A/N: Thank you all so much for your reviews, favorites and follows! I am so glad that you are enjoying so far! This chapter introduces some new characters and some old favorites. You can follow me on tumblr (nauticalparamour) where I post sneak peeks, story updates and answer questions.

Please let me know what you thought of chapter three and be on the lookout for chapter four!

September 1967

The first of September was upon Hermione before she even realized it. She had been in the past for nearly three weeks at this point, and was a bit unsettled by how quickly she'd made herself at home in 1967.

It was odd to go to Kings Cross Station with the Weasleys and knowing that she wasn't going to be meeting Harry and Ron on the station. Instead, Arthur had been eager to offer her a seat in his compartment. "You can sit with me, of course," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "You don't want to spend your day with Georgie and his friends, talking about potions supplies and other nerdy things."

Hermione almost wanted to disagree with him, thinking that a few hours talking about ingredient quality would be right up her alley. At the same time, George did not seem keen to offer her an invitation to sit with his friends, so she put on a smile. "I'm excited to meet some of your friends."

They fought against the students looking to find their compartment, but to Hermione's relief, none of them seemed too interested in her, even if she was a new student. Finally, they slipped into one of the compartments near the back of the train. Hermione greeted the two students inside awkwardly while Arthur put up their trunks.

"Hermione, this is my friend Gerald Speltz," he said, indicating the blond-haired young man. "And this is his girlfriend, Samantha Saks. Guys, this is my friend, Hermione. She's been living with my family this summer."

Samantha had honey blonde hair, warm brown eyes and a friendly face, but even she looked surprised by that statement. "Er, what brought you and the Weasleys together, Hermione?" she asked cautiously. "Family troubles?"

"Yeah, something like that," Hermione agreed, hoping that they wouldn't press her for further details. "Dumbledore was gracious enough to help me find somewhere on such short notice and I am so grateful that the Weasleys could open their home to me." She settled into her seat, and Arthur sat next to her.

Arthur's friends must have noticed how close he'd chosen to sit next to her, and the hopeful look that he gave her, because Gerald was clearing his throat. "Um, say, Arthur, have you told Molly about this development?" he asked.

Before Arthur could answer, the door was sliding open and none other than Molly Prewett herself was waltzing right into the compartment. As soon as her eyes narrowed in on Hermione sitting next to Arthur, the sunny smile on her face fell. "Oh, who are you?" she asked, making it abundantly clear how unhappy she was with the situation.

"Molly, this is Hermione," Samantha said, with a forced grin, hoping the defuse the tension that now permeated the compartment. "She's a new student and has been living with the Weasleys this summer."

Hermione was immensely glad that looks couldn't kill, otherwise she was certain she would have dropped dead several times. There was no secret that Molly Prewett did not like Hermione Granger one little bit. Hermione wanted to reassure the other girl that she had no designs on Arthur, and she absolutely wouldn't get in the way of the relationship they were destined to have, but there was no good way for her to explain that.

Instead, Molly kept her mouth in a tight line. "Oh, that's nice," Molly said, before sitting down in the open seat next to Arthur. "It must be almost like having a sister," she added, innocently enough, though her words were undoubtedly meant to make Hermione seem like not an option.

"Well, not-" Arthur was quick to jump into the conversation, only to get cut off by Gerald, who sensed this conversation was headed south, quickly.

"So, Hermione," he said, getting the younger girl's attention. "Are you going to be in seventh year like the rest of us?"

"No, sixth year actually," she explained, knowing that she wasn't likely to share classes with any of them.

Molly was really quite content to get all of the attention back on her now that she had recovered from the shock of the interloper in their compartment. She launched into discussion of how her summer went and how her two older brothers - Gideon and Fabian - were going through Auror training.

Hermione quickly got the sense that she was the fifth wheel in this situation, but luckily for her, she was content to just look out the window, watching the scenery go by. She let the conversation between the four friends filter away, until it was nothing more than background noise. Before she knew it, Arthur was shaking her shoulder to let her know that they would be arriving soon.

"I must have dozed off there," she told him with a slight blush on her cheeks.

Seeing Hogwarts all lit up in the night sky made her heart leap into her throat. It truly felt like coming home, even if she was in the completely wrong time. Blinking back tears, she took a steadying breath before climbing into one of the carriages. She was just glad that they weren't making her take the boats with the first years. She wanted as little embarrassment as possible.

However, it seemed as if she couldn't really fly under the radar the whole time. As soon as she found her seat at the Gryffindor table next to Arthur and his friends there were numerous people who started to whisper and point in her general direction. Hermione tried not to let it get to her, knowing that they were probably just curious, but she still didn't like being the center of attention in this way. Holding her head high, she acted like she didn't notice it.

