A/N: This story was written for the Pick Mix Challenge run by the Dramione FanFiction Forum (18+) on Facebook where it came in second place. This challenge gave the authors a chance to pick a prompt from 6 options to choose from and then write a one shot no more than 5000 words. Thank you to all who voted!

This story is focused a lot around the ideas from the song Bully by Shinedown.

Song Recs: Bully - Shinedown; Break the Spell - Daughtry; Have a Nice Day - Bon Jovi; Savior - Rise Against

Prompt: "I told you, I don't know what I saw." Potions Caddy. Tom Riddle. Sectumsempra.

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters, just the plot of this story!

As always, please read and review!

Love always

~starr

~It's 8 A.M.

This hell I'm in

Seems I've crossed the line again

For being nothing more than who I am~

Bully - Shinedown

"Dammit, Hermione, just leave me the hell alone," Tom Riddle shouted as he stormed out of the potions classroom with the textbook that the nosy bookworm was trying to get a hold of during the lecture.

"Mr. Riddle, come back here right.." Professor Slughorn started to call after him, but sighed and turned back to the class, "it's not worth the argument. Let's just continue where we left off before we were so rudely interrupted."

The entire class shot an irritated look in the direction of where the teaching assistants were supposed to be seated quietly when they weren't needed. Professor Slughorn had requested the help of three previous students who excelled in Potions. Draco Malfoy, Hermione Granger, and Thomas Riddle.

"Damn, if looks could kill," Hermione thought as she sunk into her seat.

This unusual combination came to as much of a surprise to the students and faculty of Hogwarts as it did to the three of them chosen for the job. Hermione was chosen for her intelligence and her ability to articulate information to both the Professors and to other students. Her recommendation came from Professor Slughorn, as more of a request due to her reputation. Both Draco and Tom had excelled in first year Potions and Professor Dumbledore along with Professor Snape had recommended both of them for the job, much to each of their surprise.

The awkward situation in the classroom had stemmed from a conversation between Draco and Hermione earlier that week in the Slytherin stairwell about Tom Riddle and his recommendation to be a teaching assistant.

"What do you think made Dumbledore choose Tom as a teaching assistant as well as you and I? I'm guessing Snape recommended him because he's a Slytherin, and they all excel in Potions. From what I can remember he was only in class long enough to make the potion for our tests," Hermione said as she followed Draco up the stairway towards his dormitory.

"I have no idea, Hermione. And frankly I really don't care. I'd rather focus on you and what we're going to do in my dorm right now," Draco said with a smirk grabbing her hand to pull her quicker up the stairs.

"Please be careful! You're going to make me drop my potions caddy," Hermione pleaded with a smile on her face, "Didn't you sit beside him in potions when we took the class?"

Stopping in his tracks with a groan, "Yes I did sit beside him and yes he skipped class a lot. If I answer all the questions you have about him in one shot, then can we go to my dorm and snog? And not talk about Tom anymore?"

Hermione laughed at his frustration, "That would make me very happy and I would be eternally grateful. What would happen during the days he would actually attend class? Did he take notes or did he just sit there?"

Rolling his eyes, Draco responded, "He didn't take actual notes. He always seemed to be scribbling things down in his Potions book. It was never anything that made sense to anyone else. There was some word that started with an s, but I couldn't tell you what the rest of it said. He has dreadful handwriting."

"C'mon now, Draco. You had to have seen more than the letter s. You sat beside him for an entire year. Think really hard, please," she pleaded as she placed her hand on his chest.

"I told you, I don't know what I saw," Draco spat at her, "I wasn't paying any bloody attention to him."

"Okay, okay. I'll just drop it," Hermione said as she recoiled back from his comment, "Let's go to your room, now. Okay?"

"Dammit, I'm sorry Hermione. I didn't mean to yell," Draco said cupping her cheek, "I'll make it up to you. I promise."

