Authors Note:
Okay so a few things.
I know my grammar is terrible. I'm not an actual writer and I'm sorry you guys. I actually am, I'm not being a smartass. I write this stuff and then am honestly to tired to even edit it. I'm lazy.
Not to mention I'm a terrible person because I wait twelve years in between each chapter. That's a bad move on my part.
Also to answer some inquiries
: You may be onto something ;) But I will never say what of course.
The TReviews mean the world to me, thank you guys. It's seriously the only thing I like reading. Anyways. Enjoy. Keep Reading and Reviewing!
That night, Hermione stayed the night in Tom's room. She'd really no idea how she was supposed to respond to what Tom had said to her. Every part of her body agreed, she had no idea how to handle what had happened in this room. She could never be seen with Tom in public, she could never talk to Ginny about their relationship. If they fought, she would have no one to go to, no one to give her comfort and tell her it would be okay. She was completely alone in the situation she'd found herself in. She could hear Tom's slow breaths signaling that he had fallen asleep. Her brain felt like it was working on every circuit.
She peeked over and saw his chest slowly rising and falling. She had never so fully agreed with anyone on anything in her entire life. This relationship, this love, this…whatever they wanted to call it, was going to be the death of both of them. He'd brought her in here to yell at her, to curse and punish her. To tell her how stupid she was and now here they both lay, naked in bed covered in each other's sweat. This was something neither of them knew how to handle. She couldn't get herself to fall asleep, everything that just occurred was playing on repeat in her head, every thrust, every moan, every time he said her name, every time she said his name.
Suddenly, she felt the urge to leave. She had to get out of here, she had to leave this room, leave this man who'd she just given her virginity too. She couldn't be here, he was a professor. He was her teacher, he was the man who she was helping save the wizarding world. Why in God's good name would she allow herself to have sex with him? What in her right mind made her decide that out of all the men in the world that she could have possibly done this with, he should have been the first? Why the hell was Tom Riddle so goddamn special? She very slowly moved her arm over, trying to edge herself off the bed, cringing her eyes as she slowly began to rise herself without moving the bed in the process.
"What's wrong?" His eyes weren't open and his voice was quiet as though he were barely awake.
"What? Nothing, I was just going to use the bathroom." She lied quickly, cursing herself for waking him.
"Don't lie to me." He still had his eyes closed.
"We just had sex, Tom." She needed to say it aloud, she needed it to be concrete. She needed it to be confirmed.
"Yes Hermione, we did." He finally moved to sit up, Hermione had to work to tear her eyes away from his body.
"I just had sex with my professor." She turned and stared forward, the words felt so foreign coming out of her mouth; she hardly believed it had actually happened.
However, it had happened. She could see where small bruises and hickies were beginning to form all over her body. She could still feel a light wetness between her legs and her stomach still had this trickling warm feeling at the very pit of it, warming slightly when she thought back to the way their bodies had been so closely intertwined.
"Hermione," He was looking at her, eyeing her carefully. "Hermione, look at me." He grabbed her, forcing her to turn around and look at him. "Are you okay?"
"I'm…I'm fine." She blinked, trying to clear her mind from the daze that it was stuck in.
"Was it that bad?" She could tell he was joking without looking at him, and she let out a loud laugh.
"It was…I can't describe it. I've never felt anything so…filling." She finally took to laying down and turned towards Tom who was still sitting up.
He had a small amused smile on his face, his blue eyes boring into her, tracing her body slowly. She could see a small hungry gleam in their depths. The amused smile remained on his lips as he lay back down with her, his hand waved and the remaining lit candles in the room went out. The room was pitch black now, but she could tell that his eyes were still on her, watching her carefully. She began to relax, and finally her body felt the immense feeling of sleepiness. Slowly she turned and curled up into Tom, allowing her body to completely relax against his. She felt his lips graze her head as his arms held her, pulling up the soft blankets over their bodies.
"Goodnight, Hermione."
Tom woke her early, making sure to get her out of his room before the castle had truly awoken. He was the epitome of kind as she dressed, running his fingers over her skin as he buttoned her shirt. She made to push him away but couldn't find herself to do it. She almost ended up staying another few hours, but Tom had more control than she did.
She had finished dressing and he leaned forward, kissing her as though he wouldn't see her again. His hands holding her tightly and then she found herself pushing him backwards towards his bed. He sat, allowing her to straddle him, his hands making laps up and down her legs and up her thighs into her skirt across her ass, squeezing slightly. They remained this way, Hermione straddling his lap while they kissed so slowly and passionately until Hermione began to rub against him. She could feel through her panties he was just as eager as she was, but his self-control retained him and he lifted Hermione off of him.
"We have all the time in the world." Was all he said as he walked her to the door.
Ginny was still fast asleep when she entered the room, the sun had yet to rise. According to her watch, she could sleep for another two hours before anyone in the castle actually awoke to do anything. She didn't let the opportunity pass her up either, she quickly dressed in some fresh pajamas and laid in bed, closing her bedroom curtains and sighing. She found herself running a finger across her lips, which still seemed to be tingling and swollen from the night's events.
Ginny didn't wake her when she got up, Hermione woke to find she had slept in until ten in the afternoon, much later than she could ever remember sleeping in till. When she finally made her way down into the common room, Ron was sitting down there alone. She looked around and saw that everyone had gone downstairs for breakfast or other activities and Ron seemed to be staring into the fire place alone.
"Ron?" She asked, coming around the side of the sofa as not to scare him, he jumped anyway.
"Oh, hey." He turned and looked at Hermione, but she frowned at the look on his face. "Listen, I'm so sorry about last night 'Mione. I really don't know what came over me, and I got us both-"
"No, it wasn't just you. I should be apologizing too. If I hadn't made that stupid bet with you, you wouldn't have gotten drunk and-"
At this point, they were talking over each other, trying to apologize and explain their actions but finally they both went quiet. Hermione watched as Ron reached and scratched his head, looking off with that weird frown he got whenever he was in an awkward situation. She knew what was coming next, his eyes would widen and he'd purse his lips together and his ears would turn a light pink color while he looked at everything around but whoever he was talking too.
"Are you ready to go down to breakfast, then?" He was looking around scratching his head.
