Hydra woke early.
Despite having worn herself out at the party and crying herself to sleep, she had only been able to catch a few hours of it before she was wide awake. After lying in bed for an hour, she climbed out of it and restlessly marched around her room. Her fingers tore through her hair as she tried to come to terms with what had happened.
There were many times through the pacing that she'd fall to the ground, curl in on herself and cry. It would have probably been bearable had it been anyone but Historia—but because it was her—
Hydra watched the sunrise—sobbed when she stubbed her toe on the carpet and decided to blame her for that—ignored calls of her family through her door—sniffed and wiggled her nose when she caught sight of a blue garment in her closet that happened to be the exact same shade as Tom's eyes.
"Bixby."
"Yes, Mistress?"
"That blue thing, what is it?" she asked as she nodded her chin towards it.
"It is the dress that Mister Theo gave you for your sixteenth birthday."
"Burn it," she said without hesitation.
She had hated it anyway. "Yes, Mistress. Is there anything else that Bixby can do for Mistress?"
"Tell my family to leave me alone."
"Yes, Mistress."
The dress was removed from her room, and she fought the urge to claw at the Mark on her back.
Bixby returned fifteen minutes later with hot chocolate. "From Master Wolf, Mistress."
She tried to smile at her house elf but failed. She fell to the ground and curled in on herself as she began to cry once more. The cup was placed on a small table next to her—that was not there a moment before—before Bixby forced himself into her small cocoon.
"Mistress? What happened?" She shook her head. He clicked his tongue before he pat his small hand against her cheek and ran his other hand over her hair. "Is Bixby helping Mistress? Bixby is never sure if this is how Bixby is to comfort Mistress."
She laughed softly and held him closer. "You're helping, Bixby."
After some time, her tears subsided, and she stayed on the floor while she sipped at her hot chocolate. Bixby picked out an outfit for her and practically wrestled her into changing into the light purple high-low sundress that fell to mid-thigh in the front and to just below her knees in the back.
"You are one pushy elf," she commented as he went about picking jewelry from her jewelry box.
He paused and looked at her. "Bixby thought you liked that, Mistress."
"I do." Sometimes.
He smiled and continued to rummage around. "Good."
Soon, she was decked out in almost all of the bronze jewelry she had collected over her years in Ravenclaw. Necklaces, bracelets, and rings weighed her down, and only her ears were saved from the torment, as she only had a single piercing in each ear.
"Okay—okay, Bixby, I think if you put any more on me, I'm going to stop breathing!" she joked.
Almost all of the jewelry was removed with a snap. "Bixby is sorry, Mistress."
"No—Bixby, I was joking. It's fine." She played with the few remaining necklaces and bracelets. "I forgot I had these," she murmured softly.
"Master Hermes gave the necklaces to you for Yule in your first year, Mistress, and the bracelets for your birthday shortly before he became a Ward of the Black Family," her elf replied as he climbed into her lap. He tried to do her hair, but she stopped him with a firm look.
Bixby soon left to complete his household chores, and Hydra was once more left to her mind. She spent her solitude on her balcony. Her glazed and unseeing eyes pointed towards the vast grounds of Black Manor while her mind continually replayed the kisses exchanged between her and Tom.
Bixby brought lunch and stayed with her while she ate, but again had to leave after she finished. Her solitude was broken shortly after Bixby left when Blaise and Hermes blasted through her Wards with brute force—which gave her a splitting migraine and stomachache—and they along with Vega, her two younger brothers, James and Regulus, her parents, and Uncle Remus entered.
Uncle Remus immediately sat next to her and pulled her into his side. "Thanks for the hot chocolate," she muttered.
He pressed a kiss to the top of her head before he handed her a large chocolate bar. "You're welcome, cub."
"Alright," Hermes started as he crouched in front of her and Uncle Remus. "We've given you all morning. What happened last night?"
The rest of her family stood around him, staring her down with unfaltering gazes, and she cracked, just a bit. She wiggled her nose and stood. She marched into her bedroom and threw herself into her reading chair and scowled at the floor.
"We're not leaving, Hy," Vega said slowly as she draped herself against the bookshelf next to the chair.
"Come on," Blaise cooed. He sat on the armrest and pressed his head against hers and his lips against her ear. She jerked away as he began to speak. "Who are we killing?"
She kicked him off of the chair, and he just laughed from his position on the floor as Hermes leaned his hand against the bookshelf above Vega's head and began to play with her platinum blonde hair. "Come on, Hydie. What happened?" he urged.
Her father threw himself at her feet with a heavy whine. Uncle Remus placed his hand on her shoulder. "Come on, Hydra Rose. I want to pull my old joke kit out and I can't do that if I don't know who I'm using it against."
Hydra sighed and leaned into Uncle Remus. "I met my Soulmate last night."
"That's fantastic!" Uncle Remus jumped in front of her to keep her from getting bombarded.
She ran her thumb along her lips.
"Where is he?" In Historia's bed.
Her nail scraped gently along the still slightly sore skin.
"Who is he?" Historia's fiancé.
Once more, tears began to leak out of her eyes, unbidden.
"What's his name?" Tom.
She dug her nail into her bottom lip as hard as she could.
"What does he look like?" Like an angel and devil had a child together.
The endless rush of questions faded into the background as blood dripped down her chin.
"Hydra?" her mother, silent until now—watching, waiting—asked. She knelt in front of her and wiped the blood away and pulled her hands from her face.
