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Cruel Injustice
Had she gone mad? For days to come, Hermione cursed her stupidity. She had actually allowed herself to follow Tom Riddle – the young Voldemort – around Diagon Alley and the forest. She could have gotten herself killed! And, on top of that, she had brought Hagrid into danger. Snooping around the forest with him was hazardous enough, but she had actually shown him the creation of the first horcrux! Now, even Dumbledore knew! Surely, this was not supposed to happen.
She tried to console herself; she had a lapse of judgment, yes, but doesn't everyone at some point? After all, she was currently in an emotional upset; not only had she just lost all her friends and family, but she was suddenly forced to live her life in a completely different time. Certainly, these circumstances would cause anyone to go mental for a while. Yes, that was the perfect excuse: she had used Tom Riddle as a distraction, because she couldn't face the fact that she was still distraught over losing everyone. And now that she caught herself, she would be able to stop her foolishness and fix everything that she had nearly ruined. Hopefully, her talk with Dumbledore really had prevented him from talking to Tom or investigating the situation more. If so, then she only had to worry about convincing Hagrid to keep him mouth shut.
Thankfully, this seemingly impossible task turned out to be quite easy. Hermione told Hagrid that Dumbledore had talked to Tom, though she didn't know the details. All she knew was that Tom didn't know who had snitched on him, and perhaps, it would be best to leave things this way. If Hagrid went around mentioning the incident, it could get out to Tom that it had been them who spied on him, and that could be potentially dangerous. They, of course, didn't want an angry Tom planning his revenge.
To her delight, Hagrid wholeheartedly agreed that it would be safest to forget the whole thing ever happened. Now, she only had to worry about any possible accusations from Tom. Even though Dumbledore (supposedly) didn't breathe a word of their witness to him, Hermione was worried that he had been smart enough to figure everything out himself. She was especially concerned because he might have actually seen them in the forest that night. Once again, she mentally kicked herself for being so careless.
Despite her worrying, though, Tom didn't give her any trouble. In the following days she rarely saw him, and when she did, he seemed hardly in a state to pick a fight; for a whole week afterwards he appeared to be pale, tired, and even a bit sickly. She wondered if something really had gone wrong with the horcrux, or if this was just the normal aftereffects of splitting one's soul.
Even after his health improved, he never once said anything to Hermione. Actually, she observed one day while they were both in the library, he was downright ignoring her. This lifted her spirits; perhaps he really hadn't seen them after all!
With this in mind, she was finally able to convince herself that everything had worked itself out in the end. Suddenly, a weight seemed to lift from her shoulders; though still far from carefree, her whole demeanor relaxed, and she allowed herself to forget her mistakes, forget the fact that she was missing Harry and Ron terribly, and enjoy the rest of her summer.
August flew by and soon, Hermione found herself sitting in the Great Hall on September first, awaiting the arrival of the remaining students. For the first time all summer, the four long house tables lined the hall, and the staff table resumed its normal spot at the front. The summer occupants of the castle were all present and sitting at their respective tables: Hermione at Gryffindor, Tom at Slytherin, and Hagrid, along with the professors, up at the staff table. The entire faculty was also in attendance, except for Dumbledore and Ogg, who were presumably escorting the students to the building.
Hermione had met the new professors the night before, and they seemed nice enough, if not entirely forgettable. The only one she recognized, of course, was Slughorn, and she could hardly say she was happy to see the familiar face. Slughorn seemed very interested in the new transfer student, and kept asking her questions during dinner. This was slightly awkward for Hermione, as she still hadn't hammered out all the details of her "transfer" yet, and she tried to get away from him as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, she was sure their conversation hadn't been finished when she ran off, and figured he would continue it sometime in the following days.
Just then the huge front doors opened, breaking her thoughts, and dozens of students began to enter. Almost immediately, she heard someone shout her name.
"Hermione!" Elizabeth sprang into view and grasped her in a one-armed hug around the shoulders. Under layers of golden hair, Hermione could see a smiling Vega in the background, standing with her hands on her hips.
"Elizabeth, you idiot, get off her or we might not have an extra roommate this year."
Elizabeth loosened her grip. "Oh, sorry, Hermione. I was just happy to see you still alive…." She grinned. "You know, after you played I Spy Tom Riddle in Diagon Alley."
"Of course I'm still alive. I didn't get caught," Hermione replied as she glanced over to the Slytherin table. Tom was being greeted by a large group of surly looking Slytherins. He didn't seem to care, and only nodded his head in acknowledgement. She looked back at Vega and Elizabeth, who were seating themselves next to her, and added, "Actually, can you not mention that to anyone? I don't want him to find out."
