Hermione woke earlier than usual and sat up in bed. She drew her knees up and stared at the wall ahead. Today was the day of the Halloween dance but the dance was the least of her worries. She had to kill Tom today and that was occupying her thoughts the most. She slowly got out of bed and unlocked her trunk. She took out the small bottle of deadly poison and stared at it. She thought about her parents and friends and a tear trickled down her cheek. She put the bottle away and went back to bed but she couldn't sleep. There was a long time left till breakfast and she lay awake with her eyes closed.
She sat at the breakfast table and just like yesterday she stared at her food. There was too much on her mind and she couldn't be bothered with small things like eating. She forced herself to look towards the Slytherin table and found Tom stirring his spoon with a blank expression. Once in a while he lifted the spoon up, stared at it and then put it back down. He wasn't actually eating anything, he was just playing with his food and Hermione figured today's Halloween dance was probably plaguing his mind.
"Hey Maya" Susan's annoying voice sounded and she quickly looked away. "Is he still mad at you?" Susan whispered.
"He was never angry with me in the first place" she said feeling irritated. Why couldn't this annoying girl leave her alone? As if she didn't have enough to deal with.
"Whatever you say" Susan said rolling her eyes. "Look I think--"
"Can you be quiet" Hermione snapped. "I have a headache"
"If that's your way of getting rid of me, it's not going to work." Susan said grinning at her and Hermione seriously felt like crucioing her.
"Look theirs nothing between us" she said glaring at Susan. "He's not eating because he doesn't want to eat."
"Deny it all you want but I know theirs something going on" Susan said in a sing song voice.
"I'm not talking to you" she snapped and turned the other way.
"Fine, I won't mention your secret lover" Hermione's eyes widened and she immediately turned back around.
"My what?" she said weakly.
"I guess the term lover might be weird if you guys haven't got to the touchy feely stage yet." Susan said winking at her and Hermione abruptly stood up. She had to get out of here, she couldn't listen to this anymore. "I'm sorry Maya, don't leave" Susan said grabbing her hand. "I won't talk about him, please don't leave because of me" Susan's voice sounded pleading and her anger vanished. She reluctantly sat down and there was a minute of peaceful silence until Susan started talking again. "You know that boy I met in divination" Susan said excitedly.
"Yeah" Hermione said in a bored tone.
"I'm going with him"
"I thought you were really into Xavian's friend" she said picking up a toast.
"Nah, not my type" Susan said waving her hand dismissively. "Anyway, I'm going as Cleopatra" Hermione dropped the toast with a troubled expression. Merlin, why hadn't she realised before? It was a Halloween ball and that meant she had to dress up as something.
"What am I going to do?" Hermione burst out and placed her head in her hands. "Why didn't I realise before, why?"
"What's wrong?" Susan said with a concerned look.
"I don't know what to dress up as and it's probably too late to even get a proper costume" she said in a panicked voice.
"I thought you weren't going with anyone" Susan said with a confused look.
"I am" Hermione said punching the table in frustration
"With who?" Susan said in a high pitched voice.
"With Riddle" she said without thinking.
"I knew it" Susan said pointing her finger and she jumped up and down in her seat excitedly.
"No, it's not what you think" Hermione said loudly. "Dippet's forcing us"
"Why would he do that?" Susan said with a disbelieving look. "Honestly that's one of the lamest excuses I've ever he---"
"The minister of magic's coming and he wants us to show house unity" Hermione cut in angrily.
"The minister of magic's coming" Susan said excitedly.
"Yeah" Hermione said gloomily and Susan sat quiet for a minute absorbing the information.
"Oh my God" Susan suddenly said making Hermione jump. "No one's ever seen Tom dance and your going with him." Susan said waving her hands. "Do you realise how many girls would die to be in your place." Susan whispered excitedly.
"Those girls are all idiots" Hermione grumbled.
"What's wrong with you?" Susan said frowning at her. "How can you not like Tom Riddle, he's so --so" Susan suddenly smiled. "Hang on, of course you like him. You just don't want anyone to know"
"I don't like him" Hermione snapped. How many times did she have to tell this girl?
