38

"Good morning, sleep well," a voice said behind Hermione, and she turned around to be greeted by Riddle's smirking face.

"Yes thank you, very much so," she replied, while a blush over took her cheeks. He was leaning in, with his lips only a couple of centimetres away, and everyone's eyes seemed to be fixed on them. However, his eyes, which were blue as the ocean, were the only thing she could concentrate on. They looked so different to her now than when she first saw then. They had gained an extra something which she couldn't quite place.

"What are you planning on doing today?" he asked, grabbing her half eaten toast off her plate. He bought it up to his lips, hesitating before taking a bite. She watched his nose crumple up, before he tossed it back onto her plate, dissatisfied with the dry and bland taste left on his tongue.

"I dont have any. What do you want to do?" Hermione responded, watching him curiously. He seemed so much more comfortable with her now than before, which she hoped was a good sign. Hermione was sure that he had changed, even if it was just a small amount, since her arrival. Changed for the better.

However she knew she was changing too. Her fascination towards him was eroding her hatred, and she was beginning to let herself get attached. He was so different to Ron, in good and bad ways.

Ron was loving and caring, and he was a good person. The type of rare person that's good at the heart, and you cant help but love them unconditionally. And yes, he screwed up every so often. More often than not actually, but he always seemed to do and say the right things just in time to earn his forgiveness.

She remembered so vividly the betray she felt when he had left her and Harry, when she had needed him so badly. And throughout every second of his disappearance, she had told herself not to forgive him as easily as she always did. That this time, nothing he could say would be worthy of her forgiveness. That this time he had taken it too far. But standing there listening to him saying exactly the right things in exactly the right way, she felt her betray slip away like water slipped off an oiled surface. Quickly and effortlessly.

Riddle was the opposite, in every possible way. Him asking for forgiveness, was as rare as Ron not asking help from Hermione on his homework. He was independent. He didn't need anyone, and although half the time he acted he hated her, the other times made her feel special and wanted. Wanted not because she was smart and always knew what to do, but just because he liked her. Of course she knew in her heart that Harry and Ron didn't use her, however, sometimes she could help but feel like she had done their homework one too many times. Or she had done research one too many times. And with Riddle as company, who had never asked anything like that from her, she couldn't help but feel as though they may have used her just a tiny bit.

Tom Riddle was like the sun, giving sunburn to anyone that was with him too long. He was amazing and marvellous to look at and admire, but he caused damage to anyone who got too close. And he may have caused her the worst couple of months of her life, and ruined any chance of new friendships that she had relied on, but that seemed irrelevant now.

Because pain is only relevant if it hurts. And right now it didn't.

"I have plans," he said.

"Oh..."

"But I'm free after seven. Come up to my room then," he didn't really make it sound like a question, but more of plan she had already agreed to. Hermione nodded, trying to keep herself from asking what he was going to do before 7. What event took up the whole day?

"I shall see you then," he said, leaning down to leave a lingering peck on the side of her lips. The blush returned, probably never having gone away fully. She could feel, heating up her cheeks and neck. The whole table was glaring at her, half the looks being filled with loathing, and the other half just utter confusion.

Abraxas sat down around the table in silence, waiting with the others for Tom to arrive. His friendship with him had fallen since Tom had developed this new-found affection towards Hermione, but he couldn't blame her for it. It had made him feel slightly bitter towards Tom though, seeing as he remembered listening to him constantly go on about how she needed to be put into her place, and how he loathed her existence.

However there was nothing to do about it. He certainly wasn't going to get himself onto Tom's bad side, just because he happened to like a girl. A very pretty and smart girl, but still just a girl.

When Tom strode into the room, the stressed atmosphere thickened until it felt like it was wrapping itself around his throat. They hadn't had a meeting for a long time, and no-one knew what to expect. Would he be crueller? Kinder? More considerate? More brutal?

"I've decided that in total I want 7 horcruxes. I haven't decided what they are all going to be, but I think 7 is enough." he began, his voice even and calm, as though he was talking about something completely normally, such as what he wants to eat for lunch. His voice didn't sound like someone who was talking about splitting up his soul into tiny pieces, and becoming something less than human.

Tom carried on talking about his plans, and everyone kept their mouths silently shut, until Tom asked if there was anything he hadn't mentioned that they should talk about. Everyone knew to keep quiet, so they could leave as soon as possible. A question might cause him to get upset, resulting him to lash out on anybody. However, Black meekly coughed, causing Tom's eyes to snap towards him. Abraxas silently cursed under his breath, narrowing his eyes into slits.

"Sorry, it's just, I have news on Granger," he mumbled, trying to keep eye contact. Everyone knew avoiding eye contact showed weakness, which Tom hated. Abraxas had to admit that Black was brave to speak up, when clearly the invitation to include your input was fake. However, bravery was mostly accompanied with stupid-ness.

"I'm not interested in any ridiculous rumours Black," he spat, his fists clenching around his wand so tightly that his knuckles went white.

"It's not a rumour sir, I've done some research."

"Why on earth would you ever think that it was your place to research her?" The words mine were radiating off Tom as his voice was kept even and portrayed no emotion. However, the way his body had tensed up clearly showed that Black was treading on thin ice.

"Well, sir, when she first came you had asked us to do a research check. But some of the information about her has just clashed with my family's background sir. They didn't know of anybody called Hermione Granger. There is no Pureblood family with the last name Granger."

"What do you mean clashed?"

"When her family should have descended off my great aunt's daughter, However none of the information adds up. My-"

"Shut up Black." Tom finally lost his control, his face growing paler, and his voice shaking with anger.

"Therese no possible way she exists!"

"Are you saying my girlfriend doesn't exist?"

"No, I'm saying she's not a Pureblood."

"So she lied then?" His voice had become very sarcastic, mocking the very idea that anybody would ever lie to him. But doubt was creeping into Abraxas mind, and by the look of Tom's clenched and tense body, doubt was seeping into his thoughts like a stain as well. It doesn't matter how much you try to scrub away a stain, a faint mark is always left.

"Well no Pureblood Mrs and Mr Granger exist. I don't see how you can be a Pureblood, without having Pureblood parents."

"Someone researched the records, there was a fucking background check," he growled, finally letting the walls around him crash down. He had become frantic.

"There is evidence that Hermione Granger is a Pureblood, but no-one else with that name, and none of the evidence fits. Its all fake, my family even looked into it."

Tom's eyes turned red, pulling at the roots of his hair.

"Who the fuck told me that the checks were fine," he growled, looking around to spot the guilty culprit.

No-one spoke.

"WHO THE FUCK WAS IT?"

"I-I-I'm sorry I..." someone towards the back stuttered, and Abraxas dropped his head and tried to block out the sounds of screaming. Hearing an un-known voice scream was easier to cope with than listening to your friend.