Chapter 3: Unwanted Revelations
I suppose I shouldn't have been sarcastic to this guy. I had no idea who he was, and I wouldn't have liked him to be rude to me. Oh, I nearly forgot. He was. But it was because of my big mouth that I was following along behind this stranger, dragging the heavy trunk I had found earlier in the room. It was killing my arm, too. Until I remembered that I was a witch.
So I levitated it as I struggled to keep up with the long legs of the jerk in front of me. Was it really necessary to move so fast? And where on Earth were we going? Here I amback here, oblivious to the intentions of this random guy, out of breath because I'm about a foot shorter than him, and he just runs on, muttering under his breath, checking back occasionally to make sure I'm still there. Right, like I'm really going to run away. I can run as fast as possible, and you'd catch up with me in ten steps, Not-So-Jolly Green Giant. Okay, I exaggerated just a little bit. He's only like 5'10", and I'm about 5'3", but it makes a difference when walking.
But really, did he have to be so hostile? I see those looks he keeps throwing back at me. It's similar to the looks Malfoy used to throw me. You know, the ones that indicate that he thinks he's your superior? I hate those looks. I really do. Could it be that Mr. Wonderful up there is a pure-blood jerk like Malfoy? I sure hope not. We only need one of those in the world. Then I looked around me and stopped in my tracks. People were shuffling into their classes as the bell rang. People I don't know. And as the Head Girl, I know everyone. But I can't even recognize ANY of the people that are running past me in their haste to get to class. And their hair is styled really strangely. Almost as if they were living in the forties or something... I stopped in my tracks.
"Excuse me, Madame," I said quietly to a passing ghost. "Where might I find Professor Dumbledore?"
"Oh, he's teaching at the moment. Are you new here?" She replied kindly. I gasped. It was all beginning to make sense to me now. The timer, the pages turning new in a matter of seconds, the hairstyles. I gasped again. The ghost just looked at me odd and continued to glide along, muttering something under her non-existent breath about "Children these days."
Mr. Wonderful was pretty far ahead of me by now. I panicked. If I'm back in time, I can't be seen! What am I doing? I need to run! All these thoughts were flying through my mind when the Giant finally noticed that I wasn't behind him. He turned around and glared at me.
"Hurry up, will you? I have classes to attend!" He huffed. I didn't answer. I looked down at my trunk and cast a quick spell to hide the name. Mr. Wonderful came back toward me, and I could feel his anger rising. Blast. I did the only thing I could think to do at the moment.
I ran.
I left my trunk behind, letting it fall to the floor with a resounding 'thump'. I bolted off in the opposite direction of the guy. At first he was shocked (I could sense that), but he quickly regained his composure and came after me. Let me tell you, it is NOT fun being chased down by the Not-So-Jolly Green Giant. He's effing fast.
He caught me in no time, naturally, and lifted me up onto his shoulder. I didn't go without a fight, of course. I was pounding on his back the whole way, kicking and shrieking for him to put me down. Finally he did. When we were outside the stone gargoyle that leads to the Headmaster's office, he dropped me. Right on my butt. So I did what any sensible person would do.
I ran again.
I HAD to get out of there before more people saw me. It might change the course of history. And that would suck. I heard him running up behind me as I fled down the hall. I decided that the only way out was the most painful way out. I whipped out my wand, spun around to face the Giant, and pointed the wand at my chest. He skidded to a halt about 3 feet from me.
"I need to speak to Professor Dumbledore. Now." I demanded. He looked at me like I had just escaped from St. Mungo's.
"You're crazy! Put you wand down now or I'll do it for you!" He snarled.
I suppose it was meant to be threatening, but I laughed and shook my head.
"Not a chance!" I shouted back, laughing spastically now. But Mr. Wonderful doesn't play around. He pulled out his wand and was undoubtedly about to disarm me. But I guess I'll never know what he was about to do, because the unthinkable, and the most idiotic thing EVER, happened.
Before I could be disarmed...
I stunned myself.
I woke abruptly in the hospital wing. I was a bit disoriented at first, but I regained my senses when I heard a voice next to my bed.
"Ah, you're finally awake. Would you like to tell me why in Merlin's name you stunned yourself?" Professor Dumbledore said, his light blue eyes twinkling behind his half-moon spectacles. What a comfort it was to see those eyes too, considering it was the only familiar thing I had seen all day. Well, besides Hogwarts, but you know what I mean.
Dumbledore looked way younger than he does in my time. His hair was auburn rather than silver, and he had far less wrinkles on his face. If it weren't for the eyes, I wouldn't have even recognized him.
