**You should probably read this. Important information below**

Author's Note: I'm off to camp on Sunday, and I won't be back for approximately a month. Therefore, this is the last chapter for a while. I am currently revising my earlier chapters, so if you want to check them out while I'm gone, go ahead. The most noticeable change would be the prologue. There are a couple of added scenes there.

My beta and I spent some time thinking about this, and Hermione was made a little more sadistic because of her upbringing. Also, all muggle references will be removed since someone pointed it out, and I realized that they were illogical to put in. That also counts for pokemon, so Black's nickname for Hermione will disappear and she will simply be referred to by her name.

For those of you who do not like this, I'm sorry, but I spent a lot of effort trying to edit it and I don't feel like changing it back. The story line is still the same, of course, just without some of the unnecessary gadgets and some better characterized people.

Alphard Black appears in this chapter, and for those of you who read my other story, The Art of Not Knowing, (if you haven't, I highly recommend reading it.) this Alphard and that Alphard are not the same. This Alphard will also not play that big of a part as that Alphard. Okay, I'll shut up before I give anything else away.

Hm…I think that's it. Oh, and I recently discovered that I can reply to reviews. I actually never knew that. So if you review before Sunday, I'll respond to you (assuming it's not anonymous.) If you don't get it in by Sunday, I may be able to respond but it'll probably be left alone for one month till I get back.

Last thing; for those of you who don't like all these characters coming together in one generation, the only reason I did so was because someone once said to me that they disliked having lots of OCs running all over the place. Trust me, I am perfectly fine with coming up with OCs, but I thought that I could create other conflicts with the other characters in the book who you already know about. As I am far too lazy to go around replacing everyone's names, you can either just live with it, or stop reading. (Though I hope you'll do the first option.)

Thanks to my beta, AllShadesofGrey, for spending so much time revising for me. (You get a bold mention.)

And of course, thanks to everyone who reviewed!

Virtuoso Wanderings, Weird-Chik2, MIGHTY RULER OF GUMMY BEARS, voldyismyfather, asianstotheleft, tHevoLtuRi'SdARkpRiNceSS, hateme101, Anon, ShadowAngel55, UniCryin, TheGirlonFire52, Beaufale, reader204, donkeykongsmathsocks, MidnightEclipse93, LK-HoGwArTs-hEaDgIrL, ChemicalRose1248, Berry, Miss Scarlett Rose, funnygirlz-niklin, Apurva21, sKyLaR KnIgHt, Pigfartsisreal, Punkey-Monkey, Red Sphinx

MidnightEclipse93: I don't type hate A/Ns. I find it silly if I do, seeing how I ask for criticism. I'm perfectly fine with your review; it's honest and I respect that (plus it boosts my review count.) I mentioned most of what you said up in that massive A/N. Modern day muggle references will be taken away (with the exception of Arthur Weasley.) As for the characters, I'm leaving them there, so sorry if they annoy you.

Red Sphinx: You said you were really irritated with someone, but you left out the name. I'm guessing you meant Hermione? And good luck for the rest of your exams. And how Harry escaped is a story for another day.

**End of insanely long author's note**


"Is there any particular reason," Hermione said sharply, her eyes narrowing as she took in her surroundings. "That we're at a muggle bar?" She glanced down at Abraxas, who looked to be the only person sober, and he gave her a guilty smile. Black was completely wasted, and Tom had fallen asleep on the table. Eying them all disdainfully, Hermione reluctantly slid in to the seat between Abraxas and Tom, making sure to keep some room between her and the latter.

"Tom sent us an SOS," Black slurred, trying to sit up but failing. He ended up opting to lie on the table like Tom was, his shaggy hair wet with what looked like beer. "He told us he had to meet someone, but we had to help him. And then he said we absolutely could not invite you," Black sent Tom a glance, but Tomshowed no sign of hearing. "So that was when I knew that I absolutely had to invite you."

"Typical."

"Do you think we should wake him up?" Abraxas asked worriedly, glancing at Tom. "The time he indicated was seven. That's in about ten minutes." He pondered for a while. "I wonder who he invited."

Hermione, being the closest to Tom, leaned over to jolt his head. When Tom didn't respond then, she leaned closer and shook him by his shoulders. "Wake up," she snapped as loudly as she could over the blazing music. "Your guest is going to be here in ten minutes so you should—"

Tom was up before she could even blink and held her by her throat, pinning her to the table. Hermione's wand was out in a flash and was pointed at his head as he brought his out as well. Abraxas let out a yelp of surprise, and even Black was startled out of his drunken stupor. Hermione narrowed her eyes as Tom's eyes transformed from blue to black to nearly red. There was an ugly sneer on his face, which Hermione happily matched.

"We're at a muggle bar," Abraxas protested, glancing around. "People think you two are insane, trying to kill each other with two sticks. Can we do this later?" He looked nervously at the bartender, who was frowning and deciding whether or not to come over.

"Hermione, Tom," Black said softly, so quiet that it was uncharacteristic. However, Hermione didn't risk removing her eyes from Tom, who clearly reacted out of reflex. However, it seemed that while his eyes were looking at her, he wasn't really registering what was happening. "Stop."

Neither of them dared to drop their wands, and the atmosphere in the bar became tense. Several people stopped talking and were now looking over at their booth, their eyes wide and expression nervous. No one dared to interfere.

They stood in the stalemate position for a while, their eyes burning holes in to each other, before Hermione tapped her wand against his head impatiently. Tom froze, and then seemed to finally recognize her and then abruptly let go of his grip. His eyes were still a dark, blood-like color, but he folded his wand away and sat down calmly. Scowling, Hermione removed herself from the table and sat down as far away from him as she possibly could.

Uneasy conversations started again around the bar, though there were suspicious glances thrown at them once in a while. The silence surrounding the four was uncomfortable, but neither Hermione nor Tom were going to say anything. Abraxas glanced back and forth between them worriedly, and Black, who had sobered up for five seconds, had become drunk again. He was busily ordering beer, flirting with all the waitresses as well.

Somehow, Hermione wasn't too surprised when five minutes later, they ended up with ten beers that were completely paid for, a smug Black and a very, very flustered waitress.

"That's cheating," Hermione told him when Black leaned back comfortably, gulping down his drink like there was no tomorrow. "It's only beer. It's not that expensive, is it?"

Black turned his dark eyes towards her, and the smug expression slid right off his face. "I don't know," he said, his voice eerily quiet. "Maybe because I spent all my money on a cat that was promptly thrown in the garbage. No matter what you think, Hermione, money doesn't fall from the sky for me." He turned away, flagged the waitress over, and then started whispering in to her ear, determinedly turning his back on Hermione and ignoring her.

