Minister Riddle Will See You Now
Chapter 4: Discussions
*Disclaimer: Not mine. Inspired by Harry Potter and 50 Shades of Grey (so we must also tip our hats to Twilight as well)
**If you notice continuityerrors, please bring them to my attention so I can correct them
***Sorry for any typos.
They arrived inside a sitting room that was decorated tastefully in woods, dark leathers, and glass. She could see a rich chesterfield couch of deep chocolate accompanied by a thick and lucious grey fur rug in front of a roaring fireplace. The walls had horizontal wooden planks giving it a bit of an old farmhouse look. The outerwall of the room was encased in a large glass window with a beautiful view of the mountains of what looked like Scotland.
"Come Hermione, sit. You should drink water," Riddle commanded.
"Why haven't you invited me to call you Tom?" she blurted. She must be drunker than she thought.
"Because I give few people that right, Miss Granger," he answered, standing next to the couch, waiting for her to seat herself.
She walked over huffily and sank into the couch in an indignant manner that simply made him smirk. Bastard.
"Look, Hermione, I-"
"No."
"No?"
"No. Either we're Hermione and Tom or Miss Granger and Mister Riddle. If your answer is the latter, I'll be going and you'll need to leave me alone," she demanded petulantly. Her mind was racing with confusion over his motives with her and she wasn't going to tolerate his double standard under her current liquid bravery enhancer.
"Call me, Tom, I suppose," he offered, frowning.
Relief flooded her which only confused her further. Did she want to be Hermione to this man? She peeked up at him. His dark hair and gorgeous eyes and full lips were staring her in the face. He was physically very attractive, yes, but there was something else about him. Hermione could never remember being attracted to anyone else like this. She'd found boys attractive before, yes, but not to this level. It wasn't Tom's face that was arousing her interest. She couldn't put her finger on it and she blamed the drink for messing with her ability to complete her thoughts.
"Okay, Tom, tell me why you're doing this?"
His hand threaded through his hair in frustration. "I find you irresistible. I've tried to stay away, trust me I have. I thought maybe if we interacted a bit more I could make peace with my curiosity and leave you alone."
"Why me? I'm nothing special. With a face like yours you could have any witch in the wizarding world," Hermione asked, feeling stupefied that he thought there was anything about her that wasn't plain.
Tom's eyebrows furrowed. "Why not you? Do you think I've met many witches who can discuss magical theory with me the way you did? Most women fawn over me and are starstruck. I'm not into that."
The was a beat of silence as Tom handed her a glass of water. "Drink that or you'll be sorry tomorrow. Hangover potion only does so much to take away the ill effects of drinking. By the way, I thought you didn't drink much?"
He was angry, she noticed. His fist was curled in on itself against his thigh. His moods were so hot and cold.
"I don't," Hermione admitted, pulling the glass away from her mouth long enough to answer. "Tonight was the 7th year graduation celebration. Everyone was celebrating and my friends bought me drinks. I obviously haven't learnt my limit yet."
Rolling his eyes, Tom huffed but refused to talk until she'd finished the tall glass of water he had given her. She tried not to chug it as she was suddenly quite thirsty.
Watching her set the empty glass down, Tom said quietly, "Well, at least you've not vomited so perhaps you're not as drunk as you could have been."
She didn't know if he was right or not. Her head was delightfully muffled and her thoughts seemed more brilliant than usual when they occurred to her. It was getting through the mud in her mind to find the thoughts that was difficult.
Tom sighed. "I can see you're a little too drunk to answer my questions tonight. I suppose I'll just put you to bed and ask in the morning.
A little startled, she looked at him with eyes wide. "Bed?"
"Yes," he said, smiling at her again. "That thing that you lie down on in order to sleep and replenish your energy. You graduate tomorrow. You're going to need rest."
Laughing, Hermione put a hand in front of her mouth to stop the giggles. "You're not allowed in the 7th year girl dorms, Minister Riddle. You're not going to be able to put me to bed."
A predatory smile was on his face as he leaned over to her on the couch and whispered in her ear, "Oh, but Miss Granger, who said I was taking you to your bed for sleep?"
