Chapter 23
"The Golden Trio Reunite"
Hermione left the Great Hall to explore Hogwarts. It hadn't change much since she was here. Peeves was busy juggling inkbottles while Filch looked on, swapping at him with a broom and cursing when the inkbottles fell to the floor and broke.
She visited the library and enjoyed reading "Hogwarts: A History Volume Two" before turning to explore more. She passed Fred and George's little swamp that had been left there to remind people of the rebellion against Umbridge during Hermione's fifth year at Hogwarts.
Hermione soon came to a hallway she had never visited before. It contained pictures of past students, all prefects, Head boys and Head girls. Hermione followed the dates, looking for a certain one. Soon, she found it.
A large picture of a handsome boy with emerald green eyes and neat ebony hair stood by a beautiful girl that looked just like Hermione. Hermione touched the picture, her fingers running over the words "Head Boy: Tom Riddle, Slytherin; Head Girl: Katrina Smith, Slytherin." Her mind drifted to a memory.
She stood outside of Hogwarts under a tree, watching the various students have their picture taken. It was a gorgeous sunny day in January, quite unusual for this time of month. The school was taking pictures for the yearbook. The photographer, a wizard with thick black glasses and flannel robes, motioned for each student to come up and be seated in front of the camera. Hermione watched as Bellatrix took her picture and joined her boyfriend Rabastan. She gave Hermione the thumbs up before heading back to the school.
"Could I have the prefects up here now?" asked the photographer. "I'll then need the Head Boy and Head Girl to be ready. You're going next."
Hermione looked around for Tom. He was nowhere to be seen. She felt a bit disappointed. She knew she had feelings for him the moment she saw him on the train, but how could she tell him. She knew he was very untouchable and sneered at any girl; who walked up to him and giggled furiously. She watched as the prefects took their picture and left.
"All right, Head Boy and Head Girl." yelled the photographer.
Hermione shrugged, polished her "Head Girl" badge, and walked up to the photographer.
"Where's the Head Boy?" asked the photographer.
"He's probably not coming." said Hermione.
The photographer nodded his head and motioned for Katrina to stand in front of the castle. The photographer then went behind his camera and focused on Katrina.
"Alright, smile on three. One.two."
"Wait!" yelled a voice.
The photographer looked up from his camera lens. Hermione's heart gave a leap as she saw Tom running toward her, his hair ruffled.
"I'm.so.sorry.I'm.late." he huffed, trying to catch his breath.
He stood by Katrina. Katrina gave a small, sweet laugh as she pointed to his hair.
"Your hair is quite a mess." she said.
Tom tried to smooth it down, causing it to be more ruffled. Hermione laughed again.
"Here, let me help." she said.
She stood on her toes for Tom was a bit taller than her and smoothed his hair down, feeling every soft strand run through her fingers. His hair was fixed and she blushed as he said "Thanks."
"Alright, let's get on with the picture." said the photographer.
Tom stood really close up to Hermione. The photographer returned to his camera and looked into his lens to focus. Hermione felt an arm snake around her back. She looked up at Tom and met his gorgeous emerald eyes. He flashed a brilliant smile before looking at the camera. Hermione blushed.
"Alright, now on three. One.two.three.."
FLASH.
Hermione remembered she still had all of Hogwarts to explore. She turned away form the picture and continued her way down to the dungeons. Professor Snape was still teaching potions and had a class in. His door was open and Hermione stopped to peek in. Snape saw her and smiled.
"Aw, Miss Granger, one of my brightest students, please come in." he said.
Hermione blushed as what appeared to be fifth year Slytherins and Gryffindors turned to stared at her. She slowly walked in as Snape drew up a chair for her. Many of the guys whistled at her and Snape glared at them.
"Everyone, this is Miss Granger, an Auror who will be staying at a Hogwarts for a short while. Now, return to your potions." he said.
"What potion are they working on, Professor?" Hermione asked.
Snape smirked.
"Polyjuice Potion." Snape said.
