1,716Author's Note: Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read or review this fic, and to everyone who has left a follow or a favourite. It is all so appreciated, and I love hearing your thoughts on the story :)
Thanks to LaBelladone x for her assistance.
Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Harry Potter franchise.
Hermione awoke from a restless sleep the next morning with a start, forgetting her surroundings for a moment. She felt as if she had spent most of the night laying awake. She sat up in bed and looked around before remembering everything that had occurred the day before. Her mind still spun at the idea that she had been transported a thousand years into the past for what appeared to be no reason.
The night before she had been so exhausted from the trials of the day she had fallen asleep almost the moment she had laid down. She realized now her dorm room in Ravenclaw Tower was very similar to the one she'd had in Gryffindor Tower with two significant exceptions: the colour scheme was blue and bronze rather than crimson and gold, and of course, her dorm mates were different.
Aside from Helena Ravenclaw, there were two other girls in Ravenclaw seventh year, neither of whom Hermione had had a chance to meet the night before. All three remained fast asleep.
Hermione rose and realized a new uniform, folded and pressed, had been placed atop the table at the foot of her bed sometime in the night. She dressed in silence, then made her way down the staircase into the common room.
Where the Gryffindor common room was luxurious and comforting, the Ravenclaw common room was light and airy. The room was round with large, arched windows which provided a spectacular view of the grounds; from her vantage point Hermione could see the Forbidden Forest and the Quidditch pitch.
The room was decorated with elaborate banners and tapestries in varying shades of blue and bronze and tall bookshelves conformed to the round walls.
Given it was still too early to venture to the Great Hall for breakfast, Hermione selected a book from one of the shelves and sunk into a soft armchair by the fire.
She found it difficult to focus, however, and was relieved when the first early-bird students began to trickle down into the common room and out of Ravenclaw Tower.
Stowing the book back into its place, Hermione made her way to the Great Hall to begin her first day in this new reality.
"Granger!" Malfoy hissed from the doorway of the Great Hall as Hermione walked towards the exit after she had finished her breakfast.
He looked irritable; his eyes were bloodshot and his hair disheveled. Hermione folded her arms, feeling her defenses rise out of instinct. He dragged her out of the main flow of student traffic, effectively forcing her to walk down the corridor with him.
"I didn't sleep last night," he prefaced, "hardly a wink."
"Neither did I," Hermione permitted, gnashing her lower lip. "It felt strange being in a different house. Let alone a different millennium."
While Ravenclaw Tower was certainly nice in its own way, Hermione had decided she wasn't all that fond of blue. But she supposed she had no choice but to give it a shot.
"Right," he grimaced. "And I've decided, that while I'm still annoyed with you –" Hermione rolled her eyes "– it will make the most sense if we try to work together to figure a way out of this mess. So for the time being, I propose we be… civil to one another."
"Civil is fine with me, Malfoy," Hermione said with a dismissive wave. "In case you hadn't noticed, I've been attempting to be civil all year."
"Sure," he said, clenching his jaw. "Anyways, did you happen to see who I sat beside at the feast last night?"
"I wasn't paying much attention," Hermione said. "I had rather a lot to deal with on my end."
"I thought he seemed familiar at first, but I couldn't imagine why. And then I realized," Malfoy paused, glancing at her conspiratorially. "It's the Bloody Baron."
Hermione felt the colour drain from her face and turned to him. "That makes sense, given that I sat with Helena Ravenclaw."
"Who?" Malfoy asked, looking confused.
"Ravenclaw's daughter – she's the Grey Lady at Hogwarts as we know it, the ghost of Ravenclaw house. I tried telling you the story just before we found the portal," Hermione reminded him. "I mean, presumably it's rational that they both attended Hogwarts sometime near its conception, but… that is so creepy."
"Extremely. So get this," Malfoy stated, running a hand through his pale hair. "The Bloody Baron wasn't a Baron at all. His name is Waldo Baron! It's all absolutely bizarre."
Hermione tilted her head, considering what he had shared.
