Hermione watched Malfoy look between herself and this Brutus fellow, and sincerely hoped he wouldn't turn on her.
Why the hell would he side with a possible poser Malfoy instead of her anyway?
"I am a Malfoy," the blond snapped, not at all deterred as so-called Brutus leaned the wand closer to her face. Her fingers itched to reach for her own wand but she resisted, glancing between the two. Malfoy hadn't even drawn his yet.
"Thou is not," Brutus snapped, eyeing her again. His eyes flinted down to her legs, the skirt shifting up above her knees in the fall. Her socks only reached mid-calf, and with the wind blowing the hem kept trying to shift upward. As though mesmerized, he leaned forward and flicked the hem with his wand.
"Hey!" she screamed, jutting out a leg to kick him. He foot connected directly with his crotch, the dolt having leaned over to look closer at her legs. He howled as she scrambled to her feet, whipping out her wand in an instant to press to his forehead. "Don't touch me."
Brutus crumbled, knees hitting the ground as he tried to catch his breath from her kick, his wand barely managing to stay in his grip. Hermione glanced at Malfoy, who seemed just as stumped by the bloke's interests in her as she was.
If he really was a Malfoy, he didn't know at this point that she was a Muggleborn. That would definitely change his interests.
"Who are you again?" Malfoy snapped, his wand slipping out of his cloak. "I don't like being played, and I don't like people pretending to be a Malfoy"
The other man sputtered, eyes glaring between the two of them. He did look surprisingly like Malfoy, the blond hair and grey eyes glaringly obvious hints. Still, even Malfoy didn't trust him. He was talking weird and acting like he had absolutely no idea who they were.
The longer they talked to him, the more certain she became that he didn't.
"My father will hear of this!" Brutus hissed. Hermione's eyebrows shot up at his declaration, looking over at Malfoy's puzzled expression. There was no way that was a coincidence.
Hermione shifted forward, ignoring Malfoy's watchful eyes as she stopped in front of Brutus. "Can you tell me what year it is?"
Brutus' eyes widened, regaining some composure as he gripped his wand tighter, eyes raking over her stockings again. She chose to ignore him, deciding if he truly wanted to be an idiot she would gladly kick him once more. "Thou doesn't know? How can thee possibly not know?"
"Just answer the damn question," Malfoy snapped, moving to her side. They might not actually like each other, but in that moment Hermione knew they were on the same side, at least until they figured out what was going on.
"1641," he replied, glaring between the pair. Hermione felt her heart drop, the realization that they had traveled not only through time but into an era so long ago hitting her hard. No wonder he kept looking at her legs so creepily. No one dressed like she did in this century!
Malfoy seemed to be in a slightly better predicament as far as his outfit. The Hogwarts uniform hadn't changed much for men, and although his look was more modernized than Brutus', he fit in a lot better. Her knee length skirt would get her a lot of weird looks if she kept wandering around like that.
It might also explain how there were suddenly two Malfoy heirs at the same, claiming to be students.
"I see," she muttered, backing away immediately. They shouldn't be seen, much less by some great-ancestor of the Slytherin's. What little color there usually was in Malfoy's face was gone, and for once he looked absolutely terrified. Reaching out she tugged on the sleeve of his robes, desperately hoping he would get the hint and bolt with her.
They had no idea what they might be affecting just by speaking to Brutus.
"Where art thou going?" the other blond snapped, aiming his wand again. He still looked a little shaken from being kicked in the crotch, but his determination was shining through again. Clearly, he didn't appreciate her actions. "Thou art coming with me, now!"
"We really aren't going anywhere," she stressed, grasping onto the blonds robes further. "We were just leaving, weren't we Draco?"
His name tasted like acid on her tongue, but it was enough to snap the twit out of his sudden trance. Turning to glare at her, she could see the anger in his eyes. Whether it was specifically directed at her or not, she wasn't sure.
Brutus tensed, moving forward. "Thou cannot-"
"Stupefy," Malfoy muttered, successfully silencing his relative enough for his brain to start working again. The gears in his head weren't moving fast enough, absolutely stumped by what he was learning.
He thought time turners were an extinct art. The Ministry supposedly had some, and even the Dark Lord was rumored to have a stash of secret weapons but they were few and far between these days. He seriously couldn't believe they happened on one in the middle of the woods by chance, and it somehow resulted in him meeting an ancestor.
At least he didn't have to listen to the moron talk anymore. Brutus Malfoy was not at all what his history perceived him to be. Draco was always taught of Brutus' strides against muggleborns and having a hand in their undermining. Right now he couldn't imagine this uncollected buffoon doing much more than complaining.
