Chapter 5: June 10th, 1943
It actually happened. The three were going to Azkaban for the rest of their lives without a chance of parole. 9 people came forward. 6 females and 3 males came forward in the week that Dippet left his door open for a private chat. They were all across different houses ranging from 4th Year to 6th Year. The people felt disgusted about what had happened and Dippet personally sought a councillor for anyone to come and talk to about what's happened or anything else on their mind. The councillor has been fully booked until the end of term with various students. It was definitely a good idea on Dippet's part. I had an appointment with the councillor on Thursday but until then I was studying for Arithmancy exam tomorrow. I had already taken Ancient Runes; Charms; Herbology; Potions and Transfiguration. I had Care of Magical Creatures; Astronomy; History of Magic and DADA in the coming week. It was fair to say that History of Magic was my worse subject, but DADA was my best subject by far.
"Still revising at 11 at night, I see?" A voice teases from behind the sofa I was sitting on. I smile. Tom.
"Yes, you can never do too much revising." I say as he sits down next to me.
"You definitely can." He replies and takes the book out of my hand before closing it. I, honest to God, pout which makes him chuckle before his expression turns neutral. "I guess you heard about the verdict then." I nod. "How are you feeling?" I ponder for a moment.
"I thought I would feel better, but I don't." I answer with a frown and Tom begins to stroke my wrist with his thumb in a soothing way.
"You won't feel better straight away." Tom states. "You shouldn't have to expect yourself to feel better anytime soon."
"But I want to feel better." I whisper, and Tom wraps an arm around my shoulders, bringing me into his side which I relax into. Since the hug, there had been more touching whenever we were around each other. Whether it was an arm as we walked to class or a peck on the cheek goodnight.
"You will feel better but with time." He murmurs into my hair. "Plus, you may feel better after speaking to that woman later in the week – Dr. Smythe."
"Maybe." I mutter with a yawn.
"You should probably rest." Tom replies. "The Arithmancy exam is at 9am tomorrow." I nod, and we stand up. We walk up the stairs where the dormitories separated by gender. I peck Tom's cheek. "Night, Tom."
"Goodnight, Reine." He replies before we part into our different dormitories. I walk to the 5th Year girls dormitories before changing into a nightgown and climbing into bed. I go to sleep with a small smile on my face.
I walk out of my last exam, DADA, with a relieved smile on my face with Eve beside me. Exams are finally over. "Hey, Eve, how did you find DADA?" Eve begins to talk rapidly about the DADA exams when Tom approaches. "Will you excuse me for a minute?" She nods, and I meet Tom halfway. "How was the exam?"
"Good, thank you." He answers. "I assume with that smile, yours went well?" I nod. "Headmaster Dippet wants to see us." I frown.
"Why?" I ask.
"No idea but it was passed onto me by Professor Merrythought." He replies as he holds out his arm which I take. I ignore the glares from every girl with a roll of my eyes.
"Seriously? You would think that the girls would stop the glaring by now." I mutter.
"Apparently, I'm just that charming." He teases, and I roll my eyes. "On a more serious note, it was flattering at first, now, it is more annoying. I keep getting approached by random girls." I feel a bit of jealousy come up which I push down.
"Most guys would love that." I deadpan with a look.
"They keep interrupting whenever I'm working or trying to get to class." He replies. "Anyway, I already have my eyes on a girl." I feel hope bloom in my chest at the way he was looking at me.
"I'm sure that she is a lucky girl." I say with a smile.
"I would wager that I'm the lucky one." He counters with smile and my smile widens. We turn right, and I frowned.
"Dippet's office was left, Tom." I state, and his smile widens.
"I know." He replies with a knowing look and I tilt my head. "I wanted to show you something without someone following us." I shake my head in amusement.
"You should have just said."
"People were listening, and I didn't want anyone to follow." He explains. "It's private."
"Okay." I reply with a shrug. We make it to the castle grounds and wander pass the lake, and into the forest. After a few minutes, he stops.
"It's just through these bushes." We begin to step through the bushes and make it to the end after a couple of moments with my eyes widening in surprise.
"It's beautiful." I whisper in awe. In the centre of the patch of grass was a pond swirling with all shades of blue, pink and purple. The trees and grass around us were a vivid green. There were fairies flying around, making colourful sparks as they go. "How did you find this place?"
"By accident in third year." Tom answers. "I've never bought anyone here. It's my own secret space."
"Thank you for bringing me here." I thank him as I turn towards him with a grin which he returns before leading me towards a blanket with a food basket on. "Beautiful scenery, food and drink. You're going to spoil me, Tom."
