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Chapter 6 - Gossiping and Trolls
The next morning, Hermione was the first one to wake. The curtains were pulled shut around two of the beds and she could hear the faint sound of rhythmic breathing as the other two girls slept. The dormitory wasn't fully lit, but through the window Hermione could see that the sun was slightly visible as it peaked over the horizon into the pink morning sky. Hermione silently dressed, trying not wake Lily or Mary, and left for breakfast with her school bag slung over her shoulder.
It was still early and the Great Hall was very quiet. Only a few small groups of people were there and they were spread across the four long tables, all looking very tired. Hermione sat down towards the middle of the Gryffindor table, away from any of the groups. She guessed that most people must still be asleep.
Lazily, she scooped up some eggs but just ended up pushing them around her plate. She didn't feel like eating. Glancing upwards, at the ceiling, she saw that the sun still had barely risen but she was pleased to see that it was a clear day. There was nothing more depressing than having the first day of class on a miserable day. Then again, having the first day of class being stuck twenty years in the past seemed pretty awful. At least it wasn't raining.
Hermione continued to mindlessly play with her food while more and more students made their way to breakfast. She wasn't as lucky as the day before; people had started to notice her. They stared and whispered to each other, wondering who she was. She was obviously the main topic of discussion that morning. It was a chain reaction; the whisperers didn't seem to make an attempt to hide their gossiping, causing more people to follow their glances towards her. It was as if she were on display. Hermione suddenly realized this must have been how Harry always felt.
Feeling her cheeks turning red, she looked down at her plate and tried to make her messy brown hair hide her face from view. It obviously wasn't effective because a moment later she could see the feet of two people stopped in front of her.
She looked up to see Lily and Mary standing on the other side of the table.
"Can we join you?" smiled Lily. Her auburn hair was pulled out of her face with a headband making her green eyes seem even brighter.
"Sure," said Hermione automatically. She didn't really want company, but she had no idea how to turn the two girls away without sounding rude.
"You were asleep when we got back last night and then we woke up this morning to find you gone," said Lily as she buttered a piece of toast.
"Yes, I woke up early and didn't want to disturb you guys so I just came straight to breakfast," shrugged Hermione, trying to sound casual.
"How was your first night at Hogwarts?" asked Mary. Her hair seemed more golden under the bewitched sky than it did in the candlelit dormitory the previous night.
"Oh, it wasn't my first night," said Hermione.
"It wasn't?" asked Mary tilting her head to the side.
"No, I stayed here during the summer to take the O.W.L."
"You were here alone? That sounds dreadfully boring if you ask me," said Mary.
"It was but I didn't have much of a choice," stated Hermione.
Suddenly, hundreds of Owls swooped into the room and dropped letters and packages to their owners. Hermione half expected to see an owl carrying her copy of the Daily Prophet before remembering that she wouldn't have a subscription in 1976.
At that moment, Professor McGonagall was going up and down the Gryffindor table handing out class schedules. A loud groan came from both James and Sirius down the table as they looked down at the parchment that they were each handed.
McGonagall had just reached the three girls and handed them their schedules and Hermione glanced at it curiously. At first she didn't understand why the boys had groaned. The only class they had that morning was Transfiguration with the Hufflepuffs but as her eyes slid down the paper she saw why. After lunch they had potions with the Slytherins.
"Yes!" Lily looked up, beaming. "Our first class is Transfigurations!"
"That's her favorite class," smiled Mary. Lily did a small sort of dance in her seat and Hermione couldn't help but grin.
"Transfigurations should be everyone's favorite class!" said Lily. "You'll love it too, Hermione."
Mary was still looking at her schedule. "Potions shouldn't be that bad. I wish we had it we had it with the Hufflepuffs though…"
"Oh, stop it, Mary," said Lily rolling her eyes, but she was smiling. "It'll be fine."
