Her bottom smashed to the ground, and somewhere in the back of her head, she thanked whatever deity watching over her that she did not fall face first. She threw her hands to the back, quickly stopping her momentum and preventing herself from head-butting the floor.
Dizzy, and so incredibly confused, Hermione narrowed her eyes. Once everything became somewhat clear, she stood up. Her knuckles were white from the force of her clutching the feeble golden chain.
The first thing she registered was that it was still the same time of the day, the sun slowly setting. But instead of the coarse, stone floors of the courtyard, she found that she was standing in an expansive field of green grass. Shuffling her feet did not resound with the coarse scratch of the usual Hogwarts floors, but instead with a wistful shhhh of fresh greenery. She felt uncomfortable.
Slowly, she brought her hand up to eye level, and saw the pendant clearly for the first time. It had a small, but complicated structure, with multiple dials and spherical ribbons around the hourglass spinning too fast for her to count. The hourglass itself seemed unaffected, rotating ever so slowly in the middle. When it finally did a half turn, Hermione found the same crack as she had when she first found it, except now it was steadily pouring a very thin stream of bright, gold sand.
Hermione stared at the pendant for a short while, unseeing, before finally registering the sand falling on her hands. Gasping, and muttering a chain of curse words under her breath, Hermione plopped down on the grass, crossing her legs. She picked out a long blade of grass, breathing out a quiet apology to it, before carefully placing the pendant on her lap. When her fingers came close to the hourglass, the dials and ribbons sped up much faster than usual, before making a sudden halt. She pushed them to the side with her smallest finger, flinching when one of them squeaked loudly. She reached out to the hourglass, her face nothing but wary, and weaved the grass blade around the middle, tying a clean, neat ribbon. The bright green clashed horrible with the gold, but Hermione did not deem it time to worry.
She threw her head back and stretched herself out on the grass, the necklace still on her lap. For a few moments, she stared up at the clear sky.
Abruptly, her back stiffened, and she sat up, her eyes wide.
The sky was clear.
The sky was bloody clear.
The sky was bloody clear, and two minutes ago, when she stood in the courtyard, the sky was not clear.
No. It had been darker, greyer, with ominous, thin clouds and the remains of a morsmordre barely showing in the sunlight. But now, the sky was clear.
"Fuck."
Her heartbeat sped up, almost uneven, and her face reddened, and suddenly, something seemed to be bubbling out of her throat, and it lodged itself behind her tongue, and she did everything she could not to scream, to just stand up and cry for help, for anything, because she was not at Hogwarts.
She was in the middle of nowhere.
Panting, her shoulders rising up and down hurriedly, Hermione forced herself up. She angrily pushed away the lock of her hair in her eyes, and reached to her pocket for her wand.
She noticed, then, that it was not there.
She remembered, then, that it was on the floor when she had her… impromptu trip to the middle of fucking nowhere.
"Fuck."
Sighing, and forcing herself not to panic, Hermione looked around her surroundings. To her east was an expansive lake, the only noticeable landmark in the middle of the rolling hills. She started walking towards it, her steps hurried, then it slowly turned into a speedy march, before she broke into a full on sprint, her arms pumping and her hair frizzy and flying behind her head, and when she reached the lake, her lungs tired and her muscles cramped, she barely managed to stop before the edge of the water.
She threw herself to the ground, her knees under her, and her jeans tearing. She reached out for the water before abruptly stopping.
Her reflection was horrible. Her eyes were frantic, and there were huge black circles under them. Her cheeks were hollow, and her lips chapped and grey. Her hair was wild, more so than usual, and her hairband was nowhere to be seen.
Ignoring what she just saw, and pretending she never did lay eyes on her appearance, Hermione cupped her hands into the water and splashed it onto her face. The water was cool, and gave her a mini electric shock. She blinked her eyes open, feeling much more awake and much less distressed. Then, without warning, Hermione took a deep breath and dipped her entire head underwater.
It was suddenly quiet, and Hermione lowered her body to the ground so that she could move her face upwards. The lake was deep, much more than it appeared, but it gave off the vibe of being young. It had long, yellow lines of seaweed climbing upwards, as if scrabbling and fighting to get closer to the sun. She saw the faint outline of what looked like a thick snake-like thing slither around a rock and slide to the sand, before she ran out of breath and pulled her head up.
Her hair soaked, and much calmer than previously, Hermione grudgingly twisted it to rid of excess water before pulling it up into a messy bun. She straightened her legs before her, and leaned forward till her fingertips touched the edge of her worn boot. She held the position for a minute, feeling the muscles of her legs relaxing. She tried to hold it for a few more moments, but something distracted her.
In the distance, she saw a very hazy silhouette rushing into the fields. Quickly, it was followed by a similar one, sprinting ahead, laughter echoing faintly around them. A few seconds later, two more figures joined them, though they walked hand in hand and in very deliberate, graceful steps.
