Chapter 5: Riddle Me Not

| H's POV |

"What? Blaise could've died!"

He rolled his eyes. "You worry too much. It takes more than that to kill a demon."

Blaise stood up and glared at Theo. "It's your fault for not taking care of Hermione."

"Oh, shut up!"

"You all are children still," Tom looked at the two of them with a hint of disappointment across his face, "it shames me to call us cousins."

"You guys are all related?!"

"Unfortunately," Blaise said reluctantly, "his mother just happens to be my mother's sister."

"I would have never thought."

"When he was still a young human adult, he had more emotions," Blaise pointed out, "we looked more alike then."

"I suppose."

"To be fair, this does suit you better."

"Thank you."

"Shows off how cold you truly are," he laughed.

"Who's the older one?"

"I am," Tom said with a spiteful smirk.

"Only by what, two hundred fifty-two years? Barely anything," Blaise scoffed.

"Ah, another reason why I wanted to meet you," the half grim reaper turned to face me and say with conviction, "as our bloods are powerful together so would our offspring. I will not force you into anything but if you choose me as your partner in hand, I promise you that I will always treat you right and never will harm touch you under my watch."

Blaise looked livid before punching Tom in the face.

"You're pushing your limits! You know after all these eons, I have been her mate. You can't just... sweep her off her feet!"

He wiped the blood from his mouth and looked at him, impatiently.

"Relax Zabini. I would not do anything without the young lady's consent. I believe I have more knowledge about her heritage than you do. It is her decision to make, not me nor you."

I stood between the two of them, puzzled. Theo, standing on the side, also looking just as confused.

"The world is supposedly about to end and you two are more concerned about which girl you'll get?!" Theo cried out, "we're all doomed! Start finishing that bucket list ladies and gents, this will be your last chance to!"

"Our child could very well protect this world from destruction," Tom said.

"Bullshit," Blaise declared, "you just love to steal what's mine!"

"Why would you say that?"

His jaw clenched before continuing with angry words through gritted teeth, "You stole my home, your father killed my parents, and now you want to take my Hermione away? How selfish can one be?"

"A, I did not steal your home, your family decided to sell it and mine bought it. B, out of my control. C, I never said I would," Tom replied back, obviously annoyed.

"Enough already!" I yelled, also feeling extremely annoyed, "there are more pressing matters at hand like the end of the world, hello?"

"The human has a point," Theo added.

"I have a name, you know."

"Whatever. What are the solutions to stopping the world from being destroyed?"

Tom stated, "We combine our blood and stop the force threatening the end of mankind."

"We negotiate friendly terms with the enemy," Blaise suggested.

"We hide and hope for the best!" Theo added.

I looked at the three and felt despair, hopelessness, and fear all at once.

"I... I hate to say it but," I said slowly, "I think... Tom has the best one so far."

"My point proven," Tom said, smirking, "it is quite simple too. I just need a drop of each of our bloods and mix it in a vial. Wait for two minutes then consume through the mouth. The effects should be instantaneous and harmless. There is nothing to lose."

Blaise arched his eyebrow. "Nothing to lose? You're asking Hermione to give up her humanity! Once your blood enters her system, there is no going back."

"Do you care if you lose your humanity, Ms. Granger?" Tom inquired.

"I don't know. What will... what happens once I do?"

"You become an immortal," he drawled and began to list all the qualities I'd gain, "superior strength, death prediction, your body stops aging. I, myself, do not know for sure what powers you will gain. I do know that we are more likely to win against the enemy with our combined strength. Fight with numbers, even the odds to our favour."

"Sounds like it makes sense."

"I would teach you everything you need to know to win."

"I do not like the idea of this all," Blaise bit his lip and paced around, "even our ancestors rarely did blood mixing. They understood the risks."

"What are the risks?"

"Oh for fuck's sake Tom, you didn't even tell her?!"

"It's only a 2% chance of happening."

"Tell me what?"

Blaise inhaled sharply before saying, "If your blood types do not match, there are consequences. Death even. Most commonly are comas and amnesia."

