A/N: Wow guys thanks for all...five reviews. Way to really stretch yourself. Just kidding, just kidding. Thanks sweet-tang-honney(yours so consistently faithful!), edwardloverr, and Wicked Sapphira. It really means a lot to me peeps :) And in case I didn't say so in the first chapter, the Disclaimer (all belongs to J.K Rowling and any other familiar themes, ladida, all that junk :)) goes for all the chapters. Hope I'm doing alright guys, and once again, plz no flames. :D Feel free to point out any grammar mistakes, spelling errors, etc... I always find them very helpful!
Alright, no more rambling :)...
Chapter Three: The King of Snakes
September 1st seemed to come too soon for Hermione, and as she watched from the Ravenclaw Tower as students flocked off the boats and the carriages, Hermione felt the ridiculous sudden urge to go hide under her bed. But, because of her Gryffindor nature, Hermione dragged herself down the grand staircase and into the Great Hall, sitting down, for the first time, and the Ravenclaw table. She smiled grimly and waved at Ron, who looked more comfortable at the Gryffindor table, and Harry, who looked on the verge of tears sitting at the table beneath a sea of silver and green.
It was not long before the older students joined them, and Hermione saw several of them glance curiously at the three early birds. Hermione was looking anxiously at Ron for help when two bodies sat down on either side of her, and two directly across from her.
"So you're the new girl they were talking about on the train?" the girl on her direct right asked. She was a Black girl with long, dark hair that fell to the middle of her back and sparkling eyes. Hermione realized she was very pretty.
"Erm...yes, yes I am."
The girl smiled widely and offeredher a hand. "Hi, I'm Cassie Max, and this," she gestured to the girl on Hermione's left, "Is Cindy Phillips." The blonde girl offered Hermione a small smile, and she smiled in return. "Across from you here, is Samantha Burke," Cassie pointed to a dark-haired, incredibly pale girl who smiled shyly at Hermione. "And last, but certainly not least, is Lydia Greengrass." She pointed to the last girl, who was staring at Hermione unabashedly, but when Hermione smiled tentatively, she did not return the smile.
"So, where did you come from...?" Cassie trailed off and Hermione realized that she hadn't told any of them her name.
"Oh, sorry, Hermione. Hermione Macmillan."
"Hermione, oooh, that's pretty!" Cassie said, grinning at her.
The girl on her left, Cindy, rolled her eyes. "Don't mind her, she's got a short attention span." Hermione laughed. "So, where are you from, Hermione?"
Hermione swallowed. This was the moment, what they'd rehearsed for, hours upon hours on end. "Well, I've lived in England all my life, but my parents homeschooled me, and it wasn't until this summer, when they died in combat on the coast of Italy that I was told that they wished, in their will, for me to attend Hogwarts to complete my education."
"Oh, I'm sorry about your parents. That's so sad, and so recent, too," Cassie said, looking horrified. Cindy nodded quickly in agreement.
Samantha reached over and patted Hermione's hand, sincere sympathy in her eyes. "You're handling it very well. I can tell you're incredibly strong, with what you've been through." Hermione smiled softly at the girl, fondness in her gaze. She seemed slightly unfocused, and that trait reminded Hermione endearingly of Luna.
But the other girl, Lydia, just peered more intensely at Hermione, something in her eyes flickering and disappearing before Hermione could place it. Hermione stared right back at her, wondering why this girl seemed to have immediately taken a disliking to her.
After the sorting and the feast, she walked with the four girls up to the Ravenclaw tower, but was surprised when they stopped at the door, starting to giggle.
"Ooh, I'll get you this time, Cindy!" Cassie said excitedly. At Hermione's confused glance, it was Samantha who answered.
"It's something of a competition between the two," she explained. "They're both very smart, but usually Cindy answers the question a few seconds faster, and the couple times Cassie has got it, she's been wrong." Samantha grinned at her, and Hermione smirked.
"The more you have of it, the less you see. What is it?"