Hermione felt a weird sensation raise off her shoulders as she and Ron made their way downstairs. If she didn't think about the fact that she was sleeping with her professor who she was going to be going away with to God-knows-where to try and kill Dumbledore, she would say for once in her life, she felt like a normal student. A part of mind however was nagging her, telling her she was forgetting something. However, she just ignored it. It obviously wasn't too important if she couldn't think about it, and she rarely forgot anything important.
"Hey you two. Thought you'd maybe died. I never heard you come back in." Ginny said as they took their seats in the great hall. Breakfast had begun to clear itself away but Ginny had saved her a plate.
"Thank you, God. I'm starving." She reaching for the eggs, slapping Ron's hand away from her toast. "You should have come and got it earlier."
"That's not fair! I had to wait up there for you!" He said reaching over her shoving elbow to grab it anyway.
Hermione suddenly became very aware of the fact that several students, more than several, it seemed as though half the hall, were spying looks at her and Ron. She did her best to ignore it after she realized it, but it was a little hard to ignore. She could even hear some whispers from the Hufflepuff table behind her.
"No, I swear it. Came back drunk as all hell, clinging all over each other. Heard Lavender's been sobbing in the Myrtle's bathroom all morning. Seamus told me that they're back together…" She found that she didn't really want to hear anymore.
Ginny seemed to have noticed she was listening because she too had looked over at the two fifth years that were whispering behind her. She gave Hermione a sympathetic look but just shrugged, nothing could really be done to fix what had happened except time. She suddenly looked up but felt a small pang of disappointment when she saw Tom was nowhere to be seen at the breakfast table. The only professor left was Professor Sinatra and she seemed to be dozing off, apparently she'd had a long night too.
"You think maybe we'll have detention together?" Ron asked as they finally left the great hall.
"I doubt Professor Riddle will be nice enough to allow us in the same room together. He'll probably have me scrubbing toilets. He made me scrub all the stupid shelves in the room last night for an extra two hours." She did her best to keep the heat from her face at her small lie.
"He'll probably have me scrub the lavatories with my own toothbrush-"
"Not a terrible idea, Mr. Weasley." All four of them jumped at the sound of their professor's voice. "However, I don't see that as character building enough for two children as of yourselves."
"Sir," Ron's voice was hard, as though he didn't mean the apology he was in the process of giving.
"You, Mr. Weasley, will have the privilege of spending the next two weeks as Mr. Filch's aide. I've heard he's in desperate need of someone to clean the abandoned classrooms on the 10th floor corridor. Apparently, they've been overtaken by rats, tragic really. Droppings everywhere." Hermione shot him a very reproachful look. While no one else may have been able to tell, she could very well see he was trying not to smile. The corner of his lips were slightly upturned in what one may have viewed as a half smirk.
"Yes, sir." Ron was looking down, his face beet red.
Harry and Ginny had taken to looking at the ground as well, but Hermione stood her ground. Tom seemed to have noticed, a slightly amused expression his face when he noticed how she stared straight at him. His eyes gave a flash of hunger as though he wanted nothing more than to grab her in the middle of this hallway in front of everyone watching. She didn't back down, she continued to look straight into his eyes.
"Something you'd like to add, Miss Granger?" His tone was just as amused as his eyes.
"Nothing important, Professor." Her voice came out snappier than she had intended, causing her friends to jerk their heads towards her in shock. Tom said nothing, a very small smile playing on his lips. However, it was gone as quickly as she had seen it. His face became its usual blank slate and he nodded curtly at them before walking off.
"When'd you grow that pair of balls, 'Mione?" Ron asked, his voice dumbfounded.
"I'm just sick of him always being all over me."
Ron and Harry had gone off to the grounds to play Quidditch with some of the boys, leaving Hermione and Ginny sitting under some trees near the lake, watching them all play around. Hermione couldn't exactly explain what was different inside her, but something was. She could feel it in everything around her. Her best guess was that she had finally had sex. She felt a sense of relaxation she couldn't really explain. Like her entire body had been held so tightly by these strings, guiding her in directions and telling her what to do, and she'd suddenly just cut them; now she was just hanging limp, relaxed free to do as she pleased.
She also knew a part of her was desperately trying to relax herself and tell her not to stress about this upcoming weekend. She had no idea where they were going and she knew Tom had no intentions of telling her either. She could feel that this week was going to slug by, making sure she felt every single second of every single minute passing. She wanted to tell herself that she was absolutely ready for it and that she wasn't scared, but that would have been a lie.
She didn't want to admit it to herself, but she was absolutely terrified she would do something incredibly stupid and ruin the entire thing. She'd either get killed or kill herself. Tom would be of no help if she shared this fear with him, he'd simply tell her not to come and just forget it. She knew her spell-work had been improving, and her dueling was getting better, but she honestly felt nowhere near ready to go and face whatever they were going to face. Tom hadn't exactly given her any hints about what they were going to be up against, and she was sure he was doing it on purpose. She was actually quite thankful he hadn't told her anything, she couldn't imagine how scared or worried she'd be if she actually knew what they were going to be doing.
She looked at Ginny who was laughing at something Harry had just done on his broom above them and wished for nothing more than to just spill everything. Just grab her by the shoulders, get in her face and shout 'I'M CURRENTLY SCREWING OUR DEFENSE AGAINST THE DARK ARTS PROFESSOR AND WE'RE GETTING READY TO TRY AND KILL OUR OLD FAVORITE HEADMASTER WHO WE ALL THINK IS DEAD.' However, something told her that was a very stupid idea, and she chose to listen to that part of her brain. While Ginny was usually on her side for mostly everything, she couldn't see any good reaction for anything of that magnitude.
"RON!" Hermione was quickly jolted out of her daydreams by a very loud high pitched screech coming from the castle. She closed her eyes, this is what I forgot. "RONALD WEASLEY!"
Lavender Brown was currently making her way down the hill towards her, a wand clutched in her hand and her face an ugly shade of red. To say that she looked pissed was a very large understatement. Hermione actually felt the need to grab her wand just in case she changed course. Ginny must have come to the same idea for she stood up, her wand clutched in her hand, hidden behind her leg. Ron had landed quickly trying to come up to Lavender. She had her hand out so fast, Hermione didn't even see it happen, but she heard it. A very loud sharp slap sounded across the hill causing all the students in the surrounding area to flinch and gasp. Hermione was surprised the force and velocity of it didn't cleanly break Ron's neck off.
