AN: Sorry it's so late. I had a lot of trouble writing this. I'm losing my drive for this story, if you couldn't tell, so the updates will probably be a lot slower in coming - but I promise to finish this story eventually. It just might take a bit more time while class is in session. I'm seriously tired as I write this, and it's only five past seven. I feel like going to bed, honestly. But yes! So here's the new chapter, though it's probably not as good as the others because it's been so long since I had the inspiration to write (and even now I had to just force myself to do it). I DID warn you about possible updating issues, though! Anyway, here it is:

Chapter Five: Dreaming of Change

The following morning was full of rowdy students rushing to and from the Great Hall, gathering their trunks, remembering things they forgot to pack, rushing back to their dorms and back to the Entrance Hall with arms full of things they nearly left behind. Hermione was quite surprised to find a number of Ravenclaw and Slytherins joining in this along with the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs. In her time, Ravenclaws and Slytherins had made a point to appear prepared, but here they were just like everybody else. Houses made a difference, yes, but the children were all fundamentally the same. It was refreshing and soothing – this was one thing she wouldn't have to try and change; she'd just have to try to keep it the same.

Unlike them, however, Hermione had been packed and ready for an entire week – she liked to do things in advance. So when she made it to the Great Hall for breakfast before setting off for the Thestral-drawn carriages, it was eight o'clock and she had half an hour to eat, none of which would be spent worrying. She ate slowly and hid an amused smile at her frantic, rushing peers as they ate quickly and disappeared and reappeared just as fast. When she was finished eating, she calmly walked out into the Entrance Hall, which was full of trunks, and she picked up her Feather Light Charmed trunk and headed outside the castle through the double doors. She got into a carriage with four fifth-year Hufflepuffs, greeting them kindly and making small talk, and the carriage pulled away from the school. The ride took no longer than ten minutes, closer to five probably, and when it was over she finally got out, picked up her trunk, and headed into the Hogwarts Express to find herself an empty compartment. When she was inside, she threw up a familiar set of Notice-Me-Not and Repellant Charms and then picked out a book from her collection. She settled in to spend the next six hours reading about the founding of the Ministry of Magic in 1700.

When her charms fell, she jumped in shock and stared in utmost confusion as a familiar boy pushed the door to her compartment open and then levitated his trunk up into the rack above their heads. "Tom?" she asked. "What're you doing here?"

"Entering this compartment, levitating my trunk, and I plan on sitting down and doing some reading. Would you mind putting those charms up again? I've practiced them myself, but you somehow combine yours better than I can."

She did so wordlessly and then sat back down to stare at him. She could tell that he was enjoying himself, creating such a mystery for her after he'd told her that he usually spent his Yule holiday at school. But now he was sitting in her compartment, looking smug at her confusion. "Well they haven't made any announcements about closing the school down for the holiday, so I suppose you must have been invited to stay with someone," she mused. "But who? I was under the impression that you didn't much talk to anyone if you could help it – except for me, of course, whom you enjoy bothering."

"You like my company – admit it."

"I suppose you aren't too annoying," she said, before mischievously adding, "for a child."

"And you aren't too terribly stupid – for a girl."

Hermione harrumphed before going back to her wondering. "Well... I really can't see anyone in school other than myself asking you to spend Yule with them, and since I haven't asked you, that means someone outside of Hogwarts did... and the only people outside of Hogwarts that you've made contact with are my parents," she concluded. "Which means you must be coming home with me."

"Hm," he sounded.

"Well?" she asked impatiently. "Are you coming to my house, or not?"

"I might be."

"So you are, then. What did my parents say about inviting you? Did they give any particular reason, outside of us being friends?"

"They might have," he said evasively.

"Dear, you can be such a nuisance sometimes."

"You've said so before," he smirked.

"And I'll say so again and again until you stop evading my questions. The only reason you haven't tried to change the subject is that you know I'll catch on."

"Figured that out, did you?"

"Of course I did. I'm neither naive nor stupid."

"Some would say otherwise. Besides, aren't girls supposed to be innocent and dull? You should try to act in a manner befitting your sex."

"And you should stop trying to aggravate me with your blatant sexism. I'll never be like that and you know it."