The eggs that Hermione had been playing with were now cold, so she pushed them to the side and grabbed a banana muffin instead; she didn't have much of an appetite. She nibbled on it as Lily and Mary ate their breakfasts.
"We should get going," said Mary, standing up after they had finished eating. "I refuse to be late on the first day. McGonagall would skin us. You coming, Hermione?"
The three girls made their way out of the Great Hall. Hermione stayed a step behind Mary and Lily, who were chatting casually. She was feeling awkward and like a third wheel. It didn't help that she kept remembering that Lily was Harry's mother. Every time she looked her in the eyes she was given that reminder. Something about it always felt wrong.
When they reached the Transfiguration classroom, most of the students were already there. Eyes fell on Hermione and the students began to whisper to each other like they had at breakfast. She tried her best to ignore them as she took a seat next to Lily. Luckily for Hermione, Professor McGonagall demanded respect in her classroom, and the moment she stood up to begin teaching, silence fell and the class seemed to forget about Hermione. From that moment on, the class went by smoothly with only the occasional glance in her direction.
Lunch was the opposite. News must have already spread about Hermione being a new student because as soon as she and Mary walked into the Great Hall peoples' heads turned. Unlike breakfast, it wasn't just a few people looking. It seemed to be everyone. Hermione held her nose up high and tried to ignore the lot of them.
Lily had disappeared right after Transfigurations. She had promised she would meet a friend outside of their class and have lunch with them, so it was just Hermione and Mary. Not long after they sat down, a group of Hufflepuff girls called Mary over to sit with them.
"Do you mind, Hermione?" asked Mary nervously as she glanced over at the other girls.
"No, go sit with them, it's fine."
"Are you sure? I could stay, or you could come sit with us."
"No really, Mary, I'll be fine. Please, go sit with your friends," smiled Hermione.
Mary gave Hermione a quick smile before crossing the Hall and joining her friends. Hermione welcomed the peace and quiet. When she was alone, she was able to pretend she was still in her time. The Great Hall was still the Great Hall and the food seemed to be the same. She would just have to concentrate on those things. No one was there to remind her that she was trapped in the past. Not James' face looking like Harry's, not Lily's eyes, not—
"Dawson!" called a voice.
At first, Hermione ignored the voice, until she remembered that she was Dawson now. At least her surname was. The voice called out again and Hermione jumped a little and looked around trying to find the owner.
To her surprise, the voice had come from Sirius. He was sitting just a little further down the table staring at Hermione with a broad grin on his face. The other Marauders sat around him. Lupin and Peter both were staring politely at Hermione, but James' face was almost unreadable. Almost.
It was a look Hermione knew far too well. She had seen Harry with that exact expression many times whenever he felt as if something were out of place. She wanted nothing more than to run up and throw her arms around him, but she had to keep reminding herself that he wasn't Harry, even if he looked so much like him.
"Oi, Dawson!" Sirius called again, this time louder, causing more heads to turn and whispers to break out around the Hall.
James raised his eyebrow, just as he did last night, and Hermione realized she had just been staring at the four of them instead of responding.
"Y-yes?" Hermione choked out.
"Come sit over here. Remus here tells me you're new and I'm all about making people feel welcomed," said Sirius with a wink. Hermione looked at him in shock while Lupin sighed and shook his head.
"You'll have to excuse my dear friend Sirius. But you are welcome to join us, you don't have to sit alone, you know," said Lupin in a friendly tone. He looked at his friends, "You wouldn't mind, right guys?"
Peter shook his head vigorously showing that he was fine with it while James stayed silent.
"Well, I wouldn't mind," said Sirius with a wicked smirk. "Come on over!"
"I wouldn't want to intrude…" said Hermione. In reality, she thought it would be incredibly bizarre to be eating lunch with the younger versions of James Potter, Sirius Black, and Remus Lupin. Not to mention Peter…
"Nonsense," scoffed Sirius.
