A/N: Ergh! I didn't update early like I wanted! Oh, well, here's the update and my thanks to everyone who reviewed: Autumn's-Smile, pottersgirl91, ellamalfoy8, LandUnderWave, o0Dreamer0o, Shadows08, Lh4ever, .o0Aurelie0o., Ezelsia and Mildelra, Silver Tears 11, TamX2, Lolaleddir, nehimasgift, arushi, Charming-Lynn, dreamer1516, san01, Skavnema, googlebear, The daughter of Slytherin, PhanPhic-adict, and ValorOrgulloso.

Hopefully writer's block doesn't hit me now that I'm on break and can finally write. Chapter 25 should be along not too long after this one... a week or so from now. Thanks again!

Chapter 24 – Billywigs & Horned Slugs

Hermione rolled over in bed with her eyes moving rapidly below their lids. Tom stood observing her. His eyes were narrowed in the dim light of his wand that was cast over them. She tossed, and one of her many pillows dropped to the floor with a soft thump. She thrashed and kicked away the sheets, exposing bare, creamy legs. Her face contorted in pain, and her breathing was heavy. He reached out a hand to shake her by the shoulder, but stopped as she gripped the sheets around her and whimpered. He too felt his breathing change. He knew she was having a nightmare, but he didn't really know whether to surprise her by waking her or let her sleep through it and wake on her own.

She moved once more in a quick jerk to her left and shook her head back and forth. She was beginning to make more and more noise. Riddle could now see a sweat breaking on her forehead. She gasped and called a name, but he couldn't quite hear it. He leaned closer with his eyes still narrowed as his ears strained to hear. He was only about a foot or so from her now as she shivered and gasped again. Then he heard her call the name.

"Tom... Tom."

He felt something freeze him in place just as suddenly as a curse. His legs felt almost numb, and he couldn't move as he felt his brain go into disbelieving awe. Did she really just call his name?

'She most certainly did,' he thought as his eyes darted about her face, which was still expressing panic, fright, and maybe even pain. 'But why?' Was he the one inflicting pain on her in the dream? Or was he being called out to by her in hopes that he would stop the pain? Either way, he never truly got to find out as her eyes snapped open, and she gasped again.

"Tom!" she sighed in relief. She was near tears as she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly.

He was surprised by this and still unable to move as she buried her face in his neck. He felt something arouse in his torso, and he had the uncontrollable urge to wrap his arms around her and hold her to him until she was calm. So he did just that.

Sitting down on the bed, Riddle wrapped his arms gently around her lower back so as not to scare her. He then pulled her to him so that he could feel her heartbeat against his own chest. Cradling her, he reached up in an uncertain way and stroked her hair while breathing in the smell of honey and strawberries from her. He had closed his eyes, but only for a second before opening them again as she moved away from him. She took a steadying breath and avoided his gaze as she climbed out of bed and moved across the room. She grabbed a dress that was folded and laying on top of her trunk while he stood and turned his back so she could dress quickly.

Not a word was spoken between the two as she slipped on some shoes and then came to his side. It was as though the two were embarrassed about what had just occurred, but there was nothing to be ashamed of. Moving swiftly and quietly, they left the castle and headed to the stables, which were in a wooden building just to the left of the front drive. Once there, they encountered two whispering voices.

"I know them," Tom whispered to Hermione in referral to the pair of voices.

The future Dark Lord and his Muggle-born companion moved into a stall to hide in the darkness where they would go unseen as they listened in.

"Take my horse, ride into town, and alert those men that there's been a change in plans," said one gruff, commanding voice.

Hermione recognized it as the voice of the General, and she could only guess who the second was.

"What shall I tell them?" asked Porthos.

"That they are to stay in town today instead of trying to catch that old fool here at the castle," Mardon explained. "Make sure to inform them that they need to be in the woods tomorrow by nine sharp so that they can track us for a while. I want this job done right."

"Yes, Father," the young blond replied obediently before mounting his steed with a jingle of the reins and a creak of the saddle.

The hooves of the horse clopped out of the stable, and Mardon followed with a dim, orange light accompanying him.

"I think it's safe," Tom murmured once the glow of the lantern was gone.

Emerging, he and Hermione were quick to grab two horses and leave the stables. They wasted no time in mounting their rides, though Hermione was a bit slower in her dress. Once ready, they set off at a quick trot for the town that was about two miles south of where the Duke's castle was.

