The Charm of a Riddle (tomione)

Chapter Three-Surpassing With Excellence

The rain poured heavily outside the castle, and Hermione sat by the library window, nose in book. She had been sorted, and a trunk with school robes and course books were placed in her dormitory. But she wished to spend no time getting to know the people of her house, or anyone in the castle for a matter of fact. So she sat in the corner of the library in solitude, which quite honestly wasn't that terrible.

The only thing she missed were her friends, Harry and Ron, who were back in the future. A tear slipped from her eye, but she caught in on her sleeve before it fell onto her book. She glanced up when she saw Tom striding down the isles, scanning the library, most likely in search of her. She held the book in front of her face and sank down in her chair in attempts to hide herself.

"What the bloody hell does he want now?" she whispered into her book.

She could tell he had found her, and she lowered her book with a frown. "I said don't bother talking to me again!"

"Well you can't hide in the library all day! It's your birthday........so" He held out a cake sporting Slytherin colors. "Happy birthday Granger."

"I'm not in Slytherin!" she said coldly, turning back to her book.

"Really?.....well in that case....." this time held a cake with blue frosting and an eagle on it.

"I'm not in Ravenclaw either." She stated simply.

He placed the blue cake next to the other, and pulled from nowhere one with a lion. "Please tell me you were sorted in Gryffindor.....because I didn't bother to make a Hufflepuff cake!"

"Yes I'm in Gryffindor!" She still said nothing more, continuing to read her book, deciding she was not going to let him force her to leave the library again.

"Would you like some of the three cakes I made you?" He asked with one eyebrow raised, even though she didn't look up. He sighed and turned the empty chair by the table around, and sat, leg on either side, arms wresting on the back of the chair. "You won't even look at me for more than two seconds! It was just a trophy!"

This caused her to look up at him, with her eyebrows raised. "You are telling me that you made three cakes?"

"Well no....not exactly me..."

"My point exactly!"

Tom smiled at her hostility and reached for her hand resting on the table. As soon as his fingers touched her skin, she retracted her hand. "For the billionth time......don't touch me!"

"Well what if I want to..." he said with a boyish grin.

Hermione took a second to stare at him, processing what he meant by this.  Did he like her.....Hermione jean know it all Granger? Nobody bothered paying attention to her. 'No' she thought. 'He's trying to use you, to find out about horcruxes.' 

She held a stern expression, trying not to wince under his gaze. "Well sometimes Riddle....you don't always get what you want!"

"I do." He said with a smirk. "I always get what I want."

There it was....the Voldemort line of thinking he was superior to everything.  Hermione bit her tongue, forcing herself not to yell at him.  She wished so terribly to wipe the stupid smirk off his face.  The only thing that kept her from saying anything, was the idea that giving in to his toying, would give him exactly what he wanted.  And Hermione just wasn't about to give Tom Riddle that satisfactory. 

She looked back to her book, for what felt like the millionth time since he had been talking to her. 

"Excuse me Granger?...it is rude to ignore someone when they are engaging in a conversation with you."