Disclaimer: don't own.
A/N: Thank you for your reviews and forgive me some spelling or grammar mistakes as I am not a native English speaker. However, hope you enjoy reading it! :)
"Urrrrgggghhhh…" Hermione awoke with a bad headache and an upset stomach. "I feel sick and my head feels terrible." Hermione answered groggily when Tom looked at her questioningly.
"Okay, I'll try something." Tom murmured. To Hermione's dismay, he looked perfectly alright, happy and healthy, grinning at her with tousled hair and rosy cheeks. 'Just perfect!' Hermione thought bitterly when she suddenly felt her headache subside completely.
"What happened?" was Tom that good at nonverbal magic?
"Abraxas has already used this charm several times and it always seemed to work perfectly. I suppose you are alright?"
"I'm more than alright. Thanks, Tom. Though I still feel a little bit sick." Hermione groaned.
"You should go to the nurse, then. Meet you in class?" Tom asked, kissing her sweetly.
"Yeah. See you later."
THTHTH
Horrorstruck, Hermione noticed that Potter – Harry Potter's grandfather – was also in the hospital at that time. 'Perfect! Just who I need!' Hermione thought, glaring at the Gryffindor. "Skele-gro is the only thing that will help, Potter!" the nurse shook her head. "I will have to keep your arm bandaged."
Potter looked completely appalled at that thought. "No, Madame, I don't need to –"
"Nonsense! I insist! You have to wear that bandage today and tomorrow for a total of 24 hours. Tomorrow we will have a look at it and might be able to remove it." the nurse took Potter's arm and placed a white roll of bandage on the bedside table next to him. "Oh, Miss Karkarova. I didn't see you there. What can I do for you?"
"Uhm, I think I have an upset stomach. The fish I ate two days ago was probably off and now I feel sick, have to throw up from time to time or experience those strange cramps in my stomach." Hermione explained red in her face and determinedly avoiding Potter's gaze. Of all people that could have been in the hospital wing at that time, it MUST be Potter.
"I've got the right thing for you. It helps to improve the intestinal flora." the nurse smiled and handed Hermione a white liquid that tasted actually quite nice. "Thank you, Madame." Hermione smiled and felt better immediately. "I'll go down to breakfast now."
"Don't overestimate yourself. Just eat porridge." the nurse called over her shoulder, already bandaging Potter's arm who kept smirking at her. "Yes, I will - thank you." Hermione replied and walked swiftly out of the hospital wing.
A little late she sat down at the Ravenclaw table for breakfast. "Natalija! How nice of you to show up!" Sarah smirked, throwing exaggerated glances over towards the Slytherin table. Hermione rolled her eyes. "Actually, I was in the hospital wing this morning. I didn't feel too well."
Sarah and Richard watched Hermione ladle porridge onto her plate. "What happened?" "Nothing really. I just felt sick. However, I got some really helpful medicine." "Yeah, the nurse here is just perfect!" Richard smiled. Sarah groaned. "Oh no! I've forgotten my arithmancy homework!"
"Don't worry. Homework is not due until Friday." Hermione reassured her and Sarah let out a relieved breath. "You know all this schoolwork is getting on my nerves. How much do the teachers think we can take? Maybe they think we don't need freetime!"
Hermione, Matthew and Richard laughed loudly. "Nat, you will come to our quidditch match today, right? We are playing against the snakes!" Hermione knew it was pointless to come up with an excuse. Her friends would drag her to the field anyway.
"Sure. Sarah, will you come with me?" Hermione replied, taking a spoonful of dull-tasting porridge.
"Definitely. We just have to get our Ravenclaw scarves." Sarah smiled happily at the prospect of sitting in the cold and cheering for their house.
"Perfect!" Richard grinned.
THTHTH
As predicted, the Ravenclaws cheered loudly when the Ravenclaw team flew to the quidditch pitch into the middle, accompanied by cheers from the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs and catcalls from the Slytherins.
The Slytherin team flew into the centre with a standing ovation from the students in green and some jeers from the Ravenclaws. Hermione smirked. 'Harry probably doesn't feel too well cheering for his former enemies. But actually he fulfils his task pretty well – no, he acts and probably feels like a real Slytherin now.' She remembered when Harry had confessed that the hat had actually wanted to sort him into Slytherin. Now she knew why. Harry could be the perfect Slytherin. Probably not as mean as Malfoy or Voldemort – but still cunning and manipulative.
