A/N: Thanks so much to these wonderful, marvelous, magnificent people: professionaldooropener, All-American Vampire, sweet-essence03, Shanghai Honey, tom's a hottie, Mrs Pierre Bouvier, Secret Thought, Emi-Bum, PapayaCrazy, Gaerwen, shadowglove, PhanPhic-adict, Katsheswims, CardboardCreative, Twilight Elf-Maiden, and Sophiax. I mean, I can't believe how far you amazing and awesomely lovely people got me... 182 reviews! I'm in shock... I'll make it over 200 before this is over. (hopefully)

Once again, my immensely large thanks to everyone, even those silent readers for your time in reading, and I'll let you read on now.

Chapter 19 – Arrival of the Gala

Voldemort sat in his chair, Nagini curled next to his feet and his eyes on the fire. He stared at the fire a lot anymore, and all he saw when he looked at it was a pair of chocolate brown eyes that held resilience and defiance. Those eyes were beautiful and mysterious. He longed to see them in person and as he thought about the face which they belonged to, he felt something rise in him.

It was a strange, unwelcome feeling. A feeling that both depressed and pained him. His chest gave an aching pang and he suddenly felt empty, void of everything except a longing loneliness. What was causing this feeling?

"My Lord," Lucius Malfoy called from the doorway of the room.

"What is it now?" Voldemort asked, clearly mad that he was interrupted in his moment of thought and reflection.

"The giants are restless. All I ask is that you let us do something... anything. Let the Death Eaters and the giants get their pound of flesh before they turn on each other," Lucius pleaded.

"No!" Voldemort snarled as he stood up quickly from his chair. "I have told you that you will do nothing. Nothing! Do you hear me?"

Voldemort upturned his chair and stalked away from it as Lucius bowed his head. Malfoy waited with his head bowed as he listened to Voldemort huffing and pacing. The Dark Lord stopped at the window where a new day was dawning and he felt his anger settle back to the unwelcome lonesome feeling.

"You will do nothing until the girl is brought to me," Voldemort commanded. "I want her, Lucius. Now."

"Yes, my Lord," Lucius said, not raising his head.

"She holds a key. A key of magic that has exceptional and unnatural powers beyond even my knowledge," Voldemort hissed lightly. "She must be found... and now!"

"Alice, get up! C'mon! Get up!" Tiffany urged as she shook Hermione who grumbled groggily and stuffed her head under a pillow. "C'mon Alice!"

"Yes, all right," Hermione grouched as she rolled over and swung her legs out of bed.

She immediately regretted it though as her feet brushed the floor and a shiver went up her legs and spine.

"Never mind," she chattered as she crawled back under the covers.

"Oh, no you don't," Tiffany laughed as she ripped back the covers from off Hermione and grabbed her legs. "Let's go!"

Tiffany turned Hermione so she was sitting up in bed, her feet touching the floor once more. Tiffany proceeded to pull Hermione out of bed and shove her over to a wardrobe. Tiffany pulled out a beige turtleneck sweater and a black knee-length skirt, shoving them into Hermione's hands and pushing her to the bathroom that she shared with the other two Gryffindor seventh year girls.

Hermione quickly changed, brushed her hair and teeth, and came out rubbing her eyes. She walked over to her trunk and got out her cloak and scarf before turning to the mirror to put them on. She watched Tiffany pulling her hair up into her usual ponytail and look herself over. This made Hermione a bit self-conscious so she began checking herself over as well.

"Try a make-up charm, deary," Tiffany said from across the room.

Hermione turned and looked at Tiffany who sighed amusedly before crossing the room to Hermione. She pulled out her wand and pointed it at Hermione's face. Hermione felt herself freeze in alarm as Tiffany's wand tip lit up a light pink, but she soon relaxed as she felt her face give a refreshing tingle.

Hermione turned back to the mirror and turned her head from one side to the other, admiring her new fresh look. It wasn't much different, but there were light shades of shadow on her eyes and a rosy tint to her cheeks that made her look a bit more radiant. Hermione then turned to Tiffany and smiled gratefully as Tiffany shook her head and grabbed Hermione's hand.

