Authors Note: Hey guys! Here is the next chapter! I tried to make it a bit funnier so I hope I was successful at that! If not then tell me so I know for future reference…lol…! I hope you like it!

"Um Harry...would you mind saying that for me again? I don't think I heard you correctly." Tom asked, trying to remain calm and collected. He had been here in the future for about two weeks now and found that he quite enjoyed the year 1997 and the people in it. He and Hermione did not talk as much as he would have liked, but whenever they did he found that he couldn't keep track of the conversation. She would talk about her doings or what not and Tom would just stare at her and try to memorize every wonderful feature that adorned her face.

He was quite happy and didn't think much about the past where he had come from...that is until Harry had told him one minor flaw to the "Tom Rescue Mission".

"Uhhh...I said we don't exactly know the spell that will send you back...you know...to your time. But we are working on it." Harry added quickly. He had forgotten to tell Tom before about the return spell and how they didn't know it.

"Oh that's what I thought you said." Tom said with a sickly sweet smile. "So tell me this Harry...are all of your schemes usually this half ass, or am I a special case?" He could not believe that he and Hermione didn't even know how to send him back.

"You're definitely a special case," Harry told him, earning him a glare from the older boy in front of him.

"Tom don't worry about it alright mate? Dumbledore will find out how to send you back if we don't. Besides," Harry added with a mischievous smirk. "You don't want to leave Hermione yet do you?"

"Whoa Harry, what is that supposed to mean?" Tom asked, trying to look confused about his friend's accusation.

"You're a smart boy Tom...you tell me." Harry loved seeing Tom get worked up over Hermione. For the past two weeks in fact, Harry had found many opportunities in which he could tease Tom or Hermione about each other...and he loved every minute of it.

"Honestly Harry I don't know what you talking about...me and Hermione are just friends." Tom and Harry had walked out of the front doors and onto the castle grounds. Even though it was bright and sunny, there was a think layer of snow on the ground…the first snow of the season. Tom pulled his robes tighter around himself to block out the cold.

As they were making their way further out onto the grounds, they spotted Hermione and Ginny and a few other girls building a snow man. Ron was sitting under an oak tree silently watching their sorry attempt at making a person out of snow.

Tom looked at Hermione and suddenly he felt considerably warm. Hermione's hair was wrapped up in a tousled bun with a few strands hanging down around her face. Her cheeks and nose were rosy and she had snowflakes on her hair and eyelashes. Tom thought she looked like a winter snow angel.

Harry was watching Tom's face as he looked at Hermione. He looked happy and sad at the same time...as if he knew he was looking at something that he couldn't have. He felt bad for the both of them and the fact that they obviously liked each other and had to hide that affection.

"Sure Tom...you and Hermione are just friends. Got it."

Tom jumped, startled out of his musings as he blushed at being caught staring at her.

"Shut up Harry," Tom told him while walking over to where the group of girls was. Harry followed him with a smile glued to his face.

"Oh la la," said Lavender Brown, her eyes taking on a dreamy gaze. "Here comes Tom Riddle. I swear that boy the most beautiful thing I have ever seen...well other then Harry that is." The girls around her all giggled while Hermione merely smiled. She always got really nervous whenever Tom was around. Her thoughts always strayed over to the one kiss they had shared and she wondered if Tom was thinking about it as well when they were around each other.

"Hello ladies. Are you enjoying your evening?" Tom asked with a smile.

All of the girls quietly sighed; they loved the fact that Tom was always a gentleman.

"As a matter of fact we are Mr. Riddle," Parvati giggled while tossing a little snow on him.

"Now Parvati, it would unwise to start a snow fight with me seeing as how I have never lost one." Tom flashed a charming smile and all of the girls, except for Hermione and Ginny, giggled.

Hermione was in fact paying far too much attention to their dilapidated snow man, while Ginny scowled at all of the girls who were trying to flirt with Tom.

Hermione had told Ginny that the reason she had been upset that night was because of him. She told her that she liked him but the feelings were not mutual….she left out the fact that they had kissed however.

Harry stood back and watched all of this as it went on. He noticed Hermione trying to be ignorant to the flirtatious girls, but her saddened expression gave away her lame attempt at trying to ignore them.

Suddenly Harry felt someone beside him and turned to see that Ron had finally joined the group.

