A/N: Special thanks to every one of the following: Gaerwen, All-American Vampire, 404, encantada, Tokyo no Ecchi, PapayaCrazy, Mrs. Pierre Bounvier, PhanPhic-adict, Emi-Bum, shadowglove, CardboardCreative, Mizu-Magaru-Sensei, Katsheswims, Kitty0617, and Vera-Sabe. You've made it possible for me to reach something I never thought that I would... 138 reviews! Thanks ever so much y'all!

Welp, read on and enjoy... don't forget to review! (wink) But I know y'all always do that... that's why I'm where I'm at now! I just can't thank ya enough.

Chapter 17 – Practice Two

"So, how was detention last night?" Tiffany asked Hermione lightly as they sat at breakfast on Saturday morning.

"Tiffany!" Sandie hissed. "What a stupid question. It was detention... what do you think it was like?"

"Someone said that they saw Tom Riddle coming out of the trophy room last night while she was in there cleaning, though," Tiffany whispered to Sandie.

"He was there all right," Hermione spoke up. "Being a right old git just like he always is, too."

"How so?" Sandie asked.

"I'd rather not talk about it. I just want today to be over with. I don't get to go to Hogsmeade so I think that I'm going to just go up to my dorm and read of the script," Hermione sighed.

"I'll stay with you," Tiffany chirped.

"Everyone who is on the cast stays today. We have practice at lunch time," Sandie said absent-mindedly as she opened her script.

Silence followed her sentence and she looked up at see Hermione frowning down at her food and Tiffany glaring at her.

"What?"

"I was trying to cheer her up, Sandie," Tiffany hissed. "Nice going, Captain Dash It All!"

"Oh, well, I didn't mean-"

"It's fine, Sandie," Hermione said quickly. "Don't sweat it."

"So, when's practice start?" Tiffany asked.

"Right after breakfast," Sandie answered. "And goes until dinner... with lunch break of course."

"Harry, if this is the war coming... what- what are we going to do about the Horcruxes?" Ron asked one night while he and Harry laid in their room on their beds.

"I don't know," Harry muttered as he rolled over and stared into the darkness.

"Do you suppose that this is it?" Ron asked, his voice sounding weak and scared.

"It?" Harry repeated unsurely. "I'm uh- not real certain, Ron."

"I just hope Hermione's safe wherever she is," Ron sighed as he felt hot tears stream down the side of his face and onto his pillow.

"Welcome all to the second practice for our play," Dumbledore called.

He looked around the room, his eyes landing on Hermione who immediately looked away. He frowned inwardly and continued to speak, trying to forget the down-hearted look on her face.

"All dancers for the scene where Raoul is introduced during practice over there at the back of the Great Hall. The ghost of Ravenclaw house has graciously agreed to teach you the choreography."

There was a great rustling and shuffling of feet as about thirty people moved to the back of the Great Hall. Dumbledore then turned to the front of the hall, and with a wave of his wand, the staff table transfigured into a cave-like setting. Candles that usually hovered over the table at dinner time were now hovering into the cave.

"Miss Granger and Mr. Riddle," Dumbledore said. "Please come forward."

Hermione looked over to Tom who glared at her and did as Dumbledore said, coming to a stop in front of the Deputy Headmaster. Hermione walked forward slowly, not looking at either of them as Dumbledore told them just what to do.

"We're going to practice the scene where Christine is in the Phantom's cave and removes his mask," Dumbledore explained. "So, if you will please. Oh, and Tom, here's your mask."

Tom took a white mask from Dumbledore and placed it on his head. The mask covered the right half of his face and made his eyes look extremely dark. Hermione and Tom entered the cave as Dumbledore sent some of the other students off to practice and get fitted for costumes. He then turned back to Hermione and Tom, and with a nod, he waited for them to begin.

"Miss Granger?" he said softly.

Hermione frowned and grabbed her script, turning to the right page before clearing her throat in preparation for her singing.

"I remember there was mist... swirling mist upon a vast, glassy lake... There were candles all around, and on the lake there was a boat, and in the boat there was a man," she sang.

"Now we go to Tom who is sitting at the organ playing a soft tune," Dumbledore directed. "And Miss Granger keeps singing as she walks over to him."

"Who was that shape in the shadows? Whose is the face in the mask?"

Hermione walked up to Tom and placed her hand gently on the mask that covered half his face. She pulled it back slowly, and without warning, Tom jumped up and pushed her to the ground.

