OH MY GOSH GUYS FIRST OF ALL I AM SOOOOO SOOOOO SORRY THAT I HAVE NOT UPDATED IN SUCH A LONG TIME! I FEEL SO BAD!
I want to thank you all for your kind reviews, I'm kinda lazy to mention everyone now because I really want to get this thing posted after such a long wait for everybody. I REALLY hope you will review.
Since I will no longer have school starting Wednesday, I will be able to tend to my stories! FINALLY! UGH
REMINDER IMPORTANT TO READ: I really believe that people will have forgotten by now. Harry, Hermione and Ron technically are not transfers. Dumbledore altered everyone's memories to make pretend that Harry, Hermione and Ron attended Hogwarts during that decade, since Hogwarts does not accept transfer students (that's what bothers me a lot about some stories I read).
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, how many times do I have to say it.
Chapter 6
The breeze was crisp in the fresh autumn air. The multi-colored leaves dropped down from their trees. Those colors were beautiful and the piles of the leaves kept growing larger by the minute. The Hogwarts carriages brought Hermione, Harry and Ron towards the wizarding village of Hogsmeade. It was the first Hogsmeade trip of the year, and even though the three arrived in Hogsmeade when they came into this time period, they were curious to see how much it had changed from their years of attending Hogwarts.
Two other younger Gryffindors were in the carriage with them, and Harry attempted a conversation with them, but they merely nodded at what he said, so he just gave up. Ron was just happy that he could finally go to Honeydukes and stock up with some more candy. Hermione was just looking forward to spending a good time with her friends, especially with all the burdens on their shoulders, it was nice to have a day to have fun.
The carriages slowed to a stop and the Gryffindors quickly rushed out of the carriage. Hermione drew in the fresh fall air and smiled joyfully. Harry grabbed her arm and dragged her along with him. Ron followed them and Hermione grabbed a hold of his hand, causing Ron to grin widely.
The hurried towards Zonko's which they had previously agreed to hit up first, if it existed during this time, which luckily, it in fact did. They opened the door of the store and entered as they were greeted with weird, loud noises and a honk in straight their faces. Luckily to the store owners, it caused them merriment.
Harry let go of Hermione's hand and went to retrieve some Dungbombs he had wanted to purchase. Hermione knew that he was scheming to possibly tick Riddle off. Ron remained his hold on Hermione's other hand and he smiled down at her, which caused her to blush. It was sweet of him to do so, yet she did not think of him in that way, but…
"C'mon Hermione, I wanted to get some Nose-Biting Teacups to set on some of the Slytherins at breakfast." Hermione laughed at this and she ran along with him and he kept his hold on her hand. They searched through the biting teacups and they picked their favorite ones. Hermione personally liked the teacups with a green trim on top. They obviously did not like her, since they were persistently trying to bite her nose off.
Harry soon caught up to them with his Dungbombs and they bought the products from the clerk. After this, they headed towards Honeydukes and bought as many candies as possible. Harry had dared Ron to try a Cockroach Cluster, and it appeared that Ron had swallowed his vomit.
They left Honeydukes with their bags full of assorted chocolates and other candies. They were on their way to the Three Broomsticks. Hermione walked in between her two best friends and they were so close to the Three Broomsticks when Hermione saw Mary McLean with two of the other girls who share her dorm.
Mary looked at her and mouthed, 'Bitch." Hermione was taken aback, how could this girl seem to hate her so much. The girl was nasty, rude, and horrible to her and many others. Hermione realized she did not care in the slightest and she decided to just ignore Mary for now on.
She sighed and hurried with Harry and Ron into the warm and cozy pub. She recognized some students in the pub and the three decided to sit down at one of the nearby booths. Harry volunteered to get them all some of the pub's famous Butterbeers and Hermione and Ron sat down next to each other in the booth. Harry soon returned with their drinks, so they just drank and talked about classes and the weirdness of having a younger, auburn-haired Dumbledore among them instead of the older one with grey hair.
Suddenly a girl slid in besides Harry, opposite of Hermione and Ron.
