Thanks to the two guest who reviewed, and also to Kazetoame. In answer to your question, yes it would be better or more ideal if they went back earlier, but I needed them to have been through the war in order to spur them onto looking for a final last ditch attempt at saving people, as otherwise they'd just focus on trying to kill him in the present day. Because of this they would be seventeen and almost eighteen (if not already eighteen). There's a chance they could pass off as a sixth or seventh year at a push, but not somebody from an earlier year. They could have used a spell or potion to appear younger but A. The potion which strengthened the potency of such may have made this dangerous in the beginning, and B. there is always the chance something could go wrong, (for example like when Barty Crouch Jr used this idea in Goblet of Fire).
Anyway, hope that helped.
I'm introducing Tom as a POV character now in this chapter, however I probably won't use his POV as much as Hermione's, only when it's necessary.
Anyway, here you go, hope you enjoy it. x
After the feast Hermione and Harry and Hermione hung back to follow Tom and the fellow Slytherin prefect (a tall girl with her hair pulled back into one long braid and an expression reminiscent of Snape in its glare) as they directed first years to the common rooms.
Hermione caught Harry looking almost longingly at the Gryffindor table across the room which was also emptying slowly. Knowing instantly how he felt, she offered him a smile as they began to file out of the hall.
When they had walked into the hall with Dumbledore, it was to discover the ceremony had in fact only just finished, so the Headmaster of the time had simply told them to hurry along and come and be sorted now so they could eat. Harry had gone first, the hat hardly paused in declaring him a Slytherin, it was something it had always wanted after all, and now Harry was not resisting it, probably even hoping as it would give them a better chance at succeeding.
Hermione waited until he was sat down at the Slytherin table (where applause had erupted as he had been declared one of them) before placing the hat on her head. She'd grown a lot since she last wore it, and it no longer obscured all her vision. It still smelt like the same old unwashed leather though she thought grimly as it began to talk to her.
"Another person I have sorted before, tell me Miss Granger, are you going to tell me where you want to be put as well?" It asked in a somewhat amused tone, however before she could respond it had simply shouted out "SLYTHERIN!" to the rest of the hall and she eagerly took the hat off, replacing it on the stool and blushing as she took her seat beside Harry on her new house table.
The first time she had been sorted the hat had been torn between Ravenclaw and Slytherin, but had eventually settled on Gryffindor owing to what the hat described as a thirst to prove herself and the courage to do so. Naturally she wondered how this had suddenly changed and she'd been sorted into what was dubbed the complete opposite of Gryffindor. Slytherins could be brave of course, but they would favour the chance to save themselves in a complicated situation. Realising this, Hermione felt that her and Harry's desire to save themselves from the dark world and pain of the future was what had made them Slytherin. The fact they were planning to trick Riddle into learning to love and become his friends (thus stopping his main problem at the root) also contributed to the famous Slytherin trait of being cunning also.
Forcing herself back to the present in case she continued up to the Gryffindor tower out of habit, Hermione sped up to catch the end of the first years who were staring around them in awe as they passed portraits. Some of the more confident ones waved cheerfully to the pictures who watched them as they passed, whereas others simply watched them warily.
"This is entrance to the Slytherin common room," Hermione heard Tom say, causing her to pay fuller attention now so as to catch the password, "You'll need to know the password to gain access, tonight it is 'anguis', but it will be changed this weekend so you'll need to pay attention."
"There will be a sign put up on the noticeboard before it is changed." The other prefect added, though she did not look pleased about having to assist.
"And I thought it was just the Riddle charm on the train!" Harry muttered under his breath, causing Hermione to giggle, not helped when Tom Riddle glared across the room at them.
"Slytherin charm." She whispered back to Harry, biting her lip to keep from laughing as they all walked into the middle of the common room.
Harry had been in here before in their second year with Ron to interrogate Malfoy, so he did not seem too interested in what the new room looked like. Hermione however had never set foot into another House Common room before and was looking all around, her eyes darting from one thing to another in order to take it all in as quickly as possible.
She gathered they must be under the lake as the entire room had an almost green water like quality which shimmered on the dark stone walls. Just like in the Gryffindor common room, the Slytherins had chosen to proudly display their house colours on almost every surface. The walls had embroidered tapestries in shades of green depicting various scenes throughout history, and the portraits hung on the walls featured stern looking Professors all dressed in similar colours. There was a fireplace in the centre of the largest wall, but no squashy armchairs surrounded it.
"Girls dormitory is down to the left, boys up to your right." Tom told everybody, offering them what seemed to be a smile, though Hermione wasn't sure as it didn't truly reach his eyes.
"You two," he called next, striding over to where Hermione had drifted towards the bookshelves by the window and had been peering at the titles, "Same direction but you'll have to carry on a bit further along the corridors till you reach the sixth year dorms."
