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Somewhere in Time (Outtakes)	By : serpentinred Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Hermione/Voldemort Views: 7579 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter and I don't make any money from these writings.

Chapter List
- 1
- 2
The Warnings: I don't know if I'm going to use all of the warnings that I've chosen, but I've just selected the ones that I will most likely need so that I wouldn't have to cut the summary short in the future.

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A/N: Many thanks to Marauder's Wolf for beta-ing the chapter! Special thanks to Nerys for looking over the logic and flow. ;)

Just in case of any confusions, the chapters that appear in this fanfic are based on the alternate timeline that was created due to what happened in my ongoing fanfic "Somewhere in Time." Most people have no memories of the canon timeline; the Hermione, Harry, Ginny, and Draco have no memories of the canon timeline and of what happened in "Somewhere in Time." Therefore, some OOC-ness is expected, though I tried to keep them as IC as possible even though they were exposed to different circumstances in this new timeline.

If you haven't read "Somewhere in Time" before, there might be some confusion, in regards to why different people do certain things in these chapters. With that said, hope you will enjoy reading this as much as I had fun writing it.

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Somewhere in Time - Outtakes Episode 1

A new year at Hogwarts always promised a whole new year of events. Though they might not be necessarily fun, Hermione could say with certainty that they would always be interesting.

With the Dark Lord officially reigning over the wizarding world and the majority of the Order members in hiding, she could not begin to imagine what might occur this year. Well, of course, except for the parties that Harry, Ron, and the twins were bound to be throwing, despite who would become the new Headmaster this year. Harry and Ron had been most disgruntled upon hearing that the position would be filled by none other than Professor Severus Snape.

"Oh great, that means we would have to spend most of our time in detention, doesn't it?" Ron had asked immediately.

Most of the wizarding world had received news of this over the summer via owls; the Weasleys, the Potters, and a few other selected people had been personally notified by the Dark Lord himself. Hermione was glad to say that she was one of the "selected people," since she was lucky enough to be over at the Weasleys for dinner when he arrived. However, Hermione suspected that she would have been informed, even if she were not at the Weasleys.

She recalled the first time she had seen him, merely five years after she found out she was a witch. In retrospect, she probably would have been more frightened about the Dark Lord's features, if she weren't half-swooning from the unrestrained magic that flowed throughout the room that accompanied his Apparition. From that moment on, she knew she had found a role model. The amount of knowledge he possessed and his control over magic was unheard of before, and she was sure there would be no other witch or wizard alive who could surpass him. Until this day, she could not believe that the Dark Lord had been patient enough to reply to her never-ending questions, and she often blushed when Harry and Ron teased her about it before she told them off. The debates she had had with the Dark Lord were eye-opening as well as mind-blowing, and she found herself always looking forward to the next one.

She had considered taking the last two years of Hogwarts off, just so she could learn more from the wizard who was now the most important man in the world. Upon hearing this, the Dark Lord, after short consideration, told her to finish the last two years of Hogwarts first. Though she was momentarily afraid that he had finally become tired with her nonstop chattering, that thought was dashed away when that lipless mouth of his curved into a smile—a smile which many others might have found frightening, but not Hermione—and he gave her his word that she could stay beside him after she left Hogwarts. For a few days, she couldn't go to sleep, excited at the prospect of what she might see and learn, staying by his side.

She kept that little secret from Ron, of course, since he would definitely turn sour upon hearing the news. It had always been kind of an open secret that Ron was so incredibly jealous of Harry for being close to the Dark Lord. If he somehow found out about this … she did not want to think about the kind of tantrum he would throw, especially after he'd found out that Harry and Hermione had become Head Boy and Head Girl of their year respectively.

And now, they were on their way back to Hogwarts to finish off their seventh and last year of education. The most heated topic on the Hogwarts Express and during their ride from the station to the Hogwarts castle was none other than the Defense Against the Dark Arts post. Everyone knew that none of the professors lasted for more than a year.

"I mean, look at Lockhart. He was so adamant about teaching the course, but then he asked for the Divinations position instead the year after," Ginny assessed.

"That's because he sucks in Defense Against the Dark Arts," Ron replied, earning a glare from Hermione.

"No, he doesn't," Hermione argued. "Everyone knows he's brilliant. Look at what he did in the books!"

"What he said he did, Hermione," Ron said, rolling his eyes. "I doubt he could tell the difference between a werewolf and a puppy. That werewolf he supposedly caught in Wanderings with Werewolves? I doubt it's a genuine werewolf. I would like to see him trying to duel Lupin on a full moon."

"Reckon we could make that happen?" Harry asked with Ginny snickering on the side.

"That's not funny! If one of them were to get hurt …" Hermione said, exasperated.

"And it will most likely—definitely be Lockhart," Harry said with a sure nod.

"If the two of you would have bothered reading, you would've realized that there were werewolves in Wagga Wagga years ago, and they had been rid of the problem exactly when Professor Lockhart said he had," Hermione said.

Harry, Ron, and Ginny shared an amused look with one another.