"Hi Harry! Hi Harry! Hi Hermione! Hi Ron," The girl shrieked, but she said, hi Ron, very dully. Her glasses bobbled on her head, and Hermione inwardly groaned, it was Myrtle.
"Hi Myrtle," Harry said drearly. Myrtle had made goo-goo eyes at him, which Harry seemed disgusted at. Hermione strongly disliked that Dumbledore made Myrtle think that they were her best-friends or something like that. Of course, the girl is known by them to die by the basilisk this year. Perhaps he had hoped they would protect her.
"So Harry, I was wondering, if maybe that you want to go to Madam Puddifoot's with me, just me," Myrtle asked hopefully.
"Oh, sorry Myrtle," he quickly replied, "I-."
"DON'T WANT TO!" Myrtle yelled with her eyes filling with large tears and the whole pub turned to stare at the four students. Myrtle stood straight up and banged her feet on the ground repeatedly.
"OF COURSE, WHO WOULD WANT TO GO BE WITH STUPID, HORRIBLE, UGLY, MYRTLE!" She cried and she ran straight out of the bar, and Harry's cheeks grew red from all the stares and laughter he was directly receiving.
"Very nice performance," a voice declared, and they soon realized that it was Draco's grandfather, Abraxas who had stood up and walked towards their booth.
"Shove off Malfoy," Ron snapped.
"Oh, no way to treat a fellow student, or should I be saying that to Evans," Abraxas retorted snootily.
"It's not my fault the girl has emotional issues, I didn't even finish my sentence," Harry countered.
Abraxas simply laughed heartily at that and he gave a wink to Hermione who returned to him a look of pure disgust.
"C'mon Abraxas, you don't need to waste your time with Gryffindors," another Slytherin called out. Hermione realized it was Mulciber, from the Death Eater meeting a few weeks ago. Abraxas continued his laughter on his way towards his friends, where Riddle was noticeably absent.
"Slimy git," Ron muttered to his friends.
"Like father like son," Harry commented, and the three of them laughed. They then noticed that Abraxas sent them a look of hatred, and Hermione returned the wink from before, only causing Abraxas to glare at them more hatefully. They chatted amicably until they finished their beverages.
Then Ron turned to Hermione, "Hey, Hermione, do you want to go by the Shrieking Shack with me?"
"There is no Shrieking Shack Ron, it was built for Lupin because of his furry condition, and anyway, I don't want to leave Harry alone-."
"Nah, it's alright, I'll try to find Myrtle and apologize without her exploding again," Harry said and Hermione noticed him giving Ron the slight, wingman nod. She did not like where this was going, but if she turned Ron down that would not be good for their friendship.
"I meant, where the Shrieking Shack will be," Ron recovered and he looked hopeful.
"Fine then, I'll go. Good luck Harry," Hermione responded regretfully. She shoved her hands in her jacket pockets to prevent Ron from grabbing it, and they left the pub together.
The wind blew on their faces as they walked silently. Students were playing in the streets, others looking through windows at the store's products, and many were simply milling around. Multi-colored leaves were floating everywhere, pumpkins with creepy faces were laid out in the streets, cats were walking around and Hermione just loved it. Ron led her to the hill where the Shrieking Shack will eventually be built. He laid down in the soft grass as he beckoned her to sit next to him, and so she did.
"You know, uh, Hermione, well I don't know how long we will be in this time or what will happen to us in the future, so I just gotta say this," Ron started. Hermione knew that this was not going to turn out well for either of them and that Ron had obviously planned this ordeal out. "I may have hated you when we were younger before we became friends and stuff, but ."
"What?" Hermione inquired as Ron had babbled at the end of what he had just said. She had understood a bit of the last part he said.
He sighed and calmly uttered, "I said, I like you more than friends."
Hermione was stunned to say the least. She never knew that Ron would be so blunt about it. It was just like he was not giving her a choice about this. That was proven as he shoved his face right to hers and kissed her softly on the lips without any warning. She waited until he was done and did not dare kiss him back. She had wanted it to feel right. No she needed it to feel right. She had wanted to be with Ron fourth and fifth year, but times changed. She had grown away from that feeling over the summer, and it seemed he stole it from her. The spark was not there anymore to her. So, she did not wish to give him the notion that she felt the same way.
