The day came when they were sent off to the Hogwarts Express. Hermione spent most of her time with Ginny and Bianca. Hermione told Ginny about her and Tom and explained Bianca. She told Ginny she had met someone named "Ray" who was partially a Weasley. Ginny told Hermione that she had a second cousin by the name of Ray. Hermione got to meet him when he visited with his mother for a few short hours. It was the Ray she had met. He asked her why she looked so familiar. She was going to say that she had never met him before, but Ginny piped up.
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"Hermione, is it?" Ray paused. "I met a girl in school with the same name, in Slytherin, the prefect, and she looked just like you!"
"That was her," Ginny said before Hermione had the chance to speak.
"You're Hermione Granger? It can't be . . . you're here now. . ." Ray said.
"She went back in time. Her time turner broke and sent her back 15 years," Ginny said, again not letting Hermione even have the chance to think.
"No way! The Slytherin prefect! Tom's girlfriend? You know, no one knew what had happened to you, and Tom was always pissed off after you left. What happened to little Riddle? We all found out about Harry rather quickly. "
"Is that true Hermione?" Ron asked.
"Yes," she whispered.
"I can't believe it," Harry paused. "Why would you do that when you knew he would kill my parents?" Harry seemed to look sad and angry. "And who's 'Little Riddle'?" Hermione was sure that one wrong word could make him start sobbing or make him start yelling. She turned to look at Ginny and mouthed 'Why'd you tell Ray?'
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Bianca found the train ride to be very interesting. She kept wandering around, forcing Hermione to follow. Hermione didn't even really have any place to stay on the train. Luna, Neville, Ginny, Harry, and Ron were in a compartment, and Harry and Ron were not too welcoming. Of course, Hermione bumped into Draco. He began calling her mudblood and the like, but she just ignored him; she'd been bothered by worse. Bianca mistook Draco for Lucius, though, which caused a problem.
"Get your stupid thing off of me!" he yelled at Hermione as Bianca walked around him. She would have done the same to Harry, but she learned quickly that he was not James. Hermione pulled Bianca away and Draco went off to find his own compartment as he brushed his clothes off as if they were covered in dirt.
Hermione bought some food and wandered around. She found a compartment full of first years that welcomed her to stay there. They were fascinated by Bianca. It was better than nothing. Hermione began reflecting on her conversation with Ray again. Why did Ginny start telling him these things in front of Harry and Ron? She did not know what she would do. She was sure Harry and Ron would be mad at her for a long time, and she knew Tom would be back after Harry soon enough. She was afraid of this. Had Tom known before about her? Did he not realize she was the friend of Harry Potter? He probably did not care after she left him. She was upset about Riddle. How was he brought up? She did not know. She prayed he would not be as bad as Tom. She would not be able to deal with that.
Hermione got into an empty carriage at the school. She was unfortunately graced with Draco's presence, as well as Pansy's, Crabbe's, and Goyle's. Ginny also came to sit with her. Ginny and Hermione were stuck listening to the Slytherins the whole ride. Draco continuously called them names. Hermione knew she was not going to like her first day back.
The feast was rather boring. She was not going to be prefect or head girl. At least she had been a prefect in the past. The sorting hat's song was new, and got a loud applause. There were tons of new students, more than usual. Hermione just sat and pretended to listen. Some new students came up to Harry and talked to him, amazed to meet him. Hermione found it to be sweet and funny, even if it did get annoying after a while. She wondered how Harry dealt with it.
Since it was a Friday, they would not start school until Monday. Hermione was happy with that. She needed some time to study and rest. Bianca stuck with Ginny when Hermione was busy. Ginny absolutely loved her.
Monday came too quickly for Hermione. She had double potions with Slytherin first, followed by double herbology with Hufflepuff. She did not want to go to Potions class. Snape knew what had happened. He knew about Riddle. He knew so much. She wondered why he hated her so much in the present time. Maybe because that she left Tom? Had she caused Tom to become as evil as he is now?
Snape was a bit easier on her than normal. That relieved Neville, because he was not put under as much stress, either. He was as hard with the Slytherins as he was the Gryffindors.
Hermione's day was rather odd. All the teachers knew about her trip to the past and what had happened. She did not feel too happy about that. She was stopped after class by some teachers who would ask her about it. Snape even stopped her to talk. She was relieved to talk to Snape. He acted completely different in their little meeting. He was nice to her and answered all her questions, or, most of them. He requested that she come back every week in the afternoon so he could tell her things, slowly. There were things he had to tell her, but did not believe she was ready to hear.