The last Hogsmeade trip before Christmas break had arrived and Tom had taken the opportunity to buy a present for Audrey and Molly Murphy. His Knights accompanied him onto the snowy grounds. Rosier and Nott walked closest to him this time while Mulciber stood way in the back. It was his punishment for picking a fight with Audrey along with a quick crucio the night before.
"Maybe you could buy her some jewelry my Lord!" Rosier suggested.
"Or shoes? Girls like shoes right? Make up?" Nott added.
"Jewelry sounds like a good idea." Tom nodded at Rosier who lit up with pride. "What about the other girl? Molly."
"Who cares? Buy her a box of chocolates or something." Mulciber mumbled in the back. Tom stopped, his feet scraping against the pavement underneath the snow.
"I don't recall giving you permission to speak Mulciber." Tom said without turning around to look at him. Mulciber gulped.
"I am sorry my Lord. Please forgive me." he said shakily. Tom did not reply, but continued walking.
The six boys entered the Hogsmeade jewelry shop that was owned by an old rich lady who lived in London. She never came into the store personally but had hired people to work it for her.
Tom approached a section full of diamond necklaces. The prices started at 30 galleons. That would have been an impossible price for any normal teenager or even any normal person without saving up for months. But it was well within Tom's price range ever since he had opened the Chamber of Secrets. Salazar Slytherin had left a very large amount of money in the Chamber, which Tom had taken, upon opening it.
"Excuse me." Tom said to the young saleswoman, "I'm interested in purchasing this one." He pointed at a silver necklace with an emerald and diamond encrusted pendant in the shape of a heart.
"That necklace is 42 galleons." she gave him a skeptical look, "Can you afford that, young man?" she laughed.
Tom pulled a sack of gold galleons out of his pocket and dropped it on the counter with a heavy clunk. The saleswoman was taken aback.
Tom smirked, "I don't know. You tell me."
Audrey was also at Hogsmeade that afternoon with her two friends. Vicky and Claire were running from store to store excitedly as they had never been to the village before.
"Oh my goodness you should get Tom this!" Claire squealed and held up a pair of black panties.
"I doubt he'd fit into those." Audrey said, rolling her eyes.
"He's not supposed to wear them! You are." Claire burst out laughing.
"Seriously though. I don't know what to get him." Audrey frowned. "Plus I have to get Richard Baldwell something as well." she said, referring to Slughorn's game of Secret Santa.
"Does he like Quidditch?" Vicky asked as they passed a shop full of Quidditch supplies.
"Yeah. But I don't think he actually plays." said Audrey. Vicky was eying a shiny pair of Quidditch gloves in the window.
"These are beautiful." Vicky said, putting her hand on the glass. The gloves were beautiful. They were made of brown leather and had a glossy finish. They were also quite pricey at 6 galleons.
"Why don't you buy him those." Claire suggested.
"Weren't you listening? He doesn't even play. He's never tried out for the team as far as I know." Vicky said.
"Just because he doesn't play at school, doesn't mean he doesn't play." Claire rolled her eyes.
"He does like the Harpies." Audrey thought out loud.
"Those are the new gloves the Harpies are using. They just came out last week. Of course the Harpies have been using them for over a month now." said a voice behind them. Audrey turned around to see Mark Rosier.
"Is that what you're thinking of getting Tom?" he continued, his cheeks were bright red from the cold.
"Oh, maybe, yes." Audrey was slightly startled. Rosier had appeared out of nowhere.
"He'd love it." Rosier smiled at the girls, "Anyway, I must go. Tom will be wondering why I'm taking so long to use the bathroom." he laughed and jogged off in the opposite direction.
"That's settled then. Get him the gloves." Vicky said and they entered the store.
Audrey carefully wrapped all her presents that night and hid them underneath her bed. Her friends would be leaving in two days and she would only give them their presents then.
Meanwhile, other students were not only buying presents and packing their bags, but they were also buzzing about Caleb's party. Most people were complaining about how they weren't going to be there.
"I'd much rather spend Christmas with Delrossi." said a blonde, fifth year girl, "Firewhiskey and cute boys sounds much better than playing chess with my Grandma."
Everyone else couldn't wait to attend. Many girls had bought new outfits during Hogsmeade weekend for the event. Audrey didn't make such a big deal out of it. She was just going in her plain old clothes. In fact, the only reason she was going was to be with Tom. If he hadn't asked her to be his date, she would be sitting in her room instead.
The last day of classes had arrived so everyone had brought in their presents to Potions class. Slughorn stood at the front of the room as they exchanged their presents. Audrey walked towards Richard Baldwell clutching a red wrapped box in her hands. She looked to her right and saw Tom on the other side of the room, handing a gift to Molly Murphy.
"Oh thank you Row." Richard said as he opened the box and pulled out the green tie she had picked out for him. "A tie? How…nice." Audrey blushed. Her present wasn't very good but it was the best she could do for a guy she didn't know.
Across the room, a crowd of girls were squealing over the charm bracelet Tom had given Molly. Tom looked amused but embarrassed by their expressions. Audrey was about to walk over to him when someone tapped her shoulder. She turned to see Caleb Delrossi smiling at her.
"I'm your Secret Santa." he said, loud enough for Tom to hear. He handed her a present that looked like it was professionally wrapped. Audrey carefully peeled back the paper, trying not to rip it. She pulled off the top of the box and revealed a white teddy bear wearing a red bow.
