Hermione opened her eyes on a Sunday morning and glanced at the clock. It was 7am and it was way too early but she couldn't go back to sleep. She went down to the great hall and it was almost empty. She sat down and chewing on a toast she looked towards the Slytherin table. Tom was the only person there and he was reading a book and eating at the same time. Since he was up at this time on a Sunday she figured he must always wake up early. Sipping some orange juice she continued to stare at him and he suddenly looked at her. She immediately looked down coughing and she had a feeling he was still staring at her but she didn't dare look up.
She spent most of the day reading in the library and she left at lunchtime. She walked down the corridor and from a distance she could make out two boys. From their sizes they seemed like first years and after a few more steps she could hear what they were saying.
"I can conjure large objects" one of the boys said. "And they last for about five minutes"
"Liar" the other boy said. "Last time you said you could levitate books"
"I'm not lying this time"
"Then prove it"
"Fine" the boy said drawing his wand. "What should I conjure?"
"I don't know" the other boy said shrugging his shoulders. "Erm--I could use a mirror though, got a feeling my hairs out of place"
"Watch me" the boy pointed his wand high up. "Ebullio speculum" the boy said waving his wand in circles and a large floating mirror appeared. Hermione stared at the back of the hovering mirror and raised her eyebrows, for a first year that was pretty impressive.
"Wow" the other boy said looking up at the mirror. "It's too high up though, can't see my face" Tom Riddle suddenly appeared and being tall the mirror directly met his gaze. He abruptly stopped walking and his blank face changed to a terrified expression. He ran forward and forcefully punched the mirror making the glass shatter into pieces. Hermione stopped moving and the first years drew back looking frightened. His hand started to badly bleed but he didn't seem to be aware. He looked at the boys with a furious expression and he grabbed one of them by the collar. The boy let out a frightened scream while the other boy ran off.
"You do not conjure mirrors in the corridor" Tom shouted shaking the boy and the boy burst into tears. "Get lost you stupid child" he shouted throwing the boy into a wall and the boy ran away sobbing. Blood continued to drip from his hand but he still didn't acknowledge it. He drew back with a fearful expression and waving his wand he made the glass shards vanish. He suddenly broke into a run and Hermione watched from the other end of the corridor with an expression of disbelief. She had expected him to shout at her or to threaten her and she couldn't believe he hadn't noticed her presence. He must have been really distracted from the mirror incident if his senses of perception had been that bad. She slowly walked forward and paused at the blood splatters. The injury hadn't bothered him and being the monster he was he probably didn't feel pain like everyone else. She had seen fear written all over his face and his need to remove the mirror had been so urgent that he had smashed it with his hand when he could have used magic. Why was Tom Riddle so scared of looking in the mirror? People did say that the mirror reflects your soul and maybe the dark lord was frightened of his own soul. When he looked into the mirror he probably saw the evil inside him or if he had succeeded in making a Horcrux he probably saw the way his soul was broken and maybe the emptiness frightened him. But all those explanations were just theories and there had to be some other reason.
She entered the great hall and sat down. She looked towards the Slytherin table and Tom wasn't there. Susan started talking to her and pretending to listen she started to eat. Once in a while she glanced towards the Slytherin table and Tom never showed up for lunch. He was obviously upset after seeing his own reflection and she continued to wonder why. His physical appearance wasn't ugly so what was the problem? She had always thought guys like him would love to stare into the mirror for hours but then again the dark lord always seemed to be an exception when it came to normal behaviour.
She went back to the library and when it became dark she left with a huge pile of books. She entered the heads common room and started to walk towards the stairs. One of the books slid of and landed on the floor with a thud.
"Oh crap" Hermione muttered pausing. The book suddenly flew up and settled onto the top again. "What in the name of Merlin?" she said staring at the book in disbelief.
"Don't get too excited Granger" she heard a voice say behind her and she turned to find Tom standing near the door pointing his wand. "It's something called magic which you obviously don't know how to use" he said glaring at her and she noticed his hand was healed. "Why are you carrying those like a common muggle?" he suddenly shouted.
"You're Mr Perfect and you can levitate a hundred things but that doesn't mean everyone else can" she shouted back and she immediately regretted it. She shouldn't have said that and she definitely shouldn't have shouted at him. Oh God, he looked angry.
"Don't shout at me" he hissed flicking his wand and all the books flew out of her hands. They nosily crashed to the floor and her pulse quickened in fear. Her hand itched to draw her wand but she forced herself not to. This was all her fault. She shouldn't have made him angry but sometimes her real self took over and she forgot to play the submissive weak girl. In two quick strides he was in front of her and he pressed his wand into her neck. Fearing the worst she held her breath and he stared at her for a while. His angry expression suddenly dissolved and he lowered his wand. She released the breath she had been holding and looked at him with a confused expression. He let out a cold high pitched laughter and she jumped. He looked down at the floor and laughed again. This was totally unexpected. His weird behaviour was scaring her and she took a step back.