Her muscles were frozen, and she felt as if she could not move. The two figures which had preceded the others suddenly stopped, and started circling each other. The indistinct sounds of their argument echoed in the hills. Though it sounded heated and quick, it had a playful undertone to it. One figure from the latter two stepped ahead, and Hermione saw that it was a tall, slim woman, and the other was shorter and plump, and she laughed richly as her female friend berated the two others.
Suddenly, the laughing woman went quiet, and Hermione could swear she was looking at her, straight at her, and the three others turned too, and her heart was in her throat, in her bloody throat, and her hands fumbled clumsily in the grass, and her breath came out at last when she touched the cold metal, and without even thinking, Hermione ran, she ran as far as she could. She did not know how far or how fast or how much she ran but she did and the hills rolled into less steep roads and the grass became shorter, and then she clutched the necklace in her hand, and her surroundings all melted, blurred into nothing but white, and that same ache behind her chest returned, and her ears popped.
She landed on her bottom again, but the ground was hard. She touched it with her hand, there was no grass this time. But this time, they were lots of little pebbles, all fitted seemingly by hand, to be on the same level. Some were shiny, and some were dull. She looked up, and suddenly, a high pitched scream resounded, and it echoed everywhere, and Hermione noted that she was standing behind a small building so she was hidden, but then there were footsteps. Loud, hurried footsteps, and cheering, but of the malicious, evil kind. She barely even moved before quickly clutching the necklace.
She landed behind the same building, on the same floor, which looked more weathered and stepped-on. The building looked older, and behind it were piles of trash. There were footsteps, again, and Hermione wondered if this was a usually crowded place, and there were cheers again, but they were light-hearted and happy, and Hermione's heart fell, because she suddenly longed to be the same. She longed to cheer and shout in joy with her friends, and she clutched the necklace without noticing.
She landed in a puddle of mud, and it was raining. She was almost instantly soaked, and her teeth clattered. It was freezing, and the sky had started going darker. The building she'd seen twice before was still to her front, but it was half demolished, and three men were backing away from it, seemingly having finished their job and about to head home. One man still stood on its roof, and his eyes were suddenly drawn to Hermione. Having noted her sudden unexplained appearance, the man pointed to her and opened his mouth to shout something. Having realised her error, Hermione shushed him before clutching the necklace.
She landed on a hard ground. It was a smooth, sleet pavement. She cursed, before noting the new, wooden building to her front. There was a window in the back, and a soft yellow light glowed through. The silhouettes of people laughing and drinking moved around. She clutched the necklace.
Five more times she landed in the same spot, each time noting a change in the scenery. About to trigger another trip, Hermione readied herself for another landing on her back, but found that she did not move. She tried again, holding the necklace more firmly, but it did not budge. She cursed, then opened her hands, and found that neither the dials nor the spherical ribbons were moving. The necklace seemed to be intent on staying.
Deeming it a lost cause, Hermione found that she had to give credit to the necklace for being more stubborn than her. She stood up, her legs aching, and she stretched her arms into the air. The building was still wooden, but it now consisted of three floors, multiple windows and a backdoor. She noted that she was now surrounded by a high fence and patches of yellow grass. The sloping roof was covered in rectangular plates of wood, giving the impression that it was higher than it actually is.
With quick, measured steps, Hermione moved to the front of the building and into the street. It was crowded, bustling with people, who walked without mercy whatsoever, rushing in and out of doors and knocking her aside when she stood in the same place for too long. Many people glared at her, whispering amongst themselves while pointing at her. She glared at them back, pointedly keeping eye contact, before finally realizing that they were pointing at her clothes. She did not have her robes on, and her jumper was soaked, and her jeans torn and tattered. Suddenly, she felt extremely vulnerable.
A small stand by the edge of the street caught her attention, and she took rapid steps in its direction, uncaring of the people in the way. She bumped a few shoulders and deemed it as her own special type of karma.
A little boy stood with tertiary coloured clothes, and a dark olive green cap covering the left side of his face. He shouted in the direction of the speeding crowds, a rolled newspaper in his hands. Hermione stood in front of him, but he did not register her presence.
"Excuse me?" she said. Her throat was raw from lack of use. She coughed and tried again, "Hey!"
Still, the boy would not respond, ceaselessly shouting pointless things about the latest, most spiciest titles.
Narrowing her eyes, Hermione stepped closer and snatched the newspaper in the boy's hand. He gasped before narrowing his eyes at her in return.
"Listen, kid. You've got a potential customer here and you aren't giving me any attention."
Snorting, he grabbed the newspaper back from her, looking down his nose at her attire.
"Ye, like you got any money on you, ye? Ger'off m'face, you bloody ol' beggar."
Her eyes widened, and she gasped.