"Cool, well…" Harry began, stretching, "I'm going to bed." He announced, nodding at Tom before turning to Hermione, "Don't stay up reading too late Mione."
Hermione simply glared at him as he left, flipping him off from behind, forgetting for a moment where she was. Of course, she was instantly reminded when she caught Tom staring at her in shock. Grinning somewhat nervously up at him, she attempted to distract him with the books.
"Are we allowed to borrow them?" she questioned, waving a hand at the shelves behind her.
"Yes." He told her, moving in closer, causing her breath to hitch somewhat (although she didn't want to admit it). Looking down at her in confusion he reached out and plucked a book from the shelf somewhere close to her ear. Letting out a breath she did not realise she had been holding, Hermione hastily stepped away from him slightly and turned to choose a book herself whilst wondering what had come over her. Unfortunately this meant she missed the smirk on his face as he made to walk towards his own dormitory.
TOM POV:
"Care to explain what took you so long?" Tom whispered into the seemingly empty dark, although he knew full well exactly who was lurking in the shadows.
"Apologies My Lord, we were ju-"
"I do not care for your excuses," Tom interrupted, flicking his wand in the direction of the voice causing whoever was there to whimper quietly as they stepped forward.
"It will not happen again." They promised.
Satisfied, Tom turned to address the room at large.
"I have a new task for you all to perform." He told them, pausing to allow this to sink in before continuing, "Hopefully you were not all too stupid that you did not notice the two transfer students." A series of mumbled acknowledgements took place and he waited for them to die down before getting to the heart of what he wanted them to do.
"I want to know everything you can find out about them, at our next meeting I hope to hear a detailed report from all of you."
For a moment there was silence as everybody in the room processed what he was asking of them and finally one person spoke up. Abraxas Malfoy, his pale blonde hair glinting in the dimly lit circle they were all stood around.
"My Lord… Forgive me but why, may I ask, do we need to know about them?" Tom remained mute, wanting to hear what else he had to say. Seeming to take the lack of response for consideration of his thoughts, the fool continued, "Wouldn't it be more…prudent for us to continue our search for the-"
"I do believe I made what I think prudent right now very clear Malfoy." Tom hissed in the warning tone he often found himself having to use with these people. It was the tone which warned them to remain silent and do his will if they knew what was good for them.
After this, there was a noticeable shift in the room as the others began to feed him back the reports he had asked of them last time. It would seem Dumbledore, the old fool, was just as suspicious of him as ever and the other Professors were right where he wanted them.
At the end of the meeting, Tom stood up and restored the room to how it had been before they'd used it and returned swiftly to his dormitory. His status as a prefect was very useful for his late night meetings, it gave him the permission to be seen wandering the school at night past curfew without questions being asked. The excuse of performing his "rounds" washed with any teacher except Dumbledore of course. For this reason he still took care to avoid as many people as possible in the corridors late at night lest the old codger receive news he was prowling the school after curfew.
When he made it back to the common room, he spotted that new transfer girl, Hermione, still reading by the book shelf, sitting in a cross-legged position and appearing fascinated by the large book she currently held.
She was plain to look at really, he thought, the only remarkable thing about her being the somewhat wild mane of hair which currently hung over her face so he could not see her expression. He was intrigued by her and her cousin Harry, they claimed to be from another school, but not once had they mentioned its name. They also seemed too familiar with the building and had not stopped to ogle in awe at the moving stairs or portraits like so many of the other stupid first years they'd walked down here with. Then there was her over confidence, her vulgar gesture to her cousin. Occasionally he'd caught that Harry staring at him almost sadly, or like he expected him to snap like he was a loose cannon. At first he'd thought he was imagining it, but he'd caught these glances too many times. It was like being with Dumbledore. They would smile at you and act friendly enough, but there was a continual underlying feeling of distrust and horror which they seemed to be trying to hide form him. This would maybe work on some other idiot in the castle, but he was no mere idiot and was accomplished enough at Occlumency himself to recognise somebody else trying to cover things up.
Coming back down to earth, Tom saw Hermione looking up at him in confusion from her spot on the floor. Cursing himself for how this must look and how stupid he'd been getting caught up in his thoughts like that, he nodded at her and made to walk off.
"Where have you been?" She demanded, quickly getting to her feet, closing the book.
He should hex her for that, he would not have hesitated if one of his death eaters had addressed him in such a manner. Scratch that, he'd probably kill them. He couldn't kill her yet though, he needed to get to the bottom of what her and her cousin were doing here first. This would be significantly harder if they were dead.
"I had rounds to do. The first night always brings an excess of frivolity for the Gryffindors." He told her instead, which she seemed to accept.
"Oh well… I…" She seemed to struggle for words, spluttering for a while before finally shaking her head, "Goodnight then." She managed, offering him a final smile before leaving him alone as she passed him on the way to the dormitory.