"We need to get out of here," Granger was saying, drawing him out of his thoughts. She was fast approaching the trees nearest them, subconsciously pulling at her skirt as she walked. "We can't be seen."
"Why the bloody hell not?" he snapped, not following her into the trees. "We just need to find someone, probably that blithering moron Dumbledore, and convince him to send us back. The blasted time turner worked once, it's bound to again."
"We don't even know how it worked last time," she sighed, stopping at the forests edge. "Time turners really aren't supposed to work the way this one did. And anyway, we are about two hundred years early on meeting the Headmaster. He isn't born until the 1880's, and we are a little before that."
She took off into the trees when Brutus started stirring behind them, leaving Malfoy in her wake. He scowled, bolting after the brunette. He didn't really care who he encountered out here, so long as he could get home.
There was no way he would spend time groveling around ancient Britain until a solution arose.
He found Granger fairly easily, the girl having stopped near the front of the forest. She had her arms crossed expectantly as he bolted into her sight, as though knowing he would follow her. She opened her mouth to say something to him only to be cut off, his speed surprising her as he rushed at her. Grasping her around the neck, he threw her back into the nearest tree, ignoring the impact as her body slammed into the bark.
His wand was at her temple in a moment, the stunned expression on her face doing nothing to diffuse his anger. "Send us back, now."
"Let go of me, Malfoy," she hissed, fingers digging around in her cloak. He realized she'd let her guard down, probably thankful to be away from Brutus enough that she put her want away so they could talk. Her other hand clasped around his wrist, pulling earnestly at his crushing grip. "We ca-can't argue right now! We need t-to work together."
Draco squeezed harder, watching the color rush to her face. He couldn't just strangle her to death, or he'd have no way home. Her legs were beginning to kick, jutting out at his to try and convince him to let go. "You knew as soon as we got here that something was wrong. You knew this was a time turner. So far, you've known everything Granger. So now, you're going to take me the fuck home."
She was gasping, fingers digging more urgently into his skin in an effort to get him to let go. He refused to recoil, aware that if he suddenly let her go she'd attack him. "I-I don't know how! I know no more than you do! But if you kill me you'll be on your own in this whole mess."
Huffing in annoyance he dropped her, immediately stepping back as she crumbled into the ground, choking in air. Apparently scaring her into giving up the answer wouldn't work. He glared at her as she looked up, eyes burning bright. Her neck was red and already starting to bruise, the crushing effort leaving its mark on her skin.
"I know you know something," he hissed, flexing his fingers. He didn't typically have to get physical with someone, usually Crabbe and Goyle handled that for him. Or his proficiency with hexes allowed him to handle the situation without getting near the other person. Yet he couldn't help wrapping his hand around her throat, the anger inside him pushing him to act.
This was all her fault, he was sure of it.
There was no fucking way he would just wait around for some sort of answer. He had a lot of shit to do, and he was pissed that he was suddenly – and forcibly – thrown into another time.
Nothing this crazy ever happened to him. But Granger and her little friends were known for getting into surprising amounts of trouble and sticky situations. There was no doubt in his mind this happened because he was in her company.
"I know nothing more than you," she seethed, forcing herself up. Getting to her feet took some effort, but she would not allow him the upper hand. Her body was trembling, one hand lightly touching the skin on her neck. She couldn't believe he tried to kill her when they should be working together trying to figure out what had happened to them.
Scratch that, she'd be a fool to not believe that.
"All I know Malfoy is we found a time turner and now we're screwed," she continued, her wand arm trembling as she glared at him. She certainly wasn't scared, but her body felt shaky after having most of the air cut off. "And if you come at me again I won't hesitate to take you out."
He scoffed, turning away from her little rant. "Why the bloody fuck did we both get sent? I thought time turners only worked on one person."
"That's a myth. They can work for more than one, but I've never seen one like this. Usually you have to turn the device to go somewhere, each turn symbolizing a certain amount of time. We didn't do anything like that, and I didn't see any rings. Based off the facts we should've never been sent through time to begin with."
"I don't care what it is," Malfoy seethed, glaring at her. "All I care about is getting back."
Hermione nodded, glad they could agree on something. Clearly it wouldn't be civility towards one another, so she would have to settle on a mutual agreement for now.
If she wasn't concerned about what effects it would have on the future, she'd much rather just leave his arse there. He certainly didn't care about her, only the assistance she could offer with getting home.
