Chapter 5: The Morning After
Needless to say, I couldn't sleep that night. You'd probably be awake as well if you were in my shoes. Or, socks in this case. Shoes are too loud. You need to be stealthy and silent when you…((this is the part where I look around))…escape.
Which is exactly what I was attempting, for the third time that day. What was I supposed to say to people when they asked why some random girl with bushy hair had magically appeared at Hogwarts?
Don't feel stupid. I don't have a clue, either.
I mean, sure I can make up lies on the spot, but not one that would last for the possible months that I would be spending here. The incident with the troll was simple. The professors didn't know me that well at the time, so they wouldn't know if I really was crazy enough to chase after a troll. It was also much too easy to fool Umbridge, the ignorant wench. I only had to keep the lie up until I got her to the murderous centaurs. But I'm not even entirely sure how long I'm staying here, so the lies would just build and build…and it would end in disaster for me. I'd have to run away from the inquiries and accusations, and then Tom would have to follow me because he seems to like making my life miserable. And if I've only known him for a few hours and he hates me, imagine his feelings toward me in a few weeks. He'd probably kill me. Violently and painfully. Hooray for me.
Perhaps I'd just sneak out of the common room, head into Hogsmeade, take the Knight Bus to the Ministry of Magic, and ask around the place to see if they've found a way to time travel, because I was sent back from the future and I wanted to go home. Wow, great plan, Hermione. Then comes the part where I get locked up in St. Mungo's for all eternity.
I'm thinking no.
What if I go to Dumbledore's office and ask him how to get back? Wait, no, he's the one who told Tom to make sure I stayed here. Grr.
Wait! I've got it! I'll go find the corridor that brought me here! Perfect! Then I'll sit there for as long as it takes to bring me back, occasionally nicking food from the kitchens. Brilliant plan! I'm out of here!
I placed my shoes under my arm and stepped carefully out of the girls' dormitory. It's was a bit difficult to go down the steps with socks on. Slippery, you know. When I reached the landing, I heard a noise in the common room. I flattened myself against the wall, peering over the corner to see what it was. I sighed in relief. Silently, of course. It was only a cat. I made my way across the common room, the fire slowly dying away and therefore limiting my light. I reached the portrait and couldn't help pulling a little happy dance. Yes, pathetic, I know. But now you have a clue about how relieved I was.
Oh, and how short-lived that relief was.
I took a step up to the wall, my only outlet to freedom. It opened of its own accord, however. Well, not its own accord, but it opened without me touching it. But can you take a wild guess as to how it opened?
That's right. Tom Riddle.
Cliché, I know. I'm actually beginning to feel like I'm in one of those sick, twisted horror movies. So, naturally, as the victim who opens a door only to find the murderer staring back at them, I jumped somewhere around ten feet in the air. And, like the average serial killer, he just stood there and smirked. I guess this is the part where I get a head start.
Where's the director? Can someone say "Cut!" please?
I backed up, slowly at first, and then turned and bolted up the stairs to the girls' dormitory. There wasn't even a point in making up an excuse as to why I was leaving the common room, with my shoes under my arm. I just ran. Another plan foiled by the high and mighty dark lord.
He definitely needs to jump off a cliff.
I sat on my new bed the whole night through, pulling the curtains open at the slightest hint of light coming from the windows. Must be enchanted, like the Ministry of Magic. I was dreading seeing Tom again. I've had enough of him, and it's only been, what? Ten hours?
I changed into my Slytherin robes reluctantly and walked down to the common room. I stopped suddenly as I entered it, though. There, sprawled on the couch, was Tom Riddle. Sleeping peacefully. Oh, but not for long. Not for long.
Sneaky little twit.
Dare I rouse the Dark Lord from his slumber? He might wake up and unleash his dreadful wrath on my frail, helpless, muggle-born self…
Eh, what the heck. He hates me anyway. I'll just have a bit of fun and be on my way, back to the good old 90's.
