A/N: Sooo, yes! It was a really long break and I am so sorry! My semester was killer, and life has just been crazy for a million reasons! But here we are! Rapidly approaching the end! I'm posting this now, unbeta'd and everything, just because it was such a long wait, but I can promise it definitely won't be such a long wait for the last chapters. I have two more planned, there's not really enough left for more than that; however, if you have something you really want to see (a scene, a pairing, whatever) - send me an ask on tumblr! I will do my absolute best to include it, and if I can't, I'll write you a little something anyway. :)

Also, happy birthday to Shayalonnie, who has been such a lovely and ridiculously strong supporter of this story!

Enjoy, y'all!

After their weekend at Malfoy Manor, Hermione and Tom return to Hogwarts reluctantly. They have a late lunch at Tom's flat before she heaves a sigh and stares at the door with a small pout on her face.

Tom tilts his head, watching her with a small quirk of his lips. "What're you thinking, sweet?"

"Mm? Oh, just…" She sighs deeply then turns her eyes back to Tom with a shrug. "Contemplating the walk back to my room, and going back to classes tomorrow. It's been a nice break, but I've got so much left until the end of the session!" She sighs and lays her head down on her arm, peering up at him through a mass of curls.

Chuckling, he reaches over and pushes her hair from her face with a smirk. "Yes, you do, but then we teachers have to grade everything."

Hermione sticks her tongue out at him before grinning. "Here is where I should say 'don't assign so much work, then!' but that would be totally out of character." She sighs deeply as his fingers work into her hair, rubbing her scalp lightly. "That feels good."

"I know." She can hear the smirk in Tom's voice as he continues to rub her scalp, working his way through her hair, before he withdraws with one last tug on her curls. "Come on, love. It's time."

"I know." Hermione sighs deeply as she stands with a stretch, before reaching out to tug Tom closer by his shirt. "It's been such a lovely weekend. I don't know when we'll get a chance to do this again."

Leaning down, he presses his lips to her forehead before wrapping his arms around her and pulling her tightly against his chest. "The time will pass quickly. It will be graduation before we know it. Then…" He trails off as his fingers stroke along her arm.

"Then we'll have more time together." Hermione tilts her head up to look into his eyes, smiling. "We won't have school, and I'll need to spend some time with my parents and friends… but we'll have all the time in the world."

Tom lets out a breath, gazing down into her dark eyes for a long moment before he presses his lips to hers in a closed, brief kiss. "Yes. All the time in the world."

*.*.*.*

The rest of the semester flies by. Days turn into weeks, which turns into months, and before anyone realizes it, graduation is less than a month away.

Hermione spends most weekdays juggling her classes, homework, lab assistantship with Dr. Snape - still avoiding one another's eyes - and texting with Tom. As often as possible on the weekends, she slips from the dorms with her overnight bag slung over her shoulder and makes the trek across campus to stay with Tom, though it is far less often than either of them prefer.

The one time she ran into Draco in the dining hall (literally - they bounced right off one another), she turned bright red and ran off in the opposite direction, much to his confused derision.

She also missed the gathering following her debut, since she'd promised Ron she would attend his football game; she attended the month after and still blushes when thinking about how, after he noticed her attention to Lucius' hands as the blond toyed with a crop, Tom fucked her at the gathering, edging her orgasm for almost an hour while leisurely thrusting into her with his cock while his hands strummed and plucked her nipples until they were sore and aching.

*.*.*.*

Not everything is all chocolate and rainbows. In mid-April, Hermione finally snaps at Tom after a particularly insensitive comment about her friends and what apparently fills their cranial cavities. After a long, particularly shrill argument, she storms from the flat and pretends that Dr. Tom Riddle does not exist for almost two days before he sends a bouquet of pink camellia and purple hyacinth [1] with a text only a few minutes after they were delivered:

(Tom) Forgive me for being an insensitive arse?

