The Dark Lord's Playbook of Nefarious Misdeeds

Words Are Loaded Pistols

A/N: The latest chapter for all you Lovely people. I'm not quite feeling this chapter; this week has been a little rough. A close family member was diagnosed with a very rare form of cancer. So I hope you forgive me if it's not up to scratch.

Previously...

"Are you familiar with the multiverse theory?", my mouth snapped shut and I narrowed my eyes. I was confused.

Hermione POV

"The multiverse theory?", I repeated more to myself, a rhetorical question. I frowned deeply, trying to comprehend why he would veer us off into this direction.

He just sat there sipping the hot chocolate slowly, observing me offering nothing more. There was a small twitch to his lips, - he was waiting for me to catch up, glean information out of that innocuous question. Information he seemed only privy too. What would he need to ask me about the multiverse? Does he want an academic discussion? Out of all the theories why that particular one...?

I slowly sat up as it began to click, my blood pressure sky rocketing. He couldn't mean...? No....nononononono.... NO. I stood up abruptly. I would not accept this. NO.

I pointed a shaky finger at Tom, "You can't mean?...you....that...how do we get home from that?...I....no....there has to be something else....?", he just sat there staring at me...drinking. Is this a joke? A game? A test?

"No that is insane, more so than this whole situation already", in my manic state I was gesticulating frantically. Flinging my hands around grasping for the words to express how I felt out of thin air. "We can't be, this is supposed to be Back to the Future with the flux capacitor and DeLorean to boot, not a bloody John Carpenter movie!" I now clutched at my hair, digging my fingers into the strands, hoping for a shred of rational thought would present itself. I didn't think I could handle this, being stuck in the past is one thing but being stuck in the past in a parallel universe is another entirely.

"Don't be so mulish Hermione we'll ju-"

"Mulish? Mulish? Oh, that's rich coming from you Tom. You're the biggest stubborn -arse I have ever come across and here you are saying I'm stubborn. I am only in this godforsaken situation because of you, because you just had to stick it to Dumbledore and out lay your ridiculous grand plans for world domination. Look at where that got you...here stuck in the forest 200 years in the past, possibly an alternate dimension with no way home. Hope you're fucking happy Tom" I managed to hurl my mostly empty mug at him, of course he ducked out of the way before it hit him. It didn't break just landed with a soft thud on the rug covering the floor.

It was silent. I had a moment to process what I had just said, and thought that it was probably not the right thing to say even though that is how I felt. But I was still too worked up to care. My body felt like it had run a marathon and any headway we had made in this strange relationship had now dissolved back to zero.

I watched as he slowly stood up out of the armchair, he looked angry and usually he never wore his emotions for people to read. I gulped because that was a bad sign, he was showing me how angry he was.

"I could kill you right now Hermione. I have killed many for less. Encircle your slender neck with my hands, my fingers squeezing the muscles, tendons and crushing your wind pipe, restricting oxygen to your lungs. Your body thrashing underneath me, fighting for that breath that will never come. I will watch your inner light diminish, take your last breath from you. Place your body outside and watch every day as you are returned to the earth. Fertilizer for the forest, food for the worms and maggots, until only your bones remain", his voice never betrayed the anger that was so evident on his face, it was eerily calm. It made the hair stand up on the back of my neck. It was unsettling listening to him describe my death, like he was going to pick up the newspaper from the corner shop. I couldn't move from the spot where my feet were planted. I wanted to run but I knew he would find me anyway. I had become too complacent with Tom, in this short amount of time. Forgotten that the predator could easily turn on me.