"No really, I'm fine where I am. I was about to do a bit of reading before our next class started anyway," said Hermione, reaching into her bag and pulling out one of her schoolbooks and holding it up to show him. "But thanks for the offer."
Sirius dramatically put his hand to his chest and pretended to be wounded while Lupin laughed.
"Sorry mate, guess she isn't that into you," he said to Sirius. He gave Hermione a smile and the boys returned their glances to each other.
The book she had pulled out was A Guide to Advanced Transfiguration. Maybe they'd think she was getting a head start on their homework. She flipped to a random chapter and stared down at the page, not really reading. She was more focused on listening to the private conversation the boys started having a few feet away.
"She seems nice…" said Peter quietly.
"She is nice, I told you that last night, remember? When I said I had spoken to her after the feast?" said Lupin.
"If she's so nice why didn't she come sit over here," pouted Sirius.
"It might be because you came on a little strong," said Lupin. "The girl just got here and you've already flirted with her."
"But no one can resist my charms!" replied Sirius.
"I have to agree with Padfoot on this one," said James quietly. Out of the corner of her eye, Hermione saw the three other boys stared at him in disbelief.
"Uh, James? I think Sirius might have been joking," Peter said slowly.
"That's because I was," said Sirius.
"I don't know," said James. He had dropped his voice even lower and Hermione was straining to listen. "Something about her doesn't seem right."
"What do you mean?" asked Sirius with a look of confusion.
"Look around you. How many transfers do you see? Hogwarts doesn't do transfer students."
"Well they obviously seem to do transfers now if she's here," replied Lupin, the corner of his lip twitching.
"I don't know…" said James. His hand went through his hair making it even messier. "Didn't you see how she was looking at us last night? It was like she'd seen a bloody ghost…"
"I think you need to calm down, mate," said Sirius. "She seems perfectly normal to me."
"What do you know about 'normal', Sirius?" smirked Lupin.
"That's rich come from the one with the furry little problem, aye Moony?" replied Sirius with an odd attempt to wiggle his eyebrows.
"Keep your voice down!" hissed Lupin.
Hermione tried her hardest not to turn and watch them. Still looking from the corner of her eye, she could see Lupin quickly checking his around him to make sure no one heard. No one had, except for Hermione, but she didn't really think it mattered since she already knew he was a werewolf. Of course, they didn't know she knew that.
"I'm still suspicious," said James crossing his arms.
"What on Earth are you suspicious of?" asked Sirius.
"She just seems so… comfortable here. It's the first day of classes and she's so relaxed. She didn't even seem frightened of McGonagall during Transfigurations! Everyone is frightened of McGonagall when they first meet her! Plus, she walks around here like she knows the castle," said James.
"McGonagall isn't as scary to us older students though, mate," said Sirius.
"And she did spend the summer here," Lupin reminded him. "She would have gotten comfortable staying here."
"You know what I mean, Remus," said James rolling his eyes. "It takes forever to know your way around here. Yet, she seems a hell of a lot more comfortable here than Wormtail does, and he's been here for the past five years."
"Hey!" squeaked Peter, his cheeks flared with color.
"Sorry Peter, you know what I mean," said James.
"James, it's only been a day," said Lupin.
"Plus she seems to be friendly with Evans. Evans wouldn't hang out with anyone she thought was up to no good. It's the main reason she refuses to date you," said Sirius.
James considered this for a moment before frowning and shaking his head. "I'm telling you, Hermione being here seems wrong. I don't trust it and I don't think you guys should trust her either. Not just yet."
Having heard enough, Hermione slammed her book shut and stood up from the table. Startled, the four boys' heads shot up and watched her as she stormed out of the Great Hall with her bag in tow.
"I think she heard you, mate," said a voice but she couldn't make out whether it had been Sirius or Lupin, nor did she care. It was like being back in her first year and hearing the awful things Ron would say about her to Harry. The only difference was that she doubted a giant troll would be set loose and get them to become friends.
