Authors Note:

So I'm tired and I've been so depressed I'm honestly quite surprised I was even able to get this chapter out. I've had to stop all of my medication and it's been hitting me hard. I've had like the worst past four or so weeks of my life and I'm just sick of everyone. I don't want to talk to anyone anymore and I'm honestly tired of all my friends and feel like just throwing my phone away because I don't want to talk to anyone and I'm sick of people trying to talk to me.

Anyway, enough of that. I've finally got some sort of outline for this and I would at least like to try and get it written quicker than WTDK so.

Enjoy.

Review all that fun stuff even if it's just to tell me I suck. I appreciate the reviews either way.

It was with great pleasure Hermione realized how easily jealous Tom Riddle could get. It was a plus when she realized that Tom couldn't exactly show it in public either. It soon became a great hobby of hers, teasing Tom whenever she could get a chance. It wasn't a terrible situation on either part, she truly enjoyed Ron Weasley's company and she was able to continually piss him off to no extent. Today was no exception, she made sure that she caught Tom's eye before she let Ron take her books as they made their way to Biochemistry.

"Too bad you still have detention tonight, I need a study buddy." She made her words were loud enough to reach Tom's ears as they passed by. She placed her hand on Ron's shoulder catching the narrowed gaze Tom was sending as they walked into the classroom.

"Study buddy? You want to watch me study while you sit and make me look like an idiot?" Ron rolled his eyes, taking his seat next to her.

Hermione found that she'd gained the upper hand once she realized how easy it was to make Tom angry. She even found that she didn't quite care how atrocious Tom had become in making her life a living hell, it didn't quite matter to her much anymore. Although Tom still continued to bother her relentlessly, teasing her in the hall and at one point earlier in the week, sitting next to her in class. She had begun to pay it no attention, ignoring him even.

Today was no exception to Tom's continual annoyance. He ended up sitting directly behind her. Ron gave her a look before turning to give Tom a look that she was very positive looked possessive. She didn't turn to see what Tom had responded with but once class had started she felt a sharp poke in her elbow and turned to see a piece of paper jabbing her in the arm. She turned and glared at Tom who again shoved it into her arm.

"Stop it." She whispered ignoring the paper.

It wasn't enough, he continued to shove the paper into her arm. She rolled her eyes, sighing finally grabbing the note.

'You're going to break his heart you know.' She rolled her eyes. She crumped the note before visibly dropping it in her bag for him to see. She could have guessed that seconds later another note would be stabbing her in the arm.

'Ignoring me will just make it worse. You going to keep leading poor Weasley on? Surely you know there's no competition.'

She smirked, gloating inside that she was working him over like this before responding back.

'If you didn't feel like there was competition, you wouldn't be writing this note, now would you? I don't see any competition. I'd choose Ron over you any day.'

She passed the note back and waited for a response. She heard him chuckle softly and she felt her heart thump softly at the sound of it, ignoring it the best she could. She looked over and saw Ron giving her a questioning look at the same time a sharp jab resounded in her elbow.

'You weren't saying the other night, actually. It sounded a lot like my name, if I correctly recall. You said it a few times.'

She felt a blush so powerful overtake her face, she had to look out the window to avoid anyone seeing it. He wasn't precisely lying, although it wasn't just the other night. Before the start of this week, she had somehow let herself be caught alone in the common room during dinner. She'd skipped dinner, choosing instead to stick around and study for an upcoming test. Apparently, her absence had been noted for Tom soon made his presence.

"I'm glad you took my advice on not eating, it almost looks like it's working. Maybe you'll get lucky and it'll all go to your ass." She smacked her head down on the desk.

"I honestly can't get away from you anywhere, can I?" He came up and sat down next to her looking over her shoulder to see what she was working on.

"How much you want to bet I'll kick your ass on this test tomorrow?"

"I've already learned my lesson in betting with you. You're a cheat and you can't be trusted. I'm sure you've somehow seen the answer key. Did daddy buy it for you?" She flipped over her study guide.

"I like the sound of that coming from your mouth, maybe you can start calling me daddy." He came around the desk sitting on it, grabbing the paper from her.

"I'm sure you love the sound of it, how many men have you had call you daddy before?" She went to snatch it back but he jumped off the desk.

