A/N: Thank you so much for your reviews, I'm happy you're enjoying the story :)
Thanks to Sue for beta reading
On Saturday they had breakfast at Hogwarts, but then Hermione and Draco got ready for going home.
Since Hermione had paid exactly zero attention to the egg so far, she went to her dorm to retrieve it before they left. Maybe she would have some time during the weekend to dedicate to the riddle the answer to which was supposed to give her a hint for the Second Task.
While she took the egg from the corner she had left it, she noticed Pansy sitting on her bed, alone and uncharacteristically quiet.
"Is everything alright?"
Pansy shrugged. "It is, I guess. I just don't really know what to do."
Draco was waiting outside in the common room, but he could wait a few minutes. Something obviously wasn't quite right here.
Hermione sat down next to her friend and looked at her. "What's wrong?"
She sighed "You know I told Greg I'd go to the ball with him?"
"Yes, he was really happy about it." She knew they just wanted to go as friends, but at least he had abandoned his plan not to go at all.
"I know." She sighed and eyed Hermione critically. "You can't laugh."
"I would never!"
"Ron Weasley asked me today, if I wanted to go with him."
"Weasley?"
Pansy glared at her.
"No, no, I'm not going to laugh. I'm just … surprised. I didn't know you like each other."
"Well, he's not so bad. He does have a certain charm, you know."
They had gotten along ever since their third year, but Hermione wasn't sure she agreed with him having a certain charm. However, she didn't have to. Pansy obviously liked him and that was what mattered. And Hermione understood that this was indeed a difficult situation.
"What did you tell Ron?"
"The truth. He understood," she said sadly. "But he was disappointed."
"Ok, maybe we'll find another way. Greg is such a nice guy, there has to be someone who wants to go to the ball with him. We still have a few weeks. But I have to go now. We'll talk tomorrow when we're back, ok?"
Pansy gave her a small smile and nodded. "Ok. Thanks."
When she left the dorm, Draco was already waiting for her in the common room. "What took you so long?"
"I'll tell you later." She gave him a quick kiss. They had kissed a few times, but it was still as exciting as it had been the first time, the day after they had confessed their feelings for each other. Draco had heard about her detention and how exactly that had come to pass and then he had just kissed her. Since then, it was hard to get enough. Draco smiled brightly at her before turning to the entrance.
"You know, you two are already unbearable."
She turned around once more and smirked at her cousin. "Go find a date for yourself, Theo, you're just jealous."
"I'm working on it. But I remember someone saying 'I always wanted a sister' when you moved in with him. What happened to that, Draco?"
Draco just rolled his eyes, took her hand and pulled her out of the common room. "He'll never let me live that one down."
She giggled. "Nope, it's going to haunt you forever."
Laughing, still holding hands, they entered Snape's office. Their teacher was brewing some kind of potion, looked up, rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to the cauldron.
"It's nice to see you, too, Severus."
"Hmm."
"Why is everyone so frustrated?" Hermione asked with a small grin.
"No idea."
"Didn't you want to leave?" Snape pointedly looked at the fireplace.
"Alright, alright, we know when we're not welcome." Draco took the floo powder.
"I doubt that you do."
"Malfoy Manor." The flames turned green and Draco turned to her, still smiling. "After you."
They went upstairs and Hermione left the golden egg in her sitting room, let Noodles out of the bag, which she left, too, and then they went in search of the others.
As usual, both Hermione and Draco tried the library first, where they found her father and Abraxas Malfoy, who were busy discussing or rather arguing about some ancient tome and the translation thereof.
It took the two of them a moment to notice them. "There they are. How was detention?" Abraxas smirked at her and Hermione gave a dramatic sigh.
"I'm pretty sure the trophy room has never been so clean."
When her father opened his mouth, Abraxas cut him off. "I don't think you have a right to comment."
He looked genuinely offended. "I never had detention, not once."
"Oh, I know. But just because you weren't caught."
Draco chuckled and looked at her. "You should work on that."
"No, she should work on not doing anything to deserve detention."
She looked at her father with raised eyebrows. "What happened to 'thank you for just using a Stinging Jinx'?"
They spent the day with some training, although she had the feeling that both her father and Lucius went a bit easier on her for a change, either because she had done so well during the First Task or to allow her to enjoy some time with Draco.
