Their sixth year at Hogwarts started on an interesting note. Hardly a week into the school year, Dumbledore arranged for a special guest to come and visit. You can only imagine how surprised Hermione was when none other than Dumbledore's former prized student and famous Magizoologist, Newt Scamander, walked into class, apparently running late with his arms filled with golden trophies, along with a struggling niffler.
"So sorry I'm late, Professor, but my niffler got loose in the trophy room and I had to try and catch him," he explained, dropping the trophies on Dumbledore's desk.
Dumbledore himself just chuckled, looking none bothered by it as he reached out to pet the greedy little creature, who stilled his struggling at the professor's touch.
"That's quite all right, Newt, and please, call me Albus. I've told you many times that you don't need to call me professor anymore."
"Yes, sir."
Now a fully grown man in his mid forties, Newt Scamander still acted as though he was a young student himself. Handing his niffler over to Dumbledore, who accepted the once more struggling niffler with an amused smile, Newt then turned to face the class.
He began to speak about his experiences at Hogwarts, all the creatures he had befriended and learned to care for while there as well as how Dumbledore had always been his favorite, back when Dumbledore taught Defense Against the Dark Arts. Hermione was surprised by this. It seemed that Dumbledore had taught many subjects at this school before one day becoming Headmaster.
Newt Scamander then began to speak about the future and how the decisions you made from then on would shape your path.
"I heard that you were expelled in your sixth year," said Abraxas, having raised his hand. "Are you sure you're really the best person to be lecturing us on our decisions?"
That got the rest of the class stirred up. One after the other, students were raising their hands, wanting to know if that was true and what he had done to get expelled. Newt failed to answer the sudden onslaught of questions, his freckled cheeks turning a vibrant shade of red. Eventually Dumbledore was forced to intervene, silencing the class once more as he explained that it was the result of a misunderstanding, and that though it was unfair, it was in the past, where it should stay.
Newt nodded appreciatively to his former professor. "Does anyone else have any questions, preferably that don't involve my departure from Hogwarts?"
Moments passed and no one raised their hands. Mr. Scamander was starting to look rather disappointed at their lack of interest. Hermione rolled her eyes at the rest of the students in her class. They were missing out on the opportunity of a lifetime to hear the stories of a man who had been on many great adventures.
Without hesitation, she raised her hand. "I read all about your adventures, and I must ask… Is it true that you were the first person to successfully capture Gellert Grindelwald?"
That definitely got everyone's minds off of Mr. Scamander's expulsion. Exchanging looks with her, both Abraxas and Tom straightened in their seats, suddenly much more interested in listening to what he had to say.
Dumbledore seemed mildly alarmed at the mention of his former colleague and lover, gazing over at her in suspicion.
"Well, I don't normally talk about it, but yes, I suppose you could say I was. Though, I had help from a group of friends."
Once more, he found himself overwhelmed by an onslaught of questions, and once again he failed to answer them, He kept glancing nervously back at Dumbledore, as if silently seeking his permission to speak more. Unfortunately for him, Dumbledore seemed to be too preoccupied elsewhere to notice.
"So then, does that mean you intend to be the one to capture him again and put an end to the war?" Tom asked, capturing her attention as well as Dumbledore's.
What was he up to? What did he wish to achieve by asking such a question. They hadn't been in contact with Grindelwald in years, but she was sure that he hadn't entirely forgotten about him.
"I may have been lucky enough to capture him once, but I don't think I'm a proper match for him," he denied.
He was right in that regard. Mr. Scamander wouldn't be the one to defeat Grindelwald. In the end, it would be Dumbledore who would duel him, claiming the Elder Wand for himself and Grindelwald would be imprisoned in his very own fortress. With any luck, the battle would take place and the war would be over in a couple of years. What a relief that would be. She was already counting down to that day.
It wasn't too long after the visit of Newt Scamander that Hermione began to notice Hagrid acting strangely. Her usually cheerful friend, who always had time to talk to her, now always seemed anxious when she was around and hurried off as soon as she let him.