"C'mon... we've got a lot of shopping to do!" Tiffany said excitedly.

The girls went down into Hogsmeade and their first stop was to a shop called Gladrag's Wizardwear. Tiffany shoved Hermione into the shop and up to the owner. Tiffany flashed a polite smile before whispering something to the owner.

"I think I have just the thing," the owner said.

He soon came pushing a rack of dress robes out from the back and Hermione gave Tiffany an apprehensive look.

"Well? What are you waiting for!" Tiffany urged. "Get in that dressing room and try those on."

Hermione walked into the small cubicle and no sooner had she taken her cloak and scarf off when Tiffany tossed the first dress over the door to Hermione. She put it on and found that it was two sizes too big.

"Nope," Hermione said, tossing the dress back over. "Next."

Dress after dress went over the door for the next hour and a half, until finally, Hermione was left with three. She held them up and the owner and Tiffany looked from one dress to the other as Hermione waited anxiously.

"None," the owner sighed.

"Yeah, I wasn't thinking so either," Tiffany sighed. "Are you sure you don't have anything else?"

"Well, there is one thing," the owner said. "But it's on hold until three o'clock this afternoon."

"Who's it for?" Tiffany asked slyly.

"A girl from Hogwarts... Eileen something or other," the owner answered.

"Prince, maybe?" Hermione suggested.

"Yes, that's it! She asked me to hold it for her this morning. I told her I could hold it until three and then it was going back on the rack for sale," the owner informed.

"Okay, then... we might be back in that case," Tiffany said as she grabbed Hermione's hand and drug her from the shop.

"Where are you going in such a hurry?" Hermione panted as she jogged to keep up with Tiffany's quick steps.

"To find Eileen... it's two-thirty-two, and if I can stall her long enough, you can run back and look at that dress and get it if you like," Tiffany explained.

"But that's-"

"What?" Tiffany challenged playfully. "Mean?" Hermione said nothing as Tiffany's eyebrows shot upward on her forehead. "Thought so... now, c'mon."

The two girls searched and searched until finally, they spotted Eileen, Oliver Hornby, and five other Slytherin girls walking down the High Street of Hogsmeade.

"Now's our chance. It's two-fifty-seven," Tiffany said, looking to a clock on the front of a building. "You get back to the shop and I'll keep Eileen and them busy."

Hermione turned and ran back for Gladrag's, and she was almost there when Leo stopped her.

"Alice! There you are," he beamed. "You know how hard it is to get to you?"

"Not now, Leo... come with me if you like," Hermione offered as she looked back over her shoulder to see where Eileen and them were.

"What's the matter?"

"I've got to get to Gladrag's. Hurry!"

Tiffany was nowhere in sight and Eileen and her gang of girls were coming up the sidewalk, same as before. Then, out of nowhere, Eileen's feet went out from under her and she grabbed Olive who slid on what was apparently ice and fell as well. It was like watching bowling pins go down, one girl after another fell and seemed to be struggling to stand up on a very slippery spot of ice.

"By the way, Eileen," Tiffany said as she came out from an alleyway. "That dress is going to look better on Alice than it did on you!"

Kids in the street began to point and laugh as Tiffany started off up the street away from them. She was wearing a board grin and her eyes were sparkling with laughter. She met Hermione just outside Gladrag's and the two of them, accompanied by Leo, went to the Three Broomsticks for butterbeers.

"It was brilliant. Too bad you missed it, Al," Tiffany laughed. "Her feet just went up over her head and Oliver fell flat on her bum."

"Cheers to you, Tiff," Hermione toasted as she raised her butterbeer and finished it off.

"You're being awfully quiet, Leo," Tiffany pointed out.

Leo looked up and looked from Tiffany to Hermione and back again. Tiffany instantly got the hint and winked. She told them that she would return in a moment once she paid for their drinks. She left Leo and Hermione alone in a rather awkward situation. 'Hurry back, Tiffany' Hermione thought desperately.

