In Broken Time

Chapter 15

They carefully landed on the soft snow of a Bulgarian forest. An abundance of tall snow-clad pine trees surrounded them and roughly ten steps in front of them, Hermione spotted a snow covered wooden cottage. She looked to Tom who stood right next to her who nodded at the cottage. It was his way of saying 'it's ours'. They trudged through the deep levels of snow to reach the cozy little cottage.

They entered and Hermione spotted one queen-sized bed right in the middle of the cottage. "Arghh. You couldn't have found a cottage with at least two beds?" Hermione complained.

"Nope. This was the only cottage available. Deal with it." He gave her an unimpressed glare as they set up their briefcases and prepared for their first day of searching. "Now Black, where did you say it was?" Hermione turned around shocked to find him so close to her. He had backed her up against a wall, his piercing eyes searching hers. "They said that Helena Ravenclaw hid it in a tree, though there are so many around here no one knows which one." Hermione explained, fear pulsing through her. His face came down lower, his nose almost brushing hers. "Well this is the largest forest in Bulgaria. There's a high chance it could be in here and who knows we might get lucky. Come on. We start the search today."

They were out in the relentless cold for hours until sun fall. They had placed numerous detection charms around the forest even though Hermione knew it was useless as the diadem was across the continent. Suffering in the endless cold was nothing compared to what she had already endured with Harry and Ron.

"Riddle! Are you done yet!? I'm freezing!" Hermione groaned. He was taking forever in the shower and he wasn't gentlemanly enough to let her go first. By now she was pounding her fists against the bathroom door where she could hear the spritz of water coming from the shower. Giving up, she slouched against the bathroom door leaning on it, before it suddenly opened leading to a handsome, shirtless Tom Riddle. That same stupidly handsome man caught her before she could slam her head on the ground. "Really Black? That desperate are you?" He smirked, grabbing his shirt and slipping it on from the table just to the left of the bathroom door. Hermione blushed and scrambled to stand up before he could say anything else. "It's all yours." Of course he had to be bloody good-looking underneath his shirt! Hermione almost slapped herself for thinking such stupid things after she realized what she just thought.

He was on his side of the bed reading a book after she came out of the shower in just her towel. She almost cursed herself for forgetting to bring her pajamas into the bathroom with her. He looked up from his book and his eyes immediately darkened once he beheld her. She sprinted to her side of the room before a hand suddenly grasped her arm. Hermione stiffened and looked to the owner of the arm. "What?" She asked stiffly.

"We start at six tomorrow." He told her, eyes scanning her up and down. Hermione nodded before running back into the bathroom to change. Hermione slumped into bed minutes later and she caught him staring at her again. She immediately looked away to avoid eye contact. "Right..." She answered, still refusing to look at him for the remainder of the night.

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By the fourth day of searching she could start to feel Tom's frustration. They only had a week and they were going nowhere as Hermione had thought. The only words of comfort she could say were something along the lines of 'This is the biggest forest in Bulgaria Tom. It could take one years to find anything in here, let alone a small diadem,'. She had repeated those words numerous times to calm his frustration. It was absurd! Even if the diadem was in this forest it would take much longer than a week to search for it. Hermione honestly thought that his downfall would be his arrogance.

On the night of the sixth day he confronted her in their cottage. He had effectively cornered her as she was packing up a few of her belongings. His hands lay by the sides of her head on the wall. "Where. Is. It. Black! I don't have time for games!" He roared, hands banging the wall she leaned upon. "I've said the same thing over and over! You said it yourself! This is the biggest forest in the damn country! You can't just expect us to find within a span of just a few days! It's absurd!" Hermione could feel her face flush in anger.

"What did you really hear Black!? If anything at all. Don't you dare lie to me!" Hermione jumped in shock as his hands slapped the wall again. She could see Tom's usually pale face become red in anger and frustration. Good. Now he knew how she felt. "I just heard a browsing customer mention the diadem that's all! I heard the conversation clearly, I swear!"

"Show me."

Before she knew it, she was pressing herself up against him to distract him from exposing her lie. Their lips crashed together in passionate angry kisses. She moaned when he bit her lip hard enough she swore she could taste blood. His hands made their way down to her body pulling her closer to him. Within seconds she was being pressed onto their bed being attacked by his rough kisses. Their hands fumbled with each other's clothing, as they undressed and kissed at the same time. Hermione lost all thought as they moved against each other for the remainder of the night.

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Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. All rights belong to J.K Rowling and WB.

Hello, I'm back unexpectedly early! I've gotten some of my motivation back after writing this chapter. I think I've already gotten a good idea for what to write for the next chapter. 

Thank you all for reading and voting!