Holiday From Real

When Bueno and I walked in we immediately look around. Jane, Jeff, Doug, T'uan, and Lazy Legs already have everything set up. Almost all thirty of us that got sucked in are here; the only people who aren't here are Eva, Pandora, Luna, Caroline, and Dave, and of course, Mr. Bozzi and Mr. Abar. The dungeon was practically filled with a bunch of Hogwarts kids; almost all of the Slytherins that pogoed with us the first night are here, and a lot of other Slytherins and Gryffindors are here. There are a few Ravenclaws, and maybe one or two Hufflepuffs; I know this because they're all still wearing their ties.

I took out the two bananas I took earlier from my breast pocket, handed Bueno one, and then peeled my own. He looked at me curiously, so I told him, "Whenever I have a banana you want some, but I'm hungry and don't feel like sharing, so I just got you one."

He laughed, thanked me, and started to eat his. We slowly walked up to the platform Jane some how got a hold of, threw away our peels in a trashcan behind the platform, and then walked up the few steps on the side so that we'd be on the platform. Jane caught sight of his and jogged over, "Are you guys ready? Everyone got here early, so they want to get going as soon as possible."

Bueno smirked while I said, "Hell yea, I've been lookin' forward to this all week."

"Alright!" Jane shouted and clapped her hands a few times. She walked to the middle front of the platform and clapped a few more times so that she'd have everyone's attention; once everyone was looking, she shouted, "Our lead singers are here! You guys ready?" Everyone clapped and shouted to indicate their approval; Jane looked over at Bueno and I and said, "Bozzi taught us how to use our wands as microphones." We took our wands out and tried the spell a couple of times until our wands acted like microphones. We pointed them at our throats and figured out how loud we need to be while Jane, Jeff, Doug, T'uan, and Lazy Legs grabbed their instruments, well, T'uan sat behind his; he plays the drums for us. T'uan and Lazy Legs aren't into punk rock, or rock in general, so we made a compromise; the show would have just as much hip-hop/rap as it does punk and general rock like music.

Bueno and I stood at the front of the platform, he stood towards the left side, and I stood towards the right side. Tyler Reanna and Fred Wills figured out how to magically work lights, so they slightly dimmed the lights above the crowd, but brightened the lights above us. "Alright, so for those of you who don't know," I smiled at Bueno, "we are Nervous Wreck," I laughed before adding, "our name will make sense once the show's over."

We started the show off with a few mild tempo songs, but once the Hogwarts kids got used to our sound we started to cover songs by The Sex Pistols, The Misfits, the old, still dope, AFI, The Vermin, Joan Jett, River City High, Hole, Garbage, Motley Crue, Poison, The Get Up Kids, Tiger Army, Rancid, The Murder City Devils/The Hookers, The Ramones, Bad Religion, Leftover Crack, Mazzy Star, Muderdolls, Flogging Molly, Porcelain and the Tramps, Screeching Weasel, Sonic Youth, Death Cab for Cutie, Saves the Day, and several bands that Jane plays with when we would do shows in Lane's Liquor Store's basement. We had everyone in the crowd pumped; Bueno and I continued to pogo while he shouted out, "You guys ready to hear some original shit by us?"

Everyone screamed, mostly to release some energy, but we took it as a yes. Bueno picked up a guitar while I cleared my throat, drank some water, and then started off our first song. We ended up performing every song off of our demo tape; they loved it. We thrashed around as much as possible up on stage; we didn't want to damage any of our instruments. The kids in the crowd pogoed, thrashed themselves around, and moshed; they did whatever the sound of our songs called for. Our friends sang along since they are already familiar with the songs, but the Hogwarts kids only sang along with the chorus' of songs.

Twelve thirty in the AM came around much too fast; it was a good thing no one was ready to leave yet anyway. I was about to start singing another song, but then T'uan stopped playing the drums and shouted, "Aye! It's time for a change up!"

Bueno and I nodded; I looked at the crowd and said, "T'uan and Lazy Legs here are gonna take over for a while."