"Oh, is that what you're into? Gay porn. Well God Hermione, I didn't take you to be that kinky." A crooked smile was plastered on his lips. "Anywhere, speaking of kinky. We're alone and I'm bored."

"Well then I guess it's good you've got two hands. Though, I suppose someone of your stature only needs two fingers." She stood up, glaring down at his pants.

"Come here and why don't we find out together how many fingers I need." He winked at her, coming behind her to press his body against hers.

She took a breath trying to gain some composure for herself. She knew very well that he knew what he did to her, as much as she wished it did nothing. She moved to walk away, but he wrapped his hands around her body holding her. She tried to stiffen her body and tense to get away, but his fingers moved her hair, pressing his lips to her neck.

"Tom, enough. Get off of me." Nothing in her actually wanted to move from his embrace, but she desperately wanted to prove herself wrong either way. He ran his hands across her body moving to pull her against him and she found herself relaxing into his grasp no matter how bad she didn't want too. My body is a traitor. She heard a small laugh in her ear as he felt her move closer into him.

"I don't get why you don't just admit how much you like this, you always come back for more." She pulled away at his words glaring at him.

"Has anyone ever told you how bad of a trait cockiness is?" She made to grab her things but he came around, pushing them off the table. "Tom! C'mon! You're acting like a five year old."

"C'mon. My dorm is empty for the next hour. It won't kill you." He said grabbing her study guide off the table and walking down the hall to his bedroom.

"Tom, give that back. I'm not going to chase you down, please." She begged as he turned the corner disappearing.

She watched him contemplating whether or not she really wanted the study guide. She could always write another one, but she'd been working on that specific study guide for the past three weeks and couldn't possibly get all the information that was on that one into another one. She looked around frantically trying to quickly make up her mind. She already knew that she would never get it back if she didn't chase him. Maybe if she got him before he got to the room.

"Tom, slow down. I don't know where your room is, stop. Please give me my paper back. I need that." She turned the same corner he'd come down and caught the sight of his head smiling at her before it turned down another hallway. "Tom, you're acting stupid. Just give me the damn paper!"

She let out an exasperated sigh when she heard him laugh towards the end of the hall. She finally turned once more before she saw him duck into a room with a whiteboard on it that read Head Boy's Room – Knock before entering please. She rolled her eyes, probably to keep people from catching him masturbating.

She pushed the door open, looking around for Tom. The room was only made for one person; a large king size bed taking up the middle of the room with very large antiqued looking furniture surrounding it.

"Jealous? Head students get their own rooms." He whispered from behind her, she turned to hit him and caught him in the chest. "Hey, hey. No hitting."

Hermione wasn't exactly positive how things escalated the way they did. She ignored him, going across his apartment beginning to open drawers and pull things out of them, ignoring him calling her.

"I honestly don't know what I was expecting." She said, pulling out a hustler magazine from the drawer, tossing it down on the ground.

"Oh, don't worry. I've taped your face to all of the women's pictures in there." He came up, sitting on the bed.

"Oh, well Tom. If you wanted to see me naked, you could always just go to hell and picture it." She began pulling socks and briefs out from the drawer.

"Why don't you just let me find out right now?" He asked, pulling her away from the drawer and tossing her onto the bed.

"Tom-stop…oh god." She felt her face redden when his lips made contact with the bare skin right above her school skirt. "Stop, now. Stop…" She was finding it very difficult to find her voice.

He had rolled her down beneath him and was pushing her back down every time she sat up to push him off. Something, somewhere, in the very back of her head was telling her to keep fighting, but that was the only thing telling her that. His hands ran up her shirt, kissing up her stomach. His voice vibrated across her skin when he spoke and it made her break out in goosebumps.

"You taste so good," His voice seemed to have lost some of that cockiness he had a second ago, like he too was feeling some of whatever she was getting. "I could taste you all day."

Hermione felt her body shiver when he sat up and plainly ripped her shirt open, buttons hitting the floor. She wished she'd owned some more attractive bras than what she was wearing. Her undergarments were limited in style. She didn't think she owned anything in actual colors unless you considered very pale pinks a color.

The look on his face read very different, his face had a very strange look, as though he wanted to say something but it was caught. She took the opportunity to try and ruin the moment.

"Never seen a real pair of breasts Tom?" She smirked at him.

A devilish smile came across his face and he leaned down causing her to hold her breath.

