A/N First of all thank you for follows and reviews, that's really motivating.
This chapter may not be action-filled, but we'll see that Hermione is stil Hermione and we'll dive into Tom's head a little. We'll also meet someone Hermione didn't expect to meet here. At least not like that.
After the end of the feast, she headed in direction of Head Table to meet Professor Dumbledore and Headmaster Dippet. The latter looked quite old, but he was smiling. The two of them were deep in conversation so she patiently waited for them to finish.
"Ah, Miss Granger, is it? Albus told me about your unusual circumstances that brought you here. But let's talk in my office, shall we?"
And like that the three of them were headed in the direction of Headmaster's office. Gargoyles jumped out of the way the second Dippet reached them. Once in the office, Dippet offered them tea.
"So" started Dippet "the first bit of information I have for you might be quite disturbing for you, because as far as we know you can't…"
Hermione cut in.
"I can't go back, I know, even in the 1990s research on going forward in time is very limited and nobody managed to do it, so I didn't expect 1930s to have better knowledge with 53 less years of research, sir. I just want to know, what now? All I have with me is my school bag with books I had for the day, my wand and the robes on my back." Then she remembered herself "Oh my, I'm sorry I didn't want to cut in and sound so rude, I'm so so sorry, sir, it's just. I'm so confused, I'm sorry."
"It's okay, Miss Granger, you're coping far better than one would expect from an eleven year old facing such a situation. And you're right. We have some funds for students whose financial situation is hard, so I guess we could use them to provide you with textbooks and at least one more set of robes. During school year you'll be living in dormitories so that's not a problem, but we have to figure out where you should live during summer. We have time, we'll get there. Do you have any more questions?"
"What should I tell my dormmates if they ask why I don't have a trunk?"
"Tell them it got lost and that's why you were here tonight. I'll notify other teachers so they will know not to expect textbooks from you just yet."
Hermione nodded.
"When will I have a trunk and my textbooks, sir?"
"I'll sort it out tomorrow so you'll have everything ready after classes."
Hermione nodded again.
"Go and rest, child. You must be tired. A day like that would exhaust anyone. Do you know where Ravenclaw's Common Room is?"
Hermione just shook her head.
"Then I'll gladly escort you."
Corridors were empty. On their way Hermione and Headmaster Dippet had a conversation about time travel, and they pondered what spells could have a power like that when combined. After that they talked about school. Hermione wanted to know if there was any difference in curriculum, school rules, etc. When they finally reached Ravenclaw Common Room, Hermione was actually excited for this. Curriculum in 1938 seemed so much more interesting that what she would learn in 1991.
Common Room was almost empty, but as soon as she walked in she was greeted by Tom.
"I waited for you. Why were you with the Headmaster. Did something happen?"
"You shouldn't have Tom, you must be tired! I had to talk to Headmaster because my trunk got lost. But I should get it back tomorrow afternoon, so that's okay."
Tom just nodded and went in the direction of male dormitories.
"Goodnight Tom, see you tomorrow!"
"Night" was all the answer she got.
xxxXXXxxx
"Is that a snake?" was the first question Tom got, when he entered his dormitory.
"It is." He really didn't want to elaborate. He just wanted to go to sleep.
"You can't just take a snake with you. I'll report you to Headmaster. That's dangerous!"
"I can. Go ahead. It's not."
"You'll be expelled for that, freak!"
Tom sighed and didn't answer. He was used to it. He was called a freak all his life. At first it made him cry, but now he was just angry. With everyone. People didn't even know him and yet they were judging him. They had no right to do this. He wanted to change it. He wanted respect. But he had to have power to earn said respect. He hoped Hogwarts would give him that power.
He showered, changed and went to bed, hoping that next day would be better. He hissed goodbye to Ivy and drifted to sleep.
He met Hermione at the Ravenclaw table in the morning.
"I'm so excited for classes. That's a shame that I had to lose all my textbooks, but I hope I'll manage without them. I can't wait to see what we'll learn today"
He couldn't help but chuckle. Her enthusiasm was both funny and contagious.
"Yeah, I can't wait as well."
Hermione was going on and on and on about classes and what she already knew and what she wanted to learn. Tom was listening and nodding when it was expected of him, but he was also scanning the Hall. Constant vigilance was a habit of his. You never know when someone will attempt to hurt you just because they don't like you.
He noticed his dormmates talking in hushed voices and pointing fingers or looking at him once in a while. When his eyes met the boy's who called him a freak, he scowled and the boy looked away looking scared.
"Tom?" Hermione sounded worried
"Hmm?"
"Did something happen?" She looked at him with those brown eyes and he still couldn't believe that someone could be so nice to him let alone worry about him.
"No… Yes. You see that blonde bloke over there? He called me a freak because of Ivy and threatened to get me expelled."
"Ivy? As if your snake? That's not very nice of him, but please, don't pay much attention to him. Now come, we have to get to DADA classroom. What do you think we'll cover today?"
He just smiled at her and followed her out of a Hall. She seemed to know the castle by heart even tho it was her first day as well. But he didn't question it. If she's so excited about classes then she probably spent hours before breakfast to get to know the whole castle just so she's never late to classes. Yes, that sounded like a thing this girl could do.
Professor Merrythought started a lesson with theory of DADA, what was considered Dark Arts and so on and so forth. Beside him Hermione was writing down every word that left Professor's mouth, while he himself just noted pointers he found the most crucial. This class was a double period so after that they went on to learn the most basic defense spell - Expelliarmus. Both Hermione and him got it on their first try and she was grinning at him when they got 10 points for Ravenclaw. Next person to execute the spell correctly was a Gryffindor, Minerva McGonagall and Tom saw how Hermione's head shot up when she heard the name.
"You know her?" he asked.
Hermione slowly shook her head but she was still watching this McGonagall girl curiously. Well, maybe Hermione just had a thing for girls, or something? He didn't know why this thought made him sad, but he didn't dwell on it. He didn't understand any of his emotions while he was with Hermione.
"I wouldn't talk to him if I were you, Granger, he's a freak."
They both turned around to see his blond dormmate. Hermione pointed his wand at him and although her voice was calm, you could see her eyes shooting daggers at the boy.
"You'll stop bullying my friend or I will hex you to the next week. If anyone here is a freak, it's you. You don't even know Tom and you're calling him names."
"What's going on here? Miss Granger?" Neither of them noticed when Professor Merrythought came, so all of them look startled, but Hermione was first to recover.
"He was name calling Tom, ma'am. I told him not to do it anymore."
"With your wand out?"
Hermione was silent for a while and then her voice was barely a whisper.
"Habit, I used to be bullied too."
Professor Merrythought was contemplating this for a while and finally she took 10 points from his dormmate, whose name was apparently McDougal and 4 points for Hermione for standing up for him. She explained that she would give her five if not for the wand still pointed in McDougal's face. When she finally left, McDougal scowled but didn't say anything more.
A/N And here it is. They share at least one subject with McGonagall, Tom is still a power-hungry kid and Hermione is still Gryffindor at heart, taking care of her friend.
