Disclaimer: This story is based on characters owned and created by J.K Rowling. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Author's note: Hello beans!

Hahha i'm so sorry for my complete inconsistency. There has been A LOT going on. So i'm not promising a consistent update schedule but I am here with my one day off and here's a new chapter for you. I'm moving cities in 7 days! You're more than welcome to give me advice in your reviews hahah. Working with the timeline is such a mission, safe to say i know almost all about Sybil Trelawney and her heritage now hahaha.

Thanks for reading!

Chapter 7

Hermione anxiously waited as each first year went through their sorting. She fondly remembered being introduced to the wizarding world, all the amazement and possiblities. It was well known that Hermione loved knowledge, never resisting the urge to learn more. Her eyes scanned the table of teachers, some she recognised but many she didn't. The Slytherin potions master joyfully clapped for each student, his brown locks framed his face while a youthful twinkle of his eyes gazed upon them. He was younger now of course but Hermione could see he hadn't changed much over the years. Horace Slughorn caught her eye and she politely smiled to hide the fact that she was obviously staring at her former professor. The contact was broken as her name was announced for sorting.

"I'd like you all to give a warm welcome to our new seventh year student transferring from France, Hermione Gallerna."

She nodded at Dippet and sat at the head of the great hall. She tried to avoid any more unwanted eye contact as she scanned the rows of students, the wands amongst dishes, curiosity amongst hunger, excitement amongst... anger? Her gaze fell upon a glare, dark eyes staring deep into her own. The intensity was unavoidable and she cursed herself for making the dreaded eye contact. It was the boy from the hall, he may as well have been sculpted from marble. His locks sat perfectly, curls that all fell the same way and skin that preached porcelain. The boys uniform was perfectly pressed, not a crease, not a crum. She saw a smirk play upon his lips and she blinked. There was something here. She momentarily closed her eyes in concentration. She thought to herself about what a riddle this boy seemed to be.

Oh shit that's Tom Riddle.

OH shit that's Tom Riddle.

Her mind began to overflow and overthink and try to decide while being so completely unsure that she had to cut it all off. Hermione directly met his glare with one of greater hatred and then quickly looked away. She couldn't deal with that right now. She could NOT deal with Tom bloody Riddle right now.

She felt the soft fabric tickle the tops of her ears and the hat sprang to life pulling her from the great hall.

"Ah... A time traveller i see. Haven't you travelled far? Hmm... I see your potential in Ravenclaw but will that be the house to carry you through your mission I wonder... Or maybe gryffindor will invite bravery to your side. Very difficult, Ms Granger." The sorting hat paused in thought, a moment of silence passed before he spoke again "I see you share their thick skin and sharp claws, they will show you love and loyalty once more. Yes... It certainly must be..."

"HUFFLEPUFF"

Hermione let out gasp, that was unexpected. She had thought of each house but never dwelled on Hufflepuff. She thought perhaps Slytherin would bring her closer or Gryffindor would bring her loyalty and Ravenclaw of course would encourage her knowledge and determination but Hufflepuff... they seemed so... soft.

She decided not to make any quick judgements on this one and as the hall erupted in applaud she made her way to the Hufflepuff table ignoring the glare she felt tickling at her neck. She was the last to be sorted and once seated they all quietly paid attention to Headmaster Dippet.

Dippet stood where Dumbledore once stood at the front of the hall, he calmly began to speak.

"I'd like to give a most warm welcome to all our new students and welcome back to our old! I'm sure you're all aware of the presense of a dark wizard in our world and would like to reassure that Hogwarts is your home, we are taking measures to ensure the safety of everyone here. As usual the forbidden forest is off limits to all students and you are to be in your common rooms by 10'o'clock. That aside I want you all to congratulate our Head boy and Head girl; Tom Riddle and Britney Plunket who have worked their hardest the last few years to earn their places."

Hermione watched a tall, slim girl smile smugly at all the students in the hall as she stood for the applause. Britney had dark brown eyes and long blonde hair that fell dead straight to her elbows. She smiled a wide, ingenuine smile and proudly thanked those around her while she bathed in her own glory. The milky shade of her skin held contrast against the Blue trim of her Ravenclaw robes. Her robes were immaculate, like each spec of dust fell around her and never on her. Hermione's eyes travelled across the hall and fell upon the boy in green, a polite smile and a kind gaze. She wasn't daft, Hermione could see a smirk at the edges of those lips and the satisfaction in his eyes. Tom Riddle, self-proclaimed king of the idiots, she couldn't believe no one else was seeing this. How could no one else see through their 'I'm-a-greatful-innocent-hard-working-student' facades? The two were bloody made for each other!

\\/\/\/\\

Tom politely nodded at his fellow students and the staff.

"Finally i'm acknowledged for my greatness. Although really who else would get this position over me?"

He thought trying to hide the smirk.

