Chapter 8: The End
Hermione walked to the kitchen to refill the punch bowl. The party had been going on for an hour or two now, and she was trying not to think about how Riddle still hadn't shown up. It was nearly 9 o'clock and everyone who was invited had come. Except for him. Still, she was having a fun time. It was hard not to whenever Fred and George came around. Those two were already on their third round of Butterbeers, maybe even something stronger. They had hung up mistletoe in random places and were currently pushing random people beneath it. They replaced several of the normal ornaments on the tree with joke ones from their new shop that sang bits of Christmas songs replaced with vulgar lyrics whenever they detected movement. They had also slipped in some of their "special" candy canes in with the bowl of normal ones, causing quite a shock with flavors like 'Earwax', 'popcorn', 'pepper', 'vomit', and 'stinky cheese' to name a few.
She heard a bit of a rise in volume in the living room and assumed it was just the twins with more of their shenanigans. She nearly jumped out of her skin when she turned and instead found Riddle standing in front of her, holding a tall bag in one hand.
"Tom! I almost thought you wouldn't come," she greeted him.
"I said that I would." He stated simply. He seemed unsure of himself, a bit uncomfortable. "I also brought this," he held out the gift. "I wasn't sure if I was supposed to bring anything." It was a bottle of Ogden's Old Firewhiskey.
"Oh, thank you! I'm sure it will be much appreciated by everyone here." Hermione placed the bottle on the refreshment table. "Come, let me introduce you to everyone!"
He met the rest of the Weasley clan, sans Percy, Angelina, Lee, Lavender, Parvati, Fleur, Seamus and Dean. Fleur and Parvati looked a little too eager to be introduced to Hermione's liking, and she quickly steered him away from those two encounters. She decided to let him go off on his own for a bit, not wanting him to think that she was going to shadow him all night. She talked with the twins about updates with their shop, and happily watched them prank Seamus into opening a jack-in-the-box that scared him half to death and sprayed confetti everywhere. She had a strange conversation with Luna about Aquavirius Maggots that she happily passed on to Ron. Eventually, Hermione sought out Ginny, who was taking shots with Angelina.
"'Mione!" Ginny called when she saw her approaching. "Take one with us!" She shoved a shot glass filled with something strong into Hermione's hand.
"Oh, I don't really do shots," Hermione started.
"I saw you whisk Riddle away from Fleur faster than he could say 'hello' back."
Hermione downed it, wincing slightly at the burn. Ginny grinned at her.
"Gin, I don't know what to do," she sighed. "I haven't even known him for that long, yet I keep getting this feeling that I can't shake. He's made me feel every emotion under the sun in the span of a week!"
"Sounds like you need more alcohol in you," Angelina said, refilling her cup with more liquor. "I've never heard you talk about a man like this before in your life."
"He's just so- so- I don't even know how to describe it! He has this way of simultaneously making me want to slap him and laugh. He-"
"Drink," Ginny ordered, "before you keep rambling."
"Bottoms up!" Angelina called, and the three of them finished their second round.
"He stands for everything I oppose! But yet he somehow managed to flip that on its side today at the hearing. He hijacked the supermall plan and was fired from Borgin and Burke! Can you believe that?" Hermione was starting to feel a pit of warmth in her stomach as the shots kicked in. It felt good to let it out to someone else.
"Why do you think he did that?" Angelina asked.
"I don't know!" Hermione flapped her arms in exasperation. "That's the problem! And the craziest thing is that I think it might be partially because of me. How self-centered is that?"
"I don't think it's crazy, 'Mione," Ginny chimed in. "I think that he actually enjoys your company. And from how you've talked about him before, it seems like that's a pretty rare occurrence. All I'm saying is that Antony started a whole war over Cleopatra."
"But Riddle doesn't love me, that's ridiculous. I don't even know if he likes me!"
"Look, Hermione, I just met the bloke, and even I could tell that he absolutely detests crowds. I mean, look at him over there!" All three of them angled themselves to get a view of the back of Tom's head. His shoulders were a bit tense, and his posture stiff. He was talking to Viktor and Lavender. Hermione narrowed her eyes when she saw Lavender reach her hand out and place it on Tom's shoulder, smiling at him. It gave her no amount of satisfaction to see that he leaned away from her touch, largely ignoring it.
"Oh my gosh, you are so into him!" Ginny gushed, nudging Angelina. "Did you see that look in her eyes, Ange?"
"Lavender better watch out," the other girl teased.
"Okay fine, I guess I am a little bit interested in him!" Saying it made it a hundred times more real. She snatched the bottle out of Angelina's hand and refilled her cup, taking another shot before the other two could join her.
"I think you're more than just a little bit interested," Ginny commented, nodding at her now empty cup.
"What are you doing talking to us over here when Riddle's being cornered by Lavender?" Angelina demanded. "Go to him!"
"What, and he'll sweep me away off into the sunset?" scoffed Hermione.
"No, but he might sweep you away under the mistletoe," Ginny wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.
"Oh, wouldn't that be so cute?" Angelina giggled.
"Away with you!" Ginny ordered, "I don't want to hear another word about him until there's really something to hear!"
Hermione was thoroughly shooed away as the two girls continued to laugh. She headed over to where Riddle stood, catching a bit of the conversation as she approached.
"-meet?" Riddle asked.
