Hello! Guys, I'm so sorry! My internet went out and I have just recently convinced my boss to let me bring my computer to work so I could upload this chapter!
I appreciate all the feedback and reviews! A couple of you have brought up grammatical errors in the past chapters! I will try to fix them! I promise! Believe me, I notice them too, but I guess whenever I start writing a chapter I just get so into it and so excited to post it that I do the least precise read through that I can…sadly!
So, if you forgive me, here is chapter 7. I halfway combined it with chapter 8, so it should be pretty long!
Disclaimer: HP no es mine.
CHAPTER 7
HERMIONE'S POV
I stared at the boy in front of me with hate in my eyes. He had almost continuously ignored me for the past week each time I said his name.
"Tom," I tried again. Nothing, except for a miniscule twitch of his lips.
I had been trying to make him get the boggart out of my wardrobe for the past two weeks! I don't quite recall when he went from saying 'No, not right now' to not even acknowledging me. I had won the bet fair and square, albeit I did almost die.
"That's it, Tom! You are being a sore loser! We made a deal and now it's time you go through with your part of the bargain!" I sounded like a whiney, little girl.
Tom looked up at me from behind the book I had got him while he was in the hospital wing-
"Hermione," his endlessly blank face gazed at me, "I will come through with my end, although why you want to see what my boggart is, I'll never know. Don't worry about it, keep putting your silencing charms on the cabinet and I'll get rid of it when I'm ready."
"But Tom, it's been almost three weeks!" He gave me a look that said 'enough'. I let out a frustrated sigh as I stood and grabbed my bag.
Annie was patiently waiting for me atop my pillow, she was staring. "What?" I half screeched. "He's annoying me so bad, Annie! It's not my fault!"
Tom had said nothing to me about his 'observations', nor had he said or done anything about Abraxis and I being friends. It felt different between Tom and I now. It was like we were friends…to an extent. We didn't talk about his plans or my future involvement in them. We kept things simple. School, homework, intellectual debates in class. Nothing serious. It made it easier on me. I found I could ignore the attraction I felt for him if we kept it simple….and he kept his shirt on.
Oddly enough, we spent a lot of time together these past two weeks. Especially if Abraxis was around me. He and I never hung out alone. I thought Tom might have spoken with Malfoy about it, because he seemed perfectly okay with having Tom around at all times.
Classes were going great. I had quickly gotten back into the swing of things within the first couple of days. The classes of this time were a bit more trying, but that was to be expected…considering how daft most of my generation was.
I flopped down on my bed as I threw another silencing charm at my closet. I closed my eyes out of annoyance. I just wanted to bloody see what the enigma that is Tom Marvolo Riddle's boggart was! I needed to see it. A part of me was afraid that when he opened the door to the wardrobe that nothing would come out. What if he was too far gone? So much so that he feared nothing?
I couldn't imagine what things would be like if he had killed his family before I got here. Would I have been too late? And nothing would have changed? The idea that my destiny was the reason he hadn't murdered yet was a hard thing to swallow. I caused the final battle between Dumbledore and Grindelwald to happen a year early.
"This is too hard, Annie…" I mumbled to my pet as she slithered up my side. "I don't want to be the cause for the future of the wizarding world."
A couple days later I was sitting with Alice in the library as we revised our Defense essays. Professor Berrati had assigned us a three foot long essay on the uses of non-verbal spell casting versus verbal while dueling. I had almost jumped out of my chair in excitement. Both forms of magic have so many benefits! I recall blushing wildly when the Professor had laughed at my antics and sent me a wink. Gilderoy Lockhart couldn't hold a match to the looks of Berrati.
I looked over at Alice as she checked her essay. This was the easiest way for me to be around her. If we hung out and didn't have school work in front of us…I would probably just place a silencing charm on her and lock her in a broom closet.
I excused myself to go look for a book I needed. It wasn't like I didn't appreciate Alice's friendship. Aside from Abraxis, Jesse, and Tom she was one of the only one that spoke to me. I had gotten nothing but glares since my fellow Slytherins saw me talking to a couple of Gryffindors in our Transfiguration class. Corrine Prince and Romi tried to 'nicely' tell me what I was doing was 'wrong'.
-TWO DAYS EARLIER-
"Smith?" I had heard someone calling as I sat in the Great Hall.
"Yes, Romilda?" my voice held nothing but polite indifference as she sat across from me. "Corrine and I just wanted to let you in on the…'House Rules'…" she began, "we noticed your interaction with the Gryffindorks the other day and your disgusting friendship with those Ravenclaw gits…"
"And we thought we would let you know that's unacceptable." Corrine chimed in.
"Yes, and if it doesn't stop soon, you'll be reaping the consequences of your actions." Romi finished with a threat.
My annoyance level had reached a new high.
