That moment in the library seemed so far away now. They had become inseparable. They sat by each other in every class they could. They made sure to take the same courses every year to try to make this happen as often as possible. They studied together and were always seen in the library, their heads together over some book or another.

Their debates became less antagonistic and more scholarly. Their fights became discussions of their opinions and the facts and they normally were able to come to a middle compromise that made the most sense. They soared back to the top of their class and were considered to be the smartest witch and wizard of their age and several ages past.

Though they caught grief from both the Gryffindors and Slytherins for slumming with the wrong house neither of them cared and just avoided their own common rooms until they had no choice but to part ways. Even then they found ways to send notes to each other using house elves or school owls.

In fourth year the school held the annual Yule ball to celebrate before the coming winter holidays. Hermione had not really considered it at all until Tom had appeared in their usual spot in the library, a rare Egyptian Orchid in one hand and that lazy smile on his lips. He had given her the flower and asked her to be his date to the dance.

To say she was shocked had been an understatement. Though they were always together, he had never once shown any interest in being more than friends and though her heart had fallen for him by the end of third year, she had kept it to herself. She had accepted with an embarrassing amount of red to her cheeks and his eyes had warmed as he kissed her knuckles.

The dance had been the most magical experience she had to date at the school and as the clock struck midnight, they found themselves on the top of the astronomy tower. He had taken her in his arms and kissed her. At first it had been gentle and slow but as she melted against him he had stopped playing the gentleman. As he said the year before…manners were not his thing.

He had kissed her like he was going to devour her very soul. His hands gripped and held her tightly to him as he ravaged her mouth like a man starving. Her whimpers only seem to push him further into the hell storm they had opened and with a groan he had lifted her into his arms and set her on the railing, pushing his way between her legs. He tasted like the night around them, crisp and cold and dangerous. For a moment she understood what the wolves prey felt like as he pulled back to gaze into her eyes, his burning with a predatory light she had never seen before.

The thrill of fear only intensified the moment and as he leaned in to trail wet kisses and less than gentle nips to her neck, she gave herself up to his branding, not caring if he ended up being the wolf and her the deer. They had kissed and touched, whimpers and groans echoing off the walls as he had held her hips tightly and rolled his own.

The friction of his arousal petting roughly against her core had sent her spinning into a world of white hot pleasure. Her cry was muffled as he took her mouth again and a deep growl of satisfaction rumbled up his chest as she felt his length pulse in time to his own orgasm.

Both had pulled back to rest their foreheads together, their eyes closed as their panting breaths collided between them. A giggle from her had pulled a chuckle from him and with grins of secret knowledge shared, he had helped her down and straightened her dress and hair before casting a cleaning charm on his own clothing. Gathering the lost gentleman, he had offered her his arm and walked her all the way back to her tower.

That night had broken the wall they had between them and stolen kisses and touches were just as frequent as studying and discussions. He had gone back to the orphanage over the holiday only to show up at her house a week later. Her parents had gone to Aspen for the holiday and she had welcomed him in to her home with not a single care in the world.

The summer between fifth and sixth year she had given him her innocence and taken his in the garden of her parent's house. They had been reading quietly, lying on a blanket under her favorite willow tree. One kiss had led to another until neither of them could deny their needs any longer. It had been soft and sweet at first and then the darkness inside had taken him and dragged her along for the ride.

The sound of skin slapping against skin had been jarring at first in the quiet stillness of the garden but she had lost herself in the way her body came apart for him and she didn't have the sense to be embarrassed anymore. Her nails had bitten into his skin as he had set his teeth into hers and both of them had come screaming as the pleasure tore through them, their magic twisting and crashing against the others in a torrent of power.

That had been the beginning of the end and as she lay in his arms, her heart racing and her breathing sawing in and out of her lungs, she had known no different. The words were out of her mouth before she considered the implication or what it might do to them.

"I love you."

He had stiffened for a second and then had pulled her tightly against him and kissed her forehead. She knew he had trouble believing in things like love after all her had learned about his own mother and what she had done to his father. She knew it would take time and had not cared at all that he didn't say it back…in time he would…or she had thought.

The start of sixth year saw them less together. They had different classes as Gryffindor took most of their classes with Ravenclaw. The few advanced classes they had together found him sitting with one of his cronies again, his excuse being that Avery or Mulciber needed his help to make sure they passed.

