Chapter Three – Sorting Things Out
Dumbledore's office naturally had all the best protective charms and wards of the time in place, and he and Hermione made sure when they arrived that the best the nineties had to offer were now protecting the room too. They were rummaging through the contents of Hermione's bag when there was a loud knock on the wooden door. Hermione hastily shoved the invisibility cloak back into her satchel and her and Cedric seated themselves and tried to look casual.
On Dumbledore's call Dippet entered the office, he strode into the room and conjured a seat for himself, before he sat he extended his hand to Cedric.
"Headmaster Armando Dippet," he said. "How do you do."
"How do you do Professor," Cedric said shaking his hand. "Cedric Amos."
Hermione smiled fondly at his use of his late father's name. She knew how Cedric cherished his father's memory, the first person to ever believe in him and be proud of his achievements. She shuddered to remember how distraught he was when he learned of his murder, he had sobbed for days with only Hermione to comfort him.
"Hermione Wembdon," she said politely, withdrawing from her thoughts, as the headmaster extended his hand to her. When she was a little girl her best friend had originally come from a village called Wembdon, somewhere in Somerset and for some reason Hermione was always drawn to the name.
"A pleasure," he said wearily as he sat in his newly conjured chair. "Now Dumbledore, shall we get them sorted quickly?"
"I do believe we should headmaster," Dumbledore said. "I hope you will consent to them staying in their dorms over the summer. I assure you they are the most responsible and pleasant young people in my acquaintance and I am quite averse to having them out of my sight after I went to so much trouble to find them. I shall tell you the entire story over dinner of course, it is long and I'm sure you have much important business to attend to, I would hate to rush it and not give it the justice it deserves but I will allude to the fact that when I found them, they were on the run, camping in the Albanian forests to be exact. Hermione here thought I was one of the dark wizards pursuing them and stunned me. It was only after they came to look at who I was that they recognized me."
"You Dumbledore! This young lady managed to stun a wizard of your calibre?" Dippet said in awe.
"She did indeed, and repaired the cut I received from the fall," Dumbledore said happily, looking at Hermione with pride, who blushed and averted her gaze to floor.
"I'm awfully sorry again," Hermione said quietly. "If I'd have known…"
"Not at all my dear girl, it is better to be safe than sorry after all," Dumbledore said generously. "Come, come," he said eagerly opening a drawer and pulling out two quills. "Name anything headmaster and they shall transfigure it for you. They are truly extraordinary students."
"Uncle Albus," Cedric hissed. "We are not here to show off."
"My my!" Dippet exclaimed. "Modest are we my boy, do transfigure a… raven."
"As you wish Professor," Cedric sighed, casting Dumbledore a pointed look that he knew Dippet would see. With a flick of his wand the quill grew fluidly into a large, black, shiny raven.
"Excellent!" Dippet said happily. "Truly excellent. Miss Wembdon, can you match your friend? A parrot perhaps?"
"What colour Sir?" she asked.
"Green," he laughed. Hermione swept her wand through the air, with a popping noise a parrot emerged from the puff of smoke which was created by the spell.
"My, my!" the elderly gentleman exclaimed. "Silent transfiguration at your age! Both very different styles of magic as well. We must sort you immediatly!" With a satisfied smile Dumbledore summoned the battered hat.
First he placed it on Cedric's head whilst Dippet watched in interest; of course he didn't see the conversation which occurred inside his head.
"Isn't this interesting," a small voice said in Cedric's ear. "Dumbledore's doing I don't doubt…anyway, where to put you, I see you were once put in Hufflepuff by my own verdict…you are definitely loyal, but you also seem to be intelligent and brave. More so than the first time I'd say, you've changed it seems."
'Please, Gryffindor' Cedric thought desperately, they had a plan after all. Cedric and Hermione needed to be together and having Dumbledore as their head of house would make their lives here so much easier.
"Gryffindor you say?" The hat mused. "Very well, I can't argue with that GRYFFINDOR!" He smiled in relief as Dumbledore lifted the hat from his hair.
"Hermione dear," Dumbledore said beckoning her. "You're next." She rose from her seat and crossed the room, Cedric smiled slightly as he saw her looking nervous. She was acting her part well. She bit her lip as she stood before Dumbledore and wrung her hands as it dropped softly onto her head. It barely touched her before shouting it's previous remark. She also smiled in relief and Cedric hugged her tightly, whispering congratulations in her ear.
"You can tell they are relatives of yours Albus," the headmaster sighed. "Very well, very well."
"They are indeed," he replied proudly, although the pair both knew it was more jubilation at their plan having succeeded so far. "I must speak with you about their progress next year, I wish nothing more than for them to be prefects, Cedric here would make a fine Head Boy you know."
"Dumbledore they don't even know their way around the castle yet," he responded.
"Ah, but by September they will, and we have had separate seventh year house prefects and Head Boys before, and the current prefect Miss Groves is transferring to Beauxbatons for her sixth year, Hermione would fit right into that slot."
"We will discuss it later Dumbledore, I shall see what I can do," he sighed.
"Thank you Headmaster," Dumbledore said, bowing his head respectfully before turning to Hermione and Cedric with a grin. "I think the two of you should go and see Gryffindor tower before your housemates leave in the morning. The password is conatus tempus, the fat lady portrait on the seventh floor corridor, take the grand staircase for now and ask someone if you get lost." Dumbledore said with a smile, although he knew full well Hermione knew the way to the common room like the back of her hand.
"Yes Uncle Albus," Cedric said. "Thank you for your time headmaster."
"You're very welcome my dear boy, it was a pleasure indeed," Dippet said fondly. Hermione had to supress a smirk at Cedric already charming the old wizard, she was contented with smiling politely.
"Do have an early night, you've had a long day after all, I shall have some supplies sent to your dorms to use until we have journeyed to Diagon Alley," Dumbledore said. They both smiled and nodded before taking their leave and exiting Dumbledore's office.
"So," Cedric said in a hushed voice offering his arm to Hermione. "That went smoothly."
"Indeed it did," she replied, wrapping her arm around his. They walked closely down the corridor, so they could whisper. "Although now we have a more difficult task."
"Getting the Gryffindors to like us?"
"Precisely," she agreed. "Although I don't doubt you shall easily win over the female population." She turned and glanced at him, his jaw was clenched as he tried not to smile.
"Watch it Granger," he said good humouredly.
"Or what Ceddy-baby," she mocked, flicking her hair exaggeratedly and pouting at him.
He stole a glance at her and his stony exterior crumbled as he let out a loud laugh, which Hermione couldn't help but laugh along with. They were still laughing as the corridor they were walking along joined with another coming from the Entrance Hall. As they passed this fork in the road they caught a glimpse of a tall, pale boy with thick black curls and immaculate robes.
Hermione felt Cedric's posture stiffen and his arm tighten around her own. Hermione gasped as she felt his magic crackle and spike around her, instead of the usual gentle flow of warmth.
"Keep walking," she murmured under her breath. He nodded shortly and they quickened their pace. They walked the rest of the corridor in silence and once Hermione thought the corridor was deserted enough that they wouldn't be overheard she pulled Cedric into an alcove. His jaw was set and his eyes had a cold, unyielding look about them.
"Cedric," she whispered, clutching his large hands in her own, he didn't look down at her. "Cedric," she repeated more forcefully. She saw him swallow and cast his eyes down at her, she squeezed his hands.
"He killed my parents Granger, all my family and friends…everyone I love. Everyone except you," he whispered angrily, but Hermione could hear the despair and longing in his tone.
"No Cedric," Hermione said in an undertone, shaking her head and trying to dispel his misery. "Not yet. He won't anymore, we won't let him. Everyone is safe; it's us that have the upper hand here. Everyone will be protected as long as we are here, we can stop everything bad that happened. You have to remember what Albus said, he is just a boy at the moment, and we can stop him. We are going to." She looked pleading up at him, searching for some kind of sign in his face that he understood. "You and me Ced," she whispered tenderly, placing a hand on his smooth cheek. "You and me can fight anything that comes our way. You know that."
