The World Around Us

"Bah!" spat Snape, storming up the corridor and away from the Great Hall.

Harry pushed Ron up against the wall of the hallway, making sure not to get in the way and hoping not to get noticed. Snape seemed too angry to notice anything. You could practically see the smoke flying out the back of him.

"Wow, what the hell?" Ron asked, watching Snape's retreating back.

Hermione walked up to them at that same time and looked at Ron. "Ron, language!" she said reprovingly.

"Oh, I meant it though, did you see him? He seems angier than I've ever seen - what'd we miss?"

"I saw Tonks - well, I mean Professor Tonks - make some comment to him, and he stood up with an utterly wretched look on his face, and practically ran out of the hall," Hermione said, apparently satisfied to see her least favourite teacher so mad.

"I can't wait til we have a class with her - when do we have a class with her?" Harry asked, as they walked towards the Great Hall.

"Wednesday. I'm looking forward to seeing her teaching style, and I'm just surprised she's here as a teacher - why isn't she out doing Auror work?" Hermione wondered aloud.

"Maybe Dumbledore wants more security in the castle, so he hired her to teach for the year?"

"Well, better hope it's her then, remember last time he hired an Auror as a teacher?" Harry said, smirking a little. The facial expression didn't really suit him.

"I'm sure Dumbledore knows to check, and besides, she changes her appearance all the time. People would have a hard time trying to be her," Hermione pointed out.

They sat down at the Gryffindor table and started eating, their conversation slowing to allow their food intake. Hermione was placing a little jam on her dessert, while Ron was devouring everything in sight and Harry was digging into some sausages.

"I hear Malfoy's got his own dorm this year, first student ever - I wonder why?" Seamus was saying a little ways down the table.

"Oh, that's horrid, I bet he'll abuse the privilege and have girls in there and everything," Hermione said, disgusted.

"No, I doubt it, 'Mione," Parvati told her, "I hear he's a complete loner this year, no friends, none at all. Not even those idiots that usually follow him around." she giggled.

"Still," Dean Thomas said, "why would he get his own dormitory? Unless-"

"If you're all finished dissecting the latest gossip, maybe you should look at the Daily Prophet," Hermione said irritably.

"Why don't you just tell us?" Parvati argued, then looked at her keenly.

"Fine," Hermione sighed resignedly, "the Death Eaters that were in Azkaban broke out - obviously, not like we didn't know it would happen, but still."

A gasp went around the table. Most people were unfamiliar with the goings-on of the world around them. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"The Dementors don't even guard Azkaban anymore, and I'm not surprised they escaped. Still, we know who they all are now, I guess," Harry said, sounding calm, though he looked pretty angry.

Ron was still thinking about Malfoy and his single dormitory. "Maybe Ferret-face gets his own dormitory because he's in danger."

"Why would he be in danger? If his dad breaks out, he can go get the Dark Mark and join him," Harry replied venomously.

"Harry, what if he doesn't want to be like his father?" Hermione asked, though she knew what his answer would be.

"Yeah, right, he's always been right in there with him."

"But why would Dumbledore agree to teach him if he knew he was just going to grow up to be like him?" Ron wondered.

"Because he doesn't know whether he'll grow up to be the same, and he knows that people can turn out good, even if their families aren't so great. Look at Sirius -" Hermione said, then broke off at the look on Harry's face.

"Yeah, but come on, Malfoy has done nothing to prove he's going to be anything good when he grows up," Ron said.

"That's not the point - Dumbledore believes in people. Maybe he knows something we don't," Hermione replied, and the conversation sort of fell from there. She looked up and saw Draco Malfoy himself, the subject of their musings, watching them. it was evident he'd heard most, if not all, of the conversation. He scowled, before walking out of the hall alone.

'Weird things are going on this year,' thought Hermione to herself, 'Weird things.'

---

The Trio walked out of the Great Hall and up to the common room. Sitting down by the fire, they all sighed in relief.

"Weekend!" said Ron, gleeful.

Harry just looked relaxed. "Wanna go practice Quidditch?"

"Sure," answered Ron, walking up to grab his broomstick. "'Mione? You gonna come watch us?"

He looked over at her shyly. It was obvious, his feelings for her. She felt bad, because her feelings for him had fizzled out long ago.

"Nah..." said Hermione, not feeling like sitting in the stands, bored, "I'm going to get some homework done. Go to the library, you know," she added with a self-mocking smile.

"Figures," replied the boys, as they walked out the portrait hole.

Hermione, though not too cold, grabbed a sweater and pulled it on over her robes. She walked out with a couple books and indeed, headed for the Library.

