Author's Note: I once thought this was going to be a 10k oneshot. Then I realized that it's going to be more than that so I said 3 chapters, maybe 4. Now I say what the fuck.

Tom halts his studies of law and Legilimency. Longbottom is his first priority. He must be eliminated immediately.

He doesn't tell Hermione his plan to kill Longbottom, of course. She would go bonkers if he did. However, he won't be able to keep it a secret once he murders the boy, but once that happens, Longbottom won't be his problem anymore.

Hermione might cry, which infuriates Tom just thinking about it. Why should she waste her tears on that pathetic boy? It's not as if he's important. What else does he offer to Hermione besides his uselessness?

But that's a problem for later. His first concern for now is how he'll murder Neville Longbottom.

Tom wants his first kill to be special. It needs to be his first Killing Curse.

But how will he do it? Will he hurt him first? Let him struggle, let him beg for mercy, and give him hope that he still has a chance to live?

Or will Tom do it quickly, have him unsuspecting. Let it be a surprise! Like a gift.

He has two options and he would love nothing more than to do both, but Longbottom only has one life.

How unfortunate.

After that, Tom will need to have an alibi and a reason for Longbottom's death.

The Killing Curse leaves limited options for him: heart attack, asthma, nightmare, or other natural causes, or maybe poisoning from the fumes from Potions class. Because everyone knows that Longbottom's potions are all poisons anyway.

Unless he can make it not look like the Killing Curse.

Now then, Tom would have already gotten up from his seat in the library to fetch a book on the Forbidden Forest had Ginevra not have been in his and Hermione's table. No one, except for his sister, must see him researching on the creatures of the Forbidden Forest.

Tom has been spending time with Ginevra Weasley lately in the library to Hermione's displeasure. He has been letting her see his interactions with his sister to test her reaction on the guise of helping her with her studies.

She's also there so he can ask about the Weasley twins and their inventions. He has become fond of them, after all.

But Hermione is annoyed. And jealous.

"What are you doing here?" Hermione asks rather rudely.

Tom still hasn't yet told Hermione about the guinea pig plan because he forgets it at times, his mind not really categorizing it as important.

Ginevra's eyes got to Tom before quickly glancing away. "I just… wanted to get help from er- you two with my essay."

Hermione stiffens and Tom quirks a brow. Does she think that Ginevra fancies him?

"I'll help you," he says. He changes seats so he's beside her and winks at Hermione behind Ginevra's head. He did say that she has a lot of groveling to do.

It would be interesting to see Hermione's jealousy, let her feel what he feels whenever he sees her with Potter and Weasley.

She glares at him before furiously writing on her parchment. It tears and Hermione curses.

He lays a hand on the back of Ginevra's chair to give the illusion that he's comfortable with her without touching her. It's mostly for Hermione's sake, Tom thinks, snickering inside.

He glances at his sister to see her glaring holes into his hand, not concentrating on her homework anymore.

Satisfied that he got his desired reaction, he finally focuses on tutoring Ginevra.

The parts that she needed help on today are awfully easy that Tom could have answered them in his sleep. Is Ginevra this stupid or is she just pretending for some other reason? Either option is disgusting.

He drops hints that Hermione would have had no trouble with the parts that she has difficulties with and she doesn't appreciate it. She hides her hurt by making strained chuckles.

Hermione steps on his toes at his comments because despite being jealous, she still doesn't like it when people get hurt when she thinks they don't deserve it.

She still gives dark looks toward Ginevra when the girl isn't aware, however.

Honestly, how can she think that Ginevra is attracted to him?

Finally, Ginevra finishes her essay. She rolls up her parchment and says, "Thank you, Tom, for your help."

Tom nods. "You're welcome." He goes back to his own studies, dismissing her.

She stands and puts the parchment into her bag. She clears her throat, debating something inside her head. "Er…" She bends down.

Then kisses his cheek.

Hermione's quill snaps.

Tom jumps in his seat, shocked by her actions.

Fuck. Fuckfuckfuck.

Disgusting. Absolutely revolting.

The shameless harlot waves to them. "Goodbye, you two- and thank you again, Tom." Then she finally leaves.

Once she's out of his vision, he immediately gets his handkerchief out of his pocket and rubs her wet kiss off from his cheek.

Disgustingdisgustingdisgusting.

Tom shudders.

He's going to be sick.

