Pure

A Red Snowflake

I chose to be with him so wholeheartedly that I didn't even remember Abraxas. Riddle had seemed content. Why? I had no clue... which annoyed me ever so much.

~~~

"Hermione," whispered Riddle. He nudged my arm with his elbow to get my attention. I narrowed my eyes.

"What's wrong?"

"I think I found something to help us with Weasley and the sword," he smirked.

We were sitting in the library, at my old table. What used to be my safe haven was now our everyday meeting spot. We'd been going there for weeks now. Days came and went, and as time went on, the air got colder, and rainier. Suddenly, October and November had come and gone, and the signs of winter were budding everywhere. It was going to be an early snow. The grounds were already ridden with sludgy ice puddles  Abraxas and I had gone out to soak in the last bit of sun and enjoy the changing colours of the leaves over the last several days, but today marked one week into December, and most of the trees were barren.

"Really?" I smirked back... he'd never find anything worthwhile while I was around. I had scoured the whole library and snatched up all the books that even mentioned the sword. I'd never let him defile it with a tormented and twisted piece of his soul.

Riddle and I had gotten closer over the last many weeks, mostly due to him opening up back at the cliffside. Somehow, I had been able to evade Riddle in facing the boggart over the last few weeks. He hadn't even pushed me towards it, which surprised me. Riddle was never one to forget about a promise.

Sometimes he asked me a seemingly pointless question out of thin air though that always caught me off guard, things about my life before I came to Hogwarts. I tried to answer as truthfully as possible. What was my favorite thing about being a witch? What was the first spell I ever used? Did I get my wand at Olivander's like he did? Every time he asked a question, he did so quietly, as though he didn't actually want to hear himself asking them. I tried to ask him questions too, but he shot me down most times. He wanted to be in control, and I understood that. That was how I always felt too.

He'd started using my first name on a regular basis as well. It still surprised me when it came off his lips so naturally, like he'd been saying it his whole life. Most of the time, I didn't call him anything, and when I did, I would usually address him as Riddle. I only called him 'Tom' when a teacher or random student was around. Slughorn had told the whole staff about our 'forbidden love affair' and Riddle had thought it best to just let everyone think what they want. At least they would stop bothering us. The only ones who knew the truth were the other Knights and Dumbledore, of course, not that Riddle knew about Dumbledore.

Riddle pushed his book into my field of vision, and pointed at the line he wanted me to read. It was a sloppy handwritten note on the bottom of the page with an arrow pointing to an eloquent drawing of a boy slaying a dragon with a long sword.

Natural bravery.

My eyebrows scrunched together in confusion. I looked up at Riddle for a few seconds blinking with large curious eyes, and flipped the book closed in my hand to look at the title on the cover. My hand went to cover my mouth. The title read The Sleeping Beauty. I'd seen it from the Muggle Studies section of the library, one of my favorite sections because Madame Pince seemed to have a liking for muggle fiction, so she often kept the shelves fully stocked with all of the new muggle releases.

I never in a million years thought I would see Riddle reading a muggle book, but even if I had, I probably never would have caught this note, let alone thought it would spark Riddle's interest.