Disclaimer: don't own.
That's what happened in chapter 6:
"Look..." Hermione decided to butt in. "It's not really important, is it? I mean, they are just going to a ball together."
"But this can lead to much more." Abraxas said disgruntedly. "With who are you going with anyway? I hope, it's not another Hufflepuff?"
Tom looked intently at her and Hermione averted her eyes. "Uhm... not important. You'll see then."
"But I'm curious." Abraxas persisted. "We can't have another Slytherin date a Hufflepuff."
"Well... he is not a Hufflepuff; he is a Slytherin." Hermione tried to sound soothing.
"But who is it?" Tom asked, giving her a strange look.
On with the story:
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"You look absolutely stunning." Draco exclaimed when Hermione descended the stairs to the common room. He gave her a brief kiss on the lips. They were among the last ones who left for the dance; Hermione had wanted to avoid Tom at all costs. Still, there was no escaping from him in the Great hall. She didn't know why she wanted to avoid him though.
"Thank you." Hermione blushed. "And so do you, Draco."
"Well, the Malfoys are known for their good looks." Draco joked and Hermione rolled her eyes.
"Just don't forget that you are a Lumiere now."
"Fine." Draco pouted as they made their way through the dark hallways to the Great Hall.
"I still can't believe that Riddle is going with McGonnagal; a Gryffindor of all people." Hermione smirked.
Draco sighed. "Obviously he is far from thrilled."
"I wouldn't be thrilled either, if I had to dance with mc Gonnagal." The two time-travellers laughed loudly at that.
"Hey, do you remember when Ron had to dance with the old version?" Hermione giggled. "In preparation for the Yule Ball?"
"Uhm what?" Draco was confused.
"Don't you rem..." but then Hermione's brain made click. "Oh, you didn't know it because you were in Slytherin. Mc Gonnagal showed us how to dance – before the Yule Ball in fourth year – and Ron had to dance with her. It was hilarious."
Draco started laughing hysterically. "Oh no... Weasel's face...I would have loved to have caught a glimpse of it. It must have been crazy."
"It was." Hermione grinned. "The Weasley twins never let him forget it." They were now in the entrance hall where people were still assembled looking for the partners from other houses.
Draco offered Hermione his arm. "Would you like to go inside, now?"
She took a deep breath. "Okay."
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The Great Hall was magnificent. Dimmed lighting, glittering walls, pumpkins floating everywhere, live bats and fairies. Several smaller tables were assembled in the hall, seating 8 people. Hermione had the feeling that several people were staring at her. "Where are we going to sit?" Hermione whispered, mortified.
Luckily, Draco was spared answering, as Harry almost glided towards them, wearing an elegant black tux with a white crisp linen shirt and a white tie.
"Wow." Hermione smiled at him. "I've never seen you look so dashing."
"Thank you. But I must admit you look rather stunning, yourself." Harry went red.
"Hey, Potter." Draco said through clenched teeth. "Enough with the chitchat. Have you saved us a seat?"
"Sure." Harry turned on his heel and walked to a table which was next to the table where Tom and Minerva were sitting with the school prefects.
Holy sh...!
Hermione almost stumbled when she caught sight of the young Dark Lord. He looked absolutely perfect. No Draco, no Harry and no Abraxas could compare. And especially no Ron and no Victor Krum. Hermione quickly closed her mouth when she noticed that she was actually staring open-mouthed at him.
"This is Elladora Greengrass." Harry motioned towards his date who was already sitting at a half full table. "She is a Slytherin fifth year. Elladora, meet my sister Hermione and my friend..." Harry almost choked on the word. "Draco Lumiere."
Hermione shook hands with the relatively average looking girl, who had a beautiful smile though, and sat down next to a Ravenclaw boy she knew from her arithmancy class. When Draco sat down next to her, he introduced himself politely.
"My name is Ethan Goldstein." He shook hands with Draco who glared at him though. How friendly. Hermione could have rolled her eyes.
"Draco Lumiere." Draco ground out, eyeing the Ravenclaw distastefully.
Ethan was about to say something else, when Tom and Minerva stood up and the students fell silent immediately.
