The next day the Daily Prophet had the house elf's murder as headline news. The newspaper was raging with speculation on whether this had been an attempt to assassinate the minister of magic or Albus Dumbledore. Dippet was under immense pressure as he received angry owls from parents worried about their child's safety and he had to give interviews to reassure them. Aurors were sent to take statements and the head girls and boys were to be questioned first. Hermione waited outside Dippet's office with Bones, Longbottom and Tom. She appeared calm on the outside but her heart was rapidly hammering away on the inside. She couldn't think of leaving behind any evidence but she was still worried.
"Come in" a voice said and the office door opened. Dippet was sitting behind his desk and Dumbledore was standing behind him. Two aurors were present and they were sitting in front of four empty chairs.
"Sit down everyone" Dippet said gesturing towards the chairs and they all sat down.
"Which one of you boys is Tom Riddle?" one of the aurors asked narrowing his eyes.
"I am" Tom said staring at the auror unblinking and the auror seemed taken aback by Tom's unafraid behaviour but recovered quickly.
"You alone ordered the refreshments?"
"Correct sir" Tom said still staring at him unblinking.
"And they were all prepared by the Hogwarts kitchen elves" the auror said creasing his brows.
"Yes sir"
"Did you order any food or drink outside of Hogwarts?"
"No sir" the auror sighed and wrote something down.
"No one else was involved in the ordering" the other auror said looking at Tom with a piercing gaze. "From what I understand boy" the auror said getting up. "You were meant to be working as a group" the auror suddenly placed both of his hands on Tom's armrest and Tom blinked for the first time since they had entered the office. "So why was it only you?" the auror said accusingly and he leaned down close to Tom's face. Tom slowly leaned back as far as he could and both of his hands clenched into fists. He stared at the auror with dislike and there was a glint of fear in his eyes but it disappeared in seconds. Even though it seemed impossible, Tom Riddle had somehow managed to turn paler and she would never have known if she hadn't noticed the faint trace of blue veins on his cheeks.
"It's easier to have one person place an order for everything than to have four different people order various items." Tom said in a tone that suggested the auror was completely stupid. The auror stared at him speechless and Tom continued to stare at him emotionlessly.
"Right, well" the auror said drawing away from Tom with an uncomfortable expression and Tom's hands slowly uncoiled. "So all of you set out the refreshments together?" the auror said sitting back down and they all nodded to say yes. "No one else was there?" they all nodded to say no. "Did you leave the refreshments unattended at any time?"
"We left after setting the tables" Longbottom said nervously.
"Merlin" the auror whispered pausing his quill.
"When the four of you arrived, did anything seem out of place or tampered with?" the other auror suddenly asked.
"Well we--we all didn't arrive together" Bones said in a low voice. "Riddle and Granger were there before us" Hermione's heart beat speed up. Stupid Bones, why did she have to say that? Now the aurors would wonder why she had arrived early and it was all because Tom was a punctuality freak but would the auror believe that? She suddenly noticed Dumbledore staring at them with a grave expression and her heart jumped. As if the aurors weren't enough, now she would have Dumbledore on her back as well.
"I see" the auror said scribbling down something fast. "And throughout the evening did you see anyone acting suspicious near the food?"
"I don't think so" Bones said grasping Longottom's hand for support.
"How about you Mr Longbottom?"
"No sir" Longbottom said.
"Longbottom and Bones you may leave" the auror said exchanging a look with the other auror. Bones and Longbottom left looking relieved and Hermione momentarily stopped breathing. If they were allowed to leave that meant she and Tom were being suspected of something. Oh Merlin, this wasn't good.
"So why did you arrive early boy?" the auror said narrowing his eyes.
"I didn't arrive early" Tom said looking cross and the aurors looked confused. "Longbottom and Bones were late" Hermione felt relieved at his words. She had always thought they had arrived extra early but since they were on time the aurors couldn't accuse them. The auror scratched his head and the other auror looked tired but Dumbledore continued to stare at them gravely.
"Well, did you see anything or anyone acting suspicious during the evening?" an auror said looking hopeless.
"No sir" Tom said nodding his head.
"Miss Granger did you arrive before or after Mr Riddle" the other auror said boring his eyes into her.
"I--I was going to the dance with him so we arrived together" she forced out.
"I see" the auror said suddenly smiling at her. "Did you see anything or anyone acting suspicious during the evening?"
"No sir" the auror sighed and wrote something down.
