In Another Universe

Chapter 4

So far, every single introduction had been a success.

They'd gone in the order Harry's list had placed the names in, and Harry had gone with Granger to all of them to make sure he could serve as a bridge— he knew his friend had trouble making connections with those her age or younger, and he was happy to help her feel more comfortable until she felt more in her element.

First off had been Luna Lovegood, in her final year of a Bachelor's in Psychology. Just like Harry had forewarned, she was a bit eccentric, and the day of their meeting in question was no exception: she was wearing a necklace made of paperclips paired with a giraffe-stamped tee, but she was incredibly sweet to Granger and seemed positively elated at being asked to form a part of her project.

Neville Longbottom had been equally willing, though it had taken him a bit longer to agree to it, since he had tripped over his own desk no less than three times and kept trailing off to try to remember where he had left the sandwich he'd bought from one of the campus delis.

Draco Malfoy had been more challenging: it was the only meeting where Harry had asked Granger to wait outside while he walked in first and talked to him. She didn't know what they'd said to each other, but when she walked into the room, Harry was stiffer than she usually saw him, bearing a scowl, but Draco was less snide than she remembered him. Counterintuitively, however, Granger felt less intimidated than in the presence of Harry's more cheerful friends: she didn't know how to deal with emotion as well as she did with pride, having a lot of it herself, so she found herself easing into a conversation with Draco with more fluidity than Harry would've anticipated. He seemed to take a liking to her (or at least, not such a loathing) because of her strong demeanor, because when they left the room with his agreement to participate, Harry told her: "That took much shorter than I expected."

She didn't have to ask Ginny too profusely: Harry had already filled her in on the project details, and all she was waiting for was Granger's formal invitation to participate. Granger quite liked Ginny: she also had a strong personality and didn't take lip from anyone, which would make for an interesting tone for her eventual part in the project.

They met Dean and Seamus together, since they'd caught Dean at the moment where Seamus was helping him prepare his sketches for digitalizing. They'd both treated Granger like an old friend, and she'd immediately warmed up to them, feeling strangely happy when she'd left the room with their agreement to participate. Harry was right, though: as the telling glances he kept shooting her throughout the introduction seemed to say, Dean and Seamus definitely seemed much closer than just two friends.

Everything, she thought, had gone splendidly— and, in fact, in the process, they'd found a few more participants for her project: Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil, both Sociologists, who Harry also knew from secondary school and who seemed happy to do him a favor; and Blaise Zabini —whom Draco had actually redirected them two a few days after his own introduction—, a mathematician with a solemn expression and a rumbling deep voice, who had eyed them skeptically but agreed to be a part once he'd heard Draco had referred him to them.

"This is marvelous," said Granger, ticking one more name off the list as she and Harry exited Zabini's study, strolling through campus grounds on a violet afternoon. "We just have Ronald Weasley to go, and then we'll have a strong base for me to work off of! I was planning to go tomorrow at four, I've let the physics lab know I'll be dropping by—"

"Actually," interrupted Harry, combing a hand through his hair, "I can't tomorrow at four. I've got my first Introduction to Law class of the year from 3:30 to 5:00..."

"I'll reschedule," said Granger quickly, going white in the face, before realizing that the physics lab had been reticent enough to receive her notice the first time and would probably not take too kindly to a time change. Besides, her own schedule was packed around that time, she'd specially freed that slot... "No, wait— oh, Harry, can't you reschedule?"

He raised a questioning eyebrow: "Reschedule, Hermione? It's my first class of the year and these are first years, their schedules are probably a bit more hectic and they're still not used to them, it'd be a huge disrespect to my students to move it."

"You're right," grumbled Granger, reproaching herself for even asking him to do something that ridiculous. Then her face lit up as another way out popped into her mind: "Harry, I asked you for a physicist because we didn't have any hard mathematicians and now we've got Zabini, do you think we—?"

"Well, I suppose you could," said Harry, though his expression told Granger he wasn't too keen on the idea. "But quantum physics is really one of the most interesting fields you could approach, they're on the vanguard of most scientific developments lately. You're not one to shy away from something so academically interesting, are you?"

Granger had to admit he was right: as much as she dreaded doing the introduction by herself, she couldn't help but be captivated by the prospect of learning more about quantum physics. Harry seemed to sense her unease, because his face cracked into a grin again, and he said more jokingly: "And besides, you turned Ginny down for her brother the physicist, so now that you've made your bed you've got to lie in it—"

"Oh, be quiet," said Granger, but a laugh escaped her lips and the two friends smiled at each other— and Granger felt, seeing Harry beam at her with such trust in her, that maybe, just maybe, she could do this one introduction on her own.