Chapter 23

Nearly a month had passed since Tom had made his promise in the library. He hadn't tried to speak to her, but that didn't mean contact was non-existent. Notes and gifts had been filtering in every couple of days, all addressed to her. She hadn't touched any of them; they were currently sitting at the bottom of her trunk, unopened. The silence in Potions class was more than a little awkward, but Professor Slughorn wouldn't let her switch seats with anyone. Even if she could, she doubted any switch she made would be for the better – there were several nasty or annoying people in her class that she'd rather not sit with if she could help it.

"Why don't you tell him to stop it already?" Quentin asked, curious, as Buffy extracted yet another small package from a school owl's leg, this one with what looked like an assortment of Honeyduke's sweets. "You know, rough him up if he doesn't listen to words. You seemed to have some control over him."

"He doesn't seem like the type to stop what he's doing, unless he gets what he wants," Buffy replied with a sigh, rubbing her temples. "I just don't have the energy to deal with him right now."

"So, you're just going to wait it out?" Quentin asked. "Because that doesn't seem like you. You're more of a kick arse, take names kind of girl."

"I'm using some advice my mom gave me when I was a kid," Buffy replied with a shrug. "Ignore the bullies and they'll eventually leave you alone. They're looking for a reaction and when they don't get one they'll get bored and leave you alone."

"And you think that'll work for stalkers?" Quentin asked, arching an eyebrow.

"I'm hoping," Buffy replied, although Angelus' behaviour before she sent him to hell pulled at the back of her mind. Although, if she really thought about it, he probably knew that he was getting a reaction from her, even when she tried not to show her true feelings.

"Come on, we should probably head to Potions soon," Quentin said, popping the last piece of muffin into his mouth before grabbing his book bag. "Are you coming?"

"You go on ahead," Buffy said, waving him on. "You know, the less time I spend in that classroom with Tom the happier I'll be."

"All right, I'll see you in a bit," Quentin said with a wave before turning and leaving the Gryffindor table. Buffy grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl in front of her and began munching on it as she read her Potions textbook, trying to figure out what Professor Slughorn was going to be teaching them that morning, because he rarely gave hints unless it was a particularly difficult potion. Because she was so engrossed with her reading, Buffy didn't realize someone was coming to sit across from her until they plopped down and greeted her.

"Hello there," Ursula said sweetly, trying to get a glance at what Buffy was reading. "What do you have there?"

"Potions textbook," Buffy replied. "What can I do for you, Ursula?"

"I just thought I'd have a little chat with you," Ursula replied. "Do you have a minute?"

"I suppose," Buffy replied, closing the book so that she could give Ursula her full attention, although she really didn't want to. "Go ahead, talk."

"Well, I'd like to preface this by saying that I like you, I have no problems with you being here, bettering yourself by learning magic," Ursula began, with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "But let me ask you this. Don't you think you're trying too hard?"

"You're kidding, right?" Buffy asked, arching an eyebrow. "You haven't seen my grades, have you? Except for Potions and Transfiguration, I'm doing average at best. Except Charms and Care of Magical Creatures. I suck at those."

"Oh, I'm not talking about your grades, Buffy dear. You can have the highest grades in the school and no one will care because of, well, what you are," Ursula continued, her voice still sickeningly sweet, her smile still not reaching her eyes. "Unless, of course, you have connections. Which you obviously are beginning to form."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Buffy asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Your allegiances with some of the more prominent people in the school," Ursula replied. "While Riddle has no real status to speak of because he's an orphan, the others you have aligned yourself with are members of the more prominent members of our society. One might think you're trying to climb your way up past your station."

"Climb my way up past my station?" Buffy quoted, arching an eyebrow. "Make with the 'splainy. Now."

"You are a half blood at best, although I suspect you're a Muggle-born," Ursula continued. "While I have no issues with Muggle-borns coming here and learning magic, they also need to learn and maintain their place around here. Which, in case you hadn't realized, is not around the pureblooded students."

"I don't have to listen to this," Buffy said. "It seems you're the only person who has a problem with it."

"Oh, I'm not the only one with a problem with it," Ursula said with a laugh. "I'm just the only one brave enough to say it to your face, rather than gossip behind your back."

