A/N: Hi everyone, I am finally done with the first chapter of 'cheese in the trap' tomione is on eof my favourite story. I've watched the drama (which kind of petered off in the middle and never seemed to manage to come back up), the manhwa webtoon (solid storyline though in the end was kind of normalized and justify Jung a little bit which I am not really a fan off- what can I say I am a fan of Tomione fandom, so I love a little bit of sociopathy in my leading man) and the movie (which are more faithful to the webtoon and I like more than the drama but kind of limited by the movie format). I always thought the story could be adapted to a Tomione fanfic. The guy was a charming well-liked sociopath and the heroin was an intelligent if a bit socially inept with great curly hair. It couldn't be more perfect.
So, here you go a tomione version of Cheese in the trap.
"He creeps me out." Uttered Hermione randomly, as she and two of her best friends lounged by the lake on their university ground, enjoying the rare warmth of British sun in middle of early spring.
"Whoof? Malfoiff?" asked Ron, with his mouth full of cheese and onion pasty.
Specks of it flew off everywhere.
Hermione grimaced. It was not a pretty sight.
However, it was a common sight. So, she is well versed in the language of Ron's eat-speak.
"Not Draco, he is just a brat." Dismissed Hermione with a wave of her hand.
"Then who are you talking about then?" asked Harry with eyes half opened, finally joining the conversation.
"Whom Harry, it's 'Whom are you talking about?'." corrected Hermione snottily, distracted by Harry's misuse of the word who.
Harry just punched her arm lightly and said, "If I wanted to use Who and Whom properly, I would have taken English lit or language, as it was I have no need to use Whom in Biochem, it's not as if I have any use for it."
Hermione punched him back, having no rebuttal to Harry's perfectly reasoned argument. It's true as final year biochemistry students in Hogwarts University, they have no use for who or whom in their study.
Seriously, Harry had arguments for everything. He would have made a great law student if it were not for his appalling use of the English language.
"….not as if I would write down on my lab report 'the polymerase enzyme whom are known to amplify DNA and so on and so forth'." He continued with flourish, " and another thing…"
Harry's tirade about his command of the English language was only stopped by Ron's expertly executed hit to Harry's head, and said with mouth no longer full of savory pasty, " Shut up you dolt, I want to know whom she's talking about."
Ron gestured at her to continue her story as he took a huge bite of the cheesy pasty, refocused Hermione's attention back to the creep in question.
Hermione paused for a moment.
She looked around, half expecting 'him' to jump out from the corner at the mere mention of his name.
She wouldn't put it past him to skulk around like the snake he was, thought Hermione rather viciously.
"Riddle." She whispered as quietly as possible.
"Who?" they asked in unison.
"Tom Riddle." She hissed, slightly louder than before.
"Why?" asked Ron with a hurt puppy dog look on his face.
Hermione grimaced.
For a moment , Hermione forgot she was talking to Ron.
The recent convert to the 'I-love-creepy-Tom-and-Tom-can-do-no wrong' club.
"You know I wouldn't have passed my second year without his help." Mumbled Ron defensively.
Ah, he must've seen the exasperated look on her face that she hadn't managed to hide.
"Last year was very difficult without the two of you here," continued Ron awkwardly, who'd taken a sudden interest to the pasty's wrapper on his hand, "I was desperate enough for company, I had even hung out with bloody Malfoy for a couple of times."
Harry and Hermione looked at each other guiltily.
Ron, Harry and Hermione had been thick as thieves ever since their secondary school years. And when all of them were accepted to the small yet highly prestigious Hogwarts University and the same course to boot, they were ecstatic.
But Ron had to defer a year before they even start their class, because of the sudden death of his older brother, Fred.
Died on his way to work.
Died in a mugging gone wrong.
Died for the mere ten pounds he had in his pocket.
George, Fred's twin, was inconsolable.
Ron as the only family member, who can took a year off to handle George and Fred's burgeoning start up business had made the sacrifice.
Ginny was too young.
Harry and Hermione wanted to defer the year with him in solidarity. It didn't feel right to start uni without Ron. But Sirius, Molly. and Ron had collectively put their feet down.
They said, they can go to school with each other next year when everything settled down with George.
They even tried to take a year in industry during their first year, but their programme leader axed idea. They could only take year industry in their second or third year.
So they both decided to take the gap year during their third year, so the three of them could do their final year together and graduate together.
Which meant that they had left Ron to the mercy of the new student Tom mother-fucking Riddle, who had conveniently transferred to Hogwarts when they were gone.
Not just Ron, the whole School of Science was driven mad by him. The professors loved him. The student body loved him.
Truth be told Hermione could understand why.
Tom Riddle was good looking in a way old movie stars do. Strong, chiseled and dapper. They don't make men like him anymore.
He was smart. Smart enough to be the top student while taking the heavy load of double degree in biotech and business.
And rich and well connected.
Rich from his father side.
He was the sole heir to Riddle Corporation, one of the biggest biotech company in the world.
Well-connected from his mother side.
Gaunt family came from a long line of over-achieving politicians, boasting four prime ministers from their family line and are distant relative to the royal family.
But unlike his closest equivalent Draco Malfoy, he appeared to be less of a dick and more kind and personable to everyone.
As Lavender put it, he was hot, intelligent, rich, from a good family, nice and charming. He was the whole package.
It made her want to projectile vomit onto Tom's little perfect smug face.
"I think you are just jealous," Ron continued, his tone taking a teasing note.
