Disclaimer: If this were mine…then you wouldn't be seeing a disclaimer now would you!

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Their voices were so loud.

I swear that if a silencing charm wasn't on that room, the entirety of Hogwarts would have been aware that Tom Riddle and Nadya Cavanaugh were having another one of their infamous rows.

"Oh will you just mind your own business Riddle!" she fumed.

"Only if you'll deflate your oversized ego for once and listen to reason before you act so impulsively!" he snapped back.

"Oh your one to talk about oversized egos…it does make sense since you have one!"

It was an endless cycle of taunts, swearing and insults. It wasn't easy to get either of them angry…but they just happen to bring it out of another.

"Oh I don't care what you say Riddle!" she told him. Nadya was the only one who didn't cower at the very presence of the ebony eyed Slytherin.

"Oh come off it Cavanaugh! Why don't you just shut up and do as you're told for once…or would that be too much asking from you!"

They had been going at it for about an hour now, but neither seemed to tire. Neither Tom nor Nadya had been known to back down from a fight.

"You are not right all the time Riddle! Did you ever consider that?"

"But I am right most of the time, did you ever consider that?"

This was by far the longest row they had ever had. It happened often these days…quite often in fact. It was definitely a common occurrence that had began when Nadya first arrived, but ever since that full moon two months ago, the topics had certainly changed.

"Cavanaugh, you didn't eat breakfast this morning and now you're telling me that you're skipping lunch! How in the heck do you expect to go to your classes with out a bite to eat? What would the Professor think?"

"Don't you dare bring my uncle into this Riddle and why the hell should I even care! I don't owe you an explanation for everything I do!"

"Look, I'm going to go ahead and I'm expecting that you will follow. Either you come down to the Great Hall willingly or I swear I will drag you there myself!" he warned her, and started walking towards the door that lead to the Slytherin common room.

"Oh just go to hell Riddle!" she said to his back.

"Ladies first." He snapped, in a dual meaning sort of way, as he opened the door and allowed her to pass first.

The two walked out of that room fuming at each other, leaving the lounging Slytherins in utter curiosity of what just happened inside that remote room. Tom went directly towards the portrait door, whilst Nadya took a seat in front of the fire.

'What the hell is she trying to do to herself? Does she think that I'm blind? She's as thin as a match stick! Anyone with eyes can see that! Ough! That Cavanaugh is going to be the death of me!'

Tom irritably walked through the halls towards the Great Hall. Ever since the full moon two months ago, he showed more worry towards her well being. He now cared whether or not she had eaten full meals. He now became irritated if she went outside without taking a cloak with her. And it aggravated him to find out that she hadn't been sleeping well.

'I'm a nervous wreck.'

This never happened to Tom. He never cared about other people. He couldn't care less about how other people are anorexic or hypothermic or insomniac. But then again…Cavanaugh was different. She brought it out of him. She was the only person he had ever worried about. He didn't even know why…he was still trying to figure that part out. It was all too complicated. And at this rate, Tom grew to hate complexity with each passing day.

He took angry strides towards the Great Hall. He hated the way that Nadya could make him feel so…so…unglued. Oh how he loathed feeling a loss of control, especially on himself.

But, in the middle of his mental rantings, he realized that he had forgotten his bag in the common rooms. Lessons came immediately after lunch so he would need to bring his bag with him in order to make it to lessons on time.

He gave a very frustrated grunt and turned back towards the Slytherin common rooms.

He didn't want to go back in there, not after his little episode with Nadya. No. He couldn't go back there. She would just think that he was going to apologize or something, and he really wasn't going to do that.

'Over my dead body.'

No. Tom Riddle never apologized to anybody…not even to Nadya.

He was now in front to the common rooms. All he needed do was to say the password, go in, get his bag and get out without so much as a word. It was easy enough. Cavanaugh needn't see him. Surely his Slytherin abilities allowed him to do that.