"Like blood types?"

"No, it's much more complex than that," Tom corrected, "it's rather there is any... magical compatibility between our blood."

"And there's no way to test if we are prior?"

"Unfortunately, no."

"This is exactly why I'm against it," Blaise huffed with crossed arms.

"Same here," Theo agreed, nodding.

Tom sighed. "Sometimes risks are necessary to win the war."

"And other times, those risks can make you lose."

"Fair enough. Unless you two are able to come up with a better solution, this will have to suffice. We cannot afford to waste time," he said sternly.

All of a sudden, the sky turned into a brilliant shade of red. Everyone was startled and Tom's eyes widened and for a second, I saw fear. Theo was quivering in his boots and Blaise simply stared at the sky in disbelief. I watched as stars fell from the sky in all directions.

"Shooting stars?"

"No. Far worse," Blaise said, eyes locked into the horizon. "Those aren't stars... those are soldiers."

"They're here, oh God help us all," Theo yelped.

"Hermione, listen to me," Tom softly said and pulled me to the side, "we have to do the blood combination right now."

"Now? What about all of that?!"

He pulled out a dagger and stared at me, intently. "That is exactly why we must hurry. Please extend your arm for me."

I put out my left arm and he held the dagger on top of my forearm.

"Are you ready?"

I nodded and prepared myself for the worst. He carefully cut my arm with the dagger, making a small incision. Shit, that burned more than I thought. I hissed slightly. Tom quickly extracted one drop with his fingers, somehow making it levitate in the air into a tiny vial. He did the same to himself in half the time and swirled the contents together. The red began to glow and it stopped after a minute.

"It is ready to be consumed. We must do it together," he poured half of it into an identical vial and handed it to me.

"Okay."

I waited for him to put it near his mouth and we both drank it simultaneously. It had a weird honey-rust taste to it, something I have never tasted before. We locked eyes and before I could say anything, I felt it. A sudden rush of power in my veins elevating me. I could feel the strength within. Tom could as he smiled at me and immediately began to fly.

"It worked," he smiled and my heart skipped a beat.

I don't think I've ever seen him smile. He should more often, it looks good on him. He has a dimple on his left cheek and his eyes light up with emotion. Something that he usually lacks.

"Yeah."

"How are you feeling?" Tom landed in front of me and put his hand on my forehead, "your temperature is slightly warmer than usual."

Because you're touching me!

"Don't worry about it," I laughed and stopped once I saw floating numbers above his head.

12045289.

What does that mean? December 4 5289? Wait. I gasped softly. Is that when Tom will die?

"Ah I suppose you see my death date now," Tom shrugged his shoulders. "I'd prefer it if you did not tell me."

"Will do."

"For now, we all must go to an actual safe place," he stated.

"Agreed," Blaise and Theo said.

"Let's try flying now, shall we?" With his wings extended, he reached his arm out with a soft smile.

Ouch, that smile could kill.

I smiled back, weakly and tried to get my wings out. Nothing happened. I tried again, still nothing. Tom laughed and it sounded like music to my ears. He held my left arm out and jerked it upwards as I ignored the static between our skin. Not this again! Then I felt it. A wing popped out of my left side. I looked at it in awe. Tom did the same thing for my right and both my wings were out. They were white whereas his were black. My mouth fell open and that made his melodic laugh come out again.

"You're kind of cute," Tom muttered before flying out.

Did I hear that right? I jumped off the edge and began to soar in the sky right behind Tom. It was exhilarating. I guess now I don't need to use an airplane!

"We're flying!" I cried out and did a twirl mid-air.

"It's a lot of fun, right?" He grinned and also did air tricks, "thank you for lending your blood to me, Hermione."

"Thanks for being compatible!"

"You know what they say about compatible blood types," Tom flew right by me and whispered in my ear, "they are great romantic partners in bed too."

Is he flirting now?

A/N: Please review and thank you for the read! tbh kinda makes me sad there's only 2 reviews for the 5 chapters there's been out... maybe I'm too generous oof- have a good day lovelys!