A/N: So, warning towards the end of the chapter, it gets a little...well...a little mature. Nothing overly graphic (yet)

The new year was looking beautiful. Hemione woke up in a great mood, she took a long shower and got dressed for the day. A simple blouse and skirt with thick stocking. She would have her charmed cloak so she wasn't too concerned about the weather.

She braided her messy hair into two Dutch braids and felt she was ready for the day. She headed down stairs and helped her mum finish cooking breakfast. The three of them ate and chatted, them asking about the Gala.

Hermione went on and on about it. The Manor and how beautiful it looked. She waited until she had talked up the entire experience to tell them she wanted to return today for the library.

"The Malfoys were nice enough to give me free reign of their library. Mum, they have their own library. I could learn so much. In fact I thought I could go back there today."

Her mum looked at her, a strange look on her face. Her dad chuckled. "Have fun sweetheart." he said.

"Thank you."

She left just after breakfast, her parents dropping her off at the Leaky to save her the galleons. She rushed inside and headed straight to the floo. She really needed her parents to apply for the floo network or find another way entirely.

Once she was through, she cleaned herself of soot, not wanting to dirty any books. She headed straight for the table and opened her small bag. She pulled out her notebook and ink pens. Tom was suddenly behind her.

"You are eager to get your hands on these books aren't you?"

Hermione tried and failed to keep her thoughts off of the kiss. She turned to face him. "I have thought of little else." she lied.

Tom chuckled. "I plan to test our connection. So while I'm gone, stay away from the books in the far left section. They are very dark and probably cursed, If you feel the need to look at them, ask either Lucius or myself to get them for you."

"Got it."

"Have fun Hermione." She watched him leave before she turned to the massive shelves. She looked around, wondering if she could summon the book she needed. She doubted it. She decided to just look for certain key words. She doubted they had a clearly marked "Horcrux" section. She instead started with soul magics.

That in itself was considered darkish. Gray magic at best. She found several books to start with. She placed them on the table and started to skim for information.

She was interrupted by a familiar voice.

"Mudblood, why are you here?" Draco sounded genuinely surprised as hopped onto the table next to the stack of books.

"Research."

Draco looked at the titles of the some of the books. "What the bloody hell are you researching?"

"That is none of your business." she frowned at the questions.

He was silent for a bit, unfortunately it didn't last long.

"Who was that guy you left with last night?"

She looked up at him. "Excuse me?"

"The dark haired guy you left with. I didn't recognize him. Is he a friend of yours?"

She thought about the question. "That isn't any of your business either." she paused, "his name is Tom."

"Tom? He doesn't go to Hogwarts."

"I am aware, thank you." she went back to readying. "Why do you care?"

He scoffed. "I don't care. I just don't like others playing with my Mudblood friend." he flicked the end of one of her braids.

"Touch me again and I will hurt you. I promise."

"Feisty. Do you talk to Tom like that?"

"I don't have to. He is a gentleman."

Draco laughed, the sound echoing through the room.

Hermione ignore him, continuing the search for anything useful. Draco still sat on the table, but left her alone at least. The sounds of footsteps caught Draco's attention. He hopped off the table and stepped towards the door, catching Hermione's attention.

Tom walked into the library. His face didn't show any signs of surprise. He walked by Draco and over to the table.

"Find anything yet?"

"Nothing really, vague references. You?"

"All sorts."

Draco cleared his throat. They both turned to look at him like they had forgotten he was there. Hermione smiled.

"Tom, this is Draco. Draco, this is Tom." The two just looked at each other.

Hermione put her hand on Tom's arm. He looked down at her, his eyes angry.

"Were we staying for lunch? Or going out?"

Tom smiled at her. "Whichever you like, dear."

Hermione blushed. "Here is fine, I'm sure Lucius wouldn't mind."

Draco made a strange sound akin to disbelief. They ignored him. Draco stood around awkwardly for a few minutes and then left, Hermione broke into giggles.

"How do you tolerate him?" Tom asked leaning against the table.

"He's not that bad, besides, it's illegal to kill someone for being a spoiled prat."

"Only if you get caught."

Hermione was almost sure he was joking, but a small party of her believed he meant it. She knew how to make a horcrux. Well, not exactly, but she knew what had to be done to make one. He had made six.

"What have you found so far?" he asked her.

"Not much. I just finished the first stack of books about soul magics. There isn't a lot. I thought next maybe soul bonds."

"It's a start." he said. "Tinky."

A small elf popped into the room. "You called for Tinky?"

"Would you bring Hermione some lunch please?" Tom asked.

