Tw / Death, references to murder, Horcruxes, dark ritual, grey morals, NSFW


He's everywhere
In every nerve-end of her body
Filling her every sense
He's the touch
The feel of smooth lips trailing down the side of her neck.
The smell of autumn air just after the rain. And the taste of something she didn't know she was craving.
The sound of the bassbeat the drum of her heart thuds against his.
The colors behind her closed eyelids - vivid and flowing and ever-changing.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, something is screaming for her to stop.
But why should she?
Why would she?
It had always been her and Tom
Why couldn't it continue to be her and Tom? For like... forever?

The volume of her dress prevents him from getting closer.
She wants him closer.
Still has a hold of his shirt, pulling him to her
As if desperate.
His knee is pressed between her thighs
But not close enough
Not with the blasted dress between them.

"Hermione?"

Tom separates them with a swift motion.
So sudden she almost collapses forward chasing for the lost connection.

Michael is standing in the hallway
Glaring at them with troubled expression.

"What do you want, McMillian?" Tom almost snarls.

She glimpses him sideways
and he looks like he could actually show his teeth to Michael if he couldn't take the hint and get as far away as possible…

But Tom shouldn't be the one dealing with this.
So she steps around him, "Look Michael, I'm sorry I left so suddenly…"

But Michael is shaking his head, "No, it's fine I… I understand...my friends, they said...they said it could be...but I just wanted to check you're okay." He glances at Tom,"are you?"

Tom snorts,
Seems he's gathered back some self-control.

"I'm fine. Thank you Michael." She smiles at the boy.
Wishing he hadn't hoped for something to happen between them.
He probably had…

Michael goes
And they're left standing in the hallway alone.

It's Tom who moves
Takes the steps closer
Never before has she been so aware how much taller he is than her
Now it feels like he towers over her
Intense and powerful

"I'll walk you to Ravenclaw." He says
Stoic
Like this has no effect on him at all.

She just nods.
Nods even though truthfully she wants him to kiss her again.
Wants to feel him around her
Pressing against her

They walk to the tower in silence.
But when they reach the entrance he stops her.
Takes her arm
A lot gentler than before.

"Hermione…" He whispers

He has spoken her name thousands of times.
He had called for her in various different tones
But never like this.

She never anticipated anything from him
But now, as they're face to face
His fingers gracing her arm
And his dark eyes holding hers as if he'd cast a spell on her
She wants to ask things from him
Things she barely dares to think about…

His touch travels upper
Along the side of her neck

"Tell me you're mine."

Deep inside she wants to resist
To show him she's not that easily forgiving.
Weeks of ignorance don't just go away like that.
She's still hurt about the incident in the train - even if it's petty to hold a grudge that long.

"You think he got away with it?" Tom asks so low she barely hears.

Of course
He reads her thoughts.
Sure he does when she practically gives them to him.

He's been practicing
Guarding his thoughts at all times
But she…
As overwhelmed as she feels
Hiding from him never even crossed her mind.

"No one hurts you and gets away with it."
He moves a curl from her face
Tucks it behind her ear

She shivers, "What did you do?"

"Reminded him of his place."

She considers how that makes her feel
Again, there's a part of her that somehow resents him for this
Wants to be horrified for the fact that he probably did something at least a little questionable

But she's not
She feels… vindicated
Even a little proud that Tom did defend her after all
That Tom cared

Tom grips her shoulder so rapidly she flinches a little, "Do not ever think I wouldn't!"

Where are her mind guards now?
Why doesn't she block her thoughts from flowing straight to him?
Does she not want to?

Tom is still gripping her, "Tell me!"

And when she still doesn't
He leans closer, "Please."

The word feels like a puff of breath against her skin.

She puts her own hand on Tom's arm.
Why fight it?
It was never untrue

"I'm yours."
It feels like a vow
Like more than words...

Tom inhales.
Graces the side of her face with his lips.
And then puts distance between them.

"Sleep well."

And he's gone
The only thing left is the scent of him
Flowing in the air long after he's turned around the corner.

