Written for the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition Round 6:

CHASER 3: Write about a light character committing the sin of WRATH or a dark character demonstrating the virtue of FORGIVENESS.

Of course, I took this opportunity to write a Tomione where Hermione is quite wrathful over something Tom did.

#10 (quote) 'I have always known who you really are, and that's why I love you.' - Belle, Once Upon A Time

#6 (dialogue) "Have I told you that I hate you recently?"

#15 (setting) the owlery

Final word count: 1691

Also written for the Treasure Hunt at Hogwarts. Emotion: Rage

Special thanks to Lys for giving me this crazy idea. Thanks to Tiggs for Beta'ing!

I'm considering making this into a multi-chapter where Tom shows all of the heavenly virtues, and Hermione all of the deadly sins. All of it would be one-shots like this one. But with everything I keep writing the updates would be hella infrequent.

Xx

I have always known who you really are, and that's why I love you.

Belle, Once Upon A Time

They'd had another fight. Hermione could see it in his eyes; Tom thought it was something silly that should be disregarded because she would get over it — she always did. That knowledge had enraged her further, so she had run off before she could do something she couldn't take back — like kill him.

Her refuge was found at the top of a tower; the Owlery — the last place he would think to look for her.

She was right, of course; it took him a couple of hours more to find her than it usually did. She knew he searched the same places; first check the library, then get into an argument with her Gryffindor friends before bursting into the common room and eventually her dorm to make sure for himself that she wasn't there — she could never figure out how he got up the stairs when most guys couldn't. If that didn't work, he would send his minions out on a search of the castle while fretting and going around looking himself. Earlier, she had spotted a minion through a window from her perch on a ledge in the owlery. Said minion hadn't seen her, and it had taken another two hours before Tom eventually found her. Maybe she was just as predictable as he was if he could find her that easily.

As if that didn't make her hate burn even stronger. Since when were they so fucking alike?

Every fibre of her being screamed at her that she should avoid him like the plague; that she should scratch out his eyes so he could never again look at her with relief, like she was his sanctuary in a storm that had been raging for years.

His eyes caught the light from the sky and made him look like an angel. But if he was an angel, he was a fallen one, like Lucifer, clamoring to get back into heaven so he could burn it to the ground.

"Hermione, I've been looking everywhere for you."

"Obviously not everywhere, or you would have already found me," she spat before turning away from him again. She didn't want to look at those perfect features. When she looked at him she became a secondary character, a shell of herself, pathetic and weak.

He had such gall, looking so concerned for her, faking that as he faked every second of his existence at this school. If only Dumbledore had some proof of his nefarious deeds, he could kick Tom out of the school forever, so she didn't have to deal with these emotions. Even now, when she wanted to murder him — like he murdered that poor innocent girl — she still felt sad about the thought of him leaving.

If she really wanted him gone, she had all the proof Dumbledore would need.

She was just as much his weakness as he was hers.

"Excuse me for not expecting to find you here! Why are you even here? You don't have anyone to send a letter to."

She stood up from the ledge then, trying to look imposing, even though she was at least a head shorter than Tom — perfect height to lean in and listen to his heartbeat she had once thought. Perfect height to know that he was human, that he could feel.

Stupid traitorous thoughts! He's not human; he's a monster!

"Thanks for reminding me; you sure seemed happy when you found out I didn't have any parents."

"This again?" Tom ran a hand through his hair and messed it up. She noticed he didn't look as composed and perfect as he usually did. Maybe he really had been concerned about her? "I told you: I'm not happy you don't have parents. I was happy because it meant you didn't have anywhere to go."

"Wow, really? So now it's about me not having a home? You are such an asshole; you don't care about me at all."

"Of course I care!" He stepped closer to her but she stepped back to put the same amount of distance between them again. An owl that was sitting nearby looked at them, annoyed, and gave a low 'hoot'.

"I just wanna be with you. If you don't have a home, it means we can have one, together."

"How presumptuous," she said while pretending she didn't feel the way her heart jumped in joy at the confession.