Hermione winced slightly and turned to Abraxas, who was frowning. "You didn't tell him?" she asked.

"I…no, I didn't. It's not my place to." He offered her a small, reassuring smile. "Don't mind him. He's just drunk and stupid." He rolled his eyes as Black took the waitress' hand in his and seemed to be proclaiming his undying love for her. "Come to think of it, he's always drunk and stupid. And as much as he denies it, money does fall from the sky for him."

Before Hermione could respond, Tom made an inhuman sound and sat up. For someone who had just been splayed on the table, there wasn't a hair out of place on his head. And in the letter Black had sent her, he had said that Tom was as drunk as hell. Hermione glanced over at him; he seemed to be his normal and irritable self, though he seemed considerably angrier than she had ever seen him.

"Abraxas," he barked, and the boy jumped. "What time is it?"

"Seven," Abraxas responded, moving over so that Hermione, who was on a voyage around the table, could move as far away from Tom as she possibly could. "Your guest should be here at any time."

Tom nodded, and then glanced sharply at Hermione. She had nearly made her way around the booth, sitting very close to Abraxas. The boy gulped, glanced nervously at Tom, before attempting to move away. Hermione, however, simply followed him.

This went on for a couple minutes, until Tom had enough. "Are you quite done?" Tom snapped as the two of them nearly pushed Black off his chair. Black scowled at them and then shoved Abraxas back. Hermione quickly moved away as the two of them started pushing and shoving, nearly knocking over the glasses of beer in the progress.

"It's your fault," Tom said, glaring at Hermione. She simply raised an eyebrow at him, her face void of emotion. "They're so damn loud. My head's killing me." Raising his wand, he cast a silencing spell on the two of them and then went back to massaging his head slowly. Hermione, just to spite him, lifted the spell.

Tom glowered at her. She glared right back.

He grabbed her arm roughly. "I haven't forgotten about what happened." His hand trailed dangerously close to the hem of her shirt. She slapped it away. "Don't think I've forgiven you yet."

"Forgiven me?" Hermione asked incredulously. "I think you have it the other way around, Tom. I don't need your forgiveness. It's you who needs my forgiveness." She crossed her arms and scowled. "You're the one prying in to things that isn't your business."

"So I'm supposed to ignore the scars," Tom stated plainly, as if it were the most idiotic thing he had ever heard.

"Of course!" she shot back. "I ignore all your faults, don't I?"

His eyes flashed dangerously. "Enlighten me, then. What faults could I possibly have?"

"You're plain evil," she said. "You never tell me about your past, or you family. And don't think I've forgotten what you did to your father." She narrowed her eyes. "That was unforgivable to kill him, no matter how much you hate him." She conveniently forgot about her own background.

His eyes widened a fraction. "How do you know what I did to him?"

"Do you think I'm stupid?" The look on his face clearly indicated that he did. "I can put two things together, Tom. And Tim told me himself. I don't know what I was thinking, letting him go off with you." Her eyes blazed. She couldn't believe she was lecturing him on this, not when her feelings towards her own father was nowhere close to being positive. "He's your father, Tom! He brought you in to this world! Don't you think he tried to redeem himself?"

"He is not my father!" Tom snarled back, his grip on her wrist tightening. "He is a filthy muggle. And I don't believe in redemption. Anyone who has done something evil enough to try to seek it is already rotting in hell."

"Really," Hermione said quietly, her eyes cutting in to his. "And where does that leave you, Tom Riddle?"

"I will never go anywhere near hell. I will escape it all, because I will never die."

His words were strange to her, and she was unable to comprehend what he meant. 'Never die?' Even her father would die one day. Even he couldn't escape death. Quietly, she said, "Everyone dies, Tom."

Tom's face twisted in to a nasty snarl, but before he could curse her, a man stepped up to their table. He had a wary look on his face, and his black hair was brushed off to one side. He looked strangely like…Hermione quickly glanced over.

"Alphieee!" Black crooned, reaching over to hug the man's leg. The man looked down and blinked, clearly surprised. "You came to see me."

"No, actually." 'Alphie' glanced over at Tom. The two of them stared at each other, their gazes not particularly friendly. "Your friend here invited me."

"I did." Tom said, abruptly letting go of Hermione's wrist. She massaged it with a sour look on her face. "I did say to be here at seven, did I not?"

'Alphie' shrugged nonchalantly and sat down. While Tom seemed to think it was a big deal that he was ten minutes late, the man didn't think so. He grabbed what was left of Black's glass, ignoring the boy's protests, and chugged it down. Black wrestled him for the cup, but Alphard used his height advantage quite nicely and held it out of his reach.

He suddenly noticed Hermione, and she stared back at him. This man, who she was guessing was some sort of relative of Black's, certainly looked like both Black and Cygnus. He reached a hand out professionally and said, "I'm Alphard Black, Head Boy."

"Hermione Granger," she shook his hand. Tom had mentioned him once, but strangely enough, she had never seen him around. "I'm in fifth year."

"So you're Hermione," a rueful smile appeared on his face. "Orion has been talking about you a lot, to the point where whenever I saw his owl, I just threw the letter in the trash." Black frowned. "It was not because of you, of course, but there's only so much I can take."

"I would've done the same," Hermione nodded, ignoring Black's whisper of 'of course you would.' "Are you Black's cousin?"

Alphard looked surprised. "Orion didn't tell you? I'm his older brother, actually."

Hermione stared. "Black, you have an older brother?" Black nodded. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because Mommy disowned Alphie for a while," Black explained. "But Mommy realized she had made a mistake, so she let Alphie back in. While Alphie was disowned, no one could talk about him." He made a sad face. "Or Mommy would crucio us."

"Mommy?" Hermione repeated, narrowing her eyes. "I thought your mom left you when you were young."

Alphard nodded. "He's talking about Walburga's mother. He and Cygnus are staying there over the breaks." He glanced at Abraxas. "Though, wasn't he calling your mom 'Mommy' just last year?"

"Yes, he was," Abraxas made a disgusted face. "Now he just calls her Irms when the two of them are flirting shamelessly."

"I do not flirt with your mom!" Black objected, sticking out his tongue childishly. "Not that your mom isn't smoking hot."

"I did not need to know that," Abraxas groaned. "Remind me to never listen to you again while you're drunk."

"She is!" Black protested. He turned towards Tom. "Isn't she, My L—" He trailed off, Tom narrowing his eyes and Abraxas gulping nervously.

