Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Somewhere in Time	By : serpentinred Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Hermione/Voldemort Views: 64474 -:- Recommendations : 6 -:- Currently Reading : 8
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter and I don't make any money from these writings.

Chapter List
- 19
- 20
- 21
A/N: Huge thanks to me betas, LSMerlot and Nerys! Many thanks to you who've read, rated, and especially those of you who've reviewed: Anon, risotto, Lady Miya, and Mr. Galion!

Anon: Glad you're enjoying the fic! Hope you like this chapter, too!

risotto: Yup, hope you've enjoyed that chapter!

Mr. Galion: Yeah, I realized it might seem a bit slow, but it's actually only two and a half months since they've arrived in the past. Hope this chapter's up to par to what you've had in mind!

~-0-~

Chapter 20

Needless to say, Hermione was in a very bad mood for the rest of the day. In fact, the foul temper continued on into Friday night when she was preparing herself for Slughorn's party. Joseph and she agreed to meet with one another at six-thirty so they could reach Slughorn's office in due time.

She rubbed the bridge of her nose, not overly enthusiastic about the party tonight—the Dark Lord, the cow, the Dark Lord's minions. Yup, she was not enthusiastic about it at all. It was tiresome and useless if the ones she had attended before were anything to go by. However, it was obviously too late to turn down the invitation, especially when she had asked Joseph to go with her already.

Most importantly, the last thing she wanted was people spreading rumors that she skipped the Slug Club party because she was crying over Tom.

Ew.

With that thought in mind, she decided to borrow a nice dress from Megan, who was slightly taller than she was. Obviously, she was not one of those conservative witches because she immediately tried to force Hermione into a low-cut, blood-red-colored gown. Hermione quickly declined and managed to convince Megan to let her choose her own gown. So, with a simple levitation charm, she brought Megan's collection of gowns into the seventh year dormitory and sifted through them until she found the simplest one out of the batch, which was a peach-colored gown that reached the floor.

"You look gorgeous, dear," the mirror said to her as she applied some light make-up to her face.

What was meant to be an encouragement made her even more nervous, and with a sigh, she walked down the stairs. Joseph was waiting by the portrait hole, talking quietly to Gareth.

"Oh, hi, Hermione," Gareth greeted her pleasantly.

Joseph, however, looked at her critically.

"That will not do, Hermione," he immediately said.

"What?" she asked, surprised.

"Don't you think you're a bit underdressed?" he asked, a light frown creasing his forehead.

In her opinion, she felt that she was already overdressed. She recalled what she wore to Slughorn's party back in the future, and it was certainly not as formal as what she was wearing right now.

"This will not do," Joseph repeated himself before marching over to the staircase. "Megan!"

Megan immediately popped out her head from her room and looked at Joseph questioningly. She was also preparing herself for the Slug Club party and looked slightly annoyed at being interrupted.

"Dress her up," he ordered, pointing at Hermione.

Megan's face immediately brightened up, and before Hermione could say something, she was already pulled into the dormitory again.

"I don't think I'm underdressed," she finally opened her mouth and protested as Megan rummaged through the gowns.

"You can't really blame Joseph, actually," Megan said as she picked up a pink-colored gown, wrinkled her nose, and threw it to the side. "No extravagant colors for you, I guess."

"No, please," Hermione replied.

"His cousin, Titurius Burke, will be there," Megan explained as she pulled out a stocking from the pile and threw it to one side. "He's the world's biggest chatterbox, and Joseph hates it when they meet. Titurius always manages to twist every situation into a scandal. The last thing Joseph wants is to return home during Christmas to find his parents waiting to give him a trial. Oh, this one will do."

Pushing the gown into Hermione's hands, she ushered her to change, and there was certain determination in Megan's voice that told Hermione that she would not take "no" as an answer. Heaving a sigh, Hermione quickly took off the dress she was wearing and pulled on the new dress Megan picked out. The strapless, lilac dress hugged her figure until right below her waist and then flared out until it reached the floor. A rose, the same color as the dress, gathered the skirt at her left hip.

"Perfect," Megan commented, satisfied, a few minutes later when she was finished dressing her up.

