Chapter 14:
"What is in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet."
-William Shakespeare

Hermione just gaped at Abraxus. She tilted her head to the side and bit her lip. The blonde was looking at her calculatingly just waiting for her to break. Hermione bit her lip harder and tried to look away, maybe she would be able to keep herself under control if she wasn't looking at him. A loud huff of annoyance from her 'babysitter' had her snorting in disbelief.

"Will you just tell me what is so bloody funny?" Abraxus gasped out.

"Nothing." Hermione managed to get out before she reclosed her mouth, not trusting herself. Abraxus raised a perfectly sculptured brow and she began to break out in giggles. Slowly but surely those small giggles turned into a full blown laughter.

The brunette was clutching her stomach as tears of laughter poured down her face. Abraxus turned red before looking straight forward. It wasn't that long until Abraxus was laughing right alongside with her. The brunette fell forward slightly and rested her head on the blonde's shoulder. Their laughter filled the empty Head Boy's room and helped relax some of the tension that had been suffocating them. As her laughter subsided she realized that Abraxus had tensed up.

"Well doesn't this look cozy?" The deep baritone voice of Tom reached her ears. Hermione glanced up and spotted his red tinted eyes glaring at Abraxus. Hermione had no clue why he was so angry, did he really expect her to just sit around and do nothing while he locked her away in his rooms under guard watch? Without a wand?

"It was." Hermione huffed only to have his eyes turned to her for a millisecond before going back to Abraxus.

"I think it's time for you to leave Malfoy." Tom left no room for argument or questioning. Not that Hermione expected the blonde to really fight to stay.

Once Abraxus was gone Hermione looked back up to Tom. Without a word he summoned a stack of books thicker than the size of her head. Rolling her eyes she grabbed the top book and leaned back against the couch. She decided to ignore the Head Boy and just concentrate on the reading material. It wasn't long until she was thoroughly absorbed in the text on her lap. She couldn't believe how informative these books were when in her time they searched high and low for books with this knowledge. Where had Tom hidden these?

She was so far gone in retaining the print before her that she never noticed Tom had not picked up a book. In fact besides sitting down on the couch, mere inches away from her, he hadn't moved. Instead his eyes were trained on her, unwavering and unblinking. Had she noticed this she might have been more on edge. It wasn't until he closed the small distance between them that she realized something was off.

Instead of continue the sentence she had been on she froze on a word. She could feel his breath on her and the warmth from his body. Slowly she tore her eyes away from the page and looked up into his eyes. Hermione unconsciously tucked her hair behind her ear and licked her lips in nervousness. She moved a little further away from him only to have him follow. She didn't think she had done something to upset him however she was wrong. The look in his eyes screamed anger and something else. Something she couldn't quite place. Feeling it would be best if she moved she went to stand up to have him grip her wrist and yank her back down onto the couch so her back was leaning against the arm rest and he leaned his body over hers.

"Ever heard of personal space Riddle?" Hermione questioned though she knew she should have stayed quiet.

"What is going on between yourself and Malfoy?" His voice was low and held a promise of danger.

"What?" His eyes flashed red but Hermione could honestly say she had no clue what he was talking about.

"I know you are not deaf Miss. Granger. Now tell me what I want to know."

"There is absolutely nothing going on between Abraxus and I, are you crazy?"

The mere thought of being with Draco Malfoy's grandfather had her skin crawl. Sure he was a good… friend was not the right word, nor was acquaintance though. Buddy would be the best way she could describe the blonde. Of course she never imagined putting any friendly term with a Malfoy descendant or any deatheater but he was the best she had. That thought made her frown. Had she not been sorted into Slytherin she would have probably befriended Harry and Ron's ancestors however they had only given her nasty looks because of the color she wore. It was ironic in a way. Not so long ago she had the same feelings towards the house of Snakes. Of course that feeling still lived inside of her but being grouped with them made her realize not all of them were horrendous.

"So he is Abraxus now huh?" He growled.

"That is his name."

"And what's my name?"

Hermione raised a brow, not completely understanding his line of questioning but knowing she had better answer anyway, "Riddle."

He pulled back with a humorless laugh. "So he is Abraxus and I am Riddle."

Hermione said nothing. She had nothing to say, what could she say? Why did he care how she referred to him or any other student in the school? Why was he so angry over a damn name? Hermione froze her train of thoughts. Did he want her to call him Tom? She mentally shuddered; no she could not bare to call him that. It would be a worse sin that helping him. First name basis was not something she planned on being with the darkest wizard of all time. The black haired boy stood up from his spot on the couch and walked towards the fireplace. Feeling as though she was safer now she returned her attention to her text.