"Stop," Hermione grabbed Ginny's hand as she made to move forward to help her brother. "You'll only make it worse if you interfere."
However, Lavender didn't kill him. Ron looked very nervously around, very aware of how many people were watching this interaction. Neither Hermione nor Ginny could make out what he was trying to say to her but they could clearly hear what Lavender was saying.
"Out of all the people to cheat on me with!" She pointed a furious finger over in Hermione's direction, who was now watching with some amusement. Ron pushed her finger down, saying something else. "Everyone saw you two together! Drunk and hanging off of each other like you'd just finished-"
At this point, Ron cut her off. His face was such a deep shade of red, it looked as if his entire head was on fire. Hermione knew that she should probably say something to let Lavender know that nothing did happen but she hated Lavender so much, she couldn't bring herself to actually do it. Ginny seemed to be thinking along the same lines.
"Are you going to say anything?" She asked backing up, a small smile on her face.
"Nope, not a thing."
It was the following Monday when Hermione finally heard how drastically the story of what had gone down between herself, Lavender, and Ron changed. She was sitting in her Magical Maladies class trying desperately to ignore Cormac as they attempted to treat a horned toad that had been infected with Vanishing Sickness, causing its two hind legs to continually appear and disappear. Cormac had been hinting at the situation since their professor dismissed them to treat the toad.
"I won't lie Hermione," She was afraid that if she cast the spell while this angry, she'd kill the poor thing. "This whole you and Ron thing has got me worried. I certainly don't like what everyone is saying about you. I mean, it just doesn't seem like you to get drunk and try and kiss Ron like that while Lavender is right there."
"What?" She asked confounded.
"I mean, I know it's hard to move on. You and Ron were together for a while and-"
"Cormac, usually I wouldn't bother to correct you. Honestly though, it's really none of your business. What happens between me and my friend doesn't concern you-"
"Hermione, please. Anything you do concerns me. I mean, we're so close."
At this point, Hermione just kept her mouth shut, but only out of the pure kindness of her heart. She knew that if she opened her mouth, the only thing that would come out would have been some rather nasty names along with a possible unintentional hex. The rest of her day went along smoothly, except for Lavender continually sending Hermione the coldest glare she could muster every time she saw her and Ron together. At lunch time, Hermione realized that Lavender wasn't the only one closely watching her actions with Ron. Tom seemed to be staring quite intently when Ron took his seat next to her, making a joke about something he'd just seen one of the younger Slytherin's do.
"You're awful, he's just a kid." She laughed, shoving him. "You were no better when you were his age."
Tom eyes narrowed into slits when she caught eyes with him, giving her a warning. She sent him the same reproachful look back and continued to eat her lunch. By the time her detention had rolled around, he was quick to tell her what he thought.
"You're not helping yourself you know." Were the first words out of his mouth when she entered his classroom.
"I like when you get jealous." She shrugged, making her way into room.
"Feeling cocky tonight aren't we?" He walked over and handed her a book.
She looked down and realized it was the book he had taken from her the night that they had been cleaning out the back room. She eyed it curiously then gave him a confused look.
"What are we doing with this?" She asked flipping through it.
"You can start studying it. You're going to be experiencing a few things in it, no doubts. Do not," His voice put heavy emphasis on the words like he was speaking to a child. "attempt any of the spells in this book if you are not with me. This is dark magic Hermione, it's not what we do in here. You read it, memorize it. You're one of the most studious students in the school, you need to read this and study this like your exams depended on it."
"Where did this come from?" She felt her stomach convulse when she read the description for the spell she had landed on. "You don't expect me to do any of these do you?"
He didn't say anything, he just stared at her with a knowing look, answering her question silently
"Tom…where are we going?" She sat the book down.
"Listen, we aren't going into specific places, Hermione. Dumbledore wouldn't have gone into a house or just any place and left part of his soul. These are places where you won't find many wizards or muggles going. You have to understand, these are places where nobody wants to go."
"Where the hell are we going, Tom?"
"We have all week to get ready, there's no need to be nervous." He said turning around walking to his desk.
"Why won't you tell me anything?" She came around to his desk, confronting him.
"You don't need to-"
"You expect me to go with you to whoever the hell know where and just follow your every word?"
He gave Hermione a very dark look, his posture taking a change and he began to walk towards her. He grabbed his wand and pointed it at her, coming right at her neck with it. She froze, taking a small step back.
"Answer me something, Hermione. How do you know I'm not on his side?" She took another step back, but he continued to walk towards her trying to close the space between them. His wand was pressing softly into the middle of the base of her neck. "Everything you've learned so far, everything I've told you. It's all just word of mouth. What makes you think that I'm the good guy? You don't think that maybe I'm the bad guy?"
She didn't say anything, she moved to slap his wand away from her neck but he grabbed her hand and squeezed her wrist hard, causing her to gasp in pain.
"Isn't that what you've been doing so far? Doing whatever I saw and going where I go, no questions asked? Maybe Dumbledore is the good guy, maybe I'm the one who needs to be stopped." Tom had backed her into a desk and she stumbled, sitting down on it. She tried to pull her wrist from Tom but he held tightly. He closed in, his face close enough for her to taste his breath. "You want to start questioning everything now? You want to know everything now?" He pressed his wand harder into her throat, she felt a hot sensation coming from the tip moving into her neck.
She slowly reached into the pocket of her jacket, eyeing his arm. The smile that was on his lips made her blood run cold. All of a sudden, while she reached for the wand that lay in her robe, she realized she knew nothing about the man sitting in front of her. She didn't even know where he was even from. She couldn't even say for certain if his name was actually Tom Riddle.
The smile on his lips grew when her wand made contact with his stomach. She stood up, pushing him back. The look on his face making her feel sick to her stomach. She was coming to the realization she'd given her most intimate possession to a man she knew absolutely nothing about. She pressed the wand as hard as she could into her stomach. The look on his face gave Hermione the very sickening impression that he was enjoying this situation.
"Don't threaten me." She felt her wand surging beneath her fingers, the heat beneath her fingers grew when she felt a pulse beat from the wood into her hand. She knew Tom felt it for the tick in his cheek began to move and the smirk slowly settled. "Don't threaten me, don't treat me like I'm stupid."