"Okay, you two may go." The auror said waving a hand dismissively and feeling relieved she got up. Tom and Hermione headed towards the door.
"Mr Riddle" the other auror said making him halt and turn.
"Yes sir" he said forcing a smile on his lips.
"Your headmaster here has been telling me about your extraordinary grades"
"They're not that extraordinary sir" Tom said looking at the floor with a humble expression and Hermione knew he was acting but it looked so genuine.
"He's just being modest" Dippet said looking at Tom fondly.
"I like that" the auror said smiling. "People that always boast about how good they are can get annoying and you're exactly what we're looking for" the auror said taking out a card. "You see, intelligent students seem to be the scared type that have never seen life beyond their books but you were completely unafraid during the questioning" looks like the auror had failed to notice Tom's one second glint of fear or the fact he had paled. "We need brilliant students with a spine and I insist you take this card Mr Riddle" the auror said holding the card towards him and Tom took it. "After graduation send an owl to the address and quote my name. I guarantee you will be given a place within the auror department" Hermione suddenly had the huge urge to laugh. The dark lord had just been offered a job as an auror. What was the world coming to?
"Thank you sir" he took the card smiling but the smile didn't reach his eyes. She walked out after Tom feeling light. As she walked down the corridor she recalled the way Tom had acted. He always recovered so fast and no one had probably noticed his reactions but Hermione had observed him for long enough to know that anything seen on Tom's face was never imagined or caused by the trick of light. She didn't know what the aurors blood status was but Tom couldn't have known either, so why did he have a problem with the auror leaning close? Looks like he hated anyone getting close to him and it didn't really surprise her. Dumbledore had said he only loved himself and the dark lord probably thought he was so high and mighty that contact with mere humans probably disgusted him. If he really hated everyone that much, he should go live alone in some forest and do the world a huge favour.
At the end of the week Hermione sat reading the Daily Prophet at breakfast. The paper reported that the poison had been identified as Letum Sero and it was expert opinion that only an assassin sent by someone important was behind it since the ingredient Moonflower was almost extinct. The Hogwarts students and staff were ruled out as suspects and security measures were tightened for the minister of magic. She glared at the newspaper and felt like ripping it to shreds. If she had succeeded then Tom would have been dead and they wouldn't have even suspected her due to the use of moonflower. Feeling angry with her failure she scrunched up the paper and threw it on the table.
"What's gotten into you this morning?" Susan said looking at her.
"Nothing" she said digging her hands into her hair. "Just stressed, taking out my anger"
"Hey, I read somewhere that if you draw out your emotions it helps" A dummy of the dark lord that she could hack to pieces might cool her down but drawing would never work.
"Trust me, that's nonsense" she said picking up a toast.
"Hey Maya"
"What?" she said chewing her toast.
"Guess what?"
"What?"
"Prince charming is looking at you" Susan said giggling. She knew all to well who Susan was talking about and she briefly looked towards the Slytherin table to find Tom staring at her. He was probably trying to use legilimency on her. Why doesn't he just give up?
"I wish he wouldn't" she said gloomily.
"Ever since the dance his been staring at you for an extra 5 minutes" Susan said pointing at her wrist watch.
"What?" she said snapping her head towards Susan "Please don't tell me you've been actually timing this" If the girl said yes then she was seriously mentally disturbed.
"Oh not me" Susan said rolling her eyes. "Kirsten read in Witch glamour that the longer a man stares at you the more he likes you. She wanted to see if it was true so she timed him staring at you before and after the dance." She stared at the girl open mouthed not knowing how to respond. "Extra 3 minutes Maya" Susan said excitedly.
"Great" she said sarcastically. The stupid magazines theory was absurd. You could stare at someone because you hate them or if you were trying to look into their mind like the dark lord was.
"Really" Susan said excitedly.
"I was being sarcastic Susan" she said glaring at her.
"Come on Maya" Susan said creasing her brows. "Stop pretending theirs nothing going on"
"There really isn't" She said crossing her arms.
"I'm not believing that"
"Believe what you want" she hissed angrily.
Hermione headed outside for care of magical creatures. It was cold and shivering she pulled her cloak closer.
"I know its cold--" the professor said addressing the class. "--but this creature here--" the professor picked up something that looked like a ball of fur "--requires a cold climate. Can anyone tell me what it is?" Hermione and Tom's hand immediately shot up and the professor sighed looking between them. "Riddle name it and Granger give me the characteristics" This was the only class where the professor actually felt guilty of choosing between them so the questions were always split in half.
