A/N: YAY FORTY REVIEWS! 333 LOVE YOU ALL DO DEAATH! Ahem. Anyway! ON WITH THE SHOW!
OMG! I JUST WATCHED THE TRAILOR FOR HBP. LIL' TOM IS SOOO CUTE! EEEE!
When I mention the book 'The Catcher in the Rye' I'm sorry for the inaccurate publish date. It was first published in 1951, not in the forties...But I couldn't think of any other book that would suit Tom nicely. XDD Sorry again for the inaccuracies.
The week before Christmas seemed to fly by, and suddenly it the day before Christmas Eve. Cassie had put off her shopping till the last minute (as usual), and so Sunday the 23rd found her wandering about Diagon Alley, bargaining and searching for the perfect gifts. It was snowing lightly, large, fat flakes merrily falling from the sky, and everywhere she looked there were lights and strings of garland. Happily sung carols hung in the air, and a feeling of excitement enveloped the people all wrapped in scarves and coats, their cheeks red from the chilly air. It was beginning to get dark, and the heavy bags were beginning to hurt sitting on her arms. But she couldn't leave yet; she had one last present to buy.
The present was for Mr. White. He was a lonely old man that lived across the way, in a little white cottage with a long walkway leading up to it. Nobody understood why she got him a present every year, she just did. He had certainly never bothered with anyone else, but for some reason she felt obligated to buy him a gift, ever since she was a child. She knew he appreciated it, though. And for some reason, it was the best part of Christmas for Cassie Smith. Buying this old, lonely man a simply present and leaving it on his doorstep.
Then it caught her eye; the perfect gift for him.
It was a simple little stone, red in colouring and slightly chipped on one end. From her observations, she knew he adored small interesting rocks, so she didn't hesitate to buy it, not caring that it was a little past her budget. She carefully pocketed the stone after paying the cashier, wrapping it in some tissue to keep it safe.
Her shopping finally done she exited the shop and turned the corner, heading for the Leaky Cauldron where her mother was waiting for her. Though her mother was a muggle, she certainly wasn't afraid of wizards. When Cassie went to Diagon Alley to buy her school things every year, her mother tagged along and learned as much as she could, shamelessly asking the wizarding folks around her questions. Some gave her dirty looks because they could tell she was a Muggle, but the response usually sent them running. Normally a rude hand gesture or a long string of raunchy profanities.
This was why Cassie often left her Mother in one place while she went and did her shopping. As much as she loved her mother, she could be terribly embarrassing to be with.
Suddenly, she collided painfully with someone, sending her bags flying.
The person she ran into gave a grunt and stopped, looking up to her with angry eyes. Cassie let out an angry snarl, before she realised with a jolt just who she bumped into.
"Oh, Tom! Hey! How's it going?" she asked, smiling slightly.
He paused, and raised his eyebrows, recognizing her.
"Pretty good, I suppose...What are you doing out this late?" he asked her, almost quietly, bending down to retrieve her bags from the ground.
"Oh, just some last minute shopping..."she trailed off when she noticed Tom was pulling something in behind him. A sled, she realised, with a large fir tree on top of it. Two blobs of gray coloured fabric that were sitting just inside the tree's branches tried to stifle their laughter as they noticed her looking at them.
Two children sat up and smiled, giggling as they made funny faces. Tom saw her eyes looking past him and gestured to them, introducing them as Amy and Jack.
Cassie bent down to one knee, a warm smile twisting the corners of her lips.
"How are you two?" she asked kindly.
"Good!" they answered in union, "We're just out with Tommy gettin' the tree!"
They nodded enthusiastically, and giggled again.
"I see that!" Cassie said, laughing. She then straightened up, and faced Tom.
"Well, it was good seeing you..." she smiled awkwardly, and waved, taking back her bags that he'd picked up for her. She started across the street towards the Leaky Cauldron, but for some reason, her feet stopped moving. She stood there for a good five seconds before her body turned her around and began to write up directions on a piece of paper. Again, her body forced her a little ways down the road, and her finger was tapping on his shoulder before she could blink.
"Here.." she said, her voice barely above a whisper. She shoved the note into his hands, her face crimson. Then, like a robot, she turned and walked across the road.
"Tommy's got a giiiiiirlfriend..." the little children sang tauntingly.
The train dropped Tom off at a tiny station in the village of Ottery St. Catchpole.
The village was small, and only had few shops; the buildings mostly humble houses and cottages. He took a moment to peek at the slip of crumpled paper in his palm before continuing up the road. He was walking a good half hour before he came to a stop at the end of the long, snowy dirt road.
