June, 1939

Wool's orphanage

TR, 12

Tom Riddle was bored out of his mind. It's been few weeks since he was back at the orphanage and he was already feeling violent. He had always hated the place, but after a year in Hogwarts, soaked in magic, getting back to Wool's was unbearable. And what was worse – he was not allowed to do any magic! Not even accidental. Dumbledore had warned him specifically to watch out for incidents, or he could be expelled from the school as he was expected to be able to control himself by now. Hah! He's been able to control his magic since he was 5! His mouth shaped a silent snarl. Stupid, useless muggles! It was all their fault! Because they could not… would not know about his world, he was supposed to pretend to be like them and even worse – he was forbidden from doing the only thing he now knew for certain he was born to do. Magic was consuming every fibre of his being, every thought and every breath. He was barely containing himself, and it was only the beginning of the summer. Tom fisted his hands and tried to calm himself. He could feel the strange energy rushing through him, waiting to come out, to be guided. He stood up from the bed and started walking back and forth in his room, hands still fisted in his pockets. He had to do something. Had to find something to keep his mind off magic or otherwise he'd slip and have an accident, and then… he couldn't even think of it. He glanced around, slightly out of breath. His text books and numerous additional readings he'd taken from the library with a special permission were all coaxing him to take them, learn them… practice them.

In need to get the agitation out of his system, Tom knew exactly who to visit this dull morning. Feeling a sudden rush of energy, he briskly stormed out of his tiny room, away from magic and away from Hogwarts. He needed to refocus on something else. Something that was almost as engaging and entertaining. It didn't take him long, however, to realize that the girl was nowhere to be seen. Not in her room, not in the courtyard, nowhere.

Chewing his breakfast now, he frowned slightly as he scanned the dining room again. The few other kids present at these early hours were huddling together, trying not to draw unwanted attention. The distinctive bushy nest of Hermione, however, was missing. Tom bit irritably at his bread.

Sometime later, still frowning, Tom slowly began to walk the perimeter of the orphanage, including some of his favorite hidey-spots, which he doubted anyone else knew of. Hermione was gone. After covering the ground twice, Tom finally gave up, settled under the lone tree of the courtyard and scanned quickly the surroundings again for good measure. The few kids that have managed to finish up their duties, where now lazily strolling around, chatting and gossiping about whatever kept their interest in this mediocre routine. Tom began pulling the grass absently, staring straight without seeing. What she picked up? Adopted while he was in Hogwarts? He'd been so preoccupied with his own brood, he didn't even think about Hermione until now. Deepening his frown, he tried to recall if he'd seen her at eating time the last few weeks. He had no idea. This was bugging him. He couldn't exactly say why, but the thought of Hermione gone was surprisingly unpleasant. She'd left him here. With these… idiots! Who knew nothing about what he was! Tom closed his eyes and exhaled slowly. The irritation in him was still growing and he feared if he didn't find a way to distract himself, he'd accidentally do something.

He looked around again. It took him awhile to walk the whole place, looking for the stupid brat and it was already late morning. Soon, everyone would start gathering for lunch and he decided to wait up and see if Hermione would show up then. If she was here, there was no way she'd starve herself on purpose. She must show up then!

The next few hours, which felt like an eternity to Tom, he lay in the shadow of the tree and waited patiently. As the lunch approached the yard quickly emptied and soon enough the clattering of dishes coming through the opened dining window reached his ears. His stomach gurgled grumpily and, cursing, he made a move to stand up. Just as he was about to come out of the shadows of the tree, a sudden rustling in the fence bushes caught his attention. Leaning close behind the trunk, Tom watched in disbelief as the ever rule-obedient Hermione crawled out from underneath the brunches. Glancing nervously around, she dusted off her hands and knees and carefully sneaked towards the dining window. There she crouched and just sat waiting… or was it listening for something. Tom watched her through narrowed eyes wishing to know what was in her mind. She was oblivious to his spying and crouched at the window for a good half hour or so. Tom's curiosity was quickly substituted with utter irritation by the situation and just as he was about to make a move towards her and demand what she was doing, the girl finally began moving. It coincided with general stirring from the dining area and Tom finally understood. He remained in the shadows, smirking grimly. She was hiding from him! She was hiding, somewhere outside of the orphanage and she was sneaking for food while everyone was busy leaving the room. Clever, clever girl. Not so much though. This made things even more fun!