The two girls glanced at each other, and then narrowed there eyes. "It's...umm..." Cassie scrunched up her nose, while Cindy, with an air of completely confindence, turned back the door and replied lazily,
"Darkness."
The door swung open, and Cassie let out a yelp, pouncing toward Cindy, who bounded off, running up the staircase to safety. Samantha laughed at Hermione's baffled face. "Don't worry, common behavior."
Hermione found that she liked her knew housemates very much, except for the quiet and always observing Lydia Greengrass. She had heard the name Greengrass before in the future wizarding society, spoken as a Pureblood name, and Hermione remembered the Greengrass girls that had gone to Hogwarts in her time, so she had always thought that they were all Slytherins, but here was Lydia, infiltrating Ravenclaw with her brazenness.
At seven-thirty, Hermione set out to the room of requirements, excusing herself by telling the girls she had to go discuss her class schedule with Dippet, an excuse which was passed with nothing more than a cold, single, risen eyebrow from Lydia. She arrived to find Harry and Ron fully engaged in an animated conversation of the now-a-days Gryffindors.
"So what are they like, Ron?" Hermione asked curiously.
He grinned. "Oh, you gotta love'em. I met one of my ancestors, and one of Harry's too! They're all so great! There's Jack Weasley, I think he's a great-uncle or something, but man, the guy's hilarious! You really should hear some of his Slytherin jokes. And then there's Charlus Potter, whose absolutely obsessed with Quidditch! He's brilliant, though, from what I've heard. And then there's Donnie Thomas, he's like an ancestor of Dean or somethin', and man that kids a daredevil! Ate seventeenvomit-flavored Bertie Bott's-without vomiting! And then there's Teires, he's kinda like you, Mione, real quiet and brainy, but he's a funny guy once you get him to talk."
"Don't forget about Lucy," Harry reminded him, looking thoroughly amused. He caught Hermione's eye and smirked at Ron's enthusiasm.
"Oh yeah, Lucy Peterson. She's the only Gryffindor girl in our year! Can you believe that? Only one girl! She's really cool, though, hanging around with us guys. Real tough chick, but funny."
Hermione smiled at Ron fondly, and then turned to Harry. "And hows Slytherin?"
Harry frowned, looking unsure. "They're all very...welcoming. There's four other guys and three girls. Riddle's there of course, but he's really quiet, so I didn't hear much of him. And then there's Abraxas Malfoy-"
Hermione groaned. "Ugh, is he just obnoxious?"
"Actually, no." Hermione's eyebrows shot up. "He's actually my favorite. Real funny guy, has a good sense of humor. Didn't push me around too much." Harry smiled. "And then there was Niles Lestrange. He was kind of a quiet kid, really nice though. Seemed more Hufflepuffish to me. Then Edward Burke, he's kind of a prankster. Him and Brax mess around a lot."
"And the three girls?" Hermione asked slyly, watching for his reaction. Harry turned pink ever so slightly, glancing up at her and then quickly looking back away.
"Well, there's Sirius's mother, Walburga, and she's everything I didn't expect."
"How so?" Hermione asked absently, lifting a random book on the tableside and flipping through it.
"Well, for starters, she's beautiful," Harry pointed out, his face reddening even further. "But she's also a bit shy, and quiet, and she kind of seems like the runt of the pack. Then there's Druella. Man, she's a laugh. Funniest girl I've ever met. Kinda has a darker appearance but she's really a warm person."
"And...Lucretia?" Hermione asked, having heard the name somewhere around the school.
Harry frowned , staring into the flames. "Lucretia wasn't as friendly. She wasn't mean, just..."
"Guarded," Hermione tested.
"Guarded," Harry agreed. He stared absentmindedly at the flames for a while before he snapped his attention back to her. "And how's Ravenclaw?"
She smiled softly. "I like it. There are four girls in my year, Cassie and Cindy, who are both funny and a little wild at times, and Samantha, whose kind of quiet, but very nice."
