The third day was Christmas Eve. Most of the remaining students were doing last minute things such as wrapping presents or shopping (some students were much like the Weasley twins and sold all sorts of crazy items). Hermione had already done everything to prepare for Christmas. She had bought presents for Lily, James, Severus, Lucius, and Tom, although it was very hard shopping for Lily and Lucius. She bought Tom and James quidditch supplies and some potion supplies and books for Severus. She decided to buy some candy for Lily. Lucius took her the most time to shop for. She eventually settled on buying him a book on spells, but they were advanced for their age. She made sure there was no dark magic in it before she bought it. The last thing she needed to do was help him kill and destroy.
Because Hermione had nothing to worry about, she decided to walk around for a while. She wondered how James and his friends had managed to find all the secrets of Hogwarts. She herself was curious and had nothing better to do. Most of the books in the library were old and a bit boring, so she did not feel like reading. Bianca was asleep and she was not tired enough to lounge around in her room or the common room. She was a Prefect, so she decided she was "patrolling" the halls. Hermione managed to notice something when she was walking down one of the less populated halls. An overly large picture hung on the wall trying to cover up a large patch of stone that did not match the rest of the wall. Although the different shade of gray was barely noticeable, Hermione only saw it because she was looking for it. Hermione walked over to it and observed it. The woman in the picture observed Hermione.
"What are you doing?" the young lady in the picture asked.
"Looking at the wall," Hermione responded blankly.
"Why?" the lady asked.
"Because it is a different shade of gray than the rest of the wall. What are you hiding?" Hermione asked. The lady looked angry as it began to pour down on the grassy meadow. Her long blonde hair and beautiful blue dress were getting soaked. She ran into a different picture and the one she had been in rotated until it was upside down. The different coloured stone had a glass window on it. Hermione looked in. There was a small cozy room with a fireplace. She saw Tom sitting in there at a desk in front of the fire and smirked. She pushed the wall a bit and it turned on an axis admitting her into the room. Tom looked up and was about to begin yelling at the intruder when he realized it was only Hermione.
"How did you get in here?" Tom asked. He was writing on some parchment. There were stacks of parchment everywhere behind him. There was little space in front of him, maybe about five or seven feet. Hermione walked in a bit and the door closed. Hermione could tell the picture had moved back because she could not see out of the glass. Hermione turned to look at Tom and had a blank expression on her face.
"I really have no idea how I got in," she said. This also meant she did not know how to get out. Tom sighed.
"Did you ask her what she was hiding?" he asked as he wrote something on a piece of parchment and set it aside.
"Yes. . ." Hermione said questioningly.
"I knew that was too easy. I should change it. . . How did you know she was hiding something?"
"I was looking for some sort of passage or secret room to explore. I'm sure the only way a person would notice would be if they were looking for it, like I was."
"Come, sit," Tom said and with a wave of his wand a chair appeared in front of his desk. Hermione hesitated but decided to sit.
"So," Hermione began. "What are you writing?"
"Signing papers, homework, some other things," Tom said.
"Oh," Hermione replied and just watching him sign papers. Occasionally she would see him sign a paper as "Voldemort" rather than "Tom Riddle."
"We need to discuss the baby," Tom said. "Neither one of us will be able to take care of it," he paused for a few moments. "I have been talking with Lucius and Severus and one of them may be able to take care of it." Hermione stared at him. She was not sure what to say. She knew he was right, but she did not want the baby to go to one of *them*. She just sighed and sat there for a while thinking.
"How do I get out?" Hermione asked, looking at the door.
"You have to wait until I'm ready to leave," Tom smirked. He knew it would upset her, but he knew she would not mind so much that she would become ticked off. She also had nothing better to do, which is why she had been searching the school for a secret room. He looked up from his paper to see her glaring at him.
"That's mean," she said.
"I know," he smiled. Hermione stood up and stretched out then sat on the hearth of the fireplace. She eventually lay down on the floor and fell asleep because of the soft carpeting.
When Tom finished, he walked around his desk to help her up to leave but realized she was asleep. He smiled at her sleeping form. He was trying to decide whether he should wake her up. He decided he should not since she would probably get extremely angry. Since he could not leave, he sat next to her and began to run his hands through her hair. He was surprised that it was not tangled at all. Tom sat there for the longest time staring at her. He eventually decided to levitate her body and take her to her room.
When he got to her room, he gently placed her body on the bed and placed the covers on top of her. He smiled and stroked her cheek and then turned to leave.
"What are you doing?" Hermione yawned. Tom turned around and saw Hermione had woken up and sat up a little.
"You fell asleep in the other room."
"How did we get out?" she questioned.
"You will have to come visit again to find out," Tom smirked then left her to sleep.