A special spark - Tomione
He couldn’t believe this.
He, Tom Marvolo Riddle, was having trouble.
It was a shock to him, and probably to anyone if they knew what was going on in his mind.
He had always been gifted, able to charm, to persuade with his words and intellect.
Until her.
Hermione Granger.
She had appeared out of thin air it seemed. No-one knew where she came from, though Dumbledore claimed she was a daughter of a family friend in America.
It was strange, but people bought it.
Except him.
He had been suspicious of her. It was what had kept him interested at first.
He had found ways to be around her, talking to her, pretending to be interested in her, in her thoughts.
To his annoyance she had been like every other girl. She seemed dull, nothing spectacular.
It was with a bit of annoyance that he left her alone, thinking that she was exactly who she claimed to be. A normal girl from America.
It wasn’t until six months later strange things started to happen around the castle.
The third-floor bathroom was flooded with roosters.
Certain books that had been accessible were removed from the library. Several of his followers were accused of torturing others.
He didn’t know who it was until he caught her.
It had been later one night, during one of his checks as prefect that he had heard voices. Female voices coming from the third-floor bathroom.
He had expected someone had snuck out and had the misfortune of forgetting moaning myrtle tended to haunt her death spot from a year ago.
Until he heard Hermione’s voice.
It wasn’t the docile voice he was used to in all his classes. No inflection, uninterested.
No. This voice was passionate.
She was talking about something.
No. Not something.
Him.
He froze as he heard her try to convince Myrtle that she needed to tell the truth of who killed her, the ghost refusing, saying that Hermione was wrong.
But she wasn’t. It was his fault she was dead. A fact Myrtle did not remember thanks to his memory spell.
Hermione shouldn’t know that.
He had decided to get more information from her.
It took weeks to get her alone, but he was patient. Meticulous.
He kept his Knights in check, made sure that they didn’t bring unwanted attention to themselves. He stopped meetings.
It was annoying but it did what he had hoped.
Whatever plans she had, whatever information she knew could no longer be backed up.
She was getting angry, and in her anger she got careless.
He had followed her without detection one night to the forbidden forest, and it was there he had confronted her.
It was there he had learned more of his future then he ever thought possible.
He wanted to kill her, for knowing things. For having defied a future version of himself.
But in a way, he was impressed. She was a girl, the same age as him, going against a dark lord even Dumbledore had fallen to. She had survived up until the point she had gotten sent here.
That was impressive.
It alone made him spare her life.
He decided then and there that he couldn’t keep down the path he had started. He wouldn’t give up his dreams, his ambitions, a fact he informed her of in the forest.
She had understood, had suggested there might be another way. That she could help him.
It was an offer he didn't refuse.
It was awkward at first. Talking to someone who knew what he was, knew where he came from, what he would become.
Yet slowly, she opened up to him, her intelligence no longer needing to be hidden, her personality shining through.
Simply stated, Tom was charmed.
From the first time she had gushed over a book she adored, to the times he had managed to get a rise out of her. She managed to enamor him each and every time.
One and a half years later and he still felt that way.
He knew what this feeling was, it was something that he always believed was a weak emotion. Not powerful enough for anything. Until Hermione.
Love.
Not only because he felt the emotion for the first time, but also because he had seen first-hand how love could truly put a hinder to his goals through the protection spell put on the potter boy when he had tried to kill him.
No, love might be something worth looking into after all.
“Tom?” her voice broke his stormy thought, bringing him back to the realty, the reason he had retreated into his thoughts in the first place. “Are you asking me to be your girlfriend?” she asked, those honey orbs sparkling with amusement.
Tom cringed at the use of the word. It sounded so childish. Not something he wanted at all “No, I’m asking you to allow me to court you.” he replied carefully “to accompany me to Hogsmeade on weekends, to spend time with me outside of studying...”
Abraxas snorted, breaking the silence that had fallen on their study station. Tom glared at him, but Hermione was already laughing
“Yes Tom. I’ll be your girlfriend” she told him, her smile broadening when she saw his eye twitch again at the word.
“Fine then..” Tom responded stubbornly, deciding to put this event behind him by concentrating on the book in front of him.
He couldn’t help but glance up at her occasionally, a small undiscernible smile spreading on thin lips when he took in her joy.
Perhaps Hermione Granger was sent to him for a reason.
Whatever that was, he would make sure to cherish every second.