Hermione blushed. She remembered how she had stowed away in Snape's office and stole some ingredients to make a batch of Polyjuice Potion to use in her second year. Snape walked around, peering down his hooked nose at the students' cauldrons. He had become quite more bearable ever since he married a wonderful witch name Emma Jones. Snape had hardly ever snapped at his students now, unless they misbehaved.
Hermione noticed four pairs of freckled-clad, fiery red hair boys in the Gryffindor sitting area. They were all four smirking and playing sword fight with their wands under the desk. Two twin girls, both with fiery red hair and a bit of freckles, shook their heads at the boys' behavior.
"Weasley!" barked Snape.
"Yes sir?" the eight said in unison.
Snape's lip curled. He pointed to one of them.
"You, Mark, sit over there by Flannigan." He said.
The boy named Mark got up and sat by a short Slytherin girl.
"Marty, sit by my desk."
The boy named Mark got up and sat by Snape's desk.
"Lewis, over there by Finnigan."
The boy named Lewis got up and sat by the Gryffindor boy, Finnigan, Seammus's boy.
"Josh, go to that desk over there."
The boy named Josh got up.
"Adam, sit by Corks."
The boy named Adam sat by a Slytherin girl.
"Ray, by the wall."
The boy name Ray got up.
"Paul, by the window."
The boy named Paul sat by the window.
"Jack, stay here."
The boy named Jack nodded his head.
Why can't you all be more like your cousins, Sarah and Britney?" Snape asked.
"Cause they're goodie two-shoes like their dad, Uncle Percy." Said the boys in unison.
The girls' faces grew beet red.
"Ten points from Gryffindor." said Snape.
Hermione knew them. Paul and Jack were Fred's boys (first years); Mark and Marty were George's boys (first years); Ray and Adam were Bill's boys (third years); Lewis and Josh were Charlie's boys (fourth years); and Britney and Sarah were Percy's girls (second years). Hermione knew it would be difficult for anyone who didn't know the four too well on how to tell them apart, but Paul had blue eyes with grown specks; Jack had blue eyes with green specks; Marty had a constellation of freckles on his right cheek shaped like the dipper; and Mark had a constellation of freckles shaped like the big dipper on his left cheek; Lewis had a small nose and Josh had a larger nose; Ray had natural blonde highlights from his mother; Adam brown highlights from his mother; Sarah had straight, long red hair and green eyes, and Britney had long straight red hair and brown eyes. All ten Weasleys were in Gryffindor. Mark gave Hermione a wave and said, "Hi Mione."
As the class bottled up their potions and left, Snape turned to Hermione.
"Did the potion work?" he asked her.
"Yes, it did." said Hermione.
Snape nodded his head as he put away the bottles of potions placed on his desks by the students. Hermione twirled a strand of hair around her finger and looked around the room.
She was sitting near the door, concentrating hard on her complicated potion the class had been working on for two weeks. The potion, if made correctly, would allow the drinker to read another person's thoughts. Her potion turned a brilliant shade of turquoise. Everyone else's was either a sick baby blue or ugly shade of green. She beamed as Professor Davies, a tall, thin woman with curly black blonde hair, peered into her cauldron.
"Excellent, Miss Smith." she said as she scooped the potion into a vile. "This will be perfect if you do this perfectly on your N.E.W.T.s."
Hermione saw Tom, who was sitting three tables in front of her, looking sadly at his potion. It was a dark shade of blue. Professor Davies clicked her tongue.
"Mr. Riddle, not your best work." she said as she scooped the potion into a vile.
Tom shrugged and pushed away from his desk. Many other students had begun cleaning up their work. As Hermione was about to poke her wand in her cauldron to clean it, she noticed a small drop of the potion left. Making sure no one was looking, she carefully scooped the drop on her finger and popped it into her mouth.
The drop tasted like a sour peppermint. Her mind began to feel weird, as if cold water were seeping into her brain. She felt it stop. Would the potion work? She starred at a student, concentrating hard on hearing the girl's thoughts.
'I can't believe she wore her hair like that.' she heard the girl think.
