Disclaimer: these characters are not mine – they belong to JK Rowling
AN: Another chapter for you all! I hope you like it - I'm still working on all the other fics too, so please hang tight! (Also, I have yet another new one that I was begging to be written, but when I post that one, it'll be fully complete…I won't say anymore about it, but I think you guys will like it!) Please review! xo
~~{0}~~
Hermione was heading to Transfiguration with Harry and Dorea when she overheard Isadora gushing about how Tom Riddle asked her to go to the Halloween Ball to a few of the other Ravenclaw girls. Hermione clenched her jaw angrily, forcing herself to keep moving towards the classroom and to not rip Isadora's hair out.
"Hermione, don't listen to that cow, Tom only asked her because you aren't speaking to him, and he's trying to make you jealous. Besides, I heard that Orion was going to ask you to Hogsmeade this weekend…" Dorea said as she clung to Harry's arm.
"Who told you that?" Hermione asked wondering if maybe Orion actually was interested in her for more than pissing off Tom.
"I have my sources." Dorea said cryptically, winking at her.
As they reached the Transfiguration classroom, Hermione could feel Tom's eyes on her the moment she swept into the room, and it took every ounce of her will power to not return his gaze. She decided the best thing she could do, was be herself, which meant that she was going to answer every question in class and make sure that she earned more points than he did. By the end of class, she was sure that if looks could kill, she would have been dead. She picked up her bag, and swept past him as if he was invisible, and she thought she saw him scowl out of the corner of her eye when he saw that Orion was waiting for her out in the hall to walk her to her next class. Orion took Hermione's bag off of her shoulder and gave her a charming smile, as he walked beside her.
"So Hermione, what does a girl like you like to do for fun?" Orion asked giving her a playful grin.
Hermione couldn't help the smirk that was forming on her lips; his smile was infectious, "Well, anything that doesn't involve a broomstick for starters." She said laughing.
"Oh? Not a flyer, are you? I bet I could change that." He said confidently, looking at her from underneath his dark eyelashes.
"Yes, well, Brooms and I have never gotten along; come to think of it, Hippogriff's aren't much better." She told him.
"I'm rather handy with a broom, not that I was ever into Quidditch, but I do enjoy flying. Would you let me take you up sometime?" He asked her. Hermione was sure that if she was any other girl, she would be swooning, however her crippling fear of heights only made her laugh nervously.
"Oh, I'm…uh…I'm a bit afraid of heights, you see…" Hermione trailed off hoping he wouldn't think she was pathetic.
"Well, it's all a matter of perspective really. I imagine if you were thoroughly…distracted, you might be surprised how much you might enjoy it." He said giving her a heated gaze. She couldn't help but notice how dirty it sounded, and she blushed.
"I'll keep it in mind then." She said stopping and taking her bag from him as they reached her next class.
"Say Hermione, do you want to go to Hogsmeade with me this weekend?" he asked her, running his hand through his hair in a way that made him look irresistible.
"I'd love to." Hermione said biting her lip shyly as he gave her a real smile.
"Excellent…I'll see you later then." He said and giving her a last look before heading off towards his own class.
Hermione was still smiling as she slid into her seat next to Harry in Muggle Studies. He scribbled a note on a piece of parchment between them:
What's got you looking so happy? Harry wrote
Orion's just asked me to Hogsmeade. Tom didn't look happy that he was there to walk me to class. Hermione wrote back
I like him already, Harry replied, and Hermione smacked him on the arm. Harry had to bite his lip to keep from laughing.
So how is it going with Dorea? Hermione wrote
Well, I've already gotten quite a few death glares from Cygnus, so I imagine it's going well. Harry replied
And what about Effy and Fleamont? She asked
Fleamont agreed to meet me at the Astronomy tower just after dinner tonight, hopefully just a few minutes after Effy. Merlin, I hope this works. My future literally depends on it. Harry said giving Hermione a look.
I'm sure it will. Their mutual dislike of you will bring them together. Hermione write stifling a chuckle as Harry elbowed her under the desk.
Ugh. I have detention tonight with Riddle. Harry wrote making a face.
I'm sorry. She wrote and drew him frowny face.
Just then, the professor walked by, so Hermione quickly vanished the parchment so they wouldn't be caught passing notes in class. A short while later, class was over, and they were headed to the great hall. It didn't escape Hermione's notice that Tom was sitting next to Abraxas, clearly trying to avoid her and Harry. Dorea waved them over, and Hermione had to stifle as laugh as Cygnus shot another Death glare at Harry.
