Chapter Two

The group made their way to the library and entered the secret door that Hermione did yesterday. Their fathers weren't there yet so they chose their seats. But Hermione and Draco had to sit near the seats of Tom Riddle and Lucius Malfoy. While their other friends were at the far end of the table, the couple was talking to each other.

"So… That Patrick is hot, huh?" Draco asked.

"Uh, yeah. Why?"

"Oh, nothing. Did you ever like 'im?"

Hermione looked at her boyfriend who was acting weird. "Are you jealous?"

"What? Of course not! I just wanted to ask. So… Did you?"

Hermione reached for Draco's face. "No, I didn't, Draco. I'm not that kind of girl who likes really old guys. And c'mon, why would I waste my time on a nineteen year old when I have…" And she kissed him. "You?"

Draco kissed Hermione again and they started snogging but ended right away when they heard steps from the opposite side of the door approaching. Every teenager in the room stopped talking, laughing and stopped whatever they were doing. They were all silent and stood up straight from their seats. Their fathers entered and sat on the right seats. They all acknowledged each other. Tom Riddle nodded his head and everyone sat down. "Let us begin. Lucius."

"Thank you, my Lord." Lucius stood up from his seat. "As you all know, we have moved everything to an earlier date. We will have the annual ball on Sunday, the ceremony for the dark mark tomorrow and the last training for the children tonight."

"Will there be tasks for the children after they get their mark?" The father of Pansy asked.

"Yes, there will be. But we will give it to them after the ceremony." Lucius answered. "Now, it has come to our attention that two of our future death eaters will be the head girl and head boy this upcoming school year. For head girl we have our Lord's daughter, Miss Hermione Riddle and for head boy we have my son, Draco Malfoy. With their title, we will have an easier way to get into Hogwarts."

Hermione and Draco looked at each other. "Anything you would like to share?" Tom Riddle asked the two teenagers.

"Well father, we accept that we have to help you in. We just thought how we could do it." Hermione answered.

"You'll find a way. I know you will." Tom said. The couple nodded.

"That is all we will have to talk about right now. The next meeting for everyone is tomorrow two hours after the ceremony. For now, the children may leave and will have their training at five o'clock in the afternoon and will end at eight in the evening." Lucius said.

Just as the teenagers started to rise, "Hermione, I would like you to have a meeting in the library with your fellow teenagers. You are to talk about your plans for the upcoming year and you are to share it with us tomorrow at the meeting." Riddle said.

"Yes, father." Hermione nodded and stood up and so did the others. They made their way out of the secret room and into the library and settled on a table. As soon as everyone was seated Hermione started the meeting. "Okay, well… I guess we all know that I'm going to start being with you guys more this year."

"Yeah. Hey, are you staying in Slytherin now?" Blaise asked.

"As much as I would want to, I can't. McGonagall doesn't know a thing about this. She doesn't know I'm a Riddle. She knows just as much as the next person. So I have to stay with the Gryffindors."

"So how do you hang out with us?"

"Well that's easy. I just avoid them and pay attention to all of you. Plus, since Draco and I are heads, we have our own tower."

"That's true. Whenever any of us get a new task or we have to have a meeting, it will be easy for us." Draco said. And Hermione and the others nodded.

"What about you guys? How will you let them in?" Theodore asked the two.

"Well, we'll have to talk about it first later then we'll tell you guys." Draco said.

"Okay. I have a question for everyone." Pansy said.

"What is it, Pans?" Hermione asked.

Pansy bit her bottom lip and looked around. "Is it just me or are we all scared to get our mark?"

Hermione sighed. "You're not alone, pancakes." Then she went to her best friend and put her arm around her shoulders and kissed her head. "You're not alone."

"I'm scared too." Millicent said and joined the hug.

A lot of 'me too's and 'scared like hell's followed and everyone laughed. They were all scared and nervous to get the mark that each of them was born to have.

---

A little later, the kids were found playing in the Quidditch pitch that the Riddle's had at their backyard. Hermione hid her love for Quidditch in Hogwarts since she decided to focus on her studies and being best friends with Harry Potter. Then when she got home to her manor during breaks, she used some of her time in the pitch with her friends. She was a great seeker and her opponent was always none other than Draco Malfoy.

It was a match between the boys and the girls. The scores were 60 – 60 and all everyone was waiting for was for one of the seekers catch the snitch.

