Authors Note: Okay, so I received another review asking to go into detail about the war. Originally I had planned to go over it just in small bits in the chapter but I figured it was a good idea to give a small background story so you could at least get a glimpse at what it may have been like. However, I'd definitely like to try and keep to my outline, but like I said before I'M ALWAYS GAME FOR HINTS AND REVIEWS BECAUSE THEIR AMAZING.
YOU GUYS ARE AMAZING. I literally love each and every review I get and they all make me incredibly happy, SO KEEP THEM COMING especially because I need to know if there is something I may need to change or if my writing just sucks in general.
This chapter felt like it took forever to write but college is totally kicking my ass right now and it's incredibly difficult to get any writing time in when you have like three hours of studying and homework to do each night. I really hope you guys like it though, I feel like with each chapter my writing just gets suckier.
ANYWHOM, again THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL THE AMAZING REVIEWS and keep reviewing and expect the next chapter within the upcoming week!
~~Chapter Four~~
Tom Riddle's Diary: Entry 387
It's been three months since he's sent me any contact, I've been much too curious and he's seem to have noticed. I must change my façade and be more patient. There is simply too much at stake to let it all fall apart for something as mundane as too many questions. The original plan of using the Potter boy won't work anymore, he'd know if it was a trap. I have to find a new way of luring the old man here.
If Grindlewald hadn't figured out about Dumbledore's true plan he wouldn't have tried to attack the damn boy. It's a good thing the Potter boy killed him, I would have done it myself. I'd been working myself up in Dumbledore's rank for years now and Grindlewald ruined it all.
People still think the old fool is dead, they've no idea how involved he was in the plot, they've no idea of the coming storm, the incoming tragedy they are all about to face. How foolish and cowardly of him to run away. I must tread carefully or he'll know what I'm after. I musn't rush.
I've come too far to lose everything now, killing that daft old woman for this position was simple but a feisty move. Unless they find the body, nobody will know she is gone. It's a good thing that the water demons in the lake enjoy the taste of human flesh. For all the school knows, that poor old woman needed to get away, Cozumel is so nice during the winter. I wouldn't have had to kill her if Dumbledore would simply just tell me where he is. Only Fenir and the Silverbacks know of his whereabouts and it would be mindless for me to try and contact Fenir and his pack, the old man would know immediately of my intentions. He's instructed me to stay patient and he must continue to assume I'm still on his side, I must not let him onto my true intentions. He knows I'm here but he assumes it's to keep tabs on his silly children, to keep him updated on happenings on Hogwarts and the gossip within it's walls.
Of course, I've already begun to plan on how to lure him here, while the Potter boy now seems too obvious, stupid old man always had such a soft spot for him, would never let Grindlewald near him, even tricked him into dueling with the boy. Potter doesn't even know who the real Dumbledore is, but he'll know. Soon they'll all know. If I had to guess, Dumbledore probably killed Grindlewald himself and let the boy take credit for it.
The girl, Hermione, she is the answer. He would never suspect such a random figure. Dumbledore would simply save the girl because of his weakness for the three children. I know of his odd obsession for the three children. I've no idea how the stupid Potter boy made it as far as he did. The girl is much smarter than him. She's not an eye sore either, she can definitely be used to my advantage. She grows angry easily and seems to almost be eager to take command from those of higher power, winning her over will be too easy.
I could feel how fast her heart beat when she fell into my arms last night. She's smart though, I'll have to tread carefully around her as not to raise any suspicion. I believe she knows much more than she lets on and I might be able to play that to my advantage, she might tell me something about Dumbledore that would allow me to easily lure him here. There is no other way to trick the girl but to gain her trust, no matter what it takes. Either way, she'll die in the end. I've no use for the worthless girl once my plan is complete. Once I reach the end she'll prove too much of threat and she'll have to be exterminated.
I will not fail and Dumbledore will not rise and I will have the Elder Wand. Nothing, especially the girl, will come in my way.
-Tom Marvolo Riddle
Hermione had already decided the night before that no one, not even Ginny (whom she told almost everything) needed to know about how her detention went last night. She certainly wasn't going to tell her what had happened at the very end of the night and the way she felt before she went to bed. Frankly, Hermione was mortified by it. Even Ron hadn't made her skin singe like that when they had been dating, not that they ever got very far in that subject.
Hermione, and she was positive she was the only one left in her age group of all four houses, was still a virgin in all aspects of the words. The farthest Hermione had ever gone was a quick twenty second (tops) snogging session with Viktor Krum when she had visited him over the summer, and that certainly didn't count. It was awkward, cold, and somewhat slimy (God Bless the girl who has to lock lips with Krum…it's like kissing a dementor with a tongue). She attempted to forget the way her professor's hands created a static electricity across her body, but it was pointless. Her head was still buzzing with it when she woke up.