If she thought things wouldn't much change after the ball
She was gravely mistaken

The next morning Tom waits for her outside the entrance of their tower.
Walks with her to breakfast as if they'd always done it like this.

He's subtle about it
But no one could question the nature of their relationship anymore.
He brushes her knuckles whenever he walks past her in the corridor.
Sits next to her in the classes they share.
Every morning - if they don't walk to breakfast together- he comes to the Ravenclaw table to greet her good morning.
Kisses her forehead lightly
And nods to her friends.

They start to spend more time together in the library too.
It's mostly like before
But sometimes he lays his hand on her thigh and keeps it there
Making it hard for her to concentrate on the book.

"So it changed? You and Riddle?" Millie asks one evening when they've already laid down on their beds.

She stays silent for a while.
Weighting the words
Did it really change?

"No," She says, "It evolved."

.

.

They find the Chamber of Secrets
In one of the darkest days of midwinter they watch as sinks of the girls bathroom turn into an entrance.

Myths turn into reality

With shaking legs she follows Tom into the depths of the castle.
Something in the way her footfalls echo from the walls stir in her memory.
Like she has been here before

The Basilisk is…
Surprisingly talkative according to Tom.
And quite mellow to be considered a mythical beast.

But after sleeping and surviving with mostly rats for hundreds of years, it's hungry.
And that's a problem.

"We can't just let it out! Even at night. What if someone comes across it on their way to the bathroom or something?"

Tom stays silent.

"One look, Tom! That's all and the person looking is dead. You can't seriously think it's worth the risk!?"

"We can't just leave her here!" Tom hisses at her, like the snake was listening, "She's all alone. Probably the last of her kind. Powerful and beautiful, it's a crime to let it waste away!"

She shakes her head.
He's right
But it's so dangerous
Gamble with the safety of everyone in the castle.

"I'll make a deal with her. To let her hunt in the forest once a month and keep Her company, and she won't kill anyone in the castle?"

She huffs, "You'll make a deal with a mythical beast?"

He smirks, "I'll make a deal with anything, if that's what it takes."

She believes him.
Believes him after the first student is petrified
Believes him as she watches him hiss furiously to the snake after that.
Believes him when there's one good month and then someone is petrified again.

"The petrified are all muggleborn?"

Tom never lies to her
She tries to convince herself
Tom will explain
And it will be true
This has nothing to do with his Slytherin friends…
Please?

"It's Slytherin's doing." Tom doesn't even lift his eyes from a book, "That's why he created the chamber, remember? To get rid of muggleborns. That's how he trained the snake."

"How come you're okay with this?"

He pauses mid movement of turning the page and lifts his gaze, "Why do you think I'm 'okay' with any of it? It's not really relevant who the petrified people are. They shouldn't be petrified at all! But she… She's a snake. I don't think she can help it."

"We can't let it continue! They'll close the school and there'll be nothing for us to get back to." She puts her hand on his,"It has to stop."

He nods, "I'll give her one more chance."

Turns out that one more chance is the gravest mistake of their lives so far.

Myrtle Warren doesn't get a warning
Doesn't get a chance to run
Has no possible way to stop it from happening.
Doesn't even know what hit her.

Myrtle Warren dies in a blink of yellow eyes.

It's already late but she's in a library when Tom comes in.
Only the look on him makes her stand up.

He's pale
Paler than usual
Even his lips are white
And his eyes… normally so dark and intense - are somehow hollow.

"We need to go, now!" He takes her hand and tugs her with him.

Somehow the grip of his hand
And the tight tone of his voice make her follow him without asking where they're going.

When they reach the girl's lavatory she suddenly knows.
Her feet go numb
She wants to stop Tom and make him tell her It's not what she thinks.

But it is.
She covers her mouth with her hands to stop the scream from escaping.

Myrtle
A fourth year Ravenclaw
Muggleborn

Who she knew!

Dead

Because of the Basilisk
Because of Tom and her

Tom rounds the body,
Kneels and puts his hand as if searching for pulse

They both know he won't feel it.

"What do we do?" Her voice is trembling.
But when the initial shock subdued the more certain she becomes - they're not going to get caught.

