An Education
"They can wait."
The sound of the lock clicking into place was loud in Hermione's ears. She couldn't take her eyes off of him as he stalked towards her, but she stood her ground. It wasn't like he would hurt her, only utterly destroy her if she let him.
He forced her back into another bookshelf without having to touch her, and she was breathless as she looked up into the monster's eyes.
"Are you ready to beg?"
"Why would I ever beg for something men pay me to give them?" She asked, even though she knew what he was promising was something wholly different from anything she had experienced before.
"Other men." He gently wrapped his fingers around her neck. The touch felt like the cross between comfort and a threat. "What have I told you about other men?"
"You've implied that you are better than all other men." She couldn't look away from his dark, intense gaze, even as his hand slipped down her chest and pulled her breasts free once more. His eyes flicked down, but she knew he was checking for any mark Rodolphus may have left.
"I have never found my equal in a man."
"And in a woman?"
"Bella comes the closest, and you might have potential." He looked back into her eyes as he fixed her gown back into place.
"I should really get to know this woman."
"When we are finished here, I will be sure to introduce you."
"We're not finished?" She challenged as their gazes locked once more.
"You will beg, in time."
"That time is not now."
He licked his bottom lip as if he were tasting the air the way a snake does but made no move to give her space. After a moment, he leaned further into her, his lips barely brushing against the shell of her ear.
"I want you to close your eyes and take a deep breath."
Hermione did as she was told, breathing in the scent of him and working not to react.
"Build a room in your mind. A single room, but a perfect one. Build it piece by piece, filling in every detail until you know it better than reality."
A room appeared unbidden in Hermione's mind, but it was a real one. The den where she often sat to read started to take shape. Hermione shifted, moved, and replaced the things she didn't like. She didn't look too deeply into the fact that her perfect room started as something that belonged to Riddle.
"Why am I doing this?"
"Have you made your room?"
Hermione nodded, unsure if there was a point to more words if he wouldn't tell her why he wanted any of it.
"Kneel inside your room and put your hands behind your back."
It was oddly easy for her to imagine the action inside her perfect little library. Every book she had ever wanted to read filled the shelves.
"How does that make you feel?"
"Calm." It was a space that belonged to her, and no one could take it away from her.
"Put me in the room with you." He ordered, and she bit her lip as she added him to the perfect space. "Make me do whatever you want." He said, and she could feel the smile against her ear. "Don't think, just answer; what am I doing?"
"You're tying my wrists together, kneeled behind me." Hermione's heart started to speed up as if she could feel silken rope binding her arms and his long fingers brushing over her spine.
"Good girl." He breathed and kissed the spot just under her ear. "Now, whenever you find yourself in a place you do not wish to be, you will return to this room, and I will thoroughly satisfy your needs there.
"I will, will I?" Hermione opened her eyes as he shifted away from her. She found herself looking back into his bottomless gaze.
"You should practice tonight when you return to the dining hall."
"But I was enjoying the dinner conversation." She told him deadpan. He searched her eyes for a moment as if he thought she was serious.
"It isn't like one needs their full focus to converse with any of them." Riddle stepped back enough to give her room to breathe and checked Hermione over to see if there was any sign of the encounter with Rodolphus.
"Return to the dining hall, and I will join you when I am ready." He motioned her towards the door before turning to face one of the bookshelves.
"You didn't come in here to find Rodolphus and me."
"Return to dinner, Hermione." He ordered without looking at her.
She narrowed her eyes and bit down on her lower lip as she considered pressing the matter. What could Riddle possibly want from the Malfoy library? When she took a step towards him, he snapped a book closed, startling her.
"Fine, I'm going, but I won't be held accountable for what I say to all those fancy people."
"I look forward to hearing of your exploits."
With that, she turned towards the door and struggled with it a moment before she remembered the lock. Feeling a bit dumb, she turned the key and rushed out into the hall only to bowl into a young man.
She looked down at the boy as he looked up at her with the same steel-gray eyes the Lord of the house possessed.
"I didn't see you there." Hermione leaned down to help him back to his feet. The teen just continued to stare at her in something like awe. "Shouldn't you be in bed?"
He shook his head rapidly and sprang to his feet. His chin went into the air in such a practiced way that Hermione had to cover her mouth not to laugh.
"I will be Lord of this house one day. Who are you to question me?" He took on the mimicked posture of his father as he looked down his nose at her.
"No one important, little lord." She curtsied mockingly. "But I should return to the party before I'm missed."
"You will not breathe a word of seeing me out here." He ordered. Hermione rolled her lips into her mouth as she nodded. She didn't trust herself not to laugh if she were to try and speak. "Good." He gave her one last nod before he headed off in the opposite direction of the dining hall.
When Hermione finally returned to dinner, she found that there had been a bit of a switch in the seating arrangement. She found the infamous Bella had switched with the man who had been sitting across from her; she thought his name might have been Yaxley?