Thankfully, the gown was not overly revealing. She would have felt uncomfortable if it were, but at the moment, the only thought running through her mind was how beautiful it was. Glancing at her reflection, she realized that she did like what Megan had done. It was very flattering to her physique, and Megan had taken less than twenty minutes to get everything done. The make-up was definitely not light, but the subtle tones brought out her features spectacularly. Hermione wished she had had Megan around to help her back when she was preparing for the Yule Ball. Then, it would have cost her far less time to tame her hair. It had taken her hours to get it somewhat smooth and shiny.

However, this was not the Yule Ball, and in Hermione's opinion, this was a bit too much for a party that was arranged by Slughorn.

Hermione shook her head. "Now, I'm definitely overdressed."

"No, you're not. I assure you that there will be people there who are wearing more extravagant things than you are. Don't be surprised if you see girls with feathers in their hats or ball gowns and such," Megan reassured her. She then pointed at herself. "Look at what I'm wearing."

It was then that Hermione realized that Megan was also wearing an evening gown, but hers was orange colored.

"Old Sluggie loves showing off what he deems as his star students," Megan rolled her eyes. "Merlin forbid that one of us shows up in casual wear. No, I walked into the party with simple dress robes during third year. He caught me right at the entrance—made me go back and change immediately." She eyed the peach-colored dress that was now lying on top of Hermione's bed. "I can't believe I've forgotten to take that one out of the trunk. Good thing Joseph made you change; I wore that two years ago, and Titurius would most definitely remember that."

Hermione could feel the dislike for this Titurius bloke increase with each passing second.

"And besides," Megan continued, giving Hermione a mischievous grin, "don't you want this chance to show our Head Boy what he's missing out on?"

"Megan!" Hermione screeched, although she suddenly felt her stomach lurch ... no, it definitely was not excitement.

"Yeah, yeah. Joseph told me all about it," she waved her hand at Hermione. "I know you're not going out with Tom, but this is a perfect chance to show those people out there that you're not any worse than Iris."

And all Hermione could do when Megan gave her a wink was roll her eyes and sigh.

~-0-~

Hermione gave the gawking Gareth and Joseph a shy smile as she walked down the stairs. The same feeling from the Yule Ball rushed back to her, and she was slightly feeling giddier about the evening. Her hand nervously went up to one of the curls framing her face and patted it lightly.

"Wow, Hermione," was all Gareth could say before he resumed staring.

Hermione stifled a laugh and strode over to Joseph, who had both of his eyebrows raised.

"Who knew that there were such lovely features behind those books and underneath that unmanageable hair?" he commented.

Hermione was about to come back with a snarky response of her own, but Joseph bowed down and took a hold of her hand.

"You look lovely, Hermione." And he gave her a light kiss on the back of her hand. He straightened up and held out his arm. "Shall we proceed to the party and show what a lovely Siren I've brought with me tonight?"

In despite of herself, Hermione giggled and looped her arm around his.

"Megan told you about my 'delightful' cousin, didn't she?" he asked offhandedly as they walked towards Slughorn's office.

"Yes," she replied. A mischievous smile appeared on her face. "Shall we pretend that I don't speak English well?"

Joseph snickered. "That won't be necessary. Just make sure you don't give him too much information about who you are. If he asks anything about us, keep it simple so he won't get the wrong idea."

Hermione nodded, not looking forward to meeting this bloke at all.

She entered the office with Joseph. Despite the fact that the two Gryffindors had arrived early, there were still a good amount of people who had arrived earlier than they did, and true to Megan's words, many of the girls were wearing evening gowns and hats embroidered with feathers, lace, and frills.

The decorations for Christmas were up in Slughorn's room. A gigantic Christmas tree stood approximately ten feet away from the fireplace, and a slow waltz was playing in the background. The refreshment table was a few feet away from the Christmas tree. Trays carried used glasses and plates away from the attendees to a corner, where a house-elf would collect them to the kitchen. Fairies of different colors flew around the room, providing minimal light, and Hermione would've probably been fascinated by how romantic it appeared if her eyes hadn't landed on a particular dark-haired young man.

Tom was wearing simple, black dress robes, yet he easily stood out. The minimal lighting strangely enhanced his eyes, making them glow like phantom lights that lured lost wanderers deeper into the mysteries of a dark forest. It was something that Hermione had always found intriguing. His eyes seemed luminescent in the dark, reminding her of how the eyes of wolves shined at night. He was now discreetly glancing around the room while he smiled politely to a wizard who seemed to be, at most, in his early twenties. The latter was talking animatedly and didn't seem to notice that Tom's concentration was not entirely on him.

