A/N: My apologies for the lateness, but here's Chapter 9. Oh! And thanks to: svelte, Addicted2Love, san01, hanvu, nehimasgift, Silver Tears 11, MandaPandaAR, w1cked angel, xxxCheezItxxx, Kitty0617, litprincess, moonlights desire, CareBearErin, Joou Himeko Dah, pottersgirl91, Lizzy Evans, bigmamatree, and Shadows08. Many thanks to all you lovely people; you're brilliant, you truly are!

Chapter 9 – The Secret In the Tower

Hermione sat at breakfast the next day, her mood dreary, and her heart heavy. She felt very alone seeing as she wasn't talking to Tom, and she was homesick on top of it all. She even missed the King. 'At least he was nice and comforting,' she thought miserably as she pushed her half eaten plate of food away from herself and got up. She walked out of the dining hall and began her self tour of the castle once more.

She had been in all the rooms upstairs, many of them just bedrooms or studies and the occasional bathroom. Now was her chance to explore the bottom floor. Then tomorrow, she would examine the towers to the castle. She wandered along, her fingers laced together in front of her. She sighed continually every few minutes as she peeked into room after room.

The dining hall. The King's mapping room. Another study. The kitchen. A sun room where she had been playing piano and violin. A room with many covered pieces of furniture and lots of dust.

Hermione stopped at the end of the corridor, leaning against the corner of the wall and feeling highly bored as she looked around. Then her eyes spotted a rather strange door. There was a rose border carved around the edges of it, and it was ajar. A bright, almost blinding light was coming from behind it.

She narrowed her eyes and walked over toward the door, stopping outside it with her hand on the handle which was shaped like a rose. She looked around to make sure no one was watching her, and she entered the room.

Her jaw immediately dropped as she felt her breath leave her. The sight before her was spectacular. She stepped fully into the room and took in everything around her. There was a large cage of screen that went from the high ceiling to the floor and inside were hundreds upon hundreds of butterflies of all shapes, sizes, and colors. On the floor of the cage, there was at least twenty different kinds of flowers and bushes covering the whole of it except a small path and a circular spot in the floor where a half oval bench sat.

Hermione bit down on her bottom lip as she glanced the cage over once more and saw a small rickety door fixed in the screen. She smiled and rushed forward, her inner child dying to get inside the cage. She opened the door and hurried inside, closing the screen entrance behind her quickly so as not to let any butterflies out.

She laughed quietly as wings of butterflies tickled her arms and brushed against her hair while they landed on her hands and the folds of her dress's skirt. She walked over and sat down on the bench, looking all around her with a glow in her eyes. Hermione sighed contentedly and dropped back into a laying position on the bench, staring at the ceiling and watching the hundreds of butterflies fly over her.

From the doorway, a pair of dark, nearly black eyes watched her. Their ebony-like orbs sparkled with wonder as they calculated the blissful Gryffindor.

"Psst!" someone whispered. "Aramis."

Tom didn't turn away from the crack in the door as the name was hissed, instead he watched on until a hand touched his shoulder. He spun around and pinned the person fast to the wall before realizing that it was only another one of the guards.

"Ease up, Aramis," the young man choked as he rubbed his neck where Riddle's forearm had been.

Tom glared at him for a second before turning back to the door and watching as Hermione cupped something in her hands, a picturesque smile upon her face. It made her features glow in a comely way that caused the juvenile Dark Lord confusion.

"Rather lovely, isn't she?" asked the young man as he stood peering over Riddle's shoulder.

Tom suddenly felt his confusion switch to an angered, almost jealous feeling.

"No," he grumbled.

"No?" the guard repeated in amused disbelief. "Of course, you would say that... I mean, it's easy for you to look away from her because of all the girls that chase after you."

Tom's brow knitted as he looked over his shoulder at the boy who shrugged and smirked in a knowing way.

"Girls chasing after me? I've had no such thing happen," Tom denied truthfully.

"Well, of course you wouldn't right now," the boy sighed. "Ladies in waiting and courtiers aren't allowed to speak to soldiers while they're on duty, but at parties... hard to find a girl who isn't looking in your direction and wishing to be on your arm."

"Like I'd give them the time of day," Riddle remarked snidely.

