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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
- 7
- 8
- 9
Chapter eight

Hermione paced out of the classroom as fast as she could. Today, her Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson had been utterly aggravating. First, there was Tom Riddle; second, she didn't have her DADA-book, because they were tucked away in her schoolbag, which was still inside the Room of Requirement; third, a certain Tom Riddle; fourth, there was Professor Galatea Merrythought, taking away points on her behalf and lecturing her for not handing in her essay, which was finished, but it was also in her schoolbag in said Room; fifth, had she mentioned Tom Riddle already? Because she really felt that he was an issue not able to be covered only once.

Really, she had never met anyone so infuriating. Whenever they had classes together, which was practically all the time, since their subjects did not deviate much, he would be there with that smug, annoying, arrogant, Know-It-All attitude. He always knew all the answers when called upon. Sometimes, she suspected him for having swallowed an encyclopedia when he was little, and that he was reciting from the volume. But not only was the bloke a walking, talking textbook, he also was constantly adding stuff he felt was mistaken or misinterpreted. And then everybody else would marvel and act impressed, while the professors would give him beaming and encouraging smiles, which he so did not deserve.

And whenever she had an answer to a question, he would have something to add or just look at her with those mocking dark eyes of his that clearly meant he had something to add, but thought it would be best not to do so in front of said professors. Because it would, no doubt, ruin his I-Am-The-Most-Wonderful-Person-In-The-World routine.

Hermione growled. 'Can I be of assistance, Professor?' she mimicked mocking. 'I would be happy to do so, Professor. It is an honour to be of service, Professor. Please allow me to suck up and charm the pants off your stupid ignorant arse, Professor.'

If she had to listen to one more line of Riddle's, she knew she was going to explode.

And she hadn't even thought of the assignments they had to perform. Because whenever she was finished with whatever the professors had assigned them all to do, he would be sitting there, launched backward in his seat, balancing his chair on the two back legs, like he was done ages ago and it was all too easy and utterly boring.

And then, when he would notice she had finished also, he would wink at her. An encouraging wink that said 'I knew you could do it', which she did NOT need from him. Or a degrading wink that beheld something more in the line of 'finally finished, Mudblood; I'm surprised the scroll detected your birth with that kind of slow magical ability'. Well, whichever bloody wink it was, she had felt the distinct need to pound it off his I-Am-Way-Too-Bright-To-Be-In-Classes-With-The-Common-People face.

No, suddenly not being at the top of the class did not agree with Hermione Jean Granger very well. That she had been equally infuriating to others in her previous six years of education did not occur to her, nor did the fact that one always finds those things most annoying in others whenever one recognises sides of themselves that are less likeable.

So Hermione was not enjoying classes at all this morning. And she was now facing Professor Slughorn, who, fortunately for him, didn't make a fuss at all, because she was about ready to hex the first person that would aggravate her, regardless of the consequences. But Slughorn was most accommodating to her, probably because she was a Slytherin and most likely since she was the latest addition to his realm of influence, being the top-notch student she was. Sometimes being a Slug Club member could be convenient.

The stubby Professor simply handed her a school copy of Advanced Potion-Making by Libatius Borage with a beaming smile, while his fingers caressed his gingery-blond moustache. 'Never mind, never mind, if you knew how many times I misplaced my belongings at school…' And he gingerly stared at the ceiling for what seemed to be a fond memory, because his smile increased and his eyes glinted. He patted her on the back reassuringly, before turning and walking back to his desk in front of the classroom. 'Oh, young people…' Slughorn said without finishing the thought.

Hermione was shocked at what she thought Professor Slughorn was assuming her to have done, and to add to that she was now stuck with the not so pretty visual in her mind of Slughorn getting some. Needless to say Hermione was very glad she gave up a part of her break to be the first inside the Potions Class Dungeon, because she was sure she would never have heard the end of it if the other students had overheard Slughorn's presumption. Quickly, she went towards the cabinet at the end of the dungeon that hosted spare supplies. She took out a tin cauldron that seemed in order, though it had a dent in it. And she found a mortar and a pestle, but no knifes and no scales.