"Welcome to our annual Halloween Ball!" Tom said, smiling, or rather smirking down at the students in front of him. "It took the Headgirl and me – as well as the prefects..."
But Hermione couldn't take in a word he was saying. Her gaze rested on his perfectly coiffed hair (how she would love to run her fingers through it and untangle it into something wild), his stormy dark blue, almost grey eyes, which held so much depth, his white even teeth (almost as perfect as Fleur's), his full kissable lips. Her eyes travelled downwards. The black elegant tux he was wearing fit perfectly and Hermione briefly wondered what was beneath this.
She didn't notice, that they had sat back down again and that the table in front of her was filled with various delicious things. Only when Draco asked her: "Potatoes, Hermione?" did she snap back to the present.
"What was the matter with you?" Draco asked with a frown.
"Nothing." Hermione grumbled angrily, when she noticed that Tom was smiling to the girl next to him. "Just lost in thought."
She knew it was her task to befriend the Dark Lord; even seduce him. But would he even like her? Maybe, she wasn't his type. Or maybe she was. HE was her type, alright and she would love to get to know him better. But it was proven harder than she thought; especially with a jealous lover with platinum blonde hair.
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Some time later on the dance floor:
A life swing band was playing and most of the Hogwarts students were dancing vigorously. Draco was a good dancer, Hermione was not surprised. Harry's two left feet were more endearing than embarrassing. She even had a dance with McNair, Zabini, Abraxas Malfoy and Ethan who all couldn't be compared to Draco; except maybe Abraxas.
"Meeting tomorrow at 5:00 pm in the room I showed you." Mc Nair, dressed immaculately in emerald green robes leant towards Draco conspicuously. "You'd do well to remember that, Lumiere. He doesn't tolerate tardiness, especially newcomers can't get away with it."
Draco nodded and when McNair turned away, Hermione turned to her date. "Excuse me. What was THAT about?"
To say that Draco looked ashamed would be an understatement of the century. Luckily a slow dance came up and Draco leant closer so that he could whisper. "Well... Tom asked me to be part of the followers... and I couldn't refuse."
"Of course you couldn't." Hermione said thoughtfully. "I think it's quite good, actually; so you can spy on them."
"That was my intention." Draco smiled one of his real smiles and Hermione melted. "And Scarheads..."
"What? Harry is also part of the death eaters?" Hermione asked, almost tripping over her own shoes. "Really?"
"Well, what did you expect? He is a Slytherin, too." Draco lowered his voice. "You should be glad that you are a girl; there are only boys in the group."
"Figures." Hermione mumbled.
"Trust me, It's better this way."
"Of course." Hermione scoffed. "So, will it be your first meeting?"
"Yes." Draco answered and his eyes suddenly went hard and cold as ice. Hermione sensed him, before she could actually hear his voice.
"Mister Lumiere." Tom said as politely as humanly possible. "May I cut in?"
Draco scowled, but couldn't refuse and therefore stepped aside. Tom immediately took Hermione's hand and her waist and smiled at her. Oooops; her heart was beating frantically; it would be a miracle if Tom couldn't hear it, even over the music. "Are you enjoying the dance so far, Hermione?"
"Very much." Hermione answered breathlessly. Stupid stupid stupid. Why did she have to be so breathless? "You?"
"Me too." Tom still smiled. "Although I would have preferred to have gone there with another partner. Pity."
Hermione turned away from his scorching gaze to the live group who were playing 40s music - some sort of slow swing – and noticed that they were only male. Not that it mattered... she just needed to get distracted from his closeness, his body heat and his ...
Tom leaned closer towards her, while still steering her. His hot breath tickled her ear and she felt goosebumps all over her body – NOT from fear. "They are called WizTyc." Hermione could hear his smile in his voice. "A wizarding group, obviously. Not my type; they are playing the same songs over and over again."
Wow. "That's what I thought too." Hermione smiled at her dancing partner. "Not very creative."
"Not really no."
"But then again; they've already been playing for an hour." Hermione said thoughtfully.
