Valentine's day had always come with mixed feelings for Hermione. A part of her had always felt as though it was a silly excuse for a holiday that pressured people into thinking that they had to have a girlfriend or boyfriend. She had strived to stay out of it most years, save for her original second year when she received her first and only real valentine from Gilderoy Lockhart.
Looking back on it, she couldn't help but shake her head at her own behavior. Honestly, what had she seen in that man? She must have been blinded by his perfect smile and styled golden locks. Though, she was reassured by the fact that she hadn't been the only one.
As you can imagine, she was shocked when the mail came to have a moderately sized stack of valentines dropped in front of her. At first, she thought that they belonged to Druella, who was sitting to her right with her own much larger pile, but they weren't. Upon closer inspection, she found that every single one had her name on it… All of them were hers...
For the first little while, Hermione could do nothing but sit there and stare at them. It wasn't until she heard Druella say her name that she snapped out of it.
"Is something wrong, Hermione?" Druella asked. "Aren't you going to open them?"
Hermione shook her head. "No, I just wasn't expecting to receive so many."
Rosaline raised a brow at that. "What do you mean? Five Isn't that many, and this is only the first delivery. I'm sure there will be plenty more throughout the day."
"Just look at how many Tom's got!" Cygnus exclaimed. "Why, he's got even more than Abraxas."
Glancing over to her left, she saw that Cygnus wasn't lying. Tom had more valentines than any of them, and he seemed just as shocked about it as she was.
From the looks of it, half the female student body had sent him valentines. Were there really that many girls crushing on Tom? She hadn't noticed anything before, but then again she hadn't exactly been looking. Of course, she understood what they saw in him. He was handsome and highly intelligent, and she had to admit that he did have this dark and mysterious aura about him that made him all the more attractive.
Forcing herself to look away, she returned to her own stack. Hesitantly she reached forward to begin opening them.
'Are you a snitch? Because you're by far the greatest catch here!"
She rolled her eyes. Clearly this one had been sent by someone on the Quidditch Team, or at the very least someone who was a big fan of the sport. It couldn't be someone she knew too well. Anyone who took the time to get to know her knew that she didn't like Quidditch.
'Are you sure you're not a dementor? I'm pretty sure I'd die if I kissed you.'
That one was just plain creepy. She quickly determined that it had to be a prank valentine. Fred and George had sent out enough of those for her to know one when she saw it.
Then she found one that caught her interest.
'Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight. For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night.'
Now, this one touched her. It was sweet and very fitting, considering her love of reading. Whoever had sent it had to know her pretty well, leaving her with only a few options as to who it might be, all of them being in her respective friend group.
Hagrid was out. There was no way he could have written something so neatly. That left Cygnus, Abraxas and Tom. She didn't think Cygnus cared that much about her, or Shakespeare for that matter. Knowing his family, they'd probably threaten to disown him if he dared read such a muggle book. Abraxas, on the other hand, was someone she knew to have read it, or at least his family owned a copy. Both Abraxas and Tom would have had access to it.
Truth be told, she was leaning more towards Abraxas. It just seemed like the kind of thing he would send. Honestly, she couldn't even imagine Tom sending valentines. It was just too sweet and mushy for him. Not to say that he couldn't be sweet in his own way.
The other two she didn't even dare to open. They were drenched in a sickly sweet scent and she was pretty sure one of them was a singing valentine. She didn't need the whole Great Hall hearing that.
"So, did you get any good ones?" Rosaline asked. "Come on, give us all the juicy details."
Hermione shook her head. "I only got one that I really liked. The others are absolute rubbish. One even thought it would be funny to compare me to a dementor."
Cygnus, who had been busy shoveling oatmeal into his mouth, snorted, spraying oatmeal everywhere as he burst out laughing.
Hermione glowered at him. At least she now knew who had sent it.
However, she wasn't glaring for long as there was a sudden explosion, engulfing Cygnus in a puff of smoke. When the smoke cleared, they saw that Cygnus' eyes had puffed up like pufferfish and swollen shut. Someone had cast a Conjunctivitis Curse on him.
"Hey, who turned the lights out!?"
It took Cygnus a little while to figure out exactly what was going on. It was only when he heard his friends begin to laugh that he had the sense to reach up and touch his eyes. He let out an alarmed scream and started flailing his arms about in a panic.
Swiveling in her seat, she turned towards Tom just in time to catch sight of him slipping his wand back into his robe. "Tom, why would you do that?" she asked in a hushed tone, not wanting to draw any more attention than what Cygnus was already attracting.
"He was being a prat," he mumbled back with a scowl. "He deserved what he got."