"It's a mountain kevatrix" Tom said looking bored and Hermione immediately launched into a detailed explanation about the characteristics. In the end they both received equal house points.
"Your aim is to feed a kevatrix and the milk is in there" the professor said pointing towards a red box. "You have till the end of class, get started"
Everyone rushed towards the huge box with the kevatrix's. Hermione stared at the fur balls resting on hay and randomly picked one. It was warm but other than that it didn't show any signs of being alive. Tom walked away levitating a kevatrix and she followed him with a look of disbelief. Would it have killed him to hold it like everyone else? The dark lord was so extra. He placed a mat on the frosty ground and sat down cross legged. Hermione sat across him and made sure there was a good amount of distance between them. She opened up her textbook and according to the book the kevatrix had to be brought out of its shell by stroking it. A gust of cold wind blew her cloak and with her teeth chattering she readjusted it. She looked at Tom and found him staring at his kevatrix with a sour look. A strong wind suddenly made a gap in his cloak but he didn't bother readjusting it. He appeared completely unaffected by the cold, it was likely that the orphanage didn't have proper heating and having lived there for the most of his life he must be used to the temperature. She inspected his worn out looking cloak. It had to be second hand and she doubted it provided much warmth.
People were stroking their kevatrix's and she started to stroke hers. She carried on for a while but the kevatrix still remained in its fur ball state. The icy wind was making her hand go numb and she was getting annoyed with the lack of response. She looked up to find most people had given up and were using their kevatrix's as a source of warmth by hugging it or placing it on their laps, while some were shouting at it to come out. She looked at Tom and he was still staring at his kevatrix with dislike. Looks like the dark lord hated animals as well as humans but snakes were obviously an exception since Voldemort had kept Nagini close. Was he ever going to touch the kevatrix or was he going to let himself fail in class? It wasn't like him to fail at anything and he would probably touch it after few more minutes of sulking over having to touch something unworthy. He suddenly got up and started to walk towards the milk box, continuing to watch his moving figure Hermione creased her brows in confusion. Why had he gone to fetch the milk when his kevatrix hadn't come out yet?
"Maya" Susan's voice sounded and she turned to find Susan kneeling next to her. "I know what happened at the Halloween dance" her eyes widen at Susan's words. This girl couldn't have seen her add the poison but what if she had?
"What do you know?" she whispered fearfully.
"I know what Xav did" Susan said in an apologetic tone and relief washed through her. "It's all my fault, I shouldn't have told him all those things about you"
"It's okay Susan" she said cheerfully. As long as the girl didn't know about her plan she could tolerate almost anything.
"Really, you're not mad at me" Susan said smiling.
"No"
"Can I say something? Just promise you won't get mad"
"I won't get mad"
"I've been friends with Xav for a long time. He told me the real reason why he did what he did-" Susan suddenly looked nervous. "-and he wants to apologise but he thought it best if I talked to you first" Susan finished in a low voice.
"Okay" she said uncomfortably and Susan suddenly looked back and forth.
"Xav likes you" Susan whispered and her eyebrows shot up in disbelief. It was possible that Xavian could be Harry Potter's grandfather and hearing that just didn't feel right. "I mean he really likes you and he was thinking of asking you out." She really couldn't see how that justified Xavian's behaviour though. "He hates Tom Riddle and when he saw you with Tom, he just got angry and said things he didn't mean." She could understand Xavian got jealous but there was no need for him to say such hurtful things. "He wants to apologise, is that okay Maya? His behaviour had been totally out of line but if he really wanted to apologise she would give him a chance.
"He can apologise if he wants" she forced out and Susan gestured at Xavian to come over. Tom sat back down holding a bottle of milk and she momentarily caught his eyes. He continued to stare at her and when he noticed Xavian approaching his expression darkened but it vanished in seconds. Xavian stared at her for a while and then he cleared his throat. Susan smiled at him encouragingly and Hermione avoided his eyes.
"Maya I--I'm sorry" Xavian said in a low voice. "I shouldn't have said those things about you and if you want to" he paused and knelt down to her level. "If you want to be with Tom then it's none of my business" he whispered. "I'm really sorry" he said looking apologetic and an uncomfortable silence developed as they all waited for her response.
"Apology accepted" she said looking up at him. "And just so you know, I'm not involved with Tom like that" she whispered and noticed Tom staring at her intently.
