"What have you done to poor Abraxas?"

Hermione stared angrily at Tom, who entered her room without knocking. His grin clearly revealed that he knew the answer to his question, which only made her angrier.

"Are you happy now?" she hissed icily.

Tom strolled casually over to her desk and sat down in her chair without a care in the world. "That depends. How far did you go?"

Shaking with rage, Hermione clenched her fists. She knew Tom, she knew his games, but this hurt her on a very personal level. She liked Abraxas. She fixed him a heated stare. "It was just a kiss."

Tom's gaze became calculating as he scrutinised her lying on her bed, still clad only in her short nightgown. "Just a kiss? You're standing half naked in front of a young man and he didn't go any further?"

She had to take a deep breath to stop herself from exploding. "Yes, imagine, your friend Abraxas actually has one last shred of decency."

Tom snorted snidely. "He's not my friend."

Hermione threw her hands in the air. "He could be! Abraxas genuinely likes you, Tom. Without ulterior motives. He's got your back, no doubt about it, and he wants to help you."

Tom just made a dismissive gesture with his hand. "Liking someone is far too fleeting a feeling. I need something reliable so that I can continue to work with him."

"And that's why you're using me to manipulate him?" she demanded to know, "What happened to I'm all yours?"

As if he hadn't heard her question, he got up and sat next to her on the bed. "You make me proud that you understood my intentions without us having to talk about it. It just shows how similar you and I are, how much you think like me."

His arms wrapped around her and pulled her against his chest. Hermione let it happen, even though she had a good mind to claw his eyes out. They remained in the embrace for a moment, then Tom allowed himself to give a genuine answer. "You proved to me tonight that you belong to me, with every fibre of your being. I know now that only I can give you what you need - and you know it too. I no longer have to keep you away from other men to be sure of your loyalty."

The anger returned. Outraged, Hermione freed herself from his arms and pushed him away. "I'm not your whore, Tom! You can't just give me away to your friends as you please. I belong to myself, no matter what you do or say."

Tom just laughed. "You made the decision to allow Abraxas to kiss you on your own. I didn't force you to do anything."

"You sent him to me!" Hermione snapped at him, "It was obvious what your plan was. You sent him to me so that he could see my condition because you knew that, as the scion of an old family that still clings to traditional values, he couldn't help but see me as a damsel in distress. You knew that the sight of me would push him over the edge. You provoked it! Don't tell me you didn't make me do anything."

Tom's face had become expressionless again at her accusatory words, and his reply sounded just as cool. "You didn't have to kiss him. If you really cared that much about your beloved Abraxas, you would have drawn the line and turned him down."

"Yeah, sure," Hermione snorted angrily, "Because that would have changed anything. It would have just made you angry and you would have ended up taking your anger out on Abraxas without him knowing what he did wrong. Do you think I'm that stupid?"

With an annoyed movement, Tom ran his fingers through his dark hair. "What are we arguing about here, Hermione? What are you really arguing about?"

She took a deep breath. Of course, she was angry that Tom was using her to manipulate Abraxas. She found it disgusting to use sex as leverage. But if she was honest with herself, there was much more at stake here. She was disappointed in Tom. She shouldn't be surprised that he didn't consider his friends to be friends and therefore resorted to dirty means to secure their loyalty. Still, it disappointed her. Hadn't Harry always said that young Tom Riddle was a charming wizard that everyone adored? The Death Eaters seemed to have followed him willingly because they saw something in him. They were not only interested in his vision of the future, but also in him. At least that had always been the impression she had gained from all the stories. But this Tom seemed to be moving away from that.

She took his hand and looked him firmly in the eye. "You're a brilliant man, Tom. You have a talent for saying the right things at the right time. Apart from my uncle, who is a suspicious person by nature, all the professors think you have a bright future ahead of you. All the Slytherin students adore you, and even most of the other houses recognise that you are fair and intelligent. That is your strength. You seduce people with your words. You make them believe in you. To want to believe in you. Why do you use such base means to force obedience when you can secure allegiance in other ways? Be honest with yourself, Tom. Do you really think sex and violence can be a permanent solution?"