There, on top of a large hill, sat a sunflower yellow house with a large red barn right beside it.
He paused, staring at the place with an unexplained feeling of nervousness before he forced himself to walk up the winding driveway, his hands clenched in his pockets. When he reached the house, he was hit with just how big it actually was, parts and rooms seemingly added on throughout the years to make it nearly gigantic, and just a little shambling. The main part of the house rose high in the air, the slanted roof covered with greying cedar shingles. A couple of added pieces surrounded it, each one with a distinctively different type of window, then on the left side, a circular tower-sort of piece jutted upwards into the sky. The front door was obviously just for decoration, the bare branches of what would be shrubberies in the summer grew wildly over the front path. The dirt road widened towards the back, so he followed it.
Around back was a large deck that wound around the sides of the house, lawn chairs filled with snow stacked in one corner, reading to use again in the spring. The yard back here was immense, a couple of sheds here and there and the red barn in the distance. The chickens clucked around him, pecking at the road, and a tethered horse a little ways away whinnied at him impatiently. Suddenly, there was a booming bark from behind him.
A giant brown and white collie came bounding towards him, looking like Christmas had come early. When he reached Tom, his tail wagged at fifty miles an hour and he jumped up and whined happily. Tom's hands retracted from his pockets and scratched the dog's ears roughly, begging him silently to be quiet and calm down. The dog's tongue lolled out and he panted in pleasure loudly. Tom tried to silence him, wracking his brains for the dog's name when a shout came from the porch door.
"Hello?" came the voice of a slightly tipsy-sounding woman.
He straightened up and walked towards the door, putting his hands behind his back and wringing them tensely.
"Er...Is Cassandra there?" he asked quietly, licking his lips. He wasn't used to visiting people in their homes. He didn't know how to act.
The woman, who he recognized as Kara, Cassie's mother, scrutinized him for a moment, before a look of comprehension dawned on her face.
"Ooh, it's Tom! Well come in, dear, outta' the cold..." he tried not to grimace as she grabbed his arm
roughly and pulled him inside.
Inside, it was warm. And loud. His eyes widened.
People were everywhere. Older folks laughed in the sitting room, little kids ran around chasing each other, uncles and aunts and any sort of relation was sitting around in the house, dancing, talking, laughing, drinking, playing the piano. They helped in the kitchen and sat on the stairs, taking up nearly every bit of the downstairs floor. It was something of the likes he'd never seen.
Kara Smith waited for him to slip off his boots before grabbing his arm gruffly again and dragging him right into the middle of the room. He flushed slightly, hoping it would only look like he'd just come from the cold.
"HEY EVERYBODY!" she screeched, catching everyone's attention, "This is Tom Riddle, Cassie's little BOYFRIEND!"
There came a little ripple of laughter from the crowd of people, then a responding shriek from somewhere above them interrupted.
"HE IS NOT MY BOYFRIEND!!"This caused a large bout of uproarious laughter from the surrounding people, and Cassie's mother grabbed onto his arm once more, pulling him through the throngs of people. They reached a set of wooden stairs that winded upwards, and she pointed upwards, telling him that she was in the first door to the right.
He walked up, and as he walked, the people and noise thinned out until it was barely distinguishable from a slight hum of voices. He paused in the long hard-wood floored hallway, before turning to the door he'd been pointed to. It was rather skinnier than any door he'd ever seen, and curiously he turned the knob.
His eyes were met with a wooden ladder leading up.
He blinked a few times, slowly lifting his head to look up at a small, black-haired person looking down.
She grinned.
"C'mon up."
He climbed the ladder cautiously, pulling himself up onto clean, cream coloured carpet. Carefully, he stood.
The room was painted a pretty shade of blue, the walls slanting upwards in a triangle telling him that they were in the annex of the house. Her bed seemed to be built right into the floor, the wooden frame filled with drawers. Around the room were many bookshelves, stocked full with books of all shapes and sizes.
"Well, what d'you think?" she asked him almost timidly, tapping her socked foot on the light white carpet.
"I've never seen a bedroom like it" he said simply, the corners of his mouth lifting a tiny bit.
Outside, the snow began to fall lightly. The fat, fluffy flakes landed softly on the quiet, snow-covered country side. Outdoors, all was peaceful.
Which was a complete opposite to what it was like inside.
Indoors, raucous laughter reverberated off of the walls, music blasted from instruments in the giant dining room that had been cleared of tables, and talk and chatter constantly buzzed.