Krum chuckled a bit and responded, "I vas a transfer student for a year to Hogvarts. She vas the only girl that vould leave ven I valked into a room."
Riddle raised an eyebrow. "It looks like she eventually stopped that particular habit."
"Otherwise I wouldn't have come over here now," Hermione said dryly, coming to stand between Tom and Viktor.
"Hermy!" Viktor greeted, pulling her into a side hug. "I vas just explaining to Mr. Riddle how ve haff come to know each other."
"You know that I wasn't intentionally ignoring you. It's just that all of the fangirls interrupted my quiet reading time," Hermione rolled her eyes, remembering how annoying it had been.
"Only you would find books more interesting than an international football player standing in front of you," Parvati giggled. "Can you believe her?" she batted her eyelashes at Riddle.
Riddle raised an eyebrow. "It doesn't surprise me, considering she graduated at the top of her class, though I'm sure it was a narrow margin between you two."
Hermione had to choke down a laugh.
"I asked her to the Yule Ball. I vas so surprised ven she said 'yes'. She even helped me vith my english a bit." Krum continued the story.
"I take it you made quite a surprising couple," Riddle said, his tone neutral, except for a subtle edge.
Hermione considered the possibility that he was jealous. Maybe it was the liquor talking, but she wanted to find out. She strung her arm around Viktor's waist and replied, "Yes, it was actually very satisfying to see the looks of outrage on all the other girls' faces when they realized it was me. It was a fun night." She studied his face, looking for any indication. She saw him glance down at the contact between her and Krum, and a glint appeared in his eyes. His smile became ever so slightly forced. If she hadn't been looking for it she never would have seen it, but it was there all the same. A surge of emotion flashed through her: excitement, satisfaction, curiosity.
"Yes it vas," Krum agreed, draping his own arm over her shoulders. "Who did you go vith, Lavender?" He looked toward the girl.
"Seamus," she replied, not looking too happy. "We just went as friends. It's not really as fun as going as an actual couple."
"I'm sure it cut all of the awkwardness out of it, though," Hermione said. "I hadn't talked much to Viktor beforehand, and I definitely didn't have the same peace of mind as I would have had with someone else." There, that should do it. Riddle's hand was clenched a bit too tightly around his glass.
Just then a Weasley twin popped up behind them, a piece of mistletoe tied to the end of a toy fishing pole line, like bait. "Is this the start of a comeback?" the other twin yelled as he appeared, too.
"Comeback Krum!" Lee Jordan tried to start a chant.
Hermione rolled her eyes and tried to bat the mistletoe away, but they continued to persist. Viktor leaned over and kissed her cheek, causing eruptions of cheering from the little circle that had formed around the commotion. Hermione glanced over to see the back of Riddle departing from the group. The front door opened and closed. She felt a cold pit drop into her stomach.
She broke away from the crows as quickly as she could and rushed after Riddle. He was already halfway to his car when she called out to him. "Tom! Wait!"
He paused, then kept walking. Hermione ran in front of him and forced him to stop.
"What is it, Granger?" His voice was cold. His face was tight and closed off, grey eyes narrowed in anger.
"I just- Why are you leaving?" How could she explain everything to him? Because if she started to explain the Viktor thing, then she'd also have to explain why she thought he was jealous and why she cared and how she felt about him.
"Because it's getting late and I want to go home." He was definitely irritated. "Am I not allowed to leave?" He started to walk around her, and she blocked him.
"Please, just wait a minute." She inhaled and exhaled, steeling herself and hoping her liquid courage would be enough. "It's not what it looks like, I promise. Viktor and I are just friends. I have no feelings toward him."
"And why should I care if there's anything between you two?"
"You shouldn't. Or well, there's no real reason besides blind hope on my side." Hermione looked up into his eyes. "I was being stupid because I thought that you might.. I don't know. I was trying to make you jealous just to see if you'd react because I realized that I have feelings for you, but I didn't want to do anything unless I knew that you reciprocated on some level. And I may have taken a few shots before I came over to talk to you and it most definitely impaired my thinking because I never wanted you to feel like this, but I was so afraid to make any moves and I didn't even know how to bring it up, and I didn't even have a plan for-"
She was cut off as he stepped towards her, bent down, and pressed his lips against hers for what felt like an eternity. Her brain short-circuited as a jolt of electricity ran through her. The scent of his cologne wafted over her - oak with a little hit of white pepper. He pulled back. One hand was at her jaw, the other had come up to cradle the back of her head.
"Does that answer your question?" he asked, the left side of his mouth quirking up.
"Mmm, I don't know. Could you tell me again?" She grinned back.
This time it was more searing. She ran one hand through his thick hair, messing up the perfect style. The other hand was on his cheek, tracing over the angles and planes of his high cheekbones and cut jawline. She could feel her own hair being tangled in his grasp. The brush of his hand against her waist sent butterflies through her stomach. She was sure the snow had melted away around them from all the heat.
Wolf-whistling and cheering caused them to break apart. Ginny and Angelina were cheering at them from the front door, as were Harry, Ron and the twins. "Get a room!" Lee Jordan shouted.
Hermione blushed deeply at the lewd motion Ginny made with the pointer of one hand and an 'okay' sign in the other, wiggling her eyebrows. She looked back at the man holding her and smiled.
"Happy Christmas, Tom."
He grinned back at her.
"Happy Christmas, Hermione."
A/N: It's finally over! I have more on the way soon, too 3
