Thanks to whoever added my story to the McGonagall c2. That was pretty cool. You may have a hard time seeing where I'm going after this chapter, but bear with me. I have a direction, sort of. Minerva needs to get to the point where she trusts Tom before the story can really move. Anyway...enjoy and review!

The Dinner

Tom gazed at Minerva over the candles. He had to admit, she looked beautiful. At least he wasn't going to have to force himself to get close to her. That would physically be easy enough. The problem was the mental investment in the situation. He had to keep himself as distanced mentally as possible for his plan to work.

Minerva took a bite into a piece of cake. She looked up and saw him staring at her. Suddenly self-conscious, she blushed.

"What? Do I have food on my face?"

Tom smiled and shook his head.

"Well stop looking at me like that. You're making me nervous."

She rose and walked over to lean against the parapet. She shivered. It was November and all she had on for warmth was a jumper underneath her robes. Tom joined her and placed his cloak over her shoulders. She touched the velvety material and smiled shyly.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

A few minutes went by. They stood next to each other in a soft silence.

"The sky looks beautiful tonight," he said softly.

"Indeed it does."

They stood in silence for a few more minutes.

"Do you know where to find Cassiopeia?"

"I took Astronomy the same time as you did, Tom. What do you think?"

"I was just making conversation."

"And I was just teasing you."

"Oh."

Minerva shifted and gazed up at the sky. Minutes passed.

"Are you named after the goddess, Minerva?"

Minerva rolled around to face him. "Yes. My mother was a professor of Greek and Roman studies at a muggle university. I have an older brother named Apollo."

"She must have had quite a bit of foresight as well."

"Oh, and why is that?"

"She knew you were going to be so smart." Minerva turned bright red and turned away. Tom grinned. His flattery was working.

"Who are you named after?" she asked after a while. Tom's face grew dark. It was his fault she asked. He shouldn't have brought up the subject in the first place. Unless she knew; perhaps she asked just to see what his reaction would be. He wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of a reaction.

"Tom for my father. Marvolo for my grandfather."

"Oh." Minerva looked down at her feet. "I'm sorry Tom. I didn't know. I would never have asked-"

Tom studied her briefly, before believing her sincerity. "No worries. I've long gotten over it." He had, in truth, but only after he decided what he was going to do about it.

"Do you have any other siblings?" he asked, changing the subject.

Minerva shook her head. "I have a cat."

"Is it here?"

"Yes. It generally stays in my dormitory. I don't like bringing it to class because I'm afraid Slughorn will decide to test a potion on it, or someone will turn it into a teacup. I'm rather protective of it."

"That's understandable."

More silence followed. Tom was beginning to feel slightly awkward. He needed to act in order to keep his plan in action. He knew what he needed to do. He slowly reached over and ran his hand down the back of her neck. He felt her stiffen under the contact, then relax.

"Minerva?"

"Yes?"

"I need to tell you something."

His face drew closer to hers, but she didn't pull away.

"What?"

Her breathing was shallow now. Tom resisted the urge to enter her thoughts.

"I think that I figured out what Dumbledore's plan is."

Minerva tensed. Tom ran his hand down her shoulder to grasp her hand beneath his own.

"What is it?" she squeaked.

Tom closed a bit more distance between them. His mouth was only a few centimeters from her own. He spoke slowly in a husky tone. "I think that he wanted this to happen."

"This?" Minerva pulled away slightly. "What on earth do you mean?"
"Can't you feel it, Minerva? Something is happening between the two of us. Something Dumbledore had to have foreseen."

"I don't understand."

Tom couldn't help but smile. For someone so smart, she was completely oblivious to anything emotional. He brushed a wayward piece of hair out of her eyes. She bit her lip.

"I think," he began inching closer to her, "that Dumbledore wanted us to be together."

Minerva's eyes shot open. "You mean…" Her voice faltered. "Like dating?"

"I mean, he wanted us to fall in love."

Tom wrapped his arms around her waist and stared deeply into her eyes. "What do you think about that, Miss McGonagall?"

"Did it?"

"Did it what?"

"Happen?"
"You tell me." He brushed his thumb against her bottom lip.

Minerva seemed to be at a loss for words. She reached her arms around his neck to keep her balance. Tom waited patiently for her to give in. They stood suspended for a few moments.

"What on earth is the meaning of this?"

Minerva nearly dove across the room away from Tom. She caught her foot on the corner of the blanket and sprawled out across the floor. A very perturbed Defense Against the Dark Arts professor stood in the doorway in a pink bathrobe and slippers. Professor Merrythought put her hands on her hips. "I know you're going to tell me that this is not what it looks like, so you may as well get on with it."

