Disclaimer: these characters are not mine – they belong to JK Rowling
AN: Thank you all for the lovely reviews! I love sassy Hermione, she's my hero. Also - Beware of (translation: Enjoy) the smut in this chapter! Oh, and for the "bookshelf scene" (you'll know it when you read it) listen to the song "Physical (you're so) by Nine Inch Nails on Youtube...that is what I was listening to when I wrote that scene!
Chapter 8 – The Truth shall set you Free
Hermione followed Tom through the darkened tunnels that twisted through the bowels of Hogwarts until they reached a large cavernous room that was lined with statues of serpents. At one end of the room, stood a large bust of Salazar Slytherin carved into the stone wall.
"This is…" Hermione began looking around the large room
"Impressive, I know." Tom said, a hint of awe still in his voice.
He continued walking, heading towards an area in the wall where he pressed his palm. A section of the wall slid away to reveal a large sitting room. She entered the room behind him, and the door slid back into place.
"So do you take all your dates here?" she teased, watching a faint blush tinge his cheeks
"Actually, you'd be the first." He admitted sheepishly, and quickly tried to bring the focus back to why they were there.
"I believe you were about to tell me what happens to me in the future." He said smoothly
"Before I tell you that, I need something from you." She said boldly, crossing her arms over her chest.
"I hardly think you are in the position to make demands, Hermione…" he retorted.
It's only fair, Tom. I am trusting you with a lot of sensitive information here, I would have to be an idiot not to have some sort of agreement with you first." Hermione said as she crossed her arms over her chest.
"What then?" he asked impatiently.
"An unbreakable vow." She said flatly.
"No. Surely you didn't think I would agree to that." Tom scoffed.
"I do. Because if you don't, I'm not telling you anything, willingly." Hermione said smirking at him.
"Or I could just torture you…you would tell me everything I want to know. Why should I bother making the vow?" he asked in irritation
She held up her hand and said, "Look, I know you are a Legillimens, and that you could easily take the information from my mind or use the cruciatus if you wanted to, but I am asking that you will instead trust me and really listen to what I have to say. Everything I am about to tell you could drastically change your future. Look at this way, I'm not going to ask you to make a vow that would prohibit you from doing anything that you would have done in the original timeline anyway. It's just an insurance policy that you won't do it sooner. "
He stared at her expressionlessly seeming to contemplate her words.
"That is my final offer. Take it, or we can duel again." She smirked at him
"Fine. The only reason I am even agreeing to this is because I have plans for you that involve you being in one piece..." he said smirking, "Now give me your hand." He said exasperatedly.
Hermione smirked at his insinuation, and clasped her hand in his. At the contact, she felt a jolt of desire run through her. He signaled her to start the vow.
"I, Hermione Jean Granger, vow to tell you, Tom Marvolo Riddle everything I know of your future, in exchange for the promise that you will not use this information to cause any of the events to occur before they are meant to. I also ask that you vow to keep all information shared strictly confidential."
"What are you a Barrister, now too?" He chuckled and she glared at him.
"I, Tom Marvolo Riddle, agree not to use the information provided by Hermione Jean Granger in regards to my future to cause any events to occur before they are meant to. Also, I vow to keep all shared information strictly confidential." He said grimacing as he watched the silvery thread leave her wand and wrap around their entwined hands before disappearing into their skin.
"There. Now start talking." He said impatiently.
"Well I guess I should start at the beginning then, and tell you what I know…" Hermione said taking a deep breath.
He sat on the leather couch in front of her. This should be interesting…
"You are the son of Merope Gaunt, and the last living relative of Salazar Slytherin. She died during child birth, and you were raised in a muggle orphanage. You opened the chamber of Secrets for the first time this year. You have followers that you call the knights of Walpurgis, and you meet periodically during late evening hours when everyone is asleep in the Slytherin common room. You condone pureblood supremacy, even though you are a half-blood. Am I hitting the nail on the head?" She asked, her hands on her hips.
Tom looked amused, and simply stated, "You could have picked up this information from one of the Slytherins…there are a few that come to mind that are notorious for being loose-lipped no matter how many times I discipline them. Besides, I don't see how any of this pertains to my unpleasant future."
"Okay then…well how about this? You will learn how to make horcruxes this year, and you will make 2 of them before you graduate Hogwarts. Your diary will become one, and it is created after you unleash the Basilisk on the school to kill mudbloods and it kills a student. Technically, I think in just a few months from now, actually. Then, you will confront your father, Tom Riddle Sr, during the summer break and you will use his death to create your second horcrux from the Gaunt family ring, which you will steal from your uncle. Am I getting warmer, Tom?"