"My what?" Alphard inquired, his eyes on Tom.

"My… my love." Black said. He gave Tom a grin. "That's what I was going to call him. My love." Tom gave him a disgusted look, and Alphard's expression simply said that even a two year old wouldn't have believed Black. However, Black remained painfully oblivious and stole Abraxas's beer before proceeding to dumping it on his own head.

Hermione turned towards Alphard, trying to lighten up the tense atmosphere. "I haven't really noticed you at all at Hogwarts," she said. "Where do you sit during meals?"

Alphard opened his mouth, but Tom cut him off. "He's never at meals," he leered. Hermione wondered if there was still a little alcohol in his system. He was acting most peculiar, or maybe he was just always acting when he was with her. "Because he's busy."

There was a glint in his eyes, and Alphard regarded him coldly. "Yes, I am." he said calmly, though his gaze was far from pleasant. "Now tell me, Tom, what you've been up to these past months."

Tom stood up abruptly. "There's a room over there." He jerked his head down the hallway. "We can talk quietly over there." Alphard looked at him, before nodding and standing up as well.

Hermione suddenly had a sense of déjà vu from Diagon Alley. She had no idea why anyone would agree to talk to Tom in private, especially when they knew how Tom was. "We're in a muggle bar," she informed Tom frostily. "There are three witnesses here," and then she added sweetly, "You won't do anything stupid, will you?" There was a warning glint in her eyes.

Tom merely glared at her and said, "Don't follow me." And then the two of them disappeared down the hallway.

Hermione raised an eyebrow. Now that Tom specifically said not to follow him, she was going to do the exact opposite.

"Alphieeee." Black crooned softly.

Hermione turned towards Abraxas, who had a frown on his face. "Is he really busy?" she asked. "Alphard, I mean. I've actually never seen him before."

Abraxas sighed. "Yes, Alphard has been very busy for as long as I've known him. Even without all the prefect and head duties, I barely saw him around. The Head Boy position just made him more tired. And then last year, there was a rumor going on about a Black mixing around with a muggle. Him getting disowned made him busier than normal, trying to support himself."

Hermione sighed. Oh, the drama in the Black household. "Let me guess. It was actually Walburga."

Abraxas shot her a funny look. "No, it was Andromeda, actually."

"Who's that? Walburga's cousin? Another one of Black's siblings that I don't know about?"

"She's actually from another family," Abraxas grinned at her tired face. "The Blacks have quite a few lines running right now, in order to ensure that they have at least one heir. I think there's a total of six Black families right now." Hermione groaned. "Unfortunately for Andromeda's family, she is not only female but she is also, as they call it, a "muggle-sympathizer.""

"Andy was so nice too," Black said. "But then she ran off with that stupid muggle." Hermione sent him a glare. "What? It shouldn't offend you unless you're a muggle."

"Alright, time to get you home," Abraxas sighed. "You've had too much to drink, and you're extremely angry. Come on; let's go before you decide to blow up something." He turned towards Hermione. "Be careful."

Hermione blinked. "What?"

"You have that look on your face," Abraxas said as he helped a staggering Black to his feet. "You're going to go after Tom, and you'll only end up blasting my face off if I don't let you," Hermione grinned guiltily, and Abraxas sighed. "Just remember that Alphard is perfectly able of defending himself. You don't need to be the super hero all the time."

"I know." Hermione thought that she was quite far from being a super hero. She watched as Black accidently tripped and landed in a woman's lap. She looked delighted, but her husband was clearly less pleased. "You better take him home before he gets killed."

"Unfortunately, Black doesn't die that easily," That was true. The woman was avidly defending Black, who just gave her a sloppy kiss on the cheek and then staggered off. Hermione almost snorted as the woman held back her husband, protecting someone who she had only just met five seconds ago.

"Don't splinch yourself," Hermione called to Abraxas, who was holding Black back from ordering another gallon of beer.

"I won't," he said, rolling his eyes. "I make no promises towards him, though." Black fell on to the floor and Abraxas took that opportunity to tie him up. Upon seeing that he had Black under control, she spun around and headed down the hallway to the room that Tom and Alphard were in.

"So the rumors are true," Alphard commented, leaning against the wall comfortably. He noticed that Tom placed several locking charms on the door, but decided not to comment on it. There was nothing he could do about it, anyway. "The ones about you and Hermione."

Tom clenched his fist, but kept his face carefully blank. He was curious to hear about what kind of talk surrounded the two of them, but he wasn't going to ask Alphard to be his gossip mill. He'd just find out through Tracey once he got back to Hogwarts. "I'm not here to talk about Hermione."

"I didn't think you were," Alphard said. "Though I am rather curious to why you want me here. If you want some lecture on Black history, Orion and Cygnus would be a better choice, I'm afraid. I don't really pay attention to the lives of my ancestors."

So Alphard was playing dumb, was he? "If I wanted to learn about your egoistic family, I would've picked up a book," Tom snarled. Alphard raised an eyebrow but didn't comment. Tom, on the other hand, took out his wand and twirled it in between his fingers. Alphard eyed it warily. "Now, Alphard, tell me. Does the name Hepzibah Smith sound familiar?"

Alphard frowned and his hand immediately flew to his wand. However, before he could get it out, Tom swiftly disarmed him, catching his wand in his other hand while keeping his own trained on Alphard. "No need to get so defensive," Tom sneered, tilting Alphard's chin up with his wand to force him to look in to his eyes. "I only wanted to talk with you."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Alphard said, sounding more brave than he was feeling. He was trapped in a room with Tom Riddle, and unlike all the other naïve students at Hogwarts, he actually knew what Tom was really like.

Ever since he had walked in on one of Tom's meetings and saw him breaking Avery's fingers one by one, he had been extremely wary of the boy. And Tom, in return, had always been suspicious of what Alphard was doing, and made sure to keep and extra eye on him.

"No?" A calculating smile appeared on Tom's face as he backed Alphard up until his back was against the wall, the jagged stone pressing in to his back. "So the two of you aren't secretly acquainted? She hasn't entrusted her prized possessions to you? She didn't give you the diadem?"

"No idea what you're talking about," Alphard said, proud that his voice was not shaking. Of course he knew exactly what Tom was talking about, but he was busy mentally prepared himself for Tom's legilimens. While he knew he couldn't hold off Tom, Tom would be slightly weakened and stunned by using legilimens, and Alphard hoped he could push him off and make a run for it.