They're together
No one else knows
No one else will ever find out
They're trained enough to be able to keep it a secret forever.

The thought alone seems to spark her up.
Her mind clears
And panic steps aside from a plan that has already started to form in her brain.

"The Chamber! Open it up." She tells him sternly and clearly.

They Levitate the body inside.

"No one will find her here. They'll search but never find. They'll never know what happened. But the snake…"

Tom just nods, "can never come out again."

For a moment they just stand there
A dead body between them
Breathing heavy.
The winter makes the Chamber cold and their breath sends whiffs of white mist swirling to the air around them.

It wasn't the Basilisk
Basilisk was only an animal
It didn't kill people out of spite

The Basilisk didn't kill the girl
They did
Her and Tom

She knows what Tom is going to do before he says a word
And she knows she's going to help him before she even considers the depth of what comes next.

They're too in into their studies of dark magic
Too involved in things most wizards are scared to even think of trying.

She knows how it's done
Knows the theory
The runes by heart
She would never have learned them if she didn't think they were going to need it.

Tom nods
Only once
And they dive into action.

She draws the runes in the ground and to his hands
With black ink from her bag
Lights the candles
And draws a circle to the floor

Neither asks if the other is sure
If it's worth it
Or wise

They just know this might be their only chance.
It's not like they plan to go around killing people to experiment dark magic ever again.

Tom stands in the middle of the circle.
Sleeves rolled
His diary at hand before him.

"It's not going to be painless. Don't touch me before it's over." He touches her shoulder, "and don't stop it."

She nods
Head high
And they begin.

It's just as horrible as splitting your soul should be

Begins with candles letting out black smoke
Pillars rising higher and higher
Then flaring like alive
Zooming to swirl around Tom's ankles and wrists
Climbing up like snakes

Tom gazes at them mildly curious
Not horrified as he should be
But calm
Sure...

The smoke snakes reach his head

She gasps

He breathes in
And the smoke lunges
Slithers in from his mouth and nose and ears
Tom's eyes go slightly wide

And the ground grumbles

Tom screams

With a fast movement of her fingers She silences him from the first cry
And then she watches him suffer
A silent scream on his lips
Sweat dripping on his forehead
Face twisted with agony.

It shouldn't be easy
If it was easy every murderer would live forever

Her nails leave marks on her palms

The black smoke rises from Tom now
Twists around the diary covering it completely
The pages ruffle
And she feels like it would scream too if it could.

Suddenly a blast of wind blows through the Chamber
All the candles go out.
And everything becomes dead silent.

She's not sure if she's even breathing.

After a minute
Or maybe an hour
The candles spur back alive

She blinks

Tom is on his hands and knees in the middle of the circle.
The diary open next to him.

With a snap of her fingers she lifts the silencing charm
And then she's by him.
Her hand on his back.

He lifts to sit on his knees.
And nods

She lets out a desperate snort
Half a sob half a chuckle
He yanks her to him.

"It worked." He murmurs to her hair.

She listens to the steady beat of his heart
Still the same
Still the same heart
Still the same soul…

"How does it feel?"

"Like being freed from remorse. Everything her death made me feel is gone."

Creating a horcrux makes you darker
More prone to hurt people
More emotionless

Tom will never be the same after this
But neither will she...

They leave the Chamber
Lock it up
and walk out.
No one will ever know what the sink hides.
If it was up to them no student was ever going to get killed by a Basilisk ever again.

By the door of the Ravenclaw tower they stop.

She feels oddly calm
Considering all that had just happened.

"I want you to take this." Tom offers the diary to her.

Small black book with his name on the cover.
A book he had always had
A book that signified so much to him
That now was beyond valuable

She's not sure he knows what he's offering.

"But Tom, that's…"

He takes her hand and puts the book in it.

"It's yours."

Her heart skips a beat

"It has always been yours."

He kisses her forehead lightly
And then he's going
Walking away from her to the shadows

She stares at the book on her hand
A part of his soul…

It has always been yours.

She presses it against her chest
And it's almost like Tom was still there with her
Like he never left

.

.

