Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?

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Special mention to the fans who love this book. I hope you all have the best 2020 💗☺️ x

I wanted to act calm. Controlled. But I was in the company of an emotionally abrasive person by the name of Tom Riddle, and automatically my guard raised like a 10 foot prison wall with barbed wire.

"I have just one question for you, Tom." I said, staring at him straight in the eyes. "Was that entire lovestruck speech you gave me in the Hospital earlier a lie?"

Tom, who was leaning against the stone wall directly opposite me, straightened up and flashed a blinding smile.

"Do you think it was?" He tilted his head to the side, those dark eyes resolute.

Do you really think he will give you a straight answer? I thought bitterly to myself. He's a damn liar.

"You think I lie." Tom realised out loud. He didn't fidget uncomfortably, he just stared at me with that intense, ever darkening look. "I don't speak like you do. I choose my words very carefully each time I decide to talk, and that time was no different. I was intentionally trying to convey something to you. I love you."

I raised my hands as if shielding myself. "Stop saying that you love me! I know you don't fucking mean it, so why bother?"

I screamed. If Tom was taken aback by my sudden outburst he didn't show it. But he did seem pleased.

"That's what I was looking for." He said. "Your real feelings."

I looked up begrudgingly. Even staring into his eyes didn't give anything away, there was nothing in them to see. No feeling, no warmth. It was like staring into the eyes of someone without a soul.

Not long now my mind said nastily. Enough time around him and you won't have a soul either.

"I never wanted to tell you how I felt about you. Mainly because I am already aware that you hate me. But I said it mainly to get it off my chest." Tom explained with the air of a zookeeper getting a wild animal to calm down.

"So... It didn't matter how I felt. Just as long as you got your feelings out."

No matter what seemed to be happening, Tom seemed to just be considering himself once again. Whether he was aware of it or not.

"Your feelings do matter to me." Tom stepped close to me, and put his hands on my waist. "But the thing is, you don't trust me." He said into my ear. "I knew I had to be the first one to confess my feelings toward you, because I knew you would never admit the way you felt about me. So how about, I ask you a question. Do you love me?"

"What?" I burst out. "Don't be ridiculous. You already know what I'm going to say."

I loved Ron. I didn't love Tom. He was Voldemort. He had abused me. Lied to me. Betrayed me. Stabbed me in the back with as many verbal weapons as he could gather, with absolutely no mercy whatsoever.

"If it was such a stupid question." Tom said coldly, "Why are you not giving me a straight answer?"

It was in that moment that a few things dawned on me. I didn't know how I really felt about Tom at all. I hated him, but at the same time, there were parts of me which had died inside, and now I realised I didn't know so many things now, and being put on the spot was something I didn't count on. I needed time. And of course, time was not something I had.

But out of the confusion a very clear plan bloomed. I looked up at Tom, and softened my expression. If Tom was playing a game, then I had to set aside myself and my morals and play too. I had no other choice.

"I do love you." I lied, putting both my hands on his chest.

"Do you?" Tom said, smirking as if this was the funniest thing in the world to him. "Prove it, if that is really how you feel. Kiss me."

Adrenaline spiked, I leant toward him as he tilted his head. Our lips touched, Tom's grazing mine.

Fuck.

"Riddle and Granger, sitting in a tree k-i-s-s-i-n-g!"

I leapt back. Behind us, Peeves the irritating school poltergeist was hovering up near the ceiling, a wide grin on his face.

"Get out of here, Peeves!" I said angrily.

Tom drew his wand out of his cloak sleeve and slashed it through the air. There was a loud BANG. Peeves, bellowing obscenities, darted off, screeching all the way.

"He'll be back." Tom said, staring down the Hall. "Let's get out of here." He took my hand, and I let him lead me down the Hall. We encountered several students, all of which pretended to not notice us. I wished someone would say something. They all knew Tom was dangerous. I suppose the fear was stopping them from being brave.

On our way to the Slytherin Common Room, I ducked off to the bathroom.

"Don't be long." Tom told me. To be honest, I just felt so uncomfortable holding his hand that I needed to take a moment alone to pull myself together.

I entered the girls bathroom, and pulled my hair out, splashing my face with water from the sink.

"Are you Hermione?" A girl I never saw before with glasses and blonde hair approached me.

"Yes?" I frowned.

"I shouldn't be doing this. I'm going to get into so much trouble..." She looked like she was going to cry.

"Why? What did you want to say to me?"

The girl looked like a third year. She was a Gryffindor, and appeared to be fighting with herself about whether to speak to me or not.

"You're in danger, Hermione." She whispered. "I heard T-Tom Riddle talking with his friends yesterday. He was saying that he wanted to kill you."

My blood ran cold. So much for the star crossed lover act. He wanted to lull me into a false sense of security before killing me?

"He wants to kill me?" I repeated numbly.

"Yes." The girl said quietly. "That's what he said to his friends outside the Slytherin Common Room. He said it was part of his plan or something. I don't know anything else. I just heard that part."

"What were you doing outside the Slytherin Common Room?" I asked out of interest.

"My friends were being mean to me. So I ran off. I wanted to get away from them to clear my head. So I ran downstairs and was standing just around the corner from R-Riddle and a few of his friends and that's when I heard him say it."

"Ok. Thanks for telling me." I felt like someone had kicked me in the stomach. "Now you stay here, and wait for about 3 minutes after I leave before you go. Tom is standing outside."

The girl paled. "Don't tell him what I said!" She said in a rush.

"I wouldn't dream of it." I put my hand on her shoulder. "Thank you. You really are a brave Gryffindor."

The girl looked happy for a moment, and then looked sad again.

"Don't let him win." She told me. "You're better than him."

"I know." I replied. I turned, and walked back out of the bathroom. Tom was standing a little way down the hall, adjusting his tie.

"Come on." He said. "There's something I need to tell you."

"And I have something I need to say as well." I said, not actually caring about what Tom wanted or needed. He was a liar who was apparently planning to kill me. What he wanted could wait.

"How about you go first." Tom suggested, beckoning at me with a pale hand. "Since you're obviously dying to speak."

I froze, and then recollected myself.

"You do love me, right?" I asked him.

Tom rolled his eyes. "I thought we went over this before." He snapped. "I do love you. Where's this doubt coming from?"

"I-I was just overthinking." I lied. "I'm sorry."

"Then destroy your doubt, and learn to trust me." Tom said softly. "All of your fears, everything that makes you question me and resist me is based on your intuition which is falsely guiding you. You've got to understand. All of that which is concerning you at this point is all in your head."