Hermione's eyes slightly narrowed when she noticed Iris hanging onto Tom's arm. Grudgingly, she had to admit that she looked quite beautiful in the light green dress and a few curls of her hair framing her heart-shaped face.

All of a sudden, Tom looked towards her direction. His dark gaze seemed to intensify to Hermione, and it was almost as if he were slightly distraught with the turbulence that swam in his eyes until an eerie coldness settled in them. However, he did not look away from her. Allowing an impassive mask to slide over her face, she tilted her head towards him as a greeting, her posture and actions mimicking exactly how he had treated her for the past few days since Iris returned. His eyes flickered and narrowed.

"Hermione, Mr. Potter, how good of you to join us," Slughorn's voice caught her attention.

She swiveled her head around and found him standing a small distance away from them. The two Gryffindors walked towards Slughorn with polite smiles on their faces.

"Thank you for inviting us, Professor," Hermione uttered.

"Nonsense," Slughorn chided. The smile reappeared on his face. "Many of my former students," he waved his hand nonchalantly around, "are here tonight, and I'm sure a fair few would be delighted to make your acquaintances." He took a step closer to Hermione and whispered, "Now, don't forget your old Potions professor when you're making Galleons, my dear."

"Of course," she smiled, thinking ironically about what might happen in the future.

"Excellent," Slughorn said with a beam. He clapped his hands on Hermione and Joseph's shoulders. "The refreshments are on that table along the wall. Enjoy yourselves!"

After saying their thanks, they were making their way across the room when a booming voice stopped them in their tracks.

"Joseph!"

A grimace appeared on Joseph's face before he plastered a fake smile over it.

"Hello, Titurius," he greeted the wizard who was walking towards them.

It turned out to be the young man who was previously chatting with Tom, and Hermione took the chance to take a better look at the person Joseph had so wanted to avoid. The wizard was not exactly unattractive, but standing next to Joseph, he could only be considered plain, although his dress robes were much more extravagant with their frills and laces. He, too, had jet-black hair that was slightly messy, but not as unruly. Instead of dark brown eyes like Joseph, Titurius had light blue eyes.

"Fancy seeing you here," Titurius Burke said as he eyed Joseph from head to toe before he turned his attention over to Hermione. "And who's this young lady?"

"My friend, Hermione," Joseph answered, deliberately being short and to the point. "My cousin, Titurius Burke."

"Really?" Titurius asked. "Nice to meet you, Miss ..."

"Granger," Hermione replied after some thought. "Nice to meet you, too."

"I don't recall seeing you before," Titurius commented, eying her curiously.

"She's a transfer student," Joseph explained. He then placed his hand at the small of Hermione's back. "From Durmstrang. Now, if you will excuse us, Hermione's a bit thirsty, so it's best if—"

"Ah, Durmstrang," Titurius ignored Joseph and focused his attention on Hermione instead. "Very interesting school. One of my best friends previously attended there. How do you like it here at Hogwarts? Very different environments."

"I miss my school, of course, but it is nice to be somewhere warmer," Hermione answered, remembering all the details Viktor had told her about the school.

"I see," he nodded before his eyes flitted to Joseph and then back to her. "So how did my dearest cousin meet such a beautiful young lady like you?"

"We're both in Gryffindor," Hermione replied, noticing how Joseph's body stiffened he was mentioned.

"Surely he'd been a gentleman and showed you around the castle?" Titurius grinned.

Hermione nearly raised her eyebrows, realizing what he was trying to do.

"We both have classes, so it would be rather hard for him to show me around all the time," she answered. "Hm ... it's rather hot in here," she stared pointedly at the fireplace. "Shall we get ourselves some drinks, Joseph?"

"Certainly," Joseph said with a smile.

"Then, I bid you good-bye, Mr. Burke," she tilted her head towards him.

The two of them then quickly headed towards the refreshments table before Titurius could call them back.

"Did I do alright? Will he say anything to your parents?" Hermione asked worriedly.

"I doubt he would NOT have something to tell them, but you did wonderfully, Hermione. I thank you," he said, tilting his head towards her with a smile. "And, I can safely say that he couldn't possibly say anything negative about such an elegant young lady."

"Oh, stop it, Joseph," she laughed and punched him on the shoulder good-naturedly.

"Nuh-uh, Hermione. A proper young lady should not punch such a dashing young man like me," Joseph teased, shaking his forefinger at her.

