A/N: Chapter 27 in all its glory with many rounds of thank you's. So, thanks to: ellamalfoy8, Charming-Lynn, Silver Tears 11, LandUnderWave, Gueneviere, marauder'sbabe (I like the new name), o0Dreamer0o, Skavnema, Neko-Mitsuko, fizznsoot, Autumn's-Smile, the. dead. addict., pottersgirl91, Lolaleddir, .o0Aurelie0o., arushi (Thanks double for the ideas), Schermionie (Thanks doubly to you as well for all your help, kindness, and just everything. Hope you get better soon!), The daughter of Slytherin, nehimasgift, libaka, and simply2die4.
I should put out twice the amount of thank you's to those who wished me well. It really worked, y'all! I'm able to walk at an eight-five percent normality now. There's still a bit of strangeness in my step, but I'm almost there. I can almost put my foot flat on the floor, and that's a good sign. Anyways...
Hope you enjoy the chapter as I must now go before my cat decides she wants to type anymore. As it was, she had 'kkmsdnjhxcpo59+' typed out to everyone. -laughs- Here's the chapter, I'm off to write Chapter 28.
Chapter 27 – Trip to Bluffshire
"Ah, Baltor," called a tall, burly looking wizard as he walked up to Hermione and her escort. "It's been quite some time. Come! Have a drink."
"I'm sorry, Brother, but I can't," answered Hermione's momentary friend, Baltor. "I must take her to the Healer," he added as he gestured to the young woman he was accompanying.
"Mmm... and who is this young beauty that you have here?" asked Baltor's brother.
"I'm no one... just a passing stranger in search of help from the only place I could think to find it," she replied before looking to Baltor, whose ears turned pink.
"Do you have a name though, my dear passing stranger?" Baltor's brother continued.
"Come, come, Arthur, this isn't the time. She needs to hurry," Baltor interrupted.
"Very well," Arthur relented. "I shall let you leave. Nice to have seen you again, Brother, and a pleasure to have met you, young lady."
"Likewise," Hermione said as she left with Baltor.
They exited the pub and for the first time Hermione noticed what the village was like. It was set in a hillside of rock, or rather built inside of a hill so that it was much like a cave with hollow spots or a group of caverns. The walls had been carved out so that the town was five levels high. Upon each lay a road with houses, stores, barns, sheds, and gardens. Hermione wouldn't have believed anything could grow in this place, but with the help of magic, almost anything was possible. She looked up at what should have been the ceiling and was surprised to see something remnant of Hogwarts. Instead of a dirt dome ceiling, there was an enchanted night sky. Its sparkling white stars twinkled at random intervals as they peeked around black clouds floating calmly through the mimicked canopy.
"Are you coming?" asked Baltor as he stopped a few feet away when he noticed Hermione was no longer following him.
"Oh, yes," she answered, pulled abruptly from her mesmerized state. She followed Baltor in the direction of the town's end, watching horse drawn buggies pass by them. The pair was almost at one of the hillside's enormous stone walls when Baltor turned and walked up a flight of stairs between two buildings. Once upon the landing of the second story, he knocked on the door and from the other side of the entrance came a clattering noise as though someone had dropped some pots and pans.
A surprised expression dawned on Hermione's face when someone yelled to them.
"Gah bollocks! I'm coming, I'm coming." Grumbling followed the bellowed statement, which made Hermione wonder if the voice addressing them belonged to an intelligent version of a troll. Moments later an irritated looking wizard wearing a nightshirt and a nightcap opened the door and glared at the pairing upon the landing of the steps. "Baltor? What brings you here at this hour?" asked the angered man. "Don't you realize it's after nine? People are sleeping, you know."
"I know, Barth, but this young woman needs your assistance. Her father and friend have been injured-"
"And they're near death. Please... can you come help them?" Hermione finished, cutting Baltor off.
"Near death, did you say?" Barth stated, his ire melting away to a serious, business-like tone. "What happened?"