"Mr Perfect" he said softly. "True perfection, I doubt it exists" Hermione wondered why he was so calm when he should be angry. Maybe looking in the mirror had made him go soft in the head. "Things may not be as they always appear" he said slowly looking up and his eyes were unfocused. "Look from a distance and it's a perfect vase" he said lowering his voice. "Come closer and cracks can be seen" he finished in a whisper. He was creeping her out and she really didn't understand what he was trying to prove. Was he saying that he wasn't perfect? But the dark lord would never admit to any weaknesses so that couldn't be it.
"Not if the cracks are covered well" she said hesitantly. "True perfection might not exist but an illusion of perfection does" she said knowing that he was a monster in disguise.
"You would know all about that wouldn't you Granger" he said slightly tilting his head to one side. "After all, you always pretend to be perfect when your clearly not" she suddenly felt scared that he had found out something about her but then she realised he was referring at her attempts to outshine him in class.
"I've never said I was perfect" she said glaring at him. "But you think your perfect don't you Riddle"
"You're the one that said I was Mr Perfect" he said folding his arms and his lips curled into half a smile. Crap, he definitely had her cornered in their battle of words.
"I wasn't referring to you" she said knowing it sounded lame but she refused to admit it.
"Really" he said raising an eyebrow. "How many people in class do you know that can levitate more than one thing?" he stared at her waiting for an answer and Hermione knew she had lost.
"I-well-erm -it doesn't matter" she said breaking eye contact. All her books suddenly flew up and neatly landed in front of her door.
"Point proven" he said lowering his wand with a smug look. Stupid show off, she thought as she climbed up the stairs to her room.
"You didn't say thank you Granger" he called out and she paused.
"I didn't ask you to levitate them for me" she said turning to face him.
"I see" he hissed and one of his hands clenched into a fist. Okay this wasn't good. She had made him angry and would it have killed her to say thank you. She was about to say it when he waved his wand and all her books flew down to the common room door.
"Riddle" she hissed in frustration.
"Help yourself" he said coldly and he sat down in his green armchair. Hermione walked back down and picked up the books. She slowly climbed up the stairs and just when she was about to enter her room the books flew out of her hands. She turned to find the books near the common room door again and Tom Riddle was smiling at her icily.
"Why did you do that?" she said glaring at him.
"I felt like it" he said leaning back and crossing his legs. She stamped down the stairs feeling angry. She really wanted to draw her wand and hex him into oblivion. She picked up the books again but this time she leaned the pile against her side and tightly held onto them with her left hand. She pointed her wand with her right hand and keeping an eye on Tom she carefully started to walk backwards. He stared at her with an amused expression and she wobbled badly when she tried to climb the stairs backwards.
"Careful Granger, you might fall" he said smirking at her.
"I'm not going to fall" she said steadying herself.
"Turn around and walk properly"
"So you can levitate my books away" she managed to walk up one step safely. "I don't think so"
"I won't"
"I'm not falling for that" she climbed up one more step.
"Suit yourself" he continued to watch her and she almost fell climbing up the next step. "If you fall there's a good chance you might crack your skull open"
"Shut up Riddle" As if this wasn't hard enough without his comments.
"Or you might permanently damage your backbone" he said placing his hands behind his head.
"Stop talking" she hissed and she carefully climbed up one more step. In the end she made it to the top and entered her room. She dumped the books on the bed and rubbed her aching back. This was all his fault, if he hadn't interfered she wouldn't have carried the books up so many times. She visualised herself banging Tom's head against a wall so that his skull cracked open and smiling she put the books away. If only something like that was possible but murdering him was proving to be much more difficult.
At 7 pm it was time to go down and join the Slug club. She really didn't want to go and she was only going because Tom was going to be there. He probably didn't even know she was in the club and that was all the more reason to go down and annoy him. Fixing her hair as best as possible she rushed out the door and soon she was in front of Slughorn's room. She pushed the door open and a big round table surrounded by lots of people meet her eyes. Various kinds of snacks and drinks were laid in the middle of the table and Slughorn was sitting next to an expensively dressed muscular looking man.