"I have to admit," Tom continued on as if he hadn't heard Alphard at all. "That it was rather clever. To give the diadem to that foolish girl, and convince her it was the real one." Tom sneered, and Alphard wondered if the girl was alright. He had never met her, but Hepzibah had told him about her. Lavender was her name, if he recalled correctly. "Then, she'd give you the real one. You, who was not involved in this at all, therefore making it difficult for me to suspect you." His wand tip was tracing patterns on Alphard's neck. "You will regret getting involved in this."

"Tom, you're still drunk," Alphard said as kindly as he could, given their current position. He noticed that Tom had dropped his wand and it currently lay a couple feet away from him. He started to move closer to it without Tom noticing. "You don't know what you're talking about. Go sleep it off. You'll feel better tomorrow."

"Don't tell me what I should or should not do," Tom hissed. "You will tell me where it is now, or I will extract the information by myself. And if you make me waste my energy doing so," he narrowed his eyes. "I'll make it as painful as possible."

"You weren't this angry the last time I saw you," Alphard said warily. But then again, the last time the two of them had met out of school and away from prying eyes was when Tom was picking out his wand at Ollivander's.

The tip of his wand dug in to Alphard's neck. "That's because you gave me what I wanted right away then," Tom replied smoothly. "If you would just tell me where the diadem is, we wouldn't need to go through all this."

"What makes you think I know Hepzibah?" Alphard raised an eyebrow, trying a different approach. "If you bring me to her, you'll find that she won't be able to identify me,"

"This world is made up of liars, Alphard," Tom said softly. "And they'll be no need for that. Hepzibah is dead."

Alphard's eyes widened. He had seen her just a week ago, alive and fairly active, running around all over the place. "How?"

A sadistic grin crossed Tom's face. "I killed her, of course," he said. "After she refused to give me the cup. The same fate will meet you, if you don't give me what I want."

"You can't do that," Alphard's eyes hardened. "You'll get sent to Azkaban."

Tom smirked, digging his wand in to Alphard's neck so hard the boy almost gagged. "Dead people can't talk, Alphard. You'll find that I'm awfully good at covering up my tracks."

Alphard raised an eyebrow. "So you'll kill my brother," he stated. "And then you'll kill Abraxas. And then you'll also kill Hermione, since they're all witnesses? And then you'll also kill everyone in the bar because they saw you. Why don't you just go kill the whole world while you're at it?"

"That was the plan," Tom said coldly. However, before Alphard could question him, Tom continued. "Black's too drunk to comprehend what just happened, anyway. Abraxas will keep his mouth shut if he knows what's good for him."

"What about Hermione?" he said, noticing how Tom visibly tensed up. Noticing his advantage, though small, Alphard pressed on. "What will she say when she finds out what you're doing with me here?"

"She already knows," Tom said, causing Alphard's eyebrows to rise even higher. "She also knows what I'm going to do with you if you don't comply with my wishes."

"She knows?" Alphard repeated. "How can she know? Why would she stay with you then?"

Tom scowled. "I'll have you know I'm a charming boy. Why wouldn't she stay with me?"

"She didn't look as sadistic as you," Alphard continued, apparently not hearing Tom. The boy frowned. "I see no possible explanation, unless she's also sick like you and loves killing people."

"Crucio," Tom whispered, and Alphard immediately started writhing. Since he was still pinned to the wall, his head smacked against the hard stone before Tom dropped him on to the floor. A small streak of blood was left on the wall. Alphard's eyes held intense hatred as Tom sneered down at him. "Don't you dare call Hermione sick," he said. "Don't you dare drag her in to this."

Realization dawned Alphard's face. "You care about her in your own way, don't you?" he said, watching as Tom's eyes flashed red. He was too gleeful with his new discovery to care that this was the last thing Tom wanted to hear. "That's why you wanted to talk in here. You didn't want to bring her in to this." A triumphant look crossed Alphard's face. "I never thought I'd see the day Tom Riddle actually cared for someone."

"Shut up!" Tom growled, raising his wand. "Don't you dare talk about Hermione right now! You have no right—"

"If I had known you two were arguing about me…" a female drawled from the doorway. It was the subject of their conversation, standing with her arms crossed and a smirk on her face. "…I would've gone home with Abraxas. What a dreadfully boring topic to talk about," she walked over and helped Alphard up.

Tom let her tend to Alphard's wounds, though he didn't put his wand away. "How much did you hear?" he said, his temper deflated, though his voice still had some of the anger that was present before.

"Enough," Hermione responded. "No need to be so worried. You said it perfectly yourself, actually. Nothing you said came as new information to me." She nodded at Alphard, who flexed his fingers carefully before smiling appreciatively at Hermione.

"I didn't mean to call you sick," Alphard said.

Hermione shrugged. "It's all right. And who knows. Maybe I'm as insane as Tom is." Tom's eyes flashed dangerously again, and she rolled her eyes. "You really are easily pissed off when you're drunk."

"I'm not drunk," Tom muttered darkly.

Hermione eyed him, but turning back towards Alphard. "Come on, let's get out of here," she said, leading him towards the door. "It's late now, you should get going."

However, before either of them could exit, the door slammed shut. Hermione was lucky enough to jump out of the way, but the door slammed in to Alphard's face and he fell to the ground, moaning and clutching his face. Tom then raised his wand at the two of them, but Hermione had her wand out in a second, and the two of them reached yet another stalemate.

"When will you stop pulling out your wand at me?" Tom asked, his eyes narrowing.

"Whenever you stop pointing yours at me," Hermione replied, her lips curling into a smirk.

Alphard looked up from the floor, his eyes wide. "Did you see that speed?" He seemed to be muttering to himself. "Would be great in the Auror program."

"Excuse me?" Hermione said, a hint of laughter in her voice. Auror? Her father would laugh at the absurdity of the situation. She would train to be an Auror and learn how to fight against Grindelwald, when in reality, she was one of his spies. But then again, it would be strategically sound.

"Never mind," Alphard waved them off. "Continue." He paused, suddenly aware of what he just said. "No wait. Don't continue."

Tom's eyes narrowed, and with a quick glance at Hermione, he raised his wand. Hermione raised hers defensively, but then saw that Tom's target wasn't her.

"Legilimens!" Tom pointed his wand at Alphard, and the boy's eyes immediately glassed over. Hermione froze, unsure of what to do. She didn't want to get in between the spell, because she wasn't sure how strong Tom's occlumency was. She didn't want him digging around in her head.

It wasn't until Alphard made a gurgling sound did she snap out of her stupor and did the first thing that came to her mind. Wand forgotten, she tackled Tom.

