The Greatest Thing You'll Ever Learn by SheWalksWithRavens
A/N: Ack. I apologize for not having this up the next day after I posted the last chapter. I just reread it before posting it and decided that I hated certain things and wanted to change it. The responses for the reviews of chapter nine as well as ten are included in this chapter.
I don't own anything, except my story. Thank you, read and review.
Chapter Eleven: An Enigma
The confrontation with Tom Riddle had left Hermione shaken and she had asked Connor if he wouldn't mind sitting out the first swing dance with her so she could have something to drink. Connor of course agreed, and they sat making idle conversation until everyone ran out to dance.
Connor looked like he really wanted to go, but he couldn't leave Hermione. He shot her a puppy dog pleading glance, and she finally consented being pulled on to the dance floor. The basic 8 step-dance was simple enough once she got the hang of it. But then Hermione had wanted to scream because Connor had picked her up and flipped her over his back. She had barely landed gracefully, and she noted that everyone must have seen her under bloomers.
Hermione glanced around and saw that every so often, a flash of the short styled knickers could be seen due to the moves and no one seemed to mind. Letting go of her inhibition she started to enjoy the fun natured dancing style, and was impressed by some of the moves that these kids knew how to do.
Nearby, Alicia was pretending to be a rag doll in Eric's arms, so all of her limbs looked utterly lip as he dragged her about. On the other side of Hermione, Gwen was trying desperately to get William to spin her, flip her, or anything other than the basic moves. Had she not been so frustrated, she would have noted that William was too busy trying to count out the steps that if he tried to do anything else, he'd probably step on her foot.
"For a beginner, you aren't so bad!" Connor shouted over the music to Hermione.
"Thanks." Hermione said giving him a large smile.
"I still can't believe that you were forbidden from dancing anything but the waltz at your old school."
Hermione just smirked, gave an agreement of "it was terrible," and continued to enjoy the dance. Connor was a fun partner to have as he seemed to make the night go by much faster than it would have if Hermione had simply sat on the sidelines with the rest of the dateless youth. However, it was not only the dateless who abstained from dancing. It appeared that most of the older Slytherins were assembled to one side looking at the rest down their noses.
At their forefront was none other than Tom Riddle, holding a flute of sparkling cider in one hand and twirling his wand in the other. Bellatrix draped herself over one of Tom's arms and gave him the best seductive look she could muster.
"Tom, when are we going to give them their surprise?" She whispered.
"Soon." Came the short reply as he thrust his drink into Bellatrix's hand and stalked off to the other end of the Great Hall.
As much fun as Hermione was having with Conner, she knew that Gwen would be having more fun in her position. So when Hermione was dancing close enough to her and William, she spun off Conner's arm as Gwen stepped away from William so that Hermione grabbed hold of William and began to dance with him instead.
Confused at what had just taken place, Connor tossed his hair to the side and offered his hand to Gwen, who took it and began dancing with him instead. Hermione smiled as she watched them, but William only looked crestfallen. Gwen and Connor were perfect matches for one another, and it was plain to see.
Connor lifted Gwen up who kicked her legs up in the air, before he brought her back close to his chest, and she straddled it before repeating the motion. They received a few cheers from fellow Gryffindors, as this was a rather difficult move to do but Connor and Gwen did it perfectly.
Hermione, William, Alicia, Eric and others started to form a circle about the couple watching the intricate movements of their dance. Soon the crowd consisted of all of those on the dance floor and Hermione felt a presence near her sending a chill up her spine. She half-glanced over her shoulder to see Tom Riddle standing a few feet away, his gaze fixed on her.
Hermione quickly turned her attention back to cheering for Connor and Gwen, but that chill still echoed in every nerve of her body. Daring a second glance, she turned around to find that Tom Riddle had disappeared. She joined in the clapping with the rest when Gwen and Connor finished their dance, and the group made their way back to their tables.
"That was absolutely brilliant!" Alicia said with a squeak as she ran up and embraced Gwen.
"I hope you don't mind me borrowing your date." Connor said in a cocky tone to William while the girls gossiped ahead.
"No...not at all." William replied with a forced smile.