"I'm sure," Buffy said with a roll of her eyes.

"Hey, I'm just doing this to protect you," Ursula said, reaching across the table to hold Buffy's hand. At least, she would have if Buffy hadn't removed it from the table. "No one wants you to get hurt, especially not me. It's just something for you to think about, all right?"

"Yeah, sure, think about," Buffy replied quietly. "I gotta go. Class."

"Of course," Ursula said with a wave. "Remember what I said, Buffy."

"Kind of hard to forget," Buffy muttered, shoving her Potions book into her bag and grabbing the remainder of her apple before stalking off towards the dungeons. She almost got to the classroom, too, until someone grabbed her and pulled her into an alcove.

This time, Buffy was ready and not in the mood to wait around to see if the person abducting her was friend or foe. Right hand balled into a tight fist, it made a connection with her assailant's stomach, causing the very obvious male person to double over in pain and make an 'oof'-ing sound. She recognized the voice, and smirked in satisfaction when she realized who it was.

"What in blue blazes do you think you're doing, woman?" Tom wheezed, still bent over double.

"Protecting myself, like I should have every single time you decided to haul me off into a dark corner," Buffy snarked, crossing her arms across her chest. "What do you want?"

"Well, at least you didn't go for the face this time," Tom said, straightening up. "And I wanted to make sure you got my notes and gifts."

"You couldn't ask me that in class?" Buffy asked. "'Cause, you know, we kind of sit next to each other."

"You wouldn't have talked to me anyway," Tom said.

"What makes you think I'm going to talk to you now?" Buffy asked, arching an eyebrow.

"You are talking to me now," Tom pointed out with a smirk.

"Point," Buffy conceded, after blinking at him for a few moments. "Anyway, yes, I got your presents, no, I haven't opened them and since I really don't want to deal with you right now, you might want to get out of my way before I decide to give you a black eye."

She tried to push past him but found herself stopped by a strong grip on her arm. She turned and glared at him, but didn't remove his hand from her arm.

"Seriously, with the grabby?" she asked, arching an eyebrow. "Great way for more bodily harm to come your way."

"What's wrong?" Tom asked, concerned.

"Nothing," Buffy replied, removing her arm from his grasp. She wrapped her arms around her stomach and looked away before repeating her reply. "Nothing."

"You're lying," Tom said.

"And?" Buffy asked. "What if I don't want to tell the truth right now? I don't want to tell you what's wrong, so I'm not going to."

"Was Abraxas bothering you again?" Tom asked. "I'll talk to him, tell him to leave you alone. He shouldn't be bothering you."

"It wasn't Malfoy," Buffy replied. "Just… drop it, okay? It's not important."

"It's important if it's bothering you," Tom countered.

"Doesn't mean I want you to know about it," Buffy replied. "Can we just, I don't know, go to class? I'd rather not fail, thanks."

"Missing one class won't make you fail," Tom said with a roll of his eyes. "Besides, we're late anyways. Wouldn't want to disrupt the class with our grand entrance, you know."

"Then I'll just head up to the Charms classroom and sit outside there until the next period," Buffy replied.

"And if a professor catches you?" Tom asked. "What of it then? You don't have a pass to be out of class and would surely get detention if caught."

"Then maybe we should head to Potions then," Buffy suggested. "Because I'm not going to be stuck in this alcove with you for the next hour."

"You used to enjoy my company," Tom said with something that, had it been anyone else, would have been interpreted as a pout.

"Are you forgetting the whole thing in the Forest with you turning into a chauvinistic butthole?" Buffy asked.

"I apologized for that," Tom said. "And I've been apologizing for the past month. I am deeply sorry that I said those things and I truly do not believe that you need to be 'handled'. Why won't you believe me?"

"Probably because you seem like the type to not give up when there's something or someone you really, really want," Buffy replied. "And you know what? I'm done with crazy psycho stalker boyfriends. One was enough, and I got rid of him. Not too keen on having another."

"I hardly think sending small tokens of my affection qualifies as crazy psycho stalker behaviour," Tom said with a roll of his eyes.

"No, but you hide in alcoves and yank me into them when I walk by. You follow me around. You're possessive, like I'm a treasure to be locked away. You put down my friends, which, by the way makes me want to smack you, and it's all making me rather uncomfortable," Buffy said with a sigh.

