Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, or Psycho, I am just having fun with these plot lines and characters!
AN: Happy Halloween! I couldn't resist giving a Harry Potter twist to a timeless Horror classic. This is a Tomione one-shot, Non-magic AU (Obviously!) I hope you all enjoy it! Xoxo Please let me know if you like it!
She was working late, again, as she looked out of her office window into the dark cloudy sky, the rain was already coming down in torrents. She sighed as she set down her pen as her eyes scanned the headline on the front page of the newspaper that sat upon her desk, 'Search for Missing Beauty Queen Continues'. She tossed the paper in the recycle bin, and logged off of her computer, making a mental note to buy an umbrella as she pulled on her raincoat and grabbed her bag. He heels echoed through the empty lobby, as she made her way towards the exit. As she stepped out onto the rain soaked pavement, a streak of lightning momentarily lit up the sky causing her to jump. The thunder quickly followed, and Hermione ran as quickly as she could to her car. Even in the few feet from the building to where her car sat parked, she was already soaked through clear to her skin. Exhausted, and shivering from the cold wet rain, she flipped the heat on in her car, and pulled out of the deserted parking lot towards home. She hoped that Ron had saved her some of the leftover stew that she had made the day before, but knowing him, most likely not. Thoughts of a warm bath and a good book swirled in her mind, as she drove down the empty streets, finally pulling into her parking lot. As she parked the car, she pulled her coat tightly around herself, bracing herself to face the cold rain once more as she dashed to the door of her apartment building. Her wet hair clung to her face, and she took off her soaked raincoat and shook it out before she opened the door to the apartment that she shared with her fiancé, Ron.
The lights were off in the living room, which was odd. Maybe Ron had gone out? She stepped inside and kicked her shoes off by the door, and hung up her coat, and dropped her bag onto the couch as she walked down the hall towards their bedroom, wanting nothing more than to strip off her wet clothes and slip into a warm bath. She stopped short just outside of the bedroom door, which was left slightly ajar, a soft light emanating from within, when she heard it; a moan. Her heart did a backflip in her chest, and her worst fears were confirmed as she flung open the door; Ron was fucking his ex-girlfriend Lavender in their bed.
"Hermione! It's not what it looks like…" Ron stammered as he spring off of Lavender in surprise, clutching a pillow to hide his nakedness.
"Oh? Please explain, then Ronald, because it looks to me like you were fucking your ex-girlfriend in our bed." Hermione spat venomously, her eyes darting between her fiancé and the woman in her bed who was pathetically trying to cover herself with the sheet.
"It just happened, I swear, it didn't mean anything!" he protested as Hermione glared at him before stalking past him and pulling open the bedroom closet door with more force than necessary.
"What're you doing? Hermione?" Ron pleaded following her over to the closet.
"What does it look like? I'm leaving!" Hermione spat as she threw the suitcase on the end of the bed, not caring if it hit Lavender.
"Hermione, No please… let's talk about this …Don't throw everything we had away over this! I made a mistake!" He pleaded.
"A mistake?! Ronald, a mistake is forgetting to mail a check, a mistake is forgetting to turn the oven off. Fucking your ex-girlfriend in our bed when you know I'm coming home is not a mistake! The wedding is off!" she shouted pushing him back away from her as she tossed some of her clothes haphazardly in the suitcase. She could send for the rest of it later, but right now, she wanted to get the hell out of there.
"Hermione, please…" Ron continued to beg, though his words fell on deaf ears.
"Goodbye, Ronald, I hope this" and she gestured to Lavender in disgust, "was worth it." Hermione spat as she grabbed her suitcase off the bed and swept out of the bedroom towards the door, slipping her aching feet back into her heels as she walked out.
