Chapter Six

Tom and Hermione were walking back towards Hogwarts as the sun set, hand in hand. He had taken ahold of her appendage as they stepped out of the Hog's Head just the same way Avery had taken one of the other girl's-a Penny Brooks-in his. She'd seen Avery give Tom a wink when he did it, but pretended not to. Now the two of them had broken away from the others and were currently walking alone.

"I've never seen anyone stand up to Lu, before, Hermione," Tom said as he squeezed her hand appreciatively. "I think you really gave her a surprise."

"Yes, well I meant what I said," Hermione told him. "I have always made a formidable rival."

"Rival, is it?" he chuckled. "And you do know what it was she wants to be your rival for?"

Blushing, Hermione replied, "She perceives me as a threat to her position within your group, I'd imagine. To date, she probably has been able to say and do whatever she likes. She may have even been sitting beside you instead of Abraxis Malfoy at some point, if I don't miss my guess-"

"Yes, she has sat by me," he agreed. "But never by my invitation. I'd like to make that distinction."

"Be that as it may," said Hermione, avoiding further inspection of the fact, "she thinks I'm trying to take her place, and she doesn't like it."

"Are you, then?" Tom wanted to know as he stopped and turned her to face him, putting two fingers under her chin to turn her face up to his.

"Am I what?"

"Trying to take her place?" he clarified.

Hermione could feel the heat coming off of his body as he said this, and she fought hard to overcome an urge to melt right against him and accept the kisses she could tell he wanted to give. But she schooled her features as she turned and began to walk again.

"Why should she care what I do, anyway?" she pointed out. "She's not even in school anymore, she shouldn't even be concerned with me."

Tom didn't bother to point out that she was evading his inquiry, and instead just followed behind her as she continued trekking toward the castle. "She's concerned because she never has to go get a job, so she has all the time in the world to continue to cavort with her peers. To tell the truth, I'm certain she even looks down on me, since one day I'll be a member of the working class as well."

"And what's so wrong with being a member of the working class?" Hermione wanted to know. "I find it far more respectable than going around bragging about blood purity and status and the like. Oh, sorry, I forgot that you probably agree with her."

"Not entirely," Tom said, starting to sound winded by the pace she'd set. He reached out and grasped her hand, slowing her down a bit. "But sometimes a man has to accept what he does not truly agree with just to get ahead in this world. Blood purity is an ideal that is prevalent now, even in the Muggle world. They are even waging war over it as we speak."

"Yes, but what has a silly Muggle war got to do with us?" Hermione asked, more to discover his true thoughts than to express any opinion of her own.

"It has everything to do with us," he told her. "Do you not see how much damage the Muggles are doing to themselves because of this division? How they are taking sides, and killing off all the young men who were supposed to father more children and keep their bloodlines going? It makes no sense to me. Don't you think that it would be better if everyone in the world had a place, and knew their position within the scheme of things? If I were in charge of the world, I'd make sure that all this chaos finally found a bit of order, both in the Wizarding world and the Muggle. Every person knowing their place, and doing what they were meant to do, just like a well-oiled machine."

"Well, Tom, the world doesn't work that way," Hermione told him. "There will always be chaos. There will always be people stepping out of their 'place', as you put it, because they want to make more of themselves than what they are by birth. You can't simply wave your wand and change that, no matter what you do."

"I don't know," he disagreed. "I believe that if one tried hard enough, they could set everything right. The only trouble is, sometimes in order to fix something, first you have to destroy it completely. It's an unfortunate truth."

"No, I don't think so," she said as she turned her head away. Tom, not to be deprived of seeing her eyes, turned her face to his again, moving a bit closer this time.

"So you don't think it can happen?" he asked in a velvety voice. "Apparently that means that Hitler did not succeed."

"He did not," she confirmed. "And it's a good thing, too. Don't you know how foolish it would be if someone were to eradicate so much of the gene pool? More than one species has died off because of the lack of adaptability."

"So I guess you studied Muggle history then?" he inquired.

"Yes, I did," she said. "And you must have done, too, since you lived in the Muggle world until you were eleven."

"But surely you were not required to learn Muggle history during your youth?" he asked, but the question held little meaning for him since he had brought her face even closer, so that their noses were almost touching.

Hermione laughed and whirled away from him, walking briskly toward the castle again. Tom had to practically run to keep up with her.

"Hermione, wait," he called after her. "You didn't tell me why you had to study Muggle history. You know I'll wriggle it out of you, one way or another."

"I'm not supposed to disclose the future, not even to you," she said with a giggle as he tried to catch her arm but missed. He tried a second time with more success.

"Then how about the present?"

"What do you mean?" she asked, trying not to smile as he pulled her against him.

"Tell me how much you want to kiss me," he whispered into the top of her hair.

"I don't," she lied.

"Not even a little?" he asked as he buried his face in her curls and kissed the top of her head.

"Not even a little," she confirmed, though now her heart was racing and she was certain he could feel it thudding against his own.

"Liar," he said, then let her go and started to race towards the school again, looking back at her with a grin.

Hermione chuckled as she realized he could have caught her all along.