"The curse ruled from the underground down by the shore
And their hope grew with a hunger to live unlike before"
- Agnes Obel, The curse
(vi)
his long fingers almost broke her wrist when he pulled her down the stairs. her head lulled with the overwhelming feeling of nausea. tom's digits were painfully impaled into her skin when he finally stopped and pushed her into the dark corridor with his cloak surrounding both of them. she needed to blink few times before recognizing his breath so close to her ear that she almost jumped. he hold her arm without words and she frowned when he inhaled her scent like an animal.
somewhere between them she could hear serpents talking, crawling under her skin. her lips parted as she sagged in this difficult position.
"what are you doing here?" his snarl was powerful enough to shake her whole body. she remembered that cold hearted boy with his crystal eyes that had sent shivers down her spine as a child. perfect features morphed into steel. "answer me," focusing on his adam's apple her tongue tried to move but she found it glued to the palate area. he smelled like library and black ink, her eyes prowled around his expressionless face and she snapped her neck in an opposite direction.
"i'm here to learn, tom" wiggling out of his hold was hard but she did it nevertheless. brown hair managed to curtain her gaze from his person.
"why?" her hand squeezed her wand so hard that she had to regain her composure.
"don't be stupid. silliness never suited you, riddle" she threw him an angry glare with the swirl of her locks. she wanted him to do something, anything. she wanted to know if he had ever missed her but when she saw his mocking stare, she repressed that thought. "you had beautiful house to sleep in and live in, wonderful people surrounding you," envy slipped in every word she uttered. "maybe you were lucky then, that he took you" spitting last sentence at him hermione turned around and walked away from that nightmarish boy. no, almost man. she didn't last few meters when he stopped her with a spell.
bothersome schoolboy.
"yes, it was singular to have a neat bed and every dish i've wanted. massive difference between school and orphanage, you know" he tilted his head and studied her reaction. she didn't want to cry in front of him, but his words echoed in her mind with poisonous effects. "here nobody touches you. you are a master of yourself" he stood next to her and slowly lowered himself to her height, facing her glossy irises.
"you are appalling creature," she wished she said more but the amusement vanished from his eyes and he turned into hard stone. "you've always were" her wobbly knees almost gave in when his nostrils flared.
"yet, you are even worse," he sounded like a trapped snake, hissing and glaring at her. "prude, little girl that always begged for my help" his jaw clicked when he spoke. "you are below me, hermione" her name was spelled out with an insulting meaning behind it.
"you aren't extraordinary, tom" her growl vibrated through the empty hall. "all of you is about your sick and twisted bitterness" his wand was pointed at her forehead without any warning. she could feel the tip of it between her eyes.
"you are not better than me, mudblood"
it was the way he said it this time that she had thought that if he could, he would engrave it on her skin with his bare hands. blue eyes pierced her soul and she felt that intrusive presence in her mind, forcing her to crumble under his force. she tried to build a wall of books that could keep him far away from her memories. he selected the trail of her pain and she almost screamed when he saw glimpses of him and her at the orphanage classes, him leaving her behind with his suitcase, that smile that haunted her every night.
"protego!" force in which she casted the spell made him step backwards. his twisted in anger face made her limbs shaking. "it's not yours to see" her wand focused on him while she started to back away from his person.
"we will see," his dark hair curled at its ends, rested upon his forehead when his eyes never left hers. "here, everything is mine" the last word was articulated with so much certainty that her head almost blacked out.
when she ran towards ravenclaw's dormitory she choked on her own tears.
(vii)
she dreamt about a sea without waves. black water seemed lifeless when she strained her neck just to see if somebody was there with her. the sand felt warm against her bare feet as she closed her eyes feeling warmth exploding on her skin. there was rustling next to her and when she side glanced she saw floating existence.
it was covered in black cloak and seemed very fragile, its head was nowhere to be seen because of the rag-paper hood. the smell of moss hit her nostrils when her eyes went back to adoring the sunset.
