Professor Sipid came in through the door like a whirlwind, coat flowing behind him. It reminded her of the late Professor Snape but without the ever present sneer. "Don't bother opening your books today, actually clear your desk of everything, if you please." he commanded the class. Hermione was at a loss. No books or notes? What did this man have plan for a lesson then?
After everyone had finally settled down he spoke again," Alright, I want everyone up against the wall over there." He said pointing to the left. Hermione watched as one of the boys in the front row wiped his face in disgust. She promptly busted out in barrels of laughter while doing as instructed. She could more feel than hear Tom's deep chested chuckles against her arm he was walking next to.
The professor waved his wand around and all the tables and benches flew in a neat stack against the other wall, "Okay before we begin on this years defense spells I want us to have a review to see how far everyone has regressed over the summer. I want everyone to find a partner. You'll be taking turns dueling against one another for five minutes. You may use any spell, charm, or curse as long as it doesn't cause irreparable damage and can be countered immediately. I'll give you a few minutes to pair up then we'll begin." The professor leaned against his desk watching as the students voices raised in excitement.
Hermione turned to look at Avery who was on her other side. Before she could even ask he stopped her," No offense sweetheart but if charms class was anything to go by I'd rather keep some of my dignity intact." He joked with her. Hermione huffed but couldn't disagree. If charms was actually his strong suit she could only imagine how more competent she was at this. Looking around the room she wondered who she should ask then. Feeling a squeeze on her arm she looked up into Tom's amused eyes.
"I would rather hope you'd use this opportunity to prove our earlier discussion." He said quietly. Hermione stared at him for a few moments contemplating if this was a good idea or not. She had a feeling it could get out of hand really fast, but maybe that would give him a glimpse of what she was made of. Nodding her head at him he smiled widely, "Excellent. No holding back then?" He asked her. She looked at him and nodded again,"Very well , just remember this was your idea." Instead of being offended by her comment he looked eager to begin.
The Professor went through the group and had all the students write down their pairings on a piece of parchments. Once completed he tapped his wand to the paper and the pairings names were etched on the board in random order to show who would duel first. "Let's begin." Pair after pair stepped into the wide space provided for them and went against each other. Hermione had to admit that most of the students were adequate duelist. It'd seem with a consistent decorum of instruction from an adept professor gave the students an edge her generation had the misfortune of not having in her time. Still though, with all the D.A. meetings she attended and being a part of The Order, it seemed like child's play.
Hermione watched as Dolohov and Avery faced off against one another. She was pleasantly surprised to find that they were by far the more superior pairing that had dueled so far. Where Avery was all flourish and Snaz, Dolohov was precise and wasted no energy in his stiff movements. They were complete opposites in appearance and manner. It wasn't really a surprise to her that Dolohov won. He seemed more practiced in nonverbal spells that put him ahead of Avery. She wondered if she could help work with him on that as well as charms.
"Are you ready Miss Selwyn?" Tom's voice broke through her inner thoughts. Looking up she realized it was in fact their turn. They walked towards the empty space without another word. Hermione stepped over to an empty desk removing her outer robes. Riddle looked at her with a raised eyebrow and she swore she heard a wolf whistle from the corner Avery was standing in, "No holding back, right? Well I don't plan on having my movement's restricted." He chose to say nothing but continued staring at her.
Pulling her hair back from her face she used a pin to knot it tightly in place and stretched her limbs to loosen her muscles. Stepping back into place in front of Tom she pulled her mask of indifference back on even though her heart was beating hard against her chest. He seemed to sense the seriousness of which she was taking this and straightened up, showing no emotions as well. "Remember the rules and your five minute limit." Their Professor said, "You may begin."
Tom and Hermione bowed to each other stiffly then stood straight staring at one another gauging each others actions. Realizing he was giving her the first hit, she reacted quickly without a second thought sending a jinx at him nonverbally. Tom waved his wand last minute blocking the spell easily. He threw a slicing hex at her that had enough power behind it that even casting a heavy shield Hermiones fingers were numb from the strength of his magic.