He scrubs off her dirt until his cheek is red. He wants to scratch it off until it's bleeding, until no remnant of her kiss is left.

A visit to the Prefect's Bathroom needs to be done. Now.

"I need you to obliviate that from me," Tom says, still rubbing his cheek with a handkerchief. He shifts his attention from his cheek to his sister.

And sees her seething with rage.

She hasn't stopped sending deadly glares to the direction Ginevra left in. Ink has spilled on her parchment yet she doesn't seem to have noticed.

Her snapped quill digs into her trembling palm, her blood mixing with the ink.

Tom's lips part in surprise.

Of course, Hermione's no different from him when it comes to jealousy.

He hopes she teaches Ginevra a lesson.

"Hermione?" he calls.

She levels her glare on him.

"She went too far," she snarls. "And you allowed her to think it was okay."

Tom draws back, offended. "I allowed? Do you want to know how disgusted I am right now?" He scratches his cheek until trails of red form. "I want to claw the spot she kissed."

Merlin, he's getting goosebumps just thinking about it. He should have slapped her.

Tom springs from his seat, the chair scraping harshly against the floor. Someone shushes him but Tom merely ignores the person. They have to go to the Prefect's Bathroom now.

"Let's go," he waves at her to follow. "You have to clean me."

It has to be Hermione who cleans him. She has to replace Ginevra's touch with hers.

She packs up her things and they leave the library.

They enter the Prefect's Bathroom and she washes him thoroughly.

Everything is right again, Tom thinks. Only Hermione can touch him like that, and only he can touch Hermione that way too.

But Ginevra isn't finished. She comes by their table to keep asking for Tom's help, moving her chair close to his until their arms touch.

Hermione volunteers to help her and Ginevra has no choice but to accept without making herself look ungrateful. Though Tom has noticed that Hermione purposely gives wrong information to the girl sometimes.

She asks him why he still accepts her company when it's obvious that Ginevra fancies him and he admits to using the Weasley girl as a guinea pig.

Hermione sniffs. Well, you'll have to find another one.

If Ginevra proves to be so annoying he can't take it then he will. But for now, he'll endure because he has spent a lot of time preparing her.

What Tom isn't telling Hermione, however, is that he enjoys her become green with jealousy.

It's a bit funny, now that he thinks about it, that Hermione is currently burning with jealousy of Ginevra as he is with Longbottom.

Every time he sees Longbottom with her, he has to clench his fists or grab something that isn't his wand because he might just kill the boy with an Avada at the wrong time.

Whenever no one can see him, he slips into the section of the library where there are books on the creatures of the Forbidden Forest.

He has two choices: torture Longbottom in the Chamber before ending his misery or cast the Killing Curse on him while he suspects nothing.

If he does the first, then Tom will hear Longbottom beg. He would be in so much agony that the Killing Curse would be a blessing.

Which isn't what Tom wants.

The Killing Curse shouldn't be treated as kindness after so much torment. If Tom is going to do his first choice, then the torture should be endless, never stopping until Longbottom loses his mind, until all he can think of is pain.

Tom will make him regret confessing to Hermione.

The second one is simple. He will lure Longbottom to the Chamber, have him meet the Basilisk, and give him a tour, as if he's a friend. He'll be unsuspecting, naive, and friendly. Then Tom will stare at him in the eye before casting the Killing Curse and watch as betrayal flashes into his expression before life goes out from him.

Tom will revel in it.

Then he'll take Longbottom's eyes as a souvenir. That's the outcome for both scenarios.

He searched in the library on ways to preserve body parts but found nothing. So now he's here in the library of the Chamber with Hermione, where there's a book about it.

After killing Longbottom, he will have to dispose of him in the Forbidden Forest, let the school think that he went to do idiot things like the idiot he is. Professor Snape, their Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, will at least believe that.

It's not a foolproof plan.

In fact, what Tom is planning is irrational, almost as idiotic as Longbottom.

But he shouldn't have confessed to Hermione.

He shouldn't have tried to get in between them, shouldn't have tried to be something more that he's not.

And now that will cost his life.

He looks over at Hermione who's laying against the arm of the couch they're sitting on. Her feet rest on his lap.

It's time to confront her about Longbottom.

He opens his mouth to say What did you feel when Longbottom confessed to you? to reveal that he overheard their conversation, that he knows what she's hiding from him for days now.

But Hermione beats him to it.