She had to admit that Cygnus did kind of have it coming. It was a nasty joke to play on someone. "Maybe so, but still… You can't just go around cursing people as you like, no less your friends."
Tom rolled his eyes. "I'd hardly call them friends… They're more like… useful accomplices."
"What? You mean to say that you're just using everyone?"
He shrugged. "Not everyone. I don't think of you that way."
"Thanks. That makes me feel so much better," she retorted
To say that she was appalled was an understatement. Just when she thought she was making progress with him, then he went and did this. She felt like screaming at the top of her lungs. Why did boys have to be so frustrating? They were just so stupid! Did they even have brains?
Hearing his brother's cries, Alphard came running over from farther down the table. "What's all the fuss about, Cygnus? Don't tell me it's just another-" he began to ask, but cut himself off as he saw his brother's eyes swollen shut. "What in Salazar Slytherin's name happened to you!?"
He glanced at all of us, but no one seemed willing to answer him. With a huff, he grabbed his brother by the arm and helped him to his feet, guiding him out of the hall with the promise of taking him to the medical wing.
Soon after, Hermione saw fit to cast Incendio on all her remaining valentines, save for the one that she actually liked, slipping it into her pocket for safe keeping. Then, she got to her feet and stalked after the brothers to make sure Cygnus would be okay.
It was barely eight in the morning and already she couldn't wait for the horrid holiday to be over…
She spent the rest of the day trying to ignore Tom, which wasn't easy because he kept trying to get her attention by scribbling notes to her on the parchment they had enchanted.
"Forgive me," he wrote.
She just rolled her eyes and continued to ignore him. She had often felt as though she forgave him too easily, making him think that she would just forgive him for everything he did, but that wasn't going to be the case this time.
"Come on, Hermione. How can I make you forgive me?"
"I won't forgive you until you apologize to Cygnus or at least admit that what you did was wrong," she wrote back.
He didn't reply back for quite some time. It wasn't until the end of class when she went to gather her stuff that she saw his reply.
"But, I don't see anything wrong with what I did. It's not like I inflicted any lasting damage on him. His eyes should be back to normal soon enough. I simply put him back in his proper place."
Proper place? What in Merlin's name did that mean?
"Abraxas and Cygnus are not your slaves!" she quickly penned an answer.
Scooping up her things, she hurried out of class and to her next, hoping to put some distance between her and Tom for a bit. Unfortunately, she couldn't ditch him entirely as they had mostly all the same classes, but still, she wanted a bit of a reprieve in between.
The day went on and Hermione continued to ignore Tom. He finally took the hint two classes in and gave up. It should have given her relief, as that was what she had wanted, or at least what she thought she wanted, but it didn't for some reason.
To be completely honest, she didn't even know why she was mad at him. When she really thought about it, he hadn't done anything too horrible. The Conjunctivitis Curse was easily enough cured by use of the Oculus Potion. It wasn't nice, but it wasn't all that bad. No worse than some of the practical jokes that Fred and George would pull.
It wasn't until lunchtime when a fifth-year ravenclaw girl came up to Tom and handed him a handmade valentine, that she figured it out. She thought for sure that he would brush her off like he did most people who dared to bother him, but he took her by surprise and instead accepted the chocolates with a slight smirk, even going so far as to thank her.
The stabbing pain in her chest brought it all crashing down on her. She was mad at him because he was the one boy who hadn't sent her a valentine. Both Abraxas and Cygnus had, but he hadn't. She knew that it was quite silly to even hope for a valentine from him, but still it bothered her. The fact was undeniable, though she would have liked to deny it. Tom was the one person she would have liked to receive a valentine from.
The rest of the day dragged on at an increasingly slow pace for Hermione. Though she tried to squash the disappointment that had taken up residence inside of her, replacing her previous anger, she just couldn't seem to get rid of it.
She didn't say a word at dinner, as she did her best not to glance over at Tom, who had received even more valentines. She got a few more as well, but she barely noticed them. They didn't really matter to her. Stuffing them into her pockets with the one she had kept from earlier in the day, she excused herself from dinner early and headed down to the dungeons for a bit of alone time.
Fortunately, she got her wish for the first time that day as she found the dormitory empty when she arrived. She hurried off to her dorm and plopped herself down on her bed, burying her face in the covers.
Only a few more hours until she could go to bed and then the horrid holiday would be over. Good riddance, she thought grimly. Valentine's day might have just become her least favorite holiday in existence.