"That might just be my aim." I give him a look before sitting down. "I sneaked down to the kitchen and the house elves were more than delighted to give me food, so, there's a lot in there." I hide my laugh behind my cough at remembering my own experience with house elves. "There's chicken and bacon; cheese and pickle; egg cress; brie and cranberry; and ham and coleslaw sandwiches. Quiche; carrots; cucumber; and various fruits."
"That's enough to feed an entire quidditch team. Both sides." I mutter. "What is it with people trying to feed us all the time? Are we really that thin?"
"Apparently." He answers with a shrug as we begin to plate up.
"I don't think your thin, you're leaner and more muscular than anything." I mumble, and he raises an eyebrow at my confession.
"I think all those dinners at Hogwarts have finally put some meat on my bones." He replies. "What about you?" I ponder for a moment.
"I know I'm thin." I state. "I never used to be though. I had curves for days. When we went on the run in my final year, I lost a lot of weight then because we couldn't have a proper meal. Now, that's I've been at Hogwarts again, I have been able to gain some weight back but I'm nowhere near where I once was."
"I think you look radiant." Tom expresses with a calming expression and I blush.
"That's very sweet of you but not necessary to say." I say, and he frowns before wrapping an arm around my waist and pulling me into his side.
"Radiant." He murmurs and places a kiss on my head, and I can't help but blush even more as I lean into his side.
"Thank you." I mumble shyly as I start eating. By the time that we finish eating, the sky is array with reds, yellows, blues and purples – indications of a sunset.
"There's something I wanted to ask you." He murmurs in my ear and I turn to face him, giving him my full attention. He was making a face that I hadn't seen before. Almost like he was nervous? "I know that school is breaking up for the summer soon, but I wanted to know if you would allow me to court you?" I release the breath that I didn't realise I was holding.
"Yes, of course." I answer with a grin and he returns his own grin before hugging me.
"Can I-." He pauses for a moment. "May I steal a kiss?"
"Always." I reply with a cheeky smile and he flashes a predatory smile at me before bringing our lips together. It was warm, wet and much more softer than I was expecting. He rests his hands on my waist where his thumbs stroke comforting circles on my skin. I found myself gripping on to his biceps before sliding my hands up to his shoulders to hook around his neck to slide into his hair. After a few minutes, and all to soon in my opinion, he pulls back. His lips were red and swollen from all the kissing that made me want to kiss him more.
"We should probably stop before we advance anymore." He murmurs. "No matter how much I want to not stop." Apparently, Chivalry isn't dead in this era.
"Thank you." I say and kiss his cheek in thanks. "We should head in and you have rounds to do." I gesture to the darkening sky.
"That I do." He responses and holds out his hand for me to take, lifting me onto my feet. I mutter my thanks before we pack up the basket. Tom holds the basket in his left hand and my hand in his right as we walk back up to the castle. There were older teenagers scattered across the halls, but most were in their House's dormitories. The teenagers who did see us, gawked at our hands before turning to gossip about it to their friends. It made me want to remove my hand from his grasp, but I didn't want too. His hand was soft, warm and comforting. We dropped off the basket with the house-elves who were delighted to see we ate everything before we arrive at Slytherin dormitories. We stay outside for a few moments. "By tomorrow, everyone will know anyway. Why hide it?"
"I'm just nervous about the constant attacks from girls that I will have to deal with." He frowns at me.
"I am going to be around a lot more, so, let them try and attack you with me around." He states, firmly. I roll my eyes, fondly. "Pureblood." The portrait swings open and we walk in. All the 5th years and upwards were still hanging around in the Slytherin communal room. The 5th and 6th year girls looked excited and happy; most of the 7th year girls looked perturbed while the boys looked indifferent. We walk to where the 5th years were gathered on the sofas and sit down. Tom releasing my hand in favour of putting his arm on the back of the sofa behind me. I lean slightly into him but not so much as to rest on him.
"Knew it." Rachel (Burke) states with an excited look.
"I think we all knew it." Michelle (Avery) points out and I stick my tongue out at them. Michelle puts her hand over her heart in fake shock before giggling. "I bet you 10 galleons by midday that everyone will know about them."
"10 galleons at dinner time everyone will know." Erica (Yaxley) chimes in.
"10 galleons that everyone knows at breakfast." Rachel adds in.
I snort at all three of their antics. "Damn, must be all that inbreeding that's made all three of you crazy." All three gape before bursting into laughing fits. I exchange a raise of an eyebrow with Tom before rolling my eyes at the three.
"You know, Reine, you're definitely not wrong." Erica says with a grin after they all stop laughing.