"We were out riding, and they were shot down by some assassins' arrows."
"Then there's no time to waste. Just step inside for a moment while I go downstairs and gather some potions," Barth instructed as he stepped away from the door, leaving it open for Hermione and Baltor to enter.
The Healer didn't wait for them to accept his invitation to come in as he chose to disappear from the kitchen into a darkened hallway. Awkward silence fell over Hermione and her escort, but she paid no attention to it because she was secretly jumping for joy. She would finally get Tom and the King some help and then she and Riddle could follow Barth back to Bluffshire if they could. After that, Hermione could seek help with Tom to get them back to their rightful time periods.
When Barth reappeared, he was wearing a wizard's cloak of deep plum with gold stitching that spelled out the name of his healing establishment. In his hand was a black bag much like one a Muggle doctor would carry and from inside it came the sound of clinking jars.
"How shall we get to your residence?" quizzed Barth.
"You'll probably have to Apparate to my shop in the Muggle town," Baltor replied before Hermione could even take a breath.
"From there, you'll head to the castle that's just outside town," she added.
"Wait!" Barth demanded; his voice was so sharp and sudden that it made everyone else jump. "The castle of Duchess Rodmilla?"
"Yes, the same," Hermione responded, bewildered by Barth's abrupt, venomous behavior.
"I will not go there!" Barth snapped. "I refuse!"
"What?" Hermione exclaimed. "But why?"
"I will not set foot in that mad woman's home," the Healer remarked as he sat his bag down on the tiny kitchen table and turned to leave the room.
"Then you aren't worthy of the title of Healer!" the young Gryffindor retaliated quickly, spurred to choler because of the Healer's refusal to help.
"Don't insult me, girl!" Barth roared, rounding on her. However, she stood tall with her head held high, her back stiffened, and her expression hardened. It made her stature immediately demand the respect her title of Princess called for.
"I wouldn't if you didn't refuse to help!" Hermione barked. "There's two people who've done nothing to you and nothing to deserve what they suffer that need your help."
"You know naught of what that awful woman has done, so do not presume to tell me that I'm refusing to help them. I refuse to be around her home!"
"I don't care what she's done to you!" Hermione screamed, jamming her finger into Barth's chest. Normally she wouldn't disrespect her elders in such a manner, but this man was toying with people's lives, and those two people happened to be very important to her at the moment. "I want you to heal them. They need you to heal them!"
"You bring them here then, and I'll do my best. But I will not go there," he growled stubbornly.
"I can't bring my father here," she argued with a fire blazing in her eyes. "He doesn't know about me being a witch, and he's under constant supervision anyways. So I can't very well take him out of the castle without dozens of Muggles seeing me and either stopping or following me." Barth glared at her, seemingly sizing her up. Time was dwindling, and she knew it. Not to mention, she was fast growing sick of this pettiness. As a result of desperation, she pulled out her wand and aimed it at the Healer. "Either you grab that little black bag of yours and get ready, or else I'll hex you into oblivion. Do you understand me?" she threatened.
"I will not!" Barth yelled. "That ridiculous Duchess had my brother prosecuted. She said that he preformed dark magic around her to try and rape her. Now he's dead... hung in front of everyone in that wretched Muggle town! He didn't deserve that, now did he? As a result, I don't set foot near her or anything to do with her, else I'll strangle that unimaginable wench." He huffed like a bull ready to charge while a vein in his reddened temple throbbed visibly. "I'm glad he did finally curse her and stop her from bearing any hideous children like herself," he added, finally releasing all of his vexation over Rodmilla and her wrong against his family.
Hermione was stunned for a moment after Barth's explosion. So that was why the Duchess was unable to keep any of the children she became pregnant with. Shaking off her shock, Hermione came back to the problem at hand, but this time she was twice as angry.
"It's past, and you're not doing it for her; it's for me," she continued to argue.
"What part of what I'm telling you don't you understand? I am not going there."
