Again and again, Hermione looked nervously over to Tom. He had been keeping a low profile throughout the week, except that he had hardly left her side. By now, everyone at school knew that their idol and head boy was with Professor Dumbledore's niece. Many schoolgirls had started at Hermione with more than disparaging looks, as if they all wanted to try to see her value or at least understand what Tom Riddle saw in her. But to her relief, no one had spoken openly about their new relationship.

And so, the week crept by until finally Friday arrived - and with it the day when she and her Potions partner would fetch the last ingredient for their potion from the greenhouse. They were the only couple who had almost finished this week, and the other students would not visit the greenhouse until the following week. She should have been proud that she was above average even in Potions, but a completely different feeling was dominating her body right now.

Fear.

The last ingredient was the blossom of a night plant of all things, which they could only pick between midnight and dawn. And although Slughorn had already warned Tom to behave like a gentleman towards his partner at night, Hermione could not shake off the feeling that Tom was planning something. He had been too calm. After he had made it so clear to her that she was his toy and he did not want to share her, she would have expected him to be dominant and possessive, but nothing had happened.

Again, she looked at him. He was at the other end of greenhouse number one, carefully cutting off the flowers of the plant while she sat at a small table, going through the records of the brewing process to complete them, if necessary.

"I now have five flower heads," Tom said abruptly and turned to her. "Shall we go over to the Herbology building and see if they're all suitable for our potion?

Silently, Hermione nodded. As if she was in the middle of the battlefield again, all her senses were wide awake and her nerves tingled. This smiling Tom, who was heading towards the small wooden building with the small basket full of flowers in hand, frightened her almost more than any other side she had seen of him before. It was the uncertainty of what exactly he was planning that put her in an acute state of alert.

Still quite the gentleman, Tom held the door open for her, let her through, and then closed it behind them. Hermione was just about to use her wand to bring the glowing balls that served as illumination here to life when Tom's hand grabbed her forearm.

"Better leave the light out," he whispered to her.

She felt him standing right behind her, felt his breath tickling her neck as he slowly moved his hand down her arm until it came to rest on her wand. "Brightness would only attract attention.

So now the time had come. Hermione turned to him with a beating heart. "Without light, we'll hardly be able to analyse the flowers."

A dark laugh was her answer. "I appreciate your innocent appearance, dear, but we both know we're not here for the flowers."

With these words he reached into her wild curls, pulled her to him and kissed her. Frozen, Hermione let it happen. Inwardly though, she wondered whether Tom Riddle was still a normal seventeen-year-old boy somewhere in his deepest being, who simply wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to get closer to his girlfriend unobserved at night.

"You won't be needing that now," he whispered to her. Before Hermione could react, he had taken the wand from her and placed it on the table next to them. She did not get a chance to protest, because immediately his lips were back on hers, his arms wrapped around her body. Gently but relentlessly, Tom forced her backwards until she bumped into the teacher's desk and came to sit on it.

He was a good kisser, she had to give him that. He knew exactly how to move his soft lips, where his hands should be, what felt good. If it had been anyone else, even Abraxas Malfoy, Hermione would have given herself with pleasure. But with Tom, she felt the vague reaction of her body, which enjoyed the feeling of a man pressing himself tightly against her, while she forced herself to always remember who she was kissing in this dark room.

Suddenly Tom took a step back and softly whispered a Lumos. The classroom was filled with the soft glow of his wand, just bright enough for them to recognize each other, but hardly any of the light would be seen from outside.

"Take off your clothes."

"What?"

The gentle expression on Tom's face became relentless. "You understood me well. Take your clothes off. I won't ask you a second time."

"That was hardly a request," Hermione railed at him in indignation. She was willing to let him kiss her, she slowly got used to it and could ignore the nausea it caused, but she would never undress in front of Voldemort.

"Hermione, dear," Tom replied softly, his voice sounding flattering, friendly, warm, but his eyes betrayed what he really thought of her contradiction. "I thought I made myself clear? You belong to me. Everything about you. And I appreciate knowing my property well, exploring every inch of it. I will not tolerate you keeping anything from me. So. Take your clothes off, or I will."

