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Masters of Manipulation	By : Nerys Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Hermione/Voldemort Views: 28506 -:- Recommendations : 4 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 17
- 18
- 19
Masters of manipulation

Chapter eighteen

The foul, disgusting smell was what woke her up more than anything else. Not the pain in her left arm or the damp, burning heat that seemed to soar through her body. Hermione looked at the green roof of the small tent she was in. It was one of those tents fit for Muggle backpackers. They were nice and easy to carry, but not meant to be used for anything else but sleeping, since they were way too cramped. There were two bunks in it, and one of them was occupied by her, while the other was vacant. The ridiculous amounts of blankets, which were placed on top of her, were more of a burden than a help, and she tossed them to the side. She felt warm enough as it was. There really was no point in adding more heat into her body.

Curious about the condition of her now painfully and smelly left arm, she pulled up the sheet that was wrapped around it. Her arm was covered in thick layers of dark brown ointment, a very familiar looking and stinking dark brown ointment. And sure enough, she noticed the jar standing on the ground next to her bunk. The lit was partially off and she noticed that half of the jar's contents had already been used. Hermione tried to use her good arm to get into a seated position, but someone pushed her back down into the bed.

'What do you think you are doing?' Tom asked annoyed as he tossed the blankets back on top of her. 'Are you desperately trying to lose that arm or what?'

'Riddle, what, where, why, how?'

'Anything you'd liked to get answered first, Granger?' he amusingly said, as he tucked in the last blanket so tightly she could barely move.

'Do you mind? I can't move like this,' Hermione said.

'That is the general idea behind it,' Riddle said cheerful as he waved his wand around to secure the blanket even further.

He snorted at seeing her furious glare. 'A Merry Christmas to you too, Granger.'

'What? Is it Sunday already?' Hermione shouted out. Had she really been out for an entire day?

Riddle picked up the jar and started to close the lit correctly, before answering her question.

'Yes, it has been Sunday for nearly fourteen hours now. You've been very ill. I wasn't sure you were going to make it. Luckily, I found this jar in your bag. I must say I was somewhat surprised to see the contents, since I wasn't planning on sharing this ointment with the world, but I guess some things do leak out.' And he sat down at his bunk, placing the now closed jar onto the ground.

'What does that ointment do, anyway?' Hermione asked curiously.

She had been wondering about the contents of that jar for so long she couldn't resist asking him, even if it did give away that he hadn't been sharing anything with the world at all.

'You don't know?'

'Would I be asking if I did?'

He smirked smugly. 'It heals all kinds of burn wounds by means of Transfiguration.'

'Transfiguration?' Hermione frowned at that thought. 'But if something is burned away, then there is nothing left you can use to Transfigure back into those missing cells,' she said, puzzled.

'That is what the ointment is for. It takes on the basic properties of the nearby healthy cells and duplicates them, until the wound is properly healed,' Tom explained.

'So the ointment gets Transfigured, but how did you account for the variation?'

'Its properties are relayed through the central nervous system. So in a way the mind tells the ointment what it needs to create precisely.'

His smug expression increased at seeing Hermione's astonished face. He had invented something like that already? It was a bloody brilliant solution. The variation was one of the reasons why the research to curing extensive wounds from burns was frustrating every Healer in her time, and he created a solution to that in his teens? But why would he have bothered to create this cure? And she just had to ask.

'I had some need for it after I sort of burned down the orphanage when I was fourteen. The scars are almost gone now,' he said joyous, like he had just told her a wonderful anecdote.

And he turned around and showed her his back. There was still some evidence of what must have been an extensive burn mark, but it had mostly healed completely and it was clear that in due time, there would not be a single mark left that gave evidence that he once had been severely burned.

'You burned down an orphanage and got caught in the middle of it?' Hermione said, appalled at the first and a bit amused at the latter.

'Yeah, well, I wasn't counting on the latter, but I guess I might have overestimated my skills at controlling Fiendfyre back then. It wasn't even capable of targeting that horrific Muggle that runs the place, but I suppose I can always get to her someday soon.'

The thought appeared to make him incredibly happy and Hermione wasn't at all pleased to be entrusted with the plans of another murder.

'That was your Fiendfyre back there, wasn't it?' Hermione asked, changing the subject.

'What, did the Serpent give me away?' Tom said smirking. 'Yes, it appears you owe me a life debt, Hermione. How very convenient.'

But Hermione merely snorted at that statement. 'I don't think so Riddle. You see, in order for your actions to qualify under those terms, there has to be a certain amount of selflessness involved, and somehow our Blood Bond pretty much excludes that, as I believe you are very well aware of.'

'Oh, you know that,' Tom said, sounding disappointed. 'I was already beginning to get the impression you had not read a thing on those bonds before you created one yourself,' and he grinned at her as he moved over from his bunk to sit on hers. 'Anyway, you need to stay immobile here. At least, until the ointment is done with its Transfiguration of your arm or there will be some nasty side-effects. The scaring can be dealt with later on.'

'Here?'

'Yes Granger, here, in the marvellous world of Durmstrang,' Tom said sarcastically, and his hand gestured around. 'Mind telling me what you were thinking, going here on your own?'

'We are still at Durmstrang?' Hermione asked, worried.