"I do, I know that," Cedric said with a nod, closing his eyes briefly. When he opened them again he saw Hermione looking at him anxiously and immediately regretted making her expression tight and her brow furrow. He sighed slowly and his muscles relaxed as he put his arms round her.
"I'm sorry," he murmured into her hair.
"You have nothing to be sorry about," she replied as she squeezed him comfortingly. "I'd think you were a robot if you didn't have any emotions about this. It's difficult, but that's why I'm here for every time it gets a bit too difficult for you to handle on your own." He ran his hands up and down her back as they embraced before withdrawing his head to look at her, though still holding her within his strong arms.
"Thank you," he said sincerely a look of humble gratitude exuding from his eyes.
"You're welcome," she said soothingly. "As I said-"
"You and me," he finished for her in a whisper which sounded more like a prayer, words of worship, a small smile playing about his lips.
"That's right," they stood there for a minute looking into each other's' eyes. "Come on," she said eventually, tugging at his arm. "Let's go and meet the Gryffindors."
Chapter Four- Gryffindor Camaraderie
A hush came over the circular common room as Hermione and Cedric entered, it was only half full but still the rowdy students created a lot of noise. Hermione uncomfortably scratched her arm as they were met by the curious stares of the students, but Cedric seemed immune to the uneasiness she felt at such attention.
"Hello," he said happily, there was a hesitation in the crowd until finally a boy with red hair and freckles stepped out. He was burly and had the obvious Quidditch player physique.
"Septimus Weasley, fifth year," he said in welcome, smiling broadly at the pair. "You must be Cedric and Hermione, new Gryffindors?" He asked as he shook both their hands.
"Yes," Hermione said as she shook hands with the boy. "Dippet just sorted us."
"Did you hear that boys?" Weasley called over his shoulder. "Both in Gryffindor, all bet money will paid in full by the end of the train journey tomorrow." He then looked back to Cedric and Hermione, a faint blush visible beneath the freckles. "Just the regular pool," he laughed awkwardly. "Earning a few sickles."
Hermione smiled broadly at him, it reminded her very much of the Weasley antics she had previously witnessed in this very common room, though the first time she had been much less accommodating to their gambling. Septimus smiled again, more comfortably this time since he had seen that neither Hermione nor Cedric had been offended by their exploits.
"Come on I'll introduce you to everyone. Where had Venres got to? My twin brother, useless waste of space that one." He joked scanning the room. "Ah, there he is. OI. VEN! GET OVER HERE!" Another redhead pushed his way through the common room, he looked very similar to Septimus but he was slightly taller and he had a faint scar on his left cheek.
"How can I help you Seppy," he said as he sauntered over to his brother and leaned casually on his shoulder.
"Don't you have any manners? We have new blood in the house and you haven't yet welcomed them," he chided, sending a smirk Hermione's way.
"Venres Weasley," he said happily, shaking hands with Cedric and bowing flamboyantly to Hermione before placing a kiss on her hand. "Older brother of dear Seppy here, who you have obviously had the pleasure of acquainting yourselves with already. I am the resident lord and genius of all things hilarious here in the tower, with the aid of my humble and devoted servant Seppy here of course." He flashed his brother a grin earning himself a whack round the head.
"It's a pleasure to meet you both," Hermione said with a smile.
"I like this one," Venres said aside to his brother, in a stage whisper. "It's about time we had a sexy new Gryffindor in our year." He grinned and winked cheekily at Hermione who blushed slightly but took it in the good-humour in which it was meant. Septimus rolled his eyes and gave his brother another whack.
"I apologize for my brother, but now you're one of us you'll have to get used to it. All for one and one for all and all that, Gryffindor camaraderie is what we pride ourselves here in our impenetrable tower, we're all friends here," he said loudly, embellishing his speech with a sweeping hand gesture about the room, before turning to Cedric. "You're in the year above us aren't you?" Cedric replied that he was indeed and the two Weasleys ushered the pair off to be introduced to everyone in the common room, of course they made it an overly formal and silly affair.
When Dumbledore entered the common room two hours later he found Hermione sat on the sofa in front of the fireplace. She was sat cross legged talking animatedly with Venres Weasley, his friends Robert Wolfe and Theo James and a girl in her dorm, Maggie Lawson.
Cedric on the other hand was leaning casually against the far wall of the common room surrounded by girls who were twirling their hair and batting their eyelashes shamelessly. With a loud cough Dumbledore brought the attention of the students away from the novelty of their new housemates and toward their head of house who stood by the entrance to the common room. As they heard him many students jumped up from their lounging positions and smoothed their clothes self-consciously.
Every single couple in the room stealthily removed themselves from one another and shuffled a little to create distance between them in the presence of the professor. He however just smiled warmly at the students, who were obviously not accustomed to his presence in their common room.
"Don't be alarmed," he said cheerily. "I am not here to scold you or give you detention for intimacy, you may… canoodle all you like. It's your common room after all." He winked at some of the couples in the room. "I have merely come to apologize for my extended absence this academic year, promise that I shall be present to assist all of you in your learning come September and wish you all a pleasant summer." There was a nervous murmur of thanks from the crowd. "That's not the spirit, you should all be ecstatic you have a break from your studies, and what with the seventh years already gone, you should be celebrating your month of freedom. Now let me see what I can do to help." He smiled and flicked his wand, giant kegs of Butterbeer appeared in the centre of the common room and he conjured a large wooden table laden with food. "I'm sure none of you need an excuse for a party," he said happily clapping his hands together. "Mr and Mr Weasley I am sure I can rely on you to provide an evening of music and entertainment for your peers, there will be no need for you to attend dinner this evening. Do enjoy yourselves for one can never waste time if it is spent enjoying the company of ones friends."
"Yes Sir," the twins said, jumping up simultaneously into a salute.
"Excellent, excellent," Dumbledore said as he surveyed the incredulous, yet pleased expression of his house. "Cedric, Hermione may I speak with you in the corridor, it will take just a moment of your time, then you may re-join your fellows in merriment."
Once outside in the empty corridor he beckoned them closer to him.
"Our plan is going to schedule so far, Dippet has agreed to make you both prefects, you will have to attend a prefect meeting tomorrow morning at nine in his office, there he will announce Head Boy and Girl. The first of which I have… persuaded him to make you Cedric, you may go and spread the news of your new found authority to your house but you must not mention being Head Boy, that is a secret until tomorrow. Do you understand?" he whispered, they both nodded. "Excellent, we are to put the next stage of the plan into practice tomorrow during the meeting. You remember what your duties are Hermione?"
"Of course," she replied.
"Then I shall let you get back to your party, good luck to you both," he said with a smile, his eyes twinkling.
"Well done Albus," Cedric said, clapping the wizard on the back. "You seemed to have done your job perfectly."
"Ah yes, so it seems but I had the relatively easy task," he said sombrely. "I do not envy the two of you."
Hermione and Cedric walked with Theo and Claudia through the castle to Dippet's office the next morning. Theo and Claudia were clutching their heads and stifling yawns as they trudged exhaustedly through the corridors, they had both had a little too much of the Weasleys' smuggled fire whiskey, the party had raged on until the early hours of the morning. On the train at noon there would be many the hung over and napping Gryffindor. Cedric and Hermione had restrained themselves however and had been some of the first to go bed having had only a few drinks, the others all conceded that they had been travelling in the morning so probably needed a good sleep and had respected their wishes in not trying to make them stay up very late.
"So you finally get to meet the prefects from other houses," Claudia said sleepily. "We don't find out who the new fifth year ones are till September though, they get owl post in the summer."
"It's very exciting," Hermione agreed.
