On a Monday morning Hermione walked towards the great hall looking ill, last Friday's failure to kill Voldemort was still haunting her. Even more was yesterday's memory of Tom imperioing her to eat, and if it wasn't for that she wouldn't have bothered with breakfast today. From now on though she would make herself eat, as she didn't ever want a repeat performance of being fed by him. Damn psycho, because of that monster she couldn't chose to express her anger and sadness by starving herself. Then again, life was mean to be hell with Voldemort around.
Once she'd gone through the door she noticed numerous eyes on her, and not so quiet whispers. The rumours of her having worn a Slytherin badge had obviously spread like wildfire, and her absence over the weekend must've been seen by many as admission of guilt. After a few steps Hermione looked at the floor, it was like the world was cursing at her for not having removed Voldemort. As she sat in her usual place a defeated expression plastered on her face, and suddenly she wanted to cry. But she didn't have to hold them back, the tears seemed to have dried up, and it was like her mind had given up as well. After a few seconds Hermione forced her attention towards the numerous food items, as times passed she failed to develop a desire to consume any of them, and in the end she made herself drink a goblet of orange juice. Then she went back to being still and staring with her eyes downwards.
"You need to eat more than that" Susan's voice said, and Hermione momentarily closed her eyes. Not now, she didn't want to talk to the crazy girl about her so called relationship with the dark lord. "You don't have to tell me why you were wearing a Slytherin badge, or what relationship you have with Tom" the girl added with reassuring tone, and Hermione looked at her suspiciously. "It's not a manipulation tactic, you can tell me in your own time if you want" Susan said, and genuinely feeling grateful she gave the girl a nod of acknowledgement.
Then silence fell between them again, and as prints of the daily prophet arrived, the girl's copy caught her attention. Pictures of Dumbledore hanging onto his life were plastered on the front, and the headline read, Is Hogwarts really safe if dark lord Grindelwald struck twice? Hermione creased her forehead before looking away, if only she'd succeeded, instead her hard work had again resulted in publicity for another dark lord.
With ten minutes remaining till class she considered eating a toast, seconds later she picked one up and took a bite. She was about to put it down when Susan put an arm around her, and while Hermione's first thought was to pull away, her body remained as it was. Without her close friends here she'd forgotten what it was like to be physically comforted, and even though the girl wasn't her best friend, her touch was still soothing. "Finish it" Susan said, with her arm still on Hermione, and she almost gave into the girl's request when her eyes unintentionally caught the dark lord's. She glimpsed emotion on his face before it went blank, after a second Tom looked down, and now staring into the mass of his ebony hair, she wondered what she'd seen. The creasing around his eyes and that look in them, had that been disgust or anger? Maybe both, he must see her acceptance of Susan's hold as a display of weakness, and to have witnessed such a thing had angered him.
Hermione immediately looked away from Tom, and freed herself from the girl. Bloody Merlin, more of his preferences to dictate her life. Susan gave her a questioning look, but thankfully didn't say anything, and after giving her an apologetic glance Hermione dropped the barely eaten toast. Then she got on her feet, and as she hurried towards the exit the girl called after her. But Hermione didn't look back, and the second she was outside the hall she started to run.
Suddenly, her ability to cry returned and tears soon soaked her cheeks. After pausing to catch her breath she wiped her eyes feeling furious with herself, what the hell was wrong with her? If Tom had thought she was weak he'd been bloody right, hadn't he? If being human meant she was weak then yes she was, she could feel emotions and the depressive ones were mentally crippling her. Making her hypersensitive to any negativity towards her, that's why Tom's expression had made her act so unstable seconds ago. She could've ignored the dark lord and kept Susan's arm on her shoulder, if he was really bothered by it he'd just be in a bad mood in class. Nothing she hadn't faced before and she'd certainly experienced worse. It wasn't that, but more of it being a mental slap that said, you're back to making sure you don't make Voldemort unhappy. Causing it to reinforce the fact that she'd failed, and everything happening now was her fault too. It'd all just gotten too much for her, and for a moment she'd broken down. But she was okay now, she would recover from this. Surely, this fragile state of her mind was temporary. Humans could be strong too, and after all she'd been through she had to be strong. Hermione took a couple of deep breaths before continuing towards the potions dungeon, but this time she calmly walked instead of running.
After she'd walked into the classroom she could feel many eyes on her, and trying not to take notice Hermione made her way to her usual place. As she sat down she realised Tom was already present, and from the corner of her eyes she could tell he was watching her. Trying to ignore it she looked straight ahead, seconds later Malfoy and his boys interrupted her vision.
"Is the gossip true, Granger?" the blonde aristocrat said with laughter in his voice, and a bunch of Slytherins laughed while most of the room went quiet.
"You mean the one about you being an arrogant bully?" Hermione replied, acidly. "I'm afraid it's true" she added before smiling nastily, and except the Slytherins nearly everyone laughed.
"You'll regret-" Malfoy started angrily when Slughorn emerged from the store room.
"I do hope all the laughter is due to a good joke" the potions professor said, sweeping his eyes over the classroom and no one said otherwise. As Malfoy walked away with an uncaring expression, his gang followed and Hermione hatefully glanced in their direction.
Shortly afterwards Slughorn started the lesson, and the Ravenclaw head girl tried and failed to pay attention. When the professor asked a question she wasn't aware one had been asked, and nor did she notice Tom's and Slughorn's stares afterwards. Hermione only realised it was potion making time, when the sound from someone dropping their cauldron startled her, and with no idea what they were meant to make, she looked at the blackboard with a lost expression.
Seconds after she'd absorbed information from it, the dark lord caught her eyes and she froze with a racing heart. Realising he didn't appear angry in the slightest calmed her, then the question of why didn't he started to worry her, as breakfast time today and now her blatant cluelessness should've set him off. Unless she'd misinterpreted his reaction towards her and Susan, if so what else could've his expression meant? Surely, it was something negative. So Tom should've been at least a little angry or if that wasn't a big deal, then shouldn't her zoning out minutes ago have annoyed him? In the past he certainly would've given her a distasteful look, or handled objects with force by now.
A sudden thudding sound made her blink, and she realised while she'd been caught up in her thinking Tom had started the potion. With his expression still blank, he locked eyes with her again before wordlessly handing her a pot of scarab beetles that needed grinding. Soon her hands her busy, and as they worked together to complete the potion she forced herself not to think of anything depressive. In all the following morning classes she managed to keep herself focused, and the calm but quiet atmosphere continued between her and the dark lord.
At lunchtime Hermione stared into her dinner plate, even now her body wasn't ravenous and it was craving solitude more than food. People were still whispering and staring at her, and she'd caught numerous girls giving her puzzled or jealous looks. Those dumb bitches had no idea of her suffering, or how lucky they were that Tom didn't want them. For Voldemort would have no use for their love, but he'd surely take their hearts literally if a potion or a ritual demanded so.
