Disclaimer: these characters are not mine – they belong to JK Rowling
AN: Thank you to those who have taken the time to review! this story has been fun to write!
Chapter 3 –Say, you look familiar...
Tom escorted Hermione to potion's class, and placed her bag that he had offered to carry for her, behind her chair. She slid into the seat next to him, oblivious to the glares she was receiving from a seventh year Ravenclaw girl sitting two rows back. Hermione decided it was time to put the first phase of her plan for operation Volde-No-More in place. From what she had known about Tom Riddle, he was fiercely competitive, and that he had maintained the highest marks in his classes. That was about to change, because he'd never had worthy competition; he was about to be introduced to Hermione 'the insufferable know it all' Granger. It. Was. On.
Professor Slughorn strolled into the potion's classroom, and bid the class to open to page 36 of their Advanced Potion's text.
"Yes, yes, this year we shall begin the term with a most difficult potion, the draught of living death, and you will be working in pairs. Once you have chosen your partner, you may collect the required ingredients from the potion's cupboard and begin."
Tom immediately stood and headed to the back of the classroom to gather ingredients, while Hermione made some notes in the margin of the text. Luckily, Harry had shown her how he had brewed such a perfect version of this potion using Snape's old potion's book by following Snape's added instructions, which she decided to jot down. When Tom returned, Hermione took the Sopophorus beans and began to crush them with the side of the blade.
"What do you think you're doing?! The instructions say to cut the bean not crush it!" Tom cried making a move to stop her before she could add the juice to the potion
"Tom, trust me, will you?" Hermione said grinning and continuing to squeeze the juice from the bean with the blade.
He grimaced and stepped back, allowing her to proceed, certain that she was about to ruin their potion. To his surprise, the potion hissed exactly as it was meant to, and he realized that what she had done had worked. He took a look around the class room, and saw all of the other students struggling to cut the bean's hard outer shell, and then looked once again at Hermione appreciatively. She also added the juice from one extra bean than the instructions called for. Tom watched as the potion came together flawlessly while he gave it the exact number of turns specified.
"Hermione, how did you know how to do that? It's not in the book." He asked her curiously.
She just smiled knowingly at him, remembering what Snape had often pointed out to her, and said, "You won't find everything in a book, you know."
"Yes, but how?" he asked still in disbelief that she would have clearly brewed a superior potion to his had they been working alone.
"Let's just say, I had a really good teacher." Hermione said cryptically
Tom hadn't known that Eunice Murray was that good at potions, but he supposed anything was possible. This girl was such a mystery.
"Tom and Hermione have done it! I dare say, this potion is perfect! Twenty points to Slytherin, and of course an Outstanding for today's lesson. Tremendous job to both of you!"
Most of the students rolled their eyes at the lavish praise being heaped on Tom and Hermione, since they knew Tom was already one of Slughorn's favorite students. The students stood and began to clean up their workstations while Slughorn shouted out that they were to write an essay on the practical uses of the draught of living death, before he turned to Hermione.
"Miss Jones, I wonder if I might have a word? Tom, you are welcome to stay, of course."
Hermione had a feeling that she knew what was coming…he was probably going to invite her into the infamous 'Slug club'.
"Miss Jones, your potions work today was simply outstanding. I wanted to see if you are available to attend a dinner party I am having tomorrow night…it's a little group I've put together of some of Hogwart's most brilliant minds, and it is really important to network you know; opens up doors for future careers and all that. Would you be interested? Tom here is already a member. I dare say, maybe the two of you could attend together?" The professor asked her.
Hermione looked at Tom, who was grinning at her encouragingly. She hadn't had much interest in getting involved with the slug club, but she knew that it would be at one of these dinners that Tom would eventually ask Slughorn about horcruxes…she decided she should accept, even if only to keep her eye on him.
"Of course Professor, I'd be delighted to attend." Hermione responded politely.
