Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, no profit is being made, this is just for fun
AN: I've already mentioned this story is AU after Half Blood Prince, and by that I mean, its not going to follow the story line of the Deathly Hallows AT ALL – one example, is that the Slytherin Locket horcrux that Harry got with Dumbledore at the end of HBP, in this story, is the real locket, not a fake one. They will be at school, not on the run hunting Horcruxes, though they will sneak out for brief periods when they get a lead on something. I'll put another AN at the end! Enjoy!
Hermione made her way to her usual compartment on the Hogwart's express and found Ron and Harry already inside. Ron was eating a chocolate frog, and Harry was staring listlessly out of the window, his hand absent mindedly rubbing his scar.
"Hey." She said catching their attention as she made her way in and took a seat beside Harry, "Are you alright?" she asked him, gesturing to his forehead.
Harry nodded, giving her a tight smile, but she could see that it didn't reach his eyes.
"Yeah, it's nothing. It's been burning pretty much constantly ever since I took the locket."
"Have you found a way to destroy it yet?" She whispered, and Harry shook his head in the negative, turning back around to face the window.
She looked down when she felt something land in her lap, it was a chocolate frog package.
"Congratulations, Mione, I heard you've been made Head Girl this year, not that we all hadn't expected it." Ron said giving her a small smile.
Hermione blushed slightly, and grabbed the package, "Thanks, Ron"
The door to their compartment slid open suddenly, and Harry, Ron and Hermione all looked up to see an unfamiliar face in the doorway. He was tall, with dark brown hair and light blue eyes
"Would it be alright if I join you? All of the other compartments were full." the boy asked.
Hermione looked at him questioningly, and then remembered what Dumbledore had said; Tom Riddle would be attending Hogwart's disguised by Polyjuice potion and posing as a transfer student. Her eyes widened, and she shot him a look as if to say, are you crazy?
Ron spoke up before Hermione could, "Sure mate, I'm Ron, though I can't say I've seen you before."
"No you wouldn't have, I'm a transfer." He said reaching is hand politely towards Ron to shake his hand, "Thomas Spencer, but you can call me Tom."
He took the open seat beside Ron and looked pointedly at Hermione and then to Harry.
"You must be Hermione Granger. I was told I should look for you. I'm to be the Head Boy this year."
Hermione's mouth formed a small "o" and when she was about to ask how he had known that, since for appearances sake she wasn't supposed to know who he was, she realized as she glanced down at her chest that she was already wearing her shiny Head Girl badge on her sweater, and blushed.
"Yes, well, you've found me." She said giving him a tight smile, and glancing nervously at Harry, who still hadn't said anything. She hoped that the locket's effect on Harry's scar would be enough of a distraction to keep Harry from becoming suspicious of Tom.
Harry spoke up suddenly, seeming to make a decision, "Where did you transfer from? You didn't say." He asked as his green eyes scanned the boy sitting diagonally across from him.
"No, I didn't. I attended Durmstrang." Tom answered quickly, his lie very convincing to Hermione's ears.
Ron laughed suddenly, "Hey Mione, I wonder if he knows Krum?"
"Ha Ha…very funny, Ronald." Hermione blushed. Ever since their fourth year, Ron brought up Viktor Krum as often as he could just to make Hermione blush. She was certain it was because he was still jealous, even if he couldn't admit it.
"While I can't say we're friends, I certainly know of Viktor Krum. He's sort of a celebrity back at Durmstrang." Tom smiled at Ron, before his eyes swept over to Hermione, the corner of his mouth lifting up into the ghost of a smirk.
"Forgive me if I'm being rude, but…You're Harry Potter, aren't you?" Tom asked, his eyes searching the face of the dark haired boy sitting across from him.
Harry sighed, and let out a mirthless chuckle, "Yeah, how did you guess?" he said with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.
"The scar. It's kind of hard to miss." Tom said offering his hand to Harry.
Hermione held her breath as Harry looked at Tom's outstretched hand, and after a moment of hesitation, he reached forward and shook it. She released her breath slowly when she saw Harry turn back towards the window, completely unfazed.
"Well, Tom, I believe you and I are supposed to meet the other Prefects at the front compartment in about five minutes." Hermione spoke up, wanting to be anywhere but sitting in the same compartment as Tom Riddle and Harry Potter.
"Of course, shall we?" he stood, holding the door open for Hermione to pass through it, before he gave another polite nod to Ron and Harry before following after her.
