"Hermione?" A voice chirped. I opened my eyes slowly. Right opposite me, peering down with an expression of worry was Madam Pomfrey with a tray of steaming breakfast.

"Hermione, are you awake dear?" Her ringing voice said.

"I am now." I snapped.

To be quite honest I wasn't in the best of moods. It didn't help that my leg was in agony because of that damn Merperson stabbing me with a spear, not to mention the agony of recovering from the Cruciatus Curse being used on me. Tom Riddle carrying me to the Hospital Wing was horrific, I was barely conscious and couldn't escape even if I tried. I had reached the Hospital only to spend most of the night thrashing around in my bed in pain while Madam Pomfrey ran in circles around me trying to help.

"Well, here you go dear. I'll just pop this beside you too, that's a tonic for the pain. Take it sparingly."

She placed the tray of food and a bottle of some sort of ominous dark medicine on the side table beside me and, with a meaningful look, left the room.

I took my chance while I could.

I grabbed the bottle, tore the top open without a single care in the world and started drinking like it was the last freshwater spring and I was a dehydrated wild animal.

"What the actual fuck," Tom Riddle stepped into the room, "Are you doing?"

I lowered the bottle.

"What does it look like?" I shot.

Tall, dark and as menacing as ever, Tom Riddle entered the small room like a literal shadow of death almost making me squint just to see him, so bold against the whitewashed room. He was surely a sight to behold, head to toe in his long black cloak. His pale skin contrasted it starkly, pronouncing the prominent cheekbones and bringing out the darkness of his eyes. He was the devil incarnate, and he wasn't here for any good reason I could tell just by the look in his eyes.

Danger! Run! My mind screamed. But I couldn't move. I couldn't even walk, let alone run away. I could only watch as Tom walked towards me, and my heart started hammering in my chest.

I placed the medicine on the small table beside me.

"Claudia told me she tried to warn you about the Merpeople." Tom said. "She came up to me after I left the Hospital Wing yesterday, ranting about how moronic you are, and that she was surprised at your level of stupidity."

I thought of Claudia, the first thing springing to mind was the horrific memory of walking in on her making out with Tom in the Slytherin Common Room.

"And you're telling me this because...?"

"Because I can." Tom stared me in the eyes. "And because I know you can't run away from me here. Did you know the poison that coats the weaponry of Merpeople can kill you? If that blade had been in your leg any longer you could have died."

"I wouldn't have minded." I said harshly. "Anything is better than this."

I ripped the sheet off my bed to see my leg, wrapped in gauze with the knee a horrific blotchy blue.

"You brought it upon yourself." Tom said remorselessly, taking a seat in the visitors chair. His eyes honed in on my leg, no trace of emotion on his features.

"If you had read the book I gave you," He said in an irritatingly condescending voice, "Perhaps this wouldn't have happened. But of course, you wouldn't ever heed my advice. I'm evil, and you refuse to trust me."

"Yes, that's right!" I said. "You know me so well! Well done, Tom. 10 points to Slytherin!"

Tom learnt forward, his pale hands positioned before him as if in prayer. He obviously wasn't impressed by my little dig at him.

"This is serious, Hermione." Tom stared at me, his dark eyes serious. Intense. It was like his eyes were drawing all the light out of the room, I couldn't help but fidget uncomfortably under the bed sheet.

"One of these days, you will die because of your foolishness. And I won't be able to offer you my help."

"Why the hell would you of all people care if I live or die?" I propped myself up on my elbow, wincing as my leg gave some sort of involuntary spasm of pain.

Tom paused, his dark eyes burning contemplatively. "No one wants any witch or wizard with potential to die." He said finally.

"Well, that's nice." I said bitterly. "So my entire worth is summarised on whether or not I am intelligent."

"Almost." Tom answered. "More or less too an extent, anyway."

"Well ok, Captain Vague." I snapped. "Can you elaborate?"

"Let's see..." Tom frowned, "I find you of value Hermione because you're not like the rest. It is something that keeps me coming back to you, time and time again."

"Yeah, I'm sure it's hard to find a Slytherin who is a somewhat decent person." I looked at him pointedly. Tom however just looked out the window behind me. I had spent enough time with him enough to know that this simple gesture was the closest trace to emotion I was ever going to find. I wondered what he was thinking about.