'I'll just have to lend those,' Hermione thought, sighing. She placed the stuff onto her table when the rest of the students came in, and she flopped down into her chair.

Minerva stopped by and handed her a copy of Magical Schools throughout the Ages. She winked and whispered: 'I see you're still in one piece. How is Riddle doing?'

Hermione snorted and whispered back: 'I'm sure he's being his usual wonderful self. Thanks for the book.'

'Don't mention it.'

They had discussed Hogwarts: A History last night when they were through debating Time-Issues. And as it turned out, Hogwarts: A History was also a favourite book of Minerva's, and Hermione had mentioned that she had been searching to get a hold of this book that contained information on the history of other Magical Schools. When Minerva mentioned she had a copy of it, and if Hermione was interested, she was more than welcome to lend it from her, Hermione had to sustain her desire from hugging her crazy. Having the book caused Hermione to immediately browse the pages, check the index, and get a feel of what the book was all about.

Because she was so wrapped up in her reading, she did not notice what happened after Minerva moved on to sit at her table in the Gryffindor row. Minerva and Hermione had kept their friendship somewhat a secret, and they had been quite successful at it. So the eyebrows of Minerva's friend were raised slightly at her for having conversed with a Slytherin in a friendly tone. And not only were the Gryffindors looking abashed, the Slytherins that witnessed the more than polite exchange between Hermione and the Gryffindor Head Girl were even more bewildered. That is, with the exception of one Slytherin. His face was not confused at all. His face predicted something quite different and it was not nearly as benign as the other ones. He smashed his bag onto the table next to her, making her substitute mortar fall to the ground, and pulled up a chair.

Hermione looked up at him questionably. 'Nowhere else to sit, Riddle?'

'Not today, no,' he answered shortly, before pulling his book and Potions Supplies out of his bag.

Hermione merely shook her head and picked up her mortar, determined not to let him get to her. The ironic statement that came out of his mouth next was utter proof he was only sitting beside her to be an annoying snake. 'Interesting looking cauldron you have there. New?'

Remembering her firm and earlier set determination to not let him get to her, Hermione replied in an equally ironic tone of voice by saying: 'Yes, it arrived this morning. The owl dropped it though. See?'

And she pushed the cauldron under his noise and pointed at the dent in it. Hermione, purely by accident, of course, hit all his belongings, pushing them off the table, and when they tumbled to the floor, they continued to roll in every direction. Hermione completely ignored the mess she created, and in an exited, upbeat tone, she began to chatter about the required size of cauldron bottoms. She was the only one who had always been too polite to snap at Percy, so she had become well versed in the topic. And nothing pleased her more than finally being able to bore someone else to death with the utterly dull subject.

Riddle, however, did not respond, as she expected. Just like her, he ignored his things scattering around the dungeon floor, but he also turned to face her, and adjusted himself to appear intensely interested in her stupid cauldron story. He leaned slightly towards her, his arm was stationed on the desk behind her, he looked straight into her eyes and nodded ever so often at her rambling with a polite, encouraging smile on his face. He was the poster boy for an open listener's attitude. She could hardly hide her dismay when he started asking questions that were actual proof he had not only listened, but also remembered everything she had said on the subject. She started answering them, but halfway through the answers, she suddenly realised that she was walking on thin ice here, since she had no concept about the requirements of cauldrons in the nineteen forties.

'And why is he pretending to be interested at all?' she thought angrily. 'It's not like it is a jolly good time to hear about the debate between 5 or 6 millimetres.'

She was saved by Slughorn. 'Miss Evans, what a delightful topic! Not many people are aware of the importance of details in Potions making; something as small as an inadequate cauldron bottom can be responsible for disasters. I am sure we can continue this conversation at the next Slug Club meeting.'

'What?' Hermione thought stunned. 'Great, now I'm stuck with conversing about this dull subject again.'

Riddle, who was still sitting turned towards her, was giving her an ironic smile that pretty much meant 'he who digs a pit for another…'

And so she hit him on the arm, hard.