'Besides, why do I even care what Cavanaugh thinks! It doesn't matter what she thinks!'

Since when did he start talking to himself? He pushed his thoughts to the back of his mind, thinking that there would be a more appropriate time to think about her and focused all his attention on getting his bag.

"Darkness." He murmured, and the portrait swung open. What lay inside was a sight that made Tom's blood boil with fury.

---

"New girl." Hermione could recognize that evil sound anywhere. It was a sound that she had grown to hate ever since she first heard it.

"Levin." She replied, not even looking behind her to confirm her theories.

"Well, all alone new girl…no Tom to protect you now." She said with an irritating cackle.

"Oh sod off Levin, just because Riddle told you off when he retrieved my wand…it doesn't mean that I can't tell you off myself." She threatened her.

"Then why send him off to do the dirty work for you then? Couldn't handle doing anything yourself?" she laughed once more. This Levin girl was really starting to get on her nerves. "And besides, Tom probably just did that so that I wouldn't get in trouble with the teachers when they find out that I disarmed you." Katherine said with utter conviction.

"And the delusions just get worse don't they! Let me get a few things clear Levin. One, Riddle does NOT I repeat NOT like you in any way, shape or form. Two, Riddle retrieved my wand WITHOUT MY KNOWLEDGE you idiotic tart. Finally, if I had had the chance, I would have gone after you myself…but Riddle beat me to it." She said standing up and facing the foolish girl.

Katherine took steps towards Hermione, and she bore a murderous glint in her eyes. "How dare you speak to me like that? You have absolutely no right nor authority to speak to me like that." Just then, Levin raised her hand and slapped Hermione across the face.

"LEVIN!" shouted a thunderous, ominous voice.

Hermione turned to the portrait door only to see a very furious Tom Riddle standing at the threshold. Tom held a vicious look in his eyes, she could see it despite the distance…and she could see that all the hate and malice was directed towards a very unfortunate Katherine Levin.

"Oh hello Tom, come to see the downfall of the new girl haven't you?" she laughed as she smiled at the now even more livid Tom.

"Step away from her now Levin." He threatened the girl dangerously. No one had ever seen Tom this enraged. All the Slytherins in the common room automatically backed off, not wanting to get in the way of his anger.

"But Tom, the fun's just started." She really didn't know when to shut up didn't she.

"I said BACK. OFF. NOW!" that last word sent shivers down everyone's spine. His voice instilled a sort of cold fear in all that could have heard it. It was unnerving.

"Oh silly me! I've been hogging all the vengeance for the new girl all for myself. You should have told me that you wanted part of the action Tom." She walked towards him, with a smile on her face.

"Levin, when will you ever get the hint that I don't like you! You are just a stuck up snob with nothing to do but throw yourself on unsuspecting students such as myself! I have no intention in participating in your vendetta on Cavanaugh here, which I might remind you only started because she refused to join your ranks. Now, I hate repeating myself, since I have already told you this when I retrieved her wand…but since you can't drive it through your thick head, I think I'll be willing to make an exception. STAY. THE. HELL. AWAY. FROM. HER!" he finished. No one would deny the fact that Tom made himself perfectly clear that he hated this Levin's very presence.

"Why do you care about her so much? She's just a friendless, cold, snobbish bitch that has no family and was forced on Dumbledore since none of her relatives were willing to take her! She's an ORPHAN…UNLOVED…AND UNWANTED!" she screamed at Tom.

That had done it. Her words stung to Hermione like venom. Tom turned to her to see that she was as white as a sheet. There was no trace of blood on her face. It held no emotion. No sign of anger no sorrow. It was utterly blank. She just turned her back on them.

Hermione didn't see Tom turn his head to Levin yet again. She didn't see the look on Levin's face as she was smiling at the fact that she had struck the most sensitive nerve in Hermione's entire body. Katherine was in utter bliss. And the darkest look could be seen in Tom's eyes.

