Chapter 3

He sat on a nearby chair and watched Hermione as she slept. He had to admit, while this was a rather boring way to pass time, she did look adorable when she sleeps.

Salazar blinked.

Did he just call her... adorable?

Come to think of it, since when had he progressed from calling her Granger to Hermione? Salazar frowned. He hadn't even noticed the change. It must have been at least a few years ago. He sighed. He had to admit, he had never spent more time watching any other student than he did Hermione.

Oh, sure, he had watched the Riddle boy. How could he not? The boy did claim to be his descendant, after all, although Salazar had no idea how the boy came about this information.

But Hermione, well... contrary to what her two Gryffindor boys might believe, she was rather entertaining to watch. Besides, how else was he going to be able to read books? It's boring enough having to watch people day in and day out.

He looked at the woman now sleeping on her bed. He couldn't help but feel a tinge of admiration. She had gone from being a bouncy eleven year old (yes, he remembered how she would bounce on her seat everytime she raised her hand in class) to a tall, confident, eighteen year old Head Girl with dueling skills that could send most of his students scampering.

Salazar sighed. In less than a year, she would be graduating. And then she would be out of his life, possibly forever.

He felt a sharp pang in his chest. Salazar's eyes widened, as if he just realized something.

He was going to miss her.

He rose from the chair and approached her bed. Then, he sat at the edge of her bed, watching her as she sleeps. On impulse, he reached forward to touch her face, knowing that his hand would meet nothing but thin air.

His hand passed right through her, just like before.

Suddenly, she flinched and turned away from his hand. Almost unconsciously, her hand lifted up, as if trying to swat something away from her face. Then, she settled back down. She sighed. Soon, her breathing calmed again.

Somewhat startled, Salazar withdrew his hand. He didn't think she would feel that.

He stood up and turned to face her window.

Why was this happening? He had watched her for years, but she never noticed him until today. So why now?

Salazar sighed. He paced back and forth before finally settling back on the chair. He couldn't think of a single thing that could be different. Except, tonight he decided to follow Hermione up to her bedroom, but she had started noticing him even before he went up to her bedroom.

No, it has to be something else.

Was the curse that had gotten him into this state finally weakening?

If so, why was she the only one who could sense him?

Salazar wasn't sure. Perhaps he ought to try to get close to the others tomorrow. Wait... he didn't have to wait until tomorrow. Hermione had felt him even in her sleep. If others can feel him too, then perhaps they'd have the same reactions as Hermione.

He went downstairs towards the nearest room. It was the 7th year girl's room. Hermione, being Head Girl, had gotten her own, private bedroom. He approached the nearest girl and tried to touch her face. Like what happened to Hermione, his hand went through her face.

Unlike Hermione, however, this girl didn't stir.

Salazar frowned. Perhaps Miss Brown was a heavy sleeper? He decided to move on to the other girl. This one didn't react either. Salazar sighed. Perhaps it was only Hermione who could sense him.

Then, inspiration struck him. What about Potter? The boy seemed to be more sensitive towards certain things. Perhaps Potter could sense him too. Salazar descended down the girls' dormitory. Inwardly, he was thankful that the spell he, Godric, Rowena, and Helga had set up on the stairs of every girls' dormitory had not affected the Founders themselves or the teachers. After all, if anything went wrong, or if the girls were in danger, who else could go up and rescue them?

He went up the boys' dormitory and went into the 7th year boys' room. He searched the beds for a certain, messy haired boy with a tell-tale scar on his forehead.

Sure enough, there he was, sleeping like a log in his bed. Salazar walked up to Potter's bed and passed his hand through the boy's face.

The boy didn't stir.

Salazar sighed in disappointment and left. Apparently, only Hermione could sense his presence.

But why?

Why only her?

He didn't know what to think. He went back upstairs to Hermione's room and decided to wait in her room instead. He seemed to be making much more progress around her than around anybody else.

Having nothing else to do, he simply sat here, watching her as she sleeps. It was boring, but nowhere near as boring as the long stretch of summers that he'd had to endure for centuries.

In short, he'd gotten used to waiting.

oOo

He had tried for a whole day to get a reaction out of everyone else. No one noticed him, except for Hermione, which baffled Salazar even more. Why was Hermione able to notice him? Why couldn't the others feel his presence?

And that's not all.

She wasn't always able to notice him. Most of the time, when he tried to experiment, he would get no reaction out of her. At other times, however, when he was lost in his own thoughts and was either standing close to her or reaching out to her, she would notice.

Eventually, Salazar gave up experimenting. It never worked. For some reason, if he deliberately tried to touch her, for the simple purpose of getting a reaction out of her, she wouldn't notice. It was only when he had other intentions or had done so by accident that she would notice.

He would simply have to continue following her.