DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. I write merely for entertainment purposes.

Summary:Hermione Granger takes a nap and when she awakens, things aren't exactly as she left them.


Merlin Pants, Help Me!

Chapter II


Salazar's gaze studied the young woman's limp form; his brows were drawn together in a frown. The woman had suffered from an extreme painful curse so her current condition did not faze him in the least. Not many could withstand the curse and look like nothing had happened. Taking a deep breath, he scanned the room to look for anything that she could possibly own but found nothing. He had thought her to be some traveller but the lack of belongings suggested otherwise.

Shrugging, he stared now at the man's dead body. He wasn't supposed to kill him but seeing him standing there, the cruciatus curse cast upon an innocent – especially a lady – it had erased any rational thought from his being and before he realized, the killing curse had escaped from his lips.

There was nothing he could do now. Whatever business Gryffindor had with the man was also none of his concern. His head snapped towards the young woman once more and he noticed the clothes underneath the dark cloak. He had never seen such attires before; they seemed to be rather revealing and completely abhorrent.

He stood up and stopped before the witches' wand. He picked it up and ran his fingers softly through the fine quality of the wand's wood. He hid it in his waist holster and then he walked back to the young woman. There was a big mystery surrounding her and he couldn't help but to feel that she was nothing but a big puzzle; one that he needed to solve.

Taking his wand out, he aimed it at her and watched as she slowly returned to her senses.

Her eyes fluttered open rather slowly; she looked confused at first as though she had no idea where she was. Recognition lit her face and she sat abruptly, looking first at the dead man lying on the floor and then at him.

This man had just introduced himself as Salazar Slytherin! Now she knew that she had truly become mad. Maybe she was in a coma back at St. Mungus Hospital and was dreaming all this.

Noticing her panicking state, Salazar cleared his throat, having her full attention now. He then attempted a few languages and watched as she still looked scared and completely clueless. Well this was beyond frustrating! He furrowed his brows and attempted Latin.

"Where do you hail from, milady?"

At the sound of Latin, Hermione's eyes brightened and she quickly opened her mouth to speak but quickly closed it. If this man truly was Salazar Slytherin then even if he just had saved her life it meant that he couldn't be trusted. She didn't know much about the founders as there wasn't a lot of history written about them. She had searched and searched but the Hogwarts founders remained a big mystery even in her time. And all the tales revolving around Salazar Slytherin weren't exactly in his favour.

However, if he truly was who he said then he could well be her only chance to get home.

Swallowing hard, she decided to risk it, "I'm from England." She replied as she realized he had been waiting for a reply, "Hogwarts…" she ventured carefully studying his expression.

The man before her quickly stiffened and his eyes darkened slightly. His lips pressed into a thin line as though he was restraining himself from questioning her further.

Who was this woman? She claimed to be from England and yet she did not speak the common language. As Hogwarts left her lips, he knew that he could not leave her behind. He quickly decided that she was to go with him.

"You know of Hogwarts? May I ask how?" he questioned her, attempting to sound calm.

Hermione could see that he was impatient though and wondered if she had done the right thing. It was too late now. There was nothing she could do now. She took a deep breath and looked straight at him, trying to show that she was not scared. It was only then that a small thought nagged at the back of her mind, where's my wand? WHERE'S MY WAND!?

Completely aware that she was defenseless, it was hard to keep her gaze and she looked away, "I c-can't tell you. Please… I need to go to Hogwarts."

She couldn't tell him? He almost laughed at how the entire situation was completely ridiculous. But he would not pressure her for answers. Not yet. He could take her to Hogwarts, but he wouldn't be heading there for a while. Clenching his jaw, he found himself nodding.

"I will take you, Lady Granger." He replied and watched as she looked completely surprised at his words.

Did she seriously think that he would leave her here, all by herself? A young witch that claimed to be from the same place as he but did not speak the language… and she knew about Hogwarts too. He looked at her again; did she perhaps recognize his name?

She nodded slowly and then as she stood to her feet, she stared at him almost demandingly. He arched a brow in question, wondering what was it that she had to say.

"I would like my wand back, if you please."

His lips curved upwards into a smirk, "I think not, milady. These are dangerous times after all." He then opened the door and looked at her, "We have a long journey ahead of us."

Hermione frowned deeply. She understood that he was not relenting on giving her wand back but she didn't know what he meant with dangerous times. Was there a war going on? She suddenly shivered, perhaps a dark wizard? She had read that there had been plenty of dark wizards throughout the ages.

As she walked out the door, she looked over her shoulder to glance at the dead man. It was obvious to her now that Salazar had been after the man that had attacked her. Just who was that man? Even though question after question seemed to invade her mind, she dared not ask.