Before summer break they're called to the Headmasters office.
Told that if they can't behave themselves the Orphanage is going to throw them out.
Their relationship is to stay platonic over the summer or there's going to be consequences.

She doesn't get what they're so pressed about.
After the Halloween their relationship has been…
Collected, if you asked her.
Aside from the forehead kisses and touches there hasn't been any physical connection.

It's not that she doesn't want to
But has no idea how to initiate it.

Tom is always so controlled
She can never really know what he wants
Or if he wants at all?

The adults are worried of them getting intimate
When there are far worse things they've already done…

She wants to laugh at the irony

"One more summer." He tells her on the train before they arrive at the station, "Next year We are old enough to leave, they can't control us anymore."

She wants to kiss him
Just to have something to hold onto
But an opportunity never comes.

She hates that summer
With fierce passion she hates it!
Hates how she can't touch him when she wants
Hates that she can't sneak into his room
Hates that he can't come and kiss her good morning, or good day, or good night.
Hates how every passing day of them separated, it's like her craving for him just grows more and more overpowering.

She sleeps the nights clutching his diary to her chest.
Willing to feel him there with her.

Also, there are consequences for killing someone and then hiding it.
Nightmares haunt her constantly
She has mild panic attacks around people.
And sometimes when she looks at Tom's diary she feels like there's something she should remember.

One night she dreams of silver bottles
Memories
she can see the silver in them swirl.
In her dream her hands shake as she collects the bottles with her.
Someone is coming for her
Someone is after her
She needs to hide the vials
But there are only empty corridors
And footsteps behind her
She runs and runs and never gets anywhere

The dream haunts her the next day too.
But days are easier
Because at least she can spend time with Tom.
Study with Tom.

Watch Tom's hands
Long fingers
And gracious movements
And hope he'd touch her
Even just a little
Like before

Eventually the summer ends.
They board the train
Tom closes the compartment door and turns to her.

Suddenly she feels nervous.

Tom takes a step closer
And exhales like he's been holding his breath the whole summer.
Thrusts his hand in her hair and drags her to him.

"I'm going to kiss you." He whispers just inches before her lips are on his.

"Please do." She whimpers.

He covers her lips with his
And the tension seems to snap in half.

If their first kiss was a crash
This is an avalanche
Gaining speed with the fall

His hand on the back of her skull grasping onto her hair
And the other on her back pulling her closer.

She travels her hands on his chest
And has to fight the urge to get rid of his shirt.
She's craving
Burning
She wants him closer
She wants to feel him
Every inch that she has so much missed.

His lips travel to the crook of her neck, "we have to stop." He grumbles

The words radiate one her skin.
She whimpers and he breathes against her, "Hermione…"

Her name feels like a prayer vocalized like that.
Her knees buckle
He groans

And to her utter dissatisfaction he lets go of her and takes a step back.

She knows it's the sensible thing to do
But still pouts at him.

Abraxas and Lestrange join them only a minute later.
This time they're nice enough.

But Tom keeps looking at her the whole train ride.
With a feral, thirsty look on his face.
A look she's never seen before.
She catches his eye and smiles
He licks his lips
She travels her hand to the back of her neck
Ruffling her hair on the way
He puts his hands to his knees and squeezes.
She winks at him.

As they walk out the train he catches up with her.
"Don't tempt me." He whispers behind her.

She turns her head sideways and smirks "and why not?"

He's left speechless
Could be the first time ever

She likes it.

.

.

This year the adults seem to think she and Tom should be kept separated.

They can't do patrols together and most teachers don't let them pair up in the classes anymore.

She goes to Headmaster Dippet about it.
Complains that her and Tom are the most skilled students of the year - of the whole school! It's only beneficial to let them study together.

"Dumbledore thinks you can't contain yourselves, Miss Granger."

Dubledore hates Tom! Surely he'd keep him from doing anything extraordinary.
She wants to say but doesn't.
But lets Dippet continue

"He thinks that since you don't have parents to guide you it's our job to keep you from doing anything rash. And I agree. For now it's best you and Mr. Riddle meet only in public places."