They weren't sure if that was a good thing or not.

I smiled, "They gon introduce you to some snazzy shit,"

Bueno and Jane laughed at me.

"Where we come from, hip-hop and rap are popular, so these two are gonna share it with you."

Thanks to Dumbledore and Mr. Bozzi, Bueno and I were able to transfigure the drum set and guitar into the appropriate instruments. Bueno stood behind a set of turntables while I stood behind some sort of equalizer and beat producing system. Jane traded in her guitar for something more useful, but I couldn't really see what she had. I already knew what songs T'uan and Lazy Legs wanted to perform, plus they left us all a list of the songs in the order they were going to perform them; the hardest part of this was the quick minute of figuring out how to use the system in front of me. The Hogwarts kids were shocked, to say the least, but it didn't take them long to start liking the rap we were exposing them to. T'uan and Lazy Legs preformed songs originally by Hollywood Undead, Nas, Xzibit, Dr. Dre, Woodie, AZ, Andre Nickatina, Mac Dre, I.M.P, Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube, Warren G, N.W.A., Biggy Smalls, Ying Yang Twins, Kanye West, – Lazy Legs couldn't stop T'uan in time – 2Pac, Snowgoons, Pacific Division, Lil' Flip, Lil' Wayne, Beastie Boys, and many more. T'uan and Lazy Legs pumped their free hands, their right ones, into the air. The crowd quickly formed their right hands into fists and did the same thing. T'uan and Lazy Legs walked around the stage, every once in a while they did quick dance moves along with the lyrics, causing the crowd to cheer for them.

They saved the songs that needed a female voice for the end of their list, when this time came, I happily traded places with Lazy Legs; I love to be in the front, and he loves to be in the back. When T'uan ran out of songs, he spoke to the crowd for a minute, but they wanted some more. We all smirked to each other and decided to finish up the show with a few rock songs. Once all the instruments were transfigured back, I drank some water and then said, "I'm not going to be able to sleep if we keep playin' ya punk, so…" I smirked back at Jane.

She groaned and shouted at me, "I hate playin' that stupid, wanna be rock shit."

I laughed and looked at our friends in the crowd, "Aye, Kayla,"

Jane groaned and stopped her right foot; since Jeff is playing the bass for us, we're going to have to play some of the music that his girlfriend likes.

Kayla smiled widely up at me.

"When was the last time you listened to All Time Low, Panic at the Disco, or Call the Cops?"

Jane groaned loudly.

"Or Cobra Starship?"

Jane was silent, but still not pleased.

"Or The Maine?"

"Oh come on!" Jane shouted; I could feel her glare.

I smirked, "And we can't forget Fall Out Boy."

Jane screamed and stomped. When I turned around she shouted, "I get it, you hate me. I'm sorry, I don't know for what, but I'm sorry."

I laughed, rolled my eyes, and began to tap my right foot against the platform. Jeff, Lazy Legs, and T'uan eased us into Room 410; Jane groaned, but started to play, too. The crowd seemed to enjoy these songs, too, especially Kayla. We played a few songs by each artist that I named, but when we decided it was time to start calming everyone down, we decided to play "My Moves Are White [White Hot, That Is]" by Cobra Starship. Bueno and I didn't just sing along, but we danced along, too. All our moves were exaggerated and eccentric, but it was fun, and the crowd loved it. At two thirty, maybe two forty, we brought the show to an end and told the kids to keep their ears open for the time and date of our next show. They left rather reluctantly, but they were more than pleased with our performance and hoped that our next show was soon.

