Chapter Ten: The Mirror Of Erised

Previously:

My eyes lit up as I felt my magic surge through my body and pummel into Tom, sending him souring into a wall with a very loud crash and a painful cry.

"Lumos." I whispered quickly and the whole room lit up.

To say that what was revealed had shocked me would be an understatment…before me stood a beautiful mirror with a large golden frame and engraved writing which I couldn't decipher. I had read about this mirror before, Harry and Ron had told me about it aswell.

The Mirror of Erised.

***

I had never been fond of lying; in fact, when I was younger I never lied because I had no need to lie. But as I grew older and entered Hogwarts lying became like second nature to me. I had to lie, because I was a witch and if I didn't lie…well, I doubt I'd be at Hogwarts if I told the truth most of the time. When I hit the age of 15, I held a lot more secrets to my chest than I used to. My future required me to lie about almost everything! I lied to my parents mostly; how could I tell them a dark wizard was trying to take over the wizarding world, put an end to Muggles and Muggleborns, and murder my best friend? They would never allow me to go back to that school if I had told them that, so I had to lie and tell them everything was fine…part of me wishes I had been more honest with them now.

To say I was expecting what the mirror revealed before me would have been a lie; and to say I was shocked would have been an understatment. I cannot put into words what I felt when the mirror showed me what I desired the most, and until now, I hadn't even been aware of it either.

To begin with, all it showed was myself, but after a few seconds of silence a tall figure with striking ginger hair, blue eyes and pale skin appeared, a cheerful grin spread across his freckled face and his eyes sparkling with tears of joy. I grinned back at my ex-boyfriend, tears of joy and sadness filling my eyes as I watched his grin grow even wider and his fingers rise to stroke my cheek tenderly. Of course, it was just a mirror image of desires, and I suddenly envied the Hermione in the reflection, for I felt no warmth of his fingers, yet my reflection did.

For a few moments, I stood there watching Ron beaming with a happy yet regretful expression on my face. His death had been my fault; if I had just got there sooner he would be alive now, he would still be with me, I would have something to go home to after all this…

A purple blurr appeared on the right side of the reflection which soon formed into the short figure of Harry Potter. His messy, dark hair was sticking up in different angles, his glasses were a little wonkey and small smile was playing at his lips whilst his misty blue eyes flickered with amusement. His left hand lifted to my shoulder and gave me a light squeeze before giving me a full-blown grin and staring at me like he used to…before the war.

Sudden sadness washed over me as I watched the scene before me; my two best friends, standing happily with a girl who wasn't me. The girl in the mirror had the world at her feet, she was happy. Oh, how I envied that girl; so, so happy. I used to be liked that. Happy and inlove, with my bestfriend and fiancé standing beside me, supporting me, loving me, even when I was the most insufferable Know-It-All imaginable…they were always there for me, through everything. I had never had the chance to tell them just how much I needed them, and now they were gone forever…

Tears blurred my vision violently. My hand reached up to wipe them away, but as my hand lifted to my face, the image distorted into a sea of colours then vanished. What replaced them caused me to back away in astonishment, for the illusion was one of such happyness it was unbelievable. Before me stood myself wearing a beautiful long green dress made of silk, a small smile twitched at my lips and my eyes burned with joy. My eyes were so focused on myself, that I didn't notice myself holding hands with the most handsome man I had ever set eyes on. He wore Slytherin robes, and his black windswept hair hung in his dark red eyes which were sparkling in the light. His facial expression matched his eyes; he also seemed to be smiling. A real smile, one that seemed foreign to him. His pale cheeks were slightly tinged with pink and he gripped my hand tightly as if he would never let go. His wand hung loosely in his right hand.

Where have I seen that wand before? I thought, frowning.

I had definitely seen that wand before, but I couldn't quite remember where. And the person standing before me seemed extremely farmiliar…but I couldn't place him. Those eyes which bore into mine…I had seen them before; red, such a blood red…they were too farmiliar. Too real.

and as it dawned on me who my reflection was so close to, I stood a horror-struck stumble backwards. I would have fallen flat on my back, had I not been standing directly infront of someone with strong arms and pale fingers. I spun around to find myself staring into the eyes of Tom Riddle who smirked down at me. He gripped my arms tightly, his fingers digging holes into my skin so that I winced in pain.