"Beggar my arse! My family could buy you, you rude, insolent boy. Give me that," she said, picking up one of the newspapers on the stand. The head said The Daily Prophet, and Hermione was surprised that it was being sold on the streets. Before she could look further, the boy had grabbed the newspaper from her clutch again.
"Pay upfront, bubs."
Sighing, Hermione waved her hand. "You're not even worth it."
The words had just barely come out of her mouth before he placed the newspapers back on the stand and resumed shouting.
She faced the building she'd seen earlier, and with some surprise, noted that it was the Three Broomsticks.
Pulling her sleeves up, Hermione ran back across the road, and as she approached the door, she reached out to push the handle. But instead of opening the door, Hermione crashed straight into a person walking outside, and promptly fell on her bottom. She shouted, and cursed.
"How many more times am I going to fall on my arse before you get tired of it?!" She screamed at the sky, throwing her hands into the air. She looked up at the person so obviously guilty of her demise, and scowled.
A group of young men in school robes towered over her. At the very front, one of the tallest figures seemed momentarily surprised, before sneering at her. His brown hair was messy, and his eyes distraught. His Ravenclaw blue tie was undone.
He and his companions quickly moved away, leaving her on the floor. Annoyed, and finding them to be extremely rude, Hermione stood up, patting at her clothes. Her bottom ached dully.
Pushing the door open, Hermione was greeted by the loud laughter of many students hanging around the tables. Affected by the horrible treatment she had received moments before, Hermione pushed through them, ignoring their protests, until she reached the bar. She plopped herself down on one of the tall, wooden stools, and promptly slammed her head on the table and stretched her arms in front of her. She sighed, tiredly, and shut her eyes.
She was woken a few minutes later by the worried tap tap tap on her elbow. She lifted her hair up, ignoring the locks of hair covering her eyes, before looking at the smiling woman in front of her.
"You alright, dear?"
The woman's red lips spread in a genuine smile, her white teeth perfectly aligned. Small wrinkles surrounded her green eyes. She ran a hand through her blonde, wavy hair, aligning it back to perfection.
Hermione found herself smiling despite herself; the woman seemed so delightful.
Shrugging, Hermione straightened up and grinned at the woman. "Sorry about that. It's been a long day."
Laughing, the blonde woman waved her hand towards Hermione. She picked up a bright red towel and started drying some bright, gleaming glasses. She leaned over the table towards Hermione.
"Rough apparition, eh?"
Hermione grimaced, and stopped herself from rolling her eyes. "You have no idea."
The woman exchanged a few words with a female student, before instantly filling four glasses with butterbeer and sliding them towards her. The girl skilfully caught them, before saluting the bartender and walking away.
"So what brings you here? Your accent doesn't sound like anyone's I've heard."
Raising her eyebrows, Hermione's mouth opened into a small 'o'.
"O-oh. No, I'm not. I've lived in a small British community in America for the past few years," she lied, making sure her body language doesn't give her away. She remained as relaxed as she could. What time was she in? Was the difference so big that the people's accents had actually changed?
The woman giggled, her eyes glancing at Hermione's hair momentarily. "I've never met anyone from America! They're so secluded nowadays, too, so I don't think we've got any around here. I'm Madam Rae, by the way. And you?"
Hermione's smile stiffened as she quickly thought. Giving her real name might cause some difficulties, because she still didn't know how far or how ahead she was. Her mind working quickly, Hermione stretched out her hand, palm open, towards Madam Rae.
"I'm Hermione. Hermione Grimshaw."
They shook hands, and Hermione visibly relaxed.
"So what brings you here?" Madam Rae asked, filling more glasses with butterbeer.
"Oh- nothing, really. I have some family in the UK I wanted to visit." Hermione fiddled with the edges of her sleeves. "And my parents used to tell me so much about Hogwarts, so I wanted to come see."
Madam Rae reached under the counter for a tall glass, and accio'd a bottle of mead from a shelf at the top.
"Lovely! Where are you staying, then?"
Hermione shrugged. "No idea. Have you got any available rooms?" She knew this establishment was just a pub, but she hoped she wouldn't have to stay somewhere too far from here. She was not yet comfortable.
Pouring the discoloured liquid into the glass, Madam Rae grinned at Hermione. "That I do."
Hermione beamed. "Oh god, thank you," she said. "I just, um, need a quick favour. Do you have a quill and some parchment or paper?"
Handing the glass to an old, frowning man, Madam Rae nodded. "Yes, just give me a moment," she said, before walking to the back.
Moving her hands to her lap, Hermione looked around the pub. A heavy hand suddenly landed on her shoulder, and she flinched. Her hand instantly went to her pocket, before she remembered she didn't have her wand. She spun her head to her side, her bun untying itself in the process.
"E-ey, there… d-hic!- d'you want some company, sweetheart? I like-hic!- your undergarments."