Ever since that conversation with Draco, Hermione was dying to get her hands on his book and read the notes that he had been writing, especially if he was creating his own potions and spells. Although she wasn't quite sure how that would work. She knew that many wizards and witches came up with their own spells all the time, but she was unsure of how they tested them or even knew what they would do.

Hermione decided that she was going to make a true effort of trying to get to know Tom so that she could possibly get her hands on that book since they would be spending so much time together this year. Unfortunately though, she wasn't making any progress in getting to know him. All she had managed to do was piss him off to the point that he left the room to get away from her.

Tom was a very private person and that bugged Hermione. All she wanted was a chance to look at the book and then she'd leave him alone. She needed to know if he was coming up with his own spells or just writing stupid things in the margins of his book. Her curiosity was getting the better of her.

Finally Slughorn had released the class and Hermione was one of the first people out the door quickly followed by Draco.

"Hermione, where are you going?" Draco asked trying to catch up to her afraid that he already knew the answer and that he wasn't going to like it.

"I have to go find Tom and apologize for my behavior during class," she answered dodging in between the other students wandering aimlessly through the hallway as she searched for Tom.

Draco rolled his eyes. He had heard the answer he was afraid of hearing.

"Why? It's not like he'll care that you apologize to him. He doesn't care about anyone but himself. That's why he has no friends. He doesn't want them. Besides, he'll just storm away from you anyways. C'mon, Hermione. Let's just go to my room and forget that Tom even exists at least until the next Potions class," Draco said taking her hand and started walking towards his dorm.

"No. I need to talk to Tom," Hermione said pulling away from Draco and standing her ground, "I need to apologize for today."

"Seriously, Hermione? He doesn't matter," Draco yelled. She shook her head and stayed where she was.

"Fine. Do whatever the fuck you want. I don't care anymore. Go be friends with the loner. See how that works out for you. I'm not going to stand in your way. Come find me when you come to your senses," Draco shouted before storming away from her.

It took all of her might not to break down into tears right there although a few had started to trail down her face. She couldn't understand why he was mad at her. She didn't do anything wrong. It wasn't like she said that she needed to snog Tom. She just wanted to apologize and hope that he would let her look through the book if she made a real effort to talk to him outside of class.

She thought for a brief second about chasing after Draco, but decided she needed to give him time to cool down from his little explosion. He'd come to his senses eventually. Or so she hoped.

Unbeknownst to Hermione, Tom had over heard their entire conversation with the temperamental Malfoy along with anyone else who heard the yelling. He had been lurking in the shadows after class to make sure that Granger and Malfoy had left the room before he went back. He wanted to focus on what he had been doing before she interrupted him. He didn't mean to yell at her during class, but she just wouldn't stop asking him questions. Questions that she had no business asking. Questions that he didn't have exact answers for either.

Without saying a word to draw attention to himself, he snuck into the Potions room secretly hoping that by some miracle Hermione would check back in the room for him to apologize to him and he wanted her to find him so that he could talk to her without Malfoy hovering over her shoulder like an oversized guard dog, even though all he was truly good for was being a lap dog. There would be nothing that Draco could do if he actually decided to hurt Hermione or Draco. He was far too powerful for his own good.

Somewhat regaining her composure, Hermione decided to go back and check the Potions classroom for Tom because she thought that maybe he had decided to go back there and work since class had let out. As she turned around she happened to see a dark haired boy in a Slytherin robe sneaking into the room. With a smile on her face, she quickly chased after him.

She found him seated on one of the stools at the table in the back of the room. Conveniently he had his back to her, so he didn't know she was there. She thought to herself, "Now's my chance."

"Hello, Tom," she said gleefully, "I'm really glad that I found you, actually. I wanted to apologize for my behavior in class today. It was very out of character for me and I just wanted to let you know that I truly meant nothing by it."

"Why are you here, Hermione?" Tom asked without looking up from his book to acknowledge her standing behind him.

Frustrated by the fact that he wouldn't even look at her, Hermione took out the stool beside him and sat down with a defeated hmph because she knew she had to cave at some point, but she wished it wouldn't have been so soon.