"I see" Xavian whispered and his expression clearly showed disbelief but he suddenly forced a smile. "Since you're not taken" he said attempting a cheerful tone. "Is there any hope for me?" the nerve of that boy to ask such a question after he had just apologised. She could never like Xavian like that and being related to Harry just made the whole thing weird.
"I don't think I'm ready for that sort of thing" she said uncomfortably.
"Its okay" he said attempting to mask the hurt in his voice. "I'll see you later then" he quickly got up and walked away.
"Thank Merlin you forgave him, he was moody all the week" Susan said sounding relieved. "By the way I don't believe you're not seeing Tom" Susan whispered and before she could reply the girl ran of grinning. She glared in Susan's direction and went back to stroking the creature. She paused noticing Tom's hand hovering above his kevatrix. So the high and mighty dark lord had finally decided to touch it. He skimmed his hand slowly over the fur and sometimes he bent his long fingers almost combing it. His touch was so light, he was hardly stroking it and she wondered why he was even bothering. No one had succeeded by stroking theirs so what made him think he could do it if he wasn't even touching it properly? She continued to watch his fingers gliding and sometimes dipping into fur. She was suddenly reminded of the time he had stroked her wings. The visual continued to trigger the memory of how his fingers had felt and knots formed in her stomach.
She was about to look away when his kevatrix started to shake. A shiny grey head suddenly popped out and four small legs followed. Tom gave it half a smile and Hermione stared open mouthed at the hedgehog like creature. Everyone else started to notice and she couldn't understand how he had done it. She had spent so long on hers and he had barely touched it for a couple of minutes. The creature let out a high pitched squeak and tried to scuttle away. Tom easily captured it and letting out loud cries the kevatrix started to struggle in his grasp. He placed the shaking creature on his lap and held it down with one hand.
"Hush" Tom whispered gently stroking it on the stomach and the kevatrix immediately calmed down. He grabbed the milk bottle and glaring at it he started to feed it. The kevatrix stared back at him with huge eyes and Tom's glaring expression became replaced with a blank one. The image in front of her resembled the dark lord feeding a baby and Hermione felt like laughing. The kevatrix closed its eyes and the milk bottle was half empty now. Tom had fetched the milk before and that meant he must have known he could make it come out. She started to stroke hers but it still remained as a fur ball. Realising the class would end soon she started to use more force and hoped to God it would come out. If it didn't then she would completely fail and she had never failed before. Feeling frustrated she re-read the passage in the book but it was no help. This was not happening. The lowest grade she had ever gotten was an acceptable and even then it had been in divination but now it would be a straight zero. As more time went by she started to feel panicky and she began to stroke it with both hands but there was still no result. She looked at Tom and his kevatrix appeared to be sleeping peacefully. She knew he wouldn't tell her but it was worth a try in case he gave her a clue or a hint.
"How did you do it?" She asked him and he stared at her for a while.
"I stroked it like you're meant to" he suddenly said and his answer was totally unhelpful.
"I've been stroking mine and it doesn't work, what did you do?" She said raising her voice slightly.
"Stroked it" he said softly and she felt like shouting at him.
"I know you stroked it but how did you get it to come out?"
"Like the way you're meant to make it come out" he said slightly tilting his head.
"Which is?" she said in a high pitched voice.
"Why would I tell you Granger?" he said smirking at her and she glared at him. Of course he wouldn't tell her. He knew he would get an outstanding and she would get nothing. She had been competing with him ever since she had arrived and he was never going to pass up the opportunity to outshine her.
"You don't really know the answer, do you Riddle?" she said angrily "You just got lucky" she almost shouted at him and he smiled at her coldly.
"Feeling desperate Granger" he said slowly and she reddened with anger. "Do you want to hold it?" he said lifting up his sleeping kevatrix. "Since you'll never make yours come out, this could be your only chance" he said sneering at her.
"Get lost" she said giving him a hateful look. She went back to stroking her kevatrix and Tom watched her attempts with a smug look. When ten minutes of the lesson remained she took out her wand and prodded it. She seriously felt like shouting crucio but there was no point if she was going to get expelled. She glared at it and soon the end of class was announced. The professor went around inspecting the kevatrix's and he was extremely pleased with Tom. He lifted Tom's kevatrix up and the whole class looked at in awe. Tom's face was expressionless and he appeared bored by the whole attention. Tom received an outstanding and 20 points for Slytherin. She suddenly noticed the professor walking towards her and a feeling of dread filled her up. The professor rotated her kevatrix in his hands and set it back down.
