Hey Guys, loved your reviews too much that I decided to update soon, so enjoy and please don't forget to leave a review. You will have to wait for the next chapter though.

Don't worry about the new name Jean Lena Sure, it's just an anagram of my name and it's still me who is writing.

I really thank all the reviewers and I'm open to all of your comments and suggestions(good ones).

ON with the story……….

CHAPTER – 12

"An inventor would be the first person to think something up" said Hermione in muggle arts class to none other than Tom Riddle, who was as always prepared for their intellectual match. Hermione who was sitting in the far left corner of the room far away from Riddle was looking at him daring him to disapprove her statement.

The Irish muggle arts teacher McDylan had asked them a rather interesting question to define what and who an inventor was. As usual the Ravenclaws were looking at the exchange between Tom and Hermione with interest and some resentment. The Slytherins except Harry and Alphard were glaring at Hermione angrily for her nerve to speak against their master. The others were as usual dozing off or playing some game with their parchment.

"They can also be a person who made the first version of something" Riddle shot right back at her and Hermione was determined to win this argument.

"The first person to make something work really well so that everyone wanted one"

"The first person to patent something" Riddle said with ease and smirked when Hermione's face fell. She had nothing more to say about the topic.

"Excellent, Mr Riddle and Miss Broston, Twenty points to both the houses"

At this Riddle and Hermione looked up at the professor and said "Thankyou" politely and then Riddle once again turned back and smiled at Hermione who glared at him but he paid no mind as he leaned back in his chair to listen to the class. Hermione scowled in irritation for him having the last say in their argument, AGAIN. She didn't know when she was going to blow up.

They all trudged out after the class was over and Hermione was walking alone to the library as the next period was free and she couldn't get anyone to go with her as Harry and his Slytherin friends had Care of Magical Creatures and Claudia was ill from yesterday. Although she liked Freda, she didn't think she'd be able to put up with her gossiping the entire time.

Riddle who was walking with his group of followers behind noticed Hermione walking alone and decided to bunk Care of Magical Creatures to confront her. He said "I have some work" to Abraxas Malfoy who nodded and left.

Hermione made her way to the library and walked towards a desk at the secluded corner of the room and dropped her bag in a chair and left to search for books. Riddle followed her as she groped the shelves for books reading the spines and sometimes pulling a book from the shelf to look at its contents. Riddle finally decided to join her in her search.

"Looking for something there, Miss Broston"

Hermione was startled and she dropped the book she was holding in her hand. "Riddle….What?" she stuttered not knowing what to say.

"I'm sorry I startled you" Riddle said and he came forward and Hermione started to panic as his eyes started to focus on the book on the ground. She knew that if Riddle saw the book she was holding about Time Travel he would surely get suspicious and so she bent down and retrieved it before he had the chance to take it.

"I would have done that Miss Broston"

Hermione was startled as she noticed just how close Riddle was standing. She moved towards the shelf and placed the book back on the shelf putting some distance between her and Riddle.

"You are a stubborn girl, aren't you Miss Broston" Riddle said with a smile that would have made any girl in the radius swoon but then Hermione was never one to fall for charms or so she thought.

Hermione whirled around to look at him and said "There is a difference between being stubborn and being self-reliant Mr Riddle" indignantly. Hermione was furious, not only did the git have the nerve to beat her in class but he had to say that she was stubborn too. However, it was only then that she noticed the smile on his face and she felt a little guilty despite herself for shouting at him. She had been so concentrated on hiding the bloody book that she had missed it.

"You don't take well to jokes, do you?" Riddle asked still having that goddamned smile on his face.

Hermione tilted her head thinking for a bit and decided to play along. "Not when its about me, no" she said and turned back to the bookshelf.

Tom followed her watching as her bushy mane of honey brown hair danced with every step she took. He would have to say that her hair was really unkempt but then again he never did care about appearances and he knew that they were deceptive. He knew that somehow she was different in every way from all the girls he had met in his life.

"How do you like it at Hogwarts so far?" he asked as he himself started groping the shelves for any book that might interest him.

"Oh, it's fine so far except for the detention" Hermione bit out. She didn't know what caused her to be so reckless today but she just wasn't so used to loosing especially when it came to academics.

Tom looked irritated for a moment before putting his calm exterior forward again. The girl really was making a big matter out of nothing. Anyway he couldn't get angry with the girl which would only scare her away and then he wouldn't be able to obtain any information from her, not to mention these encounters with her were far too interesting to shun it off.