HG, 8

Hermione dropped cross-legged on the grass and blissfully closed her eyes. The dew from the fresh morning was finally gone and now she could freely stretch on the hidden meadow, basking in the afternoon sun. She made it again. Sneaking through the orphanage unnoticed for the past few weeks was definitely a challenge. She had to wake up exceptionally early and rush through all her duties, before anyone spotted her. And by anyone, of course she meant him. Hermione frowned slightly. Of course, he was the reason for this morning rush and she was beginning to hate it. Ever since Tom returned from Hogwarts, Hermione put all her efforts in completely avoiding him. Even during lunch and dinner, she'd hide behind the bigger kids or only enter once everyone was busy leaving and gulf her food at top speed, nearly crouching at the back of the room. And even if all this came with a significant amount of discomfort, she was perfectly fine with it, as long as it meant she never had to talk to Tom again. It's been almost a year since their last encounter and Hermione had not forgotten how awful and vile Tom was.

Her frown deepened and she opened eyes, feeling suddenly offended. He really was horrid. She had her book as a reminder of it. Her book… She pulled it out of a small bag, together with an apple she managed to sneak from the dining room, and scanned over it lovingly. Munching slowly, she flipped through the pages and stared for the hundredth time at the moving image of the little prince and his short-term companion. They smiled at her briefly, before proceeding with their seemingly engulfing debate.

After a while Hermione tore her gaze from it and flipped further. As she reached the end, she stopped chewing and run her fingers through the book. There was the reminder of Tom's vileness. Neatly torn, the last two pages of the book were missing, and Hermione was willing to bet they were long gone somewhere in a garbage pile, never to be seen again. Because you see, after Professor Dumbledore and Tom had left her room on that months-ago warm summer afternoon, Hermione had looked and looked at the magical life infused in her book for countless happy minutes. And the more she looked, the more she began dreading the moment the good professor will leave. She already knew Tom wanted this version of The Little Prince. And there was nothing she could do to stop him, when he came for it.

Of course, it hadn't taken long for this to happen. The moment she glimpsed the odd-looking professor striding through the grim courtyard, her door had flung open with Tom storming in, looking as angry as ever. She'd backed off to the wall, clutching the book protectively to her chest. But Tom had forced it out of her none too gently and left her crying behind as he'd move for the door. She'd been so upset to lose her first ever magical possession this fast, that she even screamed at him, calling him a thief. However, this had been clearly the wrong thing to say as he'd become even madder, grabbing her painfully by the wrist again. He had threatened to punish her should she tell on him and, to prove it – had made a searing needle-like pain pierce her whole arm just by looking at it. Hermione had spent the next few days crying unstoppably.

After this incident Hermione encountered Tom only once more, a few days before his departure for Hogwarts. She knew that he had gone to a magical place to get his things for the new school and even terrified as she was, Hermione could not contain herself from trying to get a small glimpse of what he'd brought. After she'd mustered some courage to knock on his door, she had been taken aback at how calm and welcoming Tom was at first. He'd opened up and looked at her for few moments, before smirking widely and letting her in. Hermione heart had nearly stopped as he stepped aside and revealed a whole room filled with trinkets and books that made her head spin from excitement. However, as Tom politely offered to show her everything he'd bought, Hermione began to realize what the smirk on his face meant. He'd been thrilled to rub in her face that he was soon going to Hogwarts and she was going to be left behind for another three whole years. Realizing this, Hermione began hating Tom more and more with each smug look he gave her. So she'd instinctively done the only thing that could have pissed him off and wipe that smirk off his face – she had pretended she didn't care. Putting her nose up as high as it went, she'd dismissed everything Tom was trying to show her and in the end only asked to have her book back. She should have been extremely satisfied with Tom's immediate mood change; however, as she was still thoroughly terrified by him, it only made her regret it. Tom had thrown the book at her feet ('keep your stupid, muggle book! I have so many more that are far better!'), but not before tearing the last two pages from it, declaring he still needs to finish reading them. Hermione had been speechless with fury, but as for unknown to her reasons he'd left the magically enhanced illustrations intact, she'd quickly collected the book before he could reconsider, bit back the 'why do you want to finish it then' retort and stormed out of his room without a single word.

This was the last time they'd seen each other before he'd gone to Hogwarts. But every time she looked at her magical illustration (which was every single day), she was unwillingly thinking of Tom as well. And as the winter-break came and went, Hermione found herself oddly disappointed that Tom never showed up. Around this time she also began attempting to do magic on purpose like Tom had talked about, wanting to prove to herself (and to Tom) that she was just as good as he was. To her overwhelming satisfaction, by the time summer break came Hermione had successfully perfected a number of magical tricks.

