CHAPTER FOUR

'Firs' years over 'ere! Firs' years this way!'

It was a familiar voice that took Hermione by surprise and almost had her running up to the half-giant to greet him like she normally would. As soon as she had taken a step in his direction, though, she came back to herself and remembered where she was. She stood stock still on the platform at Hogsmeade Station and tried to figure out what to do. Was she supposed to go with Hagrid and cross the lake by boat? Should she walk down the path to the carriages that were pulled by the Thestrals? She just didn't know what to do and the thought left her a bit cold. Since this was supposed to be her first trip to the school, Hermione once again began to walk toward the booming voice of Rubeus Hagrid. Before she got too far, a hand came down on her shoulder and a small boy with lanky black hair skidded around her, almost knocking her rucksack from her hand.

'Excuse me,' the boy said, and Hermione made to reply, but he was gone. She instead turned her attention to the owner of the hand that was placed possessively on her right shoulder. Once again she was met with the searing gaze of Lucius Malfoy.

'Mr. Malfoy,' she began. 'Is there something I can help you with?'

He chuckled, a sound she was fully surprised by. 'I meant to ask you the same question, Miss…'

He left the statement hanging and she knew that he was trying to get a name from her. She and Dumbledore had discussed this, knew that people would want a name from her, but at this exact moment, that conversation completely failed her.

'Granger,' she replied. 'Hermione Granger.' She mentally kicked herself as soon as she said the name, but it was too late to worry about it. Now she just needed to remember to talk to the headmaster before he did any introductions. It wouldn't do for him to call her…what was the name they had decided on again? She couldn't remember. Either way, the hole was dug. She had introduced herself as Hermione Granger so she needed to stick with it.

It would be easier this way, she rationalized to herself. When attempting to spin a lie like this, it was best to stick as close to the truth as possible so you don't mess up when recounting the details. Besides, she had planned on keeping to herself as much as possible. She would keep her head (and hand) down in class, would stay to the corners of her common room, and enjoy the privacy of both her bed and the library as much as she could. There were some people in her year back in the nineties who would try to convince her to make the most of her situation, but she wasn't having any of it. Hermione needed to get through this with as little impact on the world around her as possible.

'Well, Miss Granger, you appear to be a bit lost. It is custom that new students take the boats across the lake, but I don't suppose you're too keen on riding in a boat with a bunch of eleven year olds, now are you?' She shook her head and he continued. 'Come. I shall show you the way to the carriages.'

Hermione noticed that he did not offer his arm to her like she almost expected him to. Instead he simply walked a half step in front of her, matching her pace while still obviously leading her in the correct direction. Once they made it to the carriages, Hermione immediately noticed the lack of horses pulling them and began to ponder the lifespan of Thestrals. A subtle clearing of a throat alerted her to the fact that she had been standing, staring blankly at the space where she knew the Thestral to be. She shook her head and climbed into the carriage, joining not only Lucius Malfoy, but two other boys who also appeared to be in Slytherin. Noting to herself that no introductions were made, she turned her attention to the passing foliage that marked the road to Hogwarts.

The journey to the castle was made in almost complete silence; the only sound to be heard was the crunch of the wheels against rock. Hermione never once looked at her carriage mates, fearing that she would once more be confronted with Death Eaters from her time. Instead, she stared up at the school and noted a lone figure standing as if a sentinel in front of the main entrance. When they stopped at the base of the steps, she climbed down and immediately made her way to the man she now recognized as Albus Dumbledore. Just as he was opening his mouth to speak, no doubt to address her by the alias Jane Something-or-other that they had decided upon, she shot him a warning look before shifting her eyes to the Slytherin boys ascending the steps behind her. Fortunately for Hermione, the headmaster seemed to understand the meaning of her look and offered a simple greeting to the boys who all acknowledged him with a mere nod of their heads as they entered the castle. Once they were out of earshot, Hermione turned to the professor.

'Oh sir,' she began, 'I'm so happy that you didn't say anything. I was so afraid that I wouldn't reach you before any formal introductions were made. It's horrible, but I was completely blindsided by him! Never did I ever –'

Dumbledore cut her off. 'Now calm down. What is so horrible that has you going on like a mad woman?'