I lowered myself to my knees before the couch. I pulled my wand out of my robes and hesitated, taking a second to decide which curse I'd use to mar his already despicable person.
Perhaps a full body bind? Oh what fun it would be to watch him wake up and not be able to move…No, not enough of a reaction. Oh, maybe I'll make him grow scarlet and gold warts on his face? Ah, no, I used that on Malfoy a few weeks ago. I want to be different…I've got it! I tested the spells on those Skiving Snack Boxes of the Twins'. I learned the spell that caused those boils…Heh heh heh… I raised my wand and pointed it at his forehead.
"Sorry about this," I whispered sardonically. I opened my mouth to speak the incantation, when a hand flew out and ripped my wand from my fingers. It scared me so horribly that I let out a surprised yelp. Two hands grasped my shoulders, and then I was looking, once again, at Tom Riddle. Why? Oh, why, am I cursed so?
"Nice try, mudblood," he said, rather groggily.
"Thanks. I thought so, too," I replied, removing his hands from my shoulders, unable to retain the smirk that crept its way to my features. He sat up and looked at me. Then dropped his head in his hands.
"Why can't you just be a normal person?" He asked gruffly, into his hands. "Why must I be stuck babysitting a mental little girl who tries to curse me in my sleep? What did I ever do to deserve this?"
"Erm…for starters, you killed th—" I hesitated. Me and my big mouth. Or, my big mouth and I. Whatever. He looked up at me, shocked.
"—the chance to be my friend," I recovered. That was definitely a lie. I wouldn't have been friends with this guy if he were the last person on the planet. Even if he were the last multi-celled organism on the planet, I'd take a bacterium over him. "If you hadn't been so rude to me, maybe, maybe, I would be less difficult."
He lifted his head and looked at me. No expression, just looked at me. I was beginning to feel a little unnerved by this, so I stood up quickly and placed my hands on my hips. People were filing into the common room slowly, in groups of two or three. It gave me an idea to get away from his penetrating looks.
"Looks" as in the looks he was giving me. Definitely not his face. Yuck.
"Well, I'm going to need to go to breakfast soon, so I'd better be on my way now," I told him casually, starting toward the exit to the common room. I was almost there when I felt his hand on my shoulder again. I brushed it off and turned around.
"Alright, Riddle, I know how difficult it must be to keep your hands off of me, but seriously," I said brashly. But, of course, it wasn't Tom. If it were, my face wouldn't have turned such a vivid shade of red. Just my luck.
It was a boy I've never seen before. A really good-looking boy. He had long white-blond hair that looked well taken care of and glossy. His grey eyes were gorgeous, contrasting well with his rather pale skin. I closed my mouth quickly. But soon opened it again to gasp. Oh, no. Never can I escape this wretched curse.
It was Malfoy. Or, Malfoy's great-great-great grandpa anyways. Well, something like that. But it was definitely a Malfoy. I think the looks skipped a few generations, though. Poor, poor Draco.
"Madame, I don't think we've met," he said suavely, taking my hand in his and bringing it to his lips, making me cringe inwardly. "I am Leontes Malfoy. You must be new here. What might your name be?"
I stared blankly at him for a moment. It was kind of unpleasant, really, being hit on by Malfoy's grandpa. I suppose I had to play the part of girl born in the 1920's, though. It sucks, too.
"Nice to meet you, Leontes," I replied, smiling at him and withdrawing my hand as subtly as possible. I was lying through my teeth so horribly, it should be illegal. "I'm Hermione. Hermione Granger."
It felt wrong, using my name. As if it's going to affect me somehow, when I go back to my time. Oh well, I worry about that card when it's dealt.
"Charmed, absolutely charmed," he said in return, bowing slightly. What a loser. It's a good thing I don't go just for looks, because I might've ended up with a guy like this. A Malfoy. Oh, wait. No I wouldn't. I'm a "mud-blood." Almost forgot. "Would you like to come with me to breakfast? Perhaps I can show you the way?"
Me? Walk with Malfoy to breakfast? Ha ha ha. Ha. Ha.
