Slytherin

Beta'd by hp4freek. I *heart* that girl. Thanks to notsosaintly for pointing out my silly mistakes. *insert standard disclaimer* I own nada.

Chapter Three: Slytherin

Hermione awoke the following morning feeling rather disoriented. There was a chill in the air that she couldn't shake; regardless of how far into her covers she buried herself. The fact that the material of both her night clothes and her bedding seemed unfamiliar wasn't helping matters, either. She opened her eyes and gazed with a rather unfocused look around her. Green curtains? Why the hell would there be green curtains surrounding me?

Hermione stared at the curtains as if they had severely offended her. She was wracking her brain trying to figure out why she was in this cold room with green curtains surrounding her bed. Suddenly, all the events of last night ran her over like a stampede of wild hippogriffs. The Time-Turner sent me back nearly twenty years, the resorting into Slytherin, and most importantly, that snarky boy in the corner of the common room! Hermione opened her curtains quickly, which may have been a mistake on her part. The rush of cool air attacked her, resulting in a violent chill. She walked to the foot of the bed where she found a trunk with a note on it. She didn't recognise the writing, but it was written in green ink. She noted that it seemed to be the same ink her Hogwarts letters were always written in. She read through the note several times over.

To Miss Hermione Granger,

Headmaster Armando Dippet

Hermione rifled though her trunk, pulled out some clean robes, and got changed and ready to start her day. Classes would be starting this morning, and she didn't want to be late. She needed to start mingling with her new housemates as well. The only one she had talked to at all last night was that snarky boy that directed her to her rooms. He was rather gangly looking; his hair was a bit lank and looked like it could be greasy. His nose had been stuck in a book when she had come in. Well, perhaps I'll have a study buddy if nothing else. Hermione decided to make an effort to sit next to him at breakfast, see if she could get anywhere with getting to know this boy. A girl needs to start making friends somewhere. May as well start with someone I've had contact with already.

Hermione rushed to get ready; she wanted to make it to breakfast a little early, but late enough so that she had a chance to try to sit next to her boy of choice.

The Great Hall was just as impressive in this time as it was in hers. There were candles floating above the tables, casting light throughout the room. The sky was a clear blue today. The head table only looked different because she didn't recognise a single professor sitting there save for Professor Dumbledore. She felt a bit like a first year again, only this time she was in the snake pit, quite literally. She was scared of rejection again. She had been off to a rocky start with the Gryffindors initially, though she was also in full know-it-all mode at that point. Granted, she was still a know-it-all, but now she was a subdued know-it-all. She no longer had a desire to wave her hand frantically in class, trying to get approval from the teachers. She knew her material, to the point where she could parrot the information back like a vocal recording of the text. She just no longer had a desire to make sure everyone else knew that she was able to do so.

She looked anxiously up and down the Slytherin table. She didn't recognise anyone sitting there. The boy that she met last night wasn't at the table yet, and everyone else looked quite uninviting. She sat at the closest portion of the table she could get to. She sat by herself. The closest students were far enough away for four students to sit between her and them. Some of the students gave her dirty looks for sitting at their table. Stupid pureblood aristocrats! There were several girls that had looks that rivalled Narcissa Malfoy's pursed lipped look; they looked as though something foul-smelling was painted right beneath their noses.

Hermione chanced occasional glances up and down the table. She was beginning to realise that most of the students that were in Slytherin were not very attractive. She couldn't quite describe what it was about them, but she assumed that this was all a result of generation upon generation of inbreeding. Sooner or later, you get to the shallow end of the gene pool. Of course, since many of their families are no doubt set on blood purity, if these kids' parents are anything like Sirius' mother, the children would be disowned if they dated or settled down with anyone who didn't pass the "blood purity" test. Hermione was brought out of her thoughts again by a cold voice coming from across the table at her.

"I'm sorry, what?" Hermione asked the boy speaking, while trying to shake the glazed, vacant expression off her face.

"I asked if this seat was taken."

"No, you may sit there if you wish." Hermione was excited; it was the boy from the common room!

"Normally, I'm the only one that sits down at the end, as far away from the other students as possible." He paused awkwardly. He wasn't sure why he was telling her such a thing. Maybe it was a subtle way to ask her to leave him to his privacy.

"Oh." Hermione wasn't sure how to respond, so they sat awkwardly for a few moments, munching on bits of toast and egg.

"Where are you from?" the boy asked her again. "I don't remember ever seeing you before."

Hermione stumbled over her words a bit, trying to find an explanation, without revealing too much. "I, uh, well... I was...am a student here."

"Why have I never seen you before?"

"I, uh, well, um... I had a bit of a... an accident."

"What type of accident? You seem fine to me." Blimey, I just complimented her! She's been here for less than twelve hours and already I'm making unwelcome advances! Brilliant, Severus, just bloody brilliant.

