Disclaimer: don't own.
Thank you for your reviews! I really appreciate them. This is a bit of a Harry Potter / Twilight crossover. If you don't like Edward, don't read it, though it contains important information. (It's the only Twilight/HP chapter)…
Have fun…
Tom was getting ready for Slughorns first party of the year. He was looking forward to it because a certain Ravenclaw was there – but he dismissed that thought immediately. He was about to become the Dark Lord and those weren't interested in girls.
True, she would make a good follower but that was about it.
No, he was not interested in her as a girl but as a follower. Soon, he would introduce her to his group.
Tom smirked grimly. And he was not looking forward to seeing her. Definitely not.
He sprayed on the perfume that Natalija liked and cursed himself for it. Too late.
Sighing he walked out of the common room.
THTHTH
'I wonder why he is not talking to me.' Hermione was wearing a formal dress, her hair piled up into a bun. She was sitting in the room of requirement with Draco, Harry and Ginny who were cuddling on a sofa.
"You look beautiful!" Harry said earnestly.
"Thank you." Hermione answered but was silenced by Draco's icy glare.
"Jealous Potter, that you are not invited into the Slug Club? You cannot always be the golden boy!"
Hermione was sure that he still hadn't forgiven Harry the incident in the forbidden forest. He was probably still angry that Harry hadn't gotten the same torture.
If Harry had been stressed out or angry, he would have cursed Malfoy just right here and there. But instead, he had a plan. "No, Malfoy. Although you have a point. It would be more prudent if Hermione went with one of us. If Riddle sees her alone, he will get even more demanding or lose interest. And we can afford neither." Harry said with a smug smile.
Draco didn't miss a heartbeat. "You are right, Harry. She should not go alone to that party."
Hermione rolled her eyes, but was inwardly glad that her friends wanted to come with her.
"I think she should go with you, Malfoy. Everyone in this school knows that I am with Ginny and it would look suspicious. And you've been dying to go with her anyway. Not to mention the meetings with Slughorn are simply fascinating." Harry laughed. He was getting more and more Slytherin like, Hermione and Ginny noticed.
"Harry." Hermione pouted. "Isn't Tom going to be very angry when I'm there with Draco? You know, he doesn't like him very much… And I don't want him to get hurt." she added in a quieter voice, avoiding everyone's eyes who were staring at her open-mouthed.
"No, it will only spike up his interest. I think it is one of my best ideas." Harry smiled proudly.
"But who was the brain behind that action?" Ginny said lazily. "I suggested that AND Harry thinks it's brilliant, because it makes Tom see that you are not always running after him and being available for him all the time. It will make you more interesting and he will try to get to know you better. With that, we can complete our mission successfully."
Ginny looked at everyone who was gazing back at her dumbfounded.
"Perfect idea, Ginny. Now, I have to get dressed into something formal." Draco sighed.
Ginny rolled her eyes when a black set of smart dress robes appeared along with perfectly polished shoes. She waved her wand at Hermione when Draco had stepped behind the curtain that had appeared out of nowhere.
"What did you just do?"
Ginny handed Hermione a mirror silently. Hermione gasped. Her face was different. Sparkly eye-shadow, fake lashes and lots of rouge made her look… well… made-up.
"Ginny." Hermione reprimanded her jokingly when Draco had stepped from behind the curtain.
"Sorry, couldn't resist. We want to let Tom know what he misses." Ginny smirked.
"Draco, do you remember that hairstyle you had in your first two years? You know the slicked-back one?" Ginny asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes, why?"
"It would look good." Ginny took a bottle of gel from the air and gelled Draco's hair back with a wave of her wand.
"Beautiful." Hermione said quietly when she watched the scene. "But we have to go." she added in a stronger voice.
Draco looked at her surprised. Had she really just called him beautiful?
"Yes, yes go on." Harry urged them, a large smile on his face. "Ginny and I need some time alone anyway."
"Look, Hermione, we should go, we don't want to see that." Draco joked.