"I'm glad for it, too," he added. "How come you're so different, anyway? Your parents must have raised you differently for you to act so – so masculine."

She rolled her eyes, "My parents left me to my own devices mostly, and I spent the majority of my time reading fiction. I can't help it if I didn't get out enough to observe women acting so subservient to men. It's stupid, anyway. Obviously I'm smarter than any boy in my year, and my mother's smarter than many men her age; yet, because we're female, most men don't take us seriously and ignore anything that comes from us, genius or not. I'm actually quite thankful for Flitwick, Dumbledore, and Slughorn. Neither of them holds my sex against me."

"Slughorn doesn't seem to care so long as you'll benefit him in the end."

"True," Hermione said, "but that just means he thinks I'll be useful to him in the end, which is a compliment compared to what some of our other professors have to say about me."

Tom's eyes narrowed, "What have they said?"

"Oh, you know, the usual."

"Which is?" he asked tersely.

"That I shouldn't bother voicing my thoughts because no man will truly be impressed with me or desire me because of my outspokenness; I should try harder to find a husband than to waste my time on schooling, which will be useless to me anyway because I'm supposed to be a stay-at-home mother and wife without employment. The usual things sexist men say to women to get them to stop thinking for themselves."

Tom frowned and his face darkened, "They say that?"

"Worse, sometimes. Not so much the professors, because they'd probably get fired if they were too harsh, but the students definitely feel that way. Even the Ravenclaws, who value intelligence. Which I find to be both amusing and hypocritical, what with our House being founded by a woman. Hah! Sometimes I wonder if they've forgotten that Hogwarts was founded by Helga and Rowena as well as Godric and Salazar. Obviously they mustn't think much on it."

"There are always exceptions to every rule," Tom told her quietly. "You and they are different than other females. The rest of them are simpering idiots who care more about their hair and future husbands than about learning."

"That's true," Hermione admitted, "but don't you see? That's how their parents and teachers have taught them to act! They tell them that their future livelihood relies on their finding a good match, and so they worry about that most of all! And since the only way to find a good match is to attract him, the most obvious thing to worry about is how desirable they appear – which means hair and make-up and dress are the most important things for living a good life."

"They're just stupid," Tom said. "Even if they stopped worrying about husbands and what-not, they'd still not be able to match you or our male classmates."

"Because that's how they were raised, because they've not learned to think logically and rationally and to focus on their studies. If they'd been raised like I have, they would be more interested in learning. If they had a mother who worked for a living and enjoyed it, they'd be more apt to want the same. Nature only gives us the potential to be something; nurture that decides what we'll become. So no matter your circumstance, it will affect you. And the circumstance of our female classmates has nearly strangled their potential to the point where it can't be reached without strenuous effort."

"What about orphans, then? They're raised just as badly as girls are, if what you've spoken about their potential is true. How could I possibly be as good at everything as I am when my circumstances would tell you otherwise?"

Hermione smiled a wry smile and answered: "There are exceptions to every rule, Tom."

Tom's eyes widened minutely as he recognized the words he had spoken earlier in regards to her and the two female founders of Hogwarts.

"You, somehow and despite your childhood circumstances, maintained your intelligence and thirst for learning. Honestly, I think that this says a lot about your potential and your character. You`re strong to be able to surmount the life you`ve lived before – and though you refuse to tell me much about it, I suspect that it`s not as acceptable as you`ve told me. Tom," she said seriously and quietly, "I think you've got the potential to do just about anything you want."

"How could I?" he sneered bitterly, "I'm nothing but a Mudblood."

"And you were nothing but an orphan before Hogwarts, and yet you still remained intelligent. It'll probably take you a bit longer to gain the necessary connections, but you'll get wherever you want... and you'll be great, no matter what you decide to do."

"Ollivander said the same thing," Tom muttered.

Hermione smiled, "And all our professors say it, too. Orphan or not, people will fight to get you to work for them when you graduate. It'll take more work for me to find something than for you."

"And what do you want to do?" he wondered.