She took a deep breath to calm herself before speaking. 'I sat down and tried to think of everyone I knew in my time but I forgot to account for –' She managed to stop herself just in time, remembering that she really shouldn't be speaking about the things she knew. Instead, Hermione managed to rework her wording as she addressed the headmaster once again. 'Seeing Lucius Malfoy caught me off guard and I was so flustered that I gave him my real name.'

'Well, I can see how that would have been a problem then. Fortunately, I feel that it is for the best. After all, it would require some explanation should someone call for you and you didn't answer. When telling a lie, sometimes it is best to stick with some truths.'

Hermione smiled at the older man, having already reached the same conclusion, and allowed him to lead her into the Great Hall. They walked up the center aisle and stopped in front of a rickety stool adorned with what Hermione knew to be the Sorting Hat. She took a deep breath just as the doors opened again and the first-year students came in. Once they all reached the front, the hat came to life and began to sing.

Once in a room so long ago
Four friends laid down a plan
To educate those who were young
In the old ways of the land.

Brave Gryffindor had said he would
Teach those who fearless were
While Hufflepuff with a good heart
Took the loyal onto her.

Wise Ravenclaw would instruct those
Whose intelligence was best
While Slytherin, the cunning one,
Put the purest to the test.

With groundwork now laid down for them
The four began the task
Of building an institution for those
In which learning they could bask.

While looking at a weathered hat
A decision then was made
To pour their knowledge into me
And to sort I then was bade.

That day was now so long ago
But my task remains the same.
So step on up and put me on
Now when you hear your name!

Hermione shook her head a bit at the Sorting Hat's song. During her years in school, she had heard a few of them, and it still didn't cease to amaze her how many different ways one hat could tell the same story. Then again, what else did it have to do but sit about and think up songs? Harry had told her at the end of their second year that the hat was kept on a shelf in the headmaster's office, so perhaps it would also converse with the old wizard. Even that, though, was probably not enough to keep it fully occupied.

She was roused from her musings by the sound of Professor Dumbledore's voice addressing the school as a whole and recounting just a small bit of her story. Warmth spread across her cheeks, as she was mildly embarrassed by all the attention. Fortunately for her, he didn't linger on words. Instead, he merely gave her name and a very brief history before bidding her to sit on the stool in order to be sorted.

'Hmm,' the hat began. 'Very interesting. A lot of intelligence here. Bravery, too. You have loyalties to those you most care about and you would do anything for someone you consider family, but yet you seem to be out of your time here. Your past is no longer your future and while Ravenclaw would be a good fit for your mind, your other attributes would be lost there. SLYTHERIN!'

The word took what felt like an eternity to process in her brain. Slytherin? She had to have misheard, but the mild applause coming from her right let her knowing that she hadn't. Standing slowly, unsure her legs would hold her up properly, she forced a small smile onto her face and made her way toward the noise. Hermione took a seat at the open end of the table and attempted to calm her racing heart. Her eyes itched to wander the Great Hall and take in the young faces of those she would come to know as adults, but she knew that she couldn't allow it. There were more pressing matters to deal with. As it was, it took every bit of will power she had not to react to the Sorting Ceremony going on in front of her. Every few names, or so it seemed, one would be announced that would draw her attention from the spot on the wall she was staring at.

Sirius Black. Lily Evans. Remus Lupin. Peter Pettigrew. James Potter. Severus Snape.

There were others that she wondered about, mostly those sorted into either Gryffindor or Slytherin. How many of the new Gryffindor's would grow up to lose a loved one or even lose their own lives in the fight against You Know Who? How many of the Slytherin's now seated to her left at the end of the table would join the ranks of the Death Eaters, destined to commit atrocities against Muggles and Muggleborns? Looking at all the fresh-faced children who had just been sorted into their new Houses, Hermione found herself in a melancholy mood, pondering their fates and thinking about how many wouldn't live to see that fateful Halloween night in Godric's Hollow.

Thinking about the future sent a jolt of fear through her. Here she was sitting amongst ghosts, wondering what was to become of most of them when the reality of her own situation came crashing down around her. She had used a time turner to get here and she knew the rules. What she didn't know was how she was supposed to keep them. Aside from approaching Dumbledore and removing herself from school only to hide away at the Leaky Cauldron or someplace similar while awaiting the Unspeakables, she had no idea what to do. The logical side of her brain said that she would simply keep to the edges, stay in the shadows and try to talk as little as possible. That would have to be her course of action. However, the moment her current housemates learned of her blood status, everything would change. She would no longer be safe.

