In Broken Time

Chapter 18

Begrudgingly, Hermione met Tom in Diagon Alley, as she refused to spend another minute in the ghastly Knockturn Alley for his little discussion. They stood near the front of where Fred and George's joke shop would be in the future. "Listen Black. You must find the diadem for me." He demanded, his eyes seemingly darkening into a cold, emotionless black. Hermione, unfazed, lifted a brow as if to say, 'Or what?'. He seemed to have understood her expression as he replied to her perfectly as if he'd heard it aloud. "Or you will find yourself in a lot of pain. Do not cross me Black." He stared her right in the eye as he said it and she felt herself stiffen. "What's in it for me?" Hermione questioned, still unwilling to give up so easily. "I will reward you handsomely once you find me that diadem. From now on, I only want you to focus on the diadem. And if Ms. Smith ever comes back around, or if our employers require us to ask her about a deal...she is my client, so I suggest you back off." Of course he'd want to deal with Hepzibah. The woman had not only stroked his ego, but also had two of the sacred heirlooms he was seeking. Not wanting to continue the conversation, Hermione nodded and walked off.

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Hermione thought over her plan repeatedly, trying to suss out the details before completing it. Oh, there was so much more work she needed to do before even going to Hepzibah's. Part One: the sleeping draught. Brewing was a piece of cake. It would take two days at most. Getting Tom to drink it was the problem. They hadn't quite yet established a sense of trust in their relationship. Seducing him was the best option she had. It had worked before after all, back in the cabin. Part Two: Hermione would offer Hepzibah another artifact which was easy enough. Part Three: Oblivating Hokey and Hepzibah. Also quite easy having obliviated her own parents before going off to hunt horcruxes. Hermione pondered over part three, and proposed to herself that she should also slip Hepzibah a sleeping draught so she could scour through her house for the artifacts. Part Four was the easiest and most simplest of all; walking out and hiding the artifacts. Or so she thought.

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As part of Part One of the plan, Hermione attempted to send numerous heated glances at Tom. He noticed at first and simply raised his eyebrows and went back to work. Honestly. Hermione didn't mind looking at him all day. He was quite the looker she had to admit.

They both sat behind the counter of Borgin & Burkes in silence. No customers nor Borgin and Burke were in sight, having to organize affairs privately without their two young workers listening in. Hermione was mildly enjoying the silence when Tom broke it. "Is my face really that nice to look at?" He sent her a smug smirk, his eyes alight with mischief. Hermione avoided his gaze and she thought of the very intimate night they had, causing her to flush. She needed to act and look the part. "Maybe it is." Tom raised his eyebrows at her forwardness. "If you haven't noticed there's not a lot of nice young suitors to look at around here."

"I wasn't aware you were looking." He inched closer to her. So close that she could smell his scent of cedar and...cinnamon? "Perhaps I want to be loved." Hermione whispered, while she stared straight into his dark eyes. She could suddenly feel the unresolved tension between them like a pile of bricks. "What are you suggesting?" They were so close, his breath mingled with hers. "What do you think?" Hermione whispered back. She swore she saw Tom's eyes darkened if they could even possibly do that even more. "You're a difficult woman to please, Black. One day you look like you hate me, and then the next day you suddenly desire me," Hermione gulped. "However, seeing as we've already been intimate, I feel more inclined to do something else with you," Hermione was positive she was as red as a tomato. "I'll pick you up from your room at 7:00." 

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Disclaimer: I don't own the HP franchise. The only thing that's mine is the slightly messed up storyline.

Hello, I'm finally back. But not for long. This may or may not be another hiatus coming very soon. It's almost been a year since this story has been released which is crazy! I'm honestly surprised I haven't given up. Thank you so much for your lovely comments and your humongous amount of patience for this story.

I plan to complete the story sometime in January next year, so unfortunately there's not much time left. Some minor editing might also be done in previous parts.

But other than that...Thank you for reading!