At first she couldn't figure out what was going on, but then she stopped to think about what she knew about Hagrid's time at Hogwarts. That's when it hit her. Hagrid never got past his third year at Hogwarts, as he was expelled for opening the chamber of secrets. Of course, he hadn't been the one to actually open it, as that had been Tom's doing.
She was fairly certain he hadn't opened it yet, but just to make sure, she made a bit of an extra effort to watch him. For the most part, he acted no differently than usual, wrapping an arm around her whenever they were together, and passing notes in between classes.
However, she did catch him doing something, that while didn't seem particularly alarming in theory, made her heart skip a beat regardless. She came back to the common room one evening to find Tom sitting by the fireplace writing in a little black journal. It didn't catch her eye until she got a glimpse of the cover and saw his name engraved into it. Tom Riddle's Diary… The very same one that he had turned into a Horcrux in her time.
"When did you get that?" she asked.
Glancing up from his writing, it took him a moment to figure out what she was referring to.
"Oh, you mean this? I stopped by the bookstore across the street from the Leaky Cauldron when we went to Diagon Alley last," he explained.
Thinking back on it, he had disappeared for a while, leaving her to try and explain everything to his muggle family. The Riddle's got to try Butterbeer that day, which they didn't even seem to mind that much. Mary wasn't too keen on it, but Thomas ended up downing two whole mugs. She could only assume that meant he liked it.
Closing the diary, he reached out and pulled her down to him so that she was seated on his lap. Hermione blushed at the sensation of Tom's surprisingly strong arms wrapped around her waist. Tom had taken to being quite openly affectionate with her ever since their first date. In a way, it was surprising, as she would have never taken Tom for an affectionate kind of guy, but at the same time, it also made sense. Tom was possessive of those he held most dear, and he had made it quite clear from day one that he didn't want any other boys to get too close to her.
"There's something I wanted to talk to you about," he said, leaning over to press a kiss to her cheek. "Cygnus, Abraxas and I have been talking and we've decided to form a gang of sorts. A few others in our house have joined, and I was wondering if you would care to join as well."
"What sort of gang?" she asked, raising a brow at him.
Perhaps her memory was simply failing her, but she couldn't recall ever hearing anything about Tom starting a gang at Hogwarts.
"I assure you, it isn't like one of those muggle gangs. We call ourselves the Knights of Walpurgis. I can not tell you too much right now, but I can tell you that our goal is to make the wizarding world a better place. I figured you might be interested, seeing as you often complain about the many things that are wrong with how it's run.
The Knights of Walpurgis… The name rang a bell but she couldn't quite put her finger on when or where she had heard it before. Either way, she wasn't quite sure what to make of it. While it was true that she didn't approve of the Ministry and their methods, she wasn't sure if she wanted the wizarding world to be run by people like the Malfoy's either.
"This doesn't have anything to do with pureblood supremacy of annihilating muggles, does it?"
He shook his head. "Of course not. I could hardly stand for such a thing when my own family are muggles, and myself being half-blood."
Hearing that filled her with relief. It was nice to hear him willingly admit to the fact that his family was non-magical. He had greatly improved in that aspect. They still weren't the closest, but that was to be expected. It would take some time for Tom to completely warm up to them, but at least he acknowledged them, addressing them by their relation to him. There was no disgust, nor familial warmth, but there was acceptance.
"Alright then, I will agree to join this gang of yours," she answered. "I suppose that makes me a knight as well then?"
He smirked, turning her around so that they were sitting face to face, her legs straddling him. "Oh no, you are far too powerful to be a mere knight. You, my dear Hermione, shall be my queen, and I your king. Together we shall rise up and make the changes that we want."
She licked her lips. There was something about the way he said those words that made them sound so… appealing and attractive… That was one of many reasons she liked Tom. He treated her like a queen. He respected her opinions, even if he didn't entirely agree with them himself, and took them into consideration.