Tom's eyes widened in shock…he had only just started thinking about creating horcruxes, and he hadn't breathed a word of it to anyone. He hadn't even gotten around to asking Slughorn about them yet…
"Shall I keep going? There is quite a bit more…"
"Does it work?" He sat forward, looking at her intensely.
"If by working, you mean that it makes you immortal, then yes…technically." She said cryptically.
"What does technically mean? Either it works or it doesn't…" Tom asked impatiently.
"Well, considering that making horcruxes is very dark magic, you must realize that there is a steep price to be paid…even more than tearing apart your soul, Tom." Hermione explained.
"What is the price, Hermione? What happens to me?" he asked breathlessly, unsure if he even wanted to know at this point.
"Once you make them, if something happens to your current body, and it will, you will not come back the same way." Hermione told him as she bit her lip and shifted her eyes.
"What will I come back like then?" his eyes growing wide as an uneasiness settled within him.
"Let's just say, that as long as you find snakes physically attractive, and suddenly find noses over-rated, you should have no problem. Oh, and there is also the small detail of your sanity pretty much not returning along with your body."
He stood from the couch and pushed her against the wall roughly.
"Show me." He demanded
She was surprised for a moment that he hadn't just invaded her mind by force, since he certainly had the ability to do so…he was asking her. Seeing how unsettled he seemed to be at what she was telling him, she decided to comply, because maybe once he saw what he would become, he'll rethink some of those decisions.
Hermione nodded, and looked into his eyes, granting him permission.
"Legillimens!" he whispered as he slipped into her mind easily.
He watched a memory play out of Hermione at age 11, sitting in the great hall being sorted into Gryffindor. That explains the Gryffindor common room then…
Next was a memory of Hermione walking around the second floor corridor of Hogwarts in her second year using a mirror to look around corners. He had the feeling this was how she knew about the Basilisk. The chamber must've been opened again in the future. Interesting…
Then he saw a memory of Hermione using the time turner to take extra classes. So she hadn't been lying about the time turner…She was clever though, if he had access to one of those, he would've done the exact same thing.
Then there was a memory of Hermione watching some sort of tournament, when suddenly Harry appeared clutching the body of another student as he was screaming 'He's back! Voldemort's back!" Tom mentally stiffened at the name. He had already chosen that name for himself, though he hadn't used it yet.
Then a memory of Hermione and Harry, along with several others he did not recognize in a strange place. He could only conclude it was somewhere deep within the ministry, from the descriptions had had heard of the place. There were masked wizards attacking them, saying something about a prophecy…He watched as the masked wizards attacked, and saw that Hermione was hit by a nasty slicing hex. Wait a minute…he recognized that wizard by the scar on his chin and his bad teeth…Dolohov.
Then he saw what he had been searching for. Within that same memory, he saw from what appeared to be Hermione's perspective, Harry standing over a dark haired woman, who he had at wand point, when suddenly Voldemort…himself…appeared behind Harry. He had a horrific snake-like visage with crimson eyes. His thin lipless mouth was whispering to Harry to kill her. Harry turned though, and attempted to duel him instead.
Not wanting to see anymore, Tom slipped out of her mind, and stood staring at the floor. Hermione noticed his hands were actually shaking…
"Tom…" Hermione reached out to him, not sure what to do.
"Don't…" he held up a hand to stop her from attempting to comfort him. He needed a moment to process what he had just seen.
"It hasn't happened yet, you know…"Hermione said softly.
He looked up at her then, questioningly.
"If you don't want it to, that is…you haven't done the things that will lead to that future yet, Tom. It's not too late…" Hermione said gently.
"It is too late! How can you expect me to get a taste of that kind of power and not crave it? I am not meant to be some average wizard, I was meant for more…I will have power others only dreamed of!" He shouted angrily.
"You are anything but average, Tom, anyone who has ever met you can see that. The strength of your magic is nearly unparalleled, you are intelligent, and you have this charisma that makes people want to listen to you…You could easily be Minister of Magic if you chose to be. You don't need to be a murderer who operates on fear to achieve your goals." Hermione reasoned.
"I'm the Heir of Slytherin, Hermione…" he argued
"Then you, of all people, should be the first to admit that Slytherin's pureblood supremacy propaganda was a load of crap, Tom! You are a half blood, and one of the most powerful wizards alive! Do you think that is some sort of fluke? If you really believe that, then how do you explain me? Go ahead, I'd love to hear this…" Hermione snapped, crossing her arms over her chest and tapping her foot.
