I love this chapter. But I felt I didn't do a very good job on explaing one bit, I say what at the end, but yeah. Enjoy!
The weeks passed quickly, with Hermione and Tom engaging in a battle of wits-to which no one can figure out who might win, there being no Death Eater meetings, and one more Time Traveler meeting before break(during which they perfected their plan of what to do over Christmas break).
It was finally the morning where everyone left for the holidays. The girls in Hermione's dorm were scrambling around, trying to gather all their things and making sure that they didn't leave anything behind.
"So none of you are staying this break?" Hermione asked.
"No one ever does," Cassandra answered distractedly, "They all go home and come back for the ball, well except for the first, second, third-years that is."
"Where's my gold bracelet?" Sarah yelled from the bathroom.
"Which one?"
"The one with the leaves!"
"Oh, I have it!" Eileen yelled, settin the bracelet on top of Sarah's trunk.
Shouts similar to Sarah's and Eileen's yells could be heard throughout the whole dormitory.
Hermione never heard yells like this since second-year when everyone wanted to go home. The girls were chaotic.
"Do you guys know what you'll be wearing to the New Years ball?" Victoria asked.
"No clue," Hermione answered, looking up from her book. The second time in her life did she want to look good. This time for Robin.
"The theme this year is Regency Era, so I want one that would really pop out," Victoria explained, "My mother is having one made."
"Ah." Hermione was beginning to feel that she might not he able to find a good dress in time.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
"For all things holy," Draco whispered urgently to her, "What the hell is he doing on the train?"
Hermione looked around, and saw Riddle sitting in a compartment with his Death Eater buddies, then began having a panic attack.
"L-Let's just go find Harry and Ginny and tell them about him being here," Hermione said. She was terrified that he might curse her because of her threat. Before break, Hermione never missed the murderous glares sent her way.
They searched for another minute before finally finding Harry and Ginny who had already saved a compartment.
"Finally!" Harry said, looking up from his game of chess, which Ginny was sorely losing at.
"What took you so long?"
"We saw Riddle. He's going to wherever he lives," Draco answered.
"Doesn't that kill the whole point of going to the Leaky Cauldron?" Harry said, going back to the game.
"No!" Hermione and Ginny said at once.
The two boys gave them a weird look, but ignored it.
"So what do we do about Riddle?" Draco asked.
"I say we should give him a surprise visit," Ginny said, grinning.
"How grateful he'd be if he saw that his classmates saw him in an orphanage," Hermione added.
"And that the people from his school really are crazy," Draco said.
"What I would do to see that?" Harry laughed, "The future Dark Lord embarrassed." They all laughed and continued chatting happily about their plan to make Riddle see red.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
They decided that they would first go to the Leaky Cauldron, and spend one night there. Then in the morning they would go to Riddle's orphanage and ask if they could spend three nights there. And then they would drag him off to Diagon Alley to spend the rest of the break there, before going back to Hogwarts for the Christmas and New Years parties.
"Wait," Hermione said as they all dragged their trunks up to their rooms in the Leaky Cauldron, "One small problem, how are going to explain we know where he lives?"
"We were touring Muggle London and saw him," Draco said simply.
"And what about our parents? Why would they be okay with us staying in an orphanage?"
"We're friends with Tom."
"And why would we be staying there only three days?"
"Because our wonderful friend..." Draco trailed off, trying to figure out a name that Riddle wouldn't recognize.
"Vernon Dudley," Harry snickered.
"Not even going to ask."
"And what about-"
"Shut up, Pensive," Draco said, "Just trust me on this one."
"Arse." But she complied and then went out dress shopping with Ginny.
They found Ginny's dress in minutes. It was a red, gold, and black regency era dress that fit her perfectly, and came with a simple black mask. The skirt was a solid blood-red, with the frills intye center as a dark gold color. The top had long sleeves which hung off around her elbow in a curtain dark-red lace. It was perfect for her.
"Now for your dress," Ginny said happily, clutching the large bag that held her own dress.