I openned my mouth to tell him to stop it, but I was silenced by him spinning me around to face the mirror once again and stare at the couple before me. Tom let go of my arms and instead his hand shot down to grasp mine as he also gazed at the two before us.

I gasped as my eyes flickered from Tom to the man in the mirror; it was Tom!

A quiet chuckle siezed my attention from the reflection and I tore my eyes away to focus on the wizard standing beside me, clutching my hand with such ferocity that I hadn't the strength to tear my hand away. My eyes were wide with fear as they met those of Tom, and although I begged myself not to show the fear of the image before us, my eyes betrayed me and showed him my soul.

"Hermione," he whispered, "we are seeing the same image I think."

All the fight seem to float from my body when he said those words, and I found myself trembling under his piercing gaze.

"Can you not see now?" he asked eagerly, "We are destined to rule, my dear!" he moved to stand infront of me, blocking my view of the mirror and clasped both my hands with his.

I could not move; I really couldn't move. I don't know whether it was fear or whatever…but something had me fused to the spot and I was unable to move a muscle. I bit down on my lip and avoided his eyes.

This can't be happening, I screamed at myself, kick him, hex him, curse him, whatever! Just do something!

No, another voice whispered, the darkness is calling you, Hermione, let it consume you!

You don't want this, you don't need this, my conscience begged.

You crave power, my dear. He can give you power, they continued.

I clenched my teeth together angrily, the debates in my head were quickly growing into a war and it was too much for my head to handle.

"We do not see the same image, Riddle." I growled, "you crave power and death. The opposite of what I desire."

He shook his head laughing and let go of one of my hands to lean forward and trace his fingers along my cheek, sending shivers through my body. I couldn't see happyness in his eyes, yet they sparkled with delight and the smallest shed of madness.

"Ok, so you don't desire what I think you do," he purred sarcastically, "Allow me to guess at what you desire." He said.

When I didn't reply, he continued.

"Hmm," he pondered for a moment, stroking his chin dramatically and smirking, "From what the mirror revealed to us both, I would guess that you desire happyness and the happyness of those around you. You desire peace mostly I think, ofcourse you desire respect; who doesn't in fact? People don't see you for who you are, they take advantage of your many talents and don't appreciate you fully," his smirk grew wider and he took a step away from me to walk around me slowly, trailing his fingers across my back everytime he passed behind me, "But that isn't all you want, is it Hermione?" he whispered.

I clenches my jaw and clutched my wand in a deathly grip, his words were spinning circles around my head. Everything he had said were true so far; how much more did he know about me? And, I presumed, everything he had said were pure guesses, he couldn't possibly know all this information! The image of me and him still hung in the reflection, and although we did look rather happy standing hand in hand…it didn't seem real at all; the image of Harry, Ron and I had seemed almost too real, but this one didn't seem real at all. Maybe it was because, to me, that sort of life was galaxies away from people like us, but maybe a happy life was possible after all, maybe falling inlove again was possible even if I lost Ron. But maybe just wasn't good enough; maybe's got me no where in the past. It is just another way of saying "no chance".

Stop touching me, I begged in my head as his fingers skimmed my neck and sent lightening bolts through my veins. My teeth grated against eachother painfully, my nostrils flared, and my eyes blurred with tears as I watched the couple in the mirror turn to eachother, smiling like idiots, Tom's hands slipped from mine and rested on my waist to pull me closer to his body. Her hands lifted to touch his neck as their faces grew nearer and nearer to eachother until their lips moulded together.

I shook my head furiously and took a firm step away from Tom who's fingers lingered on my neck. I frowned angrily and pulled my wand out, my eyes fixed on Tom's, who were abnormally calm for someone who had a wand pointed at their chest.