"I like the sound of that," she admitted. "Just don't let the power get to your head too much."
His eyes sparkled, something that she now knew to be a sign of how much he adored her, and slowly he began to lower his face level with hers, stopping for a moment to just stare at her.
Her heart began to beat faster and faster in anticipation. Was this it? Was he finally going to kiss her? Though Tom had been openly affectionate with her, he hadn't actually taken the leap to kiss her yet, at least not on the lips anyway.
Tired of waiting for him to make the first move, she reached out, and closing the distance between them, claimed his lips in hers. Tom didn't seem to have any objections to this, as he let out a slight moan, pulling her even closer still so that they were literally pressed up against one another.
Closing her eyes, she let his rugged masculine scent flood her senses. She loved his scent. It was exactly like what she had smelled during Slughorn's lesson on Amortentia.
He had this earthy smell to him, not like the musty smell that came from living in the Slytherin Dungeons, but like the trees out in the forest, where they often liked to go for walks, exploring all the hidden wonders within. However, the most notable scent her nose detected was that of cinnamon. It came as a surprise to her, but Tom actually loved cinnamon. It was not something he ever had back at the orphanage, so when he first tried a cinnamon roll last Christmas at Riddle Manor, it seemed as though he had just tasted a slice of heaven.
"Mine," he mumbled as they broke apart.
"Yes, Tom, I'm yours," she assured him, leaning her forehead against his. "And you are mine."
"Forever."
Hagrid wasn't the only one acting strangely. Druella too was acting off. She was oddly quiet, never speaking unless directly spoken to, and even then she didn't always hear right away. It was as if her mind was elsewhere, so wrapped up in her own thoughts that she forgot about the rest of the world. At first she thought it might still be left over from the wedding, as she was sure it had been tough for Druella to get used to sharing her life with Cygnus.
However, when she went and asked Cygnus how things were going, he seemed to be under the impression that nothing was wrong. He hadn't even noticed that she was unusually quiet. Quite the husband he was… Clearly he wasn't going to be of any help.
Next she tried Rosaline, and while she did admit to having noticed it, she didn't know what was wrong either. Besides, she was a bit too distracted by her new beau, a french wizard she had met over the summer by the name of Raphael Lestrange. Apparently he, among with a few others, would be coming to Hogwarts as exchange students next month.
Not knowing what else to do, she decided to go directly to the source and talk to Druella about it. She waited until the end of the day, once they had retired to their dorm room and were in the process of getting ready for bed, to go over to her.
"Is everything alright, Druella?" she asked.
Druella, who's mind seemed to be elsewhere once more, nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of her voice. She had been in the middle of changing and currently stood in nothing more than her bra and girdle, which she must have been embarrassed to show, as she swiftly held her uniform up in front of her to hide her bare skin.
"W-What do you mean?" she asked shakily. "Everything is f-fine."
Hermione shook her head at her friend. She knew for a fact that wasn't true, and the tremble in her friend's voice just proved that further. However, noticing how Druella kept glancing over her shoulder at the other girls in the room, she soon caught on that she didn't want to say whatever it was bothering in front of them.
Laverna was already in bed, ready to begin snoring at any given moment, but Rosaline was still wide awake, giggling like the lovestruck teenage girl that she was at her most recent letter from Raphael. She certainly wasn't going to fall asleep right away.
"Come on, I'll help you brush your hair," she said, just loud enough so that the other girls could hear.
Gently she took hold of Druella's hand and led her over into the bathroom, shutting the door and casting Silencio on it before turning back to her friend, who by that time, was on the verge of tears.
Letting the uniform slip from her arms, Druella flung herself into Hermione's arms, breaking down into hysterical sobs on her shoulder, her body trembling uncontrollably. Hermione immediately returned the hug, pulling her over to sit down on the edge of the large clawfoot bathtub in the far corner of the room, letting her cry it out until she was ready to speak.
"Oh Hermione, I don't know what to do!"
