Author's Note: (This will be graphic, skip the end if you're not into it)
Also for my personal expense because I've been thinking about it. I don't you want you guys thinking Tom Riddle is some old middle aged pervert, he's only 22, Hermione is 18. Not too terrible of an age difference. While I'd admit that is INCREDIBLY inappropriate for him to be her teacher, he isn't too much older than her, but older enough for it to be hot, you feel me?
Okay, so I had a guest review asking about why they were working so hard in detention and why they didn't just use their wands to lift the box in detention. Well I've got a good reason behind that, one: Riddle wants Hermione not to use magic while cleaning that room, not even for lifting and putting away heavy boxes. He's trying to punish her (It builds character!) I found it would be pointless if Riddle just let Hermione use magic to clean the room because then it would be quick and not really any form on punishment, and he wouldn't really have anything for her to do for a week. It's the first week of school so it's not like he can get her to grade papers, and Riddle isn't really the type to make a student write lines (we remember how well that all worked out with Umbridge) or sign his fan mail (thanks Lockhart). Also, if you remember Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets when Ron receives his detention, he's forced to scrub all the awards and trophies with elbow grease and his hand, rather than magic (Which he had to keep repeating because he kept throwing up slug's onto…gross). So they do actually make them do hard work without magic in detentions, I had my reasoning behind it. (Funny enough, that's how Ron knew the name Tom Riddle, and this story has Tom Riddle…and its funny okay?)
Secondly, more plot! (Woo!) This chapter is long, hence why it took so long. (Longer than a week or so) also I'm currently writing the second Chapter to Private Intentions (which got a few reviews and such (thank you!)) so I'm kind of going back and forth on both of them making sure I'm not mixing up the plots, like Hermione walks into Muggle Math class and whips out her wand, or Wizard Hermione walks into Potions and pulls out her chemistry book. Because I'll do that, just wait for it. Either way, enjoy Chapter Nine!
Chapter Nine
Tom Riddle walked quietly into the village of Hogsmede, it was a bright falls day and leaves were falling at a rate that habitants of Hogsmede were having trouble keeping up with. The village, while it held no students, still held the steady flow of people going in and out of their daily business, nobody paying attention to Tom Riddle. He was dressed casually, a pair of tan slacks with a simple sweater and his robes. He paid little attention to his surroundings however, he knew exactly where he needed to go. He continued walking until he reached the edge of town, situated into a little forest.
He stepped into the shadowed brush of the forest, light peeking through the branches of dying and hibernating trees. He walked on for around an hour until he seemed to reach whatever he was going towards. An impossibly large oak tree stood, its gnarled roots matching the size of a small child's tube slide. Large pointed bushes and heavy rocks surrounded the tree, its trunk twisting as though it were trying to rip itself from its roots. He walked around to the other side of tree, revealing a large cavity going deep underground beneath the tree and its surroundings. Large cracked stones acting as steps lead into the dark of the hidden corridor, turning into a path. Riddle stepped into the hole which held absolutely no light, looking as though it were the entrance to pitch blackness.
Riddle's wand appeared in his hand and lit up, illuminating the small cramped corridor, its dirt walls covered in thick curling roots, the ground beneath his feet covered in lumpy smoothed stones. Had anyone else tried walking down here, they would have simply found themselves lost. It was magic in itself that Riddle found himself navigating throughout the twists and turns of the underground maze he'd walked into. If anyone was purely stupid enough to come down here, of course. He continued to weave deeper into the tunnel, furthering himself underground until finally he turned a corner, coming to an abrupt halt at a wall roots so snarled and thick, it was impossible to see through. Beetles and small insects interlaced themselves throughout the patchwork of root and scurried to find shelter at the abrupt source of light coming off of his wand.
Suddenly it was dark, Tom extinguished the light emitting from his wand and complete silence filled the air.
"Mihi patere tua Intima." Riddle's voice came out in a low whisper. His hand waving itself across the roots.
The roots suddenly began to come to life, untangling creaking and cracking. The roots began pulling back into the wall, as if they were being sucked back into the dirt. Dust and bugs fell from the roots as a room began to come to view. Magic had done whatever should have been a large cave carved into the dirt well. The entrance grew and became a large arched door, until Riddle came face to face with an incredibly large broad-shouldered man. He stood at least a foot taller than Tom and his eyes were a violent shade of golden yellow. He was dressed in nothing but a pair of faded blue jeans, his feet bare and black with dirt and grime. His nails sharpened into clawed points and his face held large bushy sideburns, the hair from which seemed to litter down the rest of his body.