You could end it right here, Hermione, a voice said, it would be so easy; just two simple words, they urged.

I winced as I imagined uttering those words and Tom falling dead on the ground.

No, I thought, I won't kill him; I couldn't.

"I don't know, Riddle," I replied with my jaw clenched, "You seem to know so much, so why don't you tell me?" I spat.

An evil smirk appeared on his shadowed face.

"You want to be loved," he said, taking a step towards me, "You don't care about intelligence, or power, or respect, or whatever…as long as someone cares for you so that you know your life's worth living. I think, Hermione, what you truly want is a purpose."

For a moment I thought I saw a flash of concern flicker in his eyes, but it was soon replaced by a bitter amusement which reminded me an awful lot of Draco. "What do you see?" I whispered, referring to the mirror.

He laughed lightly and rubbes circles on my cheeks with his thumbs softly. I ignored the gentle gesture and stared firmly at him trying my best to keep my face blank and my intentions solid. I watched him take a deep breath and spin round and press his chest to my back and grip my hips tightly. I could feel him lean his head forward to whisper in my ear. His warm breath tickled my neck and I could feel myself going red.

"I already told you what I saw; the same you did." He replied simply and nuzzled my ear with his nose.

My breath caught in my throat and he muttered, "You smell delicious, by the way." In a silky voice.

Part of me wanted to turn round and kiss him senseless just to show that I wasn't the push-over I seemed to be at the moment, but another part of me just wanted to smack him and walk away. I did neither of course, because my feet seemed to be fused to the ground and all my brain appeared to had shut down completely. All I could manage was a blush everytime he touched me because, let's be honest, it was nice. He was gentle when he wanted to be…and it wasn't my fault I reacted the way I did. But what angered me, was that he knew exactly which buttons to press and I would be like putty in his hands. I had to keep telling myself who he was, and what he would do, what he had done; for a moment it seemed to work. It was like I built my barriers up and up and up, until they were as strong as I thought possible, then one touch from him would bring them crashing down again! Maybe he had put a weird curse on me which I was unaware of, that made it so I reacted to his every touch, and even craved his touch! Hell, it was like he controlled me. Maybe he saw me as his puppet, someone he could manipulate, seduce, use, then discard like an old toy. I had to prove to him I wasn't that sort of person. I could not and would not be easily manipulated. He didn't realise who he was messing with; Hermione Granger: The most talented witch of her age!

"I am not your puppet, Riddle!" I spat, and finding my strength once more, I tore myself from his grip and spun around the meet the face of my captor.

"Stupefy!" I yelled, aiming my wand at his chest, but he easily deflected it and sent another spell in my direction.

"Locomotor Mortis!" Tom shouted aiming his wand at my legs, but I dodged the spell with difficulty and spun from his grasp to sprint to the nearest door I could find.

"Don't think you can escape so easily, Dehavilland," Tom growled, "Incendio!"

I hadn't realised just how big that room was until I was surrounded by flames and was unable to reach my destination. Tom was nearing me with an evil glint in his eye and a smirk on his face. I was trapped; the door was only meters away, but I was trapped by a barrier of flames!

Think quick, Hermione, I thought, think quick!

Tom seemed to have relaxed now and slowed his pace; he knew there was no hope for me, he had caught me finally and he was overly satisfied.

I smirked at his triumphant expression and lifted my wand to spin around me as I muttered another spell. This one was sure to hinder his plans.

"I'm not in the Slug Club for nothing, Riddle." I laughed, and with my protective barrier cased around me, I ran as fast as I could until I reached the door and yanked it open to exit the chamber of flames.

I knew where I was; the dungeons! I took a cautious step forward and found the entrance to Slughorns private chambers. I grinned at myself then legged it towards the Slytherin common room.

I didn't last very long; as soon as I reached the door and saw the faces of Cygnus, Druella, and Draco staring at me awestruck, I slumped against the wall and blacked out.

My head hurt. My throat hurt. My arms were aching like a bitch! And to top it all off, I had some lunatic screaming in my ear whilst I was trying to sleep!