"I'll take that as an invite." His hands wrapped under her picking her up to kiss her but she slapped his hand away.

"Absolutely not." She moved to push him off of her and he budged slightly.

"You're just hurting yourself in this Hermione, ignoring what you really want." He sat back on his knees. He moved back down to her stomach and began planting small soft kisses. He began to speak through kisses. "We'll take it slow, I want you to mean it and want it when you finally admit how bad you want me."

"Some might consider this sexual harassment." She gasped as his kisses became more prolonged, sucking and biting tenderly.

He stopped and she involuntarily groaned and she felt his lips spread into a grin on her lower abdomen.

"No one's keeping you here." He waited a second and she felt her body convulse softly beneath him, eager for more of his touch. "That's what I thought."

The next thirty minutes were filled with the hungriest snogging she'd ever encountered in her entire life. She'd have to use makeup to cover the edges of her collar-bone the next morning, his marks prominent against her pale skin. His hands grasped at her body moving to feel her contours. Though his hands moved once or twice to roam between her legs, quick slaps from the moral side of her brain stopped him in his tracks and he would resume as though nothing had happened.

When Tom finally sat up, his breath heavy in his chest and light perspiration beaded across his forehead, his hair was a mess. The usual stylish décor he kept his hair in was strewn in every direction, his lips red and swollen and his eyes slightly glazed. He looked positively confused and lost and the sight of it caused her to begin giggling. The sound of her giggling seemed to bring him back to his casual demeanor and he shot her his signature playful look.

"Ready to admit defeat yet?" She rolled her eyes, pushing him off her to sit up.

She climbed off his bed and moved towards the door refusing to give him the satisfaction that he may possibly be incredibly correct. Though there was no denial that she couldn't ignore the carnal attraction she felt around him, but that didn't change the fact that she couldn't stand him as a person.

"I'd rather die."

"What was all the note passing about?" Ron asked as they left class, her books held tightly in his arms.

"His usual annoyances." She felt a small blush creep into her cheeks but she ignored it.

Hermione looked at Ron and he gave her a large genuine smile. She knew exactly why at the pit of her stomach she felt sick. She didn't think she was leading Ron on, but she knew what she was doing wasn't right either. However, she had no better way to get back at Riddle. She knew that she really did find Ron sweet and charming, his smile was cute and his tall frame made her feel cozy. She didn't mind sitting on the couch with him pushed up in his arms.

"You would think this whole thing with you and Tom would have died down by now." Ron grumbled to himself. She knew he was annoyed with the continual attention that Tom had been showering her with.

"It's just an academic thing." She wanted very much to change the subject, it didn't seem like she could ever get away from the popular subject of Tom Riddle.

"Speaking of academics, are we still meeting in the library tonight for studying?" He asked as Harry waved them over.

"Of course, I'll see you then though. Can't be late for Snape's class."

She felt a sense of relief (and possibly a small pang of disappointment?) when she entered the room and found the Head Boy's seat empty. Most of her classmates had already arrived and paid no attention to her when she walked in the room, though she did receive a rather nasty glance from her professor. Something she'd grown accustomed to. She knew that six point head that Tom currently had on her grade point average was specifically because of this class. Were it not for their continued partnered assignments, the point average would probably be much lower. She was further more surprised by his absence when the entire class went by without his presence. It wasn't much like him to miss a class, especially since she had just come from a class with him.

It was to her great surprise that she made it through the rest of her day without so much a lick or peep from Tom Riddle. He was nowhere to be seen at lunch nor was he in her other two advanced classes that he usually made time to sit and annoy her in. She felt rather annoyed with herself at the fact that she was as curious as she was to know of his whereabouts. By the time she'd finished her dinner and Ron began to accompany her to the library however, she'd almost forgotten about Tom Riddle.

"I honestly don't understand how you pass this class, this homework is in ruins." She glanced at the essay he was preparing.

"I maintain a good B average. Not everyone has to be a perfect straight A student to survive you know?" He mumbled grabbing the paper back.

They sat next to each other on the couch seated in the third floor of the library in the back of the shelves. She was thankful the library had such large unused sections, it was much easier to study and speak in peace when no students had any use, or at least no use at the current moment, of Film History from the early 1900's. She had kindly taken his paper to look over and correct and found herself making a mess of it, making more markings than he had.