"Sure you don't" Susan said with a mischievous smile. "Now about your costume"
"The costume" Hermione had momentarily forgotten about it. "Oh my God, what am I going to do?" Hermione buried her face in her hands once more. With the dancing lesson and the murder planning it had slipped her mind. Now she had no idea what to wear.
"Hey, I'm gonna take care of everything" Susan said gently patting her on the back.
"You are?" Hermione said looking up.
"Sure, what are friends for?" Hermione smiled. At least enduring this girl was going to pay of in some way. "But on one condition" her smile fell. She should have known Susan wouldn't do something without a price.
"What kind of condition?" Hermione said suspiciously.
"Nothing to hard" Susan said smiling. "You have to let me give you a proper makeover and you can't interfere, even if you don't like it"
"I don't know" She said creasing her brows.
"Fine then" Susan said crossing her arms. "Find someone else to help you" She really had no one else to turn to and a makeover couldn't be that bad. It would just be like the time Ginny and Parvati had helped her in her fourth year. But she didn't trust what Susan would make her wear and she didn't want to come out dressed like some exposed whore.
"All right I'll do it" Hermione said. "But you can't make me wear anything with my legs showing"
"What's wrong with a short dress?" Susan said raising an eyebrow.
"I don't like them"
"Fine but you have to promise you won't interfere with anything else" As long as she was decently covered she wasn't too fussed about hairstyle or make-up.
"Done" Hermione said feeling glad that she had solved the problem.
"Meet me at the Ravenclaw dorm at the end of the day"
"I'll be a little late, I have to see Slughorn"
"This is going to be so great" Susan said in a high pitched voice. "All the girls are going to be so excited" Susan suddenly hugged Hermione. "I love you Maya, you are going to look fabulous" she said releasing her. "I have to tell the others" she said standing up. "See you later" Susan called out running towards the Gryffindor table.
All the classes with Tom went by in a blur. Like yesterday they had both completely ignored each other and she had let Tom answer all the questions. Soon the day was over and all the students rushed of to get ready for the dance. She knocked on Slughorn's office door and after a while the door opened.
"O ho, Miss Granger" Slughorn said cheerfully. "What can I do for you?"
"Sir about the detention I----"
"Detention cancelled" he said clapping his hands. "Enjoy yourself tonight"
"Thank you sir" Hermione said beaming.
"A birdie told me you're going with Tom" he whispered smiling widely. No doubt Dippet had told him and now he was probably thinking theirs something between them. Why did everyone fail to understand the forced to go part? "Good luck" Slughorn winked at her and closed the door. Yes, she was certainly going to need the good luck with what she was planning to do.
She walked into the Ravenclaw dorm. Susan and a bunch of girls were chatting excitedly and they immediately stopped noticing her presence.
"Maya" Susan said running up to her. "There all gonna help" she pointed towards her girls. "You remember Morgana, Haley, Stacey and Kirsten" Hermione just nodded when she really didn't remember any of their names. "Great, just come into the centre" she gestured and Hermione walked forward with five pairs of eyes watching her. "We've decided your going to go as--" She paused for a couple of seconds. "A fairy" Susan burst out dramatically.
"A fairy" Hermione repeated with an unsure expression.
"Worried that it's not dark enough to turn on your Slytherin guy" Morgana said and all the other girls laughed. Hermione glared at her and turned red with anger.
"You have nothing to worry about Maya" Susan said. "I promise he's going to love it"
"I don't care if he likes it or not" Hermione snapped and stamped her feet in anger.
"So you're okay with the fairy" Susan said placing her hands on hips. "Cause if his into you know what" Susan said raising an eyebrow. "I could always change it to a female demon instead"
"Just dress me as the bloody fairy" Hermione shouted. "It doesn't matter if he likes me or not because we're not together"
"I see what you mean" Kirsten said looking at Susan. "She doesn't---"
"Kirsten" Susan said sharply. "Ignore them Maya, fairy it is" Susan said excitedly.