Hermione made herself eat another mouthful before deciding she was finished, as she reached for her goblet she unconsciously looked towards the Slytherins, and in seconds her eyes fixed onto the dark lord. He was eating and reading at the same time while appearing relaxed. If he was in such a good mood today, why hadn't he said a word to her? Could he be angry and expressing it by giving her the silent treatment, or was there nothing of importance to tell her?
"Hey" a voice said and she snapped her eyes away from Tom, before looking to her left. It was Susan, the girl must've been watching her for awhile as she was trying to appear uninterested, but the way she was fidgeting with her hair gave it away."Are you-erm-feeling better now?" Susan added, in a slightly high pitched voice.
"You mean if I'm ready to answer all your questions" she said, giving the girl a frosty look.
"No I didn't mean-"
"Susan, I'm tired and stressed" she said, interrupting. "So if I appear like an inferi sometimes, that's why" Hermione continued, massaging her temples. "I've got insomnia" she lied. "The dreamless sleep potion's become useless, I'm behind on my studies, and almost all of Hogwarts is gossiping about me" she added in a somewhat raised voice. "I know you're bursting to ask why I was wearing it" Hermione said, lowering her hands.
"I can't help wondering" Susan voiced with a guilty look. "But if you need more time-"
"It was by accident" Hermione bitterly cut in.
"Re-ally" the girl said, elongating the word with a disbelieving look.
"I'm not lying" she said raising her voice. "It seems impossible. I've questioned myself how, many times" she continued, creasing her forehead. "But it doesn't change the truth"
"Of course" Susan said, trying and failing to look convinced.
"You don't believe a word I'm saying"
"That's not-"
"It's all because of your badge"
"I gave you a neutral-"
"It fell off when I bumped into some Slytherins,"
"But how-"
"In my haste I didn't realise I'd picked up a different badge"
"Even when you were putting it on?" Susan said, emphasising on.
"Looking isn't a prerequisite to be able to," Hermione answered in a slightly raised voice.
"Okay, you put it on without looking" the girl said, raising her hands.
"And before you ask, no, nothing and no one let me know I was wearing it until well after the match" she said elongating the word after.
"And your reason for avoiding me at the stand" Susan said lowering her hands, while raising an eyebrow.
"It wasn't intentional" Hermione lied. "I was late because Dippet made me speak to the reporter, then I got lost"
"Lost, do you really expect me to-"
"Yes lost, you're forgetting I've been here less than 3 months" Hermione said, holding up 3 fingers. "I really tried to find you" she continued, lowering her hand. "I gave up when the match started"
"Unintentional and accidental" Susan said in a disappointed tone. "All of it" the girl added questioningly, with hopeful a look.
"Yes, all of it" she confirmed, using an almost mechanical voice.
"I thought for sure you'd lied to Xav" Hermione's expression darkened. "Shiv told me what happened" she said apologetically, noticing the head girl's look. "Xav's really sorry" Susan added hesitantly.
"Lies" she snapped, making the girl almost flinch. "He wouldn't send you if he was"
"He never asked me to say anything" Susan said, a little defensively. "I know he's sorry, Xav was crying when he told me he regretted everything"
"Water works aren't that hard to fake" Hermione said coldly.
"I don't believe that's true for him" the girl said, shaking her head. "I know he'd be here apologising if he wasn't confined to a hospital bed" that wouldn't soften her up if Susan thought so. She hadn't put Xavian there, Tom had, and he wouldn't have had the opportunity if Xavian had walked away as she'd ordered. The girl stared at her expectantly, but she kept up the silence with an uncaring expression. "Aren't you being too harsh," Susan suddenly said in a low voice. "In return you did knock him out with a severe blow to the head" Hermione slightly narrowed her eyes. "After waking he was so disorientated he fell down the stairs," So Xavian had lied about Tom injuring him. "And a flaming torch also caught his sleeve" Ouch, the dark lord did seem to have a thing for burning spells. Soon there was silence between them again, and this time the girl was staring at her with a slightly disbelieving expression. She refused to be even a little apologetic, Xavian had brought it upon himself and Tom was the one that'd hospitalised him. Shiv had clearly left out the dark lord's involvement when informing Susan, but why? Either he didn't like starting rumours or he was scared of displeasing Tom, probably the latter.
"Xavian alone is responsible for his misfortune" Hermione finally said.
"I know, but after all he's been through can't you-"
"No, that doesn't change what he did"
"I know he didn't mean to, jealousy messed with his-"
"I don't want anything to do with him, ever" Hermione interrupted, raising her voice.
"But-"
"He may be a good person with you," she said cutting in with a low voice. "But with me he's behaved out of line more than once, all because I don't feel the same way"
"It's rejection that made him act without thinking, he's really not-"
"Whatever kind of person he really is, he surely isn't for me" Hermione said, cutting her off.
"Okay" Susan said after a few seconds of silence. "You don't have to, but if you visit him you'll see how sorry-"
"Good for him if he's really remorseful," she said, interrupting with an almost sceptical tone. "He was punished enough yesterday so he doesn't owe me anything" she added, creasing her forehead. "Tell him he doesn't need my forgiveness because we're nothing to each other, and never will be" Hermione finished, emphasising the word never.
"I see" Susan said, nodding her head with a slightly disappointed expression. "I'm here for you," the girl added after a few seconds. "If you need anything just-"
"Thank you" she cut in, meaning every word. "I'm here for you too" Hermione added with a smile, and the girl smiled back at her.
A moment later she was about to get on her feet when Dippet called everyone to attention, as the headmaster started to talk about the article in the prophet Hermione wished she'd left earlier, and when Tom was called to the front she had a feeling things were about to worsen. After Dippet talked about how the dark lord had helped fellow students by being a replacement seeker, he brought out something covered in cloth and Hermione stopped blinking. No, was that what she thought it was. Seconds later she saw it certainly was as the headmaster presented Tom with a trophy, for special services to the Hogwarts quidditch team.
When the heir of Slytherin held it up with a toothy smile clapping sounds filled the air, and Hermione looked away feeling personally insulted. Her quidditch failure was back like a reoccurring nightmare, complete with a new torturous result of her hard work and planning. Quidditch was the one thing Tom hadn't been successful at, and now he had a trophy for it. She'd changed the future by giving Voldemort a bloody award, she held her breath as her anger increased tenfold, and she could almost feel her face heat up with rage.
