Desperation

11

Chapter eleven: Tied

The clock stroked midnight, Hermione knew that she had to show up to the room of requirements or Tom would indefinitely suspect something had happened in the library.

So there she was, huddled in front of the stone wall waiting for it to open. When it finally did so, she made her way inside to see Tom hunched over a golden cauldron.

"Sit down." He commanded without glancing back at her. Hermione watched as he added another ingredient into the cauldron before him.

She reluctantly took a seat on an armchair across from him.

Tom glanced up, his eyes were tinged red and his usual neatly parted hair was a mess. She then noticed that Slytherin's locket was dangling loosely on his neck. He'd had created another Horcrux...meaning another piece of his soul was gone.

Tom gave her a cold look "Come here. Give me your hand." Hermione didn't budge.

"Come here now!" He yelled his eyes growing a darker shade of red, fury flashing through his face. Fear flushed through Hermione's body as she sat motionless on the chair across from him.

"Why?" She questioned her voice surprisedly calm.

"I need your blood," he began. "This here is a powerful instrument." He motioned to the cauldron. "-It is used to bind two people together..."

"No." Hermione stated angry boiling inside of her. She would not go anywhere near that instrument.

"No?" Tom repeated furrowing his brows. He couldn't believe that even after he had used the Cruciatous cruse on her, she still defied him.

"No, I'm not bloody being bonded to the freaking dark lord!" She exclaimed. Only this seemed to anger Tom much more much to Hermione's dismay.

"You are a LIAR! This is the only way I will be able to extract the truth from you!!" He shouted.

"I'd never tell you either way!" Hermione yelled back in equal frustration. She jumped up in her chair and aimed her wand steadily at Tom's forehead. A look of surprise flashed across Tom's face before before he sneered.

"You see...darling...once you drink the potion you have no say in if you want to tell me or not. The potion bounds us therefore all of our secrets will be shared with one another." Tom replied sickly sweet.

Before Hermione could register what was going to happen, Tom raised his wand at her and cast a paralysis spell on her. She fell to the floor with a thud and watched in fear as Tom made his way over to her. He gripped her wrist and put his wand against it, a sharp pain shot throughout Hermione's arm as the cut on her wrist started to bleed. Tom took a vile and poured some of the contents into it. He then used Episkey on her wound, it healed right away and no scar was seen.

"There, good girl." He purred as he mixed the blood in potion. "All I need to do now is drink this and you'll be bonded to me...forever. You will be forced to tell everything to me, you'll never be able to hide anything from me."

He lifted the vile to his lips, Hermione watched in horror and fear as he drank the contents. He turned to her with a look of pure evil and released the paralysis spell placed on her.

She sprang up and aimed her wand at him in warning. "Stay back Riddle or I will hex you!" She shouted shrinking back as he moved towards her. He took another step forwards. "CRUCIO!"

Hermione watched as Tom shouted in pain as the curse hit him square on the chest. A huge burst of pain rushed in her chest as she felt the same pain as the curse shoot through her. She fell onto her knees and gasped in pain.

"What did you do!" Hermione yelled at Tom whom was gripping his chest in pain and staring at her with curious eyes.

"It works," He chuckled darkly, he stood up to his full height again and walked over to her like he hadn't just been cursed.

He leaned down to the side of her head, his lips brushing her ear. "-my darling..."

His laughed echoed darkly through the room.