"You're right when you say I am possessive," Tom said, taking a step towards her. Buffy took a step back to avoid him, although she didn't have far to go before she hit the wall. "I lived in a place for eleven years where nothing was solely mine and everything was shared. You must forgive me."

"Point," Buffy conceded. "But you have to realize that I'm not some shiny toy to be locked away and only played with by you. I have friends outside of you, us, and I would like to spend time with them as much as I possibly can. I don't want to lose them."

"I suppose I can try, although I do not like the idea of sharing you," Tom said with a scowl. He took another step forward, and Buffy took another step back. She could feel the wall behind her; two steps, at most, and she'd be right up against it. "As for the alcoves, because you seem so adamant against a relationship with me because of our houses, it seemed to best way for me to spend time with you without everything coming out into the open. Well, except for that one day. Which you still haven't paid me back for."

"Hmm?" Buffy asked, confused.

"That day, after you found out your parents died," Tom reminded her. "I kissed you in the middle of the hallway. If the rumours started spreading that we were an item, you would win and I would have to admit I was wrong. If there were no rumours, I won and you would accompany me on the next Hogsmeade weekend."

"Oh right, that," Buffy said with a wrinkle of her nose.

"Have you heard any rumours?" Tom asked.

"Well, except for Malfoy, Quentin and one other person, no one's really mentioned it," Buffy replied.

"And who is this other person?" Tom asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Not important," Buffy replied, waving it off as Tom took another step towards her. Instinctively, she took another step back, wider this time, and found herself against the wall.

"As for calling your friends names, I do it because I don't believe they are good enough for you," Tom said, closing the distance between them. "Well, mostly Trimble, and that's just because he wants you as much as I do."

"We've worked that out," Buffy said as Tom trailed a finger down one of her arms. It was covered with thick robe and long-sleeved blouse, but that finger left a trail of fire on her skin despite the layers. "Besides, some people think I'm not nearly good enough for them."

"Who's been saying that?" Tom asked.

"Not important. I'm trying to keep it from bothering me so you shouldn't worry about it," Buffy replied, hoping he'd let it drop for now.

"I'll let it go for now, but I'm not going to like it," Tom said, and she got a rare glimpse of the dangerous person he could be, but rarely showed around her, as he balled one hand into a fist and his jaw clenched slightly.

"That's all I ask," Buffy replied with a small smile. "So, you were saying?"

"And lastly, yes, I do want you. I want your fire, I want your soul, I want you," Tom said, wrapping an arm around her waist. He dipped down and kissed her once, almost chastely on the lips, before withdrawing. "But only if you want me. If you don't, I'll leave you be and the only kind of relationship we will have is our Potions partnership. I promise."

Buffy looked up at him, searching his eyes. They were sincere, conveying the truth behind his words. They were begging her to believe him, to take him back despite his faults. Deciding to throw caution to the wind, she pushed up onto her toes and pressed her lips against his. It had been meant to be a light kiss, as Tom's had been, but something came over him.

Lips and tongues began duelling as Tom's hands began to wander all over the place before they settled, one underneath Buffy's leg to hike it around his waist and one in her hair, taking out the ribbon she had used to tie it back in a curly ponytail. Buffy whimpered slightly, clinging to Tom for dear life as he was holding her up; the only part of her body touching the floor were the toes of one of her feet, seeing as the other leg was halfway wrapped around Tom.

He pressed her up against the wall, moving to kiss her neck as he extracted his hand from her hair and moved it to her other leg, wrapping both of them around his waist. It was this movement that set of a few alarm bells in Buffy's mind, knowing that it was going to go too far very quickly.

"Tom, we have to stop," Buffy said, breathlessly.

"Why?" he asked, his voice also breathless as he trailed his teeth across her throat.

"Do you really want our first time to be in an alcove off a dungeon hallway," Buffy asked, tugging on the hairs on the back of his head to get him to stop attacking her neck. He was getting dangerously close to the mangled scar on her neck and she didn't want him remembering it was there.

"Do we have to?" Tom asked with a groan, burying his face into the crook of her neck before helping her back to her feet.

