Hi, how's everyone doing? Thank you for continuing to read this story. Also thank you for the reviews, I really love reading them! :)
Diane Potter: I'm glad you enjoy it, and I love your profile. :D
GardenOfSnow: Thank you so much for the long review. I cannot describe how happy I am to know that you enjoy this story. I wish I could've read JKR's books but unfortunately I don't have time, I'll likely read them in the summer to get a feel of her writing. :D Oh, and thank you for alerting me of my mistake. :)
An Out of Character Request
Between non-stop classes from morning till night every day, Hogwarts students had quickly lost their fascination in magic as bookish theories never quite appealed to them. In fact, the books and exams reminded some students of muggle schools and their stupid rules. Hence when the students found a three-legged stool with a Sorting Hat on top of it placed in the middle of Great Hall, excited chatter rose amongst the tables like a great tide.
Some hypothesized that the unusual arrangement was to give anyone unsatisfied with their house a second chance; though the decision was very much unwelcomed by most of the students, some were excited by the very idea of resorting.
A more popular rumor had it that a new student was coming to Hogwarts...during the middle of the school year. The student body was puzzled by the unusual decision, but some were very curious in regard to which house was the new student going to be placed in, and whether it was going to tip the current house points balance.
Another rumor said that the student was not new and they had already been sorted, but due to their horrendous behaviour since the beginning of the year, they were kicked out of their House waiting to be resorted. Excitement and speculations were heavy in the air; bets were placed on the result of the sorting.
Hermione smoothed her expression and forced on a faรงade of indifference before she opened the door to the noisy Great Hall, which suddenly became a lot quieter as many students stopped in the middle their activities to appraise her. Every pair of eyes were trained on her face, nobody seemed to notice that the girl clenched and unclenched her fists before walking toward the sorting hat gracefully. A hushed silence fell over the room as students anticipated the result of sorting/resorting, some sitting at the far ends even cranked their neck just so they could get a peek at the girl.
Dippet was pleased, calming a hall of excited students had always been a daunting task. He stood up and cleared his throat.
"Miss Pauline Fossil here is a transfer student, she has been homeschooled previously...SILENCE," Dippet's voice picked up in volume as murmurs began, Hermione's eyes were drawn to Tom Riddle, who sat at the Slytherin table frowning into his food. It seemed that the young Dark Lord was contemplating something, which was never a good sign.
"...and she will now be sorted and welcomed into her new house. " After making a quick gesture in Hermione's direction, Dippet sat down.
Hermione was jolted out of her observation of Tom Riddle when she noticed that she had once again, became the center of attention. Pretension aside, Hermione cringed at the thought of acting friendly to the slimy snakes. With that thought, she let the hat settle on her head.
"What is this I see? An inquisitive mind, yes, very bright indeed... " Although Hermione had braced herself for every possible outcome, she panicked.
"Please, put me in Slytherin." Hermione closed her eyes and concentrated on repeating the thought.
"Are you sure? Your intelligence would make you most suitable for Ravenclaw."
"Slytherin, I ask for no more and no less." She gritted her teeth.
"Very well, you ambition will make you great. SLYTHERIN!" The hat boomed, its voice seemed to echo in the large hall. There was a change in atmosphere, the Slytherins began clapping, the rest of the house followed, almost sluggishly. Hermione couldn't help but look at Professor Dumbledore, the old man kept his face blank, he wasn't looking in her direction.
Tom was puzzled by the girl's sorting. He knew the girl was suspicious when he first saw her. He remembered her calling out to him, he could see the gears turning in her head before she decided to dismiss the idea, so he purposely waited till she caught up with him and followed her instead. But things are not adding up for him, he remember seeing the girl's red cloak and the Gryffindor symbol sewed onto it, and the next thing he knew she's a member of his house. Mentally, Tom made a note to do a bit of investigation on the girl.
After dinner, students headed for their respective dorms. As Hermione stood up to leave, her wrist was grabbed by none other but the notorious teenage Dark Lord.
