6.

Since the Slytherin Table was the closest, they opted to sit there for the duration of the meal, despite Harry's protests. Hermione, who was following Harry, surprisingly didn't make a fuss and took a seat next to the boy, her hands smoothing down her uniform skirt as she did so. Tom was, admittedly, intrigued by the whole affair. He wasn't nearly as stupid and prejudiced to believe that Hermione Granger shouldn't be taken seriously because of her blood purity. He himself was a half-blood and was considered one of the strongest wizards of his generation. Harry was also a half-blood and was chosen by magic itself to be its Heir. Hermione was a muggleborn who just happened to be the top of her level, beating Lucius Malfoy, Abraxas' cousin on his mother's side, by a good 5 points. It had been amusing to see the usual proud Pureblood practically foam at the mouth at the thought.

I'll have to look out for Ms. Granger in the future, Tom decided as he took a bite of his pancake, all the while conscious of the fact that Hermione was looking at him rather suspiciously. While Harry must have decided not to question Tom's intention due to his eagerness to show his sister who's boss – Tunnel vision, Tom thought disapprovingly – Hermione obviously wasn't disadvantaged by the same single-minded desire for revenge. Tom actually wouldn't be surprised if the girl would be one of the first to figure out his plan.

He smiled as innocently as possible back at the girl and was rewarded with a scowl.

How amusing, he thought delightedly to himself. This whole affair was turning out better than he had previously thought.

A shuffle of movement from his right attracted his attention back to Harry. The teen, who had seemingly been entranced by his cereal, was now staring at the entrance once more. Tom followed his gaze and saw the numerous Professors making their return from their annual meeting. Tom's eyebrows threatened to rise in surprise. Even he hadn't realized that new magical signatures have appeared in the room – a consequence of how all professors were taught to conceal them in case their enemies decides to take advantage – so how had Harry felt it? Was it a coincidence? Had he just look up at the right moment and caught sight of the professors? It was the logical answer, but something inside Tom – the instinct that had never steered him wrong before – was telling him that there was more than that.

So many questions and so little time; it didn't matter, Tom decided, he was going to get to the bottom of the mystery that was Harry James Potter even if it meant that his other plans has to be put on hold.

"You guys should go register the courtship as soon as possible," said Hermione.

Tom looked over at her and realized she was right. Protocol insisted that all new courtships between two students needed to be registered with the Headmaster. It was a safety procedure that made sure that if anything happened to one of the two, the Headmaster or any person who will be on the scene would know how to approach the situation, lest they accidently break a rule of courtship. Tom had only read about it in second year when the topic of Pureblood courtship rules had interested him; he wondered why a seemingly anti-Pureblood anything (which was ironic since Pureblood rules or not, it was still knowledge and it was so unlike an avid reader such as Hermione to be so prejudiced) girl like Hermione would have knowledge of it. Then he realized that the rule must have been included in Hogwarts' rulebook and if rumors were to be believed, the girl had somehow managed to memorize the whole thing by third year.

"I guess we can go after breakfast," Harry allowed reluctantly before fixing up a fake smile and said in a rather loud voice: "I hate all this administrative stuff, I just want to spend more time with Tom" when a girl Tom realized was part of Rose Potter's little crew, passed by them and glared at Harry. Tom resisted the urge to snicker when the girl stomped off, her book bag in one hand.

"Well, since Tom here is a Head Boy, you guys won't need me to show you to Dumbledore's office," Hermione continued before going back to her food.

Harry gave her a horrified look...which she totally ignored. Tom had the distinct impression that Hermione was punishing Harry for some reason.

"I agree," Tom piped up, because he was starting to find Harry's horrified face to be rather…cute, "I think as newly-engaged, we should spend more time alone."

"But," Harry tried once more, "Don't we need a chaperone for this stuff? I read it in one of those courtship books a few years back."

"Normally," Tom agreed, "But we're in a school; that rule won't really apply."

Harry deflated.

Further conversation was cut short however when Abraxas and Alphard made their appearance, trudging over with frowns on their faces.

"What happened?" Tom asked as soon as they had sat down.

"You know Minerva McGonagall?"

"Of course he knows her," Abraxas snapped, "She's the Head Girl and he's Head Boy."

Black flushed an ugly shade of red before jabbing Malfoy with an elbow to the guy, causing the boy to double over.