"Farkas," Riddle's voice greeted him as he walked into the room. The wall behind them curling back out to turn itself back into a wall.
The man named Farkas did nothing, he looked down at Riddle and then looked back up at the wall, his arms crossing so that they flexed and showed the true nature of his unnaturally large muscles. Riddle walked behind Farkas and opened the large steel door that he seemed to be guarding. Walking into the room, it was completely impossible to tell that Tom Riddle was over forty feet underground. It was as if one had entered a very large house. To the left was incredibly large kitchen and a wooden bench that looked big enough to seat seventy men. To his right was a large very old worn seating area, littered with couches and chairs and a very old looking television. The room had several men in it, watching what seemed to be an old black and white film.
Riddle continued back into the house, past a large set of rickety look stairs and came into a large meeting room, several men sat at a polished wooden table arguing heatedly, stopping when they looked and saw who had entered the room.
"Tom, where the bloody hell have you been?" A very handsome yet battered looking man stood up. He had dark black hair which was cut short and sprayed across his head in a very unsystematic look. He had a large puckered pink scar running from the side of his forehead down to his ear all the way down his neck, finally reaching to his arm. It almost looked as if someone had taken a very blunt knife and dragged from his head to his arm.
"I've got other duties that sometimes require my attention, Benji, you'll have to excuse me." Tom's voice was formal.
"You're damn lucky we were able to pull together at such fucking late notice." The man's voice was deep and gruff.
"I had a visit from Fenrir last week." Tom sat down and faced Benji, the man's face went blank with shock.
"Where? At Hogwarts?"
"I'm not sure how they got into the school, but they did. I imagine Dumbledore has told them every last secret the school holds, no doubt. Dumbledore isn't pleased with me, he suspects something." Tom had no intentions about telling Benji or his men about the girl. "I thought you and your men were keeping an eye on the Silverbacks, I thought we had agree-"
"The fuck you want me to do Riddle? Walk right behind them?" Benji's face turned red.
"Do your damn job!" Riddle stood up and faced Benji, the other men in the room stood quickly. "How do you expect me to get anything done if you can't tell me when Fenrir is moving? You're supposed to let me know every time he takes a fucking step!"
"Just incase you've forgotten, we've no fucking clue where they are hiding! We can track them up until St Andrews and then their gone." Benji turned around and grabbed a rolled up parchment from behind the table. "We suspect their somewhere in the Shetland but we can't bloody hell find out where. Dumbledore has the damn place enchanted so well we can barely find our own shit after we've left it."
"Then maybe you ought to do something else besides sniff your own shit out." Riddle spoke through his teeth, his temper boiling under his skin.
Benji snarled and took a step forward, but a man walked in and he look down, as though he were ashamed of getting so angry. Remus Lupin walked into the room, examining the situation. His face curiously studying the scene around him, Tom paid him no attention.
"We're all on the same team here Tom." Remus's voice was soft and it annoyed Tom even further.
Tom wasn't just annoyed, he was infuriated. He had been speaking with Remus Lupin and his pack for over eight months now. The wolves had barely trusted him in the beginning, nearly ripped his damn throat out. Tom still had his beliefs that half of the pack still didn't trust him, how could they not know if he was to double cross them? Remus had lost more than a few good men to Fenrir's pack and although he abhorred causing violence, he wanted revenge and he was willing to take it at any cost, even if it meant trusting one of Dumbledore's so called closest advisors. Remus's second in charge, Benji however was a different story. Tom and Benji, in plainsmen's terms, butted heads every time they spoke. By now, Tom was reaching his breaking point. They had come to an agreement, Remus's pack would track Fenrir and his men so that Riddle could be prepared for anything, and they were failing.
"You say we are on the same team Remus, but we seem to be working at separate goals here." Tom's reclaimed some civility to his voice when he spoke again.
"Benji, take the others and go to bunker, Lucy will begin training in thirty minutes." Tom moved over and sat down opposite of Remus who was grabbing a folder one of the nearby desks.
The wolves slowly shuffled out of the room, mumbling and glaring at Riddle in turns as they left. Remus sat down, splaying the folder with its contents spilling onto the table for Tom to see. Incredibly graphic pictures and notes filled his eyes.
"We've been watching them, and closely." Remus pointed to one picture. "Do you have any idea who this is?"
