Chapter 26 – New Year's Eve
Tom had been searching the castle high and low for Hermione when he finally saw her come out of Gryffindor tower with Sandie and Tiffany. He quickened his pace and smiled when she waved to him, fluttering her fingers in a gesture of recognition and greeting. He approached her and took her hands in his as Sandie whispered to Tiffany.
"Are they dating?"
The two girls looked back at Hermione and Tom as Hermione smiled at him and eh seemed to be searching hard for some way to say he was sorry for something.
"Not sure," Tiffany shrugged as she noticed something.
Tom was no doubt different, whether it was the expression on his face or the fact that he had an appealing aura around him, she wasn't sure, but she was happy for her new friend. That's when a devious little prank popped into her head and she pulled out her wand.
"What are you doing?" Sandie hissed as they stopped in the middle of the corridor, well away from Tom and Hermione.
"Nothing," Tiffany snickered as she grabbed some holly off a statue and transfigured it into mistletoe. "You'll see."
Tiffany sent the leafy little surprise soaring down the hall over people's heads, stopping it above Tom and Hermione. She grinned as Sandie gasped and slapped her arm playfully. Hermione and Tom, on the other hand, looked up and felt embarrassment flood over them. Hermione was visibly blushing as Tiffany groaned and yelled down the hall.
"Doesn't anyone know what mistletoe is for anymore? Kiss her already!"
Tom chuckled and Hermione reached her lips up to his in a quick, but sweet little peck on the lips.
"Oh, geeze, that was pitiful... kiss her for Merlin's sake," Tiffany grumbled loud enough for Tom and Hermione to hear.
Hermione was red as a cherry now as Tom leaned down and kissed her again, this time with more conviction.
"Better," Tiffany laughed out loud as someone from down the hall waved their wand and made the mistletoe burst into a shower of red sparks.
Hermione and Tom broke apart as Tiffany and Sandie exchanged worried looks. Abraxas Malfoy was on his way down the corridor flanked by Rosier, Dolohov, Crabbe, Goyle, Avery, and Nott. He stopped next to Tom and Hermione and glared from one to the other.
"When you kiss her, you not only embarrass yourself, but all Slytherins," Malfoy snarled in a snotty tone.
"Why don't you get lost before I curse you, and I won't use little yellow birds," Tom hissed before grabbing Hermione's hand and pulling her off down the hall.
Lucius walked in the house where Voldemort had summoned him to. He glared at the filth and longed to be back in his own home where things were clean and rich looking. He furrowed his brow at the wood laying upon the floor, something had been broken here. He looked up at the banister and saw that it had been broke. He shook his head and started up the old, creaking stairs.
He stopped on the landing and saw a rather strange looking form laying upon the floor. He got closer and saw that it was Wormtail, his blank, black eyes looking up at Lucius. Lucius grimaced and stepped over Wormtail as though he was a piece of trash. He entered the room where Voldemort was sitting in his chair, his snake stretched across the arms of his chair and his lap. It was a weird sight to say the least, a man who looked like an albino snake himself held a curiously large snake in his lap as though it was a pet cat or something, stroking the slightly slimy scales on its body.
The snake, Nagini, tasted the air with its tongue as Lucius entered the room and bowed his head to Voldemort. Voldemort sighed and ceased petting his strange animal. The snake hissed with ill content and slithered down off the chair, no doubt to go check Wormtail out.
"I see you've finally rid yourself of that... servant," Lucius muttered.
"Do not patronize me right now, Lucius. I'm in a foul mood," Voldemort hissed. "Wormtail has informed me of a return of someone I had sent your son to murder."
"Dumbledore? Returned?" Lucius spat.
"Yes. Now, tell me, Lucius," Voldemort said calmly. "Why would that anger me?"
"Because Dumbledore's the only one you've ever feared and with him her-"
"I fear NO ONE!" Voldemort bellowed. "Do I make myself clear?" Lucius nodded and Voldemort continued. "First off, I want Wormtail drug in here... I need to extract some memories from his stay where Dumbledore was so I can be clear on what is happening. Second, I want you to find me a way to get into the past... And lastly, I want your son found and brought to me for punishment."
"Yes, my Lord," Lucius said with a bow as he left the room and came back levitating Wormtail while grimacing at his half changed body.
Voldemort rose from his chair and grabbed a large glass bowl in the corner. He waved his wand in a few complicated movements and the bowl glowed white for a moment before Voldemort turned to Wormtail. He stuck his wand to his temple, extracting long silvery wisps of liquid light and dropping them into the bowl.
"Now, leave me," Voldemort ordered to Lucius. "And dispose of that," he added, pointing to Wormtail. "I have no use for him."
Lucius growled slightly with agitation as he levitated Wormtail from the room, leaving Voldemort leaning over the bowl and looking in on the memories like a movie, swirling them with his wand.
