Deepening the plot

Sophia decides what goals to shoot for, a broomstick ride, Rowle has fun at Sophia's expense.

A/N: excerpt from chapter one

"We must change your appearance." Snape.

"Who am I going to be, though?" Granger

"You can either be Rowle's sister or my daughter." Snape.

"What do you want to name me?" Granger.

"Sophia Snape." Snape.

Sophia's entire background is a COVER STORY! This is mentioned quite a few times! In order to stick close to Rowle, she HAS to be bad enough at a subject that he can mentor her in, POTIONS!

A/N: rant over. I hope this clears up my huge 'plot hole' and why 'Hermione' seems to have forgotten herself!

As she sat in the stands cheering Thorfinn on after writing the opening paragraph, Sophia was trying to figure out what she was supposed to do. She didn't have any reason to change anything and there was no unfinished business to straighten out: as she'd told them, those were the main two reasons for going back in time. So why, why had she been pulled out of her own time, why? As she thought back on the day, she was struck by a brilliant idea, one that had already been started by Pansy Parkinson and the other girls!

Her first year, she'd been so uptight and prissy that anything less than perfect had simply horrified her! This had caused everyone to push her away, labeling her as 'insufferable and know it all'. It had also led to her not having any friends. By the time she'd calmed down enough to really start enjoying school, the only two friends she'd had were the boy who lived and his redheaded friend. And THAT was only after she'd kept them out of trouble with the teachers! She hadn't really had any female friends until Ginny showed up and she took her under her wing.

She had doubts about her plan working. But she had to try. SOMETHING had to work, she needed to be back in her own time! Harry needed her! So, she simply decided to have fun while she was here. She basically knew everything they were already going to be learning! And she had to stay close to Rowle and Snape anyway. If being bad at Potions was how she needed to stay close to Rowle, then she could absolutely do her worst.

Yaxley and Dolohov were bonus's she hadn't really thought about. They were obviously his best friends, which meant they would be around him a lot. If she wanted to rant about her other self to him, she'd best be prepared for those two to laugh at her performances as well!

Since she was in the dungeons and couldn't very well make friends with the Gryffindor girls, she decided to do the next best thing: make friends with the Slytherins! She found it completely ironic that the Slytherins were making the Mudblood feel so welcome, although nobody but Rowle and Snape knew who she really was.

Now she could relax. She had several goals to work toward: making friends with Theo, making friends with Pansy and the others and keeping just enough of a bad grade in Potions that she didn't lose her 'mentor', Rowle. She even laughed and giggled every time Pansy teased her about the boy. Well, he was gorgeous, she hadn't been lying about that. And she could admit that, even in her own time, she'd always had just a tiny bit of a crush on him! Part of why she'd always ratted him and Becky out was just plain jealousy! The rest of the times, when he'd been by himself, breaking the rules, had been a childish desire for him to notice HER in return. Of course, she'd known she was too young for him but still it had only slightly stopped her from daydreaming about him. After all, it wasn't like he'd ever notice HER! She was a Gryffindor, a bookworm and a stickler for the rules!

As the Quidditch practice drew to an end, she was surprised by Rowle flying over and swooping her onto the broom in front of him. "Rowle! What are you doing? Put me down, I'm afraid of heights!" she squealed. Hanging onto his arms, her eyes tightly closed, she screamed as he flew out over the Black Lake. Rowle laughed in delight as he hugged the girl close. He LOVED flying! He loved it even more when he had someone in front of him, even if it was a little firstie! He slowed down and told her to open her eyes.

"Look, there! Did you see it?" he softly asked, pointing at the surface of the lake.

"See what?" she asked curiously.

"The giant squid. You can see her ever so often, gliding just below the surface. There! Did you see her that time?" he exclaimed.