She frowned. "But then there's Lydia. She's not like Pansy or the Slytherin girls or anything, not mean, just...mysterious."
"So all and all I think we don't have to worry about any threats from the inside," Harry concluded. "Which, I'll admit, had me a little worried at first. But I think all our housemates are very trustable, well, for the most part. Slytherins aren't completely trustable."
Ron grinned and Hermione rolled her eyes, but then she looked back at Harry unsurely. "Harry, I've been meaning to ask you about...about our sorting."
Harry grimaced, as if he had been expecting this. "Well, Ron I guess, before, back in our time, he had all the qualitites of a Gryffindor-"
"But so do we," Hermione pointed out.
"However," Harry said, holding up a finger to silence her. "It has to do with intertwining destinies. That's what the hat told me, anyway."
Hermione nodded slowly. "Yeah, the hat said something about destiny to me, as well. When I asked why I was in Ravenclaw, this time around."
"I think..." Harry said slowly. "I think, naturally at first, we had to establish a friendship, because the three of us were destined to be the defeaters of Voldemort. It would have been a little more difficult to be as close as we are today had it not been the circumstances were as they were. If not for the fact that she needed to be there for us at all times, Hermione would have probably been placed in Ravenclaw last time around. And if not for the fact that I needed to be in the house that was opposing the Dark Lord so as not to be surrounded by bad influences, and if not for the fact that I ask it not to, the sorting hat would've placed me in Slytherin."
"Wait, it tried to place you in Slytherin last time?" Ron asked, bewildered. Harry nodded.
"Last time, remember I had already had a run in with Malfoy and I had heard all this bad stuff about it, so I was already convinced that it was the last place I wanted to be. This time, I had our mission in mind, so I decided to just go with the flow."
Hermione smiled at him, realizing that it was an incredibly brave thing of Harry to do; to willingly place himself in the pit of the snakes, while she and Ron were in comfortable atmospheres, but it was also a very Harry thing to do.
"Well, we best be off to bed," Ron said, rising and yawing widely as he glanced down at his watch. The two of them waved to him as he set off down the hall in the direction of the Gryffindor Tower, and then the two of them made their way down the grand staircase. When they stopped in front of the knocker, Harry stopped her, turning her to face him, both hands on her shoulders.
"Hermione, I'm a great deal worried about you. He's bound to take interest in the three of us because we arrived so suddenly, but he's bound to be the most interested in you, because of your intelligence. You must not let him know how much we know about him."
Hermione nodded, looking Harry directly in the eyes. "Don't worry, brother. I can handle him. And who knows," she threw over her shoulder nonchalantly as she turned to the bronze knocker. "We're in different house. Whose to say that I might never even talk to the guy?"
Needless to say, of course, Hermione was quite wrong in her assumption, because she became aquainted with the young dark lord the very next day.
Her first class was Potions, with the Slytherins, and thankfully, they were greeted at the door, not by a sallow Snape, but by a jovial, round-bellied Slughorn.
"Oho!" Slughorn exclaimed upon seeing them, and practically the entire class turned around to watch them. "You two must be Mr. and Miss Macmillan. A pleasure to have you at our fine school."
Harry blushed as he realized the entire class was watching this exchange, but Hermione just smiled gracefully, inclining her head. "It's a pleasure to be here, sir." He beamed at her and ushered them into the classroom. Hermione realized that the class was perfectly divided; Ravenclaws and Slytherins. A little anxiously, Harry peered at her, and she smirked. She gave him a coy little wave and nudged him over to the Slytherin side, while she sat down beside Cindy. She saw Harry sit down next to one of the Slytherins, a blonde boy that could only be Abraxas.
"Oh, Hermione, did you meet the boys last night?" Cindy asked her, gesturing to the two boys that sat in front of them, who were turned around to face them, grinning. They were both blonde, and as they smirked at her, they reminded her a bit of Fred and George. "This is Bruno Patrick and Lionel Kirkland, our resident pranksters." They waved at her and she smiled shyly back. "And over there," she pointed to the table where a dark haired boy was sitting beside Cassie, "Is Jasper Shei." He gave a small nod and smile. "And that's Trevor Collins," she pointed to the last boy, who was sitting with Samantha and Hermione immediately noted that their hands were twined. He smiled at her softly.