She gasped as he picked her up bridal style and began striding from the room as if she weighed nothing.
"If you think I'm letting you chance another attack by some drunken 7th year male as you make your way back into the castle, you're very mistaken. No, you'll stay here where I can ensure your safety."
She flushed, secretly a little pleased at his declaration that proved he did not want other boys to be near her but a little frightened at the idea of her own autonomy to make decisions being cast aside. She was very unused to not being in supreme command of her own life.
The room they entered was dark and he did not light a candle or his wand. She could barely see through the moonlight streaming in the windows. He set her down on a bed and she giggled again.
"What?" he asked and she heard a drawer being opened.
"I was just thinking you should be careful not to drop me into the abyss you warned me about."
He was kneeling on the floor in front of her as he tugged off her shoes. She could feel the warmth of his body permeating through the denim of her jeans.
"I think it's safe to say we are both freefalling through that abyss together, wouldn't you, Hermione?"
Now that was a thought. Both of them holding onto each other as they fell down, down, down...
"What's at the bottom?" she asked dumbly as her socks were now also removed.
A sigh. "That's what I do not know and has always been something I have never intended to learn."
"That's a strange answer," she scoffed.
"Perhaps," he hedged.
She felt his fingers at the button on her jeans, flicking them open and she could only watch in fascination as he slipped her jeans off without her help as she looked on dumbly. She'd never been undressed by a man before but there was little sexuality to the way he was doing it and slipping the denim down her legs. He pushed his jacket off her shoulders and she heard the fabric hit something else from where he tossed it.
There was a slight brush of his fingers on her abdomen as he gripped the bottom of her tight t-shirt and pulled it up over her head. He reached behind her and undid the catch on her bra. It fell off her and he pulled the now empty cups away from her body, the straps slipping down her arms. She shivered at the idea that she was now sitting in only her knickers on the Minister's bed in front of the Minister himself and he wasn't touching her. It was dark but her eyes had adjusted a little and she knew from the little she was able to see of his face, he could make out the shape of her breasts in the dark if he looked down. Feeling brave enough, she eyed him as she waited to see what he was going to do now that she was practically naked in what she assumed was his house. He broke her gaze to look across the dark room.
She heard the sound of him swallowing and saw him raise his arm. A shadowy bundle of dark cloth flew into his hands seconds before it was brought over her head. He guided her arms through it and pulled it down over her. She reached up to touch the neckline of it and realized it was a t-shirt, softer than her own and much larger than the one she'd been wearing. It smelled good. A hint of cedar, sandalwood, sage. She could smell it all day and feel safe.
Hands guided her back on the bed and covers were lifted over her. This might have been the most comfortable bed she'd ever laid in, she decided as she watched the blurry shadow moving about in the darkness of the bedroom. She heard clothing hit the floor and drawers being opened but he was beyond the reach of the moonlight and she could not see what he was doing. Soon there was a dip in the bed behind her and she knew that he'd climbed in with her. This would be the first time she'd shared a bed with a man and she was too drunk to take advantage. She snorted at that thought. She had the vague idea that she should probably protest the action of sleeping in a strange bed with a strange man but she was comfortable and the man in bed with her was someone she was starting to realize she wanted to know more about. The alcohol in her system reassured her that everything would be okay so she relaxed into her desire to stay there.
"What's going through your head, little witch?" his smooth voice asked her as he rolled to face the center of the bed.
In vino veritas was a tried and true statement as Hermione couldn't stop herself from answering, "I was just thinking it's a shame I'm too drunk to properly take advantage of this quintessential opportunity."
A sigh. "Of course you would be one to use four syllable words when smashed. Sleep."
Keeping her face away from him she closed her eyes and willed herself to sleep. She was slipping into unconsciousness when she felt his arms circle her and pull her tightly to his chest.