Hermione paused, wondering if she ought to tell him. She had plans to change the wizarding world for the better, but if she told Tom... if she told him, then she'd be inviting him to join her. She'd be admitting that he could do good as well, that she would accept his help and trusted him not to make her path harder to walk. She might even influence the direction he would take in life.

"Well?" he demanded. "Don't tell me you just want to marry and have children."

She snorted and shook her head, "No, definitely not. I was actually wondering if I should tell you my plans... but I know you can make a difference, and I... I trust you."

Here, Tom looked pleased and let a victorious smirk cross his face.

"I plan on going into the Ministry," she said, "however I can manage to do that as a woman, and once there... once there, I'm going to change as many discriminatory laws as I can so that no one, no matter their sex or their species, will be forced to live a second-rate life."

Silence descended upon their compartment while Tom just stared at her in quiet disbelief. He blinked a few times, managed to open his mouth, but no sound came out and so he closed it again and went back to just staring at her. His brow furrowed, frown lines marring his smooth forehead, and he pursed his lips as he obviously began to think deeply.

"I think it would be a good idea, too," she continued, "if I could manage to create laws protecting magical orphans. Maybe I could open an orphanage, and set up a functioning adoption system. And Muggleborns would be informed about magic sooner than the arrival of their Hogwarts letter. There could maybe be some kind of primary school where we could teach them our customs and traditions and acclimatize them to the magical world. Who knows, wizarding children might even attend them and then they wouldn't grow up as secluded as they are now."

"That's rather... ambitious," Tom finally spoke.

"Yes, well, there's a lot that needs to be improved in our world. We've been fighting change too much."

"Then you agree with Dumbledore?"

She frowned and stated firmly, "No, actually. He wants to make us... well, like Muggles I suppose. He's trying to get rid of our holidays to replace them with something Muggle-friendly. But what he doesn't understand is that we aren't Muggles. We celebrate these days for a reason, but he and others like him have forgotten that. The Hogwarts feast on Samhain is the only tradition left of that holiday. According to my research, most children went home to their families to celebrate the New Year and the beginning of winter, but now we're forced to stay at the school and can't perform any rituals or observances. My family doesn't even celebrate it properly because most rituals are illegal anymore. I didn't even know until I asked a fifth year prefect about it, and I've lived in the wizarding world my whole life!"

"The Old Ways," Tom recognized. "A lot of Slytherins hate Dumbledore for that. I didn't know what they meant, but if what you've said is true... then he's destroying our culture. I heard he's the one passing legislation in the Wizengamot."

"He is, he's the Chief Warlock, and he's drafting new laws left and right to get rid of our customs and traditions to turn us into Muggles who just so happen to use magic wands."

And it was true what she was telling Tom, horribly, horribly true. Hermione herself felt some resentment toward the man now, the man she used to look up to, who had appeared to her the paragon of truth and virtue. Now he was the symbol of the death and decay of a way of life. She really didn't know how to feel about it. She wanted to believe that he was still good and virtuous, but his blatant blindness in regards to his own world astounded Hermione. He might be a morally-upright man in terms of treating all peoples and creatures with kindness, respect, and consideration, but for some reason he left out of his regard the wizards and witches who practiced the dubbed "Old Ways". How could she reconcile the man who'd been her idol with this new man?

The train slowed as it neared London, and finally came to a stop as they reached Platform 9 ¾. Conversation had been stilted after Hermione's speech, Tom clearly being lost in thought, and so Hermione had taken out her homework and begun her holiday assignments. She only managed to finish two by the time they pulled into the station, but that was two less she would have to do at home. Not to mention how mind-numbingly boring first year essays were.

She and Tom lugged their trunks out of the train along with a flood of other students and began looking around for her parents, squinting through the steam and hoards of people. When Hermione finally spotted her parents and pointed them out to Tom, she noticed that Tom had frozen in place. His lips were white from being pressed together and the skin around his eyes was tight. She couldn't see his hands beneath his robes, but she'd bet anything that his knuckles were white as he clenched his fists. Unable to help herself, Hermione smiled gently at the nervous boy. He was so obviously trying to appear confident and strong and proper, but his nerves made his posture stiff and his expression unpleasant.

"Come on, dear, no need to be nervous," she teased him gently, taking his free hand and pulling him towards her parents.

