Tom POV:

It had been nearly two weeks since he had set those fools on the case of Hermione and Harry, but all they could find to report back to him was that Hermione studied a lot and was incredibly smart. They spoke often of how she could be attractive, if she tried harder with herself and Malfoy occasionally suggested the idea that perhaps she was hiding curves under the baggy school robes. At this point Tom had all but snarled as he hurled a silent hex in the general direction of Malfoy, his anger getting the better of him. It was only a moderate stinging hex, but it hit Malfoy in the crotch and he crumpled to the floor and whimpered pathetically for some time afterwards. There was silence for quite a while after this demonstration, nobody wanting to end up on the receiving end of a curse like that by saying something unsatisfactory with regards to elusive Miss Hermione Potter. Eventually Tom chose to spur them into action.

"I do not care for the hormonal ramblings of a sexually frustrated teenager." He began, circling the room and taking a while to meet the eyes of every person in the room, save Malfoy, whom he merely cast a disgusted look in his general direction. "I need real information regarding what our subjects are doing with their time. I want to know where they are from, what they do when nobody is watching," here he paused once more for effect, "Or rather, when they think nobody is watching."

Several people shuffled their feet awkwardly, shifting their weight from one foot to the other. From the back of the room, one person coughed whilst another sniffed. Resisting the urge to curse them all into oblivion for their stupidity, Tom exhaled slowly, looking down at the wand in his hand as he addressed them.

"Now… Does anybody have anything useful to report?"

The silence seemed to stretch on, until eventually a tall thin boy stepped forward into the pool of light.

"Miss Potter puts on a mask throughout the day, but at times you see it falter." Tom couldn't help but look up at the person who had spoken in interest, hanging on his every word.

"Continue." He said softly when silence had greeted his gaze.

The boy hesitated, biting down on his lower lip and running the tip of his tongue over the jagged flesh before responding.

"At times she goes distant, appears to go somewhere else entirely," Tom began to pace once more but beckoned him to continue his report, "It's like she goes empty."

A while later and Tom called the meeting to an end, not realising that they'd not once discussed Harry for longer than a minute or so and even then it had only been a member of the Quidditch team commenting on his excellent flying skills.

Hermione POV:

"Mind if I take a seat here?" Hermione asked politely, smiling down at the person sat rigidly at the desk in the library. Tom Riddle did not startle at her voice, so he must have known she was approaching, and tore his eyes away from the book he had been reading to address her.

"Be my guest." He told her, adding a smile on the end as if it was an afterthought.

Hermione had been watching him for a while from in between the bookshelves as she browsed for a book to help her write an essay due next week for Professor Paver on a complicated Arithmancy problem he'd set them with the idea they would also write up how they had reached their conclusions so as to more easily assess where they were going wrong. Having already done this unit in her own time, Hermione was near certain she had not in fact done anything wrong in her method, but she'd opted to check the library for any extra help (on the off chance she may discover a new textbook in this era which had not survived to make it on the shelves at Hogwarts in her year). She'd not been disappointed.

"What are you reading?" Tom inquired as she took the seat opposite him. In answer she showed him her book, Arithmancy; A Magical Discipline, to which he nodded, looking unsure as to how to proceed next.

"You like Arithmancy then I presume?" The question surprised Hermione somewhat, but she hid it well.

"Yes!" She said instead, "Love it, I mean… I never placed much value in the subject of Divination though, I find it too…" here she struggled to find the right words to describe the mind numbing drivel which had been her brief experience of Trelawney's lessons in her third year, "Woolly." She concluded after some time. Tom nodded thoughtfully, as though considering this.

"I've always heard that the ministry has a hall of prophecies, surely that must mean there is some truth in them though?" Hermione fought hard to stop the catch in her throat, Tom was mulling over the possibility that the subject of Divination was, as she put it, "woolly", as if he would form an opinion based on her thoughts on the matter. What if she could somehow influence his decision to hunt Harry down in the future by reminding him of the frailty of predicting the future?

"I prefer to place stock in solid facts and figures rather than the occult rituals of tea leaves and misty orbs."

"Arithmancy is also used to predict the future as well you know." Tom interrupted, not in a rude manner, merely as though he was fully invested in their discussion.

Struck by sudden inspiration, Hermione smiled at him.

"I like facts and figures and the method of working things out, but the future is never set in stone Tom." She'd not intended to say his name aloud, but somehow she had ended up saying it, and now hoped it would make him think deeper upon his own views on the matter by making it more personal and direct. He did look up more fully, and his eyes met hers in a measured stare. To an outsider it might have looked like two young people staring at each other fondly, words of love passing unspoken between them, but to Hermione she knew exactly what he was trying to do. Remembering the technique she had perfected in the war, she visualised a large brick wall in between her and Tom. Focusing on the wall so intently, she pictured the smooth red brown bricks blocking his pale features from view.

Tom gave no outward sign that he was frustrated at his lack of success at reading her thoughts, but Hermione heard the slight sharp intake of breath he hastily covered with another smile.

"When I was younger, I had a time turner to help me with all the subjects I was taking, and one of my friends pets died." Hermione allowed the image of Buckbeak to soar over her cleverly crafted brick wall so that Tom would know what he looked like, but she was careful to not let anything else get past, "We went back in time and saved him. If the future was set, we wouldn't have been able to do that."

"You have time travelled before?" Tom demanded, a commanding tone creeping into his voice like it had on the first day they'd met. Briefly, Hermione wondered if this could go badly, if this would lead him to discovering their secret. Hastily pushing these thoughts from her mind less they slip through her wall, Hermione simply nodded.

"I don't have it any more though." She added, noticing the glint in his eye upon seeing her admittance, "It was only whilst I was studying so many topics at once."

Tom appeared to struggle for something to say for a while, the disappointment in his eyes evident.

"What did you drop then?"

The question made the first genuine smile since she'd met Tom.

"Divination." She chuckled, even more when she saw a humorous smile grace the features of the future Dark Lord.

I think this is a shorter chapter than the others have been, but I wanted to have some more Tom and Hermione interaction going on, and I'm very very very tired right now so apologies for any poor writing in this chapter etc.

Also, I know Hermione also drops Muggle Studies, but it worked better to leave it just as Divination so that Tom and Hermione could have a little bonding laugh together over it. Also I have a feeling times would be more prejudiced back then, and that Muggle Studies would be a more recent and liberal development. Not that I have any fact to back that up of course, just my personal view. Don't kill me, I'm not trying to take over J.K Rowling haha. x