Idiots, the lot of them.

Tom looked over at Britney, "No idea how they chose that one" He scoffed internally. He watched her eyes meet his and she smiled a flirtacious smile and waved. Tom cut eye contact and casually looked away ensuring he didnt come across as rude.

Gross, who does she think she is?

Dippet finally motioned for them to be seated and the cheering died down.

"Now students, this year we welcome a new Divination teacher; Professor Trelawney, the Grandson of the great Cassandra Trelawney."

Great, another psycho.

Dippet drawled on while Riddle glanced amongst the tables and settled on the soft curls of the stupid girl from the other night. The stupid girl who glared at him in the hall before he saved her sub-par butt and the same stupid girl who glared at him before being sorted into the ridiculous house of Hufflepuff.

"I haven't even met the girl, how can she have a problem with me?" he said under his breath. Everyone loved Tom Riddle, the shining scholar of perfect manners and exceptional talent. All girls swooned under his gaze and professors wrapped themselves around his thumbs. He didn't know why it bothered him, but he told himself to dismiss her from his thoughts and the clapping that burst out among the hall helped that. The feast had finally begun.

He felt a nudge on his shoulder and he turned to the boy next to him in obvious annoyance.

"What is it Mulciber?" He scowled. Mulciber shrunk under Tom's glare and he choked out "I..I was j-just wondering if we were meeting tonight? You know for the Kn-Knights..."

Tom cut him off in a harsh whisper "I told you not to even so much as think that name around other students and staff, Mulciber. " Tom reached over and pressed his finger to Mulciber's left arm and the boy winced in pain. "After the feast, you know where." He glared and turned back to his food.

I don't know how i tolerate these idiots.

/\\/\\/

Hermione piled food on her plate, inhaled her pumpkin juice and shoved roast beef in her mouth. She hadn't had a decent meal in far too long and she was almost afraid it'd be taken from her. When her stomach finally felt like it might explode she took a deep breath and sat back in her chair. She looked up at the students around her and found them all staring at her.

Oh god, great first impressions, Hermione. May as well make an effort. She thought

"Hi, I'm hermione" She smiled.

The hufflepuffs all smiled back and a short girl with orange hair excitedly began to talk "Hi! I'm Sarah Pomona. Welcome to Hogwarts! It's so beautiful isn't it? The food is just SO good, i'm a half blood and in my second year. Where did you come from? Do you like it here? Hermione is a nice name, i like that name. Your hair is so nice! Wow what spells do you use?" The girl gushed on and Hermione struggled to keep up.

"Woah, slow down Sarah!" Said a brown haired girl from the opposite side of the table.

"I'm Helena Spears, nice to meet you Hermione." Helena stretched her hand out to Hermione and she shook it.

"Don't worry about Sarah, she's a ball of blinkin' energy that one." She laughed.

Hermione politely nodded, "Lovely to meet you too Helena and Sarah".

She looked around the students of Hufflepuff, happily chatting to eachother. It was definitely the house with the most laughter. She almost felt a warmth eminating from them all, they were so welcoming.

"So where did you come from Hermione?" Asked Sarah

Hermione took a deep breath.

Okay stick to the story Hermione

"I came from France, my family were attacked by Grindelwald and in the battle I somehow ended up here..."

She felt the mood shift slightly.

Don't bring them down with your first sentence, Hermione. God.

"I'm so happy to be here though, it really is such a beautiful school and you are all so nice. I worry I might get lost, this school is so huge." She laughed

She watched their faces brighten slightly

"Hogwarts is such a safe place you won't have to worry about that here! We can definitely show you your way too so you don't get lost. Don't worry." Helena reassured happily.

"We can be your BEST FRIENDS!" Yelled Sarah.

Hermione smiled and they all stood to leave as the feast ended.

She waited for her friends and followed them out the great hall bumping into a tall boy with soft brown hair. She watched his face twist into anger for a second until his eyes travelled down to her feet and back up to meet her eyes. He faked a smile, "You must be the new transfer student, I'm Mulciber" He took her hand and kissed it. Hermione held back the bile in her throat and returned the ingenuine smile "Lovely to meet you." She turned to leave but he still held her hand and said "If you need a hand finding your way around here i'd love to be of service to you." His smile slowly became a smirk and she yanked her hand from his "Thank you but I have my friends to show me the way." She quickly caught up with Sarah and Helena almost falling over them. She knew who Mulciber and Mulciber senior were. One of the original death eaters had just kissed her hand and offered his services to her. He was the one who helped start this entire mess and his son went to school with Harry's parents. She tried to hide her disgust and shake those thoughts from her head.

They haven't gotten that far yet. It's still possible to change it, Hermione. She reassured herself.

"You look like you're thinking about hugging the giant squid in the black lake, Hermione. Are you okay?" Laughed Sarah. Hermione began forming an excuse as a group of tall boys strutted passed them confidently. The students in the hall seemed to make way for them and although they weren't much taller than most of the people here they seemed to look down on everyone as they went by.

