authorsnote: a cosy chapter ... if you don't look too closely
do enjoy
songrecs: vampire - olivia rodrigo
Over time loneliness gets inside
And doesn't go away
- Carlos Ruis Zafon
-x-
The next day Hermione was happy to find out that some things were the same as when she'd left.
The monthly visit to Hogsmeade being one of them.
She'd woken up early to find Snowball sleeping at her feet. He was so similar to Crookshanks it almost hurt, but it was overwhelmed as she stood and scratched his chin, the pure white cat, part kneazle purring like a machine before settling back down to sleep. She'd already promised herself in 40 years she'd find Crookshanks again, and she supposed he and Snowball would have to learn to live together. That made her grin.
She then made her way down to breakfast on a typical Saturday, to find the Great Hall quiet, it was early after all and a Saturday, and yet there were more people milling about and sitting down for breakfast than a typical 8am weekend, and she wondered if it were because of the more exacting standards of the time period, until she overheard Hogsmeade and a grin split across her face.
It was nice to have something she'd enjoyed back home, and she felt a thrill of curiosity to go and explore the village as it was now, 40 something years in the past. What would be different? What would be the same?
She thought of Ron with a pang, when Harry hadn't been able to go, visiting the village just the two of them, chatting away about all manner of things, and then giggling as they hauled themselves back to the Castle, fit to the bursting with sweets for Harry, a rare bonding moment just the two of them.
And then it had been three, the Golden Trio exploring the cosy village. She remembered butterbeers in the Three Broomsticks, shoulder to shoulder walking down the snowy paths, teasing each other as they picked up sweets, Harry daring Ron to lick a blood lollipop, Hermione giggling as Ron agreed as long as Harry ate cockroach cluster.
She was still smiling then, she missed them dearly, truly, but it was nice to think of them in a good context without feeling that horrible hollowness in her heart at missing them.
Or a nasty creeping guilt at who she was associating with and what they'd think.
"What's got you grinning?" Speak of the devil.
She jumped as she realized she'd lingered near the Slytherin bench but not sat down yet, her mind going to Hogsmeade and then Harry and Ron, she glared as Tom shot her a shark-like smirk and sat himself down, though she sat next to him.
She could have walked off, ignored him, as she should, but in truth, as they sat knee to knee, it didn't even occur to her.
"Hogsmeade" She said with a small shrug, that smile lingering as she reached for Porridge and an apple, Tom mimicked her, but added sugar to his (and then a wincingly large amount of cinnamon), whereas her, no doubt influenced by her dentist parents went without.
It was companiable almost … how strange.
Neither noticed the few students glancing at them, the few Slytherins reassessing her with something close to respect and perhaps fear.
"Mmm" He said as he took a bite of his apple, she near flinched, he reminded her then almost of Draco Malfoy, snapping a bite from a Granny Smith and laughing as Harry went to bow to Buckbeak, only Draco had always looked smug and a bit smarmy even, Tom looked arrogant, but even she could admit dashing as he swallowed his bite, and continued, "I can show you around"
"You don't need to" She protested, knitting her brow together, worrying even as she leaned across him for pumpkin juice without a flinch, that they were getting too close, that this was somehow wrong.
It was, she was just struggling to remember, or care why.
"I will" He said with a shrug and another bite, so sure of himself she could have hardly said no, "The village has some interesting secrets"
Damn him, she perked up at that, she remembered Hogsmeade and couldn't remember many secrets, and so she raised an eyebrow, "Oh? I've heard of it of course, the only all magical dwelling in Britain, but what secrets?"
"You'll have to come with me to see" Another bite and he put the core aside, wiped his hands, and then stood, and held one out to her.
An invitation.
One she'd be fool to accept, surely.
And yet …
As she slipped her hand into his, and more than a few pairs of eyes swiveled to them, she did think idly to herself as he led her to the door (there was no one checking forms in this time),
Curiosity killed the cat…
Damn him truly.