"So, who do you think will get the job?" Ginny asked, steering the topic away from their current Divinations professor. "Quirrell was sent over to Durmstrang to teach, Lockhart turned into the Divinations professor instead—"

"I still can't believe Hermione continued to take Divinations because of Lockhart. Merlin knows how many times she complained about the subject being rubbish," Ron hissed at Harry, which Hermione ignored.

"—Fenrir was uncovered as a werewolf, Moody got killed by Barty Crouch Jr., Umbridge got kicked out of Hogwarts, and Snape became Headmaster," Ginny finished counting off.

"Well, there are so many possibilities out there. Perhaps it's one of the Death Eaters," Ron suggested. His eyes lit up, and he looked at Harry. "Maybe it's your dad."

"That would be excellent," Harry said, his eyes bright with joy.

"Yeah, imagine all the trouble we'll get out of," Ron said somewhat dreamily.

"Ron, even if Mr. Potter were to get the position, we're not supposed to use that to our benefit," Hermione chided.

"As if others wouldn't have done so if they were in our place," Ron replied.

"Are you really lowering yourself to Malfoy's standards? Besides, I doubt Mr. Potter would be asked to take the position. He's one of the best Death Eaters, and I doubt the Dark Lord would want him here."

"Why not? It's not as if Mr. Potter can't leave the school during the year," Ron argued.

"Because the Dark Lord wants to insure the education of the students, Ron," Hermione answered, somewhat tiredly. "He'd made it clear many times that he values the well-being and education of the younger generations. Having Mr. Potter go on different errands throughout the school year and thus giving the students an incomplete education completely contradicts what he wants."

"The way she's going on about it, you would think that the Dark Lord's her boyfriend and not me," Ron muttered to Harry, who coughed into his hands, while Ginny had a hard time muffling her giggles.

A furious blush blossomed on Hermione's cheeks. "That's not funny, Ron. If the Dark Lord were to hear that—"

Ron's face turned white momentarily and swallowed. "It was just a joke. You don't intend on telling him, do you?"

Hermione shot him a glare before looking towards Harry and Ginny.

Clearing her throat, Ginny spoke up, "Do you think Neville will come back this year? I mean, I thought I saw Malfoy at Platform Nine and Three-Quarters."

"That's because he's not the Chosen One. The Dark Lord never really saw the Malfoys as a threat anyway, so it doesn't make a difference if he came or not," Harry said.

"But still, wouldn't it have been a good way to hinder the Malfoys and force them to become submissive?" Ginny asked with a frown.

"Well, it's the Malfoys; did you really expect them to be intelligent?" Ron asked in return, rolling his eyes.

"I think it's mostly because the Malfoys still have a certain amount of influence over the Ministry. With the amount of money they have, it's not hard to pull certain strings with the higher authorities. Besides, the Malfoys hadn't outwardly risen up against the Dark Lord yet," Hermione said.

"But the Dark Lord took over the Ministry already. Aren't most of the important positions filled by our people already?" Ron asked. "And come on. We've known all along that Lucius Malfoy had been helping Dumbledore. They should just round up the lot of them and throw them in Azkaban."

"Not that I don't agree, but Lucius Malfoy would undoubtedly make a lot of noise about it if that were the case," Hermione said. "And rounding up the children wouldn't exactly look nice to the public. They would think of it as some kind of conquering."

"Hermione, it's just the Malfoys. As if the rest of the world would care," Ron said, rolling his eyes.

"The Dark Lord said it was a 'benevolent takeover.' We're not supposed to recklessly throw people we don't like into the prison," Hermione argued.

"Like Ron said, it's the Malfoys. Nobody would care," Harry said, amused.

"Not you, too, Harry," Hermione grimaced.

"What I'm really surprised about is that the Malfoys would let Draco come back to Hogwarts this year. I thought they would've hidden him as far away as possible," Harry said.

"The rest of the world, in general, supports the Dark Lord's views," Hermione explained. "Not to mention the fact that Durmstrang is nearly completely taken over by our people, too. If Draco didn't come back to Hogwarts, there won't be any schools out there for him."

"Still, if I were Lucius Malfoy, I wouldn't have sent my son back to school," Harry said.

"Which is why you're tons smarter than he is, Harry," Ron snickered. "And as if the Dark Lord would care about insignificant brats like Malfoy. Does the Dark Lord even know that there are junior ferrets running around in school?"

Their discussion continued until they sat down in the Great Hall and it finally died down as McGonagall led the first year students in. After the Sorting ceremony was finished, Snape stalked up to the podium in front of the staffs' table and glared down at the students, his lips briefly curving upwards into a sneer when his eyes landed on Harry.

The entire Great Hall remained quiet as they waited for the Headmaster to speak. Even the first years remained silent, as if they knew how nasty the former Potions Master could be when provoked.

"Those of you who have slightly more than half of a brain cell might have registered that immense changes are undergoing in the Ministry of Magic. As such, in order to prepare you, the board of governors decided that Professor Dumbledore no longer possesses the requirements needed to lead our school in this critical moment," Snape said.

Students ducked their heads and shifted their eyesight away whenever those coal-black, fathomless eyes landed on them.