To everyone's surprise Bethan was waiting for them at the table already. She gave them an overly large smile, which everyone thought strange but assumed it was due to the butter beer, and let it go.
"Gwen and Connor, you two dance so well together I really think you two would have been perfect dates. I feel simply gutted that you are stuck with other people for the rest of the night." Bethan gave Hermione a look of venom.
"Guys, I am a bit thirsty, I think I'm going to grab some butter beer, do you guys want anything?" Hermione wanted to remove herself from the situation.
In her mind Bethan was the female equivalent of Wormtail, minus the ability to change into a rat, and the less time she spent around her the better. Hermione didn't really hear a response if they gave her one, and excused herself from the group. At the drink table she took a large breath and began to fan herself with one hand. Reaching for a butter beer, she was surprised when a flute of sparkling cider was placed in her hand by non-other than Tom Riddle. He had undone the top buttons of his black shirt, due to the fact that the Great Hall was so warm and Hermione hated to admit to herself that he was very handsome for a future psychopath. His hand held the contact with her own for a brief moment before she pulled away and eyed the glass with suspicion.
"You shouldn't drink too much butter beer, it doesn't help with fatigue." Tom explained.
"I'll keep that in mind." Hermione replied trying to avoid his gaze.
"You are an enigma, Ms. Granger."
"Funny, I would have pegged you to be one. My life is an open book." Hermione said defiantly, but in a few moments she would regret ever saying it.
"It is interesting that you should say that, when all you've done since you came here was lie. Like I said Ms. Granger, you are an enigma and I find that fascinating. Drink the cider, it rather special." He gave her the ghost of a smile, raised his glass to her and then walked away.
Hermione looked at the cider with hesitation.
"Riddle wouldn't try and poison me, would he?" Hermione thought as she swirled the amber liquid in her glass.
Just then something tall and clad in black, knocked into Hermione sending the cider all over her dress. When Hermione looked up she saw the laughing faces of Bellatrix and Narcissa Black. Bellatrix soon put on a mask of utmost shock.
"Oh, I can be so terribly clumsy. Forgive me, and you had such a pretty dress too...it's a shame its ruined. Oh, here let me get you another drink" Bellatrix laughed and handed Hermione a butter beer from the table.
"It would only be ruined, if I didn't know a simple cleaning spell that a first year would know," Hermione took out her wand, "Scourgify."
The stain immediately disappeared from Hermione's dress along with the smirk on Bellatrix's face. Bellatrix grabbed Narcissa's hand and dragged the other girl off through a fury of curses under her breath, while Hermione looked on wanting to laugh.
Hermione felt her thirst once more, and looked at the butter beer in her hand before taking a swig. She looked at the beverage table and the odd thing was, she didn't see sparkling cider anywhere. There were pitchers of water to the left, an elaborate fountain of a ship that appeared to be sailing in the pumpkin juice, and bottles of butter beer on the right.
"Riddle was trying to poison me." Hermione thought to herself.
For once in her life, Hermione Granger felt gratitude to Bellatrix. If she hadn't knocked into her, Hermione was actually going to have drank it. Shaking those thoughts from her brain, she took another sip of her butter beer.
Her insides began to warm as the liquid made its way down her throat and into her stomach. Another lively song ended and soon everyone was hoarding the drink table. Hermione just made it out when she finished her butter beer and started to feel dizzy. She looked around spying Gwen and Alicia who were also drinking the butter beer but they seemed perfectly fine.
Hermione sat down at the table and placed her hand to her head as if she was having a splitting headache. William, who had been neglected by Gwen for the remainder of the night and Eric were the first to notice that something was wrong.
"Hermione... are you feeling alright?" William asked while placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.
Hermione didn't respond to him but merely cringed at the sound of his voice. To her, his speaking sounded like a fog horn going off in her ear. Eric repeated William's question and again Hermione was gripped by pain. She stood up in an attempt to distance herself from the sound and immediately collapsed upon the ground.
"Hermione!" Alicia shrieked as she ran over to the girl on the ground.
Soon after, students all across the Great Hall began to collapse as Hermione had. Dumbledore immediately cut the band off while Dippet rushed to attention.