"Oh, l did! That's the giant squid?" she wondered in delight. She'd always thought they had made up a story about there being a giant squid in the Black Lake. Apparently, it was a true story! They glided along for a while longer, watching the squid. At one point, it was like the squid noticed them and started racing Rowle. Finally it was time for them to return to the castle for dinner. He reached down and glided his hand through the water. As he rose up, a tentacle came up out of the water and seemed to wave at them.

"See that? She's telling us good bye." Rowle whispered quietly. She couldn't get over how reverent he was toward the giant creature. She kept an eye on the squid until they had flown out of range.

"So, you're afraid of heights, sweetie? You have flying lessons coming up soon, you know." She could feel him chuckling in amusement behind her.

"Yes, Thorfinn, I'm aware of that. Believe me, you, Yaxley and Dolohov will be laughing at me again fairly soon!" Sophia's lips quirked in amusement at herself. "Fair warning, flying lessons was the only subject I failed in my original first year as well!"

He lit down just outside the doors and dismounted, setting her on her feet beside him. He had just enough time to run down, shower, change and be back in time for dinner. "I'll see you soon."

She nodded and headed to the library. As she walked in, Pansy, Daphne and Tracy waved her over, holding up her bag. She quickly joined them, noticing that Granger, Potter and Weasley were about three tables away from them. Granger was glaring at her. She almost burst out laughing, right there in the library! Never in her life would she have ever imagined being jealous of herself!

"Where did you and Rowle go?" Pansy asked teasingly. Daphne and Tracy were giggling. Sophia hid her face shyly with her hands.

"He took me for a ride across the lake. He wanted to show me the giant squid. She actually raced him a little bit!" Sophia exclaimed excitedly. The girls kept laughing and giggling as they did their homework. Then they packed up and prepared to go to dinner. Sophia made sure to keep her Potions work near the top of her bag.

They met the soon to be Trio at the door of the library. Before Granger could say a word, Sophia spoke first. "You'll be happy to know, Granger, most of my homework is now complete, thank you so much for asking!" and walked out before she could reply. Ron curled his lip at her and she made a mental note to ask Rowle if he'd be kind enough to stick Weasley to a wall some time! The mental picture of that thought was enough to amuse her all the way to the Great Hall.

"Now what has caused that devious little smile, firstie?" Rowle asked as soon as she sat down.

"Just another run in with Granger and her boys. What would it take to get you to stick Weasley to a wall, like you did me this morning?" she questioned him.

"Depends. If your opening paragraph is passable, I'll stick him to the wall tomorrow. BUT, you have to stay with me while I'm in detention. Dumbledore doesn't take too kindly to me messing with his baby Gryffindors." He was pleased to see she had a bit of a mischievous streak in her. He hadn't known that!

"So, every time you messed with me? In my original first year?" she was shocked.

"I would imagine that, yes, I probably got detention for messing with you. That would be in addition to whatever detentions I got for you ratting me out. Did you rat me out a lot that year?" as they were relatively by themselves at the moment, he had no problem getting a few answers from her.

"That depends." She cringed.

"On what?" he looked at her, grinning wickedly.

"On how bad you're going to torture me if I tell you." She tried to get out of answering.

He threw his head back and laughed. 'Clever girl! She knew him too well!' Since she was in the Slytherins dorms now, instead of Gryffindor Tower, out of his reach, he would have to change her punishments accordingly! "You have to know I'll be sticking you to the wall some more. That's my trademark move! It isn't just you, I stick all the first years to the wall at some point. I don't touch the baby Gryffs anymore than I have to, because of the Headmaster. But I might have to torment you in the halls, as well." He winked at her. She smiled weakly at him.

She glanced towards the teachers table and was surprised when she noticed not only Snape monitoring her but Dumbledore as well. He hadn't had much contact with her, aside from rescuing her from the wall that morning. She was actually thankful for that as she wasn't as comfortable with him as Harry was.