He clenched his jaw at that, really trying to reign in his own temper. It was times like these that Hermione knew he didn't keep up a mask with her like he did with others. When in public, he was all indifference and polite smiles. He looked like the politicians she'd grown up watching on TV: no personality beyond the pre-written script in front of them. She got to see all of him. Between them, there were no secrets — not even a white lie came from his lips when it was just the two of them together.

"So that's how you feel." His voice was now deathly cold and almost hypnotic. It was the tone of voice that somehow lulled you into feeling secure while the hairs on the back of your neck stood up.

"You murdered someone, Tom," she said. Some of the anger had dissipated when she realized how much he cared and had worried about her, so her voice wasn't as loud as before.

"To make this for you!" he exclaimed while thrusting his hand forward. From his clenched hand dangled a beautiful necklace engraved with an S.

She reached for it like a wounded animal would reach out for comfort. When her fingers touched the metal she could feel the life pulsing from it.

"A Horcrux."

"A piece of my soul, to always carry with you."

In his own twisted way, it was a very romantic gesture. But it didn't make up for the way he had made the gesture. In an odd way, she was reminded of the saying, 'the road to hell is paved with good intentions', though she doubted this was what whoever wrote it had in mind.

"You murdered someone to make me a trinket?" Her voice was laced with conflicted emotions, but she still closed her hand around the necklace and brought it close to her heart.

Wrath had been the most prominent emotion before he gave her the locket, but now doubt had seeped in and started to cloud her mind — or maybe it had cleared it up. She was starting to think a little bit more logically, and she wondered if it wasn't stupid being annoyed at the snake for striking out. It was like the tale of the scorpion and the frog; you couldn't change your nature. That story had started to scare her because she wondered if it wasn't a metaphor for her and Tom. Hermione, the frog silly enough to trust the scorpion when it asked to be carried across the canal. Inevitably, Tom would, like the scorpion, sting her halfway across the river and kill them both.

As she mused and felt the anger disappear, Tom seemed to come to a realization.

"Wait a minute, you're not really mad at me, are you?"

"What?"

"No, you're mad at yourself because you're not mad at me."

"That doesn't make any sense!" Hermione yelled.

"You love me," Tom teased.

"You killed someone," she replied, sounding a little bit unsure.

"Spare me the speech. You know she deserved to die," he said, waving his hand like he was waving away an annoying fly — waving it away like he had Myrtle.

The memory of his disregard for human life brought the emotions back with full force. Hermione was still so angry and frustrated with him, she did the first thing that came to mind and pushed him, hard. It must have been the adrenaline that enabled someone of her size to have enough power to push him out of balance. Or maybe it was the element of surprise that resulted in him losing his footing and going backwards towards the railing.

Whatever it was, Tom had a look of sheer terror and surprise on his face as his feet clamored to regain balance, but couldn't. His arms flailing about disturbed the owls, so they started moving around and hoot in annoyance. The tower had been so calm, even throughout their argument, but now it was in disarray as Tom fell off the tower.

She was surprised that he went over and felt her heart beat fast as she heard him scream on his way down. Her burning anger was replaced with suspense as she wondered if he would make it by some strange miracle. The loud thump that accompanied his inevitable crash landing made Hermione flinch.

Curious about his condition, she made her way to where he had gone over and peeked down to where his body lay.

The groan from him was a relief, at first, but then she felt anger rise up in her again. Of course, the stupid necklace she was holding — the one this entire argument was about — had rendered his death impossible.

He screamed, "I'm immortal, remember?" His voice sounded a bit hoarse.

"Have I told you that I hate you recently?" she screamed back.

"Yes!" She could see him trying to get up, even though there were some bones sticking out, and his foot seemed to have turned the wrong way around. "Now get me to the Hospital Wing!"

"No!" she returned.

But, inevitably, she made her way down to him and brought him to the Hospital Wing. She still loved him. It wasn't one of those loves where you believe in the best in someone and you're still blinded by the rose-tinted glasses. No, this love was true; it came from knowing every horrible thing he had ever done, but still sticking with him through it all. Even if part of her wondered if, somewhere along the way, she had sold her soul to the devil.

She put the necklace on and thought 'at least the devil gave me a piece of his soul in return'.