Hermione watched the newest member of her little rebellion mill around their common room. It wasn't a grand space like the Slytherin one, not that she's ever spent much time there, but the place made an impression. This one wasn't grand or even ambitious. The furniture was comfortable if a tad shabby. None of it matched, and none of it mattered. The absolute lack of a color scheme didn't stop the elves from cleaning it, so it served its purpose. There were only five of them. Six. They were six now. The space didn't need to be large.

She watched him pace in his new uniform. He was handsome. Not that it mattered to her. The power in him was like a siren's call, but he made her nervous. Tom Riddle was aptly named, and his current irritation baffled her.

"I don't understand why you need to cast protective charms on my person." Tom paced and grimaced as he rubbed his fingers along the runes she'd stitched into the hem of his new robes. "I can protect myself."

She blinked at him and considered the gulf between them. The room was tiny. It seemed smaller as his magic pressed against hers. None of that mattered. He simply didn't want her help.

"We all wear the robes." Hermione flipped back her hem to display the careful embroidery.

"The runes are fine, but you expect me to allow you to set charms on my person that you do not wear." Tom crossed his arms over his chest. "I will not be a burden to you."

"They are my family. They are not burdens." Hermione stood up. He was tall enough without her conceding a few more inches by sitting. "You are not a burden."

"Do you care about me?" He raised an eyebrow. "Am I family to you already? I know that I am not, that you do not."

Hermione blinked as she felt his magic wrap around her physically. There was no threat in it. She felt comforted and appreciated for a moment, then his magic caressed her skin. It was the oddest sensation like fairy wings mixed with static electricity.

"You spend far too much energy taking care of others." Riddle approached her, his stride balanced and confident. "Do you let them care for you? If I asked your companions, what answers would be offered?"

She felt his magic spooling around her. It undulated against her, brimming with life and power. Her own magic rose and swirled around his, tracing it back to the source. The connection flared between them. She closed her eyes and saw golden runes set into his flesh, riding the curve of his hip.

"I can't answer for them." She managed the words and dragged another breath into her lungs. She forced her eyes open and stared at him. His pale cheeks were flushed and his lips were parted.

"You are their fierce defender. It is in your very nature. You can't escape it." Tom stood just beyond her reach. His own words struggled to break free. "Our relationship will be different. I will hold you sacred. I will be your defender."

"I don't need protection." Hermione closed her eyes again and bit back a moan as their magic twisted and twined.

"Accept me and mine." Tom stepped closer. She could feel his body heat. "And I will do the same."

"Me and mine means each of them." Hermione fought the urge to grab his hand. "I won't accept less."

"I only bring myself and my power. I have nothing more." Tom audibly swallowed. "Is it enough?"

Hermione bit the inside of her cheek and studied him. The answer that came so quickly to her wouldn't reassure him. He needed her to consider him, to be sure, because there would be no second guessing.

There was darkness in his magic. The residue of those arts had yet to corrupt him, but he needed to rein in his experimentation. She dragged in another deep breath and started chasing his magic back to his psyche. The scar tissue there was beyond imagining. She flinched at her own imaginings; glad for once that she couldn't see the cause with this method. She pulled away from his hold and met his gaze.

"I don't want to be a queen." She swallowed as the images in his mind shifted from her perched on a lush throne. "We don't need to know where we are going at the moment. We have OWLS. Let's start from there."

She glanced down and held her hand above his. Inches divided her from a complicated future. Her magic pushed at her. The demand was so strong.

"I accept you. I will protect you. I will allow you to protect me." She nodded her head and bit her lower lip. Lowering her hand to his took strength in the maelstrom of their combined power, but the contact glared and everything around them stilled. The ebb and flow of their magic met and settled together. The storm faded away and they were once again themselves.

"I don't think we'll need those protective charms now." He reached up with his free hand and traced her jawline with his fingertips.

"No." Hermione released his hand and stepped back. She could feel the humiliating blush rising in her cheeks. "But there are many things that need sorted."

He nodded and sat on the couch. He looked composed and comfortable. Damn him.

"Dumbledore wants to keep you away from Slytherin." Hermione took a deep breath. "Care to tell me why? There is no way they would reject you."

"My previous interactions with the headmaster were colored by his first impressions of me." Tom looked down at the carpet and his jaw flexed. "I was raised in an orphanage. It was not a bright and wonderful childhood. The matrons did not coddle us. I was peculiar. No decent couple would consider me. I wasn't strong. My magic kept me safe."

Hermione nodded, but she could barely imagine such a lonely existence. She reached out and threaded her fingers through his.

"Dumbledore examined me with the same distaste that the muggles did. I think he would have left me there if I hadn't already started using my magic with control." Tom shrugged his shoulders slightly. "I learned to read adults early on. His dislike wasn't solely down to my magic use though it took until forth year for me to understand that he found me appealing in a certain way."

Hermione blinked. Dumbles certainly wasn't her favorite, but she'd never suspected him of such abuse.

"Don't get me wrong. He doesn't touch, but he yearns. It's the darkness as much as my pretty face." Tom tilted his head. "The darkness draws most Slytherins as well. They don't want the same things, but they want what is natural to me."

"You collected them." Hermione nodded her head. "Made friends with the most powerful."

"There is protection in such connections." Tom frowned. "It's limited, but it exists."

"My protection isn't limited." Hermione pulled him closer to her and leaned against his shoulder.