In Broken Time

Chapter 16

The next morning Hermione woke with a throbbing headache and bruised lips. Her vision was hazy and she felt strangely warm when she felt an arm withdraw from her waist and the bed lift up. It seemed that Tom had finally woken up. Hermione thought through the events of last night and almost gasped in horror. How could she do this!? Especially since she was the one to initiate it! Tears pricked her eyes, which she wiped away immediately. "Something wrong?" Riddle's voice pierced the silence, his head cocked to the side while he stared at her barely covered naked form. Hermione scrambled to pick up the sheets surrounding her while managing to get out a raspy "Nothing" before carefully darting around the room to pick up her scrambled belongings scattered all over the room while keeping the sheets around her body.

"I'm afraid that we must return today. I told Borgin and Burke that they should be expecting us back by tomorrow." He informed her, while slipping on his white oxford shirt over his very nicely toned body. It irked Hermione when he acted like nothing happened the night before. "Listen...About last night...We shouldn't ever do that again. It was spontaneous. I didn't think it through. Just...Let's not talk about this anymore." Hermione avoided his gaze as he perked up his eyebrows as if to say 'Really??' sarcastically. His eyes ran her over again before returning to getting himself ready and packing up his things. He nearly walked away before saying the question she was hoping to avoid in the first place. "So...Elora since we got to know each other so well last night, surely you'd be comfortable enough to tell me exactly who or where you got the information of the from. One does not just let that information leak out, and so conveniently, I might add." Hermione finally faced him and looked him straight in the eye. "I already told you the truth."

"No you didn't! You're a terrible liar. Answer me Black! Or I'll do what I should've done last night." His eyes turned cold, his gaze steely. Suddenly a loud bleep from outside interrupted his threat. It was nearly time to go. As if the bleep was a wake-up-call, his eyes softened marginally as he told her to finish packing her belongings. However he hadn't completely forgotten the conversation. "We'll talk about it when we get back." He'd told her before she scrambled to pack everything.

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They returned home exhausted with minimal sleep from the days spent searching in Bulgaria. Desperate to escape his intruding mind, Hermione disapparated immediately without saying goodbye to Tom. She landed in her room at the Leaky Cauldron and sprinted to lock the door. Her head was spinning and she nearly vomited. Not long after she heard slamming on her door. "Black! Open up! I know you're in there!" Even though he sounded exhausted, he continued to pound her door, uttering threats along the way. All Hermione could do was quietly rock herself to sleep, crying.

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Eventually it seemed that he had gotten the message during the day and left. However, it wouldn't have made much of a difference. She had to face him that day at work anyway, but at least it wasn't first in the morning. It was around five O'clock in the morning when she got ready to avoid Tom for the whole morning until she had to go to work in the afternoon. Carefully she tip-toed down the wooden steps into the dining area where she speedily ate a bowl of bland porridge and bolted down Diagon Alley until she reached a safe place to apparate.

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Hermione apparated to the one place that popped into her mind first. Home. She didn't know if her house had been built yet beforehand, but apparently it was. She sat on a bench nearby and observed the neighborhood that would eventually become hers in the future. She felt tears streaming down her face as she witnessed families walking around the neighborhood and the sound of laughter coming from the houses. She would never have that again. She had obliviated her parents, her friends were dead, and on top of that she was stuck with one of the most dangerous wizards of all time, whom she had slept with and who had continuously threatened her. Worst of all she betrayed her friends, her family and everything she stood for. She was broken inside.

The realization hit her like a brick before she broke down sobbing.

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Hermione returned to Diagon Alley just in time for her shift to start. She was dreading it. She was not ready to face Tom after her little episode. It was too much, but she couldn't afford to skip her shift. She was running low on money as it was.

She almost through a tantrum like a small child when she begrudgingly opened the door to Borgin & Burkes when she was greeted with a face she never wanted to see again.

Tom greeted her with nothing more than narrowed eyes and a rather annoyed expression. Oh, he was pissed. But he couldn't do anything about it as Borgin and Burked were right beside him arguing as usual. They continued their chorus of bickering until the shop door opened.

And in came the one and only Hepzibah Smith.

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Disclaimer: All rights belong to WB and J.K Rowling.

Hello I'm finally back! I know I say this every time but I'm serious about updating more over the next two weeks. I finally have some time on my hands.

Thank you for your encouraging comments. I'm sorry for the extremely long wait and also thank you for reading and voting for this story.