A/N: So, this is my first A/N but I just wanted to thank everyone for the wonderful response! Along with that, I had some questions.

Would you prefer updates as soon as I finished writing (about every two or three days, obviously varying, since I have so much time due to quarantine) or scheduled updates of twice a week always on the same days? Let me know :)

My other question is would you rather I split the story into two parts of about 75k-100k words each and create a sequel (I have a lot planned for this story!) or just make one long (as in upwards of 175k words) fic? Again, if you could let me know that would be appreciated!

Finally, although this is not a question, it should be noted that Tempus Itinerantur is on FFN and AO3 under the name 'hpghp' and Wattpad, if that's your cup of tea, under the name 'thehpghp'.

Your reviews have been so nice and helpful, I really am glad all of you are enjoying this as much as I am! Don't be afraid to leave suggestions, critiques or ideas in the reviews.

Now, on with the story! :)

Days had passed since Hermione had last spoken to Malfoy in detention and she had been avoiding him ever since invisibly running away from him in the Room of Requirement. In the classes they shared with each other, they only were forced to be near one another during Ancient Runes.

Today, however, Professor Babbling announced that the class would be doing a term-long partnered assignment on top of their day to day work. While working with Malfoy would definitely help her succeed in her Order mission, Hermione was not exactly happy to have to spend even more time with the Slytherin outside of class.

Hermione sighed and turned to face Malfoy, who was leaning back in his chair so that it's front two legs were raised off the ground. "Malfoy, I-"

"Granger, I honestly could give two shits about this stupid project," he interrupted, "so I think it would be best for both of us if you just do it yourself."

Hermione was indignant, "Absolutely not! I am not just some homework machine that you can use to get an O! We will be doing this together and you will be meeting with me outside of class to discuss the assignment."

"Don't try and tell me what to do, Mudblood."

"What did I say about calling me that, Malfoy!" Hermione reminded him angrily, trying to keep her voice down in the somewhat quiet class. Thankfully, the only people who took any notice to her slightly screechy demand were Terry Boot and Michael Corner, and hearing a Gryffindor-Slytherin argument was nothing new for them.

Malfoy rolled his eyes and snipped, "Keep your voice down. You sound like a banshee."

"I despise you," Hermione said in a scathing tone. Of course, Hermione hadn't forgotten about her mission with the Order, but sometimes Malfoy got on her nerves. She took a deep breath to compose herself and continued, "But we still need to work together on this. Shall we extend the truce we made on the first day of class?"

Malfoy sneered slightly and shook his head as he sat up properly, reuniting his chair with the ground, replying, "Yeah. Whatever."

That wasn't too hard, was it, Malfoy?

"Good. So, I have a free period after Charms on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, if that works?" Hermione said, testing Malfoy. She knew that he didn't have class then because that was the period that she had encountered him in the Room of Requirement.

"I-" Malfoy began, but paused, thinking, "I can do Mondays and Fridays."

Well, that was better than what she had been hoping for. She decided to push her luck again. "Alright. Shall we meet in the Room of Requirement?"

"How-" Malfoy sputtered slightly, obviously suspicious of Hermione, "how do you know about the Room of Requirement?"

"Don't you remember Harry's meetings last year?" Hermione asked.

Malfoy didn't respond, choosing instead to rest his head on the table in his hands and ignore Hermione. She was happy to have gotten that far with him, and let him rest, glad to not have to listen to his voice or insults any longer.

That was surprisingly civil.

At lunch, Hermione, Ron, Harry, and Ginny were discussing the upcoming Quidditch tryouts. Although Hermione could truly care less about the trivial topic, she was glad to have some normalcy in the weird time loop that Dumbledore had placed her in.

While the three other Gryffindors debated about the open positions, Hermione thought about Tempus Itinerantur, wondering how much would change from the 'first time'. Ancient Runes, although teaching the same material, was very different due to the unexpected partnership between Hermione and Malfoy. She did not remember discussing Quidditch with Ron, Harry, and Ginny, either. That, Hermione concluded, could be due to the fact that she would have likely tuned their conversation out, finding it boring and time-wasting. Similarly, she now had much more time as homework was easier.

