4.

After the "excitement" of Rose's melt-down, returning to the relative normality of Hogwarts seemed almost surreal. For the first few hours after settling back in his dorm room, Harry existed in a state of perpetual giddiness, brought upon by this new development and by the fact that James had decided to take away some of Rose's privileges after she had tried to claw Harry's eyes out. Lily, of course, had attempted to reason with him, arguing that Rose was not in her usual frame of mind and should be comforted instead of punished, but James had laid down the law. Rose had acted like a child and needed to be taught, lest she decided it was acceptable to do so in public as well. Just the memory of that put Harry in a particularly good mood.

In fact, it made him so happy that Hermione actually commented on it during dinner later that night.

"You look…weird. I have never seen you so giddy before. Did something happen during your visit home?"

"It did actually," Harry replied and told her the whole thing. Hermione listened intently for the whole duration and gaped at him when he was done.

"No way," she gasped, sounding so shocked that it would have been offensive if Harry hadn't felt the same way, "Why would he do that?"

"Who cares?" Harry shrugged, unconcerned, "That isn't important. The important part is how upset Rose was about the whole thing. She was practically hysterical."

"I don't think it's nice to enjoy your own sister's heartbreak to this degree," Hermione commented dryly as Harry nearly cackled, "She is still family."

"Not really," Harry replied, "She may have been family when we were younger, but no sister of mine would treat me the way she did for the past few years. It's obvious she doesn't care about me so why should I care about her?"

Already realizing how sensitive this subject was, Hermione made the wise choice and changed the topic.

"When are you going to talk to him?" She asked while looking around the crowded Great Hall for a peek of Tom Riddle's familiar figure. But for some reason, the Head Boy wasn't where he usually sat during meals.

"Maybe tonight," Harry told her, taking a big bite out of his pie, "But I still have to find him first."

"Well, he's not at dinner," Hermione commented, lips pursed in thought. It was the first time Tom Riddle had missed diner and she wondered if that was a sign of some kind.

"It doesn't really matter," Harry said uncaringly, "He can wait. This delicious pie however really can't."

Hermione rolled her eyes and muttered about boys and their stomachs, the topic of their previous conversation all but forgotten.

Harry hadn't lied when he had told Hermione about intending to find Tom that evening, but plans and reality sometimes doesn't work out. In this case, after wandering the castle for about an hour in search of the Head Boy, he finally gave up and headed back to his own dorm. He can contact Tom tomorrow anyway.

The next morning, Harry made his way to the Great Hall just before 8 and was surprised to find that Hermione was already there, waiting for his arrival. His eyebrows rose in question as he joined her, all the while wondering what she was planning. For the past few years, Hermione had always waited for him inside the Great Hall and to see such a disturbance in their usual arrangement was more than a little disconcerting.

"I just wanted to warn you that Tom's already inside," she told him once he was close enough to hear her talk, "He made some arrangements so you may want to prepare yourself."

Harry rolled his eyes and passed her by.

"Don't worry," he replied, "Nothing will faze me."

He pushed open the heavy doors and as soon as the Great Hall opened up to him, he realized what Hermione had been talking about.

Sitting at his usual table, Tom Riddle was truly a sight to behold. Instead of his usual back school robes, the Head Boy wore some sort of muggle tuxedo, tailor made to fit his lithe figure to a T. The thing that attracted the most people's attention however was the gigantic flower arrangement he held in one hand; filled with all the types that Harry particularly liked. The young man wondered a little dizzyingly where the other teen had gotten his information.

"Whom do you think it's for?" a female voice was heard murmuring to her friend as Harry started to move towards his own table. He didn't know the etiquette in this sort of thing; should he head towards Tom or should he simply pretend he hadn't noticed him yet? Besides, he'll have to talk to him eventually.

"I think it must be for some rich pureblood princess," another voice commented, "She's so lucky."

"Busybodies, all of them," Hermione muttered under her breath as she followed Harry along. The young man resisted the urge to roll his eyes at that.

Luckily for Harry, his choice of whether to ignore Tom for the moment or not was taken out of his hands when the young man in question made his move, getting up from his seat and dusting his suit pants off with one casual hand. The bout of silence that ensured made Harry pause; his footsteps faltering before stopping.

"Oh Merlin," he heard a girl squealed, her voice only audible to his ears due to his close proximity to her seat, "He's going to make a move. This is so romantic."

Indeed, Tom turned around, bouquet of flowers in one hand, eyes searching the crowd until he found Harry. For the first time ever, their gazes met and Harry could feel himself stop breathing for just one second. He may not have a crush on Tom, but even he had to admit how overwhelming the teen's presence could be. Tom had this way of looking at you that made you feel as if you are the only one to exist in his eyes; no wonder Rose had fallen so quickly.

No, Harry told himself firmly, shaking his head and breaking their connection, Don't lose yourself. Since you don't even know each other, Tom must be doing this for some ulterior motive. Even if I don't care what it is at the moment, I can't let myself fall victim to his tricks.

"He's coming this way," someone nearly shrieked, bringing Harry out of his contemplation. He looked up, just in time to see Tom slowly make his progress towards where Harry was standing, almost frozen.

"Hi Harry," Tom said once he was standing in front of him, charming grin making his face almost light up. If Harry didn't know any better, he would have thought Tom was genuinely happy to see him. But experience had taught him to read other people like a book and it was obvious to him that Tom's smile didn't reach his eyes.

"Hello Tom," Harry replied simply as everyone around them started to talk all at the same time.

Those who didn't know who Harry was started screaming bloody murder at that; all wondering who this upstart was and why Tom was paying him any attention. And those who knew who Harry was or at least knew of his reputation screamed even louder, their voices of outrage threatening to attract the teacher's attention, if there were any in the Great Hall at the moment – the annual professors' conference had been scheduled for that morning.

"Have your parents received my letter?" Tom asked, ignoring the way people were reacting.

"Yes they did," Harry replied, "They've agreed as well."

"Wonderful," Tom smiled, "Then I can go to the next step and make a proposal to you in person."

With that said, Tom did the most unexpected thing and dropped on to one knee.

The world…exploded.

TBC

A/N: Harry's reaction next chapter on Tom's less than subtle proposal. I can tell you that he won't be impressed. Thank you all for the wonderful reviews and follows/favourites.

For the sake of this fic, a courtship proposal (in person) for wizards is similar to muggles. Although generally it's done in private, but Tom kind of wants to make a claim so he did it in public. Think of the courtship as an engagement period. You can still break it off before the wedding. And instead of a normal ring, you offer the other person a ring with your house crest, generally passed down for centuries (in the case of older families).

Sending the offer to the parents is like asking for their permission before proposing to your intended.