Weeks passed by too quickly for Rodrick's taste, he'd been spreading his time over between doing homework and working through magic extraction, and friends. He was forced to socialize with them as well, couldn't be helped if he forgot every now and then could it?

Of course, the amount of time he'd spent learning the advanced piece of magic had lessened considerably. He'd finished through all the pages regarding the process and was really only going over the basics and functions of it. It was once again to his surprise very complex. The living extraction was in any case. There were several layers to go through when trying to extract something from a living being, ranging from physical parts such as bone, that had been a complete shocker. Learning he could extract bone... that had set his head for a loop. Ranging to the more difficult layer regarding human organs as well as human cells. The hardest layer was, of course, one's magic.

Naturally, with his luck, that happened to be the layer he had been trying to learn. The upcoming holiday would be his first attempt at true extraction, Rodrick was set on using his phoenix feather for the job. The feather had been quite unique in that it was both a living and non-living object. That simple fact meant two things, one it wasn't as hard as trying to mess with one's magic but it was the closest thing to it, and two he didn't need a living container for whatever he extracted it to. He wanted to test the feather for two reasons, to get an idea of how difficult removing Astoria's curse would be and to help his second goal, a goal that should from what he's seen on it so far, take up his upcoming summer...

He also needed to get a guide on Apparition...

The extra time he'd found, he'd spent it on his class work. With the house cup practically gift wrapped to Slytherin for the year, that thought always brought a smile to his face, he didn't need to bother with acquiring points anymore. Of course, no one else, save Daphne knew that particular fact. It seemed most of the Slytherin's were still waiting to see what he'd actually been planning as well as complaining that he wasn't trying hard enough. Malfoy to his surprise hadn't mentioned it at all, the boy either had a lot of faith in Rodrick or expected compensation at the end of the year, should he fail to uphold his end of the deal.

He doubted it had anything remotely to do with faith. Hell, he was half sure Malfoy's were more likely to be satanist than anything else, he couldn't really judge them about it, he probably knew more curses than most death eaters did. Really, being a Satanist was probably seen better in the eyes of magical Britain when compared to being a dark wizard. Then again he wasn't certain Magical Britain even knew who Satan was... Probably thought he was Salazar Slytherin's cousin or something.

The deal had probably been one of his better plans of late, it didn't involve getting a Basilisk to almost biting his arm off, to get the house cup. It seemed to have hit the headmaster rather hard though, the morning following Black getting his family fortune, following that 'trial'... Rodrick had never seen the Headmaster looking so upset, which in retrospect probably sent the completely wrong message to Harry Potter...

He was currently going over his History book. He was sitting in an empty library, a rare occasion. It usually happened whenever a Quidditch game was on... Coincidently one happened to be going on this very day... It was the one between Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, as much as he 'loved' the game he simply found no reason to watch it. His friends and pretty much everyone else disagreed, Quidditch was basically a religion for wizards.

He snorted slightly as he read over the current chapter regarding witch hunts. 'Man and I thought my generation was crazy...' He inwardly scoffed at the thought.

To think there was a witch who'd enjoyed the burnings enough to go back for second helpings...

He wasn't really here to study, so much to simply get away from all the Quidditch fanatics, that was really the bigger priority, getting homework done that wasn't due for well... Until after he returned from his holiday was a bonus, it meant more time with the Greengrass family, as well as the occasional visits from his other friends. Another smile crept to his face when he realized how numerous that really was, he was pretty sure Luna was planning to spend quite a bit of her Christmas flooing over due to Astoria... Which meant she would be joining him and Daphne in whatever they planned to do for the holidays. A small thought quickly popped to his head, 'I wonder if there'll be any parties this year...'

Footsteps quickly grabbed the boy's attention, his gaze landed on one Hermione Granger, the girl was currently turning on her feet peering over the library before her eyes landed on him.

Her eyebrows quickly shot up in surprise, having found another human being not screaming his head off cheering a team on. Madam Pince was, of course, stalking the library but no one was actually sure she was human so to speak. 'Honestly!' Hermione thought. 'Why do they need to attend a game where our house isn't even playing!' She could almost pull her hair out at the irresponsibility. Harry, she didn't mind as much as he was finally allowed to actually enjoy the game with his godfather but Ronald! Honestly, the boy was already behind! He should be using this time to catch up. That brought a somber thought to her head, the work load had started getting to her recently, she hadn't even finished her homework yet! Homework that was due in 5 days! Her eyes finally took in the sight in front of her, it was Rodrick surrounded by what looked like parchments of homework and a History book. 'Finally, someone else who understands how valuable time was.' A few moment's later she watched as the boy's face took on a more amused look... 'Right... I've been standing here for a good 3 minutes...' Thought the girl as she slowly walked towards the Slytherin.