"That'd be wonderful," I replied.
…What? My only other option would be Tom! I'd take a smooth-talking Malfoy over a foul, murderous Riddle any day.
He held out his arm to me. I moved to take it, but was immediately pulled away. Mr. Wonderful had grabbed my upper arm and was dragging me roughly out of the common room.
"Malfoy, trust me," He called back over his shoulder. "You don't want to be stuck with a lunatic like this one. I'll take it from here."
I turned my head to glare up at him, trying to walk quicker to keep up with his long strides.
"What if I wanted to go with him instead of you, Riddle?" I asked him unkindly. "I don't particularly want to spend my whole day with you, and I'm sure the feelings are mutual. So why not let me go and make some other friends?"
He looked down at me mordantly, his lips tilted into a frown.
"And let you run off again? I think not," he said, still keeping his irritatingly fast pace. "Besides, Professor Dumbledore gave me explicit orders. You can't tell people your real name, and you must associate with as few people as possible, until he gets things worked out."
My eyes widened.
"So, you know, then?" I asked fearfully. "Dumbledore told you everything?"
"He told me enough. Now shut up and keep moving."
By the time we got into the Great Hall, I had imprints of his fingers on my arm. They'd probably bruise, but I ignored it. The Great Hall looked the same as it always did. Except, of course, that I didn't recognize any of the people there.
Tom steered me toward the Slytherin table and sat me down at the far end of the table. He took a seat next to me and gestured for me to start eating.
"Come on, Granger. We have classes," He said. "Eat quickly, so we can get out of here before it gets crowded."
He turned away from me to look at the entrance. I made a face at the back of his head, and then started picking up food from the center of the table and placing it on my plate. When I finished eating, he rushed me out of the Great Hall. It was rather annoying, but I couldn't really do much about it. At least I'll have school to take my mind off of things for a while.
We passed a few Slytherins on the way down to the common room. They looked at me curiously, but we were moving too quickly for them to really question me. Hopefully Malfoy wasn't in the common room anymore. I didn't really want to see him. It freaked me out too much to know that someday he would produce someone like Lucius Malfoy, who in turn would produce Draco Malfoy, the spawn of Satan. Or, spawn of Lucius. Whatever. They're synonymous.
"Go up and get your schoolbooks, Granger," Tom instructed me when we got to the common room.
"Yes, sir," I grumbled. I walked slowly up the steps to my room and pulled the old textbooks from the trunk at the foot of my bed. I placed them in my bag and slipped in some parchment, a quill, and a bottle of ink. I organized the books into alphabetical order, so it would take me more time to get back to Tom. I mean, it was nothing against him, but… Oh, wait, yes it is.
I honestly can't stand the guy. He's rude, prejudiced, and arrogant. He definitely needs to be hurt. Badly. Anything that would piss him off or make him suffer is an option to me.
I threw the heavy bag over my shoulder and started down the stairs. It was going to be a long day. A day filled with questions, hassles, and irritation. Oh, yes, lots of irritation. But, you know the best part of a bad day? The part where you bring others down with you.
Namely, my dear friend Voldy.
Perhaps it won't be such a bad day after all.
((A/N: And thus ends another chapter. The last part of it was kind of stupid. I wrote that part in the midst of studying for exams and doing loads of homework, so I wouldn't have expected anything else to come of it. Don't worry guys, I'm not going to bore you to death by taking the story day by day. I'll skip a few weeks here and there, to move the story along. Let me know what you think! Thanks to my reviewers!))
S.Halliwell24 Thanks for reviewing! And I did warn you that Hermione would be out of character, so I wouldn't even bother mentioning that in your reviews. I know that already.
Black-rose23: Thanks! Erm, she probably won't be seriously meeting any of the Slytherins for a while. Maybe in a couple of chapters. Malfoy was just a random in-put in this chapter, because I had insane writer's block…
Vera-Sabe: Blush Wow! I feel so appreciated! I'm really, really flattered. I'm very glad that you liked the chapter. I hope you like this one as well!