The rest of Christmas week, Tom and Hermione had spent a lot of time together as it went around that they were an 'item'. She liked the thought for some reason, she couldn't quite figure it out, but she liked it all the same. She thanked Tiffany every time she got the chance for her boldness on Christmas Day and Tiffany would simply laugh and wave it off.
It was now just after dinner on New Year's Eve, and Hermione was on her way up to see Tom. He had left dinner early, so he was bound to be in his common room resting before his Head Boy rounds. She smiled as she gave the password, entering his common room, half expecting to see him stretched out on the couch with a book in his hand. But the common room was empty. Figuring that he might be upstairs resting in his dorm, she walked gracefully up the stairs, well aware of herself.
She had been doing that more and more lately. She was trying to make herself seem more ladylike and possibly more appealing to him. But why? She couldn't quite figure it out. Was it because she was really and truly falling for him? 'No' she thought to herself. 'This is a fling... Ron and I have something that can't be replaced or compared to any other. I'm just crushing on Tom. It could never last anyways.'
Hermione knocked on the door to his bed chambers and waited for his answer. None. She knocked again, and still no answer. She put her hand on the knob and turned. Unlocked. She pushed the door open and saw the room was empty. She walked over to the bathroom and it too was empty. As she was crossing his room, she heard something. Someone was coming in downstairs. A lot of someones.
"Man, Tom, we thought you were going to call it off again," someone laughed.
Hermione inched her way quietly to the dormitory door and peered through the crack at the common room below. There, standing in the faint firelight was Black, Rosier, Dolohov, Malfoy, Tom, Crabbe, Goyle, Rookwood, Lestrange, Travers, Gibbon, Nott, Avery, and Mulciber. They were all laughing and smiling smugly as Tom gestured for silence. Each one of them took a seat around the small wooden coffee table before the fire and stared intently at Tom.
"Tonight will be a test of faith for you, my dear... dear friends," Tom called. Even from her place at the dorm door, Hermione could hear something hidden in his voice. Jealousy? Hate? Foreboding? Amusement even? "Now wait here while I go get the tool that will test you!"
Hermione gasped and felt frantic as Tom went out of sight. His footsteps soon echoed up the stairwell and she knew he was on his way to his dormitory. She dashed across the room, just making it into the bathroom and closing the door behind her so she could peek out a crack as Tom entered the room.
He closed the door behind him and walked over to his wardrobe, pulling out a long, iron rod with an emblem on the end. Hermione had half expected to see the Death Eater's Dark Mark, a skull with a snake protruding from its mouth, but this was different. The sign was a large 'K' and a 'W' that were in a beautiful script style front, a snake wrapped around the diagonally slanted letters. 'The Slytherin Knights of Walpurgis... or rather, Slytherin's Heir's Knights of Walpurgis' Hermione guessed.
He left the room and Hermione crept back to the door, cracking it and watching as Tom reappeared in the common room. The boys were chatting, but Hermione noticed that one was missing. Abraxas. She looked all over the room and finally spotted him in the corner, a small wooden box in his hands, a gleaming gold oval on the lid. The music box.
"Who might this gift be from?" Abraxas asked as he turned toward Tom who was conversing with Black.
"None of your business, Malfoy," Tom grumbled. "Now come take your seat so we can begin."
"Probably from your Mudblood girlfriend," Abraxas said snidely as he sat the box down with a grimace, dusting off his hands as though they were dirty from touching such a thing.
"That's none of your business, and if you have a problem with my affairs, then leave this room right now because you have no allegiance to me," Tom snarled.
"Easy, Tom," Abraxas chuckled as he lifted the lid of the box and curled his lip upward in a disgusted manner.
Tom stalked across the room and grabbed the box violently, slamming the lid shut and heading for the dorm stairs. He burst into the dorm and sat the box upon his bed as he heard a noise in the bathroom. He paused and glanced in the direction of the noise, pulling out his wand.
"Tom," Hermione called quietly from behind the bathroom door. "Tom," she hissed again with more urgency.
Tom walked over to the door and peeked around it to see Hermione hiding there.
"Alice." Tom just stared at her. "What- what are you doing here?"
"I should be asking what you're doing, Tom," Hermione said, ignoring his question as she came over to him. "I thought you weren't friends with them anymore?"
She suddenly felt very deceived. Had he playing with her all along? Did he still plan to keep his Slytherin 'friends' and continue with his dark plans? Had she not changed him at all? Was what he doing only pretending to be good now? She was rather uncomfortable thinking about that.
"I'm not," Tom replied quickly.
"Then what are you doing?" Hermione questioned.
"Nothing," Tom muttered as he leaned upon the sink.
She looked at him with imploring eyes of chocolate and slowly reached out her hand. Her fingers gently touched his cheek and he removed his gaze from hers to look at the tiled floor. He turned back to her and sighed before brushing a stray strand of hair from her face.