Rodrick had an amused grin on his face as he watched Hermione Granger flop down the seat next to him casually. The girl seemed to be far more comfortable around him than he'd realized... Then again he did save her life in the first year, maybe that had something to do with it. He waited for her to start speaking.

Hermione stared at the boy for a few seconds before realizing he wasn't planning on opening up the conversation.

"Hello," Hermione started before inwardly sighing, of all the things to start with...

Rodrick's lips quirked upwards slowly, he had to control himself when he noticed the frown that slowly appeared on the girl's face due to his reaction. "Hello," he replied back with a hint of mirth.

A few seconds passed with the two just staring at each other, Rodrick slowly but surely losing control. Hermione quickly looked away, the boy clearly had no intentions of bringing up a subject. her eyes glanced towards the parchments on the table before a frown took over her face... She didn't recognize any of it. "What are you researching?" she questioned, curious. There was parchment spread all over his side of the table.

Rodrick raised an eyebrow at her before chuckling, "Not researching anything," he started off, noticing the confused look on her face he added on, "This is homework."

Hermione's eyes widened, 'Homework!? I don't remember this! Oh god, when is it due!?'

Noticing the frantic look that passed over her face, Rodrick brought his hands up, he clarified that it was meant to be set for the holiday.

The frantic look quickly changed to narrowed eyes. "Why do you already have it?" Hermione questioned. Forcefully.

Rodrick had to stop himself from laughing at the idea of being interrogated by her, "I finished everything else, the professors decided to give it to me early so I have something to do in my free time," he shrugged. Of course he knew the real reason, Dumbledore no doubt had something to do with it, after the whole house cup fiasco he probably wanted to get back at him somehow... Either that or he was trying to stop him from focusing on Magic Extraction, no doubt hoping that if he'd missed the specific day he would have to wait and practice more. Knowing the headmaster it could really be either one... Or both for that matter.

Hermione knew her face outlined shock, it was really the only feeling she had at the moment... By the look on the boy's face, he probably realized it as well. How could he be so far ahead of her? She was still aggravated from the current week's homework and he was already working through his Christmas work... Hundreds of questions passed through her head before she sighed and settled for a simple statement.

"I don't know how you do it," Hermione grumbled, she picked up one of the parchment's scattered on the table.

Rodrick's face quickly changed to a curious one, he watched as Hermione frowned as she read through his paper. 'Did I write something wrong?' Not a lot of people could actually correct him, at least not from their year but if there was someone who could, it was Granger.

Hermione let out a sigh, "This looks correct..." she quickly returned the paper before she grabbed another and once again sighed.

Rodrick tilted his head, wondering what was going on. "I am not sure I understand what you're talking about,"

A small smile fretted over the girl's face, "There's a first..."

Rodrick raised an eyebrow at her statement. "A first of what? Me not understanding something?"

Hermione nodded at that as she continued to read through his Potions paper... It really was extensive... the boy had an almost inhumane talent for the subject... That and Transfiguration... 'I still can't believe he managed to perform NEWT level magic..'. When she finished the paper she promptly put it back with a groan.

Rodrick's eye twitched at that, "I am gonna need you to explain what the problem is," He stated... Well demanded.

Hermione looked up from the table before she shook her head with a wistful smile. "I don't know how you can keep up or well in your case, manage to get so far ahead, I am feeling the pressure from just the current assignments and you're here doing work that won't be set for almost a month!"

Rodrick leveled an inquisitive stare at her, "Well... You're doing two more subject's than me so..." He started before he decided to add on, "I mean using a time turner probably has some side effects,"

Hermione's eyes twinkled at that, "I suppose..." however her mood quickly dropped, "That doesn't really count though because one of those subjects, muggle studies, by the way, is something I know quite a lot about and so isn't that challenging to me, not really any way." She watched as the boy took that in before he nodded, "The other is Divination and I am not really planning to continue it... So it doesn't count, so really it doesn't justify that I am having so much trouble while you're breezing through everything," Hermione finished.

Rodrick stared at her for a few moments, "You talk a lot," he remarked.

Hermione felt both embarrassed and angry at the remark, she was about to speak before Rodrick cut over her.