Hermione was surprised Riddle hadn't said anything and she took a book and moved forward to her place. Riddle also walked along with her and sat at her table as Hermione began taking out parchments and started writing her homework. Riddle watched her for a while before he started writing his own essay for Arithmancy.

Hermione looked up from her parchment after about half an hour to see Riddle doing his homework and he had already written almost five parchments while she had completed only two. She scowled, she had actually looked up because she didn't know how to continue because she was missing a detail.

Riddle suddenly looked up and Hermione blushed. She was caught now. She was sure he was going to smirk but he just looked at her with that expressionless face of his.

"Did you write all that now?" Hermione asked indicating the papers he was holding.

"Yes. Looks like you are having a problem with your's" Riddle said now smirking.

Hermione was about to protest before she gave in. If there was anyone who would know the answer it was him. So Hermione decided she might as well ask him "Well, I don't know why Leonardo da Vici left Florence to Milan and I think it's important to put in the reason in the essay"

"It was because he was accused of being a homosexual in 1476, he was charged and though he was released he thought it would be better to go to Milan"

"Oh" Hermione said before noting it down in her essay.

Tom Riddle really was controlling his temper. He had helped the girl and she did not even have the courtesy to say thankyou and since he could not harm her he decided to irk her in another way. He smirked, yes this would be interesting.

"I can't believe you missed such an important detail in his life" Riddle said and he was pleased to see the effect it had on her.

Hermione glared at him before she said "I can't be expected to know everything"

"Of course, why do you dislike me so much?" Riddle asked out of nowhere and Hermione opened her mouth and gaped like a fish out of water before she promptly shut it.

She smiled a bit and said "I don't dislike you Riddle"

"Really" Riddle asked skeptically but his face remained as expressionless as ever.

Hermione realized she was in deep trouble. She was going to have to come up with an explanation soon or she was going to have to run. However, she could not very well choose the latter. She squared her shoulders and prepared herself. Everybody knew she was a terrible liar but only she had learnt to be better at it now although Harry always saw through it.

"I mean I don't dislike you but I dislike men in general. You see my father was a chauvinist and he treated my mother very badly so I just grew to dislike any man except Ron and Harry who were my….." and she stopped realizing just what she had said. She saw that Riddle was smirking. She was still a terrible liar.

"Who were what Miss Broston?" Riddle asked his smirk evident on his face.

"Well they were my friends" Hermione said trying and failing to cover up her mistake.

"Hmm" Riddle looked like he was thinking for a bit before he said "I am anything but a chauvinist Miss Broston, I do hope you believe that"

"I do Riddle but its going to take sometime for me to take to anyone here at Hogwarts"

"Strange" Riddle said as he put his finger on his chin "you took to Alphard Black and Potter and Weasley"

Hermione was getting flustered. The young lord Voldemort was impossible to handle. "They are just acquaintances and they are not so…so.." Hermione stuttered trying to think of a right word.

"Wildly competitive and infuriating" Riddle finished for her with a smirk.

Hermione thought for a minute before saying "I suppose you could say that"

"I thought people with brilliance always liked some competition"

"I DO" Hermione shouted at his face.

"So you do like it"

"YES" Hermione shouted yet again.

"So you are accepting you like me" Riddle said and waited for a response.

"WHAT?" Hermione looked flushed red in anger that was overwhelming her. First the freak asks her why she dislikes him and now he insinuates that she likes him, what the hell was he thinking, the scheming freak.

"You heard me" Riddle said with that devilishly handsome smile.

"I DO NOT LIKE YOU" Hermione shouted and a few students who were sitting nearby were watching the show eagerly.

"So I can assume that you dislike me after all" Riddle said laying a great deal of emphasis on the word me.

Hermione took a deep breath before she stood up and composed herself. She went around the table and stood directly in front of where Riddle was sitting and lowered her head to meet his gaze. She wanted to shout out that she hated him but now that she was so close to him all rational thought left her and she wanted to wipe that smirk of his face. She could have slapped him but that was not what her mind wanted her body to do. Riddle was expecting her to say something like 'I hate you' like ay other girl would and if she did he would know she was just like the other girls who rarely made him angry just for his attention. He still remembered how he punished Myrtle.

Hermione suddenly broke out from her trance and said "Assume whatever you want to assume" and then she walked away in steady strides out of the library leaving her essay and her bag behind.

Riddle smirked. He was right in assuming she was different. He took her bags and essay with him as he walked towards the Slytherin dorms.

You were all asking for Tom/Hermione interaction, so let me know what you think……BYE!!!