Thinking back to fourth year, when she first studied the spell, Hermione remembered that Tempus Itinerantur meant 'Time Travel' in Latin, was extremely dangerous, and, when changing something that originally had occurred, could have extremely dangerous implications.

"What do you think, Hermione?" Ginny asked her, looking earnestly to include her friend in the conversation.

"Oh!" Hermione replied, not sure what they had been discussing, "I… I agree."

"She wasn't listening," Ron announced, smiling at Hermione, knowing that the second Quidditch was brought up she tuned their words out. "We were talking about having Snape teach D.A.D.A."

"Oh, yeah," Hermione began, ready to bash Snape, but upon remembering that he was a spy for the Order she stopped herself, "I mean, he's obviously wanted the position for years so it's not surprising that he finally got it. I can't say that he doesn't know what he's doing, because he obviously does, but he doesn't go about doing it very well."

Ron shook his head, smiling, "Hermione, I think you're mental. Admitting anything good about Snape? You're crazy."

Hermione laughed along with her friends, glad to be able to re-experience their conversations and light-hearted times spent together.

Hermione listened but as the conversation drifted toward the Quidditch tryouts again, Hermione found herself reflecting on her relationship with Ron. At the beginning of the year-the first time, that is- Hermione and Ron had been walking the line between flirting and friendship. When Ron and Harry won the Quidditch Match, Ron decided to kiss Lavender. That, of course, led to a relationship between the two, which Hermione found disgusting. As of March, when Malfoy killed himself, Ron's relationship with Lavender was fizzling out, but they were still together.

Hermione wondered if her relationship with Ron would grow into something more, without Lavender getting how many things had already changed in this universe (Hermione wasn't exactly sure what to refer to this alternate timeline as), she had a feeling Ron and Lavender wouldn't 'get together,' especially now that she knew that she could possibly prevent it from happening.

But then there was the issue of possibly changing the course of time and subsequently destroying the world as they knew it.

Snapping her out of her thoughts, the loud bell rang, signaling that it was time for Double Potions.

"More time with Malfoy," Hermione sighed to herself, "Great."

"What was that?" Ginny asked as she stood up, preparing to part Harry, Ron and Hermione to attend her O.W.L. classes.

"Oh," Hermione bristled, not realizing other people had heard her, "Er, nothing, Ginny. See you later."

Ginny waved to the group as she left and Hermione watched as Harry blushed slightly. She had completely forgotten that the two had been flirting all year. Perhaps in this timeline, they'd date, rather than constantly flirting.

Ron and Harry continued debating the Quidditch tryouts as they walked down the steep stairs towards the Potions dungeons. Hermione interjected, sick of hearing about Quidditch.

"So," she said, "what do you suppose Slughorn will talk about today?"

Ron rolled his eyes, not pleased to be hearing about schoolwork, "Don't you know? I would've thought that you had his whole agenda printed out in there."

He pointed to Hermione's sagging bookbag, which was obviously filled with books, quills and extra sheets of parchment. Hermione furrowed her eyebrows at his sarcastic tone, replying, "I was just trying to make conversation that didn't involve a broom and the athletes of Gryffindor."

Harry coughed, and budged Ron, urging him to make amends with her.

"Fine," Ron gave in, "Honestly, I have no idea what we're doing as it is. Slughorn's very different from Snape."

"So you'd prefer Snape?" Harry asked, doubt very evident in his voice.

"Bloody hell, Harry! Of course not," Ron exclaimed. "I just keep expecting Slughorn to whack us across the head for not doing it right, you know?"

At that, Hermione laughed at Ron's fear, reminding her a bit of Neville.

"Oh, look," an annoyingly familiar voice called out as the trio entered the almost empty room (save for a few Slytherins and a Gryffindor or two), "it's Potty, the Weasel and the Mudblood. Fantastic."