"Everyone please remain calm. Prefects please escort members of your house back to their dormitories. Albus, please fetch Madame Bennet. I would ask the Head Boy and Head Girl to remain to help take care of those afflicted!"
Soon everyone began filing out of the Hall. Gwen nearly punched Slughorn when he told them that they couldn't stay with Hermione. Connor calmed her down, and pulled her into a him, giving her a kiss atop her forehead to calm her as they walked back up to the Gryffindor common room, followed by a teary eyed Alicia and a pleased Bethan.
Tom and Olivia wandered the halls, taking note of who was ill. It appeared that Hufflepuff and Gryffindor had been the hardest hit, followed by Ravenclaw. Oddly enough, no Slytherin students had taken ill. They split up eventually, so that Olivia could report their count to Dippet while Tom began to levitate students as if they were on invisible stretchers, so that Bennet could immediately take them to the Hospital Wing if need be. It appeared that most had just passed out from shock, that was until Tom finally got around to the other side of the Great Hall.
He was just in time to see Madam Bennet give a look of pure distress over none other than Hermione Granger. Tom seemed to freeze, as he saw them wipe blood away which appeared to be coming from her ears, as her entire body seemed to turn grey before his eyes. Madam Bennet choked back a sob before levitating her immediately to the Hospital Wing.
Tom's eyes seemed to darken, and his jaw was set in a formidable line. Without having to guess, he knew who was responsible, and he would make Bellatrix Black pay for interfering in his affairs.
One week previous...
The Room of Requirement had taken on the appearance of a large cavern, with a candelabra every few feet or so along the wall. On a raised platform stood an imposing figure, cloaked in black with a black mask covering the top half of his face. He raised his hand, and soon nearly thirty others joined him from their position of bowing on the floor.
"My Knights of Walpurgis... One week from now, we will give a demonstration of our power to the school. It is meant to only shock and serve as a warning to any who dare oppose us, what we are capable of." The figure began.
He waved his hand, a smaller individual robed in black came forward holding a box. The leader opened, it and produced an ornate looking vile of a clear liquid.
"This is a very special potion. You see, whoever ingests a single drop will experience what they hear a thousand times more powerfully than you or I ever could. I know what some of you are thinking, that what is so horrible about that? Imagine having a freight train roar through your brain causing your nerves to, for lack of a better expression, short-circuit. Your body can't deal with the increased pressure, so blood vessels begin to pop here and there, causing internal bleeding. Eventually without treatment, they will die." He took out a dropper and forced a drop into the mouth of a rat
The rat immediately began to writhe about on the ground, but eventually, the writhing became a series of small twitches, then it started to bleed from the nostrils, the eyes and the ears before stopping moving completely. The Knights cheered but the leader held up a hand to silence them.
"At the Halloween Social, we will be adding a diluted form of this to the drinks one hour before the dance is scheduled to end. It will have a similar result, but it will not be fatal. The Professors will not be able to identify it as it is of mine own making. Oh, I am forgetting the best part...Only those of dirty blood shall suffer this fate. Now, go and await our display of our power."
Soon everyone left the room except for their leader. He ripped the mask off his face, hating the uncomfortable feeling of having to conceal his identity from them but it was best this way, at least for now. In a few years he would make himself known to the whole world, not as Tom Marvolo Riddle, but as Lord Voldemort.
He twirled the vile of poison in his hands knowing that should he ingest it, he would suffer the same fate as the rest. Of course, he would take precautions and conjure his own beverages for the evening, he was always partial to sparkling cider. With a smirk he replaced the vile in its case and perhaps, if she continued to intrigue him, he'd spare his little enigma as well.
A/N: Ok, so here are the responses to the reviews that I owe you from the past two chapters. If you reviewed for both chapters, you probably have two sets of responses. The responses are broken up by chapter, and when you see how many there were I think you understand why I put this at the end of the chapter.
Responses to Chapter Nine:
Luv Sean Faris- I am glad you enjoyed the brightest crayon in the box line. Yes Tom is very hot, and you did get to see him dance. Although, you didn't really get to see him swing dance and I'm sorry for that.