Just then, she and Rowle were joined by the rest of the Quidditch team. As the first years were slightly further down the table, she prepared to slide down and join them. She was stopped by Rowle, pulling her back down. "Did I give you permission to leave, firstie? You still haven't shown me that opening paragraph yet." She noticed Dolohov and Yaxley suppressing their laughter across the table. Glancing at him, she saw his lips twitching, like he was one snigger away from laughing, too.

Resigning herself to eating with the Quidditch team, she looked down the table, meeting Pansy's eyes. "Sorry." She mouthed, pointing over her shoulder. Pansy shook her head, smiling. 'Anyone with eyes could see Rowle was fond of her.' Daphne and Tracy were as excited for her as Pansy was. Draco and Theo, on the other hand, were both glaring jealously at Rowle.

Rowle, of course, knew he was playing with fire. For one thing, the girl wasn't from his time. Eventually she'd do whatever it was she'd been sent here for and she'd be gone again! For another, even if she was from his time, he couldn't touch her anyway, she was a first year, for Merlin's sake! 'That didn't mean he couldn't have some fun with her while she was here, though. It just meant he'd have to watch how far he went!'

Unaware of the direction Rowle's thoughts had taken him, Sophia pulled the parchment out of her bag." Did you want to read it now?"

"No, lay it down and eat. I'll look at it when I'm done." He ordered.

She obediently put it down between their plates and began to eat. Never having been a big eater, she only took a small portion of food onto her plate. Watching her push around what little food she'd taken, Rowle could see where she'd easily start missing meals if not watched closely. He made a note to himself to make sure her little girlfriends knew to make her eat when he wasn't there to monitor her. When he'd finished his meal, he picked up the parchment. She'd made a fairly big start. From overhearing Draco and the other first years' complaints about her alter ego, he'd thought she'd be unable to even slightly mess up a homework assignment. To his surprise, she'd messed it up quite nicely. She'd made just enough errors that her 'dad' would definitely be calling her a dunderhead! He smiled as he summoned her quill and began marking her 'mistakes'.

"When we get back to the common room, you can redo this." He commented casually.

She nodded absently as she was looking around the hall. Her first year, she'd not taken the time to look around and see where the other first years had ended up at. She'd been too busying yakking with Percy Weasley about which classes were the best ones to take. She now saw Parvati and Lavender, sitting beside Granger and remembered they had tried a couple of times to speak to her that year. They had finally given up when it became clear Granger was there strictly to learn. She shook her head, so many lost opportunities, if she just hadn't been so obsessed with proving herself!

When dinner was over, the students exited the hall to either return to the library or go to their dorms. She started after Pansy and Daphne, only to be pulled back by Rowle. "Uh, uh, firstie, Potions homework, remember?"

"Oh, come on, Rowle! Can't I do it tomorrow? Please?" Sophia begged. Rowle chuckled.

"Nope, because I might not have time tomorrow to look it over. If I don't check it before you go to your next class, my Head of House will have both our heads on a platter." He leaned down and grinned menacingly. "There are only two things I take seriously here, Potions and Quidditch. One or both is going to be my career once I leave here. Mentoring you is going to make that even more possible. Homework, darling, NOW!"

She gulped and obediently trotted after him. She'd never realized he took his Potions studies this seriously. In a show of solidarity, Pansy and Daphne also went to the dorms to do homework. Rowle graciously allowed them to share the couch with him and Sophia. Dolohov and Yaxley watched in increasing amusement as Rowle made Sophia rewrite her opening paragraph three more times. The last time, he seemed fairly pleased, until he flipped it into the fireplace and set it on fire! "Rowle!" Sophia cried in dismay. "That was the best one!"

Rowle looked up at the ceiling as he rolled his eyes, almost laughing at the girl. "Oops, so it was. Do it again." His friends were biting their knuckles to keep from laughing again! By now, Pansy and Daphne had also caught on. Rowle was playing with her, seeing how far he could push her! Sophia, her mouth set stubbornly, started writing furiously and almost threw the parchment at him when she finished.