"O ho" Slughorn said loudly. "If it isn't Maya Granger, the best witch in the seventh year" All eyes suddenly turned to her and Tom looked at her questioningly. "Come sit here my girl" Slughorn said pointing at an empty seat and Tom stared at her with an expression of disbelief. She sat down and his expression became neutral in seconds. Slughorn introduced his guest as Jack Allen and everyone on the table seemed to recognise the man but Hermione was clueless as to who he was. Slughorn started going on about how Jack was a quidditch champion and she mentally groaned. She hated quidditch but Harry and Ron had been mad about it. She had tried to read books on it so she could share their passion but it had never really worked. Jack started talking about all the quidditch matches he had won and after a while he started to explain a new technique he had invented. Everyone was listening eagerly but Hermione was bored out of her mind.
She looked around the table and her eyes stopped at Tom in disbelief. He was examining his fingernails with a bored expression and since he always paid attention it was a strange sight to see. The history of magic class had never bored him but talk of quidditch did. Looks like the dark lord wasn't into quidditch either and come to think of it, back in her time she had never seen any quidditch trophies with his name. Also Dumbledore or Harry had never mentioned him play quidditch and that meant Tom wasn't on the Slytherin quidditch team. Hermione found it odd that he didn't play. Why would he miss the chance to show of and win more awards for his house? Maybe he really disliked the sport or he thought it wasn't worth his time. It was strange though since all boys loved quidditch but then again the dark lord wasn't an ordinary boy. "Tom my boy" Slughorn suddenly said in a loud voice and Tom looked up sharply. "What do you of think of this new technique?" He looked troubled for a second but his expression become neutral in the blink of an eye.
"I'm sorry sir" he said carefully making his expression look apologetic. "I don't follow quidditch" So she had been right, he really didn't play quidditch. Slughorn stared at him open mouthed for a couple of seconds before flashing him a forced smile. "That's okay my boy" Slughorn said patting him on the back. He slowly shrank away from Slughorn's reach with an expression of dislike and no one seemed realise this except Hermione. Slughorn was a pureblood so why did he have a problem with him? Looks like she had been right last time, the dark lord disliked any human contact and it wasn't surprising. Dumbledore had said he only loved himself and he probably thought he was so superior to all the other human beings that anyone else touching him was an offence. "Peter your uncle is a professional player" Slughorn said placing the spotlight on a second year Hufflepuff. "What do you think of this new technique?"
Soon the discussion took a different turn and Jack started going on about all the accidents that had happened during his matches. It triggered her memory of the time Harry's broom stick had tried to throw him off and an idea suddenly hit her. She pictured a cursed broom stick throwing off Tom and him falling to his death. It would look like an accident and even if they discovered the broom had been cursed, there was no way they could connect it to her. It was a brilliant idea but the problem was he didn't play quidditch. How the hell was she supposed to get him to join the Slytherin quidditch team? She couldn't just walk up to him and say, excuse me Riddle can you join the Slytherin quidditch team so I can carry out my master plan to kill you. It was totally hopeless, she would have to abandon the idea and think of something else. At the end everyone rushed to get Jack Allen's autograph but Hermione wasn't interested. She and Tom were the only two persons walking towards the door while everyone crowded around Jack.
"Shouldn't you be down their getting an autograph" he said slightly turning to look at her.
"I hate quidditch" Hermione said stepping out after him. "Before today I had no idea who Jack Allen was" They walked towards the heads quarters in silence and soon they stood in front of the portrait. Persephone smiled at them mischievously and Hades whispered something in her ear.
"Medusa" Tom said making the door open and Hermione followed him inside.
She entered her room feeling sleepy but she needed to go down to the restricted section and she forced herself to stay awake. She went into the bathroom and dabbed some water onto her eyes. Feeling more awake she sat on her bed and started skimming through a charms textbook. After a while she started to feel hungry and badly craving a snack she grabbed her bag. She had a weakness for chocolate chip cookies and she was sure there was a pack inside. Still reading the book she felt around for the pack but couldn't find it. Feeling impatient she turned the bag upside down and the contents fell onto the bed but a book landed on the floor. She found the pack of cookies and tore it open. Munching on a biscuit she started to put everything back and she leaned down to pick up the book. She realised it was her heads hand book and trying to reach it she stretched a little. She managed to lift it with her fingertips but the book suddenly dropped and sprawled open. Sighing she got of the bed and bent down to pick it up. She was about to close the book when the word quidditch caught her eyes and she read the paragraph out of curiosity. Her eyes widened in disbelief and she re-read the page. After re-reading it for the third time she sat down and laughed out aloud.
