Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot line and some characters!
"Do you have any idea of why I am showing you this, Miss Granger?" Dumbledore questioned shortly.
Hermione looked up at the professor, her amber eyes analyzing deeply his younger features that she had already gotten used to. "I know what this mean, but... No, I don't know why." she replied, shaking her head no.
He sighed, dropping his eyes to the ground, "As you may know, this is the known token of the Deathly Hallows." Dumbledore started, his voice strangled as he thought his words very carefully. "The Invisibility Cloak," he said, pointing towards the triangle drawn on the parchment and making Hermione look down to where he was indicating, "the Resurrection Stone," he continued and lay his finger on the circle, "And the-"
"Elder Wand." Hermione completed his sentence, as Dumbledore pointed to the line on the middle. "I know the Deathly Hallows." she said quietly, "Very well." she added.
Dumbledore drifted his eyes to the girl, "I figured. But Hermione, do you happen to know that this is also Grindelwald's emblem?"
She gulped and looked up at the professor as he turned his back to her and intertwined his fingers as he entered in deep thought, "Yes sir." she replied.
"Very well." Dumbledore muttered and turned to look at her again, "I know you were not supposed to give me any information about the future Hermione, but I need you to think and remember if any of this took place in your previous dimension." he said uptight.
Hermione yearned and shook her head, "One thing I can guarantee you sir," she started, "Never a body was found in Hogwarts."
Tom Riddle had been sat down in his armchair, in the Common Room right in front of the fireplace. He was in deep thought since he had gotten there after he had just exited Professor's Dumbledore classroom. Since he had entered the Common Room and he and Grindelwald shared, his mind hadn't stopped bringing her back. It was bothering him immensely that he was allowing what seemed like a simple lass to occupy his mind , but the issue was that Grindelwald wasn't exactly simple. In fact, she seemed much more complicated and fascinating that anything Tom had ever seen. She held a mystery that kept drawing Tom in; the stupid mood swings kept him both annoyed and hooked to her; she was smart, provocative and challenging, always presenting Tom something to fight against; and despite her bushy hair, that he always found himself with the fling to tug at, Hermione was rather appealing to Tom's eyes. Although she had all of these things going for her, it was her fiery attitude that inveigled Tom.
All of this, lured Tom to keep her by his side, whether she wanted or not. Although he had his mind settled on a layout before she had arrived, Tom managed to amend his plan to adapt to the desire he had to have Grindelwald accompany him through his journey towards the top. His first two Horcruxes were already made - the book was kept on his room, locked with a very powerful spell inside an indestructible box, and the cursed ring was most of the time on a drawer, although Tom used it quite frequently, to more important occasions. He had been doing researches and knew by now what would held the last bits of his soul, that he wanted to keep intact. A smirk appeared on his lip when he thought of the possibility of Grindelwald also being attracted to the idea of immortality. If she was as useful as Tom thought she would be, he would give her a chance to escort him to eternity. In the end, he had two options - trust the girl, or kill her. His blood started to boil as he recalled the very nerve of the girl and how she had the guts to confront him like she would do frequently. He was frustrated, and knew he had to show her how dangerous he was, although she seemed to know very well what he was capable of, the girl appeared to be wanting to test his limits. He would give her what she wanted then.
Tom was taken away from his thoughts as Grindelwald entered through the portrait, her arms embracing her upper body as she kept her eyes on the ground. With one swift movement, he was up on his feet and drawing his wand out and pointing it at her. "Incarcerous." he muttered and soon, ropes were flying towards the girl that was surprised, caught out of guard, and tied her, making her slump to the ground as she was unable to move.
"What are you doing?" Hermione shrieked angrily.
"I need you to answer some questions." Riddle said darkly, as he brushed his fingers through his tousled hair.
She furrowed her brows and tried move her arms, to find a way to escape the tight hold. "And your cowardice shows. You did not need to tie me!" she huffed furiously, glaring at him.
Voldemort looked down at her with a dark glare, seeing that she was taking this as something not so serious, "Shut up." he hissed, "Shut up for once." Riddle repeated, "I warned you. If you know me as well as you say you do, you would know by now that I would explode at any time from the moment you provoked me."