Rowle took one look at it and burst out laughing. "Oh, firstie!" he crooned, "I didn't know you loved me that much!" Sophia bared her teeth at him in a caricature of a grin. "Yes, it's all for you, my big strong hero!"

He began chuckling as he read the 'essay' out loud. "I HATE Thorfinn Rowle! Thorfinn Rowle is a big bully! Thorfinn Rowle can stick himself to the ceiling of the Great Hall! Thorfinn Rowle can go slow dance with the giant squid! Thorfinn Rowle can fly his broomstick headfirst into the Whomping Willow! Last but not least, Thorfinn Rowle can knock himself in the head with his own Beaters bat!"

The essay proved to be the last straw for Yaxley and Dolohov, who jumped up and ran of the common room, screaming with laughter once again. Thorfinn, himself, was almost in tears and choking with laughter. He pulled Sophia close once more as he died laughing. "Oh, sweet little firstie, I'll definitely be keeping this copy!"

Sophia, seeing that her angry little essay hadn't affected him as much as she'd thought it would, resigned herself to yet again rewriting her essay. This time, though, she went ahead and wrote the whole six inches. If he really wasn't going to have time the next day to check it over, then it was best to go ahead and get it over with now.

She took great care while writing it this time. It needed to be just good enough to get a good grade but not enough to get her usual high grade. After all, she wasn't Hermione Granger at the moment. She was Sophia Snape. She took long enough writing it that everyone else had already gone to bed.

She and Thorfinn were the only ones left and he had actually fallen asleep, waiting for her. She took a moment to inspect him before she woke him up. She'd never really looked closely at him. Of course, she'd also never been near him while he was asleep either. His hair, which she'd always thought of as golden blonde, was really more of a darkish blonde. He had clean cut features with sharply arched eyebrows. He was just old enough now that he appeared to have the faintest hint of a beard and moustache about to start. She hesitantly reached out and poked him in the shoulder. "Rowle? Rowle, wake up. I'm done with my essay now."

He frowned and swatted at her, "Not yet, mum. Not time for the train!" Sophia sniggered as she listened to him. Evidently, he was a heavy sleeper!

She went closer to him and actually laid her hand on his cheek this time. He reached up and his eyes fluttered open. "Sophia? What-?"

She smiled. "Sorry. I took too long finishing my essay. I didn't really want to wake you up. You looked too peaceful."

He rubbed his eyes, then smiled. "I'll look it over, then we both need to lay down. Big day for you. Flying lessons." She rolled her eyes. 'Ugh, he just had to remind her of THAT particular disaster!' After declaring the essay passable, Thorfinn tugged her close and pecked her gently on the cheek. "Sweet dreams, firstie!" they went up the steps to the dorms, then went their separate ways.

Present time

Thorfinn Rowle woke up from a sweet dream of kissing Hermione Granger on the cheek and sending her on her way. It was yet another memory he was building up around the girl. He laid there for a while, then made up his mind. At this point, there was only one logical conclusion he could see happening in their combined future. He jumped up, showered, dressed and ran out before Dolohov and Yaxley even knew he was awake! He came back later with two packages, one large and one very small. Before they could ask, he had the stuff stowed away and was asking if they were ready to go out meandering around town, see if there was any gossip floating around outside the school.

They went to Honeydukes and browsed around for a while. Thorfinn found himself buying a package of Sugar Quills and Ice Mice, even though he'd never eaten them before. 'This had to be Granger's influence'. He remembered following her and the redhead into Hogsmeade one time, probably the first time, as Potter hadn't been granted permission. He remembered passing the boy, while Potter was attempting to get his Head of House to sign his permission slip.

From Honeydukes, they went to Quality Quidditch Supplies, looking at the broomstick and restocking some of their own dwindling supplies. He actually found one of his jerseys and promptly bought it to add to his mysterious earlier purchase. After that, Yaxley and Dolohov went to the joke shop and he found himself drawn to the bookshop. Here, he found a price of merchandise apparently geared toward his fan base, although he couldn't remember agreeing to this particular endorsement. Then again, his agent now handled most of his endorsement offers and may have agreed in his stead. It was a diary, with a picture of him in his Ballycastle Bats uniform on the front. The team's season schedule was on the back.

