It was safe to say that Hermione and Tom were friends now, or something akin to that. In class, they sat together and worked together in potions and, outside of class, they halfway tried to kill each other, ever since Tom had spoken to her about meaning it when she throws her spells at him. Since then, she had begun to win some of their duels and she felt really good about it. It was a fine Saturday morning, midway through the spring semester, and, like usual, they had gone to the Room of Requirement to duel. This time, Hermione was the victor as she pinned him down and took his wand.
'I win.'
They were closer than perhaps she had first noticed or intended and could feel each other's breath on their faces as they panted for air. As she began to pull away, he did something quite unexpected - he leaned up and kissed her. She couldn't help but smile as she kissed him back. This felt like far greater a victory than winning their duel had. Then, as quickly as it had started, it was over as he pulled back.
'I didn't realize I would get a reward for winning.' He gently moved her to the side so he could sit up.
'If you see it as a reward, then think of it as one for all the progress you have made rather than your victory in this one duel.' She pursed her lips and nodded.
'That seems fair. Does that mean, then, that I have more to look forward to the more progress I make? Perhaps if I overthrow the Ministry I could earn a kiss that lasts more than three seconds.' Her eyes sparkled with humor and a smile played at her lips.
'I can assure you, Hermione, that if you were to overthrow the Ministry, I would marry you.' Her breath caught in her throat.
'When you say it, it sounds like you mean it.'
'That would be because I do.'
'Then I suppose I know what I'm doing over the summer hols.' His eyes widened a fraction at her mischievous smirk. 'I do have contacts in the Ministry, after all, and a merry band of Slytherins and Gryffindors who would love to help.' He placed a hand on her thigh.
'When you say it, it sounds like you mean it.' His voice was low and his expression serious, almost threatening. She merely smiles in return.
'That would be because I do.'
. . .
They remained in the room, discussing the failures of the Ministry, both old and new, as well as ways to either completely reform it or replace it with something else entirely for quite a while. That, apparently, had always been his primary goal - to overthrow the Ministry he found to be so deeply and inherently flawed and fix the system that governed the wizarding world. She found that she agreed with the points he made and was perfectly amenable to the ideas he suggested. Then, when there was a lull in the conversation, she took that as her opportunity to bring up something else.
'So, Tom, do you think that, now, you would be able to tell me how you got here? To this time, I mean.' He raised an eyebrow.
'You already know, don't you?'
'Well, I think I have a pretty good idea but I'm definitely still missing something and, honestly, I'd rather hear it from you.'
'What do you have so far?'
'It was the Mirror of Erised. You saw someone in it you didn't recognize, someone from this time, and, somehow, the glass broke and you were brought here. The texts I was looking at suggested that seeing someone you don't know in the mirror could potentially mean that they are your soulmate so, if that's the case, the mirror, in being broken, brought you to this time to be with them.'
'And do you know who it was that I saw?' His voice was low and quiet and Hermione would say he sounded almost nervous if she didn't know better. She took a deep breath.
'Me? It would explain why you hated me enough for Pansy to warn me about it before you even met me. Actually, if you were angry about what you saw in the mirror, then that would mean that the glass probably shattered because you hit it or something.'
'Pansy was right, there is a reason why you are considered the brightest witch of our age.' He sighed. 'I learned of this room and came to explore it the morning I arrived here. I had decided that it would be best to summon it with the intention of finding a powerful magical object in order to test it. Inside was the mirror, which I immediately recognized. However, as I approached it, it showed me you, which made me angry since it seemed to be mocking me, telling me that I was meant to have my life yet again defined by some stupid woman. In a very rare laspe of judgement, I punched the mirror. When the glass shattered, it . . . floated in the air and pulled me into the frame as though it was a portal.
'Learning that I had been brought 50 years into the future presumably so that I could be with some girl I had never seen before was vexing, to say the least, and the way you kept staring at me did nothing to improve how I viewed you. I had been sent into the future by a magical object just to be with some daft, insipid schoolgirl, and a Gryffindor at that. I do hope you are aware that since then, my perspective has radically shifted and I now recognize you as the brilliant witch you are and someone I would be glad to take down the Ministry with.' She beamed at him.
'I'm glad to hear it.' She took his hands in hers and squeezed them. 'I can't wait to take over the world with you, Tom, whether we're actually soulmates or not.'
'Neither can I.' And, with that, he kissed her once more and she found herself thinking that the way his lips fit against hers was quite perfect.