"You are a coward!" Hermione exclaimed, her cheeks flushed red as her rage built up.
"Quiet!" Tom roared, whisking his wand quickly to make a small cut appear on Hermione's forehead, "I told you to shut up, you insolent dirty witch!" he panted, staring down at her with his eyes opened wide as he could not believe the impertinence of the girl. One should learn to respect him, and if this worked with the rest of his followers, it had to work on her.
Hermione stared up at him, her eyebrows furrowed as she let nothing by a hiss as the slash was made on her skin. "Why are you doing this?" she questioned. She had gotten used to his bipolar personality, and how he would change his attitude towards her abruptly, but this was too much. Maybe this was the real Voldemort, and he was revealing himself to her. That didn't scare her the least. She had faced him once, when he was older, wiser, maybe she should be frightened, but somehow knowing that she was dealing with the younger Dark Lord made her feel more tranquility, although she knew she couldn't.
"I'm the one getting answers here." he snapped, his nostrils opening as he tried to control his breathing. He was furious. All the turmoil she had provoked was now having an effect on him. "Tell me who you really are." he demanded, pointing his wand at her.
"For Merlin's sake!" she huffed, gasping, "I told you already!"
Tom narrowed his eyes and whisked his wand once again, now making another cut, but deeper one, appear on her cheek, making her cry out now. The cry made him smirk. "You are lying." he stated.
"I am not!" she shouted desperately.
"Please do not make me take unnecessary measures Grindelwald..." he uttered, twisting his wand on his long and elegant pale fingers, "It would be wise to tell me, once for all." he said, standing right by her side, looking down at her like a superior would.
"It would be wiser of you to just finish this you moron, I already told you who I am!" Hermione hissed with a pant.
"Well, I apologize..." he muttered and then pointed his wand towards her, "Sanguine fervet."
Hermione had never heard of such curse, and she foretold that it had been probably created by Riddle. Her body was burning, and she was starting to shake. She gasped and opened her eyes wide and stared at the ceiling. She didn't complain, she simply bit her tongue, tasting the blood in her mind, and held the scream in. Then she realized that her mouth was actually burning. 'Of course...', it was a blood boiling spell, but she knew very well that that was not the incantation. Riddle twisted his hand, trying to invigorate the curse he had modified. He had made it more easy to manipulate and control. If Tom had placed her under the original spell, she would be roasted inside by now, and Tom wanted her tamed, not dead. "S-Stop!" Hermione stuttered with a desperate cry.
Riddle narrowed his eyes as he stopped the spell, noticing how her skin had reddened, and that she was painting, like her lungs didn't allow her to have air. "Did you enjoy that?" he questioned, raising his brow.
"Please let me go. The ropes are hurting me..." she said weakly, as she battled the ropes.
He smirked faintly, "The more you fight their hold, the tighter they will get." Riddle said with a bored voice. Hermione glanced up at him and sighed in defeat. She knew he was right and stopped fighting the ropes, feeling them loosen until she was finally able to step away from them.
"Here I came to propose you something and you attack me like that, honestly..."
Voldemort let his eyes roam through her body as he held his chin high in archness. "What is it?" he questioned, quickly waving his wand so hers was snatched from her pocket and flew to his empty hand.
She let out a breath as she shakily rose to her feet, glaring at him when he took her wand from her. "That was unnecessary." Hermione muttered.
"Do you really think I would trust you?" he questioned with a snort.
Hermione rolled her eyes and stared at him after she eyed her hands, that were still shaking, and noticed they weren't the sightliest of red. She frowned but shook it off, looking up at him, "Are you ready for a big challenge?"
Thank you cosmoGirl666, Marine76, LK-HoGwArTs-hEaDgIrL, timi55, Cassie-D1 (and replying to your review, maybe there will be more Orion ;) ) and thank you Eimhear93! Also, thanks to my Beta Reader, who I now have to worship for the rest of my life.
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Love, Bia.