"Oh, yes, that," I replied, somewhat sheepishly. "I had to avoid the
questioning. You see..." And then the whole story came out. Well, only the part about me being brought back through time, but that was the whole point.
Dumbledore looked intrigued and amused. That's another reason why I felt so comforted by his presence. Any normal person (i.e.- anyone but Dumbledore) would have laughed at the story and sent me to an isolated cell in St. Mungo's. Dumbledore understood. Yay.
And then he went off into one of his typical cryptic speeches.
Yay squared.
"Time is a tricky thing, Miss Granger. If you had done anything any
differently, it wouldn't have mattered because it has already happened. It
matters not who sees you, because they would have already seen you, and things would still turn out the same. Understand?"
Of course I understood! No, actually, I lied. I was confused beyond belief. That's me, cleverest witch of my generation. Dumbledore simply smiled and stood to leave.
"You'll understand it, with time," He said and turned to walk out the door. I reflected on what he said, and realized something.
"How did you know my name?" I asked, bewildered. And, being the strange old Dumbledore I know, he just smiled wider, tapped his head with his forefinger, and left. So now what am I supposed to do? Just sit here until I rot? He didn't even give me instructions! Am I supposed to take any classes, or avoid the whole population? I jumped out of bed and pulled the clothes on that were sitting at the night stand. Just as I was tying my tie, ready to flee toward the Forbidden Forest or another equally secluded place, the last person I wanted to see walked in.
Mr. Effing Wonderful.
"I see you're up, finally," he commented dryly upon seeing me. I shot him a vicious glare and threw on my cloak.
"No, I have no idea what you're talking about," I retorted with
feigned innocence. "I'm sleeping in my bed as we speak, and we're not talking
to each other just now. It's all an illusion. So, since I'm not here, I'll just not
walk out the door and run away. I should be awake soon, if you'll just wait
here…" As I was saying this, I started inching toward the door. I turned to
go, but two hands grabbed me in a vice-grip and turned me around forcefully.
Oh, boy. I think I really ticked him off this time. I can sense his irritation from ten feet away. Score one for Hermione. He looked as if he wanted to curse me into the next century. As a matter of fact, it was quite like the look I was giving him right that second. Well, there goes that friendship. What a damn shame.
"Well, I have some instructions from the Headmaster. You are now a student here officially. And you'll be in Slytherin, like your robes suggest. What year are you in?" He said in an annoyingly businesslike tone.
"I'm a seventh year. And if you don't mind, I'd really rather not become a student here. I want to go home. Now," I replied. He just looked at me with an expressionless face and waved his wand. My trunk promptly flew into the room and slid to a halt at my feet.
"Unfortunately for both of us, I have strict orders from Dumbledore to keep you here, and watch over you. I would discard any thoughts of escaping, because I will find you. And if I lose my position because of you, it won't be a pretty sight. And I wouldn't want to be on your end, either." Mr. Wonderful looked at me with eyes of pure ice. He wasn't kidding either. I guess he thought he was intimidating me.
Ha, nice try buddy.
"Ooh, is that a threat?" I mocked.
"Yes, I do believe it is. Now why don't we get moving to the Slytherin common room, Miss...What was your name again?" He replied smoothly. Well, he thought he was being smooth, anyway. Once again, a nice try, but not happening.
"Granger. You might as well cut out the threats. I'm not intimidated by you in the least. But it was a nice try. Really. And your name is...?" I casually tossed back.
"Riddle. Tom Riddle. Now let's get moving." He said coldly. Only I couldn't move. Because his voice matched my body temperature at the moment. Or lack of, rather. My heart had stopped, and I was frozen with fear.
Tom Riddle.
I could only stand and stare.
Stare at the youthful features of the person that would soon become the vile creature with a name that instilled fear in the souls of all, much like it did right now.
Stare into the face of a younger, less snakelike version of Lord Voldemort.
Now I'm screwed.
((A/N: Well, there's another chapter. I believe I'll be posting a chapter each week, on either Sunday or Monday, so be looking out for it. Thanks to my reviewers, you all rock hard! All three of you…Heh…))
Black-rose23: Thanks! I thought I'd change up the usual cliché of sweet, innocent little Hermione. It gets old after a while.
LolaQ: Thank you! Randomness is definitely my area. You'll see a lot of that in later chapters. And you have great taste in fics. Tom/Hermione is the best ship of all time! I love the ships that'll never, ever happen. It makes life more interesting.
s.halliwell24: I'm glad you find it kind of interesting. I don't know whether it's my style of writing (I read a lot of Meg Cabot, and I'm just naturally sarcastic, so that might be why it's so different), but it might be because Hermione is completely OOC. Which is the point.