"I wonder who will be chosen to be Head Boy and Girl," Theo wondered aloud.
"As long it's not a Slytherin," Claudia groaned. "Can you imagine?"
"It could be you," Hermione pointed out. Claudia snorted.
"I don't think so somehow, I think they regret even making me a prefect now, my bet is on Clarissa, the Ravenclaw," she replied.
"It could be," Theo said with a nod. "I'm sure we will soon find out."
Hermione and Cedric shared a glance and the corners of her mouth upturned minutely, just enough for Cedric to see.
"So how do you like everyone in Gryffindor so far?" Theo asked.
"Very much, Venres and Septimus are very funny," Hermione said.
"Two peas in a pod those two," Claudia said with a nod. "This one time, they snuck a Niffler into the Slytherin common room. You can imagine the chaos, it was the funniest thing I have ever seen."
They continued through the castle listening to Claudia retelling the pranks the Weasley twins had pulled. Hermione felt her heart pang as she mentally compared them to Fred and George, how she missed them. One look at Cedric and she knew he was thinking the same thing; they had also been friends, being in many of the same classes. He was looking down at the floor as he walked, a subtly sad and nostalgic expression on his face. Hermione swallowed and tried not to let the loss of her friends get to her.
They were on a mission after all.
Chapter Five- Influence or Manipulation
As the Gryffindors stepped into the Headmasters office Hermione felt a prickle on the back of her neck, she could feel that Cedric's magic was becoming angry, it radiated off him. Scanning the room, her eyes settled on the reason for this sudden change in his usual calm and cheery demeanour. A certain Slytherin, Hermione sighed and grasped his hand gently. Cedric looked down at her and squeezed her hand briefly.
"I'm okay," he whispered shortly. "Completely fine." Hermione gave him a supportive smile and dropped his hand as they made their way over to the remaining chairs, directly next to Tom Riddle. Hermione groaned internally and deliberately took the seat next to him, she wasn't having Cedric sit there. She glanced at the boy next to her, his handsome face was set in an expression of interest as he waited for the headmaster to begin talking, though she knew better than to think it more than a façade. As she was calculating him his eyes turned toward her, as if he could sense her gaze. His dark eyes pierced hers and she felt a strange feeling of nervousness in the pit of her stomach, fortunately she was saved the embarrassment of him asking why she was staring at him, as the headmaster had entered the room and all eyes were averted toward him. Hermione only half listened to the speech Dippet was giving, he seemed very self-important in her opinion, she did not think highly of him.
She was however brought out of her own musings when Cedric's name was called out. She saw Cedric frown and his mouth open in surprise, but he quickly recovered himself enough to look at her and then Dumbledore as he rose from his seat. Hermione smiled proudly at him as he walked across to the headmaster's desk to receive his Head Boy badge. He had carefully mastered his look of astonishment at being chosen, so not to seem arrogant by the other students. As Claudia had predicted the Ravenclaw girl, Clarissa was chosen to be Head Girl and soon the meeting was paused so Dippet could speak to his new Head Boy and Girl. Hermione sat in silence by herself, gazing about the room.
"You're the new girl right?" A deep, silky voice to her left asked.
"Yes," she replied without looking toward the person speaking, though she knew exactly who it was.
"Tom Riddle," he said, extending a hand to her. Hermione paused before taking his hand.
"Hermione Wembdon," she said simply.
"Shakespearean?" he asked as he shook her hand.
"The Winter's Tale," she replied. There was short pause.
"What house have you been sorted into?" Tom Riddle asked conversationally.
"Gryffindor," she replied, finally making eye contact with the boy next to her.
"Should have guessed," he said with a smirk. "What with you being one of Dumbledore's."
"He is my godfather," Hermione said in a blasé tone. "He was the one who insisted Cedric and I came to Hogwarts." She said nodding toward him talking to Dippet.
"You get to stay at Hogwarts over the summer," Tom stated, agitation leaking slightly into his tone.
"Forced to stay in the castle more like," Hermione sighed. "Old codger went to all the trouble of finding us, he won't let us out of his sight. At least the library is second to none, I can tell how I shall be spending my time." Tom snorted. "Why, do you want to stay at Hogwarts?" Tom stayed silent for a minute.
"Of course I do," he said quietly. "Unfortunately not all of us are related to Professors and get that honour." Now it was Hermione's turn to smirk.
"Are you telling me you really want to stay cooped up in this castle all summer?" Hermione asked him. He nodded curtly. "Fine then," she said with a shrug. "You can."
"What do you mean?" he asked, frowning at her
"You can stay at Hogwarts for the summer," Hermione said. Tom laughed coldly.
"And what makes you think you have the power to let me stay, Dumbledore has made it very clear from my first year that I would have to return to London in the summer holiday," he said disdainfully.
"Listen Riddle, do you honestly want to stay here. I mean no going back on your word, want to stay here?" She asked.
"Yes," he said tersely, gritting his teeth together. Hermione smirked which seemed to infuriate him.
"Watch and learn Mr Riddle," Hermione said breezily as she rose from her chair and walked gracefully over to Dumbledore.
Riddle watched in fascination as he saw her tap the professor on the shoulder, the old man beamed as he saw who disturbing him from his conversation and laid a hand on her shoulder in a fatherly gesture. She leaned in toward the man and whispered in his ear for some time, Tom was very astounded to see Dumbledore looked surprised but not immediately opposed to whatever it was she was saying, he was even nodding along to her words. When she had finished speaking Dumbledore frowned and looked earnestly at her, before asking her a question which she nodded at. With a shrug he gave her a small smile and followed her over to where Tom was sat.
"Mr Riddle," he addressed with a nod. "I wish you stay after this meeting with Professor Dippet and I to discuss your stay here over the summer. If you agree to a few terms I see no problem with you staying in your dormitory and not having to go to the orphanage this summer." Riddle replied with a nod of bewilderment. Hermione meanwhile was stood next to the transfiguration teacher with a smug smile on her face.
"Thank you Professor," he managed to say, none of his usual hate for the teacher evident in his tone, he seemed too shocked.
"Excellent," Dumbledore replied before turning away from Riddle. "Hermione dear I wish to take you and Cedric to Diagon Alley on Thursday, we must go to Gringotts as soon as possible and I wish for Ollivander to take a look at both your wands, check they are in good working order."
"Thank you Uncle Albus, I shall tell Cedric and make sure he is ready," Hermione said with a sweet smile. Dumbledore squeezed her shoulders and took leave of the pair of them. As soon as his back was turned Hermione's sweet smile slid into a smug smirk.
"How did you do that?" Tom asked her as she sat back down in her seat.
"By asking," she said innocently. Tom snorted and raised his eyebrows at her. "Fine," she conceded. "A little persuasion."
"And by that you mean manipulation?" he asked. Hermione rolled her eyes and cast Tom a look.
"I can't help it if the old fool wants to appease his beloved goddaughter as an apology for his previous conduct, and grant her every whim and fancy, just to ensure she doesn't resent him." Riddle raised his eyebrows again as he studied her.
"I've heard a lot of rumours about you Miss Wembdon, none of which suggested you were this manipulative and devious," he said. Hermione could not help but let out a laugh.
"I prefer the term influential, and after one evening in Gryffindor tower you expect me to have heard no rumours about your serpentine cunning?" she asked. Tom's mouth pulled involuntarily upward at the corners, but he could not answer due to the continuation of the meeting, Dippet had continued droning on about rules. Cedric fell into the chair beside her and gave her a wide grin, slinging his arm round the back of her seat. Hermione noticed with satisfaction that Tom stiffened slightly and his brow furrowed as he saw Cedric's easy manner of joining Hermione.
When the meeting was finally over Cedric was called over by Clarissa again to be introduced to her Ravenclaw friends, Tom stood briskly and nodded to Hermione.
"It was a pleasure Miss Wembdon," he said sardonically.
