"So." Tom stared at me, his dark eyes inscrutable. "You're the sneaking little thief." From where he stood wickedly tall from the doorway he extended a pale arm, his hand outstretched in expectation.

"My diary." He said coldly. "Give it to me."

It was terrifying how he could manipulate his own damn voice to sound so commanding and terrifying at the same time.

"You wrote about me." I said.

Tom watched me, his face impossibly blank. "I did." He affirmed carelessly, but his dark eyes were sharp as they gauged my reaction.

"You are a fascinating thing to decipher." He added. He leant back against the doorframe his head tilted back just enough to appear he was at ease which was ironic considering I was certain we were both not relaxed.

"Why?" I thought very hard about what I was going to say. "Why would you write about me? For what purpose?"

There. Perhaps injecting a note of straight logic instead of resorting to an emotional rant would appeal more directly to his heartless nature. And sure enough, Tom rose to the bait.

"I admit I do find myself somewhat attracted to you in ways I cannot understand." He stepped towards me, and I swear the temperature in the room dropped beneath sub zero. My hand involuntarily locked around his diary for a fleeting moment, I swore his eyes darkened ever so slightly.

"I will ask you again." Tom said, staring me directly in the eye. "Give me back my damned diary."

"You're not even going to use your manners?"

"You're stalling." Tom observed. He walked forward and made to grab his diary from me but I was too quick for him. I darted out of his reach standing on the opposite side of the room. Tom laughed at me.

"Do you really want to play this game?" He asked. "Surely you're smart enough to know this isn't going to end in your favour."

"Why don't you just hex me?" I said breathlessly. My heart was pounding so hard, I had no idea what I was dangerous game I playing at and judging by the look on Tom's face neither did he.

"I can easily overpower a small thing like you without resorting to magic." He said coldly. "But if you want me to..." He drew his wand out from his cloak, pointing it at me directly. I felt my limbs lock, felt myself fall flat on my face before him before I could even defend myself.

"I'll have that." Tom kicked me over onto my size and yanked his diary out of my stone like grip as easily as taking candy from a child.

"It's interesting that you even knew about where I hid this." He said standing over me flicking through his diary like a muggle magazine, his voice conversational, light - but I knew it was only a front, he was pissed off.

"Go through my room again," He said, putting a foot directly against my ankle, "And you'll be sorry."

He applied enough pressure with his foot just to make tears spring involuntarily to my eyes, my ankle sparking with pain. It was my recently healed ankle but it still hurt like hell and made me look weak and helpless which, judging by the satisfied look on his face, was just what Tom wanted.

"Are you going to tell me how you knew where my diary was?" Tom moved his wand hand and suddenly I felt my tongue loosen- I could talk again. I used my newfound freedom to grit my teeth in defiance. I wasn't going to say shit.

"I can't hear you." Tom stepped on my ankle harder this time, I gasped involuntarily.

"What was that?" He said sadistically. "I think I missed that."

"Unbind me you coward." I spat. From deep within myself a new and defiant Hermione had reared her head and was ready for vengeance.

Tom looked momentarily thrown off guard at my choice of words, but masked it quickly enough.

"Have it your way, then." He said lowly. "Get up."

I felt the hex as it left me, and I crawled onto my knees, my ankle searing with pain. I braced myself against the side of my bed and hauled myself up. I could've screamed out loud with the pain the movements had caused me. All Tom did was watch me getting slowly to my feet without offering so much as a hand to help me up.

"You know the art of dueling I suppose? But of course you would, a know it all like yourself..."

Tom's insult, intended to aggravate, merely deflected off me like sunlight off water. I looked up at him, releasing my grip on my bed and finally standing on two feet alone. Only Tom could ask someone to fight one on one in a girls dormitory room at Hogwarts.

"Are you scared?"

"What I feel has absolutely nothing to do with fear, Tom." I drew my wand from my cloak, throwing what straggled remains of my braid off my face to see better.

I thought momentarily of Harry, his final spell against Voldemort before he died was the disarming spell expelliarmous. I wasn't a sadistic person so in the space of a few spare seconds decided this was suitable enough.

"Crucio-"

"Expelliarmous!"

The force behind our two spells collided with a horrendously violent sound like two lightposts colliding in a unhinged spark of electricity. I was surprised no one burst in. The hairs on the back of my neck stood, blinding light eclipsed the room, and then as suddenly as it began I was ready to break the spell and surrender, to give in, to admit defeat-

"Impressive." Tom said quietly lowering his wand. I blinked. He relinquished his grip on his wand leaving me to disarm him without showing the slightest concern about his wand flying off.

"That's it?" I said incredulously. "That was the duel?"

"For now." Tom said. "I am surprised... And a little disappointed." He went to retrieve his wand, walking so his back was facing me almost daring me to curse him when he was off guard. But before I could seriously consider that as a possibility he was standing in front of me, a horrible sort of look of triumph on his face.

"You have potential. If you would actually dare to loosen up a bit, and unleash the real you."

"This is the real me." I said defensively, even extending my arms. "This is me. The full package."

"A package of magical ability not tapped into yet." Tom said, talking more to himself than to me. "The things you could accomplish... Just think..."

I rolled my eyes, reaching up to brush a stray piece of hair behind my ear and found my hand caught mid action by Tom's.

"Let me." He said. Chills trickled down my spine as he stepped closer, his cold hand brushing my face gently. He left the strand of hair dangling beside my face, smirking at the look on my face.

"There. You look better with your hair out anyway."

I fought the urge to slap him.

"I really don't think so." I took the piece of hair and put it in its rightful place. "And for the record I don't give a damn about what you think looks good or not."

I turned on my heel and made to walk away, but Tom had stepped in my path. Running into him was like walking confidently into the gateway to Platform 9 & 3/4 only to find it blocked.

"I'm not done yet." He said lightly. "You haven't told me how you found my diary." Danger was only thinly veiled in his voice, I knew if I barged past him at this point he would snap.

"I found it beneath a floorboard in your room." I said, staring directly at him. "I suppose the next thing for me to do here is report you to our Head Of House."

"Go for it." Tom said, smiling wickedly. "Id like to see how that turns out. Excuse me Professor Slughorn." He mocked me in a silly high pitched voice. "I was going through Tom's room found a personal belonging of his beneath a loose floorboard!"

"Yeah, a stalker journal written about me." I snapped. "I don't think he's going to be too happy about that, will he?"

"My sweet innocent Hermione." Tom said, grinning as if the whole thing was a joke. "Firstly: you were trespassing. He would punish you for that. And secondly: I'm a model student. Slughorn would jump off a fucking cliff for me if I only asked him to. And what about you?" He laughed. "Sickly, weak Hermione who has only just started at Hogwarts but has already had an extended holiday break just to recover from brain damage. Who do you think he's going to believe?"

"Me." I said fiercely. "He's going to believe me because I have evidence." I made to snatch his diary out of his grip but he was too quick, holding it above his head and way out of my reach.

"Evidence?" He said mockingly. "Where?"

With speed I never knew I possessed I jumped up and snatched his diary back and had darted past him.

"Stupefy!"

I ducked reflexively, the wall splintering just above my head as I leapt out of the way.

I ducked out of the door, feeling Tom advancing. I ran like Hell was at my heels, the echoing footfalls behind me advancing. And then I was down the stairs and out of the Common Room, sprinting out into the hall with his diary in my hand, pain burning my ankle but that didn't matter. I ran like the wind, a broad smile plastered on my face.