The headgirl was commentating. Hermione absolutely hated her voice and tried to somehow block it out – unsuccessfully though. It became obvious pretty soon, that McGonnagal didn't like the Slytherins at all. The fact, that Tom Riddle had refused to go to the ball with her, was shown in her commentary clearly.
"Now Montague in possession, everyone knows that he just bought his way into the team… yes, Goldstein catches the ball – what a wonderful chaser…" on and on it went. Hermione almost wanted to hit her.
She scanned the Slytherin seats, but to her dismay didn't spot Tom anywhere. Harry and Draco were also nowhere to be seen, but they could easily be lost in the mass of green. The game wore on and on and not even McGonnagal's voice seemed to tire.
Hermione gasped when Minvera's voice brought her out of her reverie. "And it looks as if Higgs has seen the snitch!"
Sarah and Hermione stood up in excitement, watching the Slytherin seeker fly after the snitch, but in the next second, Richard was directly next to him.
THTHTH
Meanwhile in the forbidden forest…
"Crucio!" Tom's voice snarled, pointing his wand at the writhing figure on the ground. "I told you not to question me, Avery."
Avery got up when the curse was lifted and he stood on wobbly feet, bowing his head. "Sorry, my lord."
"Get out of my sight!" Tom spat and Avery hurried to his spot in the circle. "Now to Avery's question: I used the quidditch game as the perfect chance. True, two quidditch players couldn't attend – what a pity – but they will have a private lesson with me. The whole school – teachers included - are on the quidditch pitch and we are free to practice the last of dark spells."
The students looked at each other shortly. Part of them was excited, part of them scared. Harry and Draco knew exactly what Tom was going to teach them and therefore were scared. What if Voldemort used the curse on them? And they thought that he had changed. True, his meetings were now less often, but still with the same determination and danger.
Sure enough, Tom's face stretched into a grotesque smirk. "Avada Kedavra. The most powerful spell and the most damaging." his voice was now only a whisper, but everyone heard him. "It's also a spell you can use when someone pleads. Sometimes it's the last option."
Harry and Draco silently agreed with him – it sounded logical enough – but hated themselves for that. A shudder went through the circle when Tom continued in a mere whisper: "If you use that spell, you have power. Everyone is afraid of you. You can use that to your advantage and get everyone to do what you want them to do. Avada Kedavra!"
The spell was shouted out loud and the spider keeled backwards, hit by the familiar green light.
THTHTH
"Slytherin wins!" McGonnagal called through her megaphone, not really enthusiastically but pretty pissed. She didn't want the Slytherins to win.
Hermione and Sarah went over to the Ravenclaw team who looked crestfallen, their heads bowed. "Aww, Rich…" Sarah went over to her boyfriend and hugged him tightly. "At least we are second!"
"Second, Sarah? We wanted to win! We practiced day and night. You know why Higgs caught the snitch? Because I had to sneeze!" Richard spat.
Sarah hid a smile. "Aww, at least you know that you COULD have caught the snitch, if you hadn't sneezed."
Richard grumpily followed his team into the changing rooms, ignoring Sarah and Hermione completely. "What a jerk." Hermione muttered. "Quidditch isn't everything."
"For Richard it is." Sarah said, shaking her head.
"Let's go to lunch!" Hermione exclaimed. "I'm starving." and Sarah nodded. "By the way, where is your boyfriend Tom? I didn't seem him."
"Same with me. I have no idea." Hermione answered. She had a vague hunch, but wouldn't tell Sarah of course. He either held one of his infamous meetings or she really hadn't spotted him.
When Sarah and Hermione arrived in the Great Hall it was already half full. To Hermione's surprise, Tom, Draco and Harry – as well as the other death eaters – were already seated at the Slytherin table. Had she really missed them?
THTHTH
Tom was sitting at the Slytherin table, very tired. He didn't like this meeting at all. True, he wanted to show them dark spells and especially avada kedavra, but he didn't feel the usual intended pleasure, but rather a sick feeling in his stomach. For some reason, it didn't feel right.