"So you do have your eye set on her?" the boy accused as he caught Tom looking at Hermione again.

"No," Riddle hissed as he stood up to his full height, which was about three inches taller than the boy. "I'm just doing my job and keeping an eye on her."

"Looked like both eyes to me," the guard laughed before walking away.

"Arrogant little buffoon," Tom growled as he turned back to the door to see Hermione release a butterfly from her cupped hands.

She laughed and spun around while watching it flutter up to the ceiling. 'I don't fancy her,' Tom told himself as he turned to leave, looking back over his shoulder for one last glance at her. 'Then why can't you keep your eyes off her?' a nasty little voice in the back of his mind quizzed. The young Voldemort rolled his eyes and grunted crossly as he assured himself once more that he didn't like her, but that only made the little voice chuckle.

"I don't," Riddle grumbled to himself as he flung open the doors of a study and trudged over to a table for some relaxation. He just needed to think so he could set his mind straight.

Later that day, Hermione was on her way up to her room to freshen up for dinner as she passed by the room where Porthos was being kept. She paused as she heard him grunting. She peered into the room and saw that he was trying to sit up in bed. Smiled inwardly, Hermione slowly pushed the door open the rest of the way as she stepped in the room.

"Not trying to get out of bed, are you?" she inquired with a mischievous grin.

"No," he breathed slowly. "Not... at all." He had finally gotten into his upright seating and smiled at Hermione.

"So, how are you feeling today?" she asked as she pulled up a chair next to the bed and sat down.

"Hmm... a little better," he replied in a joking manner.

There was a moment's pause as Hermione beamed broadly at him, and he stared unblinkingly at her. But a noise from outside made them both jump a little.

"You had better get out of here, your highness," he warned. "If your maids catch you in here, you'll be in a sore spot because they'll tell your father that you were in a room with a young man who's only in his undergarments."

"I'm not too worried," Hermione shrugged. "It's not as though I'm doing anything. I mean, with you sitting there all bandaged up," she added as she gestured to his shirtless body which was bandaged around the waist.

"I wasn't implying that you were the untrustworthy one," he corrected in a little more than a husky whisper.

Hermione felt a chill rush over her, and she swallowed as he stared at her, his sapphire orbs threatening to pierce right through her. Suddenly, Porthos jumped, his eyes darting to the doorway as a loud rapping sounded on it. Hermione shot out of her chair and turned to the door to see Tom standing there.

"Sorry," he chuckled darkly. "I was just looking for the Princess. Her maids said she came up missing."

"I'm not missing," Hermione replied through gritted teeth.

"Good to know," Riddle smirked annoyingly. "They're calling you down to dinner now though. Better hurry. Don't want your food to get cold now." Tom stood staring pointedly for a moment before Hermione came stalking toward him. She stopped just short of passing by him, her eyes blazing heatedly as he narrowed his own eyes and smirked maliciously. He turned and left, Hermione following him out closely, shutting the door behind her.

"Where are my maids?" she questioned.

"Oh... they didn't want you," Tom chortled cruelly before turning and walking away, his head held high and his hand resting cockily on his sword hilt.

"Prat," Hermione grumbled before turning and storming off to her room.

She waited there until her maids came up and got her for dinner. She entered the dining hall with its enormous table. Down at one end, on its own, was her plate and enough dishes of food to feed ten people.

Hermione sighed and sat down, picking up her napkin and folding it neatly into her lap as she looked at all the empty seats around her. She felt horribly alone, and she hated it. It ruined her appetite really. As she stared at the food in their dishes, she realized how little she had eaten over the past two days. She had only picked over her food, never eating a full meal, barely even a half of one really.

She began piling foods onto her plate and started to eat when she heard a door at the end of the hall open. She looked up and found her loss of appetite increasing as Tom made his way down toward her. She let her fork fall to her plate with a clatter as she grabbed her napkin from her lap, crumpled it, and slammed it down on the table as she stood.

"Sit backdown," he ordered as he pushed forcefully down on her shoulder. She pursed her lips and was about to say something as he walked around her chair and leaned down beside her. "Shut up first off... don't even open your mouth. Just listen," Riddle directed. This only further boiled her blood, but she would thrash him later. For now, she would listen and see what was so aggravatingly important. "That windbag you are pretending is your father-"

"The King," Hermione hissed. Why could he show no respect for high ranked people who never really did anything to him but be nice?