Hermione shivered. She couldn't quite believe that she had just said those words to the future Lord Voldemort. But in the same breath, she felt that she really meant it. Underneath all the hatred, underneath all his irrational outbursts of anger, she had discovered a young man who could really seduce people. He had done violence to her himself more than once, but he had also always known how to praise her afterwards, to give her warmth and security and to make her feel important to him. He probably didn't mean any of it seriously. It was probably just his strategy to make her dependent. But although she knew that, she also sensed that it was a successful strategy. Tom was so obviously intelligent that she felt an involuntary sense of pride when he praised her. That was his trump card. If he used it on wizards and witches who didn't know what his real motives were, they would fall for him instantly. He didn't need to manipulate them by force. He didn't need to use violence to conquer the world. All the torture, all the cruel jokes that the Death Eaters had allowed themselves in her time, none of that was necessary. Didn't he see that?

"You really believe that, don't you?" whispered Tom. She nodded firmly.

With a sigh, he got up from the bed and turned his back to her. Hermione looked at him with bated breath. He suddenly seemed indecisive and confused, an emotion she knew all too well was dangerous with him. He didn't like it when people questioned his thoughts. He didn't like being forced to admit his mistakes.

"It's your fault," he finally said without turning to face her, "I've felt nothing but contempt for all the other men who were apparently unable to control their libidos. I only realised the potential of this weakness because of you."

Hermione slumped a little. The Voldemort she had heard about always seemed to be a rather asexual being. Had she somehow helped to change that in the past? Had she changed time and created a paradox? But what was she supposed to do about it? It really wasn't as if she had given herself to Tom on a platter. Cursing inwardly, she ran her fingers through her curls. "And what are you going to do now?"

He finally turned back to her. "Carry on. Maybe you're right. Maybe I should think about luring my so-called friends with charm and promises instead of manipulating them. But that's too insecure for me. I have to be able to rely on their absolute loyalty and discretion."

Grimly, Hermione crossed her arms in front of her chest. "I won't sleep with Lestrange. And certainly not with Avery or any of your followers."

An amused grin flitted across his face. "What a shame. It would have made me laugh if you had Rufus wrapped around your little finger."

Hermione decided to ignore the remark and address another problem instead. "Lestrange doesn't seem well-disposed towards you."

Tom nodded. "I've noticed. He was sceptical from the start. I like his sharp mind, but I'm afraid that's exactly why he thinks he doesn't need me. He was impressed by my bloodline, but that seems to have worn off. And then you come into the picture."

She raised an eyebrow. "Why am I to blame again?"

Grinning, Tom sat back down on her bed and pulled her close: "Rufus thinks you're distracting me. And I suspect he's jealous that you're so much closer to me. At first, he was eager to prove to me that his intellect could keep up with mine. But now he seems to think he's better than me. Because I have a girl and he doesn't."

"He does understand that there's no love between us, right?"

Tom put a hand on her cheek and stroked her lips with his thumb. "Is there really no love between us?"

She slapped his hand away in disgust. "Don't be ridiculous."

Laughing, he planted a kiss on her lips, but then turned serious again. "You're right to be worried. Rufus could become a problem. I've noticed that he's had more contact with Abraxas again in the last few weeks. Of course, the two of them know each other from their childhood, House Lestrange and House Malfoy have always been close. Just like the House of Black. The three families are so closely connected that looking at their family trees can make you feel sick. But the friendship between Abraxas and Rufus has always seemed to be one of duty. So why the sudden reconnection now?"

Hermione was sure she knew the answer, but she also knew that Tom knew it too. "You tell me."

"Rufus wants to get Abraxas on his side."

She nodded. "And you're making it very easy for him with your behaviour."

Tom looked at her sharply. "What are you trying to say?"

