Hermione didn't know what to think. Tom hadn't said a word to her since she'd sat down next to him that morning. Instead, he just kept looking at her. It wasn't a cold, dismissive look like she would have expected. But it definitely wasn't the look you would normally expect after an intimate night of lovemaking either. He was looking at her as if to warn her. She just didn't know of what, exactly.

In Potions, they worked side by side in silence, she prepared the ingredients while he took care of the actual brewing process. He didn't say a word to her then either, but his entire behaviour spoke for itself. His attention was on her and her alone.

The whole day was like this. Only now, in the evening, did she finally have time to herself, time to think about his behaviour in peace. She sat on the sofa in the common room and pretended to flick through an arithmancy magazine while she tried to work out in her mind what Tom's behaviour could mean. If it hadn't been Tom, she would have compared him to an alpha wolf. His aura throughout the day appeared as if he wanted to keep all the other students away from her. So it was not surprising that she had not only not spoken to Tom, but to anyone in general. Everyone seemed to be giving her a wide berth.

Hermione knew that Tom could be possessive in a strange way. The fact that he had told her directly that he wouldn't let anyone but him kill her was proof enough of that. He had said "mine" more than once when it came to her. But until now she had always assumed that he saw her as nothing more than a toy. Useful and interesting, something he didn't really want to share, but nothing more. The fact that he actually tried to get her to sleep with his closest allies so that he could manipulate them clearly showed her that he would share her with others if it helped his plan. His whole charade with Abraxas was further proof of that.

So why did she have the feeling that something had changed overnight? Surely the fact that they had had sex with each other in a way that could be called making love in other circumstances couldn't have had that much of an effect on him? Tom Riddle was never one to be impressed by such things.

Her eyes fell on Orion, who was sitting alone at a table and seemed to be doing homework. Ever since she learnt, thanks to Markus, that Orion was obviously behaving strangely, and subsequently confronted Tom, she noticed how withdrawn the previously so lively boy had become. Tom was also trying to manipulate him with sex, but in a much more perfidious way than the others.

Sighing, she closed the magazine and placed it on the table, then stood up and sat down next to Orion. "Good evening."

His reaction was definitely different than expected. Instead of a friendly, cheerful reply, his head shot up and he stared at her as if he had seen a ghost. "Miss Dumbledore. Hello."

She tilted her head suspiciously. "Is everything all right?"

Orion's face turned a deep red as he played with his quill in obvious nervousness. "Of course. Can I help you?"

Why was this boy reacting like this? Was it just because he was attracted to Tom and she happened to be his girlfriend? Did he have a guilty conscience? Confused, she replied, "No, that's not why I'm here. Rather the other way round. I thought I could help you, Orion."

She had unconsciously switched to his given name, but that seemed to have been a mistake. Still bright red, Orion stared at her with wide eyes. "You can't know ... impossible. Or do you know?"

Hermione was getting more confused by the second. What did Orion think she wanted from him? She leant forward a little and lowered her voice so that the few other Slytherins still in the common room couldn't hear her words. "I don't know what you think I might know. But if you want to talk about it, I'm listening."

Orion bowed his head before saying, so quietly that she almost couldn't hear, "I respect you, Miss Dumbledore. You and Tom. You are a couple. I shouldn't... it's not right."

So he actually felt guilty for being attracted to Tom. Sympathy spread through Hermione. She was very sure that Orion wasn't actually attracted to him. After Tom had told her exactly what had happened between him and Orion, she had a completely different suspicion.

Orion was afraid of Tom.

Fear had similar symptoms to love, and of course someone like Orion, who admired Tom and wanted to be part of his inner circle of friends, would never allow himself to be afraid of Tom. So he instinctively interpreted his reaction to Tom as love. For a sixteen-year-old boy, this had to be more than confusing, especially at a time when no one was likely to talk about it openly.

"Have you ever had a girlfriend?" Hermione enquired quietly, hoping that she could gently get him to reconsider his feelings for Tom.

With a jerk, Orion leant forward, grabbed her wrist, and held it tightly. Caught off guard, Hermione stared into his eyes, which seemed to blaze with a hot fire of anger and fear. His voice sounded dangerous as he replied, "Don't play with me, Miss Dumbledore. I doubt Tom would approve if he knew what you are trying to do. I will not be tempted by you. I know that American women like to use their bodies against men, but I will not give in to it!"

Hermione snatched her arm from him in horror. Is that what he thought of her? In an instant, all the pity she felt for this boy vanished. Just like Rufus Lestrange, he seemed to reduce her to using her body as a weapon. Just as icily as he did, she replied: "I apologise. Forgive my words, they were kindly meant."

With these words, she stood up and left him alone at the table. Was it because of the decade that all the men here seemed to think she just wanted sex? She immediately shook her head. Abraxas never even hinted at it, on the contrary. He was always shocked if he even remotely sensed any sexual behaviour from her. Grimly, she left the common room to vent her anger. She shouldn't have wasted her pity on a Black. Bellatrix Lestrange was a Black, what did she expecte from her older relatives?

With an annoyed snort, Hermione settled down on a windowsill overlooking the depths of the Great Lake. It was already too dark to see much, but the knowledge that a whole kingdom of animals lived behind that thick pane calmed her senses a little.

"Miss Dumbledore."

