Breaking Hermione

Strife

Hermione

My heart began to pound, my cutlery fell out of my hands and onto the table with a clatter.

"He can't do this." I stood suddenly, the familiar stream of panic beginning to blur my thoughts into one very clear idea.

Stop him.

"You aren't seriously going to go after him, are you?" The Hufflepuff boy demanded from the opposite side of the table.

"Of course I am." I snapped. "I can't just let him kill someone, can I?"

I clenched my fists, nails digging into my skin.

"Well, I'll be damned." The Hufflepuff kid remarked. "You are by far the strangest Slytherin I have ever come across." He was staring at me with a fearful, almost admiring look. There were murmurs of displease at the table.

"I think you're odd," Said a Ravenclaw girl I had never met before. "What type of Slytherin voluntarily defies Tom Riddle?"

"Me." I snapped. "What's it to any of you, anyway? Are you guys his friends or something?"

Everyone fell silent.

"Well? What's wrong? Have you all suddenly lost your nerve?"

The Ravenclaw girl looked mutinous but kept her eyes downcast. The Hufflepuff kid was staring at me in open admiration, and it was that which made my temper flare. I wasn't Tom, I didn't desire any praise for being an explosive personality.

Lately I had been blaming myself for having such high strung emotions. I felt trapped in a perpetual state of fear and it didn't help that these problems arose so suddenly, it was messing with my mental health, and Professor Pickerell clearly had no idea that she had kicked the hornets nest by insulting Tom to his face. I was almost certain Tom was going to kill her for it, if not almost completely convinced of it.

I had no idea what he was intending to do exactly, but I didn't want to wait and find out. I had lost too many friends. Professor Pickerell wasn't what I would consider a friend, but I sure as hell wasn't about to let Tom kill her just because he felt insulted.

I left the table at once, walking briskly out of the Great Hall. As soon as I was out of everyone's sight I broke into a run. I could hear voices up ahead. I slowed down once I got nearer, coming to a halt at the end of the Hall.

If they were trying to keep their voices down they were doing a rather poor job, every word was all too easy to pick up on. I chanced a peek around the corner. Tom had his back to me, appearing to be in a lighthearted conversation.

Professor Pickerell was standing a little to his right, staring up at him and laughing like a college schoolgirl with her crush. I watched this all unfold, becoming rather puzzled particularly when she handed him a book which he then discreetly tucked into his cloak.

So he had left the Great Hall in a towering mood just to get a bloody book?

"Thank you, Professor." Tom said. I couldn't see his face but I could picture the charming smile, the dark eyes gleaming bright. It was all a show. He was acting, and as soon as he saw me I knew the mask would be long gone and the cold, monstrous psychopath would return. It was only a matter of time. I took a step backward, planning my next move when I heard Professor Pickerell speak.

"You seem to hang around a lot of pretty women." She said on what was probably intended to be a lighthearted laugh. "I guess I can't blame you. You have the looks, you could get anyone you wanted."

I slammed my hands to my face, repressing a cry of horror.

What the fuck?

I paused, lowering my head and listening to what was fast becoming the strangest conversation I had ever eavesdropped on.