Hermione's hands shook with rage. Before she realized what she was doing, Hermione pulled her arm back and swung with all the power she could muster. Her fist connected directly with the Healer's nose, and his eyes instantly began to water as he gasped in pain. His hands flew up to his face as she shook her arm while pain burst around her knuckles. She knew she had broken his nose because she had felt it snap beneath her fist. Turning away from Barth, she grabbed the bag off the table and headed for the door.
"Wha- where are you going?" Baltor called as Hermione walked out onto the landing of the stairs.
"I'm going back to my father and friend so I can heal them," she replied. "You can stay with him, but I'm sure he's more than capable of handling the situation himself. Or you can come with me."
Baltor stood gaping as Hermione gave him a few seconds to decide. When he made no move or sound, she shook her head, feeling hindered as she descended to the street below.
"Wait!" Baltor yelled. He came barreling down the steps after her, tripping and almost rolling down the last five stairs. "I have to take you back!"
He raced to catch up with her, and they were halfway to the pub before he finally reached her side. When they entered the establishment, Baltor's brother greeted them again and asked where the Healer was, but neither Hermione nor Baltor gave an answer. They simply headed for the fireplace, Baltor pulling out a bag of Floo powder from his pocket. He handed some to Hermione and told her what to say. She wasted not even a second in throwing down the powder and bellowing her destination, Baltor right behind her. When she stopped, she stumbled from the fireplace. The shopkeeper came out behind her, bumping into her and causing her to fall. The bag in her hand hit the floor roughly despite her efforts, and a crashing sound reached their ears. She gasped and opened the bag quickly to see that one of the six bottles was broken and leaking.
"Oh! I'm so sorry," Baltor apologized as he knelt down to help Hermione. She shook her head, knowing that Baltor really hadn't meant any harm.
"There's another full bottle in here. I should have enough," she assured him as she closed the bag and stood up. "I really must be going now." She grabbed one of his hands and squeezed it. "Thank you."
"Let me walk you to the castle. You really shouldn't go alone."
"I have a horse at the end of town waiting for me," Hermione informed.
"Then let me walk you there," Baltor insisted.
"Very well, but let's hurry," she sighed. With that, they left through the back door of the shop and started off down the back alley.
Hermione and Baltor nearly jogged the whole way, and before either realized how far they had gone, the horse came into view. She bid him goodbye and thanked him once more for his help before mounting her steed. She secured the bag on her lap, grabbed the reins, and willed the animal onward. It took her only minutes to get to the castle in a slow gallop. She didn't bother returning the horse, but instead tethered its reins to the side of the stable. Racing for the castle door, Hermione decided that she would first visit Tom. She jogged up the stairs, slightly out of breath and beginning to feel a stitch grow in her side.
Once to his room, she poked her head inside the doorway and peered around to make sure no one was there. The room was empty except for Riddle, who was sleeping in his bed. She entered the room fully and shut the door behind her, careful to lock it with magic. Walking swiftly over to the bed and sitting the bag down on the nightstand, she noticed that someone had obviously been there since she had last visited him. The bandage that covered his shoulder had been changed, and the basin of water was gone. Hermione gave the matter no further thought though as she set to work, pulling out the five remaining bottles and looking to the labels. Two were full of Sleeping Draught, another was two-thirds of the way full of Blood-Replenishing Potion. The fourth was a half empty bottle of Invigoration Draught, the same as the broken one, and the last was one-fourth of the way full of Murtlap Essence.
Hermione frowned while wondering if she would have enough of the Murtlap to use on both Tom and the King. Shaking her head, she pushed this thought from her mind. If anything, she would go back to Bluffshire and get more in the morning. At the moment, she had what was needed to at least heal Riddle.
She uncorked the bottle of Murtlap Essence and grabbed some of the white bandages that were laying on the bedside table. She moved to his left side and began unwrapping his shoulder. He groaned in his sleep, and she wondered if she should slip him a tablespoon of the Sleeping Draught. Pausing a moment to see if he would wake, she looked on with baited breath and carefully observing eyes, but he didn't stir anymore.