Hermione laughed and they stepped out of the room arm in arm.
"Who do you reckon will be there?" Draco asked in a perfect imitation of Ron whether willingly or unwillingly, Hermione didn't know or care at the moment.
"Abraxas is not there for sure. Well, Tom, Lestrange, Matthew Nott, … I don't know who else. Most of them Slytherin-boys. And a few Ravenclaws. Maybe one or two Gryffindors." Hermione shrugged. "We'll see." she added quietly when they neared the room where the party was held.
Draco opened the door for Hermione and the two time-travellers gasped. The room was draped in dark red and golden satin, a disco ball was in the middle, music was blasting through the loudspeakers, couples were dancing, and other groups of people were standing in the sidelines, sipping punch or butterbeer.
"Let's go around the room first and see who's there." Hermione said, subconsciously hoping for a black-haired young man to appear. Draco offered her his arm and together they walked around the students, saying hi a few times.
"Have you seen good old Sluggy anywhere?" Hermione looked around, though in vain. "No, I haven't. Hermione, want to dance? You know, we didn't have the chance to dance together at the school ball." Draco said, a bit red in the face.
"Well, I wonder why. Maybe because Mister high-n-mighty never asked me properly." Hermione countered, but taking his outstretched arm nevertheless. "Alright, Draco. One dance."
Draco smiled proudly and led her to the dance floor where a lot of couples were dancing slowly with each other. Draco wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer. Too close for her liking. Tentatively, she put her hands on his shoulders, trying to push him further away, but he was too strong. Sighing, Hermione gave up and instead searched the crowd for Tom.
The dance was over much too soon and Hermione still hadn't seen him. "Where do you think is HE?" Hermione asked Draco, who now had his arm wrapped around her waist possessively. "I don't know…. but watch out, Mione, someone else his here." Draco's smirk became a mask of politeness when Slughorn arrived directly next to them.
Slughorn himself greeted Hermione enthusiastically. "I'm glad you came, Miss Karkarova." he gestured her towards one of the prominent people, ignoring Draco completely.
"Miss Karkarova, this is Mister Brown, he is the Minister against the Maltreatment of Magical Creatures." Hermione shook hands with this elderly gentleman and forced a smile on her face.
"And this young gentleman is Edward Cullen. He is from the U.S.A. and as you probably guessed it, a vampire." Trust Slughorn to always bring a vampire to his parties.
The insanely handsome boy smiled, showing a row of perfect white teeth. "Nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too. My name is Natalija Karkarova." Hermione blushed deeply, her voice trembling slightly from the intimidating youth in front of her. Draco who was holding her hand, was getting nervous.
"I wouldn't want to disturb you and your boyfriend." Edward smiled slightly, shaking his magnificent head.
"Oh, no, you are not." Hermione wrenched her hand away from Draco's iron grip. "We are just friends. This is Mr. Krum. We went to Durmstrang together."
"Oh did you?" Edward shook Draco's hand who glared at him openly.
"Yes. This is our last year and Hogwarts is like our second home now." Hermione smiled brightly at the Greek god.
"I understand that as I find Hogwarts very welcoming as well. It's easier to mingle with the Magical Folks than with the Muggles. We don't have to hide here who we really are. It's a pity that we are banned from your world. Stupid regulations. With your potions we can even sometimes eat normal food. That's how we try to survive." Edward smiled at her just as brightly.
"Oh really? So you don't drink human blood?" Hermione was surprised.
"No, our family calls ourselves the vegetarians. A little private joke. We only go out into the woods and hunt. Animal blood is not as tasty as human blood, but it fulfils the requirements." Edward told her quietly, raising a sexy eyebrow, making Hermione's blood rush.
Draco meanwhile was nervously shifting from one foot to another foot, glaring at the beautiful competition in front of him.
"I understand! That's very noble of you. But I don't understand – our charms teacher is a vampire as well. So you can't all be banned?" Hermione couldn't fight the blush.
"Really?" Edward's perfect brows rose up, surprised. "What's his name?"