"You didn't answer my question." His voice had become increasingly terrifying, she worked to control her breathing. He was testing her, he was just testing her. "You don't know anything about me Hermione, you want to take charge here and act all high and mighty? Then keep it up!" He backed up, raising his wand to her, his eyes becoming slitting themselves. The small smile that remained on his lips made Hermione want to vomit.
She barely caught the spell that was launched at her, her shield caught it, but only by a small shot. She could feel the aftershock surge through her shield into her stomach hitting her like a punch to the gut. She winced and took her stance, brandishing her wand around and firing back. For the past few weeks, Tom had placed much emphasis on the use of non-verbal spells.
"Nothing will get you killed faster than revealing your choice of spell by speaking. Any good wizard can figure out within seconds what spell you plan to use before you can even finish getting it out of your mouth. Dumbledore will have killed you within the time it takes you to even open your mouth."
"I see you opening your mouth, don't even try it." He seemed to have read her mind, his wand speeding another spell her way as he spoke.
Hermione couldn't understand how he was able to speak and master such powerful spells at the same time. She could barely blink and master such a powerful spell, it seemed almost impossible to do more than one thing while dueling like this. She gritted her teeth harder she, a bead of sweat falling down onto her face. The duel continued, finally until Tom's wand did a very elaborate wave in his hand, trailing a flaming serpent along the tip. Hermione found herself momentarily distracted by the façade and it proved to be her downfall. The serpent flew through her shield, smashing it like it was nothing more than a thin glass. It wrapped around her ankle, burning the skin as it pulled her up and lifted her upside down.
His wand moved again and her wand flew from her hand, landing in Tom's outstretched fingers. She made no move to grab it, she was more focused on holding her skirt down over herself in a desperate attempt to regain some modesty. The snake wrapped around her ankle was beginning to become more painful, blistering the skin around her leg as it weaved up her thigh as though it were trying to constrict her legs. She felt her face burning as all her blood rushed towards her head. She saw Tom moving closer towards here. Tom's wand waved and the snake's brilliant red-orange hue began to fade to a dark purple-blue, though its grip still remained tight.
"Let me down!" She struggled in mid-air, pulling at her skirt.
"Don't understand why you're doing, I've seen everything." He chuckled, his eyes had returned to their normal dark obsidian blue.
"Let me down Tom, this isn't funny. Just let me down." The snake had now weaved itself up to the very top of her legs. It now felt as though someone had placed a very warm rope around her thighs and was trying to tie it tighter and tighter. It moved past her panties and wrapped itself around her waist before staying there. "Get the stupid thing to let go."
"I may just leave you here all night, punishment for acting the way you've been acting." He walked around her and she felt his fingers trail along her legs, a finger all over the skin where the snake wasn't wrapped.
Her skin was trembling and she suddenly felt very cold, the only warmness in her body coming from the very depths of her stomach, right above her panty line. She tried desperately to move to turn herself around but it was no good, with each move the snake seemed to grip tighter. Tom came around to face her, his fingers sliding down from her legs to her torso then to her face. His fingers gripped her chin and he moved forward, his lips pressing hard against hers. Her breath hitched his tongue moved across her lips to taste her. She closed her eyes and relaxed into the kiss as his soft lips pressed harder into hers. She moved away and giggled.
"Got you." Tom had paid no attention when she'd slowly released the grip she held on her skirt. His attention to closely focused on her body and lips. She'd held her hand out slowly towards his robes, the other moved to grip his face to keep his attention. He hadn't felt it when her wand slowly moved into her hand. Now her wand was held firmly in her fingers, pressed straight into the very middle base of his neck.
"Now we're learning." He tittered, his lips were still pressed against hers.
The rest of her week seemed to be going by too fast. She found that she could hardly eat as Friday grew closer and closer. Her number one priority was to make sure nobody noticed how terrified or nervous she was, especially Tom. Just as difficult was hiding it from Ginny who seemed to sense that Hermione was becoming increasingly tenser as the days came to a close. Break was coming up closer and with break came the seventh year's mid-term exams. She found her courses becoming harder and harder and could hardly come to sleep. She'd stay studying whenever she had free time, then would stay up until close to one in the morning attempting to prepare herself for whatever her and Tom were to do.
"Hermione, your hair is going to fall out. Come on, I'm going to watch Harry and Ron practice Quidditch at the pitch, Come with me." Ginny begged as Hermione continued to read the same paragraph twelve times over and over again.
"I have to study." She wasn't lying, though to Ginny it may have looked as though she were reading advanced Transfiguration spells, she was truly trying to read and memorized the book that Tom had given her.
She wasn't going to pretend that this book hadn't been giving her nightmares either. Just last night she'd awoken from a dream in which she'd preformed a curse which caused the victims muscles to melt within their body and then bleed from all their orifices, all while keeping them alive to feel it. She'd woke up sweating and shaking so ferociously she was tempted to go and ask Madame Pomfrey for a calming draught.
"Please, I'm worried about you. You haven't even been eating and I'm afraid you're going to make yourself sick. Just for an hour or two. Come on, for me." She did her best puppy-dog impression.
Hermione laid her head down on the table in an attempt to try and clear her head. All she could think of was dark magic, curses, magical maladies and potions, and Tom Riddle. She had no doubts that her hair was already falling out. She had taken to simply putting her hair up in a messy bun to avoid brushing it, afraid she would be pulling out chunks and find a bald spot. She looked up from the lunch table she was seated at and found herself searching for Tom. Tom's face was always a blank portrait but today, his face seemed more severe. His lips were pressed together in a thin line and she was positive she could see the tick in his jaw going. His eyes were glaring into hers so heavily it was as if he were trying to say something to her, but she couldn't see what it was.
"You've got dark circles bigger than Galleons and your skin is going to turn white. Come on, let's go. I'm not taking no for an answer Hermione." Her gaze was ripped away from Tom as Ginny slammed the book shut and pulled on her arm.
She quickly shoved the book into her bag and made her way towards the Quidditch pitch as Ginny dragged her by the arm. By the time they reached the pitch and found some seats in the stand, she completely agreed with Ginny. Though it was freezing outside and the sun made no effort to give any warmth, she appreciated feeling the light on her face. The breeze, though it burned her nose, smelled fresh and free and was so much better than that of the books she'd have her nose shoved in for the past few weeks.
