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FIVE

Twilight In The Grounds

The situation really could not have worked out better if I had put her under the Imperius curse, and do not think that I had not considered it.

We walked, very aware of one another's presence. And so it was that, a short while on, we ended up in the shadows of a huge beech tree over the far side of the lake.

Dusk was beginning to fall. Laura leaned back against the gnarled trunk of the old tree, took a cursory glance down into the glass she still held, and raised it to her mouth. I realized I was holding my breath, but I couldn't take it back, not now.

Then suddenly, she stopped. She lowered the glass, looking intently at its slightly shimmering surface, and then raised her questioning eyes to meet my guilty ones.

"Amortentia...?" she said, lightly. " I'm impressed, Tom. Tricky... Like I said, though I'm not sure you're supposed to do this at all, not even in Seventh Year"

She paused, not meeting my eyes again.

For my part,my mind was racing. How did she know? I knew she must have some sort of secret that I didn't know about, and I was determined to find out what it was.

"It is prohibited, of course, Tom, as you know," she continued, quietly.

"I mean, you must know that, being a Prefect. Fearful trouble with Professor Dippet……especially with ( she held up the glass, and I was sure I saw a tiny smile play around the edges of her lips )…. evidence." she finished.

She's threatening me….

I was the one that threatened, as a rule, and this suited me fine, so this was uncharted territory.

I wasn't sure yet how exactly it felt. Through it, though, I could not help but feel a grudging respect for a witch that would stand up to me, after being surrounded by the other Slytherins, and myself their revered leader, as they hung on my every word, or more usually, every order but still, I knew that if she went to Dippet, or even worse, Dumbledore - he had never liked me - I would be expelled, surely, and I couldn't let that happen, especially not with what awaited me in the outside world.

I wondered if she really knew how much I stood to lose. And if she wanted to threaten me, why did she look so pleased? I decided not to take any chances. She knew what I had done. I wouldn't trust this. Couldn't.

I drew my wand, and looked her in the eye again.

Beautiful, those eyes...

And I hesitated. I hesitated too long. I never did, before. I was a fool. I knew it was a stupid thing to do.

Laura had her own wand out and pointed straight at me before I could react. She took a step closer, then another. She opened her other hand and the glass fell from it, cracking in two on the cold ground. I watched for a moment, horrified, as my carefully-brewed elixir seeped forlornly into the grass.

But I did not need the potion now to smell that scent, the scent I knew was hers from that other dark night. For now, at this moment, she had moved so near to me that I stood frozen, the words of the memory charm I had planned to use somehow forgotten, and in that second, I reached out to her, and she reached out to me.

"You really won't be needing potions like that, Tom." she whispered.

I looked back at the empty glass, and so did she. Then, without warning, she pointed her wand at it from under my arm, and said, quietly:

"Evanesco."

The glass, together with its' guilty contents, vanished.

"Evidence." she said.

O O O O O

My heart seemed to be thumping inside my chest. Did she know even then? To know more about myself than I had ever disclosed to anybody?

I knew it was a risk, a terrible danger, but admit that I was afraid?

I wasn't that weak... was I? Was this weakness? I wasn't sure.

I tried to tell myself that I was doing this purely for my own enjoyment when I pulled her closer to me. I wanted it, at least. Wanted her.

I found myself, my hands on her shoulders and pushing her backwards until I had forced her right up against the tree trunk, against the smooth bark of the beech tree. I was breathing, hard, and I could hear her, breathing too, audible, and hot on the exposed flesh of my neck in the chill of this freezing December night.

I was much taller than her, and with my body now pressing hard against her, she was forced to look up at me. She did so, her eyes meeting mine in a mixture of fear and wanting, and a certain trepidation suddenly there, but a moment later, when I looked back, it was gone and her eyes were closed again. She slid her hands over my chest and down onto my hipbones, kissing me with such a fervour that it was my turn to gasp, and at last I let myself fall. I could feel my legs shaking slightly as she brushed aside the fabric of my cloak and began to toy with the buttons on my shirt.

O O O O O

Laura looked at me wide-eyed from where she lay next to me on the dark grass under the tree.

"Are you sure?" I asked her.

"Sure about what?" she asked, her face pressed against my chest, and her voice muffled, I could feel her smile.

"Sure about what?" she repeated, her slight French accent reappearing momentarily. She looked down at her hands, suddenly shy.

"Sure about this." I said.

Laura shrugged and looked away before answering.

"I've never……you know, not before, I mean, but…" She stumbled suddenly on the words.

"I'm sure I want to kiss you." she offered, finally.

She did then. I didn't stop her, and she didn't stop me as I pressed my mouth on hers, gently at first, tentative and slow, then harder and more forceful.

I could feel her fingernails through my clothes as she held me. It was cold and a little damp on the grass, but it didn't matter...it really didn't matter... because she was loosening my tie and kissing the bare skin of my shoulders where she had pushed my shirt off of them...and I liked it and...

I managed a sigh between breaths, and rolled over, lying halfway on top of her, my leg between her legs and pulled aside her blue Quidditch robes with one hand. I waited, but she didn't move away or tell me to stop.

She was quiet until I ran my tongue down, experimentally, over her exposed neck, when she gave a sudden short, high gasp that echoed across the pitch. I smiled, liking the reaction to my ministrations, and went further, pushing her robe down by degrees.

Her underclothes were in the way, but my fingers, long and agile,soon found the laces at the back and deftly pulled them loose. I managed to slide one hand a little inside her clothes, my heart pounding. Her skin was very warm, and I could feel something soft under my hand.

