Sorry for the long wait everyone! I have had no muse what so ever. Then, my internet stopped working for a few days and I was graphic-making and got the inspiration to continue this story! I have decided on a new direction to take it. Hopefully no one is too upset by it. Tell me what you think in the reviews! Sorry if I have any grammer/spelling errors, I am not an amazing writer nor do I have a Beta Reader.

Also, I do not own the Harry Potter series or whatever because if I did, during the making of the movie, I would be in it. -happy sigh-


Previously: I took the letter and noticed I had double Defense against the Dark Arts tomorrow. That class would be held all the way until lunch. I sighed. I looked at the professor's name, and saw it was Slughorn. Hopefully he won't invite me to join his little club though. I took the letter up stairs to my room, and threw it on an end table. I went over to a trunk that was in front of my bed, and opened it up. I saw that there was clothing, my exact size. I smiled, glad that Dumbledore provided me with some. I then went over to a closest and opened it up. I also saw some regular clothes there. I took out a tank top, and then went to the dressers. I opened the first drawer, and then closed it. There were undergarments in there. Then I opened the second drawer and saw some pajamas. I took out pajama bottoms which had brooms all over them, and slipped on the tank top and bottoms. I then folded my dirty clothes and put them off to the side. I climbed into my bed, and snuggled up to the silk blankets. Then, I went into a dreamless sleep.

They were asking too many questions. Stop; stop asking so many questions because I do not know the answers. They surrounded Hermione like animals, all peering down at her with accusing eyes. They kept asking questions, so many questions that she did not know how to react. She couldn't pick one questions out from the other. So many faces were around her, some of those faces were dead and some were alive. Suddenly, one face stood out from the rest to her. It was Harry Potter, one of her best friends but no, this did not make any sense to her. Harry was dead, wasn't he?

"Remember," he said out loud. Then, everyone else that was around her began chanting the same word that Harry said. They started to grab on to her arms and she thrashed about, trying to ask what she was supposed to remember but no words would come out of her mouth. Tears started to pour down her eyes and suddenly she felt a great weight lifted off her. She sat up and looked around her surroundings. It was just a dream, just a nightmare; she was in her bed still. She lowered herself back down, snuggling up to the soft silky blankets. She gave a sigh as she remembered the previous events of the past few days and got up to get ready for the day ahead of her. She had double Potions first and then after lunch she had Arithmancy and then History of Magic.

After she got ready, she checked the clock to make sure that she had enough time before class to go to the Great Hall for Breakfast. She quickly ate breakfast in the Great Hall then made her way to the Potions classroom. Hermione was glad that her timetable said where it was in case anyone asked how she knew where it was. She walked into the classroom and her eyes slightly widened in shock because the room was full already with chatting students. She looked around for a spot to sit and saw two spots, one was next to Tom Riddle and the other was next to a Gryffindor student. She chose the one next to the Gryffindor student, not wanting to work beside Tom Riddle in this class.

"Good morning everyone! Since this is the first class of the year, we will start off with an easy potion. You will be working with the person next to you on this one because it's a great way to get to know the person you are sitting beside. I know, I know! Seems almost too easy to be true, doesn't it? Well, don't you worry about that because there will be homework assigned. This year will be anything but easy, which is why I'm starting with theSwelling Solution potion today. Well, the ingredients and instructions are on the board. Get to work!" The professor clapped his hands together and looked at the students eagerly and then he went and sat at his desk. Hermione had met this professor before, in the future and she knew him by Professor Slughorn. She wondered if he had that Slug club thing still going and hoped that she wouldn't be invited. She still remembered the party she went to with Cormac, which was a complete disaster.

"Hello, I'm Hermione Granger, nice to meet you," she said turning to her partner. He had shaggy, dirty blonde hair that covered most of his forehead. He didn't appear to be the most welcoming company.

"I'll just get the ingredients and we can get this over with quickly," he replied back and then went to get the ingredients as mentioned. Hermione was taken back by his attitude towards her. She was nothing but nice to him and he just threw it back in her face like that. Was it just because she was sorted into Slytherin? She always thought if Slytherins just acted a little nicer that the whole school wouldn't hate them as much. Seems she wasn't as correct in that as she was before. She really did have a lot to learn about how the students of Slytherin were like. He came back and they began to work on the potion. Over an hour went by and they were finished, patiently waiting the professor to come over to assess their work. Once he got over there he had nothing but a grin on his face.

"Why, this is just splendid! It's basically perfect. I'll be keeping an eye on you two," he said with a wink as he walked away, a little twinkle shining in his eye. She looked around the classroom and saw a few other students already done the potion. Some of the potions did not look completely correct but most of them looked as acceptable as hers. She looked over to the Gryffindor student sitting beside her, who hadn't said a word to her since the first time they spoke. She wanted to try and get to civil terms with this Gryffindor, as it seemed they would probably be partners for future potions classes.