"Ron's been doing really well, though he gets a little nervous when the Slytherin's show up." Ginny said nodding at Ron who'd just made a spectacular save from his broom.
"You think he'll be okay by the game Saturday?" Hermione felt bad not being able to go his game Saturday and she hadn't told him she couldn't go either.
"He's done amazing the past few games, if they can win this game, they'll just have to beat Ravenclaw for the cup…" Ginny trailed off as she watched Harry swoop across the pitch. "How's your classes with Professor Riddle going?"
"Hmm?" She caught her breath, surprised by the sudden change in topic. "Oh, they're going well. They're keeping me busy."
"Can I ask you something and you tell me the truth?" Hermione felt everything south of her neck freeze. Her insides suddenly felt very hollow and her mouth dried so quickly it was almost as if her tongue had swollen to the size of her entire mouth.
"S-sure." She could hardly find the words in her.
"Is there something going on that you're not telling me about? You can trust me you know, with anything. You've been acting strange lately, you're so tired and stressed. I know exams are coming up but this is different. You're so much more stressed than usual and I'm just worried about you. Ron and Harry have noticed too, they wanted me to ask." Ginny was staring at her very intently and Hermione suddenly realized how very hot she was.
"No, there's nothing. It's just the workload and then the classes with Professor Riddle. He's wearing on my nerves. All the things from last year too, it's just a few things. It's nothing to worry about, I'm okay." Hermione couldn't think of having told a bigger lie to anyone ever, or at least it felt that way.
"You promise?" Ginny's eyes were searching her for any sign of the truth.
"Of course." Hermione turned away to look at Ron as he swooped down to catch the Quaffle. She couldn't look at Ginny, she would know she was lying.
THURSDAY
"You look tired." Tom noted as she walked into his room. She turned to glare at him as she set her book bag down.
"You're compliments overwhelm me, please." She mumbled rolling her sleeves up. "Of course I'm tired, I've been in here until one every night. I'll be lucky if I don't fall asleep during a duel."
"Is this you saying you don't want to go? You'd rather stay here and sleep in?" He raised an eyebrow.
"Oh shut it. You know that's not what I meant." She snapped.
"Oh, and aren't we a little grumpy today?" A smile graced his lips as she pulled out the book she'd been reading.
"I finished reading it. It's disgusting, I can't believe anyone actually came up with those things. It's been giving me nightmares." She tossed the book at him. "So not only am I getting about four hours of sleep, I'm woken periodically with nightmares from this book and whatever the hell I think we're going to be doing. I'm fucking tired." Tom's eyebrows remained raised as she continued her rant. "I feel like I'm falling behind in all my classes and Cormac won't leave me the hell alone. My exams are coming up and I barely have the time to study with all this shit we having going on here. I don't even know what we fucking are! You won't fucking bring it up, and I'm not going to do it! You don't even tell me anything, I don't even know your middle name for Christ's sake! My friends are all worried about me because they think something is going on with me and I won't tell them and you know what? The dance is only a few weeks away and I don't have a fucking date!" She huffed, her face red from exertion.
Tom didn't say anything, but he just stared at her. He had a very amused expression his face and he didn't make any move to come towards her or reply to her. She sat down at the desk next to her and put her head down on her arms. She took her time taking deep breaths as the feeling of embarrassment began to settle in. She had the urge to slam her head violently against the desk. She sat there with her head pressed into her arms for another minute or two before Tom finally spoke.
"Marvolo." He said softly, he was next to her now. She felt him sit in the seat next to her.
"What?" She said lifting her head to give him a confused look.
"My middle name, it's Marvolo. My whole name is Tom Marvolo Riddle Jr." He leaned back in his chair, his legs stretched out. The sight of him sitting so relaxed almost made Hermione want to laugh.
"Jr?"
"My father," The word came out with venom. "Was Tom Henry Riddle Sr. He was a muggle-"
"You're a half-blood?" Her eyes widened. "Does Dumbledore know?"
"Of course not. My father was an awful man. Nobody knows of him, he's dead now. Good riddance, I almost wish I'd have killed him. My mother was a pureblood, Merope Cerelia Gaunt. My mother's side was inbred, desperate to keep the blood pure. It made them crazy, my grandfather, Marvolo Gaunt, was crazy from years of inbreeding. They were poor, disgustingly poor and lived in this small little shack in a tiny little village you've never heard of. My father was a rich muggle who lived in the town and my mother somehow tricked her way into becoming his maid. He never really loved her and he never loved me, she gave him a love potion and they stayed that way forever. Finally when I was conceived, my mother believed that my father would love her, that he would wake up and realized he actually was crazy about her." She watched as his fist clenched so hard it was turning his knuckles white. "He woke up and was terrified, he wanted nothing to do with the either of us. He ran out leaving my mother alone, she had to sell all her possessions including one of our family's last heirlooms. She would arrive at the orphanage where I would be raised in labor. She died giving birth to me, December 31st, 1987. When I was seven years old, I ran away and was able to steal enough money to buy myself a ticket to France. I was around ten when I finally got there. I was picked up by some cops a few months after I arrived, caught stealing food from a shop."
She was unsure of what to say, but she could feel questions welling up inside her like a balloon.
"How did you find out you were a wizard though?" She leaned forward.
"A man, one of my professors from Beauxbatons. He was the recruiting professor, it was his job to inform wizards such as myself of their abilities. Most students would receive letters, how muggle-born's or students in cases like mine would receive visits." His eyes were boring into Hermione's.
"What did you do when you left school?"
"I was offered many jobs when I left school. I was top of my class and showcased a lot of magical ability and talent. However, by then the war had been going on. Grindlewald had great power over France and I was eager to involve myself and do something. I wanted to kill Grindlewald, I wanted to fight." The hairs on the back of her neck stood up at the look of hunger that had suddenly come into his eyes. "I managed to wedge myself into the wrong crowd and work my way up, I met Dumbledore then."
"Why do you read muggle books?"
"I only enjoy the classics. I can relate to some of them. I especially enjoy Frankenstein, it's one of my favorites." He nodded to the much worn copy of Frankenstein that lay on his desk.
