Taming The Serpent [Tom Riddle/Tomione]

O5. Penelope's Suspicions

The usual low voice of Riddle greeted her, taking a seat opposite from her as he eyed the book closer to him, his dark eyes snapping upwards with a small twitch of his pale lips.

"Didn't think History of Magic could be this depressing," he said, startling Hermione, who wiped at her eyes furiously, feeling slightly embarrassed from crying once again in front of him. She had lost count of how many times she had shown him her vulnerability. "I actually find it quite fascinating. All the accomplishments of these Wizards, all the power they once held in their hands."

The smile that lingered on his lips was almost unrecognizable. The way is eyes shone as he analysed the book; he had a distinguishable proud aura surrounding him. It was a real smile and unconsciously, Hermione's lips lifted upwards as well, hope rising within her.

"Too bad they were absolute fools who didn't live up to other's expectations," He snapped, Hermione's smile vanishing with each word. "They could have carried their power for all eternity, ruling the world and controlling every witch and wizard on their way."

"Not everything is about power," croaked Hermione, retrieving the book from his hands aggressively. She snapped the cover closed, eyeing him through narrowed brown eyes. "Now if you don't mind, Riddle, I have an exam in two days..."

She hoped he would get it as his cue to leave her alone, but to her aggravating anger, Tom simply shrugged his shoulders, narrowing his eyes in a mocking way. He then pulled his Potions' book out of his bag, beginning on his essay. Sighing in defeat, Hermione opened the History of Magic book, reviewing last year's subjects.

She looked up at the handsome wizard's face, his pale skin was glistening against the sun, and Hermione found herself drooling over his features, - which was rather weak and foolish.

"It's not polite to stare, LockHart" Said Riddle as he scribbled away on his parchment, lifting his gaze just momentarily, to Hermione's aggravating embarrassment. "I think we've been over this already."

Tom eyed her as though he was testing her, his eyes boring deeply into hers, and for a moment Hermione feared he was going to try and read her mind once again, so she averted her gaze, returning it to the appointments on her book.

There was a complete silence in the room. The few Gryffindors at the front began to leave for their classes, followed by the Hufflepuff twins who had been reading, quite loudly, ever since Hermione arrived that morning. She didn't dare interrupt Tom, who had on a concentrated gaze; two pages of parchment already filled from top to bottom. Her eyes met the bare spot on his finger once more, and she wondered why he had hidden the ring, his Horcrux.

"Why did you hide it?" She inquired, her voice dropping a few octaves. He glanced up at her, his face turning to a somewhat troubled expression. "Your ring? Why did you hide it?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Just curious," shrugged Hermione.

"A distressing trait of you Ravenclaws," snapped Tom, his eyes lingering on his finger. "Always so curious. " He stopped as his eyes snapped up at Hermione, who shifted uncomfortably under his intense gaze. Tom merely smirked. "As I once told you, Lockhart—" He emphasized the name purposely, "- the ring was given to me by my uncle. It's a very precious possession that I want to keep safe."

He began to rummage through his books and pieces of parchment, placing them neatly on his bag. Hermione crossed her arms over her chest as she watched him leave, a small nod thrown her way. She knew he was lying, it didn't take someone very smart to know it. She just wanted to know why he had hidden his Horcrux. Did he feel threatened? Had Grindelwald tried anything over the last summer while she was unconscious? For the first time in her life, Hermione wished she knew Legilimency.

♡

She strolled down the corridors alongside Penelope and Ursulla later that day. They have been talking about Defence Against the Dark Arts the entire way toward the Great Hall, for lunch.

"I'm telling you, Hermione," said Penelope, her eyes snapping toward the curly haired curly. "There's something off about this new teacher, Ariana."

"She's Dumbledore's sister." Hermione said, shaking her head dismissingly. "I trust him."

"And her?" insisted Penelope, her eyes boring into her.

Hermione sighed. Truth is she didn't know if she should or not trust Ariana Dumbledore, she should be dead ages ago, and the fact that she was still alive did bring some questions into Hermione's mind, some of which she preferred to  keep unanswered.

"Dippet hired her, therefore she's trustworthy," said Hermione, looking up at Penelope as they reached the Great Hall. The three Ravenclaws walked toward the blue and silver table, sitting down together.

"He hired her because Dumbledore said so," said Penelope, leaning over the table to grab the salt. "Dippet trusts him, and it's his sister, of course he hired her."

"We should trust her too." said Hermione.

"Speak for yourself, you weren't there, you didn't see it." said Penelope darkly. "And I'm telling you now, the witch is crazy. You didn't hear her going on about all types of curses there are, joking about trying some of them on classes, --" Penelope shivered slightly, her eyes fixed on the bowl of soup. "She rubbed it off with a small laugh, fooling everyone. But not me. Not me, Hermione."

Hermione shared a small look with Ursulla before averting her gaze toward the High Table, where Ariana Dumbledore sat, her hoodie still on, covering her long blonde locks. The woman's eyes travelled from the green table toward the blue one, her gaze meeting Hermione's instantly, as though she had sensed her gaze. A small smile adorned the woman's lips, a slight nod of her head toward Hermione.

But the smile, never reached Ariana's eyes.