"Alice?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you uh- well, you know how Slughorn is having that party tonight. Well, would you want to... that is if you're not going with anyone else, but would you like to- to-"

"To what?" Hermione giggled. She knew exactly what he was trying to ask, but she wanted to hear him say it. She was quite enjoying this.

"To go to thagawawivme?"

"Pardon?" Hermione laughed. "English please, if you don't mind."

"Do you want to go with me?" he mumbled as his cheeks reddened.

"Are you asking me to go to the gala with you?" Hermione teased.

"Stupid."

"What?" Hermione asked, taken aback.

"No, no! Not you... I mean me. I was stupid for asking," Leo bumbled.

"Actually, Leo, I'm not going with anyone," Hermione said casually. "And if you would like to take me, I wouldn't mind it."

"Really?" he squeaked. He cleared his throat with a manly sort of cough before continuing to speak. "Really?" he repeated.

"Yes, really," she laughed.

"Great," he sighed. She blushed and smiled as Tiffany joined them once more, suggesting that they get up to the castle and get ready if they were to be a Slughorn's at six.

"Tiffany... I don't think this was such a good idea," Hermione called through the bathroom door.

"Nonsense," Tiffany called back as she twisted her hair up into a bun. "Curls or no curls hanging from the bun, Al?"

"Curls. But. I look-"

"Fine, I'm sure," Tiffany yelled. "Now come out so we can figure out something to do with your hair!"

"I'm not coming out of this bathroom without something to cover my shoulders and stuff," Hermione protested.

"Oh, for the love of Quidditch," Tiffany growled as she stormed over to the bathroom door and wrenched it open.

There in the center of the bathroom, staring into a full length mirror stood Hermione. She was looking at her shoulder and sides as she let out a shriek and whipped around to face Tiffany.

"It's not bad... not bad at all," Tiffany smiled.

The dress was a pretty emerald green with a fitted corset top that dipped slightly in the center. There were no straps, and the skirt was full and stood out off Hermione, making her figure look a bit more curvy than normal. She stared at the dress in the mirror, it was certainly beautiful with its beaded design across the top of the corset.

"Here, put these on," Tiffany said as she handed Hermione some white elbow length gloves.

"But they're whi-"

"To match the beads, of course," Tiffany quieted as she waked up to Hermione and began pulling her hair up.

"What are you doing?" Hermione asked nervously.

"Don't worry," Tiffany assured her as she pulled out her wand and grabbed a can of hairspray off the bathroom sink. "Just hold still."

Within a matter of minutes, Hermione was coughing through a cloud of hairspray. She sneezed and Tiffany laughed before tapping Hermione's shoulder.

"You can look now."

Hermione opened her eyes and looked in the mirror in surprise. Her hair looked like the kind that you would see in a magazine on a model. It was perfect. Soft ringlets hung to her shoulders, and the top half of her hair was pulled up into a little bun with a white vine that had snowflakes attached to it wrapped around the bun. She turned to Tiffany and smiled broadly before tossing her arms around her neck and hugging her gratefully.

"Okay, okay," Tiffany laughed. "Enough already. Sheeze! Well, you had better get that cloak on... it won't be warm in those dungeons, you know."

"Yeah," Hermione said as she slipped her feet into her simple white heels and pulled her cloak on, fastening the white clasp around her neck. She pulled the cloak closer around her, covering her dress and skin from sight as she turned to the bathroom.

There stood Tiffany posing stupidly for herself in the mirror. Her hair was in an elegant bun with curls falling from it here and there. Her dress was light yellow with a silver design spiraling all over the bottom of the skirt which wasn't full like Hermione's, but straight down and slimming. She slipped on silver colored gloves that came to only her wrists and turned to Hermione, smiling broadly.

"Look out, Arnold, here... I... come," she said goofily as she came bounding out of the bathroom and over to Hermione. "Let's go!"