"Du Reau." Hermione answered when she looked into the blazing eyes of Edward.
"Oh right. He is only a 'half-vampire'. His mother is a normal human being and his father a vampire. I guess, that's why he is allowed to teach and live in the magical world since he is not a danger to humans. He probably eats normal food." Edward said, not fighting to keep the sadness out of his voice.
Momentarily Hermione was lost for words.
"We don't want to be monsters." Edward shook his beautiful head sadly and gazed at Hermione. "I need to take a vial of the potion with me that lets me eat and drink normal food for a while. You know, I just love boiled eggs." he told her.
Hermione grinned. "I would help you just right now, but I don't know where the potion is. I don't even know what kind of potion that is." she confessed in a voice that Draco had never heard before. It was a voice that almost made him grab her and kiss her.
"Horace knows. He will take vial for me after the party." Edward smiled, his eyes sparkling. "So that I can also take some home to my family."
Draco snorted something that sounded oddly like Hufflepuff, but Hermione ignored him pointedly.
"That's perfect." Hermione nodded at the good-looking vampire, at a loss for words.
"As a fact, Horace had given me a sip just before the party. I can ask you if you would like to join me for a butterbeer or a punch. Or what do the ladies drink here? White rose?" Edward smiled a crooked smile and Hermione almost forgot how to breathe.
Draco beside her was fuming, but she only had eyes for Edward. Hermione surprised Draco more from day to day. He never expected her to be the flirt surrounded by handsome men. He had only seen her as the plain bookworm. Never in his life had he thought of her as beautiful. With a little bit help from Dumbledore to enhance her beauty, Draco knew that this was his dream woman. Too bad that he had three competitors, two Slytherins and this annoying Hufflepuff-like vampire.
"Natalija, weren't we looking for other people? Weren't we looking for Tom?" he asked her pointedly.
"That can wait. We've got the whole night." Hermione gave a singsong laugh and followed Edward to the bar, leaving Draco staring angrily at the two.
Draco was furious. He was beside himself. Had Hermione just left him alone for a vampire?
He sat down at a table sullenly, watching Edward and Hermione laughing with each other.
Draco's head jerked up when he saw Tom enter the room. Tom was talking politely with Slughorn and the people he more or less forced upon him. A little while later, Tom spotted Abraxas number Two.
"Hey Tom." Draco murmured, making space for his Slytherin-comrade. It was the first time of his life that he was happy to see Tom.
"Krum. What are you doing here? I thought you weren't invited." Tom shook his head, looking around the hall, probably for Hermione. 'He will be very disappointed.' Draco thought grimly satisfied.
"I went here with my date." Draco smiled smugly when Tom's eyebrows rose almost past his hairline.
"With who?" Please don't tell me that you went with Natalija. How did you force yourself upon her? A potion? A spell?
"Natalija." Draco said predictably.
"And where is she?" Oh dear. Tom sounded so much like Lucius that Draco shuddered.
"She is at the bar talking with that idiot." Draco spat, pointing rudely at the vampire with his thumb.
Tom's eyes followed Draco's fingertips and his eyes narrowed dangerously. He didn't like the sight at all. The most beautiful male he had ever seen was talking with the most beautiful girl he had ever come across. Natalija and that vampire were obviously having the time of their life laughing together.
Tom snorted and faced Draco again.
"So?"
"So? She is talking with that idiot instead of me. We haven't uttered two words since HE arrived." Draco grumbled.
"Put a stop to this, Krum, you are not a baby anymore." Tom got up from his seat fluidly, although his insides were screaming with rage. That girl was certainly not his but he would make sure that she would be. He never wanted to have that feeling again. To lose somebody was hard enough. But to lose somebody important for a worthy competitor was too much.
THTHTH
"Edward, do you sometimes turn other people into vampires?"