"I told you to shut up," Tom snapped. "Well, he's coming back the morning after tomorrow, so if we are to make our grand escape to Diagon Alley, then I suggest we do it tonight."

"Oh, so my plan is good enough now, hmm?" she criticized.

"I believe that was my plan."

"Poppycock!" Hermione roared. "It was not, you arrogant... self-centered... egotistical... pig!" With each word of insult, Hermione had rose a little further from her chair, and Riddle's expression had got angrier and angrier.

He was so fed up with her and her insults that he couldn't even stand to speak. He stood there scowling at her, which only flared up her rage in turn. She pushed back her chair and was about to walk away when he grabbed her arm and spun her around forcefully to face him.

"Get off!" Hermione bellowed.

"No you don't! You aren't walking away again. We're going to settle this," Tom snarled. "I'm sick of you insulting my superiority and then walking away because you have nothing more to say."

"Do you want to settle this? Then get your wand," she challenged as she pulled hers from inside her sleeve.

"I don't have time for your childish games," he hissed as he snatched her wand from her.

"Give that back!" Hermione demanded. "I don't trust you! Give it back!"

He held it above his head, and Hermione jumped for it, but to no avail. She glared and slammed her fist on his shoulder, but this did nothing to lower her wand into reach. She gritted her teeth and stamped down on his toe, but he just raised his brow as his boots apparently dulled the effect. She grunted in full rage now as she kicked his shin. He winced, but didn't lower his arm. This wasn't going to work. 'There has to be something,' Hermione convinced herself as she stood in a stare-off with him. Then it came to her. Whenever Ron did this to her with her homework, she would tickle him.

Hermione smirked, and Riddle narrowed his eyes as she took a step closer to him. She looked carelessly to her left and then her right before poking him continually in the side. He doubled over, trying to stifle laughter, but it was no use. Hermione continued until he dropped her wand. She bent quickly to pick it up and then took off running out of the hall. He stood upright, his eyes full of fire as he took off after her. How dare she tickle him and make him look like a fool.

They raced through the castle, Hermione leading the way through corridors on the bottom floor before taking the chase upstairs. She ran through the second floor corridors laughing, though she wasn't sure why. She found this sort of fun, yet she knew if Tom caught her he would probably strangle her.

She dove for a door, wrenching it open and running up some stairs. She raced to the top, Riddle gaining on her the whole time as he took the stairs two at a time. She laughed harder at the sound of his gaining footsteps, but she stopped dead when she reached the top of the stairs. There in the tower was a person in an extremely tattered black robe. Their wrists were chained to the wall, and their face was obstructed from vision by the hood which was held in place with a shackle around their neck.

Hermione felt the color drain from her face with a chill as Tom stopped behind her and began to stare too. She turned her head slowly and looked at him in alarm, but he only stood there unemotional and unexpressive with his face unreadable. They stood still for what felt like an eternity before Riddle turned and started back down the stairs.

"Tom!" Hermione hissed so only she and he could hear. "We can't just leave this person here."

"This is none of our concern," he whispered. "We don't know why this person is even here."

"But... But there's... there's got to be something we could... we could do or-," Hermione stuttered hopelessly. "It just doesn't feel right to leave them here."

"What else are we supposed to do? This obviously wasn't meant for our eyes," Riddle pointed out.

"But-"

"But nothing, Granger... drop it," he ordered as he turned and continued down the stairs.

Hermione looked over her shoulder, her expression worried and sympathetic as she sighed and started down the stairs.

The next morning Hermione sat in bed chewing upon her thumb in thought. Her breakfast was sitting on the bed beside her, cold upon its tray. She just couldn't get the image of what she saw the night before out of her mind. It had interrupted her day so much that she and Tom dared not even be in each other's presence after that.

She had no doubt that he probably slipped off in the night without her. 'Oh well... I'll find him later,' she resolved as her thoughts returned to the person, or being, up in the tower. She had to do something about it, she just had to. Yet what would she do?