"We need to get further away from the school," she replied, her voice sounding raw. She'd love some water right now, but hesitated casting such an easy spell when she wasn't sure if he would turn on her again. "We don't want anyone else recognizing us. It's bad enough we ran into someone related to you."
He huffed but didn't respond, eyes glaring at her. The visibility outside was rapidly disappearing, and she had little desire to see what the Forbidden Forest was like hundreds of years ago in the dark.
"We should head towards Hogsmeade," she muttered, thinking of the next best place. What the town was like in this century she didn't know, but at least she could assume they wouldn't run into someone familiar there. "If we're going to be stuck here we may as well not be stuck in the cold."
"You'd rather trek out there than go to the school?" he asked, arching an eyebrow. "If we just lie about who we are they probably won't even notice anything. It's a lot less work to crash there then walking all the bloody way into town. Do you feel this wind? It's fucking freezing."
"You're going to lie about being a Malfoy?" she asked, floored. "I seriously doubt you'd last more than a few minutes with a lie like that. Besides, it wouldn't work anyway. Brutus will go back to the school and report us, if he isn't out here now looking to get even. We'd be suspicious. Our clothes certainly don't match this era, and even if they did you look too similar to each other. Your inbreeding genetics stick out too much; you and Brutus could pass for brothers."
Malfoy jerked around, ready to hex her for her comments but the witch disarmed him with ease, smiling at the shocked expression on his face when he realized she could move so quickly. "You got lucky that I let my guard down before and you could get so close. Don't think you'll ever have the chance to get so close again. If you so much as try to breathe in my direction, I'll hex you until you think you actually belong in this bloody time."
Despite her threat, he smirked. "A little catty tonight, aren't we Granger?"
"I get testy when people try to kill me."
"Don't be so dramatic, I wasn't going to actually kill you. What good would that do? I need your massive mudblood brain to get us out of here."
Hermione signed, ignoring his jab. "Look, let's just start walking. We don't know what's out here in the woods, and we don't want someone else from the school to show up and harass us. We don't have answers we can really give. The longer we are here the more damage we are doing to the timeline."
"So our best option is to wander into town and hope things go well?" Malfoy waved his arms, watching the girl turn on her heel and wander away without acknowledging him. Grunting he followed along, not about to let her take the device somewhere without him. "That's a barmy plan."
"Well do you have a better one?" she asked, rubbing her throat. He fell into step beside her, hands shoved down into his pockets as they walked. The weather was cooling quickly, and he assumed this was half the reason Brutus didn't follow. She didn't flinch at his close proximity, but he could see her tense.
"Do you even have money with you?" he sneered, watching her cast a spell on the bruises forming on her neck. The marks disappeared almost immediately, though he wasn't certain if she used a healing charm or just hid them. Either way, it was moderately impressive that she could cast any spell without speaking. It wasn't as difficult as wandless magic, but it took practice.
"I have some," she muttered, patting a pocket in her cloak. "Not much though. We won't have access to our accounts in this time. So we better make what we have last."
Nodding, he decided it was a good thing the school had a Quidditch game tonight or neither of them would likely have anything on them. As a player he didn't actually buy any souvenirs from the gift shop, but lots of students updated their supplies at the beginning of the year. He still brought money to the game anyway in case he found something he actually wanted.
He was willing to bet he had a lot more sitting in his pockets than she did.
The path to Hogsmeade was strange. It was there, but the path was narrower than they were accustomed to. It didn't seem like as many students traveled between the school and town as they did in their time. While that was reasonable, it didn't make their walk any easier. The path was more overgrown, and several times they had to push branches out of the way.
Plus, the temperature was dropping rapidly. It was quite cold by the time they reached the outskirts of the town, enough so they'd both cast warming charms more than once. It was lightly snowing, quite a sight for October, and the wind was positively frigid.
Winter would be coming earlier than they were used to.
"At least everything here is familiar," Hermione said, looking around. Many of the old buildings they were accustomed to lined the cobblestone street, the shop names different but the layout mostly the same. "There's got to be an inn that we can stay at tonight that isn't full already."
"Long as you can afford it," Malfoy sneered, ignoring her scowl as he pressed ahead to the nearest building, the worn sign out front indicating it was just what they were looking for. This was definitely a store in their time, but he wouldn't argue.
Inside was crowded compared to the barren path they walked on the way there. Hermione followed directly behind the blond as he shoved his way towards the nearest counter, ignoring the scowls shot his way. Her eyes darted around, taking in the people nearest to them.
Most of them were men drinking from large tankards, a few women scattered around the open space. The entire place looked more like a pub than an inn.
