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Chapter 10

She could always feel when he was close, the air seemed to get thicker but colder. He didn't talk, but she could feel his gaze on her. It was a different silence than last time, as she felt this time she was controlling it. Although he never tried to talk to her, she had never tried either. He could possibly be keeping his distance after the dreadful things he had done to her that night, but that would mean he felt bad about it. Riddle would never have those feelings.

But Hermione also worried that the silence meant that he had more time to plot and come up with plans. She needed to distract him, which meant she needed to approach him. She knew the time-table of his rounds, and so she found herself sitting outside her dorm waiting for him to come.

A coughing woke her up, as she appeared to have dosed off. She looked up expecting to see Riddle but instead she was met with Malfoy's eyes. He stared down at her, a disapproving look on his face. It reminded her of Draco.

"Get back inside your room Granger," he snarled down at her, while she tried to stand up. She wanted to snarl something back, but she didn't want to waste her time with him. She admitted defeat. Just as she was about to turn around, she saw Riddle leaning against the wall, staring at her.

Her heart dropped as she realized she needed to get this over now. She needed to talk to him. To get herself back on to the right track, for Ron.

"Riddle," she half whispered and half spoke. She waited for a reply, but it never came. Maybe he was ignoring her after all.

"Don't waste your time, Granger-" He stared to spit out until Riddle spoke.

"Leave us be Abraxas, we need to talk," Riddle said, stepping towards her. Hermione's eyes widened as she nodded, while Abraxas started to walk away.

Hermione felt the pressure of her door against her back as Riddles eyes gloomed over her. Why did he have to be so tall?

"Tell me how you know," he breathed it out, while Hermione realized they were alone. It could be a repeat of what happened a couple of weeks ago. Although she had this done to her before, the fear never went away.

"Granger…" she flinched as he seemed to reach for his wand in his pocket, her eyes slamming shut. She waited for the prodding of the stick against her neck, but it didn't come.

Instead she felt the soft touch of his fingers against her cheek. She couldn't open her eyes, so she left them closed. His fingers grazed against her cheek, then being replaced by his palm. His touch was calming, but also frightening. Hermione was always frightened with things that she couldn't explain, of things that confused her. This defiantly confused her.

She peaked up through her lashes, and met his stare. He let his hand fall but didn't move. She couldn't move herself, stuck in this messed up moment that was happening between them.
"I hate you," he murmured softly, but the words had lost meaning when he said them to her. Hermione knew that this version of Riddle didn't hate her. His feeling were defiantly messed up, and he might hate the feelings he had, but he didn't hate her. The thought of him not hating her somehow seemed worse than him hating her.

"We both know that's not true," she muttered, not really meaning to say it. Would he be horrible to her again? He just stared at her.

Tom was deciding if this was he right moment to tell her she seemed to be the only thing he thought about. How he hated himself for it, but she was right, he didn't hate her. He hated his feelings for her, but he couldn't hate her. It wasn't possible, no matter how hard he tried. He decided it was probably never going to be a good time to tell her.

"You're right," he said, causing her to snap out of her thoughts. She looked at him with wide eyes, and at that moment, he didn't seem to be thinking.

He leaned in, pressing his lips against hers. His first kiss. But her lips didn't move, and she stood motionless. He quickly leaned away, looking at p her eyes still wide, and now filled with shock.

On one hand he wanted to leap for joy, knowing his first kiss had been with Granger. She hadn't pushed him away or screamed at him. But the depression seemed to over power those thoughts, and he felt the weight of her rejection on his shoulders. Her lips hadn't moved. Her eyes hadn't closed. She didn't want him.

"Go to your room Granger," he spat at her, turning away and quickly walking of. He didn't want to show how much it seemed to hurt him, everyone always seemed to forget he was human. He had feelings, he just decided to bury them deep down, and not show them to anyone. But he still had them.

The feel of his lips lingered on Hermione's, as she bought a finger to touch them. They tingled with a weird sensation. It was good that he had these feelings, she decided. She would have to use them to her advantage, and if she could make herself his weakness, then she would be one step ahead of him.

Ron's hand flattened against the keys on the piano, creating a dreadful sound.
"Stop, you're doing it wrong." Hermione said, capturing his fingers in her hand.
"Stop stop stop, your saying it wrong" Rom quoted, from one of the first days he had met her. His little sense would have never guessed that he would grow to love the bushy haired bookworm. That he would end up dying for her.
"Funny, Ron. Look its like this," she said, gliding her fingers over the keys. The music flowed out effortlessly.

Ron's fingers stopped her. They captured her hands and squeezed them tightly. Hermione looked down, but when she looked up again she was greeted by Riddle's eyes, not Ron's.