She had paled when he had asked for more information. She was lost in a whirlwind of thoughts again, so much so that she missed the compliment that he had inadvertently given her. "The Headmaster doesn't really want me talking about the accident. Suffice it to say that I'll be here for a bit. What's your name anyway?"

"M-my n-name?" He stammered a little. "My name is Severus. What's yours?" He tried to sound a bit more confident. He wasn't so used to being talked to politely, let alone by a female. None of his classmates really paid him much attention. There were a handful that would speak to him, but most of them were afraid of him. He had held a vast knowledge before he had entered Hogwarts. He could curse better than a good portion of even the seventh years at the age of eleven. Not to mention his knowledge about the Dark Arts. Whenever someone spoke to him, it was often out of need. They were gone as soon as they had gotten what they wanted. Then there was that group of Gryffindors that made his life a living hell; always taunting him and pulling pranks on him.

That's a little weird, and maybe a little gross. I have a crush on my teacher? Well, I guess he's not really my teacher in this time... "My name is Hermione." She was really glad that Pro...no, just Snape in this timeline...Snape didn't know about her future self, and didn't seem to hate her. He actually seemed a bit nervous himself, if she was to be quite honest with herself.

She gave him a smile, and they began eating together. "So, Severus, what year are you in?"

"I'm a seventh year; what year are you in, Hermione?"

"I'm a sixth year, though we're probably the same age. My birthday is in about three weeks; I wasn't allowed to begin a year earlier, because you have to be eleven when you enter the building. I would have been ten if I started a year earlier, with the children that shared my birth year," she answered him, giving him more information than she had meant to. Though, she was still being evasive enough to not outright tell him that she wasn't from his time.

"Mine's in January, I'll turn eighteen shortly after everyone returns from winter holiday." Severus glanced up to the far end of the table when he heard parchment ruffling. "Looks like time tables are being passed out. What classes are you taking?"

A worried look passed over Hermione's face; she didn't know what classes she was taking. They hadn't discussed that while in the Headmaster's office last night. She didn't want to tell Severus she didn't know what she was taking, because he'd only ask more questions. "I forgot what I signed up for," she tried to lie and feign nonchalance, but she was mostly certain that she had failed miserably.

Severus gave her a concerned look, but decided he didn't wish to press the issue. She was the first person to be kind to him in quite some time. It would be best to not push what he hoped would be his first friend away before he actually had her as a friend. He gave her a small smile, then continued on, "Well, it doesn't really matter what classes you have, because none of the teachers are very difficult." He had unknowingly just calmed her fears. She hadn't a clue who any of the teachers were, or how difficult they would be. Though, if her books were the same in this timeline as they were in her old timeline, it wouldn't be a problem. She had already memorised them before school had begun. Even if they weren't the same books, they surely had similar information. Hermione gave a relieved smile to Severus and waited anxiously for her time table to come to her.

She read though it and saw that they were all classes she would have taken in her own time. She smiled at the schedule and exchanged tables with Severus to compare free time. His jaw dropped when he glanced down at her schedule.

"What's wrong?" Hermione asked her dining companion, concern evident in her voice.

"Your schedule..." He continued to read over it, a bit confused. "This is the exact schedule I had last year."

"That's a little weird," Hermione confided in him.

"Very," Severus confirmed for her.

Albus Dumbledore, sitting at the head table, looked down at the new student, and her apparent new friend, and he smiled. Miss Granger seemed pleased with her class selection, and Mr. Snape had obviously noticed that it was his exact schedule from the previous year.

The Great Hall was emptying out, and students were beginning to head towards their first classes of the day. Hermione's voice came out a little shaky when she asked the next question. "So, will I see you at lunch then?"

Severus held back a chuckle as he answered her question. "Of course you will." He tried his best to not sound too excited. He was so afraid of scaring her away. He had never had a friend before, but she seemed to be fairly ignorant of his reputation. This piqued his curiosity, but she had already informed him that Headmaster Dippet didn't wish for her to disclose any details about her accident. She seemed intelligent from what he could tell, and she definitely didn't look like she belonged in Slytherin. That was a big plus. Sure, her hair seemed a bit unruly, but who was he to complain about unruly hair. The only way I can get my hair to lay flat is if it's dirty and greasy.

Severus decided he would spend some time in the library later, doing research. He wasn't dirty; he just didn't often wash his hair, because otherwise it stuck up all over the place. When he kept his hair short, it was a bit like (Ugh, I can't believe I'm making this comparison) James Potter's, but wavy. Because of this, he kept it longer, which helped a little to weigh down his hair; but if it was dirty, the natural oils in his hair kept it nice and straight and mostly manageable.

Notes: this is probably my favourite chapter thus far. I've been a slacker lately and haven't been writing, but I do have one more chapter competed after this one. I do hope your enjoying this.