"The pleasure was all mine Mr Riddle," Hermione replied with equal sarcasm.
"I may have the enormous privilege of seeing you around the castle in the summer," he replied, to which she shrugged nonchalantly.
"I don't know about that Mr Riddle, it's a rather large castle," she replied with false sweetness dripping from her tone. Cedric took this moment to re-join Hermione.
"Sorry to interrupt," he said stiffly.
"Not at all Cedric, there was nothing to interrupt," Hermione said flippantly.
"Shall we go then?" he asked.
"Yes," she said with a broad smile, taking his offered arm. She nodded politely to Tom who's eyes were narrowed at the contact their skin was making. The pair had walked a few paces when suddenly Hermione stopped and turned back to Tom.
"Oh and you're welcome," she said warmly, despite the fact that Tom had not thanked her in the slightest. "It was a pleasure." With another smirk Hermione was sure Tom saw, she and Cedric carried on their way.
Chapter Six- Haunted by Pain
"You're a filthy muggle whore!"
Hermione looked up at the witch with swollen eyes, which she could hardly open. Her whole face was grazed and bruised; blood was dripping from her mouth and onto the hard cold flagstones on which she was lying, her leg sticking out at an odd and grotesque angle beneath her. She shook her head in defiance.
"I am not a filthy muggle whore!" she tried to shout, though it came out as barely more than a whisper.
"What's that mudblood? You dare talk back to me?" Bellatrix Lestrange shrieked, her once attractive features contorted and tainted by darkness and hatred. "You. Are. A. Filthy. Muggle. Whore." She punctuated each word with a swift, hard kick to her stomach. Hermione cried out in pain as she doubled over and grasped her ribs, she could feel them shatter behind the force of Bellatrix's booted foot. "Now!" Screamed the witch as she dragged Hermione up by her hair. "Tell me where Potter and Dumbledore are hiding."
Hermione shook her head desperately.
"I'd rather die," she croaked. A sadistic smile crept across the older witch's face as she dropped her to the ground again and she crumpled like a rag doll on the hard stone.
"Now, now sweetie that will be arranged, would be much more appealing than having your unclean blood on my floors," she said in a sickly sweet voice as she paced about in front of her. "But seeing as you shall not respond to my gentle questioning, I shall summon the Dark Lord. See if he can make your dirty tongue talk. " She cackled manically as she raised her sleeve and pressed down on the obscene tattoo on her forearm.
Hermione's breath hitched in her throat as she felt Voldemort's presence in the room, his dark magic span around him like a mighty tempest. He looked down at her crumpled body on the floor and turned her over onto her back with the tip of his shoe.
"The Granger girl?" he asked Bellatrix simply his eyes not leaving her mangled form.
"Yes my lord," Bellatrix simpered. "She refuses to talk; I thought maybe your expertise would make her tell us what we need to know."
"You have crucioed her?" he asked Bellatrix in his usual derisive tone.
"Naturally," came her reply. "Since nine o'clock last night.'
"And yet after thirteen hours the Granger girl does not betray her friends…" he mused. "I admire your determination Granger, but your courage is misplaced. If you were not of inferior birth I would have undoubtedly made use of you within my ranks. Pity. You're easier on the eye than dear Bella here." He cackled cruelly, ignoring the look of scorn on the witch's face next to him and the gags of repulsion of the one on the floor. He then bent down low to a sobbing Hermione. "Granger do you remember the last time we met?" He whispered, she nodded feebly. "Do you remember how much it hurt? Do you remember the spells I used on you?" She again nodded. "You tell me Potter and Dumbledore's whereabouts and I will spare you that agony… and just kill you."
"I will never betray them," she managed to declare. "Do what you will to me. I would go through anything to keep them safe."
"I shall offer you this choice only once more Miss Granger… let's see if I can persuade you to cooperate," he whispered to her. "You shall kneel at my feet whilst I curse you," he said loudly, rising to his usual imposing height. She did not move, but more silent tears streamed down her cheeks, as she prayed he would kill her soon. She was expecting the cold bony hands of Death Eaters to pull her brusquely into a kneeling position, but instead she felt the gentle grip of an indeed bony yet small and warm hand. She dared to open her eyes and through the blur of tears she saw bright shining green eyes.
"You are safe Miss," was what she heard as she felt the immense pressure of apparation on her beaten frame.
"Hermione!" she heard.
"Hermione!"
"Hermione!" She was being shaken gently. Her breathing was laboured and her muscles were in spasm as the room swam into view.
"Hermione," she heard again.
"Cedric," she cried, flinging her arms round his broad, muscular shoulders and clinging tightly to him.
"What it another dream?" He asked worriedly, wrapping her in his arms. She nodded into the hollow of his shoulder. "It's alright," he whispered soothingly. "It's alright, it's over. All over." She nodded again, trying to pull herself together after one of the dreams that had been plaguing her periodically for so long now.
"I'm sorry," she said croakily. "I'm being ridiculous."
"No," Cedric said. "No, you can't stop the memories finding you in your dreams."
They sat like that for a while, arms around each other until Hermione thought herself calmed down enough.
They had been sat in the Room of Requirement, just reading on one of the sofas, when Hermione had dozed off on Cedric's shoulder and had been assaulted by the barrage of memories which had ruined their otherwise pleasant morning. If only she hadn't been up so late replying Venres' owl post last night.
"I'm going to start that essay on Murtlap," Hermione informed Cedric, with a deep breath she rose from the comfy sofa.
"You sure?" he asked in concern.
"Yes, I need something to occupy my mind," Hermione said. "I'm going to go and get some books from the library." Cedric nodded and she made her way over to the door.
"Granger," he called after her.
"Hmm?" She spun round to look at him.
"You're wearing jeans," he said with an amused smile on his face. Hermione brought a hand up to her forehead, how could she forget? She had changed into a more comfortable pair of jeans as they were just in the room of requirement and her hair was in a low ponytail. She couldn't risk being seen by anyone walking around the castle in trousers, let alone denim. With a flick of her wand her dark jeans and jumper changed into a navy blue skirt and a white, sleeveless blouse. She pulled the hair band out of her curls and let them hang loosely around her face.
"Thanks Ced," she said with a wave, before exiting the room.
Chapter Seven –Nothing but a Half-truth
She was still shaking slightly as she perused the Herbology section of the library, it was just her luck that the book she needed, Magical Water Plants of The Oceans was at the very top of the towering shelf. Her wand was in it's holster so without much hesitation she flicked her wrist and the thick book came soaring into her hand.
"Did you just use wandless magic?" Came a deep voice from behind her. Hermione screamed and jumped backward. Then on seeing that no one was about to murder her she swore loudly and held her hand against her beating heart.
"Hello to you too," Tom drawled.
"Sorry," Hermione replied breathlessly. "My nerves are a little on edge today."
"You don't say," Tom said sarcastically. With a few more deep breaths Hermione continued to the Magical Creatures section, where she would find a book dedicated to Murtlaps.
"What can I do for you Riddle," Hermione said steadily.
"I um…" he said hesitantly. She span round and with wide eyes watched Tom Riddle rub the back of his neck uncomfortably. "I guess I thought that I should… thank you." He said the word thank as though it was a terrible curse word, and then looked about lest anyone else could have heard him.
"What?" Hermione gasped.
"Thank you," he repeated under his breath, not making eye contact with her. "For convincing Dumbledore to let me stay… here… in the castle…in summer."
"You're…welcome?" Hermione managed to utter. They then stood stock still in an awkward silence, neither of them making eye contact. Hermione was too amazed at how Tom had thanked her for something, and it seemed he was a little astounded as well. Eventually she took a deep breath and turned back to the bookshelf, pulling them both from their reveries. She pulled An In-Depth Guide to Murtlap and Other Magical Rodents from the shelf and carried on walking to the potions section of the library.
