Authors note:
Okay, so I had already pretty much had this written which explains the quick update. I had written a good bit of this story before I published the first chapter. I was surprised I had already gotten some nice reviews and believe me, those mean the world to me! You guys are amazing! This one is also a little wordy but you finally get to see Hermione and Riddle in action. Let it be noted that I'm trying to ease you into their romance, I don't want to just jump into it! But it's coming! I promise, within the next two chapters! So please hang in there! Keep reading and reviewing! I'm also up for help notes and tips, especially if it's just to tell me I suck (though it will hurt my feelings)
Also, let it be noted that any information in this chapter from classes was pertained from extensive studying of "The New Edition; The Sorcerer's Companion; A Guide to the Magical World of Harry Potter" By Allan Zola Kronzek and Elizabeth Kronzek. I will be using this book as a wide note of information that is placed in the classroom scenes. So it's all real, and I think that's pretty cool.
Annwayyy, I'm talking too much and I'm sorry. SO ENJOY THIS SECOND CHAPTER, THE THIRD CHAPTER WILL BE OUT WITHIN THE NEXT FEW DAYS OR WEEK.
~~Girl's Dormitory~~
"Professor Riddle, rolls off the tongue doesn't it?" Parvati asked, her fingers weaving an intricate braid in her sister's hair.
"What'd you say his first name was?" Ginny asked, her hands running through Hermione's bushy locks, attempting to smooth and style it. Hermione had her eyes closed, enjoying the feeling.
"Tom." Hermione said aloud, the name fit him perfectly. Such a formal name for a formal handsome looking man.
"You got a thing for him, do ya Hermione?" Padma asked smiling.
Hermione felt her cheeks burn at the question.
"Don't we all, he's off limits though. How inappropriate would that be? A student and a professor? Could you imagine the consequences?" She asked opening her eyes to give Padma an almost admonishing stare.
"Are you telling me if he came onto you, you wouldn't go for it?" Ginny asked, tugging softly on her head.
Of course I would.
"Absolutely not!" Hermione exclaimed.
"Can you imagine him bending you over a de-"
"How was meeting with Harry?" Hermione interrupted, her cheeks burning.
She could imagine it though, as much as she didn't want too. She could imagine him running his fingers through her hair and pushing her over and whispering in her ear. She felt a hot coil of warmth in her stomach at sight of such pleasure. Her thoughts were interrupted by loud laughing from the other side of the dorm where Katie Bell and Lavender Brown sat whispering on their bed. Hermione wasn't sure why, but she felt a slight annoyance at the sound.
"That's none of your business is it?" Hermione felt Ginny's hand fumble with her head at the embarrassment of the question.
"You'll talk about being bent over a desk but not about your sexual escapades with The Chosen One?" Hermione grinned.
"Speaking of sexual escapades, what happened between you and Ron then? Why aren't you two shagging up in the astronomy tower?" Parvati asked pushing away from her sister.
Hermione saw at the other side of the room, Lavender had perked up and was now seemingly listening to the conversation. She felt her head hurt a little at having to explain the difficulties of what had happened to their relationship, especially with Lavender listening so attentively. Ginny seemed to sense her uneasiness.
"They just realized they wanted different things. Ron's a git anyway, Hermione could do much better." Ginny spoke up, and with that the subject quickly changed.
"I bet the new professor would like you Hermione, he looks so smooth and fetching." Padma pretended to faint into her sister's arms.
"I'm not going to trouble myself with boys this year, I'm more worried about my NEWTs and my classes. I'm taking advanced level classes all year including a few extras. It'll be exciting." Hermione smiled to herself thinking of all the homework she would have.
"Ugh, I don't even want to think about my NEWTs, Mother was on all me all summer about whether or not I would be taking Advanced Potions and Transfiguration. At least I have another year to prepare for that." Ginny made a face at the thought of harder classes.
"You're taking Defense Against the Dark Arts for Aurors then, since you have a class with Professor Dreamy?" Parvati's eyed Hermione behind her mirror as she examined her hair.
"I wanted to take all the upper course I could, but of course most of the courses this year are only if you're going into a certain profession. McGonagall made an exception though saying that I was brilliant enough to handle it."
"Well aren't we miss goody-two-shoes." Ginny mocked Hermione in a know-it-all voice.