"That was sweet Ron," she said as he drew back smiling happily, and she quickly spat out, "But, I just don't feel the same way and I don't want you thinking I do and you end up getting hurt. It's just I've always thought of you as a brother and I don't want to ruin that for us."
"Hermione, you don't have to make any excuses, I get it," Ron said with a sad smile.
"No Ron, I love you, I do, but like a brother-sister type of way," Hermione said reassuringly. "You will find that one girl one day. Parvati Patil told me last year that Lavender seems to like you."
"Hermione it's okay, let's just find Harry. He probably needs up now anyway," Ron said as he began to shuffle away from her and she speedily caught up with him. They walked in pure silence as they sought for Harry.
XXX
Tom Riddle trekked the grounds of Hogsmeade, he had no need for socialization like his Knights, all he needed to do was pick up some new quills. Everyone around him seemed to be having a grand time, but he believed they were insolent fools.
He was walking back towards the castle when he saw Hermione Wilson and Ron Griffiths perched on one of the small hills.
'Pathetic Gryffindors," he thought in his head.
Then, Griffiths kissed Wilson desperately, and Riddle scoffed at the girl's reaction and the boy's somber demeanor. Of course, Riddle did not like what he saw just then. No one has a right to mess with Wilson. He shook his head away from that thought, did he really think that. He barely knows this girl. He closed his eyes for a second and walked away and back to the castle where he had to finish his Charms homework.
XXX
"LOOK I KNOW YOU HATE ME, JUST GO AWAY HARRY! But of course, if you do want to go to Madam Puddifoot's with me…." Hermione and Ron heard Myrtle shriek crazily as they approached the streets of Hogsmeade outside of the Post Office.
"Myrtle, calm down," Harry said consolingly, "It's just I can't, I'm here with Ron and Hermione."
"OH! THEN WHERE ARE THEY! I CERTAINLY DON'T SEE THEM ANYWHERE!" Myrtle yelled viciously and she gave Harry a reproachful glare.
"Right there!" He said happily as he pointed at his friends. Hermione could see relief pour all over his face. Myrtle's lip pouted and it shook wildly as she began to weep into her hands. Harry rolled his eyes as he uncomfortably placed a hand on her shoulder and patted it.
"GO AWAY!" Myrtle cried and she stormed away from Harry.
"Well," Ron said, surprisingly cheerfully, "That's the end of her associating with us. Good job mate."
"Ron!" Hermione scolded, "Harry, what happened?"
"Well I tried to apologize and she went ballistic on me. She's not much different from the Myrtle back home," Harry stated and the three of them laughed together. Soon, they decided to head back to the castle and enjoy the rest of the day in the common room, and possibly ask Dumbledore a few questions.
XXX
Tom stalked into the library by his lonesome. He looked to see who was in the library, and only two other Ravenclaws were milling at a nearby table. He then approached a bookshelf and saw that two Hufflepuffs were making out in the Defense Against the Dark Arts section, and he looked at it snidely, it was absolutely revolting. The two Hufflepuffs were sucking on each other's lips so much that they did not even notice him.
Tom headed towards the Charms section of the Library to get a book for his homework. That section was at the far end of the library, just before the Restricted Section. He went by the section when he heard crying. He smirked at that person's pain. He walked down the aisle of books and he saw that it had been Hermione Wilson who was crying her eyes out. She looked up and saw him, and abruptly stop weeping, but started sniffling.
"Wilson," he stated impassively as he searched through the books next to him.
"Riddle," she returned as she wiped her face.
"Crying huh," he said ignoring her face. "Now what would make a person like you cry?"
Hermione did not reply and she ignored Riddle as she stood up from her spot in order to trudge away from the nasty boy.
"I asked you a question, Wilson," Riddle sneered.
"It's none of your business Riddle," she retorted.