"Wonderful, wonderful, I shall see you tomorrow evening then. Now off to class, both of you!"
Tom once again took Hermione's bag for her, and walked with her to Transfiguration.
"What did I just get myself into?" She asked Tom innocently.
"The 'Slug Club' as we call it, is just a get together for those of us who are on track for a ministry career, or who have relatives in positions of power." Tom sneered at that, "Old Slughorn likes to fawn over them to them as a way to make him feel more important than he actually is." He said disdainfully
Hermione noticed his look of loathing when he mentioned that Slughorn liked to include students who had powerful families, and for a brief moment, Hermione was reminded of the fact that she knew Tom had grown up in an orphanage with no family. She would have felt sympathetic, except that she knew how manipulative he could be, and then the moment had passed.
"So what does one wear to a Slug Club dinner then? Uniforms, or?" Hermione asked not sure if people had dressed up for these occasions as they did in her own time.
"They are typically a casual affair, most students just wear their uniforms when the dinners fall during the school week, although he usually throws a garish Yule party before the end of term."
"Good to know. I wouldn't want to look out of place." She said honestly.
Harry had Divination class first, which if at all possible, was worse than when he had taken the class with Sybil Trelawney. This professor made Trelawney seem positively sane. At least he could fake his way through the class much as he had in his own time, and before long, the class was over, and he was heading to Transfiguration which he shared with Hermione and He-who-must-always-be-a-Pain-in-the-arse.
As he exited the tower and headed towards the stairs, he was stopped by a Gryffindor girl, who was a seventh year. She had dark brown hair, and blue eyes, and she looked familiar to him somehow, though he couldn't quite put his finger on why that was.
"So you're Harry right? Harry Jones? I just wanted to introduce myself, I'm Euphemia Prewett, though everyone calls me Effie. How are you liking Hogwart's so far?"
"It's…Big, but amazing." Harry replied honestly. Though he was very familiar with the castle from his own time, he never felt like he'd get used to how impressive it truly was.
"Yes, it is…well, it was nice to meet you. I hope to see you around, Harry" she said and blushed as she averted her eyes and hurried down the stairs.
Well, that was interesting.
Harry shook his head and continued down the stairs. When he reached the hall just outside the transfiguration class room, he accidentally bumped into a Gryffindor boy who was also a sixth year. He had black messy hair, and blue eyes. Harry paled as he stared at him, noting that they had looked so much alike, they could have been brothers. He quickly stood and offered his hand to the boy.
"I'm sorry, I didn't see you." Harry said apologetically.
"You should watch where you're going!" The boy snapped, and brushed off the front of his school robes. The boy looked up at him then, and must also noticed the strange resemblance.
"Do I…know you?" he asked quizzically
"No, I'm sure we've never met. I'm Harry Jones, I just transferred here." Harry said truly discomfited by their eerie likeness.
"Ah. I'm Fleamont Potter. I'm sorry you ended up in Slytherin, mate, bunch of tossers if you ask me." Fleamont said
Harry couldn't help but laugh at Fleamont's insult, internally heartily agreeing with his assessment, but he just recovered himself and said, "Some of them are, it would seem, but I can assure you, we're not all bad." Harry said as he shook Fleamont's hand. As a Potter, this boy was obviously one of his family members. He liked him already.
"Good to know! See you around, Jones." Fleamont said as he sauntered away down the hall.
He couldn't wait to tell Hermione, this was incredible! He actually had living family members!
Harry walked into Transfiguration class and slid into the seat beside Hermione. Tom, thankfully, was seated on the other side of the room.
"Hermione, I just met a Potter! An actual living Potter!" Harry whispered as he tried to reign in his excitement.
"Right, that would be…Fleamont? He's your grandfather, if I recall correctly." Hermione whispered back to him. She didn't want to admit, that she had actually memorized Hogwart's: A History from her own timeline.
"This is unbelievable...sort of creepy, but unbelievable." He said still smiling.