Suddenly, she heard a low voice say head girl Granger and she looked up. It took seconds for her to realise a lot of people were sneaking glances of her, and a horrified expression plastered on her face when she heard the words shy and blushing being whispered. No, no. If her face was red it was from anger, but no one would ever believe. Wishing the earth would swallow her up she drank a glass of water before touching her forehead, and then faking a cough. She could have fever, surely they'd believe that. Seconds after Dippet sat down she jumped to her feet, and grabbed her bag.
"Maya" Susan called.
"I'm feeling feverish" Hermione said loudly without looking back, and then she walked towards the exit as fast as she could.
In all the afternoon classes she'd kept feeling like people were watching her, even though they probably hadn't. Tom had kept up his silent but relaxed behaviour with her, and she was glad he hadn't said a word to her. Surely people had seen that as proof of the rumours being untrue, because couples didn't stay quiet when they were close to each other. While walking towards the heads quarters she repeated that thought, and it made her feel kind of at ease. Shortly afterwards it was all ruined by Abraxas Malfoy, instead of his usual hateful looks or taunting smiles, he gave her a curious look. The aristocrat definitely believed the rumours, and knowing the kind of things he must be thinking made her feel dirty. Instinctively covering her chest with her bag, Hermione gave him a death glare as she speed forward and she was sure he would've said something, if it wasn't for Merrythought's sudden appearance.
After entering the heads common room she started to rush towards her chamber when a female voice made her halt, and she turned to find it was the Gryffindor head girl.
"I'd like to say something" Bones started hesitantly. "Um-actually never mind" she added hurriedly.
"Wait" Hermione said as the girl turned to leave. "Please speak your mind" she voiced with a friendly tone. The girl must want to know about her and Tom, and after she denied there was nothing between them, Bones would hopefully spread the message.
"Okay" Bones said facing her again. "Please don't take this the wrong way," she continued with an unsure expression.
"I won't" Hermione said before smiling.
"The other day you came out in your nightdress alone" Bones said taking a step back, and the Ravenclaw witch's face became expressionless. "That may be acceptable in America," she continued, moving further back. "But here, it is considered improper to display yourself as such in public" Definitely not what she'd expected from that girl's mouth, but a propriety lesson from her, really? "I know I'm not without fault" Bones added with a rushed voice. "This is meant as an advice, not an attack" she continued, emphasising the word advice. "And after the way you helped me," she said with a guilty look. "I feel indebted to prevent others from thinking that-that you're a scarlet woman due to misunderstandings" She'd been falsely thought of one before, Hermione's face darkened from sadness as the memories re-surfaced. "Not that I'm saying you are" Bones added nervously, misreading her face. "Sorry I shouldn't have-" the girl started looking afraid now.
"No, it's fine" Hermione interrupted, regaining her composure. "I did ask you to speak freely" she added in a friendly tone, and Bones visibly relaxed. "Thanks-thank you for caring" she voiced sincerely, knowing the girl meant well. "Actually, that night I forgot my robe" With the dark lord commanding you to come out now or else, clothes was the last thing you'd think about.
"I am to blame" a male voice said, and both girls looked to the side with startled expressions. It was Tom, how long had he been there? What the hell was he trying to insinuate by saying-"If I hadn't requested Granger's assistance in helping you, she wouldn't have twisted her ankle," he added, looking apologetic. "And I'm sure she would've realised sooner how she was dressed" the dark lord continued with an uncomfortable tone, and an uneasy feeling came over Hermione. "I did conjure a shawl for her when it came to my attention" As the memory replayed in her mind she suddenly found she couldn't look at him, what the hell was wrong with her?
"Oh, I didn't mean to create such a fuss" Bones said looking embarrassed. "I don't think any of you are at fault" she added sounding apologetic.
"Neither are you" Tom said in a friendly tone. "As a colleague your counsel is most welcome,"
"I feel the same way" Hermione forced out, as she focused her vision just on Bones. "Excuse me" she said hurriedly before walking to her room as fast as she could, and once inside she rushed to her bathroom.
Hermione splashed cold water on her face until her breathing steadied, then she emptied her mind and stared at the wall for awhile. Minutes later she was back in her room, and as she tried to do homework or read she found she couldn't focus. Suddenly she burst into tears, why Hermione thought as she furiously wiped her face with her sleeves. It was just pressure and stress, that's all. Her mind needed a break, she just had to relax and all would be well. Hermione repeated that in her mind while taking deep breaths, and then she decided to go to bed early.
Soon she was holding her nightdress and staring at it with wide eyes, Tom had seen her in it, so what? It was old news, it'd been unintentional and he'd covered her up. He didn't like girls, why was this bothering her so much now? Of course, bloody Bones had made it out like she'd exposed herself on purpose, and her subconscious had absorbed it. And what she was feeling now must be false residual guilt from that, yes that made sense. But no matter what Hermione told herself, she found the nightdress too uncomfortable to wear again. In the end she settled into her bed wearing a different nightdress, and after almost half an hour of trying to avoid depressive and stressful thoughts she managed to fall asleep.
Over the days before the weekend Hermione got better control of her emotions, and was able to focus more on academic studies. Her interactions with Tom had become mentally easier and she was able to be submissive to him, without thinking about the quidditch disaster every time. But she hadn't been able to tame her thirst for knowledge and each time he'd told her something new, she'd continued being fascinated despite feeling guilty every night she'd gone to bed.
On Saturday she'd spent all morning doing homework, and at midday her wrists were aching from all the writing she'd done. But that didn't put her off from attacking her lunch with cutlery, since yesterday she'd had no problem eating and she could feel her body was glad for it. After her plate was empty Hermione drank water while looking around the hall, most students appeared relaxed or carefree without the burden of classes, and exceptions seemed to be those that were so behind they were doing homework on the lunch table. As her eyes went towards the Gryffindors again she realised Susan wasn't there as she'd thought, and neither was Xavian her mind supplied even though she didn't want to know. The girl must've eaten and left earlier, as she'd arrived almost at the end of lunch hour. As for Xavian, she really didn't care.
While Hermione got on her feet her eyes unconsciously went towards the Slytherins, and it took her seconds to know Tom wasn't there. He must've also finished his meal and exited before her, or he'd decided to skip lunch. She suddenly realised Malfoy was staring at her, he was laughing and talking about something with his boys, but none of them seemed to realise his eyes were focused faraway. Hermione gave him a hateful look before turning towards the doors of the great hall, and as she walked forward her heart was beating fast.
What did that mean? Did it mean anything, was she over reacting? It was probably still about those crazy rumours about her and Tom, but everyone seemed to be over them now so why wasn't Malfoy? What if -? Hermione held her breath, she'd never found any definitive proof yet but it couldn't be ruled out. What if death eaters did serve Tom even at this young age, and he'd sent Malfoy to spy on her because he'd suspected something?