She wanted to slap herself for feeling such a strong attraction to someone that was so dangerously off limits. She knew there was nothing in the world that could permit her to perform such an act of defiance. Hermione was barely able to break the rules with Ron and Harry, how would she go behind everyone's back to sleep with a professor?
Why am I even thinking like this? I'm not going to sleep with him! This isn't even an option, this is delusional. I'm obviously going crazy, I didn't eat yesterday, that must be it. (But didn't his hands feel so good sliding across your- ) NO! No, I have to get downstairs and just stop thinking about. He's probably not even attracted to you. (But the way he smiled at you?) He wasn't looking at me anyway-
"Hermione, are you talking to yourself?" Ginny asked, walking in the bathroom behind her. Her face held a look of curiosity and mild apprehension.
"What?! No- I was just- I was going over my Magical Maladies spells. There are just so many." She spluttered, had she been talking to herself out loud?
"Well…alright then." She rolled her eyes before walking up to the mirror to brush her hair." How did your detention go with Professor Sexy?" Her eyebrows wiggled and she stuck out her tongue.
"It was alright, we just cleaned up the back room. Nothing special." She answered quickly, grabbing her toothbrush and fiddling with it.
"Was he an asshole again?" Ginny said, she hadn't noticed Hermione's odd reaction.
"We didn't really talk much. Just hello and goodnight, I tried to refrain from speaking to him. Maybe if I'm good he'll let me out of some of the detentions." Hermione said, she wasn't joking. She was too afraid of what tonight's detention might be like.
"I doubt it, Lavender said last night that she heard from Hannah Abbott that he made a group of first years cry for passing notes in his class." Hermione rolled her eyes.
"Perfect, that's just what I need to hear. At least I have a break before I have to see him again, I only have three classes today and the rest of it are study periods. I plan to take full advantage of it and spend most of my day in the library, happily avoiding Professor Riddle." She felt a small shock at the sound of his tongue rolling of her lips.
"Well that sounds like loads of fun but I have a full class schedule today, Potions and Divination with Slytherin back to back." She rolled her eyes turning out of the bathroom. "But at least I don't have detention." Hermione chucked her toothbrush at the door as Ginny ran out the door laughing.
Hermione took a deep breath as she took a sit in her favorite chair in the library, tucked away on the third floor, among all the historical biographies. No one ever came up here, at least not willingly. A large window looked out upon the mountains that surrounded Hogwarts and the Great Lake. Shelves guarded her hidden seat allowing her complete privacy to read and study to her heart's desire. She settled back and let her eyes drift across the pages, but to her dismay, she couldn't pay attention.
She was simply too focused on what was going to happen tonight, surely Professor Riddle had felt the chills she had felt at having such close contact with her. Of course not, silly girl, he's a grown man. How do you know he isn't married (I didn't see a ring)? It doesn't matter if there was a ring or not! It was wrong and it was never going to happen!
Hermione looked at the book she had picked out from the shelves, someone had scribbled in the corner of the book: "all hail Grindlewald!" She stared at it, tempted to rip it out of the book. She was so sick of seeing his name everywhere, it was because of him she had nothing left at her own home.
Grindlewald had been over the wizarding world for the past twelve years, his laws reigning down and causing havoc within their world. Grindlewald had created laws against muggleborns and their families, creating new wizarding privacy laws.
Rule No. 38: Muggleborns will not be allowed outside between the hours of 7:00 P.M. to 7:00 A.M.
Rule No. 27: Muggleborns will not be allowed outside without a wizard of true magical blood.
Rule No. 12: Muggles who happen on magic of any kind under any circumstances will be subjected to death.
The rules went on and on, muggleborns were simply being pushed out of the wizarding world and if it hadn't been for Dumbledore and Harry, Grindlewald might have succeeded and who knows what would have become of all the muggleborns. Hermione had known that before his fall there had even been talk of enslaving the muggleborns, putting them in camps, or simply just mass execution.
Due to the seriousness and danger of her parents being muggles and them happening upon her using magic, Hermione had no choice. She had to leave and remove any trace of herself, she'd rather live the rest of her life without speaking to her parents, knowing they were happy and living, than knowing they were tortured and killed by Grindlewald's followers.
"Don't you have class Miss Granger? Or friends? Or are these books simply more alluring than that of real friendship?" She jumped, her book slipping from her lap, scaring her out of her day dreams.