As soon as the door slammed shut behind her, angry tears began to well in her eyes. She felt completely humiliated, but most of all betrayed. Ron had been her best friend for so many years before they had gotten together. She had been there to nurse him through his broken heart when Lavender had dumped him for another guy years ago, and eventually, as they became closer, they had finally made the leap from friends to lovers. It was not long after that Ron had proposed, to his mother's delight, since she had always wanted grandchildren for as long as Hermione could remember. During the year that they had been engaged, things had slowly started to unravel, even if she chose not to see it. It meant more to her to have a career than dropping everything to get pregnant and be a stay at home mom, much like Ron's mother had. If she were honest with herself, she could admit that was also partially why she hadn't taken any initiative to actually plan their wedding. It also hadn't helped that Ron had accused her of being selfish for wanting a career, and that he had always been jealous of their other best friend Harry's relationship with Ron's sister Ginny. Hindsight though, was twenty/twenty.
As she fumbled with her keys to unlock her car, once again getting soaked from the relentless rain, she finally managed to get her door open and she threw her suitcase in the backseat. She scrambled into the driver's seat, slamming the door and locking it. The tears were falling in earnest now, and she knew there was only one place she could go; back to her parent's house. The thought of having to run back to her parents after all these years made her feel like a failure, but under the circumstances, she didn't have much of a choice. With that thought in mind, she peeled out of the parking lot for the last time, and drove away.
~~{0}~~
Her eyes were beginning to droop, and the rain was still coming down so hard, it was difficult to see. She had been driving now for three hours, and she knew she was not even halfway to her parent's home town. A chime in her dash sounded, and she saw that her gas light had come on.
"Fantastic." She muttered to herself sarcastically as she flicked on her high beams and squinted her eyes trying to see through the sheets of rain marring her vision as she approached a sign on the side of the highway. The sign showed that at the next exit, there was gas and lodging available, and so, she made up her mind to stop for the night and continue on the next morning. The exit was another mile up the road, and she flicked her blinker on, and she took the exit.
There was only one direction to go off of the exit, and little ways down the road, a sign read, 'Entering Little Hangleton'. Hermione let out a frustrated noise when there seemed to be no sign of a gas station, and was about to turn around when a lit up sign in the distance caught her eye; The sign read, 'Riddle's Inn'.
She offered up a silent 'thank you' to whomever had been watching over her, and she continued down the road until she reached the Inn, deciding she could stop for the night and worry about finding a gas station in the morning. She pulled through the large open wrought iron gate, and down the winding driveway up to the large brick manor style house that was covered in ivy that sat just at the edge of a large cemetery. There were a few lights on in the upper floors, and she could see the silhouette of someone sitting in front of one of the windows. She parked her car, and ran to the door, once again getting lashed by the torrential rain. She knocked quickly, and the door was suddenly wrenched open.
Hermione's breath hitched as she took in the young man standing before her in the doorway; he was incredibly handsome, and she felt a nervous flutter in her stomach in response.
"Well, don't just stand there in the rain, come in." he said playfully as he stepped to the side allowing her to enter.
"I'm sorry to bother you so late at night, but this rain is just awful, and I'm quite tired." Hermione said sheepishly, brushing her wet hair back from her face.
"It's no trouble, Miss, and well, we don't get many visitors out this way." He said kindly handing her a dry towel.
"The sign on the highway said there was a gas station, though I didn't see one." Hermione said conversationally as she dried her hair with the towel.
"Yeah, the sign is a bit misleading. There is a gas station, but it's a small one, and not open at this time of night. In this weather, I'm sure you didn't even see it." He said as he led her over to a desk just to the left of the large foyer.
"My name's Tom, by the way, Tom Riddle." He said as he held out his hand to her.
Hermione looked at his outstretched hand, and shook it gently, once again feeling a pleasant tingle in her belly as her hand touched his "I'm Hermione Granger, it' nice to meet you Tom."
He grinned, and grabbed a register from beneath the desk and opened it so that she could sign in.
"We're still a bit behind the times here I'm afraid, with so few guests, there doesn't seem to be any point to installing an electronic check in system." He said giving her a shy smile as he watched her sign her name with a flourish in the book.
She glanced up at him shyly, giving him a small smile, as she finished filling in her information.
"If you don't mind me asking, what were you running from?" Tom asked casually.
Hermione's eyes widened, "Excuse me?" she asked, taken aback by his blunt line of questioning.
