Disclaimer-seriously? As if this would ever, ever, ever be mine.

A/N: Hello everybody! Sorry this has taken so long. I just moved into my new place! So I've been pretty busy. Thank you for reviewing! I have all the way up to chapter seven written, it's about 30k words. So keep reading! Please, it makes me feel happily L

Chapter 4

TOM'S POV

We walked to our dormitory in silence with Hermione trailing a few steps behind me. I chose not to say anything yet. She seemed to be in a world of her own, idly turning her wand between her fingers. I stopped in front of the entrance to our dorm, I went ahead and assumed the girl hadn't seen me pause-because she ran into my side; hard. Her forehead hit my shoulder as her arms instinctively reached out to grab me. She missed and cursed as her momentum threw her off balance and she went tumbling backward.

I had a split second to decide what to do. Fall? Not fall? Fall? Not fall. My left arm lazily extended while my fingers wrapped around her upper arm to keep her from being sprawled on the ground. Her small hand used my forearm to steady herself.

"Sorry," she mumbled and took a few steps away from me. Her brown curls fell in front of her face as her cheeks rouged with embarrassment.

"You should always pay attention to your surroundings." I patronized with strong emphasis on 'pay attention'. "This is it." I indicated to the painting in front of us. It had a minimalist feeling to it, but gave off a haunting aura. A woman in a red dress sat far back in the painting; sitting in a high backed chair. She never said anything, just stared straight ahead, only nodding when you said the password.

"Mandrake," I whispered.

She followed me in to our common room. Book cases ran along the walls of the room, their tops reaching the ceiling. There were two bay windows that over looked the lake and an inviting fire sat in the hearth. A large, brown leather couch and two suede chairs surrounded the fire. All the furniture was dark, giving it a neutral feel. Two desks sat in front of either bay window. Hermione let out a breath of 'aw' at the room in front of us. It was quite immaculate, and it carried an alluring beauty to it.

I led her to the far left side of the room to her private room.

"These are your quarters." I said as I pushed open the door and stepped inside. She ran her fingers gently over the golden Head Girl plate fixed on the door. Her room was exactly the same as mine. A large bed in all white sat on the far wall, with stained glass double doors that led out onto a shared balcony. Two large wardrobes sat on either side of another bay window that had a bunch of pillows piled onto a bench underneath it. A large mahogany desk sat next to a door that led to our adjoining bathroom. The green area rug and curtains surrounding the bed were the only indication of her being in Slytherin.

"This is amazing," she whispered.

"What? Didn't have this type of accommodations at Salem?" She gave me a weird look.

"Right. Uh, no. The Ambassador's didn't get private quarters, we had to share the dorms like everyone else. This is perfect!" A broad smile graced her features as she scanned the room one more time. Her eyes didn't hold the same excitement that her voice did. I took a note of that fact and stored it for later.

"Perfect, yes. My room is through this door, which is our bathroom." I opened it and a large vanity met our eyes. A magnificent tub sat in the far corner; a large shower to the right of it. Two doors at the back of the room had 'His' and 'Hers' written on them. "Knock if you for some reason, need me. Do not just walk in." she deftly nodded. I watched as she walked back to her bed and put her bag down. Her eyes glanced around the room before landing back on me.

"Thank you, Tom." Ah, easy dismissal. I blinked and shut the door behind me as I walked to my room. I took off my sweater and Oxford and sent them to the wardrobe with my wand. Socks went to the hamper in the corner as my shoes went to their spot by the door. 'Everything is in perfect order, as always,' I thought, 'nothing out of place.'

I summoned a book from my wardrobe on Wandless Magic to my bed. The one thing I love about magic is that there is always room to grow and expand. Always the option of gaining more power. I could do several simple spells wandlessly. Summoning, banishing, cleaning spells…I wanted to learn the harder ones though. Defensive magic wandlessly, I could feel it. It was there, bubbling under the surface…anxious to escape.