Hermione smiled and focused her thoughts on Bellatrix.
'Why are men such idiots? I told Rabastan I'm not in the mood for his horseplay and he asks me if it's that time of the month. Idiot' Bellatrix thought as she glared at Rabastan.
Hermione then focused on Tom. His thoughts seemed harder to penetrate. Then she heard a faint voice.
'Why do those girls keep looking at me? What am I, a picture of a unicorn or something? I wish they would just leave me alone. I hate girls, well except for one. Why do I feel like someone is spying on me? I think someone is watching me from behind my back.'
Tom swung around and met Hermione's gaze. Hermione gulped and smile sheepishly at him. The girls Tom must have been thinking about were giggling at him, following his gaze to Katrina. He gave her a brilliant smile before turning back around.
'Lucky.' she heard a girl think.
'Wish I was her.' another girl thought.
Hermione was brought back to reality as Snape shut the door to his cupboard. A soft knock at the dungeon door echoed through the room.
"Enter." said Snape.
The door opened. Ron walked in followed by Harry. Both were dressed in muggle jeans and sweaters. Hermione jumped off her chair and rushed over to them. Even though she saw them almost everyday at work, the emotions and memories of their school years flooded back to her. She hugged them tightly, planting several kisses on each.
"Ah, Hermione." said Ron as she kissed him and Harry for the billionth time.
She smiled and blushed. Harry blushed too.
"It's so good to see you." said Hermione.
"Oh look, Potter, Weasley, and Granger, the Golden Trio, reunite." said Snape.
"Can it Snape," said Ron, "or I'll sick my nephews on you."
Snape smiled at them.
"I see you have quite a bit of courage, Mr. Weasley." said Snape. "I like it."
Ron, a bit confused, watched as Snape left the classroom. Hermione and Harry stood there.
"Well, um, shall we go have dinner?" she asked.
"Yes, I'm famished." said Harry.
"Me too." said Ron.
The Golden Trio locked arms and walked out of the potions classroom. Hermione knew that the reason they were together would soon be told.
"The Golden Trio Reunite"
Hermione left the Great Hall to explore Hogwarts. It hadn't change much since she was here. Peeves was busy juggling inkbottles while Filch looked on, swapping at him with a broom and cursing when the inkbottles fell to the floor and broke.
She visited the library and enjoyed reading "Hogwarts: A History Volume Two" before turning to explore more. She passed Fred and George's little swamp that had been left there to remind people of the rebellion against Umbridge during Hermione's fifth year at Hogwarts.
Hermione soon came to a hallway she had never visited before. It contained pictures of past students, all prefects, Head boys and Head girls. Hermione followed the dates, looking for a certain one. Soon, she found it.
A large picture of a handsome boy with emerald green eyes and neat ebony hair stood by a beautiful girl that looked just like Hermione. Hermione touched the picture, her fingers running over the words "Head Boy: Tom Riddle, Slytherin; Head Girl: Katrina Smith, Slytherin." Her mind drifted to a memory.
She stood outside of Hogwarts under a tree, watching the various students have their picture taken. It was a gorgeous sunny day in January, quite unusual for this time of month. The school was taking pictures for the yearbook. The photographer, a wizard with thick black glasses and flannel robes, motioned for each student to come up and be seated in front of the camera. Hermione watched as Bellatrix took her picture and joined her boyfriend Rabastan. She gave Hermione the thumbs up before heading back to the school.
"Could I have the prefects up here now?" asked the photographer. "I'll then need the Head Boy and Head Girl to be ready. You're going next."
Hermione looked around for Tom. He was nowhere to be seen. She felt a bit disappointed. She knew she had feelings for him the moment she saw him on the train, but how could she tell him. She knew he was very untouchable and sneered at any girl; who walked up to him and giggled furiously. She watched as the prefects took their picture and left.
"All right, Head Boy and Head Girl." yelled the photographer.
Hermione shrugged, polished her "Head Girl" badge, and walked up to the photographer.
"Where's the Head Boy?" asked the photographer.