Hermione and Tiffany met up with Arnold in the common room, and they were about to leave when Sandie called to them. She and Brain came rushing out of the boys dorm, much to everyone's surprise.

"Brian uh... he couldn't get his tie on right," Sandie explained as Tiffany eyed her.

"Yeah, sure," Arnold laughed as he elbowed Brian who rolled his eyes.

"Well, let's go anyways. Al, here, has a date to catch," Tiffany piped up.

They left Gryffindor tower and headed down to the entrance hall where Leo was waiting by the marble stairs. He smiled at Hermione as he stood there looking quite dashing in white dress robes, though Hermione had to admit that it made his red hair stand out like a sore thumb.

"You look lovely," he told her as he wrapped his arm around her waist and led the way to the dungeons.

They entered Slughorn's private quarters to see all sorts of people there, not just Slug Club members. There were a few of the professors in there, like Dumbledore, Merrythought, and Dippet, plus at least twenty other people that Hermione did not know. She looked around and immediately spotted the group of Slytherins from the Slug Club, but Tom wasn't among them. Had he not come?

"Ah, Miss Granger... and Mr. Witte as well," Dumbledore called as he walked up to them.

Hermione smiled and returned the greeting as Dumbledore began talking to Leo. She tuned them out as she watched Tiffany clinging to Arnold's side and Sandie and Brian talking with some adults. 'Another Percy and Penelope' Hermione thought. She continued to look around the room, spotting Slug Horn with a man in all black and an extremely pale expression. She had seen him before. It took her only a moment to realize that this was the same vampire from the party Slughorn had in her sixth year.

Her eyes traveled the room further and then she spotted him. Tom Riddle. He was standing far off across the room by himself, which was highly unusual. She narrowed her eyes and continued to watch him stand in front of the fire, seemingly brooding as he drank from a silver and gold goblet.

"I'll be right back, Leo," Hermione said as she winked at him and then stole a quick glance at Dumbledore as though to say 'keep him busy.'

Hermione made her way through the crowd of people, Slughorn stopping her as she went and introducing her to the vampire. She forced a sweet smile as the vampire eyed her neck. She excused herself from Slughorn's side and continued over to Tom, getting stopped only once more by Tiffany who tried to get Hermione to watch Arnold chugging eggnog.

"Smashing," Hermione said in mock excitement as she moved away from Tiffany who seemed to not care about anything but Arnold.

Hermione finally made it over to Tom, approaching him with extreme caution. She was almost next to him when he said something to her. He hadn't even look up at her, but simply began speaking to her.

"I know why you didn't go with me," he said solemnly. "And I'm sorry for anything that they might have done to you."

"You're not the one who should be sorry," Hermione pointed out softly as she took another step toward him. They didn't speak for a minute, and Hermione was fast becoming nervous, so she broke the silence. "Why are you over here all by yourself?"

"I prefer the solitude... I would have rather not came at all tonight," Tom admitted.

"I don't believe that, Tom," Hermione said, "not for a minute."

He shrugged as though he didn't care if she believed him or not as he rose his glass to his lips and drank slowly. He never even looked at her and still she felt so damn calculated and judged in his presence. It aggravated her, but then again, so did a lot of things. She heaved a sigh and grabbed his arm, pulling his hand out of his pocket and grabbing his goblet with her other hand.

She sat the drink upon the mantle and pulled him along with her toward the crowd of people. He protested at first, not wanting to move his feet. But when she turned and looked at him, he showed no emotion as he gave in and let her take him with her. They were working their way through the crowd of people and over to where Hermione had left Leo and Dumbledore when Lestrange and the other three boys from the other night came into sight.

They approached and Hermione felt her body go icy as they stopped her and Tom. She bowed her head and pretended not to notice them, but Abraxas Malfoy was soon on the scene as well, and when his voice broke the air, it was tension thicker than the brick walls of the room.

"Well, well, Tom," he breathed cockily. "Since when do you hang around with the likes of this Mudblood?"