Thus started the back and forth spell casting at each other. Hermione dogged, jumped, and twisted flawlessly while throwing just as many spells back that she was receiving. The pair were both sweating and breathing heavily after a few minutes of non stop casting. Hermione could see the frustration in his face of not landing anything on her. She felt the same, as she hadn't either. Deciding to up the game she sent a nasty little curse at his left arm that made you feel as though your skin was being boiled alive right after feinted a charm to his right.
It hit but not with the full force at which she sent due to him dodging mostly out of the way. He grabbed his arm and looked at her with the most murderous glare she'd ever seen on his face. Hermione wasn't sure what came over her but she laughed loudly at her triumph. She'd actually hit Lord Voldemort! This seemed to only enrage the boy more though. He doubled his efforts and Hermione quickly threw her energy back into blocking and dodging the increasing dangerous curses, charms, and spells being shot at her.
The buzzer went off ending their time limit distracting her which allowed the last spell he sent hit her right across the chest, causing her to collapse in on herself unable to breathe. She felt her vision starting to get splotchy from lack of oxygen and enormous amount of pain she was feeling. It felt as if lungs were being squashed by ten elephants. She felt an arm wrap around her and whisper something fervently that seemed to be reducing the pain in her lungs slowly. Hermione took a deep, much needed breath forcing her lungs to work around the still lingering pain.
Her vision finally returned to normal order and she found herself leaning against Riddle. He looking down at her with an unreadable expression, "Better?" was all he said, no apology written in his features. She only nodded," Help me up?" He grabbed her hand and pulled her upright. He left his hand on hers until he was sure she was steady. Looking around for the first time she realized every student was staring at the pair in shock.
Maybe they overdid it a bit. Looking up at Tom, who was still staring at her, she waved her wand over his arm to stop the inferno she was sure he was still experiencing. They continued to look at one another. Hermione was the first to break into a wide smile," Draw this time then?" Tom tried to control his features, she could tell from the spastic way the muscles in his cheeks were moving but to no avail, he burst out laughing. They shook hands in camaraderie fashion. "So it would seem Miss Selwyn...this time."
The Professor walked up to the pair and clasped both them on the shoulders then addressed all of the class," Well done! I can see who has taken to practicing their studies seriously. We'll end here today and pick up on this next class. I want everyone to write a footlong summarization on what we went over today and what you would like to learn this year. It will be due promptly next class." He walked back and sat behind his desk effectively dismissing the class.
Hermione cast a cooling charm on herself before letting her curls fall down her back again. She grabbed her bag and decided to throw her robes into it instead of shucking them back on. She was too warm from the exertion of dueling. Turning around she saw the trio waiting for her. Instead of rolling her eyes she joined and head out with them.
"Hermione you were amazing. I've never seen a witch duel like that. Honestly I don't think I've ever seen anyone duel like that." Avery said looking at her in what Hermione thought was awe. Hermione looked over at Tom hearing him sigh, He still had his blank face on but his eyes showed his annoyment with the blonde. Hermione's attention was broken by Dolohov's question, "Where did you learn to duel like that Miss Selwyn? Surely you didn't learn such fluid technique from one private tutor." He said with curiosity.
Hermione was floored for a moment. This was the first time the man showed genuine interest in her as a person. "Well when my father was alive he insisted on teaching me himself in defense and would sometimes would bring other tutors from all over to make sure I exceeded in the art of the subject." she said nonchalantly. He seemed satisfied with her explanation and the corner of his mouth upturned slightly," I would love to duel against you some time."
Hermione smiled at the thawing of coldness from the stoic man," I'd be honored Antonin." At her reply the man actually smiled at her. Hermione thought it lit up all his features and made him even more attractive than his usual bored facade. Riddle interrupted the pair," We have somewhere to be. I'm sure you can manage on your own for the afternoon." He told her rather harshly. He walked off without another word and the boys followed him giving her a few glances back in apology. Hermione was shocked. Besides the anger he'd shown when she hit her mark while dueling that was the only time he had ever been unkind to her.