"Neville confessed to me," she starts, not meeting his eyes. "Last week."

Tom sucks in a breath, surprised that she told him first before he had to force it out from her.

After a second, he says, "I know."

Hermione laughs but there's no humor to it. "Of course you know."

There are a few beats of silence where Hermione watches him for any reaction. Tom stares at the wall, his expression blank, as he attempts to control the anger simmering just inside him from remembering the confession.

"What did you feel?" Tom spats. "When your friend wanted to be something more?" He closes his book and levitates it to a bookshelf.

"I-" She looks away. "I felt bad. Because he's my friend."

She felt bad.

Of course, goody-goody Hermione feels bad for rejecting Longbottom.

"I felt bad because I was disgusted," she whispers, ashamed.

Tom freezes.

"Why were you disgusted?" he asks. Then he caresses the feet on his lap, the simmering anger in his heart quiets a bit at her admission.

Hermione lets out a shaky breath. "When he confessed, all I could think about was how it was so wrong. He shouldn't like me like that. Only you-" She hesitates. "Just- think how you felt when Ginny kissed your cheek."

He stares at her, his eyes going over her guilty expression.

"And what did you feel when Ginevra kissed my cheek?"

She bites her lip and looks down. "I wanted to hurt her," she mumbles.

"I want to hurt Longbottom too," he admits. Not just hurt but damage him beyond repair. "I want to make him pay."

She glares at him, her face clearing of her guilt. "Don't hurt Neville."

He raises his brows and widens his eyes, the very picture of innocence. "Who said I will? I only said I want to."

"I mean it, Tom," she says but he only hums in reply.

Hermione sighs resignedly. "I won't be able to stop you, will I?"

No. She won't. But she only assumes that he's going to rough up Longbottom a little bit like he did Ron Weasley and Draco Malfoy. What he's going to do is far worse.

"What will you do?" she asks, her curiosity getting the better of her. "So I can warn Neville."

He's going to commit murder.

But he can't lie to Hermione so he says, "You'll see."

He notices Hermione about to push him for answers so he immediately thinks of a way to distract her.

He remembers his promise to show her what he learned about her body.

"Would you like to do something else besides talking about Longbottom and Ginevra?"

She takes her feet away from him so she can sit up to better talk to him. "You're not getting away so easily, Tom," she says. "Tell me."

Seeing that Hermione continues to be stubborn, he levitates her book away from her and slides closer to her. Her legs are over his lap and he smooths his hands over them, sliding his palms from her calf to her thighs.

She raises her hand to either stop him or grab him for a kiss.

"You know what I'm going to tell you?" he says. "I'm going to tell you that Ginevra tried to touch me even back at the Burrow."

She goes with the latter.

Hermione grabs him by the back of his neck and crushes her lips to his. She bites his lip in retaliation to his frustrating loud mouth and Tom grins in victory.

Diversion successful.

"You're a prat," she says against his mouth.

Now on to his skills.

He lifts her legs from his lap and positions them so she's underneath him on the couch. Their lips barely part from each other even with all the maneuvering.

"I want to try something." His fingers brush the edges of her skirt, the heated skin on her thighs.

He pushes her skirt up to her hips until he sees her knickers. There's a small wet spot at the center and Tom licks his lips, the desire to taste it suddenly flaring inside him.

But he isn't here for that today. He's here to see if his experiments on himself will prove useful to him and Hermione.

Hermione moans when he shoves down her knickers to her feet. He throws it away somewhere in the room and forgets about it once he sees Hermione's entrance.

He has seen it countless times but they were usually in non-sexual situations. He has played with it through Polyjuice but he has never touched Hermione's own with pleasure in mind.

He practiced for this.

He grazes the lips of her cunt with a fingernail at first, testing her reaction.

"Ah!"

He doesn't insert his finger immediately, he has experienced firsthand how weird and slightly painful it feels when he suddenly shoves a finger in there with no preparation.

He starts playing with her clit and her outer lips and watches Hermione shiver, jump, and moan. Once she's ready, he inserts a finger into her.

It will feel strange at first since her entrance is unused to being filled with something. Soon, however, it will feel better.

He watches her reactions with eyes like a hawk, studying her every shiver, her lip bites, the curling of her toes, her everything.

He adds another finger.

She whines.

Longbottom will never have this. He will make sure of that.