"Easy ladies," Ron told them with a smirk. "There is enough of Tom to go around." All of the girls giggled while Hermione's face just took on a more pained expression.

"Not funny Ron," Tom told him embarrassingly.

"Now don't be modest mate. You know you are enjoying all of these girls flirting with you."

Uh Ron," Harry tried to cut in. He had noticed that Hermione was looking more depressed by the second as Ron continued.

"Honestly mate you are a hot commodity. Am I right ladies?" All of the girls giggled again.

"Ron's right Tom," Lavender added with a mischievous grin. "You could have any girl you wanted! Who wouldn't want to date a sexy beast like you?"

Ginny's face was growing redder by the second. Harry noticed this and reached out and grabbed her arm lest she decided to curse Lavender on the spot.

"So Tom," Lavender began again. "Do you fancy anyone yet?" She fluttered her eyelashes at him and all of the girls suddenly wore hopeful expressions.

Tom however did not notice, for when Lavender had said that he immediately looked over at Hermione.

She had her eyes focused on some invisible object on the ground and her cheeks looked even rosier then before. Also, much to Tom's displeasure, she wore a look of defeat and sadness that made his heart melt.

"Bloody hell Hermione" Ron Began. "Why are you looking so sad? You wouldn't happen to be jealous now would you?' Ron had meant it as a joke. He in fact had no clue about Tom and Hermione at all and he just figured that Hermione was upset about some other reason, but he figured he would get a good tease in while he could.

Ron stood back a bit stunned at what happened next.

Hermione looked up at him with a mixture of embarrassment and anger in her eyes. Harry looked at him with disappointment etched in his face and he was glad that he was holding onto Ginny who looked ready to kill her brother at any moment. All of the girls giggled again and Tom merely looked at the floor with reddened cheeks.

"Oh Ron why would Hermione be jealous," Lavender asked. "When has she ever picked a boy over a book?"

"LAVENDER!" Ginny screamed out her rage. "You great sod….take that back!"

"W-what did I do?" She asked nervously, knowing that Ginny was not one to mess with, nor Hermione for that matter. They both knew too many curses.

"Hermione knows I am only kidding…right Mione?"

"I think I had better go." Hermione said sounding utterly defeated and embarrassed. She started to head back towards the castle while ignoring Harry who was trying to call her back.

Ron looked completely confused about what had just happened. Why would Hermione get so upset over Tom like that? He wondered.

"I don't get it. What did I do?" Ron voiced his confusion.

"Oh Ron you are such an ignorant prat!" Ginny hollered at him.

Ron grew red in the face and decided he would just have to go on being confused rather then enrage Ginny some more. He really did have no idea why everyone was getting so worked up over this.

"I will see you guys later." Tom said, much to the other girl's disappointment. He had felt awful about what was being said to Hermione. He understand Ron teasing someone like that, but those girls were unknowingly ruthless and he wished he could have just cursed them all off of a cliff.

"Hermione wait up!" Tom shouted out to the retreating girl.

Hermione stopped but didn't turn around.

"Hey," Tom said panting a little when he caught up with her. "You walk fast did you know that?"

"Is that what you came over here to tell me?" she asked, still not turning around.

"No. I came over here to tell you that you shouldn't let those girls bother you." He turned her around by her shoulders so they were finally face to face. Hermione kept her eyes downcast.

"A-are those the type of girls you like?' She asked in a small voice.

Tom snorted at that. "Please love, like I would fall for all of those fluttering eyes! They just are typical girls who do nothing but flounce around to try and win boys affections. Plus," he added while lifting her chin up so he could look into her eyes, "Not one of them is as beautiful as you."

Hermione blushed so hard that she thought the red might permanently stain her cheeks.

"Tom I…"

"Let loose." He told her with a smile.

"Let….-what?" She asked completely confused.

"I need to get you to let loose a little Hermione. For as much as I commend and respect you for your intelligence…I believe you are much too pretty to be locked away in that musty old library all of the time. That is where you were headed just now, no?"

"Um…well yes, but…."

"So you see we need to get you to do something daring, something completely out of character for you."

Tom paused and racked his brain for an idea. An impish smile lit up his handsome features as a thought hit him.

"Hermione…can you swim?'

"Yes I….wait why do you want to know?" She asked curiously.