'Ouch,' he said, rubbing his arm and pulling up a hurt face, 'what was that for?'

'Yeah, like he didn't know,' Hermione thought and turned her attention back to Slughorn.

'For today, we are going to focus on the intricate brewing of Veritaserum.'

Slughorn walked back towards the charcoal board and with a wave of his wand, the ingredients and instructions on how to create the potion appeared.

'The ingredients are in the cupboard. I expect that it will take several lessons before we are finished far enough with this potion that some of you might let it simmer over the next full moon-cycle. Therefore, you are all required to store it at the end of each lesson. Considering the nature of this potion, it is not allowed to leave this classroom, as you all know it's prohibited to own Veritaserum by the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.'

Tom let out a soft snort there, which made Hermione consider getting a flask to drink from as Moody always did. 'Constant vigilance.'

'So let's see who will be able to complete this task,' Slughorn cheerfully said. He gave Hermione and Tom a glance that clearly meant he had every confidence in their abilities to create this potion and sat down at his desk, opening a magazine of some kind.

Hermione got up to get the ingredients, when she noticed that somehow all of Riddle's belongings had made it back to his table, even though he had not moved an inch or taken out his wand to summon them. She stared at it a bit too long, because he realised she was watching and she saw him snickering at her astonishment.

'Show off,' she grunted.

At the end of the lesson, Hermione had not proceeded as far as she normally would have. The lack of her own equipment was holding her up, even though Tom, surprisingly, did lend her his knife and scales. It still meant she had to wait until he was finished with them, which all of a sudden took him a tremendous amount of time. At some point, Hermione had refrained from her urge to take his knife and chop up all of the ingredients herself. She did not doubt that might be the reason for his slow progress, so she counted to ten and tried not to tap her fingers.

'I definitely need to get my schoolbag back,' she thought, frustrated.

It was then that she realised Riddle had two hours of Divination after the lunch break, while she went to Care of Magical Creatures. It was the only class they did not have in common. It would be a perfect opportunity to sneak back into the Room of Requirement. All went as planned. She went to the grounds for her lesson and after half an hour, she faked an illness and was excused from class. She made it to the Room of Requirement without being spotted and, more importantly, without running into Mr Evil. She had expected him to show, but apparently, he took Divination serious enough not to skip it.

'Of course he would,' she snorted. She was, after all, talking about the person who hanged his fate at a prophecy made by Sybill Trelawney, the Sherry Queen. 'He really needs to get his head examined,' she thought upon entering the Room.

It was the first time she was able to look at the Room as she had summoned it in order to protect the books from Riddle. It did not appear big, and it somewhat resembled a small library, though it only contained empty shelves with dust and empty spider webs. There were no books in sight. There were several study tables in it, and all had a couple of chairs around them. The best way to describe it was that it appeared like an abandoned library. Its glory days long forgotten.

Hermione picked up her schoolbag with sheer relief of having her own stuff back. She ruffled through it to get the two Founder's volumes out, and planted them on the table, making the dust fly up in the air, tickling her sinuses. She sneezed, but then she hesitated to get her bag again. She had been planning to leave the Room immediately once she had got her things, but seeing the two books lay there side by side, she couldn't just leave. She had to check them out. It was important, after all. Her hand went towards Eternity in Time, but right before she touched it, she withdrew her hand and eyed the book with clear distaste, and got a bit worried about the effects of the Blood-Binding Charm she was now subjected to.

'I know I can't read that one; I know I now should be able to read Infinity in Space, and still my hand darts towards Slytherin's book. There is definitely something wrong with that picture. I should do some research on those charms later on,' she decided.

So she grabbed Godric's work to open it. Excitedly, she noticed that the pages were no longer blank, but they had written text in them, and she started reading. Godric Gryffindor had a contagious way of writing, and the book immediately drew up all her attention, which was a shame, because if she hadn't been so preoccupied, she might have noticed that Salazar's little masterpiece had glowed for a second.

'Wow, Evans, I see you've finally found a way to bring out the text hidden underneath.'

