A/N: So this was a drabble (well, it was originally just a drabble before I caved in and made it a 2-part drabble...) written for the Tomione Convention's Happy Birthday challenge for Tom Riddle.

Tom sat before the large fireplace in the Great Hall, which was nearly empty. Elves were preparing for the oncoming dinner as Tom enjoyed the silence and the crackling of the fire as he read his book. A figure came and sat down beside him and he closed his book, huffing a sigh as he turned his head and gave Hermione a glare.

"I'm reading."

"I see that," Hermione murmured as her soft brown eyes fell to the book for a moment before she looked down at her lap. Encased in her shaking hands was something thin and rectangular wrapped in silver wrapping paper and adorned with a dark green ribbon.

"What's that," Tom grumbled, rolling his eyes as he went back to reading, or at least tried to.

"A gift."

"Charming."

"For you."

Tom looked over at Hermione again, who looked up at him, surprised. "In case it hasn't gone through that thick head of yours, Christmas was weeks ago, Miss Granger."

"I know," she murmured as she looked down at the present. Tom saw the mix of emotions running across her face: thoughtful, worried, conflicted.

"This isn't a Christmas gift. It's your birthday present."

Tom closed his book. "Who told you it was my birthday?"

Hermione bit her bottom lip, as if she wanted to answer, but knew she wouldn't.

"Who," Tom demanded. The edge in his voice made her nearly jump from her skin.

She cringed. "Abraxas."

Tom let out a throaty, angry noise, almost like a growl. He put his book down beside him as Hermione put the present down at the space between them on the bench. Slowly, she slid it over to him.

"You don't have to open it. But...I just thought of you, and maybe you'd like it." She shrugged, wary as she eyed Tom's hesitant hand that descended down on the present.

He pulled it onto his lap and pulled apart the paper and the bow gracefully, careful not to make a mess. Beneath the silver wrapping paper was a white cardboard box taped together. He ripped through the tape easily with his fingers and pulled the cover off to see a mountain of neatly folded black tissue paper to find two peculiar objects hidden within.

A black quill with fresh cream feathers that looked to have cost a fortune, and what looked to be a handmade bookmark that consisted of thick parchment with a sloppily scrawled drawing of Hogwarts at a distance on it and an added small hole at the top with a Slytherin-themed ribbon tied through.

He blinked down at the two gifts, unsure of how to react as Hermione sat there, staring at him intently and shaking with nerves eating away at her worries.

When Tom picked up the quill, carefully, she sucked in a breath. "You've been needing a new quill. Yours is close to breaking. And I know how much you like to write. The shop keeper assured me this would last longer than the normal quills that we use."

Tom twirled the quill between his index finger and thumb, looking at the quill with an odd twinkle in his eyes that Hermione couldn't understand properly. Did he like it?

Soon, he put it back in the box and pulled out the bookmark.

"A-and I thought you could use a bookmark. One you could use in the summertime that'd remind you of home."

Tom looked over at her when she said "home".

She searched for disgust in his face, but only found confusion. She could only imagine how he felt. When was the last time he received a proper birthday gift? Or a proper gift at all? The hat she had bought him for Christmas was only a silly thing, really, and she's only seen him wear it to Hogsmeade on the days it snowed. But maybe he'd use these objects more.

She reached out to touch his cheek, but caught herself before their skin could make any contact.

"Happy Birthday, Tom," she murmured as she pulled her hand back quickly and got up, escaping the Great Hall with the burning feeling of Tom's eyes watching her.