The next morning Hermione woke up feeling refreshed. She took a quick shower, got dressed, and grabbed Tom's present from her desk; she then went out in search of Tom. Hermione walked out into the common room, three people sat in there chatting merrily. Hermione figured that Tom was in his secret room. She wandered out of the common room to find Tom. She came upon the painting protecting Tom's room.
"What are you hiding?" Hermione asked right away.
"No hello. No how are you? No how has your day been?" the girl in the portrait had a bad temper but ran for another picture as soon as it began to rain on her. Hermione felt slightly bad but it was not as if the person was real. Hermione peeked through the glass window and saw Tom sitting at his desk, or rather, sleeping there.
'He must have gone back late last night,' Hermione thought. She pushed the wall and it admitted her into the tiny room. Hermione walked in a bit and let the door close and the portrait swing back. She then quietly crept over to Tom and set the present in front of him. She then sat on the hearth and watched him for a few moments. He still had a quill in his hand and his head was lying on top of a stack of papers and books. Hermione sighed then walked over to him and slowly pulled the stack of paper out from under his head. He did not really get hurt, but he woke up rather quickly. He noticed a present in front of his face then looked up to see Hermione.
"Happy Christmas," Hermione smiled.
"You too," Tom muttered.
"The present is for you, by the way. Open it!"
"Okay. . ." Tom said and began peeling the wrapping paper off. He looked at the cleaning kit and book. "Thanks," he said and managed a smile.
"You're welcome!" Hermione smiled. She felt hyperactive. She conjured herself up a comfortable chair and sat down watching Tom sign papers. She had a feeling he would wait until she fell asleep to leave again. Every few minutes Hermione would switch positions in the chair. She could not stay still. Tom looked up at her occasionally.
"So. . ." Hermione began. "We aren't leaving until I'm asleep, right?" All she received was a quick smile-smirk in return. She sighed and continued switching positions until she found a comfortable one. There was not much to talk about, so she just watched Tom work for half an hour. She did not want to sleep, but she wanted to get out and move around. She shut her eyes and listening to the crackling fire and the scratching of Tom's quill on the parchment. She stayed like that for 45 minutes. He stopped working after 30, but he would wait until he knew she was asleep, and he could tell she was not.
Finally, Tom spoke up. "If you want to leave, I suppose I could just put a deafening charm on you, as well as something to make you blind so I can let us out," he offered. Hermione sighed and looked up.
"Sure," she said. She would probably never find out how to get out. She let Tom cast the spells on her. He grabbed her hand and directed her to stand against a wall. She had no idea what he was doing, but he then directed her to move forward and stop. Two seconds later, he took off the spells and she was out in the hallway. Hermione eyed Tom suspiciously. He shook his head.
"Maybe I'll tell you at the end of the year. If I told you now, that would spoil all the fun," Tom smirked then walked down the hall. Hermione paused a moment before rushing after him.