She subconsciously moved closer to Malfoy as they reached the counter. She knew it'd be a problem, but her clothes weren't appropriate for where they were. Her skirt and socks were modest in their own time, the cloak swaying open to reveal her covered skin when she walked. But here everyone wore dresses to their ankles, some with slits up the sides but their legs were still technically covered. She stuck out like a sore thumb in a really bad way.
Malfoy might hate her, but at least he had no interest in her. His eyes never raked over her body the way these men were, the ones closest scooting in further.
"Do you have two rooms?" he snapped, drawing the attention of the attendant at the front. He was eyeing them curiously, all his focus on Hermione for a moment before acknowledging the blond in front of him.
"One," the man drawled, narrowing his eyes. "Do I know thee?"
"Doubtful," he muttered, rubbing his head. "Well who the hell else in town would have rooms available?"
The attendant frowned, scratching his head as he eyed them. "Cold front moving in. No one really has anything open. I only have the one now since most tried to leave with the weather. Won't find another inn with rooms tonight."
Hermione frowned, wondering if that was true or if he was just trying to sell them on the one. If she knew Malfoy he would absolutely disagree to sharing any sort of space with her.
Malfoy snapped something to the man, but she missed it as someone came up behind her, coming dangerously close to grabbing her body. She scooted away just in time, leaning against the counter to glare up at the offending man, her hand clenching around the wand in her pocket. He was clearly drunk and standing much too close.
With all the noise in the building she hadn't noticed he was following her.
Finding something else to wear would need to be her first priority, but with the frigid winds as night set in she was more concerned about warming herself on their walk than what she looked like. She should've made Malfoy give her his cloak for decency purposes. His was at least longer, and though it would drag on the ground it would cover more of her.
"Step back," she warned, drawing her wand to use the tip to push his back. The drunk seemed surprised that she'd dare to do that, and several of the people around them grew quiet. "Don't you understand personal space?"
Leering, the man looked her over again, and she grabbed at her cloak to cover more of her legs. "Thou cannot tell me of space, when thou asks for attention." He grinned, reaching out to grasp her shoulder. She flicked his hand away, watching his every move. "Doll, do not anger me."
"Don't test me," Hermione snapped, straightening. She wouldn't be bullied by a creepy pervert in this stupid inn. "You can back off, or I will make sure you can't have children. Either way, I suggest you don't touch me."
In hindsight, she probably should try being more tactful when turning down men in this era. Apparently talking back like that was not something people saw often.
Immediately he whipped out a wand, shouting out a clumsy spell. She deflected it with ease, blocking his hand when he snapped out to grab her. She was more than prepared to hex him for being so forward, but Malfoy interrupted.
"Bloody fucking hell, Granger," he snapped, finally paying attention again. He threw some money at the attendant, turning his body towards hers. "Do you always cause a scene?"
Her cheeks reddened, jabbing her wand in the unknown drunk's direction. "This is not-"
"Thou cannot talk to him so openly," the drunk interrupted, grabbing her arm now that her attention was diverted. "I shall teach thee a lesson."
He reached down to the front of her cloak, attempting to pull her closer. Instead he tore through the thin fabric and her blouse underneath, exposing her open chest and a large amount of cleavage. Hermione immediately jerked in his grip, bringing her arms down directly on his wrist until she heard a satisfying snap.
The drunk howled, immediately releasing her clothes as his wrist broke, the bone jutting out of the skin. He jumped backward, eyes wide as he prepared to hex her. She could feel everyone's eyes focusing on her as she took him out with ease, even Malfoy's attention focused on her.
"I'll be the one teaching you a lesson," she huffed, reaching up to pull the neckline back together. Her cheeks were reddening, the men who'd watched her walk in taking on more and more of an interest. "The way I'm dressed in no way reflects my attitude nor my interest in getting better acquainted with you, and if you try to grab me again I promise I'll break the other hand."
"Granger," Malfoy seethed, his voice low and harsh in her ear. "I thought we needed to blend in."
"I'm not going to get harassed so we can blend in!"
"Your key," the attendant interrupted, handing something silvery to Malfoy. She hadn't realized he was actually paying for a room, not during all her blasted arguing. The poor fellow looked absolutely terrified to anger her, his eyes darting back to the drunk who was still howling in pain as he handed over the key. "Please, just take thy key. We do not mean thee any harm."
Hermione huffed, glad someone would at least take her seriously. Malfoy was practically glaring a hole through her head, stomping past her to the stairs. "Come on Granger."
