Not Our World II: Hushed Ripples (Harry Potter Fanfic)

As the World Turns

To Hermione, the world spun in the right direction.

Or at least, the world Hermione found herself in now spun in the right direction, for she'd found herself in a world similar to her own, yet with profound differences—a transference of thirty years for everyone, an advancement, and acceptance of Muggle technology were all things her once again eleven-year-old self-discovered, but the most pronounced change—

She'd grown up raised by a single mother in this world, with her father nowhere in sight.

She thought it a cruel twist of fate, given what she lost and others gained. Harry got his parents and Sirius back. Sirius got his brother Regulus back. Regulus got her Crookshanks, and all the while, Hermione found herself wondering what strange magic brought her to the world through that cursed mirror Luna warned her about. Nor did Harry or Ron remember the other world as she did, meaning she was without a friend in her moment of need, for Seeker-ofthe-Future wasn't Harry.

As for the identity of Seeker-ofthe-Future—she's learned after she made Professor Black have a mental breakdown by mentioning Infiri during the D.A.D.A. class, which in turn brought ire upon herself from both Slytherin and Gryffindor, with Snape noting he would have taken points from her if he'd been the one fetched instead of McGonagall.

Seeker-ofthe-Future turned out to be Draco Malfoy, something she still wasn't sure of.

He'd been unhappy with her for causing his relative—his godfather—to have a meltdown, yet proved civil towards her, even noting he wished he could tell his mother—Narcissa from their world—about the reason Regulus died. And the self he replaced in this world—apparently that Draco knew how to use the computers the school now used and would be using in today's joint Computer and Muggle Studies class, something which was now mandatory for their year.

Neither expected to be called out by the Prewett brothers after that class, who Draco informed Hermione shouldn't be alive either, who also had something to do with the prevalence of computers in the magical community and the school as the reason behind certain classes now becoming mandatory. And thankfully, as far as the Prewett brothers knew, they'd gotten all of the Horcrux, which drew their attention to the forum Hermione created, and Draco joined.

Which, in turn, felt like something actually went her way, only for Parkinson to be waiting for her after the class as she was heading to the Great Hall for the evening meal, although there would be a bit of time until then. "Know-it-all. I heard the Gryffindor girls talking about how you came across as one, Mudblood. But they've also noticed you'd rather make friends with the boys, slut. Nobody wants to be your friend."

The words shouldn't have affected her, with her mind more amused at Pansy using the word slut, something Hermione didn't expect from a first-year. Yet, there was that tasteless word she'd grown up hearing, the reminder that she'd struggled with making friends in the other world and the circumstances that led her to become friends with Ron and Harry weren't likely to happen.

She'd ended up in the girls' bathroom, and Professor Black found her crying, as did Crookshanks, which only made her feelings of missing her father and wanting to apologize for erasing his memories even more acute. The younger brother of Sirius came in to try and cheer her up, only for the conversation to turn around, so she told him, "Don't let anyone tell you to be anyone but yourself."

"That's rather wise advice."

"It's something my dad told me."

"When did I—I couldn't have." It was a slip of the tongue she'd grown accustomed to from her father, thus leading to her giving Professor Black a second glance, noting the familiarity of his black hair and silver-gray eyes, which certainly was an unexpected turn of events in that world that was not her own.

And they talked, with Hermione resolving to forgive herself, which led to a part of herself—or so she felt, returning to that world, as she thought she saw herself, as did the person standing next to her, an older version as if to say things would be alright over there. And everything felt like it was going right.

"Professor Black, did you ask Draco Malfoy to keep an eye out for you?" said the head of her house.

Hermione turned to look at Professor McGonagall as her father—Professor Black— said, as if nothing was remotely wrong with the situation, "Um, no. I didn't."

Hermione worried her lip before blurting out, "It's not what you think." And she thought, "So much for things working out nicely. I should have known it wouldn't be that easy."