When she woke up, she was disoriented. She didn't know where she was. This bedroom was one she'd never seen before. The bed she was lying in was positively massive. The rich wooden four poster bed looked expensive and she realized it probably was as she recalled the events of the previous night. Drinking, fun, drinking, being hit on, drinking, and then having to tell Ron "no" only to have Tom "Minister of Magic" Riddle whisk her away to his home for safety. She'd drunk patronused him that evening to complain about him forcing gifts on her because they confused her. She didn't want gifts that gave her false hope that he liked her. She'd fallen for this trap before with boys that she didn't feel even a fraction of the attraction for that she felt for Tom.
On the bedside table was a hangover potion and a glass of water. She drank the potion and chased it with the water. She looked around the bed and noticed the other side was mussed. She recalled that he had slept in the bed with her and she remembered his arms coming around her as she was getting sleepy. Beyond that she didn't remember anything.
There was a large armoire on the opposite wall and a nice armchair in the corner by a window where there was a pile of clothing. She had just pushed the black silky blankets off her legs to stand and go get dressed when a door in the room opened.
Tom entered the room wearing nothing but a towel, his skin still wet, his hair damp and tousled. This is what his hair looks like before he styles it, she realized. It was very sexy to see behind the Minister of Magic's armor.
"You're awake, I see," he stated as he opened a drawer and removed a pair of shorts which he slipped on under the towel, to her disappointment. It must have shown on her face since he chuckled at her.
"I'll just borrow your bathroom for a moment," she whispered, snatching up her wand from the bedside table and sneaking by him into the loo. She tried to pretend she hadn't seen him watching her legs as she turned around to shut the door to the bathroom.
His bathroom was luxurious. A huge soaking tub the size of a Jacuzzi, a shower that had benches on either side and included two shower heads. There was one sink and lots of clear counter space with only a couple products on it.
The bathroom was steamy from his shower and smelled like something spicy yet woodsy, just like him. She wanted to smell like him so badly, all of the sudden. She twisted knobs until the shower turned on to the right temperature and she stripped out of the large white t-shirt he had dressed her in last night and out of her knickers. She took a moment to clean her teeth and tongue using her wand, a spell, and a dab of his muggle toothpaste.
In the shower, she quickly washed her body with his soap. The cedar and sandalwood source of his scent was now discovered and she wished she could determine where he got his soap so she could buy some. It wasn't the same, smelling it on herself, as it was smelling it on him but Merlin it was nice.
She stepped out and summoned a towel from the shelf. Her hair had only gotten a little wet from the shower so her curls were still sleek enough, they just looked like someone had raked their hands through them a bit. She picked up her knickers and cast a laundry spell to clean them and then put them back on. She saw a laundry hamper and placed his shirt into it.
With the towel wrapped around her, she snuck back into his bedroom and did not see him there. She cast the same laundry spells at her jeans, shirt, and socks before replacing all of her clothing. Thankfully she didn't wear much makeup hardly ever so removing what little she had on from last night did not leave her looking sickly but instead rather fresh.
She cast a tempus and saw it was 6:30 am. She had plenty of time to sneak back into Hogwarts if she used The Shrieking Shack tunnel. She did not have a curfew and she was allowed to spend the night out but most students went home. She didn't really want anyone to know she'd been out all night as it would lead to questions. She never went home for the night and her friends knew that.
She left the bedroom and didn't really know which way to go but she smelled food so she followed it. She found the sitting room she remembered from last night. The room next to it was a dinning room where she found the man himself sitting, holding The Daily Prophet and the last issue of The Hogwarts Happening as he drank his coffee.
"Good morning," he greeted her as he stood upon seeing her.
She blushed at his gentlemanly manners. None of the boys she knew acted like this with her.
She sat where he indicated which was directly next to him. There was a wide selection of foods and he gestured for her to serve herself. She felt nerves in her stomach and wasn't feeling terribly hungry. She saw he was eating sausages and bacon with some sort of an omelette. Carefully, she served herself a bit of fresh fruit and poured herself some ice water. She felt a stare and looked up to see Tom was frowning at her.
"You should eat more than that. You're very thin," he told her frankly.
This was news to her and she must have looked shocked.