While he stood there, staring at the diary, he absently put his hand into the inner pocket of his traveling robe. This was one of his older robes, one he hadn't worn much after leaving Hogwarts. He felt something and frowned. He pulled it out and it was a very worn piece of parchment. Remembering the dream he'd woken up with this morning, he had a feeling this parchment was somehow connected. He swallowed and unfolded it. He needed to find Cory and Tony! They needed to see Snape, now!

On impulse, he decided he needed to get the diary for her. As much as she loved reading and writing, she'd love this, he thought, even if it did have him on it. He bought the diary and two Transfiguration books he found on the way up to pay.

The bell over the door jingled as he finished his purchase. He looked up and narrowed his eyes. It was Weasley and Potter. They had noticed him as well. "Rowle." Potter nodded his head. Weasley tried to puff himself up but faltered as he got close and realized exactly how much bigger Rowle still was! Rowle inclined his head. "Potter." He smiled dangerously at Ron, his eyes dark and malicious. Ron quickly walked to the other side of the store.

Just as he was about to leave, he heard someone call his name. "Rowle?" It was Potter. He turned to look at the boy.

"You, you haven't seen Hermione lately, have you?" the boy's hopeful tone of voice seriously caused Rowle to wish he could give the boy an affirmative answer. "No." he said, short and sweet. He didn't think the boy would have appreciated the answer 'only in my dreams!'

He walked into the street just in time to meet Cory and Tony. "Come on, we got to see Snape, now!" he set off for the castle at a fast walk. As long legged as they were, Cory and Tony were still having trouble keeping up with Thorfinn. They wondered what had happened now. He must have gotten new memoirs of the girl!

Thorfinn boldly shoved the doors opened and strode to the teachers table. He stopped directly in front of Snape. "We need to talk. NOW!" the professor looked at the other two, who shook their heads. They had no clue. He got up and strode out the side door. By the time he'd made it to the door of his office, Thorfinn was already there, glaring at every student who dared look at him. The four went into the office. He warded for sound and even locked his Floo.

"Thor?" he looked at the young man.

Thor held out a slip of worn parchment. "She, she's in-." he swallowed hard. "What are the usual reasons for going back in time, sir?" Cory and Tony frowned. 'What kind of question was that?'

Snape, however, didn't seem surprised by the question. "To fix something that has gone wrong or change the past hoping it will improve the future. Why?"

"What happens when a person is yanked back with neither of those goals in mind, sir?" he looked at the teacher with sorrowful eyes, dreading the answer.

Shape drew a deep breath. "I'm not sure. They would have to find something to change, I'm almost positive."

"How long could that take?" Thorfinn asked one last question before he actually released the parchment he'd held out to the teacher.

"There's no telling, Mr. Rowle. It would, I imagine, depend on what the person finds TO change." Snape was positive, whatever was on this parchment, he wasn't going to like it.

"She, she's, I, I think, sir, she's really in the past." He finally let go and allowed Snape to open the parchment. He closed his eyes and shook his head.

"Um, could the two of you maybe let US in on the joke, sir, Thorfinn?" Cory asked. Tony nodded in agreement.

"Mr. Rowle, would you care to read what's written here?" Snape asked him quietly. Thorfinn didn't even have to take the sheet back. He recited as if from memory. "I hate Thorfinn Rowle! Thorfinn Rowle is a big bully! Thorfinn Rowle can stick himself to the ceiling of the Great Hall! Thorfinn Rowle can go slow dance with the giant squid! Thorfinn Rowle can fly his broomstick headfirst into the Whomping Willow! Last but not least, Thorfinn Rowle can hit himself in the head with his own Beaters bat!"