"Miss Fossil, I'm sorry for treating you harshly last night. To make up for it, may I have the pleasure of escorting you to our common room?" Tom knew it was good opportunity to probe the new, probably fake, snake.
Gooseflesh crawled up Hermione's arm, she nodded stiffly and let herself be led by the Head Boy. As they descended down to the dungeons, an ominous feeling rose in her stomach. Hermione did not pay attention to Head Boy's words. She was concentrated on the Dark Lord's back as if she expected him to turn around and hex her anytime for pretending to be snake. Hermione also glared as hard as she could sicne he was looking, if looks could kill, Tom Riddle would have died a thousand times.
It did not really occur to Hermione that she was in the Slytherin domain until they reached the common room, which she entered apprehensively. It was quite the opposite from the Gryffindor common room, which was often warm and welcoming, this place was dark and damp and it reeked of extravagance.
The windows gave the common room a sickly green sheen, like the colour of the killing curse. The sofas were made out of black leather, they look expensive, but cold, nothing cozy like the ones in Gryffindor common room. Several Slytherins lounged around in the common room, like snakes, their curious gaze followed her but they did not move from their spot. She felt that the room had an evil aura constantly hovering in the air, every little exchange between its occupants seemed like a conspiracy to Hermione.
Too concentrated in her assessment of the Slytherin common room, Hermione didn't noticed that the future Dark Lord had stopped in his track until she bumped into him.
"Sorry," she muttered, attempting to maneuver her way around to explore further.
"Don't worry about it." Hermione's attention perked up at the Head boy's voice. Hermione reprimanded herself severely for she had let her guard down and temporally forgotten that she was with the future Dark Lord. Hermione tried to feign a smile but failed, so she simply dipped her head in "shame".
Tom was uncomfortable, and as much as he hated to admit it, he was slightly dismayed. This Pauline, she appeared an average shy girl. She had all the common courtesies. Yet, she was not fooled by his charm, in fact, quite the opposite, she seemed to hate him. There was a scowl in her face which wasn't there before she knew it was him that she bumped into.
Tom's eyes lit up with an interested gleam, the girl seemed to have secrets that could possibly concern him, and he had decided that he needed to find out more about her.
The rest of the night was rather uneventful for Hermione as she sat on the sofa reading her textbook sulkily. Despite wanting to earn Voldem- Tom Riddle's trust so she could approach him to carry out her plan, Hermione stayed as far away from the young Dark Lord as possible.
Hermione wondered if she had became paranoid as every little movement in the common room startled her. Deciding she couldn't concentrate, Hermione headed for the girls' dorms. Just as she stood up to leave, the Dark Lord called out to her. Under the calculated gaze of other snakes, he walked up to her gracefully and talked in a low voice so only she could hear his words.
"Word of caution, Miss Fossil, you might want to avoid spilling the secret that you were a Gryffindor before. I'm sure you are aware of the hostility between the two houses."
"Thank you, Mr..." she hesitated, "...Riddle, I'll be sure to keep that in mind."
"No problem, it'll be our little secret." He smiled and winked at her before heading in the opposite direction.
Hermione shuddered at his tone, she had to try her best to walk toward the girls' dorm even though her body urged her to run. Closing the door behind her cautiously, Hermione heaved out a sigh of relief, her eyes scanned the room and found the dorm empty. Hermione didn't know if she should feel relieved that she didn't have to interact with her Slytherin dorm mates, or be worried that she would having to introduce herself tomorrow morning, but that should really be the least of her concerns now.
Hermione rubbed her temple, the Dark Lord's voice haunted her mind. Hermione decided that she needed to plan for the Dark Lord's demise, and to execute that plan before she went crazy from his mind games.
Author's note: University is starting to get intense, there goes my freedom. I'll try to update as often as possible, but it's hard for me to write stories without making it sound like a science report now that I have to write 2-3 lab reports a week. But no worries, I would definitely stick to one update per week, and I look forward to seeing you guys soon again~ :)