Silence descended upon the room.
Uncle Remus knelt next to her and ran his thumb along her lip, and the bleeding stopped. No one said anything, and her mother held her hands in hers as she waited silently while Hydra tried to keep from crying out—from showing how much she ached inside.
"He's engaged," she choked out. Coughing sobs left her body as her mother wrapped her arms around her, and her father and uncle immediately had their arms around her as well. "He's getting—married to—someone—else."
Rage exploded from her friends and family.
Blaise and Hermes demanded his name so they could begin to defame him in the Ministry.
Vega demanded the same thing, only it was his fiancée's name she demanded so she could start a riot among the upper-class ladies and cause chaos for her.
Her younger brothers, James and Regulus, wanted his address so they could destroy his home—she feared for Hogwarts during the few years they'd attend together.
She ignored the rage that came from the other side of her room when her father pulled away and lifted her chin. "You said the removal was intense. What exactly did it feel like? It's just supposed to feel like a pleasant burn."
"It was that . . . and then it was coming home after a really long and hard day . . . and then losing everything I ever loved."
Her mother and uncle began to cry as tears filled her father's eyes. "I'm so sorry. I should have asked. I'm so sorry." He wrapped her close again and pulled her back into his arms. "Your Uncle Regulus had that . . . it means your Soulmate is a Stolen Soulmate." He kissed her head again and began to shake with sobs. "I'm so sorry, Hydra."
Her Uncle Regulus who she had never met because he killed himself because he couldn't handle the thought of his Soulmate being with another.
The rest of the day passed in a blur.
She didn't give Tom's name out—not like Tom would do much to give his identity away—nor did she describe him or give his fiancée's name out to them, despite how much she wanted to.
She was left mostly to herself, only after that little stunt with her lip, her brothers were scared of what she'd do alone, so she wasn't allowed to be alone.
She was left to herself—just not by herself.
The next day passed the same way, of her alone, but not alone.
The day after that, she wrote a letter to the ICWA, her future place of work.
To whom it may concern,
I've thought about writing this letter many times, and I've rewritten it more times than I care to admit. I'm hesitant in even sending it for fear of losing my future position at the Association. However, despite this, I feel it is necessary for you to understand what has happened since I applied.
Enclosed with this letter is an early draft of an essay I wrote in fifth year on Soulmarks. The relevant part is at the end, explaining my feelings on them, and to suffice it to say, I met my Soulmate a few days ago. It wasn't what I hoped it would be.
He's a Stolen Soulmate.
The woman he's engaged to abused me throughout my years of Hogwarts and is sister to an ex of mine. I'm desperately trying to find ways to avoid their wedding, as she keeps trying to invite me, and the only one that I can think of is the ICWA. I told them that I started in October, as planned, but I lied and said that I'd be out of country.
I'm not asking for a miracle or for changes to be made to make me feel better about lying. I've told much worse lies in my past and didn't blink.
What I'm asking is: is it possible for me to be out of country November 17th?
If not, I'll just find a way to avoid being at the wedding, but I didn't expect the Bond to hurt this much. I fear I'm going to run into him all of the time. We were different social classes before the two got engaged, so I had never seen him before we met, but—
Sorry, I'll leave until I can stop crying.
As I was saying, I fear meeting him again, because the Bond pulled so much that I almost had no control over my mind and body. All I wanted was to be with him, and fighting it was almost painful. Even now, thinking about him causes something inside of me to shift around some empty cavern, and . . . I'm scared.
I don't know if this letter is inappropriate to send, but I feel it is necessary for those in charge to know about it.
If anything can be done, I'd be grateful.
Sincerely,
Hydra Rose Black
Heiress of the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Black
The day after that, she had to go dress shopping for Vega's Introduction Ball which would be held the next day.
Why were there so many days?
-|}(){|-
"Come on, get up!"
Hydra groaned and buried her face in her pillows. "No," she moaned.
"Please?"
"No."
"Hydra, you promised," Vega pouted.
"That was before I knew he existed."
Her mother sighed and sat next to her. "I know you're struggling right now. I'm not even going to pretend to understand what you're going through, because I don't. I don't have a clue of how to help you, or how to comfort you. I don't even know if I can tell you it will be alright without it being a lie. But Hydra . . . you said you had never seen him before. The likelihood of you seeing him outside of events that his fiancé is invited to isn't high."
Hydra sat up and played with her fingers. "I'm not . . . comfortable with the other girls going today," she mumbled.
"I know," Vega said. "Which is why Blaise, Hermes, Abraxas, Theo and one of his friends are coming too."
"Who?"
"Dunno. He didn't say. All he said was that he wanted to introduce him to us since he'd be around for a while. I'm guessing he's from France. Maybe they're studying together."
Hydra plucked at the blankets while she thought. She hadn't missed Theo. They had dated in school—when she was a fifth year, and he was a seventh year—but she broke it off after he got his Soulmark.
For a time, she thought she was in love with him, but after she had seen the way Blaise and Vega were when they dated about the same time, she realized she only cared for Theo as a friend—if that. He was needy, clingy, and somewhat abusive when it came to keeping the image he had of her a reality.
Him getting his Soulmark had only been an excuse to end their relationship. Him going to France for Healer training had been another excuse for her to not read his letters—international mail was never reliable.
