Tom you absolute piece of shit with a stunted growth. I hope Hermione does worse as she threatened. Also what would Tom do I Hermione went to the Police or if she warned her mother? Would her mother truly be that oblivious. Idk I don’t think enough credits are given to parents who would unquestionably believe their children first beyond anyone else. I guess Hermione must truly feel hopeless):

Tom definitely has a weird father complex

I wish Hermione would suddenly accio a knife and just show Tom his place. I’m glad that Tom isn’t omniscient in this story and I’m glad that Hermione’s intelligence and pride shows in this story. It must be so hard and convincing for Hermione and I’m curious to see what happens but I’m glad that Hermione, to the best of her abilities is trying to fight and I hope she doesn’t loose that enthusiasm.

Just re-read this whole story and omg I still can’t get over your writing techniques and styles. The way you write is so vivid, you capture everything in a scene so artistically, I can picture it all happening and unfolding exactly the way you describe. It’s the little details you put in, I can’t get enough

Welll shit... oh my god I’m so glad that Hermione is so observant and not oblivious to Tom’s weirdness. Can’t wait to read more!

This story is just stunning in every way. A previous commenter described your writing as mesmerizing and yeah I really can’t think of anything more apt than that. The words you choose are always so evocative and unsettling. You never allow the reader to feel totally comfortable; even seemingly innocuous things (a loaded stare, a cut while shaving) feel off kilter and frightening. Which makes me empathize with Hermione extra hard, because I also feel compelled to see it through to the end. You line up these small, quiet events that build up to explosive moments like The Prelude(c) and The Hallway Scene(c).

And WOW Tom’s manipulative fuckery is next level. He transcends the label creep. He is like Monster Emperor Creep and I just can’t look away from the debonair horror. “A beast dressed as a man,” as Hermione puts it. I am super interested to know more about his past, but this is very much Hermione’s Story and he can choke if it means we get more moments like this one: “Beyond the shock of her dismissal, she felt that she did not feel very sorry. She understood that she had broken the rules, but for the first time in her life, there was no remorse. Not because she believed it was right to steal. But because she believed it was right to fight against one's enemies. The history lessons always admired men of action. What about her? Could she act?”

I’m just SO happy about this characterization! I love that she’s so smart and tough while still acting like a teenager and drawing the conclusions a young girl put in her position would. It is her intelligence, loneliness, love for her mother, and lack of life experience that draw her into his web. I have noticed lately that a lot of authors portray survivors of abuse as having fallen prey to their abusers because they were dumb or unaware of the danger, and that strikes me as bullshit. You show us a girl who believes she’s locked in a WAR that she can WIN if she only waits a little longer, works a little smarter. She feels she is rising to his challenge and that any suffering now will be rewarded later when she inevitably vanquishes him, all while experiencing a very confusing sexual awakening. (I love her fantasies of chopping off his fingers and then hiding them under her pillow. That contrast of brutality and childishness is just … it’s real good.)

Her small victories (the glass in the carpet, the pub quiz) feel thrilling and addictive because it’s exciting to have an enemy and feel like the hero in a story! It’s also exciting to have secrets when you’re young, because, as Hermione states (iirc), before this point her mother knew nearly everything about her. Before this secret, her mother was only her guardian, now she is someone Hermione feels she must “protect from the truth.” It’s almost as if when she plays his game, she enters an alternate reality.

A moment that really stood out to me was on the steps of the school when she says “No, it wouldn’t have been the same.” and “to her great horror, he understood.” To me, this speaks to Tom’s ... I’m not sure immaturity is the right word? But I get the sense that part of the reason they “connect” and feel likeminded is some level of arrested development on his side of things. He very much believes his own game (“Tom was awakened by the thrumming sounds of a battle.”) Their dynamic really hinges upon their mutual belief that they can WIN this battle of wills.

Sorry this turned into essay lol. I really just came here to say I think this story is really impressive and powerful. You drop these lines like “Everyone thinks violence is easy” and “You’re already a corpse to me” that make me think YES that sentence belongs in this story and wouldn’t work anywhere else. I don’t often feel that way about a story, so thank you so much for sharing it! I hope you are out there writing novels and I get to read one someday. :)

PLEASEEEEEEE UPDATEEEEEE!

Great story i hope you continue their relationship is very fascinating and the way you write is mesmerizing

Oh my goodness I just love how unpredictable this story is, it’s so intriguing! The characters are incredible, every aspect of this story is so great, the pacing, the tone, the way you write is so beautiful. Can’t wait for more :)

you write so beautifully that it hurts and intrigues me to read a second word of your sentences. the words are so alluring that i find myself rereading it again and again. thank you for this beautiful story and i hope you will write more.

Please update this masterpiece, I miss the excitement of a new chapter

I love this SO much. Hermione's just perfect, and also perfectly isolated, which I always assumed she was before Hogwarts in canon.

Usually I'm not reading on , so I have no account here.. but this story is so fascinating to read! I hope you keep on writing

(sleeplessai on tumblr/ao3)

Wow ! This story is so unlike any I’ve read, amazing workhope you update soon

i'm on a tomione binge here and this helped satiate the want for something naughty but dark. which is how i like this pairing. love the way you write tom, i feel for some it can get campy? when writing for him and his dialogue. but he's sinister, scheming, mysterious, and sexy here. hermione is impressing me, i love that she meets him head on over and over. she challenges him and doesn't want to give him the satisfaction of feeling frightened, cowering with fear every waking moment. they both have a bite to them. i also love your writing in style in general. it's poetic and vivid. i have trouble finding writers like you so when i do, it makes me excited and like YES! finally something new to read, lol. will be keeping posted for an update. follows story*)