Hermione narrowed her eyes at the student, her stare unwavering as she reached her to her back and pulled her jumper down.
A group of students joined them, and one of them pulled the offending person away, laughing. Two others argued as one gave the other a handful of galleons, the others standing behind them. Hermione noted their majority was wearing Slytherin ties.
They suddenly quietened down, and they tried to hurry away from the counter, but then one more student joined, towering over them.
He was pale as porcelain, his skin smooth and clear, and his cheekbones protruded almost artfully, casting shadows on his angular face. His eyes were narrow, and his hair a wavy, tar black. His lips were pale, plump, and his nose straight and patrician-like.
Hermione's eyes widened, and her jaw fell. Then it firmly lodged itself back into place, and she gulped.
"Did you spike his drink with firewhiskey? Rosier, detention, two weeks with Filch should do you good, yes?"
The student who was pulling his friend gaped, speechless. Without a reply, he gulped, and solemnly nodded.
"The rest of you. Back to school. I expect to see you in your common room."
The group of students hurried out. Hermione followed them with her gaze. The one sitting next to her had fallen to the floor before being picked up by two others. She smiled evilly, absentmindedly patting her lower back.
She was brought out of her reverie by the sound of someone clearing their throat. She turned back around, and found that she had to look up to be able to look at his face. She stared pointedly at his straight nose, finding his eyes too intimidating to look at. She mentally slapped herself.
"Are you alright?"
Nodding excessively, Hermione waved her hand around. Her throat felt blocked, and no sounds would come out.
"Sorry, the fifth years tend to go a bit wild. We usually only let sixth and seventh years in here, but one of our professors thought we'd loosen up a bit," he said, smiling, and Hermione finally looked at his eyes, and something seemed wrong, just so incredibly wrong about what was happening. His teeth were pearl white and flawless, and his lips were a healthy pink.
"If everything's alright, I just need to go check on the students," he said, after several moments of silence. The Head Boy badge shone on his robes, and something about the metallic gold just made her sick, so she nodded, forcing a smile, hoping she'd pass off for embarrassed.
He walked away, and Hermione found that she could not- would not- take her eyes off him. He headed towards a crowded table in the back. He didn't have the idiotic, arrogant walk people of his age usually do, and his steps were graceful and deliberate, his long legs covering absurd distances and his robes billowing lightly behind him.
Madam Rae finally came out from behind, hurrying to send out a few orders before coming back towards Hermione. She placed a small, beige paper on the counter, and a black quill. Hermione looked up, and Madam Rae smiled reassuringly. "The ink automatically refills," she said, almost proudly.
Hermione, still distraught, and feeling like she was missing something, rolled her wrists. "Sorry, but I kind of hurt my hand on the trip, and I'd like to write to my parents- could you maybe write me the date and address at the top right? I'll do the rest when I'm upstairs, I just need to rest my hand for a while."
Madam Rae looked at Hermione, her left eyebrow raised, before reaching out for the quill.
"You know what? I don't usually do this, but you're such a sweet girl and I don't think I can say no to your lovely smile. Here," she said, quickly writing down on the paper.
Hermione covered her still blushing face with her hands, attempting to control her heartbeat, and hoping her carelessly thought out request didn't make her look suspicious. Noting her slumped shoulders, Madam Rae asked if she was feeling alright.
Simply waving her hand in the direction of where she knew the student she'd just met was sitting, Hermione sighed, frustrated, and looked up at Madam Rae.
She looked at Hermione for a few seconds, her eyes widened, before suddenly bursting into laughter. She threw her head back, and her hair moved just enough to show a pair of beautiful silver dangly earrings with small red rubies. Madam Rae flipped her hair back, still laughing, before slamming her fist on the table.
"Oh- Oh god, sorry," she breathed, still panting.
Hermione narrowed her eyes at her, and still did not reply.
"I see you've met our Tom Riddle. Good looking fellow, isn't he? If I was a few years younger…"
Hermione stiffened.
"T-Tom-"
Tom Riddle.
Tom Riddle.
Tom Riddle.
Hands shaking, Hermione reached out to the letter in front of her
At the top right, the first line was written in curved, neat handwriting.
Saturday, 21st October, 1944.
"Fuck."
A/N: Hello! What did you guys think? I was too excited to post this chapter since I've had it written for like, three weeks, and I felt like the prologue was pretty short. And also Tom Riddle. Pretty much. Yeah. Hermione's little fluster-splutter scene is like, me personified. Also, during Hermione's jumps in the beginning of the chapter, did you notice anything interesting? *steeples fingers and cackles a little bit* *coughs* *chokes and falls off chair*.
Read and review! I'm posting updates on this fic on my tumblr (same name, or just check my profile) and making graphics/gifs for each chapter. Feel free to follow me there! Updates will be on Tuesdays, hopefully.