A/N;

Thank you to those who cheered me up and left a comment on the last chapter. Each and every one is appreciated. Please don't be shy, say hi! Really, just a 'thank you for posting' makes my day. It shows I am not posting and talking to the wall!

There were also several kind comments left about my health. I am hoping the last round of antibiotics have finally cleared it up. I still have an ongoing problem (the hospital lost my scans) which is making me ill. I've been told when it gets worse to go back. Where is the the roll eye icon?

Anyhow, thank you for those who took the time to write me and give me best wishes alongside a normal review/comment.

Okay... here is the chapter! Toffy fans will approve. I hope!

Strawberry and Vanilla

By the time Buffy and Tom left the infirmary, Tom's blood had reached boiling point. They'd only gone a little way along the corridor when his emotion overcame him. Flinging open a nearby door, he pushed a startled Buffy into the empty room and cast a Sticking Charm on the lock before turning to find Buffy watching him – with amusement.

"Aren't you afraid?" he hissed. His control over his magic was already at breaking point, and even Muggles would have instinctively kept their distance or eyed him warily. To find someone so totally unafraid of his temper was unusual, although, he supposed, not for Buffy.

She hopped up onto a desk. "Of what?" She asked settling onto her makeshift seat and waving a hand at the empty classroom. "The spooky abandoned classroom? My non-existent dust allergy? Or what about creepy, ghost teachers handing out unwanted homework? Nope, no scare-age there. I've already got Binns for a teacher. What have I to be scared of, Tom?"

"Of..." He was going to say 'me', but bit it back. He didn't want her to be scared of him. What he wanted was... to see her smile at him in the same way she smiled at Caradoc. "Aren't you scared of being alone – with a boy?" He folded his arms and stared down at her intently.

"Oh." She seemed surprised that he'd asked. "No, I'm not boy-fraid."

Boy-fraid? How did she manage to mangle the English language like that? He scraped his fingers through his smooth hair, drawing it back and then letting it fall forward, tousling it out of his neatly combed style. Buffy should be... boyfraid! Surely, her mother had warned her about going off alone with boys?

He'd the urge to pace, to work off his anger and frustration, but the chains held him in place. Damn Dumbledore! The interfering, sanctimonious old fart had a lot to answer for! Had he known this? Had he known what problems he'd cause by chaining them together?

And Buffy... How could she be so naïve! Didn't she realise what could happen? Why hadn't Walburga warned her? The older girl had announced to the Slytherin House that she was taking the foreign girl under her wing; that made it her responsibility. And that went for her roommates too! Crabbe and Goyle were both girls from Dark families, they knew the dangers and should be warning Buffy. What did he need to do? Pull them to one side and tell them to give Buffy a good talking to?

Buffy clucked her tongue. "Stop fretting, Tom. I know how to look after myself."

Tom shook his head, speechless. Buffy was new to magic; while it was true she'd worked hard to catch up, there'd always be someone happy to take advantage of her. What if someone like... me got her alone? Dolohov had once bragged about using an Imperius Curse on a girl he'd met at a party. Tom had been more intrigued by the spell's effects than the rest of Dolohov's sordid tale. As far as he was concerned, anyone who needed to resort to an Unforgivable to seduce a girl had to be a pathetic specimen. Still... the story showed the danger a young girl like Buffy could find herself in. Merlin! Even he needed to be careful!

Aware his hair was now completely unruly, he smoothed it back down. "They could force you to do something that you don't want to do," he replied carefully. He didn't really want to talk about the birds and the bees to Buffy. He hoped she'd know all that. "They could use the Imperius Curse on you when no one is around."

He wished their chains were longer. The smell of the damp, musty classroom wasn't enough to overpower the smell of her shampoo – vanilla, strawberry and some other kind of more exotic fruit... pineapple? Tom stepped back, not wanting her to ask why he was sniffing.

Buffy mulled his comment over. "Imperius Curse? Oh, yeah. Malfoy mentioned that to me. I looked it up. I'd like to see the sucker who'd try that one on me."

That angered him all over again. Had she no idea how low some people would sink to get their own way! "You wouldn't have chance to defend yourself against it. You'd be at their mercy!"

"I really can take care of myself."

"How?"

Across the room, a lampshade exploded as a blast of errant magic hit it. Buffy jumped and looked around, wand already in hand. Tom winced; his control had slipped.

She glanced at the shards of broken shade on the floor and slipped her wand back into her sleeve. Buffy didn't mention the broken glass or his accidental slip, instead, saying, "I promise to be more careful about following boys into empty rooms, if it's gonna make you feel better."

He stared at his shiny shoes and mumbled, "I don't want anything to happen to you." Internally, he cringed – feeling stupid and weak, and hating it.