After Potions, Hermione started to walk back to the Great Hall for lunch when someone joined her on the walk there. It was Malfoy, the person she had met during the sorting ceremony and she couldn't help but to frown.

"Hello, Hermione. Some potions class, eh? Professor Slughorn seems to have taken a shine to you, if you don't be careful you might be special enough to land in his club! Only his most promising students get in it," he said with an added wink, obviously trying to make some light conversation.

"I'm not too interested in joining clubs, thank you very much. I'd rather have the extra time to complete homework assignments and studying instead of having social gatherings," Hermione replied back as they approached the Great Hall entry way.

"Who would rather be studying than being at a party, conversing with such a fine catch such as myself?" He questioned her while they headed to the Slytherin table.

"Anyone with a brain, Malfoy," Hermione replied back, frowning as she wondered why he kept talking to her like this. The Malfoy she knew back home would've never talked this civil to her but then again they were in different houses and there were quite a good number of circumstances as well. He seemed to find this funny because he laughed as they sat down. Abraxas Malfoy had chosen to sit down to her right.

"Still pestering the lady, Abraxas?" A voice asked that was sitting over one seat to the right, across from Hermione. The voice belonged to none other than Thomas Riddle Jr, also more widely known as (in the future) Lord Voldemort. Hermione started to pile her plate with different assortments.

"Not at all, my – er – Tom," Abraxas replied with a look on his face that clearly said 'I can not believe I just said that' Hermione raised her eyebrows and looked back and forth between them. Of course she knew what he was probably going to say (my Lord, or something along those lines) but she didn't want them to know that.

" 'My Tom' I didn't know you two were dating," Hermione said looking between them, making sure to widen her eyes as an effect. The expression on Tom's face was – well – he didn't exactly have an expression there but Abraxas looked absolutely ansty.

"I was going to say my friend, I just switched what I was going to say at last minute," Abraxas said with a nervous laugh. Hermione was slightly surprised he was able to think of an excuse that quickly. Then again, she never really pegged Slytherins as a smart or noble bunch. Rephrase: She never really pegged Malfoys as smart or noble. At least she was still right about one thing, they weren't the most noble. She just said a simple 'oh' and continued to eat her lunch in silence. She looked up at the head table and noticed that Professor Dumbledore was making his way along the Slytherin table. He stopped behind her and she turned to face him with a quizzical expression on her face, wondering what he might want.

"Miss Granger, do you mind if you drop by my office after your last class? I'd like to have a few words with you," Albus Dumbledore said in a soft and polite tone. Hermione nodded her head and waited until he had moved on to continue eating her lunch. She wondered what he would like to speak to her about but she would find out soon enough, after her last class.

After a very uneventful Arithmancy and History of Magic (where she got five foot page essay home work assignment), she remembered that Dumbledore wanted to see her in his office but she realized she had no clue where that was. In her time, he was the headmaster so everyone knew where his office was. However, since he was just a professor here in this time (she recalled that he taught Transfiguration), she wasn't sure where his office was located. She stood outside her History of Magic door, hoping to ask the professor when everyone else left, when someone touched her shoulder. She turned around and looked at the person, waiting for them to speak.

"I saw you waiting here and realized you probably don't know where Dumbledore's office is. I would be honored to escort you there," Tom Riddle said with an obviously fake smile on his face as he looked down at her (he was taller than her, after all).

She looked back into the classroom where students were still leaving and then said, "Oh, alright." She followed him to the office, remembering where they were going every step of the way. It seemed his office wasn't too far from the Transfiguration room, which would make it even more easier to remember.

"Here we are. Would you like for me to wait for, so we can head down to dinner together?" He asked again and Hermione couldn't help but scowl. What did he think, that she was a lost little puppy who needed someone to take her everywhere?

"No thank you, I can find the Great Hall myself, I assure you," she said as she stepped up to Dumbledore's office, knocking three times so that he would know she was there for their meeting. Tom gave a slight nod of his head then took off, presumably towards the Great Hall for dinner, but you never know. After hearing a 'come in' from her professor, she pushed the door open and walked into the office. Inside of the office there were a few little trinkets here and there and two chairs in front of his desk. One chair, surprisingly, was occupied. She stood in shock, until Dumbledore's voice shook her to the present.

"Miss Granger, I'm sure you are well acquainted with Mister Mallory here?" She looked up to Dumbledore confused. She knew the person sitting in the chair, but his surname was not Mallory, no, it was Malfoy. Draco Malfoy was his full name, to be exact. "I know you are probably very surprised, please, take a seat." She did as she was told and sat down, still not quite believing what she was seeing. What was he doing here? Did Voldemort know she was here so he sent him back as well somehow? So many questions were running through her head. "Draco here has come from where you came from, with a note from the same person yours was from. Don't look so surprised, dear, and yes I do know his actual surname is Malfoy. However, Malfoy isn't a common surname and so I find it prudent that we switched it to Mallory."

