TOMS POV
It had been three days. Three days and I still didn't have any answers. No one knew anything, not even the extremely nosey Professor Slughorn. Dumbledore had been as evasive as ever, wouldn't even give me her last name, but said she was a transfer student. He told me to ask her myself when she felt better. Of course, information would easily flow out of her. There had to be something about my looks that comforted people and made them want to tell me things, I sighed.
It was warm today. Exceptionally warm for a northern Scotland summer day. I had already shed my outer Oxford shirt and remained in my undershirt; it didn't do anything to stifle the heat though. I rolled over onto my side absentmindedly plucking grass from the earth beneath me. I was never outside this much I was never alone this much. I guess with my new sense of freedom I was willing to try new things. My whole upper body seemed grateful for the change. It had soaked up enough summer sun to make me look almost tan?
I had already created a pile of grass clippings when I realized I was bored. I normally had something to do someone to tell what to do. I had already done all pre-assigned homework, read every book I owned, and at least half the library. 'I could snoop around the room of Requirements; maybe I'll find a something to entertain me in there?' I thought moodily. I pushed myself off the ground in one simple motion. I grabbed my shirt and headed toward one of Hogwarts many side entrances. I saw her as soon as I stepped through the door.
My person of interest was clutching her chest and leaning against the wall. I stood silently in the shadows watching her. A sob wracked her body as she slid to the floor. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she tried to gain control of herself. After a few moments, her breathing slowed and she opened her eyes which looked directly at me. I stepped out of the shadows and took a few steps toward her.
She squinted her eyes suspiciously as she scrutinized my appearance. I'm sure I looked less than my normal pristine self. Tom Riddle never let a hair out of place, nor grass to hang from his shirt let alone his under shirt. I ran my abnormally tanned hand through my hair before I conjured a cup of water and handed it to her.
"Water?" I asked with perfect mock sincerity.
She gazed at me a moment longer before taking the glass from my hand.
"Thank you." She responded meekly. I took in her now calm demeanor; it was like the panic attack had never happened. I watched as she took out her wand and banished her glass. I extended my hand to help her up, but to my annoyance, she ignored it.
"I'm Tom. Tom Riddle. I-I found you by the lake and brought you up here what happened to you?" Her eyes snapped to mine. Her mouth opened and closed, and then she responded.
"Er, yes thank you, T-Tom. I'm Hermione Smith," she let a small smile out, "and what you saw was just a Portkey gone wrong incident."
"You looked pretty beaten up when I found you." Her brow furrowed at my comment.
"Yes, well, it there was something happening and my only way out was to take a Portkey somewhere safe. Hogwarts," she indicated around her, "is the safest place, I guess."
"I see. What was happening?" I asked with the deepest concern and sympathy laced in my voice.
"Uhh " she swallowed hard. "My family had somehow gotten caught in the middle of the Grindlewald uprising and we, well everyone died. I got away. My-my father knew Albus, he arranged for me to come here if something were to happen to him, which it did." Tears brimmed her eyes. Weak, I thought bitterly. Does this make her a Mudblood? Or at best a half-blood?
"I'm sorry that happened. Is your chest okay? I saw that thing on it " I pointed to the spot that she had her hand covering. "What was that object?"
"Y-you saw that? Uh, that was " she looked down and then back up at me, "the Portkey. It exploded, I'm assuming. But, I have to go, I was going to go out to the lake..." she side stepped around me and started walking to the door to go outside.
"Hermione," she paused and slowly turned around to face me, "it was nice to officially meet you." I gave her my most assuring, charming smile. Her expression changed to one of distant curiosity. She nodded before walking away; she didn't even give me a smile. I held my tongue and planned to question her further at another time.
HERMIONE POV
I sat by the lake under a shade tree as I let my thoughts take control. I couldn't help but remember the times Ron, Harry, and I had spent in this exact spot. I could still see them here with me; Ron would have boxes of candy surrounding him while Harry would be half asleep next to him. I shut my eyes and tried to push those memories out of my mind. They don't even know me, I remembered.
I had surprised myself with how easily the lies I told Tom came to me. How easily the tears came to my eyes; how perfectly my mannerisms came together to make me seem weak and fragile. I scolded myself for letting him see me at my worst on the ground having some sort of nervous breakdown. I knew I had to keep my guard up around him. Harry told me of how he had followers at Hogwarts, and how he used them to get what he wants. He told me of how he killed his fathers' family before seventh year. The thought struck me as I realized it would be this year. Tom would go to the Gaunt family home and then to the Riddle Mansion. I hadn't seen the Gaunt family ring sitting on his hand...maybe it hadn't happened yet? Harry said he wore it for years until he turned it into a Horocrux.