The brunette remained frozen for a few minutes trying to understand what had transpired to cause such a reaction. He was fine in the classroom once the dueling was over he only seemed to get aggravated with her once she was in discussion with James and Antonin. Examining the conversations in her head again she couldn't find anything that would offend the boy. Hermione shook her head trying to clear the confusion and anger in which Tom had left her and started heading toward the library to start on the pile of homework she had received earlier. Finding her favorite nook, she lost herself in writing essays and reading the corresponding books for each subject.
Hours had passed and she was happy to find all her homework completed. She would be lying if she didn't admit doing the work a few years back made the task a lot easier now. It was probably the quickest she had ever finished her assignments. Packing her things quickly in her bag she decided to drop her stuff off in her room before heading to dinner.
She stretched her sore muscles from sitting in place to long and took off toward the dungeons. Tapping her wand against the tapestry it disappeared into smoke granting her entry. It seemed she was one of the last people to make it back. Everyone was sprawled across the furniture talking and laughing. Though there were a few students who were working on assignments at the desk provided along the walls. She saw Tom in a corner of the room with Dolohov, Avery and few other boys she didn't know but was sure was a part of his "gang".
No one seemed to cross the room to disturb the group and the boys seemed to be in a deep discussion. Hermione watched them from afar. Avery leaned forward saying something to Riddle which caused Tom to look directly at her. All the boys subsequently turned their heads staring at her. 'Well that's just creepy.' Hermione thought to herself. She squinted her eyes at the group refusing to be intimidated causing the group to chuckle and look at her with their predator shark like grins. 'Yep definitely time to flee.' Hermione told herself.
She forced herself to take calm measured steps out of the corridor toward her room all while feeling eyes following her. Stepping into her room she threw her bag into the big chair and face planted on her big fluffy bed groaning out her frustrations. She needed a bath. Her muscles were so tense with stress and still sore from earlier a bath sounded heavenly. Yep, after dinner she was going to sneak away and soak for a minimum of an hour. It was her reward for making it through today.
Her stomach rumbled at her in earnest. She sighed, pulling herself off the bed. Straightening her uniform, she walked to her small bathroom and quickly ran a brush through her tangled curls. She still wasn't used to seeing her reflection. It was weird seeing her new features. Her stomach growled again breaking her out of her reverie. She hurried out the door running smack into someone. "If you wanted to feel me up all you had to do was ask sweetheart." Avery looked down giving her a shit eating grin. "What are you doing in front of my room?" She asked him trying not to notice the hard muscles of his chest that she was pressed against.
"Everyone's heading down for dinner. I was about to knock on your door to invite you along before you threw yourself at me." He said giving her waist a light squeeze. Hermione pulled away from giving him a glare worthy of Mrs. Weasley. He laughed loudly at her expression. "You wish Avery." she told him haughtily. He calmed down a bit and looked at her seriously before turning around and heading back down the hallway. Hermione was stock still until he turned back around looking at her expectantly. She hurried to catch up with him and he resumed their discussion from earlier about nonverbal vs verbal spells casting.
Hermione noticed the group of boys had already left to dinner before they returned so it was just her and Avery walking together as they entered the Great Hall. She saw the group from earlier all sitting at a table and noticed the space beside Tom was vacant. Hermione started to head toward an emptier table but a guiding hand on her lower back from Avery pushed her toward the table she really didn't want to interact with right then.
Avery sat at the end giving her no choice but to sit next to Riddle. Giving an exasperated sigh she sat down and started filling her plate with roast, veggies and scratch rolls. She acknowledged no one, keeping her eyes on her food or vacantly staring off to random parts of the castle. If Tom thought he could act like that to her then her still be friendly towards him, he had another thing coming. Tom nudged her side lightly bringing her attentions up to his gaze. He looked at her questionally which she gave a cold detached look back, then returned to her food.
She could feel him sigh next to her but he said nothing and didn't bother to get her attention again. The boys around her discussed lessons they had had today or random bits of politics. Hermione probably should of interacted with them a bit, they had done nothing wrong besides the earlier creepy looks, but she just wasn't in the mood for polite interaction. Hermione finished her food and quickly rose to head back to her quarters. The group quit talking to watch her leave. Riddle clucked his tounge in aggitation but pulled himself up to go after her anyways.