Tom Riddle knew exactly who it was. The man in the picture was Ivan Belevich, a former Russian professor at Gorbunov's Wizarding School for Boys, and one of Dumbledore's informants, he'd gone missing over two weeks ago. Tom didn't have to be smart to know that he'd done something stupid and was probably dead.
"What does Ivan have to do with any of this?" Tom flicked the picture away with his hand.
"He's been running errands for Dumbledore for weeks, course we'd been watching but nothing serious. Now answer this question, do you know who this is?" Remus grabbed another picture and held it out and Riddle's breath caught.
"Are you telling me that Ivan has been giving information to Ambrus?" Riddle's voice dropped a pitch, he grabbed the picture examining it closely.
"He's been trading sides Riddle, giving information to Ambrus and his pack. He's gone missing of course, Dumbledore's most likely killed him by now. We're no doubt to find his body laying somewhere in London in the next week or two, but Ambrus has information." Remus leaned back, letting Tom soak in all the information.
"So I need to find Ambrus then and see what he knows? I can't do that if you can't keep track of where Fenrir and his pack are going." Tom's voice prickled with anger on the topic. "I can't get anything done unless your pack does its job."
"What happened with you and Fenrir?" Remus raised an eyebrow.
"Dumbledore is becoming suspicious. I've been too inquisitive with his whereabouts. I've been sending him letters, he hasn't been responding, which is exceedingly frustrating. He suspects I'm not doing my job and he's losing value in me, something I plan on changing. His little brats are running wild, caught Lucius's boy holding his wand to a girl's throat the other day threatening with terrorizations of a new war, he'll be punished severely." Tom merely shrugged at the idea of cursing the boy for punishment. "Fenrir and two of his men came up, claimed Dumbledore sent them to check on me. They informed me that he'll be sending some company this way, though I've no idea who."
"We'll send some more men up to the area and we'll keep some situated in the forest, but we can't give ourselves away. If he feels corned, he'll start killing us all off, it's barely safe to say he doesn't know we are watching." Remus stood up, walking over to a large map on the wall. "They'll be no hesitation, as soon as we give you word, you must find Ambrus."
"I've got it under control. Just do your job and we won't have any problems. I've stayed firm on my part Remus, I expect the same from you." Tom stood up, straightening his clothes. "I'll be in contact."
He stood to walk away, this meeting and begun to wear on his nerves and he felt angered. He hadn't been so much displeased with Fenrir visiting him as he had with the surprise of not being informed that the damn wolves were moving. Tom almost felt an inch of pity for poor Ivan, Riddle had seen first-hand how Dumbledore treated traitors. However, Ivan had been dumb enough to get caught and Tom felt more pity for his stupidity rather than anything.
"Tom," Tom froze, his posture stiffening at the feel of someone's hand on his shoulder, he loathed being touched. "Don't forget whose side we're on or whose side you're on, I understand you have a reputation and show to maintain but, don't do anything you'll regret when this is over."
Tom carefully removed his hand off his shoulder, turning to look Remus in the eye as he spoke.
"It's all for the Greater Good Remus."
Hermione refused to tell anyone how she had, again, received detention, and a month's worth at that. Not only out of pure embarrassment of her situation of never having publicly in so much trouble without the aid of Harry and Ron, but she simply couldn't tell anyone. She'd made up some cock and bull story of raising her wand to her professor in detention to Ginny. Whether or not Ginny believed her (which Hermione was positive she didn't, but she certainly wasn't going to press her for information). Harry and Ron merely clapped her on the back and applauded her for being so bad. She wanted to puke at the smirk look on her professor's face when she had walked into the dining hall the next morning, she could've actually pulled her wand on him.
However, her detentions weren't actually detentions, more like after hour's lessons in the dark arts. Hermione felt appalled that Tom seemed to know all of the spells and counter curses he was teaching her by memory. Hermione found that Tom was just as terrible a private tutor as he was a professor, in terms of kindness. It also didn't help that the sexual tension that Hermione felt just being within ten feet of him made it hard for her to concentrate on nearly anything, which he seemed to use to his advantage in mocking her when she failed.
Hermione kept telling herself how much she hated his detentions and the training and kept scolding herself for ever agreeing to anything like this in the first place. Which is why Hermione couldn't understand the small feeling of disappointment she felt when she received a note from her professor stating he would be gone this Saturday evening and she was free from detention for a night.