Instead of getting into a discussion with the seventh year Gryffindors about the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher seated on the dais, Hermione let her eyes search the room, looking for differences. It was nice to see some familiar faces on the faculty, even though she wouldn't be able to let on that she knew them already. Professor McGonagall looked so young and pretty, though still strict. Professor Sprout was mostly unchanged, except her hair was still mostly mousy brown and was only starting to show hints of grey.

Before long, the first years were being filed into the Great Hall, some looking nervous and some looking excited. It was a slightly smaller class than usual, Hermione decided. If she was honest, she found the sorting ceremony disinteresting now. She was not that concerned about the somewhat arbitrary way the Sorting Hat divided each class up into little teams, forcing friend groups on to a new group of eleven-year-olds. Still, she clapped politely every time a new flushed face was assigned to Gryffindor.

Almost unwittingly, Hermione found the boy who she'd seen at Madam Malkin's the week before wearing an immaculately tailored uniform. He stood in line looking bored, with his arms crossed over his chest, with none of the shyness he'd shown at the tailors. He seemed much more at home here at Hogwarts - confident in his place at Hogwarts. Her interaction with his older brother slipped back into her mind, and she wondered if it was traitorous to be wishing she could see him again.

"Lestrange, Rabastan," McGonagall's clear voice echoed in the cavernous Great Hall, and Hermione felt her heart leap into her throat when she saw the boy from the shop step forward.

Merlin, this little twerp was the whole reason that she was back in this time period to begin with! If she hadn't been dueling him in the Time Room, she never would have crashed into the time turners to begin with. Even though she'd been living with Arthur bloody Weasley for the last few weeks, she still hadn't even contemplated the possibility that she would cross paths with any Death Eaters in this time. Her heart beat wildly, pounding against her rib cage. She tried to keep her face neutral even though she felt like she wanted to scream.

"SLYTHERIN!" the Sorting Hat called out triumphantly after nearly a minute of silence.

That was both wholly surprising and unsurprising at the same time. Hermione wouldn't have expected him to go anywhere else, but then again she half expected it to shout out Slytherin as soon as the hat touched his head, much like it had done with Draco Malfoy all those years ago...err, all those years to come?

Hermione felt her face blanche as Rabastan proudly hopped off of the stool and walked the short distance to the Slytherin table. She couldn't pay attention to whichever Rabinott was being sorted at that moment, instead far too focused on the young Death Eater. He made a beeline to the middle of the table where...the older brother from Madam Malkins was waiting with open arms and an attractive smile. Pulling his younger brother in for a quick hug, he immediately made space for him.

She felt her breath leave her when she finally made the connection between the two. If the good looking teenager was Rabastan's older brother that meant he could be none other than Rodolphus Lestrange, husband to the infamous Bellatrix. A person who would one day torture Neville Longbottom's parents to the brink of insanity.

Wild eyes searched the rest of the Slytherin table for anyone else she might need to be wary of, thanking her lucky stars that Remus and Sirius were too young to be at school yet. She wasn't sure she would be able to handle the junior marauders. Bellatrix Lestrange - or Black as she was known as now - was easy to find. She was uncommonly beautiful, laughing with a pair of boys who were not Rodolphus. Her hair looked rich and lush, not like the scraggled mess that she had once she escaped Azkaban.

Narcissa Black was easily spotted, too, even if she must only be a second or third year. Her straight blonde hair was artfully pinned back out of her face as she took dainty bites of her feast, holding court with four other Slytherin girls. Her future husband, Lucius, looked just as pompous as Draco always did, sneering disdainfully at two Hufflepuffs who just couldn't keep their hands off of one another.

Her traitorous mind brought her attention back to Rodolphus. Hermione wondered how it was possible that he could be quite so good looking and turn into the odious individual she had last seen in the Department of Mysteries. There was barely anything of the paranoid, intense man with an unkempt beard in this younger version of him.

To her dismay, he looked up and caught her staring at him. Rodolphus gave her half smirk, half smile at catching her red-handed, before waving subtly at her. Hermione flushed immediately in embarrassment, returning her attention to her still empty plate.

The sudden motion caught Arthur's eye and he looked at her with concern and fondness. "Everything alright, Hermione?" he asked, ignoring the rest of his friends to check on her.

"Er, yeah, there's just...so many people," she lied, angling her body towards Arthur so that she wouldn't be tempted to look at Rodolphus again. "It's a little bit overwhelming."

Arthur laughed at her comment. "I know what you mean. It can be a bit of an adjustment," he commiserated with her. "But don't worry, I will introduce you to everyone worth knowing, promise," he added with a boyish grin that reminded her so much of Ron that it made her heart ache.

The thought of Ron reminded her once again of who Arthur really was. It completely killed any seed of attraction taking hold of her. "Thanks," she said, glad that she could count on him as a friend at least. "You've been so helpful to me already."

The Gryffindor blushed at her words, looking a bit bashful. "It's no trouble, Hermione," he stammered. "I'll help you with whatever you need."

When Hermione looked up, Molly Prewett was glaring at her over a bowl of mashed potatoes.