Unmasking the heir of Slytherin

by enchantingelana

Tom Riddle had a dark secret that not even Dumbledore knew about. Hermione is accidentally sent to the past and discovers his horrifying truth. Can she help him heal or will he still become the monster Lord Voldemort. This will not be your usual HG/TR.

29. He can fly?

Hello my lovely readers, if I have any left. I am so sorry for not updating for so long and I hope the length of this chapter makes up for it. It's the longest chapter I have ever written and I have tried my best to perfect it.

Hermione sat up and turned off her alarm clock. It was 5 am, time to go down to the forbidden forest. She forced herself to get out of bed and stumbled into the bathroom. Later she got dressed in her room and despite the castle's heating she felt really cold. Deciding to wear a jumper she searched for the school uniform one but she couldn't find it. After carefully looking through her entire trunk she swore loudly and banged the lid shut. Her Hogwarts uniform had mysteriously appeared, and since Dippet had ordered a house elf to buy all her things she was sure the same elf had been responsible for providing it. The creature must have forgotten to buy her the jumper and to make things worse it wasn't just the school uniform one. The house elf hadn't brought her any other jumper or something similar and the only large clothing for warmth was her outdoor cloak.

Damn it, the weather had been warmer back in September and she hadn't realised. How could the stupid house elf think to buy her useless things like cosmetics and jewellery but not a jumper? She'd have to suffer until she purchased one through mail order, or she could complain to Dippet and he'd probably rectify the situation.

Oh God, the house elf. No, she couldn't tell Dippet as the elf would surely be told off or given information about it. She knew the way their kind reacted to the knowledge of having provided bad service and she didn't want Dippet's house elf was to severely harm itself or commit suicide. She already had two elves deaths on her hands and she didn't need another one. First Dobby had scarified himself to help her, Ron and Harry escape from Malfoy Manor and then she'd accidentally killed Lolly in her attempt to murder Tom. Guilt made her chest tighten as she recalled the elf's dying moments and her eyes watered. Hermione remembered the time she had setup S.P.E.W and reminiscing about Ron's reaction she weakly smiled. Back then if someone had told her she'd murder a house elf she wouldn't have believed it but now to slay her enemies she was almost capable of anything. The war had changed her. Watching the people she loved being killed and tortured had shaken her beliefs to the core and changed her views on dark magic and murder. She no longer hesitated to use unforgivables when she thought it was justified and killing was right in her eyes as long as the person was absolute evil.

She wondered what the past Hermione would think of the person she'd become. She'd probably be horrified but then again the past Hermione hadn't been through what she'd been through so it wouldn't be a fair judgement. It's easy to say, I would have done the right thing, until you're faced with the suffering of the worst kind. At times like that you have to do whatever's necessary to gain the upper hand, not look at what's right and wrong. She wasn't the first person in the world to think like that otherwise the ministry wouldn't have allowed the aurors to use unforgiveables on death eaters. As much as people don't like to admit it, sometimes for the sake of the greater good you have to embrace evil.A smile bloomed on her face at the irony of the statement but in her situation it was very true. She had to do something evil as murder to get rid of Tom Riddle so that the greater good of removing lord Voldemort could be achieved and she was determined to succeed. Feeling confident Hermione put on her hooded cloak and then she crept out of the heads quarters.

It was dark outside the castle and the temperature was freezing. She'd already cast a warming spell but it hadn't made a huge difference. A blast of icy wind suddenly hit her and she tightened the hold on her cloak. The ground of the forbidden forest was frosty and golden brown autumn leaves were scattered all over. With the help of her lit wand she navigated her way around and began searching for the silver bell flowers. As she progressed inside she glimpsed a few animals and she recognised most of them from textbooks or care of magical creatures. Over time the rising sun made the darkness vanish and she extinguished her wand light. Her feet were aching and Hermione decided to take a break. She paused and squatted down before glancing at her wristwatch to find it was 7 am. Merlin, it's nearly been two hours and she still hadn't found the flowers. Fingers crossed she'd find them before 8 o'clock, otherwise she'd have to come back here and she really didn't want to in this weather. Standing straight again she continued searching and as she moved closer to the heart of the forest the trees became larger and wilder.

Sharp hissing sounds suddenly filled the air and Hermione froze before raising her wand. She looked left and right but she couldn't see the source. It abruptly stopped and she was about to resume walking when the hissing returned. This time it was much louder and it seemed to be coming from a huge tree on her left. She hastily cast a disillusionment charm and in couple of seconds she was completely camouflaged. With her pulse quickening she turned towards the tree and edged closer to it. What the hell was she doing? It could be a dangerous animal, the safe thing was to get as far away as possible but she couldn't help her curiosity. She paused in front of the trunk and looked up and down. All she could see was overcrowded branches and thick muddy roots so where was the sound-it was coming from behind the tree. Hermione placed her hands against the aging bark and cautiously poked her head out. Her breath caught in her throat as she saw the back of a black cloaked figure. It suddenly turned sideways making half of its face visible and her heart painfully lurched as she recognised Tom Riddle.

She couldn't hear the hissing anymore and he was standing still. All of a sudden the inhuman sounds began again and she saw his lips move in sync. This time he didn't take a pause and he was making different sounds with the letters S, L and H dominating his speech. The dark lord was obviously speaking parseltongue but it didn't sound like anything she'd heard before. His tone seemed to have a hypnotic quality, and he's vocal cords produced the noises with such unnatural ease that in comparison Harry's parseltongue was forced and mechanical. To her horror she found Tom's language of snakes pleasant to her ears. She felt disgusted with herself but a part of her couldn't stop savouring the sounds leaving his lips. How comes Harry had never had that effect? Being the actual heir of Slytherin Tom must have inherited the ability to speak it perfectly while Harry had received an echo of it from Voldemort's Horcrux. Still,this was so wrong. She shouldn't like hearing him speak parseltongue. For Merlin's sake, he was the dark lord and she couldn't like anything about him. Tom's voice took on a commanding tone and the change snapped her out of her fixation. What the hell? No, she hadn't enjoyed listening to it. She'd never heard a parselmouth speak like that and it had just taken her by surprise. That's all it was, there was nothing more to it.

The dark lord was looking down and following his vision she noticed a snake slithering towards him. It suddenly stood up erect and Tom got on his knees. He held something towards the snake and after squinting her eyes she realised it was a glass vial. The scaly creature threateningly swayed back and forth and let out high pitched hisses. His parseltongue became loud and harsh and Hermione almost winced from the assault on her ears. With a low hiss the snake opened its mouth to reveal two fangs and it wagged its forked tongue before lowering its head over the vial. Then reptile spat into it several times and the glass container filled with dark liquid. Hissing the snake sank down and as he got back on his feet it slid away. Tom corked the vial and pulling it inside his cloak he hid it on his person.

Why was he out here early in the morning collecting snake venom? It was mainly used in dark potions and knowing the heir of Slytherin he was probably experimenting with potion recipes from the restricted section. As soon as he left she could start looking for the flowers again. Watching him she waited and he continued to remain standing as he was. After a while she started to get annoyed and she wondered why he wasn't moving.

Tom suddenly outstretched his arms and closed his eyes. The wind blew his cloak violently around his thin frame but he didn't move a muscle. What in the name of Merlin was he doing? The way he was standing in that scarecrow pose made it appear as if he was trying to fly. Hermione mentally laughed and her lips stretched into a smile. Honestly, Tom Riddle was crazy if he thought he was going to soar into the air without a broomstick. She suddenly remembered something disturbing and the smile wiped off her face. Lord Voldemort had flown in the sky unsupported and if his older self had managed then that meant Tom was really going to fly.

Knots began to form in her stomach and she felt a wave of nausea. Didn't that mean her murder plan wouldn't work? When the broomstick threw him off he would start flying instead of falling to his death. Oh, God. She'd spent so much time planning everything and it had all been for nothing. Hermione took in a deep breath but it didn't make her feel any better. Okay, maybe she'd jumped to a conclusion and was panicking over something that wasn't even true. Voldemort had been able to fly but without proof she shouldn't assume Tom could automatically do the same. It must take years of practice to gain an ability like that and he wouldn't be standing there like a statue if he'd already mastered it. So as long as he couldn't fly she'd be able to kill him and there was nothing to worry suddenly levitated an inch of the ground and all her previous fears returned full force. From the side his face appeared to be creased in concentration and as he moved higher up she held back a gasp. Merlin's beard, any second now he was going to start flying with ease and her murder plan would fail for the third time without her having put it into motion.

All of a sudden he crashed to the ground and relief washed through her. Hissing the dark lord got up and dusted his clothes before resuming his pose. After about a minute he was still standing there and she continued to watch with a pleased expression. Well, he certainly wasn't going to fly any time soon and that meant her idea was going to work. Smirking she was about to turn away when something caught her eyes. A few steps ahead of Tom a purple coloured plant was growing and grey shapes hung from it in abundance. Hermione felt overjoyed as she recognised the silver bell flowers, so many of them were in full bloom and she only needed one. Leaning her upper body against the tree trunk she patiently waited for him to leave. If only I had Harry's invisibility cloak, she thought with a mental sigh.

She watched Tom levitate a few inches and it didn't take very long before he dropped again. He jumped up hissing and she had a feeling he was swearing or cursing in parseltongue. He attempted twice more and each time he'd fallen he'd gotten up with an angry hiss. As he prepared to try once more she resisted the urge to laugh out loud, for some reason it was quite funny watching him repeatedly levitate, fall and then break out in harsh hisses. The dark lord rose into the air for the fifth time and watching him hover she eagerly awaited his crash landing. Instead of dropping he moved up a few inches and she raised an eyebrow. It was more out of surprise than worry, she knew being able to levitate mere inches wouldn't be enough to save one's self if they were to be dropped from the sky.

Something white suddenly ran into the clearing and she recognised it as a magical creature called Soolpava. Its body had a shiny appearance and it somewhat resembled a squirrel. The creature noisily scuttled towards the head boy and a second later he fell. Squeaking in fright the Soolpava started to run the other way and he got on all fours with a high pitched hiss. Hermione smiled toothily finding it hilarious, the creature had obviously made him lose concentration and the dark lord's animalistic behaviour was highly amusing. She half expected him to chase after it on his hands and knees when he pulled out his wand.

"Avada Kedavra" Tom shouted. Blinding green light hit the Soolpava and it dropped dead. Her smiling expression transformed into a horrified stare and her pulse quickened. Tom stood up and curling one of his hands into a fist he walked up to the unmoving creature. He looked down at it in distaste before kicking it into the air and the carcass landed next to the purple plant. He stepped and turned on the space the Soolpava had occupied, and then he started to walk away with his cloak billowing in the winds.

When she thought it was safe to come out she walked into the clearing and moved towards the silver bell plant. Trying to avoid looking at the dead animal Hermione quickly plucked a flower and in her haste she dropped it. She reflexively looked down and by the time she realised her mistake it was too late. The Soolpava's glassy eyes stared back at her and she tried not to but she couldn't stop remembering. The eyes of her lifeless loved ones had been like that, unmoving and seeming to be made of marble and no amount of tears could bring back the lively spark in them. With watery eyes she forced herself to look away and picked up the fallen flower. After placing a freezing charm on it she put it in her pocket and then she began to leave the forbidden forest.

Back in her room she hid the silver bell flower in her trunk. She walked up to the mirror and smiling at herself she took of her cloak. Now she only needed Solanum nicrum before she could start making the potion and she decided to get it from Hogsmeade sometime today. Hermione got into bed and closed her eyes but sleep wouldn't come to her. With a sigh she sat up and glanced at the cloak. There was fifteen minutes left till breakfast time and if she'd have to wake up that soon she was better off staying up. Suddenly feeling very hungry she took out the free pack of cookies Shiv had given her, they weren't healthy to eat for breakfast but she was too ravenous to care. Munching on the biscuits Hermione summoned a book and started to read.

The minute the clock said it was breakfast time she grabbed her bag and ran out the room. Even though she'd had the cookies she felt starved and she was sure all that walking in the forest was to blame. Hermione rushed inside the great hall and then abruptly came to a halt. No one was here, where was everyone? What a dumb question, just because she'd gotten washed and dressed at the crack of dawn didn't mean everyone else had. She was just too early, there was nothing to be alarmed about. She made her way to the Ravenclaw table and snatched a toast. By the time she'd sat down several bites had been taken out of it and as she finished off the rest she eyed a plate of egg omelettes. Should she have that next or the bowl of porridge behind it? On second thought, she really needed to drink some water. While drinking deeply from a goblet she looked up and then she coughed and splattered water all over herself as she realised she wasn't alone.

Tom Riddle was sitting at the Slytherin table and he was watching her. Lowering her eyes she set down the goblet and with a feeling of unease she patted herself dry. Then she dragged the bowl of porridge towards with the thought that something warm and filling would calm her. As she raised the spoon to her lips she sneaked a glance at the Slytherin table and found his eyes still on her. Looking away she swallowed a few mouthfuls of porridge but it didn't make her feel any better. Merlin, this was so uncomfortable and disturbing. As crazy as it sounded she could almost feel him looking at her, and being used to his stares it wasn't the staring that was bothering her. It was his eyes, his face was expressionless as usual but his eyes were a different story. There was a sort of intensity in them, it was like nothing else mattered and she was this interesting thing that he had to watch. Hoping he'd lost interest Hermione looked at him again and found his eyes still glued to her, only this time it was more unsettling as he was eating at the same time. If she'd known she'd be all alone with the dark lord and subjected to this she wouldn't have come down so early.

What on earth was holding his attention like this? Her appearance must have surprised him. At this time he was probably used to being the only one here, so he had to be trying to use legilimency to know why she'd arrived well before everyone else. In that case he was welcome to stare at her all he wanted, he wouldn't be getting past her occulumency shields anytime soon. Hermione looked back down and feeling a little relaxed she started to eat. A sudden thought made her pause with the spoon halfway to her mouth. What if he was still angry at her from yesterday? She hadn't meant to be nasty when she'd stared at him in his quidditch uniform, she'd just been shocked by his appearance.

She set down the piece of silver cutlery and bravely looked into his eyes. Was that anger? It didn't seem like it but she couldn't be certain when it came to the dark lord. After all the effort she'd put in to keep him calm was she really back to square one? Tom's watchful eyes made her feel uneasy again and she looked down at her bowl of gooey whiteness with a worried expression. Soon other students began arriving and feeling a little better by their distraction she ate more of her porridge.

"You're early" Susan said as she sat near her. "Why weren't you at dinner yesterday?"

"I was feeling tired, thought I'd get extra sleep" Hermione said sneaking a glance of Tom and she wasn't surprised to find he was still watching her.

"You shouldn't do that, it's not healthy"

"Yes healer Susan" she said mockingly and Susan made a face.

"Guess what?" Susan said excitedly.

"What?" she said with her mouthful.

"It's Friday and there's no class tomorrow" Susan squealed.

"Crap its Friday" Hermione said creasing her brows.

"What's wrong?"

"I have detention with Slughorn" She said gloomily.

"Cheer up" Susan said patting her on the back. "At least its Saturday tomorrow"

"Actually, detentions not that bad" she said. "Slughorn's great company when he isn't droning on about famous people" she continued with a roll of her eyes. "I just hate losing valuable study time"

"When you keep getting outstanding's I don't know why you worry" Susan said shaking her head.

"There's always room for improvement" she mumbled thinking of Tom's grades.

"Hey Susie" Xavian's voice sounded and they both looked up. He appeared recovered and there wasn't a bandage in sight.

"Xav, shouldn't you be lying in bed?" Susan said with a stern expression.

"I don't have to anymore, just taking potions now" he said patting a bulge on his trouser pocket and the sound of colliding glass followed. "Madam Whittaker said it's good for me to walk and here I am gracing you with my presence" Xavian said spreading his arms.

"Stop being so bloody dramatic or did your head get injured as well?" Susan said rolling her eyes.

"Says the queen of drama" Xavian said pulling a face. "Wonder what that say's about your head?"

"There's nothing wrong with my head, if I was dumb would I be in Ravenclaw?" she said pointing at the eagle on her uniform.

"The fact that you can manage to get an outstanding when you spend all your day gossiping is the sole reason the hat put you there"

"Hey, that's not the sole reason" she said raising her voice. "I'm actually intelligent"

"Okay, I take that back" Xavian said raising a hand. "After all, it takes a certain degree of cleverness to possess the personality of an airhead and the intellect of a mind much superior" he finished with a laugh.

"Get lost, Potter" Susan said angrily.

"Merlin, you're addressing me by my family name" Xavian said putting his hands on his heart. "I'm so sorry, I didn't think you'd take it so seriously"

"What you said was horrible" she said cutting her eyes at him.

"Oh, come on Susie"

"Don't ever talk to me" she said pointing her finger.

"Sorry a thousand times" he said with a pleading expression. "I'll buy you that new book you wanted,-what was it called?"

"I've already got the book"

"Then I'll get you-"

"Don't bother" she cut it sharply.

"But-"

"Fine, you're forgiven" Susan said with a sudden defeated tone.

"So glad to be friends again with the high and mighty, Susan" he said bowing down to her.

"Cut the crap, Xav, people are staring at us" she hissed.

"As you wish" Xavian said standing back straight. "Move over" he said gesturing with his hand and Susan shifted right next to Hermione. "The other way Susie, I want to sit between two of my friends" the Gryffindor said smiling in Hermione's direction and she immediately looked down at her food. Oh God, she didn't want to sit next to Xavian. She tried to catch Susan's eyes to let her know she wasn't comfortable with this but her efforts proved futile. The space beside her became vacated and soon Xavian occupied it looking like a cat that got the cream.

Hermione stirred her porridge feeling really uncomfortable. This was ten times worse than Tom's strange staring and speaking of the dark lord, was he still watching her? She looked towards the Slytherin table and was startled to find the head boy's face wearing an expression of loathing. Merlin, he was definitely angry at her from yesterday. Wait, his eyes weren't on her. They were focused a little beyond her left and that meant he was looking at Xavian. Thank, God, she wasn't the object of his current hatred. It was understandable that the Gryffindor would be sine he'd called the dark lord queer in front of the whole school.

"Alex, Andy" Xavian suddenly called out. "Over here" he said waving his hand and two boys in Gryffindor robes started to walk towards the table. As they sat in front of her a flash of something familiar made her look away from the Slytherin table and fix her gaze on them. One of the boys had red hair and freckles. She stopped blinking and stared at him. It was, Ron. She leaned forward with a longing look and she wanted to tell him how much she'd missed him. She opened and closed her mouth trying to form the words but she was too overcome with emotion. Susan loudly cleared her throat and she snapped back to reality. How could it be Ron when he was dead? That boy was not, Ron, he just resembled him. Feeling overwhelmed with sadness she drew back and her eyes slightly watered. She couldn't burst into tears in front of everyone, she had to get a hold of herself and with that thought she blinked on purpose a couple of times. She suddenly realised six pairs of eyes were staring at her and the red haired boy was looking down at the table with his cheeks blushing pink.

"Taken" Susan whispered grinning at her, and as Hermione realised what was being insinuated she wished the earth would swallow her up. She didn't need to be told in front of everyone the boy was taken because she hadn't wanted him in the first place.

"Stop it Susie" Xavian said sounding pissed off. "You're embarrassing her with your overactive imagination"

"Hardly any imagination needed when you can see everything with your eyes" Susan drawled. The Ron look-alike's blush deepened and the other boy in their group was trying not to laugh.

"No, it's nothing like that" Hermione said weakly.

"If you say so" she said sounding unconvinced.

"Ignore Susie" Xavian said putting his hand in front of her face. "We all know she's a delusional romantic"

"If anyone's deluded and thinking of romance it's you" she said pushing his hand away.

"So not true" he said with a laugh that sounded nervous.

"Really, maybe I should-"

"Maya" he said interrupting Susan with a loud voice, and realising it was her fake name Hermione reluctantly turned her head to look at him. "Let me introduce my friends" he said breaking eye contact and as he faced forward she noticed he was blushing. Oh great, she thought sarcastically. He may call her a friend but he was definitely seeing her in a different light. "This is Alexander Weasley-" Xavian said pointing at the red head and hearing the Weasley name she took in a sharp intake of breath. "-and he's Andrew Smith" he continued with his hand indicating the other boy.

"That's our new friend, Maya Granger" Susan said pointing with her thumb.

"Pleased to meet you" Hermione said with a slight smile and both boys nodded their heads in acknowledgement.

"Hey, I was going to say that" Xavian said grabbing Susan's thumb.

"Remember cutting me off" she said pulling it out of his grasp.

"That wasn't an interruption, you literally stole the words from my mouth"

"I always get people back with interest" Susan said smiling widely.

"Couldn't you have spared the sick" he said with a fake cough.

"No rest for the wicked" Susan said standing up. "I'll be back in five minutes" she said turning to leave.

"Where're you going?"

"Gonna talk to my girls" she said looking over her shoulder before walking off towards the Gryffindor table.

Xavian started talking to his friends and from the corner of her eye Hermione saw him frequently glance at her. She felt more uncomfortable in Susan's absence and hoping to appear unapproachable she busied herself with eating. As she added extra dollops of porridge to her bowl she looked up and her eyes lingered on Alexander. He looked so much like Ron it was uncanny but she couldn't remember his name being mentioned in her time. He could have been a distant relative since the Weasley's tended to have large families, or he could have died before starting a family and therefore forgotten over time. Still, wouldn't the family tree mention his-?

"So Maya" Xavian said interrupting her thoughts. "Aren't you going to enquire about my health?" he asked in a pretend sad tone. "I did recently come out of the hospital wing"

"It must have slipped my mind" she said with a false apologetic voice and she forced herself to look at him. "How are you?" she asked in a tone that she hoped didn't sound completely uncaring.

"I'll live" Xavian said winking at her and acting to have a coughing fit she faced forward. Something touched her on the back and Hermione froze.

"You okay" he said and as she felt a rubbing sensation she realised it was Xavian's hand. Crap, that certainly backfired.

"I'm fine" she said trying to brush him off and hoping he'd get the hint.

"You sure" Xavian said sliding his hand further down and out of her reach.

"I'm fine, thank you" Hermione said with a slightly hostile tone and the pressure on her back disappeared.

"Woah, what was that?" Susan's voice sounded and Hermione noticed Alexander and Andrew exchange a look. "Don't think I didn't see because of the distance" she said excitedly as she sat down. Tom must have witnessed it too, Hermione thought looking in his direction and she found the dark lord staring at her unblinking. His face was blank as always and his hand appeared to be paused in the process of turning a page of a book.

"Before you start, Susie" Xavian said defensively. "You should know she was almost choking and I was helping her with the purest of intentions" He'd meant well but she had a feeling his actions had been tainted by his want for her.

"He's not lying" Andrew said.

"I was kind of choking" Hermione said looking away from the Slytherin table.

"It's true" Alexander said. "There was nothing improper"

"I see" Susan said with a disappointed voice. "Hey, you all wanna know something" she said sounding excited again.

"Go on then gossip queen" Xavian said. "Who got together with whom or did someone break up?"

"It's nothing like that" she said gesturing with her hand. "There's a new shop opening in Hogsmeade and they're keeping what they're gonna sell a secret" she finished in a high pitched voice.

"That's crazy" Xavian said with a laugh.

"How in the name of Merlin does that promote your business?" Alexander wondered out loud.

"It's the mystery factor" Andrew answered. "It'll make their shop known and draw curious crowds on the first day"

"We all have to go" Susan said sounding enthusiastic.

"It's definitely working on, Susie" Xavian said giggling and Susan glared at him. "Fine, I'll come" he said sounding serious again and a smile slowly etched onto her face. "I have something to tell you all" Xavian suddenly said mimicking Susan's voice and Andrew and Alexander laughed.

"That's not funny" Susan snapped.

"Couldn't help it" Xavian said smiling and she lightly smacked him on the head. "I actually do have something to tell" he said leaning away from her and the spoon dropped out of Hermione's hand as his shoulder banged into her. "Sorry" Xavian said moving away and giving her an apologetic glance.

"It's okay" Hermione said picking up the spoon and forcing her lips into a slight smile. She didn't know if that'd been intentional or not, and so she decided to give him the benefit of the doubt.

"Tell us then" Susan demanded. "And don't miss out on the details" she added excitedly.

"Not that kind of thing, Susie" Xavian said frowning at her. "Must you always link everything to sex related things? The Ravenclaw's that had overheard the word sex looked mortified and Alexander and Andrew appeared uncomfortable.

"Don't say the S word out aloud" Susan whispered angrily.

"I wasn't intending to" Xavian whispered back. "It just slipped out"

"Stop whispering, people are getting suspicious" Alexander whispered while tilting his head towards the students with scandalised expressions.

"I don't think you should read the N.M.W books" Andrew said loudly as he sprinkled salt onto his egg omelette. "The pictures might lead to temptation" he continued with his cheeks turning pink.

"I wasn't planning to" Xavian said blushing. "She was just telling me a few titles"

"I saw the titles in a magazine" Susan said hurriedly. "I've never read one" As the group began to eat in silence Hermione wondered what N.M.W stood for. The book was definitely about sex and it must be well known if people recognised it by initials the alone. When they were no longer the centre of attention Susan poked Xavian with a fork.

"Ouch" he said rubbing the top of his hand.