Hermione,
I'm afraid something has come up that I must attend to and I will not be able to make it to our evening detention. I know it must be heart-breaking, but we will continue on Monday. Until then, do try and work on some of your spell and wand work, I feel as if your friend Neville's toad could be more advanced than you.
Until Then,
Tom Riddle.
When Hermione had first read the note, she rolled her eyes so heavily she was sure they would roll into the back of her head. She expected nothing less than this, she found that between her and her professor, it was a game of who could insult each other the most, and he was winning.
"Well, looks like I'm free tonight. What are we doing?" Hermione sat down at the breakfast table where all of her friends had been chatting without her.
"How'd you manage that?" Harry cleared a spot for her next to him.
"Riddle's got other arrangements that need attending too and he had to cancel, thank goodness. I don't think I can take another night of cleaning out that damned room." She felt her face heat a little as she looked up, she really was a terrible liar.
"That's brilliant than, we're going to see Hagrid and he was upset that you wouldn't be able to make it."
"What're you doing today?' Hermione turned to look at Ginny.
"I'm going with Dean and Luna to the library, we've got a lot of homework to do." Ginny shrugged her shoulders and picked at her food. "I'd honestly rather be in detention then go off to all the homework I've got waiting for me."
"If you'd like, we can trade?" Hermione gave Ginny a false genuine look.
"If I had to choose between picking toad guts out of a bin with my bare hands and detention with Riddle, I'd choose toad guts." Ginny's word was final.
Hermione had exchanged her Hogwarts robes for a long sleeve black tee-shirt with a red and gold scarf. She wore a simply pair of blue jeans tucked into a pair of brown under the knee boots. She took a fresh breath of the air outside, she had almost forgotten all about her problems with her professor, almost.
When they reached the lake, a medium sized crowd of people were already there sitting around on blankets playing with some Weasley Wizarding Wheezes and sharing a small box of what looked like Honeyduke's candy.
"Hermione, I didn't know you were coming!" Hermione had to bit her cheek to stop from outwardly groaning as Cormac McLaggen stood up and made his way over to Hermione. "How'd you get out of detention?"
"Riddle had other things to do, so I got out today." She took a step closer to Harry, tugging slightly on his sleeve for help. She suddenly felt the urge to stomp heavily on his foot when she saw the small smile that was on his face.
Hermione found herself sitting between Cormac and Harry while Ron walked over to sit next to Lavender Brown, who felt the need to shoot Hermione looks of contempt every so often which Hermione was all too happy to return. It seemed to Hermione that most of the sixth and seventh year Gryffindor's had arrived to sit at the lake for a while. Harry informed Hermione that it had been in plans all week.
"Why didn't anyone tell me?' She asked, her feeling slightly hurt.
"We knew you had detention and didn't want to upset you-"
"Of course, if I'd of known you didn't know, I would have told you Hermione." Cormac interrupted, sending her a bright smile, she felt sick.
Harry finally talked Hermione into playing a game of exploding snap, and finally after being ignored for a good ten minutes, Cormac found someone else to go bother.
"You're really terrible at this game." Harry laughed as another one of her cards exploded in her hand, singing her fingers.
"This game is awful, who plays this for fun anyway!?" She sucked on her fingers, looking at the black soot that coated her hand.
"What's going on between you and Cormac then?" Harry eyed her, a joking smile on his lips.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" She stuck her tongue out at Harry, causing him to laugh. "He's in all my classes and won't leave me alone, I swear. You would think there's a magnet somewhere in my body and he can't stay away. I've certainly never given him reason to believe I want anything to do with him."
"Are you going to go to the ball with him?"
"Are you going to go to the ball with Romilda Vane?" She asked sarcastically.
"A no would have sufficed…does it feel a bit cold out here?" Harry asked, suddenly looking around.
Hermione stopped and realized he was right, the air had suddenly grown cold, incredibly cold. She looked around and the other students had begun to notice too. The air began to gust around them and burned her cheeks, causing Hermione and the other students to wrap their jackets more closely to themselves. A few students even started getting up to leave. Hermione felt a shiver run through her blood and Harry's head snapped towards Hermione's to look her in the eyes.
They knew that feeling. Her stomach grew cold and her chest panged with fear.
""EVERYONE LEAVE, GO! LEAVE NOW!" Harry stood up, yelling at the students who jumped at his sudden screaming. "I'M NOT JOKING, GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!"