Once into the town, they found it pretty much deserted except for a baker who was working in his shop behind steamy windows, and a smith who was stoking the fire for the day's metal work. Tom sniffed the air; the smell of bread baking filled the surrounding area. It was warm and inviting, which made his stomach rumble.

"Can't you put a Silencing Charm on that?" Hermione asked, somewhat surprised by his abdomen's outburst. "You're going to wake the whole town."

"I didn't eat this morning, and no matter how much you think I can control my stomach because it's apart of me, I can't," Tom retorted as they dismounted on a side road.

Fog drifted along the brick paved streets, hiding their feet beneath its blanket of grayish smoke.

"Where should we go to first?" Hermione asked as she looked up and down the road.

They had never really thought out what they would do once they reached the town that morning. It was becoming more apparent to them that they were getting more and more careless, which made Tom slightly irritable, and Hermione worrisome.

"See any places that look a little strange?" Riddle inquired as he too observed the street. "Kind of like things do in Diagon Alley... You know... the shops windows and such."

Hermione wandered from one small street to another while leading her horse behind her as Tom meandered along a feet few away. It didn't take them more than about twenty minutes to find a place that they suspected of belonging to a witch or wizard. But something stopped them. The building was quarantined because of suspicion of the small pox virus.

"Small poxes, bah," Riddle said as he cupped his hands around his eyes while pressing his face to the glass.

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked. "We had better get away from here. It's highly contagious and terribly hard to rid yourself of in a time period like this where medicine is limited due to lack of knowledge."

"It's not small pox," he whispered as he pointed to something inside the shop. "It's dragon pox. Look at the ointment bottle on the counter... Careless being... anyone could spot that and be highly suspicious."

"Then let's hide it for them," she said as she shook her wand down out of her sleeve.

"No!" he sibilated as he made her lower her hand. "Best not to... we don't need to trip any magical alarms."

She nodded and slipped her wand back into its hiding place before they went around to the back of the building.

"There's got to be more around here," Riddle muttered to himself more than the Gryffindor with him as he examined the back entrances to buildings near the one they had just left.

"Tom, we can't go much further with these horses," the Hogwarts Head Girl grunted as she tried to pull her horse. It had found a busted bag of oats sitting behind a supply shop and was busy trying to resist Hermione's coaxing so it could munch on the discarded treat.

"Then tie them up here and let them eat until we can find another wizarding place."

"But what if someone finds them!" she protested.

"Who's honestly going to be looking in a back alley behind two rows of shops, Granger?" he snapped.

"Fine, then," she huffed as she tied her horse to a railing on a set of stairs leading to a shop's back door. "But we'd better hurry."

Riddle followed suit, and the two of them went scurrying off down the alley. They peered in shop windows, struggling to see in some as grime and dust made it hard to see in them. Soon the sun began to appear, turning the once gray fog to blue tinted mist around their feet. More shops were opening, and the likelihood that they would be able to peer into them without being conspicuous was becoming slim.

"C'mon," Hermione urged in exhaustion. "We've been up and down most every side road and back alley in this town and there's no sign of another wizarding shop anywhere. The sun is beginning to come up and if we don't get back to the Duke's castle soon, there's no chance of us not being found missing. We can search anything we missed later tonight if need be."

Tom groaned and turned around. His frustration was growing with the fruitlessness of their early rise to search and find nothing, but then he spotted a wooden crate behind Hermione that was obviously used for trash. Something was sticking out from between two of its side boards and had caught his attention.

"Just a minute, Granger," he smirked as he walked over and crouched down beside the wooden vessel. "I've got good news."

"Oh, and what's th- eeww! Tom! Don't pick in that trash. You don't know what's in it or where it's been, much less what it was used for before it was placed in there!" Hermione scolded in a disgusted manner.

"Look," he demanded as he pulled something out of the bottom of the crate.

She grimaced, but stepped closer slowly, as though against her will, and peered at what he had laying in the palm of his hand.

"Is that... a crush Billywig?" she questioned uncertainly as hope welled inside of her and pushed out the disgust of him picking through the rubbish.

"It most certainly is. And this," he continued as he stuck his other hand down into the crate, "is a horned slug. Now tell me those aren't from a wizard."

Hermione smiled as Riddle stood up, still cupping the magical potion ingredients in his hand.

"I think we're in luck," he grinned triumphantly as he looked to the building upon hearing a bell twinkling.

The two of them raced toward the front of the building with their heart's pounding rapidly and smiles plastered on their faces.