"Oh, yeah, so much inbreeding between families in Britain." Michelle adds in with a roll of her eyes. "It's probably better for families in mainland Europe because you're not separated by water." I think back to my mother, Georgine Géroux. Her surname was originally Black. Her grandfather, Regulus Black I (Born in 1906), died a couple of years after she was born. He named his son, my grandfather, Cade Black. Luckily, my grandmother, Stela Vasilescu, was from a Romanian Pureblood family than a British Pureblood family. There was also my great-grandmother's, Delphine Géroux, paternal grandparents who were first cousins.
"You would think that." I muse. "But, my mother's paternal grandparents are first cousins. Cyprien and Maylis Lemaire. She didn't actually need to change her surname either."
"Could be worse, my parents are actually first cousins." Erica points out and I scrunch up my nose. "Yeah, tell me about it, they're trying to push me into a marriage with my first cousin – Jack Rosier. He graduated last year and to be blunt, he's an asshole."
"My parents are doing the same thing. Both of my parents' parents are first cousins. Luckily, my parents aren't but they want me to marry Richard Burke – my second cousin who is starting Hogwarts next year." Rach chimes in. "Not to mention Michelle's one." Michelle rolls her eyes.
"My entire family, aside from me, want me to marry my half-uncle." I lean back in complete horror and Tom takes the opportunity to wrap his arm around my shoulder, keeping me against him. I shake my head fondly and lean more into him, he tightens his arm around my shoulder. "My uncle's about 10 years older than me and it's just awkward because we both agree that we don't want to marry each other. He's my uncle for god's sake."
"I'm at a loss for words." I state. "What parent would allow their sibling to marry their child?"
"Mine, apparently." Michelle grumbles. "But if my entire family do push forward on the marriage to my uncle then we have agreed to try and make it work but we won't have biological kids together. We are both certain on that. Adopting kids will be easier."
"You are the lucky one, Reine." Rach drawls, getting my attention from my own erratic thoughts. "You're not burdened by your parents forcing you into a loveless, cousin marriage. Be thankful."
"I am." I murmur back, my head still filled with thoughts. "So thankful." We continue to talk and by the time Tom has to do his rounds, we're practically falling asleep.
"Ladies, I think it's time for bed." Tom says with amusement. "You've all had exhausting weeks of exams." The girls murmur in agreement, say goodnight before heading upstairs. I move to get up, but Tom pulls me more firmly against him.
"Tom, you have rounds." I chide with gentle amusement and his brow furrows.
"I want to stay like this though." He, honest to god, pouts and I pat his bicep.
"Come on, you have too." I reply, and he groans before getting up, and hugging me properly. "Goodnight, Tom."
"Goodnight, sweetheart." He murmurs back in a low tone which definitely didn't make my heart melt. Nope. I kiss his cheek, and we part ways as I move up the stairs and into the girl's dormitories. As I expected, the girls were waiting up for me. They all squeal out in excitement.
"Tell!" Oh, bloody hell.
July 3rd, 1943
The entire school is in flurry of returning home for the summer today. I was making sure I had everything packed. Slippers – check. Books – check. Toiletries – check. Tom's non-school blazer – check. Actually, I might wear that with my skirt and blouse. Unlike back in 1998, everyday skirts were positioned just below the knee. I put on my emerald green skirt and button up my off-white blouse. I buckle the slim belt around my waist and slip on my slightly heeled court shoes. Even though it was the start of July, it was still slightly chilly today. I put on the blazer and sigh at the warmth. I fold up my school uniform and put it in my suitcase before shutting it. I roll up the sleeves as they were too long before levitating my suitcase down the stairs and putting it on the pile outside Slytherin common room where Tom was waiting. "Morning, beautiful." He brings his head down and pecks me on the lips. So many terms of endearment.
"Morning." I murmur shyly against his lips. Rachel won the bet as literally everyone knew by breakfast and couldn't keep their eyes to themselves – much to our exasperation. I feel his arms snake around my waist and he pulls me flush against him. My face blushes with embarrassment and I tuck my face into his chest.
"Hey, don't hide now." He chides, gently, and I pull my face away with a sigh. "There is literally no one around."
"Maybe I just like your chest." I sass him, and he smirks.
"We both already knew that." He responses with a fond look. "Come on, breakfast is over in an hour and we both need food." We link hands and make our way into the hall. A few eyes lingered as we sat down next to each other, but most were over it. Tom pours coffee into both our mugs while I put some scrambled egg, 3 bacon rashes; and a couple of slices of toast on his plate while I grab a few slices of toasts for myself and coat them with strawberry jam. Tom gives me a pointed look, so, I add a few bacon rashes to my plate. I eat and drink everything in time as people start to file out of the great hall. Tom grabs our satchels, swinging them over his shoulder but grabbing my hand. We make our way to the carriages where the Thestrals pull them. I've been able to see them since 5th Year. They are skeletal looking creatures but have such a lovely personality. Tom and I pile into a carriage with Michelle, Rachel, Rosier and Lestrange. I barely hold in the shiver of sitting near a Lestrange. I know that Bellatrix was born a Black, but the surname still gave me the chills. Tom notices this and ops to sit between Lestrange and myself. We all make small talk as the carriage moves us towards the station.