"Are they...together?" she asked Cindy quietly. Cindy glanced back at the two and then grinned at Hermione.
"Yes, they've been together since third year." Hermione's eyebrows shot up. "I know. It's like they were made for each other." Hermione found herself smiling as she glanced back at the couple, who reminded her incredibly of Harry and Ginny when they had been together.
"Alright, settle down, settle down!" Slughorn boomed, making Hermione jump. From the corner of her eyes, she saw Harry smirk at her. "Now, welcome to Potions, seventh years! I'm sure you're all very excited to be here, but this year, I'm going to...shake things up a bit." The wicked gleam in Slughorn's eyes had Hermione incredibly worried. "This year, we're going to have a bit of inter-house parternership. I'm going to pair you all up with someone in the opposite house, and each class, you will how a different partner from the opposite house, to encourage versatility."
Groans were heard throughout the classroom, and Slughorn cast a disapproving eye over the lot of them. "Now, now, quiet down, it won't be all that bad." He looked down at his list of students. "Now then, let's get started..." Hermione absentmindedly twirled a strand of hair around her finger as Slughorn listed off the names, mentally praying that she wasn't paired with Riddle.
"Tell me, Hermione," Jasper whispered when he was paired up with Harry. "Is your brother a git?"
"Only to me," she replied jokingly, and he threw her a fleeting grin.
"And Miss Macmillan, with Mr. Malfoy, if you please."
She sighed and stood, lifting her bag and moving to the table that was occupied by a blonde boy who was grinning disarmingly at her. As she sat down, he held out a hand. "Abraxas Malfoy at your service. Any service really, a shoulder to cry on, a study buddy...a good snog...I gotcha covered, babe," the last suggestion was accompanied by a suave wink, and Hermione felt her face turn very red as he brushed his lips across her knuckles.
"Erm...right...Hermione Macmillan," she murmured, looking down at her lap. He smirked.
"Ah, Harry's sister." She nodded. "Your brother's a laugh, fits right in with us slimy snakes." Hermione looked up, surprised, as Abraxas said that, surprised that an actual Slytherin didn't deny the stereotype.
"I can't say I'm surprised," she grinned, looking over at Harry, who quirked an eyebrow and then smirked at Abraxas, who grinned.
"Right, well, I'll get the stuff."
Hermione nodded and started the cauldron, brewing it to the exact temperature that it said in the book. Abraxas returned with the ingredients, asking only once if she needed help, in which she replied that she prefered to work alone, a fact that he seemed content with. As she worked, Abraxas conversed easily with her, and Hermione found that he was a lot more easy-going and good-natured than his grandson. Hermione realized she actually had met a Slytherin that she genuinely liked.
As Slughorn came around, looking at each tables potions, he stopped at theirs, eyes wide. "My, my, my, Miss Macmillan! It appears you've got quite the knack for Potions. Perhaps, Miss Macmillan, if you're free on Thursday, I hold the occasional get together, special students, of course. I'd be very pleased if you joined us."
"I'd be honoured, sir," she replied, smiling brightly, while inside she was internally groaning. Harry gave here a taunting glance, that is, until Slughorn came over and told him he'd be welcome, as well.
As Hermione left the classroom, Harry and some of his Slytherin friends fell into step with her, one of which she recognized as Abraxas and the others that she identified as Niles Lestrange and Edward Burke. "Do we have to go to his stupid slug club thingie?"
Hermione smirked, striding ahead of his, and over her shoulder she called back simply in a singsong voice, "Kar-ma!"
Abraxas snickered and Harry glared after her. "Man, your sisters a babe."
Harry narrowed his eyes at him, and Abraxas just shook his head, grinning. "So you going to dueling club Friday night, mate?"