"Now I'll have to rewrite the whole thing, I didn't think you'd ruin it." He laughed flipping through the pages.

"I can't help that you're an abysmal writer."

She found herself laughing with him and turned to face him and then stopped when she realized the look that had come upon his face. Oh No. She knew that look, not very well but she knew it. The twinkle in his eyes and the way his face looked at her as though he were reading the most interesting book he'd ever found. She sat still in shock as his face began to move closer to hers and alarms were ringing in her head. She sat so still when she finally felt his lips crash into hers. His lips were wet and warm, full and thick. They were awkward and nervous against hers as though he were surprised that he'd actually made contact with her.

She knew she needed to respond and a part of her scolded her, you did this to yourself. You've lead him to think you like him and now you have to return the favor. She forced herself to close her eyes and try and move into it, to give him the reaction he was searching for. That must've been the key for hands quickly discarded the items they were holding and moved to wrap around her, holding her in a very awkward close embrace. Ron must've not been experiencing the level of uncomfortableness or inelegance she was for he seemed to grow more passionate by the second.

She feigned needing to breath and pulled away from his lips trying to create a look of pure enjoyment but from the feel of it, it felt more like obstinate constipation. Luckily Ron seemed to be paying no attention, he wore a slightly drunk smile and was staring off as though he couldn't believe what had happened.

"Ron-"

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have-" Her voice made him snap out of it and he seemed to have noticed the uncomfortable on her face.

"No, it's not that. I just don't think that I was ready for it…" She trailed off, she really didn't know what to say. She could've guessed something like this would happen but she hadn't really thought about how to solve it.

Ron's face was turning a darker shade of red by the second, he averted her eyes and moved his hand to the back of his red to rub self-consciously. She found herself averting her gaze too, staring at her book desperate for something to pop up and change the subject.

"I just, I like you, you know?" Ron's voice was low with embarrassment and when she looked up she saw he was still looking away.

"I like you too Ronald, it's not that. It's not that at all, I'm just not sure if I'm ready for 'this', you know?" The little voice in the back of her head was trying to tell her something, but she chose not to listen. She really did like Ron, she loved hanging out with him and liked it when he had his arm around her or pressed his leg next to her on the couch. It was that feeling, that weird feeling that Tom gave her and that annoyed her more than anything. The last thing she wanted to think about when she was kissing a guy she actually like was Tom Riddle.

"No, I understand. I can wait if that's what you need." He looked at her and she realized that his brown eyes held the most hopeful puppy-dog look she'd ever seen.

"Thank you." She didn't know what else to say, she couldn't keep him waiting forever.

They said nothing afterwards, instead they worked in what was now a very awkward silence. Occasionally Ron would ask a question about where Hermione had marked or something of the matter but otherwise, there were no small talk. When it was finally an hour before curfew, Ron was yawning and decided it was time to go.

"Want me to walk you back up the common?" He asked throwing his backpack up over his shoulder.

"No, I really want to finish this essay. It'll only be a few more minutes, I'll follow you up in a little while, thanks though." She smiled at him, hoping tomorrow would be like nothing had happened.

Ron leaned down and kissed her very softly on the cheek and she smiled more, his lips felt soft and warm on her cheek and she actually enjoyed it. When he pulled away she smiled warmly at up at him and grabbed his hand to squeeze it before he returned the smile saying goodnight and walking off for her to keep working.

She enjoyed the silence, quietly working on her essay. She was sitting there when she realized she'd only written one sentence and decided that this was probably not going to go anywhere but it was due tomorrow so she had no option. She continued trying to write but no matter what she did she knew this essay wasn't going to be an A. She felt like she was writing absolute nonsense. The fact that her entire school year was going to revolve around useless drama that involved boys really bothered her. She wanted nothing more than to go back in time and realize how stupid it was of her to try and beat Riddle in academics. If she hadn't tried to show off how smart she was, none of this would have happened.

She leaned back in her chair to read what she had written and found her mind simply going off into different places. She felt a deep sense of confusion welling up in her chest as well as a longing for her life to go back to the way it was before she had to come to this stupid school. She'd never had any problems with boys at her old school and maybe that was because she'd never bothered herself with that kind of nonsense. Sure, she had friends. Most of her friends were actually girls and while they'd all been boy crazy she found that she found more interest in academics than she did boys. Boys weren't going to help her get into a great college, boys weren't going to do anything but distract her from what was really important.