"What is it? Is Cygnus being a prat again? That boy can be so incredibly dense sometimes."
She shook her head, letting out a sniffle as she pulled her head off Hermione's shoulder. She didn't answer at first, as she conjured up a handkerchief to dry her eyes and blow her nose. Vanquishing the now soiled handkerchief, she took a moment to calm down her breathing before explaining.
"Cygnus has been good to me for the most part. It's his mother that is the problem. She's been pressuring us to produce an heir for the family ever since the wedding," she began. "Cygnus tried to reason with her that it was too soon, and that we would start trying after graduation, but she wouldn't have it. She's been doing everything she can to try and achieve her goals, locking us in the same bedroom each night. She even tried to slip a love potion into Cygnus's tea. We've had no choice but to consummate the marriage at her urging, but we've managed to go behind her back and take preventative measures."
Hermione was absolutely horrified by what she heard. Of course, she knew that Irma Black was a terror of a woman, but she hadn't thought she could get any worse. Apparently she had been wrong. Trying to force your own child to have a child when they clearly didn't want one was totally barbaric. In her mind, that was even worse than the physical abuse that Cygnus had admitted having received from her.
"We thought we had outsmarted her, but it would seem she was the one to outsmart us," she continued. "A few weeks ago, I thought my tea tasted off. The house elf who served it to me said it was just because it was a different blend from what I was used to. At the time I thought nothing of it, but looking back now, I realize that it was Irma's personal house elf that served it to me."
Hermione gasped. "Don't tell me…"
Druella nodded her head, tears beginning to fill her eyes once more. "I believe she may have spiked it with a fertility potion… Hermione, I-I think I'm pregnant. I've been feeling queasy recently and I've missed my period by more than a week."
Hermione couldn't even begin to process how scared Druella must have felt. She was only sixteen for Merlin's sake! Of course, she understood that this sort of thing could happen by accident, but this was no accident. Her mother-in-law had forced this on her, and that was not right.
"Are you completely certain? Have you performed the spell?"
Druella shook her head. "I know that I should, but I'm too afraid. I guess a part of me just wants to cling to the smallest hope that I might be mistaken."
Hermione didn't blame her for that, but all the same, they did need to know for certain. Taking out her wand again, she thought back on that one rather awkward and uncomfortable Charms Class when Madam Vervain came in to teach them about the risks of practicing unsafe sex and preventative measures that could be taken, as well as a spell that could determine whether you were pregnant or not. Repeating the incantation from memory, she pointed her wand at Druella.
It only took a moment before her abdomen began to glow brightly.
She was indeed pregnant…
Oddly enough, Druella didn't burst out crying again as she expected her to, though she did look like she wanted to. Instead she just brought her hands up to rest on her belly, which was still glowing faintly from the spell.
"What am I going to do? How am I going to tell Cygnus? Do you honestly think he's ready for this? He acts like a child himself half the time! I just know he's going to freak out. Maybe I should get Madam Vervain to perform an abortion and pretend it never happened."
"Calm down. Everything is going to be okay," she assured her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Whether he's ready or not, you still need to tell him. He's the baby's father, after all. He has a right to know. From there, the two of you can decide what to do next."
She reluctantly agreed to that. "Will you at least come with me when I tell him? Just for support."
"Of course I will."
Wrapping one arm around her friend's shoulder, Hermione pulled her into a side hug, placing her other hand over Druella's. To be honest, she was scared for her friend's sake. It would be hard for Druella to continue her education at Hogwarts if she decided to keep the child, but at the same time, her mother in law would continue to pressure her if she chose to abort it and keep the whole thing under wraps.
Personally she had never believed that abortion was right. Though, that wasn't to say that she didn't understand why Druella was considering it. She knew that this child would most likely grow up to be Bellatrix Black, unless this timeline had changed what she knew from her own time. Only time would tell. Despite knowing that, she could still honestly say that she wanted Druella to keep the baby. A life was still a life.