But surely she'd given the dark lord no reason to, no she hadn't so why-? It was probably nothing, the blonde aristocrat may not even know what death eater was yet. Which meant Malfoy must've been looking at her for his own reasons, Hermione shuddered as her mind was quick to supply the most likely answers. Yuck, her and Tom were not-her checks coloured pink like a reflex reaction, and she in took a deep breath. That sick, rich pureblood obviously thought so and was curious to know what made her special. Ewe, gross. That's it, she wasn't going to think about that anymore.
Suddenly a new thought was in her head, what if Malfoy was a death eater and wanted to know why his lord thought she was worthy of his interest. Aargh, worthy of his-no, not that again. Stupid rumours, stupid people with their sick, perverted and twisted-. Hermione dug her nails into her palms and momentarily closed her eyes. Soon the question of was Malfoy a death eater yet or not was back, and it wasn't long before she started to feel like a big failure. She didn't know, why didn't she? Nearly 3 months here and she didn't know if Tom had death eaters yet, she'd had 3 attempts and Voldemort was still alive. Self loathing and sadness started to creep back until it was crushing her, while unshed tears began to sting her eyes but she wouldn't let them fall.
"Hey" a voice said, almost making her jump. "You okay" Hermione rapidly blinked before realising it was Susan.
"Yeah, fine" she replied, taking in her surrounds with a slightly confused expression. Damn it, lost in her thoughts she'd arrived near the Ravenclaw common room.
"Sure you're not upset" the girl said with a concerned look.
"No, I'm just stressed" Hermione said, forcing a smile on her lips. "Walking around thinking helps" she lied, hoping the girl would go away now.
"Do want to talk about-"
"No, it's nothing"
"Hmm, well tell nothing to take a break cause it's Saturday" Susan said, putting her hands on hips.
"Will do" Hermione said in a fake cheery voice, and she was about to turn around when the girl put a hand on her shoulder.
"Maya, stay" she said removing her hand. "Me and the girls are-"
"Another time" Hermione said cutting her off.
"Ok, that's not fair" Susan said, giving her a mock stern look. "You don't know what we're doing"
"I'm sure it's fun but-"
"You hardly come over" the girl said with a slightly accusing tone. "Wandering aimlessly like a ghost isn't de-stressing, promise I have better methods" she added with a pleading look.
"I don't doubt that, I just feel like being-"
"Alone" Susan said finishing her sentence. "Nope, I think you have someone else you want to spend time with" she added with a suggestive grin.
"Stop that" Hermione said pointing a finger but the girl's smile only got wider. "It's not true" she voiced angrily, shaking her head.
"Then you should have free time, right" Susan said in a fake innocent tone.
"That's completely flawed logic, you can't just-" the head girl started, narrowing her eyes. "Oh, alright" she said with a defeated look as she lowered her hand. Maybe this was what she temporarily needed, a distraction to give her a mental break from Voldemort and death eaters.
Once she'd stepped inside the Ravenclaw common room Hermione regretted her decision, all of Susan's friends were looking at her and whispering. She knew all too well what they were gossiping about, why in the name of Merlin hadn't she seen that coming? Her brain really was fried from stress, no wonder people lost in desserts hallucinated of water. "Erm-I think I forgot-" she started glancing behind her.
"Let it be forgotten" Susan said interrupting, before pulling her forward by the hand. While Hermione stood roughly in the centre of the room feeling more self conscious than ever, the girl had a whispered conversation with all 4 of her friends, and by the end of it all of them looked disappointed. Susan must've told them not to say anything about her and Tom, thank Merlin. Her stay here wouldn't be so bad after all, but whether it gave her the peace of mind she was looking for remained to be seen. "Do you still remember them or do I have to reintroduce?" Susan said loudly, looking at Hermione with an expression that said she was half joking.
"Haley, Morgana, Stacey and Kirsten" the head girl easily recalled. "Forgive me, but I can't remember who is who" There was a chorus of laughter as they all seemed to find it funny, and infectiously she found herself smiling when not knowing usually annoyed her. After Susan had reintroduced them and she'd committed it firmly to memory, she'd followed them all to the girl's dormitory. Then thirty minutes passed with them sitting on an enlarged bed with many cushions, while they ate snacks, drank juice, and discussed the latest issue of witch weekly. Only she hadn't really talked but said a few words here or there, as much as Hermione tried she couldn't find celebrity gossip interesting.
When the topic changed to make up and latest beauty products, she started to pay more attention but only because she found the historical aspects fascinating. To them it was new but to her it was what had been. Suddenly Morgana announced they should try her newly brought cosmetics, and everyone was eager expect Hermione. Finding it mildly entertaining she watched them all applying some to each other, and without warning she found herself remembering. Parvati, Lavender and even Ginny used to do things like this, but not her. She'd always found studying more appealing and important, and having boys as best friends had shielded her further from clichéd girly things.
"Someone's feeling sad for being left out" Haley suddenly said, and it took Hermione seconds to realise she was talking about her.
"No, I'm fine" the head girl said, forcing a smile on her face. Her sadness had been caused by the past, not the present.
"You'll be happy soon" Susan said scooting over to her.
"No, thank you" Hermione said, trying to lean away as the girl reached for her face.
"Oh such modesty" Morgana said sarcastically, and Haley and Stacey tried not to laugh.
"No I really-"
"Oh come on Maya" Susan said with a pleading look.
"You can take it off afterwards" Kirsten said factually.
"Still, I don't like-" Hermione started, creasing her brows.
"Do it natural" Haley said, interrupting.
"Excellent" Susan said with a smile. "Won't look like it's there" she added, swapping the item in her hand for another.
"Sounds untrue" Hermione said crossing her arms. "I don't think-"
"Boys are the blind ones" Stacey said, cutting in. "Do very light makeup and they'll think you've somehow become more beautiful"
"So true" Morgana voiced while rolling her eyes.
"Tried and tested" Kirsten said raising a hand.
"Interesting but I don't have any intention to-" Hermione started.
"Merlin Maya" Susan said cutting her of. "We just want to try it on you" she added, making a face. "You can take it off before you leave" the girl continued pleadingly.
"Fine" the head girl said in a defeated tone. "Nothing heavy though" she added in a louder voice.
"I swear I won't" Susan said reaching for her face once more. This is so annoying, Hermione thought as she tried not to blink but since it'd be gone before she left it wasn't a big deal.
At the end of the makeover she stared into a mirror feeling kind of impressed, her eyes had light brown crayon kohl instead of black, her lids were covered with barely bronze shimmer less eye shadow, pale rose blusher was accurately lining her cheekbones on a skin that lacked foundation, but was moisturised with cream that'd given her glossy skin, and her lips was coated in petroleum jelly that was coloured slightly pink. Hermione knew she was wearing cosmetics and yet the nearly there amounts disguised it well, but the positive impact on the way she appeared was significantly different than the way she normally looked. For something done on an aimless break, this was kind of interesting.
