Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter I'd be married with a daughter and son. I would have also just informed everyone that Mark Evans is a nobody and therefore would be in hiding from the angry fans battering down my door.

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'I, I,' Stuttered Hermione.

'Yes?' Said Tom urgently.

Hermione took a deep breath, this man had done terrible things, but he had been so gentle with her. Not only that but he promised to change for her. She could change him, and then the world would see what a kind man he really was.

'Tom, I…'

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A clocked and hooded figured swept into the cobbled courtyard, filling the one empty space in the circle. All the cloaked figures in the circle glanced up at him as he took his place.

'Get ready to welcome your Master and his lady' the figure announced to the group.

The men who had been hunched over straightened up, and the atmosphere in the courtyard changed from one of waiting to one of excitement.

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'lov…'

Hermione didn't finish her sentence through the door in the wall sprang Professor McGonagall.

'Hermione, don't say anything' commanded Professor McGonagall.

Tom glared at her and pulled his hand away from Hermione and reached inside his robes and grabbed his wand.

'What do you want old woman' he snarled at her.

Hermione looked up in shock at Tom's face that was contorted with anger and hatred. She couldn't understand why he was saying such a nasty thing to her favourite teacher.

'Tom, this is Professor McGonagall, my head of house' said Hermione taking hold of Tom's arm.

Once again Tom wrenched it from her grasp and pointed his wand at Professor McGonagall's chest.

'You old hag' he snarled at her.

Professor McGonagall looked scared and her eyes widened with fear. She knew what this man was capable of and now she was standing right in front of him.

'Get away from Hermione' she yelled summoning up all her courage. 'You evil old man. Get away from her I say!'

Tom stood up and walked over to Professor McGonagall, he was inches away when he whispered in her eye.

'Do you like pain?' Tom said with a grin spreading across his handsome face.

Professor McGonagall gulped and took a step back; she had never been so terrified in her life.

'Albus Dumbledore will get you!' She cried in a clear voice that hid the emotion that she was feeling. 'He is a much better wizard than you are, and you know it that's why you are afraid of him!'

Tom smiled even more evilly.

'But how will he get me when at this moment in time he is stuck on the Sahara dessert?' He said saying each word very slowly to give them more emphasise, almost as though he was savouring the taste of them on his lips.

To his utmost surprise Professor McGonagall smiled right back at him.

'He's here, in Hogwarts!' She said triumphantly. 'He was not fooled by your attempts to get rid of him!'

Tom let out a howl of rage and stuck his wand so sharply in her ribs that one of them cracked.

'YOU LIE!!!!' He bellowed, spraying Professor McGonagall with spit.

Hermione could not understand what was going on; Tom was meant to have changed. But why was he hurting her teacher?

'Tom?' She said gripping his arm.

Tom flung her off so hard that she flew across the room and landed in the four poster bed. Hermione's eyes widened and could not believe the scene that was before her.

Tom suddenly gave a bark of laughter and whispered in Professor McGonagall's ear.

'If he is in Hogwarts as you say,' murmured Tom. 'Let's see if he hears your screams. CRUCIO!!!!!!!'

Professor McGonagall's leg buckled underneath her and she knelled over on the floor and let of a piercing scream that echoed up the corridor.

Tom stood over her taking pleasure in her pain, then threw back his head and laughed. 'Come and get me old man, I am waiting for you!'

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Harry, Ron, Dumbledore and Snape ran down the long stone passageway following the sound of the lady's screams.

Both Harry and Ron's blood had started to run cold the moment they heard it as they feared the worst and thought it was Hermione's.

Snape had recognised the scream, but couldn't place it. He too was worried it might be Miss Grangers and he was worried that they were too late to save her. He had seen some of the things the Dark Lord would do to gain power, and Hermione was a very important thing. The Dark Lord would stop at nothing.

Dumbledore, however, recognised the scream at once. Now he was worried that Hermione might be in even more danger and that time was of the essence and they needed to reach her before anything happened. If that scream told him anything, it told him that Tom was still in the castle, which meant that Hermione still was as well.