His hands cupped her face and she smiled tenderly at him, her eyes sparkling.
"Just stay put for a bit... I need to take care of something," Tom whispered. "I've had this in the works for a while now... let me do this. It's to teach Abraxas a lesson."
He had been planning since the day he found out about Rosier doing something to her. He finally found out from Black who had been behind the attack and Tom was furious. Malfoy had been defying him a lot lately, and it was time that he showed him who was superior. Tom leaned forward quickly and kissed her gently. She smirked against his lips and pulled back soon after. She glanced over him for a moment and wondered. 'Why does he hide this magnificent person to the world?'
"You had better get downstairs before they come up looking for you," Hermione suggested. "I'll wait up here for you."
He left the bathroom, walking into the bedroom and flipping on the lamp that sat on the bedside table. Hermione pulled her script from her inside robe pocket and began to read. He watched her for a moment as she relaxed there on his bed, reading and looking content. He then turned and left the room, returning to the common room.
"Now, you're all sure?" he asked as he looked from the iron on the coffee table to the group of excited Slytherin boys before him.
"Yeah, c'mon, Tom," Antonin Dolohov called.
Tom frowned inwardly and walked slowly over to the fireplace. He rolled the iron back and forth in his palms and hoped and prayed that the longer he took, the more second thoughts the boys behind him would have.
"Something wrong, Tom?" Boreas Black questioned as he stood up.
"No, nothing," Tom mumbled.
"Of course there's nothing wrong," Liber Lestrange said in a tone that stated Tom's problem was obvious. "He's just in revelation. He's undeniably overcome with a moment of reflection."
"What are you talking about?" Thanatos Travers quizzed.
"Tom is looking back on what it took him to get here. This is a milestone for him," Liber explained. "He deserves his moment."
"That or he's scared of this," Malfoy muttered. "That Granger girl has made him a real wussy... pansy even."
"Scared? Is that what you said, Malfoy? Wussy? Pansy?" Tom growled as he whipped around.
"That's exactly what I said," Malfoy spoke up defiantly.
"Fine then. You'll be first," Tom said, thrusting the iron into the fire as he felt his revenge against Malfoy flare again.
The boys in the circle looked around at Malfoy who just shrugged and stood up. Abraxas removed his robe and rolled up the sleeve of his expensive looking shirt. The air in the room was thick with anticipation as Malfoy crossed his arms and glared at Tom who stared back with ebony orbs of calculation. 'He's the one that set that up against Alice' Tom thought haughtily.
Tom removed the iron from the fire and held it up before his face. Waves of heat made his image behind the iron blur, but Malfoy seemed to not care. The iron was yellow and orange now, and Tom was approaching Abraxas who clenched his jaw. The other boys started to whisper and watch on with slight worry as Tom looked at Abraxas expectantly.
Malfoy put out his arm, his fist balled tight as he prepared for the pain that was undoubtedly going to follow. Tom smirked momentarily before making a quick, swift movement and thrusting the iron onto Malfoy's arm. Malfoy flinched and his face contorted into a painful wince as Tom grabbed his wrist and pressed the iron harder into his skin. Abraxas screamed and the other boys cringed, some looking away as Tom glared at Malfoy with satisfaction.
Minutes seemed to pass in what felt like hours as Tom held the iron there. It was visibly cooling, going from a bright yellow to orange. Abraxas had dropped to his knees and was sweating from the heat and pain. He looked as though he was about to faint from the excruciating agony of it all.
"Tom, stop!" Rhian Avery gasped.
Tom draw back with fluid movement, sneering down at Malfoy who had fallen forward onto the floor.
"Weak," Tom spat. "Now. Who's next?"
Tom glanced around the circle of boys, many of them not meeting his gaze or staring at Malfoy in horror. He was wanting very much now to call Rosier forward, but then he remembered Alice up in his dorm.
"That's what I thought... Now get out of my sights," Tom ordered crossly as he tossed the iron into a bucket of fireplace instruments and walked over to his staircase.
He turned and watched Antonin Dolohov and Sylvanus Crabbe pick Malfoy up, supporting him out of the common room as the others followed quickly. Adrenaline was hitting its highest in Tom and he needed to let out some rage in some way.
He entered his dorm and saw Hermione sitting on the bed looking paler than usual and shaking slightly. He walked over and stood before her as she sat there breathing heavily. She had heard Malfoy scream and it scared her. She hadn't dared get up and look out of the dorm door to see what was happening. Malfoy's scream had scared the wits out of her and she didn't want to see what could make him scream like that.
"Are you okay?" Tom questioned as he knelt down before her and took her hands in his.
"Yeah... yeah, I'm fine," Hermione breathed uncertainly. "Why uh- why don't we practice for a bit, hmm?" Hermione just wanted to do something to get her mind off that awful sound Malfoy had made.