"I'm not nervous," he snapped.

"Of course you aren't," she patronized.

They reached her parents after a short walk and she yanked him forward to stand beside her and in front of her parents. "Mum, dad, you remember Tom. Tom, these are my parents, Junia and Phaedrus Chase."

"It's nice to meet you properly," Tom greeted formally, holding his hand out to Hermione's father and shaking it stiffly.

Phaedrus soberly shook the boy's hand, but Hermione could tell that he was amused. Probably he could see (and feel) how tense Tom was and thought it silly. "Good to see you again, Tom," he said. "Been keeping my daughter safe, have you?"

"Of course, sir."

Hermione huffed and crossed her arms. The corner of Tom's mouth quirked up in the ghost of a smirk and she narrowed her eyes. Of course the kid would find her situation amusing! She'd show him some day – she's save his life, and then he'd have to admit that women were just as good as men at everything!

When Tom tried to shake her mum's hand, Hermione finally got her revenge as the boy was pulled into a tight hug by her mother. The look on his face was priceless! His eyes flew open widely and his mouth gaped stupidly as his arms hung uselessly at his sides. She was just about to laugh when she caught the look in his eyes. They were wide with surprise and befuddlement, yes, but they were also... sad, or perhaps wistful was the right word. She'd forgotten that the boy wouldn't have had many, if any, hugs before in his life. He was so starved for affection – so like Harry – that it made her heart ache keenly in her chest. She'd have to find a way to get him used to physical affection. No child should go through life not knowing the gentle touch of a parent, or of anyone at all.

"Are you both ready?" her mum asked.

She and Tom nodded and so her parents brought them towards the public floos. Her dad quickly and efficiently explained to Tom how the Floo Network worked and the four of them flooed to Chase's Abode. Hermione walked through the floo and watched as Tom came stumbling through, coughing out ash and trying to straighten his hair and soot-covered clothes. She laughed, unable to help herself. Tom was just so proper and clean. Seeing him fumbling about made him more human, more childish.

"Oh dear," her mother said before brandishing her wand and waving away the soot with a silent spell. "Now, let's get you unpacked and freshened up, then we'll have lunch."

They went up the stairs, Tom subtly trying to take in all the details without turning his head about too much, and stopped in front of one of the guest rooms. "This shall be your room, Tom," Junia told him, motioning him into the room. "The colours can easily be changed if you don't like them, so don't worry if you don't like warm colours. Tell me or Phaedrus what you'd prefer and we'll change it in a flick of the wrist. You are, of course, allowed to put your clothes away in the wardrobe and use the desk as you wish. Your personal lavatory is through that door," she motioned to the closed door diagonally across from the bed and next to the large wardrobe. "If you need anything – a glass of water, a snack – just call Fanny and she'll be happy to help."

Seeing the confusion on Tom's face, Hermione explained, "Fanny is our house elf. If you call her name intending for her to hear you and answer, she will. But don't abuse the privilege. I won't stand for her to be mistreated – not that I think you will, of course, but I feel I have to warn you just the same."

"Oh darling, I wish you would stop with that foolishness."

"Mistreatment of house elves is a serious problem. Uncle Janus treats his horribly – the man shouldn't be allowed to talk to them, let alone own them!"

"Be that as it may, you won't say a thing when he comes for supper."

"He's coming tonight?" Hermione nearly whined.

"Yes, and you'd do best to mind your manners. I know you haven't seen much of him, what with – well, before Hogwarts anyway, but I won't have you embarrassing your father and me by acting so un-lady-like. It was fine when you were a child, but now you've started school and your uncle won't have you talking back to him or lecturing him on the ethical treatment of house elves."

"I wish he weren't coming," Hermione muttered angrily, remembering how the man had shouted at his house elf for slightly burned cookies.

Her mum cupped her cheeks and smiled sweetly at her, "I know, darling, but it's just for tonight, and after Yule you won't have to see him again this holiday. I'll tell your father to make sure your uncle doesn't upset you, so long as you promise to mind your manners. I might even be able to send you and Tom off after dinner – but only if you behave."

"Fine," she promised.

