Disclaimer: these characters are not mine – they belong to JK Rowling
AN: thanks again for the reviews! Things are starting to get interesting now!
Chapter 7 – The Slug Club
Tom left Hermione in the Slytherin common room, with the promise that he would meet her back there in half hour so they could head to Slughorn's office together. Just as she was about to head towards the girl's dormitory, Harry walked into the common room and his eyes lit up when he saw her.
"Hermione, Your advice today was brilliant! You know, I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think I actually impressed Riddle..." He said laughing at how ludicrous the statement was.
"Harry, I only have a few minutes before I need to meet Tom for the Slug Club dinner, but I am glad everything went well." She said hoping he wouldn't notice that she was trying to rush him off.
"Hermione…is something wrong?" he asked looking at her curiously
Shit. She promised Tom she wouldn't tell anyone…which she had to imagine included Harry.
"Fine, why?" she asked a little too quickly, looking everywhere but his eyes. Merlin, she really was a terrible liar.
"You seem…weird." He said looking her over as if he could figure out what was bothering her.
"It's just been a long day is all, and I still have this insipid dinner party to go to…which reminds me, I have to go get ready. Can we talk later?" she really didn't want to hurt his feelings, but she did have to get ready, and she was not in the mood to be interrogated at the moment.
"Sure…I guess I'll see you later then." He said, still looking at her in a way that said, 'something is up, and I know you are not telling me what it is'
She gave him a small smile and turned towards the girl's dormitory to take a quick shower and change her clothes.
Twenty minutes later, she walked into the common room to see Tom standing by the hearth, immaculately dressed in his usual school robes. He looked up at her as she walked into the room, giving her what she felt was a genuine smile. He walked towards her twirling something between his fingers. When she looked down to see what it was, she watched as he waved his hand over the small twig he'd been twirling, transfiguring it wandlessly into a perfect red rose. He held it out to her, and her heart skipped a beat.
"Shall we go?" he asked her offering his arm.
She threaded her arm through his and gave him a shy smile holding the rose up to her nose. It smelled as beautiful as it looked.
When they reached Slughorn's office, the door was yanked open and Slughorn greeted them over enthusiastically before ushering them inside
"Tom, my boy! And Miss Jones! So pleased you both could make it, I say, my two star students make a lovely couple! Come in, come in…Refreshments are in the usual place, Tom knows where I keep the good stuff, of course." He said while winking at Tom.
Hermione leaned towards Tom, close enough to whisper in his ear, "It seems our illustrious professor has already been partaking of 'the good stuff'" Hermione said chuckling.
A deep chuckle reverberated through his chest, and Hermione was reluctant to pull away. She recalled how comforting his scent was earlier that day when he'd carried her, and she had her face buried in his neck…it wasn't cologne, or soap, it was just a scent that was uniquely Tom; masculine and powerful…and she craved it.
"Of that, I have no doubt" he responded and led her inside towards Slughorn's liquor cabinet.
"After the day I've had, I think a drink would be welcome" Hermione said
Tom looked over the contents, and chose a bottle of pinot noir. Red wine would be a good choice, it would calm her nerves. Fire whiskey on the other hand, would probably be a bit much for her, especially in the state she was in, and he didn't think getting her intoxicated would do anything for either of their reputations.
He handed her a glass of wine, and they made their way over to a cluster of other students who were standing around chatting before the meal was served. The tall blond ravenclaw, Isadora Selwyn, rushed over to Tom, completely ignoring Hermione's presence. She was so obviously trying to flirt with him, it was pathetic how transparent she was. The way she stood there, practically draping herself over Tom and giving this fake annoying giggle whenever he said something witty was enough to make Hermione want to vomit. Hermione just rolled her eyes at Isadora and swirled her wine around her glass before taking a rather large gulp.
"Easy there, Jones" a silky voice said from behind her.
Hermione spun around quickly and came face to face with Abraxas Malfoy.
"I thank you to mind your own business, Malfoy." Hermione said in a clipped tone.
"Tsk tsk…One may think that you are upset…or jealous perhaps?" Abraxas said giving her a knowing smile.
"As if. The day I act like that blond twit is the day I sprout wings." Hermione spat.
"And why, may I ask, would you ever be expected to act like Isadora?" Abraxas asked her, knowing exactly where this conversation was headed.
