Breaking Hermione

Persuasion And Pleasure

A/N: I made a Tom edit. Clearly he's taking over my life...

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I can't run anymore
I fall before you
Here I am
I have nothing left

October
Evanescence

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Hermione P.O.V

I was exhausted. Defeated. Tom left me standing alone beside the Great Lake toying with the serpentine necklace anxiously in one hand, my mind filled with nothing but him.

I wish I could think of something else. Anything else. But I couldn't. It was like Tom Riddle was taking over me, consuming so much of my identity that I felt trapped even standing out in the school grounds beneath the steady rays of the sun. I was outside the damned School well away from Tom physically but emotionally I might as well have been handcuffed to a Dementor.

The last class of the day was actually a free period. I began the slow walk back up to the main entrance of the School, my mind racing a million miles an hour until I could feel the impending pounding sensation of a looming headache.

I had to read the book Tom gave me. He intended for me to read it. So what was stopping me?
I walked to the Slytherin Common Room alone, with terrible thoughts my only company. My fears only became further pronounced when I saw Tom standing beside the door like a casual inhuman barrier. He looked up when he saw me, his black eyes shining very brightly somehow and his tall figure casting a distorted shadow against the wall. I swallowed nervously.

"I have something I want you to do for me." He said as soon as I approached, staring at me directly. His look was so sharp I felt stripped to nothing. I tucked my hands up inside my cloak sleeves, a clear sign of discomfort that Tom noticed. He smiled down at me, obviously enjoying how terrible he made me feel.

"What is it you want me to do?" I said weakly. Tom's eyes shone even brighter, it was impossible to look away.

"I want you to look over the book I gave you." He said simply.

I must've looked disappointed because Tom raised an eyebrow.

"Look over?" I repeated.

"I thought a vivacious reader such as yourself would be thrilled at the prospect of learning something new." His tone was purely sadistic. He was getting off on this, clearly.

"I do enjoy reading." I said irritably. "But this is different, and we both know it. That book is full of horrible things. Hideous things, even."

"How could you possibly know that if you havent even read it?" Tom said delicately.

"I have read some parts of it." I snapped. "And I've decided I don't want to read any further."

"In the Bible, Satan tempted Eve with forbidden knowledge." Tom told me. His tone was so careless, it could've come across as bored.

"And look where that got Eve. She died." I said, crossing my arms across my chest.

"To die in biblical terms often refers to enlightenment." Tom said dismissively. "Eve did the right thing. She chose knowledge over ignorance. And we all know that knowledge is equivalent to power, don't we?"

"How do you even know about the Bible?" I demanded. I didn't think for one moment anyone who could play such careless games and eventually split their own soul would've given a damn about the Bible let alone be rattling off information based from the scriptures.