I needed something to show the Knights; they needed something to make them realize that I am the one they should follow. That there is no escape. The Crucio's have them scared, and the Imperio's have them impressed…if I could do those wandlessly there would be no doubt in their minds.

I thought about the visit I had planned for the Gaunts and I thought about what told me about the Gaunt family heirloom. The infamous ring, belonging to none other than Salazar Slytherin himself. I thought about Horocruxes, and how they're made and how if I want to be the most powerful wizard…I must be immortal. I thought about Myrtle, and how her blood was on my hands, whether I wanted it to be or not. I thought about how I was a murderer.

I wondered what the difference was between killing one person was and a hundred people? In the end, you're a killer, and there is no getting around that.

A crash and a scream coming from the direction of the girls room made me look up from the book I wasn't really reading in the first place. I heard another thump as I was walking through the bathroom. I knocked, no answer; so I walked in anyway. Hermione's desk chair was knocked over and she was on the ground next to it.

There was a man standing over her, dead bodies appearing out of nowhere on the floor around her. 'A boggart,' I thought as I kept still and continued watching out of morbid curiosity. The man's all black robe was billowing around him without any wind. He had vivid red eyes and slits for nostrils. His skin was worn thin and clung to his skull like a latex glove. Hermione was looking at a red headed boy in front of her with an expression of pain on her face. She was saying his name, Ron, so softly you could hardly hear her. Blood had begun to poor out of a slit on his throat. A boy with glasses laid next to her, staring with unblinking eyes. A man and woman were to her right, dead, their arms stretched toward Hermione as if pleading for help.

I looked at the only real person in the room, she was holding her chest with both hands and all the blood had drained from her face. I pulled out my wand before the boggart could turn its eyes on me. I said an internal Riddikulous and banished it back into the wardrobe from which it had come.

"Hermione." I said in a sharp voice. "It's just a bloody boggart. Third year stuff, you could have easily saved yourself the pain and humiliation by just banishing it." Her hallow brown eyes stared at me. "It wasn't real." I said in a softer tone as I righted her chair. I grabbed her arm to pull her off the ground. She jumped away from me as soon as she was up, and nearly fell again. Anger and fear shone brightly in her eyes. We locked glares for awhile until the boggart started rattling her wardrobe. She raised her hand and cast a wandless Silencio at the cabinet, the noise ceased. She stared at the place where the dead bodies were, then back at me.

Her eyes were no longer angry, all emotion had dissipated.

"I think I can handle it from here, Tom." she said softly.

I didn't care if she was okay or if she wanted to talk about it, but my curiosity was piqued at why her boggart would be what it was. "Do you want to…talk about it?"

She gave an exasperated laugh, "Not at all."

I nodded and took my leave. I left through the open and door and shut mine a little harder than normal. I cursed myself for how much interaction had gone on between her and I. I figured that putting distance between us would be a good idea, but my overtly curious mind told me I need to learn more about her before I could forget her completely.

Soon she will be just like everyone else. Disposable; unless she has something to offer that could be of potental use at some point in the future. Her simple wandless magic had caught me off guard. I didn't understand how someone who could have control of their magic to the point of using it wandlessly, couldn't handle a boggart. I brushed my teeth and changed for bed, while mulling over Hermione, magic, and the upcoming school year.

HERMIONE'S POV

I wasn't quite sure what had just happened. The boggart Voldemort was here, and then the non-boggart Voldemort was here, and then everyone was dead. I couldn't move, I was helpless and

my chest hadn't hurt that bad since the fall. Ever since our training began two years ago, my boggart has been the same thing. Then someone sees me or finds me has to banish it for me. I berated myself for my inability to act my age and not fret over an illusion. The illusion seemed so real though, half of it is…or was, before I came here.

I emptied the contents of my bag on my bed. The photograph, as well as several shrunken items: books, my bag of clothes, shoes, potions, my journal, more books, quills, and ink. I swept my wand over the items and they were normal size. I sent all the objects to their appropriate place in the room. I made sure the clothes and shoes went to the correct wardrobe though. I tried not to close my eyes…Ron's dead eyes were haunting my mind.

