In Broken Time

Chapter 6

Hermione could feel Tom's stare on her, his lips in a smirk. She had completely forgotten he was there with her.

"Mr. Riddle will lead you down to the dungeons. Your robes will be in your dormitory. You will have to borrow your books and supplies until the holidays. Here is your schedule. Other than that, enjoy your stay at Hogwarts, and don't cause too much trouble." Dippet finished with a wink as Tom and Hermione made their way out of the office.

As soon as they had passed through the door Tom turned to her and said something that honestly didn't surprise her at all. "Why was your father disowned?" He asked.

"He supported muggle rights." She answered shortly.

"Does that mean you're half-blood?"

"Ironically, I'm a pure-blood."

"Who was your mother?" He asked casually. Hermione stiffened. She hadn't thought of her mother's name. Finding the father was easy enough considering Phineas had actually been alive and disowned for supporting muggle rights. But she'd never thought she'd had to explain who her 'mother' was.

"Elise...Rousseau. She was French." Hermione stammered remembering a French muggle philosopher. Tom gave her a weird look, as if he were trying to sniff out her lies. Hermione prayed that there was truly a French pure-blooded family named Rousseau.

"Some of what I assume to be your cousins go here. Walburga, Lucretia and Orion. Surely you've heard of them?"

"Yes and I've heard they're all just as insane as their inbred parents. They're undoubtedly already betrothed to each other. Why are we talking about me? I don't even know your name Mr. prefect." Hermione stated pointedly while rolling her eyes at the thought of meeting Walburga and Orion. She inwardly shuddered, she despised them for treating Sirius the way they did. Especially Walburga. The crazy woman was always screaming her head off whenever she went to Grimmauld Place. Hermione felt a pang of sadness as she realized she may never see that dusty old home again.

"Tom Riddle." He responded clearly when he held out a hand for Hermione to shake.

"Elora Black." Hermione replied awkwardly as he took his hand and shook it. It was cold as ice.

"I know," He smirked knowingly. "Are you betrothed?"

"No. Thank Merlin." She sighed in relief for extra emphasis. "Nor do I want to." She added after seeing Riddle's smirk widen after she said the previous statement. The bastard. Of course he'd be interested if she was a pure-blood. 

They had finally reached the dungeons, when Riddle muttered the password: "Purity."

Hermione inwardly scoffed, as they strode through the common room. Of course the stupid, bloody, prejudiced Slytherins would make that their password. Not to mention it was highly predictable too. She added to her thoughts, rolling her eyes.

"The girls dormitory is downstairs. Change into your robes and meet me here. We have dinner in a few minutes." He explained blandly. Hermione nodded and strode off in the direction of the dormitory's. She glanced around and saw that it was exactly how Ron and Harry had described it, despite being years in the past. Hermione felt a wave of sadness and grief over the thought of her now dead friends. She could start to feel tears pricking at her eyes as she remembered them and their goofiness and bravery. She could do this. She could stop Voldemort. For them. Wiping away her warm tears, she made her way down the stairs to change into her robes. This was going to be a long year she thought.

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Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter franchise.

I apologise for the large amount of dialogue, but I'm still figuring out expressions and ways to convey the emotions of characters. And really just the overall story line. Hopefully the more chapters I write, the more I improve.

Thanks for reading as always!