"What the hell, woman?" The two of them ended up tangled together on the floor with her on top of him. He struggled to point his wand at her, but she pressed it to the ground. "Why do you always have to physically hurt me?"

"Just because you're using a wand doesn't mean that you're not physically hurting people. I just choose the muggle approach more often." Tom scowled at her. Seeing Alphard's confused expression, she added, "I kneed him in the groin."

Alphard snickered.

Tom glowered at him, and Alphard immediately quieted. Then, he turned his attention back towards Hermione and hissed at her, "Show me your stomach."

Hermione was momentarily stunned, and then shook her head. "No. Now's not the time to talk about it." She paused. "Actually, it's never time to talk about it."

Tom snarled at her. "I want to see it!" He tried to push her shirt up, but she held it down, feeling quite silly.

"No, Tom. You can't see them," Hermione snorted. She noticed Alphard watching them with his mouth open. "This isn't what it looks like."

"Sure," Alphard got up shakily to his feet. He glanced over at Tom. "I'm going to relocate the diadem, so don't think you've won." Ignoring Tom's nasty glare, he turned towards Hermione. "It isn't my place to warn you against anyone," he said. "But I think you should be careful around him. He isn't what he seems like." He eyed Tom cautiously. "And I would be careful around him now as well. He doesn't look like he's human."

Tom growled, actually growled, and reached for his wand. Hermione clamped her hand down on his mouth to stop the strange sounds from coming out of his mouth. "I know." She said, and then glared at Tom. "What are you, a vampire? Stop biting me."

Tom merely glared at her.

"Well," Alphard said. "It's been a pleasure meeting you, and I shall get going. I'll be seeing you at Hogwarts, Hermione." He nodded his head politely and turned towards the door.

Hermione turned to look at him, but her grip on Tom's hand accidently slackened. Within seconds, he threw her off of him and pointed his wand at Alphard's back. Before Hermione could do anything but watch, her eyes wide, Tom muttered, "Obliviate."

Hermione gaped in horror as Alphard turned around, a loopy grin on his face. "Hello. Who are you?"

"Tom!" Hermione screeched at him, but the boy just calmly picked himself up and dusted himself off like there was no problem. "You cleared his memory!" She grimaced as black spots dance around her vision. She must've hit her head harder than she thought.

"It's an odd sort of place, this, isn't it? Do you live here?" Alphard continued on even though the two of them weren't paying him any attention.

"Get up," Tom snapped as he towered over her. She snarled up at him. "Did you want to bleed on the floor all day?"

"He's Black's brother!" Hermione breathed incredulously.

"Does it look like I care?"

Hermione glared at him. "So if it were me, would you have done it? Would you have obliviated me?"

"Of course," Tom said, as if it were the simplest thing in the world. She gaped up at him and quickly rolled away. He snickered. "I won't do it now, of course. You still have too many mysteries for me to solve."

"Why don't you just use legilimens?" she suggested, and then mentally cursed herself for offering suggestions to him.

"I could," Tom mused thoughtfully. "But where would the fun be in that? Plus, even if I did try, I think you would be able to ward me off." A nasty snarl on his face informed Hermione that it pained him to say it. And she had been strengthening her occlumency shields, but he didn't need to know that.

"Who am I?" Hermione had forgotten that Alphard was even there. He was sitting on the floor with a childish expression on his face. She eyed him sadly; he had seemed like a busy, but well educated individual. Now there was nothing left but a shell of him. "What's my name? Am I Gilderoy Lockhart?" A loopy grin appeared on his face. "I always liked that name."

"You need to take him back to Black," she said, feeling a little woozy. "And you have to explain to him."

"I don't need to explain," Tom snapped. "I'll tell Black where he is, and then Black can apparate here and pick him up himself."

Hermione shook her head and winced, the movement hurting her head. She crawled over shakily to Alphard, who was watching her with an interested expression. "Come on," she said, tucking her arm in his. "It's time to go now."

Alphard nodded eagerly, but a cold voice stopped her. "Hermione, you're bleeding," Tom said, pointing to the trail of blood she had made. "You can't even apparate yourself, let alone the two of you." He held out his hand. "Come here. I'll apparate you."

Hermione raised an eyebrow. For someone who had looked like he hated her tremendously only minutes ago, he was certainly quick to change his mood. "Will you apparate Alphard back as well?"

"No."

"Then I guess I'll have to do it myself," Without waiting for Tom to respond, she closed her eyes and felt the familiar pressure of apparition envelope her. She heard Tom's growl of frustration before the two of them landed in Abraxas' bedroom.

"Hermione?" Abraxas jumped up on his feet and rushed over. Black, who looked more sober than before, had his eyes trained on Alphard. "Are you okay?"

"Just fine," she waved off his attempt to examine her. She swayed slightly from side to side, though she tried to conceal it. The look on Abraxas' face, though, said that he saw it.

"What happened to him?" Black asked quietly, poking his brother in the knee. "Alphie hasn't grinned like that since he started Hogwarts."

"Is that my name?" Alphard giggled. "I thought I was Gilderoy." Black's eyes widened and he turned to look at Hermione.

"Tom." she told him, coming up with no other explanation on how Alphard could've possibly lost his memory. "He obliviated him."

Black clenched his jaw, an angry look appearing on his face. Whether he was angry at Tom, or at her, or at even himself, she didn't know. However, Abraxas chose that moment to look at her worriedly and said, "Hermione, you're bleeding."

"It's nothing too bad," she said, though she winced as her words came out slurred. She took out her wand. "See? I can even heal myself. Watch." But before she could cast the spell, darkness over took her and she fell. Abraxas lunged forward to catch her before she could hit the floor and Hermione closed her eyes, all thoughts leaving her mind until there was nothing left.

Nick Porter headed down the streets of Diagon Alley. He had come with Ron, and his friend, Harry, though the two of them were fawning over some Quidditch gear. He had left them, telling them he'd be back in an hour, and wandered up and down the streets with no particular destination.

Ever since Harry came in to the house, Ron had been spending a lot of his time with his friend. Nick hadn't minded; he was perfectly content with being by himself. However, he caught Harry sneaking glances at him when he thought he wasn't looking. And Nick, being naturally suspicious of everyone, began to wonder if there was more about Harry than what met the eye.

He hadn't really talked to Harry, and the boy hadn't really tried to talk to him. The only words that were exchanged between the two was Harry telling him, 'tell Hermione I'm okay.'

Ron, he knew, tried to get the two of them to talk more. But other than Hermione, there wasn't really anything for them to talk about. He himself was not a sociable person; Hermione had been the only one he opened up to. Everyone else at Hogwarts—Ron, Seamus, Lily and the other Gryffindors—had taken the initiative and talked to him.