"I don't mean to be rude, it's just that well, you look a like you've been through something, and as I said, we don't often have visitors here, especially at this time of night in weather like this. You must've been in a quite hurry to leave wherever you came from." He said looking at her innocently.
Hermione swallowed, "Well um, to be honest Tom, I'm not sure I really want to talk about it." Hermione said meeting his eyes, and then glancing towards the parlor that was off to the right.
"Of course, forgive me." He said grabbing a metal key off the rack behind the desk, "Well, your room is this way, follow me."
Hermione nodded, "Oh, my bag?" Hermione questioned, wondering if she should run back out into the rain to get it from the car.
"I'll get it for you once I show you your room." He said giving her another handsome grin.
Hermione bit her lip, and followed along behind him, admiring the beauty of the old house.
"You have a lovely home." Hermione said politely, "You don't live here by yourself, do you?" Hermione asked, she had noticed that he wasn't wearing a wedding ring.
"Oh, no, my father lives here with me. He hasn't been himself since my mother passed away, you see, so I take care of managing the Inn." He said glancing at her over his shoulder as they approached her room.
"Oh, that must've been who I saw sitting by the upstairs window." She said absently.
"Well, here we are. I thought it best to give you the room near mine, just in case you need anything." He said as he stuck the key in the old fashioned lock, and turned the knob.
Hermione gasped when she saw the room; it was large, with ornately carved mahogany furniture, complete with a four-poster bed.
"This room is beautiful" she breathed in awe, looking around as she walked in.
Tom smiled, "I do my best to maintain the house, though I admit, it is quite a bit of work. Say, I'll go get your bags for you, is there anything else you need?" Tom asked kindly.
Just then, Hermione's stomach rumbled. With everything that had happened, she never had the opportunity to eat.
"Um, actually, I am rather hungry. I don't suppose there is any place to get food nearby?" Hermione asked giving him a hopeful look.
Tom shook his head, "Not at this time of night, I'm afraid, but, would you like to join me for dinner in the kitchen? It's nothing fancy, I was just about to make some sandwiches before you arrived." Tom asked biting his lip nervously and giving her a hopeful smile.
"I'd like that." Hermione agreed, pulling her raincoat off and hanging it on a hook by the door.
"Excellent. I'll not be long then." He said as he turned and closed the door behind him.
Hermione sighed and flopped down across the bed, and relished in its softness. She heard Tom's footsteps jog up the wooden staircase, presumably to go check on his father before he headed outside to get her things.
She jumped when she heard an older man's voice yelling.
What are you doing inviting that trollop to our kitchen table, boy? I'll not have my son cavorting with every floozy that winds up on our doorstep!
'Father, please, don't speak of Hermione that way, she's just tired and hungry.' She heard Tom's voice answer.
'Oh, so it's Hermione, now, is it? With a name like that she must be a mudblood!' the older man snarled
'Father!' Tom's voice sounded appalled.
'Don't give me that, boy, I know what sort of thoughts are going around that filthy head of yours.'
She heard a door slam suddenly, and Tom's footsteps once again moving hurriedly down the stairs. She moved away from the door, wondering whether she should just take her chances sleeping in her car, since she felt decidedly uncomfortable sleeping under the same roof as the awful man upstairs. At least Tom had the decency to defend her. She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't even hear the knock at first on her door, until he knocked a second time. She opened the door, and Tom stood dripping wet in her doorway with her bag by his feet, holding a plate of sandwiches in his hand.
"I'm sorry if you heard…" Tom started looking down at the plate in his hands guiltily.
Hermione opened the door wider for him to come into her room, and he stepped inside as she closed the door behind him, taking the plate from his hands.
"No, it's alright, I honestly don't want to cause you any trouble." Hermione said quietly, setting the plate down on the small coffee table. He was still standing by the door, looking down at his hands nervously, an unreadable look on his handsome face. His white tee shirt was soaked through, and it clung to his toned chest underneath. He looked up at her then, with a look of such utter longing, that Hermione couldn't stop her fingers as they lifted to his face. His eyes drifted shut as he pressed his cheek into her hand, and before she knew what she was doing, she closed the distance between them and pulled his face down to hers, capturing his lips in a heated kiss. In that moment, she didn't care that her Ron had cheated on her with another woman, or that there was a bitter old man upstairs. All she could think about was how his lips felt against hers, and how his hands were tightly gripping her waist.