"That makes quite a lot of sense. I've always found the Bloody Baron to be quite anachronistic, given that feudalism wasn't introduced in Britain until 1066 after William the Conqueror became king," she paused, looking thoughtful. "I've also often wondered at his peerage given that Baron was a Muggle title and the Bloody Baron surely must not have been accepted into Slytherin if he had Muggle heritage, would he? Especially by Salazar himself?"
Malfoy gave her a blank stare, one delicate eyebrow raised.
"These are things you've often wondered about?" he asked, bewildered.
"Yes." Hermione continued with her musing, a smile playing about her lips. "It's very reminiscent of the Half-Blood Prince, isn't it? Since Snape wasn't technically a prince in title but only in name."
"I've no idea what you're on about," he clipped.
Hermione startled, just noticing her present company.
"Right, of course," she said, flustered.
"Also, could you not be a great fucking swot for two minutes?" Malfoy queried, an ironic politeness in his words. At Hermione's heated glare he permitted a smirk. "I just find it strange to see him without the chains. And the groaning."
"It's an incredibly surreal experience, being at Hogwarts during this time. We are quite literally living out history. For as much of a mess as this is, don't you find it fascinating?" she asked, glancing sidelong at him as they walked.
"Absolutely," he admitted, meeting her gaze. "I've never cared for History of Magic, but I was always made to learn about the major historical events of the wizarding world growing up. The founding of Hogwarts was very significant."
"Of course," Hermione agreed. She hesitated. "I just can't shake this feeling that we've been brought here for a reason, and that this specific time period isn't arbitrary."
He shrugged, glancing around at the other students paying them no heed. Hermione understood – she found it strange to be walking the corridors of Hogwarts with her present company. If they were back in their own time and such a thing were to occur, there would be mayhem.
"Maybe you're right, Granger, but until we can learn more about what's happened, we won't know," he said. "For the time being, our best option is to go along with it. Attend our classes, participate in whatever activities students did at this time. Hopefully the library is substantial enough that we can do some research into it in our spare time."
"I should hope so," Hermione said with a heavy mind. She had been relying on being able to research their predicament in the library and hadn't considered the fact that the library now would likely be far more scarce for resources. "Malfoy, how do you suppose this works? Do you think we've mysteriously vanished back home?"
"Hard to say," he shrugged. "I've never traveled time before."
"With a time turner, the traveling version of you exists alongside the original version. Which is why it's so important to avoid being seen," Hermione explained, deep in thought. "But…"
"But we've already learned this is different," he replied. "If time is continuing on back… home, I suppose, hopefully we can sort this out before NEWTs, as I don't fancy repeating another year."
"Neither." Hermione grimaced. "At least the timetables are quite similar to what we're used to. Charms, Transfiguration, Potions. Ugh, Divination is required. Though it looks like Magizoology is required rather than Care of Magical Creatures. And look at this." She gestured to her timetable. "Taught by H. Hufflepuff! I never knew she was a Magizoologist."
"I've got Potions with Salazar Slytherin," Malfoy said and Hermione thought she almost caught a hint of apprehension mixed with the awe in his tone. He drew his own timetable, glancing over it. "Charms with R. Ravenclaw, and Defence with G. Gryffindor." He shook his head in disbelief.
"We have Charms and Defence together," Hermione commented, looking over his timetable. "The only problem is, we obviously have no books. Although come to think about it, maybe they didn't use books yet."
"We also don't have quills or parchment or any supplies, Granger," he said. "Which brings me to my next point. Obtaining some."
"I don't even have any money," Hermione said, biting her lip. "I thought we might have to ask the professors if they have extra supplies?"
"Better idea," he clipped, "one in which we don't draw infinite attention to ourselves."
He glanced around and directed Hermione into a lesser used hallway.
"I had a handful of Galleons in a pocket, which I didn't even realize at first." Hermione gaped, eyes wide. "Do you even realize how much a Galleon is worth in this time? I casually let slip I hadn't had a chance to get my supplies and a boy named Selkirk almost instantly handed his over for a couple Galleons."
"Are you serious?" Hermione exclaimed. "What will he do?"
"Course I'm serious. It was mutually beneficial. I imagine he'll owl home for more," Malfoy said with a shrug. "Or maybe he just doesn't care. But he's now significantly wealthier either way."
