Out of Hand II: A Matter of Time by relativelypositive

Disclaimer: I do not own anything Harry Potter related and I make no money from the use of the characters created by J. K. Rowling.

Chapter 8

"Did he deserve it?"

"Yes."

"Fair enough. Do you mind if we stop into the bookstore before we go back?"

"That's all? No righteous anger? No suspicion? No fear?"

Hermione looked at Tilda squarely. She understood her disbelief. She wasn't about to share with Tilda that she may very well have shot someone to death two days ago. If Tilda believed her husband deserved to die, Hermione was going to believe that to be true. Since Tilda was sitting across from her instead of rotting in Azkaban, and she had been picked to spend time with children, Hermione's mind was at ease.

"Nope."

"Fine. Let's talk about this arrangement. Have you seen the dormitory?"

"Not yet. But I am packed."

"What is your class schedule?"

"First class starts at 9:00. Breakfast beforehand. Lunch in the middle. Classes end at 4:00. Then I go to the library until dinner. Depending on the amount of homework I have, sometimes it's back to the library. Sometimes I have prefect duties. At 10:00 I meet with Harry and Ron and we hang out in the common room until midnight or so."

"Hmmm. I'll have to make sure you don't have prefect duties of Friday or Saturday nights. You'll have to accompany me here so I can continue to meet my beau."

"Your beau?"

Tilda had a goofy smile that Hermione found quite charming.

"Niall. I have hopes that he will soon propose and I can rid myself of Aphrodite's."

"Why are you there if you hate it so much?"

"It's not the place itself. It's what it signifies. The hopeless, the damaged, the unlovable. The place is plagued with sad sack men and desperate women supposedly learning how to live a full and happy life without a spouse. What's really happening is that they're sizing each other up, looking for someone that's not a complete disaster so they can team up and escape."

"Is that where you met Niall?"

Tilda laughed. "Hell no!"

Hermione smiled at the profanity. "Then how did you meet?"

"He was my childhood sweetheart. I dreamed of the day we'd get married. It was quite the elaborate fantasy. Little did I know, my parents had me engaged to…. I was forced to marry a man I didn't love. It ended badly. That was unfortunate. But now Niall and I have a second chance!"

"I take it you see each other every Friday and Saturday night?"

"Oh, yes! Sunday afternoon as well, but now that I'm in this situation I assume you will be using Sunday afternoon and evening to cram."

"No, I'm quite far ahead in my studies. If you'd like to meet Niall Sunday afternoons as well I wouldn't mind. Have you considered that if you and Niall get engaged, you'll also have to have a chaperone?"

"Yes, and it is most inconvenient. However, I will be happy with a short engagement. I can live with it as long as I get Niall at the end."

"Tilda, do you plan to tell anyone about what we discuss? Or are you required to?"

"No. Why?"

"I was just wondering if it was appropriate to ask you questions or share confidences. We will be living in each other's pockets until Niall proposes, and I have a lot of questions about Courtship and the Courtship Mandates."

"Oh. Ummm…I can't say it'd be appropriate, but as you can probably tell, I'm not too traditional. As long as no one finds out, I wouldn't mind a few questions here and there."

"You'll probably regret saying that," Hermione said with a smile.

XXXXXXXXX

"Are you wanking in there? Is that what's taking you so long?"

Tarquin Tremlett was a douche. That's the only word Draco could think of that was adequate.

"That little Hermione has quite the body. I'd imagine that's why you can't keep your hands off your junk."

Draco knew he couldn't kill him. He couldn't even step toward Tarquin with the intent to hurt him.

"Bit raw down there? Overstimulation?"

Would Silencing him count as an attack?

"Want me to talk you through it?"

"Why, because you have so many years of experience?"

"What did you just say to me?"

Draco turned swiftly in his bathroom stall when Tarquin slammed his fist into the flimsy door.

Okay, Draco thought, he's a bit touchy.

"You were fucking with me, am I not allowed to reciprocate?"

"You will treat me with the respect I deserve!"

"Will you treat me with the respect I deserve?"

"You deserve no respect. You're ruining your bloodline! You had everything and you threw it away for a dirty Mudblood snatch!"

Draco forced himself to stay in the stall. He was afraid he'd try to hurt the bastard. If he tried he knew he'd be magically frozen and left at Tarquin's mercy. And Tarquin doesn't have any mercy, Draco thought.

"Do you know how I became engaged? Did you read about it in the Prophet?"

"Some bullshit about an accident. I think you just had to get your dick wet, didn't you?"

Draco shut his eyes and counted to ten. He would calmly deal with his sensitivities.

Then he would figure out a way to get rid of Tarquin Tremlett.

XXXXXXXXXXX

"You know, I'm not feeling too hot. Could we head back to the castle?"

Hermione felt hot…then cold…then hot again. Her vision was getting darker.

"Not feeling well? That's too bad. Let's go find our new home, shall we?"

By the time the two women reached Hogwarts, Tilda was dragging Hermione behind her by the hand. Hermione was stumbling. She had tunnel vision and was trying to communicate with Tilda that she'd like to see Madam Pomfrey.

"Where is that stairwell again? It's been so many years since I was a student here…ah! There it is. Maybe we'll be the first there and get to choose our beds!"

Tilda's voice was overly cheerful and Hermione couldn't decide if she was oblivious or intentionally mean.

Two minutes later Tilda let them into their new room and deposited Hermione on a bed across from the door.

"Someone beat us here. Darn! Well, get under the covers! Pretty soon you won't be able to move and I'll have to do everything!"

"What…"

"I really think you're too trusting. Just because the Ministry set this up doesn't mean you should trust me."

"Why?" Hermione weakly questioned.

"Niall. Aphrodite's. Money. Lucius Malfoy has a lot of it. It could buy my freedom."

"Are you some kind of slave?"

"Ha! No. What I am is a Pureblood princess with no family to take care of me and no money. I have no means. This is just self-preservation. If dispatching you makes my life better, so be it."

Hermione focused all her power on getting the time turner from her shirt. She concentrated as hard as she could and carefully took herself back to that morning, just before she went to the ceremony.

As she watched the world reverse she heard the echo of Tilda's roar of pain, and experienced the agony of magical separation.

A/N:

We'll have to stick with Hermione for a while, or the story will incomprehensible. Don't worry; Draco will be in it plenty.

Thank you for the feedback! I really appreciate your comments: Lucifeeer, julietrose21, X-x-Psycho-x-X, ASJS, Kermit 304, Chester99, and KodeV.