It popped away and back, food showed on the table.

They moved the books aside and enjoyed the small lunch. Tom looked over the few notes she had made.

Soul Magic?

Soul bonds?

Cursed/ charmed objects?

resurrection / immortality?

The notes were only on the soul magics so far and there wasn't a lot there.

He set the book down and smiled at her. "You take notes well."

"I know." Hermione smiled. "What about you? How far could you get?"

Tom frowned at the question. "All over the Malfoy property, which is very large."

She took a bite of the very tasty sandwich.

Tom smiled at her. "Hermione, while enjoy your eagerness to keep me to yourself. I need you to understand something. I am not leaving you. I will not leave you. I find I enjoy your company more than anyone else's. I told you before, I've grown fond of you."

She didn't respond. She was confused. He spoke about his feelings for her like you would a pet. His actions seemed like more. She felt stupid. He wasn't even flesh and blood. Right now he was just very strong magic. She smiled. She had to worry less about feelings and figure out how to get him real.

"I need to get back to work, my parents wont let me stay the entire day." she really wished she had the time turner.

"I'll leave you alone. Maybe I should befriend the prat."

Hermione chuckled. "Play nice, he's my only friend at school."

He leaned forward and kissed her on the lips. A chaste brush of flesh, and he was out of the door. She sat there for a moment her lips tingling. She shook her head and started to search again. She took the books back and grabbed a few more. These were a bit more fascinating.

She cited several books she'd have to check out another time. One made a reference to soul mates. She laughed at the idea but wrote it anyway. When she moved on to magical objects. That one was basically useless. Though she learned a few new charms for objects. She'd ask Tom about them later.

She had almost filled her notebook when it was time to go. Tom had come back and sat as she put back the last of the books she'd used.

"Did you find out anything?"

"Just a lot of conjecture, no concrete evidence about anything. Any information on repairing damage to a soul seems to be a mix of guess work and poppycock." she shoved the notebook into her bag.

"When we get back to school, I'd like to check in the Chamber. There is a small study full of rare and hard to find books."

Her eyes lit up. "There is?"

"Yes, would you like to go too?"

"I would love to, is it safe?"

"It will be, I'll make sure the basilisk is sleeping."

She froze, "Basilisk? A real one? Alive?" Her mind was reeling with the possibilities. A basilisk was such a rarity, very dangerous and highly controlled by the Ministry. Would Tom be able to get her some of the creature's venom? She would love to have some on hand, for research purposes, of course.

Tom smiled, he could almost hear the gears moving in her mind. "Yes, to all of the questions."

"I can't wait."

Hermione had made sure to say goodbye to Mr. Malfoy before she left. She flooed to the Leaky then summoned the Knight bus, starting the long trek home, Tom with her the entire way. He sat listening to her rattle on about the useless information she had found so far.

She made it home in time for dinner. She had walked to the stairs when she heard her mother call out. "Dinner is almost ready."

She called back "I'll go wash up."

She hurried up to her room and saw Tom lying on her bed. The fact he'd gotten there so quick gave her an idea.

"Tom, do you know how to apparate?"

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Yes. Not that I need to at the moment."

"Do you think you could teach me?"

"I'm positive I could, but if you get caught doing it without a license you could get in serious trouble."

"I don't care about that, I hate the long trip to use the floo at the Leaky Cauldron. I'd rather just apparate to the gates of Malfoy Manor."

He looked at her, face unreadable, then he smiled. "We can practice the next time we go to the manor."

A small knock on the door startled her. "Dinner's ready."

"Be right down."

She gave Tom her notes and headed down to eat. She was only half paying attention to her parents. Her mind was on what Tom thought of her notes. She knew there wasn't much but she wanted his input anyway. She pulled her hair out of the tight braids she had made that morning as she walked back to her room. She found him still on her bed, reading.

"I think this is a good start." He set the notebook aside.

Hermione felt her heart flutter when he patted the space next to him on the bed. She moved to sit next to him, he almost instantly pulled her down to lay next to him. She felt the blush move across her face, suddenly, she was eye to eye with him.

She felt the butterflies in her belly, this was more intimate that anything she had ever done before in her life.

He tucked her hair behind her ear, "Relax."

His breath brushed along her face, She licked her lips nervously.

"I am relaxed." she whispered.

"I don't think that you are." He started to run his hand through her hair, his fingers rubbing along her scalp.

She leaned into the touch. She guessed she hadn't been relaxed before. Her tension seemed to melt from her as his hand continued to massage her.