Lost in thought, he accidently bumped in to a woman walking down the street. A couple of books as well other small objects fell out of her bag. He hurriedly bent down and picked them up, piled them in a neat pile and handed them to the woman.

"Thank you," she smiled appreciatively, tucking them back in to her bag. "I'm sorry I'm so clumsy."

"I'm to blame as well," he said, and then narrowed his eyes in recognition. "You're Violetta Bulstrode, aren't you? The fifth year Slytherin who shares a dorm with Hermione."

The girl blinked, and then her eyes lit up. "Yes, I am. You're Nick Porter, Hermione's friend in Gryffindor." Unlike her fellow housemates, she seemed to have no problem with conversing with someone from the rival house. Or maybe it was just Hermione's influence. "Fancy running into you here. Are you shopping as well?"

"I was actually dragged along by Ron," Nick explained, gesturing towards the Quidditch shop. Violetta giggled, immediately understanding. Nick was about to excuse himself when his eyes wandered down to her hand and took in the ring on her finger. "Is that…are you…"

Violetta looked down and nodded, a huge smile appearing on her face. "Yes. Yes it is."

"Who?"

"Me," Cygnus Black appeared behind Violetta and wound an arm around her waist. She smiled at him lovingly, and he returned it. Nick immediately felt uncomfortable, as if he was eavesdropping on a private moment. "Hello, Porter."

"Cygnus," Nick greeted, his mind whirling. "Congratulations." And then, against his will, he added, "Have you told Black yet?"

Cygnus looked at him strangely. "Thank you. And no, I haven't told Orion yet. We only saw him once, and it was yesterday, and it didn't seem like the proper time to tell him, given the circumstances."

Nick thought back to what Hermione said about Black, the only girl he ever loved was smitten with his brother. From the looks of things, neither Cygnus nor Violetta knew about Black. Black, of course, had been nothing but mean to Nick given their house rivalries, but Nick couldn't help but feel bad for the boy.

Violetta placed a hand on Nick's arm. "Are you okay?" she asked, her expression worried and her eyes wide.

"Yes." He was alright. Black was not going to be. "You said you saw him yesterday," Nick said. The two of them nodded. "Did you see Hermione?"

The two of them exchanged a quick glance, and Nick frowned. "Actually," Cygnus said. "Hermione is currently in a coma."

Nick gasped."What?"

"We don't know all the details," Violetta shrugged. "When we got there yesterday, we saw the five of them in Abraxas' bedroom. Abraxas was the only one there who was willing to talk to us. Hermione was on the bed and Tom was sitting next to her, though he had an angry look on his face." Here, Nick grimaced. "And Orion was with Alphard." She looked down sadly. "He had his memory wiped. He was such a nice person too."

"Alphard?" Nick repeated, the name not coming off as familiar.

"My older brother," Cygnus clarified. "He's the Head Boy." He corrected himself quickly. "He was the Head Boy. I think Dippet will remove him from that post." He frowned. "I think Orion was sort of happy. Alphard hasn't been so carefree ever since he entered Hogwarts. He's the oldest son, therefore the rightful heir. He had a lot of work on his shoulders."

"I'm sorry," Nick said sincerely. "And I'm sorry if it comes out as offensive, but I would like to know how Hermione is."

"Oh! Of course," Violetta smiled at him. "Hermione's recovering. She lost some blood and then she apparated Alphard back to the Manor." Here, Nick cursed Hermione for having a super hero attitude. "She fainted, but she'll be all right in a couple of days."

That didn't reassure Nick. "Do you know what happened to her?" he asked. Hermione generally was a very careful person. It wasn't like her to get in to situations like this. He thought back to the time after her mother died, when she had attempted suicide. He remembered the blood on her hands. There had been blood everywhere. Nick closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Cygnus looked at him, but Nick ignored him.

Violetta bit her lip. "Abraxas didn't know, so he couldn't tell us. However, he did say that she got in to a fight with Tom."

"Riddle," Nick repeated. "She was in a fight with Riddle…"

"Yes," Cygnus nodded. "She's still at the Manor, if you want to check up on her." He glanced at the clock. "We're going to have to cut it short right here. We're supposed to be in Hogsmeade in ten minutes." He inclined his head slightly as a way to say farewell.

"I have to be going as well," Nick returned the head nod. "I'll see you around."

Violetta smiled softly at him, but he already spun around and was heading back to the Quidditch shop. He had to tell Ron and Harry he had to leave. He had to go to the Manor, to see Hermione. Even though he would most likely not be welcomed, that had never stopped him before.

Hermione, please be all right.

He was sprinting down the street, trying to fight against the crowd, when a hand yanked him back forcefully and pulled him in to a back alley. All those years of fighting and training did him well as his reflex immediately made him take out his wand and point it at the person, his face twisted in a nasty scowl.

"Let go of me or I'll bash your face in," Nick was not in a good mood, and it only plummeted when he saw who it was. "You. What are you doing here, Bellatrix?"

Bellatrix cackled. "You remember me! You, who have been gone for so many years, remembers me. No one else remembered me," she pouted in a way that she thought was cute. "Until I made them remember me."

"If what you want is a little love," Nick said, "Why don't you go crying back to him? I'm in a rush right now, so if you don't mind, you can remove your hand from my wrist." He tapped her fingers with his wand. "Or I will do it for you." He was not in the mood to deal with her, nor did he have time. He needed to see Hermione right now.

"Scared?" Bellatrix jeered. "Don't refer to him as him. He deserves more respect than that. Say it. Grindelwald." The air around them seemed to crackle a little, and Nick looked around to make sure that no one heard them. He was sort of hoping there was, so someone could come and take this maniac away.

Bellatrix trailed a finger down his cheek, and he immediately moved his face away, a look of disgust appearing on his face. She merely giggled insanely. "And I domind, Nicky," she cooed. "We haven't seen each other in so long. Why don't we catch up a bit?"

"No," he wrenched his arm away, and she gave him a smirk before pulling out his wand. "You may have a death wish, Bellatrix, announcing his name everywhere. But don't drag me in to this." He narrowed his eyes. "We're enemies now. I won't hesitate to curse you."

"Nicky, you won't curse me" Bellatrix said, an innocent expression on her face. "Do you remember when we were best of friends? When that stupid girl wasn't in our lives?"