"Therefore, I have been appointed with the task of bringing your education and knowledge up to par with what the government requires, something I'm sure some of you will find difficult to achieve." Snape leaned slightly forward, his eyes narrowing above that hooked nose of his and making him even more sinister-looking than usual. "I trust that each and every one of you will understand the importance of following the rules while this school is under my control. Any rule-breaking and you might find yourself facing me and not just Argus Filch."

His eyes then flickered over to Harry and Ron before looking back at the rest of the students. For a moment, it looked like Harry wanted to mutter something under his breath but then decided against it.

For a long stretch of time, Snape glowered at the students, almost as if he were daring one of them to question him before he sat back down. Food then appeared on the tables, though still, the Great Hall remained relatively quiet.

"I should have brought my Omnioculars with me and then show Mrs. Potter how Snape glared at Harry just then," Ron said as he stacked up his plate with food.

"But he didn't announce who will be the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor," Ginny said with a frown.

Ron stopped in the middle of devouring a chicken leg and stared at Ginny, a sudden look of horror on his face. A string of completely incomprehensible words left his mouth as pieces of food sprayed across the table.

"Swallow your food first, Ronald." Hermione wrinkled her nose as Ginny scrunched up her face in disgust.

"Do you think Snape's going to be the Headmaster and teach Defense to us this year?" Ron asked again, this time without food.

"I hope not," Harry said with a grimace. "Who knows how many times he would throw me in detention if that were the case."

"I still don't understand why you don't bother telling your mum about it. She'd put a stop to it," Ron said.

"And give Snape the satisfaction of watching me do that?" Harry asked, the look of disgust becoming even more prominent now.

"There's no new teacher sitting at the staffs' table," Hermione commented, tilting her head upwards and gazing at where the teachers were sitting.

"You don't think that Lockhart came back to teach Defense, do you? I mean, does the curse on the position still work like that? If the professor took a year off and then came back to teach the course?" Ron asked.

"Better than Trelawney teaching the course," Harry muttered. He then paused. "No wait. Never mind. They're both horrible."

"Harry!" Hermione scolded.

"No, honestly, Hermione, can you imagine Trelawney teaching the course? Blimey, I would like to see her and Lockhart duel one another," Ron said.

"I wouldn't," Harry said, ignoring Hermione's disgruntled huff. "Watching them throw useless spells at one another for hours … I would rather listen to Percy talk about cauldron bottoms."

"Yeah, I guess it would become boring after a while." Ron nodded his head in agreement.

Suddenly, a crack resounded throughout the Great Hall, and everyone fell silent and turned their eyes towards the single figure clad in black that had just appeared in the middle of the room. From where Hermione was sitting, she could not see who it was, though she could tell that it was a man.

Snape must have lowered the wards for the man to have Apparated into the school, Hermione thought.

Without a moment of hesitance, the stranger strode towards where Snape was sitting. Several soft gasps could be heard from the students sitting at the front of the room, but Hermione did not turn her head to see who had made those sounds; she was busy trying to see if this were their new Defense professor.

Snape stood up from his seat, his face blank, though Hermione thought she saw a flicker of humble respect fly through her former Potions professor's face before he stood up to the podium again.

At the same time, the stranger turned around, giving the rest of the students a good look of his face.

Several more gasps resounded throughout the hallway, and Hermione thought she also heard a soft squeal coming from Lavender's direction.

"Oh my," Ginny softly commented, her eyes strangely bright as she stared at the man who was now standing to the left of Snape.

To some extent, Hermione could understand why the students, most of the female population and some of the males, were reacting the way they were. The young man—or at least, to Hermione, he looked young, perhaps younger than Harry and Ron's dads—was mind-blowingly handsome. His jet-black hair reminded Hermione briefly of Harry, but instead of being messy, it was neatly brushed to one side. His eyes were dark, so dark that they were almost black in color. His skin was pale, a sharp contrast to his hair and eyes. However, as delectable as his features were, this was not the only thing that brought people's eyes to the young man. Hermione couldn't describe it. There was just this inexplicable pull that brought every person's eyes over to him.

"Students," Snape drawled out, his soft voice easily carried out throughout the now silent Great Hall. "Professor Tom Riddle. Your new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor."

"Please let us have double Defense, please," Lavender started chanted softly, her eyes glued to the new professor.

"I trust that you will have … enlightening classes with him, and I expect each and every one of you to give him your utmost respect," Snape continued to say.

Well, Hermione wasn't too sure about the "respect," but she could already imagine the amount of love letters the new professor was going to get during Valentine's Day.

"I reckon we're going to have another pointless Defense class then, just like second year," Ron commented after Riddle and Snape sat down in their respective seats.

"What do you mean pointless?" Hermione asked hotly.

"The only thing we've ever learned in that class is to never open up a cage full of pixies in a classroom. What else did we learn in there?" Ron complained.

"That's because you don't read. You can see that he's a talented wizard from his books. The way he dealt with werewolves was brilliant, and the way he did it was the right way," Hermione said, adding the last bit when Ron opened his mouth.