"No, I have never, though my adoptive father, Carlisle, has done that a few times in order to save our lives." Edward said quietly and Hermione hung her head. "He didn't have to do that you know, but he always created our family since we didn't have a choice and he didn't want us dead. It happened in 1917. I was suffering from the Spanish flu." Edward said in such a low voice that Hermione shuddered.
"So, you've been a vampire for about quarter of a century?" Hermione looked at him with wide eyes.
"Yes. And believe me. I don't blame Carlisle, but I'd rather have died." Edward said unhappily, looking at Hermione in a strange way.
"I believe you, it must be hard, being a vampire. But tell me, who else is there in your family?" Hermione tried to steer the conversation to another, less painful topic.
"Carlisle, my adoptive father and Esme, my adoptive mum. Then there is Rosalie – she is like a sister to me. Slughorn invited her as well but she didn't come."
Hermione was quite glad about that actually. She was sure that the girl was a competition as well.
"What a pity." Wow, that did sound very convincing. "And do you have any special powers?"
"Yes. We are incredibly strong, we are faster than the wind and some of us– a limited number only - have special powers." Edward smiled mysteriously. "And I can read minds – that's what you wanted to know, right?"
Hermione shrieked. "What??? You can read my mind?"
"Yes. In fact, I can read everyone's mind here." Edward smiled and Hermione suddenly felt very weak and the room was spinning. "For example, this couple over there-" he pointed towards two younger Ravenclaws who were kissing in the corner "are worried. She thinks, she is pregnant, and how to tell him. Oh, and he is worrying about his mum." Edward smiled smugly. "And I sense some jealousy!" he pointed over to where Tom and Draco were sitting, gazing in her direction.
Edward went so close to her that Hermione thought he was going to bite into her throat. But she was wrong. "Don't worry, Hermione, I won't tell anyone that you are from the future and just here on a mission. By the way, who is this Tom Riddle?"
To say that Hermione looked shocked would be an understatement. She was completely and utterly horrified and almost staggered when Edward caught her in his strong iron arms. "Whoa there…"
"Don't worry, calm down, Hermione. I never break any promises. This is our little secret. Well, ours and that of the blonde boy – or should I say ferret - over there." he nodded towards Draco who was sitting at the table with Tom.
"Oh." Hermione saw Tom and Draco talking together and a large grin broke through her face.
"I guess, I should find out what Mr. Riddle is thinking about you? I mean, he shouldn't find out about your mission, am I right?" Edward was obviously reading her mind correctly.
"Yes, you are right, Edward. Could you do that? This would be great." Hermione was glowing.
She saw Edward's smug smile. "Okay." she sighed. "And what do I have to do for that?" Hermione wasn't sorted into Ravenclaw for nothing. She knew how minds of men worked. They usually wanted something back in return if they did a favour.
"I'll explain later. But don't worry – I will not force something upon you, you don't like, okay? And don't be scared." he squeezed Hermione's hand gently for reassurance. Hermione noticed his icy grip and shuddered, though not from the cold but from pleasure.
"I'll introduce you." Hermione, smiling happily, took Edward's arm and led him to the two Slytherins. On her way halfway there, she tripped and Edward caught her with his iron arm. "Don't drink so much alcohol." he grinned.
Draco and Tom looked up interestedly, staring at the handsome vampire in a hostile way. Hermione put on a brave smile. "Mister Riddle, might I introduce you. This is Edward Cullen, a vampire and good friend of Professor Slughorn. He is from America. Edward, this is Tom Riddle, student and Headboy of Hogwarts."
Draco looked at Hermione appraisingly. He never thought that mudbloods had good manners. He was impressed to say the least.
"Nice to meet you, Mister Riddle." Edward said, reaching out his hand to shake Tom's. Tom narrowed his eyes for a split second but put on a polite mask again. "Nice to meet you, Mister Cullen. I trust I find you well in this environment?"
When Hermione was sure that Riddle and Cullen were safely talking, Hermione sat down next to Draco, who was sipping on a butterbeer, looking bored. "So ran off with pretty boy number three? Man, I've never thought you were that kind of girl!"