"So Harry, what did you tell Effy to get her to meet you?" Hermione asked quietly as she chanced a glance over towards the Gryffindor table.
"I told her that we needed to talk. She probably thinks I'm going to ask her to the Ball. I feel awful about this." Harry said, running a hand through his hair.
"Well, it's for the best, Harry, just remember that." Hermione told him as she filled her plate.
Against her better judgment, she chanced a glance down the table and looked at Tom. He was laughing at something Abraxas had said, and Hermione felt an ache in her chest. Before she could look away, he glanced in her direction, and his stormy grey eyes met hers, and her breath caught in her throat. She looked away quickly, focusing on her plate, and finished her food as quickly as she could so that she could excuse herself.
"Come find me after your detention, Harry, so you can tell me about how it went with Fleamont and Effy. I'm going to head to the library for a bit." Hermione said as she got up and walked quickly out of the Great Hall.
The halls were quiet, since everyone was currently still at dinner, and she walked towards the library so caught up in her thoughts that she hadn't heard anyone come up behind her. She felt a hand clamp over her mouth, and her heart began to pound as she was pulled into an empty classroom. She heard the sound of a ward and a probably a silencing charm hit the door, before her captor spun her around to face him
"Tom! What the hell do you think you're doing?" she shouted taking a step back from him.
"You haven't given me an opportunity to talk to you." He said evenly.
Hermione crossed her arms over her chest, "So what? Do you want to gloat about asking Isadora to the ball now too? Is that it? You haven't hurt me enough, Tom?"
"Hermione, please; I'm sorry." He said exasperatedly, running a hand through his black hair.
"You're sorry? That's rich. Sorry doesn't cut it, Tom. Not after what you said…what you did." Hermione said venomously.
"Look I…I don't…I wasn't supposed to feel anything for you…" He said finally, turning his back to her angrily.
"Is that supposed to make me feel better, Tom? Are you saying that what you did is somehow my fault?" Hermione scoffed, "You're unbelievable. I'm leaving."
"Wait…please." He grabbed her arm, and she wanted to cry when she felt the same jolt of desire run through her that she felt every time he touched her. It was the crack in his voice when he said 'please' that made her stop, but she didn't dare to turn and look into his eyes.
"I don't know how to do this…I wasn't supposed to feel anything for you, but I…" He sighed not able to put into words exactly what it was he was feeling, "I felt like I was losing control, and I didn't like it." He said, a muscle twitching in his jaw.
She was about to say something, when he turned her to face him
"Hermione, I didn't mean what I said. I wanted to hurt you, because I was angry. After you left, Isadora showed up and she kissed me. I admit, I did kiss her back, but it was because I was trying to convince myself that what I felt for you wasn't real." He said trying to make her understand.
Hermione took a deep breath, "It's not good enough, Tom. Honestly, I could forgive you for kissing Isadora, but I can't forgive what you said to me. In that moment, you were him. You were Voldemort." Hermione said before pulling away from him and hurrying out of the classroom. She ran to the library and headed straight for one of the private study rooms and she warded the door before she leaned back against it and broke down. She knew it must've taken a lot for Tom to admit to her why he said what he had said, but in the end, he needed to understand that every time he got scared about what he was feeling, he couldn't lash out at her in anger. She wanted to forgive him, but she knew if she did, it would inevitably happen again. With a heavy heart, she pulled some parchment from her bag and tried to focus on her school work.
~~{0}~~
Harry took a deep breath as he waited on the Astronomy tower for Effy. He really didn't want to hurt her, especially since she was family, but if he wanted to be born in the future, he had to do it. A moment later, she appeared at the top of the stairs with a hopeful look on her face that was like a dagger straight through his heart.
"I wasn't sure you'd come", she said nervously.
"Yeah, I um…Look Effy, I really want to apologize for how I've treated you." Harry began.
A look of relief passed over Effy's face, "That's okay-" Effy began before Harry cut her off
"Because I can't pretend there is anything between us when there isn't. I'm sorry, Effy, but I'm with Dorea now, and I'm taking her to the Halloween ball." He told her, and felt awful when he saw her face crumple at his clear rejection.
Right on cue, he heard footsteps coming up the stairs. Knowing it was Fleamont, he quickly made his exit to allow Fleamont to pick up the pieces.