"Well everyone found it hard today" the professor said in a disappointed tone. Never in her life had she heard a professor speak to her like that and Hermione felt like crying. "No need to worry though" the professor said in a cheery tone. "I've decided to give everyone a P for their efforts and a P is better than nothing" her eyes started to water as she watched the professor scribble a huge P next to her name. The professor moved to the next student and she noticed Tom smirking at her. Everyone was putting the kevatrix's back and packing things away but she couldn't be bothered with it. She grabbed her bag and ran.
"Maya" Susan's voice called out but she continued to run. Halfway to Hogwarts her face was soaking wet with tears. She burst in through the doors and ran into the girls toilets. Hermione threw herself onto the floor and drawing up her knees she started to cry loudly. P meant poor and never in her life had she received such a bad grade. She could have lived with an E or an A but a P. She couldn't deal with it and the worse thing was she had been defeated by him. Why did the dark lord have to be a genius in everything? Although she didn't like to admit it, it was true. Tom Riddle was better than her at everything and it didn't matter how hard she tried. While most of her cleverness was down to memorising from books, his knowledge went beyond books and he was actually intelligent. She had seen proof of it during potions and when he made the wings for her at Halloween. She suddenly felt angry at herself for failing to kill him and crying harder she rocked herself back and forth. It was lunch time but she couldn't be bothered to go and eat. Minutes later someone burst through the door and she continued to cry not caring who it was.
"Found her, in here" a voice yelled and Hermione groaned when she recognised Susan's voice. Couldn't she even cry in peace?
"Hey Maya, what's wrong?" Susan said kneeling next to her. "Maya"
"I received a P" Hermione shouted looking up. She buried her head back down and started to cry again.
"Aww sweetie its just one class" Susan said placing an arm around her shoulder. "It doesn't matter"
"It does matter" she said in a muffled voice.
"Cheer up, theirs nothing you can do about it now" Susan said standing up. "Come on, you need to have lunch otherwise you'll fail the afternoon classes due to lack of energy" she didn't want to eat lunch. She would have to see his face and she couldn't stand to look at him now.
"I don't want to eat" she said sniffing.
"I'm not taking no for an answer" Susan said bending down. "Now get up"
"I don't want to sit in the great hall" she said looking up.
"I'll bring something up to the Ravenclaw dorm. Is that okay?" Hermione nodded her head in response. Susan helped her get up and she noticed with blurry eyes that all of Susan's girls were with her. "Kirsten" Susan said to the blond haired girl "Grab us something and all of you go have lunch" Susan was clearly the group leader and Hermione felt bad for breaking up the group.
"There's no need Susan" Hermione said wiping away her tears. "I can manage on my own"
"Nonsense" Susan said holding onto her tightly. "I'm not leaving you in this state"
In the Ravenclaw dorm she sat near the fireplace and Susan sat across her. "Maya are you still crying?" Susan said narrowing her eyes.
"No" she said wiping away a single tear.
"Good and I don't want to see another tear" Susan said handing her a tissue. Kirsten entered with plates of sandwiches and a bottle of juice.
"Sorry, couldn't get anything else" Kirsten said handing Susan the plates. "These are easier to sneak out"
"Thanks" Hermione said taking the juice bottle.
"Cheers Kristen" Susan called out as girl left. "Eat up" she said handing Hermione a plate. "Oh and while we eat I know just the thing to cheer you up" she said in an excited voice and got up. Hermione chewed on her sandwich to find it had tuna and sweet corn filling. Susan sat back down holding a book and Hermione smiled tightly when she saw the title. "What you need is a break from studying" Susan said smiling at her. "You need to be a teenage girl for a while" Susan took a bite out of her sandwich and balancing the book on her knee she opened it. "This book is full of short stories" she said with her mouth full. "You know for a quicke in between classes" she smiled and took another bite out of her sandwich. "I'll read and you just relax, okay" Hermione nodded and smiled. Susan was definitely crazy but she had been nice to her. The girl had talked to her on the first day when no one had wanted to know her, had helped her dress for Halloween and comforted her when she was crying. It was all because of Susan she wasn't going to go hungry today and if Susan wanted her to listen to some witch romance then she would, or at least pretend to. "So which one sounds better?" Susan said scanning the contents page. "My mind screams no but my body won't listen to me or Love potions are wrong but for me it's the only way" They all sounded stupid to Hermione but maybe the love potion one would be less explicit.