She wants to laugh.
Wants to tell the Headmaster that he can't be serious!?
He can't actually think they have power over her and Tom?
That they could stop them doing something they wanted to do?
Wants to point out that no one stops her and Tom!
But instead she nods politely and leaves the office.

My patrol ends at eleven
Meet me in the bathroom.

She slides the note to Tom in the library

Public place - the library.
Like they wanted to.
But the bathroom - prefect's bathroom?- Definitely private.

He waits for her in the shadows by the door
Her heart is pounding so fast she thinks he might hear it
Or someone else might
And come look for them.

But it's the dead of a night and she's the prefect who was to make sure no one is hanging in the corridors

They don't exchange a word as they enter.
Not a word as Tom turns to her.
Not a word as he unties her tie
Her eyes never leaving his
She opens the buttons of his shirt.
Slides her palms on his naked chest.

The world stands still as she leans onto him
And opens his belt buckle

He yanks her shirt over her head.
And she's not even self conscious around him.
All she can feel is this need that radiates from their every touch.

This path led me to you
I'm yours
Always

This path leads them to the pool
Water flowing around them
Her legs around Tom
And him pressing her against the pool wall.
The water is cool but his kisses set her ablaze.

He slides his fingers in between her thighs
And when she's about to close her eyes his Other hand cups her jaw

"Look at me."

She does
Locks eyes with him as his fingers slip in and start a slow rhythm
Ripples that flow through her
She whimpers and her hips buckle against his hand.

There's victory in his eyes.
And desire
And affection
Something soft she didn't know he was capable of.

She rides his fingers.
He bites his lip and she moans aloud.

It feels like too much
The building friction makes her want to close her eyes
But Tom grabs a handful of her locks and almost pulls, "Look at me!"

She does

"Good girl." He hums and his fingers flick on her clit.
The adding pressure and the pace
And his eyes
And the way he's in total control…

She comes, with waves of hot and cold washing over her like rain. Curling her toes and digging her heels into his backside.

He removes his hand and pushes closer
His eyes are almost black now
Like liquid
She drives her fingers to his back and pulls him to her.
Melts their lips together and lifts her hips to take him in.
Water sloshes and he fills her
Links them together at every level.
She feels like she could come again just for the weight of him against her.

He buries his face to her neck
His palms on her breasts
Whispering words that don't need to be recorded
Words that might embarrass him later.

But she hears them all

Beautiful
Pure
Brilliant
Exquisite
Hot
Wet
Tight
Perfect

Mine

.

.

No one tells them how to live their life
No one did before
Not even when they would have needed them to.
So no one is going to start now
No one has power over them.

They can't meet in private? Fine
But that doesn't stop them.

There are hidden alcoves
Deserted classrooms
Locker rooms
Grounds
They are allowed to spend time together.

No one can stop him snatching her hand and pulling her behind a tapestry.
No one sees as he pulls her to him.

"You're a distraction nowadays." He murmurs against her.

"From what?" She smiles against his lips.

"Everything."

"Poor thing." She grabs his crotch, "Want me to stop?"

He smirks, "Please don't."

More times than once Slytherin's cover up for them.
Tom is their leader now
They respect him
Follow him
Do things for him
Almost battle for his attention

They'd probably let her into their dorm if she wanted to go
And teachers would never hear about it.
But she doesn't go
Better keep Tom on his toes a little.
Let him come to her.

Doing something forbidden feels thrilling
No one tells her and Tom what they could or couldn't do.

Despite spending all their free time on trying to sneak away from curious eyes
They both end the year with top marks.
Of course they do!
She'd never mess around with him if she wasn't sure her education wouldn't suffer from it.

Dumbledore looks at her suspiciously at the feast
But she smiles at him sweetly
Keeping her mind guarded.

Oh, bet you wish to know our secrets!?

They're told to go back to the orphanage
Like they would if they had any option.

On King's Cross they jump in another train.
He takes her hand
And she nods at him.

"We'll find your relatives."

"And then?"

"Then, whatever we want!"

The countryside flashes behind the train windows
His hand is cool against hers
They're ready for the world
One more Hogwarts year

and the world won't know what hit it.