"You forgot to check is she was your soulmate?" Sirius said incredulously.

"So?" Tom disliked feeling defensive. Being forthright with his new 'friends' was rapidly getting tiresome – he much preferred being intimidating and mysterious to this new, accessible and friendly demeanor he was trying. "We only talked a little this morning, and then we had separate classes all day, and I missed her at lunch and dinner."

"Why?" Remus asked. He looked amused. "Why'd you forget?"

"We got to talking, and I just… forgot," he admitted. "She's… she wasn't what I expected. Though, I'm not really sure what I expected."

"What do you think she's doing now?" James asked.

"No idea," he shrugged. "Homework? She'd need to catch up, after missing a day of classes anyway, right?"

Abruptly, there came a knock at the doorway, and Tom looked up to see Hermione standing there, smirking at them.

"How did you get in here?" James said suspiciously.

Her eyes sparkled.

"Magic," she said magnanimously. Sorry to interrupt, boys." She nodded to Tom. "Riddle. You're needed in the Slytherin dorm. Right now."

Sirius looked outraged.

"Oi! Tom isn't one of you stinking Slytherins," he objected. "He doesn't belong anywhere near the Slytherin dorms!"

To their astonishment, Hermione started to laugh, and she laughed so hard she seemed like she might choke, before finally taking several deep breaths and beginning to recover.

"Yes, of course," she said, still chuckling. "It's just, he's Head Boy, and one of the prefects has a question, and…"

"He's not Head Boy," Remus said. "Derrick Barnes is Head Boy this year."

Hermione's smile dropped, and she scowled.

"No, you're in 6th year, aren't you? You can't be Head Boy yet," she muttered. She rolled her eyes, before looking directly at him. "Riddle, you make up a suitable excuse for why you need to leave and visit the Slytherin dorm, then. I can't lie worth a damn."

Tom stood.

"Sorry boys," he said, shooting them all a practiced, easy grin. "Seems my soulmate can't wait to test the 'mating' connection we might have."

He dropped a wink, and the boys laughed uproariously, while Hermione's face flamed. Tom took her arm and hurried her out of the dorm room while they were still laughing, getting them out of sight before they demanded an actual reason of him.

"So what are we really doing?" he asked her. "Unless, of course, you do want to try the soul-mating thing…"

Hermione bit her lip, and Tom could see she was obviously trying not to blush. It seemed to be a losing battle for her.

"I've recruited you new Knights of Walpurgis," she said abruptly. "I figured now's as good a time as any to introduce you."

Tom stopped short, somewhere between the 3rd and 4th year boys' doors.

"You've- you've gone and- already?" he said hoarsely.

Hermione shrugged. "It helps to already know all of them by name, from trying to hunt them down and kill them," she said. "I'd much rather have them on my side this time, and as my side is now your side…"

He couldn't help it. He pressed her up against the wall of the spiral staircase and kissed her, hard. She gasped slightly in surprise, and he took advantage of the opportunity to plunder her mouth and kiss her even deeper. She moaned against him, her body writhing and pressing itself snugly against him, and Tom felt a rush of heat stagger his thoughts as another rush of heat rushed down his chest and past his abs.

He broke away, panting again, Hermione also struggling to catch her breath. After they calmed down, Hermione raised her head and managed a smirk, though her face was flushed.

"I should have figured," she said, rolling her eyes. "It'll always be power that turns you on, won't it?"

"Will it?" Tom said idly, as they started down the stairs again.

"Not sure. I don't think you ever had any romantic connections in your time or in the First Wizarding War. Personally, I haven't the slightest," Hermione admitted. "By my time, your body was so inhuman and your psyche so damaged, I doubt you could even feel human arousal. You might not have even had a penis."

"I what?"

"The Dark Resurrection ritual you had to use was very dependent on things you took, and you took in a lot of reptile blood. It left your head bald, and your nose flat, like a snake's. Stands to reason that, y'know, maybe you took on snake genitalia as well…?"

She smirked at him, her eyes dancing, and to Tom's astonished realization, she was teasing him. She was teasing him about doing Dark Resurrection Rituals. As if they were a normal part of everyday life, free to be subject to ridicule like anything else.

Tom's life was rapidly growing surreal with Hermione in it.

…he rather liked it.

"No matter," Tom said grandly. "I shan't leave you wanting. Have you ever seen what snakes can do with their enormously dexterous tongues?"

Hermione burst into giggles as she colored violently, and Tom felt himself grin – a real grin, not a false, practiced one. He couldn't remember the last time he'd ever genuinely smiled.

And now, he would find himself smiling even more, with his soulmate at his side.