'I know I'm wonderful, Hermione, but not even I can incapacitate those wards without being spotted immediately. And, apparently, Grindelwald doesn't feel like lowering them. I wonder why,' he said mockingly, and he held up Mind over Matter.

Hermione already had a feeling that book would pop up into the conversation, eventually. Tom probably had been dying for an opportunity to go through her beaded bag to begin with. And he must have been thrilled that said opportunity presented itself. She was certain he would not have stopped looking, until he had examined everything that she carried around with her.

'I hope you enjoyed yourself snivelling around my stuff,' Hermione said grunting.

'I have to admit it was most entertaining. You carry around some very useful things in there. Although, for the life of me, I can't possibly imagine why you want to drag this along,' and he amusingly held up Phineas's frame.

'I'm attached to it,' Hermione merely said.

Tom snorted. 'Hmm, it appears you're a much better liar, Granger, than I gave you credit for.'

And he dumped the frame back in her bag, while he tapped on Rowena's book with his fingers. 'I take it you nicked this out from underneath Grindelwald's nose?' Tom said nonchalant, but Hermione did not miss the shift in tone that told her he was impressed with that accomplishment.

Hermione casually shrugged, like it was no big deal, an everyday job.

'Did you ever plan on telling me there was a third book?' he pleasantly added.

'No, not particularly,' Hermione bluntly said.

'I thought as much,' Tom stated. 'However,' and he carefully watched her, 'if Ravenclaw has also made one of those books, then it is only fair to assume Hufflepuff has written one as well.' And Tom kept staring at her after saying that, but eventually, he withdrew his gaze and sighed. 'Impressive, Granger, I just know I have to be right about that, but it seems I can't count on you showing me the truth anymore. It was clever of you to hide those Occlumency skills from me.'

Hermione looked at him, confused. What was he talking about? She had not practised anything. He should be able to pick up on her thoughts easily. Perhaps it was the fever that blocked his ability to read her. Or maybe it had something to do with what happened at the Christmas Ball. She had, suddenly, been able to move again without any action on her part. Nothing made sense anymore, but she had an almost Trelawney-like insight that the balance had somehow shifted in her favour.

'So Grindelwald wants this book back. Too bad for him. I suppose we better hide it somewhere on the grounds. That way, if we're caught, he won't immediately have access to the book as well,' Tom said thoughtful.

'No, we need to keep it with us,' Hermione said sharply.

'Oh, why is that, Granger?'

'He'll find it, if we don't,' Hermione said certain.

Riddle looked at her suspiciously. 'Now, why would he find it? The grounds here are incredibly vast. And I can certainly put some securities around the book to protect it.'

'That won't do,' Hermione replied.

'What are you not telling me, Granger?' Riddle said menacingly, and he placed his hands on each side of her head.

'Oh, please,' Hermione said sarcastically, 'I don't know, Riddle. Why don't you read all about it in my mind?'

She had no idea why she said something so risky, but she had this notion and gambled on it. He grabbed a hold of her head and fixated his gaze on her. Hermione felt the same funny, electrical feelings as before, but it was obvious that he was trying to get the results he had achieved during the Dance and failed miserably. His eyes flashed red with fury. He pulled out his wand.

'Legilimency!'

Nothing happened.

'Well,' Hermione said thoughtful, 'this certainly is an interesting development.'

Riddle flew to his feet and aimed at her: 'Expulso!'

Tom paced out of the tent after the blast. Hermione watched the utterly destroyed bunk with some amusement. He had, apparently, changed his mind at the last moment and had directed his aim at the bunk instead, blowing it into smithereens. Hermione smirked deviously. She had been right; this certainly was going to be interesting.

'I wonder how far I can take this,' she thought questionably.

The next couple of days were pretty boring for Hermione. Her fever had vanished and she had realised the reason for the huge amount of blankets on her bed after that, because there was no heating at all in the tent. And it got very cold inside the tent, especially during the nights. Heat Charms were too easy to detect and Riddle did not dare to risk using them. He was convinced Grindelwald would have used Heat Detecting Charms. He charmingly informed her that it was what he would have done. Hermione made a mental note of that, before agreeing with his reasoning.

However, lying in a bed twenty-four/seven was beginning to disagree a lot with Hermione Jean. And that got worse after she began to feel an awful lot better and wanted to get up. But Riddle kept nagging that her arm was not fine yet. And he was, annoyingly, insisting on applying the ointment on her arm, after he saw how she, and I quote, 'made a huge mindless Gryffindoresk mess of applying it.'

There had been four occasions when Riddle had come running into the tent, had lifted her up, blankets, beaded bag and all, and had Dissapparated them away to another location. After which, he summoned the tent to follow them to their newest safe haven. The last time that happened, Hermione heard Riddle mumbling something about Grindelwald being a brainless twit for not trying to find some means to detect people Apparating. And she was certain he was making a mental note of that to himself.

Hermione felt it was too bad that the wards surrounding the terrain did not allow them to Apparate out of there, but she knew that they were lucky that the grounds of Durmstrang were so spacious that the Anti-Apparation Wards only worked sufficiently in clear proximity of the castle or whenever someone wanted to cross the outer barrier.