What does this mean? Tom only had like a week and half to go to Little Hangleton, then school would start. It would be his first murders. I pictured the man I had just spoken to in the hallway, his soul was still intact. Under his tall frame and slightly bronze skin he was whole and was still 'good', hypothetically speaking. I knew that the Voldemort of this day and age had been attractive; I hadn't realized how true that was until now. The person I had just spoken to was tall and built, and emanated a feeling of confidence and power.
The idea that I was about to go to school and share a dormitory with 'Voldemort in the making' made my stomach do flips. I wasn't afraid, per say, I was nervous. I had an opportunity to stop Riddle from becoming Voldemort, or at least delay his progress. I had no idea what to do though my destiny couldn't be for me to come back in time, kill a presumably innocent student, and then spend the rest of my life in Azkaban, could it?
I had to get close to Tom Riddle. Not close enough to become 'friends', just close enough to keep an eye on him. I had to make sure every mistake he would make he doesn't make. Right, yes, I had to save the world, right.
I wiped my brow, these thoughts and the summer sun had made me quite warm. Sweat had started to gather at my neck line. I unbuttoned the top buttons of my shirt to let the fresh air sweep around my neck. I reclined in the grass as I made the decision that today was the first day of the rest of my life. I stood up abruptly and kicked off my shoes and socks. I took off my top in a hurry leaving me in a white camisole. I pulled out my wand and transfigured my skirt into a pair of tight swim shorts. I let out a deep breath as I ran toward the lake. My splash was small, but the refreshing, cleansing feeling I got when I emerged meant so much more than meets the eye.
The sun fell in soft comforting rays around me. I floated on my back letting the soft ripple of the water take me where it pleased. I watched the clouds drift overhead with a completely blank mind. I was going to be okay with whatever this new life threw at me. Even if that meant 'Operation Voldemort Prevention' was in effect. I closed my eyes again and begged the sun to soak into my overly pale skin. I thought I heard my name being called from a distance, annoyance rang through my body at my pleasant alone time getting ruined. I chose to ignore whoever it was, although I had a feeling I knew who it was.
"Hermione!"
SPLASH! A large stone had landed a foot away from my face. I wiped the water away from my eyes as I looked at my intruder. Tom Riddle stood on the bank in his white t-shirt with a handful of stones. He waved me over. I got close enough to him so we didn't have to yell to hear each other.
"Yes?" I responded a bit tartly.
"Dumbledore asked me to deliver this note to you." He waved a piece of parchment in the air. "I could read it to you, if you'd like?" he started to open it.
"No! That's fine, Tom. You can just leave it with my things, I'll read it later." For some reason, I didn't feel comfortable getting out of the water with him standing there.
"Are you sure? He seemed to be in a hurry while we spoke, seemed like urgent business. He let slip that you're to be the Head Girl, congratulations by the way! Taking a cursed position is awfully brave," he teased, "maybe you'll be in Gryffindor?"
"Fine," I said ignoring his comment as I started toward the shore. I crossed my arms over my chest as I walked closer to him. The white tank top hid nothing. "Give it to me." I took the letter from him and turned around to read it. 'This wasn't urgent?' I thought. 'It just said we would meet after dinner?'
"Tom, what " I turned around to ask him why this was urgent only to find him sans shirt in his swimming shorts. I couldn't take my eyes from his sun kissed bare chest. "What are you doing, Tom?"
"Swimming, of course Hermione." He smiled at my embarrassment at seeing him shirtless. He waded in a few feet, and dove in at waist deep water.
TOM'S POV
She was lying. The moment she opened her mouth, I knew. I didn't even need to use Occulmency. It was obvious in her eyes. I watched the lies form in her eyes, travel to her brain, and then come out of her mouth. I had to refrain from using my wand to make her tell the truth. I wanted to though; it would have been so much easier to silence her, read her mind, then obliviate. I guessed I was so bored that I see her as a puzzle, of sorts. An easy puzzle to be completed in two or three days.
I inwardly scowled as I ran into Dumbledore on the grand staircase. We nodded in passing. I heard him pause behind me, so I followed suit.
"Tom," he began, "have you seen Hermione?"