"Where's the costume?" Hermione said looking around but she didn't come across anything.
"I'm not going to send you out looking like some fairy from a child's book" Susan said rolling her eyes.
"Then what" Hermione said worriedly.
"To show you're a fairy all you need is a pair of wings at the back" Susan said pointing behind her. "The rest, you can dress as you want"
"Sounds good" Hermione said looking around the room again. "So where's this dress?"
"You are going to love it" Susan said jumping up and down. "Haley, bring it out" Haley brought out the dress and from a distance Hermione could make out a bundle of dark red satin. "I'm sure this will fit you" Susan said handing her the dress "Go put it on" She went behind the room divider and stripped down to her underclothes. She could hear whispered conversations and couple of times she heard Tom's name being mentioned. They shouldn't even bother with whispering, she thought angrily. She held up the dress and she didn't like what she saw but maybe it wouldn't be so bad when she put it on. Wearing the dress she stepped out and all the girls immediately stopped talking. She quickly walked over to the full length mirror and hated what she saw.
"Susan, what kind of a dress is this?" Hermione said still staring at her reflection.
"It's perfect" Morgana said walking closer.
"What a figure" Stacey said whistling. "I would kill to look like that.
"Told you she would look hot with the right treatment" Susan said excitedly.
"I'm not wearing it" Hermione said nodding her head.
"Yes you are" Susan said putting her hands on hip. "Look, its long and flowing just like you wanted and you promised what I said went next"
"I know its long but the neckline of this dress is so low, it's ridiculous" Hermione said pointing at her chest. "The sleeves are also too short" she said placing her hands on her shoulder. "I want longer sleeves and higher neck"
"Didn't know Tom was into Grandma's" Morgana said and everyone laughed while Susan tried her best not to.
"Maya, it's just a little cleavage" Susan said standing in front of her. "Such a small display of flesh and you're going on like I'm sending you naked out there"
"I don't like it" Hermione said crossing her arms.
"Tough luck" Susan said sternly. "You're wearing it" Hermione glared at her angrily. On her own she wouldn't be able to figure out anything and in the end she gave in.
They spent the next hour using various potions to straighten her hair and just when Hermione thought the torture was over, they said they were going to start making her hair slightly wavy. Of course, how could she have forgotten? In her time straight hair had been the thing but in the 1940's wavy hair was the big thing. Her hair was naturally curly so they had to straighten it first and then make it wavy. She had wanted to tie it up but Susan insisted on leaving it out, claiming that it made her look sexier. They then spent another hour putting heaps of makeup on her and the thing that scared her most was the eyelash curler. It looked like a torture device and it felt like it was yanking your lashes out instead of curling them. Then they put small black crystal earrings on her ears and made her wear a small matching pendant. The finishing touch was making her put on red lipstick and she had been totally against it. She had wanted to put on natural colour lip-gloss but in this time red lipstick was in and Susan wasn't going to have it any other way. At the end she could barely recognise herself, she looked like one those nostalgic movie stars of the 1940's and 50s.
"Perfect" Susan exclaimed.
"Merlin, she does look good" Morgana said and all the other girls seemed to agree.
"Alright, let's add the wings" Susan said excitedly. She went under the bed and brought out a pair of dusty white wings. "Scrougify" Susan said making all the dust vanish. "I made these in the weekend when I was planning to go as a fairy" Susan said lifting her hair. She muttered a spell and easily attached the wings. "Don't worry about them coming off, I stuck them on with a sealing charm"
"Wow" Kirsten said. "Now she looks great"
"Tonight you are so going to murder Tom" Morgana said jokingly and Hermione almost dropped to the floor in panic. It's okay, it's okay, she repeated in her mind and she grabbed a chair for support. They didn't mean actual murder, it was probably some kind of a weird 1940s sexual joke that she was failing to understand or maybe Susan's girls were just nuts.
"I agree" Kirsten said. "He's going to die when he see's her like this" Hermione managed to calm herself down but she still held onto the chair. No one knew anything, they couldn't know and hopefully everything would go as planned.
