A/N: Thank you for your reviews, favorites and follows after last chapter! And huge thank you to lanamarymack and Angela 007 for alpha/beta reading this chapter. I am thinking I'm building up enough of a cache of chapters that I might be able to post twice a week, but I don't want to over promise and then end up with a break in chapters if I hit a patch of writer's block. But we'll see. You can follow me on tumblr (nauticalparamour) where I post sneak peeks, story updates and answer questions.
Please let me know what you thought of chapter six!
Learning that Hermione Granger was a muggleborn should have been enough to put her completely from his mind, but try as he might, Tom simply could not forget her. Although she might be a muggleborn, she also had something that no one else he'd ever met had: an unparalleled level of knowledge regarding arcane magic. In the fifteen minutes she'd been wandering around Borgin and Burke's, delicately handling doxy bones and draught of the living death, she'd shown more interest than his friends ever had. And they had been brought up in that tradition!
Hermione had not, but she still blew them out of the water.
He longed to have a proper conversation with her, wondering just how deep her knowledge truly went. She said she'd read everything that she could get her hands on, but gave no indication of what that all entailed. Did she practice any of the ancient magics? It was a bit difficult to get started if you didn't have someone to mentor you - the purebloods were notoriously insular in that case. He didn't doubt that she would have the drive to try though, considering how well she'd done for herself.
Had she delved into any Dark Magic? Without having gone to Hogwarts, he doubted that she had attached any moral hangups to her practice of magic.
Then again, she did work for the Ministry of Magic, which suggested a certain level of rule following.
Tom had been disappointed in the way that their lunch had ended rather abruptly. He could understand that he had perhaps pushed Hermione too far, but he had gained valuable information in the process. The reveal of what she had done to her parents suggested that she could make difficult decisions when pushed - that she could hurt others if it meant it was what was best for her. And, intentionally or not, she'd told him that she wouldn't entertain the idea of dating him while she was working on his case.
Snorting, Tom realized that he should have told her he had no intention of dating her. He hadn't said anything of the sort, had he?
Of course, that was a lie wasn't it? He didn't believe in the idea of soulmates, so he wasn't planning some far off future with Hermione at his side. But then again, he hadn't felt such an attraction to a witch in his whole life. There was something special about Hermione Granger and he wouldn't be able to rest until he dissected it and figured out exactly what pulled the two of them together. Then, he'd most likely discard her when he found there was nothing there.
He had learned his lesson about asking Abraxas for information last time. While many of his friends had connections, he should have known that it wasn't in Malfoy's skill set to find out what he truly wanted. Now that things were more complex, Tom decided to go to another source.
The bell at the door chimed, announcing its entrant. Tom looked up from his post behind the counter to see Edmond Lestrange, rolled cigarette hanging from his lips.
"You wanted to talk?" he asked, in lieu of a greeting.
That was just one of the qualities Tom liked about Edmond. He was direct and to the point. "Yes, I need you to do me a favour," he said, knowing that it was really more of an order rather than an ask. He and the rest of the boys had an almost unspoken dynamic. He gave the orders and they listened, but no one would ever say that out loud. "Well, two really."
"Does this have to do with your witch?" Edmond asked, leaning against the counter. He took the cigarette and rolled it between his fingers, hoping to seem disinterested.
Tom knew better than that.
Looking Lestrange over, he noted the tightness in his stooped shoulders. Lestrange was the tallest in their bunch, but he always seemed to make himself smaller when Tom was around. He spoke softly - dangerously - with a perpetual scowl on his face.
"Has Abraxas been gossiping about me again?" Tom inquired, finding himself more vexed with the Malfoy heir by the minute. He didn't know when Malfoy began thinking that he knew best, but he was overstepping.
Edmond could barely hide his smirk behind his reddish mustache, the hair on his face being much redder than the hair on his head. "No, it was Alfie," he revealed, only too pleased to tattle on one of his compatriots. "He seemed...concerned by how taken with her you seemed. Can't blame him for being worried."
"Alfie should learn not to worry about things that don't affect him," Tom said, in subtle warning to Edmond. "Besides, I am sure he would understand if he met her."
"Aren't you worried about him trying to steal your bird?" Edmond wondered aloud.
Tom snorted. "With Alfie? Absolutely not," he answered. He doubted that any of his friends would touch her knowing that she was a muggleborn. But Alfie seemed more interested in books than people. Hermione was appealing, but Tom doubted that even she could turn Alfie's eye.
"Well, how can I be of service?" Edmond asked, standing back up straight, keen eyes trained on him. That was another quality of his that Tom liked. While he might seem to not have a care in the world, Edmond was actually always paying attention.
The dark wizard pursed his lips, wondering how best to give his request. "I need you to get the Ministry to drop whatever they have on Borgin and Burke," he told the other wizard. "Do whatever it is you need to do to make it go away."
