He had always noticed her.
It would have been difficult to miss her with all that hair and hand waving and -
He had always noticed her
She was determined and loyal and fierce and totally under-valued in Gryffindor
He couldn't begin to understand why she hadn't been placed in Ravenclaw
"I don't think outside of the box very well. I'm clever, but I'm book smart, not you know witty smart" she'd explained one afternoon, not taking her eyes off the passage she was reading when Malfoy had asked.
He'd felt drawn to her from the moment he'd spotted her on the platform on that very first day – her muggle parents just as out of place as his own muggle father
He'd kept an eye on her in first year, all the while making his own mark in Slytherin
His mother might have been dead but his grandfather had told him all about his heritage and whilst Tom had no particular interest in excluding anyone of magical blood from Hogwarts, it was a useful thing to be an heir
It binded Malfoy and Nott and Lestrange to him and they quickly learned that the days of prejudice were over.
They were a new generation.
They had their own ideas.
Tom had lots of ideas.
He had always known, that as an heir of Slytherin, he could someday form a soul-bond.
It wasn't that other people couldn't, it was just his magic made it more possible that he would.
That he would meet someone that complimented him in every way. Someone to share his ideas and magic and life with.
He never expected it to be her, but then he remembered how he'd watched her since they were eleven and how obvious it was.
Of course it was her.
He didn't tell her, He was going to, but something told him she wasn't ready to hear it.
Sure, they were friends, but she was friends with Malfoy and Nott too and -
He was reluctant to upset the status quo.
She wasn't though.
Hermione wasn't sure when she'd started to notice Tom was attractive.
She knew that Draco and Theo were too, but there was something about Tom, about the way he looked at her and made her smile and made her magic tingle -
It was awkward.
She wasn't a girly girl.
All her friends, her close friends, were boys. The only female she spent any considerable amount of time with and considered a friend was Ginny and she wasn't exactly the poster child for cosmetics and short skirts and -
She'd been spending time with Draco, specifically to hone her occlumency skills.
She hadn't meant to break through his own shields when they'd been practicing and witness his own private moments
She hadn't meant to think about Tom and how she couldn't wait to tell him what she'd done
She didn't realise what that thought would do
"Does she know?" Theo asked, glancing at Draco as Tom continued to do his work.
"No" he answered tersely, "and I'm not going to tell her-"
"But she's your soulma -"
"She is" he mumbled, "but she's also my friend and I don't want to jeopa -"
Hermione stumbled back and stared at Draco, her wand falling through her fingertips and clattering to her feet as what she'd just seen played over and over again in her mind.