"Thank you ladies," I said while standing up. I leaned forward on the table with my hands out in front of me. "I appreciate your concern, but seeing as I am not one to follow 'orders'…in any capacity…I should let you know that your threats fall flat."
The sneer on my face and the harsh tone in my voice silenced them. "If you don't need anything else, I'll just be going."
The two dumbfounded Slytherin girls stared after me in anger. "This isn't over, Smith." Romilda yelled after me. I responded with a wandless stinging hex as I rounded the corner. Satisfaction greeted me with her yelp of pain.
-PRESENT-
"Hermione?" Alice's oddly timid voice snapped me out of my memory as I sat back down.
"Oh, yes Alice? Did you finish your revision already?" I asked.
"What? Oh, no…I just wanted to-ask you something." her eyes not meeting mine.
"Okay, go ahead…"
"All right. So this might seem weird, but who do you…umm, like?" At my confused expression she continued with, "I mean as in…going steady with someone?"
'Ugghhh,' my subconscious growled.
"Er, I'm not really one to 'date', Alice."
"Are you sure, Hermione? I mean, you're always with Abraxis who looks at you as if you're some sort of golden dragons egg. And then T-Tom is always hovering around you and you two do share a dorm…"
I scrunched my nose at her words. At times I found it hard to partake in idle chit chat with other females. I think that's why I was such good friends with Harry and Ron, with the exception of Ginny-who hardly acted like a girly girl.
"Look," I started, "Abraxis is just a good friend, my closest friend actually. As for Tom, he and I are just 'friends', if even that. It's more of a intellectual understanding…"
"But he's always staring at you! He's always waiting for you after class!" Alice interrupted.
"So what?" I laughed. "we have almost all the same classes and he's my dorm mate. I don't get this Alice? Where is this coming from?"
"Just forget it, forget I said anything." She said while returning to her essay.
"Do you want to talk about something…?" I asked after a moment. I didn't particularly understand why she asked those things, but I had an idea.
"No!" her eyes looked at me in anger.
"What? Do you like Tom or something?" I inquired incredulously.
"Are you serious? I. Do. Not. Like. Tom! How dare you ask that?" she huffed while standing up.
"Uhh…" my words had left me.
"Just because you transferred here and think you're some sort of 'Slytherin-Head-Girl-Goddess'…and-and you have all the boys drooling after you, doesn't mean they actually like you! They just want to sleep with you!" her angry whispers had attracted the glances of students around us. "You like Tom, Hermione…it's obvious! Everyone knows, so maybe you should…just go a-and join his fan club!"
"Alice!" I said with a hurt tone as she walked away.
She didn't respond as she stalked out of the library.
'That was odd…' I thought. I wasn't sure what had just happened, but it annoyed me. I looked up as I felt a pair of eyes on me. Tom Riddle sat two rows away from me with a huge smirk on his face. Color rose to my cheeks as I packed my bag as quickly as I could to leave. I couldn't find my Defense notebook anywhere though. I rummaged through my things and looked under the table. My burning cheeks did nothing to help me look any less flustered as I spun in circles to see where it had gone.
I stopped suddenly as I realized who probably had it, 'Alice! Shit!'
I took off toward the door with quicker steps than usual. I really hoped she wouldn't read what's inside of that notebook. I had a pretty extensive list of spells that weren't too common in this day and age. Let alone a few spells that hadn't even been invented yet. Meaning, I had a few dark curses I had read about and a few Harry told me about during our training.
After a half hour of searching, I gave up. I even had a fourth year check the Ravenclaw tower. Nothing. I could only wait anxiously to see her in the morning.
Alice had thrown my notebook down on my desk the next day in Charms without even looking at me. Tom sat down next to me on my right with a grin on his face.
"What did you do to her, Smith?"
"Ugh, I don't even know!" I exhaled.
I felt a rush of wind as someone sat down on the other side of me. I saw Tom narrow his eyes.
"Zambini," he greeted in a dry tone.
"Riddle," he nodded. "And hello to you, Hermione. I'm Fedele Zambini. I don't think we've had the pleasure of meeting officially." I gave him my hand…and he kissed it lightly.
TOM'S POV
As I sat next to Hermione, I watched an overly confident Italian boy be overly friendly as I overtly planned out his death. I just didn't like him. Plain and simple.
"Hermione Smith," she responded shortly. A blush had crept on to her cheeks at his affections. I didn't like that either. "It's nice to meet you…officially."
He chuckled at her not even relatively funny response.
"Most of the kids here call me Andy." he gave her a wiry, well practiced smile. "How do you like it here so far? Being Head Girl must be interesting…"
"Well, Andy, Hogwarts is amazing, everyone's been really nice and the classes aren't bad either." I saw her smile politely out of the corner of my eye. I suppose she felt flattered by the attention of Zambini . A wealthy, pureblood, of course all girls swoon at his antics.
Malfoy sat down next to me and nodded his head toward Hermione in a confused way. I shrugged and turned back to their conversation.