I waited until I heard Tom vacate the bathroom before I went inside. Another bath wouldn't hurt, I decided. I felt refreshed and clean when I crawled into my bed. I summoned a Dreamless Sleep Draught from my desk, hoping I still had some left. I did. I took a large gulp and waited for sleep to take me away. I fell asleep comparing the red eyes of Voldemort to the impossibly blue ones of Tom Riddle.

I woke up to storms the next day. I didn't leave my bed at all. It was peaceful. I never heard one sound from my dorm mate, except for when he took a shower or left the common room. I summoned food from the kitchens and tried to relax. I wasn't really ready to speak with Tom or accept that fact that this is my new life. I needed a few days to just…acknowledge that this was my fate. So I read the Head Girl and Boy guide, which was more like a short story. I had no clue that there were so many different ways of telling students to get to their dorm. It astounded me.

Two days later I still hadn't left my room. I woke up at noon to a beautiful, sunny day. I stretched before getting up to let the end of summer heat rush in to my room through my balcony doors. A warm haze had settled over the grounds. I could barely see the Quidditch pitch in the distance. When I looked toward the lake I saw a figure floating around on some inflatable object.

I turned around and leaned my back up against the railing, the sun warmed my insides, it gave me a sense of contentment.

I took a sharp breath as the Sorting Hats words echoed in my mind, 'power of deception', 'strong destiny', and 'believe in yourself.' I had resolved to do something and I would do it. I had to keep the future from repeating itself.

'Deep breath,' I thought, 'you know you have to do this Hermione. We've already discussed this. You have to keep Voldemort at bay. No matter what. Lie, Hermione, and keep your Occulmency shield up. Lie and deceive as much as you have to…don't think about how it makes you feel. Control your emotions and do this for the ones you left behind.'

"Right." I said as my internal monologue stopped. I pulled on a black camisole and transfigured my pajama shorts into the same ones I had used to swim in the other day. I pulled one of my old summer dresses out of the closet and made it longer. The forties were so conventional.

I went to the kitchens before I went out to the lake. I unfortunately had to ask a House Elf if they would 'please make me a lunch.' Please must have been too much, because I had at least twelve elves saying, 'you are too kind, miss, too kind.' It grossed me out and I couldn't take their pathetic cries of gratitude any longer, so I told them I would wait outside. Five minutes later an elf named Juni brought me a basket with enough food in it to feed the Weasley family. I put a weightless charm on it as I carried it through the castle.

When I got down by the lake I saw Tom sitting on the bank looking at the mountains in the distance, the water droplets shining like diamonds on the skin of his back. Seeing him like this made me think he was just like anyone else. Like he was a normal 'boy' just trying to cherish his last few days of summer vacation before school started. I stopped a few feet before I reached him.

"Hello, Hermione," he said without even turning around. "Take care of that boggart?"

"Not yet. My Silencing Charm has held steady. Uh, I had the House Elves make some lunch. Are you hungry?" he turned to look at me. I watched the muscles in his back move as he stood up. He brought his arms above his head and stretched, then turned to face me fully.

"So you brought me food to…apologize? Or to…what, Hermione?" I felt my cheeks redden at being faced with his bare chest again. I had to advert my eyes when to my extreme embarrassment, I noticed a small trail of hair that went from his belly button down…

"Uh, I'm…sorry? I've had the same boggart for years…an-and it throws me off each time. I brought food because you're the only other student here, and I'm bored…I thought maybe you could tell me about Hogwarts and its' teachers while we share lunch? And swim, maybe?" Power of deception! Power of deception. Power of deception? His eyes narrowed and seemed to have some sort of conversation with himself in his head.

"You want…me…to tell you about Hogwarts as we sit outside and eat lunch like…two best friends?" I feigned a look of hurt, but he just smiled. "Sit down, Hermione. There's no harm in pretending!"

