Solace of Slytherin; a grandson of Voldemort Story

Somebody Once Told Me (The World Was Gonna Troll Me)

Hermione feels sweat drip down her brow as she focuses on brewing her potion, but revelation that Harry had shared with her that morning had plagued her mind throughout the day.

The thought repeated like a nightmarish loop in her head as she goes about her classes in a daze.

When Harry had barged in on them during a walk to their first period, she wondered if he had finally snapped under the psychological pressure of being simultaneously the Chosen One and constantly being called a liar in School.

His eyes looked bruised with eye bags, his hands were cold to the touch when he gripped both Ron's and her hands, and his voice sounded rough and breathless. The last time Hermione had seen him like this was in third year, when the relentless dementor incidents had taken a toll on him.

She wondered if she'd have to explain to the proffesor how they were late after wheeling Harry to the Infirmary.

Instead, like a bubble popping on her face, a clarity that she had not realized was missing slammed into her like a steam train.

Neville was missing.

And not only that, he spoke of a shapeshifter who knew the new students, Nicolo and Hazel's continued ability to see him beyond the invisibility cloak, and-

"But Harry, that's impossible- Hogwarts has been charmed to block any form of apparition on it's grounds, how could Nicolo possibly have travelled back to you when he hasn't even had a wand for long?" Hermione's mind throbbed at the dichotomy of it.

On one hand, Ginny had shared how catching the two Hufflepuffs up with basic spells had been a pain, with both of them having trouble with a basic Lumos spell.

Hazel's wand had only given off a low glow while Nico's hardly lit up at all. How could that be the same boy who apparently broke through Hogwarts level charms put in place to stop transportation?

But then again, from what Ginny said about their 'special summer place' and their ability to overwhelm three members of the Order- maybe she shouldn't be dismissing the three.

No matter how little sense it made for Nicolo to not perform a spell as fundamental as Lumos, and then turn around to be able to use an advanced branch of magic like Umbramotoris.

Hermione felt the two things slot vaguely together like a puzzle, but with 100 other pieces missing before it made a full picture. She was determined to go through the day acting as normally as possible while piecing together the disjointed parts, but that plan was thrown out the window when it was time for Potions.

With Neville still missing and the addition of Will Solace, a Gryffindor and Slytherin had to be grouped together. And wouldn't you look it, Hermione was the only student without a partner.

She didn't want to be partners with a Slytherin who, after breakfast, has either had an upset scowl or a despondent expression on his face. Her dread gave way to devastation as Snape stared at his new student, then surveyed the tables, his eyes meeting hers before she could look away.

The prolonged uncomfortable eye contact sealed her fate.

They barely talked to each other, merely minding their own stations as they collected the needed ingredients. Hermione's in a neat organized line and Will's in a chaotic pile up.

She tried to keep her attention out of his station, tried to keep her eyes straight on her own potion and not be such a know it all but-

But there is a wiggling leech and a bottle of snake venom where the entire ingredients were plant-based.

"Solace-" she says as evenly as she could, her voice wanting to waver with worry. "The ingredients list is entirely plant based, why do you-" she eyes the pile of thorns that was definitely not part of the ingredients list either, "why do you have so many...additions?"