Tom Riddle was slightly leaning over her right shoulder checking out the page she had been reading. Hermione sighed, utterly annoyed. Someday this stupid Ping-Pong match had to end. She grabbed both books in anger and held them out to him. Tom did not accept the volumes though, but he merely walked around the table and took a seat across from her. He was watching her with clear amusement in his eyes.

'What? Not happy to see me? I'm crushed, devastated. You are breaking my heart, Evans.'

Hermione sighed and shook her head in disbelief. 'Great,' she thought, 'he's in one of those moods.'

She dumped the books back on the table and the action caused Riddle to make disapproving clicking noises with his tongue at her nonchalant handling of the two valuable works on the table.

'I really, really don't have time for these silly games of yours, Riddle,' Hermione stated, as she pushed the two books towards him. 'I still have an essay to write for Carefoch, so just take the damn books and leave.'

He merely raised his eyebrows. 'Just take them? What? No fireworks, no duelling, no witty repartee, no Muggle punching? How utterly boring of you, Evans.'

'How boring do I need to get for you to leave?' Hermione asked, petulant, but before he could respond, she suddenly remembered where she was. 'How did you get in here?'

Riddle frowned. 'Truthfully?'

'No, when I ask something, I always want to be lied to,' Hermione sneered. She saw the corners of his mouth twitch upwards. 'Riddle,' she added warningly.

'Frankly, I don't know. I was in the Divination classroom, when I suddenly felt the urge to come here. And look,' he relaxed backwards in his chair, holding his arms out wide to stress the point, 'here I am.'

Hermione saw the sheer amusement spread over his face, but she also noticed the slight sign of curiosity that flew through it. It was like he was looking for her to confirm something. She shook the thought from her mind. She really was not interested in Riddle's emotional state.

'If you don't want to tell me how you opened the door, feel free to say so, Riddle. Stop wasting my time with stupid stories about having urges to leave Divination, because anyone with half a brain would have the urge to leave such a useless subject anyway.'

'Hmmm… as much as I would love to start a debate with you about the intrinsic value of Divination...' Hermione let out a significant, loud snort at Riddle's statement here, and he eyed her for a second before continuing: 'I do feel obliged to inform you that it was as I said. I did not come here to obtain the books. I was merely walking this corridor, searching for you.'

'Oh and why were you searching for me?' Hermione asked, rolling her eyes.

'I have no idea,' Riddle said bluntly. 'I just knew I had to come here. And I am sure I did not ask the Room for anything, but the door appeared and I got curious, so I opened it, and there you were…'

'And you know exactly what I'm talking about, don't you?' Tom added softly, frowning as he eyed Hermione's now pale face.

His relaxed posture shifted immediately into action and he leaned in forward across the table, his elbows resting on the wood and his hands folded in front of him, eyeing Hermione with great interest. 'You've had these urges too, haven't you, Evans? A sudden need to go somewhere without a clear idea why you desire to be there in the first place. And let me guess, whenever you got to the place you needed to go to without knowing why, I would be there.'

Hermione was about to deny the statement, when Riddle leaned backwards and smugly said: 'Too late, your emotions already betrayed you. You are a terrible liar, Hermione Evans.'

He picked up Infinity in Space, and tossed it from one hand to the other, back and forth. He was definitely contemplating on something now. Hermione was certain of it. 'Don't you have somewhere else to be?' she asked, somewhat uncertain whether she actually wanted him to leave right now.

'You really, really don't want me to leave,' Tom said casually. He opened the volume of Godric Gryffindor and glanced at the written sentences in it, after which he gave her a calculated stare, before closing the book again and putting it back on the table. 'Do you know how annoying it is, Hermione, when you want to read something and all you can get to is half, maybe one whole page, if you're lucky?' Riddle asked, friendly.

And it struck Hermione that he was, suddenly, addressing her on a first name basis, but he did not wait for an answer and continued his speech, before she could say something about it.

'I do. You see, every time I open up this wonderful piece of Slytherin's writings and start reading, within minutes you seem to appear out of thin air and nick the book from me.'