I smiled and handed him the basket. He had almost fallen for that too easily. He was supposed to say more snarky comments, and I was supposed to say something along the lines of, 'please eat with me, Tom, I could really use a friend blah, blah, blah…' but, no. Here we are…eating cold meat sandwiches while Voldemort laid on his back next to me…with his shirt off.

'I just won't look at him, there! POWER OF DECEPTION…it'll be cold soon and I wont have to worry about my lies faltering because of his lack of clothing,' I thought dismally.

I reclined to lay in the grass a couple feet away from him. I closed my eyes and just let the sun soak into my skin. His voice broke the silence a couple minutes later, strange, I had almost forgotten he was next to me.

"So. You want to know more about this school."

"Yes. I've read Hogwarts: A History, but I'd like to know more about the secret passageways and the teachers, and the classes!" It sounded like real excitement was in my voice.

He sat up, so I did the same. It was a mistake, because I now sat Indian style facing him. Tom's blue eyes scanned my face as he asked what classes I was taking.

"All NEWT! Defense, Charms, Transfiguration, Potions…a few more. What about you?" I asked.

"NEWT as well, except I took my Potions NEWT class last year, so this year I'll be a teachers assistant to Professor Slughorn. So during my free class I'll have to be in there with the first years, and I'll get to help out with the seventh year NEWT class as well." His tone was so proud that it took all I had to not roll my eyes. I had never known that Voldemort got to take his Potion NEWT early. Why didn't Dumbledore tell me?

"Interesting. I didn't know you could do that."

"You can't. Slughorn is quite taken with me and spoke to someone he knows on the Wizarding Education Board. I took it at the end of the year last semester, and passed," he said as he shrugged his shoulders. "Slughorn is a pushover when it comes to people in higher positions, or fame, or intelligence. He thinks that if he gives you special attention, you owe him a favor…or you're forever indebted to him."

I laughed and Tom's head snapped up.

"Why are you laughing?" his eyes were hard; the lighter blue replaced with almost black.

"You said something funny? Should I not laugh in your presence of something?" My tone was light and playful. He relaxed.

"Just wait until you meet the others. Most of the time, I feel like I could do a better job teaching." I smiled, then laid back down. The sunshine was so comforting. It was always the same…here and in the future. A contented sigh escaped my mouth. I tried to ignore the eyes that I knew were on me. I cracked my right eye open and peeked at him, he had laid back down, but was facing me.

"Yes, Tom?" he was staring at me. He put his head on his hand, the movement causing the muscles in his abdomen and chest to contract under his skin. I looked away.

"What's your middle name, Hermione?" he asked.

"Jane," I answered automatically.

"So, it's Hermione Jane…" I looked at him. His blue eyes were shining with an unknown emotion.

"Smith," I finished for him. 'Deception, Hermione!'

"Right, Jane is a family name, then?"

"Jane is my mother's name." I rolled to face him. His gaze followed my movements.

"And where is your mother now?" My heart sank into my stomach. I hesitated in my answer and that's when I felt the prodding at my Occulmency walls. The soft, subtle caressing against my deepest secrets was so gentle I had hardly noticed it. But, then again, I probably only noticed it because I had Snape as an Occulmency instructor. He liked to 'check-in' while you were studying, just to make sure you were paying attention. I jumped up. I could withstand a lot of 'gentle' searching, I'd rather not risk it with Tom Riddle, though.

"Swim?" I inquired. I reached around to undo the back of my dress, grateful I had my swim gear on underneath. I didn't wait for an answer as I jumped in, nor did I see his smile at my abrupt change of conversation. I could handle talking about my parents death, I just didn't know if I could talk about it with Tom while masking my emotions and keeping up my shield.

I forgot that my wand was in the belt of my shorts, so I went to place it back on the bank only to be stopped by Tom. 'Why is he always right behind me?'