Mrs. Pierre Bouvier- I am a firm believer that the past had all the cool dancing styles and all we've got today is grinding and hip-hop. And though I don't hate those types of dances, they just aren't as fun.
Aha! It worked- Hmm... I never really equated Connor to Cedric. Though if I think about it I can kind of see it. I just picture Connor to be kind of the charming Irishman, who's got looks but has some mischief to him as well. Yeah, dances are generally included in a lot of stories. It is a bit cliche, but I think they always serve a purpose in their stories. And I know that you haven't seen what's going on in the future as much, but in the next chapter you will.
W1cked Angel- As funny as it is to imagine Voldemort giving dance lessons to his Death Eaters, I really don't see it happening lol. But yeah, you never do really see Tom swing dance. I think he could if he wanted to, as Tom Riddle can do anything because he's just that godly, but I agree he is more of an observer than a participator.
Angelic Bladez- Your poor Ipod! I am glad you liked my story that much. You didn't get to see him cut the swing dancing rug, so I hope you forgive me. I think we'd all love to see Tom doing a horizontal dance, but ah well.. We can dream right?
Blackheartz- I thought Alicia smacking her head was amusing also. But she was so invested in trying to get Gwen and Connor together, that nothing she ever does seems to come out right. Thanks for the compliment!
Shadowglove- Hermione did tell him no because Gwen liked him. But because she thought he only wanted to go as friends, cause Gwen broke his little heart by going with William, she agreed to go with him.
Astrea Von Hurston- Whoa, breathe in and breathe out. It sounds like someone has a wee bit of an addiction to the story. And as flattering as it is :) , I think you should join TGTYEL Anonymous, they might be able to help you out so you can make it from update to update.
Silverdragontamer1317- In a manner of speaking the dance was a date and ditch. Just Hermione didn't end up with Mr. Riddle, if you were expecting that. And yes, the reaction Harry and Ron will have when they finally see what is going on shall be interesting.
Thanks to Twilight Elf Maiden, Sophiax, Charming-Lynn, and Animerocksjapanrocks
Responses to Chapter 10:
Luv Sean Faris- Aww, I'm glad you liked my song. It was really funny, cause I was singing it as I wrote it. I tend to shy away from stories that have songs in them as well, but I thought that the song made the scene work. And it makes me happy that you adore the chapter. Yes, Bellatrix is rather bitchy and Connor is the cute little lost puppy.
Sailor Moon Rose- Yeah, Tom had a date to catch, but as the saying goes "The early bird catches the worm" and poor Tom is more of a night owl. Way to include Nike slogans in your review, its like product placement except not lol And Tom and Hermione aren't going to run off into the sunset any time soon, sorry :(
LBDAVVWF4E- If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise now would it? I can't believe I wrote it either, I blame lots of sugar and being entirely zoned out.
Angelic Bladez- The song is only $9.99 and you get a free can opener and a koala hand puppet free. I am glad you enjoyed it, sorry I updated late.
Hiya!- I don't know if my confidence has grown so much as I've had time to adjust to writing Harry Potter. This was my first fic in this genre, so it took me a little while to get into the flow of it. As for my song-writing skills, I am hardly musical which is why I assume their bad. And as for why there hasn't been as much going on with the present. My main focus is what's happening between Hermione and Tom, and my secondary focus is what's happening to the life she left behind. So in future chapters (like chapter 12) there will be greater expanses of time spent in the present, but it won't happen as often as you might want so I'm sorry. And I don't know if Hermione will change Tom in the way that he'll become a cute and cuddly little bunny and love the world...It probably will be slightly cliche how it happens, but I think in many ways different from other stories you've read. (How did I just write a paragraph response to you? Lol)
Nina- I am glad that you enjoy my story and how it doesn't jump directly into anything. I think it would be very unrealistic if it did, because they both have so much to overcome before romance is going to happen. And thank you, the song seems to have been much more well received than I thought it would.
Thanks to animerocksjapanrocks, san01, Blackheartz, shadowglove, Charming-Lynn, and Icarus Malfoy.