"I was telling you the titles" Susan hissed. "Do you know what people will think?" she said aiming for him again.

"I'm sorry" Xavian said holding his hands up. "I was under pressure"

"And you" she said pointing the fork at Andrew. "What were you thinking?"

"Damage control" Andrew said. "It was the safest way out without everyone thinking we've committed the sin of fornification" he said lowering his voice.

"Lose the fork, its attracting attention" Alexander said looking uneasy. "I'd like to leave this table with my reputation and honour intact"

"I think it's rusty" Susan said loudly before setting the fork down. "Let's forget the last five minutes happened" she said lowering her voice. "So, what did you want to tell us?" Susan said nudging Xavian with her elbow.

"Oh yeah" Xavian said sitting up straighter. "I secretly watched-"

"Nothing vulgar" Susan interrupted whispering.

"- the Slytherin team practice" he continued with a roll of his eyes. "Riddle was absolutely rubbish, he's going to be more occupied with staying in the air than catching the snitch"

"Stop exaggerating" She said crossing her arms. "We all know you hate him"

"You'll see for yourself" Xavian said looking smug. "A first year can do better" Finally, something he's not good at Hermione thought feeling pleased. If he was that bad then no wonder he'd gotten so mad at her for simply staring at him in his quidditch uniform.

"Something could've been wrong with his broomstick" Susan said defensively.

"If there was then Malfoy wouldn't have flown on it like an expert while demonstrating to Riddle the great" he finished with a dramatic tone.

"His greatness must have felt tiny when he couldn't best his fellow Slytherin's" Alexander said grinning and Andrew laughed.

"Good one" Xavian said giving him the thumbs up.

"He'll get better with practice" Susan said looking at him disapprovingly.

"Time isn't a luxury he has and while we're on the subject" Xavian said smiling widely. "I swear Riddle's broomstick is so old it could be placed in a museum as an antique" he finished bursting into laughter and others in the group followed but Hermione didn't find it funny. "He's had the same bag since first year" he wheezed out. "Someone told me he uses magic just to hold it together" They all laughed again and she felt a spark of anger. "Have you seen the state of his shoes?" Xavian said breathlessly. "The leathers-"

"Stop it" Hermione snapped and silence descended on the group as they all looked at her.

"I don't see why we shouldn't laugh at Riddle" Xavian said raising an eyebrow. "Haven't you always said you don't have feelings for him" he continued with an icy look and she glared at him.

"Xav" Susan said with a warning tone and Alexander and Andrew whispered something to each other.

"Or was that all make believe?" he added sneering at her.

"I don't care for Riddle" she said angrily and she slammed her spoon into the bowl.

"Then why are you defending him?" Xavian said accusingly and she found she couldn't answer straight away. A part of her didn't care if they laughed at the dark lord but she couldn't ignore the other half that made her feel otherwise. "Should I repeat that?" he said nastily. "It'll give you more time to think up an answer"

"Xav, drop it" Susan hissed.

"It's not right to make fun of someone just because they're poor" Hermione said acidly, finally replying.

"Oh, that" Xavian said breaking eye contact. "You're a good person, Maya," he said looking at her again and his expression was apologetic. "But as far as I'm concerned that rule doesn't apply to Riddle" he continued with a hate filled voice. "You haven't been here long enough to know what he's really like" Hermione knew how evil Tom was but she couldn't get herself to agree that it was okay to laugh at him for being poor.

"Riddle isn't as nice as he pretends to be" Alexander said. "I've seen it"

"He's the most dangerous student at Hogwarts" Andrew said leaning forward. "Two years ago he killed a girl in Ravenclaw" he said lowering his voice.

"That's a rumour, Andy" Susan said loudly. "He didn't kill anyone"

"I say he did" Xavian said hotly. "How convenient he should be the one to catch Hagrid with the so called monster that did this"

"Hagrid used to be in Gryffindor" Susan told her. "He was expelled when his poisonous spider killed Myrtle, I think I told you before"

"I can't really remember" Hermione lied while recalling memories of the half giant and she wondered where he was now. He was supposed to have trained as a gamekeeper but she hadn't seen him around. Maybe he'd gone somewhere to do something important for Dumbledore or Dippet.

"It couldn't have been the Acromantula" Xavian said. "Hagrid showed it to me, it was a tiny thing living in a match box"

"The size doesn't prove it wasn't dangerous" Susan said.

"Finding Hagrid with it isn't proof of it killing Myrtle" Alexander said.

"I don't get how the aurors concluded the case" Andrew said shaking his head.

"They didn't bother" Xavian said leaning forward. "Father told me the ministry put a lot of pressure on them, so they must have gone for the first scapegoat that came along without a second thought"

"Riddle's discovery" Alexander said.

"Exactly" Xavian said leaning back with a triumphant look. "He knew they were desperate, the only reason he worked hard to provide them with an answer was because he murdered the girl"

"That's ridiculous" Susan said setting her palms on the table. "Tom was trying to help Hogwarts, just because the aurors used his findings to conceal their inadequacy doesn't mean he's a killer"

"Slytherin's don't help if they don't gain something from it therefore he killed her"

"If you're going to use his house against him then he could have done it to gain recognition, like the trophy he received for special services to the school"

"He wouldn't have done it for a trophy, he's got dozens of awards"

"There's no winning with you" Susan said throwing her hands up in frustration. "You all don't like Riddle cause he's a Slytherin" she said lowering her hands. "But he's not as bad as you think" Susan said looking towards the Slytherin table with a dreamy expression. Xavian gave her a dirty look before placing a hand on her shoulder with a sigh.

"I hate to be the one to tell you, Susie" he said in a mock sad voice. "But that's your hormones talking" Alexander and Andrew laughed and Susan threw off his hand with an angry expression.

"It's not my hormones" she said glaring at him. "Tom has always been a gentleman, the only times I've seen him attack someone is when he's provoked" she said emphasising the word provoked.

"Since when was cursing the life out of someone gentlemanly?" Xavian said raising his voice.

"He was defending his honour" Susan said hotly. "You can't slander his good name in public and not expect him to retaliate"

"I was voicing the truth" he said with a serious expression. "He thinks he can keep it a secret by hitting me but it's obvious he's-"

"Not that conversation again" Susan interrupted with an angry tone of voice.

"I know you fancy him but Riddle's a freak" Xavian said putting emphases on the word freak.

"I agree with you mate" Alexander said with a nod of his head.

"There's definitely something off about Riddle" Andrew said with a thoughtful expression.

"You're all wrong" Susan said defensively. "Tom isn't a freak"

"He's a bloody faggot" Xavian said with an expression of disgust. "You don't get freakier than that"

"You can't prove he's queer" She said glaring at Xavian. "It's just your opinion"

"His zero interest in girls doesn't exactly support him being straight" Andrew said and Susan fixed her glare on him.

"He might be or he might not be" Alexander said shrugging his shoulders. "I've never seen anything with my own eyes" he added hastily as Susan looked at him.

After observing the dark lord for many weeks Hermione was sure he didn't like either sexes but Tom being asexual would never cross their minds.

"I'll tell you something that will make you believe me" Xavian said and Hermione froze with her mouth full of porridge. "Riddle arrived dressed in his quidditch uniform" he said slowly and resisting the urge to roll her eyes she swallowed, for a second she'd thought he had concrete evidence.

"So what if he did?" Susan said raising her voice.

"It means he didn't change in the changing room"

"What does that prove?" Susan said with a puzzled expression.

"He didn't want to be around half naked boys" Andrew said creasing his brows.

"Correct" Xavian said snapping his fingers.

"If he's queer shouldn't it be the other way around?" Alexander said looking confused.

"Yeah, Xav" Susan said crossing her arms. "That's contradictory"

"Not really" Xavian said. "Riddle knew his unnatural urges would tempt him, he kept away to avoid risking exposure. So you see he has to be queer" Xavian had definitely misinterpreted. Tom had stayed away because he didn't like being too close to people, and if he had been queer he wouldn't have been so weak willed to lose control of himself.

"He could've been uncomfortable with other males looking at him so it doesn't prove anything" Susan said dismissively.

"Why wouldn't he want them to see him?" Xavian questioned. "Unless-" he crossed his arms and leaned forward. "-unless Riddle's actually a girl underneath his uniform" Susan gasped and the boys burst out laughing, and even though Hermione knew Voldemort wasn't a girl she couldn't help her lips from stretching into a smile.

"That's not funny" Susan said angrily "He's not a girl"

"That would explain a lot of things" Xavian said in between his laughter "Like why he doesn't like girls and his violent episodes are actually caused by PMS" he said placing a hand on his chest and breaking down in laughter again. Susan smacked Xavian on the head and Alexander and Andrew were laughing harder than before.

Hermione suddenly she had the urge to laugh as well and she settled for a short giggle behind her hand. "But if he's a secret girl he must like guys, so in the end it still makes him queer" Xavian said breathlessly as he raised his hands to block another smack from Susan.

"Xav, you're fucking crazy" Susan said slapping at his hands.

"Language" Andrew said with laughter in his voice. "We're attracting attention again"

"No words needed with that display" Alexander said gesturing towards Xavian as he tried to catch Susan's wrists.

"He's not queer" Susan said angrily while moving her hands out of his reach. "Has it ever occurred to you he might be waiting for the right girl?" she said pointing her finger at Xavian and he started to laugh once more. Alexander and Andrew followed and she dropped her hand glaring at them.

"Cut it out" Susan hissed lightly punching the table.

"Easy on the violence" Andrew said trying to catch his breath.

"Not good for the audience" Alexander said in between laughter and he tilted his head towards the staring Ravenclaw's.

"You've been reading too much witch romance" Xavian said breathlessly. "And that stuff is messing with your head" he said tapping Susan on the forehead and she threw off his hand glaring at him.

"My heads perfectly fine" Susan said angrily. "Who are you to judge when you've never read one?"

"You don't have to read one to know their ill effects"

"What ill effects?"

Xavian and Susan launched into an argument over the pros and cons of romance novels and soon Alexander and Andrew joined in. Hermione stopped paying attention and she started to think about what Xavian had said earlier. She knew his ridiculous theory that the dark lord was a girl held no truth, but his question of why wouldn't Tom want to be seen had stuck in her mind. Last night she'd thought he'd avoided the changing room because he disliked being close to people. But now it didn't seem like a good enough reason as he could've found a space far from everybody and still changed there, so then why hadn't he? Susan had suggested he might've been uncomfortable with being looked at and it was most likely he was self conscious of his body. He was the tallest male in seventh year but he was also kind of skinny, and the idea of being around boys with large muscles when he lacked them himself must have put him off. Unless there was some other reason she was failing to see but what other reason could he have?

Hermione's eyes travelled to the Slytherin table and she found Tom bent over his book. Like always he was seated right at the end and as faraway as possible from everyone else. His efforts of keeping himself to himself were way too extreme, he appeared to hate human contact so much that he wanted to completely avoid it, and whenever he'd been forced into close proximity with anyone he showed signs of being afraid. She could clearly remember his reaction when she'd grabbed him during their dancing lesson, and at the actual dance he'd shown fear and dislike towards her closeness. Hermione ran her eyes up and down his bowed figure and then she continued to stare. A gut feeling told her something about him wasn't right and she didn't know what. Tom suddenly locked eyes with her and she froze startled.

"Are you supporting Gryffindor?" she heard Xavian ask. "Maya" he said loudly and she snapped out of her frozen state.

"I don't really care about quidditch" she said looking away from the dark lord.

"You're supporting that freak, aren't you?" Xavian said venomously and he gestured towards the Slytherin table.

"I am not" Hermione hissed angrily.

"Xav" Susan said in a commanding tone while placing a hand on his shoulder.

"It's good to hear you're not" Xavian said with a forced calm voice. "Sorry, I didn't mean to make you angry" She chose not to respond and she started to rotate her spoon around the bowl with a moody expression. An uncomfortable silence fell over the group and wondering what had happened the other students whispered while glancing in their direction.

"Susie, you better be siding with us" Alexander said disturbing the quietness and they slowly resumed talking to each other but Hermione didn't join in. She gathered her things before saying a quick goodbye and then she rushed out the great hall. She felt annoyed with Xavian, he clearly couldn't deal with her rejection but did he have to behave like that?

In the potions classroom Hermione cautiously approached her seat. Tom was already there with his quill and books neatly positioned in front of him, and as she took her place he looked at her. She held her breath expecting an angry look any second now but his blank expression remained. Professor Slughorn emerged from the store cupboard and he went back to staring ahead. Suppressing the urge to sigh she set down her bag and started to bring out her things. She would have welcomed a glare to know what kind of mood he was in and it could have indicated if he was still angry with her from yesterday. Nevertheless, it would become apparent when he handled objects. Slughorn loudly clapped his hands and the room went silent.

"Today we are going to be making something advanced" Slughorn said lowering his hands. "With the winter upon us the days have become dull and gloomy, but the sunshine colour of this potion should cheer up your young minds" he said smiling widely. "From the clues who can guess what it is?" Tom's hand immediately shot up and Hermione's followed with a few other students.

"O ho" Slughorn said loudly. "This morning I'm really spoilt for choice" he said scanning his eyes around the room. "It's a hard decision to pick one student over the other" Slughorn said gesturing at them to lower their hands. "But since Tom has always answered the questions correctly it would be somewhat fair to let him answer" Slughorn said turning towards him with a smile and Hermione clenched her jaws. This was blatant favouritism, she'd also never answered a question incorrectly. Well, there was that one time when she'd said February was the best time to harvest blood grass and she'd forgotten to mention it had be on a full moon as well. The dark lord had been quick to point out the incompleteness of her answer, and even though the month had been right the missing piece of vital information must of made her answer incorrect in Slughorn's eyes. "My boy" Slughorn said prompting the heir of Slytherin.

"Elixir to induce euphoria" Tom said confidently. "It gives the drinkers a sense of irrational happiness"

"Correct, five points to Slytherin" Slughorn said with a nod of his head and Hermione grimaced.

After the professor signaled everyone to get started she watched Tom set up the cauldron. He didn't slam it down or use excessive force on anything and he appeared calm. Great, that meant he wasn't angry and most importantly he wasn't angry at her. Hermione picked up a shrivelfig and with a sour expression she waited his permission to go ahead. Yes, what she was doing felt bloody degrading but she didn't want him to get mad at her for doing something wrong. As usual they weren't going to exactly follow the textbook's instructions, and since Tom was the one that made all the changes she had to rely on his guidance to ensure the potion turned out the way he wanted. Tom suddenly looked at her and then down at the shrivelfig before going back to crushing the castor beans. Okay, he'd acknowledged her holding it and he hadn't said anything so that must mean no changes to the instructions for that step. Hermione peeled of the shrivelfig's skin and as she squeezed out the purple sap inside she recalled a memory. Harry had made the same potion with the half blood prince's instructions and she'd told him off for doing so. A wave of sad emotions tightened her chest and she took a deep breath. She didn't want to dwell on things that were painful and she made herself focus on the task at hand.

Hermione suddenly wondered how much variation there would be between Tom and young Snape's methods. Differences would be thought provoking since they were both gifted in potions and she might get to hear a knowledgeable comment to help her understand better. She watched the dark lord with renewed interest and he did not disappoint. He made three modifications that differed from the prince's instructions when they were halfway to making the elixir, and as much as she tried she couldn't understand the significance of his alterations. She wished he would say something, anything to even hint at why he'd done what he'd done but to her annoyance he remained silent. When they got to the last stage of the potion he still hadn't said a word and she started to worry. Why was he giving her the silent treatment? Oh Merlin, he must be still pissed off with her for staring at him in his quidditch uniform.

"The elixir can cause side effects" Tom suddenly said and she almost jumped. "Nose tweaking is the most common" he said uncorking a small bottle. "People that were full of happiness to begin with can't help burst into songs" he said icily and she wondered if Tom's sudden change of tone was caused by disgust towards people singing cheerfully. Most likely since dark lord's tended to be lovers of doom and gloom and he was well on his way to becoming one. "All of that can be counterbalanced by adding seven drops of peppermint oil" he said filling a small pipette with the liquid. Young Snape had used a sprig of it so why was he using the oil or did it not matter? "The active ingredient in the actual plant is less concentrated" Tom said unknowingly answering her question. "Using it in this form is as good guaranteeing no side effects" he said holding the pipette above the cauldron and then he squeezed out the required amount.

Soon a perfect shade of sunshine yellow simmered in their cauldron and the dark lord became quiet again. Hermione felt glad knowing he wasn't angry at her after all, and as he stirred the potion she started to clear her workspace. She was about to put a lid on a jar when her eyes fell on Tom and she froze. He was holding up a ladle full of the elixir and staring at it expressionlessly. A corner of his lips suddenly curled into a half smile and he poured the potion back into the cauldron. The emotionless mask returned to his face and resisting the urge to roll her eyes she screwed the cover on. No matter how long she spent observing his behaviour she could never be certain of what went on in his head. This time the best guess was he thought drinking the potion to feel happy was succumbing to emotional weakness and his incomplete smile was indicative of him mentally laughing at those that did.

At lunchtime Hermione sat in the great hall eating and out of habit she glanced towards the Slytherin table. She caught a glimpse of Tom holding an open book with one hand and a spoon with the other.

"Maya" Susan said and Hermione looked at her. "You remember that boy Alexander"

"Yes" She said dreading what Susan was going to say next.

"He claims he has a girlfriend but no one's actually seen her" Susan said creasing her forehead. "He won't even confide in me" she said gesturing at herself. Why would he unless he wanted the whole school to know, Hermione thought while chewing her food. "She probably doesn't exist so you might have a chance" she said sounding excited and the idea of dating someone who was as good as Ron's grandfather was disturbing.

"No, I don't-" Hermione started.

"I get it" Susan cut in. "Xav's not your type, you prefer red heads"

"I don't like him like that"

"Didn't look like it from the way you stared at him"

"He reminded me of a dead family member" Hermione said lowering her voice.

"Oh" Susan said looking away. "I'm sorry"

"It's okay" A few seconds past in silence before Hermione remembered something from this morning and she tapped Susan on the shoulder. "Don't worry" She said suddenly thinking it better not to ask.

"What is it?" Susan said sitting up straighter. "You can tell me" she said trying to keep the excitement out of her voice.

"It's nothing"

"Please, I won't tell anyone"

"Fine" Hermione said giving in to her own curiosity. "But don't take this the wrong way"

"I won't" Susan said nodding her head.

"What does N.M.W stand for?" she whispered and a mischievous look entered Susan's eyes.

"You seriously don't know" Susan said leaning closer. "It's either newly married wizard or newly married witch" she whispered. "Depends on the edition you have, but people just call them N.M.W books"

"I see" Hermione said reaching for her goblet. She hadn't expected the letters to stand for un-sexual words and therefore had a hard time figuring it out.

"They have them in America as well" Susan said creasing her brows. "Were you brought up in a remote village cut off from civilisation?" she said with a humorous tone.

"No" Hermione said setting down her goblet. "Just strict parents and home schooling"

"I can't believe you didn't come across the one your parents received" Susan said lowering her voice.

"Received" Hermione said with a questioning look.

"I don't know for sure if they do it in America" She said wrinkling her forehead. "But in Britain the ministry provides a free copy of the book to every couple on the day they register their marriage"

"Oh" She hadn't known that. No one in her time had mentioned anything of the sort but then again adults wouldn't have openly talked about it. Not many people in their age range had gotten married expect Bill and Fleur, but with Voldemort in control of the ministry registering the marriage hadn't exactly been an option. Maybe the free book scheme had been a thing of the 1940s and 50s otherwise she was sure Parvati or Lavender would have talked off it.

"N.M.W books are the only illustrated ones you can legally own" Susan whispered. "There are others types on the black market but if you get caught there's a fine of five galleons" So that's the reason why the N.M.W books were so popular during this time. The ministry must have relaxed the rules in the future and all the hype of owning an N.M.W book had died down.

"Why does the ministry favour the N.M.W ones?" Hermione asked. "Aren't all the other books showing the same thing in the end?"

"Same thing" Susan said looking slightly shocked. "God, you have so much to learn" she said shaking her head. "Simple penetration isn't the beginning and the end of what's out there" she whispered and Hermione's cheeks coloured.

"I don't want to know" Hermione said quickly. "So the N.M.W books" she whispered.

"All the pictures in them are done by a married couple and it's written by marriage counsellors" Susan said. "The ministry was strictly against the book, but the publishers argued it would provide crucial knowledge to newlyweds and therefore promote harmony within marriage" Susan took a quick sip from her goblet and cleared her throat. "They stressed that no moral boundaries were being broken and they'd only promote natural practices" Susan said emphasising the last two words and she paused with her eyebrows raised.

Hermione immediately understood what that look meant and she nodded her head to say she didn't want to know details of unnatural practices. Susan grinned and took another sip from her goblet. "Over time the authors gained public support and after many protests, mainly by the witches rights group the ministry gave in" Susan said resting her head on her hand. Hermione found this to be an interesting piece of history and she made a mental note to find out more about the withes rights group in her spare time. "Expect the basic free one there's at least a dozen other titles in the series" she said sitting up straight again.

"And they're all approved by the ministry?" Hermione asked.

"They all follow the same moral code as the first book so the ministry didn't have a reason to object" she said shrugging her shoulders. "Besides, the generous amounts of galleons the minster receives from taxing them isn't going to make him change his mind any time soon" Susan said raising an eyebrow. "Speaking of other titles" Susan said leaning towards her and she suddenly smiled. "Remember that picture book I told you about" she said lowering her voice and Hermione reluctantly nodded her head to say yes. "It's a N.M.W one on how to spice things up" she whispered. "Only mild stuff though, I don't think the BDSM chapter would have shocked you that much" she continued with a roll of her eyes.

"I don't see the point in reading information that is likely to be disgusting and have no use to me in the future" Hermione said sounding irritated.

"I promise it will be very useful in keeping your Slytherin happy" Susan said fixing her eyes on Tom.

"He's not my Slytherin" Hermione said setting her spoon down loudly.

"Oh come on, Maya" Susan said looking at her. "I saw you two staring at each other"

"It was coincidence" she said angrily. "I randomly looked in his direction and so did he"

"If you say so" Susan said rolling her eyes. "Strange how you come to his defence when things are said about his lack of wealth" She continued with a knowing smile on her face.

"Look, I was just doing the right thing" Hermione said raising her voice and she suddenly felt like a hypocrite. If making fun of deprived people was wrong then wasn't murder as well. No, she was right. Killing was necessary to remove lord Voldemort but she couldn't make herself agree it was fair to laugh at him for being poor.

"Of course" Susan said slowly. "Very interesting how it didn't seem wrong to you when they called him queer, perhaps you had inside information confirming otherwise" she said lowering her voice.

"Just stop it" Hermione snapped. "I don't like Riddle" she said emphasising the last word while giving the girl a death glare.

"Okay, okay" Susan said raising her hands. "You can keep your secret"

"There is no secret" she hissed clawing at the table and suddenly realising others were staring at her she relaxed her hands. The students seated closest to them looked back and forth between her and the Slytherin table and it was obvious they'd over heard the surname Riddle. "It's not true" She said a little loudly while looking at Susan and the girl raised an eyebrow before a look of understanding dawned on her face. Hermione grabbed her spoon and started to eat with speed. She carried on like that for a while and soon the onlookers lost interest.

"Maya" Susan said and Hermione paused with the spoon halfway to her mouth.

"Don't talk to me" She whispered angrily. "I'd rather people not hear your false beliefs"

"I didn't mean for everyone to hear" Susan whispered and ignoring her Hermione resumed eating at a fast pace. "If you don't slow down you're going to choke" Susan said and she continued to pay no attention to the girl. "I'm sorry, please don't leave early because of me" she said lowering her voice. "I promise I won't talk about Tom" she said whispering. Taking in Susan's apologetic expression Hermione's anger vanished and she decided to speak to the girl again.

"It's not that" Hermione said lowering her eating utensil. "I just wanted to finish quickly"

"Why?"

"I need to go to the library"

"But we have two hours free time after lunch" Susan said creasing her brows.

"The more time to study the better" she said setting her spoon down.

"You're taking studying way too seriously" Susan said looking at her like she'd grown two heads. "We don't even have any tests coming up"

"I just want to do some light reading" she said refilling her goblet

"Three hours worth of reading isn't light reading" Susan said shaking her head as Hermione drank deeply.

"Time seems to flow fast when I actually learn something so I'm making up for it" Hermione said putting the goblet down.

"Oh, that's the reason why everyone in my house has no life" Susan said in a dramatic tone while touching her temple. "They're so busy making up for lost time" she said jokingly and the Ravenclaw head girl smiled.

"See you in Herbology" Hermione said standing up and hanging her bag on her shoulder.

"There's still food left on your plate" Susan said disapprovingly.

"Not hungry" she said turning towards the double doors and then she rushed out the great hall. She wasn't really going to the library, she was planning to sneak out to Hogsmeade.