"How about a game?" I must have looked nervous. "Any easy game, the first one to find this rock," he pulled a stone off the bank and charmed it to glow, "at the bottom of the lake wins."

"What's the catch? There has to be something? Another round of questioning? Me to face the boggart again? Borrow my Defensive Charms book? What?" I stood with my arms crossed in waist deep water waiting for his answer.

He took a step closer, so that I had to look up to look into his eyes. The close proximity threw my previous courage out the window. My eyes were level with his chest and his breath was hot on my forehead. My cheeks were no longer rosy from just the sun. my hand traced my scar, a distant thrumming leaving a pleasant tingle on my skin. I watched him throw the rock into the middle of the lake.

"All you have to do is answer the questions I ask you. Truthfully. Just tell me what happened to make you be sent to Hogwarts." Tom said calmly.

"I did tell you, Tom. We got caught in the middle of the war, and Dad knew Albus…"

"Hermione, if you aren't Muggleborn, then why would your parents be caught up in the war? How did your father know Dumbledore? What happened to your family, then? All you have to do is answer these simple questions and I'll leave you alone about it…just tell me the real truth, Hermione. Grindlewald hasn't even advanced to America. And there has been no news of a wizarding family with the last name of Smith in the Daily Prophet."

My toleration was running out. There was only so much of Tom Riddle's scheming I could put up with…especially when it involved who I really was. He was hitting too close to home.

"And if I win?" Determination set deep within my eyes.

"What would you like?" he said with a sardonic laugh.

"I would like to see what you fear most." his jovial expression disappeared. "Let me see you face the boggart in my room, then I'll let you get rid of it for me."

"You…want to see what I fear most…over anything else you could possibly ask for?" Tom's calculating tone surprised me. I guess we both had something we would like to keep hidden.

"Yes. If over coming your fear is as easy as Riddikulous, then I would like to see you do it. If you'd rather just call a truce, I'll understand." His eyes turned stormy as the sun hid behind a patch of clouds. His tan skin suddenly seemed pale and cold.

"Deal," he whispered.

"What? You're…you're going to consent to this?" I had honestly thought he wouldn't go through with it. He extended his hand.

"There's no going back now." he said as I placed my hand in his. Our gaze locked as we both tried to size each other up. "Rules: no summoning, no harming the other opponent, no cheating, and only a sixty minute timer." he was still holding my hand. I squeezed it as hard as I could before letting go, no yelp of pain followed…only a chuckle and a smirk.

Tom tapped me on the head with his wand and before I knew what was happening, my head was fully encased in a Bubblehead Charm. I heard his voice through the elastic surface of the charm, it sounded like we were already under water.

"I set the charm to run out in an hour. Good luck, Smith." He conjured a holster for his wand on his arm, so I did the same. He held up his hand and with a signal of one, two, three on his fingers, the game began.

TOM'S POV

We dove at the same time, our bodies breaking the water in to waves and bubbles. I veered to the left and she to the right. There was no way I could lose. It wasn't possible. I was stronger, faster, and more powerful than she was. Who was she anyway? I hadn't seen her or heard from her since she showed me out of her room. Then she came out of nowhere, while wearing a dress that hardly covered her chest and offered me food.

I crawled through an archway that led deeper into the lake. I saw flashes of angry, green eyes and the glint of metal. I swam up and over a field of twenty foot seaweed. I didn't bother looking in there, the game would be over before anyone even found the rock in there. I swam closer to the bottom, hoping to catch a glimpse of something glinting in the dark. Nothing.

I let my mind wander back to Hermione for a split second. The image of her unzipping her dress in front of me popped up. I closed my eyes as I recalled the way the sun danced on her bare back, as her hips shimmied to slide her dress down. I had never been alone with a girl as much as I had her. Unless it was for academic pursuits or some other possibly beneficial quality they had that would help me along the way sometime after Hogwarts.