Now here she was, six points behind an absolute perfect grade point average because she'd had to show off her stupid grades and prove that she was smarter than this stupid boy. She should've just kept to herself. She was now stuck between two guys and one of them seemed to be a crazy psychopath who always got what he wanted and the other was a sweet innocent boy who didn't deserve to have anything to do with herself.

"That was actually sad to watch." She jumped at the sound of his voice coming from behind her then turned to scowl at him.

"Oh, are you spying on me now? That's only a little creepy." She closed the book which held her paper, she'd just have to get up early and finish it, there was no way she'd finish it tonight. "Is that what you've been doing all day? Hiding behind desks and bushes and skipping class to spy on me?"

"That's not really any of your business now, is it?" He asked sitting on the other side of the desk, a smart smile on his lips.

"Oh, so everything I do is your business but I'm not to bother with anything to do with you?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Correct." He kicked his chair back to lay his feet on the desk. "I've had business to attend to today and came here to make sure there were no stragglers sitting around before curfew and instead came upon that nice little play there. You really shut him down, didn't you?"

"You probably enjoyed watching a little too much. I thought I heard a heard some heavy breathing." She began putting her stuff in her bag. "He's a better kisser than you anyway."

"You're lying and you know it." He laughed.

"You just like to think that you're better than anyone at everything. You can't stand knowing someone else has pleased me better than you."

"Is that so? Does Weasley know that? Does he know that you think he's a better kisser than me? I'm sure he'd love to hear that. Why don't I tell him tomorrow."

"Oh shut it." She ignored the cold feeling of dread that formed in her stomach from his words.

"That's what I thought. Anyway, you're not going to be able to keep that charade up with him any longer. Eventually he'll find out about us and that you've lied to him and it'll blow up in your face. I'm honestly getting quite sick of telling you that I don't like to share. You want to continue to play this little dirty game and flaunt him around in my face? You're taking it too far, and for Weasley's sake it's about time you've stopped. You see the way he looked at you when you let him kiss you on the cheek before he left? You've given him false hope and the only person that'll hurt in the end is you."

She stared at him with her mouth pursed shut. She had the childish urge to cross her arms but ignored it, but there was no way she could ignore the burning feeling forming in her stomach. As much as she hated to admit it, Tom was right. She had done nothing to stop from leading Ron on and if he were to find out about her and Tom, not that they had anything going, but if Ron were to find out she'd lose all her friends. Why did she feel like she was cheating on him if they weren't even dating?

"So what do I do then?" She asked in a hard voice.

"You got yourself into this mess, you can get out of it." He shrugged, his demeanor going from a heated possessive state to weirdly nonchalant.

"Fine, then I don't want us to meet anymore. I choose Ron." She tried to make her voice sound an uncaring as his did.

"That wasn't an option. You couldn't leave me alone even if you really liked Ron-"

"I do like Ron! That's why I want you to leave me alone! I just want to be with someone who is normal!"

"Oh please, I wish I had taken a picture of your face when you pulled away from him. You looked like you'd swallowed a cup of shit." He laughed.

"That's funny, because that's usually how you taste whenever we kiss."

"Oh right. You must've forgotten how bad I taste when you're moaning in between breaths. "He rolled his eyes. "Don't you get tired of lying to yourself every day or lying to everyone around you? It must be exhausting. Any whom, I wasn't giving you the option of choosing between me and Weasley. I was giving you the option for you to end it your way, or I'll end it my way. I'm not sharing what's mine, that won't change. I usually don't give an option either, I care about you too much to see you lose all your friends because of something so small and stupid."

"Oh, you're too sweet, Tom. Really, thank God." She rolled her eyes.

"Feel lucky I've offered an option Hermione, I'm not usually one to be so kind." He wasn't joking this time, the look on his face was serious.

"So what'll you do if I say no? If I tell you I'm to choose Ron over you anyway?" She asked standing up, she was ready to leave.

"That'll be for you to out won't it? In the end, if this is the way you'd like to hurt Weasley and lose your friends, that's your decision."

"You're giving me no other options! You're willing to ruin the only good things I have at this school so you can fuck with me on the side?" She was growing angry

"Language." His voice cut sharply. "I'm not the one who led him on this way. I was here first and I've claimed my stakes. You're playing with a fire you can't control, you're doing this all to yourself and I'm simply not allowing you to get away with lying to the boy, it's not fair to him."