Her hands moved to the hem of his wet shirt, and she lifted it over his head, running her hands down the smooth planes of his chest. His fingers made quick work of the buttons on her still damp blouse, pulling it off of her shoulders as he trailed open-mouthed kisses down her neck. Hermione arched into him, wanting to be even closer, when he lifted her off the floor and carried her over to the bed. He laid her down gently on the bed, and crawled on top of her, never breaking the kiss as she tangled her fingers in his soft hair. His lips trailed down her neck, and he nipped at her collarbone, his hips rolling into hers insistently. She felt his hardness against her thigh, and moaned, running her fingernails across his back.
"Make love to me, Tom" she breathed against his neck, raising her hips to meet his.
His hands slid up the undersides of her thighs, disappearing beneath the hem of her skirt, as he hooked his fingers into the waistband of her panties, sliding them down her legs. Her skirt followed shortly after, along with his jeans.
"You're beautiful", he breathed against her heated skin, as he slid into her welcoming heat. She gasped and her eyes slipped shut as she felt him fill her completely.
"Look at me" he commanded as he began to move inside her, pulling almost all the way out before slamming back in. Her eyes snapped open, and she met his dark gaze as her hips rocked forward to meet his thrusts
"Oh God, yes…please don't stop" she gasped as she felt her orgasm beginning to build within her. She captured his lips again, as he groaned into her mouth, his thrusts becoming more erratic as he pushed her closer to the edge.
"Stay with me" he whispered against her throat as she cried out, her orgasm washing over her as she shuddered beneath him. He thrust into her a final time as he came gripping her tightly as if she would disappear.
"Mine" he whispered into her ear as he breathing returned to normal. He rolled off of her, pulling her into his side, and dropped a kiss onto the top of her head. Within moments, her eyes drifted shut, and she fell asleep against his chest.
~~{0}~~
She was awoken sometime in the night by a large bang that sounded a lot like a gunshot. She jolted out of bed, expecting Tom to still be asleep beside her, but the bed was empty. She climbed out of bed, pulling her clothes back on, and fumbling for her cell phone to see what time it was. Her phone lit up, showing it was nearly 5am, though it was still dark outside. She knew she'd never get back to sleep, and thought that she may as well try and get back on the road, since she still had a few hours drive to reach her parents house. She tossed her few belongings into her bag, and made her way to the door. Tom had said his room was near hers, maybe he had returned to his own room after she'd fallen asleep?
She padded across the hall quietly, to the door that she assumed must be his, and knocked quietly.
"Tom?" she called, but there was no answer.
She reached out her hand to try the knob, and it was unlocked, so she opened the door and peeked inside.
"Tom?" she called out again, but the room was empty. The bed sat unmade, and her eyes swept around the room curiously. She was just about to leave when something glittered in the darkness, catching her eye. Hermione closed the door as quietly as she could, and crept over to the small end table by his bed, and picked up what appeared to be a small tiara that held a light blue stone in it's center. Hermione's brows furrowed in confusion; What would Tom be doing with a tiara? She set it back down, and left the room. She really wanted to find him to say goodbye after the night they had spent together, and then she realized that he must be upstairs checking on his father. Hermione debated with herself internally, not wanting to come face to face with the man who had insulted her so thoroughly to Tom the night before, but she knew her conscience wouldn't allow her to leave without saying goodbye after everything they shared. She took a deep breath, and began to climb the stairs, hoping she would find him quickly. Once she reached the top landing, she tip-toed to the first door on the left, and knocked quietly. Once again, there was no answer, so she tried the doorknob, and it was locked. She continued to the next door, which was also locked, and so she sighed glancing toward the door at the end of the hall. She knew that must be Tom's father's room, and after another minute of debating, she crept towards it, and knocked softly. There was no answer, and she hoped that he was sleeping. The last thing she wanted to do was to disturb the old man.
