Ask Tom Riddle

A Tom x Hermione Fanfiction

A Conversation- (Tom Riddle x Hermione Granger)
Written by Tom Marvolo Riddle

Tom Riddle found himself staring at the bushy-haired girl in the Slytherin Common Room for quite possibly the hundredth time that day. It wasn't that she was particularly beautiful or unbelievably interesting to look at. It was, rather, because there was something suspicious about her.

Having someone immediately transfer to Hogwarts to "finish up her seventh year" was unheard of, at least, it was to Tom. And she was sorted into Slytherin, no less.

Granger.

She wasn't part of the Sacred Twenty-Eight, nor did he know of any Wizarding families with her name.

Her class schedule was almost identical to his, which was impressive considering that all his classes were only the most advanced N.E.W.T. subjects. And suddenly, this girl who literally came out of nowhere, rivaled Tom Riddle's academic performance. She was brilliant, no doubt. 

But she did not seem to possess the charm that Tom had. For one thing, she never smiled. She looked as though she never could.

The oddest thing that Tom noticed about her was that at times, she would try to talk to him, but other times, she seemed as though she couldn't even look at him. The times that she did try to talk to him, it almost seemed like she was forcing herself to. It was strange to him.

Not only that, but wherever he was, she was, too. It was like she was stalking him. Not in the way the giggling girls follow him, but more in the way that a predator stalks a prey. There was a trace of hatred in the way she looked at him. It was stranger to him.

Now, she seemed to have followed him to the common room while the rest of the Slytherins were out at Hogsmeade. She was sitting on a chair nearby where he sat. She was reading a book, but ever so often, Tom would notice her glance at him when she thought he wasn't looking. Much like he did to her.

Her tangled hair fell as she looked down at her book, hiding all the scars and bruises on her face. What happened to her?

As he caught her look at him again, Tom cleared his throat, interrupting the unbearable silence. She looked at him abruptly, a frightened expression on her face. "Why are you here?" he asked quietly.

"W-what?" The question seemed to have taken Hermione aback.

"Why are you here?" he repeated.

"I have as much right to be here as you do! Just because you're the Head Boy doesn't mean you have the whole common room to yourself," she said defensively.

"That's not what I meant. Why are you in Hogwarts? Why are you here?"

"To finish my seventh year. I thought Dippet explained that already," Hermione said flatly.

Tom stared at her. She was lying. And she was doing a horrible job at it, too. "Why did you leave your other school then, and on the last year, too?" he asked, pushing her for information.

"Because- because plans change. It didn't seem right where I was at, so I came here to change that," she said, hesitating before she answered.

"You didn't like it there then?"

"I did. I had my friends," said Hermione, her voice so quiet that it was almost a whisper.

"And you gave them up to go here?" Tom asked. Finally, he was getting some answers.

"No. They left me."

"Hermione..." began Tom.

It took a while before she could meet his eyes. "What?" she whispered.

Tom Riddle took a deep breath and said:
"I'm never going to give you up.
I'm never going to let you down.
I'm never going to run around and    
dessert you.
I'm never going to make you cry.
I'm never going to say goodbye.
I'm never going to lie and hurt you."

And Hermione looked at him and realized that she had been