Whether or not they thought Harry was joking, no one showed it. They acted frantic, trying to grab their wands and things to leave and run. Hermione could see Ron knocking his way through students to try and get to them. His eyes wide with fear, he knew it too. Hermione felt it, a deep cold, as though it would never go away. Then she saw them.
Their robes swirled slowly, as if their bodies moved in slow motion, their crumpled black hands stretching out for the disarray of students. Most of the students had stopped, their bodies frozen in horror staring at the mass of dementors slowly moving over them. Their bodies blocked the light that came through, Hermione mentally counted at least thirty of them in her head. Why are they here? Why aren't they at Azkaban? Who sent them here? Harry…where's Harry!?
"Harry…Harry?!" Several students were still desperately trying to back away from the scene unfolding in front of them, Hermione could see Ron looking around, and his eyes caught Hermione's.
"Harry…do something." Her voice was a barely audible whisper. She looked over at him but he looked just as fear stricken as the other students, he had been caught just off guard as everyone else.
Hermione's eyes tore to the ground, my wand, where the hell did I set my wand? Someone must have kicked it while they were running, oh god. I need my wand, Harry please, snap out of it. Hermione felt her stomach contract as she felt a sudden emptiness begin to spread across her body. Images shot across her head, her voice telling her this was the end, and she was never going to be happy. A small edge in her mind was screaming in the distance, almost like a whisper. It was telling her to fight it, telling her to think of her friends, to think of how happy they were to still be alive. Your friends are drifting away Hermione, soon they'll be all gone. Your parents are gone, they'll never remember your face, and they'll never tell you they love you again. They'll never see they daughter amount to anything. Hermione felt her body working to fight against it, to try and fight the cold but it wasn't happening. In her peripheral vision she saw Harry move, his wand raising in his hand.
Their bodies closed in, student's bodies falling beneath the hooded black figures. Their eyes shielded beneath the tattered smoking cloaks, Hermione could see its mouth. Her skin prickled and bubbled with goosebumps. She fell, her mind pleading her to back away, to find her wand and fight. She edged her way back, her hands searching the damp grass for a wand, any wand, she didn't care whose. The dementor grew closer, its body now hovering hauntingly over hers. It was skeletal and cold, the dilapidated cloth of its robes snaking around Hermione's body. She could feel it twisting its way across her skin, as if to grab her and pull her closer, to feel her body grow limp as it took the warmth from out of her soul.
Hermione saw it flashing before her eyes, too quick to catch. She watched, her mother and father holding her hand as they skipped through a park, Tears streaming down her cheeks laughing as she sat between Ron and Harry, her mother telling her she loved her, speeding away into the dementor's mouth. A melancholy cold replacing the warmth of her body. Images of the war seeping into her mind. She watched as a group of blood-seeker's laughed and struck a young boy on the ground, their wands casting curses relentlessly as his limp body making remarks of his filthy bloodline, how he dirtied wizarding kind with his muggle blood. She watched as Mrs. Weasley's body shook heavily, sobs reaching the far corners of the castle, grasping her son's lifeless body. She could feel Ron collapsing into her arms, screaming Fred's name, tears running from her eyes as she watched more bodies pour into the Great Hall, not just bodies. Her friends, her dead friends pour into the hall, their eyes staring blankly at her, asking her why she never helped them, why she let them die.
Hermione eye's flashed, a blinding white light filling her vision and she heard someone yelling and she heard voices. More yelling as her body thumped to the ground, her head smacking the dirt heavily. Her vision blurred, darkness creeping into the edges of her sight. She saw a head come into her line of vision and she could hear them calling her name, but she couldn't reply. She was so tired, she just wanted to sleep.
"Hermione….Hermione! Answer me! Can you hear me!" The voice was so far away. Hermione could feel their hands shaking her body roughly but her vision continued to blur and darken. Hermione felt the darkness before she saw it and she was gone.
"They just came out of nowhere, there was at least thirty of them." Hermione heard the unmistaken voice of Ron Weasley talking from her bedside.
She slowly opened her eyes, her eyelids felt heavy and she was tired. Hermione could hardly think of another word for how tired she was besides dead, and that seemed a little over dramatic.
"Hermione! You're awake!" Ginny's eyes widened and her arms immediately surrounded her, holding her tightly.
"Yes, but I won't be for long if you continue to strangle me…thank you." Ginny released her and squeezed her hand as Hermione began to take in her surroundings.