Professor Riddle stood leaning against the bookshelf in front of Hermione. He wore black wizarding robes with a white oxford underneath and a black skinny tie that hung down to the top of his slacks, Hermione trained her eyes to not go down past his belt buckle. His hair had been parted to the side and his eyes held a glint of humor in them, his lips turned up in a small smirk. The light from the window hit his face lighting it up, giving the pale skin a sense of color and she marveled at how beautiful his features were. She felt her flush glow slightly at the memory of the past night.
"It's my free period Professor, I usually prefer to spend them studying." She answered, reaching down to pick up her book.
Professor Riddle had his wand in his hand and waved it before Hermione could place a hand on it and flew into his hands. He read the cover before an incredulous look came upon his face.
"What class are you taking Miss Granger, which requires you to study the Potions of Johanson Bartelby?"
"Bartelby was a world renowned potions master. Potions has never really been my strong point in school so I've taken it upon myself to take some tips from someone who knows what they are doing." She stated, her voice had a smart edge to it.
"Bartelby was a complete moron who copied potions from his fellow classmates, I would know. I went to school with him. It's no wonder this book is dusty and untouched, everyone knows he's a fraud." Professor Riddle's voice sneered slightly.
"Well, I think he's rather smart. I don't see a book with your name on it." Hermione snipped. She could have closed her eyes as she realized how she had spoken to him.
"Miss Granger, don't test me." His voice flattened and Hermione felt goose bumps running down her arms.
"My apologies sir." She stared down at her feet.
"If you're looking for an appropriate read on potions Miss Granger, Helena Moonbane might be a more acceptable read for you."
"Helena Moonbane would be in the restricted section sir, and aren't her works more…dark?" She looked up at her professor surprised, he had turned around and was picking through books, looking at the titles.
"Some of the best things in life are dark Miss Granger." He smiled, it seemed to have a wicked gleam in it. Hermione felt a rope constrict her stomach and felt a little faint. She turned her head away, her face felt hot.
"I must get going Professor, I have class soon." She grabbed her bag, hitching it up over her shoulder.
He didn't say anything but a small smile continued on his lips as Hermione quickly walked past him, her head spinning at his last words to her. It couldn't have simply been her mind playing tricks on her, surely he seemed to be acting a little too friendly for comfort?
~~History of Magical Healing~~
"So Hermione, are you going to Hogsmede next weekend?" Cormac was leaned unusually close, he had continually moved his leg close to hers so that they were touching. By now, Hermione had her chair pushed as far off to the side of the table as it would allow her to go.
She was gritting her teeth, trying desperately hard not to tell him where she wished he would go. She couldn't understand why he wouldn't just leave her alone, obviously she wasn't interested in him. Hermione couldn't lie though, a part of her wished she was interested in boys again. Cormac wasn't exactly ugly, his blonde hair and blonde eyes were almost perfect and in all essence, he was incredibly handsome. However, Cormac was an absolute idiot and too full of himself to be taken remotely seriously.
"I'm actually going with Ron and Harry next weekend." She replied shortly, trying desperately to listen to Professor Dracen.
"Well that's too bad, I'd love a chance to take you." His face leaned closer to hers, she could smell his breath, and it smelled like old breakfast. "What about the winter ball?"
"What winter ball?" Hermione asked, finally looking up from her notes, he smiled, knowing he had caught her attention.
"My father's told me that the Ministry is hosting a ball at Hogwarts for the students in celebration of our first year without Grindlewald. McGonagall is supposed to announce it soon as a surprise for the students. Surely you don't have a date yet?" He smiled at her knowingly.
"I don't usually do that sort of thing, but I'll think about it." She said trailing off, hoping that it would be the end of that conversation.
"Miss Granger, welcome back." He stood at the door, holding it open for her. He held his hand out in a dramatic fashion.
"Professor Riddle." She nodded her head, avoiding his gaze while she walked into the room.
She had changed before she came to detention tonight, she wore some of her casual clothes instead of her school uniform, a pale lavender long sleeve and some jeans with a plain pair of white shoes. She wasn't sure why, but she even felt the need to run a brush through her hair before she ran down.
"We'll be continuing in the storage room tonight Miss Granger. I took it upon myself to fix the ladders so that we may avoid any instances such as last night." He walked closely behind her as she heard the door slam shut.
"Yes sir." Hermione felt her face flush (for what seemed like the hundredth time) as she recalled last night's events.
She sat back down on the spot she had cleared last night and began to sort through a large pile of books. Though most of them were text books she could tell that many of the books might have belonged personally to the professors that had at one resided in the office. Out of the corner of her eye, Hermione could see Professor Riddle methodically checking each paper before he sifted them into a junk and keep pile, though she had no idea what he had any interest in keeping all those papers for, her curiosity bested her.