"Unless you want to give everyone a peepshow, then yes," Buffy replied.

"I don't know, it might do them some good to show them how it's done," Tom said with a waggle of his eyebrows, causing Buffy to smack him on the shoulder.

"And how would you know how it's done?" she asked, arching an eyebrow.

"How would you know?" Tom asked, mimicking her expression.

"We're not talking about me, we're talking about you," Buffy said, straightening herself out, before moving to flatten Tom's hair a little. "How do I look?"

"Thoroughly snogged," Tom replied with a smirk before grabbing Buffy's hand and kissing her palm. "When can we meet again?"

"I don't know," Buffy replied with a sigh. "I guess we could start up the Potions tutoring again?"

"But you don't really need it anymore," Tom said.

"Quentin and the others don't know that," Buffy replied.

"I suppose it could work," Tom said thoughtfully.

"Now, seriously, how do I look?" Buffy asked, running her fingers through her hair. "And where did my hair ribbon go?"

"I think that hair ribbon is long gone, dear. And if you found it, would you really want to put it back into your hair?" Tom asked as he ran his fingers through said hair, combing it out, before straightening her tie and checking to make sure that everything was where it should be. "There, beautiful. You shouldn't get any questions."

"Well, except for the fact that I skipped class without explanation," Buffy retorted with a snort.

"You were upset about something earlier, right?" Tom asked. Buffy nodded. "Use that as an excuse. Say you were too upset to come to class and that you needed some time to think. If Professor Slughorn gives you trouble about it, let me know and I'll talk to him about it."

"Okay, yeah, that works," Buffy replied. "I'll see you tomorrow night?"

"See you then," Tom said with a grin, dipping down to kiss her one more time before disappearing from the alcove just before the bell rang. Buffy waited until she heard the voices of her fellow students before she emerged, catching sight of Quentin as he looked around worriedly before his eyes caught hers.

"Where the hell have you been?" he asked, stalking over to her, concern written all over his face. "You never miss class."

"Ursula said something that upset me and I just… I needed time to think," Buffy replied, voice hitching a little.

"What did that cow say now?" Quentin asked, exasperated. "And I thought you were smart enough not to listen to her."

"I don't want to think about it, okay?" Buffy said, pleading a little. She really didn't want to think about it, how the other girl had planted the seed of doubt. How maybe she wasn't good enough to be friends with these people. She was lying to them, after all, and might have to leave them at any moment, although that seemed unlikely, from what Dumbledore and Dippet said.

"You and I are going to talk, later, after dinner," Quentin said seriously.

"How did I know you were going to say that?" Buffy asked, rolling her eyes before linking arms with Quentin. "Come on, let's head to Charms. Hopefully I won't send Professor Flitwick flying across the room today."

Quentin snorted in laughter before drawing her closer, glancing over at her after a moment.

"Hey, I have a question for you," Quentin said.

"Shoot," Buffy replied, curious. She was sure she didn't have any love bites, but without a mirror in that alcove she couldn't be sure.

"Where did your hair ribbon go?"

XOXOXO

Two weeks. They were able to keep the secret for a measly two weeks this time around, and it was all due to Quentin's insatiable curiosity to blame. Buffy had been able to explain away the lack of hair ribbon after that first Potions class – she'd said she'd changed her mind about what to do with her hair, and decided to wear it down instead – but there was no way she would have been able to explain away what he had seen next.

Buffy and Tom had had two nights uninterrupted, doing whatever they could think of in their little dungeon classroom. Playing games, doing homework, talking, kissing. Not the most romantic place for a date, but they really didn't have a lot of options. They still wanted to keep their relationship a bit of a secret, so they couldn't really acknowledge each other's presence in public, so that left waving at each other across the Great Hall out. They knew that their housemates probably wouldn't agree with their relationship, so they couldn't spend time with each other in their common rooms. The only class they had together was Potions, where they did get a little hand holding under the table, but they couldn't do a lot of it lest they arouse suspicions. So, they were left to their tutoring sessions which, while they did consist of a little tutoring, because Buffy still needed to get all of her subjects down for her OWLs at the end of the year, they were mostly used to get to know each other.