She found herself in the hospital ward but she never would have guessed it as she had never seen so many people in this ward at once sans for a few occasions where the houses had gotten overtly rowdy or something absolutely terrible happened. This seemed to be the second of the latter for Hermione could see several Ministry Officials making their way through students, asking them questions and speaking in hushed whispers to professors. Hermione wasn't looking for him but she quickly found his eyes and found herself almost relieved. His face held no expression but his eyes held a stony gaze, the dark blue flickering in the light shining from the sunlight peeking through the windows. A ministry official was speaking to him and he was responding, but his eyes bore deep into Hermione's and she could hardly find it in herself to tear her gaze away, as if they were having some deep silent conversation through this simple eye contact.
"Do you remember anything?" Harry's voice broke the spell and she turned to look at Harry, feeling slightly shaken.
"Yes, that won't be something I-"She cut herself off, when she turned back to look at him again, he was gone as if he had disappeared. She scanned the crowd but couldn't catch sight of him anywhere. "Why were they here?"
"Nobody is quite sure, obviously they were sent. Dementor's hardly travel in packs of thirty just on whim." Harry's voice held a steely anger. "I was so stunned, I couldn't-I couldn't even-"His voice stuttered, his face turning a heavy shade of red.
"Nobody expects you to save everyone Harry. You can't get mad at yourself for not expecting something like that, it scared everyone." Ginny ran a comforting hand down Harry's shoulder, his body relaxing slightly under her touch. "If it hadn't been for Professor Riddle, they might've given a few student's the kiss too."
"Professor Riddle saved everyone?" Hermione felt her neck crick turning her head so quickly.
"Well, it was his Patronus that really got out first. The other professors were quick behind him," Ginny hadn't noticed Hermione's sudden pike of interest. "His Patronus is a snake, of all things. Isn't that odd?"
"Why didn't any of you tell me she was awake?!" Madame Pomfrey's shrill voice caused them all to jump. "You need chocolate, eat! Now!"
Hermione was taken aback as Madame Pomfrey stuffed a large piece of Honeyduke's chocolate into her mouth. The sweet taste sent warmth down Hermione's throat, her heart pumped quickly to race the warmth across her skin. She relaxed slightly, her body working to calm itself down.
"What's the ministry doing then?" Hermione's voice was muffled by large amount of chocolate she was trying to swallow.
"Well, since the war's ended, they've had a pretty good handle on the dementors. They haven't had any uprisings or break outs from Azkaban, especially with all the new guards and enchantments. I overheard Shacklebolt telling McGonagall that they honestly have no idea what happened or where they even came from. Obviously they aren't going to just tell the Ministry who sent them," Harry looked around and leaned forward. "I heard one official say he thinks some of Grindlewald's followers are trying to cause an uproar or riot of some sort, show their support for their fallen leader."
"Sounds like a bunch of bull to me." Ron's voice came from next to her as he came to sit down next to Harry.
"Where've you been?" Hermione raised her eyebrow as she finished off the last of her chocolate.
"Just checking on Lavender…" His voice was quiet and his face reddened, as though he were ashamed of telling Hermione this.
She said nothing and went silent, her head felt like a spinning top at the moment, her mouth biting in on itself to keep from spilling her secret. She of course had an inkling of who had sent the dementors and she was absolutely positive Tom did too. Her head worked to remember the head that stood above her shouting her name as she slipped into unconsciousness, had that been Tom? What do you care if it was? There isn't anything going on between the two of you anymore anyway. Hermione needed to talk to Tom and she needed to talk to him now, why would Dumbledore send dementors to attack students? She thought Tom told her he was here to watch the students and make sure nothing happened to Harry, so why would Dumbledore risk Harry's life by sending Dementors to the school? What would Dumbledore think when he found out Tom had saved the lot of them? Would he be punished?
"Did they say when they'll let any of the students leave?" Hermione peeked around her friends, searching for Madame Pomfrey.
"I've seen a few people just up and leave, there's too many people in here for her to keep an eye on everyone. I say you ought to leave whenever." Ron suggested, shrugging his shoulders.
Harry led them out the door, weaving them through professors and gossiping students until they reached the hall, Hermione was desperate to get down to the dungeons and see if her professor was down here, if she didn't speak to him soon and ask the questions that were slowly brimming to spill in her mind, she was going to explode.
"My wand!" Hermione gasped. She wasn't exactly lying, she had absolutely no idea what had happened to her wand. "I'm going to go get my wand, will you guys meet me in the common room?"
"Sure, we'll meet you up there." Harry shrugged and turned, pulling Ginny and Ron away up the staircase.