"That's Tom Riddle and his friends, they're all so attractive aren't they, Hermione?" Gushed Sarah.

Hermione swallowed a retort and simply said "Sure..." She watched the girls swoon. She wanted those smug boys to trip over their shiny shoes and grace the floor with their pompous heads. She felt a bit guilty, she knew she was harshly judging everyone she came into contact with. It was still too soon to even think about trusting anyone and even harder to be immediately accepting of them. It was her first school day here, she just had to settle in.

Hermione followed her new friends through the castle, pretending to be unsure of where she was.

"Wow, these paintings are really cool" She remarked,

"Yeah they really capture the witches/wizards in them, they can live pretty much eternally like this" Helena said.

She followed them through the halls and arrived right below the great hall down past the kitchens where she caught a glimpse of busy house elfs scrubbing pots and pans, packing leftovers and bustling around in preparation for the meals for tomorrow. On the right-hand side they found a stone recess with a pile of barrels stacked in it. Hermione identified this as the entrance to the common room knowing that specific barrels had to be tapped to grant them access.

"This is the entrance. We need to tap this barrel to the rhythm of 'Helga Hufflepuff', i'll do it slowly for you to see Hermione." Said Helena as she slowly tapped the rhythm of 'Helga Hufflepuff' on the barrel two from the bottom, at the middle of the second row. The door swung open for them and they travelled through a small passage till the common room was revealed to them.

"You know if you tap the wrong barrel or you do the wrong amount of taps one of the other lids will burst and drench you in vinegar? I think that's a hilarious punishment for anyone trying to break in" She giggled to Sarah and Hermione.

Hermione's eyes wandered around the common room, despite it getting late it felt like sunshine in here. She'd never seen the Hufflepuff Common room and it was truly beautiful. The warmth of the light inside made it cosy and the plants that hung from everywhere made the air feel fresher. The room was of course decorated with bright but calm yellow and charcoal black, rounded doors and honey coloured wood. Helga Hufflepuff herself stood above the mantelpiece and toasted to them as they entered. The tendrils of affectionate plants reached out to caress her shoulders as the girls took her to the girls' dormitory.

The hufflepuff girls' dormitory was set out in a huge circle with the beds all pointing to the centre. Patchwork quilts sprawled out on each bedstead and side table drawers in the same honey-coloured wood settled beside them. Each cosy bed was had pastel yellow lace showering down to curtain in the inhabitant and it provided a sense of comfort to her. Upon each side table sat a copper coloured oil lamp which came to life with magic as she sat down on the bed assigned to her. At the end of the bed she found a small suitcase sent from Dippet. The suitcase held books, some basic clothing items, a small amount of money, hufflepuff robes and toiletries.

That's kind of him, She smiled to herself.

She packed them back away and laid out on her bed more than ready for a decent sleep. The girls around her began to chat and asked if she wanted to join but she waved them off and pulled the soft yellow fabric of the bed canopy around her bed. She held her wand beside her face and subtly put wards around her bed to ensure security. Hermione knew it was unlikely she'd be attacked in her sleep but it was still too soon for her to comfortably sleep without the wards up. The glow of the lamps allowed the girls to see the rippling grass and dandelions bending slightly in the soft winds outside. It calmed her and put her right to sleep, she knew tomorrow would be a big day.

A.N:

I've tried to be as accurate as possible with the heritage of the characters and the knights of walpurgis. It's pretty tricky trying to track down the ancestry but if i've written something clearly wrong please let me know :)

I saw a comment by storybook thumb about Tom being in his last year and therefor already having his horcruxes and i'm so glad you picked up on that :P It is definitely a part of my story.

I saw another comment by Mortician No.66 stating that Incendio was an obvious better choice than fiendfyre and that she can't summon a broom let alone ride one. In response to that, she did do flying lessons at Hogwarts, she's played quidditch with the boys and ginny at the burrow and rode one out of the room of requirement after it was set on fire even though that was side-along with Ron. I feel it's safe to assume Hermione can ride a broom she just usually prefers not to. Also i feel that Hermione Granger the brightest witch of her age is more than capable of summoning a broom. I chose Fiendfyre because i wanted it to be a far more vicious fire, although it is a really difficult spell to control i felt that after all her work before, during and after the war was lost that she had learned more than enough to have that skill. I really appreciate your review, it got me thinking. :)

Thank you for all your reviews, favourites, alerts and follows it means a lot to me and I hope this chapter isn't too boring for you. I've tried to establish some interesting characters. I'm still trying to figure out how to best punctuate the character's thoughts because i feel if i put " in there it'll just get confusing with actual speech so if you have any tips let me know. I thought putting her in Hufflepuff would be an interesting twist and perspective.

Thank you!