"I'll have to figure something else out," Hermione said, chewing her lower lip. "I don't suppose you can duplicate purchasable items, even in this time."
"No," he shook his head, "already tried. But here's the thing – Selkirk had a friend."
Hermione watched, incredulous, as he drew a shrunken cloth satchel from his pocket and handed it to her.
"Should be everything you need. Parchment, quills, ink," he said. At the baffled look Hermione gave him, he added, "don't hurt yourself, Granger. Like I said, we're trying not to draw an excess of attention to ourselves. We already did plenty of that last night."
"Thank you," she said, the words falling from her mouth, feeling foreign in his presence.
"Don't mention it," he said with a grimace. "Really. Don't."
"Can't be seen helping a Ravenclaw," Hermione said, a faint smile playing about her lips.
"You're still an obnoxious Gryffindor to me," he replied but there was humour in his eyes. "Although, apparently now you're a half-blood."
"I didn't know how Muggle-borns would be taken here," she admitted, her eyes flickering to his. "And I thought it might just be... easier to deal with."
He stared at her for a long moment, his expression unreadable. He opened his mouth to say something then closed it again. As the air between them grew heavy and tense, Hermione turned to continue walking, having realized they had both stopped dead in the corridor.
"You're probably right," Malfoy said, falling back into step with her. He cast an inconspicuous glance at his watch and covered it with his uniform sleeve once more. "I've got to get to Potions. Later, Granger."
"Later, Malfoy," she said but he was already gone. If she didn't know any better, she would have thought the look on his face was one of nervous apprehension. Clearly, Malfoy was out of his element just as much as she was here. She found it odd that they had to rely on one another, in a way, and since they had been there, he had actually been trying not to be a massive arse.
And aside from some mild ribbing, he hadn't been particularly rude at all. It was the silver lining to a disastrous situation, she supposed, as she expanded the satchel he'd given her with a furtive glance around and made her way out onto the grounds for her first Magizoology class.
"Welcome, welcome!" Helga Hufflepuff exclaimed as she arrived on the grounds, walking into the circle of Ravenclaw and Gryffindor students. She looked around, beaming at them all. "I trust you all had a wonderful summer?"
There was a general chorus of agreement and Hufflepuff seemed thrilled. Hermione smiled as she met the professor's bright gaze.
"Well," Hufflepuff exclaimed again. "We have no time to waste, you will be taking your final year examinations soon enough! We will begin our lessons for the year with a study of bicorns!"
Hermione stared around the clearing but the other students were all listening with rapt attention. She scoured her brain for any recollection of bicorns, but she had dropped Care of Magical Creatures following her OWLs and she only vaguely remembered reading a brief description in her text from the class.
"Who can tell me about a bicorn?" Hufflepuff asked, gazing from one student to the next.
Beside Hermione, Helena Ravenclaw raised an arm, along with a handful of other students. Hufflepuff gestured to Helena.
"A bicorn is part cow, part panther – it sheds its two horns which are highly useful in potions brewing. The bicorn feasts on virtuous husbands and is thus quite dangerous and overweight," Helena explained.
"It's counterpart?" Hufflepuff said, nodding in Helena's direction with a smile.
"The chichevache," a Gryffindor boy answered. "Which is known to feast on virtuous wives – and is consequently thin."
The males in the class snickered. Hufflepuff smiled at the boy in an indulgent sort of manner.
"Yes, so says legend," the professor responded with a chuckle. "But I have myself before seen a thin bicorn and a fat chichevache. Suppose it depends after all."
The class broke into laughter and Hermione found herself enraptured at the easy way with which Hufflepuff commanded a casual respect from her students. It seemed the woman had more of an edge than Hermione had always suspected.
"Divide into groups of three," Hufflepuff requested. "Our first study of the year will be on bicorns. Their mannerisms, habits, their magical and physical properties. As a group you will present your findings to me two weeks from now."
She waved towards an enclosure where a number of the strange beasts were roaming. Hermione found herself fascinated as she watched them interact with one another; two were play fighting, smashing their horns into each other.