"You there!" Tom called as he entered the store, making the short, balding clerk jump.

"Y-yes, young man? What can I do for you?" he asked as he recomposed himself by standing tall and flattening his beard to his chest.

"We need your help," Hermione said as she and Riddle approached the older gentleman.

Her companion dropped the contents he had taken from the crate onto the counter and gave the shop owner a stern look.

"I know these are potion ingredients from magical creatures and that only a wizard would have access to them," Tom began as the clerk went paler with each word. "So I want you to tell me all that you know."

"Oh, please!" the man pleaded as he clasped his hands together in a praying fashion while tears welled in his eyes. "Do not turn me into the authorities. I have done no wrong! I wouldn't harm a soul!"

"We understand," Hermione tried to convince him. "That's why we're here. For your help... We just need you to tell us where we can find access to the Ministry of Magic or something of that sort."

The wizard stared at her for a moment before closing his eyes and bowing his head. He opened his eyes after a deep sigh and reached across the counter taking her hands in his own. He turned his gentle gray-eyed gaze upon her, and she felt relief and trust flow through her hands into his. It was as though a great burden had been lifted from her shoulders.

"All right, m'beauty," he spoke softly as tears of gratitude welled in Hermione's eyes. After another deep breath, he continued, "There's a town about three leagues north from this one. T'would be a day's journey on horseback, and a day and a half to two days on foot. Once in that town, head to a shop called Easterner's Village Market. Inside the shop is a compass rose on the floor."

"Yes, yes," Tom said as the man paused to think.

"Trace the 'S' for south on the marking with a wand, and the boards will part to give passage to a stairwell. This stairwell leads to an underground corridor. Follow it, and it will take you to a small town square in which is the central point of the wizarding village of Bluffshire."

"Oh, thank you!" Hermione exclaimed, squeezing the man's hands.

"C'mon now," Riddle said as he pulled at her elbow. "We've got to be leaving."

With one final look of thanks toward the wizard, the two of them swiftly left the shop and traveled quickly back to their horses. Once mounted and ready, they set off for the northern edge of town.

"I say we leave now," Tom voiced as they passed a group of merchants who tried to get them to stop and buy such things as fine satin and brass canes.

"Now?" Hermione repeated, sounding shocked. "If we aren't inside that castle by lunch time as I told you once before, they'll send out a search party for us, and we won't get far. Then what would we do if they find out I was running away with you? Hmm?" He didn't answer, but only glared back at her in a furious manner instead. "I'll tell you what they'd do," she continued to chastise. "They keep me from ever seeing you. Possibly even demote you from service so that I had no contact with you at all. Then how in the name of Merlin would we get out of this... dress-wearing... no women's rights time period, hmm?"

He rolled his eyes and grunted with vexation.

"All right, all right," he huffed. "We'll wait."

She relaxed a bit and let her triumph calm her, but something immediately diminished that calm feeling. No more than ten feet away, the King, the Duke, and General Mardon along with Porthos and Johnalin approached on horseback. There was nothing for them to do. They couldn't very well hide seeing as they were within sighted distance of the other and there was no other way out of it.

"Ah, if it isn't young Aramis and your lovely daughter," called Rodden as he trotted up and stopped before them. "Out for a morning ride?"

"You could say that," Hermione replied with a mannerly smile.

"Fantastic!"

"Yes," Tom agreed.

"Why, Princess, shouldn't you have more than one escort if you're going to be out in such a manner?" Porthos interjected.

"I-"

"She seems just fine, does she not?" Riddle interrupted her. "I'm more than capable of keeping a watchful eye on her."

"Here, here," the Duke roared. "She seems to be all in one piece. I say our boy Aramis is doing a marvelous job, wouldn't you?"

"Yes, marvelous," the blond soldier grumbled as he glared at Tom and then the Duke who suggested that they continue on and let Hermione and her escort be on their way.

As they passed, Porthos hung back and gave the future Dark Lord a threatening, narrow-eyed stare before urging his horse on, but as he passed, he kicked Tom's horse and caused the animal to release a cry of surprise before rearing back on its hind legs. Riddle went wide-eyed and gave a cry of shock as he dug his heels into the side of his steed to will himself to stay in the saddle, yet that didn't seem to be the best thing he could have done as his horse's hooves hit the ground with an enraged thump before it set off at an alarming rate.