She would leave all the questioning once she was in Hogwarts. For now, she needed to focus on getting her wand back. She loathed being separated from it.


Salazar took a deep long breath and looked around him, feeling completely at home. It was getting dark but he didn't fear what might be out there. He moved with sheer confidence, with the steady gait of a man used to being out in the wilderness and covering a large territory fast. He stopped for a second and looked over his shoulder, looking as she clumsy followed him. He could hear her brisk breathing and noticed how her pale cheeks were red with the effort. They had to be walking for a while now and he was quite impressed that she lasted this long without a word of complaint.

"We shall rest here." He said as she came to stop next to him. He watched as a look of relief washed over her features.

Hermione nodded slowly and wrapped her cloak around her as she sat down, leaning her back against the trunk of a tree. She watched as he seemed to settle down some worn out brown bag and sat next to it. Her legs were aching as she had never hiked for this long, not even when she went backpacking with her parents last year.

She had been expecting him to throw question after question as they walked but he had been completely quiet. She could tell that he had been in deep thought and she hoped he hadn't been thinking anything shady. All she wanted was to get to Hogwarts as soon as possible. Looking back at him, she noticed that he had his eyes closed and only then she allowed herself to relax a little.

She found herself wondering just how old was he? He seemed to be on his twenties; his blond hair was in serious need of washing. He looked handsome too. That actually upset her; she had always imagined Salazar Slytherin to be a bitter old man, with long white hair and beard. Now here she was, accompanied by the Slytherin founder himself and he had nothing but been kind enough to her.

The silence between them was actually comforting. She preferred it this way other than having him prying into where she was from, how she came to be here. Knowledge of the future was something scary and have it in the wrong hands could lead to terrible consequences.

"You should sleep. In a few hours we will resume our walking." His voice startled her as she was not expecting him to be awake still.

She snorted and closed her eyes. She knew she wouldn't be able to sleep. There was too much to think about, so many questions unanswered. It was driving her insane.

Why did the room of requirements sent her here of all places? What kind of magic was it to be able to send her this far back in time? Opening her eyes, she huffed impatiently and resumed her staring back at the intriguing man. What was he doing here? Shouldn't he be at Hogwarts? Had he been after that man and why?

After what seemed to be an eternity she wondered if he was actually asleep. She bit her lower lip as the temptation of reaching for her wand was too strong at the moment. She needed it back, desperately so.

Hermione swallowed hard and quietly stood up. She stood still, holding her breath. It crossed her mind that he might be faking sleep but then again why would he? Surely, he needed his rest if they were to continue walking. Biting her lower lip, she stalked forward and tiptoed her way towards the blond-haired man. She could see her wand at his waist holster as his cloak was open, revealing his white tunic.

I can't believe I'm doing this, she thought as her heart threatened to jump from her throat.

She came to rest besides him, shaking as she crouched down. She frowned and then nodded quietly; reassuring herself that she could do this. After all, the only thing she needed to do was to reach out for the wand and carefully remove it from his leather holster. Holding her breath, she stretched her arm – a cold sensation travelled up and down her spine when her fingertips brushed against the familiar piece of wood.

Then, her entire being stiffened when the tip of a wand was poking her throat, "Let go." His voice was above a whisper but she did not miss the hint of the threat that his words carried.

She slowly let go of her own wand and stepped backwards, losing her balance and falling down on her behind. She glared at him when his lips curved into a smirk, his eyes were glinting with amusement as he stared back at her.

"I will give you your wand back when I find that I can trust you." He told her, readjusting her wand in his holster and arched a challenging brow, daring her to contradict him.

Her glare only hardened, "It's my wand! You have no right to keep it." She retorted, her voice betraying her and showing just how frustrated she was from being separated from it. She felt naked and defenseless and if this man really claimed to be Salazar Slytherin then all the more reason to have her wand in case he tried anything.

He snorted and looked at her, "I have no reasons to trust you, little girl." He spoke and she blinked as she stared right back at him, "You claim to be from Hogwarts, yet I have never seen your face. You do not speak the common tongue and you dress… extremely strange for a woman. If you wish me to take you with me then you will stay still, obey everything I say and I might just take you to Hogwarts."

She snorted right back at him. Obey everything he says? Ah! That must be the joke of the year. If Salazar… well if he is who he says he is, then there was no way that she was obeying him. According to history, Salazar Slytherin despised muggles and was clearly a psychopath. Who would on his right mind keep a monster in their school to eradicate muggle-borns?

Standing up, she marched back to her tree and sat back down with her arms crossed around her chest.