Hermione entered the heads common room and she was about to close the door when a mass of feathers burst through. She jumped back cursing and glared at the owl which was now sitting on top of an armchair looking innocent. It lifted its feet a few times to indicate there was a letter tied to it and wondering who had written to her she walked up to the bird. As she removed the envelope the owl affectionately nipped at her fingers and then it flew out the common room with a hoot. After shutting the door she climbed the stairs to her room. By the time she'd made it inside the envelope was torn and the unfolded letter was held in her hand. Hermione leaned against her door and ran her eyes over the black inked words. It read, I'm sorry for the things I said at breakfast. Its Hogsmeade weekend tomorrow, come out with me and I'll try my best to make it up to you. Eagerly awaiting your reply, your friend Xavian. Grimacing she crumpled the letter and the envelope before making it vanish. Xavian definitely had more than friendship on his mind and as she didn't have signed permission it's not like she could go with him, not that she'd wanted to in the first place. But regardless of whether she was allowed to or not she'd certainly be setting foot in the wizarding village. Wishing herself luck Hermione wore her hooded cloak and then she left the room.

Outside the heads quarters she placed a disillusionment charm on herself. She made her way to the third floor and male voices shouting insults filled her ears. Not far from her two wands lay on the floor and a pair of boys were engaged in muggle combat. Unaware of her presence they moved towards her and she hastily took cover behind the statue of the one eyed witch. Then she cautiously poked her head out and after a while of watching them she mentally groaned. When were they going to leave? What in the name of Merlin made them think the third floor was the best place to stop and fight? By now she should've been walking down the tunnel to Hogsmeade and those idiots were wasting her time. She glanced at her wristwatch to find if she left in five minutes she would still have time to get there and back. She decided to stun the boys if they weren't gone by two minutes and she hoped nothing similar happened on the way back.

Hermione's mind momentarily froze and she realised she'd made a big mistake. No, she couldn't go to Hogsmeade now. Why on earth did she decide to go there so early? She bloody hadn't been thinking, because if she had she would have noticed the huge holes in her idea. Harry had secretly gone to Hogsmeade during the day but he'd had an invisibility cloak and she didn't have one. Sure she had scheduled free time but as she was head girl the professors could still call on her for assistance. Merlin's beard, how could she have forgotten that? If she was discovered missing the consequences would be disastrous. No, she wouldn't allow that to happen. She would go to Hogsmeade when it was late, that way the majority of the students should be in their dormitories and the professors wouldn't be asking for her at night. Plus, in the dark the disillusionment charm would be as good as invisibility.

Someone tall suddenly walked into the corridor and their face was hidden behind an open book. The person appeared so engrossed in reading that they weren't disturbed by the battling duo and the boys were too occupied to notice anyone else. One of them swung their fist at the opponent's face, the would be victim jumped out the way and exposed a figure behind him. The attacker's fist travelled on and he punched the mysterious third person in the chest. Accompanied by a loud gasp the book dropped from the individual's hand and revealed their face. Hermione's eyes widened as she recognised Tom Riddle and a fearful expression plastered on the boy's face as he realised who he had hit. The dark lord hastily pulled his robes shut and took a few steps back with a shaken look.

"Sorry, I didn't know you were there" the boy said unsteadily and he cautiously took a step forward. "Are you alright?" he said reaching towards the dark lord.

"Don't touch me" Tom yelled pointing his wand and the boy jumped back. The heir of Slytherin's left hand continued to hold his robes together and his other hand trembled as a furious expression formed on his face. Tom suddenly took a step towards the boy and the boy raised his hands in surrender.

"I'm sorry" he said with a wavering voice. "I was trying to hit him" the boy said loudly and he gestured towards the other boy. That boy was crouched over his wand and for a second he froze looking terrified, then he grabbed the stick and ran out the corridor as fast as he could. The boy in front of the dark lord decided to escape as well but he didn't get very far before Tom magically threw him to the floor. Noticing his fallen wand the boy desperately crawled towards it but it flew out of his reach seconds before he could touch it. The dark lord made the boy fall onto his back and walked up to him in quick strides.

"Please, I didn't mean it" the boy whimpered as he tried to slide away. Tom stamped his foot down on the boy's right hand and the boy cried out.

"Ignissa" the heir of Slytherin hissed flicking his wand and the boy started to scream. His legs shook and his arms moved against the floor in a flapping motion. The action caused the hand still trapped under the dark lord's shoe to leak blood but Tom carried on without a care.

Hermione looked away knowing she couldn't help the boy without exposing herself or making the dark lord mad at her, and she tried to find comfort in the thought that in the end Voldemort would pay for everything. The boy was lucky to be in the passageway otherwise she was sure he'd have had the cruciatus used on him. Some time ago Tom had told her off for trying to crucio Malfoy in the corridor. He was evil but not stupid. He didn't go around carelessly using unforgivables or else he'd have been in Azkaban by now. After a while she wondered why Tom hadn't dragged him into an empty classroom or a broom cupboard like he had with her. In seconds she found the most likely answer, he must have been too angry to delay the punishment and wanting instant gratification he'd settled for a less extreme torture method.

Suddenly the sound of running footsteps could be heard and it became louder with each passing second. Lost in his rage the dark lord hadn't added the magical silencer and now someone was coming to investigate. Ending the spell Tom took a step back and the boy's sobs echoed of the walls. With a wave of his wand the dark lord messed his perfect hair and all trace of emotion disappeared from his face. Soon professor Merrythought rushed into the corridor and her magical stick was held high.

"Riddle" the professor said halting and she bore her piercing eyes into him. "What is going on here?" she said raising her voice and lowering her gaze to the crying boy on the floor.

"My-my hand" the boy said wheezing. "He-"

"Princeton was fighting with Murray again" Tom said speaking over the boy and the professor looked up. "He decided to attack me when I tried to stop it" he said lifting his wand to his forehead and he used it to move some hair hanging over his left eye. Hermione knew Tom's actions were deliberate and she grudgingly agreed he was very good at conditioning people's minds. He'd drawn Merrythought's attention to his head and his untidy hair would make what he'd said believable.

"No" the boy whispered and he tried to sit up.

"In self defence I used a few spells" Tom said lowering his right hand.

"I hit him by accident" the boy said with a low tearful voice. "-and he-"

"Nothing harmful, professor" the dark lord said speaking over him again. "You can check" he added with a softer tone and he offered his wand to Merrythought. She narrowed her eyes and appeared to be considering it.

"That won't be necessary, Riddle" she suddenly said and she turned her attention to the wailing boy on floor. "Calm yourself, Princeton" the professor ordered and then she bent down. Hermione wasn't surprised to see everything in Tom's favour again. He'd manipulated the professor with the reverse psychology trick, and he probably wouldn't have dared to try it on the sharp minded Merrythought if he hadn't known he was her most favourite student.

"Was Murray hostile towards you?" Merrythought asked looking up at the dark lord as she waved her wand over Princeton.

"No, professor" Tom said. "He just ran off" She looked back down and moved her wand in circles.

"There's nothing really wrong with you" Merrythought suddenly said sounding cross and she lowered her wand.

"But-" the boy said tearfully and he clutched his hand. "-my-"

"It's just a mere cut, Princeton" she interrupted with an angry tone and then she placed her hands on the boy's shoulders. "Get up" she said pulling on them and as he stood shakily she straightened. "You've been told countless times not to bring your family enmity with the Murray's to Hogwarts" Merrythought said raising her voice and glaring daggers at the boy. Princeton shrank away from her and tightly gripped his injured hand. "You're a sixth year now, Mr Princeton" she continued. "This kind of behaviour cannot be allowed to go on"

"I didn't start it" Princeton mumbled.

"I don't want to hear excuses" the professor snapped. "How dare you hit a head boy" she said loudly with her nostrils flaring.

"I didn't do it on purpose" Princeton said weakly and he looked at Tom with a fearful expression. The dark lord gave him a death glare and he froze wide eyed.

"You mean Mr Riddle is a liar" Merrythought said almost shouting.

"I did-didn't-sa-say that" the boy stuttered while continuing to stare at Tom.

"Then I think it's very clear who is telling the truth and who isn't" the professor said emphasising the last two words. "Apologise to Mr Riddle" she said raising her voice but the boy remained quiet. Tom tilted his head a little to the left and anger clearly showed on his face.

"Now" Merrythought shouted.

"I'm sorry" Princeton blurted out and he looked away from the dark lord.

"Violence and lack of respect towards those superior to you will not be tolerated at Hogwarts" Merrythought said glaring at him and then she summoned his wand. "Did Murray injure your hand or was it your own fault?" she asked as she held out his magical stick and Princeton looked at Tom again. The heir of Slytherin was rotating his wand between his finger and thumb and he looked angrier than ever.

"It was Murray" Princeton said in a high pitched voice and he moved towards the professor. "It was Murray" he repeated taking his wand and then he wiped his watery eyes with his sleeves.

"Go to the hospital wing then come straight to my office" Merrythought ordered and Princeton fearfully glanced at the head boy before leaving the corridor as fast as he could. The dark lord's face instantly became expressionless and he pointed his wand towards his fallen book but it flew into the professor's hand before he could summon it. "This is too advanced for Murray or Princeton" she said looking down at the front cover before holding it towards Tom.

"Thank you" he said taking the book with his right hand, and Merrythought's eyes jumped to his other hand that was still keeping his robes closed. "If there is nothing else, professor, may I take my leave?" Tom asked while tucking the hardback under his arm and slowly turning away from her.

"Are you hurt?" Merrythought questioned with a sudden sharp tone.

"No, professor" the dark lord said in a slightly strained voice and he turned back towards her.

"It does not appear so" she said gesturing at his upper half. "Let me take a look, Riddle" Merrythought said raising her voice and taking a step towards him.

"I'm fine" Tom said hurriedly and he moved further away from her. "The same can't be said for my shirt" he added in a high pitched voice and an embarrassed expression took over his face. "Princeton loosened a few buttons when he tried to grab me" he said glancing at the floor and he readjusted the hold on his book.

"I see" the professor said looking uncomfortable for a moment. "They'll have to be punished severely this time" she said facing away from him. "Fix those buttons now, Riddle, or you'll catch your death in this weather" Merrythought voiced as she started to walk towards one of the exits.

"Yes, professor" Tom said raising his wand and he kept his eyes on her back until she left the corridor. Then he stood still listening to her footsteps and when they completely faded he put his magical stick away. The heir of Slytherin began to sweep his gaze over the surroundings and feeling unsafe Hermione entirely hid behind the statue. Did she just see his robes still being held together? Yes, she was sure of it. And what was all that rubbish about loose buttons? Something about this whole thing wasn't right, the dark lord was definitely up to something.

She cautiously poked her head out and saw Tom standing in the same place with his head bent down. He suddenly dropped his book and stumbled into the wall. Then he leaned back against it and faced upwards. The young dark lord closed his eyes with a pained expression and let go of his robes. They fell away to reveal his white shirt and Hermione held back a shocked gasp. There was a large patch of red on his chest and it definitely hadn't been there when he'd walked into the corridor. For a few seconds she stared frozen and then her mind jumped awake.

What the hell was that colour staining his clothing? It couldn't possibly be blood, could it? Merlin, was he bleeding? She leaned a little forward and strained her eyes to get a better look. He still appeared to be in pain and he wouldn't be hurting if he wasn't injured. The dark lord had closed his robes after the boy had punched him but how could a punch make someone bleed like that? She suddenly remembered the same thing happening when she had hit Tom in the chest. Back then she hadn't given it much thought and over time she had forgotten about it. Now the memory stood out in her mind but it didn't help provide any answers, it just left her with more questions.

All of a sudden the young dark lord hissed and startled Hermione took in a sharp intake of breath. He opened his eyes with a string of inhuman sounds and even though she'd heard him speak parseltongue before she couldn't help but feel a shiver of fear crawl down her spine. Compared to what she'd heard in the forbidden forest this was colder in nature and had a creepy vibration to it. Tom looked down at himself and creasing his brows he pushed himself up. He made his hands into fists and punched the wall behind with another hiss escaping his lips. He slowly uncoiled his hands before dipping one of them into his pocket and then he pulled out a handkerchief. The dark lord started to rub his chest with it and Hermione's eyes widened in disbelief as the red mark completely vanished. He spread out the handkerchief before holding it up and the stainless appearance of the fabric gave no indication whatsoever of having absorbed anything. He neatly folded it into a triangle and then he placed it back in his pocket. With a quick wave of his wand Tom summoned his book and after looking back and forth he ran out of the corridor.

Hermione slowly walked out of her hiding place and un-disillusioned herself. Trying to understand what she'd witnessed she started to walk towards the heads quarters, soon she stood in front of Hades and Persephone's painting and they weren't there.

"Persephone" she called taping the frame with her wand but the goddess didn't appear. "Persephone" she repeated and still no one came. "Hades" Hermione said trying again and when there was no response she let out a frustrated sigh. If only she knew Tom's spell to summon portrait people, it had to be his own invention since it wasn't in the books. Suddenly a dishevelled looking woman appeared on the canvas and as she hand combed her hair out of her face an angry expression showed. It took Hermione a second to realise it was Persephone and it wasn't hard to guess that the heir of Slytherin was the cause of her state.

"Password" Persephone suddenly shouted and Hermione almost jumped.

"Medusa" she said acidly. It wasn't her fault the dark lord had attacked the painting and the crazy goddess didn't have to get angry at her. Persephone gave her a dirty look as the door clicked open and she hoped Tom wasn't in the common room. His foul mood wouldn't have worn off yet and she had no desire to be on the receiving end of his anger. The head girl hesitantly stepped inside and finding herself alone she hurried into her room.

Hermione dumped her bag on the table before sitting on the bed and then she stared towards the mirror deep in thought. Something was really wrong with Tom Riddle, really really wrong and she didn't know what. The one thing she was sure of was that bleeding like that definitely wasn't normal. She'd always had a feeling she was missing something when it came to explaining his strange dislike of touching and being touched and this had to be it.

But he only seemed to bleed if someone hit him in the chest, so then why did he hate human contact with other parts of his body? Hermione creased her brows as she pondered the question. She thought back to when Tom had been in the headmaster's office with the auror leaning close to him, Slughorn patting him on the back at Slug club and him being made to dance with her at Halloween. In all these memories one thing was constant, his expressions of dislike and fear, and that meant something was there strong enough to rattle the dark lord that wasn't visible to the naked eye. So what could that possibly be? Hermione relaxed her brows and leaned a little forward.

Perhaps his mysterious condition caused him great pain whenever someone touched him or got too close to him. That would perfectly explain his extreme rule of keeping himself to himself, when she had grabbed him during their dancing lesson his reaction had left her puzzled but if it had hurt him badly then she could understand. Merlin, this had to be the real reason why he'd avoided the changing room. Being unclothed in the presence of others probably worsened his condition and his chest must have temporary visible cuts since the bleeding appeared to be restricted to it. Tom obviously didn't want everyone to see and there was no way he could've gotten changed in front of his quidditch team without exposing his upper half.

So if he felt pain at anyone's touch other than himself then that meant blood status didn't matter. No wonder he'd reacted the same way with known purebloods, therefore he must've told the truth at the Halloween dance when he'd said he wasn't bothered by her blood status. But then again Tom thought she was half blood, and knowing his hatred for muggles he probably wouldn't have taken it well if she'd told him she was really a muggleborn.

Hermione stretched her legs and leaned back on her elbows. She suddenly remembered the way Tom had used his handkerchief. It'd made the blood disappear without staining itself and something like that was only achievable with an advanced absorbing spell. It was meant to be difficult to cast but obviously that wasn't an issue for the dark lord. In all her weeks of observing him she'd noticed he always had a handkerchief and she'd concluded it was due to a 1940s Slytherin custom. Actually, come to think of it she couldn't remember seeing anyone else from the house of snakes with one. Surely if such a house tradition existed then Abraxas Malfoy would've displayed his handkerchief by now instead of using the back of his hand. t was clear to her now, Tom didn't carry one to fit in with the other Slytherin's. He kept a handkerchief at all times because he needed it to make the blood vanish and that meant his condition was persistent. So either his chest bleed frequently or he was just prepared for incidents that did this to him.

Hermione crossed her legs and sat up straight. Something about the dark lord's handkerchief didn't add up though. When he'd used it to wash blood from her face she could recall with certainty that it hadn't magically absorbed anything, why hadn't it? Merlin, it'd almost slipped her mind. There was no way the handkerchief he had now was the one he'd used on her since he'd left it with her, and then she'd destroyed it in her attempt to stop Susan from taking it. However the dark lord's condition and the fact that powerful absorbing enchantments ceased to work after a few days, and wouldn't function if recast on the same material, led her to believe he continuously acquired the same type of handkerchief she'd recently seen him use. So therefore he must've forgotten to place the spell on the one he'd used on her.

No, that didn't sound right. Tom's mind was so sharp she found it hard to believe he would forget anything, then that could only mean he'd been aware of the cloth not being enchanted. Now that she thought back on the details, he'd conjured a goblet full of water beforehand to clean her face with, and he wouldn't have done that if he'd expected the handkerchief to magically absorb the blood. Still, something was amiss. Tom's daily effort to keep the cloth on his person meant he was always prepared to deal with his strange bleeding casualties, so then why had he on that day put himself at risk by deliberately carrying a non-enchanted handkerchief?

It wouldn't be like the dark lord to do so but it couldn't be denied that the cloth hadn't absorbed her blood. Hermione frowned as she found herself confused and her thoughts ended up going around in contradictory circles. Everything she knew about the heir of Slytherin indicated he wouldn't have done that but then the handkerchief should've taken in her blood. She bit her lips and thought it through again.

Wait, the handkerchief hadn't absorbed her blood. She'd taken that to mean it wouldn't absorb his either but what if that wasn't the case? All the known absorbing spells didn't have the power to be selective of their intake but it wasn't exactly impossible for someone to invent one that could be. The average person would see it as a tedious unachievable task but being a genius the dark lord would find it a matter of simply modifying the existing spell. Merlin's beard, then that meant he'd designed it to specifically make his blood disappear and nothing else. Everything made sense now, the handkerchief had been enchanted with that spell all along. It was clever of the dark lord to make its magical ability exclusive to himself as it would behave like a normal handkerchief with anyone else, so if it ever fell in the wrong hands during the spell's active stage he'd have nothing to worry about.

Hermione pressed her lips into a thin line as she suddenly thought of a question. Tom would have to regularly replace his handkerchief to sustain the spell's effectiveness, also it having the embroidery of his initials meant it'd been specially made for him, but if he was as poor as he appeared to be then how could he continuously afford such a service? Unless he made them himself but then he'd need raw materials, so how was he getting a constant supply of it?

In seconds a memory sparked in her mind and everything clicked in place. When she'd come across him volunteering at the hospital wing she'd thought a cotton reel had gone missing but she'd dismissed the idea after presuming the dark lord wouldn't have use for it. Now she was certain he'd stolen the cotton reel to make handkerchiefs from it, perhaps he made other things as well. Madam Whittaker had said they were mainly used to make bandages and he must need them when his injuries were too deep to be instantly healed by magic. So that's the real reason why Tom always volunteered to make cotton reels, otherwise Madam Whittaker would get suspicious if he kept on requesting things like handkerchiefs and bandages.

Now, all the conclusions she'd come to were very enlightening but she still hadn't found the answer to the most important question. What was making Tom Riddle bleed like that? She searched her brain in vain but she really didn't know and the best place to find an answer was the library. A sudden rush of excitement went through her at the idea of researching something unknown and she jumped to her feet. Hermione threw of her hooded cloak and grabbed her bag. Then she cautiously stepped out of the room and finding herself alone she rushed out of the heads quarters.

Inside the library Hermione stared at the book shelves and wondered where she should start looking. Tom's condition was most likely the result of dark magic, maybe a spell had backfired or he could've touched something cursed. She started to eagerly search through the defence against the dark arts section and with passing time her enthusiasm became less and less. Hermione let out a frustrated sigh as she replaced another hardback on the shelf and then she rubbed her wrists. They were aching from the amount of books she'd handled and she'd gotten a paper cut or two from rapidly turning the pages. So far she hadn't found anything close to his condition and there weren't many relevant books left but hopefully it would be in one of them. She sat down on the floor before summoning a red cloth bound book and then she used her wand to move the pages. Doing this with magic was so much better, if only she hadn't gotten all excited and thought of this approach sooner. Hermione lowered her stick as the words cursed mirror caught her attention. It wasn't what she was looking for but the paragraph was interesting to read. She suddenly remembered the time she'd seen Tom come face to face with a levitating mirror. He'd appeared so frightened of his reflection he'd smashed the looking glass with his fist instead of disintegrating it magically.

Merlin, could this be another side effect of his mysterious condition? It was possible, maybe looking at his reflection hurt him and prolonged staring resulted in something worse. To have the most handsome face on earth and not be able to look at it, if that was true then it was really sad. Hermione raised her wand to turn the page and then she froze as she realised what she'd thought. How could she think the dark lord was the most handsome? No, it wasn't like that. The physical evidence was hard to overlook and she'd just meant it as a general statement. She didn't personally find him attractive or anything. No matter the outer shell she knew the real monster he was on the inside and that made lord Voldemort ugly.

If he was really restricted from looking at his reflection she doubted it bothered him. He couldn't have cared about the way he looked, otherwise he wouldn't have progressively disfigured himself just to gain power. Right now he must see his face as a means to an end, an advantage that allowed him to easily charm, persuade and manipulate others. But when he had enough power he wouldn't need its help as fear and force would do the job. Well, since she'd based the connection between the mirror and his condition on her assumption it was very likely it wasn't true. The next best explanation was that the blackness of his soul frightened him as mirrors were said to reflect the soul of a person, she'd thought of it last time but superstitions couldn't be relied upon so in the end she was still clueless.

Wait, the only thing Voldemort had been scared of was death. If his condition hurt him to look at his reflection he must be afraid the pain would eventually double in strength and somehow kill him. Then it must also apply to everything else with painful restrictions, and that meant all the fearful looks she'd seen on his face were really manifestations of his fear of death.

Nearly an hour later Hermione stood staring at the book shelf with her hands on hips and an angry expression on her face. The defence against the dark arts section didn't have the answer or anything that was similar to Tom's condition. Two things she'd read had drawn her attention but she knew they were too different to be actually linked. Spells that could be used to cut the victim had been described but it required a wand and not just being touched or punched by someone. Also, the power of the spell was limited to the number of times it was accurately cast and it didn't indefinitely continue to harm the victim afterwards. Cursed objects that cut you upon contact existed, but only the surface it'd touched would be harmed and the power of the curse didn't extend beyond that object. You didn't need to be intelligent to see there was no real connection between Tom's condition and those spells and curses. If there was anyone who thought otherwise then it would be the same as saying a frog and a human were the same species because they both had eyes, and they definitely weren't the same.

She couldn't find a curse or a negative consequence of a spell that made the victim bleed upon forceful contact from another person, and caused them pain if they were touched by someone or were at a close proximity to them. But Tom's condition did all of those things to him so then why wasn't it documented in the books? How could black magic not be the cause of something like that?

Hermione whispered a string of swear words and let go of her hips. A dull thud suddenly met her ears and she turned to see a student had dropped a book. She was about to look away when a small dusty sign caught her eyes and it read, healing. There weren't many books in that section as healing magic wasn't taught at Hogwarts, they were there for general information or to satisfy curiosity. A thought suddenly struck her, what if Tom had some kind of an illness? Magical diseases did tend to have magical symptoms so it wasn't exactly impossible.

Hermione glanced at her wristwatch to find she had about 40 minutes of free time left. Feeling excited again she rushed over to the healing section and began searching through the books. As there weren't many to read she was done in a little over 30 minutes and her mood was right back to where it had been before. The healing books didn't have the answer either, so if he wasn't suffering from dark magical side effects, cursed or ill then what the hell was wrong with him?

Hermione creased her brows and started to pace back and forth. Damn it, why wasn't his condition in the books? A sudden realisation made her freeze, she couldn't find the answer in the books because she didn't have the right books. The healing section wasn't regularly updated and the existing texts were general healing ones that didn't deal with complex things. So he could be ill and she just didn't have the resources to confirm it. Or it could be the doing of dark magic and the book with the details was missing from the defence against the dark arts section. Merlin, why hadn't it occurred to her before? Tom's condition was probably caused by magic that was considered too dark to be studied at Hogwarts, and so any books about it wouldn't be in the student area of the library but the restricted section might have something.

Hermione wanted to go there right now, but her free time was almost over and there was a greater risk of getting caught during day light hours. She decided to come back after dark and then she remembered she was meant to go to Hogsmeade in the evening. It would be too late by the time she returned and it wouldn't be wise to make the broom cursing potion the next morning with less sleep. It was crucial to the dark lord's demise and she had to be wide awake to avoid making fatal mistakes. In the afternoon it would be kind of dark because of the winter month so she could try sneak in after the last class of her day, but then she'd have to skip doing homework. Seventh year was no picnic, she already had her hands full with assignments and revision that had to be completed soon. On top of that was her mission to murder lord Voldemort and she had a deadline to get everything ready before the quidditch match.

Hermione had taken her curiosity too far and she couldn't afford to get sidetracked. She didn't have time to waste on finding out what was wrong with Tom. Why should she even care about his state of health? It wasn't important to know what was causing his condition because it couldn't be permanent or life threatening, otherwise Tom Riddle wouldn't have lived to become lord Voldemort. Therefore he naturally recovered with time or a cure must exist and if it didn't then he must've invented one. A memory suddenly wormed its way to the front of her mind. Tom had Albertus Magnus's book on theoretical further uses of dragon's blood, the seventh year curriculum didn't require further knowledge than the twelve uses so he definitely wasn't reading it for academic purposes. He was probably using it to work on a cure and the snake venom he'd collected this morning might also be a part of it. He could have wanted the Zulfitack flowers for the same reason. She'd accidentally burnt them but the dark lord must've gone back and stolen more.