"Aw, c'mon Drakie! Leave the snitch to your gorgeous girlfriend!" Hermione said.

"In your dreams, darling." Draco said as he sped up to the snitch.

…Well he did. Until he found it no longer in front of him. Behind him, he could hear Hermione laughing. "Looking for this, darling?" Hermione laughed as she showed him the snitch in between her fingers.

Draco couldn't believe this girl. He would never admit it but she was better than him at Quidditch and he kind of idolized her. After admitting it silently in his mind, he flew towards his girlfriend and kissed her. She kissed him back and as she was just about to snake her arms around his neck, Draco got the snitch, ended the kiss and flew down.

"You're going to pay, Draco Malfoy!" Hermione shouted as she flew down. Their friends were laughing at them and she was having fun. Draco landed and so did Hermione. She climbed onto his back and Draco held her legs and Hermione put her arms around his neck. "I love you." Hermione whispered sweetly and kissed his ear.

"Good." Draco smiled and kissed her hand.

Hermione smiled and Draco carried her on his back to the inside of the house, their friends following them. As they entered, Tom Riddle greeted them. "Well, hello. Good game?"

"Yup!" Hermione said as she got off Draco's back.

"You riding young Malfoy's back reminds me of myself when I rode you on mine." Tom smiled.

Hermione smiled at her father and hugged him. "I remember those times too."

"I hope you don't mind, young ones but I will steal my daughter from all of you right now. We have to spend some time together."

"No problem, sir. See you later, Mai-mai." Pansy said.

"Shall we, dearest?" Tom said as he extended an arm for Hermione. Hermione took his arm and they walked to Hermione's own library that was near her wing.

As soon as they entered, Hermione went to her favorite loveseat out of the three that were there and her father followed her.

"Hermione, I know this is hard for you."

"What is, father?"

"You know what. You're going to stop acting friends with them in school, you're going to fight them at the war. You know, I might have been gone for awhile but I never forget how it feels to lose a friend or to let go of one against your own will."

"First of all, I chose to ignore them, father. No one did for me. Second, father, who did you have to let go?" Hermione wondered. Her father never told her that story.

Tom looked at her and sighed. "Hermione, when I was in Hogwarts, I didn't have a lot of friends aside from the ones I still have now. But outside of Hogwarts, Hermione, I had a best friend named Samuel. He was a muggle and I didn't care much at first. My father told me that I should never be in contact with him and I didn't want to disappoint him so I listened to him." Tom let out another sigh. "Samuel was a good friend. If it wasn't for him, I never would have met your… Real mother."

Hermione felt like crying whenever her father mentioned her biological mother. She loved Blanche would be nothing compared to the love of Hermione to Tamara, her real mother and her father's first wife. She died two years after Hermione was born.

"C'mon, baby! Say it!" Tamara smiled at her two-year-old baby who was already standing.

"M-ma ma!" Hermione said with giggles, trying to walk her way to her mom who had her arms out for her. "D-d-daddy!" Hermione smiled as she saw her father approach her mother and he bent down just next to her mother and he smiled – something that was very usual as long as he was with his two favorite girls.

"That's my girl! C'mon over here." Tom said.

Hermione walked to her mother and when she was nearing her parents, she ran to her father's arms and they hugged each other. "Ma ma!" Hermione smiled and her mother joined in the hug.

"My baby's first walk!" Tamara smiled.

That was the last memory Hermione had of her mother. The others were vague memories and one memory that she tried to forget was the night she found her father crying on his bed, her mother nowhere to be found.

Hermione approached her father, two weeks after her first walk. She saw that her father had his hands covering his face and she could hear sobbing. "Daddy?" Hermione said.

Her father took his hands out of his face and held the face of his beautiful baby girl. "Hermione, promise daddy you will never leave him, okay?" Tom said each world between sobs.

Hermione didn't speak a lot of words but she could understand them. She nodded and said, "Ma ma?"

Tom looked away and continued crying. He didn't like it that his daughter could see him crying. He covered his face again and continued crying. Hermione was young and didn't know what to do. She remembered that each time she cried, her mother or her father would kiss her and hug her and she'd feel better.

So she tried to take the hands of her father away from his face and kissed both his cheeks and hugged his waist. Tom tried to at least smile at his daughter but couldn't. "Ma ma?" Hermione said again.