"do not wait for him, he's not coming back" it whispered with the voice of an unnatural creature. she felt heavy weight around her neck when the words hit her heart with an unknown feeling. "do not wait for him, he's not coming back" the sentence was uttered once again as she moved towards the sea. the water was cold against her skin and when her hips were covered by it she laid on its surface, facing the dull sky. it was almost white. the heaviness haven't left her, however she spotted something gold floating from her cervix. eyes narrowing she deducted that it was a lock. she wanted to touch it but then she was pulled underwater by putrid limbs.
hermione screamed as she was being drowned.
(viii)
the blue suited her, she was sure of that.
passing groups of students she gracefully made her way towards the great hall with hogwarts: a history under her armpit. the noise full of giggles and conversations was the first thing she noticed upon arriving at the entrance. she padded slowly towards ravenclaw's table with cautious face. spotting lonely corner she threw her bag and sat with brown curls hiding her from other people. food arrived in front of her while she repressed inner shock by the amount of it. orphanage was always short on food, giving them only tasteless porridge day by day.
hermione hummed while opening her book with adoration marking her eyes, oh. books were her biggest kink, the knowledge illuminating from them was unbelievable. the corners of her lips lifted and her breath elaborated with a monotone rhythm while her amber irises shone with new purpose. the ceiling was full of clouds that covered sun and some of the professors still sat at their own table. she made a mental note that she should start to learn their names by heart. biting her lip she exhaled loudly, taking out a fresh scroll with the desire to write down every thrilling thing she has read in that volume. she was so absorbed in her reading that she hadn't heard soft cough next to her ear. very lazily she spotted the intruder.
a girl with strawberry blonde hair waved at her with toothy smile.
"hello, i'm rosalie! i assumed you are the new student from beauxbatons! it is my deepest pleasure to meet you," her sparkling green eyes were the extension of her grin. "i'm the prefect, it's my second year being the most reliable person in our house so if you are lost or helpless just tell me!" the bubbly personality almost blinded hermione's hunched form. the girl was pretty and blabbermouthed but somewhere between her chatter and charm she noticed bravery and intelligence. not so surprising, taking into an account that she belonged to the ravenclaw.
"it's nice to meet you, my name is hermione" she awkwardly offered her hand. "i'm sorry that i didn't introduce myself before but the journey has worn me off"
"oh, that's a nonsense! of course you were tired. maybe we could arrange our beds so that we can sleep next to each other," rosalie clapped her palms as if it was the most brilliant idea ever.
"well, if you want," she chewed on the pudding while glancing at the blonde girl. "how about your friends?"
green irises found the brown ones with mute understanding.
"people find me strange," she shrugged with nonchalant expression. "it's their loss," her hands reached for a cup of orange juice. "why did you leave france?" the heart-shaped face has lighted up once again.
"it's hard to tell, to be honest. i've wrote a letter to the professor i've known as a child" mechanically she looked at the strange looking wizard. "he owed me that much," maybe it was the bitterness in her voice or her curled fingers on her uniform that made other girl nodding. "what about you? do you enjoy being in ravenclaw?" shrugging the topic of her presence she plopped herself on the arm.
"well, it was predictable" irony erupted in the tone of fair headed voice. "me being extraordinary since i was a baby. you know, talking about healing spells by the age of five because i've eavesdropped on my mother" her lips parted and she giggled.
the sound of thousands bells rang in hermione's ears and before she could stop - she laughed too.
it was strange to befriend someone so cheerful and kind. the mirth behind their laughter vanished when rosalie's eyes narrowed into two dangerously looking green focal points. following her gaze brown eyed witch found a boy with almost silver hair, and with his tie thrown against his shoulder in not so neatly manner. he stood in front of slytherin's table and his lips were moving really fast when he suddenly turned his face towards both of them. she slightly jumped feeling as if she was caught red handed. dropping her stare she peeked at prefect next to her in the exact moment when she mouthed one mute sentence.
"shut it off"
the lad just threw his head back with a snicker.
