Chapter 8
One year later (in Tom Riddle's 7th year, and Hermione Granger's 6th year)
Hermione POV
She was intently working on the properties of number 7 for her Arithmancy work. Nabinsky's Artithmancy:The Magical World of Numbers was propped open in front of her, and she read silently: ... Seven is magically more significant than any other. It denotes the amalgamation of spiritual and material aspects. It denotes the aspiration for growth, a striving for some higher purpose. However, despite its magical significance, this number requires a stabilizing influence from other numbers, or it can stand for prediction of instability and chaos ...
Her reading was interrupted by Ron. " 'Mione, what is Moly used for?"
Ron and Harry had been doing their potions work across her.
With her annoyance simmering at the interruption, she replied, "Ron, seriously, we have done this in the last year. Moly is an antidote, used for neutralizing poisons. Plucked during the full-moon, its potency increases by ten-fold."
Ron just scratched out something on his scroll, and blithely continued, "And what kinds of poisons is it most effective for?"
When she didn't answer he finally looked up.
When she had his full attention, she responded, "Ronald Weasley, I am not going to give you the answers. The copy of Most Potente Potions is right in front of you, and the Herbology aisle is just across this bench."
"Merlin 'Mione! What's gotten into you. I just asked you a simple question." Ron simply gave her a flabbergasted look.
The annoyance within her was bubbling up too fast. If she didn't get up and go, she really would start shouting at him—but what would even be the point. He thought she was simply being bad-tempered. But she was tired of being treated liking a walking encyclopaedia for him, or for anyone else. She had answered him. Why couldn't he take up the measly effort to get up from the table and get the reference books and write the details down for himself.
Did she really share anything in terms of interest or hobbies with Harry and Ron, other than the House she was in. The past few months had shown her that the friendship that had started during first year had lost its traction—they had grown apart, with Ron treating her mostly as a free tutor, and Harry had become more pre-occupied with Quidditch. They had all gotten different interests. While Harry also asked her questions, he at least made the effort to look up things on his own, while Ron expected the information to be served on a platter to him—and it was this attitude which Hermione had never noticed before, but after being with Tom, she had come to realize that she had grown apart from both Harry and Ron.
Without arguing with Ron, she put her quill and parchment back in her bag, and taking her copy of the Arithmancy book, she left the library without a backward glance.
After Tom had saved her from the bludger, they had mended their fences, and before she knew it, they had started going out with each other. They had kept their relationship quiet. They met during the curfew hours—both of them blatantly used their prefect privileges to walk down to the Herbology greenhouse, talking to each other, and her favourite part was walking hand-in-hand with Tom, near the Black Lake. They did this at night under bright stars, their dissimulation spells glimmering faintly around them, concealing the presence of two students after hours.
They had nearly been caught snogging after-hours, and that's when they had discovered the Room of Requirement on the 7th floor near the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy. It had presented itself as a small space, just enough for two people to stand. It was the next week after their near-escape that they puzzled out the existence of the room when the place had vanished after they had used it. With some trial & error, they finally figured it out, and now whenever they wanted to meet, the Room of Requirement was another favourite rendezvous place. The room usually transformed into a cozy place with a fireplace, a big desk, almost like the one she and Tom used in the library, and big cushy high-backed chairs. Both of them liked to bring their assignments there and curl up on the big chairs near the fireplace to study, talk or just kiss each other.
She argued a lot with Tom, but she got the sense that Tom liked arguing with her—puzzling out possibilities, discussing magical theory, or just lying down on the rug near the fireplace, holding each other. She wanted to be able to go out with Tom openly, but she didn't want to rock the boat so soon—it still felt like she was in a honeymoon phase, and she also didn't push it because she knew the kind of backlash their relationship could receive. Most girls would be mean or bitchy to her for snagging the Head Boy, and the house rivalry between Gryffindor and Slytherin would mean her own House-mates would start giving her the cold-shoulder. While Tom had told her she shouldn't care about the opinions of others, she knew that being a Muggleborn already posed its challenges in the way people perceived her, and she didn't want to unnecessarily exacerbate her situation, and so for now, she was content to sneak and fool around with Tom.
Besides, she knew this was a crucial year for Tom with his NEWTs and the headache of dealing with the gossip around their relationship was going to be a distraction—this was another reason for staying quiet about their relationship. She understood all this, and they had both agreed on this decision together, but sometimes, Hermione couldn't help the longing that filled her when she wanted to just go up to Tom and hug him. She suppressed the longing to meet him during the day, and she suppressed the intense anger she felt at all the girls trying to blatantly flirt with Tom. As she walked back to the Gryffindor Tower, she reminded herself that this complicated mess of her private life would not last long—if nothing else, she would at least hope for the best.