#(evil tom)

I was pulling this list for someone on discord and thought I’d share here too. Please mind the tags and be aware that these are DARK Tom stories. Yes they’re Tomione but they probably won’t have happy endings.

Left, and then right.

That was it. She was sure.

Hermione weaved through the maze of alleys branching off of Knockturn Alley, cursing her past decision to ever come down through them in the first place.

Why had she thought that following him was a good idea? Why hadn't she just minded her own business?

She swung left, and took the first right down a dark alley, lit up only by the shop front in the alley behind. She suddenly felt less certain that she had come through this way.

But he had disappeared. After leaving Hogwarts, years had gone by without a peep as to what the brilliant Tom Riddle had been up to. So, when she spotted his tall frame making its way through to Knockturn Alley, Hermione's curiosity got the better of her, and she couldn't help herself.

She made it to the end, moving to continue around the bend, only to see that the darkened bend in the alley was actually a dead end.

Shit.

"Are you lost?"

His words, spoken the instant she turned back around, almost stilled her heart.

"Merlin, Tom," she managed to gasp after the initial shock subsided. "You scared me."

The corner of his mouth turned upward as she stepped backward, telling herself it was only Riddle. There was no need to panic, no need for her heart to race like it currently was. She knew him, it was just Tom. He didn't know she had been following him. She was fine.

"And just what brings the illustrious Miss Granger out to Knockturn Alley all by herself this evening?" He questioned, his words moving smoothly through the darkness as if they had been raised in it.

She glanced behind him, to the lit-up alley mere paces away. There was no need to be on edge; someone could come past at any moment, he wouldn't try anything. She was fine, there was no need for her palms to be so sweaty.

It was just Tom.

"I was after a book," she said quickly, her words manifesting as a whisper. "Sometimes, the best ones can be found in questionable places. Surely you understand."

She was in no danger, he hadn't ever tried anything before. No matter how many times she had suspected her old schoolmate, she had never found any proof of any misdoings on his part.

No need to worry.

Even still, she took another step back.

"Oh yes," he agreed, following her with a step forward, "I understand."

As he took another short step, and Hermione made the mistake of meeting his eyes, she suddenly had the overwhelming sensation that their roles had been reversed. His usual cool stare that she had come to know over their years at school together was nowhere to be found. His eyes - had they always glistened like that? - were excited, hungry. No longer was she the lion, no longer was she the predator.

Perhaps she had needed to worry, after all.

She braved another step back as he leaned in closer. "I'm sorry, but Harry's waiting for me, he'll be looking -"

"Liar."

She stopped breathing as her heart pounded steadily in her chest.

"Do you know what I think?" He asked, his words smooth, yet laced with poison.

She edged back, closer to the wall behind her.

"I think, you followed me."

"No," she denied at once, her stomach dropping as her back collided with the cold stone and she could move no further. "Just shopping."

His lips turned up with a smile that would have moved mountains if he wished it. "Hermione Granger, lioness with a sharp tongue. Always the curious one."

Her lips opened, yet no sound emerged. Her fingers ran against the cold stone bricks, her right arm edging closer to her back pocket.

"But you know," he continued, moving within an arms reach of her, "curiosity killed the cat."

She pulled her wand from her pocket, directing it straight to his throat.

He moved faster than she would have thought possible as the tip of her wand met the skin of his neck, his hand closing tightly around her wrist. He pushed her wand arm up, directing the wand away from him, and forced her hand painfully into the cold, stone wall above her head.

She lashed out with her other arm, managing to land a blow to his chest before his other hand snaked out and forced it upward to join the other.

His eyes flicked downward to see her lips parting, a gasp escaping them as her hand grazed against the stone roughly, surely drawing blood.

She kicked outward, her foot colliding with the bone of his shin. "Get off of me!"

But he was bigger, stronger than she was, making pinning her legs down with his own an easy task. He was pressed close enough for her to feel the rumble through his chest as he laughed deeply.

His expression was one she hadn't seen on him before, his eyes lit with a cold amusement that chilled her to the core.

neil and mr perry edit | the wisp sings - winter aid