A/N: Thank you all so much for your reviews, favorites and follows! I am so glad that you guys are liking this one so far. This chapter adds a few new people, so I hope you enjoy them. You can follow me on tumblr (nauticalparamour) where I post sneak peeks, story updates and answer questions. Also, I've realized I have been remiss in not thanking kristeristerin for beta reading the last two chapters and for this one! So thank you so much kristeristerin!

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

September 1967

By the time that September 19th had finally rolled around, Hermione had not felt the customary excitement that she typically felt on her birthday, but instead was only filled with disappointment. She had not been anticipating on being in the past for this long, especially when Dumbledore had seemed so hopeful when she first spoke with him about how quickly he'd be able to get her back to her proper time.

Each day that she spent out of place in the 60s made her future seem further and further away. Hermione was constantly full of anxiety, worried about changing something irreparably. More concerning was how much easier it was to slip into this other society, the uncomfortableness easing away into nothing.

Determined to actually do something about it on the morning of her seventeenth birthday, Hermione had gone immediately to the Headmaster's office, only to find it closed. Disappointed that the gargoyle informed her that Dumbledore was not currently in, Hermione went about her classes. The day went by easily enough and she made a beeline back to the Headmaster's office before dinner.

Albus Dumbledore, with his auburn colored beard quickly turning more grey than colored, had been surprised to see her. He had no new information to share with her about the progress of a time turner that could send her forward in time. He pressed a hand to her shoulder and looked down at her with a smile. "Just focus on enjoying your time here, Miss Granger," he had counseled her. "You are only a teenager and you shouldn't have to be worrying about things like this."

It had taken everything in her being not to reveal to him the kind of future that she'd come from, where far too often it had fallen to her, Harry and Ron to worry about things most adult witches and wizards would never face. Then he sternly suggested that she head down to dinner, indicating that there would be no further discussion that evening.

Hermione found her spot at the Gryffindor table easily enough. She was pleased that she had an easier time relating to the girls in her dorm room this time around, but it might have been because the three had gone out of their way to make sure that Hermione felt included.

"What has you looking so glum today, Hermione?" Fawn Fawcett asked, always the most perceptive out of the group.

"Yeah, isn't it your birthday?" Elna Honig asked afterwards. Elna and Fawn could pass for twins with their dark blonde hair and light green eyes. The only real difference between the two was that Fawn had a proliferation of freckles across her cheeks and nose, while Elna had the prettiest shade of tan skin, making Hermione feel pale and sickly by comparison.

"Just missing everyone back home," Hermione lied, trying not to bring down the mood too much. "It's my first birthday away." Everyone was far too uncomfortable with the details of what unfortunate tragedy had brought Hermione Granger to Hogwarts, fortunately, so they never dug into deep questions with her. She was glad for it because she already felt that she was lying far too much.

"Well, Arthur was looking for you earlier," Elna said, leaning forward with a naughty smirk on her face, looking down the table to where the redhead was staring at them. "Maybe he wants to give you a present."

"Elna!" Hermione cried, blushing fiercely. She'd done everything she could not to encourage Arthur's little crush, but not matter what she said to her roommates, they could not take the hint that they weren't destined to be together.

Before they could discuss it much more, Lottie was shoving a spot open next to Fawn, a look on her face that promised gossip. "You will not believe what I just heard!" she said conspiratorily.

"Aw, we were just going to talk about Hermione and Arthur," Fawn sighed, playing with the ends of her plaits.

"Who cares about that? It's old news!" Lottie snapped back. Charlotte - or Lottie as she would only respond to - St Clair was a tempest of excitement and disorganization that would normally put Hermione on edge, but her authenticity made her a delight to be around. With her perfectly wavy black hair and blue eyes, she was easily the prettiest girl in Gryffindor, too. "Bellatrix Black and Rodolphus Lestrange are betrothed," she revealed, triumphantly.

Guilty, Hermione's eyes found Rodolphus easily enough. He was laughing from his spot at the Slytherin table, talking to a Pucey and a Flint if she wasn't mistaken based on their looks, looking like he didn't have a single care in the world. Her heart skipped when she saw him wearing that lopsided grin she'd come to look forward to.

She had done her best to avoid him completely after coming to Hogwarts and realizing who he was, despite his best efforts to orchestrate a meeting between the two of them. He'd waited outside of her classroom once before, only to have Hermione breeze past him and pretend like she couldn't hear him. And, Rodolphus had become remarkably good at looking for books in the library wherever she happened to be studying that night. She almost wondered if he had some sort of Marauder's Map prototype.

Sometimes, she worried that she would just snap at him that she was a muggleborn and he would be horrified that he'd been chasing her all over the castle. The rejection that would surely follow would hurt Hermione, but at least then it would be over and done with and she could go back on focusing on more important things, unlike her more persistent daydream about what a future Death Eater's hands looked like. Merlin, she never knew that long fingers could possibly be attractive, but she supposed it had more to do with who they were attached to.

Blushing, Hermione realized that she'd been staring at him and Rodolphus had certainly noticed if his half-hidden smirk was anything to judge by. Returning her attention to her friends, she tried to push him from her mind, reminding herself that he was going to marrying Bellatrix and become a horrible man.