"It's probably the Time Turner's fault," he added on lazily.

Hermione took in the words, "I suppose... Professor McGonagall did say it would have a strain on my mind if used too much..." she quickly sighed at that, when she looked up however she found the same smile on the boy's face.

"I know something that might help you there,"

Hermione's face slowly took on a surprised look.

"It's called Occulumency, find a book or ask your head of house about it,"

Hermione blinked at the information before she asked what it was about.

"It's mind magic that helps keep your brain free of stress and your emotions under control,"

That explained so much regarding the boy's ease at studying. Hermione frowned somewhat knowing that it was her brain's habit to strain itself that was causing her work to slow down. "I will... Uh, thank you"

The two fell into a comfortable silence, Hermione had taken to reading through each of his papers... For some reason.

"Why do you want to drop Divination?" Rodrick suddenly asked, breaking the calm, he had his own reasons for disliking the subject but he wanted to hear someone else's.

Hermione looked up, "Hmm?" a moment later she took in his question before her brows furrowed at the subject... Really there were hundreds of reasons... "Because according to my 'professor'" she added emphasis to the word, "It isn't possible for me to pass the subject without my 'inner' eye, after all without that I can't predict peoples deaths now can I?" she finished in a more strained voice then she'd started with.

Rodrick had a passive look on his face as he took in her words, one thing he understood... Granger didn't like being told of something she was unable to do. A small smile crept across his face as he decided to break the ice, "Considering our previous years, you don't need an inner eye to predict a danger..."

Unsurprisingly Hermione found herself laughing at the joke. She wound up having to cover her mouth with a hand to stop herself.

"Besides, you only need the inner eye crap for Prophecies', you don't need it for visions... Well visions of your own future anyway," he remarked lazily. "Funny thing is I have that... It's the reason I didn't want to take the bloody subject in the first place," There was a tone of irritation as he let the words out.

Hermione raised an eyebrow at him as soon as she took in his words, "Right.. you had visions, I did wonder why you never took the subject."

Rodrick shrugged, "If you need an inner eye for the subject then do you really think it'd be such a researched subject?" he questioned.

Hermione blinked in surprise at that... He had a point, if you needed an inner eye for it, it would be an even harder subject to research then the birthday issue with Arithmancy... "Then..." she started before she quickly realised, "Divination is meant to teach you to interpret the visions... Not to show you how to have them..." The realization surprised her somewhat... It gave the subject a lot more credence than it was due, it gave it a more intellectual one anyway. Hermione sighed, it also meant she couldn't in her right mind drop it if it wasn't a complete waste...

Rodrick nodded at that although he did add, "Yea, although they're more likely to interpret Prophecies then some visions,"

"What do you mean? Aren't they the same?" she questioned. Her grievance with accepting the subject already gone.

Rodrick shook his head, knowing he'd once wondered the same thing, "No, not really, think of it this way. Prophecies are a guaranteed future, while visions are simply possible ones."

Hermione furrowed her brows at that, "Multiverse theory..." She muttered quietly mostly to herself expecting the other boy not to understand, to her surprise, however, Rodrick simply nodded at that.

"Yes, that's one way to put it I suppose, hmm... Yeah that's probably the best explanation, Propechies, on the other hand, would be your own future, although I suppose they'd be set in every possible future..." he murmured the last part mostly to himself. Looking up however he found Hermione staring at him with a strange look.

"What?" Rodrick remarked slightly unsettled.

Hermione shook her head quickly out of the sudden daze, "Sorry, I just didn't expect you to understand it,"

Rodrick frowned, "Why wouldn't I?" he questioned.

Hermione tried to think of a good way to phrase her answer, "Well it's such a muggle thing... Isn't it?"

Rodrick nodded, "Yes... I don't see why I wouldn't understand it though. I did come from an orphanage, there were plenty of random books regarding science there, although mostly for the older children I suppose," Rodrick muttered. Before he'd been convinced that he was actually magical and not a hallucinating child with mental problem's and very weird dreams, he'd spent most of his time going through the books at the orphanage as the other kids didn't like him.

Hermione nodded slowly, "Still, I am surprised you didn't just consider it dribble after coming here," she remarked.

"Why would I do that?" Rodrick questioned, curious.

Hermione blinked, she didn't really have an answer to that.

Rodrick decided to clarify, "I mean don't get me wrong, magic certainly changes a lot of things... But there is one thing that muggles will always have over us,"

Hermione's eyes widened slightly wondering where he was going with it.