I stared at him for a moment. "She went out by the lake."
He seemed to have a silent battle with himself. "Will you kindly deliver this note to her, please? Nothing urgent, I just have business to attend to " he trailed off. "Oh, Tom! If you wouldn't mind, take her to the Head Girl quarters? I daresay she will want to know where her room is."
I looked after him with my eyebrows raised. He always has liked rubbing the things he knew and I didn't in my face. Head Girl, now why would a transfer student be appointed the position of Head Girl? Surely, at least one qualified seventh year girl at this school would accept the position. I opened the note in my hand. 'Meeting moved to after dinner.' I turned on my heel to head back to the lake. I stopped midway there as I saw the new girl jump up and begin taking off her clothes. I let my eyes widen in shock. The shorts she had transfigured were tighter and shorter than what I had seen any other woman wear. My teenage hormones betrayed my usual nonchalant fa ade when I realized my eyes didn't leave her figure when I wanted them to.
I watched as she jumped in; resurfacing moments later. She looked calm and tranquil; I watched her float a little longer before calling her name. She was ignoring me, people don't ignore me. I picked up a few stones and chucked one at her. It missed, but it brought her attention to me. I decided to play somewhat nice and coax her out of the water by teasing. No insults.
Her star shaped scar looked at me as she took the note from my hand. Hermione turned around, so I took the chance to take off my shirt and shoes while transfiguring my pants into swim shorts. I stood there over looking the lake, ignoring her when she said my name and looked at her when she asked me what I was doing. Her cheeks were red and she was trying to divert her eyes from my chest.
I left it up to her to see if she would join me. She did; we swam at a distance from each other. I wasn't sure how to go about my questioning. Too persistent sounds demanding. I couldn't force things from her just yet. 'Maybe when the rest of the students arrive, I'll show her how things work,' I decided.
"Tom, what house are you in?" she broke the silence first.
"Slytherin."
"Have you always wanted to be Head Boy?"
"Yes"
"Do you play Quidditch?"
"No," I responded after a pause. I hate when people question me.
"Are you "
"No, , the answers to all of your questions are either 'yes' or 'no' and none of them matter." The tone of finality heavy in my voice; she looked taken aback. Good. "Where are you from?"
"America." She said softly.
"Your accent?"
"I lived in Fulham until I was eleven." Hm.
"What did you do in America?
"I went to the Salem Academy for Witchcraft." She said.
"How old are you?" I asked.
"Seventeen."
"How did you become Head Girl?"
"I'm not sure, Dumbledore asked me since I was the 'Head Girl' at my previous school." She elaborated.
"They say the position is cursed " I drawled.
"I doubt that."
I watched her tread in the water that I was standing in, she seemed uncomfortable. I took a slow step toward her, and then another. She moved further away.
"What happened to your family, Hermione?" I carefully asked.
Her eyes narrowed, she ducked under water, and I took a step back only to see her emerge by the shore.
"I have to get ready to meet Dumbledore."
The sun was glistening off the water drops on her skin when she stepped out of the water. She tapped her wand on the top of her head and she was instantly dry, her dark curls hung loosely down her back. She gave another tap and her skirt was back. She grabbed the rest of her belongings and took off at a brisk pace to the castle.
I guess she wouldn't know where her room was until later, then.
HERMIONE'S POV
I couldn't do it. I couldn't pretend to want to get to know the man who has ruined everything in my life. I couldn't look at him without wanting to curse him. I knew I was supposed to think of him as someone different. A kid who hadn't done anything wrong yet, well, too wrong yet but when I looked at him and I saw death and destruction. Somewhere inside the undeniably handsome Tom Riddle was Lord Voldemort. 'Plan of action is failing, after two hours of being in effect,' my mind said.
I had subconsciously made my way to the Prefects bathroom, and of course, I wouldn't have the password. The Room of Requirements wasn't too far away, I decided. My new 'plan of action' was to avoid Tom at all cost, even though I was a Gryffindor and I was supposed to be brave. Aside from Head Girl and Boy duties, and sharing a dorm, and probably all the same classes, well aside from all of those inevitable tasks, I would be avoiding him until I cculd figure out what to do.
My bath was calming to my rattled nerves. The Room of Requirements really did get into your head to figure out exactly what you needed. A mixture of lavender and vanilla bath waters in a luxurious, pearly white tub was exactly what I had in mind. I had food summoned to the room, so didn't have to see Tom before I met Professor Dumbledore and my new Headmaster. I had read that Armando Dippet had been one of the worst Headmasters Hogwarts had ever seen. My curiosity was definitely piqued.