Only Tomcan see his sister like this, all spread out for him, vulnerable and trusting. She looks so lewd like this, so dirty.

He can't control his panting and it annoys him because it interferes with hearing Hermione's moans. He bites his lip but his breath still comes out noisily.

Will Hermione do this again with him, but in front of Longbottom's corpse?

Longbottom would still be warm, as warm as Hermione's cunt. And while she would still be wrapped around his fingers, singing in pleasure for him, he'd stare at Longbottom's dead eyes.

He would ensure that Longbottom faces them, looking at them but seeing nothing. He won't see Hermione like this because he would be dead.

This time, Tom can't control the moan that comes out from him.

Oh, he just can't wait to kill Longbottom.

Tom contemplates on whether to do it in front of Hermione.

He has been fantasizing about it for a while, torturing Longbottom while Hermione watches. Because does she know the extent of his obsession with her? He would kill for her, he would kill her, because she is his in every way.

No one comes between them. Not even her.

And especially not Ginevra Weasley.

"I like you, Tom," she says, and then she goes on and on about his good qualities and how he always helps her. That's not true. "And I mean that not as a friend, but as something more." She takes his hand in hers.

Tom feels a sense of déjà vu.

He shouldn't like me like that. Only you- Hermione told him before about Longbottom. Just- think about how you felt when Ginny kissed your cheek.

It's like his skin is crawling with bugs. He's getting goosebumps from her confession and he wants to scrub his whole body off Ginevra's presence.

Tom has always known that he's popular but this is the first time someone told him about their attraction to him. He underestimated what his reaction to it will be.

Bile rises in his throat and if he even opens his mouth to reply to her, he might just throw up on her.

So this is what Hermione felt.

He forces his lips to curve into a smile.

Is his expression apologetic enough? Or should he furrow his eyebrows more?

Ginevra's face falls and it seems that Tom succeeded in morphing his features into something that isn't in disdain.

"I'm sorry but I can't accept your feelings," he says, not sorry at all. "I'm already in love with someone else."

Ginevra nods in understanding. She lets go of his hand and Tom can't help himself from wiping it on his robes.

She notices that and looks away in embarrassment.

"Who is it?" she asks, curious as to who obtained the heart of Tom Riddle.

"My sister."

Ginevra blinks. "I'm sorry?"

"I'm in love with my sister which is why I can't reciprocate your feelings." He should tell her what he told Potter back at the Burrow, make her sympathetic so she'll accept their relationship.

She's a guinea pig, he reminds himself.

But he leaves without explaining further, too disgusted to consider talking with her more, and leaves a shocked Ginevra behind.

Tom wipes his hand on his robes again.

He has to find Hermione, needs her to clean him again. They need to deal with Ginevra too, make her go away if she still persists.

It turns out that Hermione isn't too far. She's just behind an alcove near them, her arms crossed, burning holes through the wall opposite her.

The hallway is empty so Ginevra's confession could have been heard clearly.

His sister had been listening in.

He strides over to her and cups her cheek with a single hand. He doesn't touch her with the one that Ginevra held.

He takes her mouth with his, needing her after what just happened. He pours all of his frustration to her in that kiss, his frustration with both Ginevra and Longbottom who both thought they could be something more.

Hermione moans when he tangles his fingers through her hair, tugging on it. He licks her bottom lip, prompting her to open up. He sucks on her tongue, tasting her lunch, tasting her.

He hears a gasp behind him.

Ginevra.

Hermione only clutches his sides tighter in a possessive grip.

Tom pulls away just to see what her reaction will be in front of Ginevra and she grabs him by the hair to yank him back toward her and shoves her tongue inside his mouth.

He traps her further against the alcove, hiding her from Ginevra. Only he can see Hermione like this but he will make an exception just this once to prove a point to Ginevra.

Hermione is his.

Tom peeks at Hermione to find that she has opened her eyes. But she isn't looking at him. She's looking straight at Ginevra, locking eyes with her.

What possessive twins they both are.

Ginevra runs, her footsteps disappearing until only the twins are alone.

They part for air though their mouths are still an inch away from each other.

He raises a brow to Hermione. "Prefect's Bathroom?"

She nods, breathing heavily. "Prefect's Bathroom." She eyes his hand in distaste.

But then she changes her mind and says, "Actually, maybe later."

He frowns. "What? Didn't you see her grab my hand?"