"Yeah, but you read about those techniques and spells from books, didn't you? If I'd spent so much time in the library, I could write my own book about it, too," Ron said, rolling his eyes.

"He's gotten awards for his deeds. I doubt you could say the same thing if you were to write books like that," Hermione huffed.

"Strange though," Harry said, looking through his bag, which caught the attention of Hermione, Ron, and Ginny.

"What is it?" Ginny asked, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"We didn't have to get any books written by Riddle," Harry replied, looking up at Ginny. It was then that they saw the mischievous glint in his eyes.

His words were met by snickers from both Ron and Ginny and an annoyed look from Hermione.

"Oh no. Does it mean we have to guess what the favorite color of Professor Riddle is then?" Ginny asked sarcastically.

"That was Professor Lockhart's ingenious way of testing whether we'd read his books or not!" Hermione exclaimed defensively. "It's not a kind of test ordinary witches and wizards can think of."

"Thank Merlin," Ron muttered.

"And we've at least heard about Professor Lockhart before he decided to teach at Hogwarts. I've never heard of Professor Riddle's name before," Hermione continued.

"So should we be worried or happy about that? I mean, at least that probably means we wouldn't have to listen to a bunch of things that he had done before," Ron said to Harry.

Harry shrugged. "We'll see when we go to class, won't we? I'm more concerned about if we can get through the N.E.W.T.s with him as professor or not because it's required to become an Auror."

"I doubt you need to worry, Harry. You're brilliant in Defense Against the Dark Arts," Ron said.

"Thanks," Harry said with a grin. "But you know, Dad was telling me about …"

And as their conversations slowly drifted away from the professors, so did their minds.

After all, they didn't really have to worry about anything. Until tomorrow.

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If there was anything Hermione hated more than Ron and Harry making ridiculous jokes about Lockhart, it would be the nonstop chattering of the female population of Hogwarts. Especially when a good-looking man was the topic.

She had to go through the entire night listening to Lavender and Parvati giggling about the new professor, and now, she had to suffer through them during breakfast. She wished that they would at least be a tad bit more inconspicuous. It would have made her feel embarrassed to be sitting at the same table with them if girls from the other Houses weren't doing the same thing. Nonetheless, the source of the problem continued eating his breakfast as if nothing were his concern.

"This is ridiculous," Hermione muttered.

"Well, you have to admit that he is handsome," Ginny said, sitting down across from her.

"Intelligence is far more important," Hermione argued.

"Yeah, that's precisely why Lockhart's your favorite professor," Ron said as he sat down next to her.

"Yeah, and you're my boyfriend. So what does that say about you?" Hermione snapped.

"That he's intelligent?" Harry offered as he sat down next to Ginny, who choked on the pumpkin juice she was drinking, while Ron shot a grin at him.

At that precise moment, McGonagall started handing out their schedules for the school year.

"Seems like Riddle's the new Head of Slytherin House," Ginny commented as she looked at the new professor.

He was also handing out schedules, but to the Slytherins, and Hermione noticed that some of the girls from the other Houses had a look of regret on their faces.

Lavender, who had just received her schedule, let out a small squeal.

"Double Divinations followed by double Defense today," she sighed to Parvati, who was sitting next to her and also had a dreamy look on her face.

"Are they taking Divinations with Trelawney or Lockhart anyway?" Ron asked randomly as he piled some more food onto his plate.

"Both," Hermione answered. "For the N.E.W.T.s, both professors teach the subject, but on alternate days."

"No wonder they're so happy then. I remember they were so fond of Trelawney, so I doubt they would miss her class just for Lockhart's," Harry said. He paused. "That means we have double Defense today, too."

"But no Divinations," Ron said gleefully and high-fived Harry.

At that moment, McGonagall gave them their schedules, and they immediately scanned it over.

"Merlin's pants, you're insane, Hermione," Ron commented as he peered at her schedule. "I thought you've stopped taking so many courses after third year."

"I don't have as many courses as I did in third year," Hermione contradicted. "I didn't take Muggle Studies and Care of Magical Creatures."

"But it's still ten courses," Ron said.

"And I would've taken twelve if there had been enough time and if I had enough energy," Hermione said.

Ron shook his head in disbelief and shared a look with Harry.

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After six years of Hogwarts, Harry and Ron had come up with the strange idea that the classroom almost always served as a hint of how a professor would be like. Professor McGonagall's classroom, for example, was always orderly and neat while—Hermione had a hard time suppressing a laugh while trying to reprimand the two of them at the same time—in Ron's words, "Before Slughorn started teaching, the Potions classroom was always smelly, greasy, and oily, just like Snape."

Neither did she enjoy Harry and Ron's assessment of Professor Lockhart's classrooms, but she had learned to block out their conversations when it started to steer towards disrespectful comments about the obviously talented professor.

Therefore, all three of them were at a loss when they walked into the Defense classroom and found it completely empty. No chairs, no desks—nothing.

"Did we walk into the wrong classroom?" Dean asked from behind them.

"No, I'm pretty sure we're in the right one," Hermione answered.

"So what do you reckon this means?" Harry whispered to Ron next to her.