Lucius and Narcissa went out for dinner, so it was only her, Draco, her father and Abraxas eating at home. When she was done eating, she left Draco with the other two to finally have a look at the egg.
She sat down on the sofa and examined it. It was completely smooth, except for the groove in the middle and the small hinges holding it close.
"What are you going to do with it?" Noodles stretched out and, holding onto her neck, took a closer look.
"Open it, I guess."
She opened the hinges, dug her nails into the groove and prised the egg open. To her disappointment, it was hollow and completely empty and as soon as it was open, a deafening screeching noise emerged. That was how Hermione imagined the wail of a Banshee to sound and she quickly closed the egg again.
Noodles looked at her. "I don't think that was helpful."
"Thank you. I wouldn't have guessed."
She heard quick footsteps from the hallway and the door was pushed open. When she looked up, she saw that both her father and Draco standing in the door, holding their wands. Abraxas, with his bad leg, followed a bit more slowly, but he did come.
"What was that?" Draco asked, looking at her in bewilderment.
She smirked. "What did you think? That a Banshee attacked me?" She opened the egg again and it immediately started wailing once more until she closed it.
Her father grinned. "I better go. Before I say anything that could be interpreted as help."
"You know what it is?"
"I may." With that he turned on his heels and left the room.
"If he knows that as well as the correct interpretation of the Ancient Greek spells we read earlier, it's better that he can't say anything."
Tom Riddle's footsteps in the hallway stopped and Hermione could only guess that he turned back around. "My interpretation was perfectly correct."
"You still can't admit it when you're wrong."
"I can admit that just fine. I just won't do it when I'm actually right, just to make you feel better."
Hermione and Draco exchanged a grin as Abraxas followed his old friend back outside and their back and forth became muffled as the door fell close.
"My goodness, I wonder …"
"Draco, if you're going to say anything inappropriate now, go outside and tell the peacocks. I don't want to hear it."
He laughed and sat down on the sofa next to her. As he put an arm around her just below were Noodles hung loosely around her shoulders, she leaned against him and smiled. It was nice to be able to do that.
"You've got time for that." He nodded towards the egg.
"I know, I just don't want to wait until the last minute. Bagman said that if we figure it out, we can prepare for the next task."
"I know. I wonder, if it's the sound that's the clue or if you have to do something with it to make it make sense."
"Like put a spell on it?"
"Yes, something like that. I just can't imagine a spell that would turn a Banshee cry into human speech"
She snorted. "That would be new to me, too."
"Maybe you have to find someone who can speak with Banshees, like Parsel, just for Banshee wails."
She grinned.
"Tell him he's an idiot."
"Noodles thinks you're an idiot."
"Thanks, Noodles. I'm sure you in all your wisdom know the answer to this riddle."
The Shinohebi remained silent.
Then she remembered something. "Oh, I wanted to tell you why it took me so long to get the egg earlier. Pansy was in the dorm. She has a problem."
"A serious one?"
"Well … it depends. I don't think you would like it, if I decided to ditch you for the ball to go with Greg?"
"She wants to go with someone else?"
"Yeah. Did you know she likes Ron Weasley?"
At the comically surprised look on his face, she guessed that he hadn't known.
"He asked her to go with him, but that was after she asked Greg. And now she doesn't know what to do."
He shrugged. "We need to find someone for Greg. It can't be that hard. I mean, he'd do everything to make it great for her."
"Suggestions, Mr Problem-Solver?"
"What about that Gryffindor girl? What's her name? Lavender?"
"The one who almost got you killed because she squealed at a Hippogriff?" She raised her head from his shoulder for a few seconds to look at him sceptically.
"Haha. Ok, maybe not her. What about one of the Parvati twins? They seem alright. Or Sarina Gordon?"
Those were actually pretty good suggestions. The Parvati twins didn't seem to be too judgmental towards Slytherins. And Sarina was a third year Slytherin. Hermione liked her and maybe the prospect of being able to go to the ball at all would help. "I don't agree with Noodles. You're not an idiot."
The next morning when Hermione came to the breakfast table – as usual Draco was not there yet, but everyone else was – all four of the adults seemed to be in a pretty dark mood. Her father was holding the Prophet.
"Good morning. What's wrong?" She sat down and poured herself some tea.