According to the heads hand book, if one of the quidditch players became sick or injured then the head girl or the head boy of their house had to act in their place. She didn't remember the rule during her time and it must have been changed down the years. This was the answer to her problem. All she had to do was injure one of the Slytherin quidditch players and their head boy Tom Riddle would be forced to act as replacement. Then she would put her murder plan into action and easily kill him off. She kissed the cover of the book and put it back inside her bag. She put on her hooded cloak and sneaked down to the library. She tiptoed her way towards the restricted section and after noticing no one was there she entered. Deciding to jinx his broomstick she started to scan the section on dark magic and objects. She picked out a few interesting books and in the end she decided to take the three best ones. Carrying the heavy books she crept back to her room and dropped them onto her bed. She straightened out her spine and rubbed her back. She wanted to read them but she was feeling seriously sleepy. Feeling that she had accomplished enough for today she decided to go to bed. She hid the books away in her trunk and changed into her nightclothes. She blew out the candles and crept into bed. Hermione closed her eyes and immediately fell asleep.
Hermione woke up the next day feeling refreshed. On her way down to breakfast she stopped to read the notice board and for the first time in her life she read the quidditch section. She bit her lips as she read that a match between Gryffindor and Slytherin was scheduled to take place next week Friday. She had a short time to get everything ready and she had to act fast. She memorised the names of the Slytherin quidditch players and she wasn't surprised to find Abraxas Malfoy noted down as the captain. She entered the great hall and sat down at the Ravenclaw table deep in thought.
"Hey Maya" Susan said sitting down.
"Hello" she said smiling at Susan.
"Why aren't you eating?" Susan said pointing at her uneaten toast.
"I am" she said picking up her toast. "I'm just thinking"
"About what?"
"Oh nothing really" she said taking a bite out of the toast.
"Come on Maya, it can't be nothing" Susan said adding milk to her bowl of cereal.
"Just random thoughts, nothing important" she said with her mouth full.
"Susie" a loud voice suddenly said making her and Susan look up.
"Xav" Susan said smiling.
"Hey, do you mind?" Xavian said pointing between them.
"Not at all" Susan said moving to make space and Xavian sat down between them. She carried on eating and she was too lost in her thoughts to focus on Susan and Xavian's conversation. She suddenly noticed Xavian glancing at her once in a while and she started to feel awkward. Still talking to Susan he caught her eye and this time he continued to stare at her. Feeling uncomfortable she looked away and her eyes landed on Tom. She was surprised to find he wasn't staring at her. Instead his eyes were focused on Xavian and hate was clearly showing in his eyes. The word quidditch made her pay attention to Susan and Xavian's conversation but her gaze still remained on Tom.
"The Slytherin's have been given special permission to practice today." Xavian said looking miserable. "That stupid Slughorn, he's so biased. That should have been us out there." So the Slytherin team were going to be out practicing today, this was good information.
"Cheer up Xav" Susan said patting him on the back. "I'm sure Gryffindor will win"
"I feel like cursing a bludger to beat the crap out of them" Yes, that could work. She could curse a bludger to attack one of the players and she started to mentally go through all the suitable curses she could use. "Who are you supporting Maya?" Xavian suddenly asked. "Gryffindor or Slytherin" Her eyes were still on Tom and she was too busy thinking to notice Xavian had asked her a question. Tom suddenly locked eyes with her and they continued to stare at each other but Hermione wasn't really aware.
"Maya" Susan yelled making her jump.
"What? "Hermione said looking at Susan with an annoyed expression.
"Xav asked you a question" Susan said gesturing towards Xavian.
"Oh, I'm sorry" Hermione said looking at Xavian. "What was the question?"
"Don't worry, I think I know the answer" Xavian said getting up and he quickly left.
"Maya, how could you do that to him" Susan said glaring at her.
"Do what?"
"Xav asked if you wanted Gryffindor or Slytherin to win. You didn't answer and you kept on staring at Tom. I know you don't like Xav but you didn't have to do that" What Xavian had said earlier made sense now. He must have thought she was staring at Tom because she fancied him and therefore she was supporting Slytherin to win.
"I didn't do it intentionally" she said sipping some orange voice.
"Sure you didn't" Susan said in a singsong voice. "You don't like Tom but you totally zone out and stare at him" She really hadn't been staring at him on purpose and her thoughts had been on ways to curse a bludger not on Tom. "You claim that he doesn't like you but did you see the way he was giving Xav a death glare."
"That's because he hates Xavian" she said angrily.
"When are you ever going to understand Maya" Susan said tapping her on the forehead. "He was clearly jealous of Xav sitting next to you"
"That's rubbish" she snapped. "He stared at Xavian like that because he hates him and I don't come into it"
"Fine, have it your way but your wrong" Susan said crossing her arms. The girl was talking absolute nonsense. Why would he be jealous of Xavian? If Tom really wanted to sit next to her then he could easily do so in class but for some reason he avoided her like the plague and always sat two seats away. He obviously didn't like her and she knew he hated Xavian from the way he had acted towards him at the Halloween ball.