Edmond raised an eyebrow in surprise. "You are doing your employers quite the courtesy," he mused. "They have no idea who they have working for them, do they?"
"No, they don't," Tom answered with a smirk. While his employers were unscrupulous, he was quite certain that even they would not approve of some of the avenues he'd explored in the pursuit of learning Dark Magic. And they had no idea what sort of connections he'd cultivated in his time at Hogwarts. "But, of course, I'm not doing it for their benefit."
"So then why are you doing it?" Lestrange wondered, before blanching, perhaps realizing that he'd asked the question aloud.
Tom thought about scolding him for his inquiry, but decided that he better get his friends used to the idea of Hermione. "Because Hermione won't agree to go to dinner with me while the investigation is on-going," he said. "She has quite the sense of integrity."
Lestrange looked at him sideways, before running a hand through his wavy, auburn hair. "So this really is all about a witch then?" he asked. "Your witch? Hermione?"
"Well, she isn't my witch," Tom said, annoyed to admit it. "But it is about her. I can't say that my interest in her is purely academic, but please believe me that I wouldn't be going to all the trouble if I was just looking for a bit of skirt. You know I'd have no trouble finding someone willing."
His friend looked skeptical for a moment, before nodding in understanding. "I suppose that's true enough," he said. "You have to forgive Abraxas. I think he's just worried that you're losing focus."
Tom sneered at the idea. "Losing focus of his plan maybe," Tom agreed. "But we both know that I've been following a path of my own making this whole time. Abraxas would be good to remember that. If I listened to him I'd be toiling away as some Undersecretary right now."
"Instead you are toiling away as a shopkeeper," Edmond countered disdainfully.
Despite himself, Tom found himself agreeing with the other man. Working at Borgin and Burke's was quickly growing tedious. "It won't be forever," he said, though he wasn't sure if he was promising himself or his follower.
"You said you had two favors," Edmond prompted, still waiting for his second task, never losing sight of why he was there.
"Yes, I need you to find some leverage against Hermione," Tom said, without much thought.
"I thought that you wanted to take her to dinner, not destroy her," Edmond said with a snort. "Maybe you should ask Evan for some advice about flirting with witches."
"I don't want to destroy her, but she was so stubborn about the appearance of her giving me preferential treatment in the investigation," Tom explained. "I worry that she might rebuff me even if the investigation is dropped. So, I just need a little something to help her make up her mind."
"Salazar, is this witch really worth all the trouble?" Edmond questioned. "I have a second cousin that I could set you up with. She's a very lovely witch, smart, and accomplished. She just doesn't speak much English, but I doubt that would be a problem."
Tom snorted. "If she's so wonderful, why don't you marry her? I know that you Lestranges like to keep it in the family," he countered.
Edmond flushed in embarrassment. "You are confusing me with Orion," he sneered. Their other friend had gotten married to his first cousin, Walburga, at the urging of their parents, though the two of them made each other desperately unhappy.
"I've told you, I've got more plans for her than just dinner," Tom reminded the other wizard, hating that Edmond wouldn't just do as he was told. "And I am not going to chance that she won't do as she's told, so just get me something that I can use."
"I'm sure that I'll be able to find something," he said, confident in his abilities. While the Malfoys were ambitious social climbers, the Lestranges had deep connections in the wizarding world, but more importantly, to the more unsavory parts of their society. They didn't have to worry about keeping that shiny veneer on their family name since they were already so established. "Anything else?"
Tom thought on it for a moment, before adding one additional request. "Yes," he said finally. "When you get the investigation dropped, make sure it doesn't come back on her. I don't want anyone else giving her a second look except me."
He wondered if it made him soft, but Tom knew how seriously Hermione took her job, despite only having a few interactions thus far. If he should be somehow responsible for her job being put in jeopardy, he knew that his chances with her would be slim to none.
Edmond raised one brow, but said nothing about the request. He finally nodded, before replacing his cigarette between his lips. "I'll have it done by the end of the week," he said with a smirk, knowing that it only gave him two days. "Then you can take your witch to dinner on Saturday."
With nothing left to discuss between the two wizards, Edmond slunk out the way that he came, leaving Tom to his own thoughts. He was pleased with how quickly things were settling into place with him pulling the strings, but now that things were so close, he was dismayed to admit that his stomach twisted in nerves.
He wasn't sure what exactly it was about Hermione Granger that put him off balance, but he knew that he was going to figure it out.
With the shop empty for the rest of the afternoon, he had nothing to do but plan out how he would approach her once the investigation was dropped and her only barrier against a potential romance was removed. He decided that he would approach her in neutral territory. There was a bookshop that she frequented after work on Fridays and it seemed as if that would be a good place to approach her.
Then, he'd just have to get her to agree to dinner. He hoped he wouldn't have to use whatever dirt Lestrange came up with, but he'd do whatever it took to get what he wanted.
And right now, he wanted Hermione Granger.