She was lucky that while she had a flower for a name, it wasn't Daisy—she still thanked her lucky stars that his Soulmark hadn't been a rose or had anything to do with her at all. The breakup had been bad enough as it was—due to her breaking the 'perfect' image he had of her—she didn't want to know what it could have been had he been convinced they were Soulmates.
"And you're sure I can't wear an old dress?"
"I would be insulted."
She laughed softly before she slid out of bed. "Fine. I'll go."
Vega squealed and left the room while her mother hugged her and kissed her on the cheek. "Try and have fun today. I know you're not too fond of shopping, but Vega is. Enjoy her joy, alright?"
Hydra smiled and wiggled her nose. "Okay."
She was left alone for only a second before Bixby popped in with her Training Uniform. "Here is Mistress' clothes. Shall Bixby get Mistress breakfast?" Before she could respond, he was gone.
She laughed softly and rolled her eyes.
She slipped out of bed and stretched before she stripped. She pulled on clean under garments and then the clothes she was required to wear until she started her job.
When she first got accepted at the ICWA, she only had to wear black pants, socks, shirt, and gloves made out of strange magic sensitive fabric that allowed her to feel everything she touched as if she wasn't wearing the clothing—it had taken a lot of getting used to walking around feeling like she was only in her underwear. But the closer she got to her start date the more things they sent her.
First it had been a pair of dragon skin knee-high boots that had boosted the magic sensitivity up so much she had to be carried out of Ravenclaw tower because she was too scared of falling down the stairs. Bursts of magic often turned her body to jelly, and it had been a month before they sent her a cropped jacket with long sleeves that only covered her breasts when the buttons were done up.
The dragon skin was a dark red color—normal for most garments made of it—and glimmered even in the dark.
"Ooh! Mistress is so pretty! Can Bixby do Mistress' hair while Mistress eats?"
"Only if the hair style is simple."
The house elf began to rapidly nod his head. He grabbed her hand and guided her to her dressing table. She began to pick at the light breakfast as his small fingers ran through her long hair, and by the time she had finished eating, he had braided her hair into a simple, yet elegant set of two Dutch braids that met at the nape of her neck and a single, messy braid went down her back.
"Do not move, Mistress," he said as he placed his hands palm out. He jumped off his stool and ran around the room for a moment, opening random trunks that she hadn't touched in years—trunks she thought were just decoration—before he paused at one and let out a joyous squeal. "Bixby found it!" he cheered. "Mistress close eyes now."
Hydra smiled and closed her eyes. His speaking always got more stilted whenever he got excited. He scrambled on the stool behind her and placed a small hand on her shoulder. He scrambled up onto her shoulders, and she lifted her arms to steady him as he placed something in her hair that rested on the center of her forehead.
He slid down into her lap. "Mistress opens eyes nows."
She opened them and smiled at Bixby before she looked in the mirror. On her forehead was a tiara of some sort with a . . . oh mother of Merlin was that—
"Bixby? Where did you get a Dragon Eye?" She looked at the earthy green Artifact on her head.
"It belonged to Bixby's first Mistress, Lady Morgana. Now it belongs to Bixby's favorite Mistress," he said as he fidgeted with it for a second before he smiled proudly.
Hydra looked at him and wiggled her nose as she desperately tried not to cry. She knew how special Lady Morgana was to Bixby—so much so that the one time she used her name as a swear while in school when she was doing side study for her Mastery and had cut herself, Bixby had shown up and given her an earful.
Never had Hydra used any form of Morgana Le Fay's name as a swear again.
"You're the best house elf I could have ever asked for Bixby."
He grinned and hesitantly opened his arms to which she hugged him tightly to her chest.
"Why are you always wearing that?" Heiress Greengrass demanded when Hydra, Hermes, and Blaise arrived at Malfoy Manor.
"Because unlike you," a rich voice started, "she's got her life figured out."
Hydra squealed and threw herself at Abraxas. "I've missed you!"
The beast tamer laughed and held her close. "I've missed you as well, cousin. Aw, Hermes, are you still too embarrassed to speak to me?"
"Hello, Heir Shit Head, it's unfortunate to see you again."
No one knew what happened between Abraxas and Hermes about a year ago. The only thing that anyone knew is that it made Abraxas tease the eldest Black sone mercilessly, and made Hermes want to murder the Malfoy Heir.
"Hey, boys, you two promised to behave today," Vega reminded with a deadly tone to her voice.
"He started it!" Hermes snarled.
Abraxas laughed and pulled away from Hydra. "I found this really cool book while we were going through a dragon's hoard. Do you wanna see it?"
"Of course!" she gushed.
Hermes grumbled behind her. "Can I come?"
"I'd be insulted if you didn't," Abraxas answered, something soft in his voice.
Tom grumbled as Theo straightened his robes for the seventh time. "I don't know why my shirt and pants weren't good enough."
"They were," the younger man answered. "For the people we normally hang out with."
"And these people are different because they're your friends?" he asked with a raised brow.
"Uh, kind of? They're not the sort of people you want to appear messy in front of, and . . . my ex is going to be there."
Tom grinned and turned towards the mirror. He ran his fingers through his hair, trying to get it back to what it had been before Theo jumped him and made him change. "That's the real reason you want to look your best. You want to convince her you're good enough for her to take you back."