Hermione was silent all the way to the front compartment, and Tom proved to be a skillful actor as he talked with the other prefects, winning them over nearly instantly. She even caught a few of the sixth year girls giggling when he walked by. Merlin help her if she had to listen to that all year.
By the time they reached Hogwarts, Hermione and Tom were asked to direct the first years to the boats, and then make sure everyone else was seated in the great hall for the start of term announcements. Professor McGonagall placed her hand on Harry's shoulder as she walked by the Gryffindor table and bent down to whisper something in his ear. Hermione watched his eyes widen slightly, and look towards the staff table with an angry glare.
The very last person Harry Potter had expected to see was standing at the Headmaster's podium, and his fists clenched tightly, and Hermione could see a muscle twitching in his jaw.
"I should like to remind you all of the rules before the feast begins; No students are permitted in the forbidden forest without the express permission and /or accompaniment of a Hogwart's staff member. Disregard of these rules will result in immediate expulsion, or death."
No one made a sound as Severus Snape's eyes swept over the sea of students, his eyes locking for a moment on a pair of Green eyes that would forever haunt his dreams.
"Also, we have a new seventh year transfer student from Durmstrang Academy who has graciously accepted the Head Boy position. Mr. Spencer, if you would." The headmaster gestured to the stool sitting in front of the entire student body where the sorting hat sat waiting,
Tom stepped over to the stool, his cheeks slightly pink from all of the attention, and he picked up the sorting hat and sat on the stool, before placing the hat on his head.
"Ah, I've sorted you before, the heir of a founder, is rare indeed…well there can be no doubt which house to place you in…must be SLYTHERIN!
Hermione felt the blood drain from her face. She knew who he really was, and honestly, she had expected it, but having it reconfirmed sent a shiver down her spine.
"Lucky you, Hermione, you get to share your common room with a Slytherin." Ron scoffed, "He seems like an okay bloke though, so maybe it won't be that bad."
Hermione wanted to laugh at that, not that bad? She had to share a living space with a junior Dark Lord!
"Yes, well, we shall see." Hermione said as she watched him take a seat next to Malfoy and wanted to vomit. How in the seven hells did Professor Dumbledore think this was a good idea?
~~{0}~~
After the students were all ushered back to their houses for the night, Hermione made her way to the Head's quarters. She was so exhausted that she was sure she would fall asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.
"Granger."
Dammit.
"Tom." Hermione acknowledged as she swept past him towards the Head Girl's room, but she wasn't so lucky when he stood and caught her arm.
"I think we ought to discuss a few things." He said in an authoritative tone, and Hermione narrowed her eyes.
"Oh? What exactly do you think I'd want to discuss with you, Riddle?"
"It's Spencer."
Hermione glared at him, "In private, I'll call you whatever I like." She said acidly and he smirked.
"Fiesty. Well, if that's the rule, I'd prefer to not have to take this vile Polyjuice when we are alone in here." Tom said and looked down at his watch and Hermione watched with her mouth agape as the polyjuice wore off, once again revealing his true form. Truthfully, the polyjuice only made some subtle changes to his appearance, enough that no one would recognize him as Tom Riddle. His eyes were back to their usual inky darkness from the light blue they were while on the potion, his hair became darker, his cheek bones became sharper, his lips fuller, his jaw slightly more angular, and his complexion lighter. Overall, he was handsome while under the effects of the polyjuice, but he was what some girls would call gorgeous, naturally. It wasn't fair, really.
"Much better, don't you think?" Tom smirked running his hand through his black hair before meeting Hermione's gaze.
She was still glaring at him.
"You know, you would be much more attractive if you didn't have that look on your face all the time." Tom smirked and leaned back casually on the couch, placing his hands behind his head.
Hermione snorted indelicately, "Oh? And what look would that be?" She snapped, placing her hands on her hips defensively.
"You know, that look of distaste. It as if someone pissed in your pumpkin juice." Tom chuckled.
Hermione glared at him, mouth agape, "Yeah? And you'd be much more likeable if you weren't a complete psychopath."
He laughed then, loudly, and Hermione felt something flutter in her stomach at the sound.
"So tell me, Hermione, who is this Krum?" Tom asked, remembering her flushed cheeks when Ron had brought up his name on the train.
"Viktor, is none of your concern." She snapped crossing her arms over her chest.
"I disagree. Considering I am supposed to have been a student at Durmstrang, it would be in my best interest to know at least a few details about the school celebrity."
Hermione sighed, "He's a Seeker for the Bulgarian Quidditch team. He's quite good if you listen to Ron." Hermione sniffed.
