Classes were an absolute disaster. Much to my horror Tom Riddle was assigned as my partner during our practical Defence Against the Dark Arts class. He seemed absolutely delighted at having me as his opponent and didn't hesitate to use a expanse of non verbal hexes against me that weren't in the textbook, enough so that the only spell I got to practice was "protego!"

"You're going to have to step up your game." Tom taunted me, as the force of my shield spell knocked me backwards off my feet.

"I wouldn't have to," I sat up, spitting hair out of my mouth, "if you'd only practice the assigned spells!"

I had a comprehensive understanding and a greatly experienced hand for a wide variety of practical Magic but I was sure Tom had invented half of the hexes he was firing at me. We had a relief teacher overseeing our class, a dim witch who cast adoring eyes on Tom each time she walked past him.

"Excellent work, Tom!" She beamed, walking past the pair of us. "Your wand work is outstanding. No, Granger, your duel stance is wrong. Stand straighter. How are you going to defend yourself if you're slouched over like that?"

I rolled my eyes. Tom snickered to himself as soon as she had her back turned.

"She's right. Stand straighter." He taunted me. "It simply astonishes me that you don't know the fundamentals of dueling, Hermione."

The rest of the day was as much as a failure as the breakfast. A lot of the Slytherins had picked up on Tom's cold attitude towards me. Particularly the girls. There were girls I had never even met making mean jokes about me at the back of each class. Not that it was anything unusual, but it certainly had peaked today out of all days. I figured a lot of it had to do with the fact that I had not only pissed off Slytherin's bad boy Tom Riddle but also had gotten Slytherin's sweetheart Daniel Dolohov into shit with his girlfriend. A lot of girls liked Daniel. Maybe because he didn't give off such a terrifying energy. He was hot, and he was nice. Apparently that was reason enough for hastily written threats to find their way to me in the form of paper planes. One of them was so badly written I had to laugh.

Your hair is a bird's nest

Your smile is like open sores

Daniel is better than you

Bitch you will get yours

I frowned. Who the literall hell wrote that, a troll? I didn't have the heart to waste the paper, so I pocketed it. Well, until a searing pain flickered up my cloak - the damned thing had caught alight. Someone's sick idea of a joke, clearly. I extinguished it at once, now highly agitated and wanting nothing more than to go back to my dorm and go to bed. Anything to not participate in reality. But then it was History of Magic with the Gryffindors and the old ghost Professor Binns was at the front of the class with a topic that captured my interest.

"Now, as many of you are already aware the Gryffindor Prefects have arranged a lunch at the 3 Broomsticks for select students and their dates. handpicked by the Prefects of the four Houses who were assigned the job to nominate those who exceeded expectation in class performance. The list of attendees for Slytherin House has been compiled by Tom Riddle. The attendees for Gryffindor, Alison Pottsworth. I won't waste my time telling you Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, that is irrelevant considering none of them are currently in this class."

"Professor Binns." A sharp faced looking Gryffindor girl interrupted, "I've read the list of those invited and Slytherin has selected a Ravenclaw. Would you say that is allowed?"

There were several murmurs of disapproval, but not from the Slytherins.

"If you have any issues with that you can take it to your Head of House." Binns said dismissively while I frowned. What Ravenclaw made the list?

Tom looked mildly irritated from his desk on the other side of the classroom, twirling his quill idly in his hand.

"I'm sure Hogwarts isn't going to deem a show of interhouse spirit a problem. I know Ravenclaw certainly won't mind. But our bold Gryffindors." He mused. "It would be rather ironic if they were the ones to protest it."

"Shut your face, Tom." The nameless girl snapped.

Binns whipped around in her direction. "Speak again without raising your hand and that's a detention." He floated over to the front of the classroom

"She didn't do anything wrong!" I said angrily. "Can't you see she was provoked?"

"It is not my responsibility to cater to emotional outbursts of a student while I am teaching a class!" Binns exploded.

"You weren't even teaching." I carried on, well aware I had captured the attention of not only Tom but the entire class. "You were telling us about the lunch Gryffindor is hosting."

"10 points from Slytherin." Binns said, pointing a transparent finger at me. "Perhaps that will teach you not to make a fool of me before the class."

I didn't have the heart to tell him that it made me happy to sabotage Slytherin any chance I got. I was a Gryffindor at heart. I wasn't just going to sit there and endure Tom putting down my real House. Not today, not ever.

------------------------

I woke up tomorrow morning feeling sick. I wandered aimlessly down to the Slytherin Common Room to see a large piece of parchment stuck to the notice board.