"Shove off, Malfoy," Ron threatened, drawing his wand.

"Ronald!" Hermione scolded, not wishing to have Slughorn walk in on Ron threatening Malfoy with his wand. She turned her attention to Malfoy quickly, reminding him, "Malfoy, I've told you at least three times to stop calling me that, and the next time I hear you say that word, you will be sorry. Go bother your girlfriend and leave us alone."

Malfoy rolled his eyes, made a rather rude hand gesture, which Ron gladly returned, and sauntered away, joining the other Slytherins.

Harry raised his eyebrows and waited for Malfoy to leave before exclaiming, "Godric, Hermione! What was that?"

"I know, I know," Hermione laughed slightly, "but Malfoy has called me that at least ten times this week, and each time, I remind him to stop, but that's not working. I don't know what I will do the next time he does it."

"Want me to beat 'im up?" Ron asked, shoving a bit of a biscuit that he'd taken from lunch into his mouth. "Harry an' I'll do it."

"I will?" Harry asked. "Oh, er, yeah, totally."

Hermione laughed and threw her arms around her two friends gleefully, "You guys know that if I needed Malfoy beat up, I'd do it myself, but thanks, guys."

"That's enough, that's enough," Slughorn said as he entered the room, calling class to a start. "Now, today, we will be discussing the properties of the eye of newt. Can anyone…"

The following day, a Friday, Hermione woke up and groaned into her pillow quietly. She usually enjoyed Fridays as it meant more time to read in the library, but due to Ancient Runes, that was not the case. Now, Hermione got to spend her Mondays and Fridays with Malfoy, the slimy git, before lunch for an hour.

Of course, Hermione knew that this would help move her mission along, but honestly? An hour with no one but Malfoy? She'd rather listen to Moaning Myrtle complain about all her ghostly woes than be forced to do this.

But this was her mission, and Dumbledore needed her to do it. For the Order. She had to throw all her preconceived notions about Malfoy out the window and look beyond that to see the boy who was hurting and was so desperate for escape that he threw his life out a window and into the Great Lake.

It would take a lot of looking far beyond to see this part of him, but Hermione knew she needed to do it. So today, she was going to really try to help him, despite his name-calling and teasing and taunting. If nothing else, for Snape, who the Order apparently relied heavily on.

But first, she had Ancient Runes, D.A.D.A, Arithmancy, and Charms. Malfoy's schedule was eerily similar to hers, so they shared those first three classes together. Of course, Harry and Ron were in D.A.D.A as well, so that wasn't an issue, but Ancient Runes and Arithmancy were far too advanced for her two friends, leaving her alone with Draco.

Forcing herself to see the upside of this, Hermione took a steadying breath and considered how helpful this could be for the Order. She quickly got ready and made her way down to the Common Room, waiting for Ron and Harry to arrive.

When the two boys came lumbering down the stairs, obviously tired, but looking excited. Hermione thought for a moment, trying to figure out exactly what they were so happily anticipating. She stared at the two with scrutinizing eyes, remembering that something should be happening today, but what, she didn't know.

Harry smiled, "It's Quidditch try-outs, Hermione."

That would explain why they looked so tired; Ron had been up all night practicing for the Keeper position.

Hermione laughed, "I knew that. How could I forget, right?"

She had no clue.

"She definitely didn't know," Ron joked with Harry, nudging him.

Hermione tried to appear serious but failed, and laughed with her friends as they walked joyfully to breakfast.

While eating, Hermione actually decided to listen to their conversation about the try-outs, knowing it would likely be their last.

"Well," Ron began, devouring his cereal with an anxious ferocity, "I'm only worried about Cormac, the git."

Shit!

The only reason that Ron had made the Quidditch team originally was because Hermione was there to send a sneaky confundus to Cormac, making him miss the goal that would've scored him the position.

"Oh, Ronald," Hermione assured him, seriously hoping that he would beat Cormac on his own, "I'm sure it's fine. Cormac's vile, and he would be horrid on the team, right, Harry?"

