Chapter 12

Hermione tip-toed as quietly as she could in the direction of the kitchens, although she was beginning to think that it wouldn't make much of a difference if she stomped down the hallways, it would be her stomach that gave her away. Hermione, however, wasn't as oblivious as people may think. She knew that someone was following her, and she already had four guesses as to who it was.

I guess I have Draco to thank for turning me into such a pro.....

Hermione sighed, knowing that the kitchens would have to wait for now.

This time, when she turned the corner, Hermione put her back against the wall, giving her the advantage of stopping whoever has been following her when they decide to turn said corner. However, because she had been concentrating so much to her left, she failed to see the looming shadow at her right.

To her fright, a hand gripped itself around Hermione's neck, and pressed her further into the wall. Hermione had no choice but to face in the direction of her attacker. Now Hermione wasn't as hocked when she saw none other than Antinon Dolohov sneering down at her.

He pressed his hand down harder on her neck as he began to speak. "You made a big mistake in Defence, Granger. Maybe now you'll learn never to embarrass me like that again."

Due to the fact, Hermione had clasped her hands around Dolohov's hand, Dolohov used his free one to easily slip out her wand from her dressing gown pocket. He waved it teasingly enfront of her before chucking it across the hallway and pulling out his own one.

Well this isn't good.....

Tom watched on as Antinon chucked Hermione's wand across the hallway and pulled out his own one.

Part of him wanted to smirk, turn around and pretend he was never there, letting Antinon teach the little chit a thing or two about messing with Slytherins. But, to his utmost confusion, part of him wanted to blast Antinon's sorry arse to kingdom come.

Being a prefect, would give him the advantage to do both.

He could easily intervene, blast Antinon, and also perhaps use it as an advantage over Granger. She deserves as much, after the whole orphanage incident.

Tom's thoughts, however, were rudely interrupted when a loud moan and clatter was heard from around the corner.

When Tom turned, the sight he was met with almost made him want to bark with laughter.

Hermione had used legilimens on Antinon, hoping to get a good idea on what he planned to do. She had to resist rolling her eyes at the Slytherin's 'creativity'.

Antinon pressed his wand against Hermione's stomach. Hermione wanted nothing more than to hex his arse to 1996,only to start all over again. But she also wanted to keep her magic capabilities under wraps for the moment. Except, what Antinon didn't know was that Hermione had been brought up with muggles, giving her another advantage of sorts.

"I'm going to enjoy this Granger." Antinon smirked.

So am I Hermione thought with a smirk of her own.

"Cruc-"

As Antinon began the curse, Hermione brought her knee up and hit him hard on his groin. Antinon was made to drop his wand and bend over, holding onto his crotch. With his back bent, Hermione clasped her hands together and brought her elbows down on his back, making him stumble down lower. Hermione pushed him as far away from her as she could, making him drop to the floor against the opposite wall.

Hermine stood over him and whispered quietly to herself so no one else would hear her, "Payback's a bitch, huh?" Remembering the small, pink scar she had on her chest.

Hermione dusted off the imaginary dust from her night clothes, and made to walk away and retrieve her wand.

A small cough was heard from behind her. Hermione spun round at record speed only to find herself facing Tom Riddle.

"Miss Granger."

"Riddle."

"Care to explain why you're out after curfew?" Tom inquired coldly, one hand holding his wand by his side.

Hermione quirked an eye brow at him. "There's a moaning, wandless and pained fellow Slytherin of your's right in front of you and you're asking me why I'm out after curfew?"

Tom didn't say anything, and didn't seem to really care about the Slytherin either.

"Hmmm....." another growl left Hermione's stomach. She looked back up at Tom. "Okay. Wait just a sec."

Hermine jogged slightly to where her wand had been thrown and picked it up, coming back over, she pointed it at the Slytherin. "Stubify." Hermione got his wand and placed it inside his robes, then she put a Dillusionment charm over him. She turned back to Tom, who now had quirked one of his own eyebrows at her. "How about we continue these questions..... at the kitchens? yes?"

Hermione didn't really wait for his responce before she started heading off again in the direction of the kitchens. Well....... she basically ran there.