She didn't see any of this, as she had gone upstairs to her room and quietly shut the door behind her.

---

"You should learn when to shut the hell up Levin." He spoke in a silent yet terrifying tone. He extracted his wand from his pockets and took small, but menacingly frightening strides towards her. No one had ever seen him in such a fury.

He had her backed up against a wall, the tip of his wand in deep contact with her neck. Levin now paled with fear. She now had a first hand taste on what Tom Riddle was like when you pissed him off.

Tom now opened his mouth to utter a spell, but was suddenly interrupted by a familiar voice.

"Put your wand down Tom." said Alphard cautiously to him. Black walked to the infuriated Riddle and slowly lowered his wand. "She's not worth it."

"But you heard the things she said." Tom said in the same low and dangerous voice.

"Don't worry Tom. Dolohov and I will handle this one. Go up to Nadya. She didn't look to well when she left."

Nadya. Tom had forgotten the way her face went white right after Levin's outburst. He had forgotten how she fell emotionless as she climbed the stairs to her room. He was just filled with pure anger that he forgot.

"Show her no mercy." Tom turned darkly to Alphard and instructed him.

"Don't worry Tom…Kat-Kat here will get her just desserts." Alphard said in a low voice.

Tom turned around and left the lunatic in the hands of Black and Dolohov. He knew that they were more than capable of taking care of the wench.

He slowly climbed up the stairs and stopped at Nadya's room. He gave a soft knock on the door, but no one answered.

He knocked again and got the same reply of silence. Tom turned the knob to see that it remained unlocked.

He cautiously opened the door to see that she was positioned on a chair beside her window. There was no contrast between the paleness of her complexion and the immaculate white of the snow falling outside her window. Nadya held a small wooden box with lilacs carved all over it. It was the same box that he had seen that night they spoke by the fire. She fingered the unopened box dearly and lovingly as silent tears fell from her eyes.

He watched her in silence. This was not something he had seen before. The night in the astronomy tower was nothing compared to what he was seeing at that very moment.

In the astronomy tower, the sorrow radiated off her. You could feel her sadness and her remorse. You could see the suffering through her eyes and by the way that her tears had brought her shaking. She was different right now.

This sight worried him. She just sat there emotionless like a statue. She was utterly pale and seemed clammy. The only signs of life that showed were the tender movements of her hand across the surface of the lilac box and the silent tears that came flowing through her brown eyes. He didn't know what she was feeling. She just looked numb.

"Cavanaugh?" he asked as he sat himself down on her bed.

She remained silent.

"Are you alright Cavanaugh?" he asked with genuine concern.

Still she remained silent.

"Levin is paying as we speak." No change at all.

"I'm not used to seeing you like this you know." He confessed. "I guess that we've had too many rows that I've forgotten how you are when you're silent."

He didn't like seeing her like this. It was as if he was talking to thin air.

"You shouldn't care about what Levin says. She's just a brat who can't hold her tongue."

Silence.

"Did you know that I'm an orphan too? Yeah…my mother died giving birth to me and my father couldn't care less with what happens to me so I just got stuck in an orphanage. Damn it was hell there. When I first showed signs of magic, the Muggles there would punish me as if it were evil. They'd whip me until I apologized for what I had no control over. I was so glad when Dumbledore told me that I was a wizard. I'd accept anything that included me getting out of that place. I didn't even question or doubt him. I was just so happy that I was getting out. I still have to go there during summers, but it's ok now that I know that I have a Hogwarts to come home to." He couldn't stand the silence. Nadya's expression named unchanged, so he continued to talk.

"When I first came to Hogwarts, I didn't know what to think. Everything was so new to me and it gave me a sense of belonging. I was sorted into Slytherin faster than anybody else. It was like the hat didn't even need to think on it. I belonged in Slytherin. But as soon as the other students found out that I was half-blood…yes I am half-blood…they quickly ostracized me. They looked at me as if I were something dirty…something contaminated." He had a look of anger in is face again, but quickly relaxed at his next memory. "It was Black who first approached me. He fended them off, and since he was a Black…he already had automatic respect." He had never told anyone this, but he felt the need and want to tell her.

