Disclaimer: Not mine.

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Watching Hermione as she muttered various facts and figures from Quidditch Through The Ages vigorously while Neville hung on to her every word, Rose was hit with a hilarious sense of déjà vu. The two were still abjectly terrified at the mere prospect of flying, but the differences made the time traveller inexplicably proud of her friends.

Hermione was still a bookworm and she still respected authority figures just a tad too much, but now she was employing her scarily accurate intelligence with logic and common sense. She was starting to question things, how things happened, why certain customs existed ... Her ability to consume and retain information was rather frightening and Rose considered the possibility of an eidetic memory or if her memory was somehow being enhanced by her magic.

Either way Hermione Granger was slowly becoming more like the woman Rose once knew and loved and Rose didn't really have to do anything. She knew that this timeline would be different from before and she didn't want to selfishly manoeuvre her old friends into what they once were; she wanted them to develop as they should have done without a war hanging over their heads.

A simple reading of a book was enough to push Hermione towards a similar path to before, and if that was how she was going to mature then Rose was happy for her. Hermione's ability to take her newfound knowledge and visualise it being used practically was astounding, and she was using this method now in all her classes.

Even with the prospect of flying Rose could see her trying to determine how the brooms would be used practically, and she was even making a solid effort to comfort Neville. She may have been a bit forward, but with the help of Hannah – who had seemingly taken Hermione under her wing – she was succeeding little by little into bringing some colour back to the blonde boy's face.

Said boy was not stood with his back straight and proud, nor was he looking calm, but he wasn't hunched in on himself and he wasn't shaking from his fear either. It seemed being in a House of calm and caring people who wouldn't start teasing at the drop of a hat was doing wonders for him. Not to mention having a wand that was actually attuned to him personally. Alongside his genius Herbology skills, his Charms work was apparently some of the best for the first-year badgers and he had even been asked for help by his classmates.

The changes to Neville Longbottom gave hope to Rose that things could legitimately be different this time, without hundreds of people dying for the cause of an insane madman.

Then again, Rose thought, some things never changed. Exasperated didn't begin to describe her feelings as Neville's broom once more rose up on its own and began to fly away.

Not this time, she thought. She reached out with her magic, thanking Merlin that she was proficient in wandless magic, and used a silent Wingardium Leviosa to float him back down. While the broom's magic may have been unstable Rose's was powerful, with the full family magic of the Potter and Peverell families behind it, and she overpowered the broom quickly before her friend could get hurt. Beyond the physical pain if he fell, she could see this damaging his newfound confidence and didn't want his progress to stall.

Once the panic had settled, everything carried on calmly with the Hufflepuff/Ravenclaw class getting along amicably as per usual. Rose made sure not to do anything too flashy as she didn't want to be drafted towards the House team and get shit for getting preferential treatment. Honestly, last time McGonagall should have just punished her. She shouldn't have been rewarded for being an idiot and she was mature enough to admit it. At the very least she should have had detention and the opportunity to try out, not just drafted onto the team at the first possible chance.

Leaving the field with Hermione and Lisa Turpin, who had bonded with Hermione over their mutual dislike of flying, Rose came across Ron and Malfoy agreeing to a Wizard's Duel before Malfoy flounced off with his overgrown bookends.

Rose looked at the ginger boy with a pang of regret. She knew that she was being unfair to him as he was only an eleven-year-old; he was immature, yes, but he was a child and as a child he was bound to be somewhat immature. He was the sixth son and had never really experienced dire hardships. The Weasley family might not be that well-off, but they were far from destitute and the lack of finances was more than made up by the abundance of love in the family.

Rose decided then and there that she would at least be civil with him, if only distantly. She didn't think their relationship would ever be what it was in her future-past (Is that the right term?) but she wouldn't turn away his friendship if he offered it. At the very least she would offer a proverbial olive branch to the boy.

"Mister Weasley?"

He spun around and scowled at the blonde girl. "What do you want?" His scathing tone was impressive, and she wondered for a moment how much of the family genetics his Black grandmother had passed on.

"I just thought that I should warn you about Mister Malfoy. He is in Slytherin, and as a Slytherin he's more likely to try and get you in trouble rather than actually take part in the duel. He'll probably just tell Filch or someone that you're going to be there, and not bother to go and leave you to get caught. There's no point humouring him when he's only looking to start a fight with a Gryffindor. Maybe you should just not go."

Rose finished speaking and looked at him with a slightly concerned face. She honestly didn't want him to get in trouble just because Malfoy was a git as a child, and she desperately wanted Ron to start thinking before he acted. He was a genius strategist, but for some reason he didn't employ his brain in real life. Some of the plans his older-self had created were genius, yet for some reason he never thought like that in his day-to-day life. Hopefully he would at least consider her words.

"I'm not a coward! Of course I'm going, I'm gonna beat the prat!"

Or not. She watched in half amusement, half irritation as he stomped off making plans to beat Malfoy in a duel that Malfoy himself had no intention of participating in. The girl mused that she could go and stop him, but then again she wasn't his mother and she had no intention of letting him fall into the mindset that there would always be someone to bail him out. If he wanted to do stupid shit then he could deal with the consequences himself.

There was honestly only so much that Rose could do for this world. It was rather ironic that she was in a better situation to affect larger changes than the smaller ones. She could search for and destroy Horcruxes, she could arrange a full trial in front of the Wizengamot, and she could even somewhat push the Minister of Magic into thinking for himself, but could she get an immature child to use their brain? Fuck no. The people themselves were beyond her reach and she was truly glad for it. She didn't want to become the sort of person that manipulated people to suit her needs. The phrase 'for the greater good' made her skin crawl, and she never wanted to become like that.

