Chapter 4: Mistletoe For the Win
Thank you Amy.Lee.Rox for your review!
The next day classes were cancelled. The day was spent trying to comfort one another. Celia didn't leave her room much. She cried a lot along with Minerva as they watched Ruebeus be taken away. Tom knew where she would be if she did come out. She would be in the room of requirement. He decided to wait up there just in case. His waiting paid off around 3 pm Celia appeared in the room. She picked up the instrument and began to play very softly. Each time he watched her pull the bow across he saw a tear shimmering and falling down her face.
She laid the instrument down unable to play anymore of it. She sat there with her head buried in her knees. Tom wasn't unaware of what was going on he had just never felt it. He walked closer trying to take advantage of any time he had around her. He placed his hand on her back and for some reason found himself rubbing her back lightly.
Her head rose out of her knees and she gave him a sad stare.
"I'm sorry," Tom said half lying and half actually feeling guilt. For some reason these tears had some profound affect on him.
"I know you had no choice. I don't think those spiders killed that girl. I'm not sure what happened, but I know you were just trying to keep everyone safe," Celia said solemnly.
"Tom crawled down with her and felt her face bury into his shoulder. He felt her soft skin and hair on his shoulder. He pulled her closer to him until she was almost on his lap. Celia wrapped her arms around him hoping that Tom wouldn't mind that she was using him for her own comfort. Tom ran his fingers through her brown wavy hair. It felt like a fine silk.
This position was held for a half of an hour. Tom was actually quite comfortable and content and Celia had stopped crying, but had not left his shoulder yet. He wondered if this was part of the process of wooing her. He decided he wanted to know more about what she hid in the room of requirement.
"Celia, what exactly do you hide in here?" Tom asked.
Celia looked up and lifted herself off of his lap disappearing behind of a shelf.
Tom was worried that he might have ruined things by asking that too soon, but she soon reappeared with a silver box in her hand the same music box he had found a few days earlier.
"It's the last remaining thing I have from my old home," Celia said, "With the exception of that violin which was at Hogwarts when it happened."
Tom was aware of what happened. It wasn't often that bad things happened while at Hogwarts and when bad things did happen everyone knew almost that day.
Celia opened the box. He heard the familiar song playing and she grabbed for pictures. She showed him every one of her family members. Some of the pictures were wizard photographs and moved and some were Muggle photographs of a smiling person stuck still in time. Tom thumbed through them curiously. He noticed that she had a very big family at one point in time.
"How many siblings did you have?" Tom asked.
"Seven, only I and my little brother and sister made it out." Celia said sadly.
Celia pulled out another trinket from the music box. It was the silver cross on a chain. "When I was younger I thought this was very valuable, but it turns out its just silver," Celia said laughing a bit.
Then Celia pulled out the charm bracelet. "Every Christmas this bracelet used to be added to by my twin brother," Celia said. Tom noticed a few charms on it. He kept that bracelet in mind as she went through the other little trinkets in the box. Then she closed it. "That's all there is," Celia said.
"I meant to ask you something Celia," Tom said as she got up to put the music box back.
"What is it?" Celia asked.
"Well, there is a Christmas ball, I was wondering if you would accompany me." Tom said blankly.
Celia blushed. Tom had the ability to ask anyone he wanted, why would he choose someone he barely knew? "Sure, yeah, I'll go with you," Celia said placing the music box back in its place.
"I'm going to go back to my common room," Celia said. "I have a few things I need to get done."
Tom nodded. Celia excited the room of requirement. Tom hadn't yet wooed her, but he was getting much closer to the point where she would be an obedient lovesick little puppet. He still couldn't help but feel happy about it for some reason other than that, which he couldn't explain. Tom rummaged through her music box again touching the charm bracelet. He wondered why these worthless charms were so special to her. She had said something about not receiving any this year because her brother was now deceased. Perhaps he could give her a gift of one of these things.
The rest of the day passed by pretty quickly. Tom didn't really see Celia around much. Minerva and Celia weren't talking at the moment. Turns out he had mentioned to Minerva the night before he got kicked out that he was in fact in love with Celia. Celia was basically alone at this point and wasn't sure what to think about it. She sulked out of the room to go down to the library and bumped into one of Tom's friends in the halls.
She tried to push past and make her way to the library, but she was barricaded by all of them.
"You think your good enough for him," Lestrange began. The boy was taller than her at least by a half of a foot." "Why don't you get back to your half-giant you ugly whore," Lestrange said again while the rest of the males in the group joined in laughter.
Celia was enraged. "You…." She said pointing to Lestrange in rage.
"You think I'm afraid of your finger, you stupid half-blood orphan bitch," Lestrange said creating more laughter among the group.
"YOU BASTARD!" Celia yelled punching him square in the face and then kneeing him in the groin. "Don't ever talk to me like that again," Celia yelled the rage dying in her. She pushed Avery aside and passed by to make her trip the library.
Tom came out after watching the scene from a corridor nearby. He laughed to himself. "She's a fiery one," he said chuckling to himself and watching Lestrange walk off sulking with a bloody nose. "Yes she will do nicely," he said to himself watching her dart into the library.
Celia couldn't believe her horrible her luck had been that day. She had lost two friends, gained one date, gained his friends who hated her, and lost all will to cry anymore at all. She slumped over in her chair and saw Lestrange run past the library holding his nose as his friend ran after him apologizing. It seemed that Avery had tried to fix Lestrange's nose so he wouldn't have to confront Madam Pomfrey about getting a well-deserved ass kicking by a girl. Obviously Avery had made it much worse. Now his nose was not only bleeding, but instead slugs were coming out of it.
A week had passed from that point and Tom hadn't seen Celia anywhere. She was avoiding Slughorn's meeting, she was avoiding food, her own friends, and most of all him. She hadn't been in the room of requirement. He had seen a lot of her though the looking glass he had used to see her with the half-giant kissing once before. Unfortunately this time he only Celia sleeping, Celia crying, Celia studying, but never her outside of her common room and if she was it was for class. He finally decided to just invite her himself to one of Slughorn's meetings. During one of the meals he watched her leave and cornered her in the corridor.
"Celia, I thought you liked me why are you trying to avoid me," Tom asked seductively.
"According to certain people a little half-blood orphan bitch isn't good enough for you," she said angrily trying to get around him, but he stopped her once again. "Let me go!" Celia said.
Slughorn walked in on this quarrel and noticed something. The couple was always under the mistletoe no matter what direction each person was pulling the other in.
Slughorn motioned to Tom to look up. Tom looked up noticed the mistletoe and nodded.
"Celia, Celia, look up," Tom said happily.
Celia looked directly up and saw a small amount of mistletoe. She looked back at Tom who now had her pinned up against a wall. She watched his face get closer and closer so she thought, "Ah fuck it," tilted her head and received her first real non- accidental kiss. She felt a different tingling sensation than she had felt with Rubeus. This was much stronger and a lot less warm than the kiss with Rubeus had been. Though, she couldn't say that she hadn't enjoyed it. The couple parted and Celia looked up at Tom who was now smiling.
"Well, I have another class soon," Celia said. "I'll see you in the room of requirement later, ok?" Celia said still obviously still very shocked by the kiss as she walked into a wall on her way back. Tom watched her exit and touched his bottom lip. A warm tingling sensation all the way to his toes was filling him up. "What was this strange feeling," he thought to himself. He realized that he had won. He had successfully wooed and won his prize and this kiss had sealed the deal.