"Follow me." He told her while grabbing her hand and pulling her along.

Hermione saw where he was taking her and she immediately tried to pull out of his grasp.

"Tom are you mad! We can not go for a swim in the Black Lake! We will freeze to death!" She cried.

"Maybe, maybe not." He told her while holding on to her more firmly.

"Tom listen, cant you get me to "loosen up" by doing something else?" She asked hopefully.

"Nope, this is a perfect start for your new turn around as a wild child."

"I don't want to be a wild child. I don't even know what the hell that is!" Tom merely laughed and drug her along.

By the time they had reached the edge of the lake the drop in temperature was startling. Hermione would have cried if she wasn't afraid of the tears turning into ice crystals on her face.

"Tom please," she begged. "I am too cold as it is!"

"Trust me Hermione, once we get in and get used to the water a little bit, we wont even notice the cold. Now lets see….we certainly cannot swim in these robes."

With a single flick of his wand, Tom had de-robed them both leaving them in their long sleeved shirts and pants.

"Socks and shoes have to go of course." Another flick later saw them both standing there barefooted.

"Alright Hermione, on the count of three we jump!" Tom positioned them at the edge of the water.

"ONE…."

"Tom listen we really don't have to do this!"

"TWO…."

"How about I become a wild child by having a good snowball fight?"

"THREE!"

"NO WAIT…" But it was too late to do anything to stop him. Tom had jumped into the ice cold water and pulled Hermione in with him.

They both surfaced with chattered teeth and skin that was dotted with a million goose bumps.

"S-see th-this isn't sss-o b-bad." Tom managed to stutter out.

"N-no I guess n-not." Hermione added.

"In fact," Tom said finding his voice a little better, "I can't even feel the cold anymore. Can you?"

"Not really. This is actually kind of fun." Hermione said while smiling at him.

"Told you," Tom said while splashing water on her.

"Hey," Hermione giggled as she splashed some water back at him.

Tom swam closer to her and grabbed her around the waist. "I give you Hermione Granger, Hogwarts newest all around bad ass!" Tom shouted out.

"Oh Tom you are such a prat," she giggled. "You were right though…this is really fun and not at all as cold as I thought it would be."

"See you need to listen to me more often! I knew this was a good idea." Tom laughed as they started slashing each other again.

30 minutes later

"I knew this was a good idea," Hermione said in a mimicking voice as she lay in the hospital bed that was right next to Tom's.

Tom just scowled at her.

They had only spent about ten minutes in the water before they both started to go completely numb. Thank God Harry, Ron, and Ginny had been looking for them and found them in the lake just as the two were about to faint from the extreme coldness that was numbing their bodies. If the trio had made it there a second later then they would have seen no one in the water, for Tom and Hermione would have sunk below the surface and probably drowned.

Harry and Ron had performed a levitating spell on them and floated them out of water and up to where they were standing. Ginny ran ahead to warn Madame Pomfrey that they were coming while Ron and Harry walked on as fast as they could while levitating the two bodies in front of them.

By the time they had reached the infirmary, Madame Pomfrey had everything she needed in order to help the couple.

Tom and Hermione were placed on beds while Poppy made her way over to them carrying a blue bottle.

"Will they be alright Madame Pomfrey?" Ginny asked nervously. Tom and Hermione's face and hands were tinged with a sickly blue color and they looked as though they were not breathing.

"Yes Miss Weasley, they just need to be warmed up." Poppy had opened Tom's mouth and poured some of the liquid form the blue bottle into his mouth. She rushed over to Hermione and did the same.

The color was beginning to return to there faces almost instantly and Poppy preformed a quick drying spell on them and transfigured their wet clothes into warm hospital pajamas. Once the couple were properly taken care of, Madame Pomfrey began to usher out Ron, Harry, and Ginny.

"You can come back tomorrow as soon as they have had a good nights rest to fully heal. If they had been brought here mere minutes later it would have been too late! You three saved there lives…you should be proud."

"We are just happy that they will be ok," Harry told her relieved.

"Alright you three, off you go and then you can see them tomorrow."

The trio walked out of the hospital wing and down the hall. About five minutes later, Tom and Hermione began to stir and woke up at almost the same time.

After Madame Pomfrey explained what had happened, she told them to get some much needed rest and left them be.