Hermione could not help but grin at the obvious annoyed tone in which that statement was made. At least now she knew for certain she wasn't alone in being upset for not being able to handle the books without getting company. Riddle had the same problems too. She had been expecting it, but it was always nice to get confirmation on your suspicions. She noticed he was still staring straight at her. It was always unnerving her a bit when he did that, just a bit though, not a whole lot, or so she kept telling herself.

'But you know what is even stranger, Hermione? The first week after you arrived here, I obtained the book from you and I was able to go through a large number of pages from it without a single disturbance. So I started wondering. What changed?'

Another calculated glance was thrown in her direction.

'And then I realised that every time I had been able to read more than one page of this, you had been in the vicinity of the book. During Arithmancy class, when I sat right behind you. During Ancient Runes, when you were sitting in the row next to mine. Outside on the lawn, where you and your dear friend Minerva,' he spat out the name of the Head Girl with venom, 'were chatting. And every time I have been disturbed in my reading was when I was all alone with the book, until, of course, you would pop up. See, there is a simple correlation between all these events, namely you, or rather your presence, and my ability to read this book. So tell me, how far along have you managed to read in Infinity in Space before I arrived? I doubt it has been more than a single page, right?'

He was definitely waiting for an answer this time.

'Why is it your business, Riddle, how much I am able to read from these books?' Hermione said, feeling not a single bit inclined to start sharing information like he had just done with her. Though she had to admit she was appreciative of him being this forthcoming, it certainly cleared up a few mysteries, even if it did create some new ones in its place. And when he did not respond to her question, she added: 'I don't recall us being friends. Why should I tell you anything?'

Riddle was sizing her up. 'Because, Hermione,' he smoothly said, pausing for a moment as he pushed Gryffindor's book back towards her on the table, 'I want to offer you a deal.'

Hermione's eyes darted to the book before her, before she looked back up into Riddle's eyes again. 'What the devil is he playing at?' she thought. 'Surely, if all that is required is my presence, he could just stun me and read both books in here. Why is he, all of the sudden, exhibiting this kind, friendly demeanour around me?'

'I take it that the lack of an immediate refusal entails you might be interested in hearing the deal?' Tom asked, pleasantly.

Hermione nodded, still slightly reluctant. She had to be missing something, she knew it. Lord Voldemort does not do nice without a specific objective in mind.

'I say that we find time in our busy schedules to reconvene here at the same time, so you can read from Infinity in Space and I can read Eternity in Time. That way we won't have to deal with the annoying getting interrupted bits and pieces.'

Hermione narrowed her eyes. This didn't make sense and she blurted it out immediately. 'Why would you bother in letting me read Godric's book, when you can simply stun me and read them both, right now, on your own accord?'

She saw the greedy, triumphant flash fly through his eyes and realised she had made a mistake. He tapped on the Gryffindor volume with his right hand and said: 'So you are able to read the text in here. I was hoping you would be, because I seem to be unable to. I checked that immediately after I saw the pages were no longer blank.'

Hermione scolded herself for letting that bit of information slip, but she knew she was fine for now. 'I haven't read the damn thing yet, Riddle. So don't bother trying to force the information from my mind. It's not there, and since you now, so kindly, have informed me what you're after, I'll make sure the information will never reach my mind at all.'

'I'm not here to attack you, Hermione,' Riddle continued nicely. 'I already told you, I'm here to make a deal. You tell me what's in there,' and he nodded towards Gryffindor's book. 'And I'll tell you what's in here,' and he patted on Slytherin's workmanship.

Hermione roared with laughter after this ridiculous assertion of Tom Riddle. 'Yeah, sure, Riddle, like you're going to tell me the truth.' Another burst of laughter. 'And I'm certain I will hear everything that's in there. You will, of course, leave nothing out,' she said sarcastically.

'Hmmm… yet again, not an immediate refusal… I take it you're interested in finding out what's in here.' And he held up Salazar's book for her to see. 'I doubt very much you will be able to find another capable of reading this, Hermione. Unless, you can find someone else with Salazar's bloodline, and a thorough understanding of Runes, English and written Parseltongue,' he added casually, smiling, sweetening the deal.