"Well, if those are the types of girls he likes, well, he's sadly mistaken if he thinks I would fawn over him like that." Hermione said once again rolling her eyes in Isadora's direction.
Malfoy smirked. Hermione Jones was jealous of Isadora Selwyn…which meant, that she did indeed fancy Tom.
"As much as it pains me to say it, since Isadora clearly comes from a family of more noble breeding than yourself and is far more worthy of Tom's attention in my opinion, for some unfathomable reason, he prefers…you." Malfoy said making a face as if the words alone made him feel ill.
Hermione tried to hide her smirk at his discomfort. As much as his words were insulting about her breeding, she enjoyed his discomfort at having to admit that Tom seemed interested in her regardless. Now what to do about the blond twit…
"If you'll excuse me Abraxas, I have neglected my date for long enough." She said as she finished the last of her wine and set the empty glass on a table before striding over to where Tom and Isadora were chatting.
"Am I interrupting?" Hermione asked in a saccharine sweet voice lacing her arm through Tom's while glaring at Isadora.
"Actually…" Isadora began to say before Tom cut her off
"Not at all, Hermione, come with me, there is someone I'd like you to meet." Tom said in his most polite tone before whisking her away from Isadora before the two girls could make a scene.
"Of course" Hermione replied politely while throwing an evil smirk over her shoulder at Isadora.
Hermione once again turned to Tom, "Who am I meeting?" she asked him once he had maneuvered her into a darkened corner of the office.
"No one, I just said that to get you away from her before you did something you might regret." Tom said smirking at her
"Oh, so you think I would regret pulling her bleach blond hair out, do you?" Hermione said returning his smirk with a look of defiance in her eyes
"And why would you want to do a thing like that in the first place?" he asked her taking a step closer to her, placing his fingers under her chin forcing her to look at him.
Hermione blushed at his implication, knowing he had her right where he wanted her.
"Because." Was all she could manage to say. she refused to admit to him that she had been jealous of that cow.
"So let me get this straight; and please correct me if I have it wrong…you wanted to cause her bodily harm…Because. Do I have that right?" He teased her, causing her to look away while biting her lip.
"That sounds about right." Hermione snapped pulling her chin out of his grasp.
"Hermione…" He said gently, willing her to look up at him once more
"What?!" she glared at him and folded her arms across her chest.
"You don't need to be jealous of her, I'm not going anywhere." Tom said smoothly stepping towards her again, tilting his face down towards hers so that he could place a light kiss on her jaw.
Hermione's eyes slipped shut at his closeness, his scent enveloping her and making her heart beat frantically in her chest.
"I didn't say I was jealous." she whispered against his cheek
He didn't respond except to run his hand along her waist possessively while dropping another kiss on her collar bone.
"You didn't have to." He whispered before stepping back from her once more, smirking. Her cheeks were flushed and she was practically panting with desire.
"Oh, and don't forget, we still have some things to discuss later." He said silkily before pulling her back towards the group of gathered students who had begun to take their seats at the table.
Dinner passed by much as she had remembered from the few slug club dinners she had attended before, where Professor Slughorn would single out students and gush over their well-known family connections, or their top marks, or some other means of brown nosing. It was pathetic, really. When the party drew to a close, Tom escorted her out after bidding the Professor a good evening. She had thought that he was escorting her back to the Slytherin common room, however, he took an unexpected detour, that led her down the stair cases to the second floor.
"Tom, where are we going?" She asked him, a sense of dread beginning to form in her stomach.
He didn't respond, so she began to pull at his hand violently when she saw he was pulling her into the girl's bathroom. He was going to take her into the Chamber of Secrets.
"No! You can't! I won't go! Please!" she struggled against him, and he had no choice to cast a silencing charm on her and pick her up and carry her in. He had never told her about the chamber, certainly not its secret entrance, but clearly, somehow, she knew about it.
Once inside the bathroom, he warded the door and cast a silencing charm on the room, then he set her down and lifted the silencing charm he had placed on her.
"-you think for one second I am going in there with that damned snake…" she ranted before he covered her mouth with his hand.
"Hermione, how do you know where I am taking you?" he asked her seriously grabbing her chin roughly between his fingers forcing her to look at him.
"It's the Chamber of Secrets. You're the heir of Slytherin." She said indignantly daring him to deny it.