"Mama won't be back, Hermione. Someone took her…"

"Ma ma?" It was all Hermione could say. Mama and Daddy were the only words she could say and she wished she could say more.

"Your mama's gone. She's said bye.. But don't worry, okay? You still have daddy and I will take care of you, Hermione. I love you." Tom said as he hugged his daughter.

Hermione tried her best to forget that memory but she couldn't. But truth be told, her father did take good care of her and she had the best friends a girl could have.

"May I remind you something, daddy?" Hermione said.

"Your mother?"

"You never told me-"

"I know. I haven't told you where she is or what really happened…" Tom said.

"All you ever told me was that she said bye. I don't even know what that means right now. Is she dead? Did she leave? What is it?"

Tom sighed. "Your mother never told me that she was once involved with a muggle – my friend Samuel. You know that I met your mother when I was ten and we got married at nineteen. We didn't talk much after we met but at 17, I met your mother after my graduation at Hogwarts. She never told me that she got involved with Samuel between the first year we met 'til that day. Apparently, she had gotten pregnant with Samuel's baby and kept it from me since she also came from a proud pureblooded family.

"My father found out about it and he told me bout it but I chose to ignore it because I loved your mother more than anything. Then came that night when your grandfather came to the house and said that he would talk to me. I knew what it was about so I told your mother to hide in our room. She did and my father kept me busy by talking to me about the most random things and I was beginning to forget about the whole thing with your mother.

"That's when I heard your mother scream and I ran to the room and was too late. She was already on the floor. Apparently, your grandfather brought a 'friend' to kill your mother. Your father killed her because she had a halfblooded child and he would be embarrassed if others found out. It was a very shallow reason to kill the love of his son's life. I was so angry and hurt. Then again, I was still thankful. 'Cause even though your mother's gone, I still have you to love. Then I met Blanche…" Tom finished his long story. Hermione was crying already and she hugged her father tight in her arms.

Her father smiled and pat Hermione's back. He made her face him and he kissed the tears that were falling from this gorgeous face. "Were you ashamed of mother too?" Hermione asked in between sobs.

"I was never ashamed of her then and I am still not ashamed of her now."

Hermione sobbed a little more and said, "I love you so much daddy."

"I love you too, baby girl. Stop crying, okay?" Tom said kissing the top of her head. A few moments later, Hermione stopped crying and her head was on Tom's shoulder. "Now, tell me. What is there between you and Young Malfoy?"

Hermione's face paled a bit and looked up at her dad who was looking back at her. She knew her father approved of Draco but she also knew that her father still loved her as his baby girl. "Um," Hermione stuttered.

"Hermione," Tom said accusingly.

"Well, we're serious. But not that serious yet-"

Tom looked at her with wide eyes and stood from his seat, "YET?! YOU'RE STILL A BABY. DAMN RIGHT YOU AREN'T THAT SERIOUS. YOU BETTER NOT BE ANYTIME SOON! IN FACT, NEVER BE THAT SERIOUS! YOU'RE STILL MY BABY GIRL!"

"Shush, daddy! This is a library! And yes, I'm still your baby girl but that doesn't mean I won't grow up, you know!" Hermione said frustrated.

Tom looked at her then he looked like he was thinking of something. "Fine. But if you're going to get 'that serious', we better-"

"No! No, no, no, no, no! I'm not having that talk! I know everything I should know! I'm not having sex talk with my dad! Ick!" Hermione stood up and started jumping.

"You know, you really took the side of your mother. You're just as weird as she was. Stop jumping." Tom said starting to laugh.

"I'm trying to take the thought of sex talk with my father out of my mind! Ugh! Ew, ew, ew, ew, ew!" Hermione said still jumping.

After five jumps later, Hermione finally got tired and sat back on the chair beside her father. "So, really Hermione. Do you love him? Is that the seriousness you were talking about?"

"Yes. I love him so much. He makes me happy. And he loves me too." Hermione smiled.

Tom looked down at his daughter who was again leaning on his shoulder. She was turning into such a beautiful girl who could've looked like the twin of her biological mother. "Then you have my blessing. I will talk to him though."

"Just don't scare him."

"I scare a lot of people."

"You don't scare me."

"You should."

"Why so?"

"I'm your father."

"So?"

"…Okay, fine. So you do take some part of myself. But you're still weird."

"I'm your daughter, aren't I?"

"Oh, hush. Let's go bring you to your friends. Your training starts in a bit."