"A betrothal? Isn't that a little archaic?" Hermione asked.

"I mean, for most witches, yes," Fawn explained quickly, seeing as she was the only pureblood out of the group. "But for the type of pureblood that the Blacks are, it's not that uncommon. They have three daughters so they are probably trying to make sure that they all go to a good home."

"Go to a good home?" Hermione asked, aghast. "It sounds like they are some kind of pet that needs adopting, not women with their own minds that thoughts."

Lottie nodded in agreement. "I know, if my father tried something like that with me, I'd probably run away," she said with a roll of her eyes. "But it doesn't matter. It's what's happening."

"But Rodolphus and Bellatrix?" Elna asked with a confused note in her voice. "I wouldn't have put them together in a million years. "I thought that they hated each other."

That was news to Hermione and she felt herself scooting forward in her seat, eager to hear any other details that the witches could provide. Perhaps Rodolphus wasn't really all that bad if he didn't even like Bellatrix.

"Yeah, I bet Bellatrix is pissed," Lottie said, sounding a little bit sorry for the other witch. "Apparently it was because the Malfoy's want Narcissa for Lucius, but they needed some assurances that the Black family was good stock because of what happened with Andy last year."

"What happened with Andy?" Hermione asked, hoping she wasn't sounding too nosy. She'd only briefly seen Andromeda once, and was surprised how much she looked like Bellatrix, with just lighter colored hair.

"Oh, of course, you wouldn't know," Elna answered, remembering that Hermione hadn't been there the first year. "She went to Hogsmeade with Teddy Tonks last year and she kissed him right in the middle of the Three Broomsticks. Now she has a bit of a reputation as a muggle lover."

"No offense, Hermione," Fawn added, looking a bit guilty at the turn of phrase, knowing that she was a muggleborn.

"None taken," Hermione conceded, even though the term did smart a bit. "So basically they need to betroth Bellatrix to like a really good pureblood to prove that Narcissa is worthy of Lucius?" she asked, almost hating that she was asking these words out loud. She wondered if Draco was aware of how his parents had met, and what he would have thought about it.

"Exactly," Lottie answered, rather self-satisfied for bringing such a hot topic to the dinner table.

"Gross," Hermione said, not caring if it offended anyone at the table. "The Malfoys want Narcissa so Bellatrix has to get married to someone that she doesn't even like, not to mention that we don't even know if Lucius and Narcissa like each other. Merlin, they haven't even taken their OWLs yet!"

"I'm sure that Narcissa is eating it up," Elna said, a bit uncharitably. "She is the perfect little princess, and the Malfoys are rich. Lucius is a little prat, but he would be considered a catch in their circles."

Hermione made a noise of agreement, looking at Narcissa's smug little face and her perfect corn silk blonde hair. "Well, I hope that they make each other happy," Hermione said grimly, knowing all too well how the marriage would work out. It seemed as if Narcissa and Lucius got on well in her time as adults, and they both loved Draco. "And have an annoying little blond twat for a son," she added with a grin, taking a bit of joy in the fact that the girls didn't know what the future had in store.

"It's just such a pity that Rodolphus has to marry Bellatrix," Fawn said with a frown. "He seems pretty decent, actually."

"And he's dreamy," Lottie said, fluttering her long lashes.

Hermione felt herself choke a bit on her pumpkin juice at mention of Rodolphus's looks. She'd never been up for chat about guys before, and she was unprepared to participate in it now.

Lottie rolled her eyes at Hermione. "Come on, Granger, we know that you have eyes. Rodolphus is good looking, even for a Slytherin," she said, before leaning in, a smile on her face. "Just wait until you see him in a Quidditch uniform."

"He plays Quidditch?" Hermione asked, her voice going a bit squeaky. It was an ill-kept secret of her's that she did have a bit of a...well, a bit of a thing for Quidditch players, even if she found watching the sport to be a waste of time. "I didn't realize."

"Uh huh," Elna agreed. "He plays chaser."

"Arthur is on the Quidditch team, too," Fawn said, though, trying to direct her attention back to the Weasley that she was positive Hermione was going to end up with. "He's a beater."

Hermione didn't think that she had ever known that about Arthur Weasley and she figured in her time that it must have been at least a decade since he'd picked up a beater's bat, but then again she supposed that Fred and George must have gotten their skill from somewhere. "You guys, please," she whined, wanting to nip the whole Arthur thing in the bud. "I am not interested in him...he reminds me too much of...family," she said, her memory of Arthur's fatherliness sticking out in her mind.

"Alright, girls, leave her alone," Lottie said, patting Hermione on the hand. "If she's not interested in Arthur, it's none of our business. Besides, it's probably better for her anyway. Molly always looks like she's eaten a bloody kumquat every time Arthur talks to her."

The time traveler was grateful for Lottie's interference, though the description of Miss Molly Prewett was an apt one. The older girl made no secret how much she didn't like Hermione, clearly jealous of the attention that Arthur gave her. Hermione supposed some things would never change.