When the girls were finished with being impressed with the way she'd turned out, their attention turned back to the products that'd been used. Slowly the topic changed to clothes, fashion trends and to her surprise, food recipes. Hmm, witches of the 40s did have more interest in that department than her time. After talking about various other stuff and playing many card games, Hermione managed to take her leave at 3.30pm.
After she'd made it to her room Hermione lay on her bed feeling light hearted, her time with Susan and those girls had really been a refreshing change. There were annoying bits but that didn't mean it hadn't been fun. She closed her eyes and relaxed her mind for awhile before sitting up. Suddenly, the hanging calendar caught her eye and Hermione realised November would soon be ending. To her surprise and relief, her mind reacted optimistically. There was plenty of time to still kill the dark lord, and the previous attempts had given her practical experience. Next time she'd be fully prepared, and she wouldn't give up until she'd succeeded.
At 4.35 pm Hermione was getting to the good part of an interesting book when an owl disturbed her, and when she saw who it'd brought a message from she groaned. Damn it, until tomorrow she'd decided to avoid thinking of Voldemort, she'd even resisted reading the Horcrux book which would've been far more fascinating, but bloody fate had a different plan. Tom wanted her to come to the library now to work on their potions project, it was like some demon had whispered in his ear to call her right away, just so this newfound peace of hers could be ruined. Aargh, she couldn't even refuse and request another time. She had to keep the dark lord happy and calm with her, therefore risking his anger by refusing his order was a big no.
As Hermione neared her destination there was a scowl on her face, but she removed it before stepping inside the library. Soon she found someone seated at a table and even though their face was hidden behind a book, she knew it was Tom from the unusually long fingers. Despite her silent arrival he almost immediately looked up, like something extrasensory had alerted him and being used to it she wasn't startled. But the look on his face did rattle Hermione, he was looking at her like she was a stranger. Why? The dark lord narrowed his eyes and she couldn't help feeling scared. Was he angry? Why would he be-? The heir of Slytherin set his book down before leaning a little towards her and her pulse quickened.
"You don't entirely appear like yourself" he suddenly stated, and the first thing she registered was he didn't sound angry before blinking in confusion. "Cosmetics" Tom said, slightly tilting his head and Hermione immediately looked at the floor, wanting to disappear from existence. Her heart was still racing but she wasn't afraid anymore, she was mortified.
"Sit" he ordered after seconds had passed with her unmoving. She didn't want to, she wanted to be anywhere but here. "Granger, sit down" he said, sounding impatient this time and it struck enough fear in her to obey. But her gaze remained lowered and her cheeks still felt abnormally warm. That bitch Susan and her makeover, if only she hadn't forgotten to remove it. What must he be thinking?
"I'm sorry I-" Hermione started in a voice barely above a whisper. She had to let the dark lord know, she couldn't live with him believing she'd prettied herself for him.
"Enhancing your beauty after class hours and on weekends is permitted" Tom said interrupting in a factual tone, and the natural pink blush from her face spread to her ears. Beauty, he thought she was kind of-what the fuck was she-? He'd obviously meant it as improving whatever attractiveness you had, she needed to breathe more because her mind must be malfunctioning from oxygen starvation. "I've found something that could work with Seeze seeds" he said as Hermione inhaled a lungful of air, and then she realised she didn't know what he'd said even though she'd heard it. Fuck, she wanted to die right now. It was more embarrassing to be dumb in front of Tom than appearing as something beautified for him. Soon a tense silence developed between them, and she realised he was being quiet on purpose to withhold clues to what he'd said. Son of a-he wanted her to admit it, probably getting a sick thrill from all this.
"Err" she uttered unintelligently, finally swallowing her pride.
"This time pay attention" Tom said sounding annoyed, and Hermione nodded her head in response with her eyes still lowered. She needed a moment longer to compose herself, she didn't trust her face to appear unembarrassed yet. But her ears and mind were now sharp as ever. "As I was saying," he said, levitating an open book towards her. "I've found something that could work with Seeze seeds" Hermione recalled telling him about the seeds as she set down the newly acquired text. "On those pages there are at least 50 ingredients that could be the binding agent" She knew which one but telling him wasn't a good idea. "Read out all their properties" the dark lord ordered, dipping his quill into ink.
Hermione pressed her lips into a thin line, and then she unhappily complied. All of them, really? If he wanted someone to read to him he could've tricked some dreamy eyed girl, or imperioed any other student. Damn his soul to hell, if he had been anyone other than Voldemort-. "Repeat that" he suddenly commanded and she did, but with an angry look that he was too busy to notice.
Minutes into her reading loudly she looked away from the page in boredom, but her lips continued to move. She'd read the book before and she knew that chapter word for word. Tom suddenly began to mumble to himself while writing away, causing her eyes to fix onto him, and as he inked the tip of his quill again Hermione's attention went to his hands. A spot of black colour was staining his nail, his skin had dark patterns formed from candle light and when he moved his fingers to continue inscribing, the shadows seemed to dance and still reciting she stared mesmerised. "This might work" Tom suddenly said loudly, and after saying a few more words she realised he'd spoken. Seconds passed in silence and Hermione tried not to appear uncomfortable, as she waited for him to elaborate while he stared at her with an expression she couldn't read. "You were reciting from memory" he finally said and she breathed out in relief, so that's what his look was about. "The book was released last week" the dark lord added in an almost accusing tone, and her heart skipped a beat. Merlin, if only she'd known. Now he was suspicious of how-or impressed.
"I'm a fast learner" Hermione said hurriedly, impress was better than suspicious. For a second he gave her an amazed but surprised look, and while she felt kind of insulted a smile was nearly on her lips. Almost flawless memorising was her speciality, something that she could even rival a genius on.
"I see" the heir of Slytherin said as he looked down. "This ingredient may work" he added, pointing at the left of the parchment with his quill. "The problem is this reaction" Tom said, making the large sheet of paper move towards her with magic. "They don't exactly fit" He highlighted the equation in question with a flick of his wand, and before the writing was back to its black colour Hermione knew the solution. "We need a-"
"Catalyst" she said at the same time as him, before immediately regretting it. There was disbelief in the dark lord's eyes but it soon became replaced with interest. As he stared at her with his expression unchanged she momentarily held her breath while trying to remain indifferent, but in the end Hermione couldn't help feeling guilty and glad at the same time.
"Yes, our conclusion is most logical" Tom suddenly said, giving her a slightly curious look and she blinked feeling unsettled. Damn it, she shouldn't have thoughtlessly provided or confirmed information. But her traitorous ego was delighted even if the flattering behaviour was kind of falsely earned, was that the thing that was making her heart race a little right now? What the hell was wrong with her? Hermione lowered her gaze and took a deep breath.