"Damn you! You little prying Pandora! You little demon," Tom snarled in song as he got in her face. "Is this what you wanted to see?" Tom stood up and stalked away from her. "Curse you! You little lying Delilah! You little viper - now you cannot ever be free!"

Hermione cowered on the floor. She had a feeling that Tom was not acting, but actually taking out aggression on her.

"Damn you... Curse you...," Tom grumbled as he knocked over a candle statue and turned his back on Hermione. "Stranger than you dreamt it - can you even dare to look? Or bear to think of me?" Tom sang as he paced the cave setting.

Hermione had really began to cry now, not just act like she was. She was truly starting to see something. Tom just wanted to be loved. He was jealous of Leo and wanted what he had. Could Tom Riddle possibly love her, a Muggle-born girl?

"This loathsome gargoyle, who burns in bell, but secretly yearns for heaven. Secretly... secretly," Tom sang until he came back to Hermione. She sat up a bit and stared at him, tears shining on her face from the candlelight. " But, Christine... Fear can turn to love - you'll learn to see, to find the man behind the monster. This... repulsive carcass, who seems a beast, but secretly dreams of beauty. Secretly... secretly... Oh, Christine."

Tom sat down by Hermione, no looking at her as he held out his hand. She looked at it and frowned, handing him the mask she still had. He reached over and took the mask from her, but as he did, she brushed her fingertips across his hand.

"Come we must return... Those two fools who run my theater will be missing you," Tom said a moment later as he stood up. Hermione saw for a minute, a tear forming on the inside corner of his eye. Had she just broke through Tom Riddle's emotional barrier?

"Lunch break!" Dumbledore called out to the students as food filled a table at one side of the Great Hall.

Hermione was walking over with Tiffany and Sandie when Dumbledore stopped her. She frowned and looked to her friends for help, but the weren't much help as Dumbledore pulled her aside.

"What was going on between you and Tom earlier?" he inquired sternly.

"What do you mean?"

"That earlier today... that wasn't just acting," Dumbledore explained.

"It's fine," Hermione mumbled as she turned and walked away.

"Miss Granger. I was not finished," Dumbledore said.

"What?" Hermione asked as she turned back to him.

"I did not mean to scold you and lose your trust," Dumbledore said quietly.

"You haven't... it's just I think I would be better off getting to Tom if I didn't rely on you so much," Hermione pointed out before turning and walking away once more.

"All hail the Dark Lord! Our soon-to-be Minister!" yelled rowdy Death Eaters.

Voldemort sat in a throne at the head of a long table where Death Eaters were seated. They pounded their fists on the table and Voldemort smiled evilly. His snake, Nagini, wound her way up the arm of his chair, slithered up his arm, and to the top of the chair. Voldemort then rose from the chair and rose a glass goblet filled with black liquid into the air.

"Let us from here on out be rid of Muggle filth!" he toasted.

He was about to drink when he felt the pain. It started at the back of his head and moved forward to the front with lightning speed. It was like someone had speared him through his brain. The very agony of it all caused him to drop his goblet and clutch the table for support.

"Back you fools!" Lucius Malfoy yelled as he went to the Dark Lord's aid. "Sit, my Lord," Lucius said as he guided Voldemort into the chair.

"Ali-"

"What, my Lord?" Lucius asked as he leaned forward.

Voldemort continued to mumble before getting out one clear word. This word struck an instant rage in Lucius's mind.

"Granger," Voldemort gasped in pain.

"Wonderful practice today all!" Dumbledore called as the students left to get ready for dinner.

Hermione wondered out into the hall, tired from her day's practice. She was walking with Tiffany who was dancing and laughing the whole way. She was quite enjoying her part in the play, and Hermione found her to be quite the happy person.

"Just wait until Arnold see me," Tiffany giggled.

"I'm sure he'll be impressed," Hermione said before yawning.

"So, are you going to be at dinner?"

"No, actually, I think I'm going to get some sleep before I go and clean the broom closet tonight," Hermione sighed.

"I still can't believe that Dumbledore gave you detention like that," Tiffany grumbled. "Oh, oh! There's Arnold!"

"Go to him," Hermione laughed. "I'll see you tomorrow morning when you wake up."

"You won't be back in tonight?"

"Probably not before you go to bed," Hermione replied.

"I'm sorry, Al," Tiffany heaved.

"Don't worry about it," Hermione smiled. "Quick now... before you miss your chance."