"Before you look at this," Lucius said as she eyed the paper. "I'll have you know that 'the Malfoys think' that their lawyer will pay the Prophet a visit on Monday. In my company. So don't worry too much about it."
"Ok?"
Her father handed her the paper. There weren't any new photos, just neutral, separate ones of her, Draco, Viktor, Blaise and Vincent.
The headline read "Is Miss Riddle Playing Cruel Games with the Heart of Draco Malfoy?"
Dear Reader, the budding romance between the Malfoy heir and Hermione Riddle has warmed this author's heart as much as yours. As it seems, however, she is not as dedicated as we may have thought. Within the last week only, she has been seen together with several other young men, namely her fellow champion Viktor Krum and her housemates, Blaise Zabini and Vincent Crabbe. Reliable sources have also informed me that she is quite close to none other than Harry Potter. It sadly seems, dear reader, that she is as uncaring in regard to human emotions as her late father.
It stands to question what the Malfoys will think of this development. Will this callousness cost her her home? As the heir of one of the oldest wizarding families of Britain, not to mention their riches, Draco could have anyone. It sadly seems like he has made the wrong choice.
Hermione burst out laughing and it took her a moment to calm down enough to speak. "It seems I've been quite busy this week. I wonder how I managed to find time for one relationship and three to four affairs next to classes, homework and detention. Maybe I should get a Time Turner to make it easier."
Lucius smirked. "You took that quite well."
"Come on, no one in their right mind will take that seriously. It's also not thorough. I've talked to several more people throughout the week."
"It's still inappropriate to make suggestions like that about a teenager," Narcissa said.
"It is," her father agreed darkly.
"What's inappropriate?" Draco came into the room, looking only half-awake.
"Skeeter suggests I cheat on you with at least three, maybe four people." She took a bite of her croissant while he poured himself some coffee. Lately, he had started drinking coffee in the morning instead of tea. It didn't help to wake him up faster.
He frowned. "That sounds stressful."
Hermione laughed again. "Yeah, I was just thinking a Time Turner could help with that."
"I love it when you're thinking all practically." They smiled at each other before he finally took the Prophet, which was now lying on the table. "So you're now 'playing cruel games with my heart' as soon as you're talking to someone? Do I do the same when I talk to Daphne or Pansy?"
"Probably. Don't get caught." She frowned. "But how does she even know who we're talking to?"
"Maybe it's just a guess," Abraxas said. "Or she asked someone who you regularly spend time with. It's no secret you're friends with Vincent and Blaise. Or that you're with Igor and Krum a few times a week for training."
She nodded thoughtfully. "You're probably right."
"There you are!" When they came back to the Slytherin common room this evening, Vincent came towards them. "Hermione and I didn't do anything, Draco, I swear!"
"Relax, I know that."
He looked so relieved that Hermione felt sorry for him. It seemed like he had been stressed out about that all day.
"Really, Vince, don't worry," Draco added, probably coming to the same conclusion. "I know neither of you would do anything like that."
"Nice of you to include me," Blaise interrupted, but other than Vincent, he didn't seem troubled at all as he was half sitting, half lying on the sofa, reading a Quidditch magazine.
"That's because I'm not so sure about you," Draco joked and earned himself a rude gesture from Blaise.
"Are Lucius and Narcissa going to do anything about it?" Theo asked and Hermione nodded.
"Yes, Lucius is going to the Prophet tomorrow. With his lawyer."
"Nice. That will shut her up."
"Probably. But no one is going to believe that nonsense anyway."
"Are you sure?" Pansy gave her a pointed look. "Those are the same people who believe that your father's nose fell off at some point."
She did have a point.
"Anyway." Pansy smiled brightly. "Greg has some good news."
Both Hermione and Draco looked at him expectantly.
Greg actually blushed a little, but gave a small smile. "I met this girl yesterday. She's from Ravenclaw and I was outside, just taking a walk, and she was barefoot." Hermione and Draco exchanged a look. It was a typical Scottish winter which meant it was bloody cold. "She asked, if I had seen her shoes because her housemates always hide them and lately often outside. That's pretty mean, isn't it? I mean, it's freezing. I told her to wait inside and I looked for her shoes and she was so happy when I found them for her. And we talked a bit and … you know, I knew Pansy wanted to go to the ball with someone else, I didn't know whom, but I knew she asked me because I didn't want to go at all anymore. So I asked this girl, if she wanted to go and she said yes!"