"Sure you're up to it?" Tom checked. "We could just uh... well, you know," he said as he moved up to sit on the bed next to her. For a moment, Hermione feared the worst in what he was saying, but as he continued speaking, she lightened up. "Sit here and read or talk... just relax. You seem a bit tense, that's all."
"Nah, I'm fine," Hermione assured him as she stood up off the bed. "C'mon... let's practice." She smiled at him and grabbed his hand, pulling him up and grabbing her script. She opened to a page near the back and waited for him to get his script and find the page as well. "Ready?" she asked with excitement. 'What's going on with me?' she wondered as Tom nodded. Hermione couldn't figure out why she was trying so hard to move along and forget what had taken place fifteen minutes ago.
"You start," he mumbled.
'And what's up with him? It's like he's drained of all energy' Hermione thought curiously. She shrugged it off though as she cleared her throat and prepared to sing her part.
"No thoughts within her head," Hermione lullabied, "but thoughts of joy. No dreams within her heart, but dreams of love."
They paused for a moment, skipping over a part said by another player and then Hermione looked expectantly to Tom.
"Passarino. Go away for the trap is set and waits for its prey," Tom muttered. He saw the downcast eyes of Hermione as she looked slightly disappointed and he repeated the line with his best accent and more emotion.
"Good," she whispered as he cleared his throat and readied himself for his singing part.
"You have come here in pursuit of your deepest urge, in pursuit of that wish, which till now has been silent... silent...," he finished in a whispering hum. "I have brought you, that our passions may fuse and merge – in your mind you've already succumbed to me. Dropped all defenses, completely succumbed to me – now you are here with me."
Hermione shivered minimally as she realized now the significance of the moment and the part in which she had chosen to rehearse.
"No second thoughts, you've decided... decided...," Tom muttered in song. "Past the point of no return – no backward glances. Our games of make-believe are at an end... Past the point of if or when," he continued, his emphasis on those two words making Hermione shiver again. "No use resisting. Abandon thought, and let the dream descend... What raging fire shall flood the soul? What rich desire unlocks its door? What sweet seduction lies before us?" Here he paused as he studied Hermione who suddenly felt frozen. "Past the point of no return – the final threshold. What warm, unspoken secrets will we learn? Beyond the point of no... return..."
"You have brought me to that moment where words run dry, to that moment where speech disappears into silence... silence... I have come here, hardly knowing the reason why... In my mind," Hermione sang, "I've already imagined our bodies entwining defenseless and silent – and now I am here with you... no second thoughts. I've decided... decided..."
She stopped here and swallowed hard the ball of nerves that had settled in her stomach. She suddenly felt restless and a bit warm. And perversely enough, she felt a longing for Tom to grab her and kiss her.
"You still have some more lines, Alice," Tom reminded.
"Oh, yes," she laughed before going back to her script. She swallowed once more and took a deep, settling breath. That helped the restless and nervous parts, but she still felt hot and anticipative for that moment at the end of this scene where Tom would get to get closer to her.
"Past the point of no return – no going back now. Our passion play has now, at last, begun...," Hermione melodized. "Past all thought of right or wrong – one final question: how long should we two wait, before we're one?" Hermione paused, taking a breath and giving Tom a narrow eyed gaze. And then Hermione's mind burst with thoughts of her and Tom. Thoughts of being in his arms with his lips on hers. That was it. She didn't love him, she only lusted after him. "When will the blood begin to race? The sleeping bud burst into bloom? When will the flames, at last, consume us?" she finished dramatically.
"Past the point of no return – the final threshold," they both sang. Tom's hands grabbed her waist as he dropped his script and Hermione's hands snaked up around his neck, her script dropped to the floor behind his back. "The bridge is crossed, so stand and watch it burn... We've passed the point of no... return..."
Tom looked down into her eyes and found himself saying his lines with more conviction than needed.
"Say you'll share with me one love, one lifetime... Lead me, save me from my solitude... Say you want me with you, here beside you... Anywhere you go let me go too," his line after this contained the name Christine, but out of lack of attention, he faltered. "Alice, that's all I-"
Hermione quickly pressed her lips to his and held his face firmly between her hands. She kissed him with passion and fire that she had never even fathomed she had. She had never kissed Viktor, Leo, or any other guy like that, not even Ron. She closed her eyes tight, her mind set on his hands which weren't moving from her hips. 'Hold me!' she pleaded him from the back of her mind. But he never got the message and she soon had to tear herself away from him to breathe.
He stared at her for a moment with a somewhat shocked expression as her chest heaved. What had she just done? Where was her composure? Her ladylike actions? Her control for that matter. She bit her bottom lip and looked around the room, her eyes finally landing on the clock. 12:02 a.m.
"Happy New Year," she said innocently as she forced a grin.