Changes Initiate

-4-

As the days passed, Hermione saw herself confronted more and more with Tom Riddle.

She simply could not forget him and not think about him.

He was a mystery she dearly wanted to solve, like she had solved many mysteries before. And as she told Rose about it and tried to figure out why she was loosing herself, she understood, that the only fascinating thing about him was that she, as a matter of fact, knew nothing.

And knowing nothing wasn't an option.

But she wasn't one of those honourless girls who craved vehemently for his attention.

Hermione had class and taste and was marvellously brilliant, she would never scale down to such a low lewel.

Tom Riddle found her interesting. Not in a way of attraction, but because her grades were as good as his had been in his first year. That was, he thought, remarkable.

Even so... her grades weren't the reason he searched for her proximity. He simply wanted to be with her because she was intelligent and in possesion of an awaken mind and wasn't as imbecile as all the others. She seemed worthy of his time.

And she truly was.

Most of the time they spent together they didn't talk, but sat opposite of each other in the library, reading and doing their homework. If one of them found something interesting while reading, they showed it to the other one and often ended up having a conversation about the topic or simply laughed. If one had a question, they asked each other and if they knew, they explained. If they didn't know the answer, they searched for it together.

Days passed and became weeks and Hermione began to admit that she trusted him.

Weeks became months and they became friends.

She was the first person Tom Riddle ever called a friend.

And she should stay the only one till his death.

Hermione and Bella sat at the Slytherin-table for dinner. It was noisy as ever but simultaneously the best of smells hang in the air and made the atmosphere unique.

Oh Merlin, how she loved this place.

"What is wrong with Bellarose?", Tom asked, whispering in her ear, leaning towards her. He sat beside her as it had become his habit. The girl took a look at Bella who sat opposite of her. She had noticed it, too, but contrary to Tom she knew the reason of her friends strange behaviour.

With a little smirk she replied. "She's in love."

Yes, Bellarose had fallen in love, as any idiot could have easily seen. The brunette didn't eat because of her nervousness of being so near to her loved one. She couldn't control herself but kept looking at the boy about Toms age.

"Please tell me it isn't Brysen Malfoy." Tom couldn't contain his typical little laugh when he found out something embarassing about somebody he knew as he followed Bellas gazes.

Before Hermione had a chance to reply, Bella focused on the two of them. "I told you not to tell anyone!", she hissed. The young Granger lowered her head, ashamed but somehow not regretting anything. Before she had a chance to worsen the whole situation, Tom interfered, distracting.

"But Bella, I wouldn't dare to tell anyone." He smoothly said, smiling his charming fake smile. Hermione hated it. "Besides...", he continued, "I know him."

"So what?", the brunette snapped.

"So...", he explained as if he was talking to a child, "I could introduce you to each other."

Suddenly Bella became silent, considering the offer.

"We'll see.", she replied and stood up, leaving the Great Hall.

Hermione rolled her eyes. Both, Tom and her, knew that the girl was insanely in love and would be more than pleased if Tom did as he offered. But both also knew that her pride forbid her to show her gratfulness. Besides... she wasn't fond of Tom.

Lately the two girls had argued often because of this topic. Bella felt left behind, she feared that Hermione would fall for the dark boy and become one of his blind admirers. It was quite unbelievable how many girls had fallen for him already. Who would believe you if you stated that a twelve year old made fourteen year olds cry? No one.

But Hermione wasn't like the others. She liked him because he was an intelligent boy. He never talked more than he needed to (at least when they were alone) and he had a great sarcasm to his remarcs. He adored to play with his power over others. It amused her how her schoolfellows played by his rules every time.

"Excuse me, I'll go to the common room.", Hermione said with a look towards Tom.

He knew she left because of Bella, but he didn't say anything and instead gave her an eye rolling look.

As the girl walked through the portal of her Hogwartshouse, she instantly searched for her friend. Bellarose sat infront of one of the windows facing the dephts of the black lake, waiting for the curly haired. Hermione needed a moment to decide, but then turned around and went to their room.

Tom was right. And she was tired of arguing.

Why couldn't Bella accept the fact that Tom was her friend, too?

She sighted.

Hermione went home for Christmas. During their time in the Hogwarts Express everything was wonderful. Maybe it was because Tom stayed in the castle and Bella had the feeling of having her friend back. This feeling soon vanished. The girls wrote letters to each other and by the end of the first week Bella and her parents came by for a visit.

Just after closing the door to her room behind her, Hermione started talking. Not about girlish things, but about Tom. "I feel so bad for him! He is all alone in the castle. Why do you think he stayed there?"

Bella sighted, trying to bring her anger under control. "I really don't know. Why don't you ask him?", she answered. Arguing wouldn't lead her to anything, so she solved the problem the easiest way possible: by not adding more wood to the fire. Mione nodded and headed to a different topic, just as the young Snow had hoped she would.

As the vacation ended and the students returned to Hogwarts, Bella tried to get along with the fact that Tom would become part of her daily life again. She nearly growled as she watched Hermione run to the boy who had waited at the train station for her to arrive. The curly haired turned around, making Bella understand with hand signs, that she would walk to the castle with Tom and not climb in in one of the carriages.

The days again passed and became weeks, which then became months.

The summer slowly suppressed the winter.

And the relationship between the three stayed the same.