"Er … that the professor's brain is empty?" Ron suggested.

Harry snorted, and they both determinedly ignored Hermione's glare. Not knowing what else to do, the students filed into the classroom and waited for the professor to show up while talking quietly amongst themselves.

"Reckon we're going to get some kind of test like Lockhart?" Ron asked jokingly. "'What's Professor Riddle's greatest ambition?'"

"Oh, stop it, Ron," Hermione said tiredly.

He had been making far too many jokes along that line since the morning that it was slightly getting on her nerves already.

Before Ron could say something in return, Harry nudged him and signaled towards the other side of the room. Hermione followed his line of sight and found an all-too-familiar blond Slytherin.

"Looks like Lucius Malfoy really is missing a brain," Ron chortled. Suddenly, realization dawned over his face. "Oh, I know! Perhaps Professor Riddle is Lucius Malfoy under the Polyjuice Potion!"

The absurdity of his suggestion caused both Harry and Hermione to snort. At the same moment, the door opened, and their new professor entered the classroom. Hermione was not at all surprised to see most of the girls bunched up at the front of the class.

Riddle's dark eyes roamed over the room briefly before a ghost of a smile appeared at the corner of his lips.

"Good afternoon," he greeted them, which was answered by a chorus of murmurs. "Since you are in this class, I assume that you are striving to pass with exceptional marks on your N.E.W.T.s. As such, throughout the course of this semester, I will see to an increase in your knowledge in this field as well as your skills." He paused. "During this class, we will be focusing more on the practical side of the subject, while you will study the texts at your own time."

Harry and Ron shared a grin with one another while Hermione sighed softly to herself. She doubted the two of them would spend the time doing the actual reading. This time, she was putting her foot down and not allowing them to see her notes … if she could help it.

"Defense Against the Dark Arts is one of the subjects in which absorbing new information from books is equally as important as practicing it." His smile became more apparent at this point. "You have a question, Mr. Goldstein."

A look of surprise flashed over Anthony Goldstein's face, and then he recomposed himself before opening his mouth. "Yes, professor. But isn't it true that there are some spells that are handy enough to use in most occasions and so absorbing new information, which in this case means new spells, is not as important? For instance, Accio and Vocuo are basically the same spells, but the first allows the user to summon things from far away while the second can only be used to summon things for a short distance, at most two or three feet. So why not just use Accio instead of Vocuo for all occasions?"

"Excellent question, Mr. Goldstein," Riddle complimented as he folded his hands behind his back and leisurely walked back and forth in front of them. "There are many spells that are similar in nature and might seem repetitive. However, consider being in a Potions classroom, where you have so many different ingredients. It will be much easier and practical to use Vocuo than Accio because you wouldn't want to have a whole cabinet of ingredients flying your way."

A couple of students laughed as their minds created a mental image of his words.

"Now, you might want to ask what does that have to do with Dark Arts?" He stopped in front of Lavender and Parvati.

Hermione rolled her eyes at the obvious infatuation they had over their new professor. They looked as if they were about to faint or drool all over him any second. Or maybe even jump on top of him.

"Each and every person has a preference when it comes down to spells, hexes, and curses," Riddle continued to say as he walked away from Lavender and Parvati, much to their dismay. "When you find yourself in the middle of a duel with another witch or wizard, you're not going to get a manual about the spells he or she is most likely going to use on you. Therefore, you must be prepared for anything that might be fired your way." He pulled out his wand and tapped it rhythmically against the palm of his hand. "For the first class, I would like to see what level of dueling you are currently at, in order to aid me in assessing which parts I should strengthen in you."

He motioned for the students to clear the middle of the room. By now, it became clear to Hermione, Ron, and Harry why Riddle had emptied the room ahead of time.

"I wonder if this is going to become another dueling club," Ron joked in a low voice to Harry and Hermione. "Reckon he's going to ask for Snape to become his assistant this time?"

Hermione hushed him when she noticed Riddle's eyes stopping momentarily on them. For some inexplicable reason, it made her heart jump. That look on his face … it almost seemed as if he had heard what Ron had said. No … the amusement must have been something else. Riddle couldn't have possibly heard what they were saying this far away. Unless he was a Legilimens, too? It couldn't be. After all, being a master in Legilimency wasn't a very common thing, and it wasn't easy to become one. Even Professor Lockhart hadn't managed the art yet.

"Mr. Malfoy," Riddle called out. It appeared that he had already memorized each and every student's name in advance.

Draco's eyes snapped up when he heard his name called. Riddle gestured towards the middle of the room with his hand.

"Why don't you come first?"

Draco's eyes narrowed for a split second before he nodded, a haughty look still imprinted on his face.

"Oh, I can't decide who I want to see fly into the wall this time," Ron said, rubbing his hands together.

"Do you honestly think that Draco Malfoy can beat anyone in a duel?" Harry asked, amused.

"He's actually not really that untalented," Hermione said. "I mean, I've heard from the other professors that he actually scores pretty well on his tests and—"

"Hermione, Harry meant it as a joke," Ron deadpanned.