Hermione sat there quietly for a second, taking it all in. She desperately tried to sort through all the questions that were running through her mind. She stared at him, trying to picture him as a child living off the streets.
"Surely you suspected you were different though? Able to do things other children weren't?" She asked curiously.
Tom's smile widened and she shivered involuntarily.
"Oh yes. I had an inkling. I was a small child and living in the streets in Paris wasn't easy. I might use the muggle phrase "eat or be eaten" as a very good example of what it's like. However, I found very early on it wasn't necessary for me to scrap for my food as it was for some of my fellow companions. I was able to injure…in some cases maim…" The look on his face was beginning to make her nauseous. "Those who tried to take from me or simply go against me. I was able to make things happen when I was angry. I wasn't surprised when Dr. Frederick came to find me."
Hermione suddenly realized how very uncomfortable she felt around the man she had found herself so enthralled with for the past two months. She still feel like she barely had any inkling who Tom Riddle was or what he was about.
"I was working my way up through Grindlewald's rank when I met Dumbledore. Grindlewald saw talent in me, but not the way Dumbledore did. He took me aside after a meeting. Told me he had a great favor to ask me, he sent me along with some of his friends, you've met them, Greyback and his friends. Sent me on a little trip with them to see what he really was about. Less of an errand really, more of an off a few of his closest-"
"STOP!" Hermione stood up and put her hands over her ears. She couldn't listen anymore. "That's enough. I don't want to hear it. I don't want to hear about the people you've killed or tortured."
"How can you not bare to hear something so simple and mundane and yet claim that you've seen all the evil this world has to offer?" Tom scoffed.
"Those were not my words." She glared at him going to grab her jacket. Obviously nothing was going to happen in here tonight and she wanted to go to bed. While Tom seemed to be able to miraculously manage to look like a fallen angel off of four hours of sleep and less, she needed at least six to feel like she wasn't dying. "I'm going to go to bed, I'll see you tomorrow."
"Hermione, stop. I wasn't trying to bug you off." Tom rolled his eyes, his face remained looking like an adult which was a trifle annoyed with a small child. "Here, come with me."
"Where are we going?" She grabbed her bag following him slowly.
"Shhh." He turned and bent down slightly to press a finger to her lips. She pursed them, pulling away annoyed. "Just follow."
He didn't lead her anywhere interesting just to his room. He closed his door behind her, removing her robe and bent down to remove her loafers. She blushed and moved to pull her foot away but he held and gave her an admonishing look. He pointed to his bed and walked to his dresser where he began to remove some of his clothing. First his robe, then his tie, and his shoes. He unbuttoned the top button of his shirt as he walked over to Hermione.
"Calm down, I'm not going to jump you." He responded to the strict way she was holding her body. "I just figured you'd like to lay down for a change." He moved across the bed and laid back against his pillow turning to look at her expectantly. "Go on, ask me anything you'd like."
She sat there for a second staring at him trying to gauge exactly what his motives may be. He was abnormally more relaxed than usual and seemed to be much more open than he'd ever been with her before. She kept an eye on his as she moved to place her back against the wall of his bed and pulled the covers up over her legs and pulled one of his pillows into her lap.
"Do you like movies?"
"I enjoy a good classic horror movie now and then. Boris Karloff is a personal favorite." Another small smile. "And you? What movies do you enjoy?"
"I rather like Pride and Prejudice, I could watch it a thousand times." He made a look. "What?"
"I could've guessed something like that."
"Oh, alright. Since you know me so well, I forgot. Your favorite food?"
"Eggplant Parmesan."
This continued for what felt like hours, until Hermione could think of no more questions to ask, or at least until she was too tired to think of anymore. Favorite music? Jazz. What languages do you speak? French, Russian, Bulgarian, Hungarian, Chinese (though it could use some work), Latvian, Romanian, Mermish, Runes, Spanish, and very very little Gobbledegook. Have you ever been in love? (There was no answer for this question, just a very stern look) Do you like to drink? Not particularly, I do enjoy a glass of wine every now and then. Pet Peeve? Oh, I have many. But I do especially hate being wrong. (That's not really a pet peeve now though, is it?) I'd go as far as to say it's your pet peeve as well. I see how upset you get when you're disproved.
She felt as though she'd asked a thousand questions before she found she could hardly keep her eyes open. She had begun to stoop in his bed, realizing how very comfortable she was lying next to him. She heard him chuckle as she moved the pillow around to lay her head on. She felt herself being lulled even farther when the lights dimmed and his arms came around her, his legs coming behind her to spoon her. His body fitting perfectly into the nooks and cranny's of hers. She was almost asleep, so close she couldn't have moved or spoken if she'd wanted too. In fact so close, she could've imagined the word's she heard whispered in her ear.
"You're the first I've ever loved…and I'd like to keep it that way."
Hermione had packed her necklace bag full of quite honestly anything she could think she might need on their journey, though Tom had told her he would pack everything they would need. She found that the person she was wouldn't allow her to not pack a few extra items…just in case. She was to meet Tom in an hour down in the dungeons where he would kindly escort her down to the village of Hogsmede. As far as Professor McGonagall was concerned, Hermione was asked to return to St. Mungo's and Tom was nice enough to take her there with more errands to run in London. This time, she'd though ahead of time and told Ginny where she would be going. Whatever doubts Ginny had the first time around, they were gone. She wished her luck with Professor Riddle and told her to have fun in London, to bring her back something "cute."
She decided to head down to the dungeons early, she felt much too nervous to remain in her dorm just sitting around picking at the lint on her skirt. She was nearly ready to start picking holes into her skin. She glanced at the small watch on her wrist and finally made her way down. She knocked politely on the door.
"You're early." He said a few moments later as he opened the door.
She eyed him and felt an odd warm hunger in the pit of her stomach. His hair was styled in its usual part, waved handsomely to the side of his face. He worn a sweater with a fancy buttoned jacket and a nice pair of dark slacks. She had yet to change into her winter clothes from her school clothes, she'd planned to do it before they left.
"I should've dressed before I came down but I thought it might look odd if I were to come down to the dungeons in my casual attire." She blushed looking down at her feet.
She entered the room and removed the necklace from around her neck, rummaging around for her clothes. She changed quickly her face burning as Tom stared at her as though she were a one woman show. She was so shaky she could hardly get her foot into her pants.