"Don't worry about it," Vega said.
"Hey, hey!" A voice rang in their ears. Hermione turned around to see a tall, grinning boy walk up, and give Elizabeth and Vega a hug each. "I didn't see you guys on the train!" he said, sitting across the three girls.
"We were sitting towards the back," Elizabeth said. "It was kind of hard to come by."
The boy shrugged. "Ah well…." He turned to look at Hermione. "Hey, you're the new girl! My name's Roger." He extended his hand.
"Pleased to meet you," she said, shaking his hand. "I'm Hermione."
"I know. The girls told me all about you," he said, turning around to high-five a group of boys passing by. "Heyyy!" they all called out in unison. He looked back at Hermione, smiling broadly. "So what do you think so far? Of Hogwarts, that is?"
Hermione glanced around at the people filing in the room, laughing and chatting with friends. They didn't look much different than the students in her time, she noticed, except for the fact that none seemed worried or depressed. In fact, if she hadn't known better, she might have thought she was back in third year. "It feels just like home," she replied, a bit nostalgic.
The Great Hall started to quiet then, because the big entrance doors swung open once more, and in walked Dumbledore followed by a crowd of very nervous looking first years. They were promptly sorted, and then Dippet got up to give his start-of-term speech.
It was a rather standard speech, though Dippet did mention a change in staff. "As some of you might already know," he said, "Professor Merrythought retired at the end of last year. Therefore, I would like to introduce you to your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Grimstone." Hermione laughed to herself; some things never changed.
Dippet was about to sit down, when he turned back to the school. "Oh, and one more thing," he said. "We have a transfer student this year, Miss Hermione Parks." The whole school erupted into whispers, and Hermione could see the students closest to her craning their heads to get a good look at the new girl. Embarrassed, she slumped down in her seat, trying to hide from view.
He cleared his throat. "She's already been sorted into Gryffindor, and I hope you will all make her stay at Hogwarts enjoyable. Now I'm sure you're all hungry, so–" His voice was then drowned out by a roar of voices and clinking of silverware, as the students began helping themselves to the newly appeared platters of food.
Hermione was just serving herself some roast beef when a blonde girl in Gryffindor robes rushed up and squeezed herself in at the table next to Roger. She was short – even smaller than Vega, and had a round, freckled face.
The girl looked earnestly at Elizabeth and said, "You'll never guess what I just heard!"
Vega rolled her eyes while Elizabeth sat up in her seat, and said excitedly through a mouthful of steak, "what?"
"Well," the blonde lowered her voice. Everyone else leaned in close to hear what she had to say. "I was just talking to Martha, and found out that she almost didn't come to school this year!"
Roger and Elizabeth gasped. "Why?" they asked in unison.
She lowered her voice even further. "Apparently, her parents didn't want her to be at school during the middle of the war. They didn't think it was safe. So if anything goes wrong, they're pulling her out."
Vega shook her head. "Wow."
"They're completely mental," said Roger.
"But knowing Martha's parents, that doesn't surprise me," Elizabeth said. Then she added, for Hermione's sake, "Martha Hughes is another Gryffindor seventh year. You'll meet her later."
The blonde looked at Hermione, as if she was only seeing her now. "Oh hi," she said. "You must be the new girl. I'm Laura."
"Hermione," she answered.
"Anyway," Vega said, continuing the conversation, "Our problem is that the war is also involving Muggles. It could spiral out of control very quickly, and people don't feel safe anywhere."
"But Hogwarts is perfectly safe," Hermione pointed out.
Laura grinned. "That's what they say, isn't it? I dunno; I don't feel safe anywhere around here…. Maybe somewhere in America would be okay. They don't seem to have too many problems."
"Let's just hope for Martha's sake we don't have any problems this year. It'd be awful to have to leave school," said Elizabeth.
"I know, poor Martha," Laura replied. She got up from the table. "Well I should go. I promised Mark I'd visit him during dinner. See you guys later!"
They all waved goodbye and struck up new conversations while finishing their food. Apparently, both Roger and Elizabeth were on the Quidditch team, and they were talking discussing tactics with a mousy headed girl Hermione didn't know. Meanwhile, Vega was trying to introduce Hermione to as many Gryffindors as she could.
"Well that's my brother down there," she pointed to a boy in glasses sitting halfway down the table. "His name is Altair. Elizabeth has two sisters. That one is Mara – she's a third year. The other one, Violet, is actually a sixth year Slytherin. I don't know where that came from…."