She felt her face burning with anger and ignored the small voice in her head that was telling her that Tom was technically correct. She'd led Ron on to make Tom jealous, even though she really liked him and now she was stuck in this situation and she couldn't blame it on Tom.

"I'm not a possession. You don't stake claims on me, don't talking about me like I'm sort of daft object, I'm an actual person Tom. You don't control me, you don't own me, you can't tell me what to do, and you can't keep trolling me around like this."

He stood up, his eyes seemed to flash before her and in the dark lamp light of the library they looked like there were a pitch black giving his eyes an almost demonic appearance. The tick was softly moving in his cheek and his face held what appeared to be a searing anger. When he spoke, his words were soft and venomous, daring her to contradict him. They held a lenient dangerous tone that made goosebumps stand up on her arms.

"I'll only say it one more time Hermione," He backed her up to the bookshelf, her arms coming behind her to touch it while one of his hands moved above her head and the other grabbed her chin, forcing her to look into his eyes, the gaze made her body smolder. "You belong to me, no one else. I won't watch you toy around with some silly boy and force me to watch. This isn't a war and you ought to stop treating it like one. This is a battle you know you'll lose and the only result is your friends leaving you alone and you'll have no one to blame but your pretty little self.

His fingers stroked her cheek and she stared up at him, her face tightly held by a mask of anger and somewhat pleasure. She tried to ignore the fact that his body so close to hers felt so good and that deep in the pit of her stomach she could feel something warm stirring at how possessive he'd become. However, something else was also incredibly angry that he seemed to think he could just treat her like nothing more than a common household pet. He leaned forward and began to whisper in her ear, his hand moving from her face to her hip to grasp firmly.

"Can't you feel that?" She didn't have to ask to know what he was talking about, that hot electric sensation that ran through her body every time he touched her. She couldn't ignore the way her body reacted against his touch. "You love it and you don't feel that from anyone else but me. It doesn't matter if you don't admit it, eventually you will, but this won't change. This-" Her breath hitched when he pressed his abdomen and waist into her body forcing her to feel the hard arousal in his pants. "The way, you breathe when I touch you, how you can't get enough. This won't change. You don't want to hurt Weasley and you don't want to piss me off. So choose wisely Hermione." His lips pressed to her ear and he moved down her neck.

Her breath was shaking and seemed to come out in ragged spurts from her chest, trying to drop the temperature of her blood that was boiling under her skin. His lips bit softly into her neck and she bit her lip hard to try and stop the quiet whimper that worked it's way out her throat, but she didn't catch it in time. She heard a chuckle against her neck where he was softly sucking on the skin, leaving tiny prominent marks and his chuckle did nothing but heat the hot feeling in her stomach.

"Please…" Though she was trying to tell him to move off of her, it didn't come out that way and she wasn't sure if she was concerned about it either. It more or less sounded like a plea for him to keep going and she didn't think she wanted to correct herself.

Tom's hand that leaned on the book shelf moved down and he came between her to hitch her leg up, softly stroking the bare skin on her upper thigh. She groaned softly when he suddenly gripped the pale flesh right under her ass, his teeth digging into the area right above her collar bone on her neck. He moved his hand up from her waist and made way with small light kisses up her neck using his hand to pull her hair back tasting all over before he found her lips.

She couldn't understand how she always ended up in this situation, one second they would be fighting and then another he would trick her into acting like she couldn't breathe without his body touching hers. His tongue begged for no permission and simply entered as though he owned the place, his lips rough on hers. She groaned again when he shifted hard in between her legs again, purposely repeatedly pressing in between her legs. She felt a slight sense of accomplishment when she realized she every time he moved, she could hear him groan softly. Her hands were wrapping up in his hair and the grip he had on her thigh was dangerously close to where she decided she really wanted it to be. However, he suddenly pulled his lips away and gave her the odd sensation as though she'd had the breath ripped from her lungs. He was leaning forward, she bit her lip as she realized the hand that was touching her thigh was moving around, his finger teasing the outer edge of her panties.

"Don't fight it anymore Hermione, just give us what we both want." His voice was hot in her ear and she realized with embarrassment that the thin fabric of her panties that was pressed against his arousal was wet. His tongue played with the sensitive skin that was right under her ear and her body shuddered.