The once Gryffindor tried to put all her attention back on the book and on her research but she couldn't. She was now watching the Slytherin out of the corner of her eye and he had yet to move from his place in front of the fire. Part of her wanted to know what he was thinking but the other part was scared. Was he still angry and if so why? She pulled her eyes away from him only to hear him curse loudly. Hermione jumped off the couch and scrambled away from him not wanting to be in his line of fire but he never turned towards her. Instead he set the armchair on fire and stormed out of the room. Biting her lip she grabbed sighed. She still couldn't leave his room. Not without her wand and not in the outfit she was wearing. All she had to choose from was Riddle's clothes. Conveniently enough the man owned no pajama bottoms so the brunette was stuck wearing a pair of his boxers and an undershirt from his top draw. No, walking around Hogwarts in Tom Riddle's clothes was not an option. Reaching over the couch, minding the flames that were still burning she grabbed the book and went to sit on the kitchen counter. She would give him some time to cool down from whatever set him off before asking for her clothes and wand back.

"Hey Abraxus!" Hermione called to the blonde and jogged to catch up to him.

Abraxus gave her a small smile and slowed until she caught up. It was Wednesday and Hermione had yet to hear one word from Riddle. That night in his rooms she waited for over an hour before approaching his door. She barely raised her hand to knock on the wood when the door swung open. Her wand was thrown to her before the door was slammed in her face. Ever since then he had been… allusive. She wasn't going to call it evasive because he was not going out of his way to ignore her but he also wasn't going out of his way to speak to her.

Normally she would have been grateful for this change but she couldn't stop her mind from drifting back to him over and over. What happened to make him so angry? It obviously had to do with her since he was refusing to speak to her. No matter how many times she replayed that night only one thing really stuck out. It was the whole name thing. Why would he care if she called him either Riddle or Tom? Wasn't she just another nasty little mudblood to him anyway? Not even worth his time? Hermione shook her head and focused on Abraxus. She bit her bottom lip nervously before opening and closing her mouth several times.

"Out with it." Abraxus finally demanded, "You standing there gaping like a fish is unattractive on you."

Hermione wrinkled her nose, "Do you find anything attractive on me?" Of course it had been a rhetorical question. He was pureblood, she was dirt. There was no way he found even a strand of hair on her attractive so she wasn't expecting an answer so when he spoke she was thrown back into the confusing jumble in her mind.

"If I want to live I am will not answer that question."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Hermione had grabbed his arm and stopped his walking. The pale boy glanced around before looking back towards her.

"Don't worry about it."

"I am sick of hearing that, honestly. I am…" Hermione glanced left and right before dragging the aristocrat under a dark alcove. "I am being forced to help the damn dark lord that not only kills thousands of innocent people but my friends, my parents, and my husband. I am for some reason stuck in Slytherin when I am a Gryffindor and now I have a silent Tom Riddle. I am worrying about it! What the hell is going on?"

Abraxus ran his hand over his face in frustration. "Ask a question and I will answer it if I can."

"Is Riddle mad at me?"

"Yes and No."

"What does that mean?"

"Exactly what I said." He gave her a warning look that told her he wouldn't delve any further.

"Is it about the name thing?"

"Yes and no."

Hermione let out an exasperated sigh, "Should I be worried for my life?"

"Yes… and no."

"Original Malfoy. Very original." She crossed her arms.

Abraxus sighed and placed his hands on her shoulders. She tried to shrug them off but he kept them firmly planted. She knew she couldn't be mad at him. If she wanted answers she would have to go straight to the source. There was only two things wrongs with doing that. Usually any conversation she has with the hazel eyed boy ended up with him getting angry and her getting hurt. And the other thing was that he refused to speak with her! She couldn't very well figure out what was wrong when he was refusing to tell her!

"I'm sorry Granger." Hermione wasn't stupid. She knew he referred to her surname because she had used his on him. The way he spoke her name was so much different than the way his grandson spoke it. Hermione wanted to ask why he wasn't disgusted by touching her. Why he wasn't cringing for being in the same vicinity. She wanted to know the answers to all her questions but she didn't know how to word them. Sighing Hermione leaned forward and rested her head on his shoulder.

"I am just so tired of all this crap. I want to go home." She mumbled into his vest. He moved his head and rested his cheek on the top of her head. His back was still stiff and his hands still rested tightly on her arms but she knew this was his way of showing he cared. It wasn't the type of comfort she was used to but for now it worked.

"I don't think he is going to let you." Abraxus whispered.

"Neither do I. He probably won't even let me live." Hermione never thought that dying would scare her when she had lost all those she cared about but she had been so close to death just the weekend before that she knew she wasn't ready to die. She was in the past, where everything started. She could make it work now. She could fix what went wrong. She would try at least. And to try she had to stay alive for as long as she could.