"That's great!" Hermione beamed at him. "What's her name?"
"Luna Lovegood. She's in her third year, but Snape said that we could invite someone younger, didn't he?"
"He did." She was so happy for him! "Wait, is she the one who wears the Niffler earrings sometimes?"
"Yeah, that's her!"
"Then she's the one who told us about the Thestrals last year. She seemed nice." Nice and a bit strange. But at least she had been nice to Greg. Draco sat down in the last free armchair and Hermione, not wanting to stand around, just sat on his lap. His arms wrapped around her immediately.
Greg smiled, whether because he was happy for them or because he was thinking of Luna wasn't quite clear, but both was good. "She is! She loves Magical Creatures and knows all about them. Oh, and her father owns the Quibbler. It was probably him who sent you the edition you wanted a while ago."
"Yes! Now that you say it, his name was Lovegood." She couldn't quite remember the first name. "That's great, Gregory, I'm sure you'll have a great time."
And now, Pansy would, too.
At least that problem was solved. What remained was the egg.
A few days later, Hermione was alone in the girls' dorm, looking at the egg, trying to figure out how to solve the problem.
She opened it again and the wail was still as loud and just as unhelpful as before. But then she noticed something. Outside the window, Merpeople started to gather and two of them even pressed their webbed fingers against the glass, staring at her with large yellow eyes.
Merpeople! Of course! After she had been sorted into Slytherin and had seen her first Merperson through the window, she had read about them in the library and according to the book, their language sounded like a wail when they came to the surface, but very differently under water.
Smiling, she closed the egg, gave the Merpeople a grateful wave and left the dorm and the common room, just to enter Snape's office.
"You know I gave you the password so you can floo home during the weekends, not so you can just march in whenever you feel like it."
"Sorry, Sir! I got a bit carried away. But I have to floo home, I have to try something with the egg." She knew Pansy was taking a bath in the bathroom they shared and she didn't want to wait.
Without further ado, she took a handful of floo powder and when she stepped out of the fireplace, Snape followed.
"You know, you and Draco need to learn to grasp the concept of leaving school grounds without permission."
"Sorry," she said again and hurried upstairs. On her way, she walked past the library, where her father and Nagini just came out.
"What are you doing here?"
"I think I know how to solve the egg riddle."
He smiled as she continued her way to her suite and to the main bathroom, followed by both men, with Snape complaining to her father.
She ignored them and sat down on the edge of the large bathtub and turned on the faucet. When the tub was full, she dunked the egg into the water and opened it. A quick glance to the door showed that Nagini had wrapped around her father so she could see better.
This time the egg didn't wail, instead a chorus of voices started singing.
Come seek us where our voices sound,
We cannot sing above the ground,
And while you're searching, ponder this:
We've taken what you'll sorely miss,
An hour long you'll have to look,
And to recover what we took,
But past an hour – the prospect's black
Too late, it's gone, it won't come back.
She closed the egg and turned around, grinning. Snape looked at her with raised eyebrows, her father with a knowing smile. So he had guessed right.
"It's the voices of Merpeople," Hermione explained, mainly to her teacher. "They sound like wailing out of water, but under water like an actual language."
"How did you figure it out?" Her father asked.
"I listened to the wail again when I was alone in the dorm and several Merpeople gathered around the window. And then I remembered that I had read about the voices of Merpeople in first year. I wanted to know more about them after I first saw one of them."
"You're lucky the Slytherin common room and dorms are under the lake."
"I am! It's a bit of an advantage, I guess." She thought for a moment. "So they'll take something, doesn't really matter what, and I'll have to get it back. If they have it, it has to be in Black Lake and if I have an hour, I need to find a way not to drown while trying to find it." It was another stroke of luck that her boyfriend was obsessed with potions. She had been with him this summer when he had bought potions ingredients for his personal use, not for school. And he had explained the use and characteristics of some of the ingredients they hadn't covered in class yet. She looked at her teacher with a smile. "Professor, do you have Gillyweed in your stocks?"
Now Snape actually looked impressed. "I do. And yes, you can have some. Remind me to give you ten points when we're back at school."
~tbc~