Unfortunately, the food situation, or better lack thereof, was beginning to take desperate turns. The plant life was uneatable. They had deemed sneaking into Durmstrang as a hopeless endeavour with the current security, and since eating animals required cooking, which required long-term heating arrangements that they dare not use… Well, it all meant they had not eaten anything for days. Snow could be melted into water with a quick spell that avoided the Heat Detectors or they could place it underneath the blankets in the bottles Hermione had in her bag. So drinking wasn't an issue, but they needed to eat soon or their respected moods would kill.

Riddle had been making remarks about how it was possible that someone who had the intelligence to create a bottomless pit of a bag had the idiocy of not taking one of the few exceptions of Elementary Transfiguration with her. Hermione had been making remarks about how it was possible that someone who had the intelligence to create wards that kept them hidden had not realised on the first day that he had got there that it might be a good idea to nick some food straight away, while the protections were still being set in place. So when it became Saturday morning again, and Riddle decided that he was going to break into the Durmstrang castle, no matter what, Hermione could not agree more. And they both left the tent to see if they could sneak into the castle to get something to eat.

Hermione was still getting used to how her left arm felt these days. It was heavily scarred with burn marks, but other than that the tissue had been nicely healed. The ointment was now only added in extremely thin layers and Tom had reduced the number of appliances to twice a day. He had not done it this morning, after Hermione had said that she was sure the smell would get her caught by the guards surrounding the castle. It was, after all, a very dominant odour. She had made several wisecracks about it to Riddle in the past few days, but he had merely smirked at her. And at some point, he had replied to her that she was being a bit of baby, which sounded too familiar in her ears. Unfortunately, he had made sure to be out of punching range at the time, so she had left it at that and had stopped teasing him about the odour.

Hermione felt their little raid went surprisingly easy. The guards of the place had become somewhat lacks after standing there for days without anything happening. Hermione even heard them complain about standing in the cold, while nobody would be foolish enough to approach this place anyway. One of them even questioned Grindelwald's sanity in thinking there were intruders at all. He claimed the man had got overly paranoid, because nobody would be interested in breaking into a school of all places. Hermione and Tom were able to ambush the two guards that were taking a smoke behind a tree, and they Polyjuiced into them. After which, they slowly made their way to the staff-only entrance. It was the closest door to the kitchen as Hermione remembered.

'I'll take the bag and retrieve the food. You stay here and watch the perimeter,' Riddle commanded, after they reached the door.

'I know what the interior of that place looks like, Riddle. So, why don't you stay here and watch the perimeter, while I go and collect the food,' Hermione replied, equally bossy.

'We don't need to get a decoration advice, Granger. You said the kitchen was right around the corner. I think I can find it,' he snarled at her.

'And I know I can find it, since I have seen where it is,' she sneered back.

'We don't have time for this. You're still getting used to how that arm feels and moves, while I have a fully functioning arm, which I'm used to. It makes far more sense for me to go, since I hope to stash away an awful lot of eatable things in that bag quickly. Now, hand me the bleeding bag before I do something we are both going to regret,' he added menacingly.

Hermione pushed the bag into his arms violently.

'Fine, but if you get caught, because you took a wrong turn, then don't expect me to come to your rescue,' Hermione hissed.

'How very Slytherin of you,' Tom snickered as he entered the castle.

After ten minutes of waiting, Hermione was beginning to get concerned. Riddle still wasn't back, and the Polyjuice Potion wasn't going to provide them with protection indefinitely. She had stood with the doorknob in her hand on a couple of occasions, but had let go.

'What is keeping that idiot? I swear if he's taking all this time, because he is wasting it with snacking in the kitchen, then I'm going to kill him,' she thought, irritated.

Hermione decided to go and check what was keeping him, but the door flew open and Riddle stepped outside. Hermione looked at him angrily.

'What was keeping you so long? It's only a minute walk from here to the kitchen and back again, and I believe that is even overstating the distance,' she said furiously, but she halted her tirade when she felt the slightest sign of his distress. 'What happened? Did they see you?'

'No, but there was this huge woman, who would not leave the corner, after I had sneaked into the kitchen. I had to hex her, so we better get out of here,' Tom replied evenly.

'You hexed her! Couldn't you have waited a little while longer? Now, they're going to know for sure someone is still here,' Hermione said, annoyed.

'Yes, because the missing food, of course, won't tip them of at all,' Tom said sarcastically. 'Besides, Grindelwald already knows we are here. I believe it doesn't matter that much if the rest of them also become aware of it, since they all follow his lead. Can we go now or do you want to debate the issue, until we're caught red-handed?'

And he started to walk back to the trees. A minute later, they heard shouts coming from inside the castle. Hermione and Tom looked at each other anxiously and walked a bit sturdier towards the perimeter. The door flew open and a brown-haired man shouted towards them.

'Jürgen! Viktor! Have you seen anyone exit or enter through this door?'

Hermione answered coolly, remembering the two men had been complaining about their situation. 'No, and we've been standing in the cold here for the entire morning.'

'Stay there and keep an eye on this door. If anyone wants to leave through it, take them into custody,' the brown-haired man ordered, before he went back inside.

Tom whistled softly. 'That was too close for comfort, Granger. I suggest we abandon this area quickly.'

'Sounds like a plan to me,' Hermione replied.

And they, quickly, ran into the woods, until they established a far enough distance between themselves and the castle to be able to Apparate elsewhere on the grounds again. They arrived at their tent feeling elated and giddy; and they were certainly feeling victorious when they sat down on Hermione's bed and ate some bits and pieces of the huge supply of food Riddle had deemed necessary to nick.