"You don't need to eat lightly to look good. Eat what you like, I daresay you can stand to gain a few pounds if eating more than fruit leads to it."
Fidgeting, she speared a piece of melon. "I'm actually just not feeling too hungry at the moment."
That didn't seem to make him any happier but he said nothing as he resumed his breakfast. She split a strawberry piece in half to make the bites smaller as she contemplated the meaning behind her presence here in Tom's house.
She had been drunk and she had initiated communication with him. Even though she had been irritated and had only intended to find out why he was so determined to give her an expensive gift, he responded with concern that she was drunk. She had made snide comments about his stupid, vague warnings that accompanied the gifts and he hadn't even responded to that. He simply asked if she was drunk and then demanded to know where she was. When she had left the Three Broomsticks, he'd sent her a message telling her he was coming to take care of her. How had he known that she was in distress? Better yet, what made him think that she couldn't handle Ron on her own?
She managed to eat the fruit she'd put on her plate but she looked around at the rest of the food on the table and she didn't think she could manage to eat anything else. She was nervous next to Tom and she had a speech to give later today.
"Finish your water and then I think perhaps a discussion is in order. Don't you?"
His arms were crossed across his chest and he was leaning back in his chair with an eyebrow raised. She wanted to argue that she did not need to finish her water but she knew he was right. Her mouth really just wanted to protest being told something she knew to be true because it made her feel as though he thought she was too dumb to know it. In the interest of getting to the answers she desired, she drank the last bit of her water and stood.
Tom held out a hand for her to take and she placed her hand in his for him to lead her wherever he wanted to go to talk.
The second her hand touched his, she felt her heart surge. Like a bolt of lightning, her entire system was shorted for a moment.
Tom didn't seem to notice as he guided her into the room from last night. They took seats next to each other on the brown chesterfield couch. She crossed her ankles and tucked them to the side while slipping her hands between her knees to hold them still.
"You still want answers?" Tom asked, his dark eyes studying her.
She nodded.
"Let's play a game. You can ask me five questions and I'll tell you no lies. I get to ask five questions of you as well and you'll answer each with the truth," he suggested.
Hermione's brain was a little sharper this morning and she snorted. "The ultimate Slytherin, aren't you? I have to answer truthfully but you only have to not lie to what I ask you? No," she shook her head. "We either both tell no lies or we both answer the five questions with honesty. Your choice."
A smile brightened his face. "Why Miss Granger, you are indeed a brilliant witch. I see the rumors I've been hearing are true. You know, we have plenty of room in my personal department at the ministry for a sharp mind like yours."
Why would he want her to work for him? It wasn't really that hard for witches and wizards to figure out when they've been offered a bad deal, was it?
"I don't think I'd fit in your department very well, Minister Riddle, but I appreciate the offer," she told the floor, not able to look up just yet as she recalled the secretary who had taken her coat before the interview and her beauty.
"Whyever not?" he asked and she thought he sounded baffled and concerned but she couldn't force herself to look him in those dark eyes just yet.
"I have other plans for my future," she said, avoiding his question with a diversion tactic.
There was a moment of silence before he sighed. "Okay, no lies is the only rule but if you don't answer a question truthfully, there will be consequences. You will either answer truthfully or opt to not answer."
She considered and shot back, "That goes for you too? Okay, I agree."
"If you dodge a question, then that question doesn't count as one of my five," he clarified.
"Sure," she agreed.
"Ladies first," he offered with a smile that almost looked sinister and she suddenly worried about what questions he had lined up for her.
"Why did you feel the need to force such an expensive gift on me? And, please, this time don't just say that you did it because you could," Hermione begged.
"I didn't have much in my life until I was adopted. I know what it's like to be poor and destitute. I recognize that you are working hard to pay your own way through life and while I don't know why that is, I wanted to help. I don't like being helpless and when I noticed your cheap bag had already been repaired so many times that even I could not fix it magically, I wanted to help. I bought the best because I can afford the best. Does that answer your question?"
She was shocked to have received such an honest answer but she shook her head. "The book was also a gift. Why the book?"