"I always wondered how they make the carriages move. Like, what specific spells." Rosier muses from where he sits, opposite Lestrange.
"It's not a spell." I blurt before my brain can catch up with me and everyone turns to look at me. Bloody hell. "Thestrals pull the carriages."
"I think your sight needs to be checked." Rosier replies. "Nothing is pulling the carriages."
"Because they're invisible creatures." I protest. "We haven't studied them because they are considered dark creatures due to only people who have seen death can see them."
"Can you see them?" Rosier asks.
"No." I lie as I squeeze Tom's hand tightly. "I just read. A lot." Tom squeezes his hand back.
"You two are definitely a match made in the stars then." Michelle chimes in with a laugh.
"Nothing wrong with reading, Michelle." Rach argues. "There's a reason why those two are at the top in our year."
"Because generations of inbreeding have not made them stupid." Michelle deadpans and Rach snorts.
"True." She agrees. Thankfully, the Thestrals stop at the moment because we were at the station, so, we all piled off and onto the busy train. Apparently, the Slytherins normally sat near the end of the train, so, we grab a cabin in the second to last train cart. Unfortunately, Tom had to do rounds with Erica, so, I was left alone with the girls who were talking about their crushes and bitching about their intendeds. To be honest, all this talk was making me nauseous. Actually, really nauseous. I quickly move out of the cabin and to the toilet where I hurl into it. Someone knocks on the door.
"Reine! Are you alright?" Rach voices from the other side.
"No, I just came over all nauseous." I answer and open the door to let her in before sitting back down on the floor.
"Are you pregnant?" Rach whispers in a question and I gape at her bluntness before answering.
"No. I've never had sex. I'm a virgin."
"Okay because then I would lecture you to the grave." Rach replies. "Were you filling nauseous this morning?"
"No." I reply. "It was when you were talking about crushes and intendeds that I had to puke." She frowns.
"What were you thinking of?" Rach questions.
"Nothing really." I response. "Just how I wanted Tom to be there and not doing rounds."
"Ah, I think you puked at the thought of loving someone."
"What?" I force out in shock.
"Sorry, let me rephrase that." She states with a frown. "You're scared because you love Tom and you don't know what to do."
"Can you even love someone into not even a month-old relationship?" I ask.
"It doesn't depend on the relationship but how long you've liked them for which I reckon was at most late February, early March." Rach answers. "Crushes last for under 3 months, anything over it – you're falling head over heels for that person."
"Oh, shit." I curse as all the thoughts swirl around my head. Beginning our relationship with playful flirting; Tom being more protective than a friend for months; the consistent arm jabs or elbow links turning into cheek pecks and holding hands; Tom smiling more than he's ever done; terms of endearment…the picnic and our first kiss… "I'm in love with Tom Marvolo Riddle?"
"Yes, you are." Rach states.
"What am I meant to do?" I ask in a panic. "You're not meant to be in love with someone 3 weeks into a relationship."
"Your heart knows what it wants." Rach soothes. "Better yet, who it wants. You don't have to say it out loud at first. You can just show with actions."
"I can't have…sex…" I trail off. "I still have nightmares about…"
"Don't worry, there are more ways to show love than having sex." Rach soothes. "From what I can see, you're doing it already. You two are basically acting like a married couple."
"Okay." I murmur in thought.
"So, how about we go back out there and change the subject of the conversation."
"Alright." I mutter and wash my hands and rinse my mouth out before walking back out into the train cart's hallway. We were about to walk back into the cabin when Tom came into the train carriage from another carriage. Tom smiles when he sees me but frowns after examining my pale face.
"Are you alright?" He asks as he caresses my cheek with his thumb.
"She had a sick turn but she's feeling better now." Rach explains for me and Tom nods with a furrow of his brows.
"Do you mind if I borrow my girl for a while?"
"Be our guest." Rach answers with a gesture to get going. Tom wraps an arm around my waist and I lean into his side before walking towards an empty cabin at the end of the carriage. Tom sits with his legs crossed and I lay my head against his leg where he fiddles with my hair.
"Are you sure you're alright?" I hmm back with a nod of my head, feeling sleepy all after being sick and talking to Rach. "Go to sleep, baby. I'll be right here when you wake up." I nod and find myself drifting off with the caressing of fingers through my hair.