"Don't call her that," Nick's grip tightened on his wand. Bellatrix, he knew, had always hated Hermione with a burning passion, though the latter didn't even know that Bellatrix was watching her most of the time. Nick would've thought that Bellatrix was obsessed with Hermione if he hadn't been there to witness the intense hate that flickered on her face every time Hermione was mentioned.

"What do you want me to call her then?" Bellatrix replied sweetly. "Whore, slut—"

"Just Hermione will be fine," Nick interrupted, narrowing his eyes. Bellatrix had always been known for her colorful vocabulary, to the point where even Grindelwald condemned her for it sometimes.

"She doesn't deserve to be called Hermione," Bellatrix snarled, dropping her naïve and innocent act. "She took you away from me! Then she took my glory away from me! And then she took Grindelwald's attention from me." She bawled loudly, and Nick wondered how on earth the people passing by could not hear her."She has everything! I had everything, until she took it away from me!"

"On the contrary, that is incorrect." Nick raised an eyebrow. He had no idea why Bellatrix had suddenly decided to consult him with her jealousy problems. They hadn't talked in years, and they were technically enemies now. But then again, he and Hermione were enemies and they still remained friends. "Hermione has been through much more than you have."

"Everyone always says that," Bellatrix growled. "Everyone always believes her pity act. Just because she had to kill her own mother doesn't mean she deserves everyone's sympathy!"

Nick looked at her coldly. "Actually," he told her, wondering how anyone could be so cold hearted, "it does."

"Even you?" Bellatrix asked. "Even you're under her spell. She's the enemy. Why are you still being so nice to her?"

"You're the enemy too," Nick reminded. "And it's Hermione's choice to stick with her father," here, Bellatrix noticeably winced. He knew that Bellatrix always hated the fact that her own father was not Grindelwald. "It's not my place to tell Hermione what to or not to do. That is her choice. I'm here to assist her in whichever path she may choose."

"She doesn't deserve you." Bellatrix argued.

Nick simply raised an eyebrow. "And you do?"

"Of course I do!" Bellatrix said. "I'm pretty, and I'm powerful!" Nick not so subtly rolled his eyes, but she was too busy ranting to notice. "Why would you want her? Why does everyone want her? What could she possibly have that I don't?"

"Hermione has a heart," Nick said simply.

Bellatrix then flew in to a rage, firing random curses. Nick dodged as one spell that looked strangely like the killing curse flew over his head and crashed in to the wall behind him. She wanted to talk to him, but she was also willing to kill him? Looking at the murderous expression on Bellatrix's face, Nick deduced that no, she wouldn't mind killing him.

He may have been out of practice, but he could still fight fairly decently. Hermione had dragged him to an empty classroom once a week while they were at Hogwarts, and she had made the two of them duel. She had mentioned something about 'not wanting to lose to Tom,' and while Nick didn't approve of her reasoning, the training helped keep him in shape.

Nick managed to reach her and flipped her over, Bellatrix flailing helplessly. While she may be talented with her wand, she did not know how to protect herself with it. He wrestled it away from her and pointed his own at her head.

She, however, refused to cower. Instead, she gave him a frightening grin and said, "I rather like this position. Why didn't you just say so from the start?"

Nick gave her a disgusted look and pressed his wand in to her temple. Her smirk didn't disappear, but it hardened considerably. "I'm only going to say this once," Nick said quietly. "You stay away from both me and Hermione. And if you don't, I'll tell him about what you did."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Bellatrix jutted her chin out bravely, though Nick didn't miss the rare fear that flashed in her eyes.

"You don't?" Nick raised an eyebrow at her. "Do the words 'you killed my mum' sound familiar to you?"

"Don't know what you're talking about."

"Really?" Nick looked down at her, the girl who taught him all the dangerous curses he knew. The girl who he had befriended before he realized that she was insane. The girl who was out for Hermione's blood. "So you won't mind if I tell him? He was awfully angry when she died." He pretended to ponder. "I wonder what will happen to you when I tell him that it was you who did it."

"NO!" Bellatrix shrieked, clawing savagely at his arm. "You can't tell him! You absolutely can't tell him!"

"Leave us alone then," Nick narrowed his eyes. "And I will hear about it if you even look in Hermione's direction." His point made, he quickly stunned her so that she couldn't curse him while his back was turned, and hurried back to the Quidditch store. Bellatrix had taken up a lot of his time, and she had also brought up some points he needed to talk to Hermione about.

"You look like shit,"

Hermione raised her eyebrow as she turned around. There stood Jake from the orphanage, the same Jake that tried to get her to stay away from Tom. She wondered absentmindedly where she would be now if she had followed his advice.

"Thanks," she patted the white bandage on her head. She had only woken up a couple minutes ago, and was startled to see Tom sitting on the chair next to her, asleep. There was no one else in the room, and she had the sudden urge to get away from him. She wasn't ready to face him yet, so she apparated herself to the first destination that came to her mind: the beach.

She hadn't anticipated running in to Jake, though. There were two other kids with him, but they were sitting in the shallow water, a dumb look on their faces. One boy and one girl who looked to be no older than she was.

"What happened to you?" Jake asked, gesturing for them to sit down as well.

"I was in coma," Hermione shrugged. When Jake gaped at her, she elaborated, "It wasn't really a coma. More like a prolonged sleep." She smiled slightly. "I hit my head a little too hard."

"You hit your head?" Jake asked suspiciously. Hermione nodded. "I don't believe you."

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "Well then, it seems like you already know what happened."

"I do." Jake said. "You had a fight with Tom, and then the two of you got tangled up. You were trying to prevent him from doing something, and then he tossed you on the floor." He grinned at Hermione's bewildered expression. "I would ask if I'm right, but I think I am."

"How did you know?" She patted her head absentmindedly. Was there something written on her bandages? "Did someone tell you?"

Jake shook his head. "Hermione, I've lived with him my entire life. I know what he's like." He paused. "There are three types of violence that Tom uses. When someone annoys him, he takes revenge by taking away or killing one of their beloved possessions. Take Bobby for example. Bobby annoyed him, and the next day, his rabbit was hung and skinned.

"Then there's level two, which is what happened with you. Whenever Tom feels particularly threatened, he usually uses excessive force. With you jumping on top of him," he ignored Hermione's protest of 'I didn't jump on him!', "he felt threatened so he pushed you off. Now, since you're the only one who managed to get even remotely close to him, you're the only one in this category."

Hermione raised her eyebrow. "If you've never seen this before, how did you know what happened?"

"The bartender told Dumbledore, and he came an hour ago. I overheard."