It was nearly 6 when Hermione found it. She bought it without even trying it on.
"Never thought I would see an inpulsive Hermione," Ginny laughed as the older girl shot her a glare.
"Shut up," Hermione mumbled as they walked into a jewelry store to get accessories. Within the hour, they found all the needed things and went back to their room, giggling.
Draco and Harry were gone somewhere, so the girls just sat in the room and talked.
"So, you and Ron?" Ginny asked after a while.
"I'm sorry Gin, but we-"
"No, it's fine. You would've told us sooner or later anyway," she said, waving it away, "I was just wondering if anyone else knew."
"Yeah, Percy," Hermione said, keeping a straight face.
"What? Percy?"
"He walked in after Ron gave me the ring," Hermione said, smiling.
"That's so Percy," Ginny laughed.
"But we made him swear not to tell."
"Good thing it wasn't Fred or George...or Mum."
"Oh god, if it was , she would have told us to get started on kids!"
"And then yell at you, relaizing you were still in school."
"She would," Hermione agreed. Then, for lack of anything better to do, they made sure that everything was still packed.
"I'm bored," Ginny said when thay finished and were just laying on their beds.
And then the guys ran in.
"I won!"
"No, I did!"
Te girls just exchanged a look, and rolled their eyes. It was clear that the two idiots had raced here, and were arguing about who won.
"Dinner?" Ginny asked Hermione.
She nodded, and the two left without even looking at the boys, who ran after them, also wanting to eat.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
The next morning, Hermione and the others checked out and hailed a cab to take them to Riddle's home.
When they got there, they saw a large orphanage and kids running around. It seemed like a nice place.
They walked to the front door and Hermione knocked, praying that it wouldn't be Riddle to open the door.
A little boy opened the door, and looked up at them with curious eyes.
"Hello there," Hermione said, leaning down to be at eye level with him, "Does Tom Riddle live here?"
The boy nodded, his eyes slighter wider than before.
"Could you bring him here?" The boy stared for a minute before quietly running into the house.
After a moment, an elderly lady appeared.
"I'm Mrs Cole, are you the ones here for Tom?" she asked. They nodded.
"He's locked up in his room doing whatever that boy does, so is there anything I could pass onto him?"
"We're his friends from school, and our parents' business trip had to be lengthened, so we don't have any place to stay," Hermione explained, "And we don't have much money, and we heard Tom saying this address, so we were wondering if we could stay here."
"Who came?" a voice asked as the owner came to the door."
"They're your friends from school Tom," the woman said to the new arrival, "And they need a place to stay." Turning to the other four, she said, "I'm sorry, you didn't say how long."
"Just three days," Draco said, "Our friend invited us to his home after that."
"I'll go check to see if there are any rooms," and the old woman went upstairs to check.
"What are you doing here?" Tom hissed.
"Do you want to stay here for the whole break?" Hermione asked, smirking. When he didn't say anything, and just glared, she said, "Exactly, after three days, we can go to the Leaky Cauldron."
"And why would you do that for me?"
"Nothing better to do," Harry said, which was true, in a way.
Just as Tom opened his mouth to say something, Mrs Cole came back down.
"We don't have any extra rooms, and the only one wih any space is Tom's," she said, glancing at Hermione and Ginny.
"We'll be fine," Ginny quickly reassured.
"Yeah, this one's my brother," Hermione said pointing, "And these two wouldn't dare."
Mrs Cole just nodded, but it was obvious she would be checking on them. Behind her, the Quartet could see the murderous glare of Tom Marvolo Riddle.
I am incredibly pleased with this one. I mean, legitly pleased. Very happy...I sound crazy don't I? ;D Did I explain Ginny's dress right? I know I didn't put Hermione's dress into this chapter, so don't ask me about that. I will ignore you for exactly 2 minutes after reading the review, and then I'll send a
Anyway, not much to say. Just the usual.
More reviews/PM's=More to read
Yeah...That's it...
Till next chapter,
~KEY