He had to admit that he didn't like those meetings anymore. True, they were his heart and soul before, but then Natalija turned up, and suddenly something much more important mattered in his life. This person! First, Tom thought that he could manage both, the meetings and Natalija – without letting her know of course. But now, he absolutely loathed the meetings. They were pointless to the point of dangerous. What if something happened to HER?
Tom watched the girl of his dreams walk gracefully inside the Great Hall, the Ravenclaw scarf tied around her waist, her cheeks red from the cold and a dazzling smile on her face. He sighed heavily. No, he couldn't let anything happen to her. He had to stop those meetings NOW. They would put her into danger.
"Oh, Poliakoff," Abraxas Malfoy leaned over towards Harry who slightly moved over to the right – next to the other Malfoy. "Tonight Party in the common room! Slytherin won!"
Harry and Draco grinned. "Yeah… we'll be there." Draco answered his grandfather. "Tom, will you be there as well?" Harry noticed that Tom was staring at a certain someone at the Ravenclaw tables, not noticing his fellow Slytherins. "Tom!" Harry waved a hand in front of his face and Tom woke up.
"What?" he growled at Harry, glaring daggers at him. "Slytherin won! There will be a party tonight in the Slytherin common room and well – why don't you join us?" Harry asked. He knew it would be fruitless – Tom didn't attend students parties. He thought they were a waste of time. But Harry wanted to make sure, that Tom felt at least included. After the display this morning, he didn't want to be on Tom's wrong side.
"No, I don't think I will!" Tom said through gritted teeth – as expected. "Oh, what a pity." Harry answered unconcerned, ladling stew onto his dish.
THTHTH
"You didn't want to go to the party?" Hermione asked Tom with wide eyes. They were cuddling in front of the wizard's TV in the head boy dorm. "No, I detest student's parties. They are boring and useless." Tom kissed Hermione softly and nibbled on her lower lip.
Although Hermione had to agree with him, she quirked an eyebrow. "Usually most of the young people like parties. Slytherin won! You should be downstairs celebrating with them." she reprimanded him with a slight smile.
"You want to throw me out of MY room?" Tom grinned devilishly at her. "You know what that means?"
Hermione shook her head, preparing for the worst.
"This!" Tom bent over her and started tickling her. "Nooooo noooo stoooop!" Hermione shrieked in between fits of laughter. "Please stooooop, I'll stooooop." she giggled. Tom stopped. "Just because you said please." he smirked.
"You know, I really don't mind. If you want to go downstairs and celebrate with them – it doesn't matter. I'll just go to my dorm – and sleep. We don't have anything to celebrate anyway." Hermione shrugged. "Besides, I think it is a good possibility – and not USELESS. You can catch up with your friends, have a few drinks, laugh and just HAVE FUN. Try it, Tom." Hermione encouraged him.
Although her mind screamed for Tom to stay there with her, cuddle with her and spend the night with her, her logical mind thought differently. If Tom needed to be changed, he had to act like a normal youth – and that included attending parties.
Tom actually seemed to consider that thought. "You seriously don't mind?" he asked doubtfully. Hermione shook her head, she DID mind – but by letting him go, he would be changed again – hopefully into the better.
"Then I'll go!" Tom said with the ghost of a smile. "Perfect!" Hermione grinned. "See you tomorrow then."
"Oh and Tom, you know you have a girlfriend." Hermione smirked at him, twirling a strand of long blonde hair in her fingers. Tom stopped in his tracks and smiled at Hermione, embracing her tightly. "The Best!"
THTHTH
When Hermione entered the Ravenclaw, her breath caught for a moment. The whole common room was decorated in blue and bronze, music was playing and what seemed like the whole Ravenclaw house was up and partying, drinking, laughing, talking, dancing – Hermione was surprised. Richard and Matthew ran towards her, thrusting a butterbeer in her hand.
"Hey, Natalija, you came." Richard grinned. "We thought you'd want to spend the night with your boyfriend."
Hermione smiled a mock saccharine smile at him. "No, I decided to join you in celebrating second place."
"How nice of you." Sarah grinned. She was wearing a club outfit and her hair was put up. "Uhm, Sarah, why are you wearing that?" Hermione questioned.