"Yes, but you must remember that you absolutely cannot let him know who you really are and where you are from…the consequences would be disastrous." She reminded him quietly.
"I know, I know…I've already introduced myself as 'Harry Jones'. He did notice the resemblance though, so let's just hope he chocks it up to coincidence." Harry told her.
Hermione turned forward after that to give her full attention to Professor Dumbledore as the Transfiguration lesson begun.
"Can anyone tell me who the first person was to adapt transfiguration to be used with Magical methods of transportation?" asked Professor Dumbledore.
Before he finished his sentence, two hands shot into the air simultaneously, ready to answer the question. Tom glanced over to see who the other student was who had the gall to try and take all the credit in class, and of course, it was Hermione Jones. The corners of his mouth turned down briefly in a frown, when Professor Dumbledore called on her, before he quickly pulled a look of indifference on his face. Of course, Dumbledore would call on her to answer.
"That esteemed honor belonged to Helga Hufflepuff. When she created the Hufflepuff cup, it was initially used to transport food from the kitchens at Hogwarts to the great Hall, acting similarly to that of a portkey. The Cup itself was transfigured from a golden brooch she had once worn on her robes." Hermione answered and then glanced over at Tom, a smirk forming on her lips. Just as she had predicted, Tom had looked away from her quickly, focusing intently on his notes as if her active participation in class had not annoyed him. Already, two classes into the day, she had managed to earn more house points than he did. She badly wanted to gloat, but quickly reminded herself who she was dealing with, and decided she had better not.
Charms class went by pretty uneventfully. Once again, she had been competing with Tom to answer all of Professor Hardgrove's questions. At the end of class, Hermione jotted down her homework assignment and packed up her things to make her way to the great hall for lunch. Tom made his way over to her at the end of class, and once again picked up her bag. Hermione blushed, which did not go unnoticed by Tom. Harry, who also shared charms with them had to force his hands to relax when they balled into fists by his side after watching the way Tom was pouring it on thick for Hermione. She couldn't really be falling for this crap, could she? Harry glanced at Hermione, and realized she most definitely was.
"Hermione, you must have forgotten; we are to meet with…the Headmaster …during lunch to discuss end of term arrangements." Harry lied smoothly, hoping that Hermione would understand that he needed to speak with her in private.
Tom turned around, and narrowed his eyes at Harry, clearly not believing his excuse.
"That's right! How silly of me to forget!" Hermione replied without skipping a beat. She reached for her bag and her fingers brushed Tom's bicep as the strap slid over his arm, and her breath hitched at the contact. The corner of his mouth turned up in a knowing smirk, clearly seeing the effect he was having on her. A blush rose to her cheeks, and she tried to change the subject.
"Right, well, I'll see you in Defense class after Lunch, Tom." And she gave him a shy smile before heading towards the Headmaster's office with Harry.
Once she was sure they were out of hearing range from Tom, she shot Harry a glare.
"Room of requirement" was all he said.
Once they had reached the seventh floor corridor, Harry paced back and forth in front of it and said, "we need a quiet place to talk" and a door appeared in the wall. Harry opened the door quickly and pulled Hermione inside.
"Are you crazy?" He practically roared at her once the door was closed and warded.
"Excuse me?!" She yelled back not sure where all his anger was coming from.
"You are playing with fire, Hermione, and I don't want to be the one to say 'I told you so' when you get burned. It's Tom fucking Riddle….How could you even think.." Harry began before Hermione cut him off.
"That's rich! Only this morning you were only too happy to be discussing quidditch try outs with him, but if, Godric forbid, he's nice to me, there has to be an ulterior motive – is that what you are trying to imply?" Hermione practically screeched
"You know, Hermione, for someone so intelligent, you can be really quite thick sometimes." Harry spat.