"His sources had told him that I was an orphan, and being one himself…he took it upon himself to teach me the ropes of Slytherin house, since his family had been there for years. Being cold came naturally to me. I was a quick study. I spent years building the walls around me. Years trying to earn the reputation, the respect I have now…so don't be worried that there is still that stupid girl who disrespects you. A phoenix rises from the ashes of its destruction…and so will you. Levin will learn to fear and respect you soon enough. I promise you that after today, she would not dare talk about you like that ever again." He adamantly promised.

"But what she said was true." Nadya finally spoke. It surprised him, but he didn't show it. Her voice was hoarse and ragged from the tears.

"No it is not." He speedily reassured her.

"Yes it is. I am alone. I should have been dead along with them."

"Don't say that. Death never brought anyone any good."

"But it would have. I was a coward. I ran away from death instead of accepting it. I came here instead of facing what is inevitable." She said with her voice shaking, but still not in eye contact with him.

"What you did was right Cavanaugh. It was self preservation. You did what you needed to do to survive. I would have done exactly the same thing." He admitted.

"No you wouldn't have! Admit it! You would have fought to your grave instead of running away from the death that followed you!" she said, now looking him in the eye.

"No I wouldn't have. There is nothing more terrible on this earth than to be dead. I told you before that it should be avoided at all costs." He said quietly.

"And I have told you before that there are worse things in life than death. Sometimes it's worse being the one who survives rather than being the one who dies." She murmured.

Tom didn't want to discuss death. He didn't want to talk about it. The fact was that, death was Tom Riddle's only and greatest fear. He quickly looked for a way to change the subject. That way came in the form of a picture.

---

Hermione was just staring into space again, with the box that contained Harry's golden heart kept safe within her grasp. It gave her comfort. It gave her peace.

The tears continued to stream down her eyes as the minutes passed. It was then that she noticed that a certain picture had caught Tom's eye. It was the only picture that she had brought with her to the past.

"That's them." She said to herself, more than to him. She heard Tom pick the frame up as he stared into the picture. It was a muggle picture with all of them there. She knew that photograph by heart already.

It was a picture taken before the start of seventh year. It was the happiest moment that they ever had together. It was the last summer they spent at the Burrow before the start of the Final Battle.

On the left side of the picture, two boys could be seen playing wizard's chess. Ron had goofy smile on his face that he always had when he knew that he was winning and Draco had that smirk he always put on whenever he knew something that the other one didn't.

After betraying his family, Draco was disowned by his mother and banished from Malfoy Manor. He was cast out with nowhere to go. That was when the Weasleys came into the picture. They offered him a place to stay. Since he was practically homeless, he begrudgingly agreed. He later on grew to love Mrs. Weasley as his own mother, and she loved him as one of her sons. Draco treated the twins as his very own brothers. They taught him every one of their tricks. He had a knack for mischief that Ron simply didn't have. He carried on their legacy of "pranksterhood". Though it was still evident that he still didn't like Ron's guts…a form of fraternal bond was formed between them that no row could dissolve.

In the center of the picture you could spot Ginny trying to coach Draco into beating Ron. She pointed out every weakness on Ron's side of the board in hopes that somebody could finally bring Ron down from his chess throne.

Ginny and Draco had started a romance that summer. It wasn't one of those cliché affairs where Ginny would turn Draco from his pratty ways and turn him into a perfect gentleman. No. Draco was still a prat and Ginny loved him for that. It was that insufferable part of Draco that actually drew her to him. On the other hand, Draco loved Ginny for her spunky ways. She was the only person, other than Hermione, who could insult him to the very core of his being. Ginny exploited the ferret situation to the best of her capabilities up to the point that "ferret" became her pet name for him. Draco loved the fact that Ginny always dragged him down to earth when his head accommodated too much helium.