She rolled her eyes but could not stop herself from giggling.

"So, will you grant me some fun time before I return home to my parents and receive my Christmas gift of mental torture?" Joseph asked with a grin on his face, too.

"It will be my pleasure," she replied with a smile of her own.

He then led her to the dance floor, and they swayed to the slow waltz that was playing while they chatted softly between themselves. A little while later, from the corner of her eye, she saw a familiar blond making his way towards them.

"Ah, look who we have here?" Joseph asked with mock surprise. "Your dearest Draco."

"Yes, I'm so enthusiastic to see him," she replied sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

"Then I shall take leave of you. If you need me, I shall be at the refreshments table, mending my broken heart," Joseph uttered solemnly.

"I will. Make sure to forget some pins and needles inside your heart then," she said jovially, waving her hand at him.

He clutched onto his heart and stumbled away as if he were truly injured, leaving Hermione thoroughly amused and her mood very much improved.

"Did you hear what they're spreading around?" Draco immediately grabbed her arm and asked.

"Why, hello to you, too, Draco," she greeted him, raising her eyebrows at how frantic he seemed.

She then turned around and walked towards one of the chairs and sat down, staring at the fairies flying around the ceiling.

"They're saying that I'm your boyfriend. Me! You!" he exclaimed, pointing at himself and then her as he sat down in the chair beside her.

"Well, isn't that just all cheery and nice," she commented dryly, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"Hermione, it's not funny," he protested.

"It certainly isn't," she agreed, a frown appearing on her forehead. "I'm being paired with ferret boy out of all people."

"Granger," he growled.

She laughed. "I'm surprised you hadn't heard the rumors earlier."

"I am, too. I should have guessed with him sending me unfriendly glares," Draco muttered under his breath. She nearly did not hear what he said and was about to question him about what he meant when he continued, "What are we going to do?"

She heaved a sigh and shrugged. "Well, there's nothing we can do about it, is there? As ... someone once told me, the more you talk about it, the more things they get to spread around. Just ignore it, and they'll soon move on to something else to chatter about."

Her eyes unconsciously landed on a certain dark-haired young man who was leaning against the wall, listening to something Augustus Rookwood was telling him. His eyes, however, were not on his fellow Slytherin. She followed his eyesight and found Alphard a small distance away, getting himself a drink.

"Did Alphard do something to To–Riddle?" she asked.

"No. Why?" Draco looked at her curiously.

"He's looking at him," she commented.

"Well, it's not all that strange. They mostly ignore one another when we're back in the common room, but everyone can tell that there's some kind of competition between the two of them," Draco shrugged.

"Competition?" she inquired.

"Not that Alphard really stands a chance against your high and mighty Tom," Draco answered, a smirk sliding on to his face and disregarding how Hermione narrowed her eyes at him, "but there's always that struggle for being the best in Slytherin."

"What about his other ... 'friends'?" she asked.

Draco snorted. "Friends, indeed. Most of them are more scared of him than anything, to tell the truth, including Abraxas."

"Not surprisingly," Hermione stated.

"The only one who dares to ignore Tom's orders is Alphard," Draco continued, ignoring her statement about his grandfather, "but he hardly does it for Cygnus and Orion's sake. The two of them worship the floor Tom walks on," he rolled his eyes. He raised an eyebrow at Hermione. "Oh dear. You'll have to hurry and get in line, Hermione."

"For what?" she asked, startled by the sudden change of subject.

"To worship the floor he walks on," Draco snickered.

"What?"

"Well, why else were you noticing everything Tommy dear does? I certainly didn't see him observing Alphard," he replied, amusement laced throughout his words.

"That is because I, for one, care about my friends," she retorted. Lowering her voice, she continued, "Seeing that it's Lord Voldemort," she smirked when he flinched at the name, "who is currently staring at him, I'm concerned about Alphard's safety."

Draco straightened himself a bit and allowed the smirk to reappear on his face. "Really? Alphard better watch out next, then. I'm so glad you're so considerate of your friends, since this is obviously a way to help me out of my dilemma, then."

"Huh?" Hermione crinkled her forehead. "What are you going on about now?"

He raised an eyebrow at her. "You can't tell me you didn't notice that Riddle basically ignored you after you had to blabber around that you have a boyfriend, and you can't tell me you didn't notice how displeased he was when you were joking and laughing with Joseph Potter. Merlin, anyone who had the possibility of being your boyfriend was better off hiding in the boys' dormitory." He slightly shuddered.