Tom paused. He knew exactly what it looked like, and unfortunately for them it was exactly what it looked like. They had been meeting in the Astronomy tower after hours on a date, they had taken food from the kitchens after they missed dinner, he had been about to kiss her, and she had been about to let him. He glanced from Minerva, her face filled with fear, to the picnic and candles on the floor.

"Well, Mr. Riddle?"

"It's not what it looks like, Professor," he said saucily. Minerva let out a slight gasp, but covered her mouth. "Minerva and I were on our way back from working on a project in the library. When we got to the entrance hall, we heard noises. It sounded as if someone was in the stairway up to the Astronomy tower. Well, as you know ma'am, we're both prefects, so we decided we needed to get to the bottom of it. We got to the top and there were two Hufflepuff fourth years having a little late night picnic up here. We startled them enough that they panicked. They sent a hex toward the doorway and unfortunately hit Miss McGonagall in the eye. They ran away before I could get their names." Tom took a deep breath.

Professor Merrythought tapped her foot. "And I suppose you were just helping Miss McGonagall with her eye when I walked in?" She sounded as if she didn't believe him, but also sounded as if she wasn't tired enough to care.

"You are incredibly perceptive, ma'am."

Merrythought thought for a few moments. "And you took an appropriate amount of points off of Hufflepuff?"

"Yes, ma'am," Tom replied.

"Very well, Mr. Riddle. Is your eye going to be okay, Miss McGonagall?" Minerva froze and nodded ever so slightly. "I suggest you two get to bed. If there is ever another incident like this, you need to find a staff member instead of handling it yourselves, is that clear?"

They both nodded apologetically.

"Goodnight."

She left and they waited until they could no longer hear her footsteps before cleaning up. Minerva slid to the floor in a daze. Tom knelt beside her.

"You okay?"

"I…I…" she stammered.

"Minerva?"

"You…and then…I…tower…what?" she babbled.

"It's okay Minerva. She's gone."

Minerva was shaking all over. "I can't believe you made me do that."

"Do what?"
"Lie to a teacher!" She regained a certain degree of composure and stood up, wand extended. "I'm a terrible person! I've never done anything like that my entire life. I don't think I'll ever be able to forgive myself. I don't think I'll ever be able to forgive you! I -"

"Minerva calm down. You're being irrational."

"I am NOT being irrational!"

Tom looked warily at her wand. He was unsure what she was actually going to do. "Minerva, give me the wand," he said slowly. She gripped it tighter. "Minerva, do you want to become a more terrible person by killing me? No, I didn't think so. Now let go of the wand and sit back down on the floor."

Minerva refused to budge. Her face was contorted in anger and confusion. Tom stepped to the side. Minerva's gaze and wand stayed fixed on the point where he had been standing before. Slowly, he gripped her wrist and removed the wand from her fingertips. She relaxed slightly and allowed him to lower her to the ground.

Tom let out a long breath. "You didn't really lie. She asked you if your eye was going to be okay. You nodded. Nothing was wrong with your eye, so it's going to be okay."

Minerva let out a small sob. "But I didn't do my duty. I should have turned myself in. I let her assume…"

Tom wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "I let her assume. Blame me. Please. I wouldn't want you to get so upset about something so trivial. Now let's go before Slughorn or Dumbledore show up. If either of them saw us, I'd never be able to live it down."

Minerva smiled faintly. Tom flicked his wand and all evidence of the picnic disappeared.

"Tom?" she said grabbing his cloak.

He paused.

"Do you really think that's why Dumbledore wanted us to work on this together?"

Tom grabbed her hand and gently placed his lips against the curve of her palm. "I guess we'll see." With that, he dropped her hand and headed down to the Slytherin commons, leaving her to stew over the evenings events alone.

What was he doing to her? Never in her entire life had she broken so many rules; and she had done it in one night! Minerva entered the Gryffindor common room and sank into a scarlet armchair in shock. Everything was so messed up.

She quickly grabbed for her bag and pulled out the book she had been perusing in the library. If all else failed in her attempts to keep Tom from her mind, she would engross her mind in something else. She read a few pages before growing frustrated and slamming the book shut. This wasn't working. What was it about him? He was absolutely infuriating!

The thing that bothered her the most was the thought that maybe he was right. Maybe Dumbledore did have an ulterior motive for requesting they work together. Maybe he had assumed that she would be unwilling to work with him without a good reason. Knowing Dumbledore, it would not be entirely out of the realm of possibility. He liked Tom. He was the reason Tom was at Hogwarts in the first place. Maybe he did want them to fall in-

No. This was stupid. She wasn't going to exalt him so high in her mind to think such an absurd thing. Tom Riddle was not going to change. Not now, not ever. That, she thought as she dropped the book back in her bag, was her final decision.

She only hoped he could change her mind.