"Do you believe a man could become so obsessed with a woman, from a single encounter?"

"Could he daily feel a stab of hunger for her and find nourishment in the very sight of her? I think so. But would she see through the bars of his plight and ache for him?"

-Thomas Harris, Hannibal

i.

The first time he saw her, he was being pulled away in handcuffs. She was looking right at him, unafraid. She didn't have the same look the other officers had. She didn't look at him with pity, her eyes didn't say, 'he was a young, intelligent doctor, what a waste'. They also didn't look disgusted, not like Harry Potter, the detective in charge of his case.

He looked at her, the way her brown eyes didn't waver, not even when Potter began talking to her. He smirked when he realized Potter was congratulating her.

He knew Potter didn't have the brains to do it all himself. She was the one who caught him. Interesting.

He was being pushed inside a car when he finally had to look away, but he had her face committed to memory. He remembered the exact color of her brown eyes, the way dark eyelashes surrounded them. He could even remember the freckles that scattered the top of her nose. He remembered the way her hair was pulled back, keeping the wild curls away from her face. He wondered how she would look with her hair all around her.

ii.

He learned her name in court. It was the first time he heard her say his name.

She was called on as one of the witnesses. She was wearing a nice skirt and a white blouse. He eyed her with his dark eyes glistening, she looked back, her face emotionless.

"Hermione Granger," the name echoed in his mind. He hardly listened to the trial, his lawyer had advised him to plead guilty, the evidence against him was too strong. He had been told they'd let him live if he plead guilty, otherwise he would be facing a death penalty. The trial really meant nothing, it was all formalities.

"Tom Riddle," she spoke.

Tom's lips turned upwards. He liked the way she said his name. He replayed the memory in his head as she spoke. She was sitting in the witness stand listing the evidence found against him, but all Tom could hear was her voice saying his name.

Tom Riddle. Tom Riddle. Tom Riddle. Tom Riddle.

He didn't hate his name as she said it, he thought maybe it had a nice ring to it.

"The body of Angelina Johnson was found in the basement of Mr. Riddle," she said, her voice didn't shake but Tom noticed the way she touched her hair repeatedly. He tried to remember which one was Johnson, but he couldn't place a face to the familiar name. "Limbs proved to belong to Katie Bell were discovered in a refrigerator in the same room." He smiled at that one, remembering the girl with the dark hair, and the way she screamed as he dragged her downstairs.

iii.

Their first mistake was trusting Tom. He was a smooth talker, and he made sure to always be cooperative. He made friends with the man watching over him between his court dates, Officer Slughorn.

"Sorry we have to do this Riddle," Slughorn apologized as he handcuffed Tom to the bars on the cell.

"It's the rules," Tom shrugged. "I understand it's only meant for your safety."

After being handcuffed, Slughorn began to unlock the cell, just as Tom discreetly picked at the lock on his handcuffs. He smiled as Slughorn opened the cell and picked up the food tray from a cart. The man was too trusting.

The cuffs unclicked as Slughorn placed the food over the cell's bed.

Slughorn didn't even have a chance to turn around before Tom jammed the rest of his stolen pen into his neck.

The pen was pulled out and blood began to gush.

"I don't think it was enough though," Tom mused, his arm wrapped around the man's neck. He squeezed until Slughorn went limp in his arms. "Sorry I had to do that," he said to the body. "I don't like the idea of being in here any longer."

iv.

The first man they called was Harry Potter.

"He escaped?" Harry shouted into his phone.

Hermione paled at the words, she knew who he was talking about. The doctor.

"I'll be there in fifteen minutes, don't move anything. Tell me you have the place on lockdown," Harry stressed, his face a mass of frustration. "There's no way he could have left the building, we have officers everywhere."

"His followers," Hermione said, though Harry was still on the phone, she knew he was listening. "I'm telling you, he had to have insiders. He was always one step ahead of us."

Harry looked at her, his expression told her he agreed. "Don't let anyone talk to the press, search every fucking inch of that place, I'll have officers be on the look out." He hung up and looked at Hermione, "This is a fucking mess, I have to go back."

Hermione nodded, looking down at the coffee in her hands. She looked back up when he stood up from the table they were sitting at. They had come to a coffee house to relax and get away from all the chaos from the trial. "If.. If he really did manage to get out of the building, where do you think he'd gone?"