'What's this?' Hermione said questionably, and she held up a bottle of Firewhisky.

'Ah, you found it,' Riddle said gleeful. 'I almost thought I misplaced it.'

And he took the bottle, conjured up two glasses and started to pour the liquid in there.

'Why did you bring alcohol? Surely, we can't get intoxicated right now,' Hermione said sensible.

'I feel like celebrating,' Tom said in bravura.

He handed her a glass full. 'Surely, one glass of Firewhisky won't get us intoxicated and killed.' And he snorted at the thought. 'To our little victory, may it be the start of many more to come,' and he cheered at her, before he downed the drink in its entirety.

Hermione shook her head, but she took a sip as well, and then decided some French cheese would accompany the Firewhisky in a formidable way.

'You know I think this is the best birthday I ever had,' said Tom grinning, while he ate some potato chips accompanied with a bit of fried turkey. 'I should do this breaking and entering thing ever year.'

'It's your birthday?' Hermione asked. She had lost track of time.

'Yes, the 31st of December, all of New Year's Eve 1926, the joyous time of my wondrous birth into this world. Why so interested, Granger? Feel like giving me a present?' he teasingly said, and he wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

'Yeah, sure, here have one,' Hermione answered casually, and she stuffed one of the chocolate chip cookies in his mouth.

Riddle snorted, and that … turned out to be a bad idea to do when chewing on a crumbling cookie. A piece got stuck in his windpipe. He started coughing; his hand went to his throat.

'Tom?' Hermione said, worried.

And she started to pat him on the back, which made things worse, because the effect was that the irritating bit of a crumb dropped further down into his respiratory system. He grabbed Hermione by the arm, panicking, while he tried to breathe. Hermione noticed in shock that his lips were turning blue. He was choking. She pulled out her wand.

'Anapneo!'

And his airway was cleared instantaneously. Tom gasped for air. He was still panting from the experience and he was still holding onto Hermione's arm.

'I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. I was just…,' Hermione said, concerned.

Tom was bending over double. His body was shaking violently.

'Are you all right? Tom?'

He roared with laughter. 'God, Granger, you and your cookies are going to be the death of me.'

And he guffawed and doubled over again, when he saw her angry face.

She hit him on his arm. 'That's not funny,' Hermione said, heated. 'You scared the shit out of me.'

'It – it is a … bit,' Tom hiccoughed, but he stopped laughing when he saw her flustered face and grabbed a hold of her. 'Come on Granger, relax. I don't plan to die just yet.'

'You could have fooled me,' Hermione sneered. 'Do you realise that … And I would have … Because then…'

And they stared at each other in silence. When the decision was made neither knew, but they both moved towards the other at the same time. Tom pulled Hermione towards him, causing her to end up squatted on his lap and Hermione grabbed him at the front of his shirt, pulling him towards her. Their lips met. And they kissed ferociously, their tongues battling for dominance, as if they were trying to breathe by sucking in that last bit of remaining air out of the other participant's lungs.

And her hands moved, touching his face, ruffling through his hair, grabbing a hold of his head in order to deepen the kiss. And his hands were all over her body and she gasped for air when he pulled up her shirt and his hands went underneath to touch her bare skin. Hermione felt like she was on fire, and Tom seemed pretty heated as well. And they moved as one when Tom laid Hermione down on the bed.

Underneath the bunk, a devious piece of parchment, that had mysteriously followed them all week, glowed brightly in the most yellowish of colours. It was a very happy today, for it had accomplished what it set out to do.

On top of the bed, two people were wrestling with the excess clothes they still had on. Tom was lying on top of Hermione and he was trying to kiss her neck and remove her shirt at the same time, which turned out to be too big a task for the Dark Lord. Hermione was trying to undo the buttons of his shirt, while his body was pressed on top of hers and that was also not a doable situation. Finally, they both realised their efforts were going nowhere and Tom, reluctantly, stopped kissing Hermione and sat up. His knees were on either side of her body, keeping her pinned down beneath him. But he did hold himself up, so he wouldn't be leaning too heavily on her hips.

Hermione, quickly, undressed him and he loved the way her hands caressed his torso when she pulled his shirt over his shoulders and tossed it to the floor casually. He grabbed a hold of her face and started kissing her again, while Hermione undid his pants. He groaned when she, accidentally, rubbed his penis in the process and he flicked his wrist to make his wand appear. This was all taking way too long in his book. Roughly, he pushed her back into the mattress and pressed his wand in her throat.

'Allow me to undress you properly,' he said heatedly, staring into Hermione's luscious eyes.

A small smile made it to his face as he, slowly, drew his wand down over the centre of her body, making her clothes vanish in the process. He admired her breasts, causing her to blush, and he grinned as he hopped down next to her and started to trace his wand up the inside of her thigh, while kissing and sucking on her nipple meticulously. Hermione whimpered and quivered at his touch. She felt like she was about to explode, while their contact sent out delicious jolting sensations through her nerves. When she was thoroughly undressed, Tom flashed his wand at his remaining outfit and it vanished too.

Within a split-second, he was back on top of her now naked body and he kissed her thoroughly on the mouth, while the bond between them went into overdrive on their extensive skin on skin contact. They both felt the power of the jolts increasing. It was smashing into their brains with the force of a sledgehammer, making them crave each other even more.