Well that was interesting

Tom thought as he calmly walked in the direction of the kitchens. He guessed that Hermione had probably got there by now, judging by the speed she took off at. Naturally, anyone would be curious as to how she, a new student, would know her way to the kitchens, but according to the information Malfoy had given him, she had been here for nearly a week before the term had started. Leaving him with the conclusion that Hogwarts must of been one of the first places she came to after the orphanage.

He turned the last corner to the kitchens, only to see an impatient Hermione standing there, arms folded and tapping her foot. "What took you so long!" She seethed.

Tom smirked slightly. "Well, I was hardly going to make a fool out of myself by running here, now was I."

Hermione glared at him before turning round to face the portrait of the food bowl. Stretching up, she tickled the pare. Tom couldn't help but notice how, as she stretched, some of her top rode up her stomach, giving him a perfect view of the soft, creamy skin of her flat stomach. He had to try and shake the inviting thoughts from his head as the portrait door swung open.

"Why did you wait for me anyway?" Tom asked as he held the door open for her.

"Less noise." She answered simply as she passed him.

He was slightly curious, after he and Hermione had entered, as all the house elves began to run over and greet Hermione. They practically surrounded her.

"Hello, Mistress Hermione! What can Snippy do for you!?" A small elf asked, beaming up at her.

A small laugh escaped Hermione's lips. "How about you all gather up some utensils and ingredients? I'm in the mood for some of my gran's famous chocolate cake."

Hermione told them what she needed and they all began to bustle about getting her what she needed.

Tom came up beside her and asked, "Since when do house elves allow people to do their own cooking? Let alone talk to them like a friend and not master?"

Hermione smiled slightly and looked up at him. "Since I told them to. I do not want to be treated like a Lord and Master. I come in here quite often, so they got used to it. Also...... no one but I can master Granny Sue's Chocolate cake." She smiled more, which Tom couldn't help but find positively endearing.

Another house elf came running up to Hermione. "Everything is ready for Miss Hermione."

Hermione looked down at him. "Thank you, Lotty. I'll be there in a moment." Lotty smiled proudly, more than Tom had ever seen a house elf smile, then ran back off with the others.

"Well." Hermione sighed as she again looked back up to Tom. Tom raised his eye brows at her. "I'm gonna be here for a while, so........ "she grinned, and Tom didn't fail to see the mirth hidden in her chocolate brown eyes. Suddenly, something was chucked in his face. "So put on the apron and you can interrogate me while I bake, and you help." She winked at him before she turned and headed over to where everything was set up. Leaving a startled and worried Tom Riddle behind her.

Tom Riddle, however, was never one to back down from a challenge.

Why was she acting like this? Hermione Granger had no idea. Although, somewhere down the line, she felt that maybe treating Tom Riddle like an ordinary teenage boy would be a whole different, and perhaps a better experience, than if she treated him like his older self. She knew that he had already killed four people, but still. She needed to see.

Tying her apron, Hermione turned to see if said boy was even up for it. To her shock and utter amazement, he actually was! She didn't actually think he would even consider it, but here he was making his way over. Hermione tried to keep her thoughts intact as she watched him take off his robe and jumper, leaving him still in his shirt and trousers. He rolled up the sleeves of his shirt. Hermione had to turn around quickly before she visibly began to drool.

Why in Gods name does he go around looking like an inbred serpent, when he could go around looking like that!

Trying to act completely unaffected, Hermione turned around again. "What? No apron?" She asked innocently.

"No force on earth could make me wear that thing." He answered simply.

Hermione snorted. "Good. I'd be slightly worried if you did wear it." Hermione could of sworn she saw a small twitch at the side of his lips, but played it for her imagination.

"Well, Mr Riddle, you can start by breaking two eggs into that bowl over there." She pointed to said bowl. She mentally rolled her eyes when she saw he was trying to look like he knew what he was doing. "Do you know what I mean?"

Tom looked blank. He looked back at her and then said, "How about I work with the flour?"

Aww, he sounds almost hopeful.

Hermione sighed, she looked at him, "Here. Give me one of them." Tom handed her an egg. Hermione took the bowl. "This is what I mean when I say 'break an egg', okay?"

Hermione, skillfully, cracked the egg open and allowed the contents to fall into the bowl. Hermione picked up another egg and passed it to him. "Now you try."