Her face darkens at that. She loosens her hold on him, extricating herself from him, and she pats herself down until her clothes are presentable. "I'm going to find her."

Tom sighs in annoyance. "And what are you going to do?" He can't believe Hermione is prioritizing Ginevra after what just happened.

"I- I don't know." She looks determined though. "Something not good. Maybe jinx her hair as retaliation. You're not the only possessive one here, you know."

Yes, he knows.

But unless she kills Ginevra, Tom isn't going to let her go.

"No. You're coming with me." He grabs her arm to start pulling her toward the stairs, opposite where Ginevra ran so they can make their way to the bathroom.

Hermione tugs her arm away from him. "No!" she shouts, taking quick steps backward. "I'm getting my revenge like you'll get revenge on Neville."

He doubts that what she intends to do to Ginevra is on the same level as what he's going to do to Longbottom, though he appreciates the thought.

He'd appreciate it better that she focuses on him, however.

"My revenge isn't so lame like jinxing someone's hair," he jabs.

"Well, I'm not as evil as you," she says before running after Ginevra.

Tom sighs but leaves her be. When Hermione puts her mind to something, almost no one can stop her. He hopes she hurts Ginevra badly enough though.

But now he's in a bad mood. He was just confessed to and now his sister left him.

He stomps over the direction of the Chamber of Secrets. Reading book on the Dark Arts might just make his bad mood go away.

He goes down the stairs, passing through corridors, passing by Longbottom-

Passing by Longbottom.

Tom grins.

He knows just what will cheer him up.

"Why are we in the girls' bathroom?" Longbottom asks. "And where's Hermione?"

Hermione won't be here, unfortunately. She won't be able to enjoy Longbottom's demise, too busy doing who knows what to Ginevra.

"Do you know the Chamber of Secrets, Neville?" Tom asks. He trails a finger over the tap where the entrance of the Chamber is hidden.

"No," Longbottom replies, still confused why they're in a bathroom. "What is it?"

"I'll show it to you."

He pats the tap fondly before hissing open.

The entrance to the Chamber moves into place, revealing the huge pipe, and Longbottom's mouth falls open.

"Wha- what's down there?"

"Salazar Slytherin's secret chamber." Do keep up, Longbottom.

"After you." Tom gestures to Longbottom to slide first. "Hermione is just below, waiting for you."

Longbottom gulps before taking hesitant steps toward the hole. He sits down on the edge of the pipe, gathering his courage, and Tom is tempted to push him just for the fun of it.

Longbottom forces a smile. "Well, I'll meet you and Hermione down there." He slides down until he disappears from Tom's view.

Tom laughs because Longbottom is just so stupid.

He follows after the boy immediately lest he wanders off. It would not be ideal if he meets the Basilisk and makes eye contact with it. He would die from the Basilisk and not from Tom's wand, which isn't his plan.

When he arrives at the bottom, he finds Longbottom looking around in awe.

"There was something like this beneath Hogwarts all this time?" he says.

"Yes." Tom walks ahead of him and proceeds to open the next door with Parseltongue. "Close your eyes. Slytherin's Basilisk resides in this Chamber."

Longbottom's eyes widen, which is the opposite of what Tom just told him. He even daringly peeks inside the hall.

Tom rolls his eyes. Gryffindors.

Once Longbottom hears the Basilisk's hiss though, he shuts his eyes tight.

Tom puts a hand on his shoulder, the one Ginevra held because it's been dirtied anyway, and guides him through the hall and toward the prison. "Keep your eyes closed, okay?"

I have a surprise for you.

"Where's Hermione?" Longbottom asks.

"She'll come later."

"But I thought you said she was here?"

Did he? Tom forgot from all his excitement.

The Basilisk uncoils from its sleeping position and watches them with curious eyes. "Who isss thisss?" It slithers toward them to further see the boys.

Longbottom jumps. "What was that?"

Tom winks at the Basilisk. "He's my prisoner." Then he addresses said prisoner. "That was the Basilisk. If you meet his eyes, you'll die, so be careful."

"Hogwarts has been keeping a creature so dangerous?" Longbottom asks incredulously.

Tom ignores him and makes a small cut on his finger with his wand. He activates the metal bars of the prison and he can't keep himself from grinning.

Today is the day when he will finally eliminate Longbottom.

Oh, how he waited for this day to come, ever since their first year.