"And if I listen to you?" He asked, the corner of his lips curving up into a smirk.
"I wouldn't know, I'm not really a fan of Quidditch." She said trying to evade the question.
"Perhaps not, but you are a fan of Krum." it was a statement, not a question.
"Look, It's not…Viktor and I went to the Yule ball together fourth year. We're friends, and that's all. Ron just likes to tease me about it, because he's jealous." Hermione sighed rubbing her temples, "Why are you so keen to know about my relationship, or lack thereof, with Viktor Krum, anyway?" she asked in exasperation.
"Because you seem to not want to discuss it, which naturally made me curious." He chuckled and caught the pillow she threw at him as she walked straight to the door of her room before she glanced back at him over her shoulder.
"You're insufferable!" She said as she stepped through the door, slamming it behind her.
She could still hear him laughing.
~~{0}~~
The next morning, Hermione entered her common room to see that Tom was already gone. She picked up her bag and stopped by the Gryffindor common room to see if she could catch Harry, Ron and Ginny before they headed to the Great Hall. When she walked in, Harry was sitting on the couch, and Ginny was sitting beside him talking quietly. Ginny looked up and caught Hermione's eye when she approached, and so she took the other seat beside Harry.
"How could they do this?" Harry suddenly spat, "He murdered him in cold blood!"
Hermione placed her hand on his back in a calming gesture, feeling a surge of anger all over again at Dumbledore for keeping Harry in the dark.
"I know, Harry. You must understand, that Voldemort has much more influence now than ever before. I'm positive that he's the reason Snape was made Headmaster. He wants one of his own on the inside keeping tabs on you. Half of the Wizengamot is in his pocket, so it's no wonder it happened so quickly. We should be thankful that at least Kingsley was made Minister." Hermione said quietly.
"I'm going to kill him." Harry said suddenly, and Ginny looked at Hermione pleadingly.
Hermione forced Harry to look at her, "Harry, you musn't. I know how angry you are, and I'm angry too, but you can't lose focus now. It's what Voldemort wants…he wants you to give in to your hate. Don't let him win." Hermione pleaded.
After a few moments, Harry blew out the breath he'd been holding, "You're right, Hermione, it's what he wants."
Hermione saw a look of relief flood Ginny's face.
"You need to focus on his Horcruxes, Harry. We need to figure out what the others are, and how to destroy them so that when the time comes to face him, he'll be mortal again."
Harry nodded, his green eyes boring into hers.
"You're not alone in this, Harry." Hermione said wrapping him into a hug. After a few moments, she felt him relax into her embrace.
"I never congratulated you. You'll do great as Head Girl, Hermione." He said giving her a crooked smile, as he leaned back to look at her.
"Thanks Harry. Now what do you say we get to Breakfast before Ron eats it all?" Hermione laughed pulling him and Ginny off the couch.
~~{0}~~
Hermione was annoyed to find that Tom shared every single one of her classes. And what was worse, was that he was always had his hand in the air whenever the Professors would ask a question. Hermione hadn't earned nearly as many house points for Gryffndor as she usually did, because Tom was so charming to the Professors, that they called on him more and more often. The only Professor that didn't seem affected by his charm was Professor McGonagall. Though she didn't outright ignore him, she certainly didn't give him any preferential treatment, which made Hermione smile. It seemed that no one, save her, Professor Dumbledore, and his brother Aberforth, knew who Tom Spencer really was.
By the time dinner rolled around, Hermione was glad to be free of Tom, taking her seat beside Ron, across from Harry and Ginny.
"It's a shame that Tom ended up in Slytherin, he seemed like an alright bloke. Looks like Malfoy's already got his claws into him", Ron said as he stuffed a roll into his mouth.
"No surprise there." Hermione sighed wanting to avoid the topic of Tom altogether.
"Be careful, Hermione." Harry suddenly said, and her eyes flicked up to his.
"What do you mean?" she asked innocently, he didn't suspect anything, did he?
"He's a Slytherin, and now he's hanging around Malfoy. I don't think I need to explain what that means, now do I?" Harry spat sarcastically. He had told them everything that had happened on the Astronomy tower that night, and how it was Malfoy who had disarmed the Headmaster, and how he had shown his dark mark.
"I'll be careful, I promise. Besides, I think Tom is smart enough to recognize Malfoy for what he is." Hermione said with more confidence than she felt.
"Let's hope so." Harry muttered as he finally turned his eyes away from Tom and focused on his food.