Hermione flung her arms around him, trying to pull his body harder against her, while their tongues were circling each other, moving in an elaborate dance of exploration. His hands caressed the sides of her body and she felt his arousal pressing on the inside of her thigh, making her buck her hips towards him. Tom broke the kiss and they gasped for air, while gazing into each other's eyes continuously.

'Have you ever done this before, Hermione?' Tom asked softly, while gently stroking her face with the hand he wasn't using to keep himself somewhat upright.

'No,' Hermione whispered and she was trying to pull him back to continue their previous activity, but Tom placed his fingers on her lips and stared at her caringly. 'Look,' Hermione said, 'I may not have much experience, but I read all about it and I know a first time is painful and that it isn't always as great…' She halted her rant when Tom roared with laughter. 'What?' she snapped aggravated.

'You read all about it,' said Tom, chuckling with endearment. 'I should have known…'

And he used his lips to stop her from responding. His hand moved between her folds and he rubbed her clit extensively, while his tongue began tracing circles over her nipples and he smirked when Hermione wriggled and squirmed underneath him as her moans became increasingly vocal and desperate. He picked his wand from beside the pillow and cast a quick contraceptive charm.

'You know, Hermione,' Tom breathed into her ear, 'first times are only rubbish when you are dealing with a complete klutz. However, if you prefer painful, I can certainly oblige, but it is absolutely unnecessary for those of us with some magical talent.'

Hermione frowned at him. 'What do you mean?' she whispered, groaning when he pressed another sensitive button on her body.

'I mean I can assist you magically, if you want. But only if you are certain you want to do this.'

'Oh, will you stop jabbing your mouth off and spoil the mood. Just get a move on,' Hermione ordered bossy.

Tom laughed again and he looked at her mischievously. 'So I am spoiling the mood?' he asked deviously, while casting a charm on her clit.

'Ohhh!' Hermione screamed in lust and wantonness.

She felt her insides were going to explode and she needed him desperately, as in NOW! He caressed her body all over, sending shivers down her spine and she tried to gain some control of the situation by pulling him against her, but he was by far the stronger party and he did not oblige her just yet. Tom started sucking on her earlobe, tickling her into insanity, while he pushed her legs apart with his.

'I will promise you this, Hermione.' Kiss. 'Your first time will not be great.' Kiss. 'It will be magnificent.' Kiss. 'It will be so unforgettable, 'kiss, 'you will never want,' kiss, 'to be,' nibble, 'with another man,' suck, 'ever again.' Kiss.

'Jab, jab, jab,' Hermione started, but he entered her with a swift motion, while waving his wand at her genitals to help adjust her muscles to the unaccustomed movement. The charm Tom used prevented the normal painful sensations from happening, because it told the vaginal muscles what to do and it caused Hermione to only be aware of the wonderful feeling of being filled to the hilt.

'Yes!' Hermione yelled in delight.

Tom groaned. He threw his head back and closed his eyes. Oh fuck, she was so deliciously tight. He felt her hands on his chest caressing his body, before she grabbed a hold of his neck and dragged him towards her to attack his neck with her mouth. Her arms flung around his waist when he started moving inside of her. He was slowly picking up speed, while she spread her legs wider in order to give him more access. All his previous concerns about being careful quickly flew out the window when they became ferociously wild in their actions. Hermione scratched his back and left love bites all over his neck, while he pounded into her with vigour, grabbing her wrists and pushing them beside her head into the mattress.

'Surrender to me, darling,' he hissed, while rotating his pelvis and attacking her G-spot with a vengeance.

'Ohhhh!'

'Whose witch are you?' he snarled at the girl beneath him who began to shudder and shake at the unset of her orgasm. 'Whose!' he demanded, while pulling her wrists together, so he could hold them down with one hand.

'Yours!'

'Who?' he repeated, trying desperately to hold of his own climax, and he pinched her clit merciless.

'Oh fuck!' Hermione cried out.

'That's it, dear,' he breathed, 'come for me, Hermione.' He knew he found the right angle to hit her clit and G-spot with every stroke of his cock and he ravished her with furore. 'I want you squirming and quivering beneath me. I want to feel your surrender around me.'

He didn't have to wait long. Hermione threw her head back and yelled out his name as she came violently. He could barely hold her wrists in place when her strength increased with her feelings of ecstasy, and he felt her vagina milking his cock, drawing him in further and pushing him over the edge too. An incomprehensible scream left his lips as he spilt his release inside of her. And in the next second their bond strengthened beyond reversal. The jolt, which accompanied that, was so powerful it overloaded all their nerves and they passed out cold from its impact. And as they were lying on the bed, their bodies connected to each other in an entanglement of limbs, a satisfied piece of parchment stopped glowing and vanished into thin air.

BANG!

Tom and Hermione woke up from the loud explosion.

'What?' Hermione said, sitting up in bed, shocked.

BANG! And the tent started shaking.

'Bloody Hell! The wards are coming down! They found us!' Tom yelled, and he dragged Hermione out of bed.

They, each, flicked their wand, and they were both dressed instantaneously. Hermione grabbed her beaded bag. Another crash and the tent flew up in the air.

'Protego Totalum!' Hermione shouted, and a Silvery Shield flew around their campsite.

Tom grabbed a hold of her waist and he spun them on the spot.