^.^.^.^

When she was about halfway there, she started climbing a flight of stairs when suddenly it shifted. She usually avoided using those stairs for that particular reason, but it was the fastest way to the Library. She cursed under her breath.

"Damnit," she muttered, then frowned at her bad language.

Approaching the top of the stairs, she was tempted to swear again when she realized she had arrived quite far away from where she was trying to go. Walking along a small corridor she noticed a beautiful tapestry, blue and gold depicting a dark winter night with golden snowflakes.

"Isn't there a hallway behind that tapestry?" she wondered aloud. "takes me out to that other staircase and over to the library... aha!"

She grabbed the tapesty and pulled it back to reveal a plain stone wall. Disappointed, Hermione made to drop the tapestry and walk away, but before she could do this, the stones along the wall retreated into a hallway. Knowing it probably wasn't a good idea, but insanely curious, she dropped the carpet behind her and walked into the dark corridor.

She came out on the other side and ended up even closer to the library than she thought. Heartened, she forgot about the mysterious walkway and went inside to study.

^.^.^.^

A boy was watching her as she walked up the shifting stairs. Turning away with a scowl, he began to walk away, but turned back towards her when she gasped. He saw her holding a rug and almost gasped himself when a corridor just created itself out of solid wall. Attending Hogwarts for seven years, one would think the students were used to unusual such things happening. However, hallways creating themselves still seemed to baffle them. No matter, he began to climb the stairs to check it out himself when the stairs she had been on shifted once again, and he found himself on the side that she had wanted. Frustrated, he walked around until he reached the place where she had been.

Pulling back the tapestry again, he watched the walkway reappear, and followed her through.

When he reached the other side, he realized he was just out by the library, the place he was assuming she went. Shrugging and feeling disappointed, he headed down to the Slytherin common room, to find the password had been changed. Then he realized he really didn't want to be there anyway. Frustration increasing, he walked back up to the Great Hall for some early supper. When he reached the Hall, he walked in to find he recognized no one. Everyone at his table was a stranger. More than a little unnerved, he turned towards the staff table.

Sighing with relief, he recognized some teachers. Professor McGonagall was there, as was Professor Dumbledore, Professor Flitwick, Professor Sinistra, and Professor Sprout. All the others were unfamiliar, though, and his head of house, Professor Snape, was absent as well. Dumbledore smiled at him and gave him a small wink as he stood there, staring around. He walked down from the staff table and led Draco Malfoy out.

"What's going on, er, sir?" Malfoy said, hesitating before using proper terms. He wasn't too fond of Dumbledore, but at the same time, he was grateful to talk to someone he knew.

"It seems you have travelled backwards in time, Mr. Malfoy," Dumbledore smiled.

"Then, how do you know my name, and, well, how do you know? Wait, I travelled back in time?" Malfoy replied, trying to make sense of things.

"I know many things, Mr. Malfoy. There is an empty set of four guest rooms on the seventh floor, down the hall from the statue of Poseidon. I ask you to fetch Miss Granger and take her up there. You may take your lodgings there until we can find a way for you two to go home," Dumbledore told him.

"Wait, Granger's here with me? What the -"

"And I will expect that you address her with respect, as she is your fellow guest for the time being. You may attend usual classes with your new housemates. Class timetables will be sent up to your rooms and you will be introduced as new students. Dinner will be sent up tonight, but you will be dining as usual as of tomorrow morning. Good evening, Mr. Malfoy," Dumbledore said, departing swiftly back towards the Great Hall.

Very much put out, a dazed Draco Malfoy headed to the Library.

^.^.^.^

Hermione slammed down her book. Everything was in the wrong place, her usual books were missing, and Madam Pince gave her the oddest look as she walked in, as opposed to her usual smile. The strict librarian had a soft spot for the library's most devoted user, Hermione Granger. Yet this time, she had stared at her like she was from a different planet. Not taking too much notice, Hermione sat down and became annoyed when all her usual books were gone or out of place. Finding only one she wanted to read, she slammed it down on the table. It had taken far too long to get even that one book.

"Frustrated, Granger?" smirked Draco, his arms crossed and leaning against the wall.

"Oh, I don't need any of your wit right now, Ferret-boy," she replied angrily.

His smirk disappeared, and a scowl replaced it. "Well, just thought you might like to know we're not even in our own decade, and we're sleeping in guest rooms on the seventh floor."

"What is this nonsense?" she asked him distastefully.

"Like I said, Granger, or are you deaf?" he retorted, now pissed off.

"Well, I don't know what you're on about but I don't need it right now," she said, turning away from him.

"Fine, talk to Dumbledore about it then," he told her, giving up. He walked away and up to their new room.

^.^.^.^