He keeps guiding Longbottom until they arrive by the shackles. It's still as long as how he and Hermione found it before but Tom was able to figure out how to shorten them.

He picks them up and tests the weight of them in his hands. Longbottom may be larger than he is but he won't be able to escape from them. The shackles are enchanted, nothing but his blood, willingly given, will open it.

"Open your eyes," he commands.

Longbottom's eyes flutter open and Tom clamps down the shackles onto his wrists.

His surprised gasp turns into a grunt of pain when Tom jabs his wand to the handcuffs. The length of the chains shortens and Longbottom's arms jerk to the wall until his arms are stretched over his head, straining.

"What are you doing?!" He struggles with the handcuffs and the chains.

Isn't it obvious? No wonder Longbottom is failing all his classes. There he is, trapped and shackled, yet he's still asking what Tom is doing?

Someone so stupid doesn't deserve Hermione.

"I'm trapping you here," says Tom. His eyes go over Longbottom's figure with wide eyes. He's on his tiptoes to lessen the strain on his wrists and if the chains shorten even more, his shoulder might just dislocate.

Tom waves his wand.

The scream that emanates from Longbottom is music to Tom's ears. He isn't on his tiptoes anymore, the shackles are doing all the lifting now.

"See you in a few," Tom says before he leaves the prison.

"No no no no- don't leave! Why are you doing this?!" Longbottom yells.

Tom doesn't answer, he merely unlocks the metal bars to reach the fourth room, where the dark artifacts are.

Longbottom doesn't have to worry about using the artifacts on him, Tom is just going to pick up a container he prepared to preserve ingredients. To preserve body parts.

After pocketing it, he moves to the library, eager to start on his Legilimency studies now that Longbottom is taken care of. He'll come back later once he's had his dinner.

One must make eye contact before casting the spell.

"Let me out! Please!"

The most advanced Legilimens can perform Legilimency nonverbally and wandlessly.

"Tom, please- my arms hurt so bad! Please!"

Ahh… Music to his ears.

Tom keeps reading until he finishes one chapter. He checks the time and sees that it's almost dinner so he returns the book on Legilimency to the bookshelf.

He leaves the library and waves goodbye to both Longbottom and the Basilisk.

"I'll be back. Don't be naughty and try to leave, okay?" Tom can't help but be playful. He wags a finger too.

He comes up for dinner because Tom has a feeling that it will be a long but enjoyable night for him and he doesn't want to go hungry down in the Chamber.

Should he invite Hermione down there too?

She is at the Gryffindor table, exchanging dark looks with Ginevra.

Nothing seems different with the Weasley girl so Hermione might not have gotten her revenge yet. If their glaring is any indication, however, it looks like they have already spoken to each other.

Well, in that case, Tom won't interfere with her revenge as he has only found out how enjoyable it is.

Have fun, Hermione.

After dinner, he goes back to Longbottom.

He's sobbing, begging Tom to release him. He has his wand in his hand, most likely wandlessly summoned it in desperation earlier.

Tom confiscates it from him because Longbottom will use it against him later if he drops his guard.

"What will I do to you, I wonder?"

The Cruciatus or the Killing Curse? Perhaps he'd let Longbottom choose.

It really is a pity that humans only have one life. Tom would have liked to do this one more time with Longbottom.

"Avada?" Longbottom violently shakes his head. "Or Crucio?"

"Don't- don't kill me!"

Cruciatus it is then.

"Crucio!"

Longbottom's guttural screams echo in the Chamber. His eyes roll back to his head, which is a pity because Tom would like to stare at them while he tortures the boy.

"Look at me and I might just stop torturing you," Tom lies.

Longbottom forces himself to look at his tormentor, not able to do anything but listen to him. He sways against the wall, violent spasms going through him.

Green eyes stare in his general direction. He can't directly make eye contact, the pain too much to be able to focus on anything.

Tom watches it all in pleasure.

Then Longbottom's eyes slip shut.

"Look at me!"

Tom puts more power into his Cruciatus as a warning but Longbottom only squeezes his eyes closed, as if it will shut him out from all the agonizing pain he's experiencing.

Tom stops the spell and Longbottom slumps in relief.

If he won't open his eyes then that means he doesn't have any use for them anymore, right?

Tom walks toward him and lifts his hand.

His fingers touch Longbottom's right eyelid, feeling his lashes, soft against the pads of his fingers. He probes it and it offers resistance.