"Salem is an all girls school?" Zambini said with a surprised tone. "I guess that means you weren't around too many mean, huh?"
"Er, well, the Salem Academy for Wizards wasn't too faraway. And my two best friends went there." Hermione elaborated. My ears perked up at this new information I hadn't known. I cursed myself, I had been slipping. I had remained content with just seeing her around Abraxis and listening to their simple chatter. I had completely forgotten that I needed to know more about her.
What was wrong with me?!
I was playing the fool, falling into a false sense of…security!
"Ahh, I see. Does that mean you aren't seeing anyone?" his tone disgusted me. I heard Abraxis scoff on my right. Zambini had been a bother since first year. I couldn't even talk to the kid enough to want him to be involved with my Knights. I had made it clear to for my…friends…to steer clear of the bloke. So he was isolated by the male population of Slytherin. Not that he minded, for his focus was purely on the female population.
Hermione bit out an uncommonly girlish giggle, which made both Abraxis and I gape at her.
"No, I'm not seeing anyone," she said as she shyly looked down, a blush staining her neck. Zambini caught our gazes and gave us a smirk. Abraxis, unable to hold his anger, almost drew his wand if it weren't for the hand I had put on his shoulder.
Hermione looked up and squinted her eyes suspiciously at us, before directing her attention to the Professor who had just walked in.
I sat across from Abraxis and Hermione in the Head's common room after dinner that evening. I had spoken to Abraxis about their friendship a couple weeks ago. At first I had decided that it would end, but on further thought I figured it would be quite advantageous if I had my second in command befriend the girl who I wanted as a follower. I made sure to reiterate the fact that it could only be friendship. I couldn't have either of them getting distracted from my plans.
Plus, it has been mildly beneficial to observe her with Abraxis. I now knew the same things he knew. But, I knew that wasn't good enough. I had to be the one to get closest to Hermione. I had to be the one to break her, to make her my own. Which would happen, eventually. I still recalled the strange hold I have over her by her silly attraction, I needed to add that to the growing list of facts I was learning about her.
"Hermione! You can't be serious! You're going on a date with that git?" Abraxis whined.
"You're what?" I asked unbelievingly.
"You two are incorrigible. He asked me out, so what? Riddle, you shouldn't even be saying anything! You've ignored my pleas to rid the boggart and have spoken to me about nothing except for school work!" she ranted. Her eyes were alight with frustration.
"That doesn't matter, Hermione. That guy is still disgusting." I couldn't have kept the revolted look off my face if I wanted to.
"He seems perfectly nice and gentlemanly to me! You guys are just jealous because he's sweet, and-and popular, a-and has a sense of humor!"
"Ugh," Abraxis groaned as he stood up angrily. Annie had slithered up my arm. We made eye contact. She hadn't said anything to me for awhile. I told her that talking in front of anyone else would be a bad idea. She nudged my chin affectionately.
"Hermione, there are things about Andy you don't know. Seriously, you trust me, right?" she nodded at him absentmindedly, her lips in a thin line. "Then listen to me!"
"I'm not just going to cancel the date because he has some unknown fault, Abraxis." her voice was calm and soothing.
"Fine, but don't make me say 'I told you so,'" he said dejectedly.
Hermione sat down next to me on the couch. Annie was looking at her. With a gentle sweep of my fingers I moved Hermione's hair off her neck to allow her pet to lay there. I felt her shudder under my fingers and saw the blush surround her neck.
Her reaction to me created a weird sense of accomplishment deep inside my stomach. I was eager to see how far I could push her; to see how deeply rooted her attraction to me was. I looked forward to the time when she would submit to me fully…when I could tell her what to do, when to do it, and how. The idea of a mutual sexual attraction forming between us hadn't escaped my mind. It was hard for me to admit 'attraction', but I couldn't deny that I found her alluring. Physically and mentally, but I didn't date and all women, no matter the age, have a preconceived notion about 'dating'. Love, being the notion.
I looked up as the woman of my thoughts bid us goodnight. Abraxis followed shortly after, which left me alone with my thoughts. It had been almost a month since I met Hermione, and two weeks since our argument. I had put of a meeting with the Knights until I figured out what to do with the girl. I needed to see her magic. From what I had seen thus far, it wasn't bad. I needed to test her knowledge and abilities in dark magic. And soon.
The next day I was sitting in the common room with Dolohov and Abraxis when we overheard a group of girls laughing in the corner at Hermione's expense. This wasn't really anything new, but when I saw the high fives Romi was receiving I decided I needed to investigate. I locked eyes with Marcus and nodded toward the girls. A silent message for him to go see what was happening.
"…the funniest thing ever!" Corrine Prince was telling Steven Bulstrode, a large sixth year.
"Hey Corrine," I heard Dolohov say in a shy tone. "Whatcha guys talking about?"
