Hi guys! Sorry about the wait – but yr 12 is turning out to be more hectic with each passing day. anywayz, here's the next chapter.

Enjoy~

~mE~

CHAPTER 9

Tom regally sat upon his throne, his face void of emotions, as he called up Abraxas from the ring of cloaked men around him.

Abraxas knelt before him, his hood casting long shadows across his high cheekbones. 'My Lord, I couldn't find anything even remotely close to-' Tom's anger grew as the witch continued to stay a mystery.

'Well, I guess you didn't try hard enough then. I suggest you keep looking, Abraxas.' His words cut through the air, promising torture and pain to all who disobeyed him.

'Of course, my Lord. Of course.'

Tom watched Abraxas' retreating back impatiently. Coming from one of the more prominent families, Abraxas had been positioned as his lieutenant and he'd proven himself useful on several occasions. Except for this one, Tom thought bitterly.

He had mentally scolded himself for ignoring Hermione's dramatic entrance. There was obviously more to her than what he had first thought, and he would find out what.

'Ron!'

'Hermione, watch out!'

She was thrown roughly to the ground; a mass of unruly red hair blocking her vision.

She twisted around haphazardly until she could finally see Ron's face, which lay angelically on her chest. His mouth was rounded in horror; his eyes staring back at her lifelessly.

'RON!'

Warm hands were desperately trying to drag her from underneath Ron, but she fought against them, her tears blurring the image of the mangled Ron on top of her.

'Hermione, we've got to get aw-'

'No! NO!' She wriggled away from Harry's arms, sobs bursting through her constricted throat painfully.

'NOOO!'

Moonlight streamed through the open windows of the Hospital Wing, illuminating a pale, young girl who was retching through them. Her body shivered in the cold, sweat beads apparent on her glistening forehead. Her hands could hardly stop shaking as she pulled back her hair form her sickly-white face.

As the moonlight tickled her face and hair, tears could be seen shimmering dully on her gaunt cheeks, accentuating her infirmity.

A shiver racked through her body until she slumped painfully across the sill, unconscious.

As the nurse made her way across her room and into the office, she could hear sharp rapping on the Hospital Wing's doors.

The elderly woman sighed tiredly and made her way with ease across the white room. That is, until she noticed the small girl that lay heaped upon the far wall, as haphazardly as if she had fallen from an awkward position on the sill. Her steps gained speed and before she knew it, she was flat out running towards the little child that had gone through too much, in her opinion.

The sharp knocks had not receded; indeed they had grown to an alarmingly loud hammering upon the doors. She quickly flicked her wand at the door, already attending to the poor girl on the floor.

'Ma'am, is Miss Granger going to make it?' Pretending to care was far easier than he thought it ever would be, but he was not complaining. He needed the girl to trust him and putting up a mask of a young, caring gentleman, was, after all, his specialty.

The nurse was quick to reassure him and he smirked at her gullibility.

'Of course, Mr. Riddle. Don't you worry not one bit.'

Tom sighed in relief before addressing the nurse once more. 'Could you please tell her I stopped by? And wish her a speedy recovery? I-I came as soon as I learnt what happened to her and I-I-' He smirked, inwardly of course, as he noticed the nurse's sympathetic look.

'Now, don't you fret, Tom. I've got her well looked after.'

'Thank you, ma'am. You truly are a gift from the heavens.' He was playing it a bit over the top, but he didn't dare chance a mistake.

The nurse blushed before personally shooing him away from the wing, having suddenly forgotten about the unconscious lass on the floor.

'Wh-where am I?' Hermione muttered aloud, before noting the pristine white walls around her.

'Ah, you're awake, dear. Here, drink this.' As Hermione sipped on the potion, the nurse was quick to inform her on her latest visitor.

'Mr. Riddle stepped by not an hour ago. He seemed quite distressed by your sudden illness.' A knowing look gleamed form the nurse's eyes and Hermione groaned aloud. He was on to her, that she was sure. She didn't know quite what he would gain from appearing seduced by her, but she knew it wasn't anything good.

After three tedious hours in the hospital wing, the nurse finally dismissed her, muttering something about side effects, before returning to her work. As Hermione stepped out from the wing, she was met by a pacing Tom.

She groaned silently to herself, before saying in a falsely cheery voice, 'Oh, Tom, what are you doing here?' His pacing stopped and he turned to stare at her with wide eyes.

'You're alive,' he whispered, and before she knew it, she was engulfed in a bear-like hug.

He's touching me – he's touching me!! Ew, ew, ew, EW!

It took all of Hermione's willpower not to throw him to the ground and curse him to oblivion and beyond.

'Well, of course I'm alive, silly. What did you expect?' She patted him awkwardly on the back, before he withdrew himself from her.

As Tom engulfed her, he knew she wouldn't fall for him easily. That much was evident when she stiffened at his touch. He bitterly scowled at her idiocy.

Every other normal girl would be quite willing to let him shag her senseless, but no! Miss Granger here wanted nothing to do with him! What nerve!

A smirk fell gracefully on his lips as a plan began to form in his psychotic mind.

He would make her fall for him, just to prove to her, and to himself, that no one could resist him. And then he'd wheedle out her secret – forcefully or not, he didn't really mind.