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'Tom! Stop it, please!' Cried Hermione, tears sliding down her face. It was awful seeing her teacher in so much pain and she could not believe that this was her Tom, acting like this.

Tom removed his wand from where it was pointing at Professor McGonagall's chest, and turned to face Hermione.

'Oh! Hermione. I don't know what came over me!' He lied, with crocodile tears starting to slide down his face.

Professor McGonagall sunk to the floor, breathless, and then collapsed.

Tom walked across to where Hermione was and sat on the bed with her.

'I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry' he said.

Tom lent over and placed a kiss on Hermione's lips, he had to make her forgive him again. Hermione pulled away, this was the man that she had just seen torturing her teacher, however this was the man that Hermione wanted to change and thought maybe that she was the one to change him.

Hermione bent forward and started to kiss Tom, first gently, then passionately. She did love him very, very much and was willing to forgive him for anything. Over time she'd teach him how to stop being evil and to love. She knew he had it in him as he said he loved her…

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Snape, Harry, Ron and Dumbledore reached the end of the corridor to find Professor McGonagall unconscious on the floor. Snape swept onto the floor next to her to see if she was ok.

Harry and Ron closely followed by Dumbledore burst through the door.

Hermione it seemed was kissing Tom passionately, Tom looked rather bored by it all.

Dumbledore closed his eyes. Harry gasped and Ron swore. Snape looked up from Professor McGonagall and choked.

'The prophecy!' He cried.

Hermione pulled away from Tom and looked up shocked to find so many people in the room with her. She felt herself blushing, no one had ever walked in on her and Krum kissing and it was very embarrassing seeing all these people staring at her and Tom. Tom smiled evilly at Dumbledore, and then turned to Hermione with a compassionate look on his face.

'Hermione, do you love me?' He asked her gently taking her hand and holding it against his heart.

Hermione looked at him and slowly pulled her hand out of his grip, she opened her mouth and was about to speak when Ron yelled.

'No Hermione!!!! Do you realise who he is???

'Ron, calm yourself.' Said Dumbledore. Ron looked at Dumbledore as though he was mad. 'She has to go with her heart, we cannot interfere.'

'What?!?' Spluttered Harry.

Tom grinned at them, showing every tooth in his mouth, and then turned to Hermione.

'Darling, do you love me?' He asked again.

Hermione looked at Dumbledore's calm face that was deeply lined with the many trials he had had to deal with and the many wars he had to fight. Snape's furious slightly face, his hooked nose and his beetle eyes that had seen so much pain. Harry's young face scared with a thin lightening shaped scar that Tom, Tom who was sitting next to her on the bed had given him. Ron's devastated face, the hurt seemed to be flowing out of his eyes and he was looking at Hermione as though he didn't really know her and couldn't understand what was happening. Then, lastly, she looked at Tom's both handsome and slightly scary face, so young but then so old. Hermione's mind was made up.

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Well, that's it! All finished, all completed, all over. I hope you liked it and be sure to R&R and let me know what you thought!

Thanks to everyone that reviewed this story, I've had so many nice ones that made me want to carry on with this story, without them I would have given up long ago. Once again, thanks.

It's been a hard slog but I've got through it. I've had some really nasty and unfounded reviews which upset me quite a bit. But the nice ones and the ones that actually helped me and pointed out things I could do helped me a lot and encouraged me to carry on writing it. Thanks once more!

One last thing I have to clear up although the N.E.W.T exams are taken in year 7 the students at Hogwarts have to start them in year 6 as it's a two year course.

Sorry the updating became rather unpredictable, but there was so much going on….like parties…-shameful face- I promise in my next fan fiction it'll be more reliable!

Well, I hope you'll read my next story which should be put up on the site in a couple of days as I already have the first chapter written up in rough, so all I have to do is type it up on the computer and upload it on fan fiction. Also you never know, but I might do a sequel to this story and edit a few chapters to make it better!

One last time, thank you so much to all my reviewers, it's meant so much to me, and I wouldn't be writing this story without you guys. Without all the nice reviews off you I would have given up writing this story. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Oh, no! I think I'm going to start crying!