Voldemort was what was wrong? She was obviously scared that he'd learn she knew about Wolfsbane from the future, but there was no reason for him to ever think that. Her mind was just being over protective, she needed to calm down. "Any suggestions?" the dark lord suddenly said, making her almost flinch, and as she raised her eyes she saw an expectant look on his face.
"Suggestions" Hermione said, playing dumb. She wasn't going to reveal anymore, it'd be too dangerous and suspicious to do so in one day even if she wanted to.
"For the catalyst" he said in a voice with an impatient undertone.
"Erm-I'm not sure" she lied, running a hand through her hair with a confused look. Once more he looked at her in disbelief but this time the expression was more along the lines of, I can't believe it's the same girl or did someone polyjuiced just replace her? Seconds later there was a flash of disappointment on his face, and then an expressionless appearance took over.
"I have a few ideas" Tom said, levitating a pile of books from the side of the table to the centre, and the head girl mentally groaned. Soon she was back to reading loudly and him writing away, 30 minutes later she wanted to scream out that the catalyst wasn't in any of the books here. Oh, if only she could. He'd found the correct ingredient in such a short amount of time, it really was impressive so why couldn't that be enough achievement for today? Suddenly, Hermione wanted to tell him that but in a more acceptable way. But the second she mustered up the courage it just dissolved, the fearful part of her didn't want to risk making him angry, and the reasonable part of her kept reminding her that she was meant to be submissive. About another 25 minutes later the volume of her speech had become much lower, and it wasn't long before her voice started to crack. Tom almost immediately realised, and as he snapped his head up he put his quill down. "That's enough" he said a holding his hand up, and she was relived to be able to stop. "It's late" he said after glancing at his wristwatch. The hell it was, she thought stretching her hands and she had to work hard not to glare at him. "Let's continue tomorrow" the dark lord said getting to his feet. 'No, let's not' Hermione wanted to shout. Aarrgh, she wanted a complete day's break from doing fake research on a potion she already knew about, especially if he was going to work her like that. But not a word of protest left her lips as they packed up, and then walked to the heads quarters.
Persephone and Hades were both present in the painting at the entrance, and they seemed to be whispering about something with mischievous smiles. Strangely, today Hermione was the one that wanted to shout at and harm the painted inhabitants. Their expressions, it was like they were mocking her, and since she was already kind of angry it just made her temper worse. Noticing her death glare the husband and wife froze. But before she could decide to act on her negative thoughts or not, the dark lord said the password. The second the door was open they were gone, and after plastering a fake calm expression on her face she followed Tom inside. Once Hermione was in her room, curses and all sorts of horrible things directed at the dark lord fell from her lips. She was so tired she went straight to bed, and thankfully sleep came to her easily that night.
On Sunday, the Ravenclaw head girl spent most of the morning writing up the parts of the potions project that'd been completed. After lunch she spent about two hours reading and then she lay on the mattress with her eyes closed, intending to take a nap. Hermione was close to losing awareness when an avian messenger disturbed her, and she shrieked in anger so loudly that the owl immediately left. She took one look at the fallen envelope and knew who it was from, her name on the outside was in Tom's handwriting. Fuck, just like yesterday he'd ruined her peace when it was getting good. As she roughly took out the message she almost tore it, and after quickly reading it she reluctantly got on her feet.
Damn the dark lord and that annoying project. She should've taken his offer of, him working on it alone while she got to pretend being involved, and in then end automatically achieving the same grade as him. Then she wouldn't have been in this situation today, if only she hadn't had the need to appear more intelligent. How was she supposed to know he wouldn't die on that day? Then again it all boiled down to being her fault, Hermione readjusted the hold on her bag with more force than necessary as she entered the library. Shortly afterwards, she found Tom at the same table as yesterday and he was writing with his head bent down.
"I've made progress on the catalyst" he said without looking up, and she suddenly had the urge to raise her hand and say, how many fingers are up? That'd probably earn her some quality torture time with the dark lord, Hermione thought as she settled into a chair opposite him. Uhh, how did he see something without looking if the thing in question had been silent? Merlin, yet another question about the heir of Slytherin that she was clueless about. Tom suddenly looked up and she froze unblinking. "This is close" he said, levitating a book towards her and she blinked. Thank God, he couldn't almost read minds yet, for a second she'd feared so.
"Yes, it's almost want we need" Hermione said, after looking at the pages of the hardback. She wasn't surprised to see he was on the right track, but it was still far away from the correct catalyst. Almost an hour passed as they went through a several books, and as she pretended to read a new text she mentally screamed. Her brain was turning into jelly from boredom, while Tom looked as determined as ever since it was all new to him. 30 more minutes and Hermione decided she couldn't take it anymore. She'd tell him what the bloody catalyst was, if that's what it took to leave and it wasn't that wrong. Yes, it was future information but she'd revealed material about Wolfsbane before. Besides, with his mind he'd definitely find the catalyst but after much more time. So all she'd be doing was speeding up the moment, nothing that harmful.
After another minute of fake interest in the book she was holding she got on her feet, and the dark lord gave her a questioning look. "I have an idea" she said before walking towards a shelf close by. A while later she found the paperback she wanted, but in this time the cover looked brand new. As she picked it up along with a few other books she suddenly felt nervous, like she was doing something she shouldn't be, and she tried to ignore it as she sat back at the table.
The dark lord glanced at her new pile of texts before looking back at his book, yeah he obviously thought she wouldn't get anywhere with those. Ha, she'd show him. Suddenly, it felt like she was doing the most right thing. But she had to make it believable and unsuspicious. Plastering a serious expression on her face, she made a show of going through each newly acquired text, and then she came back to the paperback with the correct solution. As Hermione ran her eyes over the right page she put on a look of intense concentration on her face, before whispering inaudible nonsense to herself while running a hand through her hair. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the dark lord briefly look at her, excellent that he thought she was working her mind hard. Oh, this was too easy. And kind of fun, her mind supplied as a smile nearly formed on her lips. "I think I found it" Hermione said, making her voice sound excited.
"What have you found?" he asked, without even looking at her. Son of a -he thought her discovery was fruitless, that showed how inferior to him he thought she was. Well, after today he'd think twice before forming that opinion.
"Powdered moongrass" She said, trying not to give him a dirty look. "Together with crushed Seeze seeds at the temperature of a 100°C, should form a-"
"Compound" Tom said, finishing the sentence for her. "Show me your findings" he added, with an eager expression and a slightly impatient tone. Finally, he was taking her seriously.
"Look at the left page" Hermione said, levitating her book towards him. "The properties match up perfectly" She tried not to look smug, as he looked back and forth between the paperback and his written words with a disbelieving expression.