"Anyway," Alphard continued as if Abraxas wasn't wheezing next to him, "She gave us detention because I forgot my tie and Malfoy here also forgot his."

"Was this your first warning?" Hermione asked, attracting both boys' attention on to her.

"Yes," Alphard replied, in a tone that clearly wonders why Hermione was talking to him.

Hermione ignored him with an ease that Tom had only learned to perfect after 6 years of interaction with the other teen.

"Then she has no right to give you detention," she continued, "Article 5.2 of Hogwart's official rule book clearly states that in matter of violation to the dress code, prefects and teachers have the obligation of giving the offenders a minimum of 3 verbal warnings before they are allowed to give any detention."

"That's really nice of you, Ms. Granger" Abraxas interjected before Alphard could open his mouth and ask if Hermione had really memorized the rule book, "I will talk to the Professors after breakfast, to get this detention overturned."

Hermione flushed a delicate pink at the sentiment before returning to her meal, a small smile on her face.

For the rest of the meal, Tom noticed how Abraxas spent more time conversing with Hermione than with everyone else.

Hmm, Tom thought in amusement, How interesting.

By the sour look on Harry's face, it was obvious that he didn't particularly agree.

TBC

ANSWERS TO REVIEWS

As mentioned in the previous chapter, this is the section where I will be answering your reviews. For those who do not desire to stay, I will see you next chapter. For the others, please enjoy:

Chapter 1 Reviews

Shout outs to everyone who left me a message of encouragement:) Thanks especially to:

Trizsh15; loveless23; VuDu10; Eli; Sweet Smiles; RobinIsley; Gemstones; ThestralxD; The World in Black and White; MaiWishes; xDarklightx; Charlie0925; angellovesfanfiction; solsere; XxXSmiles101XxX; musme; FuzzyRaibowSocks; Guest; Magicanimegurl; Cynical0range; PerSonNee; darkblue91; aishiteru naru; nostalgiaghoul; sousie; xXxOtAkU-444xXx; Ajsk4eva; 1sunfun; sad sabrine; Drblahar; Inveigler; Lemrinth; Dedicated4reading ; Stardust of Orion; Insanely-Yours96; Guest; MittknightDr; ChibiAyane; Iyawolfwhite; geetac; Tezi the Waterbender; LunarCatNinja; Criollo; FantasyFreak123; Melikalilly; Madame Artemis; Triden; Kisa; Rori Potter.

To: solsere

Hi, first of all, thank you for your review. There would indeed be more competition if other people knows about it, but since the prophecy is top secret for the moment (except for Tom), no one really knows about it. And Tom can trust his friends not to go behind his back (ok, less trust and more "I have blackmail on you if you ever chose to betray me").

Your idea of it getting out is actually pretty interesting. Although poor Harry will suffocate under all the attention if it did. Maybe it's something that could be explored little on.

I hope that answers your question and I hope you enjoy the rest of the story.

Chapter 2 Reviews

There weren't any questions for this chapter so here are the shoutouts to people who left me an encouraging note. Thanks to:

Trizsh15; Guest; Iesh; Maedeh; Superfan8; Animelover5008; Melikalilly; StackofStories; angellovesfanfiction; Musme; Guest; GabrielShiroe; ChibiAyane; Guest; evilwing2004; Guest; Allykrau; miyabita yami; Kiri Namikase; Guest; yume; Tubbs; icyquest4; kat1316; LunarCatNinja; xXxOtAkU-444xXx; Stardust of Orion; fanfictionnatic; Ronievad; Shy Lavender; Geetac; RobinIsley; fan of fanfiction1; evenstarlily; kirsty21; Lemrinth; Guest; Zafirya; notsofrilly; xDarklightx;ANATHEMA PRINCE

Replies to reviews for chapter 3 and 4 will be in the next chapter. Once again, thank you all for the wonderful support. Thank you for all those who favorited and followed the story. I hope you enjoy the rest.

I will continue to answer to reviews for any new chapters I post so don't hesiste to tell me what you think - what you would like to see and what doesn't make sense.

Your reviews have all being sweet and insightful. I am constantly in awe of some things some readers have pointed out that adds even more depth to the plot.

Thank you all. I can't wait to read what you guys have to say next:) It's a great pleasure for a writer to have such a supportive cast of readers.

That's it for now. See you next time.