Hermione's breath quickened. What could she do? The classroom was far from the castle and barely lit by the Lumos. Slughorn knew they were here, but he did not expect their report until dawn. She was alone and unarmed. And she knew all too well that all it took was the wave of his wand for Riddle to magically disrobe her.

That he asked her to strip herself had only to do with the fact that he wanted to humiliate her even more. He wanted her to bend to his will, voluntarily, to submit, to acknowledge that she was his toy, there to please him, but certainly not with the right to resist in any way. If he were to undress her, magically and under duress, the humiliation would be there, but she would have resisted him. That was not what he wanted.

It was no use resisting him. She had to play his game, especially now when she had finally realised that she needed his trust. His absolute trust. He had to take her into the Chamber. She had to submit bit by bit until he finally felt that she had actually subordinated herself to him.

"Fine," she finally hissed.

The arrogant grin on his lips let her know clearly that he saw himself as the victor in this matter. With arms crossed in front of his chest, he leaned against one of the tables and waited patiently for her to start her striptease.

Determined not to be intimidated by him, she looked him firmly in the eye as she began to loosen her tie and unbutton her blouse. She took her time, let each button slip through the small hole one by one, and carefully pulled the rest of her blouse out of her skirt to undo even the last buttons. Then, still looking at him, she opened the blouse, let it slide over her shoulders first, before letting her arms hang so the soft fabric could slowly fall down her body.

Tom did not let her out of his sight for a second. His gaze captured hers as if he did not care at all about her naked skin. Intent not to blush, Hermione grabbed behind her and unhooked her bra. She struggled with it for a moment, then grabbed it decisively by one of the straps and pulled it aside before throwing it to her blouse on the floor.

Still Tom showed no reaction, his eyes fixed on hers. Her exposed breasts seemed not impress him in the slightest. Hermione took a deep breath, then reached back again to open the small zipper on her skirt. A short wiggle of her hips, and her skirt was on the floor. Slowly, she bent down, her fingers sliding over her legs, down to her lower legs, where she hit the hem of her stockings and took off first one, then the other together with her shoes.

Full of expectation she straightened up. She had briefly interrupted eye contact while bending down, but she immediately found Tom's eyes again, as if he had not looked anywhere else the whole time.

Carefully, she stepped away from the pile of her clothes and spread her arms. "Satisfied?"

"You're not naked."

Hermione gasped. His voice sounded ice cold. What was wrong with this guy that he could react so unmoved to the sight of a female body? Angrily, she put her hands on her hips. "That's all you'll get."

"I asked you to take off all your clothes," Tom said calmly. "You certainly understood that. But I want to be merciful today, because you have made so much effort. I'll gladly do the rest for you."

With wide eyes, Hermione watched as he stepped towards her, placed the wand on a table, and pulled her into his arms. Deeply, he inhaled the scent of her naked body. "You feel good, Hermione."

A shiver ran down her back and to her horror she realized that she was not sure whether it was a shower of disgust. Unsettled, she pressed her hands against his chest, but he did not let her go.

"Your role is over for now. Hold still, dear, will you?"

Trembling, Hermione let him proceed. She closed her eyes and leaned her head against his chest. Rarely in her life had she felt so naked - after all, she had never undressed in front of a man! - but something about this situation made her fear disappear. It was obvious that Tom Riddle was not planning to make an attempt on her life, and that reassured her immensely. If he just wanted to hold her in his arms while she was naked, she was fine with that. There were definitely worse things.

Slowly, one of his arms which had been wrapped tightly around her before, let go of her and started stroking her back up and down. Goose bumps spread all over Hermione's body as Tom stroked her back, neck and bottom with surprising tenderness.

So engrossed in the surprisingly pleasant feeling, she did not notice at first that he hooked a thumb into the hem of her panties. But when he began to pull at it, tantalizingly slowly pulling it down, she opened her eyes. "I said no!"

