Breaking Hermione

Defiance

It was time. Class was nearly over, and Tom Riddle and I were going to Hogsmeade. Together. I wasn't the only person in the room hyperaware of this, as I followed Tom out of the small, dimly lit classroom I saw the eyes of the Hufflepuffs and Slytherins tracking our every step. Tom was a popular guy. I was no one. I could see by the looks on everyone's faces that they were surprised I was with him. Clearly our relationship was a big topic of discussion still. I hated it. By saying Tom was my boyfriend I had made sure I was linked to him. It was the type of thought that troubled me at night.

"Ladies first." I couldn't believe it. Tom was holding the door open for me. Everyone was staring, even the teacher.

"Well," Tom said. "Come on."

"Hurry up lovebirds," The teacher snapped. "You're holding up my class."

"Damn, ok." Tom said in response.

"Excuse me?" The teacher barked. "What was that, Riddle?"

I suppressed a smirk. Tom never got shit from the teachers, apparently this teacher was having none of him.

"Get the fuck out the door." Tom hissed at me in a tone so deceptively low no one but me could hear.

"You're such a gentleman." I said scathingly. Tom laughed lightly. He was such an arrogant asshole, I was so happy to get that sarcastic remark in. I couldn't believe I was going to Hogsmeade with him. Things were happening too quickly for me to keep up.

We walked down to the Great Hall in silence, Tom was following just slightly behind me, just enough distance between us to make me feel extremely nervous. Maybe he did it on purpose, those small things that made me feel uncomfortable.

I stopped walking suddenly, Tom coming to a standstill right behind me. He was so tall I could feel his cold breath above me.

"Why did you choose me to go to Hogsmeade with you?" I asked. My voice was small even in the echoing halls.

"Why not?" Tom said carelessly. "You didn't want to stay in a boring classroom all day did you?" He sauntered around me, his dark eyes almost glowing in a challenging sort of way.

"I wasn't meaning that," I pressed, "Why me? Out of everyone you could've chosen, you picked me."

Toms expression morphed into dark amusement.

"I thought it'd be fun." He said coldly. "I haven't had fun in a while and I suppose I jumped at the chance. Besides, I'm always escorting hot girls around. I would've thought you'd have noticed that by now."

We kept walking. The silence was so loud and Tom's words paralysed my mind. He called me hot. Funny really, I never thought of myself as being remotely attractive, yet somehow it didn't make me feel good to hear the words coming from the mouth of a psychopath, whether he was messing with me or not.

We finally made it to the Great Hall. We stood in silence beside the group of students gathered in the hall all ready and beaming in excitement for their trip outside of School. I blinked. Everyone was excited about going to Hogsmeade except me. Tom was right beside me, he snaked an arm around my waist and smirked when I froze.

"Are you still scared of me?" I pulled away from him with a defiant stare.

"No. I'm not scared of you." I lied. Tom turned and walked away from me to the throng of gathered Prefects. I didn't have to see his face to know he was smirking. He turned and faced everyone, his eyes finding mine for the briefest moment.

"As the appointed Prefect in charge you students are to follow me." He announced. "Since we have no accompanying teacher with us you are all under my authority. If any of you try any shit I will be reporting you to your Heads Of Houses." Everyone stared at Tom, he was the tallest one in the entire group of students and by far the most intimidating.

"Are we perfectly clear?" He said quietly.

No one dared to speak against him, even though of course Tom wasn't really of any higher position than all of them.

"Good. Now follow me." He walked out toward the main door and everyone followed, me dragging a little behind with a Ravenclaw Prefect who appeared to be wanting a word with me.

"Hey, Hermione. Is that your name?" She asked, keeping pace with me easily.

"Yes." I sighed. She was a tall girl with long brown hair, gray eyes and a comforting air about her.

"Are you Tom Riddle's girlfriend?" She asked me. I turned and gave her a look. "Sorry," She started, "it's not that I'm trying to bother you or anything, it's just that there's been so many rumours and I didn't know whether to believe them or not. You don't  really seem like his type."

"The rumours are true." I said heavily. "I am with him." It was too much for me to say the words yes I am his girlfriend. At least she thought I wasn't his type. No one else had told me that so far, and I felt marginally better now that this strange Ravenclaw Prefect said it.

"Some of us are worried about you," She continued, a little more quietly. "Tom doesn't really have a good track record with girls, you know." We were now out in the open, it was an overcast day. Dark clouds threatened to burst above us.

"Who is worried?" I wondered out loud. I knew my friends would be, but who else?

"Most of the school is," She told me.

"Really?" I was surprised.

"Yeah," She replied. "Well, everyone except the Slytherins, obviously." We kept walking. Tom led the way at the front, he didn't look back for me once.

"What do you think will happen if I run away back to the school?" I wondered out loud.

The girl looked unsettled. "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

We kept walking down the path towards the School gates.

"Why not?" I countered. "What is the worst thing you've seen Tom do to a girl?"

The girl turned and stared at me. "He doesn't really curse people in the open, does he?"

"Well, I guess."

I looked away. She was right about that. But I still felt the urge to run back into the safety of the School building up inside of me. Tom already had messed with me so much. I was starting to get the feeling that things couldn't get worse. I was already experiencing living hell. My friends hated me, I was in the past with a dangerous psychopath who found it amusing to play me like a puppet on a string. I had to do something. I had to rebel.

Tom was still at the front of the crowd of students, walking alone. Clearly he thought himself above the rest of us, since he wasn't bothering to engage anyone in conversation and continuing to walk ahead of the rest in solitude. Carefully, I slowed my walk, falling behind the rest easily.

"What the hell are you doing?" The Ravenclaw Prefect stopped in her tracks and turned to me with fear in her eyes.

"Don't say anything to him." I told her. Making sure Tom wasn't looking, I gathered all my remaining courage, and turning on my heel began sprinting toward the school.