his hand down from his face.
"Oh yeah, sorry" Hermione responded absentmindedly, slightly stretching and yawning hugely from the large couch.
"So, you probably know where the bedrooms are. I say let us deal with extra problems tomorrow" Tom said promptly, before abruptly turning around and heading for his bedroom.
"Good night" Hermione said quietly to Tom's back, smiling softly. Quickly turning around Tom's eyes grew a bit wider before he shook his head. Letting out a slight snort, he turned back around and responded with a very short sounding, "Night."
Quietly laughing to herself, Hermione followed Tom towards where the bedrooms were. Watching Tom's door close with a slightly loud thud, Hermione turned to the door opposite his in the small hallway and turned the door knob apprehensively.
Her apprehension, however, turned out to be useless. The room was exactly how she would have liked it, a large bed located to her left covered in deep red bed covers and an entire wall of bookcases located on her right. Directly ahead of her was a large dresser which she could tell already contained clothing. Sighing and smiling to herself, Hermione immediately turned off the light and felt her way to her bed. Pulling back the covers she thought over her situation.
Feeling frustrated at how much she was unsure of, however, Hermione thought back to that moment a few minutes ago where she smiled at Tom. 'Why did I?' she thought to herself. 'He's only proven to be a selfish, arrogant pig so far in this time, and later he proceeds to kill Harry's parents and create an army that destroys mass portions of life. He doesn't deserve it.'
Sighing to herself, Hermione let in a large breath of air before closing her eyes slowly and drifting away into a dreamless sleep.