Again, all of this was theoretical and based on her assumptions. Whether he was working on a cure or not it didn't make a difference because she knew how history ought to play out without her intervention. With her brain turned off research mode she felt glad that the dark lord was suffering. This might make the task of murdering him easier and if he was fragile as he appeared to be then a fall from his broomstick would definitely kill him. Her lips slowly twisted into a wicked smile and with it plastered on her face Hermione walked out of the library.

When it was time for her first afternoon class she put on a heavy cloak and started to make her way towards the greenhouse. As she stepped outside the castle she cast a warming spell but the cold weather remained dominant. Soon she came across other students from her class and they were all dressed in clothes to keep them warm.

"The two thousand year old cloak must have finally fallen apart" Hermione heard Xavian's voice say from afar and it was followed by the sound of group laughter.

"He's walking like its summer, how in the name of Merlin is he doing that?" She heard someone else say.

"He's a Slytherin snake, being cold blooded probably makes him cold proof" Xavian said and the collective laughter followed once again. Hermione turned to see who the person of their ridicule was and then she froze as her eyes found the cloak less figure. It was Tom Riddle and he was only dressed in his school uniform. There was no expression on his face and his hands were at his sides with the fingers curled in semi-circles. What the hell? Why in his right mind would he come out like that? That's it, of course he wasn't in his right mind after the incident in the corridor. When the dark lord was greatly angered he usually killed owls or hit objects, and it looked like subjecting himself to arctic conditions was another one of his bizarre ways of dealing with it.

Strong wind suddenly started to blow in Tom's direction and scattered most of his hair over his left eye. The bottom of his robes eventually started to fly behind him and exposed his long legs and hips. The female onlookers whispered to each other and giggled while the males remained unimpressed. Xavian made another comment and it was followed by Susan's voice telling him off. Hermione's mind was too occupied to register what they'd said because like the other girls she found herself captivated by the heir of Slytherin. Tom's fluttering hair seemed to dance in perfect rhythm with the howls of the wind and each movement of his lower body appeared uncannily graceful. The weather had somehow magnified his beauty and it was like he'd morphed into an ancient god of storm or lightening that she'd read about in mythologies. The young dark lord suddenly shivered, giving away he was mortal after all and he pulled his robes back in place.

Hermione snapped out of her fixation and spun back around. She started to walk forward with speed but the feeling of guilt and self disgust did not lessen. Why in the name of bloody Merlin did she think those things? In the forbidden forest she'd found his parseltongue melodious, then in the library she'd thought he had the most handsome face and now this rubbish. Despite his physical appearance she should have kept in mind she was looking at Voldemort, the very same wizard that had murdered her parents and friends. Hermione took in a deep breath of ice cold air and bit the inside of her cheeks. Tom Riddle is Voldemort and Voldemort is a hideous monster, she repeated it in her mind like a mantra for the rest of the way.

Inside the greenhouse she caught Xavian staring at her and he gave her a smile. Thinking it would be impolite to completely ignore him she returned a weak smile and he winked at her. Hermione hastily looked away and hurried towards the long table at the front. The nerve of that boy to do something like that when she was trying to be civil, especially after the way he'd behaved at breakfast. Oh crap, she'd forgotten about his letter. In addition to apologising he'd asked her out to Hogsmeade and since she hadn't written a reply he must've taken her smile to mean a yes. Double crap, no wonder he was unashamedly winking at her. She made a mental note to send him a letter soon and burst his bubble.

Hermione found Tom seated at his usual place and as she settled onto a stool near him he didn't acknowledge her presence. He was staring ahead expressionlessly and his hair was still windswept.

"Quiet" Professor Stephen Reed said with a magically magnified voice and silence spread throughout the greenhouse. "Today we're going to be working with sansiveeras" he said in his normal voice. "At their mature stage they release spores" he said pointing at a diagram on the blackboard. "But that can be changed to fruits with seeds" the professor said waving his wand and the drawing changed. "Who can tell me what they have to be fed on in order for that to happen?" Reed said expectantly looking at Tom but he didn't raise his hand. Hermione hadn't wanted to risk stealing his limelight when he was in a bad mood so she hadn't either.

The professor looked back and forth between them with a disbelieving expression and then his eyes settled on Tom. "Riddle" he said loudly and Tom suddenly looked startled at the mention of his name. "Are you okay?" the professor asked with a worried look.

"I'm fine" the dark lord mumbled and he hand combed his hair back in place. "I'm sorry sir" he said sitting up straight. "I wasn't paying attention" he said lowering his gaze apologetically.

"I asked the class a question about sansiveeras" Reed said. "And since no one seems to know, what does a sansiveera need to feed on in order to produce fruits?"

"Goats blood" Tom said monotonously. The class broke out in shocked whispers and Hermione felt like rolling her eyes.

"There is no need to be alarmed" the professor said raising his voice. "It sounds like something from a dark magic ritual but I assure you it is not" he said opening a large box with a flick of his wand. "Hogwarts wouldn't allow me to teach something like that" he said with a short laughter. "Not that I know of any dark magic rituals" the professor mumbled as he took out a see-through bottle. "This is goat's blood" he said lifting it up. Most of the students paled and some of the girls looked like they were going to faint. "The animals don't have to be killed for this" Reed said lowering the bottle. "So we're not going to be sacrificing goats, something that's stereotypical in black magic" A majority of the students appeared relieved after hearing that but a blond haired figure looked displeased.

"How disappointing" Abraxas Malfoy drawled loudly. "At Durmstrang they allow slaughtering of animals in class" a lot of students broke out in chatter and Professor Reed looked at Malfoy with a disapproving expression.

"Really" Lestrange said with an excited tone. "I thought that was a rumour"

"Allow slaughtering" Goyle whispered with a horrified expression. "They kill people in class"

"I'm glad father didn't send me there" Crabbe said with an equally horrified expression as he tightened the hold on his arm cast.

"Weren't you two idiots listening" Avery said rolling his eyes. "They permit animal sacrifice, not human"

"Quiet" the professor said raising his hands but everyone didn't seem to have heard.

"Evil Slytherin" A Gryffindor suddenly called out and Hermione noticed Tom's neatly folded hands slightly twitch. Was that a response to the words? But Slytherin's were called evil on a regular basis so why would it affect him all of a sudden? No, it couldn't be that. He was probably reminiscing about the punching incident.

"For a bunch of saintly do-gooders you Gryffindors are hypocritical" Malfoy said raising his voice. "You see no problem in killing to eat meat, and yet you see it as evil if they're killed for magical purposes" he finished with laughter and most of the Slytherin's joined in.

"That's enough, Mr Malfoy" Reed said with a magically magnified voice.

"It's not the same thing" Xavian shouted from the back of the greenhouse.

"Do explain, Potter" Malfoy said turning to face him. "Either way the animal is put to death so what is different?"

"The intention you evil son of a-"

"Language, Potter" Reed snapped and most people jumped hearing the magically enhanced voice.

"The intention" Malfoy drawled with a look of disbelief. "It doesn't matter why you're doing it or how it's done, in the end it's the act that counts"

"Enough of this" the professor said raising his voice and the students close by covered their ears.

"Not true" Xavian yelled and most of the Gryffindors voiced their support.

"Silence, my class is not a place to battle house enmities" Reed yelled and the students covered their ears again. "Malfoy, Potter, detention tomorrow at five" the handing out of punishment made the class go quiet and Xavian murderously glared at Malfoy.

"Whatever way you look at it the fact that the act happened is unchangeable" Malfoy said defiantly. "Therefore the circumstances and reasons are meaningless" he finished with a sneer.

"You can't ignore the-" Xavian started hotly.

"One more word out of either of you and you'll find yourself in front of, Dippet" Reed interrupted with an angry voice and Potter and Malfoy became silent.

Hermione found herself agreeing that it wasn't evil to kill a goat as long as it wasn't for the sheer pleasure draining its life. If it was serving a purpose then it was justified, but she didn't agree that the circumstances and reasons were completely meaningless because they decided if the act was acceptable or not. If the greater good didn't outweigh the evil to be committed then there would be no difference between the sinner and the punisher.

Hermione suddenly noticed Tom's hands were coiled into fists and she looked up to find his eyes closed. He appeared to be breathing deeply and every few seconds his calm expression became disrupted by the slight creasing of his brows. Everyone had left their seats to get a sansiveera but he didn't seem to be aware of it and busy watching him she remained as she was. Did something happen now to put him in this state? She was certain no one had said anything to him or gone near him, and the only thing that'd recently happened was the verbal battle between Malfoy and Xavian. There was no way the issue of goats being slaughtered had affected him. He killed owls mercilessly just to relieve anger, and he'd once told her to try large animals instead of spiders because you could see the life drain out of their eyes. Spiders were like insects, they had a high fate of being crushed and using magic on them didn't seem like a big thing. But to selfishly torture and kill animals that weren't pests and were highly developed in their senses was cruel. The mention of murder being the same as it was through any circumstances couldn't have gotten to him either. Everything she'd seen and knew about Voldemort said he relished in killing and circumstances and reasons definitely didn't have a say if he wanted someone dead, otherwise he wouldn't have heartlessly killed his muggle family.

Tom must be still affected by the punch, the wound might not have healed yet and the pain was most likely getting to him. Collective with his fiery anger it was probably making him more unstable by the second and this must be his attempt at some sort of meditation to calm himself. Hermione got up and the sound of her stool scraping against the floor awakened Tom. He gave her a glare worthy of making someone drop dead and she hurried to the back of the greenhouse. Throughout the whole class the heir of Slytherin remained silent and he visually displayed his anger by handling the equipment with much more force than necessary. The students closest to them had noticed and distanced themselves as much as possible. She'd tried to make herself scarce but she'd brought herself to attention by accidentally dropping a hand spade. Tom had picked it up like a right gentleman but the effect was ruined when he embedded into the table an inch away from her hand. For the rest of the other afternoon classes his volatile mood remained and she was careful to avoid anything that'd give him a reason to start a fight.

After the last class of the day Hermione went down to the library. With the murder planning and the useless research she'd done at lunchtime she was well behind her homework schedule. She sat down at a table and opened her bag. She was about to pull out a fresh roll of parchment when she paused. The desire to know the cause of Tom's condition was eating away at the back of her mind. It wasn't important and she shouldn't care but her burning curiosity wouldn't go away.

She'd decided against further investigation as she had to give her undivided attention to the murder plan and she already had her hands full with school work. But right now seemed like the perfect opportunity and the only opportunity she'd get in a very long time. Progress couldn't be made on the broom cursing potion until she obtained the Solanum nicrum and she already had enough knowledge to get exceeding expectations in tests and essays. If she were to get a few hours behind on homework it wouldn't set her back that much, she'd just have to skip next day's lunchtime and dinner as most of the deadlines were fast approaching. So, should she go down to the restricted section now or do her homework as planned? Hermione undecidedly stared ahead for a few seconds and then she shut her bag. With excitement bubbling in her stomach she got up and walked to the front of the library.

She located Madam Barnes and the librarian appeared to be reading a long scroll with her head bent down. There weren't many students here and no one seemed to be at the back. Excellent, just the conditions she needed. Hermione found a deserted area that was saturated with shadows before disillusioning herself and then she crept over to the restricted section. After looking sideways and over her shoulders she ducked under the rope that divided it from the rest of the library and drew her wand. Already familiar with books from here she knew it was crucial to use enchantment disabling spells on them before reading, otherwise it could scream the place down, bite off your fingers and in worse cases you could actually end up getting cursed with something dark. Accompanied by a lot of wand waving Hermione began to search through the relevant books and an hour later she stood staring at the shelves with a need to scream loudly.

She settled for digging her nails into the cover of a book called, uses of blood in magic most evil, and then she attempted to sloppily push it back onto the top shelf. Before reaching its destination it slightly opened and to her shock it let out a whispery laugh that sounded very human. She jumped back and the book dropped wide open. A shadowy apparition began to rise from the pages and with her heart beating fast she closed the hardback with a flick of her wand. Damn it, that had almost scared her. The enchantment disabling spell had obviously worn off, she should have realised as it had been amongst the books she'd read when she'd started her search. She refreshed her spell on the hardback and then she put it back in its place.

Hermione hung her bag on her shoulder before leaving the restricted section with an angry look and as she left the library she massaged her aching right wrist. She couldn't believe the books of forbidden dark magic didn't have any information on Tom's condition. If only she hadn't given into her curious nature, she'd wasted her time for nothing when it hadn't even been important. As Hermione turned into a corridor a flying owl on a painting caught her eyes and she stopped walking. Ah yes, that reminded her she'd meant to write to Xavian. A man in a suit of armour suddenly appeared on the canvas and she blinked startled.

"Are you lost fair maiden?" he asked.

"Sir Cadogan" she blurted out as she recognised him from her past. The knight had once helped Harry, Ron and her find the divinations classroom.

"Finally, my reputation has reached the ears of man" Sir Cadogan said dramatically drawing his sword. "Let it be known that no challenge or quest is too big or small for me" the armour clad figure said spreading his arms. "How can I be off service?" he said attempting to bow and the sword dropped from his hand. Sir Cadogan bent down to pick it up but he was so clumsy he ended up on the floor beside it.

"Thanks- thank you" she said automatically changing the word without realising. "But I'm not in need of any assistance" she continued as she turned away from the frame.

"Farewell, my lady" the knight called out. "If ever you have the need of a noble heart and steely sinew call upon Sir Cadogan" Hermione couldn't help but slightly smile as she walked away. Sir Cadogan was still the same as before, actually he'd remained the same in the future because technically she was in the past.

At the owlery she held a hand sized piece of parchment against the wall and with her quill she began writing on it. When she was finished it read - Your apology is accepted. However I cannot accompany you to Hogsmeade as I do not have signed permission from my guardian, this is because my parents have passed away and I'm not officially under anyone's care but thanks thank you for the offer. Kindest regards, Maya Granger. Hermione folded the note and inscribed Xavian Potter on one of the sides. Then she tied it to the leg of an owl nearest to her and after lazily ruffling its feathers the bird took off with a hoot.

She made her way to the heads quarters and found Persephone and her husband present at the painting guarding the entrance. Hades appeared to be asleep and the goddess was all fixed up but still in a sour mood. Hermione entered the heads common room and noticing Tom she momentarily froze before shutting the door as quietly as possible. She cautiously took a few steps forward and sneakily looked at him. He was sitting cross legged on the floor in front of the fireplace and his hands were neatly placed in his lap. She couldn't detect any emotion on his face and he seemed to be staring into the flames unblinking. God knows what was wrong with him, whatever it was he deserved it. Trying not to disturb Tom she tiptoed up the stairs and silently slipped into her room.

At 6 pm Hermione arrived outside Slughorn's office for her weekly detention and knocked on the door.

"Come in" The professor's voice sounded. Ready to greet him she stepped inside with a smile and it faltered when she saw Tom sitting in front of Slughorn's desk. The dark lord turned his head to look at her and his eyes slightly narrowed before losing interest. Great, as if the whole afternoon of enduring his angry mood wasn't enough. What the hell was he doing here? She suddenly remembered Susan saying he'd gotten a month's detention for hitting Xavian. So it was either coincidence or her bad luck that they were going be serving it together, more likely the second reason because fate seemed to prefer her being miserable.

"Miss Granger, right on time as usual" Slughorn said cheerfully as he pointed his wand towards an empty chair and it began to drag itself forward. The chair halted next to Tom and he visibly tensed. "Sit down" the professor said gesturing at it and the dark lord's hands slowly balled into fists. Hermione remained as she was while an uncomfortable expression appeared on her face, she knew Tom didn't want her to sit so close and she had no desire to do so either. "Is there a problem, Miss Granger?" Slughorn said remaining oblivious to their discomfort.

"No professor" she forced out and taking a deep breath she made herself walk up to the chair. Before she lost her nerve she quickly sat on it and the heir of Slytherin immediately clutched his elbows. Sneaking sideway glances she noticed Tom rubbing his fingers up and down in slow motion and it was like he was itching to hug himself. Was his mysterious condition causing him pain right now? She didn't like being close to him but if this was hurting him then it was almost worth it.

The professor opened a pack of assorted fudge and popped one into his mouth. This kind of sight was familiar to her, Slughorn was always eating something sugary and it was no wonder he put on weight in her time.

"Help yourselves" Slughorn said placing the packet on the centre of the desk and Hermione took a vanilla flavoured one but Tom remained as he was. "Don't be shy my boy" he said pushing the paper container towards the dark lord.

"No, thank you" Tom said slightly nodding his head.

"Health conscious, eh" Slughorn said taking another fudge. "Good, good" he said giving the head boy a smile before putting it into his mouth. "At this age I can afford to indulge a little" he said gently patting his stomach and his smile transformed into a grin. Hermione suddenly felt out of place. Normally it was just her and Slughorn chatting away while she did whatever task he'd assigned but with Tom here it was just awkward. "I almost forgot" the professor said suddenly leaning towards her. "You'll be surprised to know, Maximus Donovan is still alive" he finished with a conspiratorial tone and she accidentally swallowed the piece of fudge in her mouth.

"What?" Hermione said in between coughing. "How?" she asked with an expression of disbelief.

Last week the prophet had devoted pages on the mysterious disappearance of Maximus Donovan, one of the senior members of the wizengamot and they had been theorising that Grindelwald was behind it. At her previous detention session Slughorn had given her inside information about Maximus's bloody clothes being found and how the aurors believed him to be dead.

"My contact at the auror department told me yesterday" Slughorn said in an excited gossipy tone. "They found him tied up at a muggle house in London"

"Do the Prophet-" She started.

"No" Slughorn interrupted. "There are strict orders not to tell them"

"Did Grindelwald's followers kidnap him?" she questioned while unconsciously touching her wand.

"Nothing's been confirmed yet, Donovan's still being questioned" the professor said leaning back into his chair and his eyes suddenly widened. "Tom my boy!" he exclaimed sitting up and Hermione slightly jumped but the heir of Slytherin remained as he was. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to leave you out" Slughorn said sounding distressed and a guilty expression showed on his face.

"There's no need to apologise, sir" Tom said warmly and he flashed a charming smile. Slughorn's look of guilt immediately transformed to reflect happiness and relief and she couldn't help but marvel at the whiteness of the dark lord's teeth. "I didn't feel left out at all" he said slightly tilting his head to the left and Hermione was sure she'd heard an annoyed undertone. Ah, looks like the dark lord was jealous of the attention she'd gotten. A smug feeling spread through her and she wanted to smile at him tauntingly but knowing the mood he was in it would be suicide so she resisted. "I've been following the story so far in the prophet" Tom said sounding indifferent. "This new development was most unexpected" he said un-tilting his head. "Only someone of your importance could know such a thing before the public, sir" he continued with a tone of admiration.

"Well, I -I guess I am in an advantageous position than the average wizard" Slughorn said puffing out his chest with a proud expression. Flattery always worked to win over Slughorn and she wanted to roll her eyes at Tom's blatant attempt to sway him. Honestly, he didn't have to feel so threatened. It's not like Slughorn was going to ditch the most intelligent student of Hogwarts for her, but then again Tom had probably never been overlooked and the sudden change was making him overreact. "Fortunately you don't have to be here next week like Miss Granger-" the professor said and she looked down in mock shame. "-but if I get more information I'll owl you"

"That's very kind of you, sir" the heir of Slytherin said with a grateful expression.

"It's really no burden at all my boy" Slughorn said waving a hand dismissively. "Now, it's not every day that I get two of my best students in detention-" he said leaning forward. "-so I'm going to take advantage of the situation" he finished lowering his voice.

The head boy strengthened the grip on his elbows and Hermione's eyes widened. What was Slughorn going to make them do? Why did he particularly need her and Tom for it? The professor leaned back with a mischievous look and the silence was heavy with tension as they waited for him to elaborate. He suddenly chuckled causing Hermione to blink several times and the dark lord's hands slightly shook. "I bet your both thinking I'm going to make you do something horrible" Slughorn said raising his wand. "Fear not" he added in a cheery voice. "I save the unpleasant tasks for my least favourite students" he said waving his stick towards a shelf behind him and three boxes levitated onto the desk. The professor opened them and dozens of scrolls could be seen inside each. "Sixth year potions essays" Slughorn said pushing two boxes forward. "I want them all marked and I'm sure you're both more than capable" he continued with a warm smile.

The young dark lord slowly released his elbows and Hermione breathed out in was such an easy task, she'd been afraid Slughorn would ask them to do something that'd involve physical contact with each other and she was sure Tom had feared the same thing.

Silence descended on the room as they started marking the essays and Slughorn became busy reading a scroll from the third box he'd kept to himself. The only things disturbing the quietness was the scratching of quills and a rustling sound whenever the professor removed a fudge from the pack. Hermione's quill suddenly ran out of ink and as she replenished the supply she looked up. Slughorn was still reading and Tom was soundlessly sliding his chair away from hers. He stopped after a few centimetres and realising she was watching he glared at her. She immediately looked away and carried on like nothing had happened.

After some time Hermione started to read another scroll. There was a mistake in the first sentence and she wrote the correct answer above it in red letters. Halfway through the essay she paused, she hadn't been aware of it before but there was a faint spicy aroma in the air. It was nice and kind of soothing. She inhaled deeply and recognised the top note as the scent of cloves. She was sure she'd come across the fragrance before but she couldn't remember where and after thinking about it for a few seconds she resumed reading. A word was hard to make out and she tilted her head to the right to get a better angle. The spicy perfume grew significantly strong and suddenly realising what that meant she held her breath. Merlin, it was coming from Tom. She couldn't like the way the dark lord smelt, it was just wrong and sick. Hermione knew she couldn't hold her breath forever but she stubbornly waited until her body became desperate for oxygen. Then she turned her head to the left and reluctantly inhaled. Trying not to register what was meeting her nostrils she focused all her attention on reading and attempted to speed up the marking to leave as soon as possible.

Hermione was at the end of marking her tenth essay when Slughorn started to talk about a witch called Celestina Warbeck and how she was a talented singer. "Miss Granger, have you heard one of Celestina's songs?" the professor suddenly asked.

"Cauldron full of hot strong love" she said without thinking and a long silence followed her words. She looked up to find Slughorn staring at her open mouthed and Tom had an expression of mild interest but he was still occupied with his marking. Why was Slughorn looking at her like that? Did she say something wrong?

"Celestina is planning to release that song on Valentine's Day" the professor said regaining his composure. "How do you know of it when it hasn't been made public? Hermione's breath caught in her throat, how could she not have realised Celestina was a newcomer in the 1940s and the song was yet to be released.

"Erm-" she said trying to think of a good excuse. "One of my friends showed me the lyrics, her mother probably knows Celestina or someone close to her"

"I see" Slughorn said with a smile and stilling his quill the dark lord looked at her.

"How could you have heard the song by just looking at the lyrics?" Tom said accusingly and her heart skipped a beat while Slughorn's expression turned questioning. Oh God, she hadn't noticed how flawed her answer was but being a bloody genius he had. She pretended to cough as she racked her brains for a believable lie and the heir of Slytherin raised an eyebrow with suspicion written all over his face.

"My friend sang it to me" she finally said in the most truthful voice she could manage. "She wrote down the lyrics so she wouldn't forget" Hermione faked a cough again so it wouldn't look like she'd done it before to stall.

"Ah, that makes sense" Slughorn said as he took another fudge from the pack and Tom resumed writing with his quill. Feeling relieved she went back to her marking and the next time Slughorn asked her something she was careful with her reply. It wasn't long before he started conversing with the dark lord, and as she realised Tom's questions were mainly intellectual she felt annoyed that the professor thought she was mostly good for discussing gossipy things.

Thirty minutes had passed when Hermione took out the last unmarked essay from her box and after reading the first paragraph she couldn't concentrate. Slughorn had just asked Tom's opinion on a new potions theory and his lengthy reply was demanding her interest. The more she listened to the knowledge pouring out of him the more captivated she became, such information couldn't be found in books but only in the minds of geniuses. Hermione knew she shouldn't like anything about the dark lord but at the moment she couldn't help admiring his brilliance. Tom finished marking his box before her and while Slughorn kept him talking she managed to get hers done a minute later.

"You're free to fly off" Slughorn said levitating the boxes back onto the shelf. "Bet you two can't wait to get out of here" he added with a huge smile.

"Not at all, sir" Tom said putting his quill away. "Your company is the most enjoyable"

"I'm glad you find it so my boy" he said cheerfully. "Five points to Slytherin for excellent marking"

"Thank you, sir" the dark lord said standing up and dusting his robes.

"I too find your company pleasing professor" Hermione said feeling like she should say something. Then she wished she hadn't when Slughorn looked at her like he'd forgotten her existence and as seconds stretched by in silence she felt smaller and smaller with each one.