Rolling her eyes, Hermione explained. "At the beginning of the school year, Abraxas befriended me. Then you come along and tell him to stop. He's confused, but whatever you told him, he obeys your order. Suddenly, however, you're the one who approaches me and then you insist that Abraxas be nice to me again. Only to then become rude to Abraxas at every opportunity when he is actually nice to me. And do I have to remind you that I tortured him? And," Hermione faltered briefly, but then forced herself to continue, "that you got extremely close to me during that time? Physically? Then you send him to me this morning, he sees the remains of last night on my body and thinks who knows what about what you did to me. You haven't turned out to be a very good friend, Tom."

"He's not my friend," Tom pressed out tensely.

Impatiently, she poked a finger into his chest. "And that's exactly why it's so easy for Rufus to turn Abraxas against you."

In response, Tom just stared at her. Although his expression remained blank, Hermione could sense what was going through his mind. For a person like Tom, who probably hadn't met another person who was sincere to him in his entire life, the concept of true friendship and loyalty had to be about as hard to grasp as love. It was almost tragic that he had ended up in Slytherin, a house that prided itself on taking advantage of others, imputing devious motives to others, never showing true feelings. For Tom, who, if she was to believe Harry's comments, had only encountered dislike and condescension at the orphanage, all his prejudices against other people must have been confirmed in a house like Slytherin.

For the first time in her life, Hermione really doubted the point of dividing Hogwarts into houses. Certainly, each house had specialised in strengthening the special abilities of its students, but it also happened that the weaknesses were ignored and therefore became even greater. How was one supposed to grow into a well-rounded adult under these circumstances?

To her displeasure, Tom finally shook his head. "I can't understand that, Hermione. It's irrational to rely on friendship or love. Such feelings are irrational. Unreliable. But I need a reliable bond. I need to know that they will follow me and not betray me."

Sighing, Hermione thought of Snape. Professor Dumbledore had trusted him, so everyone else had trusted him. The headmaster had always given the impression that there was a specific reason why he had trusted Snape. As if he had something on him. And in the end, Snape had betrayed them all. Would that have happened if Professor Dumbledore had secured Snape's genuine affection? Snape was living proof that manipulation and blackmail failed in the end.

She grabbed Tom's face with both hands and forced him to look her in the eye. "At least try, will you? Give your friends a chance to really be your friends. Maybe they'll surprise you."

"And in exchange, you'll sleep with Rufus?"

Hermione's mouth dropped open in horror. After everything she'd just said, that was his reaction? She had actually tried seriously to put herself in Tom Riddle's shoes, had tried to find a way to make him feel human - and this was his response?

With great difficulty, she stood up from the bed and pointed to the door. "You'd better go now."

Tom did indeed get up from the bed, but he didn't comply with her request. Instead, he grabbed her by the shoulders and said in an icy voice. "You have no idea what I am like, Hermione. Don't ever try to demonstrate your psychoanalysis on me again. I don't need your pity or your help. All I want is for you to do as I say."

She swallowed. Tom had obviously realised how much of himself he had just revealed and now he was afraid that she would hurt him. Consequently, he closed himself off again and showed his negative side. She was on the right track. She couldn't let herself be scared away now, but at the same time, she couldn't give in too far. She put on a contrite expression and hung her head. "I'm sorry. I thought I could help you. Please don't be angry with me."

Tom looked at her suspiciously for a moment, but then his radiant smile, with which he loved to dazzle other people, appeared and he stroked her head sympathetically. "That's my girl. That's a good girl. I knew you'd realise your mistakes quickly."

He gave her a quick kiss on the forehead, then strolled calmly out of her room. Hermione stayed behind, furious. She hated how much he seemed to think that he had broken her will. She hated that she had encouraged him in this belief so that she could manipulate him. She hated that she was even thinking about manipulation.

Frustrated, she slumped down on her bed. There was nothing she could do for Abraxas. The kiss would chain him to Tom, and there was nothing she could do about it. This round went to Tom.