After a while, she reclaimed a bit of her senses and willed herself to stop feeling so sorry for herself. Her life didn't depend on her getting a valentine from Tom. He was just one boy… a boy that she didn't necessarily need in her life… even if she did want him…
In an effort to distract herself, she pulled the valentines she had received out of her pocket and finally took the time to read through them. To her relief, they weren't nearly as cheesy or inappropriate as the ones she had received at breakfast. This batch was much more basic and pleasant.
"I think you are purr-fect just the way you are!"
That one was sweet, she had to admit, and it made her feel a bit better about herself. It had obviously come from a fellow cat lover, which she appreciated.
"Are you a book, because I'd like to check you out."
It was less sweet, but still quite fitting. She couldn't help but giggle at it a bit as the sender had drawn a picture of a book with arms and legs and a kissy face. This person at least had enough sense to know that she liked books.
And last but certainly not least, was a large, homemade card, covered in red and gold glitter. Written inside were the words;
"Happee Valentine's Dae, Hermyowne!"
A big grin spread across her face at the sight of it. Out of all the cards she had received that day, this was by far her favorite. She knew in an instant that it had come from Hagrid. The fact that there had been glitter stuck in his hair and all over his fingers throughout the day was only one of the contributing factors. That and the fact that he couldn't spell her name correctly.
Feeling slightly better about the holiday, she got up and arranged the cards neatly on her nightstand, with Hagrid's big flashy card displayed at the front of them all.
She supposed that she shouldn't be too disappointed by the turnout. It could have been worse. She could have gotten none at all. Besides, it was the thought that counted. It proved that there were people out there who liked her enough to take the time to send, or make in Hagrid's case, her a card.
"I wonder if anyone sent Hagrid a card?" she asked herself, glancing at the clock. There were a few hours left in the day, just enough to make a card for her giant friend and teleport it over to him. Not only would it be fun, but it would make the time go by more quickly.
She was just about to go off in search of the necessary supplies, when all of a sudden a flash of light appeared in front of her, bringing her to a sudden halt.
A single pure white rose appeared out of thin air. Reaching out, she took the rose in her fingers, careful to mind its thorns. Wrapped around the stem was a black ribbon, holding a small curled up piece of parchment.
"What the?"
Curious as to who could possibly have sent it, she pried the parchment out from the ribbon and unrolled it.
'I do not regret what I did to Cygnus this morning, but I do not enjoy it when you are angry with me, and I do regret causing you to become so. Consider this flower as your valentine from me, for you deserve far better than some disgustingly corny card.
P.S. I have enchanted the rose to ensure that it will never die or lose its beauty.
~ Tom'
Hermione stood there, staring back and forth between the rose itself and the note that had been attached, for quite a while. She didn't even notice that Druella and Rosaline had returned until she heard them squealing with delight, dropping their own valentines as they rushed over to see her special valentine.
"Who sent it?" Rosaline asked, as the two girls glanced over her shoulder.
"I knew it! I knew Tom would do something extra special for you!" Druella exclaimed.
Hermione eyed her friend in confusion.
"Did you really think that Tom wouldn't send you anything?" Rosaline asked teasingly.
"Well, I…"
Druella rolled her eyes at her. "Why do you think Tom cursed Cygnus the way he did? He was avenging you."
Avenging her? Was that what he was doing? Sure, it wasn't the nicest thing to say to a girl, but she wasn't mad at him for it. It was just a joke. Were people not allowed to joke around in this era, or was it just a pureblood thing? Either way, she didn't understand it.
"It's obvious that he likes you, Hermione," Druella insisted. "And it's clear to see that you like him too."
Hermione opened her mouth to object, but her two friends didn't give her the chance.
"Don't even try to deny the fact. I saw the way you were glaring at that Ravenclaw girl when she walked up to Tom!"
Hermione's face flushed bright red. It looked like they had caught her. There was no way to wiggle out of this.
Conjuring up a small glass vase, she slipped the rose into it and set it down next to Hagrid's valentine, and sat down on the bed. Druella and Rosaline soon joined her in sitting on either side of her.
"Are you sure he likes me?" she asked nervously.
"Of course we are. Everyone knows that you're the only girl he has eyes for. The only reason he paid attention to that Ravenclaw girl was to try to make you jealous."
She shook her head. Jealous? Really? That was just another attempt to get her to stop ignoring him? Oh, for Merlin's sake!
"Boys can be so stupid sometimes."
To that, they could all agree.
Either way, it didn't matter, as Hermione resolved that she had ignored him long enough. The flower had softened her heart, earning him the forgiveness he seemed to want from her. She supposed that she couldn't ask for much more from him. Like it or not, she didn't think he was going to ever regret cursing someone he thought deserving of it.
That was just the way he was. She might be able to change many things, but clearly not that.