Professor Dumbledore had waited for me outside the Great Hall when I arrived for our meeting.
"Hello, Hermione. I trust you had a wonderful afternoon?" he asked as we made our way down the hall.
"Mm, yes Professor, it was a beautiful day." We continued in silence until he led me up into his future office, I suddenly found myself nervous.
'I am Hermione Jane Granger! Or, I was! But I am never nervous when it comes to academia!' my confident self reminded me. 'Just breathe, this comes naturally!'
"Headmaster, this is the transfer student I wrote to you about a couple of days ago." Professor Dumbledore said while indicating to me on his right.
"Ah, right. The American witch transferring from Salem Academy for Witchcraft; the one Tom saved." His black eyes landed on me. "Well, tell me who you are "
"Hello, sir. My name is Hermione Smith, and I'm actually quite British." I smiled sweetly. "I uh, have decided to transfer here after the death of my parents by Grindelwald's hands. I have a near perfect transcript and I received almost all of my OWLs; eleven out of twelve. I am already seventeen, but I would like to continue my education for one more year. That's all I had left at Salem." My smile faded from sweet to sad.
"I have all of her paperwork here, Armando." Dumbledore handed him the papers. The Headmaster let out a 'hmph' when he read the paper stating I was Ambassador at my old school. "I suppose Albus has already offered you the position of Head Girl then? If you've accepted, you should know that it is not a position to be taken lightly; I expect great things out of my Head students! These past two years have been run just fine by the Head Boy, if I do say so myself!" He paused and gave me a pointed look. "All right then, let's do the practical seventh year admissions exam."
"Admissions exam? I-I wasn't there was no mention of an exam. I haven't read any of the seventh year curriculums!" I hated how indignant and whiney my voice sounded, but I had never been unprepared for a test in my life this wasn't fair!
"Hermione, it's just a common knowledge test. Normal things that any seventeen year old witch or wizard should know; It's quite easy for a capable witch such as yourself." Professor Dumbledore reassured. "It's a combination of Charms, Transfiguration, Defense, and Ancient Runes for the practical part. Then, verbal essay questions on Muggle Studies, Arithmacy, Herbology, Potions, and History of Magic."
That didn't settle my nerves any.
"Grading is based on a scale of 1-10 per exam, ninety being the highest overall score, sixty being the lowest allowable for admission." Dumbledore finished.
"Shall we begin then?" Dippet smirked; he grabbed a book from his desk and began reading. "The student must first be able to cast a Glamour Charm on the test subject; failure to complete the charm will take the score from ten down to seven. The student will have one more chance to complete the charm, if the student fails to accurately produce the charm the second time, they will fail the Charms portion of the exam receiving a zero. You may continue, ."
A small feeling of relief went through my body. Glamour Charms were easy; I taught myself them in third year. I smiled at Dumbledore as he volunteered to be my test subject. I closed my eyes to picture how I wanted him to look. I said the incantation in my head as I waved my wand in different directions in front of his face. Slowly his features started to shimmer and change. His beard disappeared and a youthful face with no wrinkles soon replaced his. Eyes, a vivid green were looking back at me, while shaggy brown hair lay atop his head. My heart filled with love as I looked in to the smiling face of Harry Potter.
"Good. Non-verbal as well, luckily you did that, or else it would have been a half point deduction. At least eighty-five percent of seventh year spell work should be non-verbal." I shook my head slightly in annoyance, so glad he told me beforehand. "Now, human Transfiguration. Same rules apply, proceed."
I had to restrain myself from rolling my eyes. With a flick of my wand, Dumbledore was a lamp. I made the bulb go on and of, then turned him back.
"I must say, I have never been a lamp before, weird sensation having my light bulb turned on." I gave him an awkward smile. He was brilliant, but said the strangest things. Next I had to provide a counter curse to the Stupefy that was sent at me without using a shield charm. For the Runes practical, I had to correctly draw six of the first twenty-four original runes. The questions were all fairly easy. Herbology threw me off, until I remembered what Neville told me about the uses of Mimbulous Mimbletona.
"Excellent job, Hermione!" my new Transfiguration professor proclaimed as he put a fatherly hand on my shoulder.
