This is the 100th chapter. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. All of you.

"

Hermione

I wanted to scream. To break something. Tom had stabbed me in the back again, he had made plans to kill me, and like an idiot I was entertaining his stupid lovestruck persona. He had made me more than aware he could take my life at any given opportunity over the past few months, but despite the fact I absolutely hated him, a very small part of me actually might have liked seeing him tell me he "loved" me. Whatever that even meant... But to think about that very fact made me hate myself. I was in a relationship with Ron, this was unacceptable. Was I really going to fall for the devil himself? Tom was a psychopathic bastard who was heartless and had proven time and time again that he lacked the capacity to show what it meant to care for someone. Particularly me.

My eyes blurred with tears. I was confused, I was angry, and I felt terrible. I blinked quickly. If I was going to suffer, then I sure wasn't going to let Tom see me vulnerable.

You love him. My mind accused.

Like hell I do.

Tom Riddle was leaning against the stone wall a little way from me, pale and formidable, his eyes capturing my own with utmost ease. I stared right back at him defiantly trying against all odds like I had pulled myself together.

"Now is my turn to ask you a question." He said coldly. "I have a few things I must discuss with you. Someplace where no one is able to listen in. Follow me."

He began to walk down the hall. When he realised I wasn't following, he paused and turned.

I froze, thinking very quickly. Who could possibly be listening in? The young Gryffindor girl was still in the bathroom? Did he know she was in there? And why did he need me to go with him alone?

It's an opportunity to kill me.

I froze, unable to say anything. "What, are you planning to kill me?" I blurted out.

Nice one, idiot.

Tom raised an eyebrow, appearing both amused and nonplussed. "And what would make you say that?" He asked. If he had ulterior motives he was very careful not to give anything away.

"I don't know... Because you've been trying to kill me for months?"

It was a fair point. Without fail, and as passionately as one might commit to a recreational hobby, Tom Riddle had been scheming after my life, almost successfully killing me on several different occasions.

"I told you I loved you." Tom said impatiently. "Did that mean anything to you at all?"

His words were cutting, spoken without a trace of feeling and I felt quite obliged to mirror his coldness.

"Words mean nothing. Actions show all." I tried to make my voice even.

"Do you really think that is the method I would utilise to lead someone off to their death?" Tom asked on a laugh. "I would like to think I would be less obvious than to ask someone directly if they would like to come with me to a secluded place, alone."

"Well, where are we going then?" I walked ahead slowly. There were students all around us. There was nothing Tom could do that wouldn't be seen by dozens of students.

Right?

Wrong.

I followed Tom down a series of long, winding halls, ducking past students in a desperate attempt to keep up with him. He was significantly taller than me, which meant he often maintained a walking pace that was a lot faster than mine.

"Not far to go." He told me. Students who saw him approaching them ducked out of the way taking care to avert their eyes. It was known that Tom was dangerous, it wasn't wise to stare at him for too long. But as for me, I found myself to be, once again, the one under ridiculous scrutiny. I heard my own name carried on the lips of strangers for almost the entire time I was walking behind Tom. Not that this bothered him one bit. He continued walking ahead as though not at all troubled.

Finally, we entered a hall with only about 10 students meandering past, looking as though they were on their way back to their Common Rooms,

"We are here." Tom stopped suddenly, about half way down the hall - I almost ran into him.

"What? Where are we?" I looked at Tom, but he looked preoccupied, staring very closely at the walls as though he could see through them. With one pale hand he reached out and with the lightest touch made contact with the stone wall. Black ink in the form of words began writing itself on the stone, pooling out around his hand like a ripple effect. I looked on, both in awe and shock, and then I turned around. Behind me, students walked past, unaware, carefree. I frowned.

"I have cast a Disillusionment Charm. It is powerful enough to hide us from the others, so don't waste time panicking."

I turned back to the stone wall. There was now a door set into the stone. The black ink marking was gone.

"Ladies first." Tom said quietly, gesturing at the doorway. He appeared like the picture perfect gentleman, if it wasn't for the look he was now giving me for holding us up.

"Hell no." I snapped. "You go first. I'm not going through some random door if I don't know what's behind it!"

Tom wasted no time pushing the door open. I followed behind, eyes wide and trying to see everything at once. We entered into darkness.

"Why it is so dark?" I whispered.

"Lumos Maxima." I felt Tom move his wand arm upward - suddenly a bright burst of light sparked into view, sailing up into the very centre of the ceiling exposing the place.

I gasped.

We were in a small yet cosy room. It was arranged neatly, with the faintest hint of a romantics hand. In a vase standing on a nook in the wall were a bunch of the same flowers Tom had stolen from the Greenhouse.

"It isn't much." Tom sounded as close to apologetic as I'd ever heard him sound. If he was pretending, he sounded convincing. "It was a lot of work. I made this room alone, utilising my Magic.

"That's impossible." I snapped. "You're lying. In Hogwarts, A History-"

"It states that such Magic is impossible." Tom finished my sentence, his tone sharp. "Yes, I was never an avid fan of the magical historian Bathilda Bagshot. She is a prime example of what I was once telling you about the pitfalls of a limited mind."

He closed the door behind him, and with horror I watched the entire thing disappear as though dissolving into the stones. I swallowed, taking a deep breath. No door meant no way out. If Tom was going to kill me, what was I going to do? Duck behind a fucking couch? Duel? I looked around hopelessly. There wasn't even a damn window in here.

"So, what do you want from me?" I demanded.

"I had to bring you to a place no one could listen in, Hermione. I had to tell you something."

"Ok, well. Spit it out, then." I snapped.

Tom didn't sit down.

"I love you, Hermione Granger." He said, staring me dead in the eye. He looked as though it was hard for him to tell me. I frowned, immediately skeptical and my guard raising.

'Although I can understand exactly why you do not believe me, you need to understand something. I have had to formulate a plan to kill you... In order to protect you. Students here at Hogwarts are not happy with the way I am favouring you over them, particularly our House. You are not aware of how much you have gotten away with. Should anyone else have dared defy me as you have..." He trailed off, leaving me to imagine only the worst.

"I need you to do just one thing for me." Tom said softly. "I need you to pretend that you are falling for me. I need you, for once, for your own damn sake, to put your ego aside and submit to me. In the way that's required."

"Never." I said defiantly. "I would fight the entire fucking School with my bare hands before I made the choice to submit to you." I paced the room, feeling like a chained animal at a zoo.

So people other than Tom wanted me dead now? I could feel the gates of panic and fear opening within me. I walked over to the vase of flowers.

"I never needed you, or anyone." I said, mainly to myself more than anything. Tom remained silent, standing behind me. "Don't you get it? I've come this far, alone. Every day, every week, every fucking month, I dealt with this hellish bullshit by myself. You weren't at my side, then. In fact, you might remember yourself attempting my life several times, from your ever present position directly behind my back. Maybe, if you had cared enough back then, I might be kinder in this situation."

Picking up the heavy glass vase, I threw it with all my might across the room.