In a rush of enthusiasm, Hermione put the half-eaten apple down, tucked the book safely back in the bag and briskly stood up. It was time for practice.

TR, 12

Tom was livid. She was doing magic! She! When he couldn't even think about it, without fearing expulsion. And there she was, the little unworthy brat, playing a witch. Rolling an apple around the grass like it's something special. Like this is magic. Oh, how he wanted to go up there and show her what real magic means. To destroy this stupid apple into tiny pieces and also to stop the stupid giggle of delight she was making every time the apple rolled. He was shaking with rage. Shaking with jealousy too. How was it fair that she got to do magic, while he was forbidden?! Just because she was younger and supposedly couldn't control it. She was controlling it alright! Tom fisted hands and looked away for a moment, trying to calm himself. Not that it mattered. What she was doing was useless. Not real magic at all. At her age, he was doing things that made people cry for weeks. Made them fear him, on some level, he believed, even respect him. She was laughable and should be embarrassed by her mediocrity. He'd make sure of it.

HG, 8

Woah! This was something new! The apple had just suddenly detached from the ground and levitated eagerly into the air. It had caught Hermione by surprised, and she just blinked and stared it in disbelievingly. This was the first time she had made something fly on purpose. It had happened only once before, when they were cleaning her dad's life-long collection of special beverage glasses. At the time he was explaining her how and where he'd obtained each one of them, a glass slipped from Hermione's small hands and fell straight towards the hard floor. Hermione had squeaked in panic and try to grab it. But as she failed, she'd closed her eyes and waited for the crush of a broken glass to follow. It never did. The glass was floating just above the ground and her dad was staring at it, mouth ajar, in both astonishment and confused relief. It was the first time she'd done magic. The memory de-concentrated her and the apple toppled on the ground, disappearing under the nearby bush. Hermione pushed the thought of her dad far back, together with the adjacently resurfacing face of her mom, and skipped forward after the fruit. She made it fly! Fly! This was amazing! She couldn't wait to do it again! It was a big event for her and she almost wished there was someone else here to witness it.

Just as she was about the dive under the bush and rummage for the apple, the bush suddenly shook and a human figure jumped out of it. Hermione shrilled and stumbled backwards, before realizing who the intruder was. The scream died in her throat and she stared round-eyed at none other but Tom Riddle. Still tall and pale, he looked flustered and strangely out of breath. And he was holding her apple. Hermione froze and stared at it. Did he spy on her? Has he seen her magic? Suddenly anxiety that had nothing to do with the fact that she was trapped with the boy of her nightmares in such a remote place filled her chest. Scrambling back to her feet, she stood in front of him and looked straight into those grey eyes. They seemed much brighter under the sun rays, she noticed.

After a few moments of silence, Tom's lips stretched upwards.

'Are you playing with your food?' he smirked and shook the bitten apple in her face.

Hermione blushed immediately at the unexpected tease.

'No!' she denied instinctively, before realizing how silly it was. 'I… I dropped it.'

She looked awkwardly at her feet to hide her flaming cheeks.

'Oh? Well, in this case, lucky I found it. Here, have it back,' Tom trusted it in her face. 'Eat it!'

'Wha..?' Hermione pulled away from the muddy fruit and frowned slightly. 'N-no… I was done with it…'

'So then you were playing with it?' his eyes narrowed and she couldn't tell if he was still teasing her or planning to get angry over her careless food treatment.

'I was not! I just dropped it, I told you…'

'Liar!' Tom hissed and leaned closer to her. 'I saw you!'

Hermione swallowed hard and held his angry gaze. He saw her. So he's seen the magic she can do… on purpose, just like he'd bragged about last summer.

'You saw me?' she repeated in mixture of pride and anxiety. 'You saw what I did? What I can do?'

Tom's eyes widened for a moment, running all over her face, and then, at sudden realization, he tossed his head back and laughed a hollow, forced laughter. Each dry bark shot more anxiety through Hermione. She tried to hold her ground and just looked questioningly at the sneering boy in front of her.

'What you can do?' he snorted, snapping his head back at her. 'You can do nothing!'

He took a step closer and waved the apple at her again.