"You know," Tom said after a while, "I realise that I am extremely attractive but you've been staring at me for the past three minutes and it's starting to get annoying."

I blinked several times, looking away.

"I'm not staring at you because I think you're attractive." I said, my face heating up. Tom turned to me with a raised eyebrow.

"Are you sure? Well then, what's your brilliant excuse?"

"I was wondering what you were thinking." I confessed.

"Well what stopped you from asking me?" Tom adjusted his tie. "I'm right here. Ask me whatever burning question you have." He said with a mocking edge to his voice. "I, surprisingly, have nothing better to do for the moment. What do you think is on my mind? Chance a guess. Humour me."

"I haven't the slightest idea." I said blandly. "Murder? Corruption? Are you planning on wiping out everyone at this School using a secret weapon none of us know about?"

"I'm not a comic book villian, Hermione." Tom said coldly. "Try again."

I thought again. "Were you thinking of... work? Study?"

"Do I really strike you as that shallow?" Tom asked me. "To have a mind filled with nothing but study? You insult me. Clearly, my mind is too complex for you to grasp."

"Thinking about your studies isn't shallow." I said heatedly. "Can you just tell me? I'm not in the mood for guessing games right now. I want to know the real reason you are here."

"I am here to get something off my mind." Tom admitted. "But I want you to guess what it could be that is bothering me."

"Why the hell do I need to guess it?" This was really starting to get on my nerves. Tom was toying with me, being so torturously slow at getting to the point I was starting to lose the plot.

"You need to be aware of what actions you do that infuriate me." Tom said quietly. "We have spoken often about this before. Is your memory up to scratch?"

"Oh, great." I muttered. "Just what I need. To be tormented by you while in in agony."

"Now, now." Tom said lowly. "I'm not here to torment you. I'm only here to give you a very clear warning. But firstly, could you chance a guess as to why I am so incredibly angry right now?"

Under the blanket, I stopped fidgeting. Tom was angry? His face was so pale, so deathly calm I had no idea at all of what chaos lay just beneath the surface.

Sure enough, the closer I looked, the more I could see that he really did look bothered. I could now see the shadows beneath his eyes, so boldly contrasted with his pale skin. He hadn't been sleeping.

"Is it.... About Corbin?"

"Yes. 10 points to Slytherin." He mocked me.

He inclined his head, dragging his hands through his hair and when he looked back at me, his eyes were burning with hatred.

"You are supposed to be mine." Tom said, his tone was steel cold and unforgiving. "So tell me what you are doing entertaining another man?"

"Excuse me?" I demanded. "Entertaining? I would hardly call it that. I have barely hung out with him. And don't tell me that I'm not allowed friends, Tom."

"Corbin has no desire to be your friend. He is just like every other guy here. He just wants to fuck you."

"Excuse me?" I demanded. Heat was rushing to my face, I could feel my blood boiling in rage.

"Is that what you think this is?"

"This isn't what I think." Tom answered. "It's what I know. You wouldn't know, of course. You're a girl. And a rather innocent one at that. You wouldn't know half of what goes on inside the heads of men."

"Ok, first of all." I said angrily, "I'm not a girl, I'm a woman. Big fucking difference. Second, I am allowed to have friends and not give a damn about your feelings. Well, not that you have ever had any feelings of course-"

"Enough."

Tom stood. He was incredibly tall, towering over everything in the room.

"If I see you anywhere near Corbin," He said venomously, "I will hurt him in ways you couldn't possibly imagine. And whatever schemes you two have made in opposition to me, I assure you that I will find out about them. And woe to the both of you when I do."

He stepped toward me. He reached out a hand, and for one split second I thought he was going to hit me. But then it had happened, he tore the tablecloth on the bedside table off its perch beside me causing the breakfast tray, the plate and mug of steaming tea to soar across the room and hit the wall with a deafeningly violent sound.

Smash!

I was frozen. Too shocked to think let alone scream.

"You better clean this up." Tom said harshly. "You wouldn't want another detention now would you?" His shoes crunched over the mess of broken China, tea and glass, leaving the room without so much as a backward glance at the devastation he had left in his wake.