"Well" Hermione said taking a sip of orange juice. "Maybe the love potion----"
"Actually love potions boring" Susan said interrupting. "The other one sounds exciting, you know with the not being able to control yourself thing" Susan said excitedly turning the pages. "I haven't read this one" Susan said grinning at her. "Hope you like it" Hermione pretended to listen with interest and whenever things got too explicit she couldn't help but turn red. Hermione was glad when lunch was over and thanking Susan she ran out. She cleared her mind and headed for the afternoon classes.
Hermione entered the Arithmacy classroom and as usual she sat two seats away from Tom. He was watching her but she avoided looking at him and unpacked her things. Professor Dwek started to explain a complex equation and she listened intently.
"Who can solve this equation?" the professor asked and two hands immediately shot up. "Let's have Miss Granger solve something for a change" Dwek said making Hermione smile. She sneaked a glance at Tom as she got up but he didn't appear bothered. She walked up to the black board and easily wrote down the solution. "Excellent Miss Granger, 10 points to Ravenclaw" she sat back down feeling pleased. Professor Dwek handed out parchments with unsolved equations and they were all easy to solve except the last one, no matter how hard she tried she couldn't solve it. She looked up to find Tom staring ahead with his arms crossed and he had obviously finished. Feeling annoyed she jabbed her quill into the table and it snapped in half. He turned towards her and eyed the broken quill with an amused expression. Using a new quill she attempted to solve the equation again and her efforts were fruitless, feeling angry she glared at the parchment unblinking.
"Are you stuck on number 7 or 9?" Tom suddenly asked. He probably wanted to prove he was better than her by telling her the answer.
"I don't need your help Riddle" she hissed.
"I wasn't offering to help" he said turning his chair towards her. "Just curious" he said slightly tilting his head.
"I'm not telling you" she said glaring at him. Tom lazily flicked his wand and her parchment flew towards him. "Hey, give it back" she said trying to snatch the floating sheet but he caught it. She stared at him angrily as he ran his eyes over her working.
"Number 9" He said looking up "That ones actually difficult and you would have the answer if you didn't keep making one silly mistake again and again" he suddenly smiled at her coldly "But then again with your lack of brain power, it is to be expected"
"Keep your opinions to yourself" she snapped and with a wave of her wand she summoned the parchment back.
"This morning's failure still haunting you Granger?" he said slowly and she didn't answer. After outshining her in care of magical creatures he was in a pleasant mood but she knew it wouldn't last long. Soon his usual self would be back and she didn't want to risk making him violent by saying something wrong. She carefully went over her working and after some time she spotted her mistake. She had used an incorrect rune that looked very similar to the one she should have used.
The day ended with her almost falling asleep in the history of magic class. Professor Binns was just too boring and all the students thought the same but for some reason Tom Riddle was an exception. He was listening with an expression of great interest and his attention never wavered. Hermione wondered if he was acting and actually sleeping with his eyes open. He always seemed to manage the impossible and she wouldn't put it past him.
In the evening she sat in the heads common room writing an essay for charms. Tom sat in his usual green armchair and was deeply engrossed in a large text book. Neither of them spoke and an hour went by in silence. Hermione rolled up her finished essay and he was nearly at the end of the book. The entrance door suddenly opened and Longbottom walked in holding a box of chocolates. They were obviously for his girlfriend Cynthia Bones. She started to gather her things and the sound of a throat being cleared made her look up. She was startled to find Longbottom holding the box of chocolates towards her and she stared at him with a confused expression. Why was he giving her chocolates? Tom looked towards them and raised an eyebrow.
"Xavian Potter told me to give this to you" Longbottom said appearing embarrassed and Tom's expression darkened at hearing Xavian's name. She took the box with an uncomfortable expression and Longbottom disappeared into his room. Why would Xavian do that? Didn't she just tell him she wasn't interested? She noticed a small card attached and she opened it to find the words, I'm sorry, written in block capitals. Okay, so he was sorry but wasn't sending her chocolates overdoing it? Well, now that he had given them to her she might as well eat them. She tore open the box and was about to pop one into her mouth when she suddenly remembered something. Romilda Vane had filled chocolates with a love potion and Ron had accidentally eaten them. What if Xavian had spiked the chocolates with a love potion? After all she did reject him and this might be his way of getting revenge. Hermione threw the box of chocolates into the bin and Tom's lips curled into half a smile but it vanished the moment she turned around.