The awkward silence between the trio was broken when Riddle started talking again.

"To most wizards who have a good amount of experience with dueling, it is obvious from his posture that Mr. Malfoy has learned a bit about dueling," he said as his fingers languidly played with the ring he was wearing on his right hand.

A stiff smile appeared on Draco's lips, but it was quickly wiped off with Riddle's next words.

"However, it is also evident that he does not have as much confidence as he's trying to show us." Riddle pointed his wand at Draco's head. "The head is held too high with a certain stiffness to it, showcasing just how wary he is of the opponent—quite understandable, since he has no idea how this new professor of his duels." His wand flickered downwards until it was drawing attention to Draco's hand. "The hand holds the wand too tightly, making it hard for him to perform intricate spells, so it can be certain that his first spell would be something on the easier side. Of course, he might try something difficult, now that I've pointed it out, but the strength of such a spell would be negligible."

Harry and Ron were having a field day. "Happy" could not fully describe their mood right now, and Hermione was pretty sure they were going to talk about this for the whole day.

And she was positive that their feelings towards the new professor had just become loads better within the last few minutes.

Bringing his wand to the side, Riddle then bowed his body, a motion which was mimicked by Draco, signifying the start of the duel.

Therefore, the trio was surprised when Riddle turned his head to the side and started speaking.

"You might wonder why I've spent the last few minutes commenting on Mr. Malfoy's posture. From small observations like these, you can understand how to stage your attack on your opponent and get hints about your opponent's personality. Of course, other things, such as agility and stamina can only be tested after spells are used."

Hermione could not suppress a gasp, much like the rest of the students in the room, the moment a flash of orange left Riddle's wand and headed straight for Draco. Apparently, Draco was taken by surprise, too, since he had to jump to the side instead of conjuring a Shield Charm.

"Impressive agility skills, Mr. Malfoy, though I shouldn't be too surprised."

Hermione thought she saw Riddle's lips curve into a faint smirk for a split second, but the moment she tried to look more closely, it had disappeared, replaced by the same amiable, calm expression he had been sporting since the beginning of class.

"However, it appears that we will need to focus on strengthening your concentration. Getting distracted by the opponent is precisely the correct way to get yourself mortally wounded. If this had been anything other than a friendly duel, you could have easily been dead by now. Of course, I mustn't blame you for your … naivety. Apparently, I had overestimated your experience in dueling. To jump aside when you haven't clearly checked if there were another spell headed towards you …"

After shaking his head, he then fired a couple of more spells towards Draco.

"Concentrate, Mr. Malfoy, concentrate," he called out over the sounds of spells colliding with the wall.

A frown slowly appeared on Hermione's forehead. For some reason, there seemed to be … something off with this. Riddle sounded like a nice bloke and acted like one, but that was precisely the problem. There seemed to be something … hidden.

Hermione shook her head and pushed that feeling away. She was being silly. What could the professor be hiding? Unless he really was, as Harry and Ron had suggested, Lucius Malfoy under the Polyjuice Potion. But that was nonsense. The Dark Lord would've known if that were the case. Both the Dark Lord and Snape were masters in Legilimency and would immediately know if something were wrong. Besides, Lucius wouldn't have nitpicked on his own son's dueling skills in public like that.

Harry and Ron were now cheering for Riddle under their breaths, their eyes glowing with excitement as they watched Draco dance around the room, trying to avoid getting hit by one of the spells. Strangely enough, Riddle seemed to be completely at ease, firing spell after spell at a rapid pace. Draco didn't even get the chance to fire his own spell back.

When Riddle finally stopped, Draco crumpled down to the floor, panting heavily from the workout he had just gone through.

"Apparently, your talent in dueling still has plenty of room to improve on. Hopefully, you'll do better the next time we duel," Riddle said.

As Hermione watched Draco hobble back to his friends, she felt slightly guilty for being amused while watching Draco's arrogant feathers get ruffled. Another part of her, however, was slightly revolted by the fact that a professor would use his powers to ridicule a student like that. There was no doubt in Hermione's mind that Riddle had done that on purpose. He had probably thought that publicly humiliating the son of a well-known Order member was a good way to impress the Dark Lord, to get on the Dark Lord's good side. Hermione knew there had to be a reason why she preferred Lockhart over this Professor Riddle right from the beginning; Lockhart was too noble do something like this.

This was just mean, cunning, and … and utterly Slytherin. No wonder Riddle was the new Head of Slytherin House. Well, yes, the Dark Lord used to be a Slytherin himself, but that was beside the point; the Dark Lord was a completely different case.

Riddle's eyes then slid over to Hermione, Harry, and Ron. Harry gawked back, the look of a deer caught in the headlights on his face, while Ron glanced at anywhere but the professor, as if he weren't part of the class. Hermione, however, stared determinedly back at him.

Therefore, she was hardly surprised when Riddle said, "Miss Granger, care to come up next?"

Ron gave her hand a light squeeze and muttered a "good luck" to her before she walked forward to the empty space where Draco had been standing seconds ago. Surprisingly, Riddle didn't start commenting on her as he had done to Draco. Now, she was definitely sure that he was trying to get on the Dark Lord's good side. The lack of criticizing her, someone who was thoroughly loyal to the Dark Lord, was proof enough.

