Sorry for the delay, schedules been a bit hectic. Thanks to all who reviewed! We do actually read them and all of you are really awesome. Sorry for the cliffy but here is chapter 5. Hope you enjoy!
Chapter 5 - Of Discovery's and Decisions
"I will ask you one more time, Miss Westron... Why were you poking around in my trunk?" Riddle demanded.
It was the sixth time he had asked and now Tom's patience was wearing thin. If she didn't answer him this time... She would pay the consequences.
"Hermione, answer him!" Izar pleaded. Hermione was having trouble finding her voice...
Her mouth had gone dry and her tongue seemed to be sticking to the roof of her mouth as if someone had cast Langlock on her. She licked her dry lips and tried to bring some saliva back into her mouth so that she could actually talk. She succeeded slightly and was able to answer Riddle, even if it was a bit of a croak.
"I was getting my robes from my trunk," Hermione said quietly.
"Why?" Riddle inquired.
"I assumed the train journey wouldn't be longer than two hours and since everyone had left... I could only guess."
"And?"
"And your trunk toppled over," Hermione admitted, "I put everything back inside, apart from all the... Dark stuff. I didn't want to touch it, I don't feel comfortable around it..."
"Then I am sure you won't mind me reading your mind to make sure," Riddle said slowly.
Oh Merlin, Oh Circe, Hermione screeched internally, This is not good. If he read my mind, he'll find out how to become powerful faster, how to make sure Harry doesn't destroy any of his Horcruxes, how to make sure he never dies...
"Miss Westron?" Riddle prompted.
"No! That's illegal. You're supposed to be a Prefect!"
Inside, Hermione was screeching. He could not find out anything.
Tom stalked forwards anyway, wandlessly binding her. No matter how hard she tried, Hermione could not move, not even to summon her wand.
Tom's wand appeared again and he pressed it against Hermione's temple before muttering,"Legilimens."
Using the opening in Hermione's mind that the spell had created, Tom delved inside, searching for the memory of Hermione "supposedly" knocking over his trunk. It was Hermione's immediate thought and Tom accessed it she had said was true and he watched with growing suspicion, but everything seemed to be as she said...
He saw her knock over the trunk and then pack everything in until she saw the Dark books and Artifacts.
She froze.
It was then that Tom hit a wall.
She'd only allowed him to see her freeze before putting up a mind wall that Tom crashed into at full speed.
He tried to dig deeper into her mind but she'd put up walls everywhere, only giving him access to a small segment of her thoughts.
What is she hiding? Tom thought angrily to himself before trying to break through the walls again.
His attack was brutal, and had the strength to tear apart any of his Knights' minds. He was strong and had broke through all their mind walls (and more) before but this was different.
She was... Stronger somehow, even if she was a useless bint..
Tom beat against the walls but had no success. He was making less damage than a bee, banging against a glass pane window.
With another roar of rage, Tom removed himself from her mind and watched with anger as she flinched at the feeling. He put his wand away and glared at her.
"You are telling the truth... But you are keeping something from me," Tom hissed, "What is it that you don't want me to find out?"
Hermione didn't reply so Tom whipped around to face Fomalhault Lestrange.
"We will be arriving soon," Tom announced, "Lestrange, retrieve my robes and pack my trunk."
Hermione was tempted to protest at that and say that Tom should pack his own trunk but he was already suspicious about her so she bit her tongue and kept quite. Fomalhault passed Tom his robes and proceeded in packing his trunk before getting his own robes and changing, like the other JEDs were doing. The trunks started coming down from the luggage racks as the train started to slow and everyone made there way out into the corridor but somehow Tom still spotted Abraxas trying to retrieve Hermione's trunk.
"Leave it, Abraxas!" Tom snarled, "She can get it herself! Come!"
Abraxas obligingly left with the rest of the JEDs, leaving Hermione struggling with an excited Lind and a heavy trunk. She spelled her trunk down from the luggage rack and struggled off the train only to have her trunk thrown carelessly down with the others by the dodgy looking Grounds Keeper who was standing with a group of first years. The carriages were leaving and Hermione looked around desperately for a free carriage but they were all full and she was left standing, lost, with the group of first years and the grounds keeper.
"First years, this way," The man croaked, "We'll be taking the boats."
A short while later, Hermione was climbing into a boat, followed by a giggling bunch of girls, most of who looked about six years old with plaits in their hair.
Please don't talk to me, please don't talk to me, Hermione begged internally as the boats started towards Hogwarts across the lake that Hermione knew was home to the giant squid.
"Hi, I'm Elena," A blonde haired girl with pigtails chirped in a high pitched voice, smiling in a freakishly sweet way,
"What's your name?"
"Hermione," Hermione snarled, glaring at Elena like it was her fault she was fifty years in the past.
"That's a pretty name," Elena commented, "Maybe we can be friends."
Hermione groaned internally, Seriously? Out of all the boats I could have got on, I had to get on this one?
Lind seemed to hiss in agreement as Hermione put her head in her hands and sighed.