When she shows up to his flat later that day, bouquet tucked in her arms, he presents her with a simple looking bracelet of interlocking silver hoops with a heart tag dangling from the clasp. And in the bedroom that night, for the best gift of all, he allows her to take charge and give him instruction. There is more laughter than kissing during the night as they end up goofing around more than turning on another on.

*.*.*.*

On the second to last weekend of the semester, Hermione escapes from her dorm and, after trekking across campus, uses her very own key to unlock and enter Tom's flat.

Kicking off her shoes and dropping her school bag onto the floor just inside the front door, she pads deeper into the home, calling out. "Tom?"

There were a few thumps before she could hear his footsteps from upstairs, lightly treading to the stairs before his voice floated down. "Up here!"

She chuckles and heads up the steps, bag in tow. Halfway up, he meets her there, taking her bag gently. "Hello, love." Leaning in, he presses his lips to hers briefly before backtracking up the stairs again.

"Sorry I'm early, we finished up our study session quicker than I expected." Hermione heaves a sigh as she rolls her eyes, following after him as he sets her bag down on his - their - bed.

He turns to her with a smirk, one brow arching. "Oh? And did you expect your friends to want to stay inside on such a lovely day and study?"

Hermione sticks her tongue out before giggling when he drags her into his arms. "No, no. I really didn't. I suppose I have to admit that I'm shocked that they studied as long as they did. Oh well. I know that I am prepared!"

Tom presses his mouth to her forehead, smiling as he breathes in her scent. "Yes, you are. I can help you study more later, after dinner, if you'd like."

"Oh, would you?" Her head pops up so that she can look up at him with wide eyes. "That would be really brilliant, and I could use at least one more really good review for biology and…" She trails off, nibbling on her lower lip. "Oh, but I'm sure you had other plans for tonight."

"Not if you need to study, love. That is your priority, and I will only ever support you." Tom tilts his head to peer down at her, his eyes narrowing slightly as he examines her face. "As long as you are not neglecting yourself, and not taking proper care like you should."

Hermione smiles, wrinkling her freckled nose at him, a wry smile on her face. "Yes, darling. I am taking care of myself. I was asleep just after texting you good night, last night, and I had a big, healthy breakfast this morning."

Tom rolls his eyes as he tugs on a few of her curls. "Keep that impertinent mouth of yours shut. Let's go downstairs and have some lunch."

Letting out a laugh, she smiles, following after him down the stairs and into the kitchen. Together they make lunch and tea, settling at the table to eat in companionable silence.

After Hermione clears the table and pours them each a fresh cup of tea, and settles back down in her chair, Tom clears his throat, fiddling with the teacup in his hands. She watches him, brows quirked in expectation.

"I have been meaning to discuss this with you. I am… unsure of your feelings about this, and have been hesitant to bring anything up in case you, yourself, were also hesitant, and…" Tom trails off with another nervous clearing of his throat, before he flicks his attention up, gazing at her intently.

Hermione smiles nervously and tilts her head as she nods, making an odd bobbing motion. "Uhm, I'm not sure where you're going with this?"

He huffs, rolling his eyes and muttering to himself for a moment before he straightens and fastens his eyes on hers. "After graduation, would you be willing to move in with me?"

Her eyes widen and lips part in surprise as she straightens in her chair, staring at him in shock. "Move in with you?"

"Yes. I have cleared two drawers for you, and space in the closet, for now, so that you can start leaving things here; I'm not sure why we haven't done so already. That's my own fault, I should have brought it up prior to now, but…" He shrugs elegantly, glancing down at his rapidly cooling tea. "But I will understand if you don't wish to. The situation will be… difficult enough, especially after graduation."

There is a small rustling sound before her hands slide into his line of sight, tugging his teacup from his hands and moving it to the table before she slides onto his lap. "Yes, I want to move in with you. And yes, it will be difficult, but as long as you're here with me, and I am here with you? We can weather it together."

