Breaking Hermione

The Liar In Disguise

I could tolerate a lot of pain. That much was obvious. However dealing with the pain of having been blasted with the Cruciatus Curse was different, a sharp piercing sensation with crept into every nerve and made its presence as known as Tom Riddles icy glare when he walked into a room.

I knew I had to just grit my teeth and face the pain head on. I wasn't going to go crawling back to Tom this time, I had done that time and time again. I made my way slowly down to the Great Hall for breakfast. Each step killed me, but not as much as smiling at people who greeted me did. I was far from ok. I felt terrible. Even worse, now that I knew the pain wasn't going to end because of my stubborn mindedness. After a while, depression told hold as each step took me further to Tom Riddle. I sat down opposite him, grimacing.

"Well." Tom said instantly, making a show of placing his cutlery down on the table. "Breakfast is over. Time for class." He looked at me directly with a smirk, and I realised much to my dismay that he was right. It really was time to go to class. I had missed breakfast by taking such a long time to walk to the Great Hall.

"I'll see you next period." Tom said to me, beginning to stand up.

"What are you talking about." I honestly had no idea what he meant. My first class was with him.

"Our Potions class is a decent walk away." Tom said silkily, "And since it takes you... let's see... half a day to walk to the Great Hall in the morning, I more or less assumed you weren't going to make it."

Several Slytherins laughed.

"I'll be there." I said irritably. "You mark my damn words."

Tom looked at me. "What was that?" He said, looking confused. "Did I just hear you retaliate?" He leant forward, his pale hands on the table, staring at me dead in the eye. People from different House tables were craning their necks to get a good look at us. Trust Tom to make a scene.

"I didn't hear you." Tom growled.

"That's because I didn't say anything." I said flatly. The students at the table started to leave. Soon it was just me and Tom staring at each other.

"That's right." Tom said, his eyes shining wickedly. "You didn't say anything at all."

I got to my feet slowly as he left, watching his tall figure walking until I couldn't see him anymore. I took a breath and started the slow, painstaking trek to class, going over in my head how I could possibly reverse this damn pain. I had no idea how to fix the effects of the Cruciatus Curse. It wasn't like we just learnt this shit in class. I wandered up the halls, very much aware that at least ten minutes had passed since I decided to head over.

Was there any way to reverse it? I leant against the wall, trying to catch my breath. I coughed, doubling over with my hand to my mouth. When I removed it, there was blood.

Shit.

"Excuse me. Are you alright?" Someone asked me.

"Yeah, I'm great." I replied, sarcasm dripping from my voice. "I'm just out here dying, you know. Nothing too crazy." I didn't bother to look at the person, I was too busy trying not to freak out. I wasn't going to make it. I was dying. Was I going to die here, in the past?

"Dying?" The voice said, suddenly a lot sharper. "What happened to you?" I turned to finally see who the hell was bothering me. It was a tall guy, with sharp green eyes and brown hair. I blinked. He was appearing to shimmer at the seams, almost like a dream. I must have been sick. He barely looked real.

"I'm fine. Go away, I can take care of myself." I snapped.

"Yeah, right. And I can singlehandedly tackle a Hungarian Horntail."