"Three? And THAT kind of girl?!" Hermione turned around so fast that her long hair whipped Draco in the face.
"First my grandfather, then Riddle and now Cullen. Good job, Hermione. I'm surprised you stuck with only two boys when we were in our time." Draco sneered.
"Great god, DRACO! Don't be such a jealous prick. I only went with Abraxas to the dance, Tom and I just get along and besides it's part of our mission and Edward and I were talking a little bit. Besides, he can read minds and is now going to find out something from Tom's mind, like if our mission is going successfully or what he thinks about you and me. Occlumency won't help him there." Hermione smirked and Draco's mouth twitched upwards.
Hermione sighed and she felt a bit dizzy. 'Hermione, keep yourself together. You can't have had that much alcohol' Edward bent down towards her again. "Might I ask for this one dance?"
Hermione looked to Draco who nodded. He was her date after all. She gave Tom a quick, shy smile that left his heart beating faster. He went to the bar with another word, but wore a grimace that could be interpreted as a smile.
"So, Edward, what did you find out when you were talking with Tom?" Hermione put her arms on his shoulders and Edward had his arms snaked around her waist, pulling her closer in his iron-grip. Not that Hermione minded. Not at all.
Hermione was utterly curious to find out.
"First of all, he doesn't like me, Hermione. Funny, isn't it, as I tried to show my best side. He is jealous." Edward said and Hermione giggled. "Of course, he is."
"Then, he still has these death meetings going on and he is still going for power, domination, dark magic and muggle hunting. But it has decreased a lot since you arrived. For example, the last meeting was cut short, because he wanted to pick you up from Hogsmeade." Edward smiled when they were swaying to the music.
Hermione looked at him wide-eyed. "Because of ME?"
"Yes. Hermione, dear. He likes you. A lot. But he doesn't know what love is, what it feels like to care for somebody. Such strange desires and feelings started recently namely when you showed up. These new feelings scare him, that's why he hasn't talked to you for the past three days. He is avoiding you, because he is scared of these feelings."
'I figured that much. What a stupid fool.' Hermione thought surprised and angry at the same time.
"So what should I do?"
"Make him fight for you. Then show him how much you like him. Then play the ice queen again. Then treat him again. Play hard to get on one day and then try to be 'his' girl again on the next. This method will keep him interested." Edward said, grinning mysteriously. "Don't be scared of becoming his girlfriend. And try to fall for him. Not that you need to try very hard."
"Sorry?"
"You like him a lot. Hermione, this is YOUR responsibility. It's in your hands to change the future."
Oh well. Just on my hands. Bloody perfect.
Hermione let out a long breath. Edward closed his eyes in pleasure. "You smell absolutely delicious."
Hermione gasped and saw Edward's twinkling eyes in front of her face. "I have never kissed a human before." Edward said quietly.
"I don't think here is the time and place." Hermione hissed, suddenly feeling very hot in Edward's cold embrace.
"I won't hurt you." his breath was sweet and tickled in her ear.
"What if you bite me?" the question sounded desperate but Hermione had to suppress her silent laughter.
"I won't. I have enough self-control to stop myself." Hermione looked up to see that Edward was sincere and honest.
"What if Tom and Draco see us?"
"They won't. We will go outside. Besides, I have helped you a great deal with your mission, and so you could help me with mine. And I will make sure that they won't find out."
Edward took Hermione's hand and led her outside. "Climb onto my back!" he ordered. "What?" Hermione was sure she hadn't heard correctly. "Climb onto my back. I want you to have a beautiful sight."
Hermione obeyed and then Edward showed his powers. He climbed onto a large tree as agile as a cat and as fast as a firebolt. "Wow." Hermione was windswept and looked at the beauty who was holding her tightly. They had a great view overlooking the lake. The moon was shining directly above the lake and Hermione marvelled at the beauty of it. She still felt a bit weak and dizzy of the alcohol. Or because of something else?