"At least you have some sense" he said shutting his book.
"If your going to be horrible why can't you---" she paused as she suddenly realised he had complimented her in his twisted way. He obviously meant she had enough sense to realise it might be drugged with a love potion but he had to say it in a nasty way. She gathered her things and turned towards the stairs.
"Granger" he said making her halt and turn. "You have to stroke a kevatrix very lightly, otherwise they think their under attack and remain inside their shell" She was glad to finally know the answer but why did he tell her now? "You wouldn't have found the answer and I don't need you losing sleep over it" he said taking in her questioning glance "You're stupid enough as it is-" he said sneering at her "-and I don't need a stupider sleep deprived potions partner in the morning" She glared at him and his lips curled into half a smile. Why did he always have to be so horrible?
"Thanks for caring" she said sarcastically and started to walk up the stairs.
"You should say thank you, not thanks" he said coldly and she paused in anger. Stupid dark lord, who did he think he was acting all posh and perfect? He was a half-blood wizard raised in a muggle orphange and so poor that he couldn't even afford new clothes, but she knew she could never say it to his face because it would probably be the last thing she ever said.
"If you say so Mr perfect" she said climbing the stairs again. She was about to touch her metal door handle when it suddenly glowed red with heat. She drew her hand back with a gasp and the sound of approaching footsteps made her turn. Her heart jumped as her eyes fell on Tom Riddle walking up the stairs with his wand drawn. She hadn't meant to make him angry and he had obviously taken offence at what she had said, probably because it suggested he wasn't right.
She felt like drawing her own wand but there was a high chance he would disarm her before she could even touch it. Besides she was meant to tolerate him, not provoke him into a huge fight and risk getting injured. If only she had gotten into her room faster, then she would have been safe as the magic preventing boys would have stopped him from entering. She couldn't even run into her room, he'd cleverly taken care of that. He paused three steps away from her and even though she was on top of the stairs, being taller he easily towered over her. She knew he liked to maintain a certain distance and if he drew any closer it usually meant he was in a violent mood to grab her and throw her around like a rag doll. When he didn't step any closer she felt a bit better but she didn't allow herself to relax. With magic he could injure her in worse ways than he could physically and her heart drummed away fast as she waited for him to make a move.
"Don't mock me" he shouted making her jump. He jabbed his wand into her shoulder and she moaned in pain. He glared at her and she stared back at him fearfully. He suddenly waved his wand and she braced herself for a harmful spell but she didn't feel anything. He started to walk back down the stairs and relief washed through. She turned to find her door handle was back to normal again and he must have waved his wand to undo it. She quickly ran into her room.
"Stupid psycho" she muttered rubbing her hurt shoulder. She brushed her hair and changed into her nightclothes. She lay on her bed and feeling sleepless she stared into the darkness. It was one week into November and there was still plenty of time to kill him. So far it had been two failed attempts but hopefully the third one would be successful. She tried to think of a way to murder him and came up with nothing. In the end she fell asleep with a tear stained face as memories of her old life ran through her mind.
Thanks for the reviews everyone. In case you're wondering why I updated earlier, my internet connection broke down and I couldn't do my coursework so I wrote up next 2 chapters of the story. The next chapters done but it isn't fit to be seen in public and needs serious editing so I'm not sure when I'll put it up.
I think someone said why Tom didn't notice her reaction when he touched her wings. He was behind her so he couldn't see her face and it's not like she was making any sounds. She didn't have the strength to move so there was no body movement to indicate she could feel anything and she managed to control herself from dropping to the floor. All she did was whisper to ask him what he was doing and he answered thinking she was probably wondering why he was taking so long to remove the wings. So you see there's no way he could have known she could feel his touch.
Someone else asked when Hermione and Tom are going to get together. Sorry to say it's not going to happen anytime soon and it's going to take a while. But you'll see the way their behaviour towards each other changes over time and the changes are going to be slow and gradual. I mean think about it people, Hermione hates Tom so much she wants to kill him and Tom doesn't let anyone get close to him. So there not going to fall in love overnight and it's going to take some time and a lot of other obstacles will have to be moved out the way.
I just watched Harry Potter the musical on you tube and it is really good. I think everyone should watch it and its been uploaded by StarKidPotter.
Please leave reviews. I read all of them, no matter how small or big and it motivates me to write.