As the three of them arrived in Hogsmeade, Hermione could not help but to look around and notice how much it looked exactly the same as the Hogsmeade from her time. There were a few different shops, but the overall structure looked fairly similar. She walked in between Draco and Riddle, feeling extremely tense as her two least favourite people in the world (up there with Bellatrix Lestrange) were standing on either side of her. She attempted to relax her shoulders, but she knew that she would have to work on being more casual and relaxed around both of them. She could not let Dumbledore, her friends, and all the people affected by the battle in the future down. Although she could not come up with a logical explanation to her task, especially since by this point Riddle was already knee-deep into his Death Eater activities and she highly doubted any kindness shown to him would help deter him from that path.
"Any recommendations on where we should visit first, Riddle?" Draco asked, breaking her line of thought.
"The Three Broomsticks should suffice for your first visit. We can go there and order some ButterBeers," Tom Riddle replied in a formal and stiff manner.
Their walk down to Hogsmeade had been very much like this the whole time. Draco would try to make small talk and Riddle would reply back politely but formally. Hermione did not trust Riddle's motives for coming along with them. She knew he probably wanted to get more information out of them. It was a dangerous game that they were playing, trying to befriend one of the darkest wizards of all time.
"How are you two finding Hogwarts so far?" Riddle asked once they sat down and ordered their drinks.
"It is beautiful. I am trying to get to know the professors though. Some of them seem so picky about what they want you to do in their classes," Hermione answered.
"The professors here can be difficult," Tom curtly replied back.
"It seems you have a very good reputation at Hogwarts from what I hear. All the professors seem to like you. I can't imagine you having much difficulty with them." Draco said. Hermione would have to tell him to stop acting like he was desperate to be Riddle's friend, it seemed suspicious to her. Then again, perhaps that was just because of their past.
"He probably doesn't have that good of a reputation at Hogwarts, there'll always be people who do not like you," Hermione noted.
"Hello Tom! I just wanted to come over and say hello," said a blushing young Slytherin girl who looked to be a fourth year.
"I do have this reputation as being very charming, I'll have you know. Most people like me, but for some reason Hermione is always giving me these dirty looks when she thinks I am not looking." Tom said, while ignoring the young Slytherin girl.
"Oh it's true. Tom is the best in Hogwarts. Nothing he could improve on! Wouldn't you agree?" The younger Slytherin girl asked to no one in particular.
"Well, his nose could do with a little improving," Hermione coyly replied back. She saw that Draco was trying to hide his laughter and they shared a look over their inside joke. The younger Slytherin girl gave them a strange look and then said goodbye to Tom and walked away. Tom seemed to scowl at the two of them but made no movement to comment.
"We very rarely get transfer students here at Hogwarts. Why, I can't remember the last time we had one." Tom mentioned.
"Well, I had a rare circumstance and Draco was kind enough to come to Hogwarts to help me through this difficult time." Hermione drank some more of her ButterBeer. She did not know how to properly interact with him. She knew he was conniving, and she kept trying to analyze his ulterior motives. Honestly, it was exhausting.
"Well, never mind that. The more the merrier at Hogwarts! Slytherin is proud to have you two in our house."
"Here, here!" Draco said, lifting up his drink and taking a swig of it. This was the longest that she and Draco had talked and he was being so civil. She began to wonder if he was like this with his friends back home, or if he was just putting on a show for Riddle. She had a hard time believing that he was capable of being nice.
When Riddle mentioned that they were both in Slytherin, she could not help but frown. It made no sense to her why she would be placed in Slytherin. Based off of what she read in A Hogwarts, A History, the sorting hat was rarely wrong in the choices it made. She mentally made a note to ask Dumbledore about it later, for curiosities sake. Nevertheless, she grinned and took a drink from her ButterBeer.
"So where to next?" Hermione asked.
"A lot of people like to go to Honeydukes when they're here, but it is not worth the effort. You get a bunch of first year students acting like children in a literal candy store," Tom replied after taking his last swig from his ButterBeer.