'Of course I'm interested in finding out what's in there, Riddle. After all, from the two of us, I'm the one stuck in the wrong time-frame. However, you can not be trusted,' Hermione said sharply.

It was as simple as that, even though it was tempting to take him up on his offer. It was impossible. She needed to find another way to get the information from Eternity in Time. Though a small voice in the back of her head told her there was no other way, and that she needed the information to complete her task.

'If I told you there was a way to make certain we would not be able to tell lies about what was in these volumes, would you be willing to share the information in Gryffindor's book in return for the information from Salazar's?' Tom questioned, now eyeing her intently.

For a moment, she could sense his excitement, his longing for the information that was currently hidden, and she realised he would stop at nothing to obtain it. His hunger was too apparent. But she couldn't go along with this, could she? If he would get the information, he would use the book to travel through time.

'But he already used the book, more than once,' her internal voice stated, 'Tom prevented his own death with it, and his older self sent you over here, so he found a way to get to the knowledge inside with or without your help. You might as well take advantage of the situation and get the information yourself as well.'

And she knew that it was a cop-out. She sensed her own hunger, her own excitement, her own longing towards obtaining the knowledge inside the two volumes before her. And a part of her was screaming 'No, No, No!', but there was this other, much louder, part that was vocalising 'Yes, Yes, Yes!' She needed to know, she needed to become a Master of Eternity in Time and that meant obtaining the knowledge inside, which Riddle was currently generously offering her. Something, she told herself, he most likely would not have done, had he realised the real reason behind her desire for the book's knowledge. And returning to her time-frame was only a small part of that desire.

And, of course, he was unaware of the existence of the two others. She could safely donate Godric's knowledge, knowing that she would be able to get to Ravenclaw's and Hufflepuff's in a heartbeat, and he might run into some obstacles there as well. She was wondering whether Riddle knew that merely obtaining the information inside the books would not be enough to activate them. For him to know the text did not mean he could use Godric's book, did it? She was wondering about this for a while.

'Evans.'

She had Accio-ed Eternity in Time when Riddle was dying, and the book had responded to her, when she held it and specified what she needed, but why had it done that?

'EVANS!'

She was not supposed to be able to use it. It did not make sense.

'EVANS!' A slap on the table broke her out of her reverie. 'Are you going to answer my question or what?' Tom asked, exasperated.

She looked at him, a bit dazed. 'What was the question again?' she said.

'Do we have a deal to tell each other what's in these books if I make sure we can't lie about it?' Tom said, sighing, unable to keep up his pleasant act.

'That depends on how you plan to make sure, Riddle. Because I'm not getting involved in some kind of Dark Arts Ritual,' Hermione stated with certitude.

Tom smiled. He was obviously relieved with her answer. 'The Dark Arts are really not necessary for this. All we have to do is make the Unbreakable Vow, that way neither of us will be able to lie about the contents of the book to the other.'

Hermione did not like the sound of that. The Unbreakable Vow; to make an Unbreakable Vow with the Dark Lord. Sure, it would prevent any lying from taking place, but it could backfire on her severely.

'We can't do that,' Hermione said, relieved at remembering the little detail. 'We would need a Bonder to perform the spell and I don't think either of us wants to involve a third party in this.'

'There is a simple way around that. I can be Bonder and Vowtaker at the same time,' Tom stated.

'No, that is not possible,' said Hermione, remembering Goshawk's writings.

'Actually, it is,' Tom said smugly, 'it takes a bit of an effort, I'll grant you that, but it is doable. So do you want to make up the vows, or should I?'

Hermione most definitely did not want him making up the vows, so she said she would. And she grabbed a piece of parchment from her bag and her quill and started writing, scratching the words again, whenever she saw a loophole appear. Tom had got out of his chair and was pacing the room until she was finished, which wasn't helping her to keep her concentration.

'That won't work,' Tom suddenly stated, reading over her shoulder again.