"Oh, Marcus you just have to hear what Romi and I did today!" she squealed. "First of all, you know how our new precious Head Girl flaunts around the castle like she's some sort of deity?"
"Er…"
"Exactly! Well, Romi and I decided she needed to be knocked down a couple notches. So, we disarmed her and then cornered her in an empty classroom." My body became taught as I listened to Prince talked. Color had begun to rise on Malfoy's cheeks. "We had already told her once that if she didn't stop hanging around those foul Gryffindors and Ravenclaws that we would come for her. She put up a pretty good fight at first…we didn't know she could do wandless magic, but after a few well placed curses we got her down."
"Really? You guys attacked the Head Girl? That's not very smart…" Dolohov locked eyes with me as my second in command shook soundlessly in anger. "Where is she now?"
"Don't worry! She won't do anything to us!" she said with a sneer. "She knows better now!"
I couldn't hold it in any longer, if Hermione was hurt in anyway it could seriously put a damper on my plans. I jumped over the back of the couch and strode toward the gaggle of girls. They at least had enough sense to back away.
"Tom…I-I…" Romi stuttered.
"Where is she?" I barked at her.
"I don't…" she started, frightened.
I grabbed onto either side of her chair and swung her around, jerking her toward me. My voice a deadly whisper, "Where. Is. She."
"Sh-she's in the third floor corridor, first classroom on the right. She's stunned and disillusioned and…"
"And what?" my face was mere inches from hers, the color had drained from her pale face, making it seem even whiter.
"Silenced and bounded."
I shoved away from her and rushed to the door where Abraxis was waiting for me silently. He took off at a brisk jog as soon as we were out of the dungeons, so I did the same. I shoved the thoughts of what I as going to do to Black and Prince to the back of my mind. I could show them what interfering with Lord Voldemort's plans would do to them later. I glanced at Abraxis as we ran, concern and fear etched on his features. I tried to ignore the anxious feeling in my abdomen when I thought about Hermione being hurt. I blamed it on the fact that I couldn't afford to lose any time in my observations.
The classroom door was locked, I opened it with a silent 'alohamora'. the room was dark and eerily silent. I flicked my wrist and sent flames to all the candles, putting the room into view. The room was a mess, desks and chairs were everywhere, still smoking from where spells had hit them.
"Start pointing your wand in different directions and say 'finite' until we find her." I ordered.
We simultaneously went around the room in opposite directions trying to find her, going as slow as we could. Making sure to check every space.
"Tom," I heard from behind me a couple minutes later. Abraxis was crouched low to the ground next to an unconscious Hermione. "Ennervate," he said as I made it over to him.
Hermione's eyes fluttered open. Surprisingly she didn't look too bad. Her lip had been split and her white uniform shirt had a burn mark across her shoulder. The skin underneath charred and bloody.
"Smith," I said to get her attention. She pushed herself up into a sitting position with a moan. She touched her shoulder and let out a hiss of pain. Her eyes locked with mine.
"How did you find me?" she asked, her gaze still trained on me. Her brown eyes were full of emotion. Something stirred awkwardly in my stomach at the intensity of her stare. The way her eyes flickered from mine to my mouth, then back to my eyes.
"Corrine was bragging about it in the common room," Abraxis answered, when my mouth failed to move.
"I see," came her calm response. "My wand?" He summoned her wand and handed it to her. I was watching her intently. She was beyond calm, but the emotions festering behind her gaze were unnerving. "Tom?" she extended her hand out toward me. I grasped it softly and pulled her up with me. We hadn't broke eye contact, and now that she was flush against me, I couldn't ignore the heat rising up my back.
She licked her lips and smirked as she took a slow step backward.
"Hermione…" the blonde behind me spoke.
"Not now, Abraxis. I am going to fucking kill them." With that she turned on her heel and ran out of the room.
"Did she just say 'fucking'?" he asked in wonder. I smirked, 'yes, she did' and we ran after her.
"Hermione! Stop! Please!" Malfoy yelled after her. She wasn't listening. She was being rash and illogical. If she were smart, she'd sit back, relax, and plan out her next move.
I stopped chasing her and yelled, "Don't over step your Head Girl privileges'!"
That brought her to a halt. She threw her head back in despair as she turned to walk back to us. Defeat written all over her features.
"Mmm, what do I do then?" her hand was cradling her injured arm.
"Don't act like such a Gryffindor, for starters," I spat. "Let me see your shoulder." she hesitated, but unbuttoned her shirt a few buttons anyway. Abraxis shuffled next to me, her bare shoulder had a large burn. Her simple white bra strap had been charred black by the spell. I couldn't help but trail my eyes down top of her breast to where the valley began. I looked in her eyes, they were darker than normal.
I took her arm and waved my wand in a complicated pattern, slowly the burn ebbed away, leaving raw, pink skin in its wake.