Harry grimaced, thinking of the last time he had been in a dueling club, in second year with Professor arrogant toad. All the same, Harry figured it would be a good way to stretch his wand legs.
"Yeah, probably. Don't know how I'll do though," Harry said, faking modesty, and Abraxas clapped him on the back.
"You can't be too shabby if your parents were aurors. They must've taught you something."
Harry nodded, but tensed as he felt a darker presence near him. Tom had fallen into step with Abraxas. Abraxas, however, turned and nodded friendlily at the newcomer.
"How's it going, Tom? Did you have fun working with Kirkland?" Harry saw the smallest smirk at the corner of Abraxas's mouth. Apparently, it was common knowledge that Tom and Lionel didn't get along.
"Abraxas, I suggest you don't waste your sarcasm on me," he grumbled. "I'm in a foul mood. I swear, some of those Ravenclaw's are as bad as the Gryffindors."
Harry tensed his jaw, hearing his firm, domineering voice that the others boys seemed to instantly agree with. He hated seeing him walking there, mere feet away from him, with all the confidence in the world.
"Nothing against your sister, of course, Macmillan," he added, glancing at Harry. There gazes locked, and Harry nodded slowly, swallowing the urge to take those few extra steps and throttle the man. Spotting a freckly, gangly, redhaired figure ahead, Harry called,
"Oi, Ronniekins!" he bellowed, and Ron turned, blinking, but his eyes narrowed when he saw who it was. The boys snickered when Ron actually responded to the name. The gangly boy towered over them as they approached, however, and their chuckles were cut short.
"I told you not to call me that," he grumbled, swatting at Harry's head, and Harry ducked, reaching up to pinch Ron's cheek.
"Oh, does it bother ickle Ronniekins?" Ron growled and and Harry scampered out of the way, dodging Ron's attacks. As he waved to the boy, and fell back in step with the Slytherin's, Edward arched an eyebrows.
"So you're friends with the Ravenclaws and the Gryffindors?"
Harry shrugged. "Well, Hermione is my sister, and we've known Ron since we were toddlers, so..."
"Typical Gryffindor," Niles smirked. "To have red hair. Did you know Godric himself was a redhead?"
"Yeah, Hermione told me," Harry said, remembering the lecture Hermione had given him on all the founder's appearances. "Apparently he wasn't the smartest fellow, either."
"Doesn't really surprise you, does it?" Niles shrugged. "I mean, Gryffindor was known for being an amazing dueler, for bravery and recklessness. Hufflepuff was known for being loyal, but I also heard she was a bit of ditzy blonde."
Abraxas scowled at this. "Why, whenever someone says ditzy, do they need to compare it to blondeness?"
"Because generally, when someone is a ditz, they're blonde," Harry pointed out mockingly. "And Helga was blonde."
"Ravenclaw was known for being all smart and stuff, and a ridiculous amount of curiosity. Slytherin was just..." Niles stopped, thinking of an appropriate word.
"Slytherin." The four boys said simutaneously, and even Riddle smirked.
Thursday evening found Harry and Hermione making their way down the long hall that led to Slughorns office. Harry complained the whole way there about having to go, and Hermione was a second away from hexing him before Slughorn opened the door, ushering them in. Hermione took her seat at the table, Harry on her right and Lionel, who waved friendlily at her, on her left. Abraxas Malfoy smirked at her from on the other side of Harry.
"Well, now that everyone's assembled, shall we begin?" Food appeared on the table in front of them, and the boys on either side of Hermione began to eat greedily.
"Pig," she muttered to Harry, who grinnned cheekily at her.
"What did you get in for?" asked Lionel, rolling his eyes as Slughorn continued to bombard a Hufflepuff boy with questions.
"Apparently I've got 'a knack for potions', Hermione replied, grimacing. "But I have a feeling that's not his only motive."