She put on her cloak and stepped outside. It was cold and shivering she made her way towards the greenhouse for herbology. She stepped inside and walked towards her usual table. Tom was already there and she made sure she was standing at a distance he always liked to maintain. He was staring ahead with a blank expression and he briefly glanced at her then he went back to his staring. It was warm inside the greenhouse and she started to take of her cloak. She suddenly noticed Xavian staring at her and she paused halfway. She was used to being stared at, Tom did it all the time but the way Xavian was looking at her made her feel seriously uncomfortable. She turned sideways and took of her cloak. She turned back to find Xavian still staring at her and she immediately looked away.
"Silence" Professor Stephen Reed shouted and everyone became quiet. "Today we are going to be working with this" Reed said lifting up a plant pot. "You should all be able to recognise it, can anyone name it?" The class whispered amongst themselves while Hermione and Tom raised their hands. "Mr Riddle" Reed said pointing and Hermione put her hand down feeling annoyed. Reed let her answer sometimes but he always seemed to favour Tom.
"It's an abyssinian shrivelfig" Tom said putting his hand down.
"Correct" Reed said smiling at him. "Now, I can see some of you are confused. This is a mature form of abyssinian shrivelfig and the young ones are mostly used in shrinking potions but the mature ones have much greater use." Reed lifted the plant pot higher. "See the brown bark?" Reed said pointing. "This is missing in the young ones and the extent of lignification indicates its age. The bark has white spots at intervals and these are known as sap spots" Reed said placing a finger on one of the spots. "If you pierce the bark here and massage it at the top with your fingertips then the sap should pour out. The abyssinian shrivelfig sap has many healing properties and your aim is to fill this" Reed lifted up a see through vial. "The first person to fill a vial will receive 20 house points" he said setting the vial down. "Make sure the skewer is not inserted more than 2 cm or you will kill the plant. They are over there" Reed said pointing at the back. "Take one each and get started" Everyone rushed off to get one and Hermione followed.
She set her plant down on the table and carefully examined the bark. There were more white spots at the top than the bottom and she randomly chose one. She picked up her skewer and all of a sudden she felt nervous. She had never done this before and she had a bad feeling she might accidentally kill her plant. She looked towards Tom to find him slowly digging his skewer into the plant and he had an expression of concentration. She positioned her skewer with an unsteady hand and she noticed it had a scale at the top. Well, that should make it easier to know when it was 2 cm and she slowly pushed the skewer in. She pulled it out at the right length and it left a neat little hole. She held up the vial close to it and she started to rub the bark above with her fingertips. For a while nothing happened then a few drops of orange liquid fell into the vial. The drops continued to fall at a very slow rate and it would probably take a whole lesson to fill the vial. She looked up to see how the others were doing and it looked like the same situation with everyone else.
She turned to look at Tom and her eyes widened in disbelief. The liquid from his plant was continuously leaking and his vial was half full. He was rubbing it with his finger tips like you were meant to and she couldn't see him doing anything different. So how was he making the plant react like that? He suddenly looked at her and she glared back at him. Soon his vial was full and he handed it over to Reed. He received 20 house points and Reed announced it to the whole class. He walked back to the table and started to stare ahead with a blank expression. She looked towards him feeling frustrated and she wondered if he was going to tell her how he had done it. She felt like asking him but if he wasn't in an answering mood he would probably insult her and she didn't want to fight. After some time her hand was starting to ache and she felt like giving up. What was the point if it was going to be four drops per five minutes? She was about to put the vial down when she noticed Tom staring at her hands.
"Do you have warm hands Granger?" he suddenly asked and she nearly dropped the vial in shock.
"What?" she said weakly, she must have misheard him.
"Your hands Granger" he said sounding annoyed. "Are they warm?" So she hadn't heard wrong but why the hell was he asking her that? "Have you gone so dumb that you can't understand what I'm saying" he suddenly snapped and one of his hands clenched into a fist. Oh, Merlin. He was getting angry and she should quickly answer.
"Erm--I don't think so" she said touching her wrists. "They're kind of warm though"
"Cast a warming spell on your hands"
"Why?" she said looking at him with a confused expression.
"Abyssinian shrivelfigs like warm hands"
"Oh" she said finally understanding why he had asked her that weird question. He went back to staring ahead in silence and she warmed up her hands with a spell. She rubbed the plant again and this time a stream of the liquid started to flow. She felt happy to have learnt one more new thing and she wondered where he got his knowledge from.