Once she taken the bandage off completely, Hermione glanced at the stitched-up wound. She shivered as she imagined the pain he had endured without something to numb the area while the nurses sewed it. Figuring it best to keep her mind on the task at hand, Hermione grabbed the bottle of Murtlap and poured a bit onto the linen. She dabbed it onto the wound, pondering how long it would take for the potion to heal the injury. Once she had the area completely covered, she wrapped bandages around Tom's shoulder once more. Now all that was left was to give him some of the Blood-Replenishing Draught.
She grabbed her wand and transfigured a knob from the nightstand drawer into a wooden spoon. Hermione glanced at him and thought about waking him, but she decided otherwise. He just looked so peaceful to her that she dared not bother him. Unsure of how long she had stared at Riddle, she brought herself out of her reverie and placed a kiss on his cheek. She smiled to herself as she grabbed the bottle of Blood-Replenishing Draught and poured some out onto the spoon.
Luckily, she was able to administer three spoonfuls of it to him without trouble, though the look on his face now seemed disgusted. She chuckled lightly to herself as he moaned and tossed his head once to the left and then back to the right.
"I never said my help would taste good," Hermione joked as she looked to the bottles that were left.
'I can't very well give him the Invigoration Draught while he's sleeping because that'll wake him before the Murtlap's had a chance to set in.' Alternatively, Hermione replaced the corks on all the bottles and put them back into the black bag. She thought about going back to her room, but figured that she should stay with Tom in case he woke up. 'But I can't very well sit here with nothing to do.' Standing, Hermione sighed and hid the bag under the bed before heading to the door.
"I'll be back in a few minutes," she whispered before unlocking it and leaving. She went straight for the library, grabbed a few books whose titles looked somewhat interesting and was on her way back to his room when Mary and Janessa came around the corner.
"There you are!" hissed Janessa.
"Where've you been?" asked Mary, releasing a relaxed sigh as she looked at Hermione.
"Um-"
"Never mind that," she continued. "You should be in bed."
"But I want to go see-"
"You can see your father and Aramis in the morning," Janessa cut off.
"No!" Hermione said with a tone of finality. "I mean," she added when she saw their surprised faces, "I want to stay with Aramis tonight. I'm worried about him." Mary's face softened, but Janessa seemed weary of the request. "He did the same for me," Hermione continued.
"Very well, then," Mary nodded as she grabbed the other maid by the elbow and let Hermione pass.
She went on her way back to Tom's room, looking back over her shoulder to see her ladies in waiting going in the opposite direction. She felt somewhat guilty for being so nasty to them lately, but they seemed to be thwarting her efforts every time she turned around. She had no choice but to be like that to them. Shaking her head, Hermione rounded the corner and headed straight back to Riddle's room, not checking for anyone before she locked the door. When she turned around, she got quite an eye-opening shock.
He was out of bed with his back to her as he looked for something. He had a sheet from the bed wrapped around his waist, and when he heard the door's lock click, he whipped around and gaped at her. Both appeared speechless, taken aback even. Hermione was the first to touch reality once again and instantly turned her back to him.
"S-Sorry," she fumbled as she waited for him to do something.
When she heard no sound from him, she looked back over her shoulder. She immediately wished she hadn't as she saw Riddle with his back turned to her as well, but this time the sheet wasn't there. He had obviously found what he was looking for, which was his clothes, and he was preparing to dress while she had her back turned.
Her head snapped back around while her eyes bulged in her head. She swallowed, trying to keep the nervous knot down in her stomach. Her mouth was suddenly very dry, and what was worse, she couldn't get the picture of him standing there completely naked out of her head. Hermione repeatedly hit her forehead with her palm, trying to knock the image from her brain, but it wouldn't budge. Her mind's eye just kept roaming over his body; from the head of pitch-black hair and down his perfect neck to his strong looking shoulders. She shook her head, but it kept moving. From his shoulders and down the middle of his lean torso to the slight dip of his lower back. She continued to pound her head with her palm, but to no avail; her mental eye kept on going. From the dip of his lower back to the curve of his butt and down to his somewhat muscular legs.