"It's so cute!" Mary Tiller said a couple feet away. Suddenly all the girls who were surrounding Tom and Molly rushed to crowd Audrey and Caleb. Caleb was beaming at the crowd and chatting up the rest of the girls. Audrey turned around to catch Tom's reaction. He was looking at the scene with a weak smile and when they locked eyes he waved at her and her heart sped up.
"Do you like it?" Caleb asked, trying to bring her attention back to him.
"It's adorable." she smiled. It was now definite that Caleb liked her. But he had never taken notice to her before. Audrey wondered if he only fancied her because she was dating Tom.
"That's a lovely present Delrossi gave you." Tom said as he slipped an arm around Audrey's waist after morning classes had ceased. Since it was the last day, classes were over early and students were getting ready to board the train home.
"I guess." she said casually.
"No need to downplay. I saw your face when you opened the box. Quite a nice gift from practically a stranger." Tom said and stopped her in the hallway to get her full attention.
"It was very nice yes." she said shakily. He was intimidating her but he didn't care. He needed to find out how she felt about that insufferable Delrossi. He backed her up against the wall, one hand on the stone and the other on her hip.
"If you like Delrossi, you can tell me Audrey. I won't get mad." he lied.
"No! I swear I don't have any feelings for him." She was breathing heavily against him. The sound of her deep breaths began to turn him on.
"You sure?" he smirked and placed a hand on her cheek. She was blushing profusely.
"One hundred percent." she whispered before he leaned down and kissed her. His lips traveled down her neck to her collarbone. Tom tried to put his hands on her bottom but she stopped him.
"Hold on." she said breathlessly, "I'm afraid you're going a bit too fast for me Tom."
"I'm terribly sorry." he said stepping back to give her some breathing room, "I'm just so attracted to you." he said softly. Tom could tell that Audrey was very flattered. He had left her speechless against the wall. She had likely never heard anyone say that they were attracted to her.
"Audrey!" yelled Claire in a shrill voice down the hall. Tom winced at the sound.
Audrey moved away from Tom to greet her friends. They would be leaving soon and Tom couldn't wait for them to get out of the way. Especially Claire; she was the more annoying of the two.
"We just came to say goodbye." Vicky said as she hugged Audrey.
Claire gave her a hug as well and said, "Happy Christmas!"
Then the two girls turned to Tom ad wished him a happy Christmas as well before they picked up their trucks and left. Audrey turned back to Tom and sighed.
"Are you going to miss them?" Tom asked.
"Yes. Especially since I won't be with my family this year." she sulked. Tom stepped towards her and gave her a hug. He buried his face in her hair and sniffed in her scent. She hugged him back and squeezed.
"Don't be sad." he said, without moving from their embrace, "I'm here with you."
The next day was Christmas and the day of Caleb Delrossi's party. Tom woke up late that morning because of a very pleasant dream. He had willed himself not to wake up from it as it was certainly worth waking up late for. He stretched and rolled over to the cold side of the bed. He sighed and scratched at the pillow. If his wonderful dream had been reality, he would have turned over to find Audrey sleeping next to him. He hugged the pillow longing for it to be her.
When he finally managed to wrench himself out of bed, it had begun to snow outside. He pulled on a grey knit sweater and a pair of black pants before he marched down to the common room. Everyone who had stayed behind was there. It was mostly the older students who hung around though Tom could see two or three third years by the Christmas tree. He spotted Audrey sitting in her usual spot on the couch, alone. Now would be a good time to give her his present.
But before he could reach her, half the room greeted him. "Happy Christmas Tom!" said a bunch of seventh and sixth year girls. Then everyone else joined in. Audrey had turned around and was beaming at him.
"Happy Christmas everyone!" he laughed and then ran over to Audrey while holding the silver wrapped present behind his back.
"Happy Christmas Tom." Audrey said shyly, "I bought you a present." She handed him his present and smiled.
"I got you a present as well." Tom said and they exchanged their gifts. He hadn't expected her to have bought anything for him and was wondering what it could possibly be.
Audrey opened her present first. Her mouth dropped open when she saw the expensive necklace. "Wow, it's beautiful." she said softly. She looked up at him in astonishment, "How could you afford this?"
"It's a family heirloom. Belonged to my grandmother." he lied. He was not supposed to have any money so a cover up story was needed.
"And you're giving it to me? Why?" she asked.
"Because you're that special to me." he said and took the necklace out of her hands. He helped her put it on and was not surprised at all at how wonderful it looked on her.
"Thank you so much." Audrey looked greatly honoured.
"I'm giving this necklace to you because I want you to be my girlfriend." Tom spoke softly. Audrey let out a tiny gasp. "Will you?"
"Of course I will." Audrey bit her lip and then gave him a quick peck on the lips. Tom felt a surge of power swell inside his body. His plan was unfolding exactly as he had foreseen it.
"Open your present now!" Audrey urged him. Tom looked down at the box in his hands. He had totally forgotten about it in all the excitement. He pulled the top open and removed the tissue paper. Tom was rarely caught off guard but this had definitely surprised him. She had gotten him Quidditch gloves, and not just any Quidditch gloves.
"These are the new gloves the Harpies are using!" he yelled in excitement, "This is amazing. Thank you so much. I love it." Tom had only mentioned his love for the Harpies maybe once or twice. Audrey must hang onto his every word.
This was turning out to be the perfect day for Tom. Everything was going smoothly and even better than he had hoped for. He just prayed he could say the same about later that night. His wonderful mood might change once the party started and Delrossi entered the picture. Just seeing Caleb's face made Tom furious. He honestly thought he could beat Lord Voldemort? Caleb Delrossi was in for a rude awakening.
