A/N: Wow, people actually read this.  Do you know what that means?  It means… that I must eventually finish this!  Do you hear that?  That is the sound of the entire world screaming in agony.  Well, you asked for it… so here's Chapter Three, and there is more on the way.

CHAPTER THREE

-Gryffindor's Girls-

            Draco Malfoy blinked twice and stared blankly at Salazar Slytherin.  "Hermione?  Different?  How?"

            "Oh, I don't know… there's just something about her, that's all," Salazar replied.

            Draco shook his head.  "Nope.  Hermione is as normal as normal can be."

            Salazar seemed to accept that answer and nodded.  "All right.  Thank you."

            "Any time," Draco said as Salazar stood up and began walking toward the exit.  His heart was pounding in his throat.  What was he thinking?  Salazar had to suspect that Hermione was a mudblood.  He should have just told him.  Why didn't he?

            "Cedric!" Salazar exclaimed.  "What are you doing here?"

            Cedric Diggory was standing just outside the entrance to the Slytherin common room.  "Is Draco in here?" he asked.  "I need to talk to him."

            Salazar told Cedric that Draco was on the couch, and then excused himself.  Cedric's mind raced as he walked inside and approached Draco.  Was he too late?  Did Salazar know Hemione's secret?

            "Draco," Cedric whispered, "please tell me you didn't tell Slytherin that Hermione isn't a pureblood."  He grabbed Draco by the shoulders and gazed deep into his eyes.  "Please!"

            "You can relax," Draco said.  "I didn't tell him."

            "Thank you!" Cedric cried, and hugged him tightly.  He then quickly let go and mumbled, "Sorry."

            "I don't know what good it'll do, though," said Draco.  "He'll probably find out eventually."

            "Yes, but he might not," Cedric replied.  "We have to hold on to that chance.  He can't find out.  It'll destroy all of us."

            Draco was very familiar with Salazar Slytherin's opinions on non-pureblood wizards and witches, mainly because he shared them.  He had never liked Hermione for many reasons.  She wasn't a pureblood, but nevertheless, she was the best student at Hogwarts and would be a very powerful witch someday.  He didn't know why he didn't tell Salazar the truth about her birth.  It could be either a noble deed or the biggest mistake of his life.

            "This is so exciting," Cho Chang said to Hermione Granger that night as the two girls got ready for bed.  The Hufflepuff common room had been transformed into a bedroom for them.  Helga Hufflepuff's bedroom was adjoined to the room, and they felt much more protected than they would have been if they were alone.  "I never, in my wildest dreams, ever imagined that it was possible to actually meet the Hogwarts Four!"

            Hermione found Cho's enthusiasm amusing, and although she was excited as well, she was too worried about what would happen if Draco told Salazar what she was to be as eager as her friend.  "Yep, it's pretty cool," she said.

            Cho laughed and flopped down on a couch.  "'Pretty cool'?" she repeated.  "You get the chance to look Godric Gryffindor in the eye and all you can say is 'pretty cool'?"

            That got Hermione to smile, and she sat down on the couch next to Cho.  "More like look him in the elbow.  I never thought they would be so tall."

            Cho nodded.  "Yeah, all four of them.  Helga's the shortest, and she's three inches taller than Cedric."  Cedric was six feet four inches tall.  "Godric has to be at least seven feet tall, at least."

            "Hi, ladies."

            The sound of a male voice made Hermione and Cho turn around.  "Cedric!" Cho said.  "What are you doing here?"

            "I'm allowed to be here," he replied, smiling.  "I'm a Hufflepuff."  He made eye contact with Hermione and whispered, "Don't worry."

            A relieved smile crossed Hermione's face.  "Thank you," she whispered back.

            "Don't thank me," was his soft response.  "Thank Draco."

            Hermione froze.  Draco?

            "What?" a bemused Cho asked.

            "Nothing," Cedric said, and smiled innocently at her.  "And how are you doing, Miss Chang?  Have you enjoyed meeting the founder of your house?"

            "Have I!" Cho exclaimed.  "Oh, Cedric, she's wonderful!  I love her!  She's simply brilliant.  Did you know she teaches Transfiguration here?  She and Professor McGonagall would get along very well.  And did you know she's the headmistress?  I never would have guessed!  I always thought it was Gryffindor."

            Hermione shook her head.  "No, he's the deputy head.  The idea for a school was hers, so the other three decided it was only fitting that she be the head."

            "I never knew that," Cho said.  "That's really interesting."

            "Neither did I," said Cedric.  "That is interesting.  And she teaches Transfiguration?"