"What's that Hermione? That other scar? Just there." Abraxis pointed it out. A star shaped scar laid in the center of her chest. I had failed to notice it, for some reason.
"Well, t-that scar is from…Diagon Alley, I just…it didn't heal properly."
'She is such a bad liar,' I decided.
"Come on," I said while grabbing her upper arm. "Say goodnight to Malfoy."
She turned her eyes toward me, but before she could open her mouth, I pushed her down the hallway.
"Goodnight, Abraxis," she called in a clipped tone over her shoulder.
She stormed through the portrait hole before me, her angry magic pulsing around her. She didn't even look back at me as she walked into her room. I followed her and opened her door with a lazy twist of my wand. She was unbuttoning her shirt the rest of the way.
"Tom! What the hell!" she yelled.
"Tell me what happened." I glanced at her shirt, she only had a couple more to go…
"No. I don't want to talk about it, now leave!" she crossed her arms over her chest.
"Well, how can we properly punish them if I don't know what happened?" I said while intentionally sounding condescending.
"We," she indicated between us, "aren't going to do anything. Ill handle it. Now that I'm not so irate" I stared at her with unblinking eyes.
"Corrine mentioned your wandless magic…I take it you can do more than just silencing charms?" a crease formed between her brow.
"My parents thought it would be beneficial to learn wandless magic."
"What can you do?" I asked as I sat on her bed.
"Everyone has secrets, Tom." a pulse of some unknown feeling shot through me. "Maybe if you were nice and had gotten rid of my boggart, then I would tell you. And why don't you leave Black and Prince to me."
"You'll show me your wandless magic and I'll get rid of your boggart right now," I said as I walked over to her. She had her jaw set with her finger to her mouth in thought. She looked up at me with a blank expression.
"Boggart first."
I let no thought make an impression on my face. I hadn't even thought about what my boggart would be. In third year I had said 'Riddikulous' before the class could even see the imposing figure of . I couldn't think of what my fear was now. I had long since pushed that muggle from my life. Dumbledore popped in my mind as a possible 'fear', but I wasn't afraid of him per say…I was more wary that his suspicions would become vocalized.
"Well?" the small girl next to me asked rather snappishly.
I looked from her to her wardrobe. Shouldn't I know my fear? I pushed up the sleeves of my cardigan and drew my wand. With a sweep of it toward her closet, the door opened.
Hermione had taken a few steps back. We both stared in wonder at the whisps and whirls of smoke moving elegantly in front of me. I had never seen this happen, almost immediately when coming in contact with a boggart it should take its form. Hermione let out a gasp as black shoes began to take shape within the smoke, followed closely by black slacks. The smoke slowly rose to the ceiling to reveal more of my supposed fear.
A black sweater was soon visible and a pale hand holding an all too familiar yew wand. I couldn't stop the look of confusion that spread over my face. There, standing five feet in front of me, was an exact copy of myself. We stared at each other for quite some time. Each appraising the other in our own way. I couldn't believe this was the form my boggart took. It felt almost like a joke.
"Tom Marvolo Riddle," my look alike sneered in a cold, emotionless voice that I knew all too well. "The filthy half-blood. A disgrace, an abomination to the Slytherin house!"
I felt my wand arm lower as I listened to my 'greatest fear' talk to me. He raised his wand at me and although no spell left his wand, I ended up on my knees in front of him.
"No wonder nobody wants you! No wonder your father left you. Your mother wanted to die during birth, Tom. She wanted to. Who would ever love you?" my doppelgangers sickeningly sweet voice asked.
'No one,' I answered internally.
"You will never be anything, no one will remember your name. You will die in shame, not infamy!"
A noise tore me out of focus. Hermione was kneeling a few feet away staring at me with wide eyes. I brought my wand around in a large circle as the boggart in front of me erupted into a sea of gold sparks. I stared at the place 'I' had just occupied for some time. While I tried to figure out why I had appeared as my own fear.
"Tom," a gentle, sympathy filled voice sounded to my right.
I snapped my eyes to her. She gasped and abruptly stood up. Anger and humiliation flew through my body at a rapid speed. Before I knew what I was doing I had grabbed the girl and pushed her against the bathroom door. She winced as her head collided painfully against the frame. The fact that some one had witnessed me at my lowest pushed me over the edge. How dare she?
"You," I hiss dangerously. "If you ever, ever speak of this to anyone I will make sure its that last thing you say."
The grimace of pain on her face increased as I squeezed her arms harder. "Why would I tell anyone, Tom?"
"Because you know!" I all but yelled. "You know something about me that no one else does." I pressed my whole body against hers, she weakly put her hands on my chest as if to push me away. I hovered my cheek next to her ear. "You could use this against me." I whispered.
Her answering shiver did something to my rage. It turned it into something I hadn't felt before…a rush of heat stretching from my neck, to my stomach, to my groin.
