𝐌𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐞 ⟶ 𝑻𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒆

CHAPTER EIGHT

8| cassandra trelawney

𝟿 𝚜𝚎𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝟷𝟿𝟺𝟺

THE CRISP AUTUMN air blew with little effort, barely swinging Hermione's mass of curls as she gazed up from the quidditch stand. A blurry of blue zoomed across the quidditch pitch, successfully throwing a quaffle into one of the rings. The very little crowd cheered.

It was Ravenclaw's quidditch tryouts and the only reason she attended was because of the promise she made to Claire that she would come and watch. She wasn't quite fond of quidditch probably due to her fear of flying. But she loved to attend quidditch tryouts and matches to support her friends. She saw a small group of Slytherins lounging on the far end of the quidditch stand and it reminded her of the school's Head Boy.

Over the week, Hermione had tried her best to catch Tom Riddle's attention, so subtle that she wouldn't appear to be trying too hard—whether it be throwing looks of utter loathing at Dumbledore during meals in the Great Hall when no one was looking but him, berating Harry and Ron so much that they weren't sure it was real or she was merely acting, or simply going to the restricted section, checking out dark books when she knew he was nearby.

It had worked once on Thursday evening when she saw him studying in the Library at one of the tables by the window. She had quietly slipped to the restricted section and innocently started checking out a book without reading its title before realising he was standing behind her.

"You do realised this section is called restricted for a reason, Miss Granger," he had casually said with a hint of tease in his voice. "Students are not allowed to be here."

She had turned around, feigning shock over her face. He stood there, amusement over his face and hands tucked into the pockets of his trousers, leaning over one of the bookshelves, ankles crossed.

"Oh," she'd said, blinking. "I thought prefects were allowed to enter."

"No. No one is allowed in here apart from the teachers and staff. Students need to get permission to enter and they are only allowed if it were academic related."

Hermione wanted to snort but she refrained herself from doing so.

Tom tilted his head. "I thought Dippet had already explained to you all the rules and regulations here in Hogwarts."

Hermione pursed her lips. A small part of her wanted to whack him over the head with the book she was holding. "He did but he never mentioned about students' access to the restricted section."

A small smirk graced his lips. "What Granger could you possibly need to enter the restricted section for?"

She had to still her wild heart before answering. "A potion," she lied. "All the other books don't have enough information."

Tom tipped his chin to the book in her hands. "And you think that book has the information you require?"

Hermione glanced down to the book in her hands. Magick Moste Evile.

"Maybe," she had said and Tom's eyes flashed, a ghost of a smile on his lips before he had shooed her out of the section.

It had not worked as she would have hoped but with the effort she had put on, Hermione deserved a pat on the back. She sighed, trying to figure more ways to hold his interest permanently. She could go a darker path but she did not want to resolve into torturing innocent people for the sake of her task.

She glanced down to the book in her hand where a piece of parchment was tucked in its pages. She opened the book to reveal the note Dumbledore had sent them yesterday evening.