Hermione's eyes traveled down the table, looking at all the Gryffindors. They seemed friendly enough; every once and a while someone would spot her and wave hello or even come up and introduce themselves.
Suddenly, her heart skipped a beat. Sitting only a few seats down was… Harry? No; his face was too round, and he was a bit shorter, but he still had the same messy black hair, the glasses, and a matching nose…."
Vega saw Hermione staring at the Harry-look-alike. "Oh that's Jack Wentworth. He's on the Quidditch team with Roger and Elizabeth."
"Huh," Hermione said, slightly confused. "He looks just like someone I used to know. Is he related to a Potter at all?"
"Actually, yes." Vega said between mouthfuls of muffin. "Charlus Potter is his cousin; though he graduated a few years ago."
"Oh, okay." All of a sudden, Hermione felt quite homesick. Seeing someone who looked so much like Harry made her remember how much they all had missed him… and how now she was also missing Ron.
Oh Ron. He hadn't done anything wrong, and she had deserted him. Here she was, enjoying herself at a feast, when he was left all alone. Some friend she was. What was he going through, now that he had lost both Harry and Hermione?
"Hermione… Hermione!" Vega snapped her fingers, breaking her thoughts. "Are you okay? You've gone all pale."
Hermione dropped her fork. "I'm fine," she said, "I'm just a bit tired, that's all."
But the unfortunate truth was, Hermione thought as she continued listening to Vega's description of the school, and even later, as she was personally introduced to all of the students in the Gryffindor Common Room, that she had never felt so alone in her entire life.
xxxxxx
Hermione still felt awful the next morning, but tried to put her thoughts of Ron aside and concentrate on school instead. She was studying her newly received timetable at breakfast when Vega looked over her shoulder and said, "Hmm. That's weird."
"What?" Hermione replied.
"You're taking Newt Defense Against the Dark Arts at a different time than I am. I didn't know we had enough Newt level students to fill up two classes."
Elizabeth looked up from her schedule. "Oh really?" she said. "When do you both have it, then?"
"Monday and Thursday mornings," Hermione said.
"Tuesdays and Fridays," said Vega.
"I have it with Hermione," Elizabeth replied, looking back at her timetable. After comparing the rest of their schedules, they found that they were all in the same potions class that afternoon.
"I wonder what Professor Grimstone is going to be like," Elizabeth said as they made their way to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. "You know, this is the first time we've ever had a new professor before."
"Don't worry; he can't be nearly as bad as some of my past teachers," Hermione said, knowing full well that Grimstone taught successfully at Hogwarts for the next fifteen years until his sudden death in the late fifties. She went on to describe the antics of some of her less… qualified… professors.
Elizabeth was laughing about Hermione's second year pixie incident when they entered the classroom. What they saw did not improve Hermione's previous mood.
The small room held about a dozen students, over half of which were Slytherin. Not surprisingly, Tom Riddle sat in the middle of the lot, arrogantly ignoring everyone. Today is going to be a very bad day, she thought darkly, before sitting down removed from the rest of the class.
A few minutes later, a short and balding man dressed in dark blue robes walked in.
"Hello everyone!" he said, smiling at everyone. "I trust you all had a pleasant holiday?"
The class remained silent.
He cleared his throat. "My name is Professor Grimstone. As I'm new here, I thought we'd take it easy today… perhaps just introduce you to the Newt level course work. It's a lot to deal with, as you know, so we should at least know what we're up against. Also, as you may have noticed, the class is a little smaller this year; I did this on purpose. I thought it might be useful to split the class in two, so we have a smaller group to work with. Maybe we'll have more time to work on individual problems before your examination at the end of the year…."
He continued on like this for the better part of an hour, explaining class goals and expectations. Hermione looked over at Elizabeth and saw that she was clearly not paying attention. She had her head propped up in one hand, and was doodling idly with the other. If that had been Harry or Ron, she would have kicked them in the shins and told them to pay attention, but as she barely knew Elizabeth, she kept her mouth shut and feet to herself.
Towards the end of class, Grimstone started talking about group work in class. "I'll assign you and your partner regular work to be done outside of class," he was saying. "You'll also do work in class, and the occasional project together. For simplicity's sake, I've already drawn up the partners–"
The class groaned.
"–and grouped everyone together by alphabetical order."
The class groaned even louder.
"Bloody hell," Elizabeth said. "I'll probably get stuck with Miller. I always get stuck with Miller when we're placed alphabetically."