"You're just jealous that you're not the 'brightest witch of their age.'" Parvati laughed.
Hermione laid herself down bringing the covers over herself and stared at the ceiling while the other girls readied themselves in bed. Hermione wasn't joking when she said that she was going to solely focus on academics this year. She didn't have time for the drama that she associated with romance and boys. She wasn't in the mood to deal with the jealousy (although she knew it wouldn't happen this year) that came with liking a boy to the point of sending furious yellow birds at his head.
"Get some sleep Hermione, you'll need it for all the brain power you'll be using tomorrow." Ginny joked as she began to close her curtains on her bed.
Hermione nodded as she reached up to close her curtains, she had a feeling that tomorrow was going to be a very long day indeed.
Hermione found herself staring at the Great Lake, the faces of all her dead friends and fellow students floated up from the bottom. Yet, she still found herself slowly approaching the lake. She felt no terror at the blood that seeped away from all the floating bodies.
She took one step into the water but it wasn't enough to stop her, but dread began to crawl up her stomach like spiders, climbing all the way to her throat.
The water had the consistency of tar. It was cold, she could feel it piercing her feet as though the blood had all but disappeared from her legs and melted into the water around her. She slowly walked into the water, bodies and faces hitting at her legs and she immersed herself into the unknown blackness. As her head came below the water, she could hear whispers, the words of the dead. The last words her friends spoke to her before they died, the words that haunted her every day.
She felt terror in her stomach as she began to breathe in the water, the murky water filled her lungs with a burning cold sensation, like that of a cold wind against her skin. She was drowning, but that wasn't what she terrified her. The bodies seemed to come alive and cloud against her, they grabbed her arms and legs and pulled her in each direction. Their blood sticking to her skin and being pushed into her lungs. She could taste it, the coppery bittery battery acid filled her lungs.
Slowly from the bodies, mermaids and mermen began to come from between the bodies. Their faces wrong, twisted with gore and bruises. Gashes and open gaping wounds, showing their insides, bones protruding from their skin. Their smiles sharp and mangled. Hermione wanted to scream but her lungs held no air, she was dying. She felt her terror grow as they came closer, the bodies still digging their skin into her arms. Dragging down, bringing skin and leaving gaping scratches in her arms.
The mer-people screeched at her, the sound clawing through her hairs and stinging her brain, grabbing hold pushing at her head. She began to fight desperately, their screams etching into her brain, covering it like tentacles, pulsing her body into convulsions as her life leached out of her body.
Then she saw it, right as her eyes began to burn black around the edges, burning into her vision like a fire engulfing a paper. The merman who approached her, she could see his beating heart in his chest. A large gaping wound showed the pulsing veins and arteries trailing off into his body. His veins palpitated black around his skin. His eyes were dark, obsidian almost. Hermione found herself reaching out to him as her vision tunneled, her last look into those dark, scorching eyes.
Hermione awoke from her dream, sweating profusely. She sat up quickly, ripping open her curtains to let cool air from the room into her bed. Her breath came out in ragged rips from her body. She couldn't remember her dream, but the feeling of horror rested in her skin, beating into her blood. The girls around her were still asleep, breathing softly as though they hadn't a care in the world. Hermione jumped up, steadying herself on the poles of her bed before rushing to the lavatory to allow herself to be sick. She glanced up into the mirror and felt dread in her stomach at her looks. Her eyes held dark circles and her skin a pale pallor. She rinsed her mouth and her face with cold water, allowing blood to work back into her face.
"Hermione," She heard from the dorm, Ginny's groggy voice."S'that you? You awake this early?"
"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you." She called out, her voice trembling slightly.
"You okay?" She asked, her voice sounded closer.
"Just a little sick that's all, nervous for class." She lied, rubbing her face to bring color into it, opening the door to smile at Ginny.
Ginny smiled back at her, but it didn't reach her eyes.
Hermione walked into her classes with bright smiles. Magical Maladies was by far her most interesting course. She was too eager to sit down and read her text books and go to the library to work on her first assignments. Harry and Ron walked beside her as they headed off to Seventh Year Transfiguration. Professor McGonagall sat inside, her face as severe as ever, but Hermione found herself smiling brightly anyway. She had already looked inside her textbook and had already began practicing some of the more intricate spells.