Hermione walked alone to the Potions classroom in the Dungeons once the lunch period had ended. When she arrived she saw that everyone was split into partners and was sharing a cauldron. Towards the middle of the room she saw Mary waving her over to join her. It surprised her that Lily wasn't partnered with Mary, she wondered who Lily had joined.
After she sat down Hermione's eyes scanned the classroom and spotted a glimpse of dark red hair sitting at the last table in the front row. She seemed to be engrossed in a conversation with her partner.
In the chair next to Lily sat a pale looking boy with long, greasy, black hair and a hooked nose. Hermione's stomach seemed to drop. It was only a matter of time before she ran into young Snape, but she certainly did not expect to see him next to Lily. Hermione just stared. He seemed so much more vulnerable and youthful but there was still something about him that seemed like he'd be a bit of a git.
Almost as if he knew she was thinking about him, he turned to face her and his dark eyes pooled into her brown ones. His eyes didn't seem as dangerous as they would be but there was still something frightening about them. He turned and whispered something to Lily and she turned and saw Hermione. Her face broke into a grin and she waved. It was strange, Lily was like a glowing ball of light and Snape was… well, Snape…
On the other side of the room sat James. He was also staring at Snape and Lily but with a mixture of disgust and confusion. His eyes drifted to Hermione and his face softened. It was now Hermione's turn to raise an eyebrow at him but he turned away from her and looked down at his Potions textbook. She didn't have much of an opportunity to dwell on the situation because at that moment the professor walked into the room.
Potions was not nearly as bad as it had been in her time. It was actually quite enjoyable. Professor Slughorn seemed to be the opposite of Snape. Not just in appearance but in personality as well. Slughorn was probably around 5ft tall and he was incredibly fat. His bald head was shiny and seemed to reflect light from the torches, making his head look like it was glowing, and his great white mustache caused him to reassemble a walrus. However, he had a kind look in his eyes and seemed to genuinely enjoy teaching.
It was odd comparing him to Snape when the younger version of Snape was sitting only a few desks away. Hermione couldn't stop watching Lily and Snape working together throughout the class. She could have sworn she actually heard Lily giggle and saw a faint smile appear on Snape's thin lips. Was he the friend Lily went to have lunch with? Hermione wondered if Harry had any idea that the man that seemed to hate him so much was friends with his mother.
She had a feeling it was something that Harry would probably be better off not knowing.
Later that night, Hermione was curled up in her favorite squishy armchair by the roaring fireplace in the Gryffindor Common Room. It was almost 9pm and she had her Transfigurations textbook on her knees and was silently reading the chapter that had been assigned for homework.
The first day of classes must have taken its toll on many of the students because the Common Room was almost deserted. There was a small group of second years playing Wizard's chess at a table by the stairs but other than that, Hermione was alone.
Incoming voices were coming from the portrait hole, they seemed to be laughing. Seconds later, Lupin walked in followed by Sirius, James, and then Peter, barely making curfew. Lupin gave her a friendly wave while Sirius elbowed James and tilted his head in her direction. Their eyes met and James stopped walking.
"Hey, I'll meet you guys up there," said James to his friends.
"Alright, mate," said Sirius. He and Lupin immediately walked away but Peter hesitated, he seemed to want to stay with James.
"Go, Peter, I'll be right up," said James as Hermione slowly closed her book. Peter sighed and quickly wobbled away, trying to catch up with his friends.
"Do you need something, James?" asked Hermione trying to keep her tone neutral. She felt like a verbal attack was coming and she was not in the mood.
James sighed and walked closer to the armchair Hermione was sitting in.
"Look," said James, "I wanted to apologize."
Hermione gave him a hard stare. "Apologize for what?"
"You know… about what I said earlier in the Great Hall…" said James, glancing to the floor.
"Oh, the part where you said that me being here was strange and that I shouldn't be trusted?" asked Hermione, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah, that part," mumbled James still staring at the ground.