Harry shook his head, "I don't know. We barely know what the hell is going on through that sick man's head, I don't know a place he's consider safe. He wouldn't go to his office, or his house, it's too dangerous."

"It was dangerous to attempt an escape Harry," she reminded him.

"Let's just hope he's still in the building." He ran a hand through his hair and turned around to leave.

"Harry," she called. He turned around, the worry evident in his eyes. "If he.. if he has… Are you safe?"

"He's insane Hermione and he's clever, that's a dangerous mix, but we're going to catch him. He's not getting away."

v.

It had been more than a month before the news of Riddle's escape finally died down. Hermione had no idea she was close to having her first conversation with Tom Riddle. Harry had taken more prevention, he was careful with who he trusted but even in hiding, he continued to search for Riddle.

Hermione could see how stressed he was becoming and she didn't tell him how paranoid she was the past few weeks. Harry was the one in trouble, everyone knew he was the one to manage Riddle's arrest. Hermione didn't know why she was always feeling so unsettled. Sometimes, as she walked home from work, she could feel someone watching her. It got so bad, she finally accepted Ron's offers to drive her home. He would drop her off in front of her apartment building and she'd push down her fears.

That day, Hermione had a feeling something awful was waiting for her at home. She almost invited Ron inside, though she knew he'd get the wrong idea. "I'll see you tomorrow then," she finally said as she stepped out of his car.

"Goodnight," he smiled, waving at her as she walked to her building.

Hermione nearly ran up the stairs of her building, feeling goosebumps rising on her skin. She decided to call her mother as soon as she reached her apartment.

Hermione quickly unlocked the door and rushed inside. She locked the door again and sighed in relief. She was fine. Everything was fine. It was all in her head.

She reached up and nearly gripped her curls in her hand as she made her way to the kitchen. There, she put her purse on the counter and turned on the lights.

"I was wondering when you'd get home," a voice said.

Hermione felt her heart drop and her blood run cold. She was almost too scared to turn around, but the idea of being grabbed from behind made her. All the cases rushed back at her, he attacked from behind, wrapped his hands around their necks, stabbed a knife into their spine, sliced a blade across their neck-

"I've been waiting for you, Hermione Granger," he said her name carefully.

She looked at him, he was sitting on a stool by her counter, looking relaxed. Crookshanks was on his lap, and one of his pale hands rubbed behind her cats ears, while the other held one of her kitchen knifes.

"I hope you don't mind but I took the liberty of looking around," he said. Hermione could barely hear him over the hammering of her heart. "You have an awful lot of pictures of Potter, I think I'll have to pay him a visit next. Where is he staying at again?" He looked up at her. His dark eyes bore into hers but Hermione couldn't even move to open her mouth. "He's at Dumbledore's isn't he?"

He could see the shock in her eyes, Tom laughed. "He's terrible at hiding, an idiot too. I would have taken you with me."

Hermione risked a glance at the door. She wondered how long it would take her to run to it, and how long it would take him to reach her.

"Don't," Tom said, his voice losing the tranquility. His tone was hard now, and his eyes were warning her. "I would hate to have to hurt you."

"You killed those girls," she said with difficulty.

"I did," he looked down at her cat. "I've skinned one of these too," he smiled at the memory. "Mother was so afraid when she found him."

Hermione looked at Crookshanks, wanting him to hop out of Riddle's lap and run to her. She wanted to take her cat and run.

"What do you want?" she asked, her voice breaking.

Tom ran his hand over Crookshanks, and looked up. His eyes seemed to glow.

"You."

The rest happened too quickly. Hermione saw Riddle stand up, Crookshanks ran, and the knife dropped on the counter.

She turned around and was only just about to start running when he gripped her wrist and pulled her to him. She saw a flash of white and something was pressed against her face. "Relax," he whispered into her ear. "I won't hurt you if you behave. Should we take the cat too?"

Hermione tried to scream but a strong smell invaded her insides. She couldn't move, his arms were tight around her and soon her vision began to blur. Her limbs were heavy but her struggles didn't cease.

"Don't fight," he said gently, Hermione's head was too fuzzy to feel the lips pressed against her temple. "Everything will be okay."