Hermione continued up to Gryffindor tower on her own. She was on the fifth floor and feeling like she could stop and lay down and sleep right there in the corridor. She was halfway up the corridor when she heard someone call to her. She groaned as she stopped and turned around. The person came running up to her and Hermione groaned once more, but this time inwardly as she saw that it was Tom.

"Not now, Tom. I'm quite tired and I just want to go get some rest before my detention tonight," Hermione muttered.

"This will only take a second, Alice," Tom pleaded.

"Can't it wait?" Hermione begged.

"Alice- I-," Tom struggled.

"You what?" Hermione urged tiredly.

"I uh- I just wanted to apologize for my behavior last night and earlier today," Tom said defeatedly.

Hermione's brow furrowed and she stared at him for a moment as he stood there with his head bowed. What was he hiding? Was he possibly trying to tell her something more? Coming to her for help maybe?

"It's fine, Tom," Hermione sighed as she felt confusion rush over her.

"You're sure?"

"Yes."

From the shadows a pair of gray eyes glared. Anger bubbled below the surface and hatred boiled within the person's blood. This Alice Granger had to be taken care of. She needed to be eliminated immediately before the threat she posed became any greater.

"Another day of hectic waiting," Ginny breathed as she laid the copy of the Daily Prophet she had been reading on the end of Harry's bed.

Harry and Ron were sitting at the window, watching the sheets of gray rain cloud the other houses over. The Order had not met for four days now and Harry and the two youngest Weasley children were growing restless.

It had been almost a week since the outbreak from Azkaban and Dementors were everywhere. It was certainly no longer safe to step outside one's home. Harry had lost count of the number of times he had sat at the edge of his bed waiting for Dumbledore to come into Phineas Nigellus Black's frame and tell him it was time to face Voldemort.

But the Death Eaters had disappeared and no new news of Voldemort had turned up since the last article of how Voldemort had broken into the Ministry. The only thing the paper talked about now was how Voldemort's disappearance was both welcomed and mysterious. Harry on the other hand thought it was bad.

He would rather know what Voldemort was up to. Where he was and what he was planning. The attack on Hogwarts was now forgotten because most people had brought their children home, resulting in the temporary close of the school.

Harry had gotten so sick of reading the paper over and over again, only to see the same thing. Talk of what the Minister was doing against Voldemort and how people could protect themselves. Things were starting to show the signs of craze inside the walls of Number Twelve Grimmauld Place.

Members of the Order would pop in every now and then, but only long enough to report to Molly who would send out word to other Order members. Mrs. Weasley had even gotten so tired the other day of how the children were lulling around the house that she had sent them back to the Burrow where Fred and Bill were, but the atmosphere there hadn't been much more pleasant.

Suddenly, Harry looked away from the window and jumped up. He ran out of the room and down the stairs, Ron and Ginny close behind him.

"MOLLY!" yelled Mr. Weasley as he came rushing inside the house.

"Arthur!" Mrs. Weasley gasped in surprise. "What's going on?"

"The-," Mr. Weasley paused for a moment as he tried to catch his breath. "The Death Eaters are-"

"Are what, Arthur?"

"Look!" Mr. Weasley panted as he threw a copy of the Muggle newspaper on the table. The headline of the paper talked about a gruesome murder of two London dentists.

"Oh, dear!" Molly gasped as she clapped her hands to her mouth.

Ginny picked up the paper and began to read it aloud.

"Last night at a countryside London home, two local dentists, Frank and Margret Granger, were brutally murdered. Their bodies were found in the front yard. The Granger's had apparently tried to escape their attackers, but didn't make it any further then the front lawn. The Granger's are said to have one daughter, Hermione Granger, who remains missing. If anyone has any information on the disappearance of the seventeen year old girl, please contact the London authorities."

Ginny dropped the paper back onto the table and looked to Harry and Ron. Ron looked sickly pale and Harry was staring at the floor.

"What do you suppose they were looking for, Arthur?" Molly asked.

"I'm not sure... But we need to find Hermione... and fast."

"My Lord," Lucius said as he swept into a low bow.

"Lucius... what news do you have for me?"

"The Granger girl was not there, sir."

"I take it you took care of her... parents," Voldemort hissed.

"It's done," Lucius replied.

"I want her found and brought to me, Lucius... alive and well," Voldemort ordered. "Do you understand?"

"Yes, my Lord," Lucius answered as he bowed yet again and left the room, four other Death Eaters following him out.