"Looks like we got class with Slytherin, this ought to be fun." Harry mumbled, catching sight of Draco laughing with Crabbe and Goyle.
Draco didn't seem to miss them walking in either, for her quickly stopped laughing and his legendary smirk played across his face and Hermione felt a small angry flush work its way up her neck.
"Well, if it isn't The Golden Trio, shouldn't you three be off saving man kind or something?" He sneered.
"Just ignore him," Hermione whispered grabbing both Ron and Harry, though she could feel their muscles stiffening with anger. "We don't need trouble on the first day of school."
"He's a right git he is." Ron ripped his arm out of Hermione's hand as they sat down at a table,
Hermione could already tell that Transfiguration would be filled with smirks, sneers, and snide comments from the Slytherin and the never-ending battle between the two houses, though Hermione had thought that since the war with Grindlewald was over, they would be closer. That was most definitely not the case she realized as class came to an end. Already Draco had mouthed several obscene things at her and made several profane gestures towards Harry and Ron, which they were more than happy to return.
Hermione was quick to grab her friends and make her way to Defense Against the Dark Arts. The lights in the room were dim. Many images and dark looking trinkets littered the room, reminding Hermione of a mixture of Mad-Eye Moody's room and Professor Lupin's room. Hermione felt slightly aghast at what some of the pictures displayed, witches being burned at the cross, the transformation of a man into a werewolf, a vampire feeding upon a scantily clad women, and zombies devouring the flesh of humans. However, Hermione's eyes quickly placed themselves at the head of the room. He sat at the front of his desk, leaned up against it staring right at her.
His hair look even more dashing than usual, swept to the side with natural waves. His face is blank, as though he's thinking about something deeply. He wears a Hogwarts sweater with a white oxford underneath, rolled up to his elbows. His arms are muscular, but not large. She admires his body and finds herself flushed when he looks directly into her eyes. She finds her seat at the front of the room, next to Katie Bell while Ron and Harry sit behind her. She looks up still to find him staring into her eyes, as though he's looking into her head before quickly turning away to wave his hand across the chalk board.
"Sit down and quiet please." His voice is baritone, smooth. It sends pulsating warmth across Hermione's body into her toes.
"Could he be anymore dreamy?" Katie whispered into Hermione's ear.
She didn't respond, but she couldn't have agreed anymore.
"I said quiet please," He turned to look directly at Katie who turned such a bright shade of red, Hermione could almost feel it. "My name is Professor Riddle. This is Auror's Defense Against the Dark Arts, and if you don't believe you're fit for this class, now is the time to leave." His voice was flat and he looked around, waving his hand again.
The door slammed shut and the lights went out as the projector screen fell down and the projector flew to the front of the room, turning on clicking onto the first slide. He stood to the side of the screen, the light from the projector casting shadows over his face, which gave his chiseled features more definition. A picture flashed upon the screen, a drawing Hermione had seen before, two men stood inside a circle with drawings and writings in it. A women, a spirit, stood before them while a church and graveyard loom in the background of a cloudy night sky.
"Who can tell me what this painting portrays?" He asked looking around, Hermione's hand shot up on instinct.
He turned and looked at Hermione pointedly, as though he expected she would answer. He even looked slightly annoyed at it, Hermione's hand stood unwavered by his look.
"Alright then, since everyone in this class seems to be dumbfounded by a painting that speaks for itself, we'll let Miss-?"
"Granger, sir." Her voice didn't have the strength her hand held a second ago. Speaking to him seemed to wind her.
"Go ahead then Miss Granger." His voice speaking her name seemed to cover Hermione's skin in goose bumps. What she wouldn't give to hear him say it again…and again…and again.
"The two men, Edward Kelly and his Assistant Paul Waring are conjuring a spirit. Edward Kelly was a renowned Necromancer. The women is a spirit that they have conjured using the circle spell they stand in." Hermione stated, her voice unsteady at his piercing gaze.
"Correct," He turned and clicked to the next slide, which showed small wax doll effigies, some of which were partially melted. "Dark Arts, or Black magic, has been around many millennia. It can go to say that since time began, where there was peace there was war, where there was magical wards and cures for diseases magicians have been working on cures of hexes," He pointed at the image shown above. "One of the earliest forms of Dark Magic is that of Image Magic. Can anyone tell me what these are?"