~~{0}~~
Hermione stepped into the common room, to find Tom sitting with a text book open on his lap and one foot propped up on the coffee table. A lock of his black hair hung over his eye as he read, the tip of his quill feathering back and forth over his lip.
"Why are you staring at me?" He suddenly asked, without even turning his head to look at her.
Her cheeks burned in embarrassment from having been caught looking, and she cleared her throat, "I was merely trying to ascertain how your ego was able to fit through the door."
He scoffed, "Easier than your hair, I'd imagine."
Hermione's mouth dropped open, "You are the last person who should be insulting anyone about their looks!" She spat striding over angrily to stand in front of him.
He laughed at that, "Oh? I wasn't aware that I was that hideous. That's certainly not the impression I've gotten, if the sixth year girls are anything to go by." he said smirking at her.
"You know what I meant. Lord Voldemort doesn't even have a nose." She said haughtily, raising her eyebrow at him.
He stood up quickly, towering over her by at least a foot, "And I have told you, Hermione, that I am not him."
She felt her cheeks flush at his closeness, and there was a part of her that itched for him to move just a little closer.
"What are you getting out of all of this?" she asked him suddeny, turning her face up to meet his dark gaze.
He leaned closer still until his lips brushed against her ear, and he whispered, "Freedom."
Hermione took a step back from him, her heart beating faster than she cared to admit, and crossed her arms over her chest defensively, "What, you think because you made some deal with Professor Dumbledore behind closed doors that everyone will take his word for it that you've changed?" she snapped incredulously.
Tom growled, "Do you have any idea what it feels like to be a Horcrux? Do you, Hermione?"
"Well, no, but-" she started before he cut her off.
"Of course you don't. Someone like you would never sink so low, am I right? Well I'll tell you. It's hell. Complete and utter hell. I thought it would have been like falling asleep, and then I'd wake up when that part of my soul was summoned." He said in frustration, his hand running through his hair as he paced in front of her, "It's not as if there was any information on what came next."
Hermione moved to sit on the couch, her interest piqued, "What was it like, then?" she asked quietly.
"I was aware of what he was doing the entire time. Always conscious, forced to watch everything that happened, but powerless to stop it. The part of me that was left on the outside became consumed by hatred and a rage so powerful, that it was like being forced to watch my own suicide."
Hermione listened quietly, not wanting to interrupt him.
"When Dumbledore released me and offered me my freedom in exchange for helping Harry to defeat Lord Voldemort, I knew it was the only chance I had to reclaim my life from the one who took it away from me. I'd rather die than go back into that cursed ring." He said sitting beside her on the couch, staring into the fire that was crackling in the hearth.
"Well, if you truly mean to follow through with this crazy plan of Dumbledore's, I can tell you that befriending Malfoy is not the way to earn Harry's trust." Hermione sighed and tucked her leg beneath her.
"Oh? And what are you now, my mother?" Tom asked raising a perfectly sculpted eyebrow in her direction.
She growled in frustration, "No, of course not…I just meant that Malfoy is a Death Eater. He's one of them. Ingratiating yourself to them is certainly not going to help your cause."
"Hermione, I'm a Slytherin. We do things much differently then Gryffindor's do." He said rolling his eyes.
"What do you mean?" she asked, giving him a questioning look.
"Has it ever occurred to you, that I could be gathering information from that insipid boy?" Tom said flatly.
Hermione spluttered, "Well…no, I…I guess I just assumed…"
"That's exactly the problem; you stand there on your pedestal passing judgement on those who see things differently than you do. Just because I'm a Slytherin, doesn't mean I can't be trusted." He told her
Hermione snorted at that, "If you think I'm that gullible, you have another thing coming, Tom Riddle. Just because you can charm everyone else with your good looks and your innocent act, doesn't mean it'll work on me."
His lips twitched as he tried to bite back a smirk, "So you admit it then?"
"Admit what, exactly?" Hermione said in exasperation.
"That you think I'm good looking." Tom said leaning towards her on the couch giving her a sexy grin.
Hermione scoffed and stood up, "You're impossible. I'm going to bed."
She heard him chuckle and say in a seductive tone, "Goodnight then, Hermione."
AN: So what do you guys think? Love it? Hate it? Tell me in a review! Also, I just want to give a shout out to those who took the time to drop me a comment: Laumirot, OptimusPrimeGirl213, EsperanzaHebras, Beestung2025, Pianomouse, Morethanbooks, and a Guest, you guys rock! I am so happy that you guys are digging this story so far! xo