"Professor, I don't understand, it is a note from you? I mean, a note from future you? That can't be possible, you would never send Malfoy here," she looked at the professor, wondering what was going on. She was smart, but she didn't have the answers to everything.

"Well, Draco here stumbled into my office sometime this morning and after reading the letter, I do believe that I would have sent him here."

"But he's a death eater! He'll ruin everything!" She said with a sigh, not exactly sure what he would ruin but he could tell the future dark lord everything and that knowledge was not good in his hands.

"Hermione, I know you trust the future me, so I think you should trust his decision. Draco is here to help you, not ruin you. I would explain it all more but I believe that it is up to him to decide what he wants to tell you and when he is ready to tell you. He will of course still be in Slytherin, as the sorting hat still deems him belonging in that house."

"Of course I trust you, Professor Dumbledore," she gave a sigh. Even though this past Dumbledore wasn't the one she knew in the future, she still felt a lot of trust towards him. "Well, what's his story? I mean, like the one you made up for me…"

"Draco Mallory here is from Durmstrang and his family and yours have known each other for a very long time. His parents decided to switch him to this school so that you wouldn't be alone, even after they offered a place in their home for you to stay. Of course, you thought it would trouble them to move in with them so you politely declined."

"Okay," she said, still a little confused about this whole thing. She had to remember to trust Dumbledore though, Harry always did and most of the time he never led him wrong. She awkwardly stood up after Dumbledore told them that they should go get some dinner and get acquainted with the rest of the Slytherins. Just as Hermione and Draco were about to leave, Dumbledore spoke up again,

"Oh, and Hermione, I think you and Tom should plan a prefects meeting soon. I'll be sending you a letter full of a few topics that I think you two should cover. And remember, the key to your heart is your one true desire do be careful not to jump through the ring of fire. Cheerio!" Hermione walked through the door and made her way to the Great Hall, with Draco Malfoy by her side. She couldn't help but feel hatred for him, for all that she knew about him, but she would trust Dumbledore and let him explain later. She wasn't sure what he meant by the last thing Dumbledore said to her but he was always saying weird, philosophical things in the future as well, even when he was just a portrait. She wondered if he read a book of quotes so that he could say them at random times to get someone to think, or if he just made them up on the spot and it related to the situation at hand. Either way, it probably wasn't anything too important that she had to worry about at the moment. What she had to worry about, was all the faces that looked at Draco and her when they entered the Great Hall. She noticed he had already begun to walk to the Slytherin table and she followed him, making sure to get a seat beside him. She didn't want to let him out of her hearing range, since she still didn't fully trust him yet.

"Who are you?" Someone sneered across from her and it was someone she hadn't met before. He had a wide jaw and short brown hair. He wasn't handsome or even really cute; he just looked really irking some.

"Draco Mallory and I'd appreciate it if you did not talk to me while I am eating. I'd rather not see or hear something disgusting while I eat," Hermione couldn't help it; she let out a little chuckle behind her hand. She noticed Malfo-Mallory looked at her out of the corner of his eyes. She couldn't help it if he found it amusing what he said, especially since it was directed to someone from his own house.

"Excuse Nott, it's just we haven't seen you around here before. Are you here for the same reason as Hermione Mister –" Tom let the sentence hanging, obvious expecting Draco to say his name and the reason why he was here. Hermione started to eat and looked at the exchange out of the corner of her eye, hoping Mallory wouldn't do anything stupid.

"Draco Mallory. No, I'm not here for the same reason as Hermione. I'm here for Hermione. Who might you be?" Draco responded back, wanting to know this person's name. Although, Hermione was pretty sure Draco already knew because his eyes didn't widen in shock or anything once he heard the name.

"Tom Riddle. I am the head boy here. What do you mean you are here for her?"

"Ah – that's a whole other story for another time," he laughed draping an arm around Hermione. She felt herself tense up as Draco Mallory's arm went around her. She dropped her fork and looked at him.

"Draco, do you mind if you come to my dorm after so that we can talk?" She said it in more of a commanding voice because she wasn't going to accept no as an answer. She felt relieved as he took his arm off of her and nodded his head. They continued to eat, making a few short comments here and there, mainly Hermione telling him what she had learned from Hogwarts and where everything was (to keep up appearances). The students seated around them offered in their two cents every once and a while too, especially the females who seemed to be quite drawn to him as well. She was just preparing for tonight when she could yell at Draco "Mallory" freely and as much as she wanted.


So, what did you guys think about me adding Draco in the story? I felt she could use someone from the 'future' to remind her of everything and that she needed some sort of companion there. Well, they won't become friends too quickly but I suspect they will have an understanding after the next chapter.

Swelling Solution