"who is he?" she didn't mean to sound so forwardly but that bizarre exchange between two of them made her more than curious. light brow furrowed while its owner smeared the toast with a jam.
"he is just spoiled, bumptious ferret. that's who he is" she growled taking a bite of her breakfast. "so, the usual when it comes to the pretentious, devious snakes from the green cave" pointing the last board in the hall she sighed. "and look honey, he is the most dangerous one of them," her whisper so close to her neck made her skin cover with goosebumps. heading in the direction of rosalie's chin she was met with the image of perfectly ironed uniform of no one else but tom riddle.
and he indeed looked like a devil with a face of god.
(ix)
her steps were fast but at the same time lazy. after her last classes with rosalie, she decided to go to the library. the smell of books and dusty aroma of all of these years made her even more excited. the bookworm in her saluted at her musing when she saw beautifully adorned doors to her destination. pushing them lightly she was met with few students hurled above their own essays, ink spilled over scrolls and over their skin.
inwardly she looked at her fingers that not so surprisingly were tainted with her own quill.
looking for the loneliest spot she headed towards the end of the interior while inhaling knowledge in. oh, it was wonderful. her eyes roamed through shelves with bottomless fascination in her soul. the pads of her hands touched the spines of books with carefulness, the sensation of the utter pleasure soaking into her blood. she reopened her eyeballs and stared at the most isolated part of athenaeum. she could feel magic surging through her veins when she met the title of one of the volumes.
runic spelling and effects of dark magic.
dark magic versus cores of wands.
how to counter sinister curse.
"that is rather provocative, don't you think?"
she jumped around, hand on her wand with a tight-knit feeling. he was leaning over the end of other rack with his dark hair curled against his skin. he could be aesthetically breath taking in that moment, however the sneer upon his lips ruined his divine aura. the green tie carelessly done made her remember the other boy. something about that foible was striking her nerve.
"go away, riddle" her spine tensed when he cracked his mouth into another one of his scoffs. "some things never change, right?" he didn't catch upon her question while his stare traipsed her small person. the height difference certainly gave rise to his self-pride, she was sure of that. "what do you want?" her chin didn't tremble when she stepped closer to him. she could smell his cologne and spicy scent of forest surrounding him. he didn't smell like that in the orphanage. her fingers played on the wood of her magic stick.
"it's a library, granger" he arched his perfect eye brow with slight enjoyment in his blue eyes. "where do you think i spent most of my time?" his tongue clipped at the last word and she twisted her neck in the opposite direction so she saw him in her peripheral vision.
he could see the pulse in her neck veins, beating and tormenting him.
"so, did you do that?" she challenged with a mask of confidence. her small back hit the desk when he took two steps towards her. like a predator with greek statue features.
"did i do what?" his adam's apple jumped and she clashed her gaze with his. the battle of stares between them two was usual back at wool's. she felt as if she was burning under his beam. always feeling smaller and weaker around him.
"killed the girl," her breathing blew against his collar with nervousness at its ends. "in the bathroom" he let out dark snort and took out a textbook above her head. his lips parted and she could see whiteness of his teeth when he obscurely smiled.
"there are only two options, aren't they?" rough material of his sleeve grazed her cheek. "so which one do you prefer?"
amber irises glowed with something similar to hope for a few seconds, only to be replaced with sadness.
"i think that it is not for me to decide. i don't know you anymore, tom" sheepishly looking at him hermione made her way back to the dormitory. she understood that their acquaintance ended the day he left for hogwarts, but honestly…
was there ever any kind of familiarity between the two of them? her curls covered her sight when she stumbled into corridor with troubled mind. maybe it was only her who felt like they were friends - and somehow the idea of not being comrades with young tom riddle seemed rather painful. her arm shot towards the wall when she supported her own body with ragged breathing.
was she the only one who thought that the orphanage was bearable because of some bond between them two?
AN: I do not own universe of JK Rowling, only complete OC's are mine. The titles of chapter are also titles of songs. Happy reading!