I took another deep dive around a large cave in the water, still no rock. It wasn't possible for me to admit that I found this new girl somewhat attractive, because I didn't. I was just curious. Pure curiosity. Soon, the only talking her and I do will be about the Head duties and maybe homework, if she needed help.

I sighed as I felt the oxygen in the bubble start to get thin. 'I guess she will not answer my questions today,' I thought disappointedly. I watched the sun dance on the surface of the lake as I swam toward it. I was rather upset with myself. I let my thoughts distract me to the point where I hadn't tried as hard as I could to win the game. I was never distracted by women, I have had countless females throw themselves pathetically at my feet for a measly date to Hogsmead. Disgusting.

I broke the surface and ended the charm. I shook my head. 'No more typical teenage male thoughts, Tom. You're smarter than that!'

The girl was nowhere in sight. I tread to the shore, she had to be close. The sixty minutes was about up. After a couple minutes, I started to get a bad feeling. Of course, something would go wrong with a simple game. I cast another charm and dove back into the water.

I thought 'Descendio' when I realized the speed at which I was swimming wasn't fast enough. I made it to the seaweed patch and noticed chunks of seaweed floating upward from a point in the middle of the field. As I got closer I could see six or seven Grindelow hovering around an obviously knocked out Hermione with no charm around her head.

I sent a couple spells and the underwater creatures dissipated. I swam to the new Head Girl, there was no sign of life.

'Damnit.' I grabbed her around her waist and said a quick 'Ascendio'. I broke the surface with Hermione's dead weight on my arm. When I could touch, I swung her legs to my other arm so I could bridal carry her out of the water. I sat her gently down on the ground and knelt next to her. Her lips were almost blue. I checker her pulse, faint but there.

Ennervate didn't work, and neither did the other spells I tried. I let out a loud, frustrated curse word as I had to result to the Muggle way of saving someone's life. My hands came to her chest as I started the count to fifteen. Her skin was pale and it made me look even more tan than what I was. My hands felt large and clumsy as I tried to push the life back into the girl in front of me. I put my ear by her mouth.

'Shit, shit, shit,' I thought frantically.

I placed my hand over her nose as I parted her lips to blow air into her lungs from my mouth. Her soft lips were cold against mine. Two breaths, fifteen chest compressions. Panic began to swell in my chest.

'Fuck, Hermione, wake up!" I parted her lips and sent a rush of air into her lungs. I waited and waited. Relief flooded through me as her eyes cracked open, and coughing followed.

I picked up her upper body and leaned her against my chest so she could cough and breath easier. Her lips were still blue as she looked up at me.

"Did you save my life again, Tom Riddle?" her voice was soft and weak.

"Mm, you should really try to stop dying when I'm around. You're getting quite heavy to carry." My words were in jest, but my tone was serious.

"I'm sorry, I-I couldn't get my wand out of my holster and then the Grindelows…" her cough interrupted her speech. "It won't happen again. Two almost deaths in one week are a bit much."

"I agree," Our intimate position of her small body pushed up against my chest had begun to put my nerves on edge. I transfigured my shirt into a pillow and set her down. "I guess neither of us won the game, then." I tried to ignore the fact that I might have a life saving complex now, if the word ever spread of the accuracy of that statement…

Hermione gave me a sheepish look, "I might have found the…uh, rock before I started to drown." she weakly reached into her shorts pocket to pull out the illuminated rock. The weight of it was making her hand shake, so I took it away from her to inspect it. "Do you think we could fulfill the terms of the deal later?" she tried to sit up, so I helped her. "I kind of feel like taking a nap now."

She extended her arm toward me, "Would you?" she asked. I looked at the holster on her arm, the clamp was broken. I held her arm close to me as I pinched either side of the clamp until I broke completely off.

I helped her stand up and she pulled her dress on in one fluid motion. She wobbled so I steadied her.

"Thank you, Tom…for saving me." she placed her hand on my cheek, then walked away. My jaw fell open as I watched her leave. She had won.