"Not just that. She ended it because my Soulmark wasn't obviously her." His soon to be brother-in-law sighed. "I'm still in love with her. She's so beautiful, perfect, innocent, and can't hurt a fly. I love her so much. She's so beautiful—"
Tom nodded and tuned out of the rant—that he had heard seven times in the last two days—and stepped away from the mirror and crossed his arms over his chest while he waited for Theo to stop talking and primping.
He had once thought Historia attractive. That was before he met Hydra. If the girl Theo was obsessed with was half as beautiful as Hydra, she was indeed gorgeous.
Rage hit him like a train.
For the last three days, all he could think about was Hydra. She was so perfect—bar the fact that he knew next to nothing about her—so beautiful, it nearly hurt him.
He had been content-ish with his new lot in life. Marry into the Nott family, become Lord Nott via Historia, and begin to make valuable changes to their society—something he had never before seen the point of doing as a lowly muggle-raised half-breed.
Before he had met Hydra, he had been content with being discontent. He knew he'd never find satisfaction with Historia or politics—he had already had his dream job—but it was better than what saying no would have been.
It was better than what almost saying no had almost done.
Now that he had met his Soulmate, held her in his arms, kissed her and Activated one side of the Bond, all he wanted was to storm into Black Manor and beg for her forgiveness. All he wanted was to shred the Magical Contract that bound him and Historia in the engagement so he could make Hydra fully his.
The anger came from the fact that he couldn't do any of that. And, instead of directing the anger at the people he should have, he directed it towards her.
She was so perfect, so beautiful, his, and he couldn't have her.
"Are you ready?" Theo asked a few minutes later.
Tom smiled tensely. "Yeah, sure."
"Oh, uh . . . maybe . . . maybe speak a bit more formally?" he squeaked.
He lifted a brow as they stepped into the floo. "And why should I do that?"
"Because we'll be with the Malfoy, Black, and Greengrass Heirs and Heiresses today. And those are just the three most important names of those we'll be with today."
Tom's mouth fell open as Theo activated the floo.
Did that mean that—
"Theo!" A bunch of feminine squeals greeted them upon landing in the Malfoy Entry Hall. "You're back!"
Inane chatter of girls trying to speak over one another made his head spin and skin crawl.
"You'll get used to it in about . . . two years if you stick around," a voice spoke next to him. He turned. "Heir Zabini."
Tom took the offered hand and smiled. "Tom Riddle."
Heir Zabini narrowed his eyes. "You don't sound French."
"I'm not French," he said with little inflection.
The Zabini Heir laughed. "It's good to see Theo's finally learned to choose friends for himself that aren't stuck up and boring."
"I take offence to that!" Theo cut across before Tom could speak.
"Theo, who is this?" a plain girl with light brown hair asked.
"Oh, right. This is Tom. He's Historia's fiancé. I thought I'd introduce him to you all. Tom, these are my friends."
"They all look a bit younger than you."
"I told you, the man is hopeless when it comes to people," Zabini joked. "Especially women," the Heir sneered. Tom was shocked at how nasty the man turned at that.
Theo flushed a bright red. Tom lifted a brow and began to wonder if there was something more to the whole 'winning-his-ex-back' plan than he had been told.
"Where's Rosie?" Theo demanded suddenly.
Ah. The Ex.
"Braxy's showing her and Hermes a book he found at a dragon's hoard," Vega Malfoy spoke as she walked up to him. She had a calculating gleam in her eye that made him slightly unnerved as she offered him her hand. He kissed the back of it.
"Vega."
"Tom," she greeted with a cool tone.
She turned from him back to Theo. "She'll be back soon. It all depends on how long Hermes and Abraxas can behave."
Tom bit his cheek to keep from laughing. Abraxas was not behaving. He would bet money on that.
"What's going on between them?" Theo asked softly.
"No idea," the girl said lightly before she moved across the room. Her eyes scanned Tom once more.
Had he done something? The last time they had spoken they had been on fairly good terms. It came with the territory of being best friends with Abraxas.
What also came with that territory was knowing exactly what had happened between the Malfoy Heir and Granger-Black. Granger-Black happened to be Abraxas' Soulmate. The reason Granger-Black wanted to kill Abraxas was because the older man had made a drunken move on the younger boy during a family get together.
An explosion from a few rooms over knocked him out of his thoughts.
"Oh, dear," a curvy girl with dark hair spoke. "Granger snapped."
"Hey!" Vega snapped. "He's my cousin. Have some respect, Bulstrode." The girl flushed a deep red. Laughter filled the halls.
"I apologize, Lady Vega."
His mind spun, as it always did whenever she was addressed as Lady Vega. When Tom had first been explained Titles—the Lordship goes to the eldest blood-child unless it's a daughter and she marries someone with a higher Title than her—he had been taught that you only referred to Heirs, Heiresses, Lords, and Lady's by their Titles because they were the only ones who had them. But then Theodore had told him that there were some families that had more than one child that got a Title despite them not being in direct line for the Estate.
He hadn't been told why, and every time he asked, he had been told he didn't need to know why. The only thing he had been told was the names of those who had the 'extra' Title. Vega Malfoy was one, and the Tauris boys as well as the youngest Black son—when he became of age, of course.
He had also been taught—at the same time—that dropping a Title without permission or during a reprimand was a grave insult to the person you were speaking with. To him it was completely ridiculous, but it was very important to people like the Notts, and apparently Heiress Bulstrode.