But Toms hand felt warm in hers, and so, she didn't let go, not even as they made their way down the path and into Hogsmeade, side by side, as Hogwarts became smaller and smaller behind their backs.
-x-
Which, as they rounded to Hogsmeade, and Hermione found herself shaking her head and smiling, was of course, near unchanged.
She didn't know what she'd expected, had she forgotten the Wizarding World moved at snails pace? Had she forgotten the Wizarding Britain she remembered was still stuck in the 1800's, and a mere 40 something years was not going to change much if anything?
Still, she was smiling, as nostalgia curled comfortably in her stomach. It was nice, to see the same little houses, cobbled streets, and as she released Toms hand, and turned to him, she was grinning, and he was smiling back, a glint in his gaze.
"So what secrets are there?" She asked then, raising an eyebrow. It was quiet being so early, most students made their way to the visit after a leisurely Saturday breakfast, whereas she and Tom had hurried on. It was cold as she bundled her cloak around her, and Tom raised an eyebrow as she tucked her cloak closer.
And that was when she knew she didn't really have a read on Tom Riddle, not really at all.
As he leaned forward, and shrugged off his own green and silver scarf, and tucked it around her neck, tucking in the end, and with a small something between a smirk and a smile muttered a warming charm that enveloped the scarf he'd placed on her, smelling of apples and something spiced like cinnamon, that truly warmed her down to her toes.
"Thank you" She said, genuinely a bit stunned, and then, to try and not seem quite so knocked off her feet, "That's a nice bit of magic" She said, as the warming charm washed over her in waves, a touch more sophisticated than a standard heating charm, this made her feel deliciously cosy, even as she stood in Scottish Autumn.
He just shrugged and then held out his hand for her again, she shivered, but not from the cold, and took only a second before she took it, wearing his scarf.
First, they did the village.
As Tom believed Hermione had never been to the area before she followed him to Honeydukes, though they didn't go into any of the shops, they walked past them as he pointed them out, all she'd seen before, and then they came to a stop before the Three Broomsticks.
The village was getting busier now, lots of students bustling around, many glancing at Tom and Hermione, she wondered if it was curiosity or just shock as they'd never seen Tom Riddle be nice to anyone before. She said as much, and he laughed.
She found she liked that sound.
She liked it a lot.
"Probably both" He teased, and she grinned, she glanced at the Three Broomsticks, it was cold, but she had Tom's scarf keeping her warm, and he seemed fine, another group of Ravenclaws gawped at them as they walked past, and that was decision made as she turned to Tom and dropped her voice.
"So, secrets?" She asked with a raised eyebrow, and his grin convinced her she'd made the right choice. This time their hands were already intertwined as he hurried her away from the packs of students enjoying a simple Hogsmeade Saturday.
They had much more interesting things to be doing.
First he took her to where she once remembered Madam Proudfoots, but in this time, was a rare bookshop. Hermione spent a good hour cooing over rare volumes of magical encyclopaedias and even some Grimoires, and found to her delight Tom didn't groan or grumble, he was right there eyeing them with her. She knew even with her fortune in her slightly stolen, or dodgily acquired vault she'd never be able to afford everything here.
Instead, she settled on one rare defensive magic tomb, and giggled as Tom eyed it greedily, promised to share it with him before storing it in her bag. She couldn't wait to get to it. Part of her wondered if she should feel disturbed at Toms carnal interest in gaining knowledge, but it was a trait they shared, her fingers were itching to open the book too.
Next came the Hogshead, but as grimy as it remained, they went because it was quieter, and Tom pointed out a few notable people to her, including a warlock, a hag, and a pointed to a few paintings of notable wizards on the walls. They had slightly dusty butterbeers and peered at the contents page of the book Hermione had purchased, sat side by side.
It was almost like a date.
Though she supposed reading a rare magic volume wasn't considered most people's ideal date, for Hermione it would be perfect, and evidently Tom too, perhaps it was perfect.