And indeed, it wasn't, Hermione realized as the night wore on. Slughorn stood up, clearing his throat to get the attention of the rest of the table. On his right, Hermione realized, was Tom Riddle, and just as she was about to look away, he caught her eye. She held the gaze, even though she felt like screaming in absolute terror, and when he finally looked away, Hermione felt relief wash over her.
"Since this is the first meeting of the year, some of you might not know each other, so why don't we start with some introductions." He first put a hand on Tom's shoulder, smiling down at him proudly. "This, ladies and gentleman, is Tom Riddle, resident headboy and, in my opinion, most brilliant student Hogwarts has ever taught." He beamed down at Tom, and Tom smiled charismatically at him. "Next to Tom, here, we have..."
Hermione zoned out as he introduced person after person, who were, in some way, spectacular. She snapped back to reality when he said the name Lydia Greengrass, who was next to Lionel, and found her piercing eyes on her.
"Miss Greengrass here, has many prominent family members in the Ministry of Magic. Her mother is a tomb raider, and raids the lands where the darkest wizards and witches have roamed, and her father, rest is soul, was the head auror in Egypt." Lydia said nothing throughout this speech; her dark eyes flickered around the room, taking in everything, and Hermione realized that she was annoyed, with Slughorn or some else, though, she didn't know.
"And this, my friends, in Lionel Kirkland, son of the famous beater, and captain of the Falmouth Falcons, Telemachus 'Iron-hand' Kirkland. Lionel's father also was the inventor of the Falmouth Falcon's club motto..." He trailed off, lightly smacking the back of Lionel's head.
Lionel sighed and recited, "Let us win, but if we cannot win, let us break a few heads."
Several of the rowdy Gryffindors at the end of the table began to shout and cheer. "Go Falcons!" a boy that Hermione identified as Jack Weasley shouted.
Slughorn chuckled, and then moved so that he was standing between she and Harry, and hand on either of their shoulders. Hermione swallowed as all the attention suddenly shifted to them. "So Mr. and Miss Macmillan, Hogwarts newest arrivals. I understand that you joined our family because of your parents death?"
"Yes, sir," Harry said softly, and Hermione was proud to see his face shift into a miserable expression. Slughorn patted his shoulder, and Hermione barely resisted sniggering.
"So, Miss Macmillan, you have quite the talent in Potions, I've observed, and, according to your records, you're just as efficient in every other class as well. In fact, it seems as though our head boy will have quite the competition this year. Tom rarely ever has competition!"
Swallowing her fear, she looked directly at Tom and smirked. "Yes, well that will have to change, won't it?" He arched a single eyebrow at her, and she held his gaze, her eyes narrowing ever so slightly. Slughorn was looking between the two of them with excitement glistening in his eyes.
"Well, well, well, this year will be most interesting." He moved on to the next person, but Tom held her gaze, and Hermione saw a flicker of irritation in his eyes and her smirk widened. She gave him a condescending look that clearly said, It's on, Riddle.
And on it was.
Hermione stepped out of Slughorn's office feeling rather fatigued. "God, I'm glad that's over." Hermione nodded in agreement and smiled as Lionel fell into step with them.
"Isn't he exhausting?" Lionel muttered in agitation. "To think I've been going to that club since my third year, too."
Hermione grinned cheekily up at him. "You're just too nice to say no."
He smirked down at her, eyebrows raised, and Hermione thought at that moment that he looked very Slytherin. "'Nice' isn't exactly the right word, Miss Macmillan."
She waved to Harry as they passed the dungeons and she and Lionel continued up the Ravenclaw common room in silence. "You and Riddle will be at each other's necks, I suppose, if you're really as brilliant as Slughorn says you are."
It was Hermione's turn to smirk as she looked up at him slyly. "Oh, trust me, I am."
He raised in eyebrows in surprise. "Cocky, aren't we?"
"Only when I have a reason to be."
She waved to Lionel as he disappeared into his respective dormitory, and Hermione walked up her own stairs, sinking tiredly into her bed, and she fell asleep, fully dressed.