Tom gritted his teeth and she knew instantly that he was not used to having to share information against his will. Slytherins never agree to humiliation unless they would be getting something really good in return and suddenly the prospect of answering his questions had her sweating with nerves.
"I gave you the book because you're the only person I know who could appreciate such a literary masterpiece for what it is. I had hoped after you read it that we could discuss it but you seem determined to give it back without reading it."
She nodded her head that he had fulfilled his obligation to answer her question and gulped.
"Why are you so against accepting my gifts?" he asked her, leaning his elbows on his knees.
A little wary that his first question seemed so easy, she responded, "Because I've learned that gifts come attached to things. Implications, promises, obligations...I couldn't be sure what was attached and so I felt I must return them. I had thought you offered the bag out of guilt but the message you sent with it indicated something else and I didn't-I don't- understand what you're warning me of."
When Tom didn't say anything, she blurted out her second question, "How did you know where I was last night?"
A laugh. "I was already in Hogsmeade. Draco is my godson and we were at the Hog's Head having a drink away from the rest of your classmates when I got the first twp patronuses. Draco was so shocked he spilled his drink."
She smiled a little at that.
"I knew you must be at The Three Broomsticks but you weren't outside dancing or with the majority of the crowd when I got there so Draco and I sat down with a drink to wait. We must have missed you because you stumbled past us not too long after that. I watched you leave and was settling the bill when that boy went out after you and I didn't have a good feeling. I sent you a message and I got there as soon as I could. I didn't know if you'd walked to Hogwarts or what but I was glad you'd not gone too far and I was able to find you quickly."
Another nod from her and it was his turn.
"You seem very skittish around me and I need to know now if it's because I frighten you," Tom smoothly said while looking at her with an intense stare that implored her to answer but she couldn't determine what answer he was begging her for.
"It's not you, per say, that scares me," Hermione admitted while twisting her hands around between her knees. She felt a hand on hers, stilling her movements.
"I do scare you, though?"
"No, just...your intentions."
"My intentions scare you?"
A nod.
"What do you think my intentions are?"
A smile took over her mouth. "Ah, that would be another question and it's not your turn."
He frowned but did not object to her rule enforcement.
"My third question," she said, "is to ask why you cared that I was drunk. Most people would have ignored a drunk patronus as you should have since you knew all the 7th years were drinking."
Shaking his head, Tom leveled her with a glare. "You weren't safe as evidenced by the red head trying to force his attentions on you."
"Ron? Ron just... Got out of line. He does that. I had it handled," she argued.
"Had it handled? He was a breath away from forcing his tongue down your throat and you were trapped between him and the bench. He had you positioned just right for him to manipulate your body and you were only verbally protesting."
Tom was angry and Hermione had not seen him angry like this before. She felt a little pleased to see him upset on her behalf but she was also feeling as though he thought her a helpless victim.
"I could have hexed him six ways to Sunday if I needed to," Hermione informed him haughtily. "I had hoped I wouldn't have to because Ron is my friend."
"Well someone should teach him some manners," Tom retorted.
An amused smile broke out on her face unbidden. "Yes, someone should but 7 years of it hasn't taken hold when I tried. The 17 years of Arthur and Molly's efforts have been obviously wasted as well."
"He's a Weasley?"
Warily, she replied, "Yes but please let me handle it."
She watched the muscles in his jaw flex but he didn't answer.
"That doesn't fully answer my question. People get drunk. You had no reason to believe I was too drunk so why did it matter to you?"
This question hit a nerve she could tell based on how long he warred with himself before answering. He wouldn't look her in the eye either which was a first for him.
"I didn't like the idea of you having a good time with other young men. Even if Weasley had been behaving, I wouldn't have liked the thought of you being out with your classmates. Too many opportunities for the boys in your year."
She knew he was holding back information but something told her to back off a bit. She knew that he must be having a difficult time being honest when he usually held his information so close to himself.
Rushing to move on, Tom's third question was fired off with little break in between.
"Why don't you have a boyfriend?"
Her head recoiled in surprise at the question. This was not what she had expected to be asked.