"Besides, I think that was the three of them testing a spell in the book. You know how horrific the three of them together are."
Three figures stumbled into the room, and Tom's breath caught at the bright smile on Hydra's face. She was covered in soot, but she looked even more beautiful than she had the last time he had seen her.
"Did—you see—Braxy's—face?" she wheezed as she leaned on a tall male next to her.
He doubled over in laughter as he nodded. "Yes—but—you should have seen—your face!" he choked out. Someone silently cleaned the duo of the soot as they cackled.
Abraxas stood in the doorway, tears of laughter of his face, but a smile of awe on his lips as he stared at the two. Tom was pretty sure he had a similar expression as he stared at Hydra.
His Soulmate straightened slightly and looked up, and their eyes met. She immediately stopped laughing as she stared at him. Vibrant green eyes rapidly scanned his face and figure before his sight of her was cut off completely by Theo.
"Hydra! Hermes!" He shook hands with a still-hysterical Granger-Black before he wrapped his arms around Hydra. Tom stamped out the little flame of jealousy before it could go anywhere. She wasn't his. She struggled against the hold she was in before she seemed to give up. She propped her chin on Theo's shoulder and looked at Tom once more.
She glanced towards Theo before her eyes met Tom's once more. "Yeah, I guess I missed you, too."
His heart thumped painfully in his chest.
She pushed out of Theo's embrace and wrapped her arms around herself and looked to the ground. Granger-Black suddenly looked as if Death itself would run from him as he, Vega, Heir Zabini, and Abraxas stood around her. Their hands gently touched her as if to soothe an unseen ache that couldn't be touched.
The same that roared deep within him.
Like a small candle left in front of an open window during a thunderstorm, his anger vanished in an instant. He tried to hold onto it. Tried to armor himself with it, but it was gone.
He couldn't be mad at her. She was—
Abraxas made his way across the room to him. "Long time no see, bastard," the Heir greeted.
"You as well, peacock."
The blonde laughed. "What's your connection to Hydra?"
Tom rolled his eyes. Of course.
"I take it my letter is sitting unopened in some apartment," he muttered. "How could you tell?"
"You haven't stopped staring at her since she came in. You normally don't stare at other women when you're in a serious relationship."
"She's my Soulmate," he confided quietly.
Abraxas made a soft sound in the back of his throat. "That's rough."
"You have no idea," he gritted out as Theo forced himself between her and her friends and maneuvered her over to Tom, where she curled further in on herself.
"Rose, this is Tom Riddle, Historia's fiancé. Tom, this is Hydra Black, the girl I was telling you about."
And the rage was back.
His jaw ticked and his fingers twitched as he attempted to keep the urge to strangle Theo at bay. "We've met," he said softly.
Theo smiled, relief in his eyes. "Really?" he asked. But then something shifted. Whether it was Hydra's posture—drooped, shaking, leaning towards Tom—or the way Tom reached his hand out to her to greet her the way he had greeted the other Heiresses, he didn't know, but suddenly there was jealousy in Theo's eyes.
His grip tightened on Hydra as Tom's lips pressed against her gloved hand—as her eyes rolled slightly in her head and her knees buckled slightly. Theo yanked her back against him, and Hydra hissed at him.
Tom couldn't stop the chuckle if he had tried.
"Yes," she snipped. "A few nights ago, at my Introduction Ball, which, might I remind you, you missed." She shoved out of the grip of her ex and moved back to Granger-Black. He wrapped his arms around her and pressed his head against the top of her head.
Tom tilted his head slightly. He had known Hydra was small. He had felt it in the way she fit against him as they kissed the other night, but he hadn't realized how small she was until that moment.
Maybe it was the lack of heels.
"Hydra—" Theo whined.
She hissed at him again.
Lady Vega cleared her throat. "If we don't leave, we'll be late to our appointment."
The large group split into two. Tom, Abraxas, Vega, Hydra and Granger-Black were the first to leave. Theo had tried to join them, but Vega had activated the floo before he could step inside of it.
While in the floo, Tom had been able to stand next to Hydra—behind the other three—and unable to help himself, he had placed his hand on the small of her back. She didn't fight him. She leaned against him as they shot passed fireplaces and ran her nose against his bicep, just below his shoulder. He ran his right hand against her face, and she pressed a kiss to his palm.
He wiped away the tear trail as the floo began to slow. She pulled away from him and stood normally, if not a bit closer than when they entered the floo. He didn't remove his hand from her back. He glanced down at her and flicked the fingers of his right hand at her, and the redness of her nose faded along with the redness of her eyes as a glamour fell over them.
She nodded her head and wiggled her nose.
The five stepped out of the floo, and Abraxas moved to stand behind Tom and Hydra as Granger-Black moved to stand to her left, and Vega continued to stand in front of them. "Come, the shop is this way," she spoke when the others arrived.
The group made their way down Diagon Alley, and Tom tried not to gawk at the way those well-dressed would scramble out of the way and sometimes bow to them. It had never happened when he was with the Notts—what was so important about these Heirs and Heiresses that other members of the Wizengamot bowed to them?
They eventually made it to their destination, and Tom reluctantly released his Soulmate. She quickly squeezed his hand while his cloak would hide it, and something possessive and proud gurgled up from deep within him.
They were separated as they entered Señora Cain's Gowns and Suits for All Events, but he made sure to keep her within his line of sight at all times.
