Summary:  It is so very strange the places Tom shows up when Hermione is out of town.  Prompt by harrypotterfan4evr “Could you do a drabble where tom has been stalking hermione?”

Pairings: Hermione/Tom, Hermione/Ron

Warnings: Stalking

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

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“What are you doing here?”  Hermione’s voice sounded a bit confused, but not exactly upset at the sight of Tom in the restaurant.

It seemed she always ran into him at the oddest places outside of school; at the grocery store, her laundromat, sometimes even during her morning run.  But to find him halfway across the country, away from school, it was just sort of unsettling.

“Visiting a friend.”  He replied casually, as he gave her his always charming smile.  “Is that the boyfriend?”  He asked motioning with his head towards the table she had just retreated.

“Maybe.”  She said sounding unsure as she looked back at Ronald Weasley dressed up in his best jacket and tie.  He looked uncomfortable, and the restaurant was a place he didn’t seem relaxed.

“Maybe?”  Tom asked raising an eyebrow at her, his careful expression of amusement with her statement strained as if he was holding back something more.  “Why so unsure?”

“I think he’s going to purpose.”  She said, and she really couldn’t read emotion in her voice, was it nerves or unease?  The moment he had talked talking she had excused herself to the bathroom.  She wasn’t sure how she felt, and now seeing Tom, it was all so weird.  “Sorry Tom, I was on my way to the loo.”  She said not wishing to be in this strange moment for any longer.

“Of course.”  He said and bowed her head as she headed back to his table with some pretty blond who looked a little amazed when he sat down with her.

When she came out of the bathroom, Tom was there again, this time out of sight of the rest of the restaurant.  “You should say no.”  He told her before she had a chance to question why he was there.

“What?”  She asked frowning up at him.

“When he asks you, you should say no and break up with him.  He is no good for you.”  He said as if she had asked his opinion.

Tom and she were bairly what she would call friends.  He was just a guy that was around a lot, a guy she did enjoy talking to about school, but nothing so close as would warrant his opinion about her love life.

“You don’t even know him.”  She said finding herself defensive of her high school boyfriend who decided to skip University.  They didn’t exactly have much in common anymore, but there was no way for this near stranger to know any of that.

“I’ve seen his type.” He said taking a step closer to her.  “He’s not smart enough for you.  You have ambitions, and he will be happy to live with his parents for the rest of his life.”  Tom explained as he reached out and brushed a curl from her face.

“You don’t know me either Tom.” She said feeling odd now about how close the man felt was appropriate to get to her.

“I see you, Hermione.  I think I may be the only person who knows you are all.”  He said as his fingers down her cheek.  “I’m the only one that could keep up with that mind of yours.”

Hermione frowned as she stepped back into the wall to try to get away from him.  She didn’t know what to say to any of this, and everything suddenly felt very wrong.  Tom was always around, but she had passed that off before as the fact they had similar habits, but now she started to catch things she had brushed off before.

It was in the way he always spoke to her like they had some shared secret like they had been good friends forever.  He always talked like he knew her better than he should.  And now he was standing in a back hallway of a restaurant half across the country, and she shook her head as her eyes went wide.

“Are you stalking me, Tom?  Did you follow me here?”  She asked as the horror of that realization hit her in full.  Her eyes darted around for a clear exit; she needed to get away from him, she needed the safety of other people.

“Of course I followed you, who knows what would have happened if I didn’t come,”  he said shaking his head as if this was simple fact, and he had been right to follow her.  “You might have even agreed to marry that imbecile.”

“You can’t do that Tom.”  She said slipping to the side as she worked to get out of his reach.  He stepped right back into her way as a frown crossed his face.  “You can’t just follow people around without their consent.”

“But I’ve already decided your mine.”  He said clearly annoyed with her reaction.  “We’ve had enough of this pretending; there is no one else out there good enough for me.”

“You don’t get to decide for me.”  She snapped as she was done trying to play cool.  “I get to decide who I’m good enough for and if I want..”  She started before he pressed forward cutting the rest of her words off with a crushing kiss.

She was too upset to enjoy even a second of his skills with his lips; she only knew she had not agreed to kiss him and tried to push him off.

“Hermione?”  Ron’s voice flooded her with relief.

“Pardon me,” Tom said turning to eye the other man.  “You’re bothering us.”  He said making a shooing motion.

“Yeah.  Right.”  Ron said, and she saw a deadness in his eyes as if his whole world had broken around him.

“Ron!”  She yelled trying to push past Tom as her boyfriend retreated from the situation, but he kept her from leaving the circle of his arms.

“Forget about him, Hermione.  I told you, you belong to me now.”