"Ah, that's good to hear, Miss Granger" the professor finally said before starting to talk to the head boy again. That's it. That's all he's going to say to me, Hermione thought throwing her quill and inkpot into her bag and then she shut it with more force than necessary. He's glad Tom likes his company but he only finds it nice to hear she likes his company. He'd given Tom house points for good marking when he hadn't even seen what his marking was like but she hadn't gotten any. Angrily creasing her brows she stood up and hung the bag on her shoulder before realising the dark lord was looking in her direction. She expected to see one of his taunting half smiles any second now but his face remained expressionless.

"I would like to stay longer, professor, but I have an essay to write" he said looking back at Slughorn and for a moment she was puzzled by his triumphant-less behaviour before remembering the kind of day he was having.

"I won't delay you further my boy" Slughorn said leaping out his chair and he rushed towards the door before holding it wide open.

"You shouldn't have troubled yourself, professor, but thank you" he said moving towards the exit and she followed.

"It's no trouble at all my boy" the professor said cheerfully. "Do drop by when you have time"

"I will try, sir" the dark lord said and he suddenly stopped walking. He stepped aside and turned towards her. "After you" Tom said gesturing towards the door with a slight bow of his head and she blinked surprised. She hadn't expected such treatment but with Slughorn here he obviously had to keep up his nice boy act.

"O ho, proper gentleman as always" Slughorn said with a booming voice and he smiled widely. "Come on then, Miss Granger" he said winking at her and she walked through the door with an unhappy look. "Don't work too hard my boy" Slughorn called out. "Have a good evening both of you" he added with a suggestive tone.

"You too professor" she heard Tom say and it was followed by the sound of Slughorn's office door closing.

It was obvious to Hermione what Slughorn had been thinking and that was the cause of her current expression. How everyone always jumped to the conclusion that she was having a secret relationship with Tom was beyond her. People just don't change overnight, if the dark lord hadn't bothered to form any kind of a relationship with anyone for the rest of his life what made them think he would suddenly make an exception for her? Why did people never notice the distance between them, the fact that they were forced to work together or their arguments? They didn't even remotely resemble a couple, but people like Susan loved to invent things and jump to wild conclusions just to indulge their fantasies. Tom was the most antisocial student at Hogwarts, and since he'd never shown an interest in a girl or a boy he was clearly asexual, so why didn't anyone notice these things?

A startling thought suddenly occurred to her. What if his so called asexuality was due to physical limitations caused by his strange condition? Had she been wrong about him the whole time? Perhaps she had been, no she hadn't made a mistake in her judgement.

If he couldn't touch he could certainly watch. From her experience men couldn't help themselves from glancing at displayed cleavage, even if it was just the once. Especially teenage boys, the amount of times she'd caught Ron staring at her in her nightgown when she'd stayed at the burrow was uncountable. Each time he'd blushed red to his ears and avoided her for hours. Whenever it was Harry it seemed like his hormones had forced his eyes there because he always looked away immediately with a guilty expression. She'd even seen Neville looking at her slight cleavage at the Yule ball, when he'd realised he'd been caught he'd looked ashamed and almost tripped over his dress robes. Draco Malfoy had given her a furious look after a sneaky glance that he thought she wouldn't notice, like it was her fault he'd looked at the chest of a girl with impure blood. Victor Krum had been the worst of them all, he'd spent most of the dance with his eyes downwards and her dress's neckline had been pretty decent compared to the far revealing dress she'd worn at the 1940s Halloween ball.

That night Tom had restricted his eyes from straying below her shoulders, and since she wasn't exactly what men highly desired she couldn't really use that against him. But there were other people at Hogwarts that were drop dead gorgeous and she'd never seen him pay attention to them at the ball or any other day. Nothing was preventing him from looking but he obviously wasn't interested in looking at anyone in that way because he didn't desire them like that, and that could only be explained by asexuality. Besides, if the condition was the cause of it he would've changed when he got cured and lord Voldemort certainly hadn't had any kind of a relationship with anyone. Dumbledore had been right, he didn't want to love anyone but himself and that's why he'd remained alone throughout his whole life.

Tom suddenly appeared by her side and she figured his long strides had made him unintentionally catch up. As they took a few steps together she couldn't help but notice the wide gap between them. Before she'd thought he distanced himself because he hated being near people but now there was a possibility he was forced to behave like that. Wondering how the curse or whatever he had actually worked she tried to sneak a glance at his chest, but all she managed was a side view of his shoulder before his long legs helped him get ahead of her.

"Excuse me" a voice suddenly called out and Tom and Hermione halted. "I-I have-erm-" they both turned towards the right sidewall of the corridor. Roughly in the middle there was an entrance to another passageway and a girl wearing Gryffindor robes stood there with her hands behind her back.

"You have what, Boleyn?" Tom said coldly and the girl opened and closed her mouth. "Speak-" he commanded. "-or do you need to be given detention to loosen your tongue" he continued with a raised voice as he moved towards Boleyn.

"It's-it's n-not for you" the girl stuttered and she took a few steps in Hermione's direction.

"Show your hands" Tom ordered pointing his wand and the girl suddenly looked on the verge of tears. There was no need for Tom to scare her like that and as much as Hermione wanted to she wasn't going interfere. She didn't need another 'don't ever undermine my authority' lecture which would definitely be followed by him beating her to a pulp. Boleyn slowly brought out her right hand and then the left one appeared holding a bunch of flowers.

"Potter told me to give these to her" the girl said in a low voice and she shakily held them towards the Ravenclaw head girl.

Hermione creased her forehead in annoyance. Why couldn't Xavian understand she wasn't interested in him? She'd just rejected his offer of going to Hogsmeade and instead of backing of he sends her goddamn flowers. She was about to reluctantly take them when Tom grabbed a flower, the girl let go in fright and the entire bunch tilted to one side as he continued to hold it up by the single bloom.

"Worthless carnations that a first year could conjure" he said with a distasteful expression as he rotated the bunch. "And they aren't even done properly" he said crushing the flower with his fingers and pink petals rained onto the floor. "Tell Potter to perfect basic spells before attempting to duel wizards superior to him" the dark lord said raising his voice and he threw the bunch at Boleyn's feet. The girl jumped back looking scared and then silence followed as no one moved. "Give them to her then" Tom suddenly shouted and Boleyn visibly shivered before scrambling to her feet. She tried picking up the flowers but in her panicked state they kept dropping from her hands. To save her from further misery Hermione bent down to take them and the second her hand closed around it the girl ran off.

When she stood back straight she realised Tom was missing and she turned to see the back his tall form moving away. As she followed after him she inspected the flowers and she wasn't impressed by them in the slightest. The dark lord had been right in his assessment to say they weren't done properly. Out of the lot three or four flowers were deformed but it was hard to spot straightaway when you looked at the bunch as a whole. Faults aside they were just ordinary pink carnations and there was nothing magical about them. Suddenly she thought of Tom's magnificent roses. Merlin, they had been so beautiful. All glowing and bursting with magical glamour and Xavian obviously didn't have the skills to conjure something like that. As Hermione shifted the entire bunch to her left hand something attached at the bottom brushed her fingers. She looked to see it was a folded piece of paper with her name on it and after pulling it off she opened it. It read - Dear Maya, I was completely unaware of your circumstance. I'm so sorry for your loss and any unpleasantness I have caused by asking. If you require anything from Hogsmeade please do not hesitate to ask, hope you like the flowers. Your friend, Xavian. Hermione scrunched the note and threw it into one of the large burning torches in the corridor. His repeated use of the word friend wasn't fooling her, he was obviously trying to take things slow and hoping she would change her mind in the end. Wishing he would lose interest she adjusted her hold on the flowers and continued to walk forward.

An icy breeze suddenly touched her head and Hermione looked up startled. Her eyes met a translucent floating body and she immediately recognised it as Peeves, the trouble causing resident poltergeist. It silently speed forward and grabbed Tom's bag off his shoulder. He spun around with his wand drawn and she froze with a feeling of dread. No no, the dark lord did not need to be put into an even angrier frame of mind. What the hell was up with fate today?

"Put it down" Tom ordered with a furious expression.

"Put it down" Peeves repeated mockingly and a nasty smile spread across its face. "Make me, make me. You can't make me" the poltergeist started to sing as it flew higher up with the bag firmly held in its grasp.

"Accio bag" the dark lord roared and the bag violently jerked towards him but the entity still held on. The enchanted item eventually dragged the poltergeist down and appearing unaffected by Peeves's arctic temperature Tom gripped the bottom of his bag. "Let go" he shouted trying to pull it off the entity. Peeves grinned and pulled the bag back with equal force. They struggled for a few seconds before the dark lord released his hold and stepped back. "Have it your way" Tom said venomously as he made a sweeping motion with his wand and the bag began to crash into walls, the floor and the ceiling at speed. The entity screamed as it was flung about with the spelled item and it tried to hold onto something with its free hand. As the bag hit a wall close to Hermione the poltergeist made a grab for her robes and she jumped back. In desperation Peeves managed to grip her flowers but it didn't provide an anchor as she let go of them with chattering teeth. The entity let out a loud cry as it collided into a wall and it suddenly dropped the carnations. They skidded down the concrete barrier and into a large bowl sized flaming torch. Hermione instinctively pointed her wand and pulled them out to find a mass of smoking brown black with some recognisable greens. The fumes started to make her cough and she took a step back.

"Evanesco" she said making the burnt carnations vanish. Oh well, it didn't really matter. She hadn't liked the flowers to begin with. Hermione suddenly noticed Tom staring in her direction while his wand hand was busy controlling the bag's movements. How the hell was he keeping his concentration on the spell? Magical multitasking, impressive. Actually, it wasn't really magical multitasking as looking at her wasn't anything supernatural but it was certainly multitasking while performing magic. Come to think of it Tom could magically multitask. She'd seen him simultaneously levitate objects countless times and he'd controlled five minds when he'd imperiused Malfoy and his crew into the classroom that night. She hated to admit it but the dark lord was magically extraordinary.

Peeves suddenly let go of the bag swearing and it immediately flew towards Tom. He snapped his eyes away from her and caught the strap with precision.

"You're no fun" the entity said floating up with a sour expression before sticking out its tongue.

"Don't ever touch my possessions" the heir of Slytherin shouted raising his wand.

"You don't scare-" Peeves's voice changed into a scream as Tom's spell threw the poltergeist out the corridor like a quaffle being blown away by a tornado.

He turned around before starting to walk away with speed and she followed at a slower pace. As the dark lord walked down a set of stairs he hung his bag back on his shoulder and her eyes became drawn to the strap. She noticed some of the material was peeling off and roughly in the middle there were a few holes. She progressed down to the bag to find it in an even worse state, and even though she'd never paid particular attention to it she was surprised she'd missed how much of a bad condition it was in.

"Contrary to popular belief I don't use a spell to hold it together" Tom suddenly said and she immediately looked elsewhere. How had he known she was staring at it? A lucky guess or the use of a freaky sixth sense, most likely the second one. As they approached the heads quarters the woman inside the painting guarding the entrance fixed them with a hateful stare and her husband was nowhere to be seen.

"Password" Persephone hissed.

"Medusa" Tom said icily and the goddess mumbled something inaudible. Being closer Tom must've heard what it was as he threw a spell at the canvas and Persephone ran off screaming.

He opened the door before disappearing inside and she walked in after him. The dark lord moved into the centre of the common room and stood facing the fireplace. Looks like he was going to resume his strange staring into the flames thing. Merlin, there were so many obvious things that the dark lord did that screamed mental case, but since he was a genius people must think he was entitled to a little craziness. Hermione turned left and started to walk towards the stairs.

"Granger" Tom suddenly called out and she froze. What did he want? Oh God, he must be mad at her for staring at his bag. She took in a deep breath and forced herself to turn back around. The heir of Slytherin was still gazing into the flames and he appeared calm but that didn't guarantee he wasn't angry. All of a sudden he drew his wand and her eyes widened. He slowly turned away from the fireplace and her pulse quickened as he took a couple of steps towards her. An unsure expression flickered across his face before he raised his wand and as he gave it a wave Hermione took in a sharp intake of breath.

A bunch of lilac chrysanthemums appeared out of thin air and a look of disbelief etched onto her face. The dark lord made a complex movement with his stick and the flowers began to glow and radiate an aura of sparkling dark purple. "Replacement for your flowers" Tom said holding them towards her and she soundlessly opened and closed her mouth like she hadn't understood a word he'd said. What in the name of bloody Merlin was going on here, she didn't want flowers from Voldemort but he'd surely get angry if she refused. Maybe if she kindly declined-. His expression suddenly darkened and Hermione quickly took them. Tom turned back towards the fireplace and she hastily climbed the stairs to her room before rushing inside.

She dumped her bag on the floor and holding up the flowers she sat on her bed. She traced a petal of one of the chrysanthemums and watched in fascination as its purple glow spilled onto her skin. They were all so gorgeous and unbelievably flawless, even the stems and leaves were done to perfection. Hermione suddenly snapped out of her fixation and put them down. Why the hell had Tom conjured her flowers? At the time she'd been too taken aback to pay attention to what he'd said but she was sure of having heard the word replacement. If so then why had he felt the need to replace her carnations? Well, it was kind of his fault they'd gotten destroyed because his spell had been dragging peeves around. No bloody way, with anyone else it would've made perfect sense but she refused to believe the dark lord had given her new flowers because he'd felt a little bad. There must be an ulterior motive but what could it be?

Maybe she was reading this whole thing wrong, he'd gotten his bag back and defeated the poltergeist so it could be a result of him being in a better mood. When things went his way Tom could be kind of-erm-nice. Like the time he'd washed blood from her face and attached a Halloween decoration for her when she couldn't reach high up. Crap, what was she thinking? Did she just use the word nice to describe lord Voldemort? He was nothing but horrible and manipulative. Now that she used her brains a little more she could see there'd been reasons behind those so a called kind actions.

When he'd been cleaning her face he was trying to cement a couple of points into her mind, like how she should never disagree with him in public or interfere with whatever control he'd managed to gain over Hogwarts. Tom must've thought he'd appear more intimidating if he made some sort of contact with her but he'd obviously regretted the decision when he accidentally touched her cheek. It was evident now that his condition had caused him pain, no wonder he'd left in a hurry without wanting his handkerchief back. Helping her attach the decoration was just him acting as the kind and helpful head boy. Anyone could've seen him in the great hall, especially the professors and he'd had an image to maintain. So basically if Tom did anything that appeared nice or kind there always had a hidden personal gain for him. She didn't know what it was with the bunch of chrysanthemums but he must be getting something out of it.

Hermione picked up the flowers again and drew her wand. She hadn't exactly had a choice but she couldn't help feel like she'd done something wrong by accepting them. She didn't have to keep Voldemort's creation though, it's not like he would know. She positioned her wand and was about to make them disappear when she froze. The flowers were just so beautiful that she couldn't bring herself to do it, would it really be awful to keep them a little longer? Tom's roses had stayed by her bedside overnight so there couldn't be any harm in letting the chrysanthemums stay till tomorrow.

Lowering her wand she got on her feet and walked up to the window sill. She put the flowers inside an empty vase and then she suddenly felt guilty. Hermione hesitantly placed her hands on the sides of the pot and staring at the many petals of glowing wonder she thought to get rid of them once again. But it's not like they were going to last forever and it would be such a waste of these marvellous chrysanthemums if she destroyed them now. Releasing the vase she took a step back before reconsidering what she was doing and in the end she decided to let them stay. Hermione turned away from the window and brought out her textbooks. Soon she became so lost in doing homework that all thoughts of the flowers disappeared from her mind.

At 8 pm she decided it was late enough to go to Hogsmeade. She changed into a black dress before putting on her hooded cloak and then she grabbed her bag. Hermione opened the door a crack and peeped into the common room. She was annoyed to find Longbottom and Bones chatting away near the window. They'd definitely get suspicious if they saw her in outdoor clothes so it was best to wait until they left. After a while of killing time she started to get impatient, it was dinner time now so why weren't they going down to the great hall? She suddenly became aware being hungry. Too bad she'd have to skip dinner but going to Hogsmeade was much more important than food.

Bones and Longbottom started to head towards the door and Hermione silently mouthed the word yes. Before either of them could touch the handle it moved and a second later Tom entered with his head bent down. He turned towards his room and made to climb the stairs.

"Riddle" Longbottom called making him pause and turn. "Am I doing one, two and four or five, six and seven?"

"I will do one, two and four" Tom said looking up. "Three will be shared as usual, is that understood?"

"Understood" Longbottom said nodding his head.

What were they talking about? For the life of her she couldn't understand what the numbers meant. Tom turned back and started to climb up the stairs. Was the heir of Slytherin skipping dinner? It was likely since he'd had a horrible day, or he might go down later to stare at his food and eat a few morsels. He seemed to have been looking at the floor when he'd come in so he was either upset or deep in thought, maybe the latter. Longbottom opened the common room door as the dark lord disappeared into his room and then he stepped aside.

"After you, Mrs Longbottom" he whispered winking at Bones and she giggled.

"You can call me Mrs Longbottom all you want but you're not getting the full package until you put a ring on this finger" she said waving her left hand.

"You wound me with your words" Longbottom said clutching at his chest with a mock sad expression. "How can you think my desire to marry you is based on physical gratification alone?"

Looks like Bones had been telling the truth, they really hadn't slept together but the way she'd come out with her clothes on inside out had strongly indicated the opposite. She should really avoid going into his room and taking her clothes off. It just wasn't proper and there were only so many times one could resist temptation.

"You can stop acting now" Bones said playfully slapping at his hands.

"I'm serious" Longbottom said grabbing one of her wrists. "I love you" he said pulling her hand up to his lips and then he planted a kiss on it.

"Me too" she said in a low voice before trying to pull her hand back but Longbottom wouldn't release his hold. "Let go" she said attempting to pull it back again.

"No" Longbottom said moving closer to her.

"Someone might come" Bones said glancing at the open door.

"I don't hear anyone" he said wrapping an arm around her waist and her cheeks flushed deep pink.

"Still, I don't think-" He cut her off by crashing his lips onto hers and she let out a moan of protest before giving in. After a couple of seconds they broke apart and Bones rested her head on his chest.

"I'm not that hungry, we could go down a little later" Longbottom said tracing circles on her back. "My pillow is missing you very much" he said lowering his voice.

"What part of never again didn't you understand" Bones said pushing him away.

"I promise I won't get carried away"

"It's not right, we have to control ourselves"

"Just let me see you one more time" Longbottom said pleadingly. "I haven't been able to sleep"

"Take a cold shower or something"

"You're cruel" he said looping his arm around hers.

"I love torturing you" she said smiling at him and he gave her chaste kiss on the lips. A toothy grin appeared on her face and then she looked down with a shy expression. It suddenly became troubled and she looked up with wide eyes. "William, I forgot to tell you something" she said sounding afraid. "When I-when I-"

"Cynthia, what is it?"

"When I left your room Granger saw me" Bones said in a rushed voice.

"What?" Longbottom said letting go of her.

"We're going to be ruined when this gets out" she said looking on the verge of tears.

"Granger can't prove anything" Longbottom said running a hand through his hair.

"My robes were on inside out, she'd have to be blind not to have noticed" Bones said throwing her hands up. "Forget the clothes, coming out of your room is enough to make us look guilty" she said placing a hand on her forehead.

"If she tells we'll just deny it" Longbottom said holding her shoulders reassuringly.

"I called her evil" she said shakily. "I told her I didn't mean it and she said she wouldn't tell but I'm sure Granger was lying"

"It's her word against ours, no one's going to believe her without evidence"

"It doesn't matter if it's true or not" Bones almost hissed. "Once a rumour gets started people tend to believe it and then-" Bones covered her face with her hands. "-and then everyone's going to think I'm a whore" she continued tearfully.

"That's not true and no one's going to call you that" Longbottom said pulling her hands away. "Don't worry" he said hugging her. "Brewer's the only person Granger talks to and no one ever takes that girl seriously"

"I hope you're right" Bones mumbled into his chest.

"Let's go eat, don't stress over it" Longbottom said pulling her towards the door and soon they left the common room hand in hand. Hermione felt kind of bad for Bones worrying like that. She wasn't a horrible rumour spreading person and true to her words she wasn't going to tell anyone.

She put on a disillusionment charm and after it had set in she quickly left the heads quarters. On the third floor she walked up to the statue of the one eyed witch and touched her wand against the hump shaped part.

"Dissendium" she said taping it and the hump opened up. She looked back and forth to make sure she was alone and then she climbed inside. After closing the entrance she lit her wand and found herself in front of a tunnel. Hermione cautiously lowered herself and slid down it. She shortly arrived at a damp smelling passageway and dusting her clothes she stood up. As she walked forward she noticed the walls were littered with cobwebs and once in a while she came across dark patches that could've been moss or mould. The path seemed to be never ending and she started to hum to kill of the boredom. Almost an hour had gone by when she arrived beneath the trap door in the ceiling and as she tried to climb through it her clothes made it difficult. Hermione wished she could have worn trousers but in the 1940s wizarding world it was unacceptable for a girl. After a lengthy struggle she managed to pull herself through and land on her hands and knees. As she straightened she saw many boxes and after reading some of the labels she had confirmation of being in the cellar of Honeydukes.

On the other side of the room she found a staircase and climbed up it. The short landing platform led to a door and she placed her ear against it. She listened for some time but there seemed to be nothing but silence on the other side. Hermione sceptically turned the door knob and was surprised to find it wasn't locked. As she stepped through the entrance the interior of the shop met her eyes. There were numerous shelves filled with jars and boxes of sweets and chocolates, and at the front there seemed to be statues made of white chocolate and jelly. Realising someone might notice through the windows she extinguished her wand light and after carefully navigating herself she found the front door.

It was locked and she tried a few spells but it remained shut. Hermione cast a powerful scanning spell and came across a complex blocking ward. She tried to undo it but it wouldn't budge. Creasing her brows in concentration she tried a different spell and after about a minute she managed to remove it. She looked out the window to make sure the pathway was clear and then she opened the door. A blast of cold wind hit her in the face and bowing her head she quickly stepped outside. She turned to shut the door before casting a simple locking charm, then she un-disillusioned herself and re-lit her wand. Slightly shivering she began to walk down the road and a triumphant smile slowly appeared on her face, she'd made it into Hogsmeade without getting caught.

The village was alike and different at the same time. The layout was almost unchanged and most of the trees and houses from her time were here but with a younger look. A building that she knew as the three broomsticks came into view and she halted. The sign overhead had the same name and it looked a lot cleaner. The entire exterior seemed to be free of dirt and the paint wasn't cracked or peeling away. Hermione drew closer to the window and saw crowds of people inside. A group at the front were laughing, everyone on the table at the back appeared to be gambling, and a couple were dancing in a corner but most of the people seemed to be drinking away without a care in the world. Unlike her they didn't know of the horrors to come or have the duty of murdering a future dark lord. She doubted anyone in there had felt the pain and grief she'd experienced. As memories of being in the three broomsticks with Harry and Ron rushed through her mind her eyes welled up with tears and she wiped them away with her sleeves. The front door suddenly creaked open and she snapped out of her reminiscence.

She turned to find a little girl that seemed about two years old crawl outside. The toddler suddenly fell flat on her face but instead of crying she got up laughing. Noticing the older girl the tot went quiet and started to stare at her fearfully. A man appeared at the door and threw it wide open.

"Rosmerta, silly child" he said taking the little one into his arms and Hermione's eyes widened. She knew she was in the past but it was still shocking to know that this little girl was the same Rosmerta that'd served her drinks. "I apologise if my daughter gave you any trouble" the man said looking up.

"Not at all, sir" she said turning to leave and then she continued on her journey through Hogsmeade.

Hermione stopped in front of where the shrieking shack should be and thought it was strange to find barren land in its place. It was almost like the plot was cursed or something, maybe that was the reason why people readily believed all the rumours without evidence when a house was built there. Recalling more memories she resumed walking and as the wind blew strongly she tightened the hold on her cloak. It suddenly started to snow lightly and after a while she cast a warming charm but it didn't greatly raise the temperature. Finding a row of shops she paused but the ones that sold potion ingredients were closed. She walked on hoping to find a place that was open and as she came across one closed shop after the other she started to get upset. With a distressed expression she glanced at her wristwatch to find it was 9.40 pm. Merlin, it was night time. Unless someone had stayed open till late she was doomed.

At 10.00 pm it was starting to look hopeless until Hermione discovered an open shop hidden in a corner. She could make out potions ingredients on the display window and even though the building was dirty and uninviting she was grateful to have found it. Extinguishing her wand light she neared the door and as she pushed it open the hinges creaked and a musty odour hit her nostrils. The inside of the shop was dimly lit and dust and cobwebs were everywhere. The counter at the front looked messy and a stained curtain hang behind it. Suddenly parting the material a middle aged man dressed in black robes came through. He smiled at her widely and Hermione held back a gasp as most of his teeth were revealed to be black or missing.

"What's a beautiful young thing like you doing out so late?" he said looking her up and down with an expression that said he was undressing her with his eyes.

"Do you have any Solanum nicrum?" Hermione said icily before fixing him with a hateful stare.

"Solanum nicrum" the man repeated raising an eyebrow. "My my, aren't we dark" he said lowering his voice. "And here I thought you were a sweet little girl"

"Do you have it or not" she said sternly.

"Ah, so impatient" he said leaning towards her. "Yes, I have it sugar"

"How much?"