He began to pull away from her, his fingers sliding softly down her thighs and his other hand trailing from her hair to rest on her chin to be sure she was looking at him.

"Go upstairs before I give you a detention for being out past curfew." His smile was wicked and for some reason the sight of it made her feel slightly sick.

Ginny was still awake when she walked into the room, she quickly made her hair to cover her neck as to cover the marks she was too positive Tom had left behind. However, the look on Ginny's face said that she probably wouldn't have noticed them anyway, for she wore a grin that seemed to stretch from ear to ear on her face.

"Don't get mad at Ron, but he told Harry and me what happened-"Hermione sighed loudly in response but Ginny didn't notice. "He was kind of embarrassed because he said that you were a little upset after the kiss but then he told us he kissed you goodnight and that you seemed really happy about it and grabbed his hand and told him you liked him, and why didn't you tell me you liked him?!"

"How do you talk like that without running out of breath?" Her voice was sarcastic and she had to glance at Ginny to make sure she caught it.

"This whole time you've liked Ron and he's liked you back and you two were just beating around the bush. It's about time he's made a move. He's always talking about you to Harry and I cannot believe he actually plucked up the courage to act on it. He said you told him you wanted to wait and take it slow. I wish I had known you liked him too, I mean I've always thought but you've never said anything."

"Slow down, slow down." She was trying to put her night clothes on but her brain still felt slightly fried from the heated moment she had shared moments ago. "I like Ron, I'm just not sure if I like him like that you know? I wasn't expecting him to kiss me and when he did, I was just surprised. He wasn't upset?"

"So you don't want to go out with him?" Ginny sounded confused and almost hurt and Hermione was almost afraid to say anything else in fear or offending or pissing her off.

"It's not like that…it's just. I don't know. I'm not sure I want to date." She didn't feel just terrible because technically she wasn't lying. She really didn't want to date and she was trying to convince herself this had nothing to do with her conversation with Tom in the library.

"Oh." Ginny went silent for a few seconds and the glee that had been on her face when she walked in was gone now. "Well, that's fine. I mean, it's not like you two have to date you know? You just ought to make sure he knows though, you have been overly nice lately and I'm not saying you're leading him on, but I'm not saying you aren't either."

"I know…I know. I just wanted us to be friends. I like being around him, I wasn't trying to lead him on." She got into her bed and placed her head in her hands, she didn't really know where to go with this conversation. "I'll just talk to him tomorrow and let him know."

The next morning Hermione followed on her promise though she didn't actually want too. She had a feeling that if Tom hadn't of forced her into this situation, she would probably actually do it and not feel so adamant against it but there was no telling. She found Ron before breakfast and while her friends and trailed down to breakfast, she grabbed his arm and begged him to stay behind. His face remained blank when she explained it to him and his silence had begun to make her panic when he finally spoke.

"I don't want to lose you as a friend, 'Mione." His face looked slightly downfallen and she felt an overwhelming guilt punch her in the gut. "I'd rather us be friends than nothing at all. I hope I didn't make things awkward." His ears were beginning to turn red.

"No, no. Of course not Ron. I want us to be friends too, which is why I'm talking to you. I don't want to ruin anything…"They arrived at the breakfast hall and stood on the side of the doors to avoid blocking the entry.

"So we can agree on it then? Friends?" He smiled.

"Friends." She laughed when he reached out to grab her hand, forcing her to shake hands.

"Don't worry, I spat in my hand before we shook so it would be real. No taksie-backsies now. The spit made it official." He smiled as they walked into the hall.

"I thought we were doing a blood thing, I had cut my hand open."

"Then it's probably a really bad time to tell you I have a raging case of Herpes." He laughed harder when she elbowed him in the side.

"Did you talk it out then?" Ginny asked looking up as they both sat down.

"Ginny, god. Shut up will you?!" Ron's face burned and he ignored the laughter coming from around him as he loaded his plate.

She found that her day was gratefully pleasant until while getting ready to walk upstairs to grab her things with Harry and Ron that she pulled down on the first step.

"Oh! Oh…it's you." She turned to look back at her friends who were giving Hermione the "do you want help" look. "You two go on, I'll be up in a second."