She shook her head and walked back to her other classmates resolving to stay out of things unless there was dire danger. Childish antics based on jealousy didn't rate nearly high enough for her to care about right now, especially when she was hungry. Food trumps idiocy, enough said.

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The next day the school was abuzz as six first years, three each from Gryffindor and Slytherin, had managed to lose a total of a hundred and twenty points, twenty a piece. Apparently Ron did not take her advice, and instead dragged Dean and Seamus along with him on his ill-advised midnight adventure.

Surprisingly Malfoy did go along, but he hid with Crabbe and Goyle to watch the Gryffindors get detention for his own amusement. Amusement which soon turned to horror when they were caught by McGonagall who was doing her rounds and in a foul mood because of the lack of a good seeker for the House team.

As the snakes were caught by the professor, the lions were found by the caretaker, and the two groups met up just to be assigned a month's detention and the points deducted. The subsequent shunning proved Rose's earlier thoughts – Hogwarts Houses were not family. The two Houses in question were fuming that a few firsties had already lost so many points and sent them to minus.

The blonde girl decided to ignore the situation. She would be civil and polite if need be – no point in alienating someone who may be a potential ally in the future – but she refused to get involved. If anyone wanted to learn from this they would need to figure out the problem to begin with.

Ronald Weasley and Draco Malfoy were so similar it was laughable that she didn't realise it before, and they would both need to take a good long look at themselves before they managed to grow up.

Besides she had more important things to think about, she thought as she glanced from her calendar to her bushy-haired roommate.

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Trying to get Hermione Granger to go somewhere without an actual reason why was an exercise for Rose's patience.

"Honestly Rose, I really don't have the time, we have that Potions homework to do, and I just know I read something about the uses of porcupine quills somewhere, but I –"

"Come on Hermione, you and I both know that you've practically finished the work, and if you're that concerned about ingredients I'll show you this book I have later."

"But –"

"SURPRISE!"

"… what?" She turned to her friend.

"Happy Birthday Hermione."

Hermione looked around the room, taking in the streamers and decorations that cycled through various bright colours at random, to the huge banner strung from the ceiling proclaiming 'Happy Birthday Hermione!'. There were two tables pushed against the walls, one piled high with all manner of food centred around a two-tiered cake decorated with moving quills. The second was home to a few boxes that were obviously presents.

But the thing that made Hermione's eyes fill with tears was the crowd of students smiling at her. Smiling at her. They weren't sneering, or laughing, or just ignoring her, but looking at her like they were happy to be there even if they didn't know her personally. Aside from every single Ravenclaw first year, there was Neville, Susan and Hannah as expected, and with them another 'puff named Wayne Hopkins. Representing Gryffindor was Parvati who'd probably come because of her sister, and Lavender.

As the birthday girl tearfully greeted everyone Rose looked around and couldn't help but think how these people could help her with her plans for Hogwarts. The reason she'd wanted to be in Ravenclaw wasn't just her fanaticism towards barely legal research – granted the Ravenclaw students were more open minded towards said research because, why not? – but because it was best situated to make connections in the other houses. Slytherins respected Ravenclaws for their serious nature and their disregard for labels such as 'light' or 'dark' when studying, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw shared a camaraderie for not being part of the Gryffindor/Slytherin rivalry, and Gryffindors generally liked them because they weren't Slytherins.

"Present time!"

The cheers interrupted her musing and she decide to ignore her plans in favour of her friend's birthday.

Rose and the other guests had all bought something for Hermione, whether individually or as a group, so they crowded round as she opened her presents one by one.

From the Ravenclaw boys she got a rather nice quill that was paired with the good set of inks from Lisa, Morag and Mandy. Hannah and Susan got her a leather satchel charmed extendable and feather-light, while Neville got her a small plant like a cactus that emitted a scent that worked like a mild Calming Draught (great for Hermione's studying-induced stress).

Wayne gave her a wizard's chess set as something every witch or wizard should experience (having just discovered the game himself), and Parvati and Lavender gave her a book on hair charms and a special shampoo that would tame her hair. Her sister Padma and Su gave her a book on wizarding cultures around the world that had Hermione looking possessed with glee.

Finally it came to Rose's present which was rather heavy. She unwrapped it and came to a small wooden chest decorated in intricate lines. She opened it up carefully to see a book that looked very old but preserved nicely. She picked it up and looked at the cover.

"It's the first folio."

She almost dropped the book in shock but held on out of fear of damaging the piece of history in her hands.

"You gave me a first folio of William Shakespeare?!"

Hermione's shrieks weren't helping her building panic attack. She had a first folio, from the 1600s. This book was easily a few thousand pounds if not more, and her friend just nonchalantly gave it to her for her twelfth birthday.

"Hermione! Relax! If you must know it wasn't something I paid for, my family's had it for years and I decided to give it to you because I knew how much you'd like it." She was quietly explaining to Hermione while the muggle-raised children were explaining to the others about the book. Rose didn't feel the need to mention the book came from a disowned member of the Black family or that she had another one laying around somewhere; she had a feeling her friend might actually hyperventilate at how some old families threw money around like it was confetti.

When everyone finally calmed down they spent the rest of the evening having fun and gorging on food and cake like eleven-year-olds should before going back to the dorms. Hermione was practically jumping around with excitement as she put her things away, chatting to herself about her new friends while Rose just shook her head and turned back to the letter she was writing.

Dear Dads …

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Two in one day. Woooo... Does anyone know a good Klaus fanfiction. With a strong oc female character. Like super strong witch kinda. See you later, my lovelies.

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