"16 sickles and 28 knuts" Thank God it was within her budget, but she could forget the idea of buying a jumper soon as the money left over wouldn't be enough and Dippet's next instalment wasn't due until the end of December. "But you could have it for free if you did me some favours" the man added with a suggestive grin.

"I'll pay" Hermione said sharply and the shopkeeper disappeared into the back with a chuckle. Merlin, that man was disgusting and creepy. If he tried anything she would show him just how dark she could get, compared to a death eater he was nothing.

After a while she began to look around the shop out of boredom. The contents on display were disorganised and most of them were missing price tags. Her eyes suddenly caught a book completely covered in dust and feeling curious she lifted it off the table. Hermione coughed as some of the powdered dirt flew off and patches of black leather covering became noticeable. Eager to see the title she rubbed at the thick dust with her fingers and the word Horcrux suddenly became visible. She dropped the book with a gasp and purposely blinked in disbelief but the faded silver lettering still remained the same. Ever since Herpo the foul had created the first Horcrux the knowledge to make one had always been cloaked in secrecy, it was the blackest of black magic anyone could perform on their soul and the majority of witches and wizards didn't even know of its existence. Information about it was supposed to be very rare and this book was just lying here in a common shop. This must be her lucky night, her thirst for knowledge made her feel giddy with excitement and she picked up the book with shaky hands.

In her time she'd once read about making a Horcrux in a book called secrets of the darkest arts. Harry and Ron had known since it'd been taken from Dumbledore's office but no matter the subject they'd both passed up the offer to read it. Harry was too busy learning how to fight death eaters and Ron couldn't make sense of anything after the first paragraph. She wouldn't deny that the things she'd read had made her feel sick but at the same time she'd felt superior for having gained the secret knowledge, and knowing Harry and Ron would take it the wrong way she'd left that part out when she'd told them how awful the book was.

As a war had been going on she'd only read the detailed instructions once in the hope of finding something to help destroy Voldemort. Since it hadn't been properly cemented in her mind she'd forgotten the vital incantation with time and some of the instructions had become jumbled or vague. This book would tell her though, just a quick look and she was sure she'd remember everything. Hermione was about to lift the cover when a wave of fear made her freeze, wasn't that knowledge best forgotten? Did she really want to remember how to do one of the most evil magic's in the world? What if this time it corrupted her mind? No, she wasn't evil. But she'd killed someone before and if she was already capable of a necessary prerequisite it could be a matter of time before she got tempted.

Hermione took in a deep breath and tapped her fingers on the book. The wise thing would be to put it down and walk away but her hunger for knowledge seemed to be telling her otherwise. Something suddenly caught her attention, the word Horcrux wasn't in the centre and that meant it wasn't the entire title. Glad to have found a reason to stall she drew her wand and pointed it at the book. "Tergeo" she said flicking her stick. The dust instantly cleared away and the full title became visible. It read, the damages and negative effects of making a Horcrux. Hermione felt relieved and disappointed at the same time. It was obvious from the title it wouldn't tell you how to make one. No wonder the book had collected so much dust, most people didn't know what a Horcrux was and those that did probably thought it was a useless read but she didn't think so.

Secrets of the darkest arts hadn't gone into detail about the ill effects, all it'd said was that the rest of your soul became unstable when you ripped it apart to make a Horcrux. She'd been left unsatisfied with the statement as she'd wondered what the consequences would be if someone were to make more than one, and also it'd bothered her that the word unstable hadn't been elaborated upon. Now here she was holding a book full of details on the damages and negative effects. Indeed it was her lucky night, even though it wasn't information on making a Horcrux it was still information about Horcuxes.

A wolf whistle suddenly disturbed the silence and she turned to find the shop keeper with a cloth bundle in his hands.

"Solanum nicrum" the man said setting it down. "Come and have a look love" Feeling uncomfortable by his pointed stare Hermione neared the counter and unwrapped the bundle.

The plant inside looked just as it had in the book, it was definitely Solanum nicrum.

"I'll take it" she said repackaging the plant.

"Do you want that as well sugar?" he said pointing at the book held in her left hand. "Wouldn't cost you a knut if you-"

"How much?" Hermione interrupted loudly.

"Give me a show" the man said deepening his voice.

"Excuse me" she snapped.

"I meant show me the cover" he said feigning innocence and she slammed the book down on the counter. He gave her a smile that said he wasn't fazed in the slightest before running his fingers over the hardback. "My minds gone foggy on the price" the man suddenly said. "How about 8 sickles honey bunch?" he said winking at her and she gave him a dirty look.

"Fine" Hermione said through her teeth and pulled out her purse. Now it was going to be emptied entirely but either way she couldn't have afforded a jumper. It just meant no more snacking on chocolate chip cookies until January, the book was worth the small sacrifice though. As she placed the money on the counter the man put his hand over hers and she jumped back before poking her wand into his throat.

"Sorry, didn't mean to" the shopkeeper said raising his hands in surrender and she threw him to the floor with a spell.

"Oops didn't mean to" she said grabbing the purchased items and as she threw the door wide open two dark spell flew at her. She easily deflected them and the man froze with a frightened expression. Smirking she ran outside and once she got to the three broomsticks she slowed down before laughing out loud. That look on his face had been priceless, he'd thought she was some dumb girl trying to be a dark witch but now he must think she was an undercover follower of Grindelwald or something. Perhaps she should have taught him a lesson for his lewd behaviour, hopefully someone would report him to the ministry if he didn't mend his ways.

Hermione stuffed the book and the Solanum nicrum into her bag before walking towards Honeyduckes. Once she arrived she sneaked back inside and replaced the blocking ward on the front door. She lit her wand in the cellar before opening the trap door and as she went down it was thankful to find it much easier than climbing up. After arriving at the entrance of the one eyed witch she disillusioned herself. She half wished she could use the Homenum revelio charm to detect any human presence outside the statue but it wasn't an option. The charm annoyingly had a huge downside to it, you'd know if there were any humans nearby but the said humans would also know someone had cast it on them. So it would be as good as her shouting out, I'm hiding on the third floor, come find me if you can. That just wouldn't do, absolute secrecy was necessary and with that thought she pressed her ear against the hollowed hump.

When Hermione was sure she couldn't hear anyone she touched her wand against the exit and she was about to open it when a thought occurred to her. What if someone saw her? The disillusionment should be enough to hide her but it wasn't foolproof. If it was a student she could handle it, she was head girl and she could say she was patrolling even though she wasn't meant to tonight. Besides, they would get in trouble for being out of bed in the first place so they wouldn't dare question her let alone confront her. Unless she bumped into the other heads Longbottom and Bones, but then again she could lie and say she got the patrolling schedules mixed up. God forbid the dark lord from coming across her. Merlin's beard, he was meant to be on patrol tonight and Longbottom also. Suddenly the numbers he and Tom had talked about made sense. Hogwarts had seven floors and the dark lord was patrolling floors one, two and four while Longbottom did five, six and seven. During some point in time of their watch they'd take turns to do the third floor. How could she not have realised that? Okay, no need to panic. The heads were only meant to roam the corridors until 11pm and her wristwatch indicated it was a few minutes past eleven, so unless Tom decided to hang around for longer everything would be fine.

That wasn't reassuring at all. If the dark lord found her it wouldn't be easy to fool him with lies and the consequences would be disastrous if he discovered her recently purchased items. She had to hide them in a way that would make them almost impossible to find, then Tom would have nothing to get suspicious over and neither would a professor or the caretaker if they caught her. Hermione opened her bag and tried to retrieve the items but the disillusionment made it difficult to recognise what was what. After taking the charm of herself she took out the book and the cloth bundle and staring at them she tried to think of a best way to conceal them. They could be easily hidden in her pocket if she shrank them. No, the shrinking spell didn't have a set time limit. How long it lasted depended on how strong the magic was and it usually varied from time to time. The items could spring out of her pocket before she got to her room, even if they remained shrunken there was a chance of them being found in their mini forms and she couldn't take that risk.

So what could she do to keep them concealed if they were to enlarge and where would it be the safest to put them? The items outgrowing their hiding place was the problem but if that place were to have enough room-the undetectable extension charm, it was perfect.

Back in her time she'd used it on a beaded bag to fit in loads of big things so the book and the Solanum nicrum should be no problem. Hermione rummaged in her bag before pulling out her fist sized purse and then she made it larger on the inside with a complex wand movement. She shrank the items and easily dropped them into her usual money carrier. The external appearance of the purse looked exactly as it had before and right now she couldn't help but stare in admiration, oh the wonders magic could do. Did purebloods have such moments or was it the cause of her having lived as a muggle for 11 years? Regardless of the way it looked the purse was very heavy.

Using magic she made it feather light and she was about to toss it back in her bag when an impulsive decision stopped her. Hermione unclasped her cloak and undid the top two buttons of her dress. She couldn't believe she was about to hide it there but it was better to be safe than sorry. She shoved the purse inside the left side of her bra before moving it closer to her underarm, and then she fixed up her clothes and looked down at herself. Nothing appeared uneven, no one would be able to tell by just looking at her. It was highly unlikely anyone would dare to search there and the dark lord was no threat since he couldn't bear to touch anybody but himself. She disillusioned herself again. Then she re-checked for sound on the other side of the partition and finding the result the same as before she extinguished her wand light. "Dissendium" Hermione muttered as she touched the secret doorway with her stick and it slid open.

The burning torches on the walls of Hogwarts cast a dim light on the corridor and it was enough for her to see. She cautiously poked her head out and after finding nothing suspicious she stepped outside before closing the hump. She began to walk down the passageway and she was almost at the end when another set of footsteps sounded. Merlin, they were coming towards her. Hermione hastily turned the other way and she was about to take a step forward when a beam of bright light hit her. She jumped in fright and reflexively drew her wand before realising it was just normal light.

"Who's there?" Albus Dumbledore's voice suddenly questioned and her heart painfully lurched. She bravely glanced behind to see it was indeed the transfiguration professor with a brightly lit wand. Knowing the camouflage wouldn't deceive him for long she began to speedily tiptoe forward. It wouldn't be good if Dumbledore caught her. She'd have to be untruthful and since he could tell whenever she lied he'd be more suspicious of her than ever before. Hermione suddenly felt an invisible force swoop over her and her eyes widened. Oh my God, he'd cast a non-verbal Homenum revelio. Throwing all caution to the wind she ran as fast as her legs could carry her, she almost reached the end of the corridor when a spell crashed into her back and varying sensations of warmth began to spread all over her skin.

Fuck, the disillusionment was dissolving and she probably had a quarter of a minute before it was all gone. If only she could reinforce it, the new charm would take 15 to 20 seconds to set in and she didn't have time to spare, getting out of his sight was first priority. Hermione rushed into a clearing and she saw two corridors ahead. Praying Dumbledore would take the one on the right she ran into the one on the left and a figure suddenly blocked her pathway. Recognising its familiar face she froze in horror, it was Tom Riddle. Out of the blue she became completely visible and he jumped back with a snake like hiss. For a second the young dark lord looked frightened, then he moved with unnatural speed and she found him pressing his wand into her chin with a threatening expression.

"Come out, there's no point hiding" Dumbledore's loud voice suddenly stated from faraway and Tom withdrew his stick with a fresh emotionless face. Appearing troubled she looked back and forth. She was trapped between the dark lord and an advancing Dumbledore, she was doomed.

If she were to disillusion herself now would the dark lord tell on her? Before she could think of anything else Tom tapped his wand on her head and she jumped startled. A cool feeling rapidly spread all over her skin and expecting to find herself in the process of becoming camouflaged she looked down. Her eyes widened in disbelief when she couldn't see herself at all. Merlin's beard, his disillusionment spell was as good as invisibility and how the hell did he make it work so fast? The heir of Slytherin swiftly disappeared from sight and out of breath from all the running she clumsily spun around to find his back facing her.

"Stay behind me, don't make a sound" he whispered angrily and she forced herself to slowly breathe through her nose. When loud footsteps started to echo through the corridor she cautiously stuck her head out near the heir of Slytherin's right arm and saw a humanoid shape coming towards them. Her pulse picked up a little speed before she reminded herself that thanks to the dark lord she was super disillusioned. Hermione suddenly wondered why Tom wasn't giving her away, he wouldn't do it if it wasn't in his interest so how did this benefit him? Of course, his strong hatred for Dumbledore. Anything that made life difficult for the transfiguration professor would please him. A sudden flood of strong light chased away the shadows and Dumbledore's recognisable features appeared.

"Mr Riddle" he said coming to a halt with a suspicious expression.

"Professor" Tom said in polite acknowledgement. Dumbledore moved his lit wand side to side and ran his eyes around the space behind the head boy with a searching look. Feeling worried she deeply inhaled and as the dark lord's distinct scent hit her nostrils she realised he'd never stood this close to her with his own free will. "Have you lost something, sir?" he asked with a mild enquiring tone and he lazily looked back and forth, giving the impression that he had nothing to hide.

"Yes, as a matter of fact I have" the professor said in a sudden cheerful voice. "Not something but someone" His reply lit a spark in her mind, so that's why Tom was willingly standing so close. Distance between individuals affected the Homenum revelio's ability to distinguish between the number of humans present. The dark lord's proximity was masking her presence and therefore Dumbledore couldn't detect another human.

"Someone" Tom said questioningly.

"I believe it was a student under the disillusionment charm" he said taking a step closer and Hermione shrank nearer to the head boy. She didn't want to admit it but the increase in strength of his smell was having a somewhat calming effect on her. Was this one sheet of paper away distance hurting him? Why should she care? Good if it was. "I was sure they were in this corridor when the other one turned out to be empty" Dumbledore said looking behind the head boy again. "Curious, how the individual managed to vanish without using any of the exits" the professor continued lowering his voice and he suddenly pointed his illuminated wand right in Tom's face. Hermione held her breath in fear of getting caught but the heir of Slytherin didn't react, he seemed to be staring into the brightness without discomfort.

"You and I both know, professor, this castle is filled with secrets" Tom said tilting his head a little to the left. "Perhaps they used a secret exit that you have no knowledge off" his tone was slightly taunting, but the professor didn't show he was affected by the dark lord's attempt to make him feel bad for possibly not knowing something about Hogwarts that a mere student might.

"Not impossible but I highly doubt it" Dumbledore said smiling before lowering his wand. "Did you catch a glimpse of the person" he questioned with his expression becoming serious.

"Unfortunately I didn't" Tom said moving his head back to the centre.

"Surely you heard footsteps" Dumbledore said and Tom remained quiet, it was obvious to Hermione he was taking his time to make it appear as if he was thinking.

"No sir" he finally said.

"Are you sure, Tom?" the professor asked with a stern expression.

"Yes sir" he replied confidently. Never before had she thought she'd be grateful for Tom being an excellent liar and a superb actor, any other student would have tripped up under Dumbledore's piercing gaze.

"Is that really the truth?" the professor said heavily emphasising the words.

"No" Tom said with a sudden defiant tone and Dumbledore looked taken aback. Hermione's heart skipped a beat and she couldn't believe her ears. "If I am to be strictly honest, I did hear footsteps" He was going to betray her. Son of a bitch, she should have known he was going to do something like this. "Yours sir" he said with a hint of laughter in his voice and feeling relieved she inhaled deeply. For a second the usual twinkle in Dumbledore's eyes became a blazing supernova of anger and she couldn't help her lips from stretching into a slight smile, looks like the dark lord had a sense of humour when it came to pissing of people.

"Very funny" the professor said dryly. "The error is mine, I should have been more specific"

"Forgive me, sir" Tom said but his tone made it clear he wasn't sorry at all. "I know what you meant, but as you insisted for the absolute truth I felt obliged to answer truthfully" he said mockingly.

"I see" Dumbledore said suddenly sounding cheerful. "As you are such an honest person, Mr Riddle" the professor continued with a sarcastic tone of voice. "I would like to know the real answer to why you are still out here after eleven,-" he said with his voice becoming serious. "-especially when you are well aware of the rules"

"After eleven" Tom said slowly. He brought up his hand to look at his wristwatch and out of curiosity she tried to see what it looked like but it was too shadowy. "I didn't realise" he said still staring at it. "I'm so sorry professor, I lost track of time" he said looking up as he put his hand back down.

"Lost track of time" Dumbledore repeated with an expression of disbelief. "You are the most punctual and the least forgetful student I have ever met in my entire career, I find that hard to believe"

"Mental stress can make you forgetful" The dark lord said defensively. "Merlin himself had difficulties"

"Merlin was a thousand years old when he experienced random moments of forgetfulness in his short term memory. Unless you have also forgotten Tom, you are seventeen" the professor said with laughter in his voice.

"I still remember that,-" Tom started sharply. "-sir" he added with a softer voice.

"Well, what you are saying may be true but rules are rules" Dumbledore said boring his eyes into him. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to give you detention for being out after hours" he continued in a light tone of merriment. Silence filled the air and although Dumbledore's face didn't have a trace of it his eyes sparkled as if he were smiling. The dark lord suddenly bent his neck to look at the floor and she noticed his fingers curl. He must be at a stage of balling his hands into fists, something that she knew was indicative of him boiling with anger.

"If I may make a suggestion, sir" Tom said in a low careful voice.

"You may" the professor said cheerfully.

"If you ask my head of house-"

"I don't think that would be wise" Dumbledore interrupted. "Detention with Horace would not be detention, in my opinion he is incapable of punishing students that he favours"

"I see" Tom forced out and he slowly looked up. "When and where should I come for the detention?" he said in a high pitched voice and he started to repeatedly coil and uncoil both of his hands.

"I'll owl it to you tomorrow" the professor said raising an eyebrow as he noticed the dark lord's hand movements. "Is everything alright, Tom?" he asked with a sudden concerned voice and a worried expression pasted on his face.

"Everything's fine, sir" the head boy said mechanically and his fingers froze uncurled.

Dumbledore bore his eyes into Tom and after half a minute passed in silence it was obvious the professor was performing legilimency. The dark lord hadn't broken eye contact yet and she was sure he could shield his mind well enough to conceal whether we was telling the truth or not. Otherwise Dumbledore wouldn't be wasting so much effort on him, and Tom wouldn't have allowed an attempt to break his barriers for so long if they weren't incredibly strong. She couldn't help but feel jealous that he was a better occulumens than she was. Well, at least he wasn't so good at legilimency yet and she relished in the fact.

Tom suddenly looked down and brought up a hand to scratch the back of his head. A casual observer would think he'd bent his neck for that reason alone but she knew he'd done it to protect his mind. Dumbledore's assaults had obviously become too much for his shield but the length of time the dark lord had held up against him was still impressive.

"Very well, Mr Riddle" the professor said breaking the silence with a resigned voice and appearing to have recovered his stamina the head boy looked up. Dumbledore suddenly lowered his gaze to the dark lord's chest and Tom immediately crossed his arms. His fingers began to slowly scratch at his elbows before he slightly leaned backwards and if he was to move back another inch his robe would touch her nose.

Why in the name of bloody Merlin was he reacting like that? Wasn't the problem from his condition limited to being touched and not looked at? He must be afraid of Dumbledore uncovering his secret illness but it's not like anyone could tell there was something wrong with him by just looking at him. Actually, she wouldn't put it past Dumbledore. But still, couldn't Tom make an effort to act his way through this moment? She needed him to play at the quidditch match to kill him and if his condition got discovered he'd most likely be sent off to St Mungo's. "The temperature has dropped significantly low" the professor said looking back at his face. "You should wear a jumper, Tom. Why aren't you wearing one?"

"I've gotten used to the temperature, I'm not cold" he said standing straight again but he didn't uncross his arms.

"Not cold" Dumbledore said pointing his wand and Tom scrunched his shoulders upwards like a reflex reaction to it. The professor made a sudden movement with his stick and the light radiating from it turned deep blue. "According to this, you are very cold" he said lifting the wand up to Tom's face and the dark lord instantly turned his head away. "I will ask you again, Mr Riddle" Dumbledore said lowering his magical rod and the wand light switched back to its original colour. "Why aren't you wearing your jumper?"

"With all due respect, sir," Tom started with a controlled voice and his head swung back towards Dumbledore. "I don't think that's any of your business" he finished raising his voice.

"You are absolutely correct" the professor said with a slight nod of his head. "However, the headmaster has a right to know when a student's health may be affected" he continued with a smile tugging at his lips and the heir of Slytherin slowly uncrossed his arms. "Perhaps an enquiry by, Armando Dippet, will help shed light on what has become of your jumper" the professor finished in a friendly tone but the threat was clear in his words. Tom could either tell him now without hassle or he'd have to deal with the headmaster and Dumbledore would learn of the answer anyway.

"If you must really know, sir,-" Tom said in a forced voice and he paused for a few seconds. "-mine shrank" he spat out and he coiled his hands into fists.

"Shrank" Dumbledore said with an enquiring expression and the dark lord looked down with his arms slightly shaking.

"I grew out of it" Tom said in a voice that was almost a hiss.

"Surely,-" the professor said raising an eyebrow. "-a student of your intelligence knows that can be easily remedied with an enlarging charm"

"I know" he whispered harshly. "But surely you must know professor, that something can be enlarged so many times before the spell ceases to be effective." he said with his voice becoming louder by each word. "I've been enlarging my jumper since first year and this year it stopped working" the head boy said lowering his voice again and his last word was barely audible.

"Ah, yes. Skillwen's 3rd law of enchanted space, I myself have encountered it many times" Dumbledore said cheerfully. "If you don't mind I could ask-"

"I don't need charity" Tom said in a loud voice that barely contained his anger and his head sprang up. Lord Voldemort or not at this moment Hermione couldn't help but feel sorry for him. He hadn't been bothered by Dumbledore's stare due to his condition, it was because he wasn't wearing a jumper and with tonight's temperature he knew the professor would want to know why. "What I meant, sir,-" the dark lord began with a forced apologetic tone. "-is that I prefer the cold and I don't have the need for a jumper, but thank you for offering a solution" he finished icily.

"I see" Dumbledore said with a disappointed expression. "Just remember Tom, - that help is always given at Hogwarts to those who need it" The heir of Slytherin threw his hands behind his back and interlocked them by grasping his wrists. She'd never seen him do that before, Dumbledore had obviously made him very angry by hinting he needed help and therefore indirectly charity. "It is never too late to receive help" the professor continued, his tone was almost pleading and Hermione knew he was referring to the dark lord's evil nature.

Tom started to twist his wrists back and forth within the grips of his hands and with each passing second she grew worried. Oh God, what if he lost his patience? He was already on the edge from everything that'd happened today and there was only so much someone could take. Fingers crossed he won't get expelled so he can make it to all important the quidditch match.

"I will keep that in mind, sir" Tom said in a slightly wavering voice. "But surely, I cannot be the only one that needs to be-" he paused and unclasped and clasped his wrists again. "-as you say, helped" the dark lord continued heavily emphasising the word helped. "So why do you always specifically target me?" he snapped accusingly. "Why me, why?" his voice became oddly high pitched at the end and Dumbledore's expression became scrutinising. "Why is it always me? Why do people like you always-" Tom trailed of nearly sounding hysterical. He tightened the grip on his wrists and looked down at the ground, then he took in a deep audible breath through his mouth before releasing it.

"My offer is not limited to you, Tom" Dumbledore said still staring at him intently. "I help all those who seek it from me" Silence followed as the heir of Slytherin continued to stare at the floor without saying anything. "You appear to be very troubled" the professor suddenly said with a careful tone. "Earlier you mentioned mental stress, I know you don't like to burden others but if you -"

"I don't need your help" the dark lord interrupted speaking through his teeth and he slightly trembled. "Thank you once again for offering" he said with a controlled voice and he slowly looked up again. "The stress, it's really nothing, sir" Tom said shaking his head. "Just had an exhausting day, that's all"

"Whether that is true or not only you know for certain" Dumbledore said with a disbelieving expression. "For your sake I hope you are telling the truth" he said looking sombre for a moment. "I will be keeping a close eye on you, Mr Riddle" he suddenly said in a cold voice.

"As you have always kept" the dark lord said with an equally cold voice and a tone of disgust crept in at the end.

"I'm just watching out for your well being" the professor said raising his voice. "And everyone else's" he added with a threatening look and it became quiet as the dark lord didn't respond. "Goodnight, Tom" Dumbledore suddenly said with a dismissive tone and he turned to leave.

"Goodnight professor" Tom forced out and as he watched Dumbledore walking away he lowered his hands to his sides before balling them into fists.

Soon Hermione was alone with the dark lord and she didn't dare move knowing how angry he was. For a while Tom stood still, then he started to walk forward and she followed close behind. He moved with speed reflecting his foul mood and she had to almost run to keep up with him. As the dark lord turned into a corridor the lit torches at the entrance brightly illuminated his back and she noticed a small feather resting on his robe. She had a strong feeling it belonged to an owl. There was the real answer to why he was late for the eleven o'clock deadline, he must've been at the owlery torturing or killing those poor birds.

The head boy began to rush down a long staircase and she wasn't far behind. He abruptly stopped moving and she gripped the railing to stop herself from crashing into him. Hermione's heart skipped a beat as she saw the reason for his frozen state, near the foot of the stairs Dumbledore was waiting on the landing. The professor had a calculating expression on his face. He swept his eyes side to side over Tom's shoulders like he was expecting to see someone behind him and she fearfully tilted closer to the dark lord.