After a short bow to one another, Hermione positioned herself for attack. Riddle, on the other hand, gestured towards her.

"Ladies first," he said.

Hermione nearly rolled her eyes when she heard the collective sound of sighs from the girls in the room. Well, yes, most of the boys in Hogwarts hardly knew the basic concept of being courteous these days, but they didn't really have to sigh to that, did they?

Riddle raised a single eyebrow at her, perhaps due to the fact that she was stalling. Without further hesitation and concentrating on the duel instead of what other people were doing, Hermione fired her first spell at him nonverbally. It wasn't much, considering the fact that Riddle had done the same but with much more ease than she did. However, she was still a student at Hogwarts, and she would be damned before she performed worse than ferret boy, especially when she was allowed to attack first.

With a slash of his wand, her spell disintegrated. Disintegrated. Hermione's mouth dropped slightly open at that. There was a significance between disintegrating a spell and casting a ward to stop a spell, with the former requiring much more talent and magical prowess. It appeared that she had thoroughly underestimated her opponent.

Therefore, without further ado, she cast multiple spells consecutively.

"Flammasectum, Aguifunicus, Flatuo!"

The spells raced towards Riddle, and Hermione didn't waste time in waiting to see if they had hit him or not; she knew they would not. So, with a wave of her wand, she channeled her magic to swiftly change one of the spells, the rope-like string of water, so that it would lasso around Riddle. That would buy her some time to conjure more intricate spells, even if he managed to get rid of all the spells she had thrown at him.

What worried her more than anything was the fact that he was taking all of this so leisurely, almost as if he didn't care. The only change in his expression was that flash of approval that went through his eyes when she cast the three spells at him. Therefore, she wondered what would happen when he attacked.

Then, she realized that she couldn't continue fretting. To lose one's cool during a duel was dangerous and foolish. Taking a deep breath, she concentrated on her spell. Bringing her wand over her head, she slashed it diagonally in front of her before drawing it upwards again. A shimmer of light streamed from the tip of her wand, and with a light quiver of her hand, the light broke into multiple needle-like threads before racing towards Riddle.

By this time, Riddle had gotten rid of the water that had been looped around him, and with a wave of his wand, he slowed the threads of magic rushing towards him. With another twirl of his wand and a couple of impossibly quick motions, an enormous gust of wind blew forth, shattering Hermione spell to pieces. Before Hermione had the chance to blink, an invisible pressure pressed into her body, pushing her off her feet and sending her flying backwards.

"Hermione!" she heard Ron and Harry scream amongst the gasps from various other students.

Just as she braced herself for the impact, she felt her momentum slow before a pair of arms caught her.

"Are you alright, Miss Granger?" a voice asked from above her head.

Still trying to catch her breath, she looked up until she could see the person still holding her.

"Oh …" was all Hermione managed to say as her cheeks turned the brightest color of red they could when she realized that it was Riddle who was supporting her. "Um … yes … I think … I think I'm … I'm alright."

"My apologies," Riddle said, his lips curving upwards into a faint smile. "However, I must confess that I've found you to be quite an excellent dueler and had forgotten to hold back in my spells."

"That's … that's quite alright," she breathed out as she stared into his dark eyes.

Strangely enough, her heartbeat wasn't slowing down at all. In fact, it was speeding up quite a bit. Perhaps she was more shocked than she thought she was from the impact of Riddle's spell.

"Excellent work, Miss Granger," he said before letting go of her.

"Thank … thank you, professor," she stuttered to which he answered with a slight quirk of his lips.

As she walked back to where Harry and Ron were standing, she mentally berated herself for reacting like that. What was she thinking? Well, yes, he was just slightly better looking than Lockhart, but that didn't mean she had to react like the rest of the girls in class. Not to mention the fact that she was positive that he was trying to be nice to them for a reason. Oh, what was she talking about? She was just reacting abnormally from the shock. Nothing more. She shouldn't think too much about it.

She successfully pushed away her random thoughts the moment she reached Harry and Ron. The redhead stared at her, an unsure expression on his face.

"Merlin's pants," he muttered as Hermione gave him an encouraging smile.

"Don't worry, Ron. You'll do just fine," she said.

"After seeing you and ferret duel him?" he asked with a humorless laugh.

"Just pretend that we're dueling the Order members in the Ministry again," Hermione told him.

"That … that's a completely different case. He's scarier than the lot of them added together," Ron said.

"Don't be silly," Hermione said, shaking her head from side to side before giving him a peck on the cheek. "Trust me. You'll do fine."

Ron gave her an uncertain, lopsided smile.

"Mr. Weasley," Riddle called out, as if on cue.

Ron looked up towards the professor. It almost seemed as if he wanted to tell the professor to duel Harry first, since his eyes were traveling between Riddle and Harry. Hermione gave him another squeeze on the hand before looking towards Riddle. A small gasp threatened to make its way out of her throat upon seeing a cold, frightening animosity in those dark eyes directed towards Ron. However, when she looked again, Riddle's face was calmly blank again.