Hermione made it a few corridors away from the common room before she felt Tom pulling her arm into a dusty unused classroom. Hermione ripped her arm away from him glaring at him for his audacity. "Care to explain why you are acting this way?" Tom asked her leaning against the door with an expression that seemed he didn't care about her answer one way or another, which only fueled Hermione's anger more. "Whatever do you mean Mr. Riddle?" She spat at him. His eyes glinted dangerously at her tone but only stared at her in contemplation for a bit. Hermione crossed her arms under her chest and leaned against the opposite wall staring at him just as hard. She was not about to be intimidated by this git.
"You shouldn't spread your affections so carelessly." Tom told her in an even cool tone. The brunette looked at him like he was crazy. What in the world was he talking about. Seeing her confusion he continued."Avery. Dolohov. What are your intentions with them?" He asked her like he had any right to. Hermione could feel her magic crackling around her while trying to contain her temper. " Not that it's any of your damn business of whom I share my "affections" with but seeing as I just met the gentlemen today I can assure you my only "intentions" are to make friends with my housemates. It's not like I have a lot of those." She told him vehemently. "Is that what this is about? Why you spoke so harshly to me in the hallway earlier? Well you know what, you can sod off Riddle!" She was shaking with anger realizing how petty he had been. What did he care anyways? Worried about her tainted his precious pureblooded followers? He was a right hypocrite this man was.
She stomped towards the door ready to curse him if he stood in her way. His eyes narrowed on her like she was prey as she approached him. "Get out of my way Riddle, or I'll have the pleasure of making you."She said in a dangerous tone." Tom gave her a cold smile at her threat, "Be careful who you threaten Hermione. This is not a classroom duel and their is no one around to stop me."
Hermione stepped as close as she could to the boy stretching herself as tall as she could to glare right in the boys face, "Oh I am well aware Mr. Riddle. I do find it amusing that after that duel you still underestimate my capabilities. We both know we were playing with one another. Those were child spells, unlike what I would throw at you if we were really warring with one another."
The boy leaned down stopping before their noses touched."If I remember correctly you were the one on your arse by the end of that round." He said just as dangerously. Hermione gritted her teeth," I was distracted. Trust me. It won't happen again. I know better than to let my guard down around you." Tom grabbed one of her curls and pulled it lightly then smirked at her,"Smart girl." He whispered in reply. He played with that strand of hair for a few seconds before exhaling loudly, "What can I do to make up my behavior from earlier? Anything you want, just ask and I'll see what I can do."
Hermione was shocked. That was the closest thing to an apology she would probably ever get from this man. Her anger started to fade just as quick as it had approached, that left her too aware of just how close they were to one another. She could feel the heat coming off of him and could spell parchment, spice and something dark coming from skin. The faint hint of pumpkin juice still lingered on his breath from dinner on his exhales. He smelled like heaven. Shaking her head she looked into his penetrating gaze again, "Anything?" She asked with a smirk. Tom gave her a small smile and glanced down at her lips. For a split second she thought Tom Riddle was going to kiss her, but as soon as she had the thought he leaned away from her resting against the door once again.
"Will you duel with me on the weekends?" Hermione asked him seriously. Tom quirked his eyebrow up at that. Apparently that was the last thing he had thought she would ask of him. Hermione explained her request further," While I enjoy the curriculum we will be learning in class, I don't feel it challenging enough to keep me engaged. I plan on studying more than what is allowed of students our year and plan on putting that learned knowledge to practical use. But I need someone who would be able to keep up. Using targets are fine and dandy but it's not the same."
Tom seemed to weigh her request in his mind," So I give you the opportunity to ask me of anything and you ask for me to study with you?" He said in a humored tone. Hermione shrugged her shoulders," I guess if we're using simplistic terms then yes that is exactly what I'm asking." Tom laughed and ran his hand through his immaculate styled hair. "Does it only have to be me? Or do you mind if others joined our extra curricular studies?" Hermione tilted her head at him," I'll leave that up to you. I don't mind either way. But if your going to get weird on me again for talking and making friends with people you bring, I'd rather you not." she said honestly.