It was in the large dining room where Cassie Smith was being turned and twirled about, nothing mattering to her but the melody in her ears, the heat on her face and the young, dark-haired man spinning her around.
Christmas morning was met bright and early with a crisp, cold sun that reflected off the white and untouched snow. Once the rays raised high enough to shine through her window, she flinched and tried prying her eyes open, wondering in a dazed state why her head was aching so badly. She tried lifting her head, but it felt as though someone had put a brick on her forehead. As the sun hit her open eyes, she let a little moan and immediately shut them.
After a while, she began to slowly remember the events of the night. Getting a bit drunk, dancing with Tom...then it got blurry and she shifted slightly, trying to get rid of the thing that was digging into her lower back.
After some self-convincing, she managed to pull herself sideways into what appeared to be a bit of shade from the rude morning light, and was met with a very alive, very breathing chest.
She forced her eyes open and pushed herself into a seated position, looking down.
There he was, sprawled out on her bedroom floor; the great Tom Marvolo Riddle.
His arms were up by his head, and one hand clutched loosely on a very empty bottle of fire whiskey. His normally meticulously kept dark hair was sticking up on all sides, his eyebrows raised high onto his forehead and his mouth hanging open, snoring softly. His white shirt was messy and undone, his black slacks rolled up half-heartedly to just below his kneecaps, the toes of his bare feet wiggling in his slumber.
I'm evil, she thought as she snapped a picture of him, and placing it in her drawer, trying her best not to giggle too loudly.
Then she bent down on her knees beside him and prodded his side with her index finger.
"G'morning, sunshine" she said in a loud, bright voice, "It's Christmas Morning!"
He stirred in his sleep, but kept on snoring.
"Okay, get up", she was becoming irritated now, thoughts of presents entering her mind, "Toooom. Tom. Hellooo! GET UP!"
She growled as he continued sleeping.
And promptly sit on his chest, screaming: "RUDOPLH THE RED NOSED REINDEER, HAD A VERY SHINEY NOOOOSE!"
"And if you ever saw it, you would even say it glows..." he recited faintly, lifting a hand to his surely aching head and moaning slightly, "Now could you get off?"
She complied, but stayed seated beside him, waiting for the worst of the hangover to wear off, just as it did with her.
Once he was well enough to stand, they hobbled their way downstairs, being attacked by children and cousins that were trying to show them their new toys, and sitting on an empty love seat by near the tree. Cassie's mother Kara looked like hell, but enthusiastically gave out presents anyway, smiling and laughing cheerfully.
When she saw them she put her fingers to her mouth and let out a loud wolf-whistle.
"Oooh, I hope you two were wearing clothes this morning!" she yelled, acting like a gossip-hungry school girl, "I saw those many bottles of alcohol you two ingested!"
There was a ripple of giggles and chuckles from nearby family.
Tom watched Cassie, slightly amazed as her face turned instantly crimson.
"Moom, please. Just give me some damn presents!" she said through a curtain of her black hair.
"Oh alright..." Kara sighed, passing her a green-wrapped gift.
Cassie opened it eagerly, the red leaving her face almost as instantly as it had appeared. She ripped the wrappings off almost violently to reveal a stack of thick books. The moment she saw them she squealed happily, jumping up and down in her seat and clutching the books to her chest.
"Thanks, mum!" she cried, hugging her mother tightly.
"I thought you wanted those!" Kara said, laughing softly.
"Maybe because I've been asking for them since forever!" Cassie giggled.
After Cassie opened a few more presents, she rose from the chesterfield and dove into the giant mountain of wrapped surprises and began to dig. A few muffled curses, then finally, a muffled yell of triumph and she extracted herself from the pile, sitting back down on the couch with a huff of exertion.
"Here!" she said breathlessly, placing a small wrapped box in his hand, grinning.
He looked at her peculiarly, before gently ripping apart the coloured paper and opening the top of the box. He pulled out a small rectangular book. The cover was cream, with a rough drawing of a carnival pony coloured orange. The book was titled "The Catcher in the Rye".
"I love this book", he told her, smiling. He'd read it a few times before but couldn't afford to buy a copy himself.
In her giddiness, Cassie wrapped her arms around him, squeezing him into a crushing bear-hug.
His breath hitched in his throat as a strange feeling lifted within him, amazed and happy about receiving his first real hug.
A/N: AWWWW!! SOOO CUTE!
But it won't last for long... Dun dun duhhhhh.
AGNST IS ON THE WAY! D8 OH NOES!!
REVIEW, OR I HOLD YOUR TOILET HOSTAGE! NO URINATING FOR YOU! D8