Hermione P.O.V

Tom always surprised me in the worst ways. I had no idea that at the end of the day I would be lying on the ground outside his damn room bearing the pain of a broken wrist with no one there in the vicinity to help me. I rolled over on my side painfully, keeping my wrist elevated. I felt numb, I wanted to cry but I couldn't feel anything. I thought that the spell would've made things better...but Tom hadn't seemed to have changed at all.

It was there, lying on the ground that I felt something burn deep inside me. It wasn't pain. It was.... determination. I sat upright, staggering to my feet. I fell against the wall, trying not to let myself black out.

"You stubborn bitch."

I looked up. At the end of the Hall standing still as a statue was the tall emotionless monster I knew as Tom Riddle. "You really can't give up, can you?" He tilted his head to the side as he considered me, a cruel smirk curling the edges of his mouth.

"For once... you got something right... about me." I said through clenched teeth. I used the wall to support myself as I made my way slowly down the hall toward him, noticing with savage pleasure that I had wiped the smile off his face.

I stepped around Daniel's unconscious body.

"What the hell... did you... do to him?" I closed my eyes, trying to overcome the nausea sweeping through me.

"Nothing for you to worry yourself about." Tom said quietly. "He will come back to his senses sooner or later. He's only stunned."

I gave an exhilarated laugh. Unfortunately for me I also leant on my injured hand and sent a shock of pain searing through my arm.

"Fuck..." I hissed.

"You might want to get that seen to." Tom said sadistically, shooting a rather pointed look at my hand.

"Get the hell out of my way." I snapped. I tried to step around him but he was too quick, moving as fast as a shadow and blocking my path just by stepping in front of me. He was extremely tall and I wasn't stupid enough to try to force my way past him in this state.

"Move!"

"No. Not yet." His cold smile was disarming, those cruel eyes glinting with all kinds of darkness.

"What?" I said impatiently. "What could you possibly want now?"

It was Tom's turn to laugh.

"I want you to tell me what spell you used." He jabbed me in the chest with a pale finger. "And you won't be leaving until you reveal it to me."

"Well shit." I said, with audacity I never knew I had I made myself look sad. "I guess I won't have to go to classes anymore."

"What are you talking about?" Tom was momentarily thrown off guard.

"Because it will be years before I say anything to you about what I've done." I looked up at him, seeing my determined face glaring up at him through the reflection in his cold eyes.

"We'll see about that." He said dangerously. "If not now, it will be very soon. You mark my words."

"Yeah.. ok." I really had no time to have a huge conversation. The pain in my wrist was making my head pound, it was getting really hard to concentrate on anything. I stepped around Tom, not really aware of what I was doing, nor conscious of the fact that Tom had actually put his foot out in my way in a cruelly deliberate way which sent me flying. I screamed as I tripped, soaring past Tom and rolling down the stairs behind us my wrist getting caught up amongst my robes with each painful step. I landed heavily on the landing, now in even more pain and gasping for air as if my life depended on it. It probably did at this point, tiny white lights kept appearing in my vision, my heart thudding erratically in my chest like a trapped bird.

"Well, that was stupid wasn't it?" Tom's casual voice floated down to me, I heard him before I saw him. I blinked, lying on my side on the ground, grimacing in agony. It didn't feel like just a broken wrist anymore. My ankle was twisted, a wave of panic shot through me as I saw it for the first time bent into a horrific shape.

"My... ankle." I gasped.

"Yes, it's broken as well." Tom said carelessly from the staircase behind me. With a sweeping movement of black robes he was standing in front of me staring down at me with absolutely no emotion in his eyes. "How tragic." He said calmly.

"Get... me... help." I propped myself up on my elbows, only lasting for a split second before the nausea practically forced me back to lying on my side.

Tom lowered himself down to my level, his voice enchantingly soft. "And why would I help you, Hermione?" He asked me. "After everything you have done to trouble me, how dare you even ask."

He stood. "It's rather selfish of you to even talk about yourself when your little friend Daniel Dolohov is up there unconscious. Do you ever stop to consider others? Or is it always about you all the time?"

He side stepped my shivering, pained form to climb the stairs. He was going to help Daniel instead of me. At least that was something. I actually would rather see him helped over me, contrary to Tom's little speech. I propped myself up on my elbows again, deciding against all odds that I was going to make another bid for freedom. I dragged each elbow forward, pulling myself forward. Tears sparked to my eyes, not because of my emotions. No. I didn't feel any damn feeling anymore. The physical agony brought tears dripping from my face, each small movement caused searing pain in my ankle, ribs and wrist.

Come on Hermione. I thought. Keep going.

I managed to almost get to the Common Room door before I heard the footsteps beside me. A hand grabbed me by my ponytail causing me to scream. He let me go, I rolled over on my side.

"What are you doing?" Tom asked in a terrible tone. "Are you actually trying to escape?" He had obviously been watching me attempting to get away from him this whole time.

"No." I said with heavy sarcasm. "I was- trying to stay." I looked up at him. The anger on his face was terrifying. My heart was beating so fast I could hear my head pounding.

"Your petty insults would sound much better if you could actually talk." Tom ridiculed me. "You're not in any position to act like that."

"Why do - you do these- things?" I heard myself gasp as if from a distance.

Tom actually shrugged. "For the thrill of it, I guess."