After herbology she had some free time before her next class started and she decided to sit in the great hall. She sat at the Ravenclaw table and tore open a pack of cookies. Taking a bite out of her biscuit she started to read a book and after reading a few pages she suddenly noticed someone staring at her. She mentally groaned when she realised it was Xavian and he was standing near the doors talking to two other Gryffindor boys but his eyes were fixed on her. Feeling annoyed she left the great hall and went down to the library. The only down side of reading in the library was that you couldn't eat but it was better than having Xavian stare at her. She would have gone down to her room but she couldn't be bothered to walk up and down so many stairs when the next class was going to start soon.
She entered the potions class room and on her way towards her table she overheard Malfoy telling someone that quidditch practice was at five. Great, now she knew the time and all she had to do was sort out a way to curse the bludger. Slughorn started to explain something and Hermione started to pay attention. At the end of his explanation he asked a question and two hands immediately shot up. Slughorn looked back and forth between Hermione and Tom's raised hands with an unsure expression.
"Tom my boy, I'm sure you know the answer" Slughorn said smiling at him. "Let's see if Miss Granger does" Tom put his hand down with a neutral expression. She started to answer the question and she suddenly noticed one of his hands was balled into a fist.
Soon everyone started to make their potion and Tom brought out his old rusty looking cauldron. He noisily slammed it into the middle of the table and Hermione jumped. Looks like the dark lord was having one of his mood swings and she had a huge urge to roll her eyes. He really shouldn't bang his cauldron like that, because the next time he did there was a good possibility he could make a hole appear. She would have suggested that they use her brand new cauldron but she knew Tom wouldn't take it too well. It wasn't her fault that Slughorn had chosen her over him but it had obviously put him in a bad mood. He glared at her and she smiled, one of his hands became balled into fists and she regretted smiling at him. Oops, she'd just made him angrier but the damage was done. She was glad they were in class otherwise she was sure he would have hexed her. They started to make the potion and throughout the entire potions class he didn't say a word to her. As she left the classroom she found the knowledge hungry side of her missing Tom's explanations and she half wished Slughorn hadn't chosen her but stealing his limelight had been worth it.
At lunchtime Hermione decided to skip her meal and she rushed towards the heads quarters. She entered her room and took out the dark magic books on object cursing. She sat on her bed and skimmed through the books. After a while something interesting caught her eye and she read the page carefully. It was a two step spell and if it was cast on an object, then the object would violently attack the nearest person for about five minutes before becoming inactive. The caster would have a minute to place the object in a secure container before the spell sprang into action. This spell was perfect for her use and she memorised the instructions for a couple of minutes.
She put on her hooded cloak and left the heads quarters. She crept down the corridor and the castle was mostly empty as everyone was having lunch. She sneaked out the back entrance and walked towards the other part of the castle. A small section of the castle was situated close to the quidditch pitch and it was exclusively used by quidditch players. It had changing rooms, showers, quidditch uniforms and housed the equipment as well. It was chilly and no one was outside. Thanking the weather she hurried forward and before entering the building she looked around to make sure no one was watching. She doubted anyone would recognise her with the hooded cloak but it was still good to be cautious. She stepped inside and started searching. After looking inside various rooms she came across the familiar looking trunk engraved with the snitch. Hermione opened the trunk and she jumped as something moved. She relaxed as she realised it was the trapped snitch and she pulled out a bludger. The iron ball vibrated in her left hand trying to break free but she held onto it strongly and pointed her wand at it with her right hand.
"Celer" she said twirling her wand over it three times and the ball faintly glowed red. "Adflicto affligo" she said flicking her wand and the ball glowed bright red. She quickly threw the bludger into the trunk and snapped the lid shut. Everything was set in place now and Hermione stood up smiling. The Slytherin team would come down to practice and as soon as they opened the trunk the bludger would injure one of them.
In all her afternoon classes Tom didn't talk to her but he stared at her hatefully or banged objects when the professor wasn't looking. She remained calm and she didn't do anything to make it worse. She felt happy knowing that she was a thorn in the dark lord's side and she couldn't wait to get rid of him for good.
At the end of the day she impatiently paced her room and glanced at the clock once in a while. It was five minutes till five. Soon the Slytherin quidditch team would be getting together for practice and she was starting to get more worried by the second. What if something went wrong? What if the Slytherin's re-scheduled at the last minute? The clock suddenly struck five and she stopped moving. Her heart started to beat faster and she stared at the clock for a while. The injured Slytherin would obviously be taken to the hospital wing and she decided to go down there.
She pushed open the hospital wing door and stepped inside. Empty beds met her eyes and she stared at them feeling anxious. Why wasn't the injured Slytherin here yet? Maybe they were on their way but what if the spell hadn't worked.
"Hello dear" a voice said making her jump and she turned to find Madam Whittaker standing near the office door.
"Madam Whittaker" Hermione said taking a deep breath.