'These are just tricks to keep babies, like you, happy. It is nothing! Nothing compared to what I can do! To what I learnt to do in Hogwarts! I've seen real magic! I've done it! I know how it feels…'

He cut off suddenly and swallowed almost hungrily. Then his gaze darkened.

'You are just some stupid little idiot playing a witch. But you are nothing like real magic!'

Hermione's heart dropped and she fisted hands trying not to show how disappointed she suddenly felt. Biting lip to hold it from trembling, she lowered her gaze again. Of course this is what Tom would do! Mock and bully her. What else was she expecting from him? Embarrassed by her own stupidity, Hermione forced herself to remain calm. Last thing she wanted was a fight with Wool's main bully. Especially, after he spent a year of improving his vile magic tricks.

'Well,' she swallowed. 'I am sure that once I go to Hogwarts, I will learn a lot of real things too. But for now all I can do is practice what I can already do. I'm sure that before Hogwarts, this was just as much as you were able to…'

'Wait, wait.' Tom cut her off sharply, raising a hand.

Hermione pouted slightly at the gesture and frowned in worry, as glee shined through his narrowed eyes.

'This is perfect.' He hissed excitedly. 'Let me ask you. Are you… comparing yourself to me?'

Despite the false mirth in his tone, Hermione instinctively knew that this was not good. Before she could say anything, he took another step towards her and leered even quieter.

'Are you trying to… compete with me?'

Hermione felt her face growing redder than before.

'No! Why would I care to compete with you! I just want to do magic. The more I control it, the more I can do it! It's not like there is anything else I can do until I get to go to Hogwarts…'

She trailed off and pressed her lips together, looking away. The last thing she wanted is give him the opportunity to tease her about not being able to go to Hogwarts yet. She knew he knew how much it upset her. But she would never admit it, no matter what.

Fingers squeezed her cheeks lightly and she jerked as he forced her to face him again. She stared at him in surprise.

'You are lying… again.' His stupid grin reappeared slowly. 'You are a lair and you are playing with your food. Tsk, tsk. You really are not a good kid…'

'I am too!' Hermione railed up instantly, stomping her foot.

Who was he to call her bad! He was the horrid bully! She didn't dare saying it, but it seemed he'd read enough on her face, as he humphed nonchalantly and arrogantly stepped away. She glared at him as he walked slowly toward the centre of her meadow, tossing and catching the apple with one hand.

'What I don't understand is how you think of competing with me, when you are so… inept in the magic you're doing.' He turned around looking suddenly serious. 'It's offensive to have such a weak opponent, you know.'

Before Hermione could open mouth to reply, he caught the apple tighter and in one swift move threw it directly in her face.

Hermione squeaked and brought hands up for cover. The apple bounced painfully off her forearms and rolled back to Tom.

'Hey!' She screamed offended and glared at him blinking through suddenly welling tears. 'What are you doing? That hurt!'

She bit lip not to burst into tears right there in front of him. He'd scared her! And the apple hit her really hard!

Tom just walked towards the apple and picked it again.

He gave her an angry look.

'You are useless!' he spat. 'If your magic was powerful, it would protect you when you are in danger. What kind of witch are you if you cannot protect yourself even from an apple?!'

Hermione felt another jolt of hurt at his obvious scorn for her abilities. She was still learning! He was being unfair and horrible once again. She knew better than to entertain his thirst for bullying, and yet she couldn't hold back.

'I didn't know you were going to do that!' she protested angrily at the injustice. She hated that she wanted to cry even when she was angry. 'It wasn't fair! A-and you hurt me!'

She rubbed the still painful spot at her arm. It would turn into a bruise later.

'It was your own fault,' he drawled as he looked at the apple he was tossing with one hand again.

'You threw the apple! It was your fault!' Hermione stomped foot again and felt rage finally pushing the tears away. 'You are horrible, Tom Riddle, horrible bully! And you are the liar, not me!'

She didn't care if he was getting angry too, she didn't care that he stopped tossing the stupid apple. All she knew was that his smirk was finally gone. And it only made her feel angrier. Squeezing her eyes tight not to see his smug face anymore, balling her hands into fists, she let the rage out.

'IhateyouIhateyouIHATEYOU!'

A loud pop followed her cry and she flung her eyes open in surprise. Did he curse her? She looked at herself and then at him. She gasped. Tom stood perfectly still in the middle of the grass, looking stunned at his hand. The hand in which he held the apple only few seconds ago was now empty and wet. It was not difficult to see where the apple had gone, as he was cover from head to toe in small wet apple pieces. The apple had… burst? Did she do that? Did she explode the apple? She could do that too?