"I-I wouldn't do that to you, Tom." she said into my neck, unaware that my anger had been pushed aside by a much deeper emotion.
I loosened my grip and trailed my hands down her arms until I found her wrists. I put both of her hands in one of mine as I ran the other down her cheek. I pulled away to rest my forehead against hers. The front of her shirt was still unbuttoned and I could see the flawless skin of her abdomen.
"And why not?" my voice came out lower than I had expected. I put my finger under her chin to make her look me in the eyes. I felt an immense satisfaction as her gaze slowly traveled to my lips.
"It…I don't think-I have no reason to tell." Her dark, emotion filled eyes hadn't looked away from my mouth. I let my free hand snake languidly down her back and around her waist..
Her breath hitched, "What are you doing?" she stuttered. Her anxiety made me feel all the more powerful.
"What do you want me to do, Hermione?" She pulled away slightly to look me in the eyes, her confused ones focused on mine.
I pressed her even closer to me. "Tom, this isn't…"
I silenced her with my lips. She let out a soft moan, from protest or pleasure, I wasn't sure. Her soft lips moved against mine in a way I couldn't describe. It was like she was testing the waters, but pulling away at the same time. I ran my tongue across her bottom lip to deepen the kiss. She let me in. I traced the soft plains of her mouth as I ran my hand up the inside of her shirt to feel her skin. Blood was rushing from my brain, all logical thought would soon be gone.
It felt like I was swimming. Like at any point I wouldn't be able to control what was happening around me. When her arms circled my neck to pull me closer, my heart beat sped. Her hips pressed closer to mine and a moan escaped my lips. I was losing control of all conscious thought. My anxiety got the best of me and the feeling of vulnerability increased and I had to pull away.
She was breathing just as hard as I was. Our foreheads resting on each others. I couldn't do it. It was too much. How could I let myself fall out of control? That wasn't me. That could not happen again. Vulnerability meant less power, less power meant more human, more human meant death. And I was above that.
A deep blush had settled on Hermione's face. "What, uh, was that, Tom?" she asked. I gazed at her. Her eyes were glinting with an unknown emotion. I smirked at her.
"We can wait for another time for you to show me your wandless magic, shall we?" Fear of being weak had replaced the lust in my body. I put even more distance between us. "Remember. Tell no one what you saw."
Our gazes locked for another moment. Intense. Unyielding. Confused. I turned and left the room the way I came in…
HERMIONE'S POV
I woke up the next day still flustered from the night before. The third person to ever kiss me just to be Lord-Dominate-the-World. Of all the people in this era, it had to be Tom? A blush crept onto my face as I recalled his soft, demanding lips running over mine. I repressed a shiver. In any other circumstance, if a man as attractive and intelligent as Tom had kissed me, I would have never let him go.
He was evil, right? And this was wrong. So wrong. What would Harry and Ron say?
'You kissed the man you killed my parents?!'
'Are you daft, Hermione? He could kill you!'
I needed to do some research. I couldn't stay here, in this time. There was no way. I knew I was messing up the future big time. I pressed my fingers to my lips as I jumped out of bed and paced my bedroom. Was this part of my destiny? This attraction? That kiss?! It couldn't be! No. No way. I didn't kiss Tom Riddle and I didn't enjoy how it made me feel!
I caught Annie's gaze from my bed. She was staring at me intently.
"What, Annie?" she kept staring. "What do you want me to do? I can't bloody well start 'dating' the bloke, now can I?" more staring. "Seriously? You expect me to just fall for the guy after everything I've told you about him?…well, its not happening!"
Avoidance was a hard task, especially when you're around that person all the time. And that person was doing everything they could to make you even more flustered than you already were. Although, I enjoyed the challenges in Charms and Transfiguration with our near constant debates on whose answer was the most relevant, he didn't have to sit right next to me! He even let me answer a question for Dumbledore without saying anything back at all! Except, 'I agree, Hermione, dearest.'
Who even says 'dearest'?
Professor Berrait's soft, Italian voice brought me back to the present. This Professor was my favorite. Aside from Dumbledore. I enjoyed his class for completely different reasons than other girls did. He was hands on and full of energy. He kept the whole class laughing and interested.
"Now, that we've finished chapters one through three, I was thinking that we'd like a little break?" Cheers and whoops erupted throughout the class. Tom even let out a small smirk. "I'll take that as a 'yes'!"
A voice that I now associated with anger and annoyance spoke out. "What are we going to do, sir?" I scowled at Romilda's back in front of me. It took all I had to not curse all the girls hair off.
"That's a good question, Romi." Berrati said while flipping his long, curly, black hair out of his face. "I was thinking…a duel?"
Excited chatter broke out in the room and the nudge I got from Abraxis, who seemed beside himself with glee, made me smile, too.
"How are you going to se up the duel, Professor?" Tom asked suddenly.
It annoyed me that the whole class went silent at Tom's voice.