Ron stayed for a second, his eyes narrowing at Riddle before Harry grabbed his arm and urged him to come on but not before sending Tom a regulatory glare of his own. Ron slowly followed him up the stairs turning repeatedly to look until they disappeared down the right corridor.

"Protective lot, aren't they?" His face held a small smile.

Tom had his hair styled slightly different, today it was as though he'd woken from bed and stylishly messed it up, making it look perfect yet somehow still disorganized. His white oxford tucked into his pants except for one flap that hung out casually. His dark black blazer was on though unbuttoned and his school die laid neatly between the sides of his blazer. Why the fuck did he always have to look like a fucking private school boy catalog model.

"What do you need? You're going to make me late for class." She leaned against the staircase banister impatiently.

"Did you fix your little dilemma?" He asked, smiling at a group of seventh years behind her back.

"I did what you asked, now is that all? I've got to go." She honestly just wanted to get away from him, she'd had enough Tom Riddle to last her the rest of her life.

"Good, then we can make our announcement next week." He smiled roguishly.

Her mouth dropped open and she felt her face slowly growing red but she couldn't decide whether it was with anger or a mixture of fear and anxiety. She traced all over his face for any sign that he was joking but she honestly could never tell if he was being serious or not, but then she remember he'd already threatened her with this and he never went through on it.

"You already made that threat and you lied, why should I believe anything you say now?" She hissed, her eyes narrowing at him.

"Hermione, please. I was trying to be kind and that was before all this nonsense with the Weasley boy and you playing dirty. I'm ready to come out with our true feelings, I want to show the world how we really feel." He looked like he was trying not to laugh and it just angered her even more.

"You mean your true feelings? How you really feel? I'm not going to go along with this stupid little charade you have planned out in your head. I did exactly as you asked, I turned him down just like you asked."

"Yes, but I haven't quite had my fun now have I? Tell you what, let's do it this Friday then. That'll be perfect, good idea Hermione."

"That's not what I said!" He began walking up the staircase giving no inclination that he wanted her to follow but she did anyway.

"Keep arguing and I'll just keep moving it up, it doesn't matter to me. I'm an eager-beaver myself. I can be rather impatient you know?"

"Don't just walk away when I'm talking to you!" She grabbed at the back of his blazer forcing him to come to a halt on the steps. "You were the one telling me not to ruin anything good that I had here. You were the one telling me that you cared about me and you wouldn't ruin the only friends I had! What the hell is wrong with you? Why can't you just leave me alone and call it well enough?! I've given you everything you've asked for!" She walked in front of him to prevent him from walking away from her.

"No, not everything." He moved to push past her but she side-stepped him and pushed him forcing him to stay on his step. "You're still lying to yourself and as long as you're lying to yourself you aren't giving me what I want."

"I'm not lying to myself! Only someone as selfishly conceited as yourself would assume that everyone is in love. I don't love you and I have no intentions of admitting it to you or anyone. If me lying to you to please you is what you want and it keeps me from losing the only friends I have, then fine. I love you Tom Riddle and I can't get enough of you. Is that what you want to hear?"

The look he was giving her just made to piss her off even more, she felt a harsh burning anger boiling beneath her skin and the familiar itchy feeling she got in the palm of her hand was becoming ever more present. His face held a smart expression of humor and semi-annoyance.

"For someone who seems so eager to prove how smart they are, you really are quite stupid. I don't expect you to be able to admit it to me if you can hardly admit it yourself. When you mean it, and truly mean it, I'll leave you alone. I'm teaching you a lesson Hermione and soon, whenever you realize it, you'll really appreciate me for it." He smiled at her warmly before pushing her aside to continue his way upstairs. "Now, we're already late for class and it won't look good for you walking in alone with me, unless of course you wish to announce today instead of Friday?"

She quite honestly had no words for the emotions that were stirring in her chest, though she could distinctively feel the sour hot bitter anger pumping heavily through her blood stream. There was also a very distant part of her that seemed to think that crying might somehow fix this entire situation though knowing someone like Tom, she knew it would only lead to further harassment. Although he had continued as though he were going to walk and leave her behind she'd noticed he paused at the top staring down at her as if waiting.

"If you keep standing there looking like you're about to cry, I'll have to give you a detention for skipping class." The look on his face was that of impatient annoyance.

"I assure you, detention will be a welcoming haven compared to having to be your girlfriend."