Can't run from time

"Hermione," he said slowly, waking her up. "You're okay" he said, holding her close.

"I am?" she whispered. They were lying on an old couch in a dark room. There were books all around them. "where?" she began

"we are still in the chamber. This is a room a found a few weeks ago, filled with books about the darkest magic of all. Written by Salazar himself!" Tom said, the red in his eyes still faintly visible. "The basilisk has been punished of course, but it was willing to save your life. I still can't understand why it didn't listen to me. It refuses to tell me anything more than..well it said you were filth... I tortured it more after that obviously and.." Tom rambled on about how he had hurt the snake.

Hermione swallowed hard, knowing the moment of truth had arrived. "Tom, I know why it attacked me." 

Tom looked at her blankly. She carefully stood up and backed away from him slightly " I... I'm a Muggleborn." 

His eyes widened, "what" and then for a moment, he was silent. His eyes turned fully red. Then his face contorted with rage. He grabbed her roughly and pushed her to the wall. His grip on her arms causing her to howl with pain "A Mudblood? You lied to me!"

"Tom, please," she pleaded, her voice shaking. "I didn't mean to deceive you. I just wanted to be close to you, to understand you."

He stepped back, his expression cold and unforgiving. "You dare to defile the legacy of Salazar Slytherin with your filthy blood? How could you?"

"Tom, listen to me!" she cried. "I care about you. I understand your struggles to accept us... But you can't let this define you."

"You don't understand anything!" he shouted. "You're nothing but a deceitful Mudblood!"

Hermione's heart broke at his words, but she refused to back down. "I may be a Muggleborn, but I'm also the only one who stands by you, who sees the real you. Don't throw that away."

Tom's eyes flashed with a mix of anger and confusion. He looked away, his voice trembling with fury. "Get out of here. I don't want to see you." He let go of her roughly as she sank to the ground.

With tears streaming down her face, Hermione fled the chamber, her heart heavy with despair. She knew she had risked everything by revealing the truth, but she couldn't keep this. He would have figured it out eventually.  

She sobbed the whole way back to her dorm. She looked down at the still fairly recent wound on her arm and broke down with pain. Toms voice echoed in her mind MUDBLOOD