Inside the shop, racks upon racks of gowns, suits, and formal robes lined the walls, but none of the members of the group stopped to look at them. Instead, they were led through the shop and to a door in the back by a frazzled young witch, and there, Tom nearly froze in the doorway.
The back of the shop was much larger than the front of the shop. The right sidewall was extended so far, he couldn't see it with the amount of fabric that soared around seemingly aimless directions: up, down, left, right—there was no rhyme or reason to the chaos.
Directly across from the entry door was a platform with ten-foot-tall mirrors behind it. Behind the mirrors were more racks of suits and dresses that had tags on them labeled Sold or Reserved in large, red letters. The racks were stacked vertically into an extended ceiling instead of horizontally into depths of Dress Darkness—his heart couldn't take it if there was more space than he could currently see.
"Lady Vega!" a woman who appeared to be in her mid-forty's exclaimed as she came out from behind a swath of bright yellow fabric. "It is good to see you again so soon!" She had a slight Spanish accent and brilliant yellow eyes that reminded Tom of a feline as she and Vega exchanged cheek kisses.
"Señora, it is a pleasure to see you as always."
Tom's attention faded from the interaction as Hydra separated from the group and began to look at dresses as if she were in great pain.
Abraxas clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Have you got robes for Vega's ball tomorrow?" Tom rolled his eyes and brushed the offending appendage off. Abraxas just grabbed Tom's hand and began a game of Magical Thumb War—an adaption they created when they were thirteen and normal thumb war had gotten boring. Being awake, unable to sleep, surrounded by sleeping roommates, required imagination to keep one entertained and quiet.
"Yes—"
"No, he does not," Theo interjected. He looked to the extended ceiling and rolled his eyes. Abraxas snorted softly. Tom trapped Abraxas' thumb underneath his and sent a mild shocking hex up the man's arm—the magical part of Magical Thumb War. His hand was finally released, and he turned his attention to Theo.
"What do you mean I don't?" he growled. Hydra rejected a dress from Heiress Greengrass with a grimace before she put it back and moved away from the other girls.
"You've worn the same suit to the last three balls. You need a new one."
He thought of the way Hydra had flushed when she had seen him—before she paled as she almost fell off the balcony—and didn't really see the problem with wearing the same suit to Vega's Introduction Ball.
"No, I don't."
"Yes, you do."
"No, I don't."
"Yes—" His magic grew agitated.
"Hydie," Abraxas cut in. Tom glared at the blonde—who ignored him. "Come here a moment."
Hydra walked away from a rack of silver dresses and towards the group of three. "You should look at blue, Rose," Theo spoke. "You look better in it."
Her nose wrinkled slightly before she turned from her ex entirely—something Tom couldn't identify grew in him, something that made him ache in the most pleasant of ways.
"Yes, Abraxas?"
"Theo here is insisting Tom get a new suit. What do you think?"
A faint blush lined her cheekbones, and Abraxas chuckled softly. "It depends on why he's insisting Tom get a new suit. The suit I saw him in was f-fine." The blush darkened, and along with the stutter, Tom couldn't stop the slight preen when his chin lifted, and a smile quirked at his lips.
She punched his stomach.
He doubled over and used the opportunity to whisper in her ear, "You'll look beautiful in any color, darling." He kissed the corner of her jaw and smiled when she shuttered against him. He pretended to groan as she stepped away with a deep red blush on her cheeks.
"You deserved that," Abraxas sniffed.
"He needs a new suit because he's worn the last one to the last three balls he's attended. It's all black and dreary."
Hydra shrugged and walked away. "If you want a new suit, Tom, get one. That one was quite dashing if I recall it correctly," she called over her shoulder. She disappeared into the racks of clothing once more, the color decidedly not blue.
The next hour passed in a blur for Hydra. She'd wander around the private room and try to find a dress that would keep Theo away from her—he had certain expectations of her, and whenever she didn't meet them, he tended to hide from her—but would also keep her Soul Mark hidden.
So far it was a failure.
On top of the dress hunt, her head was swimming with the glorious sensations of Tom's magic, and she could barely stand. The first thing she had done when in the private viewing room was take off her boots. That had helped a little—as in she no longer wanted to wrap herself around Tom like a squid—but the rest of her clothing was still causing issues. The only way she was going to function properly and protect her heart from Tom was getting out of her clothes and into one of the dresses.
"Try it on."
Hydra flinched at Pansy's voice. "What?"
"You've been staring at it for the last five minutes. Try it on. I personally don't think it'll look good, but hey, maybe getting out of those clothes will help you actually find something decent to wear."
Hydra shrugged before she grabbed the dark brown dress and made her way to the changing room. The dress was a simple strapless A-line dress with a sweetheart neckline and a bright red sash around the waist that had flames painstakingly embroidered on it.
Señora Cain knocked on the door. "Are you ready for me to size it?"
"Yes?"
She came in and immediately tutted. "That's not the dress for you, Heiress Black."
"I know. I was having issues concentrating," she said with a vague gesture towards her normal clothes in a neat pile on a cushioned bench against the wall.
"Well, we can't let Mr. Riddle see you in this, so—" She flicked her wand and a dark green silk dressing gown appeared on the door. "There." She left the room, and Hydra just stared at the closed door.
Tom Riddle.
Tears soundlessly streaked down her face as she slipped out of the dress and into the robe. She tied the belt tight around her waist and wrapped her arms around her chest, as if that could hold herself together as another piece of her cracked once more.