"Is there something you want, professor?" Tom said with forced politeness and he crossed his arms. "If you have lost your way I could show you to your quarters" he added with an angry tone leaking into his voice.

"That's very kind of you, Mr Riddle, but I haven't lost my mind from old age yet" Dumbledore said chuckling. "I was wandering around in the hope of coming across the hiding student" he continued cheerfully. "Since my efforts have proved fruitless they must have gone back to their dormitory" the professor scanned the surroundings with a suspicious expression and his eyes came to rest on Tom again. He looked over the dark lord's shoulders once more and then he turned away creasing his brows. "Good night once again, Mr Riddle" he called out as he walked off.

"Good night, sir" Tom said venomously.

When Dumbledore's footsteps couldn't be heard the dark lord uncrossed his arms and she straightened to her full height. Tom suddenly resumed speeding down the stairs and raising her cloak above her ankles she hurried after him. When they arrived at the heads quarters she inhaled deeply feeling relieved, the inhabitants of the painting safeguarding the entrance appeared to be asleep. The heir of Slytherin aimed his wand at it before making a slashing motion and as the canvas tore in the middle Persephone and Hades jumped awake screaming. Hermione swallowed, he'd never physically damaged the painting before and now that he had it spoke volumes of just how angry he was.

"This time you've gone too-" Persephone started in a shouting voice and another spell from Tom had her screaming again.

"Leave us alone" Hades yelled pulling his wife out of harm's way. "Say the password and be on your way or I swear in the name of Zeus I'll have you expelled" he continued bravely and a second later the dark lord had him screaming at the top of his longs.

"Stop it" the Goddess shouted tearfully and he turned his wand on her. "Password, password, password" she repeated thrice with a tone of desperation as she moved Hades and herself into a corner.

"Medusa" Tom hissed and Persephone and her husband ran out the painting the second the entrance unlocked. The dark lord effortlessly repaired the canvas with magic and then he threw the door wide open before walking inside. Hermione remained rooted at the spot with a fearful expression and she suddenly felt like a rabbit that had been rescued from the lion by a leopard.

She didn't want to go in but what choice did she have? Dumbledore was still out there and she couldn't get to her room without facing Tom. On second thought, sleeping in the room of requirements would be safer. To hell with getting caught, any professor could give her their piece of mind and punishment as long as it kept her away from the dark lord's wrath. With her mind made up she turned and took a step forward. "Do you need an invitation?" Tom's shouting voice suddenly sounded from inside and she froze.

Merlin's beard, that was definitely an order to go in. If she could get to the room of requirements in time she'd be protected. No, that was a bad plan. He'd find her tomorrow and disobeying him was never a good idea because it always ended in severe punishment. Besides, she'd ruin the submissive act and it was important that he continued to believe she was under his control. After hyperventilating in her sleeve she turned back around and walked up to the entryway before bravely stepping over the threshold.

Not so faraway the dark lord was waiting with his wand drawn and as she closed the door he threw a spell in her direction. Warmth enveloped her upon its contact and a second later his disillusionment charm completely lifted off her. "Decipio sonitus" he said twirling his wand high in the air as he walked towards her and she momentarily stopped breathing. Her Latin was a little rusty but she was pretty sure sonitus meant sound. Oh God, he'd sound proofed the room with one of his invented spells. Coming to a stop he pointed his wand at her and she gripped her magical stick under the cover of her cloak but it didn't make her feel any better. "Explain" Tom said boring his eyes into her and her heart raced as she tried to think up an answer. "I don't like repeating myself" he said raising his voice.

"I-err-" she said attempting to stall and his expression turned murderous. "-I-" She was desperately trying but she was so under pressure she couldn't think straight.

"Cruci-" Tom started.

"I couldn't sleep, I felt like taking a walk" she blurted out in fright and she immediately regretted saying the first thing that'd come to her head.

"Do I look stupid to you?" he roared making a chair rise into the air and as it crashed to the floor a loud crack sounded. Hermione discretely drew her wand with a worried expression and took a step back. Oh God, she was back to square one with the dark lord. She couldn't just make up a whole new answer because that'd give away she'd lied in the beginning and make him suspicious. "I want the truth, Granger" he hissed and all the candles in the room suddenly fluttered. As her mind drew a blank she tightened the grip on her stick with a frightened look and she almost had a heart attack when his eyes moved down to the right side of her cloak. To her horror she realised she'd drawn her wand pointing up and it'd made a telltale mini tent in the covering. A second later a jet of scarlet light shot towards her and she whipped out her stick.

"Protego" Hermione shouted blocking it and the non-verbal expeliarmus rebounded towards Tom. He jumped out the way and it crashed into a wall. The dark lord fixed her with a look that was worthy of making someone drop dead and balled his left hand into a fist. Merlin, she shouldn't have done that. Actually, it was a good thing she'd blocked him. He knew she wasn't that bad from their previous wand battle and it would be highly suspicious if she suddenly became worst than a first year. Without warning Tom started to fire non-verbal curses and she blocked one after the other. Their wands appeared like moving rods of light as varying colours of magic poured out of them, the misaimed spells flew off in random directions and most of them crashed into furniture. So far she was doing good to show she was putting up a fight, a few more spells then she'd give up on purpose to hide the true extent of her duelling skills.

A minute into the fight and her heavy cloak started to annoy her. She undid the clasp with her left hand as she continued to work magic with her right hand and the material flew away from the impact of a spell. Feeling much better without the burden she tackled a nasty hex and as she destroyed another one a cutting curse rushed towards her shoulder. She scarcely managed to pull away but it wasn't enough to stop the spell from slicing the strap of her bag. Her fake leather possession dropped to the floor and she kicked it away to avoid tripping on it.

"Levicorpus" Tom shouted and unlike their last wand battle she easily blocked it. She wasn't going to let herself get picked up and thrown into a wall again. She'd been expecting him to try that, it was common for a person to use similar moves in duels and it looked like lord Voldemort was no exception.

He began to employ complex spells and she had to put in an effort to fight back. Blocking her attacks he moved closer and closer towards her and realising what he was trying to do she increased the distance. It would be impossible for her to succeed if he used physical force and he knew that very well. He'd thought he could grab hold of her while she was distracted, this was another one of his old moves. She had fallen over last time while she'd tried to get out of his reach but this time she was going to be well out of his way.

"Casso contego" Hermione roared as she made a stabbing motion at his shield charm and he quickly reinforced it. "Impedimenta" she added hastily before moving further back and Tom started to shoot spells with renewed vigour. Last time they'd fought he'd used simple spells but these were awfully dark. She hated to admit it but he was brilliant at duelling and she was surprised to find she could hold up against him, even though it was barely. It was like battling a highly experienced auror or a death eater, only Tom's actions and choice of spells were far more carefully planned and she had to make lots of last second defence moves.

His intelligence definitely surpassed her. But when it came to fighting with a wand he still had a long way to go before he became the lord Voldemort that'd duelled Dumbledore at the ministry of magic during her fifth year. Now the young dark lord was only 17, from what she'd witnessed in the great hall after Xavian had called him queer she was sure he didn't have the courage or the capability to take on Albus Dumbledore. It suddenly dawned on her that for the first time she having a proper duel with Tom Riddle and remaining undefeated, perhaps she had thought too highly of him. Come to think of it, he kept getting the better of her in defence against the dark arts classes because she held back her full potential and an unconscious part of her feared him as the dark lord. Now it was clear to her that he wasn't yet the great but terrible Voldemort of her time, but she wasn't going to make the mistake she had on the astronomy tower and underestimate the enemy. There was no doubt he was powerful, one fatal slip up could mean her downfall and she didn't want to lose. She had a feeling if she gave it her 100% best she might be able to injure him or even defeat him, that is if bad luck didn't descend on her like last time and make her trip on something.

Defeat him? Merlin, what the hell was she doing continuing to fight him like this? He had to be the one that emerged victorious not her, she creased her brows in self anger as an internal battle set in. Hermione didn't want to lose on purpose when she was doing so well, she wanted to beat the dark lord but soon her adrenaline fuelled mind came to its senses. The mission to kill him was more important than anything and nothing could get in its way. She couldn't let the dark lord see her as a threat and become suspicious of her background. He had to continue believing she was harmless and under his control, so she could strike him dead without him ever suspecting. If she continued to reveal any more of her magical fighting skills she might as well tattoo on her forehead, powerful witch from 1998 come to defeat future dark lord, Tom Riddle.

It wasn't an option anymore, she was going to lose right now but she had to make it look genuine. Out of the corner of her eyes she noticed the chair Tom had broken. It wasn't that faraway, she could slip on it and since she'd fallen for real last time he'd totally buy it. She drew closer to the furniture little by little and he followed shooting curses. "Expelliarmus" Hermione suddenly shouted. Two of his spells crashed into it and knocked the expelliarmus back at her. Raising her wand in a fake attempt to block it she stepped on one of the chair's legs and deliberately lost her balance. The stick flew from her hand as the red light hit her, and having been deflected by two spells the expelliarmus had enough force to send her sailing backwards through the air before shattering a window behind. She cried out as her body met the ground and covered her face from the rain of broken glass.

Suddenly there was nothing but silence, except she could almost hear the internal sound of her racing heart. Hermione lay rigid and didn't dare lower her hands. It didn't feel like she'd done the right thing anymore, she'd most likely dug her own grave. The sound of his advancing footsteps mixed with a crunching noise echoed through the room as he walked over the remains of the window. She heard him come to a stop near her and beads of sweat formed on her forehead. She still refused to look, she was too scared. A rapid calm feeling took over her mind and she had a desperate urge to uncover her face. But she shouldn't, why shouldn't she? She couldn't remember why and before she could think further she found herself lowering her hands. In seconds her mind cleared and she realised the dark lord had used the imperius curse on her.

Hermione's vision of the ceiling suddenly became interrupted by Tom's face looking down at her and she screamed in fright. She was looking into the face of death, absolute fury and madness was in his eyes. His handsome features marred and distorted by anger and hatred, and his pale white skin was tainted with rivulets of crimson liquid. Her eyes caught a piece of glass sticking out from the right side of his forehead and her heart felt like it was going to stop. Holy mother of Merlin, she'd caused it to happen. The dark lord was in the foulest of moods and she'd just sliced open his forehead.

All of a sudden he pointed his wand at her and her pulse dramatically quickened. She knew what he was going to do and her survival instincts kicked in. Hermione jumped into a sitting position and not caring about the glass shards she tried to crawl away using her bare hands. The heir of Slytherin effortlessly picked her up with magic and threw her into a wall on the other side of the room. She cried out as her head banged into it and then she huddled against the solid like it could offer some protection. In seconds he caught up with her and as he raised his wand with a merciless look absolute terror gripped her. "I'm sorry" she said with a wavering voice. "I'm sorry" she repeated sounding more desperate and her eyes watered. But unlike last time her apologies fell on deafened ears and there was no change in his expression.

"Crucio" Tom shouted and Hermione let out a deafening scream. Her body shook all over and repeatedly knocked back and forth against the wall. Tears poured out of her eyes and as the pain increased in its intensity her vision blackened. Her screams became higher pitched and continuing to violently shake she fell over sideways. Her limbs jerked forward and dragged her away from the wall and as she thrashed about her body spread onto the floor with her back to it. Hermione's spine started to arch up and fall back down repeatedly while her arms and legs carried on shaking and twitching.

Every nerve ending in her body burned and the pain was unbearable. It was ten times worse than any cruciatus she had ever experienced, even Bellatrix's. She wanted to die. She wished he would shout Avada Kedavra, anything to make it go away and as if her prayers were answered it suddenly stopped. With her eyes closed she lay on the floor crying loudly, the curse had lasted less than quarter of a minute but to her it felt like she'd been tortured for hours. Now her limbs were trembling and every few seconds tremors went through her whole body. The horrible after effects of being crucioed brought back all her old memories, the death eaters killing and torturing. The dark mark floating above her house, the image of her mum and dad's dead bodies, Ron's blood stained face, Voldemort's laughter and Harry dropping dead. She sobbed hysterically wanting her parents and friends back and as her heart became heavy with emotion she let out a strangled scream of desperation.

Something hard suddenly touched her chin and she snapped her eyes open to find it was the young dark lord's wand. He raised it into the air and she let out a whimper of fear. "Pl-please, n-not ag-again" she stuttered tearfully as she tried to move away but her nerves were too numb. "I di-didn't me-mean to hurt y-you" she added with effort when there seemed to be no change in his demeanour. Tom lowered his wand and un-bent his upper half to stand straight again.

"Hurt me" he said with a brief puzzled expression. "Elaborate" he commanded pointing his stick at her once more. Was he serious? Couldn't he feel the gash near his temple? Merlin's beard, he hadn't known. That meant being crucioed had nothing to do with it, oh God, she'd just made things worse for herself. What was he going to do to her now? "Have you gone deaf?" Tom shouted kicking at her legs and she let out a cry as their freshly crucioed muscles shuddered in response.

"You're forehead, on the right" Hermione whispered weakly and new drops of tears fell from her eyes. The dark lord raised his left hand and lightly skimmed his palm over the injury before tracing the outline of the lodged glass with his fingertips. Appearing calm he put his hand back down, then he waved his wand at an armchair and it moved behind her with its back to her. The heir of Slytherin suddenly made a grab for her and Hermione screamed as he took hold of her hair. With the assistance of a spell he pulled her into a sitting position and the burning pain in her joints made her tearfully gasp. The head boy released her before standing straight and with no strength to hold herself up she fell backwards onto the behind of the armchair.

Tom twirled his wand and as the see-through jagged pieces lifted themselves off the floor she eyed them in horror. God in heaven, he'd sat her up to stab her with them. He made the levitating sections pile together and she turned her head sideways with a scared expression. Her long hair came down like a curtain, causing her vision to become obscured and waiting for the glass to attack her flesh she felt goose bump all over. A sudden high pitched clinking sound made her heart jump and then it went quiet. Feeling some sort of a panic attack coming on she took in deep breaths and when something touched the top of her ear she moaned in fright before realising it wasn't hurting her. The thing started to move her hair away and with the fear still pasted on her face she moved her head back to find it was the dark lord's wand. Seeming startled by her movement he froze and wondering where the glass was she eyed the stick with creased brows. Then she noticed them in a heap near the door and in the candlelight they almost gleamed like diamonds. So that was the cause of the sharp sound. Thank God, better the floor than her body.

Tom suddenly resumed clearing the tresses from her face and her attention snapped back to him. Soon only one stubborn clump of strands remained and each time he tried to move them they moved back down. After one more attempt he roughly curled them around his wand and the sharp tug made her sniff in pain. With careful movement he secured the brown lock behind her ear and then he pulled his stick away. The dark lord moved back a few inches before sitting down on the floor cross legged and as he watched her with an unreadable expression she stared back with immobile eyelids.

"You think I'm in pain" Tom said breaking the silence and Hermione blinked startled. "This" he said pointing at his forehead. "You think this hurts" he said tilting his upper half slightly towards her. "You think this hurts" the dark lord repeated in a sharper tone and her pulse quickened. Was she supposed to answer that? He raised his thumb and index finger above his forehead whilst keeping his gaze on her, then he pulled out the glass without any signs of discomfort and threw it aside. "You think this hurts" Tom shouted hacking at the wound with his fingernails and her heart lurched violently as her eyes enlarged in horror. Fresh redness began to flow down the right side of his face and almost entirely covered it but he carried on attacking himself without a care. The dark lord suddenly stilled his self hurting hand and lowered it to his eye level. He started to stare at it unblinking and she gazed at him with a mixture of fear and uncertainty. All of a sudden Tom began to laugh and she almost had a heart attack. Continuing to watch his blood stained hand he carried on and Hermione took in deep breaths feeling more frightened than ever. This behaviour was way too disturbing, even for him. Tom Riddle was seriously fucked in the head, there couldn't possibly be a sane explanation to all this.

His laughter came to an abrupt end and the wind howling against the glassless window frame could now be heard clearly. He lowered his hand and got on his knees before moving a little closer to her. Hermione stopped blinking and swallowed feeling scared. The dark lord placed his wand under her chin and she took in a sharp intake of breath. He pulled the stick upwards and as she was forced to look up she yelped from the after crucio sensitivity in her neck.

"To feel hurt-" Tom whispered increasing the pressure on his stick. "-you have to be able to distinguish between being in pain and not being in pain" he finished withdrawing his wand and a sad look that was so alien on him flashed on his face. Hermione creased her forehead and stared at him intently. She didn't know what to make of all this, was he saying he couldn't sense pain? Was this due to his mysterious illness? Is that the reason why he hadn't felt the cut on his forehead? But he'd seemed in pain when his chest had bleed, maybe the condition was body part specific.

She suddenly trembled from a wave of muscular contractions and gasping in pain she almost fell to the floor when Tom held her up with a spell. The crucio aftershock abruptly vanished and as her whole body sagged against the armchair her head rolled to the right. She raised her eyes upwards and noticed her fallen bag far ahead. All the contents had dropped out and there was a glass bottle amongst them that was unfamiliar to her. Why did she have it and what was it?

All of a sudden she felt fingers invade her hair and as he pulled her head back to the centre she moaned in discomfort. "Your answer is long overdue" the dark lord said pulling his hand back before sitting on his legs. Merlin, she didn't know what to say without looking like a liar. "Talk" he ordered poking his wand into her shoulder with force and Hermione screamed. Without warning the tremors in her muscles returned and he immediately removed the stick. Crying in pain she weakly scratched at the ground for support and as her head tilted to the side her eyes fell on the mysterious bottle again. She'd seen it somewhere before but where? It suddenly sparked in her mind why she had it and most importantly what it was. She'd asked for it from the hospital wing when she'd gone there to see if she'd been successful in injuring a Slytherin quidditch player, it'd slipped her mind to take out the bottle from her bag and thank God for that. A brilliant idea was coming to her that would support her first answer completely and give the dark lord no reason to be suspicious.

Out of the blue her body went limp and her head came to rest on her right shoulder. Prepared to reply she tried to talk but her throat hurt so much she had to pause and swallow.

"I-su-suff-" Hermione started stuttering weakly and a gentle touch on her face made her stop. She moved her eyes to the left and saw it was the heir of Slytherin's wand.

"Look at me" Tom ordered applying mild pressure on her cheekbone and she slowly turned her head towards him.

"Speak" he said staring into her eyes and knowing he was going to use legilimency she mentally smiled. He didn't stand a chance against her occulumency, the dark lord had a lot of learning to do before he became the master legilimens he'd been in her time.

"I suffer from reoccurring nightmares" she said with a wavering voice. It wasn't a lie as she had them from time to time and she projected that truth loud and clear from her mind.

"The dreamless sleep potion's losing its effectiveness" she said making her voice sound distressed and she allowed him see an image of the glass bottle. "It was terrible tonight" Hermione continued in a whispering voice. "I thought a walk outside might help" she squeaked out before managing to sprout fresh tears. He quickly pulled the wand away from her face and stared at her unblinking.

"Where's the potion?" Tom suddenly asked and she felt glad he was acting just as she'd predicted. The dreamless sleep potion had to be taken three times a day and once before going to bed for it to be effective in severe cases. That knowledge and her half truths from his so called legilimency had obviously led him to the conclusion that if she suffered badly as she said she did then she'd keep it on her.

"There" she said moving her head to the right and his eyes followed her direction before he got on his feet. He walked towards her bag and picked up the bottle lying near it. Then he uncorked it and smelt the liquid. After replacing the stopper the dark lord looked at her and she waited for him to confirm in some way that he'd believed her answer.

"This could have been easily carried on your persons" he said rotating the bottle. "So why would you-" he said summoning her bag and he dropped the dreamless sleep potion inside. "-take something as large this on a walk to clear your mind?" he finished accusingly as he held it up and she momentarily stopped breathing. Okay, an innocent reason to carry her bag. She could say-. Her limbs trembled interrupting her thought and she gritted her teeth in pain.

With quick steps the head boy was in front of her again and then he sat down on the floor. "Why, Granger?" Tom said lifting her bag up by one half of its torn strap and seeming to wait for her to stop shaking he dangled it back and forth. Her muscles suddenly relaxed and he pointed his wand at her. "Speak" he ordered.

"On the-wa-way back-I-I thought I'd get-so-some books-fr-from the library" she said stuttering weakly as she blinked away tears. "Most of-m-my homework's-d-due soon" Hermione continued while mentally broadcasting the truth of her words. "I wanted to do-so-some if I couldn't-g-get back to sleep" she forced out as she made her mind go blank. "I ca-can't levitate more than one thing" she said letting him sense the truth again even though he already knew that otherwise he might get suspicious. "Thought the bag wo-would help me ca-carry them all" Hermione finished with a tone of false sincerity. Tom stared at her unblinking before slighting narrowing his eyes and wondering what that meant she felt worried. He had to believe her, the story had been flawless and backed by truths from legilimency.

Suddenly raising his wand the dark lord gave it a twirl and she flinched but no harm came to her. All the remaining items that'd fallen from her bag rose into the air and came to hover above them in a circle. Moving it in an anti-clockwise direction he scrutinised each object and she was more thankful than ever that she'd put the Hogsmeade items elsewhere. After dumping everything back in her bag the head boy cast a revealing charm on it but the fake leather carrier remained the same. After another try he put it down and fixed his eyes on her. He had a look that said he knew something was amiss but he couldn't quiet put his finger on it.

All of a sudden Tom held his wand across her throat like a sword and she cried out in fright.

"Why did you go outside when you could've taken a walk inside?" he questioned threateningly and her heart skipped a beat. Merlin, how did he know that? "Answer me" the dark lord shouted forcefully pressing his stick against her windpipe and Hermione shrieked.

"I didn't go out" she said in a wheezing voice while keeping her mind blank with occulumency.

"You were wearing an outdoor cloak?" he hissed increasing the pressure on her throat and she almost started to choke when Tom pulled the wand away. She coughed and took in huge gulps of air. The damn cloak, she should have realised the conclusion he'd draw from it. As she took in another deep breath a convincing answer came to her and most of it was thanks to the dark lord. "What were you doing out at this time of the night?" Tom said demandingly. "Don't lie unless you want to suffer the consequences" he added raising his voice.

"I swear I was inside the whole time" she whispered while occluding her mind.

"I said don't lie" he shouted jabbing his wand into her arm with strength and Hermione screamed.

"I don't have a jumper, that's why I was wearing the cloak" she said shakily as tears wetted her cheeks and he looked right into her eyes. "I can't afford one" she said lowering her voice while looking ashamed and she let him detect the truthfulness of her words before showing him mental images of her empty purse. The dark lord's angry expression slowly disappeared and he removed his wand from her arm. "It was cold-" Hermione continued with a tearfully sniff. "-so I thought-"

"You don't have to explain further" Tom cut in sharply. He looked down at the floor and continued to stare at it. She felt glad he'd fallen for her spoon-fed bait. Strange how the great, Tom Marvolo Riddle, relied on legilimency so blindly that he didn't realise the truth could be bent, twisted and taken out of context in so many ways that it can end up becoming a lie. Even in her time he didn't learn and that'd allowed Severus Snape to spy on him and his death eaters. Well, a genius always has a weakness or two and she was grateful this one had worked to her advantage.

The dark lord suddenly looked up with a crazed expression and she stopped blinking. "Everything you heard in the corridor" he said threateningly as he pointed his wand. "If you ever tell anyone-"

"I won't" she interrupted in a low voice.

"All that has happened in this room tonight, you will not communicate it to anyone in any way" Tom commanded raising his voice.

"No one will know" she said weakly and he lowered his stick with all emotion disappearing from his face.

Without warning Hermione started to shiver and this time it wasn't the aftermath of being crucioed as the characteristic twitching of the limbs were absent. It was because she was feeling very cold and the icy wind coming from the broken window was to blame. However, it couldn't elicit a reaction from the heir of Slytherin who was now staring at her with narrowed eyes. He suddenly tore his gaze away and looked in the direction of the glassless window. Then he got on his feet and walked up to it.

"Recro-" Tom said waving his wand towards the pile of gleaming glass. "-fenestra" he added flicking it at the window before moving his right hand in a zigzag motion. The see-through pieces flew up and attached to the hole in the wall piece by piece. Then a flash of white light joined them together and the window was as good as new.

Although cold air wasn't coming into the room anymore the temperature remained roughly the same and seeming oblivious to the fact the dark lord started fixing broken furniture. As Hermione continued to shiver she attempted to move her hands and a dull throb spread through them. She kept trying even though it greatly pained her and in the end she managed to hug herself. Quietly crying she rested her head on her right shoulder and closed her eyes. After some time passed in complete silence she raised her eyelids and saw everything in the room was repaired and in its usual place, with the obvious exception of her armchair. Tom was standing near the door with his back to her and wondering what he was up to she slowly positioned her head upright. The dark lord suddenly turned around and as she noticed his hands were holding her cloak her heart did a somersault. What could he possibly discover from it now? Surely the interrogation was over?