"I'm really sorry, Effy." Harry said as he hurried past her and took the other set of stairs away from the tower so that he could avoid Fleamont. He hoped to god Hermione was right, and that this plan would work.
~~{0}~~
Harry still felt awful as he made his way down to the dungeons to the Potion's classroom where he would serve detention with Riddle, cleaning the dirty cauldrons. He did his best to remind himself to not let Riddle get under his skin, but in his current mood, he knew that would be difficult.
He walked into the classroom, and Tom was already waiting with Professor Slughorn.
"Ah, there you are Harry. As I've just told Tom, the two of you are to scrub the cauldron's here from today's lessons. You will return each night during the school week for the next month. I'll be in my office if you should need anything." Slughorn said. He gave one last pitying look to Tom, and then waddled into his office.
Harry sighed and pulled off his blazer and rolled up his sleeves as Tom had already done. As Harry approached the pile of soiled cauldrons, Tom glared at him as if to say, this is all your fault.
"Well, I suppose they aren't going to wash themselves." Harry sighed grabbing a cauldron and bringing it over to the large sink area, and beginning to let it soak.
Tom scoffed, but also grabbed a cauldron and moved to the sink across form Harry.
"So are you going to tell me what really happened between you and Hermione?" Harry asked after they worked in silence for several minutes.
Tom glared at Harry, and then threw down the brush he was using to scrub the cauldron.
"She is infuriating. I tried to apologize to her, and what does she do? She runs off with that pillock Orion Black." Tom snarled.
Harry bit the inside of his cheek to keep himself from smirking.
"From my understanding, it was you who she caught snogging Isadora first…" Harry said in Hermione's defense.
"Isadora ambushed me right after Hermione had run off after our argument, and I wasn't exactly thinking clearly. Hermione had walked back in before I came to my senses." Tom said as if that explained everything.
"Is that why you are taking Isadora to the ball then?" Harry accused.
"I asked Hermione; we were supposed to go, but now she's not speaking to me. Next thing I know, I hear she's going with Black. So naturally, I asked Isadora to accompany me." Tom said evenly.
Harry nodded, "Look, I've known Hermione a long time. She closes off when she is upset, and she pushes people away. I don't know what happened, but it must've been pretty bad for her to be this upset." Harry said gently. More than anything he hated seeing Hermione upset, and he knew that she cared for Tom, as much as it pained Harry to admit.
"I messed up." Tom said picking up his brush and went back to work scrubbing the cauldron.
"I can't promise anything, but I can try to talk to her…if you want." Harry offered, wondering at what point he had truly lost his mind.
Tom looked up at him in surprise, "Why would you want to help me?" Tom asked skeptically, raising an eyebrow at Harry.
"I'm not. I'm doing it for Hermione. For some reason I can't fathom, she likes you…Merlin knows why." Harry said as he scrubbed, and Tom chuckled.
The rest of the detention passed quickly, an unlikely truce having been reached.
~~{0}~~
Harry entered the common room and found Hermione on one of the corner couches with Dorea.
"Harry! I've been waiting to hear what happened with Effy and Fleamont!" Hermione said pulling him down onto the couch beside her.
"Well, it went as well as could be expected, I suppose. I broke Effy's heart as planned, and high tailed it out of there as I heard Fleamont coming up the stairs. I guess all we can do now is wait." Harry said tiredly.
"And how was detention with Riddle?" Dorea asked, flicking her eyes over to Hermione to gauge her reaction.
"It was as good as you could imagine a detention that involves scrubbing dirty cauldrons to be." Harry said laughing
"You know what I meant!" Dorea said slapping him on the arm playfully.
"Well, he um…he seems pretty upset." Harry said glancing over at Hermione.
"Not half as upset as he should be." Hermione said flatly.
"Hermione…" Harry began before Hermione sat uo straight and looked at him.
"Don't tell me that you're defending him…"Hermione said glaring daggers at her best friend.
"No! Of course not…Look, I just think that you two should talk, is all." Harry said holding up his hands defensively.
"We did. He cornered me in a classroom after dinner, since that was the only way he could get me alone, but frankly, I'm just not ready to forgive him. To be honest, I'm not sure I can." Hermione said looking down at her hands in her lap.
Harry knew that Hermione just needed time to get over whatever it was that had happened. Maybe it was for the best, since they didn't belong in this time anyway, and would hopefully be going home after the Halloween ball once they could confirm that Fleamont and Effy were a couple.