            Cho nodded.  "Uh-huh.  The school's head taught a class of their own until 1348.  Gryffindor teaches Potions, Hufflepuff teaches Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Slytherin teaches Charms.  They have other faculty for other subjects, of course, but no one else is here at the moment because of Lady Darbarec."

            "Speaking of Lady Darbarec," Cedric said, "did you ever happen to read about just how we beat her, Hermione?"

            Hermione shook her head.  "Nothing.  Very little is known about the incident.  I think that's because it hasn't happened in our lives yet.  We'll have to look it up when we get back."  She paused, and then said, "There is a way to get back, right?"

            "There has to be," Cho said.  "How could we have come here before, helped them defeat Lady Darbarec, and then come back here again nine hundred years later only to do it all over again?"

            "Let's not talk about this right now," said Cedric.  "It's a little too deep for my mind to comprehend at the moment."

            "He's right," Hermione agreed.  "Late at night is not the best time to ponder the mysteries of the universe."

            "And why not?" Cho asked with a grin.  "That's when we have astronomy."

            Cedric picked up a pillow and hit her on the head with it.  "Ow!" Cho said, grabbing a pillow of her own.  Hermione giggled and decided it was probably a good idea to move to another part of the room to avoid becoming entangled in the pillow fight.  She was wrong; as soon as Cedric and Cho saw her movement, they came after her.

            A door on the side wall opened, and Helga Hufflepuff came into the room.  "What's going on in here?" she asked.

            Cedric and Cho stopped beating Hermione with the pillows and looked up.  "Pillow fight," Cho explained.

            A confused expression crossed Helga's face.  "Fighting with pillows?  Goodness gracious, what do they teach you children in the future?"

            In another corner of the school, Rowena Ravenclaw was wondering the same thing, but for a different reason.  Hermione's textbooks had been zapped back in time along with the rest of her, and she was now lying down on her bed and skimming through one of the books on Potions.  She was amazed at how many new potions had been discovered.  Most appeared to be nothing more than slightly more potent versions of existing potions or simpler to make, but it was all very interesting just the same.  I'll have to show this to the Potions instructor, she thought to herself.  Come out, come out, wherever you are.

            "What do you want?" came the teasing voice of Godric Gryffindor.

            Rowena smiled and waved him over with her hand.  "Come look at this."

            He walked over to the bed and sat down.  He peered over her shoulder at the book, and with his right hand began absentmindedly twirling a section of her hair through his fingers.  "This is interesting," he said after reading a few lines.  "What is it, the future Potions textbook?"

            "One of them," Rowena answered.  "Hermione said they have three."

            "Has she said anything about her Potions instructor?" Godric inquired.

            "She said his name is Severus Snape," she said.  "According to Hermione, he's an excellent teacher, but lacking in personality.  He's also the head of Slytherin house."

            Godric chuckled softly.  "And what about your ultimate successor?  Have any of the students talked about their Transfiguration instructor?"

            "Yes; Hermione told me about her earlier today when she gave me this book and we had a conversation about the teachers," said Rowena.  "Her name is Minerva McGonagall, and she's the deputy headmistress and head of Gryffindor house."

            "Ha!" Godric said triumphantly.  "She's mine!"

            Rowena smiled, and then continued.  "Yes, she's one of yours," she confirmed.  "Hermione says she is stern, strict, and gives a lot of homework, but is also supportive of all the students at Hogwarts.  She also said that she is one of the most brilliant people she's ever met."

            "That sounds more like a Ravenclaw to me," he commented, and planted a quick kiss on the top of her head.

            "Which part?" she asked, rolling over onto her side and facing him.

            "All of it," he replied.  He began running his hand through her hair.  "Stern, strict, gives a lot of homework, supportive, and brilliant."

            "You forgot 'one of yours'."

            "I was taking context into account, but if you really want me to include that…"

            He leaned in to kiss her, but she then got it into her head that it would be amusing to move away at the last second, and did so.  This threw him off balance, but he managed to catch himself with his hands before landing on her.  "You're very funny, Rowena," he told her.

            "I know."  She tilted her head back, giving her just enough leverage to kiss him.  When the kiss ended, he rested his head on her chest, with his ear just above her heart.  Her fingers stroked his dark blond hair, and she whispered those three simple words that mean so much.  "I love you."

            "And I love you," he said, holding her tightly.  He loved her so much it hurt.  For six years, they had been lovers, and for six years, they had to keep their relationship a secret.   There was no telling what her husband would do if he ever found out.

A/N: Yes, that's right, her husband.  I'll explain next time.