"So if everyone can stand up," he continued, "I'll assign you your partner and seating arrangement."
The class picked up their stuff and moved to the front of the room. Grimstone began pairing off people as he walked up and down the aisles, pointing at desks. "Avery-Brand, Fisher-Griffiths, Higgs-Jugson, Lestrange-MacMillan, Michaels-Miller…. He paused. "Ah yes, Parks and Riddle, right here…."
Hermione closed her eyes and sighed. Why did she always seem to come up with the short end of the stick? This was sure to be awkward, especially since neither had said a word to the other since their trip to Diagon Alley. Reluctantly, she grabbed her bag and sat beside Tom. He glanced at her and nodded. "Parks."
"Riddle."
They sat in an icy silence while Professor Grimstone finished calling the names. Hermione turned around and saw Elizabeth behind her, looking disgruntled next to a dark-skinned Ravenclaw. She sat slumped in her chair, arms crossed and eyes glaring, while the boy next to her poked her in the side and waggled his eyebrows. Somehow, it made Hermione feel a little bit better knowing that she wasn't the only one hating their current situation.
xxxxxx
"I told you, I always get stuck with Miller without fail," Elizabeth whined as they walked to Potions. "He's so… foul! Always making some crude comment; you'd think he was twelve!" She tugged at her hair in frustration.
Hermione grimaced. "Well at least you're not stuck with Riddle. He's awful. I can't believe my luck…. Oh no, wait a minute." She stopped and started rummaging through her bag. "I forgot my Potions textbook."
"Do you want me to come with you?" Elizabeth asked.
"No, its okay; I'll run and get it myself. You go to class," she replied.
Elizabeth shrugged. "Okay then; see you in a few minutes."
Hermione left to go grab her book. She knew this would make her late to class, and as she walked into the dungeon fifteen minutes later, she really wished that she had not bothered to make the trip.
"Miss Parks!" Slughorn cried happily as she stood in the back of the classroom. "How nice of you to join us!"
"I'm sorry I'm late, Professor," she replied awkwardly.
"It's no problem, my dear girl. We were just partnering everyone up! Now it seems everyone is already in a group except Mr. Riddle here, so why don't you work with him?"
Hermione's mouth fell open. She would have to work with him in two classes? Oh, the injustice! She swallowed and thanked him as sweetly as possible, before slowly heading up the aisle. Neither Tom nor Hermione acknowledged one another as she sat down, and they waited in silence for Slughorn to begin his lecture.
"So," Slughorn said, smiling broadly. "Now that we're all here, we can start. There's a lot to cover so I figured we'd jump right in with a practical class – the instructions are on the board. And oh yes, there's extra credit to the students who have the best potion at the end of the hour!"
Tom was already unpacking his supplies. Without looking at Hermione, he said quietly, "Try to stay out of my way, alright? It will go much smoother if you just leave everything to me."
Hermione blinked at him. "I don't think so," she said indignantly. "We're partners, meaning that we work together, and split up the work. I'm not as incapable as you think." She grabbed her book and stormed huffily off towards the store-cupboard.
As she was measuring out a quantity of doxy eggs, Vega sidled over and whispered, "Sorry 'bout your bad luck with Tom. Elizabeth told me; you're already two for two!"
Hermione sighed and said sarcastically, "Yes, I'm just so lucky..." She stalked back over to Tom and slammed the ingredients on the table.
He looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "Why aren't we the moody one today…."
"Oh shut up and dice these roots."
He didn't say anything, and the two worked in silence for a while.
"You're adding too much Flobberworm mucus," he said suddenly. "The consistency will be too thick."
She glowered. "No I'm not. I'm just accounting for the fact that you didn't add nearly enough Sopophorus Bean juice. If you had crushed the beans with the flat side of your knife instead of chopping them, we would have had more than enough to achieve the proper consistency." Hermione glared at Tom, daring him to make a snide retort.
But once again, he didn't say anything; he simply stared at her, perhaps in shock at her blatant audacity. This irritated Hermione even further; her bad mood had moved from depression to frustration to full blown anger, and she wanted to vent her feelings out on someone. Blast Tom Riddle! She felt like a fight, and all he did was sit there, staring haughtily as if he didn't even care that she had just insulted him.
She opened her mouth to say something even more offensive, when Slughorn strode over peered into their cauldron.
"Mr. Riddle! Miss Parks! This potion is fabulous!" he said, clasping his hands together. "Full points!" He paused. "Oh, and Miss Parks, would you care to stay for a few minutes after class? I need to discuss something with you."
