Hey guys. So sorry it took so long for me to update. I had a major case of writer's block with this story but I think it's better now that school is out and I have time to focus on it without schoolwork interfering. So I hope you like it!
There's a curse between us,
between me and you
We were one of the last sets of people to arrive in the small village of Hogsmeade thanks to me. I had a small amount of trouble finding one of my shoes this morning and it ended up being wedged between two boxes in my closet. Tom and I were walking along main street just like every other kid when we first got to Hogsmeade. Eventually the students started to break off into groups or pairs and go into the various stores, shops, and pubs until only Tom and I were left on the street.
I am not going to say that this whole experience with Tom was not strange for me because it was. But somehow I felt as if it was not a big deal, like I had done it before in another life or alternate universe. I knew this would impossible however because never in my life had ever been this close to the man that was to become the most evil wizard in the world but still Tom gave me a small case of deja voo none the less. We were silent as we walked along the brick road. It was a few moments before either us would say a word.
"What did you need to pick up today?" He asked formally. I looked up at him and thought about his question.
"I, um, I need to get some things for my Runes project." I informed him. He simply nodded and turned his gaze back to face forward. I did the same. More silence followed. We walked to the end of main street and I pointed to the left to show we needed to head down the next lane. Tom once again nodded and I followed his example.
The silence was slowly making me feel how awkward this whole situation was between us. What were we to each other? Friends? Acquiescences? I wasn't really sure at this point. Hopefully this inquiry was something I would be able to figure out by the end of this little outing.
"You know," Tom's sudden words snapped me out of my thoughts and I concentrated on him. "This village has not changed much in fifty years. Everything seems exactly the same." He told me. I smiled and looked down at my feet.
"Yes, I suppose it hasn't. I don't think Hogsmeade has changed since Hogwarts was built in all honesty." I informed him in my 'book worm' like voice.
Tom glanced at me from the corner of his eye. "Did you read that in Hogwarts: A History?" He questioned me with a smirk growing across his face.
My mouth dropped open as if he had offended me and I let out a little scoff. "I didn't-" He stopped me mid sentence with a roll of his eyes and set me with look that said he wouldn't believe me if I said I hadn't.
I bit my lower lip. "Yes, alright I did." I laughed a little and pushed some hair out of my face. Tom smiled a small smile but made no other response. At his look I felt like I needed to defend myself for being such a know it all. "But it is a truly fascinating book if you give it a chance and read it."
"Oh, I know." Tom said. I wrinkled my forehead at him. "I've read it three times." He elaborated.
"You have?" I felt myself questioning him with a surprised tone in my voice.
"Yes. When I first arrived at Hogwarts I felt as if I should know about the castle in which I would be staying. After I finished it the first time I fell in love with the book. I found the information that resided in it's pages to be very useful." He told me with an amused tone laced into his voice. His statement made me stop walking and just stare at him. He noticed my sudden pause and turned back to me. I looked into his eyes and let out a scoff of bewilderment and a humorless laugh. I dropped my gaze and my mouth dropped open along with it. How could I be so stupid?
"Hermione?" I heard Tom call to me. I shook my head and kept my eyes down. Those words he just spoke... the pages of Hogwarts: A History being useful to him...
"The Chamber of Secrets." I said to myself in a small whisper as the recognition of his humor in his statement took over my brain.
"How do you know about that?" Tom asked slowly as if I had caught him in a lie. I shot my eyes up and met, not Tom's, but Voldemort's. How could I be so stupid?
"I don't see how it really matters, Riddle." I snapped at him. He came toward me with a confused look etched onto his hard face. I stepped away when he tried to put a hand on my shoulder. He retracted his hand quickly and just opted to stare at me instead with a hurt expression. At that moment, he knew he was caught. He knew I knew about the chamber and what he had done all those years ago and he so looked like the Dark Lord in that moment... "Bloody hell." I back away from him again. I spun on my heels and started to fast walk away from the Slytherin. "How could I be so stupid?" I scowled myself again.
"Hermione! Wait!" I heard Riddle's voice call after me. I kept walking. He eventually caught up to me and grabbed hold of my shoulders to make sure I would listen and pay attention to him. "Will you just talk to me?" He asked, a little frustrated. I scoffed again and brushed his hands off of me. This morning I would have probably welcomed his touch but now...
"Merlin, I need a drink." I said to myself before stomping off again. I could not believe this! Me! Hermione Jean Granger!? Start to have feelings for Tom Riddle aka Lord Voldemort himself? The man-thing- who killed everyone I have ever known and loved!?
"Hermione!" I heard him call one last time before I rounded a corner onto one of the bustling streets of Hogsmeade village. I looked around me but saw Riddle nowhere in sight. Good. Now all I had to do was find alcohol. I was never one for drinking but right now I could use the buzz it provided. The question was where to get it. Madame Rosmerta at the Three Broomsticks would never sell me a bottle of fire whiskey but I'm sure I could find a shabby old pub that would be willing to to it just to make a few extra sickles. I wandered down the street before finding my target. The pub I had chosen was filthy and called Merlin's Hideout. It seemed perfect.
I pushed open the door and heard a bell start to ding above my head. The place was completely deserted except for the man behind the grim covered counter. He was filthy just as his establishment was with stringy dark hair. I walked up to the counter and cleared my throat to get his attention.