Hermione noticed that he looked almost proud when he did it perfectly. Hermione smiled proudly as she added the rest of the ingredients to the bowl. She then grabbed a second bowl and put in some icing sugar, cocoa powder and soft margarine, then she handed it to Tom along with a wooden spoon. "How about we sit down and mix these, while you do your little interragation that you've been wanting to do."

They sat down at the table and began mixing.

It was plainly obvious to both of them what had happened that night, and also why she was out after curfew. Therefor, Tom decided he would start with what he really wanted to know. Before he could stop himself, he bluntly asked, "Why were you at the orphanage?"

"You don't beat around the bush, do you?" He heard her murmur, before she sighed and put her bowl on top of the table. "My home had been attacked." She started. Tom put his own bowl down and waited for her to continue. "Me and my Mum where at home when it was invaded by followers of Grindewald. Mum had pushed me into a cuboard in the kitchen and handed me her necklace. She said it was an emergency port key, that would take me to a random town somewhere in London. She used her wand and shot out a spell at me before she closed the door. The door had been slightly ajar, and the last thing I saw before I was pulled away by the port key was my mum being hit by the killing curse."

What Tom was oblivious to, however, was the fact that Hermione was actually only telling the half truth.

"I think you have a fairly good idea as to how the rest of it goes from there on." She finished calmly.

She wiped a small tear away from her eye as she stood up and gave a little cough. Tom looked up to see her smiling slightly. "Come on. I think its about time we got this in the oven."

Tom stood also, mentally kicking himself for being such a nosey bastard.

Talking about her feelings to someone had always made Hermione feel better about a situation. But the depressed air that seemed to now be hanging about the pair, was really beginning to annoy Hermione.

They had put the cake mixture into the oven about ten minutes ago. Another fifteen to twenty minutes and it should be complete. Now they were just cleaning off the units. Tom still didn't seem to see the point in doing it when the house elves would gladly take their place, but with one silent glare from Hermione, he was cleaning right next to her. That same glare had always worked with people like Harry, Ron, Neville and co. So it was good to know it still worked even in this time line.

She really needed to lift the mood somehow. She found that he wasn't really all that bad when he relaxed. An idea sprung to mind as she spotted a wet table cloth.

When his back turned, Hermione made for the table cloth and started to twist it. When it was twisted as tight as it could go. Hermione held one end with a tight grip and pulled with her other hand as far as she could. With one eye closed and her tongue out slightly, she took aim. Hoping to hit his shoulder. She released.

Hermione eyes widened in horror, however, when Tom spun round and easily caught the whipping end with his hand. Hermione stared at him like a child who had just been caught with their hand in the cooky jar. Tom just smirked. "You really do tend to underestemate me, Granger."

Hermione mock glared at him. She tugged on the cloth as if to get it back, but found that he wasn't letting go. "Firstly, Tom, my name is Hermione. And lastly, give me the cloth back." She tugged harder.

"As you wish. Hermione." Just as she made to tug again, Tom let go of the cloth, causing her to loose her balance. A small shriek left her lips as she toppled backwards. Instead of the ground, however, she felt a strong hand wrap around her wrist and pull her back up.

Cheeks reddening, Hermione murmured a small thank you, before starting to wipe across the unit.

"No need to thank me. I've gotten used to girls falling for me."

Hermione gaped at his cheek and playfully whacked him across the shoulder.

All sorts of thoughts were running through Hermione's mind. The main one being: I'm standing here in a kitchen, bantering with the young Lord Voldemort. My life just gets stranger and stranger.

Since when do I act like this!? Tom thought furiously to himself.

He never acted like this! and with a Gryffindor no less! He was supposed to be cold and ruthless. The leader of his knights! He wasn't someone who baked cakes late at night with a pretty Gryffindor. What would people say if they were to see him like this!? After only knowing the girl for about a week and a half, he seemed to start acting differently around her, and he hadn't a clue why! For the first time in Tom Riddle's life, he was thoroughly confused with himself.

"I must say. That for a Slytherin and Gryffindor, I would have to rate this ten out of ten."

Hermione and Tom were now sitting down at the kitchen's table, very uncomfortable at that moment. Both students were completely covered in flour and cocoa powder. Tom's face was - thanks to Hermione - covered in Chocolate Butter Icing, and Hermione's face was - thanks to Tom - also covered in Chocolate Butter Icing. They were currently watching as Horace Slughorn sat at the other end of the table, eating a large chunk of their chocolate cake.

R&R