She inhaled slowly in disbelief. Tom's attention snapped to her at the low sound. His eyes pierced hers and without any words he stalked over to her threateningly. Hermione felt the blood draining from her face as she tried to step away. But there were bushes everywhere and she could not run from him fast enough. In few strides he was at her, grabbing her by the shoulders and squeezing her hard.

'I'm s-sorry! I'm sorry!' she wailed.

He shook her hard and she covered face in hands, sobbing scared.

'I didn't want to hurt you! I just got angry…' she was now panicking and slightly hyperventilating. Is he going to curse her now? Punish her in some unthinkable magical way?

The fear took a hold of her and she sank on the grass, as her legs gave in. Crying helplessly she waited for his anger to unleash. After a while, reason finally penetrated through her sobs and cries. She was not hurting anywhere. Aside from being scared to death she was actually just fine. He was still holding her by the shoulders, crouching on the grass next to her, but nothing else. Calming herself a little, she swallowed the last wave of sobs and timidly looked up at him through her fingers.

He was frowning deep and clenching his teeth.

'Done?' he gritted the moment she looked at him.

Hermione's eyes immediately stung with tears again, but she pressed lips and nodded miserably.

His nostrils flared for a moment and then he slowly pulled her to her feet. Stepping away from her, he turned around and said stiffly:

'You are useless in your magic. And you will probably never become anything more than …ordinary. But…'

He looked back at her through narrowed eyes.

'Like that old crook said, we are the only non-muggles here. And this will be the case for the next years to come. So it seems we are indeed stuck with each other. And…' he seemed to pick his next words carefully. 'And maybe indeed I can try to teach you something seeing how absurdly unskilled you are.'

Hermione blinked.

Teach?

'What do you…' she frowned and her mouth just hung open. He offered to teach her?! After all this bullying and threatening and hurting, he just suddenly offers to be nice? Help her out?

He must have read the indignation on her face again, as his face abruptly contorted with anger and before she knew it, he'd spun around and dug his fingers deep in her hair, twisting and pulling her painfully towards his face.

'Don't imagine anything! It's not like I expect you to be able to do anything. But in this place... you'll have to do, I guess. You wouldn't be my first choice in any other situation. But it's not like I have other options either. You need to become less inadequate before you go to Hogwarts and I need to… practice too. So it's not a favor or anything.'

Hermione tried to hold back a pained grimace as she looked at his cool face. Was he kidding? If not...should she really do it? It's not like he would leave her alone anyway. Her hiding was successful for few weeks, but she never imagined she could hide from him for the next years to come.

Before she could muster a reply, he suddenly released her, pushing her slightly away.

'This spot is good actually. We'll be meeting here for the practice every day before and after lunch. And… don't you dare pull such a stunt as with the apple again! Do you understand me? I will make you regret it doubly – for today and for the next time!'

'I didn't mean to…' Hermione protested at once.

'I don't care! You need to control your magic or otherwise you are just a brainless oaf with undeserved magic.'

Hermione lowered gaze slightly embarrassed. She did want to learn control over her magic and not having to wait till she was eleven was trilling. But having Tom as a teacher didn't promise any good and she still was not sure it wasn't some trap of his to bully her again.

'I don't believe you.' She muttered. 'You just want to trick me…'

Tom exhaled seemingly annoyed and walked off without bothering to respond to the center of the meadow again.

Stretching on the grass, he obviously got ready to bask in the late afternoon sun.

Hermione stood and blinked uncertain for a moment, looking at him. She remembered that distant summer afternoon when she found him soaking sun in her room. He apparently enjoyed it, unlike what she expected, but was probably never going to admit it. This is why, as she had later realized it, he was hiding in her room while enjoying it. His room was on the east side and sun only came in the morning. Now as she looked at him, she remembered wishing they could become friends. How stupid was she back then! Just because he was pretty, she'd fantasized of becoming friends with a real bully. She'd thought he will see how good and nice she was and will become nicer himself as a result. As if. Almost snorting Hermione shook her head and turned to leave. She would never be that stupid again, she promised herself.

'Where do you think you are going?' he snapped without opening his eyes.

Hermione looked back.

'Umm..'

'Your first lesson starts today. Come here. And get this damned apple off me.'

He peaked at her cunningly.

'No hands.'

Hermione resented the bossy tone. But she couldn't resist the practice.