Edward brushed a strand of hair from her face and tucked it behind her ear and some seconds later their faces inched closer. The danger was inevitably in the air and Hermione was scared. Scared, that Edward would bite her. Scared, that she would fall off the tree. Scared, that Tom or Draco would see her.
But the larger part of her was excited and a second later their lips met. His were ice-cold and hers were incredibly warm. She was playing with the fire. Edward could lose control any second and then she would either be dead or another vampire and banned from this world. But this excitement and lack of control made it even more appealing for Hermione. Edward pulled her closer into his iron grip right onto his arctic body. Edward groaned when he entered the tongue into her mouth. For a moment, Hermione didn't respond, but then she melted into the kiss and into his arms.
"Edward." she couldn't suppress moaning his name. Edward smirked and continued kissing her. She just smelled delicious. Some minutes later, it was over. They were both breathless. Edward took Hermione down gently.
He still held her close when they were under the tree. "Thank you, Hermione. Thank you for showing me what it's like to be a human. I missed this feeling."
Hermione didn't respond. This time it was her who squeezed his hand gently. Edward smiled gratefully at her and they walked into the party room again.
Slughorn winked at them conspirationally and Hermione felt the urge to smack him. "Now we have to pretend that nothing happened." Hermione whispered into his ear and Edward nodded eagerly.
"It's impolite to steal somebody else's dates." a dark booming voice sounded.
Hermione and Edward turned around immediately. Tom was there in all his glory, staring angrily at the vampire. When he turned towards Hermione his expression softened. "I didn't have time to compliment you." he said with all the stiff politeness in the world. Hermione just stared. Tom tried again: "You look beautiful tonight. Krum can be happy to have you as a date."
Did Hermione detect any jealousy in his voice? Yes, she did, if she listened closely. She had to play the ice-queen today. So instead of melting and smiling, she put on her Slytherin mask of cold indifference and answered emotionlessly: "Thank you, Tom."
Tom was surprised for a second but shrugged the feeling away. "Krum has been looking for you for ages." Tom announced, not keeping the acid out of his voice. He now really regretted that he hadn't asked her out to this party but instead had gone alone – as usual. Now that Abraxas-twin was hanging onto her – and him for that matter – whining about Natalija and that he couldn't find her. True, Tom was surprised as well. He hoped that nothing happened to her.
"Oh, has he?" Hermione suddenly felt a pang of guilt for leaving Draco alone for such a long time. "Where is he, Tom?"
"Over there at the bar."
Hermione saw a disgruntled Draco talking to a Ravenclaw girl. She squared her shoulders and marched up to them, leaving an amused Edward and a surprised Riddle in her wake.
"Maxim." she said sweetly, putting an arm around Draco. The Ravenclaw girl glared at her and Hermione just smiled back sweetly. "I've been looking for you for ages."
"So, have I, Natalija." To say that Draco was shocked would be an understatement.
"I have found you." she turned her back so that she blocked out the Ravenclaw girl completely. "Who is she?" whether she wanted to imitate Pansy or not, she was not sure at the moment.
Draco's frown became more pronounced. So predictable that he didn't want to be reminded of Pansy in any way.
"That's Melissa Wood. Her brother is in Gryffindor." Draco rolled his eyes, obviously stating that he was not too fond of her brother.
Hermione turned to the plain-looking girl. "Thank you for taking care of my date, Melissa. I am back now, so you can attend to your other businesses."
She said it with so much venom that the girl shot Hermione a glare but left without another word. Draco burst out into fits of laughter. "I actually believed you."
"What?"
Draco was still laughing, now tears of laughter running down his pale cheeks. "You played your part very well. I really thought you were jealous."
"Maybe I was, Draco. Let me apologize for my behaviour. I'm not a good date tonight. Sorry! But the party is not over yet. It's still early. I will only hang with you from now on and I will never leave your side." Hermione grinned.
"God beware." Draco muttered but smirked at her and put his arm around her. "Want to drink something? A butterbeer perhaps?"