"Of what?" she said a little prickly.
"Of Tom," He replied with flourish, which made her realized that Ron was trying to get a rise out of her, "within one year of you gone, he managed to charm his way to the the research assistant position and get Professor Slughorn as his thesis supervisor, both of which you had wanted and aimed for since your first year."
Unable to give cogent enough response to Ron's teasing accusation, Hermione just lobbed her half-eaten muffin onto Ron's head.
Harry and Ron laughed hysterically as if it was the funniest thing they have ever seen.
Sure, she was a bit upset when she found out during registration week this year that the research assistant position that was practically promised to her was gone. All the volunteering to come early to prep labs for classes and then staying behind to help out with the clean up, organizing group projects and other tedious jobs for two years have come to naught.
And Harry and Ron may or may have not heard her cursing up a storm when she found out the same guy that took the teaching position from her also managed to swoop in last minute and get the in-demand Professor Slughorn as his supervisor.
And now she's stuck with the equally talented but massively demanding Professor Snape. She barely survived his class, she doesn't know how she would survive being supervised by him for one whole year.
Okay, she might be more than slightly upset. Some might even called her bitter. And definitely more than a little bit jealous of how easily and effortlessly he managed to do and achieve things that usually took a lot of hard work on her part.
But, it does not change the fact that he is 100% creepy. And that was not jealousy talking either.
"It is hard to explain but there just seem to be something off about him that's all." Explained Hermione lamely.
She couldn't put into words how weirded out he made her feel.
How would you explain the missed-it-if-you-blink look he gets whenever someone annoyed him?
It was a look of pure cold disgust. As if they were not even human in his eyes. Like they were just some kind of annoying pests.
He would get 'the look' for even the most trivial things like people laughing too loud around him. And people that do manage to get on his bad side somehow will always get their disproportionate amount of comeuppance.
Coincidence?
Hermione thinks not.
She probably wouldn't have noticed it if she was not paying such close attention to the person that practically overnight had usurped her high academic position in school.
When she first noticed 'the look', she thought that she was imagining things. Jealousy playing tricks on her mind. Making her see things that weren't there.
Just to be sure she may or may have not started following him around. Which was easy enough since they have the almost the same classes with the exception of the extra classes he took for his business degree.
Dick.
And following him around after class hours too, which basically meant going to numerous bars because he is apparently an unofficial member for the freshies welcoming committee. Mainly because he somehow almost always ended up funding the night. And that had endeared him to the first years.
Sociopathic dick.
Because underneath that charming nice guy act it was clear, to her at least, that he despised at least half of the people he met and the other half was beneath his notice.
She is a blunt and direct person, to a fault even. And to see someone who wielded his artifice like a weapon with such ease too, made her feel uncomfortable.
Its creepy and scary how well he lied to everyone.
"Who's off?" asked Lavender as she wrapped her arms around Ron. Lavender, Ron's new girlfriend, was generally a sweet and bubbly person- if not a bit dense- and someone on a normal occasion Hermione love to hang out with. However, she was also Hogwarts biggest gossip. Nothing stays a secret for long with her around. And her badmouthing the most well liked to the point of obsessive fervor- student in school will not go too well for her.
She shot Ron a look, trying her hardest to make him shut his mouth.
Ron must've seen her silent warning, but as always he chose to ignore it in the name messing with her.
Ron just grinned back and turned to Lavender, "It's the weirdest thing Lav, Hermione keeps telling us how she thinks Tom is creepy."
Her eyebrow furrows in confusion, "Tom, as in Tom Riddle is creepy?"
Ron nodded vigorously, in mock earnestness, "Isn't it just awful?"
"But he is so nice to everyone." defended Lavender in equally earnestly, without a trace of insincerity.
Panicked, she silently asked for Harry's help.
"It's nothing Lav, Hermione was just saying it was 'weird' how she never personally met Tom, when everyone keeps saying good things about him." Intervened Harry expertly, while landing a discrete but painful jab at Ron's side as a warning, "and you know Ron, he barely focus in a conversation unless it's about football, he just misunderstood her that's all."
"Ouch and hey!" exclaimed Ron at the punch and the correct aspersion to his character, but was ignored by all.
"Oh, that makes sense I supposed," her furrowed eyebrows slightly un-furrowed at the explanation, before turning to Hermione in her guileless and boundless way and suggested, "You know what, you are coming with me tonight, I heard he's going to be there for the Freshies week last dinner, I can introduce you to him."
Hermione immediately realized she was trapped by Lavender's nice offer. To deny it like she wanted would meant she was basically agreeing to what Ron had said, which she was but it does not mean she wanted half of the school to find out and come after her.
So with great reluctance and outwardly peppy attitude, she agreed with Lavender's plan with a smile on her face and kept that smile on until Lavender left dragging disgruntled Ron with her.
She smacked her head on Harry's shoulder repeatedly to his great mirth.
"I am so screwed Harry," moaned Hermione, "I am not a good actress, one look at me he would know that I'm lying, and he would send his hoard obsessive fans to destroy me."
Harry just laugh, "You are being way to dramatic Mione, I don't know Riddle to well, but he seemed like an okay enough guy for a smarty pants, you might even find you have a lot in common with him as a fellow smarty pants."
Hermione hit Harry again at the back of his head, which he laughed off as they walked together to their next class.
At the anticipation of tonight, Hermione couldn't help but feel a sense of foreboding.
It felt like the beginning of the end.