She kicked his leg under the table, hoping that he would help rid Ron of his worries.

"Yeah," Harry took a bite of toast, "Cormac would be a lousier player than Malfoy. Trust me, Ron, you've got this."

"Thanks, guys," Ron smiled at his two friends before turning eagerly to Hermione, "You'll be there, right? I know quidditch isn't your thing, but it'd help our team."

Hermione cringed as she replied, "Well, actually, I can't. I have a thing with Malfoy. Ironic that we were just talking about how lousy he is, huh?" She tried and failed to lighten the conversation.

"Malfoy?" Harry asked, obviously thinking about blowing his cover as a Death Eater. "Doing what?"

"I have an Ancient Runes assignment that we need to work on all term. We have to go over the guidelines of the project and figure out who's doing what," Hermione explained.

"You couldn't just, I don't know, skip it?" Ron asked, slightly angry.

Hermione bristled and replied, "No, Ronald, I can't just 'skip it'."

Ron muttered something about priorities and not supporting her team under his breath, and Hermione winced slightly, wishing that she could be there to help, er, move Ron along and slow Cormac down a bit. She didn't appreciate his cheek but knew that Ron probably wanted her to be there to support him.

She really did want to go, truly, but she had to prioritize her schoolwork and her mission, even if it meant risking the possible romantic relationship between her and Ron.

They sat in silence until the bell rang and quickly departed the table, going off in their separate ways quickly, murmuring quick and awkward 'goodbyes' and 'good luck'.

When Hermione got to Ancient Runes, she wasn't surprised to see Malfoy standing there, first in line. Of course. Earlier than anyone else, per usual.

She wondered when he'd give that up and consume himself with whatever Voldemort had assigned him to do.

"Morning," she tried in a relatively chipper voice, trying to be optimistic about the situation at hand.

Malfoy turned his head toward her slowly, raised an eyebrow and rolled his eyes, clenching his jaw angrily.

Hermione noticed that Malfoy was already approaching the beginning of the end. His eyes, usually glaring at a Gryffindor or a first year, were now encompassed in dark circles, likely from lack of sleep. His skin, already paler than most, was now a greyish tone, signaling that there was a possible neglect of food. Although not very noticeable unless up close to him, Draco still looked slightly sickly and unhappy.

Hermione grimaced slightly at his obvious unhealthiness and averted her eyes, unsure of what to say.

"What do you need, Mudb-" Hermione shot him a furious glare, asking him to keep going, "Granger."

"Nothing," she shook her head, "you just look...bad."

Malfoy laughed, "I look bad? Have you seen your hair? You look like a fucking lion with that snarled mane."

She took a deep breath, closing her eyes and counting to ten. "Look, Malfoy, I understand that you're having...issues, but I will not tolerate this. You either say something civil to me, or you shut your mouth and exercise some of that infamous Malfoy self-control."

Malfoy turned his head back toward her with jarring speed, and snarled, "You know nothing about my 'issues'," (if only he knew just how much she really knew) "so I suggest you shut your mouth and exercise your self-control, hmm? Don't even try to dictate my words, because I don't have to listen to a damn thing you say. Fuck off, Mudblood."

Hermione grabbed her wand, and reminded him with violent anger, "What did I say about calling me that, Malfoy?"

Malfoy mockingly laughed at her, tilting his head up to lean against the wall and crossing his arms. "Does it look like I really care-"

Suddenly, Hermione quickly pulled her hand back and slapped him straight across the face, the loud smack echoing throughout the hallway.

Malfoy, whose head was forcefully turned by the slap, touched a hand to his reddening cheek before silently seething at Hermione.

"Oh, Godric," Hermione breathed, "Oh, shit. Ma-Draco, I shouldn't have-"

"No," he glared, articulating each word with frightening precision, "No, you shouldn't have."

His voice was quiet, yet the fury in his tone was blaringly loud. It was a profound moment, and Hermione realised that she had really made a mistake. She had been hoping to develop a friendship with him, but she just went and screwed everything up over a word that he'd called her for years.