'Oh no,' Hermione said weakly, when they remained exactly where they were.

Apparently, Grindelwald wasn't such a brainless twit after all. And with a loud burst, Hermione's Area Shield was torn to pieces.

'Get down!' Tom yelled.

He flashed his wand; a green jet flew of it, and he pushed Hermione out of the way in order to get another clear shot at whoever was out there. Hermione rolled over the ground and aimed at the bearded man she saw standing a few feet away.

'Stupify!' Hermione shouted, and the bearded fellow was thrown backwards.

'Avada Kedavra!' And a second Killing Curse flew from Riddle's wand, striking down another who did not dive out of the way fast enough.

Hermione, who had got back on her feet again, saw several jets of all different kinds of colours make it their way. She grabbed Riddle and pulled him down with her. The curses clashed above their heads and were diverted into several directions. Suddenly, extraordinary large flames erupted all around them. The flames were encircling them, until all they could see was Fiendfyre.

'Put those wands down, NOW!' Gellert Grindelwald had arrived at the scene.

'Get those flames any closer, and your book will go down in it!' Riddle yelled back.

Hermione started shaking her head. 'That won't work,' she hissed to Riddle, 'Rowena's book cannot be destroyed in that manner.'

Riddle shrugged. 'Maybe he won't know that.'

'Be my guest,' Gellert said, amused, from the other side of the Fiendfyre.

'See,' Hermione sneered, and she tossed her wand on the ground.

'Are you crazy,' Tom snapped at her, 'they will kill us once they have the book.'

'And he will kill us straight away if you don't put down that wand, right now,' Hermione replied.

'Both wands, please,' Grindelwald said calm, 'I'm not waiting forever.'

And the flames moved a wee bit closer. Hermione jumped backwards into Tom to get away from the heat.

'Watch it, Granger.'

'Tom,' Hermione said, eyeing him insistently.

He growled and tossed his wand on the ground.

'Excellent,' Gellert said, satisfied.

The flames died out simultaneously with the disappearance of their wands from the scene. Hermione noticed Grindelwald pocketed the wands, before he started eyeing them curiously.

'The book?' he said questioningly, and he held out his hand.

Hermione's hand went towards her beaded bag. Grindelwald raised his wand at her, and she froze up.

'Careful, missy, you don't want to get hurt now,' he warned her.

Tom was watching her as she, slowly, pulled out Mind over Matter from her bag and held it out towards Grindelwald. A simple Summoning Spell and the book returned back in the hands of its owner. Hermione looked apprehensively at Tom, whose facial expression had turned completely blank, but due to their bond Hermione could sense the turmoil underneath.

'So, the Brits have to send me a bunch of children these days? Did they run out of real Unspeakables?' Grindelwald asked smirking.

And the group around him started laughing.

'So who are you?' he asked sharply.

And before Hermione could say anything, Riddle had already responded.

'I'm Alphard Black and she's Hermione Malfoy,' Tom said evenly.

Hermione felt a huge sense of glee at her cost when he spoke out that last name, and even though it irritated her enormously, she could appreciate the quick thinking in coming up with two well-known pure-blood names.

'And you two thought you could steal from me?'

It remained silent after those words, but Gellert continued talking when they did not respond.

'It was rather silly of you to go after this book without taking care of the source of ownership.' And he twirled his wand around. 'You see, no one can take this book from me. I am its true owner as long as I own this wand. You should have challenged me for a duel. Any takers?' he laughingly said.

'No?' he added in fake disappointment at their continued silence.

'Then I guess you two must have some intelligence after all. I doubted that, you know, when I saw someone had been so unwise to steal the book to begin with. After all, only the true holder of this wand owns Mind over Matter. And the owner of the book is the only one who can decide where the book should go. Nobody else has a say in it. You should have done your research before you came here and tried to take it. Your little mission was doomed before it even started,' Gellert said calmly.

'So are you two of Albus's protégés? I'm certain no one could have got down there without his help, and it would be so like him to send me two kiddies instead of stumbling over here himself,' Gellert said, grinning.

Neither Hermione nor Tom responded to the sarcastic remarks, but Hermione felt the fury of the person next to her reach dangerously high levels at being called a protégé of Dumbledore and a kiddie. However, Tom Riddle's face remained set in that cool, collective, blank expression.

'Hmm, you are not much of a talkative couple, right? Very well, Vasili, let's make sure Albus regrets this. Kill them and sent their corpses back to Dumbledore.' And Gellert was about to turn around.

'I wouldn't do that if I were you,' Tom said pleasantly.

Grindelwald snorted. 'Wow, so you do know how to talk. I was afraid I was dealing with a bunch of mutes.' He was tapping with his wand on his hand, while he eyed Tom amused. 'Well, let's hear it. I loved to be entertained,' he said sarcastically. 'So, why should I keep the two of you alive?'

'That depends on whether you want the other volume,' Riddle said plainly.

Hermione swivelled her head sideways angrily. He wouldn't.

Grindelwald narrowed his eyes, but then, he hoisted his shoulders. 'Which other volume?' he asked casually, but it was obvious he knew what Riddle was talking about and was very, very interested.

'Infinity in Space by Godric Gryffindor,' Riddle answered coolly.