"This is the catalyst" the dark lord suddenly acknowledged, in an excited tone. "At times you can be incredibly intelligent" Tom said, looking right at her and for a moment there was admiration in his eyes. Suddenly, a strange happy feeling came over her and her cheeks had coloured dark pink. Soon uncomfortable emotions and guilt crashed onto Hermione, and she looked down at the table. No, no. It was wrong to feel glad or joy because of him. But it wasn't because of him, it was her actions that'd earned the compliment, so in the end it really was because of her. Still, if the one praising was the enemy shouldn't she-. "Now we have to prevent it from repelling silver" he said, interrupting her thought. What? Did he just bloody say now?
"Wouldn't it be best if we-" Hermione started in a slightly nervous tone.
"Shared ideas" Tom said, finishing her sentence. Continued another time was what she was going to say, had he'd deliberately done that to show she wasn't going anywhere? "Yes, it could speed things up" Or he was too eager to know more, either way if she voiced she wanted to leave things would surely get ugly. Merlin's balls, she was doomed.
After a little over three mind numbingly boring hours, the dark lord was close to learning how to make Wolfsbane. For some reason he couldn't figure out the last part, he no doubt would with more time and that meant she'd have to be here longer. Holy mother Mary, wasn't it enough discovery for him today? "Voice your new idea" Tom suddenly said, and she blinked startled before feeling confused. He stared at her with an expectant look, and then he raised an eyebrow in a way that seemed to be saying, 'well, go on'. Had she zoned out and missed something he'd said earlier? She certainly hadn't said anything, Hermione suddenly realised that it was because of that. Her recent idle appearance, silence and staring towards him while wondering when he'd dismiss her, had led the dark lord to believe she'd found a solution she wanted to enlighten him with.
"I -err-" Hermione started uncertainly, should she say she'd been staring into nowhere to rest a little. What if that displeased him? Or worse, made him angry if he interpreted it as proof of laziness while he did the hard stuff. "I don't think it will work" she finally said, sounding dismissive. There, that was a safer approach.
"I'll be the judge of that" the dark lord said in an insistent tone while crossing his arms, and Hermione momentarily stopped breathing. Merlin's beard, she was as good as cornered. She might as well pluck out a so called new idea, he'd get there eventually, if not later today then tomorrow and she preferred as soon as possible.
"I was thinking, if we were to add wormwood to the reacted mixture" she started, making herself sound unsure and he narrowed his eyes. "It could put the monstrous part of the transformed brain to sleep" A thoughtful look took hold of his face, and he slowly uncrossed his arms. "It sounds quite mad, doesn't it" she said, shaking her head with a hopeless look. "You are either asleep or you are not, one cannot be in between" Hermione added in a factual tone. "So I've surely, and foolishly come up with draught of the living dead that's poisoned with Monkshood" she said, making herself sound and look embarrassed. Suddenly, the heir of Slytherin seemed to have forgotten her existence as he whispered to himself, and inscribed away on his parchment with renewed vigour.
"On the contrary, it is not a mad idea" Tom suddenly said, with his gaze still lowered and quill hand now unmoving. "But a brilliant one" he voiced, looking up and the words and his expression made her pulse quicken. Never had she seen him look at her with such interest and if she was not mistaken, respect. "I have written sanity into what you thought you proposed was insanity, resulting in normalcy" he continued in a passionate tone that almost made her shiver. Was that fear? But there was no reason to-it was dislike. What he'd said, he'd combined her and him in a way. Obviously it was all to do with the potion but still-. "It's all balanced" the dark lord said, interrupting her thought. "This is it, Granger" he said excitedly, levitating the parchment towards her. Soon Hermione ran her eyes over the handwriting and found what he'd said to be true. Yes he'd discovered the Wolfsbane potion, but with the imperfection of toxicity still remaining.
"Merlin, I believe this will really work" she said, making herself sound excited as she looked up, and half a smile appeared on his face.
"It will once it isn't toxic enough to kill the werewolf" Tom said, summoning the parchment back to him. Fuck, was he serious. Wanting to crucio him, she lowered her gaze and after she'd composed herself she looked up. "I know what you're thinking" he said, slightly tilting his head to the left. The hell he did, ugh he was so full of himself. "I recall perfectly, you suggested mandrake root as an anti-poison before" Oh she had, hadn't she?
"Yes, I strongly believe that would work" Hermione said, sitting up a little straighter. That was the right path, maybe it wouldn't take so long after all. Since she couldn't just get up and leave, it was in her best interest to speed things up, and it wouldn't even be suspicious as she'd mentioned it before.
Ten minutes before 9pm, flawless Wolfsbane was invented on paper and after everything was completed to the dark lord's satisfaction, she stifled a yawn as she put some library books back on the shelf.
"Granger" Tom suddenly called, and she walked back to the table with a questioning look. "Since the result of our project is meant to be theoretical, we were able to indulge our curiosity with human mind preservation" he stated, while packing up his things. "But with Slughorn and everyone else, remember to replace mind preservation with werewolf transformation" How dare he-wait, he wasn't serious otherwise that creepy half smile wouldn't be on his face.
"Obviously I'd fail, if I submitted a potion for mind preservation when it's meant to be for preventing transformation" Hermione said light heartedly, while rolling her eyes. "Outstanding is the only grade I want" she added in a more serious tone.
"Slughorn will award me an outstanding on anything I write" Arrogant son of a-. "Even anything associated with me" he added, interrupting her thought. "So without a doubt you will get an outstanding" No, he hadn't meant to act big-headed because that sounded like he was stating a fact. Tom suddenly turned towards the exit, a second later she followed and after a moment he faced her without warning. She almost jumped back before halting and as her eyes fixed onto his drawn wand, her heart lurched in fear. Merlin, where had she gone wrong? "Disillusionment" he said before casting the spell on her, and by the time she'd calmed enough to process what he'd said, she was perfectly camouflaged by the environment.
"Why?" Hermione said feeling baffled and a little afraid.
"It's almost curfew" the dark lord said, disillusioning himself and relief washed through her. Ah, so if they were late this would greatly help avoid detection. Wait, they were head girl and boy.
"Isn't it 11pm for us, we could get away with saying we were patrolling" she said questioningly as they continued towards the door.
"We can" he said as she crossed over the threshold. "But not from the professor that can see through solid walls" Tom said, in a voice that had a little laughter and bitterness at the same time.
"Professor Dumbledore" Hermione said with a mildly surprised expression.