She stared at him, in shock by all the things he was telling her. She then snorted after she recomposed herself. "Don't tell me you decided to come to the party with Melantha Parkinson because of that."

"Yes," he mumbled.

She doubled over in laughter.

"Granger," he growled. He leaned closer to her and in a lower voice told her, "I've been through enough torturing sessions for those years prior to when Potty vanquished him. I am not ready to give him reasons to Cruciate me whenever he's in a bad mood, which he is, nearly every day after he found out you had a pet weasel."

Really?

Her stomach flip-flopped at the thought of that being true, but then she recalled whom Draco was talking about. Tom Marvolo Riddle had tons of reasons to be in a foul mood. It most likely had nothing to do with her.

He probably got stumped by another toddler problem.

So, she responded accordingly. "He doesn't seem very unhappy," she retorted wryly.

"That's because you're not in perspective, or you're just in denial, distorting every signal he sent out with that blockhead of yours," he concluded, leaning away from her and flicking his forefinger on her forehead.

"Well, Iris did return by then," she pointed out, deep in thought. "He could be merely placing more time on her, so he didn't have time to entertain himself by intimidating me."

"Well, that same Iris tried to make him jealous right afterwards, by nearly sitting on top of Serafeim Mulciber's lap, but what did he do? Nothing. Nothing at all, not so much as a glance or a quirk of the eyebrow, kept on reading that enormous library book about Merlin knows what. And that time in Divinations? If it were Iris or some other admirer of his, he'd have had a good laugh at their behavior, and confronting them right before class? Out of the question. He has a reputation to maintain, and there weren't only Slytherins in Potions that day," Draco drawled.

Her heart slightly sped up at his words, and her face flushed slightly red.

"Riddle ... that's ... impossible," she whispered.

"Well, I certainly hope it is," he said and then mockingly added, "because if I hadn't known better I would've thought that he was jealous."

She frowned at his statement and flicked him back on the forehead.

"Oye! Ow! What was that for?" he protested, rubbing his forehead with his fingers.

"You're just trying to find out if I like him, aren't you?" She glared at him. "You're just making everything up."

Before he could answer, a girl stomped up to them, grabbed Draco's arm, and pulled him up.

"There you are. I've been looking all over for you," the girl said to him, throwing Hermione a dirty look.

"Just chatting with my ... friend," Draco answered, giving Hermione a wink, and she suddenly remembered that the girl was Iris's younger sister.

Melantha saw the interaction between the two of them, narrowed her eyes, and started dragging him away.

"We still haven't danced yet. I really ..." Melantha's words were then drowned out by the other chatter in the room.

Hermione chuckled softly to herself, amazed by the attraction Draco had on girls with the surname of Parkinson. Although ... Iris seemed to be the only exception.

Then again, what was wrong with these Parkinson sisters? Honestly, both of them saw her as a threat when it came down to their men.

She watched as Iris pranced towards Tom, her face flushed red with excitement and two cups of drinks in her hand. He politely declined the cup she handed towards him, and Hermione was suddenly reminded of what very nearly happened to Harry with Romilda Vane during sixth year. She wondered if that cup of juice was spiked with Amortentia, too.

It was impossible. He was ... well ... Tom Riddle. It was impossible that he cared about what Hermione was doing, right? Not that she cared, of course. Ferret boy was seeing things. He obviously cracked under the stress of having to live in the same dorm as Voldemort like he had when he found out whom he had landed on top of when they first arrived in the past. Voldemort Cruciating him because he thought Draco Malloy was her boyfriend. Hermione snorted. Yeah, right. Too much fur clogging up his brain.

As the cow rushed away, undoubtedly on some pointless mission given to her by Tom, he looked up, and their eyes locked. The tips of his lips curved upwards.

Well, there was one thing right about Draco's hallucinations, and that was she could not see things straight when it concerned her emotions. She had to admit that she had been overly emotional in the past few days simply because she was irritated with Tom Riddle. Yes, she was irritated ... by his attitude. Yes, that was it. So, she just wanted to make sure she had not been mistaken; she had to prove that she was correct. Yeah, that was it. It was not because she hoped that Draco might be right. Nope. Definitely not. Therefore, she tried to analyze Tom's expression with a cool head, but before she could do so, someone walked in front of her, blocking him from view.