"An even better question, Tom. I've already written it out. With there being only twenty-two of us, it didn't take too long." With a wave of his wand, papers flew to each person in the room.
The top said 'First Round'. I was paired with a girl named Selena Turpin for the first round. Abraxis was paired with Kathryn Bell, a Gryffindor, and Tom had Ryan Davies from Ravenclaw.
"Don't forget who you're paired with, because as soon as you get here next Tuesday, we'll begin. It will be at random, so keep that in mind as well." the young Professor said while sitting on his desk.
I kept my eyes on him as he answered questions for the class. He reminded me of Sirius Black, but younger and without the years of Azkaban to ware him down. He was lean and never sat still. He had dark brown eyes and a near constant five o'clock shadow. He was attractive in that 'he's-an-older-man-and-authority-figure' way. And in the way that he was just attractive.
My body tensed as I felt a large, warm hand on my knee. "Do you like what you see, Hermione? A silky voice whispered in my ear. I grabbed his hand and put it back in his lap.
"Don't pretend you didn't like our…'interaction' as much as I did." he slid his hand back onto my leg, only a little higher. I placed my hand on his to stop it from going higher. "Judging by your now flushed face, you aren't going to refute my observations." he chuckled.
His fingers were rubbing soft circles on my inner thigh. I flinched and let out a somewhat restrained giggle as he ran his fingers over a ticklish spot. I couldn't move his hand off my leg, even with both arms. I didn't want to draw attention to us either.
"Seriously, Smith? You're ticklish here?" he ran over the spot again and this time he squeezed and I let out a squeal and a peal of laughter.. He moved his hand quickly as my laughter caught the attention of the class. I immediately turned my laughs into coughs and Abraxis pounded me on the back. The Professor had an amused look on his face.
"S-sorry, sir. I…" cough, "I'm sorry." Abraxis was covering his mouth with his hand, trying to hide his smile as he rubbed my back. Tom had a look of extreme satisfaction on his face.
"Right, well…on that note, class dismissed!"
I embarrassedly shoved my notes and book into my bag. Tom walked to the door ahead of Abraxis and I, who had his arm around my shoulder trying to cheer me up. I think he thought I was embarrassed at my coughing fit.
"Ms. Smith?" I heard my Professor call. He beckoned me over. I nodded to Malfoy to go ahead of me and I shooed Tom with my hands. He didn't seem pleased with the action.
"Yes, sir?" I asked as I stood in front of him.
"Is everything alright? If you're uncomfortable with the seating arrangement, I could move you next to Romilda?"
"What?" Er, no. I'm fine. I just…had a tickle…in my throat." I laughed nervously.
"Okay, if you say so. Just let me know if you need to be moved. I know being a transfer student must be difficult." he sympathized.
"It's been…different." I shrugged as I sat in the chair he conjured. "It's hard to let go of all the stuff I've been through, you know?"
"Of course. Letting go is part of moving on, but moving on is never forgetting." I heeded his words with caution. He gave me a smile, a genuine one. "I have no doubt of your success here, Hermione."
"Thank you, sir." I said as a tinge of pink coated my cheeks.
"No thank you is needed Hermione. I'm not the only teacher has noticed your intelligence and ability."
"Really?" I said leaning forward in my seat.
"Don't sound so surprised! Your hard work has to pay off somehow, right?" he laughed. "I'm impressed with your complete use of nonverbal magic."
"Ah, well, magic shouldn't have to be spoken to have its full effect, right?" I tried to sound modest, instead of my usual factual self.
"Absolutely! Albus told me about your affinity toward wandless magic. That's not a common skill amongst teenagers." He had his chin resting on his hand casually while his eyes gazed at me imploringly.
And thus began our two hour long discussion about magic, and the war and my involvement. We talked about books, and the annoying art of Divination. We somehow got on to the topic of our personal lives.
"So, where did you go after finishing school?" my tea sat pleasantly on my lap.
"Well, I went to work at the ministry, finished my Auror training at nineteen, and then I worked form the until last year when I heard about this job opening." he explained. We had moved from his desk area to his private office. Sitting in plush arm chairs around the fire. I hadn't thought what I was doing was 'wrong' at the time, but when I walked back to my room later that night, I realized it was probably not a good idea.
"Oh, interesting. So how old does that make you then?"
"I'll be twenty-five this month." I hadn't realized Hogwarts hired teachers that young, but it makes sense. Snape had to of only been around twenty-two when Dumbledore hired him.
"Really? I'll be twent-er, eighteen this month…well actually, I'll be eighteen on Tuesday!" I had completely forgotten about my birthday. Now even more guilt crushed over me as I remembered I kissed a seventeen year old boy. I'm over two years older than him!
'Technically, he's forty-three years older than you…' my subconscious reminded me. Either way, it was wrong.
"Eighteen? Wow. I didn't realize…yeah, never mind! What are you going to do? Anything special?" I smiled and gave him a curious glance.