Hermione slowly made her way towards the Hospital ward, she waited behind a column for a minute or two before she finally bolted down to the dungeon entrance and practically ran towards the dungeons. She knocked once before opening the door and entering. He was sitting as his desk, furiously writing into a journal that sat in front of him. He looked up and a look of anger came quickly over his face.
"Are you crazy, Hermione? You need to be restin-"
"Why were they here?" Hermione walked up to his desk, she didn't have time to listen to him scold her.
"Now honestly isn't the time Hermione, you need to be upstairs with the other students." His voice held a stern anger to it.
"Don't treat me like some simple student! I want to know why he sent the dementors! You know it was him and so do I!" Her voice grew an octave, agitation itching at her skin.
"I'm not going to repeat myself Hermione." His teeth clenched in his mouth, he was growing annoyed with her.
"Well, I'm not leaving until I get answers, Tom!" She slammed her hands down on the desk. "I nearly had my bloody soul wrenched from my body and I feel like I'm entitled-"
"You aren't entitled to anything Hermione." He came around the corner of his desk, his body coming dangerously closer to hers. Hermione wasn't in the mood to back down, she took a step closer to him. He didn't falter. "You think because you almost felt the kiss of death, you deserve to have to coddle you and tell you everything you want to know? You almost died you daft daft girl! I had to carry your damn body up to the hospital wing. You think you're so entitled to all these answers and all this knowledge and yet you can't even fight off a damn dementor! If I'm not around to take care of you, you would die. You don't deserve anything until you can prove you're damn self to me."
"I deserve to know why I almost died. I-" She demanded, stepping closing to him, but then she stopped.
She was pressed against his bare chest and she seemed to have lost all the words that were in her throat. He looked down, his face void of anything. She would have given all the money in the world to just know for a second what he was thinking. He slowly dragged his gaze, taking his time until he came to look at Hermione's face. Hermione felt it, a hot heavy current traveling through every single vein in her body. She could feel it burn as it passed through every artery, every breath burned her lungs. She finally came to meet his gaze and it happened, so quick that she was surprised the friction of it didn't burn their lips. His hands raking down the sides of her body, pushing her forcefully up against the desk behind her. Her body hit the desk and she emitted a groan, her hands landing on his bare chest, raking her nails up the bare skin. She heard him gasp beneath her hands and it riled her even more, she felt him grabbing to rip at her shirt, simply shredding it down the middle, his mouth ripping at hers, sucking down the side of her neck, his teeth nipping into her skin.
Hermione felt like she wasn't close enough, she couldn't feel enough, there wasn't enough air, enough heat, enough kissing, enough skin. She felt him pushing her down on the desk, leaning over her sucking roughly on her chest. A part of her couldn't comprehend that the noises she was hearing were coming from her own mouth, that the heavy breathing and hot burns she felt were coming from his mouth on her skin. His hands grabbed at her body, like he wanted to tear her apart. She moaned through her lips when she felt her bra slide from her arms, the cold dungeon air raising goosebumps on her skin, her nipples peaking. Her eyes split open, her mouth gasping for breath when he finally placed his mouth onto her breast. She moaned, wiggling beneath him. His hand pushed her shoulder down, forcing her to still her body movements. His teeth and tongue toying with her relentlessly.
Her hands grasped him, her nails digging into his shoulder, her other hand pulling at his hair, raking her fingers through his hair. Her skin tensed as he began to move lower down, his tongue tasting every inch of her stomach all the way to the waistband of her jeans, his fingers moving skillfully over the buttons. Hermione's skin suddenly felt itchy, as if the clothing covering her skin was too much. When he finally peeled the jeans off her body, she felt as though she could breathe but it was quickly taken over by a sensation of anxiety. His mouth was moving lower and she felt her body begin to shake. Tom seemed to have sensed her anxiety for he paused, moving up to run a comforting hand down her body, trying to still her unease. He reached up and kissed her very gently on her lips, before kissing back down, his lips moving slowly and softly until they finally reached the edge of her panties.
She gasped when she felt the cold air…felt the cold air hit down there. Her body shivering and jumping with each kiss onto her thighs, his fingers gripping into the flesh of her inner legs. Her body absolutely froze when he finally reached the apex of her thigh, the skin so sensitive she swore she could feel her heart beating. Her body had pooled so much heat into her stomach and lower body it felt as though her skin were on fire.