Tom watched her face, her features starting to relax as he touched her. She really was becoming very pretty. He'd watched her grow from a tiny, fuzzy haired swot, to a fierce, fuzzy haired swot, that was also very pretty.

He enjoyed watching her, talking with her, touching her. He hadn't lied to her, he was growing fond of her. He wasn't sure what to do about it, yet, but he had time. She let out a tiny moan, his hand tightened in her hair. He tilted her head back, her eyes shot open at the gesture.

"Wha-?"

He cut her question off with a kiss. Her mouth was warm, tasting like tea and whatever biscuits her mother served after dinner. He deepened the kiss, coaxing her tongue to move with his.

Hermione was on fire, her face was burning, her lips tingled. Her stomach felt like it was doing flips inside her. She couldn't believe he was snogging her, on her bed. His hand moved from her hair to her waist. She could feel the space between her thighs throbbed.

Tom pulled back from the kiss. Hermione hid her face in Tom's chest. His hand moved back to brush through her hair. She only meant to stay that way until her face felt back to normal, instead, she had fallen asleep.

By the time she returned from the winter holidays, she was proud to say she could apparate. Tom was a very good teacher. Lucius had been watching from the side as the lesson had started. It had taken Hermione two tries before she could apparate bout 3 meters. On the next try, she made it across the estate. By lunch, she could travel home and back.

Lucius had seemed impressed that Hermione could pop in and out without more that a whisper of air. No loud 'POP' that usually came with the act. Hermione had no idea why, but Tom had informed her later after her apparating back home from the manor, that it was a trick he had learned. It had taken him years to figure out the trick, and had only shared it with her.

She had been flattered of course, it was their little secret. Now, though, she was back at school and was waiting for Tom to decide when to go see the basilisk, and the other books of course. The first week back she had tried not to bother Tom about it, knowing he would tell her when he was ready.

By the second week, She was asking almost daily when they would go He would keep putting it off, citing bad timing or the school was too busy. He even once used the excuse that she needed to study for her exams, or critiquing her essay, knowing how she would get worked up and have to rewrite the entire thing. She couldn't take the chance he was right.

Weeks had passed, The majority of their time together was spent late night in the come and go room. She liked that he was there looking out for her. On the other hand, she felt unfulfilled, left out maybe? She wasn't sure exactly, but she knew she didn't like the feeling.

It was the week before Easter Holidays, that Tom surprised her. They were in the come and go room, she was finishing up her latest essay for Charms class when he spoke.

"Stay here during the holiday. We'll go down then."

She couldn't believe it, it was finally happening. "Really? You're sure?"

"Yes, we should have plenty of time to explore."

She was very excited, they would finally get to go into the Chambers and she would be getting to look at books and tomes that no one had looked at in decades. She jumped up, unable to hold in the excitement coursing through her. She hugged him.

He wrapped his arms around her, hands moving along her back. Hermione melted into him. She still found it odd that he was here, that she could touch him, but he gave off no smell. He had no scent to him at all. Nothing. She hated to have to release him, but she did.

"It's not that big of a deal. It is truly just a moldy old room full of dusty old books." he told her.

"Tom, think of the knowledge that is in those books!" she couldn't help all the smile that spread across her face.

Tom reached his hand forward, cupping her cheek. "You really are adorable when you get all mushy for books."

Her face turned crimson, "Don't make fun."

His mouth was on hers. His warm lips pressed against her own. She sighed into the kiss, Tom used the moment to part her lips. He pressed his tongue into her mouth rubbing along her own. Hermione felt fire rush through her, with every swipe and caress of his warm tongue. Her heart beat so hard in her chest she was sure it would burst, making a mess of them both.

Tom pulled back, hid thumb brushing her cheek. "I'm not making fun. I promise."

Hermione only nodded, not trusting her voice.

"Now make sure everyone knows you are staying here. We will have nine days to explore."

Her eyes got big again, nine days? Nine days to learn all the secrets the chamber held. I wouldn't be enough, she just knew it. She barely slept that night and first thing in the morning she wrote to her parents letting them know she would be staying at school to study. Them she informed her Head of House that her parents had to travel for work and she needed to stay at the school. Once everything was settled, she relaxed. Well, not exactly relaxed. She was a bubble of excitement. Nine days.

The week thankfully flew by, and Hermione was happy to see most of the student had gone home. She busied herself for the day, making sure she was ready to go right after dinner. Tom had insisted that they go after dinner this first night, she barely ate. Her excitement killing any appetite she should have had.

He had told her to go to Moaning Myrtles lavatory. Thankful for the empty hallways, she made sure no one followed her and she slid into the abandoned loo.

She jumped when he showed upright beside her.

