Riddle's Riddles

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Chapter 11: Who does she think she is?

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"Defense Against the Dark Arts became kinda boring after Dumbledore's Army," Ron said quietly while he got up from the floor after being hit by a spell shot by Harry.

"At least we already know how to perform the spells," the other Gryffindor said. "But, changing the subject, where's Hermione? It's been ten minutes since the class started."

"I have no idea, mate," the red haired boy muttered, looking around to try to find their friend. "And she came to the classroom before we did…"

The two of them stopped talking when they noticed that someone had arrived to the classroom. It was Hermione and Riddle. The girl's face was red and she looked like as if she had been crying, while Tom, as always, looked impassive, as if nothing had happened.

"Where were you?" Harry asked when the girl came to them.

"Can I explain it later?" the witch whispered as she looked around at the other students that were now staring at her. Harry nodded, noticing that his friend didn't seem to be comfortable about talking about what had happened.

"So… What is the class about?" she asked them.

"Relaxo," Ron explained. "We're practicing in pairs."

"Miss Granger?" Hermione spun around and saw Merrythought approaching them.

"Mr. Riddle told me what happened, so you don't need to be worried. I won't take any points from your house." The witch smiled. "We are practicing the Relaxo spell in pairs… As everyone already has a partner, could you practice with Mr. Riddle?"

"Oh, of course, Professor."

The girl smiled uncomfortably before going in Tom's direction. He didn't seem to be happy with the fact that he had to work with her during that class, but she couldn't blame him… After all, she also didn't want to work with him either. The wizard didn't say anything when the witch stopped in front of him; he just raised his wand defiantly and kept his eyes fixed on Hermione's. The Gryffindor followed his actions, paying attention to every movement he did.

"Relaxo!"

The spell came out from her wand and rushed in Riddle's direction, but before it could hit him, a single movement of his wand made the spell vanish in mid air. Tom looked at her with a raised eyebrow and a smug smile.

'Nonverbal spell…'

Hermione saw the Slytherin wave his wand and, before she could do anything, felt some kind of invisible force pushing her back until she lost her balance and fell on the floor. Feeling her face blushing and cursing silently, Hermione got up.

"If you want things to be that way…" she whispered as she raised her wand. 'Relaxo!'

Riddle, who was still smirking, widened his eyes when he finally noticed the spell rushing in his direction and, unable to divert it, was hit by Hermione's spell and ended up sprawled on the floor. The witch smirked while she watched Tom get up from the floor with a slight blush on his face. Some students stopped practicing to stare at the girl who had just 'defeated' Riddle, who had always been the best in the class when it came to duels.

At the other side of the classroom, Harry and Ron chuckled as they watched the scene.

"I never thought I would see this… You-Know-Who falling on his arse thanks to a spell shot by our Mione." The Boy-Who-Lived laughed.

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Arithmancy was the only class that Hermione had without her friends, and maybe it was because of that that the class seemed to pass by very slowly… Or maybe it was the fact that Tom Riddle kept staring at her all the time in an almost scary way. Every time she glanced at him, his eyes were fixed on her and she felt as if he was trying to read her mind. When the teacher finally announced that the class had ended, Hermione took her books and rushed outside of the classroom.

"Hermione!" She heard Minerva McGonagall calling her. "What are you doing?"

"Going back to Gryffindor Tower…?"

"Oh… Don't you want to watch the Quidditch trials?" Her future Transfiguration teacher asked her. "Harry is going to try for Seeker."

"Merlin, I had forgotten about the trials." The girl laughed. "But alright, I'll be there."

Both of them went to the Quidditch pitch where all the other players were waiting for Minerva. When they got there, McGonagall joined the rest of the team while Hermione sat on the bleachers.

"Mione?" The witch smiled when she saw Ron approaching her.

"Ron! I thought you were taking the trials too…"

"No." The boy sat next to her and shrugged. "They already have a keeper, someone called Aramis Wood."

The trials went on normally. When the sun was starting to set, Charlus Potter ended the trials and announced that Harry would be the new Seeker of the Gryffindor Quidditch team and that another girl, Megaera Stauton, was a new chaser.

"You're a great player, Harry," Minerva said when they were walking back to their common room. "Who taught you how to play?"

"Er… My father," the boy lied. "And Ron and I always trained together."

"Your father must have been a great player too." Charlus smiled kindly.

"Yeah, he was… he played as a Chaser." Harry gave a sad smile to his grandfather when he and Ron started to climb up the stairs to the boy's dormitory. Hermione sat down in one of the couches and kept staring at the fire burning in the fireplace.

"I don't know if I already told you this." McGonagall sat down next to her. "But I loved the way you beat Riddle in Defense today."

"I must have surprised him." The witch laughed. "I bet that if he knew what I was going to do, he would've easily defended himself."

"Well, it doesn't matter… I enjoyed seeing Riddle sprawled on the floor with a surprised look on his face for once." She laughed loudly.

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Riddle was pacing around the empty Slytherin common room with Avery, Lestrange and Malfoy just staring at him. The three Slytherins had learned that when Tom was in a bad mood the best thing to do was to be quiet… Never try to help him, just watch while the other boy nearly tore his hair off in rage.

"Who does she think she is!" Tom spat the words as he slammed his fist on a desk.

"My Lord?" Abraxas said hesitantly, taking a step forward. "We can make her pay…"

"Malfoy, you've already done enough for today," the Heir of Slytherin hissed. "Do one more thing and I swear that you'll have to stay in the Hospital Wing for a whole week."

The blonde gulped and took a step back, his eyes wide with fear. Tom stayed in silence for some time, just looking through the window to the dark interior of the lake.

"Did any of you discover something about the Mudblood and her friends?" he asked, shooting a cold glance at Avery. "Something useful."

"N-No, my Lord…" the three Slytherins answered.

"Try to find out something… I don't know how, but try to find out the truth about them."

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A/N: First of all, I'm sorry for staying one week without posting and then... post this crappy chapter ¬¬ I dind't like it, it felt rushed... I don't know XD

Oh, thanks Senko Ryu for pointing out some things in the fanfiction, and Ceralyn for telling me that I made a mistake when I wrote "The Portrait of Dorian Gray", it's actually "The Picture of Dorian Gray"... I'll fix it (:

Also, I'm starting to look for a beta reader here in :D So, this week I'll try to find one.

About this chapter:

1- I can't write duels D: I don't like the way I write them.

2- "...while Hermione sat on the bleachers.": is it right? I din't know what word I could use here... then I used the translator [but I don't really trust it D:]

3- "...only watch as the other boy nearly tore his hair off with rage": does this expressions exists in english? D: Again, I didn't know any other expression that could fill it's place ):

Beta read by Shadow6116.

That's it...

Hope you liked it (:

Ari.