"Sir, in Ancient civilizations, such as India or Africa, especially in Egypt, these dolls were used as somewhat as voodoo doll. These were created as such because they were easy to form and destroy and the melting of these dolls, allegedly held that when melted or burned, the victim of who the doll was based off of, would slowly die or waste away from illness."
"Is there nothing you don't know Miss Granger?" He asked, his voice snipped.
Hermione felt herself jump slightly at his cold voice, why would he ask her to answer then speak to her as if she were a know-it-all. She felt a flustered anger replace the admiration she felt a second ago.
"While I appreciate you're never ending knowledge at the subject of Dark Arts Miss Granger, I'd appreciate if you took a chance to let the other students answer questions and learn from the Professor." His eyes appraised her red glowing face before turning to continue the lecture. She heard Katie release an intake of breath at Hermione's embarrassment.
The slide show flickered to the next picture, a ghoul bursting through a grave while a man stood in front of it, his arms raised as to raise it from the grave.
"Necromancy is another form of Ancient Black Magic, and Edward Kelly was renowned for it in the early Wizarding World. Can anyone, save Miss Granger, tell me where this word comes from?"
Hermione turned her head and saw everyone sat there dumbfounded, how did any of these students wish to make it in this class if they couldn't answer the easiest questions! Hermione thought angrily to herself. She turned to look at Harry who looked just as clueless as Ron. Another moment of silence and Hermione burst out, annoyed at the class's stupidity.
"Sir, I'm sorry, but it comes from the Greek, nekros meaing corpse and mancy meaning prophecy. It means to raise the dead for means of divination." Hermione said, her voice sounded breathily.
"Very well Miss Granger. Since you seem to have trouble keeping your mouth shut from being an intolerable know-it-all, I will remove ten points from Gryffindor. One more word and you'll find yourself with detention." He said, his voice clear and cold.
Hermione's blood boiled and she stared at her desk, tears threatening to prickle her eyes with hot sore points around her vision. She stared up and caught his eyes and took a deep breath. His look pierced into hers for a few more second before continuing on with the lesson. Hermione found herself silent through the entire listen said for the sound of her quill taking notes. How could someone so handsome be so mean and cold? Class ended and Hermione quickly picked her bag up, throwing all her things in it, chucking might be a more appropriate word, and quickly strode to the door.
"Miss Granger, a word please." She heard his deep voice call from the front of the room.
"We'll wait outside…" Harry shot her a sorry glance and grabbed Ron's arm leading him out the door with the rest of the class.
"Hermione walked slowly over to his desk, her face sweltered with anger at the embarrassment of being asked to stay behind in front of everyone. It would be all over school that she had gotten in trouble on the first day of classes, so much for staying out of the drama.
He looked up to his notes and gave her a long look, his eyes looked more sympathetic than angry. She felt herself grow sweaty at his gaze and she looked down at her hands to fumble with them. She felt more nervous than angry.
"I understand you're at the top your class, no?" He asked, his face was too handsome. It almost hurt Hermione to look at it. "I understand how hard it must be to know everything and not brag your knowledge to the world. However, I won't have you disrupting my class with your interruptions."
"Sir-"Hermione began to argue. His hand waived and her mouth pursed shut.
"Since you feel the need to again interrupt my speech, you may come tonight and help me finish setting up this classroom. I won't be disrespected, is that understood Hermione?" He stood up, his voice held a dominant. "I'm your professor and you will treat me as such."
Hermione's mouth opened as he stood up, he stood at least 5-6 inches above her, and he had walked around his desk and stood in front of Hermione, she could almost feel his body heat coming off his body. Something shouted in Hermione's mind that his stance was too close to be appropriate.
"Yes sir." She replied unable to look away from his gaze.
"Good then, you best be on to your next class, I have no doubt you and your friends will be late if they continue waiting outside for you." He turned and trailed Hermione to the door.
Hermione could feel him walking beside her to the door, he walked ahead of her and opened the door, holding it for her. Hermione nodded her hand as in thanks, her stomach coiling at her feet with embarrassment and shame at being spoken to as if she were a bad child. However, as he shut the door behind her, Hermione thought back.
Had that been his hand on her lower back as he shut the door, or was she just imaging things?