"Oh, for Merlin's sake!" Hermione groaned.
"What?" Tom asked somewhat incoherently. Hermione was completely flustered, and her face was the color of a ripe red apple. "You can turn around, Granger," he said.
"Uh... er... are you, uh... you know, dressed?" Hermione stuttered, unable to remove the image from her head still. It was as though it had been burned into her brain.
"Yes."
She turned slowly upon hearing this and saw him sitting on the edge of the bed. She frowned deeply as her mind continued to run the image through her head, making it difficult and uncomfortable for her to walk over and sit by him.
"What's the matter with you?" he asked, giving a wince of pain as he stretched his shoulder a bit. "You act like I'm contagious or something."
"I... you're... you see... it... oh bother," she sighed.
"Okay," Riddle remarked, confused as he shook his head.
"Does your shoulder feel better?" she inquired. She was trying to bring up something that was less awkward at the moment.
"Not much better," he replied. "Though I'm sure it'll be fine soon."
"Yes, it should. I took the liberty of going to Bluffshire and getting you some healing products to fix it, and I gave you some already, butt- oh!" Hermione groaned, closing her eyes and hanging her head as she sighed with embarrassment.
"Is it hot in here or something? You keep going all red," Tom pointed out. "And but what?"
"Your bu- I mean," Hermione exclaimed, trying to correct herself. "I mean... it shouldn't be better until tomorrow, so I'll come back and check on you then. Until that time, good night and get some rest," she babbled quickly. Her rattled nature was growing worse by the minute. She rose from her chair beside where he was seated on the bed and headed for the door as speedily as possible. She fumbled in a nervous manner with the lock for a few moments before exhaling heavily in frustration. Tom, bewildered as he was, got up and let her out, unsure of just what he had done.
Hermione had slept fitfully all that night. She kept dreaming of herself stuttering and acting strange in front of Riddle while he unclothed before her and oblivious to the fact that he was. She sat up in bed; the sun's first rays beaming through the windows as she rubbed her face in a tired, thwarted manner. She felt utterly ridiculous and completely stupid.
Just then, there was a knock on the door, and before Hermione could get out of bed, Tom came in. He was smiling as though he knew something she didn't, which only served to make her feel more idiotic. 'Oh, the mere irony of this moronic situation.' She cursed inwardly as she hung her head and closed her eyes.
"What makes you so chipper this morning?" Hermione asked, looking reluctantly up at him.
"Only that I'm better," he replied as he began unbuttoning his shirt.
"Whoa!" she half gasped, half yelled.
"What?" he demanded. "I was just going to show you this," he continued as he finished unbuttoning his shirt and exposed his shoulder. Hermione, however, had covered her eyes with her hands and was rocking back and forth upon the bed. "What is your problem?" he barked.
"Nothing," she replied, removing her hands from her eyes while expecting to see him with his shirt fully on. He still had his shirt half off, however, which made her groan inwardly with discomfort. Riddle stepped closer to her and leaned his shoulder closer.
"See? It's gone!" he grinned. "I feel loads better, and to think, all I did was drink that bottle of Invigoration Draught."
"You didn't drink all of it, did you?" Hermione asked as though she already knew the answer. "How did you find that anyways?"
"I was looking for my boots when I spotted the bag under the bed. And yes, I drank all of it. Why?" he replied.
"Tom! I needed that for the King!" she said, sounding exasperated and unpleasantly stunned. If he had drank it all as he had said, that now meant there was neither Murtlap Essence nor Invigoration Draught for the King. How in the world would Hermione be able to get more of the potions or even the ingredients needed for them? Surely Barth the Healer would have Aurors attack her as soon as she gave the impression that she was thinking of heading towards his shop.
"Well, we'll go get more," Tom spoke up.
"We can't."
"Why not?" he asked, feeling that he really didn't want to know why.