Chapter 9: Power's Discovered

Hermione felt as if they were very accepting. Her father told her when she received her letter to Hogwart's that you never judge a person by their first impressions; they are often the most misleading. So with that wonderful piece of advice in the forefront of her mind she kept up her guard and allowed Tom to escort her to her new home….in Slytherin. It almost felt sinful to admit to herself that she was now a slithering snake.

"Yes Tom. I would very much appreciate seeing my new home."

She watched him falter a bit when she said home. Was there something wrong with referring to Hogwart's as her new home? As they walked Hermione ran thirty different conversations through her head. She couldn't form a cognitive sentence if her life depended on it at this moment. Tom was very handsome. More so than any other boy in her time at Hogwarts. On top of that, if Albus was to entrust her with him to learn her studies, he must be very intelligent. She ended up not speaking until he spoke first, once they arrived in her new room.

"Watch your step Hermione, don't fall." He held a hand up to her so she would not fall as she came into her room. She held his hand and walked in to a gloriously large room. There was only one bed, indicating she would be solo in her nightly routines. This would make getting to know Tom a lot easier; no one would know any of their conversations.

"As you can see we have very spacious and private dorm rooms. Only the first and second years share a dorm. You do have to share your lavatory with one other person, this is much better than the other houses, were everyone shares one lavatory. I see here that all of your personal belongings are in place, as well as your books, years one through three, are on your book shelf. Would you be interested in starting your studies tonight?"

Hermione was still bewitched by the boy standing in front of her, he was so charismatic. She felt entranced with each new word that he spoke. My goodness, what did he say?

"I'm sorry Tom, I was lost in thought. This room is spectacular. The sheer size is amazing compared to what I am accustomed too. Please forgive my rudeness. What did you ask me?" Hermione tried to be as polite as possible, but in usual Hermione fashion it came out a tad bit clumsy.

Tom gave a small smile. "I was simply wondering if you would like to begin your studies tonight."

"Oh yes, absolutely! I am very eager to learn everything I can. I've already read all the books. I mostly need practice. A lot according to…hrmm...is it proper to call him father yet? I don't really know him all that well?" She suddenly realized she was rambling out loud. "Oh right, sorry Tom, I tend to get lost in thought and forget that I'm talking out loud on occasion. What time would you like to begin?"

"I will return in two hours. That should be sufficient time for you to prepare and make your room more at home, until then." He nodded his head and abruptly turned leaving her room.

Well wasn't he a bit snippy. Hermione was just thankful the introduction was over. She must find her journal as quickly as possible. Surely there was more guidance to go by, and fear of a book was absolutely absurd. She walked over to her book shelf and began to browse through the books until she found it. The beautiful leather journal Harry had given her just a few months ago. Granted it wasn't a gift, but it was the only thing she had left of her time.

She opened the journal and watched as elegant hand writing began to scrawl across the pages. Hermione fervently read each line that lit up on the page. It was basically a walkthrough of the current day. She skimmed ahead to this evening, and realized that Tom was already admiring her beauty. She honestly had not noticed the glances or stares. She was simply too engrossed in the beautiful room, not to mention the gorgeous boy walking in front of her the whole time.

As she was getting ready to close the book, large dark black letters popped up onto the page.

WARNING! TOM DOES NOT CARE ABOUT YOUR LOOKS HERMIONE! HE MAY THINK YOU ARE ATTRACTIVE BUT HE IS ONLY INTERSTED IN YOUR MIND AND YOUR POWERESS AT THIS POINT! PRACTICE THE PATRONUS CHARM BEFORE HE COMES TO YOUR ROOM. HE WILL ASK YOU TO PRODUCE ONE FIRST THING. IF YOU CAN PRODUCE A FULL BODY PATRONUS ON WHAT HE THINKS IS YOUR FIRST TRY HE WILL THINK YOU ARE VERY POWERFUL! REMEMBER TO THINK OF THE HAPPIEST MEMORY YOU CAN AND CAST EXPECTO PATRONUM!

For the next hour and forty five minutes Hermione did nothing about her appearance. Instead, she cast her Patronus charm until, a bouncing lion cub, came shooting out of her wand only moments before he arrived. When he arrived, she had her books scattered all over her floor, parchment lay disorganized everywhere in the room and her hair was in a loose bun with little pieces falling all around her face. She turned around shocked to see him standing in the doorway. A strange expression crossed his features.

"Good Evening Hermione. I see you have begun your studies without my assistance."

"Um well, yes I may have. I apologize but I was just practicing some spells and charms. Would you care to give me a moment to reorganize my disorganization?"

"Of course." He gave her a quick nod and watched her studiously rearrange her notes, and perhaps color coded number charts?

She chanced a glance at Tom and noticed he was smirking at her while she picked up her mess. After a few minutes she had cleared the floor, arranged her notes according to each subject and laid them all on her bed neatly stacked.

"Right then, that's that, sorry Tom for the delay. I'm ready to begin whenever you are ready."

"Yes I see. We are going to begin testing your magical power, if that is ok with you? I would like you to do exactly as I do."

Tom turned facing the wall and cast the Patronus charm. A giant snake appeared and slithered around the room passing between Hermione's legs and up around her waist before disappearing. She took a deep breath and nodded at Tom before she raised her wand.

"Expecto Patronum." She spoke in a clear, even tone and watched as her lion cub gracefully emerged from the tip of her wand. Never taking her focus from her cub she guided it over to Tom and it sat by his side in a stance of protection.

AN: DISCLAIMER:

I DO NOT OWN THE WORLD OF HARRY POTTER/JK ROWLING. I DO NOT MAKE ANY MONEY OFF OF THIS OR ANY OTHER STORY I HAVE WRITTEN. I SIMPLY PLAY WITH THE CHARACTERS.

Hope you guys enjoyed the last update. You can all give a big thanks to those who reviewed for your extra chapter today. I won't be updating again though until Monday.

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PUNKYREDHEAD AND CASSIE-D1!