Her mouth dropped open in shock, was he calling her stupid? "You know what Harry? I think you're just Jealous…because in this timeline, you aren't the center of the universe. The fate of the world, believe it or not, does not revolve around you!" she said coldly as she crossed her arms over her chest.
Harry stared at her in disbelief. Is that what she thought this was about?
Harry took a deep breath and calmed himself. He apparently was not explaining himself well.
"Look, Hermione, I get that Riddle's an attractive bloke – and I'm not in any way trying to insinuate that you aren't worthy of his attentions. Honestly, I think it goes without saying that I think you can do much better." at this, he noticed a smirk forming in the corner of her mouth, "It's just that, Riddle – well, he's a master manipulator. You should be second guessing everything he does. He does nothing without purpose, and I just want to make sure you are aware of that, and are being careful." Harry finally said.
"So you think he's attractive, Harry?" Hermione joked, not able to stop the smile that spread across her face
"Hermione! You missed the point on that one." Harry said trying not to laugh at her teasing.
"Harry, I understand your concern, I do, and believe me, I am watching Riddle very closely."
Harry was quiet for a minute before he started to laugh, "I'll bet you are, Hermione" he teased.
She responded by tossing a throw pillow at his head.
"Seriously though, you should know, that if he ever tries to hurt you, I'll kill him." Harry said seriously.
A shiver suddenly shot down her spine. There was a flicker of something in Harry's eyes that she had never noticed before…
"Harry, I…"she began
"Just be careful" he said interrupting her thoughts. He squeezed her hand and then summoned a house elf to bring them some lunch in the room of requirement. A table appeared in the corner, complete with sandwiches, fruit, a pitcher of pumpkin juice, and some biscuits.
Hermione ate her sandwich quietly, mulling over what Harry had said to her. The moment between them had gotten suddenly awkward, and she wondered if Harry had been feeling something more than friendship towards her after all these years…something he'd never told her. She wondered if it was because he had known that she had liked Ron. It suddenly all began to fall into place then. Harry was always putting everyone's needs before his own, including being ready to die for 'The Greater Good'…it wouldn't be a stretch to think that he would keep his own feelings quiet so that she and Ron could be happy. She was pretty sure that if she looked up 'self sacrifice' in the dictionary, there would be a picture of Harry James Potter right next to it. Did she have any feelings for Harry? She loved him, certainly. He was one of her best friends, but when she tried to imagine kissing him, it just didn't feel right.
Aside from the fact that Tom Riddle was a totally hot manipulative bastard, it also explained why his fawning over Hermione had irritated Harry so much. He was jealous. She decided to try and keep her interactions with Tom to a minimum when she was around Harry, if only to not stoke the flames. Pitting Harry against Tom in this timeline, before they were meant to, could be disastrous for their future.
She decided she best try to dispel the awkwardness that had fallen between them, "I'm really looking forward to Professor Merrythought's Defense class this afternoon…I've been doing some reading…"
"Of course you have." Harry interjected smiling
Hermione swatted him and continued talking, "From what I read she was one of Hogwart's best Defense teachers. She held the post until she retired…er…retires in 1945. We're very lucky to have this opportunity to learn from her."
Harry agreed and as they finished their lunch, he decided to tease Hermione again by reaching for her sachel and saying, "Miss Jones, may I escort you to Defense class?" in his best imitation of Tom's voice.
Hermione laughed
"Merlin, Hermione, does that rubbish actually work?" he asked her laughing.
"It's called chivalry, Harry, and yes it does. Maybe you could learn a thing or two from it" Hermione instantly regretted saying that as she saw a fleeting look of hurt pass over his face before he forced a smile back into place
She squeezed his arm, and he looked up at her, "Although, I can't wait to see Riddle's face tomorrow when you thoroughly thrash him at Quidditch tryouts." Hermione said smiling. Since it seemed that they would be stuck here in the past, for the foreseeable future as it were, she didn't want to push away the one person who she could talk freely to. Maybe, overtime, her feelings towards him would change.