Hermione's Riddle

An Unexpected Reunion

"Stop that." Hermione swatted at Tom's fingers which were fiddling with the hem of her skirt. He slapped her hand away and growled against her neck. "Tom, I said stop it."

Tom leaned up from where he was crouched over top of her. One hand was still near her skirt while the other one was bracing him against the sofa. "You can't just let me have a taste of you then deny me afterwards," growled Tom.

"Yes. I. Can. It is perfectly within my rights to refuse you." She placed her hands on his chest then motioned for him to get off of her. Tom complied with a frustrated sigh. "Besides, Fleamont and Abraxas are due back any minute. I would like to greet them. Plus it is our responsibility as head boy and head girl." Tom gave her a look that told her she was right.

Much more slowly than necessary, Tom pulled himself up off the couch. He stared at her the entire time while making his way to his room. The hungry glint in his eyes was unmistakable. Who knew that Tom Riddle would turn out to be just like all the other boys their age.

Hermione patted down her skirt in an attempt to straighten it. She then rose from the couch and made her way to the bathroom. Looking in the mirror showed that her hair was a complete mess thanks to Tom running his fingers through it. She uttered a spell that instantly fixed and smoothed out her curls until they were beautiful ringlets. She was really grateful to Tom for sharing that spell with her.

She exited the bathroom, pleased with her appearance, and waited for Tom near the entryway. He walked out of his room wearing the dark-blue knitted sweater that she had gotten him as a late birthday present, and a pair of slacks. Hermione's heart fluttered when she saw that he hadn't fixed his hair.

"Ready?" asked Hermione. Tom nodded and offered her his arm. They made their way down to the school's entrance  arm-in-arm.

Carriages were already pulling up to the front gates. Returning students chatted eagerly amongst themselves.

Hermione raised up onto her tiptoes, hoping to find signs of their returning comrades. "I don't see them," said Tom, having a height advantage.

As they waited for their friends, Tom and Hermione decided to do their job and help the returning students with their luggage. Simply put, they took the lazy way out and used magic to return the luggage to their rightful destinations.

They didn't find their friends until the last carriage pulled up. "About time," said Tom, loud enough for them to hear.

Fleamont looked up and shook his head, causing Tom and Hermione to pause on their way to them. Hermione didn't know why Fleamont would shoot them a warning, not until she saw Abraxas.

Abraxas looked up. A small smile appeared on his lips when he saw her. The smile disappeared and hatred flashed through his grey eyes when he saw Tom beside her. Hermione's heart turned to ice when she realized what had happened. "Tom, you should leave."

"No. It will be better to face this head on instead of letting his anger and despair grow." Hermione released a sigh, knowing that Tom was right. She straightened her shoulders but did not move from her spot. Tom did the opposite. He moved toward the two in the carriage.

Abraxas jumped down to land in front of Tom. "I should hex you where you stand," snarled Abraxas. Tom didn't say anything, he just stood there. "Say something!"

"I'm sorry," said Tom as he looked Abraxas straight in the eye.

Hermione moved forward. "How did your memories return?"

When Abraxas said nothing, Fleamont answered for him. "We found a proposal letter he had written to Miss Prewitt. After that, we found someone who could reverse the spell on us."

"Us?" Asked Hermione in puzzlement. She knew that Abraxas had erased Kathleen from his memories but she had no clue that Fleamont had suffered the same fate. It explained why he never brought up the subject when Abraxas wasn't around.

"Dippet erased the other students' memories so that they wouldn't recklessly say something in front of you or Abraxas," answered Tom.

"You knew?" asked Hermione. Why would the headmaster do that instead of fixing Abraxas. Was he afraid that Abraxas would do something stupid like she had been when he first performed the spell?

"I asked him to. So that this idiot-" Tom jerked his chin to the furious boy in front of him, "-wouldn't do something foolish."

Abraxas narrowed a silvery gaze onto Tom. "You don't have to worry anymore." He shoved passed Tom. "I'm no longer his friend but if you need me, I'll be there," he told Hermione. With that, he stormed into the school, never looking back.

"What about you?" Tom asked Fleamont.

Fleamont shrugged his shoulders before jumping down from the carriage. "I'm undecided." Then he too disappeared into the school.

"Well, that turned out unexpectedly," sighed Tom as he turned toward her.

It did and it didn't. Hermione knew that those two were not supposed to be team Voldemort. It was only a matter-of-time before things turned out like this.

Tom grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze. "Sorry."

"As long as you never return to who you were, then you don't have to apologize."

Tom gave her a half smirk before squeezing her hand again. "I guess now you have more time for me."

"I guess," drawled Hermione. She was sad that she was possibly losing two of her closest friends but she knew it had to have happened sooner or later. She just wished that it had been later, not sooner.

"We should probably inform grandfather." To her surprise, Tom agreed with her.