As the food materialized onto the table in front of her, Hermione realized just how upset her Sorting had gotten her; she had no appetite. She knew that she had to eat something, lest she wake in the middle of the night starving. Nipping off to the kitchens on what was supposed to be her first night at this school would look rather suspicious. Forcing herself to eat, Hermione found herself lost in the thoughts of just how she could have come to be in Slytherin.

Dumbledore had told Harry that sometimes he thought the school sorted too soon. This led to a sobering thought about a man who Hermione realized was sitting at the end of the Gryffindor table, not that far from her, and the traitor he would become. A traitor, that was what Hermione herself felt like at that very moment. There she was seated at the Slytherin table when everything inside of her cried out for the sanctity of Gryffindor. It was where she belonged, where her dorm was, where her friends were… Only, her friends weren't here with her now. They were, for all she knew, still frozen in time back in the Department of Mysteries. Meanwhile, time was moving forward for her here in 1971 with no clue as to when she would return home. To her friends. To the battle.

Who was the Death Eater who had knocked her into the cabinet of Time Turners? Was he currently seated at the very same table she was? Had he already gone from Hogwarts? Was he still at home with his mum and dad? Once again it struck her that she was now sharing a House with people who would eventually find themselves in Azkaban, people who would perish by the wand of a member of the Order of the Phoenix, people who would murder, people who would murder her if the truth of her heritage got out.

It was in that moment, just as the dinner vanished in favor of dessert, that Hermione Granger vowed to keep to herself at all costs. She wouldn't talk to anyone and if anyone asked, she would simply say that she was concentrating on her studies as to not fail at her new school. Besides, if she didn't talk, then she wouldn't have to lie. Knowing what she did about Time Turners, she knew that there was a very real chance that she would have to remain on this timeline. If she was going to be stuck in the seventies, then she may as well continue on with her education. Learning did not mean one had to make friends and the facts in education did not require the cleverly crafted backstory that she and the headmaster had come up with. The one she had already partially blown by revealing her real name to a man who would come to know her some twenty plus years in his future. At any rate, there may be things taught in this time that were no longer part of the Hogwarts curriculum and any way she could get ahead in her learning was fine by her. As long as she didn't have to sit through that joke of a Divination course.

While contemplating her possible course load, a short, bald wizard with a rather distinctive strawberry mustache streaked with silver, plopped down on the bench beside her. He rustled about in a small stack of parchments before withdrawing one and turning to her with a smile.

'Miss Granger! I'm Professor Slughorn. I teach Potions here at Hogwarts and I am also Head of Slytherin House. I've come to deliver your timetable for this year. Now, as I was informed by Headmaster Dumbledore, your abilities are more than adequate for this particular schedule, but I can't help but wonder about your plans for the future. What is it you want to do after your schooling is finished?'

Hermione stared at him for a long moment, trying and failing to form words. The truth of the matter was that she wasn't quite sure. Harry and Ron had decided to go the Auror route, providing their O.W.L.'s were decent enough, and she knew instinctively that if she weren't close to them, they would most likely wind up killing themselves. This was all contingent on one thing, of course, and that was the downfall of a wizard who, in this time, was still rising to power. Until he was gone, there was really no point in going after a true career, as her place would always be with Harry, fighting alongside him until the very end. Whatever that end may be.

With the lack of a solid answer, she spoke the most idyllic opportunity her mind could come up with. 'Well, Professor, I would really love to get into Magical Law or possibly Magical Law Enforcement. I don't want to be an Auror, but I know that there are many opportunities out there for researchers and I know that I could really make a difference, help write new laws, help reform and repeal unneeded or outdated ones.'

'How very ambitious of you, dear girl! Well, everything seems to be in order with your class assignments. Your Slytherin Seventh year Prefects are Andromeda Black and Lucius Malfoy, so if you should need anything, they can assist you. Andromeda will show you to your room, but it would appear that Lucius shares most of your classes. They can help you acclimate to life here and can answer any questions you may have. If what Albus has said of your intelligence is true, I'll wager you and young Mr. Malfoy will become a force to be reckoned with in class.' He handed her the timetable and made to stand. 'Now, if you'll excuse me, I do have other students to see. I look forward to seeing you in Potions tomorrow!'

Working with Lucius Malfoy? Wouldn't that be amusing. The thought alone was beginning to give her a headache.