"Look, we made second place in the winter semester and therefore we want to celebrate. 6th and 7th years will be going out to a club!" she squealed. "You need to get ready, Natalija, we will be leaving in 20 minutes."
"Wait! What? Who allowed us to go to a club?" Hermione asked, now completely nonplussed. "Our head of house!" Matthew shrugged. "We asked him right after the game. Sarah, help her get ready, we are leaving soon!"
"What? But… we lost!" Hermione fumbled with her hands in the air. She was tired and honestly didn't feel like going to a club. "We are SECOND of the whole school!" Richard informed her grinning.
"But it sounds like a total Slytherin-thing to do!" Hermione shrieked. "Yeah it does, doesn't it? It's time for us Ravenclaws to be bad once in a while." Sarah snickered. Hermione looked at the happy girl and decided to have fun as well. Wasn't that what she had told Tom?
"Very well." Hermione snapped. "I'll go get ready. But tell me, how will we get there and how will we come back and especially WHEN?"
"Puh, a lot of questions… don't know if I can handle all of them in my state… okay, we will get there through the fire in prof. Du Reau's office – he told us we could use it as long as we don't soil the carpet. That's the same way we can go back. And when? That's your choice. You can go whenever you want to." Richard grinned.
"Fine. Sarah, I'll go get ready. And YES, you can help me." Hermione answered, the ghost of a smile on her face.
"Great!" Sarah squealed and she practically dragged Hermione to their dorm where Hermione had to play make-up-doll. Sarah applied various make-ups on Hermione's face so fast that Hermione couldn't register what exactly she was doing. Sarah used her wand to straighten Hermione's hair magically. Without further ado, she threw a cluboutfit onto Hermione's bed. "Get dressed. I'll meet you in the common room in three minutes."
Hermione threw on her outfit as fast as possible. Of course, it didn't resemble an outfit from her time, but she still liked it. But when she looked into the mirror, she gasped. Her straight hair was shining, long and looked absolutely stunning. Her face was made up perfectly – Sarah's work – and Hermione knew that she was going to have fun.
When she entered the common room, the 6th and 7th year boys gaped at her. "Wow!" Matthew grinned. "Sarah is an expert!" "Yeah, she is…" Hermione smiled at her friend.
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Matthew dragged Hermione on her hand and Richard his girlfriend and soon all the 6th and 7th year Ravenclaws were standing in front of the portrait that lead to Du Reau's office.
THTHTH
"What? The Ravenclaws are celebrating? And in a CLUB?" Draco asked with a sneer. "WHY? They didn't win."
"Yeah, we know. I think we should ask Slughorn to let us go as well. Besides, the W&W-magnet is great." Alphard Black said grumpily.
"Our dear headboy should do that. He has to talk to our head of house. Slughorn would do anything for Tom." Draco spat. "But he is not here!"
Draco was about to continue ranting about the headboy, when a cold voice stopped him. "Enough Krum! I'm here, in case you haven't noticed." Tom glared at the blonde-haired Slytherin but after a moment directed his gaze to Harry, who was talking to Eileen Prince at the buffet.
"Poliakoff!" he snarled. "Round up all the 6th and 7th years – we are going to a club!"
"What?" Harry asked, completely nonplussed.
"You heard me correctly – didn't you all want to celebrate? We are leaving in 10 minutes through Slughorn's office."
"Yes, sure!" Harry grinned and did what he was told.
Draco surveyed Tom closely. He was probably just jealous and didn't want Hermione to go to a club alone. Tom's face looked at least sour enough and his clothes said it all. He wanted to go out and party – probably for the first time of his life. And just because Hermione was there. Not that he didn't trust her, but because he wanted to celebrate WITH her.
THTHTH
Hermione didn't know that she would enjoy the 40s discos so much. True, the music was a bit strange at the beginning, but after a while she got used to it and sung and danced to swing and charlestone, drank and laughed with her friends. For only the second time since she arrived in the 40s, she was completely careless and happy.
After quite a lot of dancing, Hermione and Sarah, both with red cheeks, sat down on plush sofas, sipping their drinks, Richard and Matthew following them with glasses of butterbeer.
"Oh no!" Matthew said in an exaggerated tone, pointing discreetly behind the girls. "The Slytherins are here!"….
A/N: Yes, I'll update soon – probably this week…