"He's probably not coming." said Hermione.
The photographer nodded his head and motioned for Katrina to stand in front of the castle. The photographer then went behind his camera and focused on Katrina.
"Alright, smile on three. One.two."
"Wait!" yelled a voice.
The photographer looked up from his camera lens. Hermione's heart gave a leap as she saw Tom running toward her, his hair ruffled.
"I'm.so.sorry.I'm.late." he huffed, trying to catch his breath.
He stood by Katrina. Katrina gave a small, sweet laugh as she pointed to his hair.
"Your hair is quite a mess." she said.
Tom tried to smooth it down, causing it to be more ruffled. Hermione laughed again.
"Here, let me help." she said.
She stood on her toes for Tom was a bit taller than her and smoothed his hair down, feeling every soft strand run through her fingers. His hair was fixed and she blushed as he said "Thanks."
"Alright, let's get on with the picture." said the photographer.
Tom stood really close up to Hermione. The photographer returned to his camera and looked into his lens to focus. Hermione felt an arm snake around her back. She looked up at Tom and met his gorgeous emerald eyes. He flashed a brilliant smile before looking at the camera. Hermione blushed.
"Alright, now on three. One.two.three.."
FLASH.
Hermione remembered she still had all of Hogwarts to explore. She turned away form the picture and continued her way down to the dungeons. Professor Snape was still teaching potions and had a class in. His door was open and Hermione stopped to peek in. Snape saw her and smiled.
"Aw, Miss Granger, one of my brightest students, please come in." he said.
Hermione blushed as what appeared to be fifth year Slytherins and Gryffindors turned to stared at her. She slowly walked in as Snape drew up a chair for her. Many of the guys whistled at her and Snape glared at them.
"Everyone, this is Miss Granger, an Auror who will be staying at a Hogwarts for a short while. Now, return to your potions." he said.
"What potion are they working on, Professor?" Hermione asked.
Snape smirked.
"Polyjuice Potion." Snape said.
Hermione blushed. She remembered how she had stowed away in Snape's office and stole some ingredients to make a batch of Polyjuice Potion to use in her second year. Snape walked around, peering down his hooked nose at the students' cauldrons. He had become quite more bearable ever since he married a wonderful witch name Emma Jones. Snape had hardly ever snapped at his students now, unless they misbehaved.
Hermione noticed four pairs of freckled-clad, fiery red hair boys in the Gryffindor sitting area. They were all four smirking and playing sword fight with their wands under the desk. Two twin girls, both with fiery red hair and a bit of freckles, shook their heads at the boys' behavior.
"Weasley!" barked Snape.
"Yes sir?" the eight said in unison.
Snape's lip curled. He pointed to one of them.
"You, Mark, sit over there by Flannigan." He said.
The boy named Mark got up and sat by a short Slytherin girl.
"Marty, sit by my desk."
The boy named Mark got up and sat by Snape's desk.
"Lewis, over there by Finnigan."
The boy named Lewis got up and sat by the Gryffindor boy, Finnigan, Seammus's boy.
"Josh, go to that desk over there."
The boy named Josh got up.
"Adam, sit by Corks."
The boy named Adam sat by a Slytherin girl.
"Ray, by the wall."
The boy name Ray got up.
"Paul, by the window."
The boy named Paul sat by the window.
"Jack, stay here."
The boy named Jack nodded his head.
Why can't you all be more like your cousins, Sarah and Britney?" Snape asked.
"Cause they're goodie two-shoes like their dad, Uncle Percy." Said the boys in unison.
The girls' faces grew beet red.
"Ten points from Gryffindor." said Snape.
