Chapter Thirteen

I had finally seen it. The real Tom Riddle without any pretenses. After just one day alone with him my entire mission was shattered. How could I destroy someone who was so…incredible? I couldn't even convince myself otherwise – there was something to Tom Riddle.

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"Hey Hermione," Will called over to me. "Mike, Harry, Charlie and I are going out to Hogsmede today. Seeing as we really could use a chick or two, do you want to come?"

"Oh, I would, but I have plans already," I told him, stumbling over my words.

He raised his eyebrows. "Do I hear correctly? Does our little Mione have a date?"

Just the, Harry and Charlie came in. "So, Mione," Charlie said to me. "Will you be joining us on this lovely afternoon?"

I was about to talk when Will cut me off, "She can't, Mione has a date."

"What?" Harry asked. "Who's ass are we kicking?"

"Shut up," I mumbled, turning redder and redder every second.

"Yeah Harry, be nice to Mione," Charlie told his brother. "I think it's sweet. Our little baby's growing up."

"Who's the lucky guy?" Will asked.

I mumbled the name. Apparently it wasn't quite loud enough and Charlie asked, grinning, "Could you say that one more time? I couldn't catch the name."

I took a deep breath before saying clearly, "Tom Riddle."

The smiles were wiped off my three friends' faces immediately. I liked it better when they were joking.

"You have a date with Riddle?" Harry asked disbelieving.

I nodded.

"Seriously?" Charlie asked. "How the hell did that happen?"

"Well, I learned that he's actually a good guy. He asked me if I wanted to go to Hogsmede with him and the answer was yes."

There was silence for a few moments and I could see my friends exchanging looks.

"Um, Hermione," Harry started. "Riddle hasn't…hurt you in anyway, has he?"

I rolled my eyes. "That's sweet Harry, really, but first of all, I can definitely hold my own against Tom and secondly, no, he hasn't in any way."

I spent the next half hour talking to my three friends and convincing them that I was going out with Riddle by my own free will.

I finally was able to escape them and I headed down to the grand staircase where I was meeting Tom. I arrived there to find him already waiting for me and I walked over.

"Hey," I said.

He smiled at me, and my breath caught in my throat. "Hey, ready to go?" he asked.

I nodded and we were off.

Tom told me that he had planned the whole day and started leading me down the pathway to Hogsmede.

We reached the point in the road where it forked. If you turned left then you were headed directly into Hogsmede.

I started going in what I thought was the right direction when Tom pulled me back and led me down the right fork.

"Uh, Tom. Isn't Hogsmede the other way?" I asked, my tone suggesting that he was mental.

He grinned at me. "We're not going to Hogsmede."

With that, he grabbed my hand and started walking with me.

Apparently the right fork led to a park. Not just any park, a muggle one.

The scenery was incredibly romantic. There were benches and trees everywhere, with lampposts lining the sides of the pathway. The pathway itself was very beautiful and old. It was thick and made out of stones with intricate designs carved into it. Every once in a while, there was a clearing with a gazebo or a pond in it. In addition to all this, it had snowed a little while ago and there was a soft white layer coating everything.

Only ten minutes into my date with Tom, I already knew that it would top all others and set a new bar for all the ones to come.

We walked along the path and talked while holding hands. Much to my surprise, it was the most natural thing I had done since entering this time period.

We had walked for about fifteen minutes when we saw a hot chocolate stand to the side of the path. In mutual agreement, we walked over there. Tom had been expecting something like this and he took out muggle money and paid for both of us.

We continued our walk and it was even better due to the hot chocolate.

The two of us talked about everything. Our views on political issues, schoolwork, classmates. The only topic that didn't come up was my past. I learned all about Tom's, but I had always made sure that the conversation didn't focus on where I was before Hogwarts.

We strolled through the park for two hours before we both decided that we were hungry.

We reached the end of the park to find that it let out at the end of Hogsmede.

"You're not going to make me go to Madame Puddifut's are you?" Tom asked with a sour look on his face.

I laughed. "Oh please, there is no danger of me wanting to go into there."

He let out a sigh. "Good," he said. "How about the three broomsticks?"

"Sounds perfect."

Tom and I ate lunch. When we finished, there was still some time to kill. We decided to go back up to Hogwarts through the park.

We reached the castle at around seven o' clock.

"I had a fun time today," I told him, smiling.

He smiled back. "Me too. Maybe we could go out again sometime?"

"That would be great," I said.

I then realized that we were standing closer then usual, my hand still intertwined in his.

I looked up into his eyes and we both started leaning in. The kiss was sweet, a bit like a promise for more.

We pulled back and said goodbye and I started making my way to Gryffindor tower.

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There was no denying it – Tom Riddle was not what I had expected and I could no longer keep looking at him as the man destined to end the world.

A/N: Sorry that took so long guys. That is, if anyone has really been keeping up with the story …

Anyway, REVIEW! You all know how much I love them – so do it.