Near the end of their third evening together, Buffy and Tom were seated on a sofa that Tom had transfigured from one of the stools a while ago, claiming it would be more comfortable for studying than the table and stools in the room. While he was correct on that point, it also made it easier to snuggle and do other things without laying on cold stone floor.

The evening Quentin had found them, they were on the couch together, Tom laying down and Buffy on top of him. Robes had been discarded, folded neatly on one of the tables, Buffy's tie had been loosened and Tom's was gone altogether, flung over the back of the couch. Buffy's lips, tongue and teeth were assaulting Tom's neck as one of his hands kneaded a breast over her uniform and the other rested on her behind, again over her uniform.

It was in this position that Quentin found them.

He knocked on the door before pushing it open, not waiting for a verbal signal to enter. Neither Buffy nor Tom had any time to stand up or even get out of their compromising position before Quentin entered the room, shock evident on his face. His face started off pale, turned green and then went purple with rage.

"Buffy," he said, his voice measured, quiet. "What are you doing?"

"What does it look like she's doing, Trimble?" Tom asked with a smirk.

"I didn't ask you, Riddle. I asked Buffy," Quentin said as Buffy removed herself from Tom's person. "I thought you two broke up."

"We had a fight. It's different from breaking up," Buffy replied.

"He's a snake, Buff. You and I both know that," Quentin said. "Do you really think his possessiveness and his other unsavoury characteristics have just disappeared?"

"I think you're the one being possessive," Tom said, coming up behind Buffy and wrapping his arms around her. "Jealous, too. Can't have her, so no one can. Why don't you run along and let us finish what we were doing, aye?"

"Not this again," Buffy said with a sigh. "Again with the male posturing bullshit. Next thing you know, you're both going to be peeing on me to mark your scent before fighting to the death."

"You know, that doesn't sound like a bad idea," Tom said. "Well, the fighting to the death. Not so much with the peeing thing, because, ew. And you've become a bad influence on me, because before I met you I would not be speaking like this."

"I never thought I'd agree with the snake, but I do," Quentin said with a curl of his lip. "Both with the fighting to the death and the speaking thing. Can't you learn proper English, woman?"

"Seriously, all of this is going on and you're going on about how I talk?" Buffy asked. "I thought you liked the way I talked."

"You butcher the English language, Buffy," Quentin said with a roll of his eyes. "I put up with it because you're pretty but now I might as well tell the truth, despite the fact that you've been lying to me. I find your way of speaking irritating."

"Got anything else you want to say to me?" Buffy asked. "Since you're being honest and all."

"You're a tease and a flirt. Not surprised Malfoy practically called you a whore," Quentin spat. "You flirt to get what you want but never follow through."

The words Quentin was saying were cutting through her. Why had he pretended to be her friend for so long, if this was how he felt?

"Now do you see why I always put him down?" Tom asked, tightening his arms around her. "I could see what you couldn't, what a horrid, two faced person he is."

"Shut up, both of you," Buffy said, her voice quiet as she extracted herself from Tom's arms. She grabbed her robe from the table. "I… I have to go. I can't deal with this right now."

And so she left. She walked as far and as fast as she could without arousing suspicion, thankful that neither boy had decided to follow her. Up and up she went until she got to the main floor, where she left through the front doors and out onto the grounds. Already numb, she was unaware of the chill temperature as she made her way down to the lake. She sat at its edge, shivering as she drew her robe around her to ward off the cold.

"What 'n the blue blazes are yeh doin' out here?" said a somewhat familiar voice. Buffy turned around to see Hagrid standing behind her, definitely more appropriately dressed for the cold than she was. As soon as that question was uttered, Buffy burst into tears, the teardrops streaking down her cheeks and she sobbed. Looking panicked, Hagrid closed the distance between them and picked her up, somewhat surprised that she didn't resist, just continued to cry. "Come on, let's get yeh ou' of the cold 'ere, you're freezin'."

And with that Hagrid carried Buffy to his cabin at the edge of the woods, wondering what was wrong with the pixie-like girl and hoping that he could help her out.

XOXOXO

Can I just say, I kind of love this chapter. I've been waiting for ages for this point since I plotted out the last legs of this fic. I really hope you enjoyed it and really hope I don't get flamed too badly for the, ah, name calling and general assholery of Quentin. All will be explained.