The heir of Slytherin started to walk towards her and fear pooled in her stomach. When he sat in front of her again she stopped blinking and her involuntary shivering was the only visible body movement. An unsure expression flashed on his face then he leaned towards her and laid the cloak upon her like a blanket. Hermione's eyes widened and she momentarily stopped breathing. Soon she expected something horrible to happen but the material insulating her from the chilly temperature continued to do just that. The dark lord suddenly touched her neck with his wand and she let out a frightened gasp. Then her eyebrows knitted in confusion as she felt waves of heat spread down her spine and flow all the way to her fingertips. This was definitely a warming spell that he'd obviously cast non-verbally and as if to confirm it her shivering vanished. The head boy scrutinised her with an expression that said he was satisfied with some kind of a potion he'd brewed and then he pulled his wand away. "You shouldn't go wandering if you're stupid enough to get caught" he said coldly as he moved an inch back from her. But the unpleasantness spewed from his mouth barely registered in her mind and drugged with the heat coursing through her she couldn't find the energy to think a single thought.

Tom summoned her wand and as he placed it on her lap she snapped out of her trance. What in the name of bloody Merlin, maybe the cruciatus had gotten to her mind and she was hallucinating or something. Hermione blinked on purpose a couple of times but the cloak covering her did not vanish. She looked at him with a suspicious expression and tried to work out what was really going on. "Disgusting, the way you carry heavy things like a common muggle" he said sounding angry as he picked up her bag and then he fixed the broken strap with magic. Her mind was so busy she paid no attention to his words, why would the dark lord care if she was cold or not? It couldn't possibly be compassion, could it? No, Voldemort wasn't capable of something like that. Unless there was a sinister reason behind it and there had to be one but what could it be? "Filthy mindless creatures, all of them" He must have wanted to mess with her mind, get some sick pleasure from her visible confusion. She wasn't going to indulge him further and with that thought she made her face expressionless. "Polluting the magical world with their dirty blood" Perhaps she was reading into it too much. He looked nothing like the Voldemort of her time, even though his facial features were too perfect he appeared pretty much human. "Ruining pure bloodlines" So was it possible for the 17 year old dark lord to have a shred of humanity?

Well, maybe-hell no, was she bloody insane? He'd crucioed her for the sole reason of being angry since he hadn't known about the cut then. Anyone with some kind of empathy or human feelings wouldn't of have done that. "You have some intelligence, Granger, but when you drag those piles of books around you appear like a talentless mudblood" Tom said loudly and the word mudblood jolted her back to reality. She could still hear the word resonating in her eardrums, she'd never heard it from his lips before and now that she had it filled her with rage. "Do you want people to think you're a mudblood?" the dark lord shouted making her flinch. "Is that the reason why you didn't tell, Malfoy, you're a half-blood when he openly called you a mudblood in front of the whole class?"

Glaring at him she turned red with fury. It's not like she enjoyed being called a mudblood, the truth was she was actually a muggleborn and at the time she'd been too angry to remember her fake blood status. "Have you no shame in glorifying your muggle heritage?" Tom said lowering his voice and an expression of utter disgust formed on his face. "Or did you inherit all the stupidity of your muggle father?" he shouted digging his nails into her bag and she had a desperate urge to slap him. Her dad was not stupid, he'd been an intelligent dentist.

"Muggles aren't stupid" Hermione said angrily without thinking and her eyes widened in horror as she realised what she'd said. For a second he stayed still, then snatched her wand with a furious expression and flung it far away. The sound of it meeting the ground echoed through the room and she fearfully gripped the insides of her cloak.

"Repeat that" Tom hissed slamming her bag down on the floor.

"I didn't mean it" She said shakily.

"Repeat what you said" he roared jumping to his feet and pointing his wand.

"I'm sorry, I never meant to-"

"Crucio" Tom shouted and Hermione let out an anguish filled scream. She couldn't see anything, she couldn't hear anything. It was like someone had thrown her into an ocean on a moonless night. Her body moved of its own accord, like it was being controlled by a puppeteer and the only thing she could do was feel. Be aware of each second of indescribable pain touching every inch of her, inside and out. Never before in her life had she felt so much torment, such agony and suffering. Whenever the pain had become unbearable she'd always wished for death but this time she would commit suicide if she could. Anything to free her from this hell, anything to stop feeling. If the infamous ninth circle of hell existed then this had to be it.

Soon her conscious mind slipped out of her control and she couldn't form a single thought. She was nothing now, Hermione Granger wasn't here anymore. In her place was the body of a girl that absorbed all the pain and screamed and moved in perfect mechanical response. All of a sudden everything disappeared, even the wicked force torturing her and then there was light. A hazy image filled her eyes before becoming sharp and her hearing burst to life with the sound of loud crying. Her mind jumped awake from its comatose state and it took her a second to realise she was the one crying. She was Hermione Granger again, she could remember who she was and the suffering she'd been through. But she couldn't recall her cloak coming off or how she'd fallen to the ground on her back. It was obvious how those things must've happened but no matter the pressure she put on her mind the actual memories of them happening wouldn't come to her.

The aftershock suddenly made her entire body shake and she screamed in pain but her throat was so hoarse it didn't sound like one. When her muscles relaxed she took in a deep breath and then she let out a fearful cry as Tom Riddle stepped into view. His blood soaked face seemed to show no emotion and continuing to stare at him her fear changed to feelings of utter hatred. My God, he'd been holding back when he'd crucioed her the first time. She'd thought it being painful than Bellatrix's was the worst thing ever but no, he could actually make it a hundred times worse than that. Never before during a cruciatus had she lost total awareness of her surroundings or had her mind completely frozen. She'd heard of the unforgivable turning people's brain into mush, seen Neville Longbottom's parents suffering from it and now she had an insight to how it probably started. Hermione was sure if Tom really wanted to he could further magnify the cruciatus and turn her into a mindless vegetable.

He was capable of such cruelty at this age that grown death eaters couldn't even compare to his cruciatus, and to think she had ever thought there was a minuscule amount of humanity in him. There was nothing human about him, he was a demonic soul under the disguise of a teenage boy. Doesn't matter what he looked like, Voldemort will always be Voldemort and she should never forget that.

Tom suddenly started to move towards her and she attempted to slide away but her abused nerves wouldn't obey. His black shoes came to a stop near her elbows, then he got on his knees and her heart twisted in fear at his closeness.

"Repeat what you said" the dark lord commanded touching her face with his wand.

"Mu-muggles ar-aren't stu-stupid" Hermione stuttered tearfully while her pulse accelerated and she prayed he wouldn't crucio her again.

"I hate muggles" he shouted pressing his stick into her skin and she let out a frightened moan. "They are nothing but animals in the form of a witch or a wizard" the heir of Slytherin said venomously and his visage showed pure loathing. "Muggles are stupid" he said raising his voice as he grabbed a fistful of her hair with his other hand and she gasped. "Repeat it" he hissed yanking them and she yelped. "Repeat it, Granger" Tom shouted pulling her hair with renewed vigour.

"Muggles are stupid" Hermione said shakily as her eyes filled with fresh tears. He released her hair and withdrew his wand with his face becoming expressionless. The crucio after effect suddenly attacked her and a scream tore from her throat. Clenching her teeth she closed her eyes but it didn't lessen the stinging pain she felt all over. She sobbed and screamed again and again until it went away, and then she opened her eyes to find the dark lord was no longer towering over her.

All of a sudden footsteps sounded and her heart lurched. She wildly moved her eyes around expecting to see his face any second now, and it took her a few breaths to realise the noise was the duplicate of what was heard when someone climbed the stairs. She still couldn't bring herself to feel safe though, shortly afterwards the sound of a door slamming shut echoed through the room and only then did she feel out of danger. Hermione wanted to get up but found her muscles wouldn't do as she willed. With tears raining down her cheeks she kept trying to move and after awhile she managed it with great difficulty. As she shakily got on her hands and knees stinging pain shot through her joints and she let out a loud cry. Whimpering she slowly travelled towards her wand and then she closed her hand around it with gritted teeth.

She took a deep breath before crawling towards the staircase to her room. Then she dragged her body up a step and sat on the next one with a gasp. A few seconds later she repeated her actions and by the time she got to the top her face was drenched with salty water. Using all her strength she opened the door and raised her wand. A wave of pain attacked her arm and trying to keep her focus she bite her lips. Then she summoned her cloak and bag and once they were safely inside her room she crossed the threshold on her hands and knees. She took a moments rest before shutting the door with magic and then feeling extremely weak she crumpled to the floor.

Hermione started to cry loudly, her whole body was aching and the pain was really bad. She imagined Avada Kedavraing Tom repeatedly but it didn't bring her any lasting comfort. She terribly missed her parents and friends. Harry, Ron and her had always fought against Voldemort together and now that she was alone she wasn't strong enough. If only she'd died as well then she wouldn't have to be here suffering. She'd endured so much she didn't want to feel anymore, she wanted it all to end. No, she couldn't think like that. It was cowardice and Hermione Granger was not a coward. Harry and Ron had bravely fought to the end and she would do the same. Fate had given her a chance to set everything right, Ron's necklace had sent her to the past seconds before she'd met her death and then she'd been given Harry's wand. Now she was the girl who lived and she possessed Voldemort's brother wand. It was like the prophecy all over again, only this time she'd been given the duty to kill or to be killed and she determined to emerge victorious.

Hermione bravely blinked away her tears and forced herself into a sitting position. With a feeling of desperation she edged towards her trunk and then she opened the lid with shaky hands. While rummaging inside she breathed heavily as this simple task of searching seemed to her body like she was running a marathon. Soon she brought out a bottle of pain killing potion and after uncorking it with her teeth she noisily drank all the liquid. She dropped the now empty glass structure back into the trunk. Then she lay on the ground flat on her back and stared at the ceiling. As the magic of the potion began to take effect the pain considerably reduced and her lips suddenly stretched into a weak smile.

She wished she was well enough to do a victory dance, she'd luckily made it when so many things could've gone wrong. Tom had believed everything she'd said and it wouldn't have been possible without her use of advanced occulumency. Being new to that kind of mind magic she'd had a hidden fear of slipping up, but she'd refused to acknowledge it then as it always made things worse in the face of danger. Now she was proud of herself and she was sure she could effortlessly do it again. Plus, her acting skills couldn't be as bad as she'd thought. Come to think of it, she did convince Umbridge to go into the forbidden forest and then there was her impersonation of Bellatrix Lestrange so acting must come to her naturally in desperate situations.

Hermione slowly unbuttoned her dress and removed the purse hidden in her bra. She took out the items from inside it and was pleased to find them still shrunken, the safety precautions had proved necessary though. She raised herself on her elbows with a gasp before shakily lifting her wand, and then she enlarged the book and the wrapped Solanum nicrum. Creasing her brows in discomfort she forced her body to properly sit up, the soreness of her muscles became more pronounced and she let out a throaty moan before flicking her wand at the newly acquired cloth pack. It opened up to reveal the Solanum nicrum and she stared at it with lit eyes. Finally, she had all the ingredients for the broom cursing potion and soon the dark lord would meet his demise. With a slight smile she placed a freezing charm on the plant and magically wrapped it up again, and then she levitated it and her new book into the trunk before shutting its lid.

She suddenly yawned and felt like falling asleep on the floor but her full bladder could no longer be ignored. As she moved towards the bathroom on her knees tears came to her eyes from the pain hidden in her nerves and she was grateful she hadn't wet herself under the cruciatus. Immediately images of Lavender Brown flashed before her eyes, the girl was uncontrollably screaming and urinating in fear as Bellatrix crucioed her and Fenir Greyback opened his mouth to take a bite out of her leg. Hermione held her breath and made her mind go blank with occulumency. After awhile of being still she forced herself to stand on her feet and screamed feeling the pain amplify in her legs. She took steps forward swaying and cried out when it hurt too much. When she was done in the bathroom she walked back into her room and getting a feeling she was going to lose her balance any second now she grabbed onto her dressing table. For a minute she rested her upper half on it and then she slowly looked up. The mirror reflected her appearance back at her and she blinked a couple of times before laughing out loud, only it sounded like she was struggling for breath.

She didn't look very good but it wasn't the worst she'd ever looked. Her hair was a mess, she could see a mild bruise on her neck and one of her ear lobes was bloody. She looked down to inspect the small cuts on her palms again, she'd noticed them in the bathroom and been slightly alarmed before remembering she'd mindlessly crawled over broken glass. Hermione knew she was no healer but going to the hospital wing right now would arouse suspicion. She shakily raised her wand and started to fix herself as best as she could. At the end she looked in the mirror again and thought she'd done pretty well. The bruise on her neck had considerably faded and her ear lobe was no longer covered in blood. Most of the cuts on her palms had healed but the deep ones although improved were still visible.

With a moan she made herself stand without support and then she stumbled towards the bed before collapsing on it. After a few seconds rest she slowly slid under the quilt and as she turned on her back she gasped. She could feel a bump on her head that she hadn't been aware of before but it wasn't surprising. All that hair pulling and her skull having been repeatedly banged against something had obviously resulted in it. Hermione raised her magical stick with effort and cast a numbing spell on the bump. Intense pain suddenly took over her body and letting her wand hand drop she cried out.

Merlin, the potion seemed to be wearing off already and if memory served her right she didn't have another bottle. Damn it, hopefully she'd be able to fall asleep and it would all go away. She weakly pushed some of her untidy hair out of her face and lifted her wand with a trembling hand. To hell with getting changed Hermione thought as she gave it a wave and all the candles blew out but pitch black didn't descend upon the room. Gasping in pain she slid her wand under the pillow and let her eyelids drop down. Couple of seconds later she realised something wasn't right and she snapped her eye wide open. Merlin's beard, either she was hallucinating or dreaming. Her window-weak purple light was coming from it. Fuck, it was those glowing flowers Tom had given her. Hermione suddenly felt very angry with herself for keeping them. No matter their beauty she shouldn't have liked something made by Voldemort and with an urge to destroy them right now she made to retrieve her wand. Halfway she stopped with a cry, it was hurting way too much to move. The damned chrysanthemums could stay overnight but she was getting rid of them first thing in the morning.

She closed her eyes and trying to distract herself from the pain in her muscles she imagined Tom falling to his death. He couldn't possibly survive the so called accident, especially when he had this unexplainable weakened condition. She had full faith that next Friday was the day the world would become Voldemort free, unless he had a Horcrux to be resurrected with. She snapped her eye open and her face took on an alarmed expression. Did Tom have a Horcrux? What year was he in when he asked Slughorn about Horcruxes? How old was he meant to be when he killed his muggle family? She was sure she knew this information but with the pain and her need to sleep dominating her brain she couldn't remember. The young dark lord was at Hogwarts now so if he had managed to make Horcruxes the only possible ones were Marvolo Gaunt's ring and his diary.

The diary-what had Harry said about preserving the memory of something? Ah yes, the diary's Horcrux had told him it'd preserved the memory of its 16 year old self and Tom was 17 now so that meant- Hermione her heart skipped a beat. Oh God, he already had Horcruxes. She swore loudly and creased her forehead. She'd been so focused on killing the living form of the dark lord that she'd almost forgotten about the possible parts of him trapped in objects. Great, as if things weren't hard enough for her. After he was dead she'd have to find and destroy them to make sure Voldemort was gone forever. Hopefully he hadn't hidden them outside of Hogwarts otherwise her job was going to be a lot more difficult, especially if he'd entrusted one of his young death eaters to keep it at their house. Hermione doubted it though, Malfoy and his boys had shown too much rebellious behaviour that day which most likely meant the group was in its early stage of development before it learnt to blindly follow its leader, and therefore it wouldn't make sense for someone intelligent as Tom to trust them to keep anything of his, even if they didn't know it was a Horcrux.

To her great annoyance all of this was theoretical, after so many weeks of being here she still didn't know for certain if Malfoy and his gang were Tom's death eaters in training or not. But since Dumbledore had insisted Voldemort had recruited them at school she had to presume they either were or the heir of Slytherin was planning to gather his followers later in the year.

Her limbs suddenly trembled with increasing pain and Hermione cried out. In seconds it stopped and with a sharp intake of breath she closed her teary eyes. She was sleepy but the pain kept holding her back her every time she got close to unconsciousness. Her drowsy mind started to wonder about Tom's Horcruxes. His ancestral ring was undoubtedly worthy enough to be made into a Horcrux but why the diary? Harry had said he'd brought it from a muggle shop but he hated muggles. So then why had he set foot in such a place and deemed something brought from there was important enough to be a Horcrux? Why hell was Tom Riddle keeping a diary in the first place? His brain was too sharp for it to be for recalling things so what was he using it for?

Wasn't writing in diaries a girly thing to do? That was sexist but after having two boys as best friends and spending months with the Weasley brothers she was sure it wasn't a popular amongst their gender. The young dark lord liked eating cherry cookies and had a diary. As far as she was concerned that was weird for a boy but maybe she was being too prejudiced. Wait, how could she have forgotten? Of course the diary wasn't for his use, it was meant to be bait to lure victims for his Horcrux to possess and bearing evidence of being purchased from a muggle store would give the impression of harmlessness. Yes, that would definitely qualify the ordinary diary to become a Horcrux in his eyes, what an evil scheming snake. Actually, calling him that suited him very well. She didn't care what the expert healers verdict would be but Tom couldn't possibly be 100% human. There was definitely a bit of snake in him, he'd hissed instinctively when she'd suddenly appeared and in his states of anger and discomfort he seemed to prefer speaking parseltongue. Harry had never reacted or behaved like that and she was sure it was a side effect of Tom having actual Slytherin blood.

Suddenly the pain in her lower limbs became intense and Hermione let a loud cry. She dug her fingers into the mattress and tears started to leak down her cheeks in abundance. She screamed as it got worse and attempting to take her mind off the pain she tried to think of something powerful, but all she managed was a rerun of her thoughts on Horcruxes and side effects of being blood related to Slytherin. Horcrux-side effects-Horcrux side effects? All of a sudden her limbs stopped hurting but the words Horcrux side effects remained in her head. She took in a deep breath and relaxed her fingers before a question made her eyes widen.

Was Tom's fragile condition a side effect of making a Horcrux? Merlin, that could be it or it might be because he'd made more than one. No wonder the library books hadn't been any help but the book she'd brought must have all the answers. Hermione felt like taking it out of her trunk right now but fatigue and new sensations of pain kept her bedridden until the logical side of her brain took over.

What good would it do her if she confirmed his condition was actually being caused by making a Horcrux? Her priority was to kill him, and right now she was in serious need of rest and sleep. When she had time on her hands she would read the book at her leisure, and it would be an interesting read indeed if it had information on the dark lord's condition. He deserved to suffer though, whether it was due to making a Horcrux or not. Voldemort had caused so much death and suffering that killing him once didn't seem enough. He ought to be reborn a thousand times and repeatedly murdered for it to come close to him paying for his heinous crimes. But there was no known way to make that happen so all she could do was hope that he spent his afterlife burning in hell. Heaven and Hell, were they real? Did God truly exist? She didn't know anymore, if he did he definitely wasn't the kind and compassionate God her parents had described. When people were dying all around her she'd prayed and prayed but divine help did not come, and only then had she started to first question the existence of God. Her Christian parents would probably be appalled but since they were dead she'd never know their true reaction.

Hermione began to cry loudly as memories of her Mum and Dad swam before her eyes. She wanted to be little again and under their protection but all of that was wishful thinking. She was alone, she had no one. Harry, Ron, the order, they were all gone. She'd been left to suffer and she was in so much pain, mentally and physically.

Merlin, the pain in her muscles was becoming unbearable. She'd cried so many tears she suddenly found she didn't have the energy to carry on and she settled for dry sobs. Soon her lungs tired and she lay still with her eyes scrunched shut. Only when the tremors in her limbs crossed the threshold of her tolerance did she cry out or scream weakly and for the rest of the time she gritted her teeth. She prayed and begged for sleep to come while visualising Tom lying dead on the ground and although her body continued to hurt it soothed her mentally. After many torturous minutes sleep took mercy on her and she drifted into unconsciousness but she didn't find peace. A new kind of mind torment began in the form of nightmares and Hermione began to twist and turn in her bed.

Please leave me reviews to tell me what you think of the chapter, I've tried my best to make it high quality writing but sometimes I get stuck with grammar or certain words.

I do think I've overly used commas but the sentences sound better in my head that way. I've used the word triumphant-less and I don't even know if that's an actual word. Finally got my new laptop, a Samsung R580 and I love it so much. So sorry it took me 2 years to write a new chapter but I was depressed, and I swear everyday of those 2 years I was working on the chapter sentence by sentence. Finally I got to the end yesterday and cried. I never thought I'd get it finished and every time I'd look at a PM or a review asking for an update I'd feel guilty.

I'm still depressed and suicidal. Things are getting worse than ever, yesterday I wanted to hang myself but as usual I cried it out. I don't know how long it'll be till I post the next chapter but I'll try my best to post it as soon as I can.

A huge thank you to everyone that reviewed or sent a PM, and I did read every single one of them even though I haven't directly replied to all of them.

I tired replying but it said the PMs I received are on an old system and the functions been disabled. I can't figure out how to reply but I'm grateful for all those that did message me.

Below are responses to people that asked questions but that doesn't mean the ones that didn't aren't appreciated by me.

Cookiefan57: I have no idea how long the entire story is going to be, I'm just going to keep writing until I finish telling the story I wanted to tell.

Lisi the slayer: Tom wasn't indirectly referring to himself, he was trying to say that since the Zulfitack plant is associated with dark magic people overlook the good stuff it can do. He was expressing his annoyance of people categorising magic in black and white and discriminating against something just because it's used in dark magic. In Tom's mind he doesn't distinguish between black and white as it's all about power and the benefits one can gain. I like that you attempted to read between the lines, it's nice to hear someone's interpretation.

Lady Loralye: I don't know how many chapters the story will have. To answer your other question, Tom Riddle from the 2nd movie is the best and will always be Tom Riddle in my eyes. I hated the Tom in the 6th movie and still do. There was nothing handsome and charming about the boy and it was bad acting.

Wicked Sapphira: Yes you're right hyenas shouldn't be in the UK. I wasn't really thinking, just needed something dangerous that could come out the forest and bite, my brother was watching lion king on TV and hyenas just seemed like a good idea at the time. If I'm not busy I might change that to some made up magical creature.

Christina: Boys can't get into girls rooms as a magical barrier stops them but girls can get into boys rooms. J.K Rowling had it like that, Hermione could come up to see Harry in his dormitory but when Ron tried to go the girls the stairs turned to a slide. I think the Hogwarts founders being ancient thought that the girls alone needed protecting and no girl in their right mind would set foot inside a boy's room, so they didn't make any of the boys living spaces gender selective. Bones being a daring girl of the 1940s sneaked into Longbottom's room with him, so you see nothing was preventing her from going into his room but he can't get into hers.

M.H. Bay: Yes time has flown by but to me it doesn't' seem long. When your very sad you kind of withdraw from the world and get stuck in your mind, then one day you look at the calendar and go, oh my God, is that the date.

This chapter nearly incorporated all the chapters I have written so far, and since I haven't written for so long many of you whilst reading may have come across things that weren't clear or you couldn't remember. Below I have made a list of things that people might want to look up and referenced the chapter to make it easier to locate:

The elf bringing Hermione clothes etc – Chapter 4

Hermione finding the uniform on the hospital wing bed – Chapter 5

Hermione trying to kill Tom on the astronomy tower – Chapter 6

Hermione forgets to mention the full moon when answering a question on blood grass – Chapter 11

Hermione's first wand battle with Tom and her confusion on noticing red on his shirt after she punches him on the chest – Chapter 12

Hermione first witnesses Tom killing owls – Chapter 13

Hermione wonders if Tom took a cotton reel from the hospital wing, Malfoy calls her a mudblood in front of the whole class, Dippet gives her detention for a whole year every Friday and Tom tells her to try crucioing larger animals after realising she'd crucioed a spider – Chapter 14

Hermione first uses advanced Occulumency – Chapter 15

Tom washes blood from her face – Chapter 16

Hermione burns Tom's handkerchief to stop Susan from keeping it and Tom attaches Halloween a decoration for her – Chapter 17

Hermione and Tom's dancing lesson – Chapter 19

Tom stating Hermione's blood status doesn't bother him and the Halloween dance – Chapter 21

Accidental death of house elf lolly – Chapter 22

Aurors question Hermione and Tom and Tom's reaction to an aurors closeness – Chapter 23

Hermione comes across Tom's book written by Albertus Magnus who was working on further uses on dragons blood, and Tom tortures Malfoy and his gang in a classroom – Chapter 24

Tom's reaction after looking in a mirror and him smashing it with his fist. Hermione gets the idea to kill Tom in a quidditch match and Hermione gets a bottle of dreamless sleep potion from the hospital wing when she goes to see if she's successfully injured a Slytherin quidditch player – Chapter 25

Xavian calls Tom queer in the great hall, What is a broom cursing potion and how it works?, Hermione discovers Tom's liking for Cherry cookies, Hermione accidentally burns Tom's Zulfitack flowers and Tom spares her from the Cruciatus curse – Chapter 26

Susan asks Hermione to come see the BDSM section in her new picture book, What is a silver bell flower and why Hermione needs to get one? – Chapter 27

Shiv gives Hermione a free pack of cookies, More info on Solanum nicrum, Hermione suspects Bones and Longbottom of fornification and Tom gets mad at Hermione for staring at him in his quidditch uniform – Chapter 28

Oh and I forgot to mention. The dialogues that have been copied or paraphrased from the Harry Potter series are owned or inspired by J.K Rowling, die hard Potter fans should be able to identify them. Don't forget to review, look forward to reading them.