Hermione, trembling from her pent up anger, bit her lip, hoping that Malfoy wouldn't retaliate in any way. If he decided to tell Professor Babbling, Hermione would accept the punishment that came. It was only right. She was so ashamed that she let her anger get the best of her in a physical sense.

She wasn't ashamed, however, that Malfoy got what was coming for him. He'd mockingly called her mudblood for the past two or three weeks, knowing damn well what the word meant and how it affected her.

"I-I'm sorry, Ma-Draco," she decided against calling him 'Malfoy', feeling that she needed to start somewhere. Perhaps this mistake would be a fresh start for the two of them. "It was immature of me to react so aggressively to a word you've called me for years. So, I apologize."

Malfoy pulled out his wand and, with a wave, concealed the reddening handprint, turned away from Hermione, and ignored her apology.

Hermione watched, annoyed at herself for going and ruining any chance she had of friendship.

When other students and Professor Babbling joined Draco and Hermione in front of the room, Hermione felt the pit in her stomach grow, realizing that she and Draco would now have to work together despite her idiotic mistake.

Following Draco into the class, she took her assigned seat, not oblivious to the obvious space between her and the Slytherin. He stared coldly ahead, too proud to accept her humble apology.

"Alright, class," Babbling instructed, "Settle down, settle down. Before we go on with notes, I am going to explain your term-long project. I have partnered you all with the person sitting next to you and assigned an ancient runic text to each group. It will be your responsibility to translate the text, as a group, mind you, and then write an essay using the prompt at the end of the text, using what you translated as evidence. Each topic will be different, so don't expect the other groups to help you. Once you have demonstrated an advanced understanding of both the topic and the translation, I will grade your essays accordingly. This will be due at the end of the term, right after your Christmas holiday, and I am expecting that the majority of your time will be spent translating and comparing notes with your partner. Questions?"

Hermione, who had been writing her description down quickly, was satisfied with the explanation for the time being and, surprisingly, did not raise her hand.

"Great," Babbling said. She pulled her wand out from the inside pocket of her navy blue robe and waved it smoothly, drawing notes effortlessly onto the board. "Right, then. One historically important figure in Ancient Runes history is Sir William thee…"

Hermione tuned Babbling out, having already learned and memorized this information and mechanically moved her quill, copying the notes in a scribbly mess. When Babbling stopped presenting notes and began discussing basic translations that the famous figures helped translate, Hermione moved her quill to the bottom of her parchment to write an inconspicuous note to Draco.

Draco,

Despite our incident (this was crossed out heavily), altercation, we still need to work on this project. We're still meeting during fourth period in the Room of Requirement, correct?

Hermione returned her focus to the lecture and slowly slid her parchment toward Draco, who was also focusing intently on Babbling's presentation. He glanced quickly down at the parchment, skimmed the note and returned his eyes to Babbling, giving a curt nod.

Hermione sighed, retrieving the parchment and listening to her lecture as her mind drifted into other subjects. It was terribly boring to have to listen to the same lecture twice, even for Hermione.

Her next two classes, D.A.D.A. and Arithmancy went by quickly. Of course, in D.A.D.A, Harry and Ron were gone, preoccupied with Quidditch, leaving Hermione alone to suffer through Snape's intolerable prejudice against Gryffindors. Despite his obvious hatred, Hermione forced herself to look past this and see a man so important to the Order that Dumbledore risked causing an ever-lasting time loop to save.

In Arithmancy, Hermione forced herself to wait an extra minute before approaching the class, out of a fear that she and Draco would be alone together again. Professor Vector, a young woman, who was tall with straight, thin hair, jumped straight into the lesson, not leaving any time for chitter-chatter and lectured about numerology on the Pyramids in Egypt. When class was over, Hermione realized just how problematic this could be.

She and Draco were going to the same place. Which meant that either she would have to wait to leave, or the two would have to walk together.