"Oh, um, I dunno," she breathily replied, shifting her ankles to cross the other way.
His hand was back, coaxing her fingers from between her knees. She stroked her hands with his and she fought the lightheaded feeling this gave her.
"You do know. I can tell you that I already know it's not because of lack of interest. I've witnessed no less than 3 wizards your own age expressing interest in you."
Blinking, Hermione turned to him confused. "I think you're confused. I admit Ron and McLaggen seemed to be trying to convince me but Cormac is like that with all the witches, I'm hardly a special case."
The hand on her tightened a bit and the fingers of it laced themselves through hers.
"No, he was particularly interested in you, Hermione. I know this to be a fact. Neville was the name of the other boy last night, I believe. He also was interested."
She gasped a little and tried to pull her hand away but Tom held onto it steadfast.
"Neville is just a friend. I tutored him in potions and we studied together in herbology a lot but that's it."
"Deny it all you like, but you don't see yourself the way the world does. Those boys want in your knickers and they aren't the only ones," he stated with a tone that sounded like a warning.
Her brain tried to process this information while she analyzed past interactions with Ron and Cormac and Neville that might help her realize the signs she'd missed. She must have been thinking too long because Tom impatiently tapped her hand to remind her she hadn't fully answered his question.
"I've never really found anyone that I've, you know, been attracted to. No one's ever really asked me out until last night. I've been avoiding that situation with Ron for a while and had hoped to avoid it completely."
His mouth twitched. "Why not just tell the boy 'no' and put an end to the anxiety?"
Rather than point out that his supplemental question was not ruleworthy, she answered it. "Because Ron's fragile male ego couldn't handle the rejection. He's been one of my only friends for so long that I couldn't bear the thought of losing him because I didn't share his affections."
"If you'd lost him over it, you'd know that he was not a very good friend and you'd also know that his feelings for you weren't as strong as he let on. If he loved you, he'd still want you anyway he could have you."
She looked away, not wanting to see pity. "Maybe. I've known him for 7 years and I've seen how he reacts when someone else does a spell better or faster than him. I know how he behaves when he feels slighted and I didn't want him to feel badly about himself."
Even with her face turned away, his incredulous stare burned a whole in her until she looked. The backs of his fingers caressed her cheek reverently and she felt a desire wash over her, a need so deep she inhaled air because it had caused her to stop breathing for a split second. The look he was giving her was not a look she'd ever seen directed at herself. She'd seen her parents looking at each other this way. Harry's parents, Ginny's parents, Ron's parents, Harry and Ginny looked at each other this way, but no one had ever looked at her this way before.
His touch was a bit more solid and she realized that she had leaned into it.
With a tone of amazement, he whispered, "And you still don't have any clue why those boys want you? If you won't believe me when I tell you how gorgeous you are with your long, curly hair, your soft skin, and delectable little body then will you at least believe me when I tell you there are few people in the world so selfless as to not want to cause another person pain when it puts themselves in pain? You are beguiling, Miss Granger."
Her strength had left her. She could not look away from his eyes, darkened with what she would call desire but since he was looking at her, she was loath to call it that because no one ever had before to her knowledge. She was putty in his hands as she tried to regain her wits. All she knew was the yearning to wrap herself up in his scent and to hide away with his arms protecting her. She wanted him to look at her as if she were something special and as long as he made her feel it was true, she knew she would accept the fallout and disappointment and heartache that was coming for her.
Tom seemed to be warring with himself again. She wasn't sure what kind of an internal monologue-conflict he was having but she'd seen the look that took over his face once before. Just before he refused to kiss her.
Hermione looked away disappointedly and made a subtle movement with her shoulder to shrug his hand off her face.
"My 4th question is to ask about the warnings you gave me. Why send me a gift and warn me at the same time?"
He respected her untold request and removed his hands from where they were touching her.
"I meant what I said. You should be aware of what you are getting into because I cannot keep myself away from you. I tried, Hermione. There's something about you that has captivated me and I find that the more I know about you, the worse it gets. If you tell me to stop contacting you and not to seek your attention, I will but please keep my gift and use them."