Tom with one arm thrown over the back of her chair as she leaned forward, and he read over her shoulder, his face closer to hers than normal for just two acquaintances. It was only when they finished their drinks that they broke up the unknowingly cosy picture they made and moved on.
When had they gotten so close? She didn't stop to think about it really, if she had she'd have realized her unique mixture of loneliness, always being a bit of an outsider, Tom seeing that and maybe even seeing a kindred spirit … and it was inevitable.
Inevitable.
Thirdly, they swung by not Zonkos anymore but a large potion brewing shop. They lingered over every and each potion, for there were many rarities again here. Hermione felt a pang this would be replaced by some joke shop and lingered over some of the rarer liquids; Liquid Luck and Veritaserum kept behind shielded barriers, Polijuice Potion and Amortentia that gave the lingering smell of cinnamon as she passed, her cheeks just a touch pinker when they left.
"Interesting" She said, and the differences were, this was mostly the Hogsmeade she remembered, but the changes had been thrilling, and it made her smile, bite her lip to stop it being a full on grin, that Tom knew her well enough to know she wouldn't be bothered by tea in a tea shop or cakes at the bakery, but for rare books and potions.
They'd proven last night they knew quite a bit about one another after all, when had that happened?
When had any of this happened?
"Come on" He said, he wasn't done, and with that dashing smirk he tugged her back up the hill, and again without hesitation, she followed.
Lastly, it was the Shrieking Shack.
Which confused her, as she knew it just as a building, that had been co-opted to be a place for Remus to transform, hence the rumours of ghouls that Professor Dumbledore had stoked, there would be nothing interesting about it now.
She raised an eyebrow as Tom walked them towards the building, it looked empty still, and she was curious as to why he'd brought her here, after everything else, and yet she followed, she followed and trusted.
Silly girl.
She'd never really explored the Shack, had been on the second floor but quite preoccupied by Sirius Black and Ron having a broken leg and all she'd never glanced around.
It was much less decrepit in this time, all the furniture covered with white cloths, clearly it was empty but maintained. Still they didn't linger by any rooms, and Hermione raised an eyebrow, wondering why they were here, and so she followed Tom as he walked them to the third and then fourth floor, finally the fifth, and she gasped.
Because the fifth wasn't a floor, but more of an open balcony looking out, over the entirety of Hogsmeade, Hogwarts peaking in the distance.
It was amazing.
She didn't say anything as she stepped forward, into the open air half obscured by a curved roof, and yet she could see everything, and it was beautiful.
"Wow" She said, as she looked out over at the mountains in the distance, a peak of the Black Lake even, she wasn't quite level with Hogwarts, but the view was still quite something, she turned to Tom her cheeks pink from the wing, her eyes wide, "Thank you for showing me this"
"Of course" He said, softly, she'd never heard him be soft before, she found she liked it.
And they ended up, side by side five minutes after Hermione had stopped gawping, sat on the edge of the balcony, legs dangling off the five story side, shoulder to shoulder, the wind whipping around them, but warm and smiling.
"I like to come here" He admitted then, and Hermione knew he meant not just on Hogsmeade weekends, she had no doubt he had ways of sneaking out the Castle, many that probably didn't require an invisibility cloak, "It helps me think" He paused, "But I've never shown it to anyone before" She believed him.
"I promise I won't bring through a tour" She teased, and then she rested her head atop his shoulder, in comfort, for she needed some, she always did here, and as wrong as it felt, that guilt in her stomach was fading with each day, especially as Tom moved and placed an arm around her shoulder.
"Thank you Tom" She said gently, and she felt him smile against her hair, as he placed a kiss atop of it.
"You're welcome Hermione" One more kiss, and her cheeks stung pink, her smile widened, and she was gone.
Despite the wind, she'd never felt warmer.
awww tomione ... yeah it aint gunna be this nice all the time
do enjoy while it is!
do review if you can 3