You'll look beautiful in any color, darling.
How dare he? How dare he act like she was his? How dare he pretend that his engagement wasn't an obstacle?
How dare he act like he wasn't Stolen?
She wiped her face and silently slipped out of the changing room, unaware that the robe had loosened somewhat during her crying and she now had a deep neckline—thankfully, not much was shown.
Daphne wolf whistled, and Hydra froze when she realized why. She met Tom's eyes—which then made a show of looking her up and down. His eyes darkened, and panicked, she turned on her heel and pretended that she wasn't running away. She made a beeline for the back corner, weaving between racks upon racks of dresses before she came to a stop.
It was dark in this corner of the store, hardly any fairy lights bothering to come back here. Dust clung to the fabric, and she wouldn't be surprised if animals lived back here. She waved her hand, and a white fairy light began to float over her head.
"Impressive."
"Merlin—" she swore. She turned around with her hand over her heart and glared at Tom. "Why?" she demanded.
He slowly stepped towards her, like a lion stalking its prey. She took a step back. "Why what?" he asked, his voice low. "Why did I follow you? Why did I scare you?" He continued his approach, and she continued to retreat.
Why me?
"Both," she insisted, her voice wobbly.
"First, I didn't mean to scare you. I thought you had heard me when I stumbled over a rack about a minute before I spoke." She laughed at the image but shook her head. Her back hit something solid, and she began to go a different way. "Second, I followed you because I wanted to."
Her eyes caught on what she had bumped into, and it was a mannequin wearing a beautiful dark dress. The light was too dim to make out much more than the halter strap neckline and gemstones that lined the dip of fabric at the cleavage.
"Why?"
"Why did I want to follow you?" She shook her head and stopped moving. He stood directly in front of her and pressed a hand against her right cheek. "Then why what?
"Why did you kiss me when you're engaged?" she begged in a weak voice.
"Because there was something in me telling me that the world would end if I didn't. I never expected you to be my Soulmate. I planned to kiss you, and then forget you."
"And now?" she asked softly. "Now that we're Soulmates? What's your plan?"
He curled his other arm around her back and pulled her close. He pressed his forehead against hers. "I don't have one. Not yet."
She pushed him away and swallowed back the tears. "Okay. Okay." She walked away from him and towards the mannequin. "Okay." A sob tore out of her mouth, and his arms wrapped around her from behind. "Let me go," she whined. She weakly struggled against him, but he held strong.
"Tom." Tom grumbled at Abraxas' voice. "Tom, let her go." He released her, and Vega immediately had her arms wrapped around her. Hydra buried her face in her cousin's hair. "I found your excuse. Go try it on." Fabric rustled. "Now, Tom," Abraxas' voice was hard. "I can't protect you from the Black and Potter Estates, but I sure as hell can protect you from my sister—who will tell my father who you are and what you did and then the entirety of the Malfoy rage will fall upon Historia, affecting you—and I can protect you from Theo's adolescent jealousy, but I can't do that if we don't go now."
"What do you mean Potter and Black Estates?" His voice faded as Abraxas explained what he had meant.
"You okay?" Vega asked once Hydra's sobs subsided a short while later.
"No," she croaked.
"Don't worry," Vega cooed in a sweet voice as she began to straighten Hydra's dressing gown. "Historia's life is going to become a lot more complicated and lonely in Society."
"And High Society?"
"Hah!" Vega snorted. "She's going to forget that she was even once welcome into our ranks, the imposter."
Hydra laughed softly and pulled away fully from Vega. She turned to the dress and gestured for the light to move closer to the dress so she could see it better.
Her breath caught slightly in her chest.
The fabric was dark green, and looked like velvet, but felt like water as she ran her fingers over the smooth fabric. The dress had what appeared to be an A-line skirt—at least, what at one point in time was an A-line skirt. Now it had a slit up the left side that went up to the top of the thigh, and the large triangle that had been cut out to make the revealing cut had been stitched into the other side to create some sort of side-train. She wasn't sure, but it looked as if the way the fabric had been cut, the exposed skin would stay exposed no matter what someone would do to try and hide it—well, nothing short of sewing more fabric into the dress, at least.
The Basque waistline had diamonds and bright white pearls to form a V that hid the seam and mimicked the V-shape the neckline made. The straps wrapped around the mannequin's neck and had emeralds and diamonds sewn into the center of the strips of fabric.
"It's probably backless," Vega commented after a moment. She was aware of Hydra's goal to keep Theo away from her and her Soulmark hidden—but this . . ..
"I don't care. I'm trying it on."
They carefully extracted the dress—which was indeed backless—from the mannequin and slowly made their way to the front of the private room.
"It's strange that the rest of these robes and dresses have dust and spiders clinging to them, but this one is in perfect condition," Vega commented after she had a run in with a large fluffy demon from Hell with eight legs.
"Perhaps Señora Cain is particularly pleased with this dress," Hydra commented softly as she flicked the carcass of the spider to hover over their heads as they walked.
She was going to drop it onto whoever she saw first—if it happened to be Theo, it wouldn't be her fault.
"Ah! Lady Malfoy!" Señora Cain called as the two emerged from the dresses. "I think I found the perfect dress—oh." The woman paused as her eyes fell on the dress in Hydra's arms. "I—yes. I was mistaken, forgive me. It seems the two of you have found the perfect dress." The screams of the spider falling on Daphne's head fell on deaf ears. "Come, Heiress Black, let me fit it to you."