"Hermione, you are different…" he started to say
"No I'm not, Tom! I hate to burst your little misinformed bubble, but magic, just like eye color, is an inherited trait." Hermione sniffed.
"What are you talking about? If it's inherited, then how do you explain squibs and muggleborns?" He retorted mimicking her stance.
Oh…right. It was the early 1940's in the magical community, and Genetics was not quite a thing yet…
"Recessive genes." Hermione stated simply, smirking at him.
"What are you talking about?" he asked in confusion.
"Okay, sit down, Riddle. I am about to give you a crash course in Genetics." Hermione sighed. If he still believed the 'muggleborns stole the pureblood's magic and turned them into squibs' theory after this, she vowed to give up.
~~{0}~~
Two hours and a very heated debate later, Tom's eyes were roving over Hermione as she paced back and forth in front of him.
"Now do you understand how and why magic occurs in some and not others?" She rubbed her temples. She had explained Mendel's experiments on pea plants so that he would understand the concept at a basic level. She had even drawn him Punnett squares for merlin's sake.
"Logically, I suppose it makes sense…"
Hermione sighed. How she wished she had access to books from her own time!
"So if you can accept that marrying into only pureblood families doesn't make a lick of difference, considering what I told you regarding spontaneous mutations, then all we have left to deal with is your irrational fear of death."
"I hardly think fearing death should be considered irrational. And I never said I was afraid." He said defensively.
"Well, it's a fact of life. We're all going to croak someday, and you're no different. Granted, I'd rather not go out in a way that is excruciatingly painful, but, I try not to think about it too much. Live for today and all that."
"Was that meant to be reassuring? Because it really wasn't." He said smirking at her.
"Look, Even if you make the damn horcruxes, it's only going to make things worse for you. Also, you'll still die." She said with a huff of annoyance. She wasn't actually 100% on that detail, since technically, in her original timeline they hadn't actually defeated him yet, but he didn't need to know that.
She was sure the Basilisk would be slithering in to finish her off any minute if the chilling look he was giving her was anything to go by.
"Oh come on, you were a raving psychopath. Not to mention you killed Harry's parents, and attempted to kill him as an infant at one point in time, so don't look so surprised."
"Wait…Harry's parents? So you two aren't related then?"
"No. Harry is a half blood, like you. He's a Potter, actually." She said smirking.
"I should have known. The lot of them all look alike." He chuckled.
"I, however, am exactly what I have claimed to be; a muggleborn. Because of you, in the future, I have to constantly worry that your death eaters will kill my family."
"A Death…what now?" he asked, not sure what she was talking about.
"Your Death Eaters….that is what you call your followers in the future. Since you are a raving psychopath when you come back, your mission is skewed from wanting to protect magical bloodlines to let's kill all the muggles!." Hermione explained.
"I see. No wonder Harry hates me so much. It's a bit funny though…" he trailed off.
"What's funny?" Hermione asked, not sure she wanted to know what he was about to say.
"For someone who suffered so much under my apparent reign of terror, you seemed to fall for my charms pretty quickly…I wonder why that is?" he said smirking at her and stalking towards her like a predator.
Hermione's eyes widened at his insinuation, and she backed away from him subconsciously. She couldn't help it that she was a sucker for a handsome face, just look at how she swooned over Lockhart!
"I'm sure I have no idea what you mean…" she stammered until she felt her back hit a bookshelf that was behind her.
"Could it have anything to do with the way I look? No…you couldn't possibly be quite that shallow…" he smirked as he pressed himself up against her, effectively trapping her against the bookcase.
"Don't be silly, your looks are only passably average at best." She retorted, cursing the quiver in her voice.
"Then why is your pulse racing?" he asked dipping his head low to brush his lips against her collar bone before looking back up to her face.
"It's racing because I don't like being cornered. Now, will you kindly back off?" she huffed.
"Interesting. Your pupils are dilated too…If I'm not mistaken, that is a sign of…lust. I wonder what would happen if I were to…" he trailed off, as she felt his hands brush over her thighs, sliding under her skirt.
Hermione's eyes slipped shut, and she bit her lip as her entire awareness shrunk down to his fingers skimming along the edge of her knickers.
"You know what I think?" he drawled, enjoying how responsive she was
"No…" Hermione practically panted.
"I think you want me. I think you are already wet for me. I think, that if I were to rip your knickers off and fuck you against this bookshelf, you would be begging me for more."