Their library time became shorter and shorter and with every moment of time spent alone, Hermione started to wonder if maybe she should have kept her heart tucked away in a silent corner of her mind. Any time she tried to talk to him about it, he would tell her everything was fine and he just needed time to deal with other things.

That summer he left and spent it with The Malfoy family and she did not receive one letter from him. When they returned for their seventh and final year, he returned with Drucila Black on his arm and offered her the barest of nods and a frown before walking away.

Though she felt like her entire world had shattered, Hermione lost herself in her books. Where Tom began to laugh more and smile often, talking to his group of Slytherin friends as if he didn't have a care in the world, she withdrew more and more into herself until the silence was the only thing she knew. He spent every free moment with them, his arm around his new pureblood girlfriend while she faded into obscurity.

They bumped into each other once in October and she had stared at him with a dead look, her insides now frozen solid and stone cold. She wanted so much to congratulate him on his happiness, wish him well…but the words would not come. His eyes had held a hint of sorrow and for a moment his hand twitched towards her face before he had growled low in his throat and spun around on his heels to leave.

"I'm sorry."

That was not what she had wanted to say but it seemed her brain and her heart were no longer on the same page. His shoulders tensed as he stopped moving and looked back over his shoulder at her.

"What?"

His eyes looked haunted and it was the last thing she wanted to see on his face.

"For not being enough or for being too much to handle…I don't know…whatever drove you away…I'm sorry."

Licking her lips and swallowing around the lump in her throat, Hermione kept her eyes on his as she watched him shore up his defenses and glare at her.

"You look happy with her and I hope she continues to make you happy in the future."

Not giving him a chance to speak, Hermione turned and hurried away, the damn breaking again into tears that cascaded down her face.

That moment had been the last time she had been within touching distance of him. While his grades seemed to slide down hill, his social life spun out of control. He had meetings with diplomats from the ministry and company big wigs that all wanted to meet Tom Marvolo Riddle and his beautiful girlfriend Drucila.

Hermione took top of their class and she held onto that with very little satisfaction. She had just as many meetings with Masters in different fields who all wanted her as an apprentice upon her graduation. She had taken it all in stride, her pain hidden behind layers of stone and ice, her answers concise and crisp as she looked at every angle of every offer. In the end she made no promises but took all of her offers and contemplated them in her free time.

Her eyes had caught his too many times to count and each time the conflicting emotions always made her wonder how much of his own chaos was no longer directed by him but running rampant in his own head. One moment he would be sorrowful. Another he would glare like he used to, the hate burning in his eyes. Sometimes he was cold like her and others she swore she could feel some secret he was holding that he needed her to know.

In the end it really didn't matter. As another gust of wind whirled around her she blinked her eyes, tears frozen from falling by will alone. She let her eyes roam over his face as it turned to the sky in what she liked to call his free laugh. As the beautiful girl at his side swatted his arm gently in admonishment, Hermione had seen and had enough.

She had tried to be happy for him and move on. She thought if she closed it all off for long enough that she would be fine and could move on. It turned out when one fell in love with someone like Tom Marvolo Riddle…one did not just walk away after unscathed. Nothing had any substance anymore.

Food tasted like ash in her mouth. Books were like pieces of trash stapled together for her to dig through like a bag lady on the street. What was a future without his light in it? She had tried to see her way through it but it turned out logic and emotion did not go hand in hand. They were so far apart that she couldn't find a way to drag one to the other to help heal her burning bridges and now it was too late.

She could be happy for him but there was no way she could make it through and to the other side of this. Knowing now what it felt like to be surrounded by all he was, she didn't want to live in the emptiness he left.

Pulling herself up she teetered on the railing before righting her balance. She took one last look at him before she turned her eyes to the sky. The clouds had cleared away, the universe giving her a glimpse of the stars she hoped to soar to soon, as if it knew she needed that last thread of hope in this moment of utter darkness. Spreading her arms wide as she tilted her face to the moon, she heard a scream of terror, high pitched and shrill as she pivoted on her feet and tipped herself backwards.

The wind streamed like shards of icy glass through her hair and along her bare arms, the Yule ball dress from fourth year altered to fit her frame flapping wildly as she plummeted towards the unforgiving ground…the stone as cold and hard as her heart now was.

She kept her eyes on the stars. They seemed to shimmer and glisten as her hair streamed around her face and the opening on the tower rushed further away.

"HERMIONE!"