"I thought there was only one room," she muttered, following his steps. She didn't want to stay there where everyone was staring, some people in anger others in interest. There was no way they'd leave her alone.
Malfoy sighed, not glancing back at her as he continued walking, unconcerned if she could keep up. "There is."
The room was small, much smaller than Draco cared for. Under normal circumstances he wouldn't even humor the idea of staying here, but after talking to the shaky man at the front he believed there really wasn't another place in town that they could stay. There was supposed to be snow coming in, and everyone visiting wanted somewhere warm the next several days.
At least the place was dirt cheap. With the money in his pocket he'd be set for several weeks.
Glancing at the Gryffindor beside him, he wondered why he bothered bringing her up. She said she had some money, and with the low prices he was quoted he was certain she had enough that she could find somewhere to stay.
He just wasn't sure she'd get there in one piece. They stuck out, and while he could hide his blond hair like downstairs, she couldn't hide the skirt and blouse she was wearing. All they'd done was walk into one lousy building and everyone there seemed to believe she was a prostitute.
Draco almost snorted at the idea. Sure, he knew it was preposterous, but no one else did. They hadn't encountered all that many people who actually talked to them since arriving, but considering both men so far took too much of an interest in her, he assumed leaving her to find her own way might not be the best option.
He couldn't exactly let her get beat up or worse. He needed her to fix the damn situation they were in, and she couldn't do that if he left her to get attacked by too many drunken morons.
Oh, she owed him, big time.
"You can have the floor," he grunted, letting the thin door slam shut. She hadn't said anything since climbing but the stairs and he could at least count his blessings that she was giving his ears a break for once. "If I can find a blanket to spare I suppose you could have one of those too."
She didn't say anything, and he decided she probably wouldn't. There wasn't really a bathroom in the room, and he couldn't fathom what it would be like to try and groom himself in the morning. He was sure the wind did a number on his hair, and Granger's was looking more rat-nesty than normal. Glancing at the bed he scowled, unable to believe straw was the best idea for a place to sleep.
He could probably use his magic to produce something more comfortable than that.
"Now you better get to work on fixing that damn time turner in the morning," he continued, picking at the covers. They weren't the worst part of the room, and they would probably keep him decently warm even without a spell. The one window of course didn't have a screen, and he would need to do something to block out the god awful chill breezing through when the wind blew.
Finding what he deemed to be the worst blanket of the bunch, he threw it on the floor for Granger. It seemed fitting really, a Mudblood was more than deserving of sleeping on the floor. "Now there's only two pillows, and I need both of those so you might want to figure something out about that."
She was being unusually quiet.
Peering back over his shoulder he stopped moving, watching the girl in the dim lamplight of the room. She was still clasping the front of her robes closed, the hand holding together the fabric shaking a little. Her other was clenched so tightly into a fist it looked like her nails were biting into her skin, and he could see the telltale signs of little drops of blood falling onto the floor.
He frowned, finally focusing on her face. She looked like she'd been crying, her cheeks wet and shiny. But her eyes weren't scared, just set and determined. He didn't know what to make of her.
And he definitely didn't want her thinking he'd comfort her.
"Come on Granger," he grunted, falling down on the bed. With his wand he made himself a softer layer to sleep on, and a barrier to keep the chilly wind out. "Go to sleep. The sooner we get up in the morning, the sooner we can get the hell out of here."
She didn't respond, shifting towards the covered window instead of the mess he'd thrown together on the floor. The cracks were big enough she could see out, even if he was sure she couldn't feel the biting wind.
"I'm not ready to sleep yet. I'll get there."
Draco scowled, fighting the urge to argue with her. He was tired enough after the day they'd had, and his brain was on overload trying to cope with what was going on. If he thought a spell could fix this he would've tried by now, but even he knew something this complex couldn't be fixed easily. And it clearly wasn't a joke someone was pulling on them, not after the experience they'd had to far.
He definitely needed to rest. He'd probably have a meltdown soon if he didn't.
"Suit yourself," he muttered, closing his eyes. If she wanted to stay up that was her problem. He wouldn't make her do anything. It wasn't his problem if she chose not to sleep.
Frowning, he forced himself to remember she shouldn't really be his problem at all. He tried to focus on that thought as he fell asleep, but couldn't. Despite himself, he felt a little bad for her.
A/n: So, here's the second chapter a little late. Don't worry about Hermione getting harassed the entire story, I just thought it was an important factor to point out since they clearly do not fit in. Next time we will see more development into why they are there!
Let me know what you think of the progression!