'Do you have any idea how annoying it is when people read over your shoulder while you are writing?' Hermione said, irritated, scratching the line out again, because she saw the problem in the sentence as well.

'You're making the sentences too complicated,' Tom said, ignoring her outburst and reading the next line she was writing down.

'Well, I'd like to make sure there are no ways to get around the vows. I would think that would be something you want too. Now, stop distracting me with this … this … standing behind me and nagging thing you seem to be keen on doing, and let me finish,' Hermione said bossily, scratching out a couple of words again.

But Tom did not move away, instead he leaned forward to look over Hermione's shoulder again, his right arm moved along side hers, and he took a hold of the hand that was holding the quill, while his left hand found support on the table next to her left arm.

'Riddle, what are you doing?' Hermione demanded to know, shocked by their sudden close proximity.

'Why don't you just write down this?' he breathed softly in her ear, and he moved her hand across the parchment writing down the sentence of a vow.

"Will you, Tom Marvolo Riddle, tell Hermione the entire contents of Eternity in Time?"

'There, no way around that one. Simple is always best,' Tom said smugly, still holding onto her hand, making her uncomfortable with his presence.

Hermione looked at the sentence in disbelief. She could not be so lucky, surely he would realise before they would take the vows…

But then she realised she would have to put down her real name for these vows to work properly. 'I can't…' she started to say.

But he interrupted her and whispered in her ear: 'I've known your real last name ever since the night you arrived here, Miss Granger. Surely by now you would know you can't keep any secrets from me. It's like I said earlier, you're a terrible liar.'

'Fine,' Hermione said shortly, not responding to this latest bit of delightful news, and trying to keep her voice from sounding to eager in regards to getting this particular vow taken. 'Do you want the same vow in return?'

'Sounds good to me,' Tom said cheerfully.

He let go of her and pulled out his wand to perform the spell that would make the vows they were about to take punishable by death upon breaking them. They both knelt down and grabbed a hold of each others right hand. 'Do you have a middle name?' Tom asked Hermione.

'Jean,' Hermione replied.

'So, it's Hermione Jean Granger.'

She nodded. A bit nervous about what she was about to do.

'Alright, this will be a little different in performance than with a third party as Bonder present. I, first, have to perform the Bond, and we will then each swear our vow, after which I will have to seal it, so it will reach its state as an Unbreakable Vow. Make sure you do not mispronounce the sentence, because there will be no changing it once it's spoken,' Tom said with authority in his voice.

He flourished his wand around and a fiery snake flew around them in a circle, before entwining itself around their linked hands and fastening itself like a robe. The two books on the table let out a soft glow, and Hermione gasped, when she felt the Bond was already flowing through her veins, before any of the words were spoken. She was slightly beginning to panic now. 'This was a mistake. I should not have done this. I'm in deep trouble now.'

But Tom was already reciting his line, and the point of no return was reached the moment he flashed his wand to perform the Bonding Spell. 'Will you, Hermione Jean Granger, tell Tom Marvolo Riddle the entire contents of Infinity in Space?'

'I will,' Hermione responded.

A thin tongue of brilliant flame shot from Tom's wand, and moved around their hands interlinking with the fiery snake. Tom nodded towards Hermione indicating that it was her turn.

'Will you, Tom Marvolo Riddle, tell Hermione Jean Granger the entire contents of Eternity in Time?'

'I will,' Tom responded.

Another tongue of flame was issued from his wand, and made its way around the others. For a moment the fiery rope glowed intensely. Tom flicked his wand again … a fiery flash, a flow of heat charged through the rope surrounding their linked hands, entering their veins, making its way through their bodies, and then, as sudden as it started, it was over. Tom and Hermione were still kneeling on the floor, panting heavily, perspiring profusely, staring into each other's eyes, holding hands, unmoveable.

So they never saw what happened when Tom performed that last spell. They did not see the dash of silver and gold emanating from the books at the same time of the last fiery flash from Tom's wand. They did not see the leaves of the two books turning violently, and they certainly missed both books rendering shut again at the same time the Unbreakable Vow was completed. And everything was silent…

xxx
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Masters of Manipulation