chapter 8
Hermione's most recent encounter with the Slytherin boys kept replaying on her mind as she wandered to the great hall for some breakfast. Fuck, she was starving and the aggressive rumbling of her stomach would not allow her to dismiss it. She propped herself at a quiet section of the Slytherin benches and helped herself to a rather large portion of food to satisfy her appetite. The dynamics of the group still resurfaced to the forefront of her mind. Their enigmatic conversations indicated they were speaking about something of importance, especially since it had Tom so fucking pissed when they had disturbed it, whether he had meant to articulate that or not. She would find out what the topic of their discussion was.
The next few days revolved around Hermione settling in to her new schedule and studying Tom riddle's movements. Her research findings: Only Tom and his group of vipers sat in the centre of the room, all other students steered clear and did not dare get in his way, Tom riddle always wore a golden signet ring on his right hand, Tom's accommodation was also a single suite, directly above Hermione's and due to this knowledge, she also discovered his sleep schedule is completely fucked. It wasn't much but it was enough to hatch a plan.
During an afternoon session of potions, Hermione had purposely paired with Notts after coming to the conclusion that he would be the weakest link in their little gang. The topic of todays class centred around amortentia. She had already learnt this in her current time, therefore this would be a breeze. She ordered Notts to gather all relevant ingredients and prepped the cauldron, Carefully adding the correct proportions of ashwood and valerian root. After she had completed the task and participated in meaningless small talk she pried into Notts low IQ. "so, how did you and Riddle become friends?" She asked in a light and innocent manner.
Hermione had interrupted his act of sniffing the cauldron when he answered. "Well, Tom has been my mate since first year. He was instantly recognised by all our professors for his intelligence and gained a reputation for being a model student. Sticking with him meant I would be respected and so i did. So did the others. Most of us knew each other before Hogwarts anyways, because of our parents."
"But not Tom?"
"No. Tom was an orphan, we don't question his background. He's pureblood. that's all we need to know. One time Lestrange joked around about his mother, that's why he has that scar down his eye". Nott seemed too wary of his surroundings at the last sentence, peering over his shoulder to ensure no one else was listening. "Why do you want to know?"
Professor Slughorn, her head of house and potions teacher approached the pair, saving Hermione from Nott's question. "Oh my, have you finished already?" Their teacher pronounced with too much enthusiasm. He had already grabbed a vial and dipped the ladle into the bubbling pink liquid. "blimey, its perfect. Absolutely perfect" he announced, clapping his hands as he inspected the floating vial in front of him. "This must be your work Miss Granger"
Nott retaliated "Why wouldn't it be mine?"
"Mr Nott you haven't passed a single solo assignment of mine in the six years you have attending this institution. You have awfully good choice in picking partners though, I must say". Hermione smiled in appreciation, as the rest of the class were summoned to view the elixir. The pair were placed in the spotlight before Slughorn dismissed the groups back to their stations.
"If you smell my cologne Hermione I wont judge you, I'm utterly irresistible." Tom observed the potion partners intently, nobody had ever beat him in potions, or anything for that matter. It was absurd.
She released a small laugh at his remark, not bothering with smelling the elixir before passing it to her lab partner. "You keep it, you probably need it"
"I most certainly do not Hermione, who do you take me for?" She took that as a rhetorical question as he slipped it into his pocket. Little did he know she had charmed it to eavesdrop into Notts conversations. A slither of guilt crept into the pit of her belly but all was fair in love and war.
Hermione retired early to her bedroom that night, becoming increasingly impatient at the lack of information she was receiving from the charmed amortentia bottle. Gods, Nott could really chat a bunch of useless shit. The clock rang another hour before anything of interest had trailed into Hermione's ear. She assumed the boys were in the common room, most likely sat in their usual positions as conversations unfolded. A voice (she identified as rosiers) began "I've located the locket. It was hard as shit to get. I expect something fucking good in return".
Tom's icy voice replied "I'm sure the annihilation of mudbloods will be enough for you. " And there it fucking was. The Voldemort she knew. Inhumane and animalistic. Her throat bobbed at the sound of her own kind being mentioned in such a discriminatory and cruel way. Hermione spent her night rattling her brain for possible outcomes to why he desired a locket so much, what was so special about this locket? She was determined to discover all of Tom's secrets. First things first, find the locket.