Veal & Venison {Tomione || 1940s/1990s}

37|| Rook to G1

37|| Rook to G1

Hermione pays no mind to her thumping heart, accelerated at the speed of her brisk walk and smothering emotions upon her chest. Behind her, she leaves some of the greatest friends she's ever acquired: Abraxas Malfoy, the bright boy of such devotion, and Clarence Nevarse, the brilliant Head Girl of genuine care. And moreover, she leaves her true mentor for the last time, never to see Dumbledore again in what is a true goodbye unlike the last. She thought she would be grateful to be able to depart from him without the tragedy and shock of his death, but this may be more painful than his murder five decades from now. To voluntarily leave his side is like an ice-pick to her heart, chipping Hermione away into numbness and preparing her for the future ahead.

The path to Hogsmeade is a landscape for her painting of the future. When she returns, she must rid herself of her jacket. Hermione will need to act like she just escaped the Ministry, accept that serious and focused facade as she retakes the backbone of the Golden Trio. She will need to act like she is still in love with Ronald Weasley, that she has not fallen for the Dark Lord. And, more than everything else, she must work on forgetting Tom, for she will never see him again. This is a silent goodbye.

But is it really? With the footsteps of her heeled shoes again pressed by the loafers of the Head Boy, her frizzy brown hair bobbing upward and closer with each of his long steps. Having been caught in a crowd, Tom is lingering far behind, but quickly approaching with a brisk walk that surely doubles her speed. She will later blame his long legs.

"Hermione!" It's the last voice she wants to hear in that moment, like a call to the past when she first arrived at Hogwarts, being caught by the least desirable. And though much has changed since then, Hermione reacts in a synonymous way to his call, continuing her brisk walk towards Hogsmeade, as if ignoring his presence with her every rebellious cell.

"Hermione! Wait!" From the sound of his voice, he is still some thirty feet behind her, though quickly approaching as she hears the exhausted huff of his breath, hurry evident in his tone. And though she desires no communication, to save her from the pain, Hermione cannot ignore his words.

"I will not!" she consequently shouts backwards, though Hermione does not turn to him or flutter an eyelash at his presence. And though she does not initially realize it, Hermione can feel Tom's magic crackling around her, a sign that this is the first time she's outright disobeyed a command. Honestly, she could care less.

"What?" he hisses loudly from a closer position behind her, at least ten feet. His tone communicates a taunt, as if testing whether she'll say it again. With his jaw clenched, it is clear the boy is angry, only building on the remnants of yesterday's fury and his irritation with Hermione at ignoring him. It is a precipice to the rise of his internal Voldemort.

Hermione whips around to him at the test, unwilling to accept anything close to defeat as a sneer coats her lips. "You do not scare me, Tom Riddle. You might invoke fear into all the others, but not me. I know you better than anyone. I know what makes you tick. I know you."

"You know nothing," he responds quickly, five feet stabilized between them and their anger. For the first time in weeks, Tom feels a genuine suspicion towards Hermione and this sudden change of character. From her disobeying actions to her passionate fight, this is not the typical girl he knows. And moreover, her fighting of him makes him question who she really is and who she fights for.

"I know everything!" Hermione steps towards him fearlessly. She will not reveal her identity to him in this sudden confrontation between past and future, but Hermione has no reason to hide her true Gryffindor spirit. This is the Hermione Granger of her childhood and adolescence, the first revelation to Tom Riddle. "You've told me everything! How you killed your family and Myrtle. How you framed Hagrid. How you were raised in an orphanage, terrorising the other children with your magic. How Dumbledore became your enemy, and Slughorn your ally. How Slughorn told you of horcruxes. How--"