"The one and annoying only" he confirmed in a deadpan tone. Merlin's beard, the dark lord did have some sort of a sense of humour when he wasn't torturous. As they began to walk down the corridor, Hermione wondered if that'd really been him or if he occasionally put on an almost funny act for the normal people. Maybe, maybe not. After travelling in silence that hadn't been uncomfortable, they arrived inside the heads common room without discovery, and shortly afterwards Tom removed their disillusionment.
"Thanks-thank you for that" she said as she watched her hands un-camouflage.
"No need" the dark lord voiced as he seemed to reappear. "My eagerness was the cause of such lateness" Seconds later she expected him to turn away, but he continued to expressionlessly stare at her. She swallowed feeling strangely uncomfortable and though she wanted to, she didn't think breaking off the connection first would be a good idea. Suddenly, she noticed a moving shadow on his face before realising it was from a flickering candle, then a gust of wind from the window killed the flame, and with a start she recognised her eyes were no longer on the Tom.
When Hermione looked back at him, she momentarily held her breath as she saw his attention was now on the candle she'd seen extinguished, and she resisted the urge to break into a run for her room. Christ, she'd offended him, hadn't she? He suddenly relit the wick with a flick of his wand, and she flinched. "The mind preservation potion, it should be something that only we know" the dark lord said with his gaze on the new dancing flame. "Don't you agree?" he said, emphasising agree as he fixed his eyes on her again. Despite the wording it was clearly an order and a threat.
"Agreed" the head girl said mechanically as she held his gaze. No surprise, she'd never expected him to leap in joy with the idea of actually helping werewolves. To him it had to be something to use to blackmail or hold power over those creatures, and if she let the so called secret be know, he'd surely lose that advantage.
"Excellent" the heir of Slytherin said, tilting his head a little to the left. "As you know, the amount of time passed and interconnecting memories have deep effects on obliviating spells" he said stressing obliviating, and she stopped blinking. "Therefore, the greater the risk of errors or even obliviating the entire mind" Secretly reaching for her wand she instinctively took a step back, she'd most likely turn into a vegetable if he tried to remove all trace of Wolfsbane from her mind. "So I must burden you with this knowledge" the dark lord said un-tilting his head, and she finally blinked feeling relieved. "Though I am confident in my abilities,-" With a sharp intake of breath Hermione fearfully gripped her magically stick. "-I would not want to risk such an exquisite mind" Tom finished, elongating the S in exquisite and as she felt shivers down her spine, she dug her nails into her wand. Was that lingering fear? Thank God he'd thought she was brilliant and decided not to obliviate her, then why was her heart beating that fast? Well, he was still staring at her, wasn't he? Must be that, had to be.
Couple of seconds later the dark lord turned towards his room, and she rushed to hers almost immediately. "Granger" he called as she was about to touch her door handle. After momentarily holding her breath while closing her eyes, Hermione reluctantly faced him with what she hoped was an emotionless appearance. His expression was blank and he was staring right at her. What did he want? She'd done everything as he'd wished, she thought as her heart rate doubled. "Goodnight" Tom suddenly said with a nod of his head.
"Goodnight Riddle" she forced herself to say and suddenly finding her face strangely warmer, she wondered if he was doing something to the temperature of the room. But before she could look at his hands to see whether his wand was there or not, the dark lord disappeared into his room.
A moment later she entered her chamber feeling free, as she set her bag down the darkened night sky met her eyes through the window, and she shockingly realised something. Tom Riddle had never ever said goodnight to her before, so why had he said it tonight? Well, how was she supposed to know the workings of his dark mind? Wasn't that a poor excuse? Suddenly, guilt began to tear at her heart and a tearful expression plastered on her face. She'd said it back to him, no she hadn't done anything wrong. It was all a part of her submissive act, but liking him saying goodnight to her wasn't. Hell no, she hadn't liked it. Hermione physically shook her head as a part of her mind tried to convince her otherwise, it was just meaningless exchange of words and a part of the dark lord's nice guy act.
But he'd known her for some time, why would he feel the need to be-? It suddenly clicked in the head girl's mind and she smiled in relief. How silly the fear of being obliviated had made her, Tom was extremely happy because of Wolfsbane, and pleased with her significant contributions towards its discovery. So he'd wished her a pleasant night as he'd been in a good mood, it was just a reflection of his cheerfulness and nothing more. Soon Hermione sunk into her bed feeling exhausted and as dreamless sleep claimed her in seconds, she began her journey of truly experiencing a good night.
Thank you readers for reading, and for still being here after all this time.
Think this is the fastest I've updated in a long time, and I'm grateful for all the encouraging reviews.
I made a mistake in the author note of the last chapter, and thank you to Bloody-Asphode11 and MommyMayI who told me.
Hermione didn't seek out the troll to prove she's powerful, like I'd said. That was the lie that she'd told professor McGonagall, and after so many years of having read the first book, I got it mixed up as the truth.
But it still doesn't change my original point, of it as proof for Hermione being not so good and pure in canon.
If she'd told the truth that she was in the bathroom upset and crying, and had missed the announcement about the troll, and that Harry and Ron had come to save her after realising she was clueless and missing, I'm sure they would've all escaped punishment from the professor, as she was unaware and Harry and Ron had meant well even if their doing was dangerous.
The truth could've set her free, and still she chose to lie. And out of all the lies she could've told she comes out with she wanted to fight the troll on her own.
This shows she didn't want to admit why she was really in the bathroom, because it would mean appearing weak with emotions. And since the opportunity had presented itself, why not say she'd planned to take down the troll as it would make her appear brave and confident in her magical abilities.
So she likes lying to appear powerful, a complete miss goody two shoes wouldn't do that and keep in mind she was only 11 at that time.
Guest reviewer 1 – Yes I know in England you have to prove your innocence to be completed considered so, I had Dumbledore say 'innocent until proven guilty' to the reporter because that's how he believes it should be. Also, I do believe I described Dumbledore's beard as Auburn coloured.
Guest reviewer 2 – You think 33 chapters is too long for Tom not to have been redeemed yet, and that he still hates Hermione's guts. I don't think chapter number or the amount of words matter, what matters to me is making things realistic, and that means any changes will take time to happen and there has to be a good or believable reasons for them. Tom doesn't personally hate Hermione, and anyone who got in his way or made him angry would get the same treatment. If you're trying to say that Tom's attitude or behaviour hasn't changed towards Hermione, then that's not true. There are slight and small changes, just because they're not big and drastic doesn't mean they aren't crucial.
Bloody-Asphode11 – Your question of if Tom has hormones, every human has hormones, yeah I know what you mean with that question. Therefore the important question is, do Tom's hormones affect him in the same way as most other males? Umm, I'm gonna be mean and not answer that, but I can promise that the answer will be revealed as the story progresses.
Please, please leave reviews, even if it's just one word and they do motivate me to write faster.
Hope all of you will be back for the next chapter, bye.