"And here I thought you were a mind reader." Hermione's mind, however, was on different matters. Dumbledore had come? Did that mean that Tom was going to get in trouble? As much as she disliked him for what he was trying to do to her, trying to look at her scars, she didn't necessarily want him in prison.

Jake grinned guilty, but his expression immediately sobered. "And then there's the third type. The type Tom is obsessed with." Hermione flinched as he gestured to the two who were sitting in the water. "No one knows what happened to them. They followed him in to a cave on day, and then they went insane."

"Is that Amy?"

Jake blinked. "Tom told you? Yes, that's Amy. And next to her is Dennis." He sighed. "Amy was the first person who accepted Tom. She gave him the stuff he wanted when everyone else refused. When he demanded that she go do something, she went without protesting. However, everyone knew that Amy liked Dennis. I think even Tom himself knew, except he was in denial."

"Tom didn't love her, though." She thought back to when Tom told her about his background, told her about his past where no one loved him. She wondered if Tom wasn't originally a bad person, just someone turned evil because there was no one to care for him.

"Of course he didn't. Tom's not capable of love," Jake didn't notice the way Hermione winced. Everyone always said that. She knew that he didn't love her, but sometimes she wondered if he might care a little about her. Whenever someone said what Jake said, she would always imagine him as using her only for a source of entertainment. "He cares about some people, in his own sick way. There are two people who he has remotely cared about. Amy," he cast Hermione a sideways glance. "And you."

Hermione watched as Amy shakily picked herself up. Dennis crawled after her. Jake waved them over, but it took five minutes for Amy to realize that she and Dennis weren't alone, and another five for her to slowly make her way over. She kept getting distracted, stopping at each seashell to admire its color and texture.

"Amy, Dennis, this is Hermione," Jake introduced quietly. Amy's eyes slid right past Hermione without seeing her. Jake added cautiously, "She's one of Tom's friends."

The effect was immediate; Amy dropped to the sand and placed her hand on her ears as if to block out sound, squeezing her eyes together tightly. Dennis clenched his fist and growled, incoherent sound coming from his mouth.

Hermione looked at them sadly. Jake sighed. "For someone who adored Tom to suddenly hate him like this was huge. Even though she liked Dennis, she still enjoyed following Tom around." Jake looked at Amy, who had curled herself up in to a ball. "She had this mission. She wanted to be able to let Tom feel love again, to let him feel wanted. Now, she can't even hear his name without freaking out."

"Jake," Hermione said, reaching over to pat Amy's head. The girl flinched away. "I appreciate you doing this and all, but—"

"You aren't going to go away from him. I know." Jake sighed. "I was hoping that the sight of Amy and Dennis would convince you otherwise."

"I've seen worse," she said quietly.

Jake glanced at her worriedly, but when she didn't elaborate, he continued, "Tom is starting to care about you. His way of caring is what we call obsessing. You need to get out before you get in too deep."

"Too late." Hermione responded. "I'm already in," she looked at Amy. "I think I'll try to continue what she didn't get to do, to make Tom feel like a human being again. I saw the way the orphanage treated him, and after seeing that, I'm not particularly surprised that he turned out this way." Jake had the decency to look ashamed. "Everyone deserves a second chance, Jake. Even Tom."

"Tom's well past his second chance," Jake muttered under his breath.

"Yes, well, Tom deserves more. If you get past the fact that he's sadistic and has an obsession with killing things," Jake rolled his eyes. "He's actually quite a nice person."

"That's basically taking away his entire personality." Jake pointed out. Hermione simply shrugged. "So you're defending him now? Even after what he did to you?" Jake gestured towards the bandage on her head.

Hermione's eyes glinted. "Of course I haven't. Just because I'm on a mission to make him feel loved again doesn't mean that he can get away with doing whatever he wants to me." To emphasize her point, she cracked her knuckles evilly.

Jake gave a shaky laugh. "You're kind of scary." Hermione merely smiled sweetly at him.

Crack.

Based on the expression on Jake's face, she had a pretty good idea who it was behind her. "I finally found you," someone grabbed her arm and dragged her to her feet. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Talking?" Hermione blinked. "Tom, you just apparated in front of Jake. You broke about fifty laws."

Tom turned his eyes to Jake, who gulped nervously. "Jake won't be telling anyone. He knows what I'll do to him if he does." Tom's eyes glinted darkly. "Am I right, Jake?"

Jake nodded hurriedly.

"How did you find me?" Hermione demanded. "I didn't tell anyone where I was going."

"Nick mentioned it," Tom drawled, and Hermione immediately froze. "He said that last time you went straight to a beach afterwards. Though, being the annoying prat he is, he wouldn't tell me what 'last time' meant."

Last time, of course, meant right after her mother died. After Nick saved her, getting her to a hospital before she lost too much blood, she had headed towards the beach right away. There had always been something about the beach that pulled her in, and she had always gone to the beach whenever she felt conflicted.

She was flattered that Nick had noticed.

"Speaking of Nick," she looked around. "Where is he?"

"I tied him to a bed," Tom admitted smugly. Hermione gave him a look. "What, you don't believe me?"

"As if you will civilly tie someone to a bed," Hermione scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Knowing you, you probably blasted him in to the wall."

"I did," Tom said smoothly, and Hermione rolled her eyes. "Quite civilly as well. I didn't break his head, did I?"

Before Hermione could respond, Amy chose that moment to look up. She looked at Tom, and her mouth opened in a silent scream. She whimpered and then buried her head back in her knees. Tom regarded her coldly, with no trace of remorse in his eyes. Dennis staggered towards Tom before falling on his knees. Even in his mad state, his expression was still dark and hateful.

"I think you should go," Jake said shakily. "Seeing Tom here has to be a shock for her. I don't think she can take much more of this." Gently, he eased Amy on to her feet. "Come on, Amy. Let's go back to the orphanage."

"Tom," Hermione started once the three of them were out of sight, but he quickly cut her off.

"Hermione," he grabbed her arm again, though this time it didn't cut in to her skin like it did before. "I know I have my faults. But you can't run away like that."

Hermione blinked, and then a small smile began to form on her face. "Are youapologizing to me?" She asked incredulously. Tom scowled in response. "Were you worried about me?"

"Shut up," Tom said, and then spun around and walked away. Hermione trailed behind him, a grin working its way up her face.

She had told Jake that her new mission was to make Tom feel loved again. And if there was one thing she never did, it was failing. Hermione Grindelwald never failed.


Author's Note: Dun dun dunnn. This seems like a good place to end the story and start a sequel. But I won't, because I'm too lazy.

Hope this met up to your standards. Tata for now. Have a good summer.