"Tom." The soft smile she gave him, changed all that. "Thanks. It's nice to know you care about me." A hint of sadness tinged her smile. "I wasn't sure, you know? You've been kinda horrible with me ever since I got to Hogwarts. All I wanted was for us to be friends."

Friends? He looked out of the tall, arched windows, staring through the diamonded leaded panes at the clouded grey sky beyond as he mused over that word. 'Friends'. What did he want?Was it friendship? He wanted something stronger than friendship or a quick fumble in an alcove – not that he'd say no to that. But what he wanted was... He wanted Buffy with him as took power and gained immortality, he wanted her admiration, and – most of all – he wanted her to want him.

"I'm sorry I wasn't that friend," he said contritely. To show he was sorry and trying to be honest with her – as much as he dared – he added. "You asked if I purposely set the snake on you or Lovell during Merrythought's duelling class. I told you then, no. Hurting you or Lovell wasn't what I intended. I certainly didn't expect you to take two snakes on and get hurt." He sat on the desk facing hers – stretching the chains out to their full extent.

"But you admit to summoning it?"

Unable to look at the disappointment on her face, he turned his head away and stared at an old poster stuck to the wall. It announced a production of The Fountain of Fair Fortune to be held in Hogwarts' – now long-abandoned – theatre. The poster's edges had curled and the date was obscured by a long, jagged tear.

"I summoned it." If he wanted her to trust him, he'd need to tell her some things that made him uncomfortable. "I wanted to use it against Dearborn."

"Ugh! I knew it!" The chain rattled as Buffy threw up her hands in exasperation. "And what about last night?" Buffy pressed. There was a slight tremor of trepidation in her voice. "Did you conjure the snake that chased Caradoc into the swamp?"

"No! You heard Dearborn. His spells didn't work on it. It had to be a boggart." He scowled, feeling unreasonably annoyed. "How could I have done anything without you knowing? I was chained to you yesterday evening."

Buffy's eyes narrowed. "And what about your friends? Did they set Caradoc up with the alligator?"

She was getting uncomfortably close to the truth. Tom didn't like that. He was going to be honest with her but not too honest. He didn't want her to run off screaming, after all. "You'll need to ask them," he replied evasively. "I'm sure you'll find swamps are a favourite creation of the Gryffindor jokers."

"Oh." Buffy dropped her chin and started to swing her legs again as she thought over what he'd said. Tom hoped that she wouldn't think too hard. For someone as naïve as she was, she was sometimes far too perceptive.

To distract her, he asked, "Why does Caradoc think you are linked to Grindelwald?"

"Grind-a-what?" Her head jerked, and she looked almost frightened. Then the expression passed, she shrugged and went back to swinging her legs.

"I heard what he said."

She stared off into space for a few seconds and then – to his surprise and delight – began opening the buttons on her blouse, slowly exposing a creamy expanse of skin. He leaned forward, eager to see more, only for her to tug out a pendant on a chain. Then, biting at her bottom lip as if she wasn't sure this was a good idea, she held out the silver pendant for him to see. Tom forced his eyes away from the curve of her breasts and focussed on... whatever it was she was showing him. He looked at her blankly. It was a pretty necklace, but he hadn't a clue what it was supposed to be.

"It's the sign of the Deathly Hallows," explained Buffy noticing his confusion. "It's from the fairy story. Do you know it? The one were three brothers defeat Beedle the Bard and are rewarded with gifts." Buffy frowned. "No, that's not right. It might have been Beedle who defeated Death by building a bridge and gave his gifts to the brothers? Death is my gift. No, you know what? I'm gonna do a recheck on that story. I prefer the one with the guy who couldn't fall in love and got a hairy heart."

Tom continued to regard her blankly. He'd heard of Beedle the Bard, but since it was a child's book, he'd never bothered reading it. "What's the connection to Grindelwald?" he asked again.

"Oh! Grindy has taken the sign of the Deathly Hallows for his own personal tag." Buffy pushed the necklace back into her top and began re-buttoning it. "He carved the sign into a wall when he was at school at Durmstrang. Or so I've been told. Don't ask me why. I never really got into street art." Blouse now buttoned, she began to swing her legs to and fro again, faster and faster. "Yeah, so... I found the necklace in mom's vault. Do you know, I had the key with me at Wools all the time? How weird is that? I never guessed it was a Gringotts key. If I'd known...Ugh, no use thinking about it. You can't change the past unless you're living it, and even then it might not be your past, it could –"

"Where are you going with all this?" Tom broke in.

"Wait! There's a point and it's pointy! So... Gringotts. I saw this thing glittering, picked it up and, BAM it was a necklace. Uncle Peregrine told me it was the sign of the Deathly Hallows and I thought it would be pretty to wear. Not that I have much jewellery... Anyhow, Caradoc saw it and threw a spat, saying the letters engraved on it are 'GG' and not 'CC' like I'd thought."