Kayla stayed behind to help us clean up; most of the cleaning was done magically, but we had to handle the instruments manually. They were going to wait for me, but I told the group to go and put their instruments away in Bozzi's room without me; I had to take apart the drum set, naturally, I took longer. I lifted them magically, walked out of the dungeon, locked the door, and then started to walk towards the staircase. I quietly hummed to myself; I was walking down a dark corridor in the dungeons of Hogwarts with only a floating drum set and a candle, I think you'd be creeped out, too. My walk up to Bozzi's room was a long, but safe one. I found the place where the drum set was taken from and quickly put it back together; I've had to take apart and set up drum sets many times, I can probably do this while sleeping. I said, "Lumos," and waited a second for my wand to give off a medium light before putting out the candle. I quietly left Bozzi's room, locked the door behind me, and turned the corner.

I heard footsteps as I started to walk back to the staircase I used to get here. I gulped and started to walk faster; so did my stalker. I bit the inside of my bottom lip and started to jog to the staircase while thinking, "Why are these corridors so damn long?" Before I could think of anything to humor me, someone wrapped an arm around my waist and placed their right over my mouth to muffle my scream. I started to violently thrash my body against theirs with the hope of being set free, but my captor just squeezed me tighter. I was ready to bite his hand, but then I heard the smooth, powerful, but rather quiet voice of Tom Riddle in my ear, "Calm down."

It wasn't like he said it with kindness, or even the slightest bit of real concern, but I couldn't help but to instantly relax. He slowly withdrew his large right hand from over my mouth, allowing me to draw in a deep breath. He walked a few steps backwards and brought us into an empty classroom. He gently shoved me in, magically lit the candles, and stood in my way of the door. I looked him in his dark brown eyes, "I need to go to my dorm."

He laughed, he actually laughed; I never pictured Tom Riddle laughing at any stage or point in his life. "It's three in the morning, staying up for a few extra minutes isn't going to hurt you."

I crossed my arms in front of my chest and put the majority of my weight on my back leg, my left leg. "I don't care, move out of my way. I'm tired and I want to go to bed."

Tom kept his firm, dominant stance. I slowly looked him over; Jo did her best, but she barely captured his beauty. Not that I'm dawgin' her, don't get the wrong idea. I've always been a huge Harry Potter fan; when I was younger, the Harry Potter series helped me keep my sanity. When I read them I was in the Harry Potter world, not a hectic and dangerous apartment. How funny that I'm actually in the Harry Potter world now; it took all my will power not to laugh.

Tom and I looked each other over at the same time and at the same rate; his dark brown, almost black hair is neatly combed, his brows are the perfect shape, his lashes are dark and long, faming his dark eyes perfectly. His nose is somewhat large, but still perfectly straight, his lips are almost medium sized, but still on the thin side, and a strong, masculine jaw line. His shoulders are broad and look strong, and he's very tall, probably six feet tall, maybe an inch or so more.

His lips curled into a smirk while he slid his hands into the front pockets of his slacks, "You seem to have Malfoy charmed."

My smile was obviously fake, "This can't wait until later?"

Tom said rather harshly, "No."

I drew in a deep breath and tilted my head to the left, "Can you at least get to the point?"

Tom breathed in deeply, but not out of annoyance. His voice was back to the one I've grown used to, "He's quite impressed with you."

"Oh God…" I sighed and put my right hand on my forehead; I gave myself a gentle squeeze with my right hand before looking back up into Tom's eyes, "Please tell me that you're not trying to set us up."

Tom laughed, again. "I'm not doing that."

"You're not trying to set us up?"

He smiled crookedly; the left side of his mouth barely twitched, but the right was in full on smile mode, "That's right."

A loud sigh of relief came from me.

"What?" He looked rather curious now, "Are you not interested in him?"

I shrugged, "He's cute, but not my type." I looked up into his eyes, "Not that this subject matters to you. What do you want?"

He smirked, "I think I underestimated you, that's all."

I sighed, "Oh dear God; is that what you're keeping me here for? To tell me nothing?" I didn't wait for his answer, I walked around him, but he slammed the door closed the second I opened it. He looked down at me with serious, stern eyes,

"Monday is the first real potions project, you will be my partner."

I was instantly angry, "I'll do what I want."

Tom smirked again and leaned down a bit, "You sure are feisty for someone so small."