"I just told you why I was here. I came to apologize to you for my behavior earlier today."

"Malfoy's not happy you're here let alone speaking to me though, so I ask again, Hermione, why are you here?"

"How do you know he doesn't want me talking to you?" she questioned looking at him curiously while thinking back over their little spat. She did not recalling Tom's face in the crowd of people watching them.

"I was hiding by the door to this room. Although anyone with ears could hear the way he yelled at you for no reason. I figured you would have chased after him to smooth everything over to save your precious relationship. So I ask for a third and final time, Hermione. Why are you here?" he asked finally looking at her.

She sighed knowing that part of what he said was correct. Anyone with ears had definitely heard him yelling and were embarrassed for her to be a part of such a scene for her today. The second scene in a row. That had to be a record for her. A record she was not happy to have. A record that was all her fault.

Tom just stared at her waiting impatiently for an answer. He could see the wheels turning in her head as she was trying to figure out if he really did hear what Draco said or if he was just trying to fuck with her. Either way he knew that she didn't like the outcome. He wasn't exactly proud of his mind games, but they were fun to him.

"Well?" he finally spoke, "if you aren't going to tell me why you're here in your own words, then I'm going to assume that you are just crazy about me and you don't want Draco to know, so that's why you blatantly ignored what he said and sought me out in private."

Her face was priceless. He could practically see the smoke coming out of her ears. Her eyes became very big and she became red with anger. It took all of his self control not to bust out laughing.

"What?! No! That's not why I'm here and you damn well know it! How dare you make such a statement. I love Draco, even if he can be infuriating at times. For your damn information, I'm here because I want to know more about what you are writing in that damn book! I've seen you scribbling in it and so has Draco, so I want to see the damn book!" she yelled frustrated.

"Lovely," she thought, "I am making a scene once again. What the hell is the matter with me? Third time's a fucking charm, isn't it? I don't know why I even bothered today."

Tom just started laughing uncontrollably as he watched Hermione get more and more frustrated with herself and her behavior. He noticed her reaction to his laughter was relatively similar to his accusation. As the smile crept upon his face, her anger intensified.

"Why are you laughing? I don't' find this conversation funny and I find your behavior appalling," she sneered trying not to raise her voice much louder to avoid bringing more attention to them as people walked past the classroom.

"If you would have asked, then I probably would have showed you. That's why I'm laughing. Well that, and how sensitive you are to me suggesting you are secretly in love with me," he laughed.

She just glared at him in disgust.

"You let your curiosity get the better of you today and were asking questions that you didn't need to be asking. Which is why I stormed out of class today," Tom continued as he shrugged focusing on the cover of the book in front of him.

"Will you tell me about the book? And what you keep writing in it? Also if you are comfortable, telling me why you are a longer?" Hermione asked touching his hand that was placed on the book. She was impressed that he didn't pull away immediately.

Tom slid his hand slowly out from under hers as he nodded.

"I found it during my first year Potions class in a cupboard hidden in the very back of the room."

Walking into first year Potions, Tom Riddle took his seat at the back of the room where he would be out of the watchful sight of Professor Snape and could focus on anything else. Also sitting in the back meant that people would avoid sitting with him. He wasn't a people person. In the orphanage, he had spent most of his time alone in his room. He scared the other children, so no one wanted to play with him. Especially after he found out he could hurt them with his mind. His name went from Tom to bully.

He was under the impression that Potions would bore him because he thought it was stupid to brew potions if he could cause things to happen with his mind and all he wanted to do was go to Defense Against the Dark Arts taught by Galatea Merrythought. The idea of dark magic always intrigued him. Potions did not, at least not at first. Not until he found the book.

Tom came from a poor family, so he had to borrow many of his textbooks from the Professors to be able to do the work assigned. He had already made arrangements with Professor Snape to borrow a book, so on that first day of class he went to the described cupboard. He pulled out a textbook that was not in the best of shape, but for as much attention as he had intended on spending on the class it truly did not matter.