Tom nodded his head his face becoming serious as well," I won't stand in the way of you making friends Hermione, you have my word." Hermione scanned his face for any deception or sarcasm but didn't find any. She smiled at him then,"Well as fun as this has been I'm exhausted." He offered his arm which she grabbed hold of without hesitation and let him lead her out into the hallway towards their dormitory. Entering the common room she saw the same group of boys look up expectantly at the pair of them.
"There are a few others you've yet to be introduced to." He said in a hushed tone. Hermione would like nothing more than to meet everyone. It was a necessity for her plans to ever work but she was so tired from the day," Would you be upset if we did it tomorrow? I really just want to bathe and go to bed." She asked awaiting his verdict. He only smiled at her," Of course not, I'll see you in the morning." He kissed her knuckles and and watched her as she walked down the corridor until she was tucked in her room.
Hermione yawned loudly. She really was tuckered in. She grabbed a book then sat in front of the fireplace and read waiting for the common room to clear out so she could sneak to the prefects bathroom. After about an hour in a half she couldn't wait any longer. If she did she was going to fall asleep. Grabbing a towel, robe and satin nightie, she stashed it all in her beaded bag and popped her head out her door. It seemed it she was in the clear so far. Walking slowly into the common room she noticed a few older students up still working on homework but none that paid her any mind. She went through the tapestry and took the most direct route to the bathes.
She was lucky enough not to run into anyone. Opening the door she peeked in again making sure the rooms were completely empty, satisfied she sauntered in throwing a quick locking charm in the door while messing with the faucet and knobs preparing the luxurious bath. She accio'd her things from her bag setting them on hooks near the giant tub and quickly removed her uniform tucking it into her bag to put away later.
Slowly climbing into the tub Hermione could already feel the steaming water loosen each muscle as she submerged it. She washed her hair thoroughly and scrubbed her body to perfection. She held herself under water for a few seconds than moved to the edge tossing her hair behind her as she rested her neck along the edge. Yep, this was exactly what she needed. The random concoction of potions, bubbles, and fragrances, had her more relaxed than she had been since her being in her little oasis at the manor.
Feeling her fingers start pruning and the water cooling off she figured it was time to head back. Toweling off she threw on her slip and cinched the robe into place over it. Placing her towel in her bag she unlocked the door and snuck her way down to the dungeons. She only had to hide out in an alcove once when one of the Heads were making their rounds. She rushed into the common room after that not wanting to be caught out after curfew.
Everyone had finally cleared out of the common room leaving it cold and dark. So focused on keeping her steps quiet to not wake anyone she didn't hear someone walking behind her. A few feet away from her door she felt a tap on her shoulder causing her to literally hover off the floor for a moment. Turning around with a gasp clutching her chest with one hand and her other waving her wand, her eyes focused on Dolohov who was staring at her with an amused expression. "Hasn't anyone ever told you not to sneak up on people? I almost hexed you!" Hermione said around deep breaths as she tried to calm her racing heart.
He chuckled lowly at that, " Calm down malyutka. I wasn't trying to startle you. I honestly thought you heard me walk up behind you." Hermione finally having a hold of herself looked abashed. She was concentrating so hard on being quiet she didn't hear anything around her, what would Moody say. She cringed at the thought. "We thought you went to bed?" He said looking her up and down. Hermione crossed her arms under her chest feeling more exposed than she'd like. It wasn't like the robe was that thick. "Just needed a good soak so I could sleep easier, I'm heading that way now." She said feeling a bit uncomfortable being in a dark corridor alone with this man.
Dolohov looked like he wanted to say something but then thought better of it. Hermione chewed on her lower lip and started to back down the hall again, "Well...night." she said awkwardly, hurrying to her room, promptly opening then shutting her door. Hermione threw her her robe over her chair and snuggled deep into bed. She hoped every day wasn't as long as this one. She was trying hard to be opened minded about these boys that would later become Death Eaters, but it was so hard when she knew of what they would become and all the terrible things they would do. Hell she even had faded scars from battling a few of them. But they hadn't done those deeds yet. Perhaps things could still change? Huffing in annoyance Hermione forced her brain to turn off and fell asleep dreaming of Green, Black, and Blue-Gray eyes.