I rolled my eyes and tried to tug the door open, but to no avail. "Su'pose I'm a Chihuahua then."

Tom laughed, again. I'm not sure if this is a good or bad thing, or if young Voldemort isn't actually that bad, but I don't really like it. His laugh is like an example of his power: strong, loud, and it makes me want to shrivel to the ground, cling to his legs and say, "Take me home! Take me home!"

Tom smiled crookedly again before saying, "As far as Slughorn's class is concerned, your friends and yourself create an uneven group, a group of seven. Mondays project calls for two people, and only two people, per group. You could partner up with Malfoy," his voice became the tiniest bit more charming, but still demanding, "or you could partner up with me."

"Or," I smiled up at him, "I could partner up with James—"

"And fail," Tom looked, once again, stern. "He's absolutely dreadful in that class, and if you're a part of the Slug Club, you're obviously not one to accept anything but the best, let alone fail at something."

I was silent.

He just looked at me.

I leaned against the door and smirked, "I heard you're persuasive,"

He smiled, it was a small smile, and I knew it was a fake smile.

"So please, do persuade me. I'm perfectly capable of doing the assignment well by myself; it wouldn't be hard to convince James to let me do the work. Why should I partner up with you?"

Tom drew in a deep breath and gently put his right hand on the left side of my face. He slowly slid his hand down my jaw line and cupped my chin in his hand, forcing me to lock gazes with him. With a very smooth, silky voice, he told me, "We should be partners because I want you to be my partner."

I almost fell to the floor right there and then. His voice alone drove me to near orgasm; his gaze and his soft, but powerful physical hold on my face made me gulp, but not out of fear. I couldn't help but wish he wanted me to be more than a potions partner, no, not romantically, no, not for a friendship. I think you know what type of partner that I mean.

I bit the inside of my bottom lip before selling my soul, "Okay then."

He smirked, he knew what I meant, but he wanted to hear it; he gently squeezed my chin and slowly slid his hand back up to the side of my face. He gently pressed his thumb into my cheek and rubbed it back and forth. His eyes softened, but his gaze was still strong, "Partners?"

My breath got stuck in my chest; I could still say no, I still could back out of this; not really, I couldn't say no to this boy, not about something as so simple as potions partners. I drew in a very deep breath before forever losing my soul, "Yes."

He smiled rather deviously and took his hand off of my face. I slowly turned the handle on the door and opened it even slower; we didn't break eye contact until I walked out of the room. I didn't wait for him to leave too; I booked it the second I was fully out of the room. I ran as fast as I could, I ran faster than at boxing practice; what did I just get myself into? Potions partners, that's so innocent, right? But this is Tom Riddle, I don't know if he's already Voldemort, I don't think he is; he doesn't have his grandfathers ring yet. Plus, no one is talking about the Chamber yet, so he's probably not. This is the beginning of his fifth year, doesn't he start his murder spree with Myrtle and then continues it with his father and grandparents during the summer before his sixth year? If we've really been sent back to stop that, shouldn't we have been sent closer to his death date? I guess not, I guess this gives us more time to observe him, understand him, before we do whatever it is we're supposed to do.

But who's supposed to really do this? If it was all one person we wouldn't have been sent here as a group, but I doubt all thirty of us are going to save his soul. I mean, maybe we all do, but the main person, who's that? Oh God, is it me? I mean… He has some sort of weird interest in me, enough of one to wait until three in the morning, get me alone, and pull me into a classroom to make sure that I'd be his potions partner on Monday. I guess it is me; I'm the only one he's talked to, and I'm pretty sure that if he did this to any other girl, in my group or a Hogwarts girl, they'd be bragging to ehv-err-ree one. And to top it off, I didn't even put up some sort of fight; he made me weak almost immediately. I'm going to have to be better than that; I'm going to have to fully understand him before he fully understands me. I have to, I'm already stuck here, and I'm already damned.

He gave me the look of the Devil, and now that I've been sent to Hell, I have to be stronger than ever before.