"Stop staring, you're making me nervous." She buttoned her jeans and made to take her shirt off. She jumped when she felt Tom's fingers slide around her stomach. "Tom-"
She was cut off by his lips, he had spun her around and locked his fingers deftly in her hair. One hand made to grab her leg and pulled it around him, his fingers sliding up her thigh to come between her legs grasping hard to make her gasp aloud. She felt blood running hot throughout her body as she felt his hardness press into her stomach telling her exactly what he felt and what he was wanting. He pulled her hair causing her to pull away from his lips.
"We have some time to kill." A very sly seductive smile creeped across his lips and he pressed them back against her skin trailing them all over her neck and chest. "And I know just how I'd like to spend it." He spoke in-between small bites to her chest.
She moaned softly every time his teeth sunk into her skin grabbing desperately onto him, her fingers twirling his hair around in her fingers messing up the soft waves. She didn't stop him when he pushed her roughly to the desk behind her forcing her to sit. She didn't stop him when he ripped the button of her pants upon, snapping it off or when he yanked them down. She encouraged the way his lips moved up her thighs, giving her a devilish look before pushing her to lay back on the desk and pulling her panties to the side to taste her soft skin that lay beneath. She found herself gasping his name when his tongue flicked the hot bead between her legs, her knees bending up and desperately trying to pull him closer, make him taste even deeper.
She found herself screaming, that deep bursting sensation streaming throughout her body burning every inch of her skin when he bit softly on her clit, his fingers pressed inside her folds making a simple come-hither motion. She felt a shock of cold air hit between her legs, forcing her to realize how wet and hot she was from his lips and her own juices as he pulled away. His face was hard, wild. His eyes moving across her skin like he wanted to tear her apart. He pulled her up, his pants already undone, he wasted no time even pushing them down. He simply removed his cock, yanking her forward on the desk forcing her to lap his legs around him. He teased her, whispering in her ear as he rubbed his cock between her legs forcing her to feel how hard and hot he was.
"Tell me you want it." His voice was so gruff and harsh, it made her even wetter.
"Please…Tom." She shamelessly grinded her body trying to get him to enter her.
"Say it!" He pulled at her hair again, pulling her head back. He bit up her neck causing her to moan and rub herself even more against him until he reached her ear again. "I want you to tell me you want it. I want to hear you say it."
He placed the tip right at her entrance, pressing just the head in and she moaned trying to move closer but he held he had let go of her hair and placed his hand on her chest holding her. She heard him chuckle and she couldn't take it.
"God Tom. I need you to fuck me, please. I want you to fuck me. Please God, Tom. Fuck me right here. I need it." She had no shame, she couldn't control herself.
Tom, it seemed, couldn't take it anymore either. He pushed into her so hard and deep she came on contact, wrapping her legs so tightly around his body trying to keep him right there and she worked herself, desperate to work it out. He kissed her hard on the lips, forcing her to taste her own wetness. She couldn't have cared less, she was desperate to taste his lips, to taste him in every way she could. He pulled away and forced her to lay back down, pulling her to where her ass was halfway off the desk, the cold hard wood of the desk scratching against her back. He gripped her thighs hard, his fingers digging into her skin and he began to move. He was ruthless, pumping into her as hard and deep as physics would allow. She'd lost track of the time, lost track of what she'd even come down here for.
Soon, he began to go slower, harder, beads of sweat rolling down his face. He pulled her up from the desk causing her to stand up. Her legs wouldn't hold her but it didn't matter, he quickly whipped her around and prompted shoved her chest down on the desk bent over in front of him. He kicked her legs apart and his fingers grabbed into her shoulder and the other digging straight into her waist. He began his rhythm again and it was all different. The angle was deeper, he was hitting a spot and she could hardly describe the feeling. It was right there, oh god, right there. Don't stop. I need it right-oh god. Don't stop- please don't fucking stop. She was begging him and he was giving it to her, slamming her into the desk so hard she was sure it would bruise her entire waist. Finally she felt it inside, he seemed to have grown longer, and his pumps becoming more defined, slower and harder making sure she felt every single inch of his cock inside her. His words became stressed and spaced; Fuck you feel so tight, you're so good. I can't get enough-fuck you're too tight. I fucking love it, I fucking love you. God, you're so perfect, so fucking perfect. Oh God…you're so perfect Hermione…I'm almost there…please. I need this, I need you. He moved his hands to her shoulders and pulled her as hard against him as she would go, hitting that spot so perfectly she gripped the desk screaming. Her body forcing her to cum with him as he pumped his seed inside her, working it out his moans heaving from his chest as her tight cunt massaged it out of him.
He leaned over her, the both of them breathing so deeply it was impossible to tell one hammering heartbeat from the other. Tom had only removed his jacket and sweater, but his shirt stuck to her skin soaked in sweat, but as for whose she couldn't say. She didn't feel like she was capable of moving. They laid there for what seemed like an hour before he finally sat up, his breath had slowed and he ran a finger down the length of her spine, causing her to shiver. He helped her stand up, but it didn't do much good, her legs wouldn't hold her. She sat against the desk suddenly becoming very self-conscious of how naked she was.
Tom was nothing but kind, handing her the bra he'd somehow ripped off without her noticing, turning away as she placed it on. Handing her the panties he'd tossed onto the floor bending down to help her slide her legs into them. He grabbed the fitted sweater she had pulled out to wear and turned away as she redressed herself. She winced as she bent down to put her boots on, dreading how much worse the pain would be tomorrow.
"I love you." He came around her as she buttoned her jacket, whispering in her ear. She fumbled the buttons and caught herself, she couldn't get used to it. She turned to face him and felt such an overwhelming feeling that she almost couldn't respond.
His lips pressed against hers and held softly moving to take his time and she relished in it. A part of her wished that they could just sit like this all night that they didn't have to go anywhere. He pulled away too soon and ran a finger under her chin.
"Are you ready to go?" He waved his wand over his shirt returning it to its clean state and put his outer clothes back on.
"I think so, you don't happen to have anything to help with the soreness do you?" She glanced around towards his supply cabinet.
"I might, but I'd rather you feel it. I want you to think about it every time you take a step." A devilish smile replaced the sweet look that held his face a second ago.