"Maybe I should apologize," started Hermione. "Obviously me just being here has threatened you in some way."
James looked back up and his hazel eyes narrowed. "Maybe you should apologize! For eavesdropping!"
"It isn't eavesdropping if I keep hearing my name come up in a conversation happening at the same table I happened to be sitting at, James," said Hermione, rolling her eyes.
It was taking all of Hermione's willpower not to just snap at James. She had to deal with an angsty Harry all of last year, she would not repeat the same thing with his father. As soon as that thought crossed her mind she realized how weird it sounded and she frowned.
"Well, you have to admit that you just showing up here is a little suspicious. Hogwarts doesn't just let new people in for their sixth year," said James.
"Maybe you could have asked me about why I was here instead of turning your friends against me. You don't even know me James," snapped Hermione. She pulled her legs out from under her and sat up straighter in her chair. "None of your friends seem to have a problem with me, why do you?"
James looked taken aback. "I just want to protect my friends!"
"From what? From me?" she had no idea what James was getting at.
"Yes, from you!" yelled James. The group of second years looked up and saw James getting pink in the face. They quickly scrambled to clean up their chessboard and then ran up the spiral staircase and out of sight.
"What do you possibly think I'm here to do, James?" demanded Hermione. She had stood up from her chair and was facing James. He was tall, almost the exact same height Harry was.
"I'm. Not. Sure." growled James. He huffed in frustration. "All I know is that you come here and you know your way around and you stare at us like you know us. I saw the look you gave us when you saw us last night. It was as if you recognized us. Then there was how you looked at Peter, like you despised him!"
Hermione willed herself not to turn pink. So she hadn't been as inconspicuous as she had thought. She would have to work on that. But she was still angry at all the unwarranted accusations.
"It was because you look like my best friend!" yelled Hermione. Tears were building in her eyes now and her vision was slightly blurred as she stared at James. "It startled me and it reminded me that I may not see him again for a very long time! Or my other friends! Haven't you thought about how hard all of this might be for me? I'm new here and, maybe you haven't noticed, I'm friendless! Sure, Mary and Lily talk to me but everyone already has their group of friends and then there's me, with nobody! You know me for one day and what do you go and do? You tell people that I shouldn't be trusted!"
Hermione was now very close to breaking down and sobbing. James seemed to notice this because he unclenched his fists and the anger in his face evaporated. He took a step forward, towards Hermione, and awkwardly extended his arm before letting it fall back down to his side.
"I'm… I'm sorry Hermione… It's just… bad things have been happening. These aren't the safest times and I don't know what I'd do if something happened to the people I care about," said James. His voice had gotten considerably softer. "I don't really know who to trust anymore."
"I'm not asking you to trust me, James. I barely know you. I'm just asking for you to give me a chance," Hermione said while wiping her eyes. She definitely understood where he was coming from.
There was a short pause where the two of them just stared at each other.
"You said I could ask you about why you came here, care to tell?" he asked softly.
"No," said Hermione. She gathered up her books in her arms and stuck her nose in the air. "I don't think you deserve it. Maybe some other time when you're being nicer."
She walked directly past James towards the spiral staircases. Sirius, Lupin, and Peter were all listening from the stairs to the boys' dormitories, and when they saw her coming they quickly scattered but Hermione pretended not to notice them. She got one last glimpse of James before she went into her dormitory. There was a satisfied look in his eyes and he had the smallest of smiles upon his lips.
Maybe that had been their troll after all.
A/N: I hope you guys liked this chapter. Don't forget to review if you get a chance. Let me know what you liked/disliked and what you think/want to happen later on in the story. Thanks for reading!
Also, I know I said there won't be any changes to the canon, and I'm well aware that Lily and Snape stopped being friends in their fifth year. This is the only change from original canon. Please bear with me with that, all will be explained soon.