"Oh, God." Her legs clenched up, her knees bending involuntarily. His lips kissed softly across her skin, he placed a hand on each thigh, spreading her legs. His thumbs coming up between her folds to open herself to him, his mouth coming down onto her heat, sliding his tongue down her crevice. Her back arched, a loud moan escaping her lips, her eyes held tight shut.
His mouth held no mercy, his hand coming up between her legs to rub something, oh god just please, don't stop. Yes, right there. Keep rubbing right there, oh God what are you doing, please keep going. Words spilled from her mouth, Hermione couldn't keep track of what was coherent and what was a stream of moans and slurred words. His pace grew, he rubbed quicker and harder. Hermione desperately tried to work herself against him. Hermione's body reacted of its own will, moaning his name and begging for more. She didn't know what she wanted more of, but her body craved it. She crave for his hands to be everywhere at once, his mouth to be all over her body. It wasn't long before Hermione's body began to wind itself up, her moans growing more consistent, Tom's hand rubbing harder, sensing her body nearing its end. She felt it traveling up from her toes, her body clenching waiting for it to happen.
Tom slowly slid his tongue up, slipping two fingers deep into Hermione as he reached the very top of her cunt. Her eyes shot open as something burst in her body, a hot spasm. She moaned, his name pouring out of her mouth, her body desperately trying to finish itself against his hand. He had pulled away, working his fingers inside her body. A hand moved to her hip, grasping it hard to help her work it harder. Hermione lost her sense of time and space, everything in her vision blurred by the sudden feeling exploding within her body. Tom was looking directly at her, his eyes burning with something Hermione couldn't place. She moaned softly when she felt a sudden emptiness replace his fingers. Her chest heaved, her body covered in a light sheen of sweat and her skin still burning from every single place his lips and hands had touched her.
He was quiet as he helped Hermione gather her clothing, running his wand across her ripped blouse and bra and handing them back to her. He was polite and gentle, his fingers running across her back as he helped clip the strap on the back of her bra. Hermione felt an even more deep sense of intimacy as he bent down, running his hand from the top of her thigh down the back of her calf to guide her leg into her jeans. Hermione's lips pursed and her cheeks pinked slightly as he began to button his shirt, tucking it into his jeans. She was unaware of what to say and couldn't find the power in her mind to speak or ask about what happened or even run away. She couldn't run away from this, this was different, it was dirty, it lingered in her skin, inside of her.
"I…I've never done…" The words wouldn't seem to come into her throat.
"Ever?" Tom raised an eyebrow, a curious look coming upon his face. "You're still a virgin?"
The word made Hermione twitch slightly, it was a crude word. It could be considered prude compared to what you've just done, don't you think?
"Yes…I've just never met anyone…Ron and I never made it that far…we…I kissed Viktor of course…" Her sentences seem to come in spurts.
"Just kissed? You've never done anything more?" His eyebrow raised even higher.
"Viktor wanted too of course…but I…" She trailed off, she wasn't exactly sure why she had ended things with Viktor. A part of her was positive, at least now it was, it was because she hadn't felt this.
"Dumbledore needs to build fear, he wants the world to know that they aren't safe. Of course he doesn't want them to be prepared, but he wants them to wonder. Right now, the ministry is under the assumption that one of Grindlewald's higher followers still has some power left with some stray dementors. They don't believe that someone of course is at the moment able to command them all, whether they are stray or Azkaban guards, at his will." Tom turned away from Hermione, his voice becoming more serious.
"That doesn't explain why he sent them to Hogwarts, why wouldn't he send them somewhere else? Wouldn't it make more sense to send them to a muggle village or a small wizarding village? It would have done more damage?" She found herself leaning against the desk behind her, her legs were shaking slightly to hold her weight.
"Hermione, if you hit a large family of adults, nobody is frightened. Sure, their worried but that's nothing. You hit a school, one's that's supposed to be protected, hit the children where the parents can't take care of them. Their worried, they become scared, their children become scared. The ministry and now parents and children are out there worrying about Grindlewald, maybe he wasn't actually killed. What if one of his followers is still causing problems? Dumbledore is making them look the other way. He was plans Hermione, can't you see?" He came in front of her, his hands grabbing hers, forcing her to look into his face.
"What is he planning?" Her voice was small. What was he doing that was so massive that he would be willing for students to die to simply distract the world from anything he was doing? Dumbledore almost killed me, he didn't care. He wouldn't have cared if I had died.
"That's what we have to find out."