Hermione was sitting on a bed in the Durmstrang dungeon. Her arms were holding onto her legs; her bend knees were in front of her, and she was resting her chin on them, while watching the moon outside through the small, barred window. She had no idea of the precise time, but that moon told her enough. Her time was almost up. After Riddle had suggested that he would go fetch the book and hand it to Grindelwald in return for their freedom, Hermione had barely been unable to restrain herself from snorting out loud. She knew Tom Riddle would never, ever let that book escape his hands so easily. Grindelwald had considered this option and had found it an interesting one, but he had wanted a small change in plans. Gellert had wanted Hermione to fetch the book, while Riddle stayed, because, according to Grindelwald, she was more trustworthy.

Hermione had laughed out loud at Grindelwald's words. But her laughter had soon died out, when Riddle kindly informed them that she no longer had access to the book. And he was very accurate in describing her preset safeguards, so she was certain he broke them. Hermione had then reputed that if he were to tell her how to get the book, she could still manage to obtain it. At which time Riddle had found it necessary to ask her if she had, suddenly, become a Parselmouth, and if she really thought she would be able to get in and out of there. The Stupid Heir Boy had, apparently, hidden the books in the Chamber of Secrets. Grindelwald had watched their bickering with some amusement, but he had, eventually, ended it. And he had given Riddle twelve hours to get back here with Infinity in Space, or his little girlfriend would end up six feet under.

After Riddle had left, Grindelwald had dumped her here in this cellar. He had eyed her for a moment before leaving, and he had the nerve to advise her on his way out, that if she was to leave this place intact, she would do well to get another boyfriend, because the one she was currently seeing was no good.

'Yeah, it takes one to know one,' Hermione had sarcastically responded, causing Grindelwald to roar with laughter, while he had left the dungeon.

Hermione growled. She was going to be killed by Gellert Grindelwald if Lord Voldemort wouldn't make it back here. It was the most disturbing situation of her entire life. And she had seen some real disturbing events before. And speaking of disturbing things … had she really, really done last night what she thought she had?

And Hermione swore to herself that if she made it out of here alive tonight, she would find the true reason behind their current predicament. She would get her hands on every Blood-Binding Charm's book that was out there in existence. She had known when she placed the Charm in Godric's book that they would get bonded physically. She had known what the eventual outcome of that Charm alone would be. There had been some questions as to how the already partially Blood Bond she had with Riddle, would affect her Charm, and vice versa. But they could not account for the strange events that kept occurring between her and Riddle.

It would explain only part of the physical attraction, but these weird mental lapses were not described anywhere. Not even in the Necronomicom. And this ridiculous relationship with Riddle had to end, preferably sooner than later. It was when she realised that the relationship would also be over, if she died tonight. It would also give Riddle a free travel card on the road towards all four books.

'That prick, that unbelievable, no good piece of a foul… Arggh!'

Hermione rubbed her hands through her hair in frustration. She was so doomed. This wasn't going to end happily. Riddle would not show. He would be a fool if he did. And he was many things, but certainly not a fool. Besides, they could not allow someone with the intelligence of Gellert Grindelwald to get a hold of these books. That had the potential of a significant disaster written all over it.

Her pondering was disturbed when the door flew open and the curly, blond-haired wizard stepped through the door. Hermione got to her feet.

'I did say that boyfriend of yours was not to be trusted,' Gellert said plainly.

He flashed his wand. 'Avada Kedavra.'

And on January the first, 1945, Hermione Jean Granger died.

She woke up due to someone's annoying habit of continuously pushing into her shoulder. Hermione knew she had to explain to Riddle that she did not appreciate this as a wake-up call at all. But when she opened her eyes and saw Tom Riddle fast asleep next to her, she screamed her lungs out. A dash of red hit the sleeping Riddle and Hermione stared right in the face of another Riddle.

'What, how?' she asked dumbfounded, until she saw the book, Eternity in Time, in his hands.

'Are you crazy?' she bellowed, and her head swivelled between one Riddle and the other. 'What if we get stuck with another Ballroom or worse, because of your ignorant tampering with Time? Can't you at least wait, until we have finished reading every chapter and have found out why that anomaly occurred?' And she eyed him furiously.

'Get dressed Granger, we need to leave now. Grindelwald will be here in an hour,' Tom said calmly.

Hermione's mouth remained slightly ajar and her eyes widened in shock. Something had gone wrong the first time around, and obviously, it hadn't gone wrong with him.

'Granger,' Tom repeated, irritated, because she made no movement at all.

'Well, turn around then,' Hermione said bossily, and she made a rotating motion with one hand, while holding onto the sheet with the other.

Riddle raised his eyebrows in amusement. 'It's nothing I haven't seen or experienced yet, Hermione dear,' Tom said smirking.

'Riddle,' Hermione said warningly.

'Fine, fine,' Tom said tiresome, and he turned around, sighing exaggeratedly.

Hermione searched the floor with her eyes, until she saw her wand. She went over, got it and charmed her clothes back on.

'Could you hurry up, Granger; I have no intention of saving your cute, you-know-what, for a second time around. Ouch!'

Hermione had slapped him in the arm again.

'What about your other self?' Hermione asked the conscious Tom, as she grabbed her beaded bag.

'That problem will be solved, I believe, in less than an hour,' Tom said blankly.

Hermione snorted. 'You have that little faith in yourself? And here I was under the mistaken impression that… What was it again that you said? Oh yeah! Nothing was impenetrable for Lord Voldemort,' she said snickering.

