Breaking Hermione

Earn Your Death

Over the next few hours, the fear and torment enshrouding my mind peaked. I didn't get a chance to ask Claudia when Tom was planning to kill me. But I knew I was in danger just being alone here in the Hospital Wing. Despite the numerous protective enchantments over Hogwarts, there was nothing stopping Tom from bursting into my room and killing me instantly.
I wondered if this was how Harry had felt, constantly aware of the fact Voldemort was out there actively plotting to kill him.

He died in the end. My mind said ruthlessly. And so will you.

I frowned. Like hell I'm going to die. I corrected my thinking. God, if this was the way my thoughts were going I might as well be dead.

I waited anxiously in my bed for Tom to return, wondering if Claudia really did manage to get away in the end. I'd be damned if another person got harmed because of me.

I stretched out my injured leg before me. It was ridiculous. It was healing again, but the ache hadn't gone yet. I stood up, testing it out. If Tom really was making plans to kill me the least I wanted to be able to do was run away. If I couldn't even move I didnt stand a damn chance.

"Are you trying to run away from me again?" Without so much as a warning Tom Riddle was standing the doorway. Tall, cold, his black cloak adding to the fallen angel image spectacularly.

His dark eyes were looking directly at me causing a chill to trickle down my spine. So he was plotting to end my life, was he?

"On the bed. Now." Tom entered the room, walking towards me and forcing me backwards until I landed on the uncomfortable mattress. I reached down to haul my bruised leg up, gasping as the movement sent shockwaves of pain up my body.

"You really are hopeless." Tom chided, taking my foot in his ice cold grip and lifting it for me. His grip was so strong my entire body moved. "Madam Pomfrey told you that movement makes the poison travel further."

"And?"

"And you're too much of a rebel to ever listen to anyone regarding your wellbeing."

I clasped my hands tightly. It felt like shit hearing Tom talking about my wellbeing now I knew he was planning to end my life. It was almost like a betrayal, considering all we had been through. Maybe it wasn't so much that Tom betrayed me, but I had blindly assumed I'd survive him. I'd betrayed myself to a fate I never thought would be mine. I wasn't going to die, was I?

"I wasn't aware that anyone in the vicinity actually gave a damn about my wellbeing." I said coldly. "Well, except Madam Pomfrey."

"Perhaps you're right." Tom said pleasantly, but his tone was enough to make my skin crawl.

"Meaning?" I raised an eyebrow, watching his face. He never showed any sign of emotion, so I wasn't getting much of a good read.

I paused, deliberating for a fraction of a second.

"You know what I think is strange." I said, choosing my words very carefully. "How someone could be invested in bettering someone else, and then decide to kill the person they had claimed they were invested in."

Tom's eyes narrowed slightly. "What in particular has brought about this thought?"

"Well, I don't expect to survive you if your intent is to curse me and mess with my psyche." I said quickly. The last thing I wanted to do was to throw Claudia in harm's way, even though I didnt nurture any strong sense of affection for her.

"You have defied me enough times to earn your death at least sevenfold." Tom told me by way of explanation, his words vacant and empty. "I have abstained from killing you this far, however. I trouble you, but only as you trouble me. Consider this as a return for all that you have caused me, and perhaps you may come to see the situation through different eyes. Every human being on Earth, directly or indirectly, has influence over their own fate, Hermione."