Tom tilts his head back to look up at her, his eyes searching hers for a long moment before a smile tugs at the corners of his mouth. "Yes, exactly; together." His hands slip down to her hips and tugs her closer, settling her firmly against his hips. "About graduation…"

"Oh, lord. Graduation." She lets out a laugh as she curls her arms around his shoulders, her fingers slipping into his dark hair and idly playing with the ends. "My parents will be here the night before, and they're staying at a hotel in town. I'm sure they're expecting me for dinner that night. I want them to meet you, but that's probably not the best night, is it? Maybe the night after?" She licks her lips as she pulls back enough to look at his face.

Tom smiles, his thumb rubbing an idle circle on her hip. "I'd like that. And I agree; we probably want to avoid anything… revealing until after graduation is officially over. You can begin bringing things over whenever you'd like, though I'm sure you have more at your parents' and we can just start wherever you're most comfortable and keep going from there."

She smiles brilliantly, tugging on his hair to tilt his head back so that she can lean in and kiss him, a soft press of their mouths before she pulls back slowly. "I love you." Hermione's eyes widen a little before she bites down on her lower lip, gaze locked on his.

His hands clamp down on her hips as he surges up, pressing his mouth hard to hers, his tongue sweeping into her mouth and tasting her deeply. A groan slips from his throat as his arms come up and wrap around her tightly, crushing her to his chest.

She whimpers as her hips grind down against his hardening cock, her fingers tightening in his hair as she kisses him back.

"Fuck," Tom grunts as he tightens his arms and stands up out of his chair, carrying her along easily until he braces her against the wall, his forehead coming to rest against hers as drags his nose along her cheek. "I love you too, sweet."

Hermione gasps, her head falling back against the wall, before she wriggles her hands down between them and yanks her skirt up and out of the way before making quick work of his trousers, wrestling their clothes down and apart and to the side enough for her to slide down onto his cock with only a little extra wiggling.

Grunting, Tom's fingers dig into her arse, hefting her back up some and letting out a laugh when he slips from her and she groans loudly. "Hang on, just…" He growls, sinking his teeth into the joint of her shoulder and neck as he pins her against the wall. "Stop wiggling!"

"I can't, just… fuck me!" She giggles, before groaning as he bites down, her hips arching and thrusting against him again, dragging his cock along his cunt. She whimpers when he hits her clit and she rolls her hips again, gasping at the sensation.

"I am trying to! Hold still!" Tom laughs against her neck, a little breathless when she slides her cunt along his cock again before he swivels his hips and thrusts into her, hard and deep. He grins darkly when she cries out, her head thumping against the wall lightly, before he withdraws and thrusts into her again, just as hard and deep.

They are so worked up it only takes a few of those deliciously hard thrusts, her walls squeezing and milking him, for Tom to come with a shout. He settles her to her feet before quickly dropping to his knees, throwing one of her legs over his shoulder, and attacking her clit with his tongue. He licks and suckles, swirls and nibbles, his fingers slipping into her to thrust and rub at every sensitive spot until she comes, screaming.

Hermione's thighs shudder, attempting to clamp down on his head until he pins her hips to the walls, forcing her legs open as he continues to fuck her with his mouth and fingers, drawing out her orgasm until she falls right into another with a soundless scream.

Tom finally pulls back, wiping his face with his hand with a razor sharp grin as he looks up at her from the floor. "Hold on, love." He grabs her by the hips and tosses her over his shoulder as he heaves himself to his feet with only a small grunt. "We have all afternoon, we're going to make use of it."

Hermione lets out a shriek, clutching at his shirt to keep from slipping, although his arm gripping around her waist is obviously enough, as he bounds up the steps to their room.

[1] Because I love flower meanings, but hate pausing to look them up: pink camellia - longing for you; purple hyacinth - please forgive me (and they'll make a reappearance in the last chapter. ;)).