"No no Tom don't-"

He pushes.

Longbottom screams and kicks him in the stomach, but Tom has already dug in his fingers.

The eyeball separates from its socket, bloody, wet, and warm.

"AAAAAHHH! IT HURTS IT HURTS IT HURTS-"

He isn't so amused with Longbottom's voice now. In this distance, it's deafening.

Nevertheless, he got what he wanted.

Tom examines the green of its iris and the veins that came along when he wrenched it out of the socket.

Now he won't look at Hermione with this eye anymore, Tom thinks. And then he jolts at the reminder that he's been doing this for Hermione. He has been having too much fun that he forgot his purpose here.

But it doesn't hurt to play some more, right?

He places the eye into the container he prepared before returning to his prisoner.

The next few minutes are spent casting the Cruciatus at Longbottom, whose voice has gone from all the crying he did earlier and Tom gets bored easily since Longbottom isn't noisy anymore.

It's finally time.

"Would you like to know why I'm doing this?" Tom asks.

Longbottom doesn't respond. He hasn't been reacting much anymore.

Boring.

Still, Tom continues. "I've wanted to kill you since first year. You kept asking Hermione for help, growing closer to her, becoming friends," Tom spats. "And you thought you could be more?" Ridiculous, how ridiculous.

Tom shrugs. "So now I'm going to kill you."

He raises his wand to Longbottom's chest, touching him with it. His breaths are shaky and shallow and Tom's wand follows its rhythm.

His lone eye peeks at Tom. His mouth moves, unable to voice anything anymore, and Tom reads his lips.

Hermione will never love a monster like you.

Tom gives him a sweet smile.

"Avada Kedavra."

The skin is still warm.

The eye stares blankly.

His jaw is slack.

Longbottom is dead and Tom gazes at him in wonder.

He unshackled the corpse earlier to see him drop like a sack of potatoes, to see him drop dead.

The clock ticks by and Tom does nothing but stare at Longbottom.

He stares and he stares and he stares.

Just a little while ago, Longbottom's chest rose and fell for each breath he took. Now it's silent. He will be like this now and forever.

"Hey," Tom calls. But he knows that Longbottom won't answer. He hears nothing, smells nothing, sees nothing, and feels nothing.

He is nothing.

Tom's heart starts pounding against his chest.

Not from excitement, no.

But from fear.

Is that what it means to die? To be like that?

Longbottom is so… empty.

Tom peels back his eyelids.

Both are empty.

The other one may have an eye but does it register anything other than darkness? It sees the same as the other eye in Tom's container: nothing.

He takes a step back. His hand trembles and-

Tom doesn't want to die.

He doesn't want to die.

Tom gasps. Suddenly it's harder to breathe.

No. He doesn't want to-

He hears the sound of stone sliding against stone.

The entrance of the Chamber is opened.

Hermione?

No! He isn't ready yet! He has to clean up Longbottom's body, he has to make it look like he gave the boy a clean death for Hermione.

But Tom is frozen in place. He can't stop staring at the corpse. He can't stop hyperventilating.

On the background, he hears sobbing.

"Who isss thisss?"

Hermione brought someone? Then he has to hide the body.

But he can't move. He coughs, his breaths come out in short bursts, but he can't move a muscle.

"Tom? Is that you?" A sniff. "What are you doing- oh."

There are a few beats of silence where Hermione registers the body in front of him, absorbing the fact Longbottom isn't merely unconscious, that he's missing an eye.

He's dead.

An anguished cry tears from Hermione's throat. "Is he-?" She couldn't finish.

It takes a while for Tom to answer but he replies nevertheless.

"Yes."

Her companion is oddly silent. As silent as Longbottom while Hermione sobs.

"Tom…" Hermione cries. "I did something too."

He hears Hermione drop something to the ground.

"Please look at me."

But he can't move. He merely stands there frozen.

He starts with his fingers, twitching them. Then his toes, until he can move his whole feet.

Tom turns around as soon as he is able to but his heart still won't calm down.

What he sees makes it skip a beat.

There is Ginevra Weasley on the floor.

Dead.

End Note: I feel so bad about Neville and Ginny. They didn't deserve that ;_; On the brightside though, Tom finally got his first kill and his first eye!

Anyway, I won't be able to post next week or next next week because l.i.f.e. but if anyone wants to ask me something, I'm ieatpeoplewhenimangry on tumblr.