The edges of the cover were ratted and some pages looked to have ink stains on them as he flipped quickly through the pages. About halfway through the book, he noticed that not all of the ink marks were stains. Some of them were things actually written in the book. There were notes in the margins for how to perfect a certain potion that always gave everyone else trouble and how to make them quicker. There were also spells written along the side. Spells that Tom had never heard of. Spells he was curious to try.

One spell specifically sparked his interest. "Sectumsempra - for enemies." Nothing else was written around the spell. He wanted to know what the spell did and it would only be a matter of time until he felt that he would need to use it.

Curiosity got the best of him before class was out and he flipped to the front of the book to see if he could identify the handwriting found amongst the pages of the book. All that was written in the front of the book was 'Property of the Half-Blooded Prince.' Having no idea who it was, Tom just went about his coursework using tips and tricks from the book and excelling through the class with ease.

When it came time at the end of the year to return the book, Tom found a spare copy in the library and returned it in the book's place and kept the specialty book as an aide for the rest of his time at Hogwarts.

Soon after finding that book, Potions became his favorite class.

Throughout the years at Hogwarts, it seemed he could never escape the nickname bully, so he decided to live up to the name. Anyone who made him angry would mysteriously turn ill for not known reason. He still hadn't used his secret weapon, but the day he met Draco Malfoy, the thoughts of using it started spawning. Especially after Draco and Hermione started dating.

The last part of the story he kept to himself for Hermione's sake.

Hermione was just in awe of everything that Tom had told her. It never dawned on her about how difficult his life had been at such a young age. She was becoming full of questions as well, but she also knew that from the story he had just told her that he had similar questions and was in search of the answers too.

"Maybe we could work together to find the answers to both our questions about the book," Hermione suggested after Tom finished telling her the whole story as she started to flip through the pages.

"Maybe, but I don't think that Malfoy would be too thrilled to find out we wanted to be spending more time together than what we already have to spend together in class," Tom said as he watched her intently.

"He'll cool off and realize that me wanting to talk to you isn't such a big deal. If not, well then.." she trailed off not sure what exactly she was going to say. She hated fighting with Draco, but this time he was wrong to tell her not apologize and not to try and be his friend. She also knew though that this wasn't something that he would just cool down from. He was really mad at her and would be for a long time.

Tom cautiously placed his hand on her's to comfort her as she wrestled with her thoughts. He knew that Malfoy would never approve of them talking about the book on a regular basis, let alone being friends. No one wanted to be friends with Tom Riddle. It was like there was a curse on his head. A curse that he put there himself.

"What the bloody hell is going on here?" Draco shouted as he entered the room seeing Tom stroking Hermione's hand.

Hermione quickly pulled her hand away from Tom's as she got off her stool to go to Draco and try to calm him down. He was barely five steps away from the table when she got to him. She stood between where Tom was seated and where Draco was standing. Hoping somewhere deep down that both of them would think very carefully before making any motions that could cause physical harm to her or each other. Luckily for her, Draco stopped right in front of her.

"Draco," she placed her hand on his chest causing him to look down at her face, "nothing inappropriate was going on here. We were just talking about his book."

"Then why the bloody hell was he holding your hand?" he hissed watching Tom out of the corner of his eye, but keeping his main focus on Hermione.

Hermione opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by a voice in the background.

"She was upset, Malfoy. Maybe if you wouldn't have yelled at her earlier then I wouldn't have been holding her hand to comfort her," Tom piped in just to see what kind of a reaction he could get out of Draco.

"Stay out of this, Riddle. I'm warning you now," Draco snapped as his face reddened.

"Draco! Stop it! Tom, back off!" Hermione pleaded. Tears started to well up in her eyes, "Nothing happened dammit. You know damn well that I wouldn't cheat on you! In any sense! Emotionally or physically! We were just talking about the book. Yes, I was upset when I first came in here, but it was just after you yelled at me in the hallway for no damn reason!"

The tears began to roll down her face as she sobbed loudly as he glared at Tom, "Do you honestly think I would cheat on you?"