She decided against both ideas and was packed up and ready to go three minutes before the bell. When class was dismissed, she bolted from her seat and walked at a very fast pace, trying to beat Draco to the classroom. Unfortunately for Hermione's short legs, the Room of Requirement was on the seventh floor, and the Arithmancy department was located on the first.

Seven flights and a panting Hermione later, she was in front of the Room of Requirement and Draco was nowhere to be seen.

I need a place to meet Draco. She decided that would suffice, but added in afterward, thinking of Ron, and to see the Gryffindor tryouts out the window.

A door appeared, and thinking that Draco wouldn't know how to get into the specific room that she was in, she opened it halfway and waited in the doorway.

A few seconds later, she saw his platinum blond head in the distant crowd, quickly walking toward Hermione, seemingly unfazed by the seven flights of stairs.

"Great," he said sarcastically, but with less of a quip (which could be attributed to one of two things: his proximity to the Room of Requirement and the Vanishing Cabinet, or his anger toward Hermione), "You chose where we're meeting. I swear to Salazar if we enter a room covered with lions and red and gold walls, I will be thoroughly pissed."

Hermione rolled her eyes and made a face over her shoulder at him as she opened the door, not quite sure exactly what to expect.

The room, looking very different from the Room of Hidden Things that Draco had been repeatedly visiting, was a dark, umber-colored wood. Two black armchairs and white tables were in front of a burning fire, and bookshelves filled with books about Ancient Ruins lined the walls. Above each bookshelf, thanks to Hermione's request, were multiple tall, wide windows.

There was a perfect view of the Quidditch pitch, and the hair colors and builds of all the players told Hermione who was who.

Draco, not failing to notice the windows, smiled deviously, "Oh, I see. You wanted to watch your boyfriends try out for Quidditch, eh? Well, I suppose that boyfriend is more accurate seeing as The-Boy-Who-Just-Can't-Die is the captain. Watching Weasley fail at keeping entertains you, hm?"

Hermione pursed her lips and ignored his taunts, asking, "Aren't you on the Slytherin team? Or didn't you make it?"

Hermione's tone, innocent enough, was fake because she knew that Draco quit Quidditch about a month or two into the school year due to other matters at hand.

"Yes, Granger," Draco sneered, "I made the team. In fact, I was offered the Captain's position but turned it down due to...unforeseen events."

Hermione raised her eyebrows at the new information, knowing exactly what unforeseen events he was referring to, "Hm. Well, I suppose we should get started, then."

Draco sighed and walked over to the black armchair, dropping his bag by his side, but not before removing the assigned ruin text and placing it on the table beside him.

Hermione mirrored his actions, but rather than take out a text, she grabbed a ballpoint pen and parchment paper.

Draco looked over at the pen, a baffled expression on his face. "What is that ungodly contraption, Granger?"

It appeared that the slap had stopped the 'Mudblood' insults, at least for the time being.

"It's a pen, Draco," she explained. "Muggles use it to write with. It's like a quill but portable, and you don't have to worry so much about ink smears or stains or ruining the feathers."

Draco's expression quickly turned sour, "Stop calling me that."

"What?" Hermione asked, puzzled.

"Draco."

"Well, would you prefer I call you Ferret?"

"Malfoy would suffice."

"Draco," Hermione stated, "we aren't first years. Don't you think using surnames to refer to one another is odd?"

Draco grumbled something under his breath before admitting, "Fine. But don't call me Draco in other classes, if you insist on it."

Hermione was satisfied with that response. She honestly didn't care about surnames, but wanted to inch their relationship closer to an acquaintanceship.

"Then you can call me Hermione."

Draco sputtered, "Absolutely not!"

"Well, why not?"

"Because, you're," Draco searched for the words, but gave up, "you're Granger. And if you insist on calling me Draco, that's strange, but fine, I suppose. But I am not calling you that."

Hermione rolled her eyes at his childishness and clicked the pen. "Fine, then, Draco, let's get started."

"Fine, Granger."