"What books are you taking out?" He asked suspiciously as he fell into step beside her. She flashed him the covers. "Why?"
Hermione looked up at him with wide eyes, before swallowing dryly.
"Early last year, Cedric got hit by this cutting hex, it sliced right through his arm. We were alone in the middle of an Albanian forest with no choice but to stay put. I did everything I could to help him, but I wasn't yet very good at healing spells, they take a lot of practice. I did my best and it kind of worked okay, the flesh knitted back together." Then her voice dropped to a regretful whisper. "He was in so much pain, I tried to give him pain relief spells and potions but the wound was cursed and wouldn't react to that kind of magic. I thought that if I could soothe the actual flesh it would feel better, so I tried to make Murtlap Essence, but after missing so much of my education I didn't know the correct way to. I tried my best but it was wrong. It just made the wound reopen and turn septic. I felt terrible, and while he never blames me at all, he is always so grateful for me having tried, every time I look at that scar on his forearm I recoil at the thought that if I had known how to make Murtlap Essence he wouldn't have had to go through all that agony. It's a terrible feeling knowing you've caused someone you love pain, so I promised myself as soon as I was able to see the books I would learn to brew it, so I was never in that position again."
That was only a half-lie. The whole cutting hex thing had happened, and it had left a scar but it wasn't due to Hermione's spells, which were nothing short of perfect, or the fact that she brewed a bad Murtlap Essence, for that too was faultless - she had been making it for years after all. It was just one of those wounds that created scars.
But she couldn't have Tom know that Dumbledore had secretly told them every essay they would have to write over the year so they could get a head start over the summer. That would not go down well at all.
"That suggests one of the many rumours I heard before our classmates departed is true then," he replied. Hermione shook herself out of her self-evaluating to answer.
"What rumours have you heard?" she asked, picking up the book she was looking for.
"There was one that you were Dumbledore's illegitimate child, one that you were victims of the muggle war in France, one that you were pregnant with Dumbledore's child, one that you were on the run because you had stolen a dragon from the Bulgarian government, one that you-"
"I get the idea," she said shortly. "None of those are true."
"They're all lies?"
"Well, some of them are half-truths," Hermione said, as she watched Tom's eyebrows shoot up his forehead.
"Do continue."
Hermione sighed.
"Well, I'm not pregnant, Dumbledore is not my father, I've got nothing to do with any muggle wars and I've never stolen a Bulgarian dragon." Tom smirked and rolled his eyes at her. 'If only he knew the half of it' Hermione thought.
"And I thought you were different from normal girls, what with your cursing, " he mocked. "What has Dumbledore told you about me?" he asked, Hermione could see he was trying to act casual.
"That you are a bottom of the class Slytherin who has no friends," Hermione said simply, a small smile forming on her mouth. She glanced up at Tom, and could see the muscle in his cheek twitching. "Either that or he said 'Tom Riddle is the Slytherin Prefect, top of every class, very intelligent. Will probably be Head Boy when his time comes.' One of the two, I really forget which."
"Oh really," he replied with a glare. "Is that why you were made a prefect, because Dumbledore convinced Dippet?" Hermione nodded to this.
"Dumbledore thinks that by bribing Cedric and me with gifts, affection and power he can make us overlook what he did to us in the past," Hermione said casually.
"What did he do?" Tom asked, intrigue written across his face.
"I can't tell you that," Hermione said firmly. "One day maybe I will, but not now." He nodded slowly, and then there was another pause.
"Who is this 'Cedric' anyway," he asked, spitting Cedric's name as if it was dirt. Hermione just raised her eyebrows.
"You know, tall guy…brown hair," she said innocently.
"You know what I mean," he sneered disdainfully. "Who is he to you?"
"He's everything to me," Hermione said simply. "He's my best friend, the only I have left... Not that it's any of your business," she added. Tom seemed satisfied by her answer for now and nodded, Hermione took this moment to glance at which book he was holding in his hands.
"Don't you know enough about Hogwarts yet?" she teased lightly, gesturing to Hogwarts: A History, in his hands.
"One can never know enough about Hogwarts," he countered. "I'm just doing some background reading, I have some big plans for this year." Hermione felt her blood run cold.
"What kind of plans?" she asked fervently, though trying to let her panic into her voice.
"You'll see, I'm so close I think I will be in a position to enact them before the end of the summer, easily," he said, an evil glint passing over his features. Hermione gulped and dropped the books she was holding so they fell to the ground with a thud. She ignored them.
There was only one reason he would want to read up on Hogwarts.
"I have to go," she said quickly. "Meeting… with Dumbledore… I'm late."
With that she hurried from the library and sprinted to the Room of Requirement, inside she found Cedric sitting peacefully. He jumped up when he saw Hermione run in, anxiety written all over his face.
"Hermione what's wrong?" he asked quickly.
Chapter Eight- Unwelcome Realizations
"Dammit!" she yelled as she paced angrily back and forward, she was disgusted at herself for running away in such a state from Tom Riddle and for not foreseeing this problem sooner.
"Hermione," Cedric said cautiously, laying a hand on both her arms to stop her frantic movement. "Calm down."
"This is not the time to be calm Cedric! We've messed up, we've messed up in such a big way!" she exclaimed balling her hands into fists as her dark eyes prickled with the threat of unwanted tears.
"Hermione, you have to calm down," Cedric said forcefully, holding her in place. He had known her long enough to know that when Hermione is panicked, she doesn't think clearly. "Deep breath."
"I am not a child Cedric!" she snapped in irritation, glaring at him angrily. He just stared tranquilly back into her eyes.
"Deep breath," he repeated.
"Cedr-"
"Deep breath!" he interrupted. Hermione gritted her teeth furiously and contemplated her options before she took a deep, exaggerated breath, and instantly felt better. Cedric of course noticed, "See, I'm always right."
"This isn't the time," Hermione said sternly, Cedric shrugged; at least she wasn't so flustered anymore.
"Come on then, tell me what's happened," he suggested gently, rubbing her arms.
"When we stopped Tom going home this summer so he couldn't kill his father and grandparents and steal the ring he would make into a horcrux, we forgot one very important thing. What he would spend his summer doing! I was just in the library and he asked what books I was taking out so I made up this excuse and I saw he was reading Hogwarts: A History and he said he had big plans for next year and I know he means the chamber of secrets and he said he was close, and we know what will happen once he gets inside," she reeled off at twice her usual pace.
Cedric stayed silent for a moment, his eyes wide with shock.
"Shit," he breathed as the realization hit him. His hand ran through his hair and he bit his lip. "Dumbledore," he said under his breath. "Dumbledore, Dumbledore, Dumbledore." He repeated as he reached for his wand on the table, he hastily threw it out in front of him and a jet of silver light passed at great speed through the wall. Hermione knew in a matter of seconds Dumbledore would be receiving summons from a silvery badger.
Sure enough Dumbledore entered the room minutes later to two very anxious people pacing about the room.
"What in Merlin's name has happened?" he asked. Hermione repeated to him, what she had just said to Cedric, to which he nodded gravely.
"There is only one option," he said darkly.
"And that is?" Cedric asked.
"We have to go down, don't we?" Hermione asked fearfully. Dumbledore nodded, not looking up from the floor, he couldn't look up at her, he wasn't sure he could bear to see the terror in her eyes at being made to go down to that place again.
"We have to go down, kill the basilisk and seal the chamber forever," he said.
"Not exactly an easy feat," Cedric sighed kneading his forehead with his knuckles, as if trying to dispel a particularly painful headache.
"We have to do it today," Hermione said softly. "He said he was close. We can't afford to lose any time."
"But none of us are parselmouths," Cedric pointed out, looking from Hermione to Dumbledore.
"You've seen the chamber opened before Hermione, I think it's best you try and open it yourself," Dumbledore said, looking for any sign of distress in her face.
"No," Cedric said firmly. "No she's not going down there again."