Draco just continued to stare at Tom waiting for him to add something to the conversation. He knew that nothing was going on, but he couldn't help but feel like he couldn't trust Tom. The reason was unbeknownst to him, but he didn't like him one bit. Unfortunately his behavior was hurting Hermione by completely ignoring her.

Looking down at Hermione, he took her hand, "Let's go," he whispered quietly.

Tom turned back around to where the book was lying.

"Answer the fucking question, Draco. Do you honestly think I would cheat on you?" she shouted taking her hand back from him.

"I am not having this conversation in front of him," he sneered.

"Well too damn bad, I'm not leaving," she stated as she walked back to her stool and sat down.

"Hermione," he growled.

She turned her attention towards the book lying in front of her and started flipping through the pages. She wasn't really reading any of it, but she was hoping that Draco would get the point that he was being obstinate for no reason and that he needed to answer her question for the sake of their relationship.

All that her ignoring him accomplished, however, was enraging him even more. Draco walked up to where they were seated without either one of them realizing it.

Within seconds, Tom was falling back onto the ground as Draco's fist landed square on his jaw with a loud crack. Once he saw that Tom was on the ground, Draco turned to walk back out of the room. Refusing to acknowledge Hermione as she hurried out of her seat to make sure that Tom was alright, while she was shouting at Draco.

"What the hell is the matter with you?" she yelled.

Seeing her tending to Tom just fuelled Draco's temper, but he just shook his head and headed for the door. Not bothering to answer her question. He knew why he did it and she wouldn't like the answer.

"SECTUMSEMPRA!" Tom shouted as he pointed his wand at Draco from where he was lying.

Immediately, Draco's body dropped to the ground with a loud thud. The sound caused Hermione to look over and see his body laying there.

"Draco!" she screamed and ran to him.

"What the hell did you do to him?" she sobbed glaring at Tom.

She cradled Draco's head in her hands as she cried, "Draco, I love you. Please don't leave me alone. I'm so sorry for everything."

Her tears landing on his cheek as she held him.

She repeated this mantra over and over again as the blood began to soak through his shirt crying harder and harder. Hermione tried with all her might to keep the pressure on his wounds to stop the bleeding, but there was too much blood.

"Someone help!" Hermione yelled as she cried out over and over again praying that someone heard her. She refused to leave Draco alone to seek out help.

Tom had managed to stand back up and gathered his books. He snuck out of the room without saying a word to Hermione or Draco. He knew that it wouldn't matter because what he had done could never be forgiven. There was nothing more to him than being that bully who hurt people.

As Tom was sneaking through the door, Professor Snape had heard Hermione's cries for help and came quickly into the room ignoring Tom as he slithered past through the door.

"Miss Granger, what happened?" Snape asked as he dropped to his knees beside her and Draco. Seeing the blood, he had an idea, but he needed to be sure before he could do anything to help the young Malfoy.

"Draco and I were fighting and then he punched Tom Riddle. Next thing I know Tom shouted some spell he found in a Potions book that started with an s, but I can't remember the name of the spell. It was like septum spectra. Draco's body fell to the ground and he started bleeding," Hermione choked out.

"Step back, Miss Granger."

Hermione listened to him and stepped back away from Draco's body to let him work. She wrapped her arms around her body. She was shaking from fear of losing Draco forever.

Snape started chanting an incantation that Hermione had never heard before. She couldn't make out the words he was saying though. While he chanted he traced the wounds with his wand. The blood began to disappear and Draco's breathing returned to normal.

"Take him to the infirmary and ask for dittany to be placed on the scars. He will be fine. If Madam Pomfrey has any questions, tell her to talk to me," Snape said as he rose from the ground.

"Thank you, Professor Snape," Hermione said with a soft smile as she kissed Draco on the forehead before helping him up.

Snape nodded as he walked away. He was on his way to have a talk with Mr. Riddle if he could find him.

That was the last time that Hermione and Draco ever saw Tom Riddle in their time remaining at Hogwarts.