"Glad to see you still remember who I am" she said placing her hands on hips. "Long time no see"
"I've been really busy with school work otherwise I would have visited" Hermione said looking guilty. The truth was she had been so occupied with planning Tom's murder that she had forgotten all about Madam Whittaker.
"That's okay sweetie" Madam Whittaker said smiling at her. "What can I do for you?" Hermione stared towards the door and wondered why they weren't here yet.
"Maya" Madam Whittaker said loudly and she looked away from the door.
"Sorry what did you say?" she said running a hand through her hair.
"Are you ill?" Madam Whittaker said looking at her with a concerned expression.
"Oh no, I'm fine" she said in a high pitched voice and she looked towards the door again. "Its just erm--" she tried to think of something suitable to make up. "I've --I've been having really bad nightmares and I need a dreamless sleep potion"
"You're in luck" Madam Whittaker said walking towards a shelf. "I just brewed up a new batch." Suddenly sounds of shouting and crying could be heard and Hermione hoped it would be them.
"Merlin" Madam Whittaker said rushing towards the door. "Sounds like someone's hurt themselves bad" The door burst open and the sight filled her with joy. She had never been so happy in her entire life to see a bunch of Slytherin's. "Put him down" Madam Whittaker shouted and they dumped the crying boy covered in blood on the nearest bed. "What happened?" Madam Whittaker asked rushing over to the injured boy.
"We sent him to fetch the equipment and he claims that the bludger attacked him" Malfoy said stepping forward. "However when we arrived the bludger wasn't doing anything like that" Malfoy said sneering at the boy. "We have reason to believe that he doesn't want to divulge how he actually got injured" Malfoy said suddenly glaring at him.
"I swear that thing attacked me" the boy wailed as Madam Whittaker cleaned away the blood.
"Really Turner" Malfoy hissed. "Then why didn't it attack any of us?"
"I'm not lying, it attacked me" the boy said tearfully.
"How could you break your right hand?" Malfoy snapped. "We have a match next week and you're the damn seeker" Malfoy suddenly shouted and the boy started to cry more loudly.
"Mr Malfoy, do not shout at the patient" Madam Whittaker said sternly.
"How can you catch the snitch if you don't have a hand?" Malfoy said angrily and he suddenly looked frightened. "What if you can't play at all?" Malfoy said slowly. "Do you know what that means?" Malfoy shouted looking furious.
"You're making the patient very distressed" Madam Whittaker shouted. "Mr Malfoy if you shout one more time you'll have to leave."
"Sorry Madam" Malfoy said in a forced calm voice. "I should have never trusted a fourth year to be a seeker" Malfoy said turning towards Lestrange.
"Turner's probably not hurt that bad" Lestrange said crossing his arms. "He'll probably recover in a day or two"
"I hope to Merlin your right" Malfoy said running his hands through his hair. "Because if he can't play you know what that means" Malfoy said with a wavering voice and Lestrange nodded his head with a scared expression. Malfoy suddenly noticed her in the corner of the room. "What are you doing here Granger?" Malfoy said sneering at her and all the Slytherin's suddenly looked at her.
"None of your business Malfoy" she said glaring at him.
"Oh sorry Maya" Madam Whittaker said looking up. "The dreamless sleep potions on that shelf" Madam Whittaker pointed and then she went back to examining Turner's arm. Malfoy and the Slytherin's stared at her hatefully as she grabbed the bottle and walked towards the door.
"You take care Maya" Madam Whittaker shouted as she stepped outside.
"I will" she said closing the door. Hermione chucked the bottle inside her bag and slightly pushed the hospital wing door open. She peered through the gap and listened carefully. She needed to know if the boy was hurt enough to be excluded from playing otherwise all her hard work would have been for nothing. Madam Whittaker appeared to be bandaging the boys arm and he wasn't crying loudly anymore.
"Take this Mr Turner" Madam Whittaker said holding up a spoonful of green liquid. "It will ease the pain" the boy swallowed the liquid and Madam Whittaker fed him another spoonful.
"Madam, how long will it take for him to recover?" Malfoy asked hesitantly. "We have a match next week" Malfoy said in a strained voice and Hermione bit her lips in worry.
"All the bones in his right arm have been crushed" Madam Whittaker said waving a wand over Turner's arm. Malfoy, Avery and Lestrange paled at her words while Hermione felt hopeful. "I'm afraid it's going to take at least two weeks to re-grow them" Madam Whittaker said looking up and Hermione felt like doing a victory dance.
"Two weeks" Malfoy said weakly and he clutched Lestrange for support while the other Slytherin's looked scared.
