The Grounds - Part I

Minerva poked her head out into the hallway and found it deserted. Glancing over her shoulder, she slid down the corridor and rapped loudly on Professor Dumbledore's door. She heard rustling and it slowly peeked open. "Miss McGonagall," he said knowingly. "Won't you come in."

Minerva looked around one more time and slipped into his office. Dumbledore sat at his desk where he had been grading papers and removed his glasses. "I suppose you are wondering why I placed you with Tom Riddle."

Minerva shook her head. "I assumed it was because you believe he trusts me and that I could stop him if he did anything."

Dumbledore nodded.

"I actually was wondering what Dippet told you about Josiah's disappearance; or, more importantly, when he told you."

Dumbledore replaced his glasses. "What do you mean, Miss McGonagall? He told us this morning before breakfast when Josiah was found. We learned about it right before you did."

Minerva took a deep breath and fidgeted with her wand. She was thinking very carefully about what she was going to say. "Sir, I informed the headmaster that Josiah was missing at eleven o'clock last night. He knew that Josiah had not arrived for rounds and that none of the portraits in the Ravenclaw hallway had seen him."

"What are you saying, Minerva?"

Minerva bit her lip. "Professor -" She paused. "When I talked to the portrait of Sabina the Stuttering in the Ravenclaw corridor, she said she had seen a Slytherin prefect talking to the Ravenclaw portrait. Bane, naturally, refused to confirm what he had said."

"So you think that Tom had a hand in this?"

"Well, when I mentioned the thought to Headmaster Dippet, he informed me that Tom had been with him for an hour discussing - something. He got rather short with me, actually. I don't think he was happy that I was insinuating that Tom might have done something."

Dumbledore thought for a moment. "Did you see Tom at all?"

"No. Headmaster Dippet told me to do my rounds by myself. I eventually met up with Rubeus. He walked with me for the rest of the route. We didn't see anyone."

Dumbledore stood and walked to his window. The sun was beginning to set and the snow was coming down harder. "I think we will have to wait until Josiah is well enough to be questioned. I might be able to reconstruct some of his memory. That's the only way we'll know. As far as I know, there were no witnesses." He turned to Minerva. "Do you truly believe that Tom had a part in this?"

Minerva thought quickly. "I know he is hiding something, sir." She wasn't sure if he was capable of doing something so cruel. If you had asked her two months earlier, she would have denounced him in a second; she would have accused him of taking over the world before you could say 'tyranny.' But now, after getting to know him, she couldn't picture him hurting anyone purposely - or maybe she just didn't want to picture him hurting someone purposely.

"Will you be alright tonight? You won't be too distracted?"

Minerva snorted a bit. "Exams for the next three days, followed by a holiday of research that we've barely even begun? Of course I'll be distracted!" She stood in front of her seat. "But I'll be okay. Tom and I are getting along much better." She did not add that she had been terrified to go near him since the night he had kissed her. She decided that mentioning that to Dumbledore wasn't the greatest idea.

Dumbledore smiled satisfactorily. "Very well. Keep alert. Send up red sparks if anything happens. Someone will undoubtedly see them."

Minerva nodded and glanced at her watch. It was nearly six and she had missed dinner. "Thank you, sir." She ducked out of the room, hoping that no one in the corridor would see her - namely Tom - and dashed up to Gryffindor tower to grab her outdoor things. On her way out the door she glanced in the mirror. Her hair was falling out slightly and her cheeks were ruddy from running. "You're hopeless, McGonagall," she sighed. "You're afraid of the stupid git. Stop caring about how you look!" The Minerva in the mirror, however, did not listen and hastily fixed her fallen bun. The clock began to ring six o'clock.

Minerva dashed out of the room with a bundle of winter clothes and ran down to the entrance hall. Tom was waiting against the door with a smirk on his face.

"Getting all done up for me again, Minerva?" he asked, pulling her thoughts back to their encounter earlier in the year. His voice was the same, but his tone was a bit softer with less malice. "Really, you shouldn't have." Minerva's face colored.

"I lost track of time," she said simply. She began the task of bundling up. It looked absolutely frigid outside.

"You are a terrible liar, Miss McGonagall. You never lose track of time. I'm beginning to think you'd marry that watch if you could." He pointed to the old watch at her wrist.

Minerva shrugged and wrapped a scarf around her neck. "At least it'd be punctual to the wedding."

Tom smiled and stepped forward to help her as she fumbled with the silver fastener on her cloak. His fingers brushed her cheek causing warmth to surge through her face. "You missed dinner," he said softly.

"I wasn't hungry," Minerva replied, pulling away. She wasn't going to let him get too close - at least not so soon.

"I looked for you and you weren't there."

"Brilliant, Mr. Riddle. You've discovered the point of missing dinner," she said sarcastically. "You can now die knowing everything in the world." She spun around and headed for the doors. Tom stepped out in front of her as he put on his gloves.

"I don't plan on dying anytime soon."

"Then be careful what you say, or you may accidentally stumble across some arsenic in your pumpkin juice."

"You are developing a most unbecoming amount of sass, Miss McGonagall. I'm not quite certain if I like it."

Minerva grinned and leaned forward. "Get used to it, Riddle. It's not going anywhere. Besides," she said pushing past him, "I learned from the best."

She pushed the heavy doors open to reveal about a half foot of snow. Tom snickered when she didn't immediately walk outside. "Are you afraid to get your feet wet?" he teased.

Minerva rolled her eyes at him. "Thermae Pedis," she muttered. She tapped her wand on her shoes and took a step outside. The snow surrounding her feet immediately melted. Tom folded his arms, but did the same.