"Or more like drag her into a broom closet and shove her up against a wall" Susan started in a low voice. "Hitch up her dress and--"
"Susan please" Hermione squeaked as a disturbing visual entered her mind.
"That was nothing" Haley said rolling her eyes. "Susan can go into so much detail you'll get wet"
"You know you like it when I talk dirty" Susan said in a seductive voice and everyone laughed except Hermione.
"What's the matter?" Morgana said raising an eyebrow. "You've already been in a broom closet together" Hermione immediately released the chair and glared at them.
"We were checking out a haunted closet" Hermione said angrily. "Nothing else happened"
"Just don't believe him tonight if he tells you his bedroom's haunted" Stacey said winking and everyone laughed again. Hermione really felt like running out the room and her hand itched to Crucio them all.
She stuck around to help everyone get ready and for nearly an hour she was busy handing various cosmetics, zipping up and doing buttons at the back. In the end she had to admit all the girls looked stunning, especially Susan in her gold coloured Egyptian dress.
"There's like an hour left before we have to go down" Susan said sitting on her bed. "Hey Maya" Susan suddenly said and Hermione closed her eyes recognising the excitement in her voice. "What's Tom coming as?"
"I don't know" Hermione said wondering the same thing. Now that she thought about it, she was kind of curious.
"I can't wait to see him wear something that's not the school uniform" Morgana said dreamily.
"Me too, wonder how his gonna look" Susan said lying flat on her back. Hermione had never seen him wear anything other the school uniform and she couldn't help but think the same thing. A small bottle of perfume caught her eyes and she suddenly remembered about her murder plan. What the hell was she doing? She shouldn't be wasting time thinking about Tom Riddle's clothes, she was meant to figure out how to discreetly carry the poison.
"Thanks for everything" Hermione said hurriedly. "I have to go now"
"Stay a little longer Maya" Susan said sitting up.
"I've got a few things to sort out" Hermione said walking towards the door.
"We all know who she's really going to see" Morgana said. Hermione ran out the room fast and sounds of laughter followed as she shut the door. She hurriedly walked down the corridors and after a while she arrived at the heads quarters.
"Medusa" she said standing in front of the portrait.
"Sweet Merlin" Persephone said looking at her with wide eyes. "Hades come see this"
"Is that the same girl?" Hades said appearing at the front.
"Can you let me in?" Hermione said feeling exposed in the dress and the door sprang open. She was glad to find the common room empty and she quickly ran into her room. She unlocked her trunk and took out the small bottle of Letum Sero. The most deadly poison was in her hands and with it she would end the dark lord. Now, all she had to do was work out a way to secretly carry the poison. She thought and thought but came up with nothing. Soon there was 15 minutes left till the start of the dance and she was starting to get panicky.
Feeling frustrated she violently pulled open her dressing table's drawer and a ring toppled out. She snatched up the large black crystal ring and dumped it back inside. She was about to shut the drawer when something caught her eyes and she picked up the ring to closely inspect it. The crystal had moved away to reveal a hidden compartment and she clicked it shut, then she opened it again with another click. She had never known this about the ring and the secret compartment was a complete surprise. Hermione smiled as she found the perfect solution to her problem and luckily the ring also matched with her jewellery. An unmatched item would have drawn some kind of attention and it looked like luck was on her side tonight. She put on the ring and it was a perfect fit. Judging from the size, she was sure she could fit in 2ml and she carefully tipped all the poison inside the compartment. She clicked the ring shut and threw away the empty bottle.
Hermione looked into her full length mirror and smiled at her reflection. Everything was going perfectly. She was dressed and the poison was safely loaded inside the ring. All she had to do was put up with one dance, add the poison to his food or drink and then watch him die with satisfaction. Hermione took out her red lipstick and slowly refreshed the colour. She pressed her lips together and smiled once again. Tonight she would have her revenge.
It was interesting to read the reviews in response to my last chapter and thank you to everyone that reviewed. Yeah, I know the ring idea isn't original and I'm sure I stole it from a Disney movie I saw years back.