"And what can I do for you today, girly?" He asked me with a wink. I cringed but kept my composure. There was no chance in hell that he would sell me alcohol if I acted like the silly little school girl Tom thought me to be. Damn! Stop thinking about him!
'One bottle of fire whiskey, please." I asked nicely. He tilted his head to me and narrowed his eyes.
"Are you old enough for that?" He questioned me.
I pretended to be offended by his question. "Of course, I am! How dare you insinuate-"
"Yes, yes. Alright. I didn't mean to offend you." He said with a wave of his hand. He went to a shelf and came back to me with a large bottle filled with an amber liquid. I paid the man and left without a another word to him. The bell above the door dinged again as I left the pub behind me and headed into the busy street. Now, I had to find a place to get utterly wasted without any one noticing. The perfect place clicked in my mind: The Shrieking Shack. No one ever went up there anymore so it would be nice and private.
I made it up the large hill and came upon the creepy shack. I sat under a tree close to the fence. I opened the bottle in my hand and took a large sip. The whiskey burnt my throat on the way down but did the trick. By the time the bottle was a third of the way gone Tom Riddle and the ridiculousness of the situation I had put myself in was not even registering in my mind anymore. I looked out at the Shrieking Shack and thought back to my third year. Ron and I had came here during one Hogsmeade visit and we saw Draco and his gang of goons. Of course, they came to give us a hard time like they always did but then Harry showed up and messed with them a bit while under his Invisibility cloak. It was funny but it scared Ron half to death. He thought that Harry was a ghost from the most haunted house in Britain instead of an invisible Gryffindor . I laughed. Only Ron would think something like that.
These thoughts and memories of my dead friends only made me more depressed so I drank some more. My vision was blurry and I was having a hard time keeping my eyes open. I looked at the spinning bottle in my hand and noted that it was two thirds empty. I took another swig from the bottle and placed it on the ground next to me. My head was swimming in the effects of the whiskey and the numbness it brought to me felt good. I noticed that the sun was beginning to down and I figured that it was time to get back to the castle as I was sure everyone else was already doing. I held on to the trunk of the tree as I tried to stand up. The scenery around me was spinning but I still managed to get to a standing position. I kept my grasp on the bark and just tried to stay on my feet for a few minutes and gain a bit of balance. It was getting darker and darker so I decided to try my hand at walking.
I took a couple steps before the ground in front of me started to turn sideways leaving me with the feeling that I was in a fun house. I felt myself begin to fall but I never made contact with the hard ground. Strong arms wrapped around me, one at my waist the other under one of my arms. "Whoa. Hermione. I have you. It's okay." The voice was muffled and and a little shaky so it was hard to recognize. I whipped my head around and saw a tussle of brown hair. I still did not know who had me until I glanced down at the boy's robes and saw the Slytherin crest embroidered on them.
"Get off of me!" I slurred in Tom Riddle's direction and tried to push him off of me. His arms only wrapped around me tighter and kept me pinned against his chest.
"Hermione! Stop struggling!" He yelled at me with a frustrated edge to his deep voice. I could have complied to his request but I didn't. The more he held onto me the more outraged I became at him.
"Don't tell me what to do!" I slurred again. "I'm not one of your Death Eaters that you can command!"
His grip on me slackened and he completely let go. I spun around and looked him in the face. He seemed more terror struck than angry at my cruel comment but that could have been the alcohol playing tricks on my mind. Tom Riddle nor Voldemort let feelings such as terror be shown on their faces. As I gazed into his eyes the world began to spin even more than it had been before. I began to fall again but I never made it to the grass.
Once again Tom caught me in his arms. "I've got you, Hermione. It's okay." He repeated with a deep sigh. I was too dizzy and tired now to fight him off. I put a hand against my forehead to try and will the spinning from everything around me but it was no use. "Can you walk?" He asked me, concerned. I tried to take a step and stumbled.
"Apparently not." I said with only a small edge to my voice. The whiskey was taking full control of my mind now and things like staying mad where hard to do. Tom nodded and I felt my feet leave the ground. I looked around me and saw that Tom and picked me up and was cradling me in his arms. I wrapped my arms around his neck and rested my head against his broad chest to keep myself steady.
"Everything is... spinning." I mumbled out. I felt my head rise and fall as a sigh escape from his chest.
"Yes, well I assume that is thanks to the fire whiskey." He said quietly. I closed my eyes and let out a deep breath. My anger at Tom was gone now, the alcohol had done it's job. When my buzz was gone, however, I was sure some sort of feelings toward him would return to me. Whether those emotions be anger, fear, or... affection I wasn't sure and I really wasn't looking forward to finding out. I felt drowsiness take over me and I yawned rather largely.
"Why did you do this to yourself?" Tom asked quietly. My eyes snapped open for a moment before drifting closed again. I wasn't planning on tell him anything really. But somehow the words came out of my mouth without my consent like my brain was plotting against me. I cranked my neck up and looked at Tom Riddle through partially closed eyes.
"Because you made me feel something for you." His head started spinning again and I closed my eyes, without another thought I drifted off into a dreamless sleep. It wouldn't be until the next day that I realized I shouldn't be allowed to drink. Ever.
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