"I actually have to stop by Gladrags Wizardwear to pick up a package I had ordered a few days ago," Draco interjected.
"Perfect. Hermione and I will meet you back at the castle then," Tom smiled at Draco and stood, looking down at Hermione waiting for her to get up and go with him.
"Uh—I don't mind going there with Draco too and then we can all head back to the castle together. It's on the way," Hermione said nervously. Although she had been alone with him plenty of times before, that was in the safety of Hogwarts. She wasn't so sure about now.
"Don't be silly. You're fine going alone aren't you Draco? Or do you need someone to help carry your package?" Tom laughed.
Draco visibly tensed up, obviously annoyed at being made fun of. "I can handle it myself, I don't need anyone's help."
The three of them stood up and left together, with Draco heading one way and Hermione and Tom heading back towards the castle. Hermione started to feel agitated. She needed answers—answers that could not be found in their usual places. She knew she should just trust Dumbledore, but she also had a thirst for knowledge and understanding. And more importantly, she knew what was on the line if she screwed up. She couldn't let that happen.
"Come this way," Tom gently grabbed her elbow and redirected her sharply down a narrow alleyway. She was about to interrupt and ask where they were going, but they did not get far into the alley until they stopped in front of an shop that looked like it had seen better days. The shop name was faded away, and she barely had a time to try and decipher it before Tom was gesturing her in through the door. She could see into the shop and it looked harmless enough, so she ventured forth.
Inside, it looked like a dusty old bookshop—like the ones she would find in her hometown that were independently owned (and you can bet she had visited them). To Hermione, there was just something so enchanting about a small bookshop. The smell of the books, the unique finds, the old editions you could get before big mistakes were corrected. Needless to say, she was surprised as this shop did not exist back in her time.
"What is this place?" She asked. She was trying not to touch anything, because as much as she loved books, she knew they could be dangerous too. She knew that all too well.
"A very underappreciated corner of Hogsmeade. You can find a lot of rare editions of books here—and not just from local authors. Look over there, they have a whole area dedicated to Shakespeare." Tom replied, gesturing to a small bookshelf near the front entrance.
"You know about Shakespeare? I didn't think you'd know about Muggle authors."
"Don't be daft, everyone knows about Shakespeare. You'd have to be living under a rock, even as a wizard, to not know his name."
Hermione blushed from ignorance—she perhaps stereotyped purebloods a bit too much. That said, some wizards did not even know what a dentist was, so it was hard to distinguish what type of knowledge translated or not. Hermione started to walk down the aisles, running her finger along the spine of certain books that piqued her interest. She found an old title called, 'Hogwarts Founders: An Almost Complete History."
"Almost complete?" she questioned as she flipped through the pages, looking at the chapter titles.
"Ah, yes. I read that one in my first year. There are some mysteries the authors believe might never be solved in that book, hence why they call it an almost complete history." In his hand, he had a brown paper-wrapped book. It seemed he had dropped in here to pick something up. Hermione eyed it out of the corner of her eye and made a note try and look at it later. "I have a copy back in my dorm room, I can lend it to you."
"That sounds great. Did you get what you came here for?" Hermione questioned, a curious glint in her eyes at what book he had to pick up here.
"Yes. Let's head back to the castle. I fear if we do not leave now, we'll lose you forever in the bookshelves. And then I'll be known as the last person to have seen you alive—it just wouldn't bode well for me."
"Wha—" Hermione stopped her line of questioning and laughed. They walked out of the shop together and started to head back to Hogwarts. She could feel her defenses weakening a bit around him. It was hard to believe, at times, the monster this young man would turn out to be. She had to keep reminding herself that he was putting on a show, that he was an evil murderer in the future. That he likely has already killed people by this point. Her resolve was strong. She would do what Dumbledore tasked her with: befriend Tom Riddle. And to do that, she would have to work with Draco Malfoy. Ugh. They needed a plan.