"Oh I think I know though," he said calmly and fear struck Hermione's core. He could not know, he must be lying she reassured herself. "Well, I saw him kiss you. Is such a simple thing bothering the girl who's second-in-class to me."
"Excuse me," Hermione said with surprise filling her. It was utterly foolish that he would actually believe she was crying over a little kiss. Sure, she upset Ron, and did not feel too good about it, but she would never cry over it. It was just a kiss.
"You heard me," he snapped back.
"I would not cry over such a juvenile thing like that," she sniffed as she continued to wipe her eyes.
"Really? Now that's something that's hard for me to believe," Riddle responded, appearing with fake shock gleaming his sculpted features. Hermione rolled her eyes at his antics.
She began to finally walk away when he spoke again, "Oh and you are not telling anyone about, well you know," Riddle then walked right up behind her, brushed a few hairs out of the way, and said his final words that uttered out like a ghost on her neck, "our little secret."
Hermione found that she could not move a muscle. A shiver ran through her body smoothly as his breath tickled her neck and the way he stroked her hair, it felt loving, and Hermione knew that it was fake, he was playing her. Yet, she could not help herself from falling right into it. Then he spoke again into her ear, "Or there will be some dire consequences."
He then brusquely ceased his actions and he walked away from her and back to the bookshelf. If only Hermione actually knew as to what Riddle was referring to.
XXX
"Professor Dumbledore!" Ron called, announcing their presence in the Transfiguration teacher's office.
"Ah, Mr. Griffiths, or should I say Mr. Weasley, come in and, ah, Hermione, Harry please come in too. Close the door behind you if you don't mind." The three students entered and Harry closed the door behind him.
"Now, what do you wish to tell me?" Dumbledore asked.
Hermione spoke up first, "Professor, it's just, well, Riddle has been constantly bothering me about this occurrence that happened last year. It's just I have absolutely no idea what it is, and it has truly been pestering me. Only Hadrien Lupin I know, knows, and I can't just very well ask him what it is, or he will think me to be an idiot, nor can I with Riddle. As you changed everyone's memories to include us, you must know. I know you would not tell us before, but it is strictly imperative that we are informed of this"
She purposely left out the part where she specifically saw Riddle plan to strike with his Death Eaters. She could handle him alone, she, Harry and Ron only needed the one answer from Dumbledore.
"Unfortunately, I cannot tell you three," Dumbledore sighed.
"Why not!" Ron and Harry yelled at the same time. It did not unnerve Dumbledore in the slightest.
"Me and my older self worked together to change the memories. I did not reveal that before to you I don't believe. My older self was the one who specifically asked to change a few of the student's memories, including Mr. Riddle. So, I assume I did not mention it to you, did I leave you anything at all that could lead you to an answer, I have been known to do that," he responded with a twinkle in his eyes and an engaging smile.
"Well, no, we've searched everything," Harry replied somberly.
"Why didn't you tell us that before?" Ron demanded!
"Then, I'm sure you will find out soon, and Mr. Weasley, simply because I was a tad embarrassed that I did not know," Dumbledore reassured them. Ron groaned openly and Dumbledore raised his eyebrows at him, and Ron gave him an apologetic look.
"Thank you sir," Hermione uttered out and the three of them walked out of the office without a second glance. Ron shut the office door behind him and all of them moaned together.
"What are we going to do?" Hermione cried. "This is hopeless!"
Ron looked around the hallways, and when he was positive no one was around he spoke, "Let's just kill him tonight, and go home, happily ever after."
"No we can't," Harry said sadly.
"I agree," Hermione responded. "We can't just very well kill him now when he's sleeping, we have to do it stealthily, wait a while. We have to get close to him in order to do so. If we kill him now, in the open, who says we won't get locked in Azkaban or that his followers won't just kill us in revenge for their 'master'."
"Right," Ron groaned angrily. "So what do we do?"
"We wait," Hermione simply said.
Thank you guys for reading!
Please review and story alert.
Possibly in your review you can tell me what you think happened last year. Maybe you are right, maybe you are wrong.
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I LOVE YOU ALL!
-Simply Paranoia