"Ready?"

"Yes." she could feel the excitement bubbling in her belly.

He gripped her hand, leading them to the broken sink. She watched as Tom approached one of the sinks, leaning his face low and was whispering. She stepped closer, no he wasn't whispering, he was hissing. That triggered a chill to travel her spine, the sound was so strange to her ears. She wished she could learn it. Maybe she'd ask Tom to teach her a word or two.

The grinding sound pulled her from her thoughts as the sink moved, opening up a large hole in the ground. She turned quickly towards the door to the loo and put up a small ward. Something to make whomever approached it need to suddenly be somewhere else.

Tom looked at her with pride. "Smart. Let's go."

Hermione walked to the edge of the hole and looked down. It smelled damp and musty. She looked over to Tom.

He smiled. "I will go down first, you follow, but keep your eyes closed until I tell you it is safe."

She nodded, her mouth suddenly too dry to speak. She watched as Tom disappeared down the hole. She counted to ten then slide down as well, her eyes pinched closed. She could feel the air pushing past her and then his hand caught her, pulling her up to stand. She felt crunching beneath her feet, She wanted to see what she was stepping on, but would not open her eyes until Tom said to.

"Stay right here, I will be right back." His voice was just above a whisper.

She nodded and then heard the crunching as he walked away from her. She knew she should be scared right now, but she wasn't. She was about ready to burst with excitement. Her heart was beating furiously in her chest and her finger ached to think about what she could find down here.

She heard the crunching start again, she wanted to open her eyes and make sure it was Tom in front of her, but she didn't. A basilisk is no joking matter. She jumped when Tom's hand held hers.

"It's safe, she is sleeping soundly."

Hermione opened her eyes and looked around The room they were in was dimly lit, the ground covered with small bones. They started walking down the long hallway. A giant basilisk skin was there, and judging by the size of it, this one was huge.

They stepped through a small doorway and into a familiar room.

"It's just like in the dreams." She said in awe. "Except it smells."

Tom laughed. "It's a bit damp and there hasn't been fresh air in years. It's nothing a few spells can't remedy."

Tom lead her down the right side of the large statue, watching as he moved to the side, sliding his hand along the carved figure of a snake. He spoke softly, and she watched in awe as the wall began to move, to slide back and to the side.

"What is this?" she leaned forward to look into the dark opening.

"I'll show you." he said taking her hand in his.

They stepped through the dark doorway, and into a hall. Hermione was surprised the area didn't smell like the larger part of the chamber. It didn't smell like the stagnant pools of greenish water, just dusty. Tom waved his hands and several torches lit along the wall.

They moved into a small room. It looked like a small study. The walls, three of the four, were lined with books. Near the center of the room was a small potions table. There was a rather thick layer of dust on everything. She absently wondered if there was a supply closet in the room as well. So many possibilities flying through her mind.

She was so deep in thought she hadn't noticed Tom had let her hand go to rummage through things. Snapping back to herself, she cast a quick cleaning charm and looked at the now spotless study.

"This is amazing." she ran her fingers along the spines of the books to the right of her. Little zaps of magic tingled along her fingertips.

"Careful, some of those could be dangerous."

"I know, I can feel the magic in them."

He turned to look at her. "You can?"

She smiled, "Yes, small tingles when my fingers touch them."

"That's impressive."

She turned to look at him now. "How so?"

"They are charmed to be undetectable, the fact you can feel them means you are becoming quite powerful."

"Oh." she couldn't help the blush that grew along her neck and cheeks. "Whose study is this?" She turned back to the titles, reading them. She was surprised she hadn't heard of a lot of them.

"It was mostly empty when I found it. I can only assume that Slytherin himself may have used it. I don't know. But these." he gestured to all of the books, "Are all mine."

"Amazing." she breathed.

He chuckled and moved to stand next to her. She turned to look up at him.

"Do you have your own supplies?"

His face broke into a devastating grin. "Probably not many that are still viable."

He pulled her to the wall without any books. He hissed at the wall and to door appeared and opened to them. Hermione couldn't help herself, she rushed into the room. There were dozens on vials and containers lining one side of the shelves. The other had different stirring rods made of different types of metal. Extra cauldrons and clean vials stacked neatly.

She moved to the ingredients, going through what would still be usable, there wasn't much. She smiled when she saw a few illegal, but still viable ingredients. She pulled anything that would be bad now. Anything perishable was useless.

She couldn't believe Tom was letting her do this. It was not usual for anyone to let others into their private stores. She turned to Tom, having finished her perusal.

"These are all more than useless now, if you plan on using this place, you may want to replace them."