His voice had been strained with repressed emotion and Hermione wondered what was so bad about his attention being focus on her. Why was he holding himself back? He was the Minister, how could he be such a bad person for someone to date? Was dating what he was trying to achieve with her?
Clearing her throat, she asked, "What's the abyss, Tom? Your quote hinted that I was going to fall into one and that he, you, would barely warn me. I'm still confused."
Fingers on her chin directed her to look at him. His gaze was intense and serious. "I'm not a good man for you. The depth of my jealousy, my possessive side... There's a lot about me that I keep hidden from the world and if you get too close, you might find yourself unable to crawl back out of it."
Her breathing was fast again, she knew this because she could hear it loud in her ears but his mouth was all she could focus on. Such kissable lips that usually held an arrogant smirk or a consuming frown. This man radiated strength and power and confidence and Hermione was shocked with the clarity of the realization that this was what attracted her to him. He called it possessive and maybe he was but she wanted someone to want her so much that he would take her into the abyss with him and never let her go. What was the point in superficial dating? Hermione had always been an all or nothing kind of girl. She never played games that she wasn't sure she could win and didn't try anything that she did know she could accomplish. Shouldn't dating be the same? If you didn't have someone's full attention and trust, would you ever?
Hermione wanted to be brave and kiss him but what she wanted more than knowing how his lips would feel on hers, she wanted him to kiss her. She wanted to be kissed by a man who wanted her. She could wait.
"How do you feel about me?" Tom asked her in a level voice that gave away nothing.
A deep breath. "I'm attracted to you so strongly it scares me. I've never felt attraction before. Not like this. Not beyond thinking someone was good looking. Not beyond the way a person appreciates a piece of art in a gallery. I find your confidence and your mannerisms very appealing and I don't know how to handle feeling this way. It's…" here she fumbled for the word and the fingers on her chin tipped her head up a bit to redirect her eyes to his own.
"It's what, Hermione?" His voice saying her name sent a shiver of pleasure through her.
"Consuming," she finished her thought.
His face came closer and closer and she thought this sexy wizard was going to finally kiss her but then he remembered himself and pulled away just as slowly.
"Why do you keep yourself from kissing me? Hermione asked for her last question. She hadn't even stopped to consider that she might have better questions to ask.
He licked his lip and she eyed it from the 2 feet of space that was between them.
"If I let myself kiss you, I don't know if I would be able to stop and until I decide one way or another, I have to show restraint," he murmured to her softly.
That answer didn't actually answer anything for her but he had technically answered so she had no grounds to complain.
"Here's the end of the game. My last question. If I choose to tell you more, show you more, will you promise not to reveal any of it to anyone else without my explicit permission?"
Her eyebrows creased in confusion. "You want me to vow for my last answer or to tell you if I will consent to a vow?"
"Consent to a vow of silence on anything of a personal nature that I reveal to you that I don't want revealed to other people. I make anyone take this vow before I reveal things personal to them. I can let you take the vow wording with you to read and consider."
Take home? He was standing. Was she leaving? Now that they were finally talking, she didn't want to leave. She stood anyway and watched him summon a scroll which he unrolled and scanned with his eyes. He used his wand to change a few words and cast a spell on it before handing it to her.
"Wait to read it after you get back to Hogwarts. I've spelled it so that no one else can read it. No one but you," he confessed as he put a hand at the small of her back and guided her to the floo.
"I was going to apparate to Hogsmeade," she admitted, eyeing the floo.
Shaking his head, Tom told her, "You'd have to walk through the gates for that. You can floo to your quarters from here. I have the ability to grant access."
Swallowing, she nodded, hoping that Harry and Ginny were at least under the covers this time.
Reading her mind he sent a pinch of floo powder into the grate and called out her address but did not stick his head in. In fact he just stood there and let the fire die down. She giggled knowing that the flare of the fire would act as a warning to anyone in her room that she was about to floo in.