"You can glare all you want. In a few hours we will be leaving again and I won't be waiting for you to catch up." He told her, surprising her with his soft tone.

She blinked and took a deep breath. Right now, it didn't matter if he was Salazar Slytherin or not. What mattered was that he saved her life and despite not trusting her, he seemed to be taking her to Hogwarts.

Biting down on her lower lip, Hermione found herself closing her eyes. For now, she had no choice but to place just a little bit of trust in him.

It didn't feel like she slept much. In fact she felt like she only managed to sleep for five minutes. Her feet were aching and her head felt like it was wrapped in a plastic bag. With a groan, she watched as he walked confidently a few feet ahead from her. It was as if he knew the way through these woods like the palm of his hand.

They had been walking for hours or at least it seemed like it. She couldn't really tell. She had to fight the urge to ask him where they were going or how long it would take for the next break. She felt tired beyond limits and it was only her pride that kept her from throwing herself onto the ground and throw a tantrum.

With a groan, Hermione realized that she needed the loo quite desperately. She bit her lip and looked around, "Uhm… excuse me?" she called out and watched as the man stopped and turned around to face her; a curious expression plastered all over his face, "I need to go?" she told him.

He frowned as he looked at her, "Go where?" he asked and then he finally noticed her discomfort. She was pressing her legs together and clutching to her belly and understanding came to him at once, "Okay, I'll wait." He said simply and watched her go quite a distance. He snorted at this, did she think he would go and spy on her?

Hermione kept walking until she felt like she was safe from being seen. As she hid behind a bush, she couldn't quite shake the awkward feeling that Salazar Slytherin knew what she was up to. Growling and feeling completely miserable, she squatted down and tried to pee as slowly and soundless as possible.

When she made her way back to him, she spotted him leaning against a tree with his arms crossed waiting for her. Her cheeks reddened and she cursed inwardly as he shot her a smirk.

"Don't tell me that was the first time in the wilderness?" he asked. He thought her to be quite strange. Most women were used to this, unless she was some princess that he was not aware of.

She threw him an irritated glance and walked past him, holding her head high and was resolute on ignoring him.


As the two of them left the tall trees behind him, Hermione's eyes widened. Civilization at last! The sun was already setting and she thanked Merlin that she didn't have to spend the night in the woods with him. She shot him a sideway glance and noticed that he did look somewhat weary. Humpf. So he was not all tough after all.

During their walk together, she had been surprised to find that he did not bomb her with questions as to where she really came from or who she truly was. He simply walked in absolute silence, his gaze always locked ahead as though he was lost in thought and it was his feet that carried him automatically.

She found herself growing extremely curious about him. What were the odds of going back in time and finding herself together with Salazar Slytherin himself? She knew that even though he had been nothing but nice to her, he was dangerous.

Sure, he had saved her life back at the inn but he had taken a man's life doing so.

Snapping back to reality, Hermione looked ahead and stared at the tall woodened gates that protected the city away from her curious eyes. She spotted a man clad in dirty clothes, a tall spear in his hand and she figured that he was a guard of some sorts. A gatekeeper, perhaps?

She heard Salazar and the man exchange words but she could not understand anything at all. The gatekeeper shot Hermione a curious look and she felt naked under his stare forcing her to wrap her cloak around her.

As the gates opened before her, Salazar eyed her and found the young woman staring in awe at her surroundings making him frown slightly. Everything seemed to be incredibly new to her. She seemed surprised at the buildings, at the women around them, eyeing their dresses in sheer wonder.

Then he blinked when she gagged and covered her nose with her fingers. Yes, muggle cities absolutely stank. Watching her closely, he assumed she was a high noble pureblood witch that had never been out of her village before. Was she lost? Had she left her village in order to go to Hogwarts? He shook his head, even if it was the case, it didn't explain her odd clothing or the lack of knowledge of the common tongue. Latin was widely known amongst wizards and witches but it was a language that was not used nowadays.

They soon arrived to what seemed to be some sort of inn.

Salazar waited for Hermione to catch up and then looked at the fat man behind the counter, "One room, have a maidservant prepare us a bath and…" he shot Hermione's clothing a look and then looked back at the man, "Bring her one of your best dresses and shoes."

Taking the single key from the man, Salazar began climbing the stairs and Hermione was quickly on his tail.

"Where are we?" she asked, speaking for the first time in hours.

"It doesn't matter where we are." He replied as he came to stand before a door, opening it and waiting for her to walk inside.

She eyed him suspiciously and he only smirked at her, "I'm not sharing a room with you." She said and shot him a half-glare.

He arched a brow, "Oh? Then you can pay for your own room." He said and walked inside, closing the door on her face.

Hermione could only gape at the closed door.