"Professor, if you don't mind me asking, what do you plan on doing with all the papers you've been keeping?" She asked timidly.
"Do you feel the need to pry into everyone's business, Hermione?" She felt a tingle run through her blood at the sound of her name, though his voice held a sarcastic note to it. She turned away, her face hot. "Some of these papers hold valuable information that I wouldn't mind looking over, you never know when you'll need a good reference."
Hermione stayed quiet, she didn't have much to say. She felt like anything she said to him, he found a way to make her feel immature and childish. She continued to sort through the books, however one title stopped her after a few minutes. The book lay behind one of the book shelves, she was only able to see if after she had sat up to move some of the books over. She wiggled it out of the space it was wedged in and swiped her hand across it's tattered cover. It's title was in Ancient Greek (something Hermione was able to read quite well) with some ancient runes trailing up the spine of it. Μαύρο Αίμα και Σκοτεινών Τεχνών (Black Blood and Dark Arts). She opened it and felt herself grow almost sick at some of the images and spells that lay inside. These kind of books weren't even allowed in the restriction section at Hogwarts, let alone in a teacher's office.
"Where did you find that?" His voice held order, Hermione turned herself to look at him.
"It was wedged up behind the shelf sir, I was just looking…" She trailed off as he reached for the book snatching it from her hands.
"This isn't something a student, especially one like yourself, needs to be associating herself with, Hermione. Some magic isn't meant to be seen by the eyes of the innocent." His voice was low and serious. She watched as he walked out of the room, placing the book into a drawer on his desk.
"I wouldn't consider those who have seen such violent death as innocent, Professor Riddle." Hermione said airily.
"What do you know of violent death?" He asked, his voice had lightened but still held a dark edge to it.
"I've lived through six years of a very violent war, Professor." Her eyes flashed at her professor, he could snip at her knowledge all he wanted. However, the things she had seen and those she had watched die were not something she chose to play around with. "Have you ever held someone whose body was so mangled and destroyed by a werewolf that magic couldn't even mend their wounds or pain? How many mothers have you heard screaming for their children as they lay over their bleeding dead bodies?" Hermione felt herself running out of breath, she struggled to control the anger that reared itself in her body, burning up through her veins into her throat.
"Miss Granger, I've lived such a deep violent life that even the likes of which you just described are nothing but a cut on the knee compared to what I've seen. Have no doubts in your mind Miss Granger, there are worse things in life than that of a dying friend." His eyes glinted at her, his voice hard with power. She felt her throat constrict slightly as she looked on into his face and she felt her breath quicken when she realized how close he'd come to her, his face seemed to be only within a foot of hers, she swore she could almost taste his breath as he leaned forward into her ear. "You haven't seen anything, Hermione."
She could feel his breath coil around her ear and her eyes closed, his breath warm on her ear. It transcended down her body, right into the bottom of her stomach, her legs trembled slightly beneath her threateningly. Something in her body was telling her to step away, that this was her professor and that this was wildly and extremely inappropriate, but her body wouldn't respond.
"I should let you go early tonight Hermione, you seem mildly flustered." He had come around her now, still whispering in her ear, her mind screaming at her to take the chance and run but she sat still. "Or you could stay. What do you think Miss Granger? Would you like to stay here for the night?"
Her face burned wildly at boldness of the question, she found herself questioning how sane she could actually be right now. There wasn't any way that her professor, the man who not only yesterday, had treated her as nothing but a child. Her mind wouldn't sit still and she could almost feel her head spinning on her shoulders, nothing but his breath on her ears holding her still.
"Goodnight Miss Granger." His hand placed on the small of her back, it sent a shock through her system, cold water all down her body. Electricity roaring through her body, bringing her to life. She didn't wait, she quickly rushed away from his touch and ran out the door.
She ran until her breath punctured her hip with every step, pausing only when she reached the portrait of the fat lady. The air coming from her lungs tearing out of her mouth with ragged slashes.
"Are you being chased then?" The pink lady asked, her voice high pitched and shocked at Hermione's appearance.
Hermione ignored her, placing her hands on her knees to breath and compose herself. Her breath slowed but her pulse kept its steady beat. Her mind reeling from the way his breath pressed into her ear, across her body. She felt ashamed of herself for not saying anything, for allowing herself to fall into that position. Her body had completely betrayed her, she felt powerless.
She finally found the power to bring herself to stand up and stared back down the long dark corridor that led to the stairs. She wanted to go into her dorm and shower, shower away the feeling of his hands on her back and the way his words lingered on her skin. She wanted to run back down there and let him touch her until she begged for more.
She wanted to go to sleep and forget it ever happened.