Hermione knew them. Paul and Jack were Fred's boys (first years); Mark and Marty were George's boys (first years); Ray and Adam were Bill's boys (third years); Lewis and Josh were Charlie's boys (fourth years); and Britney and Sarah were Percy's girls (second years). Hermione knew it would be difficult for anyone who didn't know the four too well on how to tell them apart, but Paul had blue eyes with grown specks; Jack had blue eyes with green specks; Marty had a constellation of freckles on his right cheek shaped like the dipper; and Mark had a constellation of freckles shaped like the big dipper on his left cheek; Lewis had a small nose and Josh had a larger nose; Ray had natural blonde highlights from his mother; Adam brown highlights from his mother; Sarah had straight, long red hair and green eyes, and Britney had long straight red hair and brown eyes. All ten Weasleys were in Gryffindor. Mark gave Hermione a wave and said, "Hi Mione."
As the class bottled up their potions and left, Snape turned to Hermione.
"Did the potion work?" he asked her.
"Yes, it did." said Hermione.
Snape nodded his head as he put away the bottles of potions placed on his desks by the students. Hermione twirled a strand of hair around her finger and looked around the room.
She was sitting near the door, concentrating hard on her complicated potion the class had been working on for two weeks. The potion, if made correctly, would allow the drinker to read another person's thoughts. Her potion turned a brilliant shade of turquoise. Everyone else's was either a sick baby blue or ugly shade of green. She beamed as Professor Davies, a tall, thin woman with curly black blonde hair, peered into her cauldron.
"Excellent, Miss Smith." she said as she scooped the potion into a vile. "This will be perfect if you do this perfectly on your N.E.W.T.s."
Hermione saw Tom, who was sitting three tables in front of her, looking sadly at his potion. It was a dark shade of blue. Professor Davies clicked her tongue.
"Mr. Riddle, not your best work." she said as she scooped the potion into a vile.
Tom shrugged and pushed away from his desk. Many other students had begun cleaning up their work. As Hermione was about to poke her wand in her cauldron to clean it, she noticed a small drop of the potion left. Making sure no one was looking, she carefully scooped the drop on her finger and popped it into her mouth.
The drop tasted like a sour peppermint. Her mind began to feel weird, as if cold water were seeping into her brain. She felt it stop. Would the potion work? She starred at a student, concentrating hard on hearing the girl's thoughts.
'I can't believe she wore her hair like that.' she heard the girl think.
Hermione smiled and focused her thoughts on Bellatrix.
'Why are men such idiots? I told Rabastan I'm not in the mood for his horseplay and he asks me if it's that time of the month. Idiot' Bellatrix thought as she glared at Rabastan.
Hermione then focused on Tom. His thoughts seemed harder to penetrate. Then she heard a faint voice.
'Why do those girls keep looking at me? What am I, a picture of a unicorn or something? I wish they would just leave me alone. I hate girls, well except for one. Why do I feel like someone is spying on me? I think someone is watching me from behind my back.'
Tom swung around and met Hermione's gaze. Hermione gulped and smile sheepishly at him. The girls Tom must have been thinking about were giggling at him, following his gaze to Katrina. He gave her a brilliant smile before turning back around.
'Lucky.' she heard a girl think.
'Wish I was her.' another girl thought.
Hermione was brought back to reality as Snape shut the door to his cupboard. A soft knock at the dungeon door echoed through the room.
"Enter." said Snape.
The door opened. Ron walked in followed by Harry. Both were dressed in muggle jeans and sweaters. Hermione jumped off her chair and rushed over to them. Even though she saw them almost everyday at work, the emotions and memories of their school years flooded back to her. She hugged them tightly, planting several kisses on each.
"Ah, Hermione." said Ron as she kissed him and Harry for the billionth time.
She smiled and blushed. Harry blushed too.
"It's so good to see you." said Hermione.
"Oh look, Potter, Weasley, and Granger, the Golden Trio, reunite." said Snape.
"Can it Snape," said Ron, "or I'll sick my nephews on you."
Snape smiled at them.
"I see you have quite a bit of courage, Mr. Weasley." said Snape. "I like it."
Ron, a bit confused, watched as Snape left the classroom. Hermione and Harry stood there.
"Well, um, shall we go have dinner?" she asked.
"Yes, I'm famished." said Harry.
"Me too." said Ron.
The Golden Trio locked arms and walked out of the potions classroom. Hermione knew that the reason they were together would soon be told.