Hermione stood outside the Great Hall, a good distance away from the First Years who were still doing a great deal of screaming and giggling as they stood anxiously in a muddled herd as the ghosts whooshed past them into the Hall. She could hear the chatter drifting out through the doors...along with the smell of cooking. She prayed the head master would hurry up and stop talking to his old students so she could get her sorting over with.
Maybe I could be a Hufflepuff, no one would notice me...
Hermione then cringed at the memories of Cedric Diggory and Hannah Abbot and all her old Hufflepuff classmates that flashed in her heard the chatter die down as someone cleared their throat. It sounded strangely familiar...for a coughing looked up, then took a double-take as a younger, ginger Dumbledore stood beaming down at the first years.
If Riddle didn't kill her, shock would...that, and the heart palpations that came with it...
He smiled down at her (Hermione was surprisingly small and Professor Dumbledore, and many others for that matter, could look down on her, even if she was towering over the group of first years) with an amused smile.
"You must be Miss Westron. I was informed that a 6th year was transferring."
Hermione nodded numbly, before trying to shake off her shock.
"Good evening, P-professor!" Hermione gasped.
"Excuse me a moment, Miss Westron," Dumbledore smiled kindly, "I just have to reassure these first years. They're all extremely nervous! I'm sure you know how it is... You being a prefect at Durmstrang. I'm sure you've dealt with it before."
"Oh... Of course Professor," Hermione replied hesitantly.
I'm a prefect now too? Hermione thought desperately.
Everyone else seemed to know more about Hermione's made up life than she did!
"Now, children," Dumbledore said quietly, silencing the babbling first years and attracting all their gazes to him, "I am Professor Dumbledore and I am the head of Gryffindor House... Now, welcome to Hogwarts. The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses.
The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family, within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory and spend free time in your house common room. The four houses are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin.
Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the House Cup, a great honour. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.
The Sorting Ceremony will take place in front of the rest of the school so I suggest you tidy yourselves up first."
Hermione whipped around to see (in shock) Dumbledore straightening his purple robes, encouraging the first years to do the same. He'd just spoken almost exactly the same words as Professor McGonagall had when Hermione had started first year...
"Now, come along, children," Dumbledore beamed, "The rest of the school is waiting for us."
The doors of the great hall creaked open and Dumbledore lead the way inside, followed by the first years who were practically jogging along to keep up with his long strides. Hermione followed at a distance with her eyes on the ground.
This is so embarrassing... Hermione thought to herself.
She peeked up to see if she could see anyone she recognized (not likely, fifty years in the past) to see Fomalhault, Abraxas and Cygnus beaming at her and giving her the thumbs up. She smiled weakly and sped up as the first years reached the front of the hall where the Sorting Hat was waiting.
Dumbledore grabbed a scroll on the stool that the Hat was placed on and faced the first years again.
"When your name is called, come and sit on the stool and place the hat on your head," Dumbledore announced.
"Abbott, Samuel."
The names were slowly called until only a small handful of students remained, including Hermione and Elena who had moved over to whisper to Hermione.
"Isn't these exciting?" She squeaked, her pigtails bobbing up and down as her head snapped around the hall.
"Yes... thrilling," Hermione said without emotion.
"I wonder what house I'll be in," Elena beamed, looking at the Ravenclaw table with hope in her overly wide blue eyes, "I hope it's Ravenclaw, I -"
"Pottidging, Elena," Dumbledore announced.
"Better go, Hermione," Elena said quietly before skipping up to the stool and ramming it on her head. The students sat down one by one until only Hermione was left, glowering at Dumbledore and the other teachers.
"Westron -" Dumbledore started but Hermione cut him off as she threw herself onto the stool and brought the hat down on her head, glaring at the students who dared smirk at her.
The hat felt, and smelt the same as last time. Hermione didn't even flinch when she heard it speaking to her in her mind.
"Hmmmm," said a small voice in her head. "Strange... Your mind has seen me before. You have two lives, and plenty of secrets. Plenty of courage, I see. You'll need it for what you need to do. A brilliant mind. I'm tempted to put you in Ravenclaw. There's talent, oh my goodness, yes - and a nice thirst to prove yourself. You've got cunning. A clear view of what you need to do, no matter how you achieve these ends. now that's interesting...so where shall I put you?"
Hermione gripped the edges of the stool and thought, "Do what you must, just...just I can't be Gryffindor, not this time. Please, you know where I must go."
"As long as you're sure. You know the consequences. Yes? Ok"
The sorting hat opened it's mouth.
"Slytherin!"
Hermione could her the applause from the Slytherin end of the hall, and Abraxas and Fomalhault's cheers. She took a deep breath. She could do this.
Hermione got up from the stool and took the hat off. She walked, slightly shakily, to the table, where she would meet her fate. Her life here would all depend on the decisions she made, and she was already regretting her most recent one.
She sat down at where Cygnus and Izar were waving her over to and nodded and talked as all who were near her chatted and congratulated.
She lifted her head to see Tom Riddle glare at her. His face was impassive but his eyes were filled with suspicion and anger.
This is my life now.
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