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A Great Distance
Chapter 4
The next morning Hermione woke up late, she couldn't believe how tired she was – she wasn't used to late nights studying anymore. She yawned and rolled over, stretching in bed. She turned her head and looked out the window. The heavy blinds blocked out most of the sunlight streaming through the window. She through back the covers and rolled out of bed. She yawned again and sat up. Walking over, she opened the drapes, letting the morning sun stream through the window. She smiled and closed her eyes, enjoying the warmth of the sun's rays before turning and sitting down in front of the vanity.
She undid the braid in her hair and rubbed it out before grabbing the brush on the nightstand and started running it through her long thick, curly hair. After a few minutes when the tangles were suitably untangled she put the brush down and gathered her hair into a pony tail. There was a soft knock at her door and when she called out an Elf stuck its head into her room.
"Good morning Miss," the House Elf squeaked in greeting.
"Morning," Hermione answered with a smile.
"Would you like a bath drawn for a morning wash?" the Elf asked.
Hermione smiled and looked over at the large tub near the window. She had had one last night, but it would do her good. "That would be lovely, thankyou."
The House Elf bowed and disappeared, appearing a moment later with a bowl of steaming water in its glove wrapped hands. It was followed by a few other Elf's. Who all poured their bowls of hot water into the tub until it was filled to the ideal depth.
"Do you require anything else, Miss?" The House Elf asked politely.
"No, thank you." Hermione said gratefully.
The House Elf nodded and closed the door behind her.
With a heavy sigh Hermione stripped out her old fashioned nightdress and knickers and stepped into the tub. Sighing contentedly as she laid back in the tup and let the water wash over her skin. She relaxed for a little while before she washed herself clean and got out of the tub. She wrapped a towel around her torso and walked across to the dresser, leaving wet footprints on the stone floor as she went. She dried herself, put the towel over the chair and opened the wardrobe, looking at the selection of clothes Rowena had gathered for her.
Her mouth popped open in delight. The dresses were beautiful, floor length, made with a mix of cotton, and velvet. The petticoats were white cotton, as was the corset and slip. Slowly Hermione dressed. She tied the corset as well as she could, though it was difficult. In the end she left it half undone before slipping the cotton slip and dress over it. She rearranged the skirt and made sure nothing was tucked into her knickers before walking to the mirror and taking a good look at herself. A woman from the past stared back at her, hazel eyes wide with enthusiasm. She smiled.
She tidied up her room, picked up the Time Turner and headed out of her room. She walked down to the dungeons, hoping to find Salazar and they could complete their work on the Time Turner. They had made progress last night, and had ruled out many of the more common spells. They had debated different potions and transfiguration spells, but none had worked. A complicated, ancient device like this Time Turner was going to take a bit more to fix then the basic charm or potion.
She opened the door to the dungeon and peeked inside. It was dark. She waved her wand and the two candles on the desk flickered to life, the dragon – safe in its cage on the other side of the room – hissed at her angrily. She ignored the creature, and stepped inside, "Hello?" she called.
A door on the other side of the room opened and Salazar appeared, he seemed surprised to see her down here again. After a few seconds he smiled and stepped forward, closing the door to his private chambers behind him.
"Did you bring it?" he asked eagerly.
She held out the Time Turner for him to see.
"Great, let's get started," he said, "I've been thinking about different solutions to this problem all night."
She smiled at his enthusiasm, but she wasn't looking forward to spending the entire day down here in the dungeon. "Can we work somewhere else?" she asked, "It's such a nice day outside and it's so dark down here."
He sighed. "What did you have in mind?"
(v)
Slytherin looked up at the blue sky dotted with white fluffy clouds and frowned. "Are you sure this is the best place to work?" he asked doubtfully.
Hermione smiled, "Of course," she said smugly, "the sun is shining, its a beautiful day. Wouldn't you rather be out here then couped up inside?"
"I expect," he muttered.
Hermione smirked and pulled the Time Turner out of her pocket and laid it on the grass between them. Salazar picked it up "Ok," he said, "let's try this again."
They worked on the Time Turner for a while, trying spells they hadn't tried before. Salazar used his wand to slowly pull the Time Turner apart, careful to remember how to put it together again.
After a few minutes working in companionable silence Hermione started talking. She was curious to find out more about this handsome man, this founder whose house was responsible for the creation of so many Dark Wizards.
"So," she said, breaking the silence. "Tell me about yourself?"
Salazar glanced up at her, his piercing green eyes meeting hers. He was silent for a few seconds. "What do you want to know?" he asked eventually.
Hermione shrugged, trying to appear casual as a blush coloured her cheeks. She didn't expect that reaction when their eyes had met. "Well, to start why did you decide to do this?" she swept her hand out, including the grounds and the castle in her admission. "You don't seem the type to be interested in education."
He laughed heartily, and she was surprised to find he had a good one. "I'm not," he admitted, "What I am interested in, is the survival of our society, that witches and wizards with the talent learn to use their skills in a place free from persecution and hatred." He looked over at the castle, "And I was in debt to Godric, my involvement in this school was payment."
"What happened?" she asked.