"Oh, hello," she greeted the Slytherin standing in front of her.

"Not dancing?" Alphard asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

She looked around and shrugged. "No partner."

He held out his hand. "May I have the honor of dancing with the prettiest lady in the room?"

She grinned and placed her hand in his. He led her to the dance floor and placed his hand on her waist.

"So ... how have you been? I haven't talked to you for a while," he asked, twirling her around.

The lights given off by the fairies, which seemed to increase by the minute, swirled around, mesmerizing her for a second and reminding her of stars in the sky.

"The same as usual," she answered, letting her eyes follow a particular purple fairy.

"Really?" Alphard raised an eyebrow.

She glanced at him and raised her eyebrows, too. "And why would you think otherwise?"

He smiled and did not answer, his eyes thoughtful.

"I should apologize for angering you that day, in the classroom," he said.

She was about to open her mouth and tell him not to worry about it until she heard his next words.

"However, I do not take back what I said the other day," he finished.

"Alphard ..."

"Hermione, I do not wish to pry into your personal business, but ... did you really know what you were doing in Divinations yesterday?" he questioned her.

So much for not prying into her personal business. Hermione could not help but feel slightly miffed about the accusatory tone of voice he was talking to her with.

"Alphard, I have a boyfriend already," she said, her voice harsher than usual. "It's being spread all over the school, and I'd be surprised if you haven't heard it yet. Besides, even if, just if I don't have one, why does it matter to you who I have my eyes on?"

His eyebrows furrowed, and it was after the words left her mouth that she remembered that Alphard was simply worried about her. Nevertheless, she still felt that he was sticking his nose too far into her business.

He opened his mouth and was about to say something, but Hermione beat him to it.

"Sorry, I have been a bit stressed for a while already. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that," she apologized and then stepped away from him. "I ... I just need some time to myself. I'll see you later."

She turned around and walked off the dance floor towards the refreshments table, thankful that Alphard knew better than to follow and pester her. She looked around for her partner, but Joseph was nowhere in sight. She'd rather face his teasing than hear Alphard's accusations. It was too much, just too much, and it made her far too irritated for a night of relaxation and joy she promised herself.

Suddenly, she heard a rather familiar giggle, which dampened her mood even more. She turned her head slightly and found Iris still hanging onto Tom's arm and Titurius standing next to them. Hermione immediately took a step to the right so that she was completely hidden from their view behind the Christmas tree. The last thing she needed that night was for Iris to make snide remarks at her; she couldn't guarantee what she would do if Iris tried. From her position, however, she could still hear what they were saying.

"Ah, do you know Hermione?" she heard Titurius ask Iris.

Hermione scrunched up her face; out of everyone in the room, the gossip had to choose the person who had issues with her.

"Of course I do."

Hermione could hear the sneer in her voice without looking at her.

"She seems to be ... quite chummy with Tom here, according to some of the other people I've spoken to," he commented, causing Hermione's cheeks to warm.

Iris gave a rather exaggerated laugh.

"You have to be joking, Mr. Burke. You haven't seen them so much as speak to one another tonight thus far, have you? No, she's much better ... friends with Mr. Malloy and Mr. Potter," Iris answered, the laughter not quite leaving her voice yet.

"Really? Mr. Malloy, as in ..."

"Draco Malloy, the young man dancing with my younger sister right there."

"And Mr. Potter, as in Joseph Potter?"

"The one and only," Iris replied, the sneer in her voice once again.

Hermione nearly slapped her forehead out of frustration, and for Joseph's sake, she really wanted to curse Iris right then and there. Unfortunately, there were too many witnesses, and Slughorn was sitting in a chair a few paces away, talking to a rather pretty witch.

This was bad. Really, really bad. She could only imagine what Joseph would have to go through during Christmas vacation now that Titurius had gotten some supposed "news" from his "fellow classmates."

"Have they known one another for long?" Titurius continued to ask.

"You mean Mr. Potter? Well, I don't know your definition for 'long,'" Iris answered, giggling softly, "but they hardly leave one another's sides since she transferred to Hogwarts."

Hermione rolled her eyes. Trust a Parkinson to exaggerate things.

"Does Mr. Potter seem to be ... interested in Miss Granger?" Titurius asked.