She knew nothing of the person up there, or even who put them there. Would the King? He seemed to kind and, well, bumbling to do that. Johnalin? Certainly not. He was too absorbed in perfection and himself to be capable of that. General Mardon, then? The man did seem to have a lot of power, but he was far too absorbed in his troops from what Hermione could see.

She sighed, turning her head to the open balcony door. Outside upon the stone banister were little sparrows, chirping and twittering the morning away. She snorted with slight laughter as one bird flapped its wings at another, knocking the second to the balcony floor.

Hermione grabbed the toast and began breaking it up into pieces, tossing it onto the balcony to feed the sparrows. They fought over it, two tugging at one large crumb as another tried to carry off a piece that was entirely too big for it to handle. That's when a thought occurred to Hermione. What about the person in the tower? Had they eaten?

'Maybe this is my chance to talk to them,' she thought as she bit down on her bottom lip and rushed over to the tray. She grabbed her wand from under her pillow and waved it at the food. It instantly heated up, and Hermione rushed over to her wardrobe.

She grabbed a dress, tossing it on after quickly removing her nightgown. She waved her wand, and a ribbon flew off the vanity, pulling her hair into its bow at the nape of her neck. She grabbed some shoes from the bottom of the wardrobe, slipping them onto her feet as she rushed across the room, tucking her wand up her sleeve as she went. Grabbing the tray and quickly walking to the door, she peeked out of it up and down the corridor before setting off to the tower. She was relieved to find the door still unlocked. Wedging the tray between her stomach and the wall, she grabbed the handle and slid inside, pulling the door shut with her foot.

Her eyes looked up the spiraling stairs. They had seemed longer last night, but as she stood at the bottom of them in the morning light, she could see where a window from the tower shown light on the stairwell. Taking a calming breath, Hermione ascended the stairs, pausing a moment as she peered around the bend at the shackled being.

Her sympathy was even greater in the morning light as she saw that the shadows of night were gone. The bright sunlight made the prisoner look less frightening because now Hermione could see that they were in a tattered, dirty brown remnant of what looked like it used to be a cassock of some sort, not a giant black shroud. The hood was still pulled up over their head and held in place with a shackle upon their neck just as it had the night before.

Hermione swallowed as she imagined the choking feeling of such unforgivable metal collar about your neck. She cringed at the thought and was about to turn around to go get Tom, but stopped when the prisoner spoke up. Hermione jumped, and silverware clattered to the floor from the tray.

"P-Plea-se," they croaked. "Don't... g-go-o."

Hermione felt her flesh chill under her fine garment, and her eyes filled with tears of affinity and fright. She wished desperately that Riddle was there with her, but nonetheless, she walked forward slowly.

"I won't hur-hurt you," the shackled being managed before a hacking cough. "I'm quite harml-less," they added hoarsely as they shook their hands and feet, the chains of their shackles clanking roughly against the cold, uncomfortable stone.

Hermione stared, unknowing of what to do or say. She looked down, her eyes coming to rest on the tray in her hands.

"Here... I brought you something to eat," she spoke softly as she knelt down beside them and sat the tray upon the ground. "Just let me get this hood off."

Hermione reached out shakily and pulled the hood, but it didn't move. She bit down on her lip nervously as she moved closer and tugged harder on the hood. It finally came up, and Hermione had to fight hard against the urge to gasp. It was a woman, her face dirty and weathered with a pale, sunken look.

"Princess-ess," the woman coughed as her eyes raised slowly to look at Hermione.

"Please, names later... you should eat now. You look as though you need it," Hermione advised as she grabbed a piece of toast and put it up to the woman's mouth.

The worn lady hesitated, gazing at the young Gryffindor who offered her food.

"Go ahead," Hermione urged as she gave a gentle, encouraging smile.

The lady leaned her head forward a bit, taking a small bite and chewing it feebly before swallowing it. She coughed in a scratchy sort of way that made Hermione worry.

"Here, take a drink," she offered as she grabbed a cup of hot tea and let the prisoner sip from it. "There... now let's just work on the rest of this food, and we'll talk after that. Is that all right?"

The lady nodded as Hermione got up, retrieving the dropped silverware and cleaning if off before sitting back down. Hermione began feeding her some eggs and ham, feeling a warmth radiate from her heart for the poor soul.