Señora Cain took the dress out of her arms and gestured with her head for her to follow, so she did. As she walked past, she saw Tom on the fitting stand in a suit very similar to the all-black suit he had worn at her Ball. The only difference was the color—green suit jacket with a split tailcoat, and white button-up shirt with a golden waist coat.
Their eyes met through the mirror, and he lifted a brow. What do you think? his stance said.
She rolled her eyes and tried to ignore the smile that tugged at her lips. She shook her head as her cheeks heated.
It was too perfect.
She entered the fitting room with Señora Cain and the dress and dressing gown quickly switched positions with a flick of her wand.
The first thing she immediately felt in the dress was the sensation of if she moved too quickly, she was going to show far more than she ever wanted to show in public with the slit on the side and the plunging back that only reappeared just below the small of her back—right above her butt.
The second thing she felt was powerful. Like she could do anything and succeed. "Are there Runes on this?" she asked as Señora Cain began to tie her braid up and out of the way so she could do a proper fitting.
"Confidence Runes, along here and here," she said as she ran a finger along the hem of the back and the top of the slit. "They're not strong enough to make you do anything you wouldn't normally do, just . . . wear the dress."
Hydra laughed as the dress tightened in some places—the bodice—and loosened in others—mainly the skirt. "Why was this dress preserved?"
"It was one of my first dresses I ever made after I became a seamstress. In Spain, it is common to make dresses like this, but here, not so much. I was so proud of it, and when no one wanted it, and even mocked it, I decided to hide it. I haven't seen it in almost eight years."
The neckline was adjusted so it was a bit lower and wider and cupped her breasts better than before. "Can we not?" she asked softly. "I don't want Tom—" She stopped speaking.
"Darling, I can see the connection the two of you have. It is strong. Why fight it?"
"He's Stolen." It was all she was going to say, and it seemed it was all she needed to say.
The neckline was adjusted once more—to be more revealing, not less—and the slit was raised two inches—exposing her underwear. Señora Cain tutted and with a flick of her wand, Hydra's panties were vanished.
"Hey! Give those back!" she shrieked. The older woman just tutted again, and a thong was put in their place. Glitter was spelled onto her exposed leg, and black heels were thrust at her. "Do I have to?" she whined.
The lifting wand was all the coercion she needed to place the shoes on herself. A lace choker with a small teardrop diamond was slung around her neck and the temporary tie her hair had been placed into was undone and Bixby's hard work was once more smoothed out. The braid was adjusted to rest over her shoulder, and the Dragon Eye glinted in the mirror, as if it were winking at her.
"Now, go out there and show him," Señora Cain whispered in her ear. "Make him see what he's missing," she finished before Hydra could complain.
Hydra nodded her head and carefully turned on her heel. Her heart hammered in her chest and her palms began to sweat. The older woman left the changing room and Hydra took a moment to compose herself.
The thong really was uncomfortable.
"Heiress Black, really, come on," Señora Cain scolded lightly.
Hydra took a deep breath and exited the changing room. She was met with multiple reactions. The girls began to gush—all of them wanting to know where she found the dress and where they could get one similar—Vega wolf whistled which started Hermes, Blaise, and Abraxas on wolf-whistling.
Theo hated it, which made her love it even more. "No!" he demanded as Hydra made her way to the empty platform. "You're not that kind of girl, Hydra, you can't—" A choked wail left his throat when she turned her back to the group,
She met Tom's eyes through the mirror as Señora Cain adjusted the skirt around her. His mouth was slightly opened as he stared with dark, hungry eyes. His hands periodically twitched, and his magic caressed her—she could feel it even without her uniform, and that both thrilled and terrified her.
Their eyes met once more, and unable to help herself, she lifted a brow.
He smiled softly and nodded his head. Absolutely, he mouthed. He gestured to his suit which hadn't changed.
She shrugged, barely noticeable before she wrinkled her nose lightly. She pretended to sneeze after shock covered his face. Her blush betrayed her, however, and he smiled smugly.
"You're getting it," Vega spoke as she moved to stand in front of Tom. "No ifs, ands, or buts about it—"
A Labrador Retriever Patronus flew into the room. "Hydra, Hermes, I need you. James and Regulus set the kitchen on fire again," her mother's panicked voice spoke. "I tried that spell you taught me and made it worse." The Patronus turned and ran away.
Hydra's eyes widened. She leapt off of the stand and into the changing room. She carefully stripped out of the magnificent dress and into the bare bones of her training gear in record time. She ran out into the main room as she continued to pull clothes on. "I'm getting the dress, shoes, and necklace—charge it to my personal account—ach!" she squealed as she hopped on one foot putting her boots on and stumbled when a wave of magic hit her. She fell to the ground when the other boot was on. She forced herself to stand and finished dressing. "If there's not enough, charge the rest to my parents account. But there should be enough—I don't know—dammit!" she hissed.
"Hydra!" Hermes hissed. "Vega can handle it. Let's go!"
The two ran out of the shop, ignored angry calls from people they ran into on the streets—most apologized when they realized who it was that ran into them.
They arrived home, and it was shortly after they put the fire out that Hydra realized she was still wearing the thong.
(if she went and screamed into a pillow, she couldn't be blamed)
I hope you liked it ^_^