"Trust me Hermione," she said, still mimicking Tom, "once we get in and get used to the water a little bit, we wont even notice the cold. Ha….that was brilliant." She said sarcastically.

"Ok Hermione I get it," Tom said in an exasperated tone. "I messed up! There is a first time for everything you know."

"First time! Ha…Tom if you think this was your first time screwing up then you are dumber then I thought!"

"Alright Miss Know It All, name a time then!"

"Well gee let me think….his name is Voldemort." She didn't say it very loud lest someone else was listening, but she said it with a smug smile knowing she had one up on him.

"That doesn't count," Tom said nonchalantly.

"My arse it doesn't," she shot back.

"Alright, name another time."

"Oh let me think…how about when you kissed me?" As soon as she said it, she wished she could have taken it back.

Tom looked at her sadly for a moment. "Y-you think that was a mistake? That it was just something I was doing because I could?"

"Well, wasn't it?" Hermione asked confused.

"No Hermione, it wasn't. In fact…that was the best thing I have ever done in my life."

Hermione was dumbfounded. She wanted to jump for joy and shout out to the heavens! Maybe he did really like her after all? Then why was she suddenly afraid?

Tom was staring at her intently, watching to see what she would do. He hoped she would jump out of her bed and run over and kiss him….but that didn't happen. Instead Hermione merely looked away from him and cleared her throat.

"I think we should go to bed Tom." She turned over on her side and pulled the blankets around her tighter in order to get more warmth out of them.

"Goodnight Hermione." Tom told her softly with a hint of sadness in his voice.

"Goodnight." She whispered. Tom pulled his blankets around him as well and closed his eyes.

"T-tom?" Tom's eyes shot open.

"Yes Hermione?"

She turned around so she could face him. "W-would you mind sharing the bed with me?"

"Huh?" Tom asked as his eyes grew twice the normal size. He was not sure if he had heard her correctly.

"Its just…I am still rather cold, even with the warming potion and the blankets. I just figured that our body heat would help us get warmer."

Tom felt a tingly sensation rise up in him at the thought of being in same bed with Hermione. That swim was a good idea after all, he thought happily.

"O-ok Hermione." He pulled the covers back and saw that he was in the hospital wings pajamas. Madame Pomfrey must have charmed them on them both while they were still passed out.

Tom walked over to her bed and Hermione lifted up the covers and moved over. He laid down next to her and Hermione through the covers back over themselves.

"Wont Madame Pomfrey be surprised when she comes to check up on us?" Tom smirked. "And to think…this was all your idea."

"This is just a part of my new lifestyle of being a wild child." She told him while giggling.

"I like this idea much better then mine."

"Me too," Hermione whispered. Their faces were close together and Tom could feel her breathe on his face. He shivered even with all of the warmth around him.

"Night Tom," Hermione said as her eyelids began to droop.

"Night love," he whispered. He loved how she looked when she slept. There were strands of her hair on her face and she looked so peaceful as her chest moved up and down ever so slightly. Tom brushed the pieces of hair out of her face and Hermione moved her head into his touch. There was no way Tom was cold now…his heart was racing and his cheeks were flushed so much that one would think he had just finished running a race.

Despite the excitement coursing through him from lying next to Hermione though, Tom couldn't help but feel tired and drained. Must be the warming potion Pomfrey gave us, he thought as he yawned. He curled up closer to the girl next to him and closed his eyes. When he found he couldn't get to sleep properly, he decided to count those adorable freckles on Hermione's nose as a way to drift off to sleep.

"One, two, three, four, five, six, se-seven, e-eight….n-nine…." By the time he got to ten his eyes had closed and he fell into a peaceful sleep. Before he did however, he wrapped his arms around Hermione and brought her sleeping form closer to his.

His nose was filled with her delicious scent of peppermint and pine as he finally feel asleep……

Awwwww…I was all giggles when I was writing this! Can you believe Ron? What a clueless jerk….lol….

I hoped you liked this chapter! I had fun trying to make it funny…even if it wasn't…lol….

OHHH AND I FOUND ANOTHER ONE OF THOSE FUNNY LITTLE AVATARS!

Tom Riddle:

Opened the Chamber of Secrets

Created a Horcrux

Possessed a girl fifty years in the future

Killed by a diary

I need to find the person who writes these and thank them for the laughs I get out of these! Remember…review guys!