"Are we…"
"Yes. Be Quiet." Tom's voice was so stern and severe that she felt like a young child in trouble.
Hermione wished very much to hold Tom's hand but she felt he'd think her even more childish than she already was. The only light that surrounded them came from the tip of Tom's wand. She gripped her wand so firmly in her hand she doubted even a disarming spell could take it from her. The walls around them weren't in facts walls at all, rather thousands upon millions of skulls and bones, the remains of millions stacked and shoved into one another to make an endless maze of the dead. Hermione wasn't sure where at but she knew that they were somewhere in the very large Catacombs of Paris.
Tom had no map but seemed to know exactly where he was going. She was standing as close to Tom as she could get without actually touching him, desperate to stay in the light of his wand. She was trying very hard not to stare at the endless wall of skulls and human bones that lay around her. Along with their quiet footsteps she could hear the chittering of what she was hoping to God were rats. Something inside her seemed to be whispering in the back of her mind that they seemed to be going downwards, actually she was very positive. They were going down at a very steep incline. She bit her lip to keep from asking any questions although she had a million running through her head. She continued down until she abruptly ran into Tom's hand, scaring her half to death. Tom must have been prepared for that for his hand swooped quickly over her mouth, his dark eyes burning into hers to remind her to shut up. She nodded her head as an affirmation and he slowly removed his hand, turning to face forward.
In front of them lay the most disturbing skeleton she'd ever had the misfortune to lay eyes on. It had been staked into the wall and with some horrifying act of magic the skin where it'd been staked still remained. It's body was contortioned into a very grotesque manner, it's legs twisted as though broken from its body while they were still alive, it's arms bent at terrible broken angles. It's jaw was split down the middle and a stake ran through it's mouth. What looked like a dark tar substance dripped from the stakes, as Tom's wand moved closer she realized with a very sickening notion that it was blood. As twisted and disgusting as it's body was, it was spread across the wall. The most sickening part was that the skull that was staked to the body was still covered in rotted flesh, it's deflated rotting grey eyes dripped a pus like substance that mixed with the blood. The smell emitting from the corpse was just as heinous as the sight. She placed her fist to her mouth to keep herself from vomiting. Several more rotting staked skulls were posted around the body at least fifteen, forming some type of rune or shape against the wall. Tom turned back towards Hermione after examining the wall.
"This is it Hermione." His voice was blank and unforgiving. "Once we go through, you cannot go back. I won't be able to let you back once we go through. I need to know you're serious Hermione."
She didn't say anything at first, just stared at Tom and then back at the wall. A part of her was telling her this was it, this was her chance to turn around and end it all right here. She could stop with all these stupid private lessons, she could focus on her friends, focus on her school work. She could sleep without all the nightmares, hang out with her friends, she could try and actually live a normal student life. However, she was here. Hermione was deep in the catacombs of Paris with her professor whom she had somehow fallen in love with, to try and kill her favorite old headmaster under only the word of said professor. There was no going back now.
"I'm ready." Her voice sounded confident than she actually felt.
Tom looked at her hard for several more moments before turning away from her. He grabbed Hermione and pulled her forward so that she stood next to him.
"Hold out your wrist." He motioned for her to hold her wand out and wrist out as he did, she followed. "Do exactly as I say, do you understand. Exactly. As. I. Say." He placed heavy emphasis on each word.
She nodded again and then watched in aghast horror as he drew his wand across his wrist making a very long deep cut which began bleeding heavily. Tom didn't even wince, he simply turned his head and nodded at Hermione to do the same. She looked over at her wrist, staring at the pale skin that, until now, had been almost unmarked. Her other wrist stained with the word Mudblood, magical scars never healed. She closed her eyes and slowly drew her wand across her wrist, gasping and eyes popping as the skin parted revealing a thick trail of blood.
Tom offered no words or kind looks, he simply turned away from her and took a step toward the wall. He slowly moved his wrist up to the rotted skull that was attached to the corpse. Hermione had to bite her cheek to keep herself from either vomiting or simply crying out in horror as the mouth of the skull suddenly began to write, a filthy decrypted split tongue coming from the mouth to lap at his wrist. She noticed that he winced as it touched his wrist. He let it slide across the cut for several moments before pulling away, the cut healed. However, Tom raised his wand and made another cut, just under the original and did it again but instead of the main skull, he held it to another, the same thing.
"Well, come on." He grunted as the next tongue licked across his cut slurping the blood up the trailed from his arm.
She looked down at her bleeding wrist and then back to the skull which he'd just fed, the rotting eyeballs seemed to be staring at her, as if waiting expectantly for her to hold up her wrist. She watched Tom again repeat his action for another skull and she finally moved forward. She watched in repulsion as the tongue slithered from the skull making its way towards her wrist. As soon as the tongue made contact with her wrist, she yelped. A powerful pain shot down through her arm as though third degree burns were replacing the cut and yet the tongue seemed latched to her arm, she was unable to yank her arm away.
It was finally thirty minutes later that they finished, eighteen large pink bubbled scars crossed her wrists where she'd cut herself and the tongues latched on. She'd hoped that she would grow more accustomed to the pain as she continued, but it only worsened. Deepening until the point where at the last skull, she'd tears running down her face, twisting her body helplessly in an attempt to pull away from the final skull. When it finally ripped away, Hermione had to bit her fist to keep the sickening sob from ripping from her chest. Tom may have been in as much pain as she, but he didn't show it. He winced when moving his arm, but showed no emotion as did she.
"It'll hurt for a while. I'm sorry." Though he didn't sound remotely sorry at all.
However, Hermione wasn't looking at him. She was looking at the wall which seemed to be moving beneath the skulls they'd just fed. The tongues that'd just lashed out at their arms were slithering out the backs of the skulls and forming a rune, latching onto each other and pulsing, beating with the blood they'd just given. She took a step back as dust from the wall began to fill the small area around them and a very large oval door began to form in front of them around the rune the tongues had made. Slowly, the door emerged and opened. The smell that hit Hermione as so sudden and rotten she couldn't hold it, she turned and vomited onto the floor. She stood up, wiping her mouth and looked at Tom who'd held a finger to his lips. He said no words and instead took a step inside the large door.
Hermione stared at the darkness ahead, Tom had simply disappeared and expected her to follow. She took a deep shaky breath and followed behind me.