Hermione gasped and gave a quick look back to Porthos who chuckled and trotted off after the others. Sh grit her teeth and snapped the reins in her hands to spur her mare into a gallop. It wasn't long before she caught up with Tom who had managed to stop his horse a good way up the lane. He now stood beside the animal in a doubled over fashion with one hand on his knee and the other on the horse's shoulder. As he straightened up, she could see a blazing hatred in his eyes. He ran a hand through his jet black hair and clenched his jaw before grabbing the reins of his steed's bridle.

"I'll strangle that little prat if ever I get my hands around his throat," Riddle growled before pulling the horse towards the castle.

Hermione followed along silently, making sure not to say anything that would provoke him any further.

Hermione wandered around the halls looking for Riddle's room. She stopped and let her shoulders slump as a sigh escaped her lips. Just then, she heard footsteps, and her ears perked. From around the corner came a maid with a bowl of steaming water in her hands.

"Princess. What are you doing?" she asked.

"I'm looking for T- I mean, I'm looking for Aramis," Hermione corrected. "Where is his room?"

"I'm sorry I can't tell you that," the girl replied, but a smirk was starting to spread across her face. "But the other maid who cleans would know. She went to fetch him earlier for dinner when he didn't show."

"Do you know where she is?" Hermione quizzed with a smile.

"She took the King's hunting boots and rifle up to him. He had her polish them today," the maid informed. "She'll probably be heading this way with dinner for Aramis."

"Thanks!" Hermione called as she took to walking briskly down the hall toward the King's room, which was only just down the hall from her own.

When she caught up with the cleaning maid, Hermione found she hadn't been on her way from the King's room, but that she was on the bottom floor of the castle. The girl was carrying a tray and upon it was Tom's dinner.

"Excuse me!" Hermione exclaimed as she saw her. "C'mere!"

"All right, but I must hurry, miss. I need to get this dinner to Aramis before it gets cold," she remarked as she walked over to Hermione while carefully balancing the tray.

"Let me accompany you."

"But you're not supposed to know where his room is!"

"Please?" Hermione pleaded.

The look that dawned the girl's face then was one of internal battle. A battle of what her duty was against what her heart wished to happen. In the end, her heart won.

"Very well. Come along."

The pair set off on their way to the first floor. Once there, Hermione made note of where Riddle's room was. And it was, as the Duchess had said, clear on the other side of the castle. 'Well, I just fixed her,' Hermione thought as she turned to her walking companion.

"I'll take this," she said as she grabbed the tray. "You should probably get back to your other chores."

"Leave you alone with him?" she gaped.

"Yes. Now go... by order of me, the Princess. Go on."

The maid bit her bottom lip nervously and let her eyes shift over the corridor, Hermione, and the door to Tom's room before she let go of the handles on the tray. Hermione took it from her and watched her slowly walk away. Once she was out of sight around the corner, the Gryffindor Head Girl balanced the tray on one hand and opened the door. She entered and shut it behind her and then stopped there as she spotted Riddle.

He was leaning on the window sill, propped up by his forearms. Wind ruffled his normally neat, combed black hair. Now it was mussed and untidy, something like Harry's.

She sat the tray down and approached, pausing halfway across the room as the sound of her footsteps caught his attention. He stood up straight and looked around at her.

"I brought you dinner," Hermione muttered while gesturing to the tray.

"I'm in no mood to eat," he mumbled as he turned back to the window. "I want to go home," he added a few moments later.

Hermione had seen him show humanity, the time when he took care of her had been one of those instances, but right now there was a vulnerability that she hadn't really seen before. It appealed to her and made her want to wrap her arms around him. And so it seemed that she would. Her feet were moving her closer without her conscious knowledge. She stopped only a few feet from him, feeling chills waving up and down her body. She reached out while taking a few more steps, placing her hand on top of his where it laid on the window sill.

"I know how you feel," she said in a soothing manner.

He fought not to look at her while his eyes scanned the grounds outside, but he soon had no choice but to face her once she threw herself upon him. Hermione had him in an embrace. She was hugging him for some reason that he didn't know, which baffled him, but she knew why. She had just realized what a great friend to her he truly was, even if he hadn't meant to be, and just what a terrific person he could be. She didn't know how to place those words into a sentence to convey the feeling that she felt, so she just hugged him. When she felt Riddle look down at her, she raised her head and pressed her lips to his. He seemed surprised once again, but only for a moment as he consented and rose a hand to her face to brush his thumb on her cheek.