He smiled again. "I'll get someone on it."

She was curious now. "Who?"

"One of my people." he explained.

She laughed, "Your people?"

His face hardened, "Yes, my people."

She looked up at him. She hadn't meant to offend him. "I'm sorry Tom, I didn't mean to be rude, you just have a strange way to talking about your friends."

Tom ignored her words and vanished the expired bottles. She frowned at the cold behavior. He turned and left the small room. She followed him back into the study.

"You should start over there." he pointed to one of the walls.

She stood there, she hadn't meant to hurt his feelings, but she would not cater to his fit he was having. She ignored him and his tantrum. She started to skim the book titles, looking for any that seemed useful. She found a few to look deeper into. She started to read and seemed to have lost track of time.

Her stomach growled and she felt ravenous.

"Tom, I'm famished."

He looked up at her from his own book. "Wait here." then flickered away.

She was startled when he flashed back into the room just a few moments later.

"Food will be here soon." he told her and began to read again.

The pop of a house elf caused her to almost make an embarrassing squeak. She watched as the small elf snapped his fingers and food covered the table. She made herself a small plate of snacks and ate while she was reading, being extra careful not to mess any of the books.

His voice startled her, "Have you found anything?"

She looked up in surprise. "Oh, are you speaking to me again?"

He raised an eyebrow, she smiled up at him, an innocent look on her face.

He sighed, "Well?" he asked, ignoring her question completely.

"No, nothing useful to our situation, yet."

He moved over to her, just standing next to her. She felt her pulse flutter as she looked up at him.

"Come here, let me show you something." he held his hand out to her.

She placed a bookmark in the book she had been reading and closed it. She took his hand, standing up from her chair.

They left the study, moving back out of the hallway and into the larger room she was used to seeing. The smell wasn't as bad as before, but still slightly stagnant. He moved to the opposite side of where the study was located.

There was a doorway that led to a staircase leading up. Tom started in and she followed, curious to see where this lead. At the top of the stairs was a doorway. They stepped inside and Hermione gasped, slamming her eyes shut.

"Tom, are you mad?"

He chuckled, "She's sleeping, she won't harm you."

She cracked her eyes open and looked. The large scaled body was in front of her. The scales were deep green, almost black. They seemed to shimmer in the low light.

"May I?" her hand raised.

He nodded. Hermione touched the basilisk. Her fingers tingled, just like when she touched the books.

"I feel her magic." she said softly.

Hermione gasped when Tom moved his hands to her waist, working his hand under the fabric to touch her bare skin. The cool scales on her hands and his warm hands on her waist was almost overwhelming.

"Tom?"

"Hmm?" he pressed her forward.

Her shoulders and chest collided with the scaled skin, she could feel the cold through her clothes. He was pressed against her back, his mouth next to her ear.

"I don't have friends, Hermione." he moved his hands along the skin of her stomach.

She sucked in a breath. The magic nipping at her skin felt nice, but his hand felt better. Goosebumps spread along her flesh.

"You are the closest thing to a friend, but you are so much more." his hand slid down, dipping below her waistband.

She gasped, her face was pressed down against the skin of the basilisk. The cool skin felt good on her over heated face. He leaned forward, pressing her entire upper body against the cold tingling magic of his pet. He slid his fingers further, she trembled as they slid into her knickers. He kissed her neck, then moved his nose along up to her cheek.

"Do you understand? Do you feel more for me?"

She nodded, "Yes, Tom."

When his hand spread the warm flesh between her thighs and rubbed light circles on her sensitive nub, her legs went weak.

"Do you want me to stop?" he asked his mouth near her ear again.

"Never." she whispered. He nipped her ear.

She could feel the movements of the Basilisks breathing against her chest. Tom's hand causing her belly to tense, a pressure building inside.

"Everyone else in this world is just a tool for you and me to use."

He increased the pressure of his fingers, Stars exploded across her eyes. She felt the pressure build higher.

"Tom." she said, unsure why she said it.

"I have people, that I use, not friends." he pressed again, she whimpered.

Something was happening, she could feel it starting.

"You are my only friend, no one else is worthy of the title. He bit her lightly on the neck, though hard enough to leave a small mark. Hermione cried out as the knot building inside her exploded. Tom's hand still making small slow circles on her.

Tom removed his hands from her knickers and discreetly cleaned her slick from his hand, leaning back. Hermione was mortified. He'd just given her her first orgasm, while she was pressed against a sleeping basilisk. She felt suddenly cold without him pressed so close to her. He pulled her up, turning her to face him, and kissed her.