"That would be lovely, though I had enough alcohol. But another butterbeer would be perfect. It's a party after all. By the way, Draco, I have to tell you something really exciting."
"Right. Let me guess. It has to do something with Edward, mind-reading and Riddle. Am I correct?"
"You always are, Drakie-poo." Hermione smiled a sugary smile at Draco who glared and pulled her to the bar.
"Two butterbeers please." he was still glaring at the barmaid. "What?" Hermione asked.
"Your man is coming over." Hermione didn't know WHICH man Draco was talking about and so she turned her head only to see Edward strolling towards them. Hermione smiled as if she was seeing the sun for the first time – her whole face lightening up, which disturbed Draco endlessly.
"I just wanted to say good-bye and thank you for your help." Edward said in his velvet-voice and Hermione drooled. "No, Edward, thank YOU for everything."
"It was my pleasure." Edward kissed her hand in good-bye and was standing next to Slughorn half a second later. How he had managed to be that fast, was a complete mystery to Hermione. But then, Edward had told her, how fast vampires could be…
"Let's go and sit with some of our friends." Draco steered her to a table where most of the Slytherins were sitting – Tom was nowhere around. "Hey, everyone, might I introduce Natalija?"
Hermione shook hands with the future Death Eaters. Lestrange seemed really fond of her and Orion Black kept sending smirks to her. Talking merrily, drinking butterbeer with the future Death eaters and yes, a lot of laughing with them - Hermione now felt the effects of the alcohol even more. After a while, Hermione and Draco got more and more drunk, along with the Slytherins.
"Draco, I'm tired." Hermione could hardly open her mouth. "Yes, me too." Draco announced as they had now been at the party for four hours already.
"Where is everyone? You know like Slughorn and Tom?" Hermione slurred, looking around the room. "I don't know. I think Tom's already gone to bed." Lestrange smirked.
"I didn't think that Tom would be such a spoilsport." Hermione said without thinking. "He didn't even join us at our table."
The Slytherin boys just looked at each other uncomfortably. They knew why Tom didn't join them. He would never be with such unimportant followers like them. Tom usually went to parties for contacts and information, but definitely not for fun.
"Oh, did you miss him?" Orion smirked with the other Slytherins howling in laughter and looking at a disgruntled Hermione who glared angrily at the offender.
"Shut up, Black! I thought that since you sooo obviously were good friends, why didn't you invite him over to our table?" that struck a cord and the other boys were silenced. Draco, Lestrange and Black gazed briefly at each other with a slightly disturbed expression on their faces.
"Okay, so we had fun without him. Big deal?!" Zabini shrugged. "But maybe he wanted to sit with us?" Hermione spat.
"No no, he didn't. Believe me. Besides, I think someone missed him terribly." Lestrange smirked. Hermione looked at him furiously, wanting to smash the smirk out of his face.
She shot a death glare at him and leaned back in her chair.
"I'm hot. Want to go outside with me?" Draco asked and fanned himself with his hand. Hermione nodded: "Good idea, yes, I'll go with you."
Draco took Hermione's hand and led her outside. It was a relief to finally breathe in fresh air. Only, this made the effects of the alcohol much worse.
"Ughhhh…" Hermione said disgustedly. "I'm sick. I think, I'll have to throw up."
"No, no, you won't." Draco smiled. He went over to her and pulled her into an unexpected hug.
"You think so? Hold me, please, I'm feeling dizzy." Hermione held herself upwards on Draco, which he enjoyed greatly. He placed both of his arms around her waist, breathing in her scent.
"Hey…" Draco said in a gentle voice that Hermione had never heard before. "Don't fall asleep." He smiled – so uncharacteristically of him – and his whole face lit up considerably. Hermione wondered, if she was imagining things.
"Draco…" she said softly… fondly. He pulled her towards him, his face only millimetres from hers, looking at her with a strange expression, an expression, Hermione couldn't quite place in her state.
The two of them gazed into each others eyes, both too entranced, not noticing a pair of dark eyes, watching them intently…