"That's right so he won't be able to play quidditch next week" Madam Whittaker said confirming what the Slytherin's had feared and they suddenly started to bombard Malfoy with questions. "Mr Malfoy" Madam Whittaker shouted. "Tell your group to be quiet or they'll all have to leave"
"Silence" Malfoy roared putting his hands up and everyone became quiet.
"He hates quidditch" Lestrange said looking panicked. "He's going to kill us when we tell him" Hermione knew they were talking about Tom and all the Slytherin's looked frightened but Turner looked confused.
"Don't you think I know that?" Malfoy hissed and he nervously ran his fingers through his long blonde hair while all the Slytherin's watched his every move with fearful expressions. "Since it's his fault" Malfoy said sneering and pointing at Turner. "He's going to be the one that tells him"
"Tell what and to who?" Turner squeaked as Madam Whittaker carefully placed his arm in a sling.
"So you didn't even bother reading the book of rules before you signed up" Malfoy said venomously. "No matter, I'll enlighten you" Malfoy snapped "If more than one quidditch player is injured then the match is normally postponed--" Malfoy said seething with rage. "--but if one quidditch player is unable to play then their houses head girl or head boy has to replace them temporarily" he finished in a high pitched voice.
"I see" Turner said wincing in pain as Madam Whittaker positioned his arm.
"I think it has slipped your mind Turner" Malfoy said angrily. "But I'll refresh your memory" Malfoy walked over to Turner's bed and leaned over him. "The Slytherin head boy is Tom Riddle" Malfoy said slowly and Turner's eyes widened in fear.
"I can't tell him" Turner started to cry again. "It's Riddle, his--he'll--I can't be the one to tell him" Turner started to sob loudly looking panicked.
"Mr Malfoy, stop frightening him" Madam Whittaker snapped. "Calm down Mr Turner" Madam Whittaker said in a soothing voice but Turner continued to cry. "I really don't see what all the fuss is about" Madam Whittaker said fetching a bottle of skellogrow. "Mr Riddle is a kind young man and he would be happy to help in a situation like this"
"Of course Riddle is kind and helpful" Malfoy said sarcastically. "And hell is just an alternative name for heaven" he muttered in a low voice and he tugged at his hair with both of his hands.
"If telling him is such a big issue then I could do it for you" Madam Whittaker said pouring some skellogrow in a glass. "I could owl him to come down right now"
"No" Malfoy and all the Slytherin's shouted at once.
"Alright, I won't if you all feel that strongly about it" Madam Whittaker said looking at them with a puzzled expression. "But I'll have to inform your head of house"
"Slughorn can tell Riddle, we don't have to do it" Avery said cheerfully and all the Slytherin's suddenly looking relieved.
"No need to get too happy, we're still going to have to work with him" Lestrange said making all the Slytherin's look troubled again.
"We don't have a choice" Malfoy hissed. "And this is all your fault" he said glaring at Turner. "If you weren't stupid enough to break your arm we wouldn't have to deal with Riddle" Malfoy suddenly shouted and Turner burst into tears.
"Leave Mr Malfoy" Madam Whittaker shouted.
"Don't think your going to have an easy time resting here" Malfoy shouted punching Turner's mattress. "Riddle's going to want to meet the person that forced him to play quidditch and believe me when I say his going to make you pay" Malfoy said in a low threatening voice and Turner let out a frightened scream.
"That's enough" Madam Whittaker shouted. "All of you leave now or I'll summon the headmaster" The Slytherin's started to march towards the door while Madam Whittaker tried to calm Turner. Hermione quickly moved out the way and hurried down the stairs.
She walked towards the heads quarters feeling happy. Soon Tom would be forced to play quidditch and during the match she would make sure he fell to his death. She stood in front of Persephone and Hades portrait and it looked like they were having a meeting with lots of other portrait people. Noticing her presence they abruptly stopped talking.
"You look cheerful" Persephone said stepping forward. "Any particular reason?"
"Nothing really, just a good day" Hermione said shrugging her shoulders. "Medusa" she said making the door open and she stepped inside. Tom was sitting in his armchair reading. Noticing her presence he loudly snapped the book shut and stood up. Looks like the dark lord was still pissed of with her and she took a step back feeling worried but he didn't try to attack her. Tom disappeared into his room loudly slamming the door shut and Hermione sank into her red armchair smiling.
I've been depressed and I'm sorry for the late update. My exam results are coming out on 16th of July and I'm so scared.
I have a feeling this chapter isn't well written but I tried my best. I re-wrote and re-edited this chapter for at least 20 times before I thought it was fit to be seen. But if you find something wrong then please forgive any errors.
A huge thank you to all my reviewers. I can't believe I have over 200 reviews and I read each review I get, no matter how long or short they are. Please leave me a review and let me know what you think of this chapter.