"He saved my life."
"How?" Hermione asked, surprise colouring her reaction. She leaned forward, intrigued by his story despite herself.
Salazar turned his head away and looked up at the castle. He was silent for a few minutes. "I was married once," he said, and Hermione nodded. She knew this already.
He turned his head and smiled. "We married young, and she died young." He sighed. "My son was only a few years old when things started to change."
"How?" She asked softly.
He took a deep breath. "My wife, she was the only one in her family with magic. She didn't know our history, or heard the stories of the witches and wizards of the past. It took her unaware."
"What did?" Hermione asked quietly, already knowing the answer.
"The magic." He said, his voice equally as soft as he looked down at the ground. "It took her over, and one day she wasn't the woman I had married. She was a monster, so steeped in Dark Magic that she was barely recognisable as the woman I had loved – who I had been prepared to grow old with."
"What happened?" she whispered sadly, unprepared for the reaction his words had caused in her.
"She tried to kill me, and our son. Godric, seeing the signs better than I had, stopped her. She fled, running far away, away from my influence where she could practice her Dark Arts."
"Where is she now?"
"She died, killed herself with an overdose of magic trying to achieve something unachievable. Immortality."
A shiver ran up Hermione spine. That hit a little too close to home. "I'm sorry," she said, feeling horrible that she had brought up the subject.
"It was a few years ago now," he said, "I have tried to move past it."
"And your son?" she asked.
"With my brother, in Spain. He hates me. He will be enrolled in this school next year."
"He hates you? What on earth for?"
"He blames me for his mother's death, I blame myself too. If I had been more vigilant, more aware that she was struggling with the power I could have helped her, instead I let her explore the darker magic's of our society, and it killed her."
"It wasn't your fault" she said earnestly.
"It was," he said. He took a deep breath and looked her in the eye. "I've spoken to Godric since, I've told him my position on wizards and witches born outside the bloodline. I do not think they have a right to our abilities, they don't have the control or the knowledge to resist the darker aspects."
"This is why you refused Muggleborn's acceptance to Hogwarts?!" She said with a shocked gasp, everything she knew about him going down the drain in heartbeat.
"Muggleborn's?" he said, confused.
"Oh," she said in surprise. "A Muggle is a non-magic person, we call a Muggleborn someone whose parents had no magical abilities."
"How interesting, I wonder how that name came about." He said.
"I would like to know too," she said with a laugh.
"What is your concern over…Muggleborn's?" he asked, testing the name.
Hermione didn't say anything at first. She was unsure if she should tell him the truth. Everything she had heard about this wizard spoke of a man so deep set in hate, but what she thought she had known, and the reality was so different then what she had believed.
"I'm a Muggleborn witch," she said, looking him in the eye.
He sat back in shock, staring at her. Hermione didn't say anything, just continued to look at him evenly. "Not all of us have the control of a tea spoon," she said in distain, making her position on the matter clear. "Not all of us are Dark Wizards unable to control our powers. Most of us are just grateful to be given this chance to learn."
"My experience of Muggleborn's speaks differently," he said.
"And my experience of Slytherin's does the same," she snapped back at him.
He's eyes widened in shock, and Hermione almost smiled in satisfaction. "Did you know the most powerful Dark Wizard in history came from your bloodline, that he was sorted into Slytherin?" she continued, "every Dark Witch or Wizard that has gone bad in this country has been from that house."
She almost felt bad at the horrified look on his face. He had gone completely pale. "What are you talking about?" he asked sadly.
She sighed sadly, "Your wife was not the last the give into the Dark Arts."
He took a deep breath. "But my house, all those children I've dedicated my life to teaching. They are not evil."
"Not all of them no."
"Why would so many sway in this direction?" he mused, looking up at the sky and shaking his head. "Why would they give into the Darkness?"
Hermione pursed her lips together. He looked so heartbroken. "Slytherin's….are ambitious, and I am afraid your position on Muggleborn's has not…exactly been, accurately interpreted," she finished lamely, unsure of how to explain it without hurting him further.
Salazar sighed weakly and looked down at the Time Turner in his hand. "That does not surprise me."
They were silent for a few minutes. Hermione knew she had said too much but she couldn't take it back now.
"Let's just, work on this," she said trying to break the awkward silence.
He nodded, seeming to be relieved. He took a deep breath, trying to calm his fractured nerves as he used his wand to tap the side of Time Turner. Sparks flew and he raised an eyebrow in surprise. "I think we are finally getting somewhere," he muttered.
Hermione leaned forward, interested. "What did you do?" she asked quickly.
"Nothing," he said quickly, before he frowned in contemplation. "What does Time have in common with an emotive response?" he asked casually.
She looked up at him. "Reaction to change?" she said.
He nodded thoughtfully. "Let's try a Transfiguration spell."
"We already have," she reminded him.
"Yes, but we haven't tried a spell that changes something to its previous state. A Butterfly into a caterpillar, for example."
"What are you trying to do?" she asked.
"I'm trying to change it back into a physically representation of time, and then trap it."
Hermione raised her eyebrows, impressed. "Oh."
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