"Cedric," she breathed raising her eyebrows in caution.
"No!" he exclaimed loudly, shaking his head. "We can't put you through that again!"
"Cedric we have no other choice, we're here for a reason," she said quietly, she was not about to let mere memories stop her from going on such an important mission.
"Hermione," he pleaded.
"I'm going," she said resolutely.
"Hermi-"
"I'm going," she said in a raised voice before taking a deep breath and steeling herself. "This is not up for debate." Cedric sighed and realized that she was not to be swayed, so he just nodded slightly.
"Where is the Marauder's map?" Dumbledore asked. Hermione walked over to her bag and accioed it out from the bottom. He spread it out on the table and they all poured over it.
"Tom Riddle is still in the library," Hermione said, poking the map with her finger. "Dippet is in his office with Slughorn, they won't come out for hours, on the elf made wine I don't doubt… I think we should go now."
"You can't be serious Hermione, not after last time," Cedric begged.
"I'm incredibly serious. We go now."
"No, no, no, no, no. This is bad," Cedric groaned. "I'm sure me and Dumbledore can go down alone, you don't have to come Hermione. You can keep checking the Marauders map, put up wards… that kind of thing."
"If I may offer you some peace of mind Cedric," Albus offered, anticipating an argument to come of their disagreement. "It is my belief that the basilisk is in some sort of… hibernation state as the chamber has not yet been opened by the Slytherin heir."
"Oh that's great, the bloody great snake is sleeping," he retorted sarcastically.
"Cedric, this isn't like you," Hermione said warningly, giving him a penetrating look.
"I'll give you a few moments…" Dumbledore said. "I shall go and see if Fawkes will accompany us… just in case." With that the sorcerer left the room and Cedric immediately turned back to Hermione, clutching her hands in his.
"You do not have to do this," he beseeched. "You do not have to go down to that place again."
"I do Cedric, I'm the only who's been down there before," she said softly, she could see the affection and worry swimming in his eyes and could not be angry at him for not wanting her to go.
"Exactly, and look what happened then, you shouldn't be subjected to reliving those memories," he whispered.
"We came here for a reason Ced," she said squeezing his hands tightly. "You can't protect me from danger to the extent where you won't let me go anywhere and be of assistance to the cause. I know what I signed up for."
"But I want to stop you from having to go through all this, I want to protect you!" he insisted his grey eyes piercing imploringly into her own.
"Cedric there have been times when I was in terrible danger with no one to protect me and I managed to get out of there alive," Cedric dropped her gaze and looked to the floor, Hermione could feel his magic changing and a wave of his guilt washed across her. "No Cedric!" she warned placing her hands on either side of his face and pulling him back up to her gaze. "It was not your fault."
"I am your partner," he whispered ashamedly biting down on his bottom lip. "I should have been there."
"Is that was this is?" she breathed in realization. "Cedric, you don't feel guilty about all of those things, do you?"
"Of course I do," he confirmed. "How can I not? I should have protected you better. I am your partner."
"Cedric," she whispered pulling him into a tight embrace which he returned. "I know you did your best, the only times I had to get out of peril alone was when you were unconscious the first time and in a different country the second."
He murmured something unintelligible.
"Every other time we got caught together and we managed to get ourselves out of it, together," she said.
"Not before I had to see you be tortured," he whispered, his usually steady voice wavering with emotion. "Those were the worst moments of my entire life." She rubbed his back as comfortingly as she could and buried her face into his shoulder.
"I have had to witness that happen to you as well, I have had to watch all of those horrific things happen and have been completely powerless to help, but I'm not stopping you. You know you have to do this for yourself as your duty to our friends and families, so let me a go as well. Don't make me let them down. We are partners, where you go. I go... for them."
There was a long pause, of course Hermione wasn't going to let Cedric stop her, but she would have a lot less problems if he complied.
"You and me," he finally whispered, thus accepting Hermione's decision, however much it pained him.
Chapter Nine- The Beauty of the Beast
Hermione groaned in frustration again. They had been trying to open the chamber for ages, and it still wasn't budging.
"Keep at it Hermione, we'll get there," Dumbledore said from his perch on the side of one of the sinks. Hermione closed her eyes and took another deep breath; she felt Cedric's large hand on her shoulder and his presence next to her.
"I'm sorry Hermione," he whispered into her ear, his lips grazing the sensitive skin. "But I think for this to work you have to channel the last time. Let it encompass you." Hermione's determined expression turned to one of dread, but she nodded slightly.
"Okay," she said quietly.
"Good luck," she heard Cedric whisper again before she felt the reassuring pressure of his lips on her forehead. "I'm here for you." She nodded again and winced slightly as she felt his warmth withdraw from her. She slowly sunk to the cold stone floor, wrapped her arms around her knees and allowed the memories of that night to flood into her mind.
"She's down there," Hermione whimpered as they walked into the desolate bathroom.
"I'm so sorry," Harry croaked, his tears tracing slick marks down his bloodied face. "This is my fault."
"No mate, this is his fault," Ron said, with a large sniff. "He did it before, and he's doing again. He knew it would get to us." Hermione reached out to both her friends and squeezed their hands. They stood there for a minute, the enormity of their task not dampening their spirit. There was no spirit left inside them, there was only need. The need to get her back.
It was the first time Hermione ever saw Ron cry, properly.
Not tears from laughing so hard his stomach hurt, choking on pumpkin juice or being kicked in the shin. They were just tears of desperation and sadness, to Hermione this show of emotion in her old friend was devastatingly beautiful and it broke her heart. He let out a sob and she grabbed his shoulder, pulling him into a hug, but he was a wreck, no amount of comforting could change what had happened.
"My sister," he howled. "My only sister, my baby sister."
"My best friend," Hermione whispered.
"My… my Ginny," Harry whispered tearfully. Hermione squeezed his hand a little tighter, she knew how he loved her, and her him. She had been there at their engagement party, laughing and dancing, been at their wedding, joyful tears mingling with laughter as she watched Ginny, the most beautiful woman in the world that night, dancing with the man who could never have torn his gaze away from his bride. Now the maid of honour, the brother and the husband were in a Hogwarts bathroom, brought here by the threat of her death, each dreading what they would find. Neither Harry nor Ron cared whether it was a trap; all they needed was to try. Hermione felt overwhelmed by the misery that radiated from them.
"Let's go," Ron said hoarsely, with a nod Harry stepped up to one of the battered sinks and focussed in on the tiny snake on the tap. Hermione gasped as that unnatural hissing noise fell from Harry's lips and sure enough the grating sound of the sinks lowering revealed the slimy tunnel which descended in darkness.
Hermione was brought out of her trance-like state by being gently shaken.
"You did it Granger," Cedric said soothingly as he pulled her to her feet and brushed away the tears from her cheeks. Hermione nodded numbly and tried dispel the images once again, on looking over to the column of sinks she realized that as Harry had opened the chamber, so had she in imitation.
After the heart-stopping slide down to the chamber Hermione and Cedric landed in a painful heap on the floor, Dumbledore however seemed to descend with a lot more elegance. Hermione flinched slightly as she brought her hand up to her chin, she could feel where the skin had been scraped off in the fall. In the darkness she heard Cedric groan in discomfort as he staggered to his feet.
"Are you hurt?" she asked.
"It's just a scratch," he said in reply. "Come on; let's get this over and done with. This place is repulsive." Hermione lifted her wand in front of her and the cavernous antechamber was illuminated for the first time in a thousand years. The architecture was thrown into relief and the contrast of the shadows made the three of them wary, in case they caught a glimpse of movement from within the darkness.
Without speaking they carried on their journey, their steps echoing throughout the damp chamber and their shoes occasionally crunching on bones underfoot. After a few minutes of walking, which seemed like hours to Hermione especially, she spoke up.