Rodrick smiled somewhat, "This world was Muggle long before it was magical, it's only natural for me to accept some things that muggles have come up with, don't you think? I mean Multiverse certainly seems more plausible considering magic exists," he finished laughing at the thought.

Hermione, however, was still transfixed to what he'd said before that, it was strange for her to never have considered it before, "You think muggle's existed before wizards did?" She questioned eagerly to see his reasoning.

Rodrick nodded, "If wizards had existed first, it would be the muggle's that would need to hide, not us," his words drifted off another silence.

Hermione slowly took in the words... It made sense... Too much sense. It was a good thing really, that muggles were first, it'd be pretty hard for them to hide from wizards otherwise.

Before the two could continue however a third voice interrupted them, neither had heard what they'd said, they assumed it was a greeting, a somewhat upset greeting. Rodrick turned, already knowing who the voice belonged to, no one else could have such a dreamy voice. He waved cheerfully at what looked like a frowning Lovegood.

That was new. "Hello Luna,"

The frown quickly disappeared to a more passive look, she quickly took a seat next to the boy, on the opposite side of Granger. Luna eyed the bushy haired witch before introducing herself, the other doing the same.

Surprise and some shock quickly went over Rodrick's face as he heard Luna suddenly turn her attention to him.

"You weren't at my houses game," she remarked with a tone of hurt.

Rodrick blinked at her before having to stop himself from chuckling, "I am barely at my own house's games..." he replied.

Luna's eyes narrowed, "I know. I am not upset you didn't show up. I am upset you didn't invite me here," she finished by crossing her arms.

Rodrick scoffed at that, "I figured you wanted to keep Astoria company, seeing as it was her first Quidditch game,"

Luna's eyes widened, "Oh no and I left her alone early! Oh, I hope the game ends soon..." She remarked fidgeting to herself.

Rodrick watched the blonde with amusement, "It's okay, I'll tell her I needed you for some thing," he remarked with a smile.

Luna's face broke into a smile, "Oh thank you! That would help quite a lot." she stared at him beaming before she added on, "You're a really good friend sometimes you know that?"

Hermione blinked at that, "Wait what?"... "Didn't you jus-" Rodrick shushed her.

"So what were you two talking about?" Luna quickly changed the subject, still smiling.

"Multiverse Theory," Rodrick remarked, "We were talking about how witches and wizards understood the term," he added on, honestly he wasn't even sure what they were talking about, he was guessing at this point.

"We were?" Hermione questioned, suddenly unsure herself.

Luna cocked her head to the side, "I don't know what it means..."

"Well you are a special witch Luna," Rodrick remarked cheerfully as he patted her head. The girl giggled at the action before thanking him for the compliment.

"I don't think that was a com-" Hermione started before once again to her annoyance, she was shushed by the black-haired snake.

"It basically refers to different possible future's where you made a different choice etc etc," Rodrick remarked.

"I don't think you're supposed to use 'etc' like that..." Hermione grumbled mostly to herself.

Luna seemed to pick up on the concept quickly, "Oh I see, yes I suppose that makes sense... How many worlds do you think there are?" she questioned.

Hermione blinked in confusion at the sudden question... The idea was that there were infinite worlds... Not a limited number... She turned to Rodrick finding a thoughtful but amused look, 'He's probably trying to figure out how to explain that there are a limitles-'

"Three," Rodrick answered matter of factly.

Hermione blinked again... "What?"

Luna nodded, "I agree... Three sounds like a reasonable number of worlds." she spoke smiling.

Hermione switched glances between the two waiting for them to clarify... They had to be joking... Neither of them decided to say anything, sighing she questioned them instead... 'I can't believe I am even considering this...' Well, it was mostly due to the fact Rodrick had said it... At this point, after everything that had happened, it really wasn't a good idea to dismiss his words.

"Why three?" Hermione questioned, inwardly groaning.

Luna blinked at her a few times, "Because it's a cute even number," she remarked playfully, humming along to something.

Hermione closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "It really isn't an even number," she muttered through grit teeth.

Rodrick was having the time of his life.

Luna stared at her before adding on, "It is if you put an inverted three right next to it, then it becomes an even number,"

Hermione blinked at her... This level of thinking was... Where did they find this girl exactly? "That's not how numbers work!" Hermione ground out, somewhat forceful.

"It is with magic," Luna shrugged.