"Yes, but how did you know about it?" he asked again, with an angry look on his face
"I know, because…damn it all to hell. Harry and I we're…we're…" She struggled angrily not wanting to tell him the truth, but seeing no way out of it.
"Yes? You're what?" he demanded
"We're from the future. All of this is already known in our time." She finally said dejectedly.
He stood still, staring at her as if she'd sprouted a second head.
"How?" was all he could manage to ask, his eyes still wide with disbelief.
"It was an accident. I had been using a time turner to take extra classes…Oh, don't look at me like that, it was approved by my head of house, anyway, Harry was arguing with me about it, and tried to take it from me, and well…somehow we must have set it off in our struggle because before we knew it, we were in 1943." She trailed off wringing her hands together nervously.
"A time-turner." was all he said, still trying to process what she had just told him.
"Yes. Obviously, it was an accident. As you may know, time-turners don't allow the user to move forward in time, only back. When I had been using it for classes, I was only going back an hour here or an hour there to take a second class, the end result was always that I was back to where I should have been after waiting the hour. But now…" once again she shrugged her shoulders not able to admit aloud that they had no way to get back.
"So you're stuck here then?" he asked
"So it would seem." She said as she slid down the wall until she was sitting on the floor.
He rubbed his hand over his face processing all that she told him.
"So you have heard of me? In the future, I mean?" he asked suddenly, causing her to meet his eyes.
"Yes, but I can't risk destroying the time line. It's dangerous to meddle with time, Tom."
"I could make you tell me, you know…" he said as he stepped closer to her
"Trust me, I really don't think you want to know." She said as she massaged her temples.
"I think I do…clearly, something must've happened to me if you are so keen on keeping it from me." he replied
She laughed bitterly, "If that isn't the understatement of the year…"
"Let me ask you this; what harm could it do, to destroy the time line that according to you, doesn't seem to be very pleasant at all?" He asked seriously.
Hermione sighed. Truthfully, she hadn't actually thought about it much. She always took what Professor Dumbledore had said to heart, not really ever questioning it. Honestly, why would anyone ever question Professor Dumbledore?
"Honestly? I don't know. It would be unpredictable at best, and potentially disasterous at worst. If I told you about…certain things…you could use that knowledge to the detriment of many…that would be something that I would have to live with. On the other hand, if you used that knowledge to change things for the better, then…maybe things would turn out better than expected." She said while she seemed to be mulling it over in her mind.
"Look, before you say anymore, I think we should hold this discussion in a more private setting. No doubt someone heard that racket you made out in the corridor and will come looking. No one will be able to disturb us down in the chamber." He said assuredly.
"What about the Basilisk?" She said her eyes growing as wide as saucers.
"What about it?" he asked crossing his arms over his chest.
"I'm a…Muggleborn. Won't it try to kill me?" She asked willing her voice not to tremble. She knew if he wanted to kill her she more than likely would already be dead.
"It only comes when it's called. You're safe with me." He said smirking at her, enjoying the power he had over her in that moment. He extended his hand to help her up.
Hermione took a deep breath and took his hand, "Okay then. Merlin help me, but I trust you. Please don't make me regret it." She said as he helped her to stand, the corner of his mouth lifting into a half smile.
He turned away from her, facing the row of sinks, specifically the one that had small serpents etched into it, and began to speak to it in Parseltongue.
Hermione's mouth dropped open, as she watched him. He stood with such calm focus, his hand raised towards the sink, and the words leaving his lips in a seductive hiss
The sinks suddenly began to open outwards to reveal a passageway that led directly to the chamber. He turned to look at her once more, and saw the blush on her cheeks and how she was delicately nibbling on her bottom lip.
"What?" he asked in confusion as he once again held out his hand to her.
"Can you do that anytime you want, or only when its necessary?" she asked breathlessly.
He furrowed his brow in confusion, and said, "I can speak Parseltongue whenever I want to, I guess…it's really no different than speaking any other language…why?"
"I just…that was…" she once again felt herself blushing furiously, "It was hot." She admitted averting her eyes and trying hard to suppress the laughter at her admission.
His eyes widened momentarily, and then a predatory smirk formed on his face while he urged her to follow him, "I'll have to remember that." Was all he said as he led her down into the darkness of the chamber.