"When I was last here, there was a shed skin round this next bend," she whispered, but still her voice rang around them. The others nodded and Hermione saw Cedric swallowing the lump in his throat. She had tried to keep her voice from wavering, she didn't need him knowing how fast her heart was beating or how her palms were sweating. It would only convince him he was right about her staying behind. As they reached the turning in the chamber each of them crept as quietly as possible before turning their heads round the corner to see what was awaiting them.
It was not a skin.
A colossal coil of serpentine flesh was rising and falling gently.
"It's sleeping?" Cedric asked bewildered.
"Oh what an anti-climax, I was looking forward to battling a fifty foot conscious snake," Hermione spat sarcastically.
"Hermione, your humour is not appreciated at this moment in time," Cedric told her. "And do you always have to be so sarcastic when you are under pressure?" Hermione decided she was not going to dignify that with an answer, so took the step round the corner and walked as quietly as possible up to the beast.
"This is going to need all of our magic," Dumbledore said sombrely.
"I've never killed something that's unconscious before," Cedric murmured.
"It is strangely beautiful… it looks almost innocent in this unaggressive and unguarded state," Dumbledore said wisely.
"It's like killing a sleeping house-elf," Hermione said sadly.
"How?" Came the bewildered voices of Cedric and Dumbledore.
"Well if you think about it… this snake doesn't kill on it's own. It's ordered to. It doesn't do it out of spite or malice, it does it because it has a bond with the person controlling it, it couldn't stop even if it wanted to," she explained.
"I see where you're coming from," Cedric said slowly, although Hermione guessed it was only to appease her. "But we have to slay this basilisk." Hermione looked at Dumbledore; the usual twinkle had left his eyes.
"On three?" she suggested her companions both nodded. "One."
"Two," Dumbledore announced.
"Three," Cedric said in a firm voice.
Though when the time came none of them could bear to say the curse in more than a whisper.
"Avada Kedavra." There was an almighty flash of green light emitted from all three wands and the massive serpent woke in alarm, though it was dead before his eyes had opened. The curse caused the heavy snake to lurch and the force of it landing back on the stone floor sent shockwaves through the chamber. The three were sent flying backward into the hard, damp wall which began crumbling around them. Hermione could feel hot, sticky blood dripping from her forehead and into her eyes but she did not care when the tunnel was caving in around them.
"Albus! Go!" she screamed as she grabbed Cedric's hand and pulled him up, he was groggy but not unconscious. "Albus! You can apparate, Cedric and I can run. Just go." Before he could respond a large part of the stone ceiling fell with a deafening bang to the floor between them. Hermione did not have time panic at the sense of déjà vu she was feeling, tugging on Cedric to run she pulled him as far as possible from the newly formed rock wall. With a quick scan of the situation she realized she and Cedric were on the side with the exit. But Albus was the deputy head, he and the headmaster could apparate within the castle... if he wasn't already crushed. She daren't think of that now, the cracks were spreading. "Come on Cedric!" She screamed through the dust and falling smaller rocks. She could see he was drifting in and out of consciousness there was no way he would be able to run all the way back before the tunnel collapsed. She swore loudly and dropped him onto the floor.
"I'm sorry, Stupefy! Petrificus Totalus! Portandum!" She yelled in quick succession, with her wand pointed directly at Cedric's face. She focused all her energy on the girl's bathroom as Cedric vanished from sight. Those were very dangerous combination of spells to use; they had not dared risk it when kidnapping Dumbledore from the Leaky Cauldron. Stunning, body-binding and transporting something alive was not something which is recommended. But Hermione was willing to take that risk, because otherwise there was very real possibility they would both be buried alive in the Chamber of Secrets.
It suddenly dawned upon Hermione that she was alone, down here in the chamber where some of the worst moments of her life had happened. She could not dwell on that fear, as she sprinted away from the epicentre of the damage a large hunk of rock fell, bashing her arm as it went. She cried out in pain and grabbed her arm, but she could not stop, she could feel, smaller, sharper rocks slicing her skin.
She did not stop running until she finally reached the entrance to the chamber, she didn't halt to catch her breath then either. Not when she was down here and Cedric and Dumbledore could be in a very bad way.
"What do I do," she muttered as she saw the sheer walls of the wide chute. "This is going to be painful," she groaned. Gritting her teeth she positioned herself beneath the chute and pointed her wand in the opposite direction. "Ascendio." With the force of her spell she was sent up the tunnel. "Ascendio!" she shouted again when she seemed to be slowing. It was all very well until she came to a twist in the tunnel; she could not help but let herself be thrown into the side as the spell was not controllable in more ways than simple direction. Finally she came tumbling out onto the stone floor of the girls' lavatory.
"Hermione!" Came the worried voice of Dumbledore.
"Thank goodness you got out okay," she managed to say, despite the pain she felt as she clutched her abdomen. "Cedric?"
"I transported him to the hospital wing with Fawkes, we must go there at once, Madame Finchley is on holiday in the south." Hermione nodded and tried to stand.
"I think I've got broken ribs Albus," Hermione said as she leaned heavily on the sink.
"Can you make it to the Hospital Wing?" he asked her. She nodded and tried to take a step, after whimpering in pain shook her head.
"Move your hand," he told her as he bent down and pressed gently on the bones. Hermione cried out in agony. "Stay very still… Brackium Emendo." Hermione instantly felt the pain subside.
"Thank you, worked better with you than old Gilderoy," she joked despite the situation. Dumbledore gave her a small smile and warned her to go easy on it.
"You stay hwew and put the first wards on Albus," Hermione said. "I'll go deal with Cedric." He nodded in reply and she ran as fast as her broken body could carry her. When she got in she saw Cedric lying stiff and unconscious on one of the beds. She lifted the body-bind curse from him and checked for breaks in all his limbs. Only his arm was fractured which she mended and bandaged up for him, blasting open the door of the office as she went to take what she needed from the potion supplies.
"Episkey," she repeated many times over his skin before she gave him a blood replenishing potion and one to make him sleep off his concussion.
Dumbledore entered the room just as she was finishing her ministrations.
"I think he'll be okay," she said softly. "He's sleeping."
"You did the right thing; it was a risk but he could never have made it back on foot in his condition. How are you feeling?" he voice was full of fatherly concern.
"I'm fine," she said. "Would you mind just sealing these cuts for me? I hate doing it to myself."
Dumbledore nodded and used his wand to silently heal all her visible cuts. "Thanks," she said after he was finished. "I'm going to go outside… I need some fresh air. Still feeling a little claustrophobic."
"I shall stay here with Cedric," Dumbledore said. "Do take some bruise salve; you're already turning funny colours."
Chapter Ten- Avoidance Leads To Obsession
Hermione Wembdon was strange. No… interesting.
Tom stood contemplating this bizarre girl as he skimmed stones across the lake. He found himself intrigued by this witch, she had power over Dumbledore, and power over the 'greatest wizard of all time' was something Tom couldn't help but admire. Why had she helped him to stay in the castle over summer? To prove she could probably… to flaunt her influence on the old codger, to show everyone she wasn't to be trifled with because she had Dumbledore on her side.
How devious.
But as a Gryffindor, she can't be that devious, his own house is where those with cunning belong. Maybe Dumbledore bribed the sorting hat to put her in his own house, to keep an eye on her, to keep her away from the temptations Slytherin offered. A real possibility.
But then she had acted strangely today, going to all the trouble of hunting for those books and then just dropping them and scurrying out. She seemed to be so passionate about her reasoning to get them.
Maybe Tom misjudged her character… maybe she was just a weird Gryffindor. He smirked at this thought. He was very good judge of character.