Riddle frowned. And Hermione started laughing.

'Avada Kedavra,' Tom cast lazily, and the jet of green hit the body of Tom Riddle.

Hermione's jaw dropped. 'You just…? But…?'

'I believe you made an excellent point there, Hermione. I can't risk him making it out of here. I do not always carry this book around, after all.'

'But the Horcruxes?' Hermione said, puzzled. This Time Travel business was giving her a headache.

'I'm still here, so there is no need for them,' Riddle said smugly. 'Have you got everything?'

'Yes,' Hermione said, and she started walking towards the exit.

'Wait,' Riddle said sharply. 'We need to leave the book here.'

'Which book?' Hermione asked.

'Rowena's volume.'

'No way, Riddle. I did not come all this way for nothing,' Hermione said certain.

'We can't take it with us. The book wants to be with its rightful owner,' Riddle explained.

'What?' Hermione said, aggravated.

'Grindelwald said that only the owner could give the book away, and trust me, he's not planning to hand out nice presents to us,' Riddle added.

'But then it will be impossible to ever get our hands on this one? I don't believe that. There must be a way around that ownership. And I do not plan to let this book slip away. Not now, not after all the effort I've put into it,' Hermione said stubborn.

'Granger, I understand it's rather painful, but it is as it is. We'll figure out some way to get Rowena's book another time, but now we have to leave. Grindelwald will be here in less than thirty minutes. And I want to be off the premises, before he gets here. Hand me the book,' Tom demanded.

Hermione glared at him. 'Don't order me around, Riddle. I'm not one of your little puppets.'

He, swiftly, swirled over to her and pulled her around the waist towards him. When their bodies collided, he gazed into her eyes, while cupping her cheek with his hand. 'I would never mistake you for one of those idiots, Hermione,' he softly spoke, and he kissed her on her forehead. 'But you are mine,' he whispered seductively, and he started trailing kisses all over her neck. 'You belong with me,' he added smoothly, and his hands were underneath her clothes again. 'I know what you desire, Hermione.' She let out an involuntary moan when his touch caused her body to react. 'I will never let you go.' And she wrapped her arms around his neck as he pulled her tighter against him. 'Remember that, dear, never.' And he tossed Ravenclaw's book, which he had retrieved from her bag in the mean time, onto the bunk behind them, while they were kissing each other extensively.

'We need to leave,' he whispered after a while, flustered as well from their close contact.

Tom spun them on the spot, and they Dissapparated away mere minutes before some serious trouble arrived at the scene. They reappeared nearby the iron gates of Durmstrang in the same 'holding onto each other' position as they had left. Tom looked at the gates and tried to let go of Hermione. But she smiled, grabbed a hold of his head and waist, and kissed his neck. Hermione could just feel his smirk at her behaviour.

And she softly whispered in his ear. 'I should probably thank you for doing that again.' She wrapped her leg around his to buy herself some more time, and she focused. 'I would never have known how you accomplished this feat, if you hadn't tried to repeat your attempts to control me.' Hermione felt his muscles tense up against her body when she whispered those words to him, and she concentrated her mind at all her might. 'It was so nice of you to show me how it's done, though a bit unwise.' And she knew she had him when he could not move away from her. 'After all, I have a fully completed Blood Bond at my disposal, dearest, while yours is only partially active due to your delightful ancestor.' And she dove inside him.

The result was astonishing. His legs buckled, his full weight landed in her arms, and they crashed to the snowy ground together when Hermione could no longer support his heavy body, but refused to let go of her mind control. It wasn't until she noticed he had passed out fully, that she released him. She swore loudly at seeing his unconscious body.

'Riddle!' But he did not wake from her shaking his body around or from her yelling at him.

This wasn't what she had counted on. Hermione looked at the wards of Durmstrang. They were still very much in place and active, unlike Mr High-and-Mighty on the ground. How had he been planning to get out of here? Riddle would never have Apparated them so close to these wards, if he wouldn't have had an idea on how to lower them. And she glared at him furiously.

'This is so typical,' she hissed at his motionless form, 'this – this … overreacting when someone does to you, what you do to everybody else. Jerk.'

And she hit him, but she struck the book that was tucked underneath his sweater instead. Hermione rolled her eyes to the sky. Of course, Riddle had probably wanted to solve their ward problem by travelling through time again. It might be a prudent idea to get that book away from him, before he did any more damage to the continuum. She reached underneath his shirt and was in for a surprise. Hermione felt two books! And she pulled out Infinity in Spaceand Eternity in Time together. She laughed at the sight of Godric's volume. So that was how he had been planning to leave! She stood up with both books in her arms and levitated Riddle's body.

'I need to lower these wards. I need to be able to leave here safely with him. I need a space to take me home.'

A dash of gold emanated from Godric's book. The leaves started turning. A golden beam lit up the early morning sky and broke the wards. Inside her beaded bag, a piece of yellow, black rimmed parchment started glowing. Hermione grabbed a hold of Riddle's hovering body. She spun them on the spot and Apparated, but as she did that, she noticed the dash of silvery light that flew around them.

'Merlin, be Muggled,' was the last thing she thought in 1945, while she travelled to another unknown destination in Time with Tom Marvolo Riddle.

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Masters of Manipulation