The stood at the top of the steps surveying the snowy grounds and the pink sky so indicative of a blizzard. "So…" Tom rubbed his hands together. "What are we going to do for the next three hours?"

Minerva looked up at the sky as the snow began to fall harder. "Walk around the grounds, I suppose." She walked down the steps, melting the snow on the way down. "I'm sure we'll just happen to run into the person who attacked Josiah out in this blizzard and force an immediate confession." She frequently encountered problems with Dippet's reasoning, but she couldn't very well do anything about it.

Tom put his arms at his waist. "Or we could just freeze to death. I'm about halfway there already."

Minerva smiled. "I didn't think that you were planning on dying anytime soon," she said sweetly.

Tom folded his arms again. "I don't know what it is about you tonight, but I'm slowly beginning to realize that hitting a girl wouldn't be so bad."

"Oh, you're just realizing that now?"

"I've never hit you."

"You've hexed me! I think that's worse."

Tom slid his arm through hers, ignoring her struggles to get away. "Come off it Minerva. You know you love it when I hex you. You think it's charming." He paused for a few seconds. "Speaking of charming, you've said very little about that kiss from the other night." He made sure to emphasize the word 'kiss' so it rang in her ear. Minerva tensed.

"W-what about it?" she stammered.

Tom pulled her along the path to the gamekeeper's hut, until they were out of immediate sight of the castle. Minerva dug into her pocket for her wand, but found that it was in the left side pocket of her robes. Her left hand, unfortunately, was enclosed in Tom's firm grasp. He brought the hand to his lips as Minerva attempted to yank it away. His grip was too tight.

"You liked it, didn't you?" he asked saucily. He brought her hand to his chest. "That's why you've been so nervous lately. You're too scared to admit that Tom Riddle kissed you and you liked it." Minerva was on the brink of becoming exceedingly frightened, but was calmed slightly by his teasing tone.

"I don't think whether I liked it or not has much relevance," she said finally. "It won't be happening again."

Tom smirked and twirled her up against a tree. "What makes you so sure, Miss McGonagall?"

Her eyes were wide with fear - or anticipation? What was going on? She stared at Tom. He was waiting for her to say something. He wasn't going to do anything she didn't want him to do; she could see it in his eyes. Her heart fluttered as he gently stroked the back of her hand. She suddenly realized what was happening; she wanted him to kiss her again.

She took in his defined features, silhouetted against the darkness. His dark eyes glinted and his hair fell across his forehead in a gentle sweep. He was incredibly handsome. What had caused her sudden change of heart? Only a half hour before she had been certain he had something to do with Smelting's attack; now, she was almost certain he did not. He had something about him that made her unsure of everything she had ever known.

He tilted his head slightly as she continued deliberating. How had she - Minerva McGonagall - gotten to this point? The prefect, who had never liked, or wanted, a boy. The girl who had spent so much time creating an unapproachable exterior so that nothing could stand in the way of her schoolwork. She had prided herself on maintaining an untouchable level of reason and sensibility. Yet, Tom had undone everything - she was a wreck, and she was slowly falling for a boy she was born to hate.

Her breath quickened. "It can't happen again, Tom," she said finally.

He paused. "That doesn't mean it won't."

"I can't let it," she replied firmly.

Tom stopped and stepped back slightly. "Why not Minerva? Why can't you just give in for once? Do something that you want to do! Stop with all these silly ideals you have about life. You need to do what makes you happy."

"Structure makes me happy," she whispered. "I like time and rules and ideals."

"But why? Why can't you live a little? For once," he snapped.

Minerva bit her lip. She just couldn't let herself do something that she knew she would regret. It was completely against her nature. Tom backed up a few steps, and continued down the path away from her. He was nearing the vacant gamekeeper's hut. She thought quickly. She knew she shouldn't let him get close, but she wasn't sure if she could bear letting him walk away. She made a decision.

"Tom," she called. Her voice was muffled by the snow, but he heard her. She scurried to meet him and stopped a few inches away. "I think - I think I might need a little help."

"With what?"

"Living," she answered. A look of realization filled Tom's eyes, followed by a smirk at his lips.

He moved a step closer. "And how do you think I should go about helping you? The last time you asked, the result was not exactly what you expected."

Minerva took a deep breath and moved in another step. "Well, you said that I should do what I want."

"And what do you want, Minerva McGonagall?"

She slowly reached down and picked up his hand. "I think that maybe you should kiss me again."

"Do you want me to?"

She closed her eyes. "Yes. I believe I might." Tom reached out to cup her face in his hands. He ran his fingers down her cheek, but pulled back slightly.

"Are you sure?"

Minerva nodded. Tom leaned in, but stopped before his lips could capture hers. He froze.

"What's the matter?" Minerva asked quickly, assuming she had done something wrong. Tom ran his arm around her waist and slowly turned her around.

Minerva squinted in the dim light at what had caught his complete attention and finally saw it. Her jaw dropped and a small cry fell from her lips. She looked from Tom to the scene in front of them and then back at Tom. He drew out his wand and she slowly did the same. Something was most definitely going on at Hogwarts.

So...normally I'd feel really bad for having such a cliff hanger, but I'm pretty good about updating, so you won't have to wait long. That was the semi-romantic walk through the snow (well, as romantic as you can get with Minerva McGonagall and Tom Riddle). The next chapter will have some slightly more exciting parts to it. Also, thank you so much for the reviews - 8 last chapter! You guys are pretty great. I'll hopefully have the next chapter up in a day or two. I wonder what they saw...

Review!