Hermione opened her mouth again to make up an excuse, but he swept away before she could say anything. Slytherins! She thought angrily.
Seeing no way she could avoid Slughorn this time, she waited until the rest of the students left, and then walked hesitantly up to the professor in the front of the room. Trying to smile pleasantly, but probably failing, she asked, "You wanted to see me, Professor?"
He sat behind his desk and said, "Ah yes, Hermione…. I wanted to congratulate you on your fine job today in class. You have quite the way with potions, you know."
She shifted her weight uncomfortably. "Oh, not really…."
"You're very skilled, my girl, very skilled indeed. I'd say you'll give Tom Riddle a run for his money, and he's my best student!" He leaned forward and smiled. "That's why I would like to extend an offer to you, one that I only extend to my best and brightest students."
She raised an eyebrow, knowing what was to come next.
"Every so often, these students and I get together. We sit, eat, talk; its great fun, you know. We're meeting tonight. Would you like to come?"
Of course she didn't. She had already had enough of the Slug Club to last a lifetime, and she certainly didn't want to be anywhere around Tom Riddle and his band of Slytherins when she didn't have to. "Well thank you, but…" she started.
"Really, I insist," he said. "I know you'll enjoy it, and everyone will really love the chance to meet you!"
"Actually, Professor…"
"I won't take no for an answer! Meet us tonight at seven in my office." He stood from the desk and escorted Hermione out, ignoring her protests.
"See you tonight, then!" he said cheerfully, as he gently pushed her out the door and closed it behind him.
That was too much for Hermione. Who did Slughorn think he was, forcing her to join his club? She had half a mind to go back in there and decline, but decided it wasn't worth the trouble. Instead, she stalked out into the corridor, where she was promptly greeted by her fellow Gryffindor classmates. They all seemed very interested to know what Slughorn had said.
"So? Did the old Slug ask you to join his club?" asked Roger. Then, seeing her face, he added, "Whoa, are you okay?"
Hermione nodded, still infuriated. "I'm fine. And yes, he asked me to come to the meeting tonight."
Vega sighed. "Oh, Hermione, we're so sorry. We've heard awful things about it from Roger."
This surprised her. "Roger's in the slug club?" Hermione asked sharply.
Roger glared at Vega. "Yes, and it's not that bad. There's a lot of Slytherins in the group, but I usually sit in the back, away from the lot. And plus, going to Sluggy's little meetings has its perks. I can get away with anything in his class."
Elizabeth laughed. "Like that time you added too many Billywig stings and blew up your cauldron – Slughorn didn't say anything. But the day before, Vega made the same mistake and he gave her a detention!"
Roger sighed happily. "Being well liked does have its perks," he joked.
"Oh shut up," Vega replied, crossing her arms. "Slughorn just likes you because you're a Quidditch player."
"Well that's not my problem. How many times have I told you to try out for the team?" He smiled smugly. "Besides, Elizabeth's in Quidditch, too, and Slughorn never notices her."
"Remember, that's a good thing," said Elizabeth, as they began walking down the corridor. "I don't have to put up with his nonsense." She turned to Hermione. "Anyway, what did you say? Are you going tonight?"
Hermione shrugged. "Did I really have a choice? If I don't go, he's going to hate me. Besides, I couldn't have said no even if I tried – he wouldn't let me get a word in edgewise."
Elizabeth grimaced. "Isn't that the Slughorn we all know and love…. Well have fun with him tonight."
The reached the first floor, and Hermione and Roger started up the staircase while Vega and Elizabeth kept walking. Roger stopped and called back to them. "Hey, where are you guys going?"
They slowed down and turned back to look at him. "The library, of course," Elizabeth answered.
Roger's jaw dropped. "The library?" he said incredulously. "Already? But it's only the first day!"
Hermione scoffed. He sounded just like Ron.
"Yes, but we already have potions homework," Vega said, matter-of-factly. "And we said we'd meet Jess there after class." They started walking again.
"We'll see you at dinner!" Elizabeth called cheerfully over her shoulder.
Roger scowled and looked down at Hermione. "I don't suppose you'll be joining them, eh?" he said. "Or are you too smart to need to go study in the library."
Still annoyed, Hermione lead the way back up to the Gryffindor tower. "If you must know," she said, "I've already got a head start on potions during the summer. But there's nothing wrong with going to the library on the first day of classes."
He smiled wryly. "Great. We've got ourselves yet another bookworm. I swear, that's all girls are interested in nowadays."
She snorted. Boys.