Hermione almost passed out with need hearing him talk to her like that. The image of him taking her against the bookshelf caused wetness to instantly pool between her thighs. His hand was so close…
"Then why don't you find out?" Hermione stared back at him challengingly. The look of shock that passed over his face at her invitation, was priceless. Clearly, he was trying to put her off balance and gain the upper hand, but before he knew what was happening, she turned the tables on him.
"Right now? I mean…here?" he sputtered.
Hermione would have laughed if she wasn't so turned on.
"Yes, Tom, I assume you don't need directions? This was your idea after all…" Hermione said in her most seductive voice, leaning forward to capture his lips in a kiss.
As soon as he felt her lips on his, all rational thought fled his brain. Before Hermione could process what was happening, she felt her feet leave the floor, and her legs wrapped around his waist. His long fingers were squeezing her backside and pulling her hips even closer to his. Her skirt had ridden up, and only her knickers and his pants separated them. Her hands grabbed his tie, struggling to remove it along with his shirt.
"Too many buttons…" she mumbled into his mouth
His deep chuckle reverberated through his chest, and to Hermione, it sounded like the naughtiest thing in the world. She finally managed to open his shirt, and she shoved it over his shoulders and ran her hands over the planes of his chest while she kissed him deeply.
His hands moved up over her hips, and he palmed her breasts through the fabric of her shirt as he leaned in and trailed kisses down her neck.
"Rip it off." She commanded.
Tom smirked against her neck ay her bossy tone, and grasped her blouse with both hands and tore it open; buttons flying everywhere. Hermione groaned as he began tracing the edge of her bra with his tongue. She rocked her hips against him, feeling his arousal and he growled at the sensation that shot through him and dug his fingers into her hips. She traced her fingers along his chest, and down his abdomen until she reached his belt. She opened it and pulled it off, tossing it on the floor before moving back to the button of his pants and flicking it open. She slipped her hand into his pants and ran her fingers along his length, eliciting a groan from him. She pushed his pants and boxers down over his hips, and without warning, he tore her knickers off as he had her blouse, and plunged into her in one quick thrust causing her to cry out and grasp the bookshelf above her head for support. His eyes darkened to the point that they looked almost black, and he pounded into her relentlessly, enjoying the way she had sucked her lower lip into her mouth and was biting down on it to keep from crying out.
When her eyes slipped shut he said sharply, "Look at me. I want you to know exactly who is making you feel like this."
She moaned at his brusque command and snapped her eyes to his. She didn't care if he used legillimancy on her in that moment, because all she could focus on was the feeling of his cock slamming in to her over and over again, and the delicious friction that was building up between them. She could feel her release was only moments away as the feeling of it built deep within her threatening to explode at any moment. She felt him slip into her mind, and it heightened her pleasure even more knowing he was about to feel her orgasm from her perspective. She could feel him growing harder inside of her, and he slipped one of his hands between them and as his fingers brushed over her clit, she clutched his shoulders and cried out as she found her release. He let out an animalistic growl and then swore under his breath as both hers and his own pleasure washed over him in waves. He was panting against her neck now, as she unwrapped her legs from his waist, slowly lowering her feet to the floor. He pulled his pants back up onto his hips, not bothering to fasten them and he chuckled deeply as he leaned his forehead against hers and twirled a lock of her hear in his long fingers.
"You, Hermione, are a dirty girl…" he smirked at her as he watched a flush rise in her cheeks.
She was standing on shaky legs, still trying to catch her breath, enjoying the way Tom's eyes were still darting to the black bra she still wore.
"Me? This was your idea." She shot back as she reached up and brushed a lock of his black hair from his forehead.
"That may be, but it was you who wanted me to rip your clothes off..." He teased
"True, although something tells me you enjoyed it as much as I did." She smirked at him
Hermione watched him as he was fastening his pants and couldn't help the giggle that bubbled up in her chest.
"What's so funny?" he asked, raising a perfectly sculpted eyebrow towards her.
"Your basilisk was just in my Chamber of Secrets…" she was laughing harder now, and she saw his lips twitch at her incredibly bad joke.
"Making bad puns are we now? If you don't behave I'll sick my basilisk on you again…"
Hermione froze for a moment, her eyes widened in surprise, before she burst out laughing again at the poor taste of that particular joke.
He realized what he had said, and couldn't help but to laugh along with her.
"Well, far be it for me to keep your basilisk locked away…that really is a crime if you ask me." She said pulling him close once more.
"A crime, huh?" he said smirking against her lips as he kissed her.
"A felony, more like." She said as she kissed him back
"Well, we can't have that, now, can we…" he teased as he guided her towards the sofa.
It was three a.m. before either of them made it back to the Slytherin dormitories that night.