Surprised, she turned her head in the direction she just came from. Orion Black was standing a few metres away from her, looking at her contritely.

"Mr Black?"

She was unwilling to take a step towards him. His behaviour was impossible, he would have to come up with a good excuse to win back her sympathy.

He approached her slowly, his hands buried in his trouser pockets, until he finally came to a halt in front of her. Uncertainty was clear to read on his face as he looked down at her. "I ... I'm sorry. No man should ever talk to a lady the way I just did."

Unmoved, she raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms in front of her chest. If that was all he had to say, she wasn't impressed.

He seemed to struggle with himself for a moment, but then a dam seemed to break. "I'm just so confused. I don't know what to feel. You're in a relationship with Tom and certainly have more experience with these things than I do. But still, it's not right for me as a man to talk to you as a lady about such things. Especially not since we have no such relationship. And yet I feel the need ... to communicate."

Although he still hadn't made any real apologies, Hermione's heart melted. Something was bothering this boy, something that had to be more than just his sexuality. She slid a little to the side and tapped on the windowsill beside her. "Come, sit down and talk. I'm listening."

With a deep sigh, he settled down next to her, his shoulders slumped, his eyes fixed on the floor. It took a few minutes before he began to speak. "Is it normal to be attracted to people you're not in an official relationship with? Physically attracted?"

Hermione smiled warmly at him. "It's perfectly normal. How do we decide who we want to be with officially if we don't have feelings like that for anyone beforehand?"

Orion's eyes lit up and he nodded eagerly. "That's a good point." But immediately his shoulders slumped again. "But surely it's not normal feeling that way for several people at once, is it?"

Hermione had to remind herself not to laugh at these words. Orion was surprisingly naive for his sixteen years. Trying not to sound too progressive, she explained, "That's normal too. Pure physical attraction is just ... the precursor to real love. Real love can only be felt for one person, at least that's how it works for most of us. But before we've found that person, we're ... undecided."

"But how do I know what real love is?"

Hermione swayed her head back and forth thoughtfully. "I can't explain it to you. But if you feel it, then you'll know."

"Do you feel real love for Tom?"

Her smile froze. What was she supposed to say to this boy? Should she lie to him and pretend that everything between her and Tom really was like in the fairy tale she'd just told? Or should she be open like she was with Lestrange? She decided to take a middle course. "Tom and I are compatible in many ways. We understand each other in a way that no one else could. Whether it's real love will certainly become clear soon."

A strange glint entered Orion's eyes when she said that. His voice sounded strained when he asked, "So it's not real love?"

Overwhelmed and unsure of what he was getting at, Hermione raised both hands. "I'm not sure I understand..."

She didn't get any further. Suddenly Orion leant forward, grabbed her by the upper arms, and pressed his lips to hers. Horror spread through Hermione as she realised what was happening. She pushed him off her with all her might.

"What were you thinking?" she demanded to know. Her mind was racing. This couldn't happen. Not Orion as well. Tom had enough on him, he didn't need any more.

Orion, meanwhile, turned bright red and slumped down. In a low, brittle voice, he explained, "I saw you. When you ... when you were in the common room ... together. And I ... you said it was normal! You said it was normal for me to feel this way. I saw your bare thighs and I wanted ... I wanted too ..."

"What did you want too?" she snapped at him. "I'm not an object, Orion Black!"

"If you want to be treated with respect, then behave in a way that people can respect you!" Orion replied defiantly.

Hermione stared at the boy in disbelief. He was still red in the face and obviously embarrassed. But his words clearly showed that the education of the time had caused a very dangerous mix of ignorance and entitlement in him. Icily, she explained, "It doesn't matter how I behave. I am a human being and only I decide who is allowed to come near me and who is not. My body belongs to me. Even if I was naked in front of you, that wouldn't give you the right to touch me!"

"Rufus said–," Orion began, but Hermione cut him off immediately.

"Mr Lestrange is the last man who knows anything about respect and decency. Never trust his word," she said forcefully. "Mr Black, do you even understand what this is about? Do you understand what you've just done?"

He looked at her silently. Hermione didn't know whether to be angry or sad. Orion had obviously grown up far too naïve. Had his parents really never spoken to him about such things? The fact that he learnt how to deal with women from Lestrange, of all people, made the whole thing dangerous.

Slowly, she stood up. "I'm with Tom, Orion. With Tom, to whom you swore your loyalty. Please think about that before you feel the impulse to kiss some girl next time. It's okay to want to do that. But it's not okay to do it against her will."

She could see that Orion could no longer hear her. He pulled his knees close and wrapped his arms around his legs. She almost felt sorry for him. He was a teenager who was completely confused about his sexuality and only heard more confusing things from all sides.

Still, she told herself as she walked back to the common room, he had no right to just kiss her. She shuddered. The thought that most young men in this time probably grew up with similar ideas to Orion's made her realise just how dangerous it was for women. If she had grown up according to the ideas of the time, who knew if she wouldn't have agreed with him and allowed him to do more than just kiss because she actually thought he had the right to?

But she didn't have time to think about the etiquette of the forties. Much more important was the question of whether she should tell Tom about the incident with Orion. Could she risk not telling him? There was a high risk that Orion would tell Tom everything himself at some point. But could she really give him any more ammunition?