"And I said I wanted you all naked," Tom whispered back in amusement.

The grip of his arm around her body strengthened as he continued to pull her panties relentlessly, but slowly down her thighs. Breathing heavily, Hermione struggled against him, but finally, she shook her head. It was probably of no use anyway.

He got down on his knees in front of her and removed the last piece of cloth from her body with both hands. Carefully, she lifted one foot first, then the other, so that he could remove the panties. For a moment Tom remained in the kneeling position in front of her, hands on her hips, his gaze directed to the floor.

"I will never allow any other man to see you like this," he suddenly rasped quietly, but full of determination. "You belong to me, your body, simply everything. If anyone ever dares lay a hand on you against my will..."

He did not have to finish the sentence. A violent tremor seized Hermione's body, but she was not cold, on the contrary. She was glowing. Had she really managed to make Tom Riddle fall for her? As if in slow motion, he straightened up again, letting his hands slide over her thighs, over her bottom, her little belly, up to her breasts, where they came to a halt.

Suddenly he grabbed her with both hands and whirled her around, pulling her with her back to his chest, and wrapped one arm around her waist, while the other reached into her hair and tore her head violently to the side. A cry of pain escaped Hermione's lips, but Tom obviously did not care. Before she realized what he was doing, he buried his teeth in the soft flesh of her neck where it merged with the neck. She cried out a second time when she felt his teeth tear at her sensitive skin and she started to bleed.

"Have you gone mad?" she yelled at him and tried desperately to free herself from the clasp.

A harsh laugh was her answer, but at least he let go of her neck. His hand joined the other and increased the pressure on her hip. And suddenly, Hermione felt something pressing against her bottom.

"Can you feel that, Hermione?" Tom whispered hoarsely into her ear. "That's the sign that my body has also recognized that you belong to it. It's a promise."

Even before she had processed what his words meant, Tom pushed her away. Clumsy, Hermione staggered a few steps forward before she could catch herself. When she finally turned around again, she saw Tom step out of the room with the basket full of flowers and the light disappeared with him.

Hermione sank to the floor, completely confused. She did not know what had just happened, but she could not deny one thing: The way Tom Riddle touched her, the way he explored her body inch by inch, excited her. She should not react to him like that, but there was something inside her, something she had not known was there until that moment. Something that really wanted to submit, not just because she wanted to win his trust, not because of the fight. But really, just like that, because it was him.

She shook her head in disbelief. Whatever it was, she needed to stop feeling like that. It was probably just the female part of her that had enjoyed a man's touch. She would not allow herself to fall for Tom Riddle. If he thought he had won today, she would let him belief that. She knew better. She had actively chosen to play his game because she had to get to him.

If she let him in, he let her in. The fact that he had shown her his own excitement so clearly made it obvious. She would let him in and sooner or later she would break through his protective armour. He could think himself the winner for all the cared.

oOoOoOo

With a broad grin, Tom sat in front of the fireplace in his private bedroom and stared into the flames. He had to fight not laugh out loud. The little intermezzo in the Herbology building had gone so much better than he had expected.

Not only did Hermione actually undress in front of him voluntarily, no. It aroused her. He clearly saw her cheeks redden, heard her breath accelerate, and felt heat take hold of her whole body. For a moment he lost control of himself, was not able to help but dig his teeth into her soft flesh, but it did not matter.

What mattered was discovering that he had been right. Hermione Dumbledore had every right to be in Slytherin. Deep inside her there was something just waiting to be awakened. Once he unleashed it, she could become a truly powerful witch. A witch who came close to his own potential. And who would obey him implicitly if he played his cards right.

She probably did not even know that the dark side of her was screaming for him to be released. She probably had not even noticed that it was this dark side that had reacted to him today. It was really laughable. The first step had been taken. It was only a matter of time before Hermione Dumbledore submitted to him willingly with all her magic.

And when she did, he would welcome her into the circle of his Knights.