Hermione had to force a smile on her face as she turned to face Rodrick. Silently questioning how the girl was a Ravenclaw.

Rodrick chuckled, "She's only joking," He remarked.

Luna chuckled as well, "You really shouldn't take everything too literally Miss Granger"

Rodrick had a hard time believing the girl had said that.

Hermione sighed, "Of course..."

Luna turned towards Rodrick, "Why do you think it's three?" she questioned curiously.

Hermione had to stop herself from lunging at the girl. Multiverse means infinite! She all but screamed into her own head. When she turned to Rodrick, however, she found the guy surprisingly thoughtful about it.

'I am not even sure why I said 3... although I suppose it would make some sense if we went with that direction...' Rodrick thought to himself. He turned towards Luna and answered. "Past, Present and Future,"

Hermione didn't know what that meant. She turned towards the blonde and was was surprised to see the girl seemed to have understood... Way too quickly and with no explanation, the blonde had understood what Rodrick had meant and she didn't... She felt like pulling her hair out.

"That does make quite a bit of sense," Luna remarked, thoughtfully.

Hermione had to force herself to ask, "Why? What does it mean?" it was difficult keeping her voice level...

Rodrick had to stop himself from grinning at the Gryffindor's reaction... Honestly when will they learn? "It's pretty simple really..." he started and almost laughed when he saw Hermione twitch.

"Rodrick..." Luna warned.

Rodrick rolled his eyes before he gave out his thoughts on the matter. "Whenever you make a choice in the present, what's the first frame of reference you use to decide whether the action you're about to make is good or bad?" he questioned Luna, knowing that Hermione was in no condition to answer.

Hermione frowned at the sudden question, wondering what he was referring to.

Luna thought about it for a few seconds before realizing with a grin what the boy was trying to say... "My past choices!"

Rodrick nodded with a smile, "Yes the past..." He turned found Hermione slowly comprehending the situation.

"Then..." Hermione muttered... 'Oh my god... It actually makes sense... what is the world coming to...'

Rodrick grinned, "Yes, if we take that theory into practice then the future would depend on our present selves..."

Hermione sighed as she took in the full idea, "Which is why some visions don't always happen because our present selves tend to change..." she practically slapped her head to the table. It was a viable theory.

"I suppose Prophecies would be guaranteed things that would happen," Luna added on, staring at the boy.

Rodrick nodded, "Which is why you need the inner eye to see through the potential futures," he answered, surprisingly with a straight face.

Luna nodded quickly, it made sense.

That was enough for Hermione as she quickly got up. "I am going to go find that book on Mind magic,"

Rodrick watched her go, wondering why she'd come into the library in the first place.

"You really are quite smart you know," Luna remarked.

Rodrick leveled a stare at the girl, "Why?" he questioned.

Luna chuckled, "Being able to come up with all that rubbish in a manner of seconds is quite impressive,"

Rodrick rolled his eyes, "It's perfectly reasonable," he muttered.

Luna shook her head, "Perhaps but you wouldn't need three worlds for that..." she spoke in a far away voice.

Rodrick stared at the girl wondering what she was about to say.

"Do you think my mom would be alive in one of them?" she questioned.

Rodrick felt his face suddenly etch into a surprised expression at that, "Maybe? I am not entirely sure,"

Luna turned towards him, "Do you think we'd be friends in the other ones?" she asked again.

Rodrick grinned, "Definitely," he remarked quickly. It was an easy answer.

Luna beamed back a smile. "That's good to know... That's really good to know," she affirmed to herself.

Rodrick raised an eyebrow at her, "I am sure even if I wasn't around, you could still be friends with Astoria," he remarked, the two seemed almost inseparable until Quidditch was involved it seemed.

Luna shook her head slightly, "I don't know, I met her through you... And it wouldn't really be the same anyway"

"It wouldn't?" Rodrick questioned curiously.

"No, It's not the same as your first friend, really,"

If Rodrick was surprised by the sudden proclamation he didn't show it. "First friend huh" he repeated the words.

Luna smiled, "I am quite grateful to have met you first you know, you left quite a good impression," she chuckled.

"Well, I had to, you are special after all," he added on earning a playful punch. "It's a compliment!" he tried to defend himself.

Luna tried to force a frown, "The first one was, I feel like that one wasn't," she huffed as she crossed and stuck her nose up.

Rodrick shook his head at the blonde girl's antics, when she looked back down towards him the two started laughing and were promptly kicked out of the library.