Braving the Past

Chapter 12: What Are...Feelings?

Tom spent that evening obsessing over Hermione. Was she eating enough? Did she feel overwhelmed by all the exuberant Gryffindors at her table? Would she be too tired to walk all the way up to the Head Dorm? Was she even going to be able to sleep tonight or would she be plagued by nightmares?

Tom wasn't so sure he would be able to sleep while he was so worried about Hermione's wellbeing. He watched Jonathan Boot nudge Hermione's side playfully and the wince that followed briefly on her face. She smiled back at him, too kind for her own good. Tom would have crashed on that ignorant bastard so hard, he wouldn't know what hit him.

But Hermione wouldn't be very happy with that, so he settled with grinding his teeth from across the Great Hall.

When Hermione's group began rising from their chairs, Tom took in the plate of food in front of Hermione that had hardly been touched. So much for trusting Brown to do one simple task.

Tom stood up and strode over to the Gryffindor table with his head held high.

"Where are you off to?" he asked Hermione, his eyes challenging.

She faced him head on. "To the library to make up for the work I missed today, something you should be doing as well."

"You haven't hardly touched your food," Tom said, gesturing to her plate. "What, you didn't notice that your obviously sick friend hasn't been eating for the last month?" he said accusingly to the others when they regarded Hermione with confused gazes.

"Hey, it's not like it's any of our business what she does or doesn't do," Kim Wood spoke up. "Let the girl make her own decisions."

"No," Tom refused. "Dumbledore gave me one job to do, and I intend to follow through. Now you're not leaving this Hall until you've eaten everything on that plate."

Hermione gaped up at him as if he'd said her cat had died.

"Excuse me?"

"I think not. Eat, or I'll make you eat."

Jonathan put his arm around Hermione's shoulders protectively.

"Don't tell her what to do, Riddle. She feels too sick to eat," he said. Half of the students in the Great Hall had quieted down and were focused on the interesting scene in front of them. Was Tom Riddle actually interested in someone? And the new girl, of all people?

"She can speak for herself, Boot, so get your grummy hands off her," Tom growled.

He didn't realize he had gotten into Jonathan's face until he felt Hermione's hand on his chest, pushing him away.

"Calm down, the both of you! You're being ridiculous!" She shot Tom a deep glare before turning to her friends. "I'll see you guys in the library, alright?"

They reluctantly left her side, each giving Tom their own glares in turn as they walked. It didn't faze him at all. He was simply satisfied that he had won the argument. Hermione plopped herself down on the bench harshly, clutching her abdomen in pain afterwards.

"You let your anger get the best of you too often," Tom observed from his seat beside her. Gryffindors were eyeing him suspiciously, edging away from him not-so-subtly.

"You're one to talk about anger problems," Hermione grumbled, stabbing a forkful of vegetables and shoving them in her mouth.

"Well I wouldn't have so much to be angry about if you weren't so stubborn all the time," Tom pointed out.

"It's time you learned that you don't always get what you want," she shot back.

"That's going to be a hard argument to make, seeing as I just did."

Hermione's fork paused halfway to her mouth and her eyes darted down to her plate. When she raised them again, they were full of fire. Her fork clattered down onto her plate, which she pushed away and rose from her seat.

"How's this for getting what you wanted?" she sneered before striding down the length of the Gryffindor table. Tom hurriedly followed after her.

"So you're going to hurt yourself just to spite me?" he called incredulously after her. "I'm trying to keep you alive, sorry if that's ruining your plans for self-destruction."

Hermione whirled around so quickly that Tom almost ran into her.

"You know nothing about me, alright?" she hissed. "Nothing."

"If you hadn't noticed, that's what I've been trying to change ever since you got here," Tom said, annoyed at her constraint.

"And if you hadn't noticed, I don't want it to change." She shoved brown locks away from her face in frustration. "You don't care about me, you just want to know if I'm a threat."

As she took a demeaning step towards him, Tom's mind hadn't even grasped what she had said. All he could focus on were her heated cheeks, bright eyes and pink lips. Though it confused him to no end, he wanted nothing more than to kiss her right then and there.

"I have had to put up with endless rubbish from you ever since I came here," Hermione was saying. "And no matter what you say or do to convince me otherwise, I will always see you as an intrusive, arrogant, loathsome creature that cares about no one but himself."

Tom grabbed her arm roughly and pulled her as close to him as she could possibly be. As turned on as he was by her anger, he couldn't allow anyone to speak to the Heir of Slytherin that way.

"Be careful what you say, Granger," he growled menacingly. "You have no idea what I'm capable of."

And in that assumption, he couldn't have been more wrong. He'd expected her to whimper at his grasp, to be overcome with fear, to stutter and apologize the way anyone else would have under the scrutiny of Tom Riddle.

But, after her initial shock, Hermione drew her face closer to his until they were a mere inch apart. She stared dead into his eyes with courage he had never seen before and whispered, "Try me."

It would have been so easy just to close that small gap and consume her lips with his, but in the next instant, she had torn her arm from his grasp and stormed off down the hall in the direction of the library. Tom watched after her with confusion and fascination. What was it about her? What could she possibly have faced that could be worse than him - a man who had split his own soul in two?

He didn't bother following her, knowing it would be fruitless. He had already wound her up too much today, if he tried anymore he would just be backtracking. No matter what she said, Tom knew she needed someone desperately, and some measly old Professor wasn't going to do the trick.

He would save Hermione, even if it was from herself.

《 ▪ 》

So Tom Riddle does have feelings! Who woulda thought, huh?

How long do you think Hermione can keep him off her back?

Thank you so much to all those voting and leaving comments on this story! I can't tell you  how excited it makes me. :D

This picture is of Kim Wood. Sorry all of them are so spread out! I couldn't figure out how to get all pictured in one chapter. If you guys know how to do that, I'm all ears! <3 (that's meant to be a heart not an ear, but it's up to you what you want to see it as...haha!)