She tried the knob, and it was unlocked, and so she pushed it open gently, as she poked her head inside looking for Tom. The room was dark, but she could see someone sitting in what looked like a wheelchair in front of the large window.
"Sir, I'm terribly sorry to disturb you, I'm just looking for Tom." He said bracing herself for the insults that were sure to come her way.
When the man didn't stir, and didn't respond, she wondered if maybe he had fallen asleep in his chair. Against her better judgment, she crept quietly towards where he sat, and reached a hand out to gently touch his shoulder. The sight that met her eyes made her blood freeze in heir veins, and a scream tear from her throat. The man was dead, and by the looks of it, he had been dead for quite some time. His eyes had sunken in, and were milky white, his skin was mostly desiccated, as if he had been mummified. She scrambled backwards so quickly; desperate to get away that she almost tripped over her own feet. Her breath was coming in short pants, and suddenly it all clicked into place; the tiara in Tom's room, and the missing beauty queen from the newspaper…
Terror gripped her as she ran down the stairs and out the front door, fumbling for her keys as her hands shook violently. Just as she climbed into her car and locked the door, she saw Tom emerging from the cemetery covered in dirt and holding a shovel. His eyes were wild as they met hers, and she screamed as she started the car and threw it in reverse. He was running towards her car, and as she spun the car around, she threw the car into drive and peeled out of the driveway, a strangled sob coming from her throat as she glanced in the rear view mirror to see that he had stopped chasing her. She heard a chime, and her eyes darted to the low fuel light that was once again lit up on her dash. She said a silent prayer that she could find some help before she ran out. A few Miles down the road, she saw a diner, and pulled in, slamming on the brakes and fumbling to put the car in park before running inside to ask for help. The last thing she remembered before she fainted was the concerned look on the waitresses face as she dialed 9-1-1.
~~{0}~~
"Hermione. Hermione wake up." A familiar voice was saying as her eyes fluttered. Her head felt fuzzy, and she licked her dry lips.
"Where am I?" she asked, still not wanting to open her eyes as the pounding in her head increased.
"You're in a hospital, Miss, you were in a right state, scared the poor waitress half to death." Another voice, female this time, said kindly.
"I don't understand…" Hermione began, but the nurse set her hand on Hermione's arm to sooth her and encourage her to relax.
"You're a very lucky girl. Your husband came as soon as we called him. Luckily his number was in your phone. He's been worried sick over you, poor dear." The nurse said sympathetically.
Ron? Had they called Ron?! "Husband? I don't…" Hermione's eyes snapped open.
"Hush dear, you're not well." The familiar voice said again, and tendril of fear swept down her spine. She slowly turned her head towards him, her breathing becoming shallow. He was sitting in the chair beside her bed, his perfectly combed wavy locks falling over one eye, a knowing smirk on his lips.
"He's not my husband! He's going to kill me! You have to help me!" she pleaded with the nurse.
The nurse looked at her sadly, and then gave a sympathetic look to Tom.
"This must be so difficult for you, dear. Dementia is a horrible disease." The nurse shook her head sadly as she looked at Tom.
"She has her good days, and her bad ones. This is by far the worst." He said sadly to the nurse before he met her eyes once more with his dark gaze, "Hermione, my love, you know I would never hurt you. Everything will be alright once I get you home." He said so convincingly, it sent a chill down her spine.
"Well, aside from her confusion, she appears to be in good health. If you'll just sign here, Mr. Riddle, I'll release her to your care." The nurse said handing him a clipboard.
"No! Please don't let him take me!" Hermione screamed, clutching the nurse desperately, "He's not my husband!"
The nurse just looked at her sadly, "Perhaps I can give her a sedative?" she said to Tom, with a look of profound sympathy.
"That would probably be for the best." He said quietly, looking upset by the whole ordeal.
"No! No Please!" Hermione sobbed as she tried to get out of the bed, only to be forcefully held down by Tom.
The nurse returned a moment later, and Hermione sobbed helplessly as the nurse injected a sedative into her IV. She felt her eyes growing heavy, and just before her eyes slipped shut, Tom leaned in close to whisper in her ear, "I'll never let you go again, Hermione."