Voldemort's Protege

Borrowing Books

Hermione had a crush, it was undeniable, but she felt silly because she didn't want to be like Lavender and Pavarti who were always talking about boys. Still in her mind it was different, she didn't like him just because he was handsome, which he was, she liked Tom Riddle because he was intelligent and kind. She only noticed him because when he wasn't studying in the library he was stopping by to pick up books and because she had been compared to him more than once by professors who lauded her for her performance in class. He was Slytherin's golden boy and she aspired to be like him, to be appreciated for her knowledge rather than resented for it.

She reasoned that she handled her crush perfectly well, because she didn't sit and giggle or stare mooning at him. If they were both in the library she did afford herself opportunities to peek at him when she took breaks, but nothing that would seriously distract from her work. It was during one of those library sessions where they were both studying that he approached her for the first time.

 She was deeply entrenched in reading a book and didn't notice his approach until his voice broke her concentration, "I'm sorry, but when I spoke to Madam Pince she said you checked out the last copy of "A Study of Ancient Numerology", I'm planning to use it as a supplementary source for my Arithmancy essay. Would you mind if I borrowed it?" 

She froze for a moment and looked up he gave her an easy smile and gestured to the book she had open on the library table in her hands it left her fighting off a blush. Of course she had no reason to really argue with the slightly older boy if he actually needed the book so she was fine with agreeing. However she had a slight issue, she found it difficult to look directly at him so she avoided his gaze and instead nodded managing to add, "Of course, I was just doing some light reading anyway."

After mentally slapping herself for saying anything Hermione waited for some negative remark from the boy who she'd been looking up to from afar. Despite her time at Hogwarts being relatively short she'd been almost conditioned to expect disparaging comments from her classmates.

Despite her expectations he simply hummed before asking, "What year are you? Don't take this the wrong way, but you don't look old enough to be taking Arithmancy, it's a third year and above course. Since I haven't seen you in my class you'd have to be at least a fourth year, which I doubt." There wasn't any accusation only open curiosity.

"First year, but there's nothing wrong with trying to learn new things," she hated how she immediately felt the need to become defensive, but she was in the right. This was a place of learning so why shouldn't she do exactly that?

She was slightly surprised when he chuckled lightly, a sound she decided she very much liked, and replied, "Seeking knowledge is always something to be praised." He reached for the book he'd asked for and she shuffled a bit to make it easier to reach. "What's your name?" He asked as he picked the book up, his tone still light and conversational.

"Hermione Granger," her voice was still less sure than his, but she'd held herself together far better than she expected when confronted by her crush. Feeling a lot better she managed to meet his eyes when she spoke.

"Alright then, Hermione Granger," he seemed to test her name, "I'll keep my eye out for you, clearly you have good taste in books." As he walked away she was impressed by how kind he was to a younger student especially considering the usual animosity between Slytherins and Gryffindors. If she was going to be a silly girl and have a crush she was glad it was on someone so nice.

Now all she needed to do was find another book.

As time slowly passed, the relationships she had with her house members remained largely negative or apathetic, the only person she could count as a friend was Neville. He was sweet, but they had little to talk about, unless she was helping him with schoolwork which wasn't very stimulating not that she particularly minded. She didn't have any direct issues with her dorm mates, but they certainly were closer with each other than they were with her and she didn't know how to relate to them. Everyone else either didn't care much about her or disliked how well she did. Still she refused to hold back to suit other people and it only encouraged her to work harder.