With a sigh he threw his last stone and picked up his book bag, deciding on going back to the common room to finish his book. As he turned back toward the castle he noticed a figure walking slowly from the entrance hall. Tom watched the figure for a few moments before he realized it was in fact the very person he had just been musing over. With a shrug he walked off toward the Quidditch pitch, with her on that route to the forest and a little luck, their paths would cross. Sure enough they did, but as soon as Tom got close enough to her to properly see her, he noticed something was terribly wrong. Half of her face had lost it's usual warm and glowing complexion and was discoloured and waxy, as though a bruise was forming. Even more strange was her eyes, when they had spoken last week at the prefect meeting Hermione's dark eyes were glistening with intelligence and vitality, but now they were dull and downcast, and she hadn't notice him at all.
"Err… Wembdon?" he said. He watched as the girl jumped out of her stupor and swore violently. Tom supressed a smirk… just what he was expecting. "Ever the ladylike articulation I see."
Hermione just looked at him, which the same unfeeling eyes, it was making him uncomfortable. He wasn't used to feeling uncomfortable like this. "I got you these," he said quickly, breaking eye contact to remove some books from his bag, the very ones she had been meaning to borrow from the library. "You said you needed them…"
Hermione looked at him in shock for a moment.
"Oh, yes of course, that had completely slipped my mind, thank you," she said finally taking the books from him and pinning them to her chest whilst eying him in confusion. He noticed her white blouse which had been so crisp and spotless earlier was now filthy.
"What's that on your…" he said pointing to her sleeve.
"Oh Merlin, it's just a bit of blood how silly of me," she said under breath as she pulled out her wand and cleaned it without a word of incantation.
"Are you alright?" Tom asked, showing an above average interest in another human being… for him anyway.
"Why wouldn't I be?" Hermione asked breezily.
"Because you almost ran from the library earlier and now you're out here on your own covered in blood," he said as though it was the most obvious thing in the universe.
"Well apart from that," she said sarcastically, but without any of her usual fire. Tom noticed her play with the silver chain around her neck, but he couldn't see what was at the bottom, her blouse was in the way. He raised a quizzical eyebrow at her. She whispered hoarsely; "Cedric was trying to make me feel better, acting like a prat to do it of course. Long story short he fell down the stairs, I tried to grab him and ended up landing on top of him at the bottom. He's not well, unconscious in the hospital wing."
"Oh," Tom said softly. "Are you okay?" He didn't give a damn about Cedric.
"Yes," she replied. "I landed on top of him, there's just a little bruising, I didn't hit my head or anything like he did."
"Oh," he said in response, looking at the ground. "Did he succeed in cheering you up… is your kind of humour that of people hurting themselves?"
"No," she replied shortly, a bitter smirk creeping onto her face. "I've seen enough pain to not view it as humorous." They stood in silence for a second, Hermione seemed lost in her own thoughts as she looked towards the mountains, a nostalgic look in her eyes, Tom just studied her face.
"So are you okay…I mean in the sense that you needed cheering up?" he asked.
"No," she whispered. "But it's okay, not to be okay sometimes." There was another pause and Tom could see Hermione's lip quivering dangerously, and her eyes threatening to spill tears, but they didn't. It seemed as though she refused to cry.
"Would you tell me if I asked what's made you upset?"
"No," she said firmly. "I should go, Cedric might wake up… I just needed some air."
"Does Dumbledore know what happened? Did he check you were okay?" Tom asked.
"Yes, he's with Cedric now," she replied stiffly.
"Just one more thing," he said arching an elegant eyebrow. "If you fell down the stairs, why is there mud skid on the back of your blouse?" Hermione's face did not change, it will still a mask of indifference.
"Good bye Riddle," she said curtly as she turned on her heel, walking quickly back to the castle. Tom eyed her retreating back doubtfully, his eyes narrowed in thought.
There was a week left of the summer holidays and Tom was sat in the library rolling his quill angrily between his fingers. He didn't know why he was so annoyed, but he hadn't seen Hermione since they had met outside and she was hurt. Well he had technically seen her, they'd passed in the corridor when she was linking arms with stupid Cedric, he'd seen her in the library twice, both whilst accompanied with Dumbledore and engaged in a hushed conversation.
He could just imagine how she had spent her summer up in Gryffindor tower with that imbecile, only leaving because that old codger wanted to talk to his precious god daughter. She didn't even like Dumbledore, she'd said so, but whenever Tom saw them together he noticed how sincere her smile and flattery was. Good actress.
The thing he didn't understand was why he was so bothered every time he saw her with Cedric, he reasoned that it was because he was blatantly an arsehole. Waltzing into Hogwarts and using his influence with Dumbledore to become Head Boy after one night in the castle, and he had pushed Hermione down the stairs… kind of. If Cedric had been in his own year and stopped him from becoming Head Boy, the position he had coveted and strived to gain for six years, Tom was sure he would have hexed him into the ground by now. Although there was still time… it would probably be best to ascertain his ineptitude for duelling first, a fortnight of lessons would be more than enough. As the thought of battling against the Gryffindor boy entered his mind his quill snapped. Gritting his teeth in irritation he removed the splintered shards from his palm and crushed the remains of it under his fist. Swinging his bag over his shoulder he decided to go and get some food from the kitchen and go back to the common room. He was still seething with this unfamiliar rage when he caught a snippet of conversation, walking along the seventh floor corridor. Frowning, he quickly cast a disillusionment charm on himself and backtracked slightly to where had heard the conversation, round the corner.
"Calm down Granger," he heard Cedric hiss.
"I am calm," he heard Hermione retort. Why was he calling her Granger?
"You know Dumbledore is only doing this for your own good," he said, trying to placate her. Tom leaned around the corner in interest; there in the corridor were the two new students seemingly in an argument. Hermione's hands were on her hips and she had fixed her friend with a stern gaze. Tom watched in disgust as Cedric laid a hand on her shoulder.
"My own good?" she repeated, enraged.
"You know exactly what kind of place Knockturn Alley is, you shouldn't be going there, especially not alone," Cedric said.
"Oh so suddenly I can't handle it," she scoffed. Tom couldn't help but agree on that point; she shouldn't be going down Knockturn Alley.
"Hermione," Cedric pleaded. "Please don't be angry at Dumbledore for this, he really thinks it's for your benefit." Tom couldn't help but smirk as she saw Hermione shrug off his hand.
"Are you trying to tell me Cedric," she hissed. "That suddenly I am not capable of going to Knockturn Alley by myself, that suddenly any seedy people there would have any effect on me. Have I not met the scum of the earth and got through it? Is that what has become of me? From the front line of a war to not allowed to go to London." Tom's eyebrows shot up as he heard this, what kind of girl was this? He must have taken a loud intake of breath as Hermione's and Cedric's heads both snapped toward the spot he was standing. Hermione seemed to disregard it instantly but Cedric kept his eyes on the point a little longer.
"Hermione, please you know I don't mean that," he said earnestly. Tom hoped Hermione would hit him. Unfortunately she just nodded dejectedly.
"I'm sorry Ced, I shouldn't take this out on you, it's just frustrating, I had so much independence before all this," she said so softly Tom hardly heard it.
"It's going to be okay Granger," he whispered back to her, wrapping his arms around her in an embrace. Tom's stomach tightened as he saw her lean into him and bury her head into his chest. "Come on, let's go back to the common room," he suggested, running his hand through her hair. Tom felt very uncomfortable at this show of intimacy, but it was quickly masked with annoyance as he saw Cedric take Hermione's hand and lead her down the corridor toward him. He daren't move, or they would hear his footsteps. He held his breath as they walked past but Hermione stopped abruptly inches from him, a confused and searching look on her face.
"What is it?" Cedric asked.
"Nothing," she replied, Tom almost had a heart attack as she looked him directly in the eye before carrying on walking. He had never experienced something like it, he was invisible… how had she made eye contact with him? The conversation he had overheard raised a large array of questions…
Before, Tom had thought Hermione Wembdon was interesting purely because she was unknown and mysterious, a novelty. Now he was resolute and determined on knowing every last one of her secrets, of which it seemed she had a fair few.