It felt strange and new to be with a girl like this. I had never permitted such things to happen before,in this way, and especially on someone else's terms. Even I was surprised by my own reaction. I didn't know I was capable of such things.

She reached up, and began to kiss me again, on the mouth, and feeling more confident over this, I slid my hand onto her leg, just above the knee, and moved my fingers slowly upward, until I was almost actually touching her knickers. I paused, half waiting to be slapped, but although I felt her stiffen slightly underneath me, she didn't say anything.

"Can I?" I whispered, terrified.

"Just touch?" she asked, her voice barely audible.

"Do you want….. more?" I said, half hopeful.

"I'm a virgin." she told me, bluntly. "Are you?"

I paused, considering my answer, wondering if I should lie. I could not think of anything for once, so I fell back on the truth.

"Yes," I said.

"Have you kissed anyone before?" she said, curiously, reaching out to touch my cheek, in the dark.

"Not really." I answered, very conscious that she was smiling a little, as if she had not expected this answer.

"Have….have you?"

"Not really." she echoed." I mean, not at all really. I was sixteen in October," she added, as if this would explain the matter.

"I won't hurt you." I told her, trying to sound fervent. Though I knew I probably would have, in a fashion, if she'd asked, or I thought I would get away with it.

"I can't," she said, firmly, squeezing me a little through my clothes. I could hear the smile in her voice, and she moved her hand back up, under my shirt to rest on my bare stomach, her fingers running lightly through the sparse, dark hair there.

" I can't." she said again, suddenly melancholy,

"I won't hurt you." I repeated, still kissing her. "You'll like it, I promise."

Though how I would know...

"If my father were to find out," She said, "he would kill me. Before marriage, and a with a halfblood. He would really kill me."

I stopped and sat up.

"At least I'm not a mudblood. Like dear Tisker." I said, shortly.

She looked upset, and took her hand away, stroking my cheek gently instead.

"To me, it doesn't matter what you are. By my father's standards, though, believe me, you ARE. He's more than a little exacting, with a great many things. He says…you know…. there's no such thing as half, it's either pure blood or filth. Mother was somehow related to Rowena Ravenclaw. Hence my middle name.Pure blood all the way, father says...and doesn't he love to say it..."

She sighed, then reached up, untangling her long hair, now stuck with twigs and fallen leaves that Autumn had left behind, and pulled the silver comb from her hair with a degree of difficulty.

"Look."

She held it out to me. I reached out, and when I took it from her, I could sense the power almost at once. It was truly beautiful, and unarguably, unique.

I stared down at it, transfixed, taking in the gleaming metal, and the carvings along the top

Two eagles in flight were wrought from the fine metal, their wings outstretched, their talons long, curving downwards, to create the points where it was inserted into the wearer's hair.

"She left me this, when she died." Laura continued, in a half whisper, though quite matter-of-fact.

" My inheritance, if you like. There wasn't much else to inherit, when it came down to it."

"I thought Purebloods were all rich and aristocratic," I said, only halfway serious, yet I was thinking of my own Pureblood relations I had been trying to trace in secret for years. The Gaunts. The name itself sounded impressive. I felt sure that they would certainly be rich and well-to-do, and one day, I was going to find out.

Laura made a face and shook her head, laughing.

"Not all are terribly rich! But still, I can't deny it has come in very useful, especially if you have interests like mine."

I narrowed my eyes.

"Would these interests be the reason why you go sneaking off to the Forbidden Forest late at night?" I questioned.

She grinned at me, her face pale and excited in the moonlight.

"One night, I might invite you to sneak off with me. If you weren't a Prefect, that is."

"So…let me guess.." I said, trying to sound casual as I held up the comb, between thumb and forefinger. "Dark detector? Secrecy sensor? Which one is it?"

Laura grinned again.

"Oh, very good. Very good indeed. Top marks again Mr Riddle!" she laughed.

"Actually, it's both…. and neither…well…I'm really not entirely certain, but I do know that when I wear it, I can see through any invisibility cloak, and detect any kind of secrecy, anything hidden, any mischief."

"So…that's how you did it.." I breathed, eventually. "That's how you knew about...about the cloak.." I tailed off, suddenly feeling like I shouldn't say any more. But she smiled, regardless.

"That's how I knew," she agreed, with a hint of triumph.

"Shall you be more careful when you spy on me in future, Mr Riddle?"

"I rather hoped you would permit me the pleasure of not needing to……ah……spy." I answered.

"Perhaps I shall." she said, smiling. I reached out for her again, but it was at that moment that we both heard voices, coming across the Quidditch pitch.

O O O O O

Four cloaked figures were making their way over the grounds, one of them carrying a lantern.

Laura looked panic-stricken.

"I must go," she said, suddenly wide-eyed and fearful."I'll have to go the other way, up to the tower."

She tugged at her robes trying to rearrange them in a hurry, and making them look worse. I drew my wand, fixed her robes, then my own clothing, and turned back quickly to look in the direction of the noise.

"Riddle!" called a voice, although I knew they could not have seen me.

Laura began to turn away, but I pulled her back. Her sleeve fell back and then I saw it, my Slytherin tie, wound around her wrist. I raised my eyebrows again.

"That's just perverse!" I told her, but secretly, I thrilled at the idea.

"For luck!" she said, "Ironic, isn't it?"

"Keep it," I breathed. I had spent my last four galleons on buying another by Owl order from Madam Malkins, but I didn't care.

"I just will then. Right here." She raised her wrist.

"Kiss me." I said.

She smiled and bit her lip nervously. But she kissed me anyway.

When I opened my eyes again, she'd gone.

To be continued...soon.

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