Her fingers were pressed into the scroll by his own. "Read it carefully. If you agree to its terms, sign it and it will return to me. If you agree to take the vow, when can I see you again?"
Her breath caught as she considered. She had a flat with Ginny and Luna ready but she didn't have to stay there tonight. If she skipped out on them, they would want to know where she would be. She bit her lip. She could always lie, she supposed.
"What is it," he implored her, his eyes searching hers. He was close enough now she could see his eyes were a deep, deep green.
"I'm supposed to stay in my new flat with my two roommates tonight. I can change my plans to meet you after graduation but I'm trying to think of what to tell them. I don't like to lie."
Tom sighed as he looked at her for a moment. "If you agree to the vow, tell them the truth."
"Which is…?"
"That you're going on a date with me to celebrate your graduation," Tom smiled winningly at her.
"Where shall I meet you if I agree?"
"Here," he said simply. I'll have my wards adjusted to allow you entry and you'll apparate here where we are now," he whispered against her lips.
His mouth was so close to hers again and she wondered if this was the newest game of chicken, seeing how close he can come to almost kissing her without doing it.
Mind racing, she asked, "And you don't mind Ginny and Luna knowing that I'm spending time with you on a personal basis?"
His gaze felt like he could read her mind; it was so intense. "I don't mind them knowing that we're going to be on a date so long as the information that the vow applies to stays secret. Understand that you might not want to see me again after you get to know me better. Tonight would be the time we find out."
There was no pause on her mouth, "And you think I'll cut ties? Having this knowledge of you that requires a vow on my magic?"
His head tilted a little. "You might," he admitted.
She pocketed the scroll. "I'll read it and consider it. If I agree, I'll sign it and meet you here when I am done with graduation. If I don't sign it-"
"-then it will self-destruct in 24 hours from the time I put the spell on it," Tom finished for her.
"And we won't have contact with each other again?"
Shaking his head sadly, Tom agreed, "Not on a personal level but it won't keep us from being friendly with each other when we happen upon each other."
"All or nothing," she muttered.
"All or almost nothing," he corrected with a grin.
This was the part where she was supposed to turn and floo home to ready herself for graduation but she found herself staring at him instead. The air between them was charged with magic, she could taste it. His nostrils flared a bit and she was certain he noticed it to.
A new batch of hormones flooded her and she licked her lips as she stared at his mouth, his lips.
A growl came from his throat and it was the sexiest thing she'd ever heard so far in her life.
"Fuck the vow, I'm kissing you anyway," he said.
She didn't get a chance to answer as suddenly his smooth lips were on hers. It was forceful, strong, and full of want. She could taste his desire on her lips as he swiped his tongue across her bottom lip and she opened to let him in. Her back connected with something and it startled her as she wasn't even aware that he had backed her into anything.
Her hands went to his neck and she threaded her hands into his hair. Silky soft and thicker than she'd thought, she tried to pull him closer to her because even though she could feel his arm wrapped around her waist and the other cupping her jaw, he wasn't close enough. His hips were suddenly pinning her to the wall and she gasped into his mouth at the feeling of an erection against her stomach.
Tom used her gasp to possess her mouth further and she couldn't help but moan at the sudden wetness she felt from feeling him and knowing that she had caused this reaction. He made another growling sound and she felt her knees weaken as she caressed his tongue with hers.
As suddenly as he was kissing her, he was no longer kissing her. She was standing against the wall, one hand in the air where she'd had her fingers threaded through his hair moments before. Other than his increased breathing, Tom looked unaffected. He'd gone from pressing his most intimate parts against her and snogging her intensely to standing by the floo in a genteel manner so fast she barely had time to process it.
She staggered away from the wall and her hand went to her lips that she could tell looked swollen.
"I shouldn't have done that," Tom said apologetically.
She bit her lip as she looked up at him through her eyelashes. "I think the mistake was stopping," she whispered.
Not waiting to see his face, she sauntered to the floo and called out her own address.
"Hogwarts, Headgirl's quarters."
And with a flash of swirling green she was gone, back to her own room. She wondered if he was still standing there, having watched her leave.