Last, but not the least was the far right side of the picture. On that end lay an image of a young woman and a young man. The young man, with his eyes closed in slumber, sat on the grass with his back against a great oak tree and his legs outstretched in all their length. The young woman lay on his lap as her chest fell up and down in the rhythm of undisturbed sleep.

Harry and Hermione had fallen asleep that afternoon after talking all about the upcoming year. Harry was actually about to ask Hermione something, when he had realized that she had just fallen asleep. She remembered him putting his hands in his pockets often that afternoon as if he was fingering something inside of it. He had been so nervous that day because of what he was going to ask her… all those fears melted as he saw her angelic face in peaceful slumber. He then decided that he would take a nap as well. He'd just ask her on the first day of school.

But where was Neville in all of this? Neville was the one that Hermione remembered most in this picture, though he isn't seen in it. Neville was the one who took the picture. He was the one who gave it to her.

Neville had visited that day with his grandmother to thank everybody for the presents that they'd given him for his birthday. While Gran Longbottom and Mrs. Weasley talked inside the house, Neville came to join the rest of them outside. He saw the scene in the Weasley garden and was taken with it. He immediately took the muggle camera that Hermione had given him and took a snap shot of the entire thing. He declared that it was too perfect not to be immortalized.

Hermione's tears increased as she reminisced on that one day, that one summer.

"Is that Harry?" Riddle finally spoke. It wasn't as long a pause as could be expected. It only lapsed less than a minute…but the silence was still uncomfortable.

"Yes that's Harry." She replied, not even looking at which boy Riddle pointed to.

"You didn't even look."

"That bespectacled boy with the haphazard hair leaning on the oak tree is Harry." She answered, fully aware that it was that boy who struck Tom's curiosity.

"Do you miss him?"

"Everyday." She said weakly.

"You loved him didn't you." Said Tom as more of a statement rather than a question.

"I did. But it's no use because he's gone now…" she said as she cried. "They're all gone now, six feet below the ground. I'll never see them again. I'm alone." She bowed down her head and started to cry even harder.

"Not anymore." He said as wiped her tears from her eyes and he put his hand over hers.

His actions always surprised her. He was there when you least expected him. She never expected Tom to be the one comforting her amidst her sorrow. She never imagined that he would be the one wiping her tears as she cried. She never expected him to be the one who placed his hand on hers as a source of comfort and reassurance. She never expected any of this…and yet, there he was. He sat with her through her deepest hour and promised her that everything would be alright. The strange thing was that she believed him. She believed every word.

She made no attempts to discourage him, nor did she violently pull it away. She just let it stay there. A kind comforting hand that guaranteed her that she was no longer alone.

It was then that she finally let go of her little lilac box and put her other hand on top of his.

---

A/N: that's it…another chappie down. I hope you guys all got the last line…if you didn't please read it again! It's very important in the developments to come!

Now for the answers:

What movie inspired the previous chapter?

Answer: Beauty and the Beast. It's the part when Beast fends off the wolves in the forest and Belle cleans his wounds afterwards!

What is the meaning of Dilim?

Answer: Dilim is the Tagalog word for darkness! Mabuhay Philippines!

I thank all that reviewed last chappie! You know who you guys are and all of you know that I owe you guys cookies…may it be oreos or chocolate chip or what not(its really your choice!).

The suspense must be killing you now! What will happen to Tom and Hermione/Nadya? Are they now going to go towards the path of becoming a couple or just plain friends (for the meanwhile)? Will Tom ever realize what his feelings mean? Will that bitch Kat-Kat ever get the message? Will anyone prove a conflict for the budding couple? What will Hermione do with the feelings now growing inside of her…if there are any!

Haha! I will now go in risk of getting killed by curious readers! Review you guys! Love ya'll!

TTFN!

The Tofuubeaver