I took a closer look, and my heart skipped a beat. It was a hand written notice for those selected for the stupid couple's lunch. Tom Riddle was on there, his name jumped out at me before I saw anything else. But a closer look revealed my name scrawled beside his as his choice of date.

Are you serious? I thought aloud.

"I most certainly am." Tom Riddle said behind me. I gave a yelp of fear, spinning on my heel to face him.

"I hope you've got something decent to wear." He said by way of greeting. "It is a date, after all." His eyes roved over me with a look of distaste.

"And what made you decide to choose me of all people?" I demanded.

"You're the perfect candidate." Tom told me. "I wanted to be able to keep a close eye on you. And what better way to do that but to have you by my side for the most of the day?"

"Well how about this." I said coldly. "I will make them take my name off the list."

"You can do that," Tom said, his dark eyes flashing dangerously. "But I promise you I will make you live to regret it."

I paused, ideas of what could potentially happen if I just didn't go.

"You're a smart girl, Hermione." Tom said lightly. "So you have my full confidence that you'll choose to do the right thing." He gave me a sharp look before turning and leaving me standing there, fear causing my heart to hammer like a trapped hummingbird in my chest.

"What's the worst that could happen?" I laughed in a strangled, helpless sort of way while my thoughts plummeted into the darkness.

Fortunately, I did actually have something decent to wear. That red dress which I packed while on my travels hunting for Horcruxes with Harry and Ron. Of course, I had no idea of what we would encounter so I packed most of my belongings into my bag, totally forgetting about the dress after only wearing jeans and sweaters the entire time.

I dragged myself to my dorm, quickly getting dressed and deliberating on whether or not to do my hair. I tugged my braids out, quickly arranging my unruly curls into something a bit more pleasing to the eye before hurrying off down to the Great Hall. I didn't want to go. So why make a big deal looking attractive? I just wanted to look good enough that Tom wouldn't start some sort of bullshit argument with me about how I was bringing his image down or something equally abhorrent.

I made it to the Great Hall to find no one but a group of around 15 students standing around the staff table. Tom Riddle was standing next to a very familiar looking blonde girl with pigtail braids, pouty lips and a very short dress which left absolutely nothing to the imagination. Claudia. The one who pretended to be a friend of mine and then when it came to helping me escape the Hospital Wing pretty much snitched on me to Tom.

I walked closer, forcing my face into a smile.

"You were very nearly late." Tom Riddle looked up at me. He was looking at me like I was a rotten piece of Gillyweed someone had recovered from the bottom of the Great Lake. Of course, he was looking the part of arrogant player, just managing to dress well enough to look that bit above every other guy in the room.

"When are we leaving?" I looked around for a sign of a teacher but there was no higher authorities than the House Prefects. Great. So I guess Tom could do whatever he wanted now.

"If any of you have any concerns, let me know now." Tom addressed the crowd at large, giving a rather pointed look in my direction, "Because this is your last chance."

Everyone fell silent. Only one meek looking Gryffindor seemed brave enough to raise a hand but lowered it beneath Tom's death glare.

"Excellent, so no concerns?" Tom directed his gaze to me. "Very good." He smirked. "Let's get out of here."

He began walking out of the Great Hall leading the way. It was like a switch was flicked, everyone started moving mechanically after him. I followed right at the back, happy to trail along behind everyone until I realised Claudia was keeping stride with me on my left.

"Can I help you?" I snapped. I mean, it wasn't like I was going to forget that she betrayed me and my friends to Tom anytime soon.

"Tom told me to tell you to walk up the front of the group with him." She giggled. "He doesn't trust you, you know."

"Well you can run along and tell Tom..." I paused, realizing that I couldn't just lose my temper and sabotage myself.

"You can tell him I'm coming." I finished heavily.

"I will let him know." She said snottily, prancing up through the crowd of slow movers to the front. I watched Tom incline his head as she spoke to him. He smiled, before continuing to walk. We were out of the School Grounds now. Hogsmeade wasn't too far from here.

I reached Tom, who didn't show the slightest indication he realised I was there until a few seconds passed.

"So you've decided to play by the rules now, have you?" He looked over at me, his eyes watching me even after I looked away. Most of the crowd kept a respectable distance behind us. But despite this I could hear the low chatter behind me of girls voices wafting in the air toward us.

"Is there any reason you've set your pet Claudia after me?" I asked innocently.

"I find with someone like you, the more people I have to keep an eye out the better. Do you really think I have the time to watch out for you every hour of the day? I may be indestructable but I don't like surprises."

"Indestructible, huh?"

"Has anyone been able to destroy me so far?" Tom asked the question more hypothetically than anything. I didn't respond. Not because I believed him, but because I didn't and couldn't ever let him find out.