"Yes, quite the impressive performance, . 90/90, NEWT qualification, if that's what you'd prefer?" I nodded eagerly. Dippet made some notes on some parchment. "Your schedule will come out on the first day of classes like everyone else. Would you like to be sorted with the first years or in private?"
"I'd rather not do it in front of everyone, if that's all right? Is now okay?" my eyebrows rose at the inquiry. He nodded and grabbed the still worn down hat from the shelf. I sat in front of his desk, wiggling in anticipation. As soon as the hat was on my head, we began our internal dialogue.
"Hermione, I was wondering when we'd meet again. There are bits and pieces of our past that we'd all like to ignore and pretend did not happen. That is our choice. The beauty of it is the knowledge we can gain by accepting we are who we are. We can learn and grow from the mistakes we've made, and those around us can learn from our mistakes, if we let them.
It is rare to find someone with such a strong destiny as yours; with such a meaningful, challenging destiny. You must believe in yourself, Hermione and others will eventually realize you know what you are doing and they will believe in you too. You are a different person from the first time we met, yes, I see it here. You still possess all the qualities of a brave Gryffindor. You have the loyalty of a Hufflepuff and the wits of a Ravenclaw. But, I sense something darker; I sense a desire, a thirst for the unknown. You possess the power of deception; a cunningness that few can match.
You can't be the same person you were and expect anything to change. I know which house you want me to put you in, I see it clearly. The memories you have of Gryffindor house don't exist here. It will not be the same. I think you know where you need to be placed. You may have had help getting here, but the rest is in your hands.
Good luck, Hermione."
When the hat said 'Slytherin' out loud, I found it hard to snap out of my reverie. The two men standing in front of me seemed to be waiting for an elaboration as to why it took five minutes to sort me. I gave a meek smile and shrugged my shoulders, "Slytherin it is! Not exactly what I had in mind "
"Slytherin is a great house Hermione. Some of the best witches and wizards have come from there. You will do just fine." The Dumbledore of this time seemed a lot more reassuring than the Dumbledore I remembered. It wasn't that I was upset with being sorted into Slytherin, I'm sure I will do just fine there. What upset me was the fact that the hat was right; Gryffindor wouldn't be the same as it had been for me in the 1990's. Harry and Ron weren't there this time; I didn't have my best friends to fall back on when I needed them. Everything was completely different.
"Strange thing in my past thirty years of being Headmaster, we have never had the Head Boy and Girl from the same house. I trust you and Tom to be fair to all of the houses, to promote inner house partnership, and to show no favoritism." Dippet said in a stern voice.
"Of course, sir. I'm a big fan of equal rights." I mean, I am Muggleborn and the founder of S.P.E.W. The thought of starting a chapter here briefly flitted across my mind.
All of our heads turned as there was a knock on the door.
"Ah, that must be our Head Boy, he's made impeccable timing, as usual. Have you met Tom, Hermione?" The Headmaster asked as Tom followed him in to the room. "He's the one who saved you the day you arrived."
Yes, yes, I ruddy well knew this. I nodded at Tom, who had changed into an Oxford shirt with a Hogwarts cardigan over it.
"Yes, we had the pleasure of officially meeting this afternoon." I made my face into the perfect mask of polite indifference. His was a mirror image of mine.
"Hello again, and sirs." Tom's silky, deep voice greeted.
"It's good to see you, Tom!" Dippet said while putting an arm around his shoulders. A flash of annoyance rang through Tom's eyes then after a second it was gone. "Are you excited to start your Teaching Assistant's position with Horace?"
"Yes, sir, I can't wait to learn all that I can from him and to help my fellow students when they need something." Tom replied easily.
"Good, good. Now, as you probably know, Hermione is to be our new Head Girl, and she has just been sorted into Slytherin!" Tom slowly shifted his calculating eyes to me. "Would it be too much to ask if you could show her to the Head dormitory? And give her the guide for the Head's duties?"
There was nothing left for me to do, but sign my enrollment forms and leave with Tom. I scooped up my bag and walked to the door, only to be stopped by Dumbledore on my way out.
"Hermione, we will go to Diagon Alley in a few days to get all your supplies for the upcoming school year." He glanced to Tom. "Tom, you are more than welcome to join us."
"I'd like that very much, sir. I'll be needing dress robes for the Yule Ball." He sounded so grateful, it was almost sad. We said our farewells as I followed Tom out into the dimly lit corridor.
'Yes,' I thought, 'today was the first day of the rest of my life."