Breaking Hermione

Dates And Diatribes

Hermione

I opened my eyes, more or less forced awake from my slumber by a sharp pain in my back.

"What the hell..." I grimaced. I looked up, suddenly realising what was happening.

I was lying on the ground on the floor of my room with one of my shoes jutting awkwardly into my back. I rolled over painfully. By the looks of things, I had fallen out of my four poster bed and hit the floor.

Guess today wasn't going to be my day, then. I frowned, getting to my feet. On my bed was a folded piece of parchment. I quickly opened it, my eyes racing across the fine cursive print.

Hermione,

Meet me at the Hogs Head at 2:45pm. Any later and you will be sorry.

Tom

I reached for my Time Turner, a thrill of adrenaline coursing through me. I sighed in relief. It was only 1pm. I looked at the note again, my eyebrows raising.

Any later and you will be sorry.

Who was he kidding? I was already sorry.

Sorry that he existed.

I screwed up the note and tore it into pieces. I had wasted the day being unconscious which made me feel terrible. I didn't know what had happened to me, to make me pass out in the secret room and Tom wasn't exactly here to explain it. I would have to go and meet up with him at the Hogs Head to get an actual understanding of the events which had just transpired.

All I really knew was that he wasn't happy with me. If anything, he should be convinced I hated him. Essentially, I had told him I thought that his feelings towards me were fake, and motivated by a hidden agenda so it was unusual that he wanted to invite me to the Hogs Head of all places. Tom Riddle was far from easy to decipher, and I knew that if I was going to get answers that I had to meet him. What choice did I have? I was going to have to face up to him sometime.

I got fresh clothes from my beaded bag, and headed to the bathroom. I thought I would feel marginally better after a hot shower, but all I felt was worse. I was panicking again, the familiar tight feeling in my chest making it hard to breathe. If I couldn't pull myself together I was certain I was going to have a panic attack.

"Breathe, Hermione... You've been through worse..."

But had I? How did I know what Tom Riddle was going to do to me once I got the Hogs Head. He could kill me, for Merlin sake. It wasn't like murder was a foreign concept to him...

I brushed my hair, tying it in a tight ponytail. I frowned at my reflection in the mirror before realizing that all this worrying about my appearance was in vain. What was I trying to do, impress Tom? I pulled on my clean clothes, a white long sleeved shirt and jeans. I didn't look my best but I really didn't care. I didn't feel my best, so this was just going to have to do. It wasn't a date, at least I didn't think it was.

I tidied my room thoroughly with the time I had left to kill. Soon enough, it was time to meet up with him. When I finally made it to Hogsmeade I was very close to running late. I stood outside of the Hogs Head, smiling grimly and staring down at my Time Turner. Tom had wasted months of my time, and I decided grimly that I was going to be one minute late and see what happened.

1:01pm.

Laughing to myself, I pushed open the door of the Hogs Head. There were several witches and wizards dressed in dark, brooding cloaks, surprisingly no Hogwarts students. I wondered for a fleeting moment if Tom had somehow gotten them to vacate the premises, and then I remembered it was the holidays. Students would be home with the families. Happy and safe. Free to enjoy themselves.