A pause followed his words before Iris said, "I don't know for sure, but he does take really good care of her. He obviously doesn't despise her if he's willing to come to Professor Slughorn's party with her, although I did hear," she lowered her voice mysteriously at this point, and Hermione had to strain her ears to hear what she was saying over the music, "that Miss Granger was the one who asked Mr. Potter to come with her."

"So Mr. Potter was forced to come with Miss Granger?"

Iris giggled again. "I can't really say forced. After all, who can force a bloke like Mr. Potter to do anything he doesn't want to do, but from what I've heard, Miss Granger is rather aggressive when it comes to men."

Hermione's jaws dropped open at such a proclamation. How dare that cow taint her reputation like that? Oh, she would show that stupid Slytherin witch aggressive. Her hand flew to her wand, and she was about to pull it out and hex Iris before she heard Titurius's next question.

"Tom must be pretty devastated then ... unless ... are you two really an item?"

"Can't say we are. After all, I'm not nearly as wealthy as Mr. Potter or come from a social background like his," Tom said.

Was that how he perceived her? Was that the kind of woman he thought she was? She felt a sharp stab in her heart at his words.

"See? I told you they weren't dating," Iris immediately said, her satisfaction seeping from her tone of voice.

Her hand loosened around her wand and tightened again as different curses flashed through her mind, except this time, the target of it would undoubtedly be Riddle instead of the cow. She contemplated on using the spell she used back in sixth year on Ron, but that was a bit ... too mild in her opinion.

No, it doesn't affect me. It does not affect me at all. Why should it affect me? she thought even while she felt unprecedented emotions welling up in her.

No, she was simply angry because he was ... defaming her. Yes! He was defaming her. And she actually thought Lord Make-Everyone's-Life-A-Living-Hell-Because-His-Childhood-Was-Too was supposed to be clever and had some kind of fabulous insight into other people's motivations. That unbelievable arse, making that kind of statement about her to others! Yes, that was why she was angry. It was not because what he said hurt her. She did not care about Tom Marvolo Riddle, so why would his words hurt her? Nonsense!

Yet, his words continued to replay themselves in her mind, and she felt her heart dropping to the bottom of her stomach.

Oh, for Merlin's sake! She was definitely not going to become all emotional because of something he said. And what was she thinking, hexing him in front of Slughorn?

She quickly pocketed her wand, glad that the logical side of her brain was working again.

Tom Marvolo Riddle better watch where he's going for the next few days.

She could not guarantee what she would do if she got the chance to hex him.

"Hermione, I was looking all over for you! Silly me. I should've thought that you would be at the refreshments table," Joseph laughed. He stopped in front of her and eyed her carefully. In a lower voice, he asked, "Are you alright? You look ... angry."

"I'm fine," she answered in a clipped tone of voice. "Excuse me, I need to go to the loo."

She honestly needed a breather. If she continued seeing Iris or Tom, she might just attack them with any hex or curse that came to her mind, and that would not do. The last thing she wanted was to spend time in detention.

When she was two hallways away from Slughorn's office, she finally stopped and leaned with her back against the wall, allowing the coolness of it to calm her down. She was still very, very pissed. Ugh.

She tried to think of happier things. Ron ... Ron! She should think of him! That would make her happier.

"I've gotten something for you, but you will have to wait till Christmas."

She froze, clenching her hands into fists. The way his voice spoke ... the sweetness in it ... it seemed further and further away from her. The words were hollow, without feelings, no longer giving her that fuzzy and warm feeling in the pit of her stomach. This couldn't be happening to her. It had only been two and a half months! She tried to grasp it, touch it somehow, but the harder she tried to hold on to it, the faster it seemed to be slipping away from her.

Gareth Weasley constantly reminded her of him, but the feeling was ... subsiding. Her feelings towards Ron were subsiding! It made her question herself. Did she really love Ron as much as she thought she loved him? Or was it because he was there? Because he was just someone she was extremely familiar with?

She didn't understand. She didn't want to understand. This was absurd, crazy, and illogical. And her mind couldn't comprehend it. She wanted to pull on her hair, try to relieve some of the frustration she was going through. It was too big of a revelation, and she was not ready for it. She closed her eyes tightly and furrowed her eyebrows, doing her best to remember that endearing tone of voice she had become accustomed to after the war.

A hand grasped her out of her thoughts, causing her to yelp, and pulled her into an empty classroom.

~-0-~

A/N: Huge thanks to my betas: LSMerlot and Nerys!
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Somewhere in Time