She took her seat and gave the woman a polite smile. As she was a peer, it would be rude for her to speak before spoken to, but it was obvious the woman had moved to get the measure of her.
"Miss. Granger, may I introduce my wife, Countess Bellatrix Black."
"I had to keep my maiden name to inherit the Black title."
"That is quite unusual, isn't it?" Hermione put on her most polite expression.
"Oh, the whole thing is a ghastly scandal." Bella's expression didn't match her tone, and Hermione could tell she enjoyed telling the story, so she simply waited for the woman to continue.
"My cousin was the original heir, but you see, he was caught literally red-handed, having just murdered two of his friends. Rotting away in Azkaban now. As he was the last male Black the title and estate fell to me, but only if I remained a Black myself. Dolfy understands how important that is to us."
Hermione blinked as she digested how much the woman was willing to tell a complete stranger about what should be the dark past of her family.
"You arrived with Tommy. Do you know where he's run off to?" The Countess asked as she looked over Hermione's shoulder.
"No idea, my Lady."
"The men folk have filled me in on how you originally met our pet investigator, but I'm curious as to why he brought you tonight?"
"Why does anyone bring a whore to a dinner party, my lady?"
"Do people do that?" She seemed genuinely curious.
"Often, but probably not to one with as distinguished of guests as this one. Usually, it is, so they have someone there that is contractually obligated to entertain them."
"You don't talk like any whore I've ever heard of."
"I read a lot, your Ladyship. That tends to refine one's vocabulary."
Bellatrix Black's personality could fill any room, but Hermione soon grew a bit bored with pretending not to understand she was being played with. She continued to listen to the woman and respond with polite but witty remarks as she built the room in her head once more. Riddle wanted her to practice, and it was a fun game to play and see if anyone in the room noticed she was distracted.
By the time the real Riddle returned, the fantasy version of him had bound and blindfolded her in her mind.
"Ah, Tommy, it was very naughty of you to keep me waiting." Bellatrix pouted at him, and Hermione was quite impressed that Riddle didn't slit her throat with cutlery.
"I must disappoint you further as I have only returned to retrieve my date. I have just received an urgent message about the case, and we must depart at once." Riddle helped Hermione to her feet as he spoke.
"That is disappointing, but must come to call on me soon; it has been too long." The woman wasn't even trying to hide their relationship; it was no wonder her husband sought a woman he could control.
"As my work allows." He bowed his head only slightly to her before doing the same for Lord Lucius. He guided Hermione from the room without another word.
"Get what you were looking for?" She asked, only once they were in the carriage.
He gave her a slight smirk and pulled her, so she was forced to straddle his lap.
"What did you think of the Countess?"
"She is quite the character. I'm curious as to what you see in her?"
"She provides insight into certain parts of society. There are no doors closed to her, and she tells me what happens behind the ones I can't enter as myself."
"So you're her whore, only you're paid in information." Hermione nodded sagely as Riddle tightened his hold on her waist.
"That is a way of looking at it."
"How would you look at it?"
Though his expression was as blank as ever, she started to get a feel for the slight changes in his face. At that moment, she could see his almost invisible battle between amusement and anger.
"The arrangement..." He trailed off as she had traped him with her logic. He traded sex for information; what else could he do but admit he was whoring himself to the Countess?
"You're right." He finally admitted, his fingers digging into her hips hard enough to bruise.
"What did you take from the Lord's library?" She asked as she settled her hands on his shoulders for support. As they entered less affluent neighborhoods, bumps became more prevalent in their ride.
"You are quite nosy for a woman who makes her living on her back."
"I like to think of it as inquisitive, and I know it must be good if you are using my occupation as a weapon to deter further questions. And right after we just agreed, you're a whore too."
"I don't make my living that way." He chuckled as he trailed light touches up the front of her dress.
"Will you take Rodolphus up on his offer once we are done?" Riddle questioned as he pulled her breasts free once more. "I must admit he currently has access to more assets than I could match."
"Because of the Black's money?"
"She does enjoy telling that story." Riddle rolled his eyes as he looked out the window. His hands returned to her waist.
"Quite a lot."
"Her cousin is Sirius Black, and he was convicted of killing Potter's parents."
Hermione blinked. "Who were his parents that their deaths sent a peer to Azkaban?"
"Baron James Potter and his wife, Lily."
"Then Harry is a-"
"He's refused to take the title until his godfather is cleared."
"But he was in the army."
"All the men of his line serve in the queen's army." Riddle's voice was mocking. "Sirus himself served, Potter was away when the murder occurred. He blames himself. He blames the Death Eaters. He is absolutely sure his godfather couldn't have harmed his best friend. He has quite a high opinion of family."
"Not you?"
"I'll let you meet mine some time, and you can ask me that again."