"And before anyone complains – even if any of you were married, certainly none of you are virtuous enough to merit being in any danger!" Hufflepuff tittered at her own ribbing as the class roared with laughter again. Hermione laughed as well, meeting the teacher's gaze as she permitted a small wink.
The professor walked away towards the pen of bicorns, leaving the students to divide themselves into groups. Hermione worried her lower lip as she looked around at the other students. Helena was walking towards a boy from Ravenclaw with thick dark hair.
"Hello," said a boy behind Hermione's shoulder and she jumped in surprise, turning. He was a Ravenclaw as well, tall and gangly with thin, dirty blond hair. "Shall we work together?" He flashed her a smile of crooked teeth.
"Apologies, Malcolm, Hermione will be working with Heath and I," Helena stepped in, dragging Hermione towards her by the arm. In an aside, she said, "I hope you don't mind. Malcolm can be rather overbearing, you see."
"Not at all," Hermione waved it off with a smile, grateful not to have been left to the last, given everyone else had been classmates for six years. She held a hand out to the dark-haired boy. "I'm Hermione Granger."
"Heath Blakely," he responded with a smile. "Shall we select a bicorn?"
"You ought to suggest to your friend he should not befriend Waldo Baron," Helena stated, her tone ice as she glanced across the room to where Baron and Malfoy were sitting together, waiting for Charms to begin that afternoon.
"Why is that?" Hermione asked, confused. It occurred to her that she might have found Baron to be attractive if not for the sneer he shot their way, as if hearing Helena speak of him.
"He is nothing more than a prejudiced snob who thinks himself superior to those of lesser blood," she sniffed. "He is rude and hurtful."
"Then he and Malfoy will get along just fine," Hermione clipped with a sour glance at the pair of them. Malfoy broke into a smirk at something Baron had said, his grey eyes dancing with amusement. But even as she said it, Hermione felt a pang of remorse given he had been amenable, at the least, all day.
Helena raised her eyebrows and fixed Malfoy with a hard stare. "How have the two of you become friends?"
"Our fathers are curse-breakers together," Hermione replied, finding no choice but to stick with the half-spun story they had ventured into the night before at the sorting ceremony.
Her gaze shifted to the next table over, where two Slytherin girls were sitting. One of them shot Hermione a haughty look and she recognized her as the black-haired girl who had been sitting with Baron and Malfoy at the feast the night before. The other girl had curly blonde hair and drew absent patterns on a blank scroll of parchment.
"Who are those girls?" Hermione asked in an undertone. Helena glanced over then looked back to her books with a dismissive flicker of her brows.
"The blonde is Alice Fawley, and the black-haired girl is Cornelia Nott," Helena said, her eyes narrowing. "Pure-bloods – and just ask them. Horrible, both of them. Supposedly Cornelia Nott and Waldo Baron are betrothed to be wed. Unpleasant children they'll produce, if you ask me."
"Aren't you pure-blood?" Hermione asked, surprise colouring her tone. Helena shook her head, her eyes rolling.
"No, half-blood," she said, her voice dropping. "My father was a Muggle." Hermione was given the instant impression she wasn't fond of her heritage. Helena stared at Hermione for a long moment, as if gauging whether she was trustworthy. "Mother is brilliant, truly, but the most daft thing she has ever done was to run around with a Muggle. By the time I was born, he was gone. He did not want a witch for a daughter – or a wife."
"Really!" Hermione exclaimed, keeping her own words soft.
"Truly," Helena whispered, "but that is not the official story. Mother did not want anyone knowing I was born out of wedlock so she told everyone she and the Muggle – his name was Ascot Fletcher – had eloped but she chose to keep her name and that he had died a tragic death shortly after. She did it to give me a better life, really... I just wish she had not done any of it."
"Wow," Hermione breathed. "That's –"
She was cut off as Helena made an odd sort of sound and gesture and Hermione glanced up as Rowena Ravenclaw walked into the room.
"Welcome to your first day of classes," Ravenclaw clipped with a tight smile. She scanned the room of seventh year Ravenclaws and Slytherins, her gaze settling on Hermione's for a moment longer than anyone else. "Welcome to your seventh year. We will begin with a review of engorgement charms."