Hermione hadn't seen much of her family since she was small, only seeing them on holidays and occasionally a birthday or two (they'd only come to her first, second, and third birthdays she now recalled). For a long time she'd wondered why. Why didn't her family come to visit her? When she'd been with the Grangers, they'd gone to visit family fairly often, and vice-versa, but with the Chases Hermione only rarely saw her extended family – and now she knew why. Her mother had laid it out rather obviously, though she clearly didn't wish to talk about it (or at least not in front of Tom): their family hadn't wanted anything to do with her because they'd thought her to be a squib. Before Hogwarts, her parents had even believed her to be one. The only memories she had of her other family were formal and stiff. She could vaguely recall snapping at her uncle Janus before for having yelled at his house elf (probably why her mum was warning her to behave), but she hadn't had much interaction with the family otherwise. They'd simply avoided her. Her parents had gone visiting a few times, leaving her with Fanny, and that just further went to prove how awful the Chase family could be (aside from her parents, who'd loved her even when they'd thought her a squib). And now she'd have to see her uncle Janus, who would probably make some comment about thanking Merlin that she wasn't a squib, and Tom would find out about that whole mess. What would he think? Did it matter?

"You should be unpacking, darling, we'll have lunch in half an hour" her mother told her before leaving the two Hogwarts students alone.

"Your uncle Janus... he was your most recent family to graduate Hogwarts," Tom suddenly said as she'd begun to turn away.

"Yes," she blinked.

"Why don't you get along with him?"

"Well, I haven't much seen him. The last time I did, I snapped at him for yelling at his house elf, and he, of course, got all offended like I'd questioned his manliness or something stupid like that."

Tom's eyebrows rose high on his forehead, "His manliness? You have the oddest expressions sometimes."

"Oh, you know! It's like every time I do better than a boy in class – get the spell quicker, get a higher mark, answer a question correctly – they always act like I've offended their delicate sensibilities or something, as if my being able to do those things somehow makes them less masculine."

"You don't offend or threaten me," Tom said loftily.

Hermione snorted and rolled her eyes before saying half-jokingly, "That's because you're an arrogant sod."

Colour rose in his cheeks as he bit out, "I'm not arrogant!"

"You are. You're better than any student your age – aside from me, of course – and the teachers never fail to tell you so. I can't imagine you not getting a bit full of yourself after all that. I won't even start on how you talk about your classmates – specifically your female classmates."

"That's because they're stupid; we've already established this."

"No, they've been trained to be stupid. There's a difference. You don't think my mum's stupid, do you?"

"Of course not!" he sputtered.

"Well, there you go. That makes four women who aren't stupid. I'd bet if you looked a bit closer, you'd see that your female peers are clever in their own way. They just haven't learned to apply that cleverness to academia is all."

"I'm not arguing about this with you again," Tom said in lieu of a rebuttal. "Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to get unpacked before lunch."

Hermione rolled her eyes and replied, "Yes, dear," before leaving the guest room and heading into her own. She swiftly unpacked, using the repetitive and thoughtless action to soothe her worried thoughts about her uncle's impending visit. Everything would be fine. And even if Tom found out that her family had thought her to be a squib – that she hadn't actually gotten a Hogwarts letter before Dumbledore's visit – it would be fine. He knew her; he knew how talented she was, how quickly and easily she performed magic (he'd caught her casting silently on the day they met, for heaven's sake). He wouldn't judge her as inadequate or question her deserving to attend their school. Even if she was a girl.

Footnote: Before you get too upset about Hermione constantly dithering on about women's rights, feminist issues, I'd like you to remember that she's now living in the forties. Women were treated insanely different back then, and to go from being treated with as much respect as men to being treated practically like an invalid would seriously piss anyone off.

This is an issue she'll keep coming back to because it's something she wants to change and knows will change. She just want to help it along, quicken the pace to equality between the sexes (something we in the real world haven't yet fully reached). So take a breather and put yourself in her shoes - and those are some damn scary shoes, I must say. I'd go nuts if someone told me to get out of uni, stop learning, and go have babies and make house or something. There would be murder and mayhem (okay, not murder, but definitely mayhem).