It must have been a trick of the light.

Finally, Ron shuffled towards the center of the room and pulled out his wand.

After a short bow, Riddle pointed his wand towards Ron. However, he didn't immediately attack. His eyes slightly narrowed before a corner of his lips curved upwards. Hermione blinked as she got the uncanny feeling that Riddle was sneering at Ron. She had no idea what the redhead was thinking, but by now, his freckles were standing quite noticeably against his sickly white skin. Taking a deep breath, he straightened his back in an attempt to look brave.

"Lumi—" A spell made it halfway past Ron's lips before he was forced to stop by an impossibly quick flash of purple light shooting towards him.

He was forced to jump to the side in order to avoid the spell. However, that wasn't the end of it. An endless stream of hexes and spells exited from the end of Riddle's wand, hardly giving Ron a chance to retaliate.

And that was when she felt it. The dizzying feeling of being thrown into the dark waters of an unsettled ocean washed through her, and for a moment, she wondered if the Dark Lord had suddenly appeared in the classroom. Once she steadied herself, she looked around the classroom, but the man was nowhere in sight. A mild shock ran through her when she realized that the formidable magic she was feeling came from Riddle himself. That brought about an even more shocking revelation: He must be nearly as powerful as the Dark Lord himself.

But that was impossible and ridiculous. No one was as powerful as the Dark Lord himself. However, strong pulses of Riddle's magic vibrated through the air and continued to reach out to every corner of the room.

"Whoa," Harry exhaled softly beside her, and Hermione realized that he felt it, too.

Others in the room slightly swayed on their feet and were incapable of taking their eyes off Riddle. Hermione felt it nearly impossible, too, and she would've kept staring if she weren't worried about Ron's safety. Nonetheless, half of her mind was still reeling from the fact that their professor was this powerful, perhaps only second to the Dark Lord himself.

Though much softer.

That thought came unbidden to her mind, and she had to agree. Riddle just didn't seem to be as decisive as the Dark Lord, and it was obvious that he held back too much. The Dark Lord never held back in his spells as Riddle did. That was something that Hermione both admired and was envious about the Dark Lord. She tried many times to step away from books, but the feeling of insecurity would make its way into her system, and she would start doubting herself. The Dark Lord never had that problem. He never had a fear of failure, and she only wished that she could overcome that weakness one of these days.

Pulling her attention back to the duel in the middle of the classroom, she noticed that Ron seemed to be having a hard time holding up his own against Riddle. Sweat was condensing on his forehead, and she could tell that he was moments away from surrendering. Riddle, however, appeared to be completely unbothered by the fact that this was his third duel in a short amount of time. However, the concentration that was on his face was frightening, almost as if he were really trying to hurt Ron in one way or another.

Without warning, one of Riddle's spells managed to catch Ron before he could get out of the way and hit him right in his abdomen.

"Ron!" Hermione gasped with Harry before running over to him.

As Ron groaned and Hermione quickly checked him over to make sure that no permanent damage was done to him, they heard the sounds of someone walking towards them.

"Are you alright, Mr. Weasley?" Riddle's voice came above them.

Hermione had to bite on her lower lip to prevent a biting remark from leaving her lips. After all, he was the one who cast the spell; wouldn't he know best if Ron were alright or not? Nonetheless, she didn't forget that he was a professor and, thus, kept her tongue to herself. On second thought, he couldn't have possibly hurt Ron on purpose, since he was the professor.

Riddle bent down and flicked his wand over Ron, and Hermione realized that he was running a simple diagnostic test to see if there were anything wrong with Ron.

Seconds later, Riddle said, "No permanent harm done."

Hermione and Harry then helped Ron to his feet while Riddle straightened himself up.

"I'm terribly sorry, Mr. Weasley. I had thought that since you were the son of two of the best Death Eaters there are, your dueling skills would have been excellent, similar to that of Mr. Potter over here," Riddle said. He looked at Harry and gave him a faint smile. "After all, both of you had fought at the Ministry of Magic a couple of years ago, and Harry had even fought alongside the Dark Lord against Dumbledore."

Harry blushed. "I tried my best."

"And I daresay, it's much better than what most adults could achieve, which was precisely why I didn't feel the need to test your dueling skills at all," Riddle answered.

Harry's face positively glowed upon hearing that. "My mum taught me."

"Naturally," Riddle conceded with a nod.

His answers seemed logical enough, and it did somewhat alleviate Hermione's anger towards him. However, she still wondered if he had done this on purpose. If anything, she was even more certain by now that he wanted to get on the Dark Lord's good side. Most of the Death Eaters knew that the Dark Lord favored Hermione and Harry over Ron. Therefore, by treating Ron harshly, others could not say that he was being unfair to Draco for being the son of Order members.

It made her slightly ill, since this was awfully scheming. Casting one more look at Riddle, Hermione helped Harry half-carry Ron back to the sidelines before she came to the final conclusion.

He was a Slytherin after all.

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Somewhere in Time (Outtakes)