Please God, I begged, be merciful!

I presumed I still had my eyes closed, because seeing as I was perfectly conscious, I couldn't see a damn thing! Maybe I had gone blind, but that couldn't have happened (A/N: like that little pun there? ;]). A dull thumping noise was all I could hear for the moment (the screaming lunatic was silent) and if I'm honest, that Merlin forsaken noise was driving me insane!

"Hey!" they yelled again, "Hermione! I know you're awake!"

Ergh, I thought, leave me alone!

"No need to be like that," they chuckled.

My eyes snapped open at that and I sat up. My eyes met those of a tall blond wizards, and I settled back into the pillows again, exhausted.

"Was I talking out loud?" I croaked.

Damn, did I need a drink! My throat felt like it was on fire and every time I attempted to swallow, a sharp pain struck me.

"Yeah, you were," Draco replied, smirking.

I nodded, closing my eyes and clutching the warm duvey hugging me. Once again, my eyes shot open.

Duvey? Where the hell am i?! I thought.

The hospital wing, Draco replied.

And how did I get here? I snapped. My head hurt so much it was painful just to think!

We're not sure what happened to you, but Cygnus, Rosier, and I were in the common room and you walked in and just…passed out really, he explained with a hint of amusement, like I said, we're not sure what happened to you exactly, but we know somehow you came in contact with fire and the ash got in your lungs…which is why your throat hurts.

Ah, I thought, well I could explain what happened but I doubt Dippet or anyone else would believe me to be honest.

Which was true, because everyone seemed to love Tom, no matter what he did he was still the favourite among the professors. Only one person saw him for what he was; Dumbledore.

I sighed, and openned my eyes to reach for the pumpkin juice on the table beside me. Once I had taken a few sips, the pain in my throat soothed a little, but my arms were still aching a considerable amount.

"You feeling any better then, Sleeping Beauty?" Draco teased, and scooted next to me on the bed.

I chuckled and offered him a drink, which he took gladly. "I could be better I suppose," I replied, "And it's not like I was asleep for years, Draco."

He smirked and spun his wand between his fingers, "Not years, but quite a few hours." He said.

"Oh," I whispered, I hadn't realised I'd even passed out, let alone been asleep for hours!

My eyes flickered around the dimly lit room; no light shone through the windows because it was extremely dark outside, only two torches lit the room up. But, if it was night, and the Hospital Wing is closed after night fall, then how on earth did Draco manage to get it?

"I snook in," he whispered, tapping his nose and winking.

I laughed quietly and elbowed him in the ribs. Having Draco around was always a laugh, he knew what to say or do to put me in a good mood. I regret not being like this in the future; we didn't need to argue, I suppose it was because of his father that he felt the need to insult me all the time.

"Who's that in the far corner?" I whispered, pointing to the end of the room where a shadowed figure lay hunched over in one of the beds.

Draco glanced over to where I was pointing and his eyes quickly fell on his lap. He took a deep breath and replied; "That's Riddle." He muttered, "He arrived not long after you did; Slughorn found him outside his chambers apparently."

I frowned, "What's wrong with him?" I whispered, poison dripping from my words.

To say I dispised him would be an understatement, but the reflection in the mirror had left an imprint on my brain and it wouldn't leave my memory.

"He's suffered from severe burns; we don't know what happened. We were kind of guessing you could tell us actually, seeing as you turned up around the same time…and you've both been in contact with fire." He replied quietly.

My eyes remained glued to the sleeping figure before us and I suddenly regretted leaving him in that room. The flames had been so powerful, I was surprised even my protective spell has stopped them!

"Will he be ok?" I whispered, guilt lacing my voice.

Draco glanced at me oddly. "Well, he's pretty badly burnt, and he's been unconscious for Merlin knows how long…but I guess he should be." He replied slowly.

He didn't sound very certain.

To Be Continued…

Well, I'm happy with that chapter, and I'm not :L RxR tell me what you thought of it, personally I found the mirror bit quite upsetting, but yeah :L love you alll xx