"No, I haven't really told anyone, I guess. I'll probably treat myself to a new book or some sugar quills." I said honestly.
"Hermione! Come on! You sound like an old woman! You should have a party and get drunk!" I laughed loudly at this. I had been drunk once! Once! With Harry and Ron on Harry's seventeenth birthday. I can still remember cheers-ing to the 'Boy Who Lives, Lives Another Year!'
"Oh, no, no, no. I'm fine with being an old lady." I assured him.
"You should at least tell Tom and Abraxis, Hermione. They'd want to know…"
I doubted that. Abraxis would probably start bouncing off the walls and insist we go to Hogsmead, and Tom, well, I don't know what he would do…but I didn't really want to know either.
"Ah, Professor, it's already six thirty, I should go if I want to catch dinner…" I stood up and slung my bag around my shoulders.
"Oh! Right…I lost track of time." he said sheepishly.
"No problem, sir. I enjoyed talking to you about…everything."
"You too, Hermione," the Defense teacher said with an undecipherable look in his eyes.
"I'll see you next week then, for the duel?" I wasn't sure what it was, but this goodbye definitely felt more awkward than it ever had with any other teacher.
"Yes, see you then, Hermione," I glanced at him when he said my name. Humor had lit up his face.
"Good night, sir," I left quickly, confused about the strange look in his eyes.
I walked down to the Great Hall deep in thought. I shouldn't have met with him for so long. It could be taken incorrectly. Young, female student plus a young, extremely attractive male teacher equals bad things. I mentally berated myself for getting distracted in our easy flow of conversation.
As I walked into the Hall and let my eyes do a sweep of the room, Alice was scowling at me from the Ravenclaw table, Amy Boot and Don Weasley were waving enthusiastically at me from Gryffindor, and the cool grey eyes of Abraxis and the impossibly blue ones of Tom's were gazing at me from Slytherin.
Tom motioned for me to come over to him with a slight nod of his head. Needless to say, I followed. Even though I was still extremely confused as to what 'we' were after our kiss. I knew Tom felt like he had some claim over me, it was obvious in his eyes. And in the way he followed me around and watched any interaction Abraxis and I had. He had given himself permission to touch me whenever he felt necessary. And what had I done? I let it happen, of course. I let him have control over me, however minute it may be. A kiss was just the beginning and I felt obligated to make it stop.
"Hermione," Tom greeted as I sat between him and Abraxis.
"How was your two hour long…discussion with Professor Berrati?" the blonde to my left asked with a smirk.
"Seriously, Malfoy?" I asked. "You're going there?"
He laughed, "What? It's just a question Smith…"
"It was fine!" I said snappishly.
"What did you talk about for so long?" Tom joined in the conversation.
"Nothing," vehemence in my tone.
"Hermione," he said as he grabbed my leg. A warning tone in his voice.
I rolled my eyes and counted to ten. "Tom," I hissed as I grabbed his hand, he squeezed harder and I grimaced in pain. "You can't do that. Especially not here, where anyone with eyes can tell you're hand is on my leg under the table! Which hurts, by the way." I stared into his darkening eyes. My own held no fear or chance of backing down. If he wanted to 'talk' in private, fine. Not here, though. A muscle in his jaw clenched at my defiance. His grip slowly loosened his hold.
"Very well. I suppose we can talk in the common room later tonight," the threat didn't go unnoticed.
I turned my head away from him and focused on my food. I couldn't help but feel the warmth that spread from his hand up my body when he touched me. I hadn't known it was possible to dislike someone so much, but want their touch. It was strange how I could ignore his most controlling side and focus on how absurdly beautiful he was. I could ignore how annoyed he made me and focus on the way his voice sounded.
I was upset with myself. I had given up everything I had and loved to travel fifty years into the past just to want to be close…to the Dark Lord? What was I thinking? I still had no clue what I was doing, but I was almost positive my job wasn't to snog Voldemort.
"Hermione?"
"What?" my defeated ton made the boy in front of me raise his eyebrows. "Oh, hello Andy…"
"Good evening. I was wondering if you would take up my offer of our date tonight?" he casually looked at Tom and Abraxis. "Riddle, Malfoy…didn't even see you there."
"Zambini, you can go to…"
"I'd love to," I replied while interrupting Abraxis. I locked eyes with tom on my right for a split second. "I'll see you by the lake at eight." I told Andy quickly. He nodded and went to sit next to Brown. I took one more glance at Tom.
His face was calm and impassive, but his eyes were anything but…
AN/: So. I made this chapter about 8000 words because I felt horrible for not updating for so long. A lot has happened though. It's been an interesting month. I got a job in Wyoming for the summer, so I think that means I'll have an over abundance of time to write. J Thank you for keeping up with this, if you still are!
Once again, IM SO SORRY!
-BAILEY