"For Gellert Grindelwald?"

Buffy nodded. "I keep mixing their logos up. Her's are two 'C's back to back, and his are two 'Gs' back to back. See? Easy rookie mistake to make. Have you heard about Coco Chanel? She's a clothes designer who does magical things with fabric and lives in France."

Tom shook his head. "I don't care about magical fashions."

"She's a Muggle and a fashion icon. Totally classique! Um, the Nazis probably have her now. Which is not good. They'll get all the cool clothes."

"And Caradoc accused you of being a Grindelwald supporter?"

Buffy let out a huff of annoyance. "As if!"

For Tom, it was far more interested in what Buffy didn't say than what she did. From the way she constantly fiddled with her blouse or swung her legs to distract him, she was hiding something. There was something about her mother's vault she wanted to gloss over. Possibly, why the necklace was there in the first place. She wasn't that good at lying; no wonder Dearborn had become suspicious.

'I want to change things... I'll take on the entire world if I have to...' He'd thought she'd only said that to gain his attention. Perhaps not...

"Are you going to Hogsmeade to meet Grindelwald?" he joked. Was she a Grindelwald supporter? He studied her closely, and although her eyes danced mischievously, none of her thoughts were clear to him.

"Um, let me think... Nope!" The smile appeared genuine, and she'd popped the 'p' with relish. "I can safely say a Grindelwald or Grindelwald minion meeting is not on today's agenda."

But he got the impression she was going there to meet someone, not find a thing as she'd first claimed. "Who, then?" he asked. "And what is on your agenda?"

Their eyes met. What did she see when she looked into his eyes? An angry boy? An insecure boy? Or did she see the powerful wizard that he intended to become? When he looked into hers, he saw... Her eyes were the same shade as the Forbidden Forest, dappled green with shades of light and dark playing across them and behind all that a sharp, watchful intelligence.

"Ah." With a crooked, teasing smile, Buffy jumped from the table and crossed the space between them. Putting a hand on each side of his thighs, she leaned in until they were almost nose to nose. For Tom, a boy who'd spent a lonely childhood in an orphanage, her proximity made him both uncomfortable and set off a craving for her touch.

"I'm meeting someone who is important," Buffy whispered, her breath tickling his lips. "I think you're gonna be impressed. Okay, maybe not impressed, but definitely surprised."

When he opened his mouth to ask for more information, she pressed a finger on his lips to silence him.

"No. I'm not gonna tell you any more, so don't ask. I promise you'll know when we get there." Her eyes dropped lazily to his mouth, and she licked at her lips enticingly.

Tom's nostrils flared, the scent of vanilla and strawberries filling his senses. Did she take him for a fool? He wanted to rail at her! He wanted to kiss her! He wanted to tell her he was the master of manipulation and she was... bloody hopeless at it! But no, he'd say nothing. For now, he was one step ahead of her in this and he'd keep that advantage. He'd pretend to be swept away by her charm and let her get away with manipulating him. Once he gained her trust, he'd learn all of her secrets and then he'd start to trust her with his.

Putting his hands on her hips, he allowed his body to brush against her as he slid from his seat. Buffy swallowed – her eyes widened and pupils dilating. The involuntary reaction had Tom reaching for her face, placing a palm against her soft cheek and running the pad of his thumb along her lips as he crooned, "Buffy."

Buffy stepped back, a slightly stunned and panicked expression on her face. Tom carefully hid his pleasure, lowering his eyes and storing away her reaction to dwell on later.

"Very well," he said, turning for the door as if the intimate moment hadn't occurred. "I suppose you'll want to use the passageway on the fourth floor? The one that's hidden behind the tall mirror? There are more passageways to Hogsmeade, but that one is less likely to be watched as it leads out on the hillside above the village rather than directly into it."

"You... you already know about it?" Buffy asked, surprised.

"Of course." Hadn't he spent the last two years trying to find the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets? The passage on the fourth floor led to a chamber located just below ground, and the Knights of Walpurgis had used it to hold several meetings and rituals in the past. "When do you wish to leave?"

"Oh!" Buffy swung her blonde hair over her shoulder. "As they say, there's no time like the now time."

Tom hmmed. "I'm not certain that's the exact wording they use, but I'm inclined to agree."

He looked her up and down and gestured at her Land Girl inspired outfit. "I presume you chose that... 'costume' in case we need to hike in the hills? If so, I suggest we collect our thickest, hooded cloaks from the dorms. Not only will they help us blend in when we are in the village, but they'll protect us from the cold wind that blows through the Highlands at this time of year."