"But then, Glenn Miller and his orchestra can play for two and a half hours straight... playing only half of what they usually..." but Hermione interrupted him, surprised.
"You know Glenn Miller?"
Tom seemed uncomfortable; he had let something slip which wasn't intentional and he berated himself for it. "Yes, I do." came Tom's curt voice.
"I know him too." Hermione smiled at him. "He is really good!"
"You know him too?" Tom was surprised. "But he is a Muggle artist."
"I know." Hermione rolled her eyes. "AAAAAAND?"
"I thought... since you are a Delacour and a pureblood you wouldn't know these things..."
"Oh. My parents have brought us up with respect for the Muggle community. In fact, we visited museums, went out to restaurants, pubs and cafes, took muggle transport and went to the cinema and concerts... Glenn Miller was one of them." Hermione said very fast. She had to show him that the Muggle World wasn't all that bad. "I liked these trips to the muggleworld." Hermione went on. "They were something special. Besides, no one knew us there."
Tom grimaced; it almost looked like a smile. "Nice."
"How do YOU know about Glen Miller, then?" Hermione asked daringly and tried to play dumb. "Since you are a pureblood."
Tom didn't seem to want to answer at first, but then he shook his head. "Okay, Hermione, here is the thing... I'm a half blood."
Hermione tried to act surprised, which wasn't hard. She hadn't expected him to tell her.
"Please don't tell anyone." Tom couldn't keep the danger out of his voice, but Hermione smirked.
"Why should I tell anyone?" She shook her head. "Besides, what's so bad about being a halfblood?"
Tom answered through gritted teeth. "You are right; better than a mudblood."
"There is no need to use these expressions in front of a lady." Hermione scolded him and shuddered at the tone he used. "Besides, I've already told you; I don't care what blood status you have; we've mingled with the muggle world – and they are just like us... almost."
Tom said nothing, only looked at her appraisingly.
"Come outside with me." Tom said commandingly.
"Why?" Hermione looked for Draco, but unfortunately, he was nowhere to be seen.
"It's stuffy in here." was Tom's easy answer.
"Could we get a drink first? I'm really thirsty." Hermione said quietly, looking up at him from below her lashes.
"Of course." Tom's polite manner kicked in again. He held out his arm and steered her away from the dancefloor towards the bar.
"What would you like? Some white wine?"
"Are we allowed to drink alcohol?" Hermione was surprised. In the future, the Yule Ball had only offered non-alcoholic beverages.
"Of course." Tom looked at her strangely. He smiled. "I'll take a butterbeer, if that makes you feel better."
"Okay, fine. I'll have a glass of white wine then." Hermione conceded.
"Hermione." A voice called out behind her, when Tom was ordering the drinks. Draco, Harry and Elladora were walking towards her. "We were looking everywhere for you." Draco said accusingly, glaring at Tom's back.
"We were on the dancefloor..." Hermione trailed off self-consciously, when Tom appeared with the drinks.
"Your wine, Hermione." he handed her the glass of wine and turned to Draco, an easy smirk on his handsome face. "I will take her outside to the gardens. No need to wait for her; I'll take good care of her."
Oooops. Hermione went beetred.
"What? She is my date!" Draco growled.
"She will accompany me outside, Lumiere." Tom said through clenched teeth. "Whether you like it or not."
"You came here with McGonnagal; I came here with Hermione." Draco spat. "So I will take her back to the dorms."
At that moment, Professor Merrythought walked by and Tom's face slipped into a polite mask. "Take her back, fine with me. All I am asking is to borrow her for 20 minutes for a walk outside. We do need to discuss a few things. Would you grant me that wish? I promise you, I'll bring her back in one piece."
Draco looked helpless and Harry obviously felt sorry for him. Probably for the first and last time of his life. "May we come with you, Mister Riddle? After all, we could also do with some fresh air."
"No, you may not. Enough. Hermione and I are going to go outside, because we need to discuss something ALONE. We'll meet you back here in 20 minutes." And with that he swept Hermione away; Hermione letting him.
A/N: Hope you enjoyed it. What will happen in the garden? Stay tuned :)