Chapter Thirty-one
Playing With Fire

"You know, if Professor Dumbles won't allow his precious hat to leave Hogwarts, maybe he'll let me come to the castle early to get the sorting over with. And, you know, maybe give me a tour so my first day isn't so...first day like. What do you think?" Buffy asked.

She and Tom were walking side by side alone, since Vin and Sophie had begged off and gone into a secondhand shop and who knew where else. Tom had frowned at their interest—who would shop there if they didn't have to—but when Buffy shrugged them off, he did as well. He'd been more than happy to spend more time alone with Buffy.

"Tom?" Buffy prompted—then shook her head and stopped walking. "You're not even listening to me."

He looked down at her, a dark curl of hair falling over one eye. "I was."

Buffy scoffed. "What did I say then?" she countered, hands now on her hips.

He stared at her for a moment—then sighed. "I wasn't listening," he admitted. "My apologies."

She smirked for a millisecond, then frowned up at him. "What's wrong, Tom?" she asked, raising her hand to push his hair away from his beautiful face. "Is it...the House thing again?"

"Not again," he said. "Still. Your House is...far more important than you think, Buffy. While you are at Hogwarts, your House will become something like your family."

He stopped and frowned at his wording. As he had none, he didn't truly understand the word family, but that's what his group of first years had been told upon their arrival four years ago. At first the experience had been quite unpleasant. There were older students that were just plain cruel. And others that thought themselves funny, playing pranks on the less experienced. And still others that, unless they had use for you, completely ignored you. It was lonely. But it wasn't any worse than Wools. He'd quickly gotten used to it. Had adapted to school and the House system. He may not understand family, but he did understand the workings of his House, the students within it, and its hierarchy.

"You will have classes with the rest of your House, sleep in your House dormitory, and spend your free time in your House common room," Tom continued. "It won't be easy to have friends outside of your House, because, one, you will be with your Housemates for everything. And two, your Housemates won't make it easy for you to have friendships with outsiders."

Buffy shook her head. "I don't accept that. I can't," she said with a shrug. "I'm a friendly girl."

Tom shook his head. "You don't understand now. But you will," he said sternly, his dark eyes boring into hers.

Buffy sighed. "I know this is...stressful for you, Tom," she said. "I don't like it either. That's why I want to know now. Or like...as soon as possible. Wouldn't that be better?"

Tom shrugged. "It might be."

"Unless I'm sorted into the blue one," she said. "Or the yellow one. Or, God forbid, the red one!"

Throwing his head back, Tom laughed—hard. How in Salazar's name was she able to yank him out of utter despair and cause joy to bubble up around and inside him. When he'd finished chortling with glee, he glanced around to see if anyone had heard him. It was unseemly to be caught cackling like a loon, but whenever he was with Buffy, he forgot himself.

"Let's get ice cream," Buffy suggested as soon has Tom had managed to control himself.

Tom looked over his shoulder and noticed they were in front of Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor—then shrugged. "Of course, Buffy. Whatever you want."

Buffy laughed. "Whatever I want, huh?" She grinned evilly. "I think I'm going to hold you to that. No, I'm definitely going to hold you to that one," she said—then quickly continued, giving his chest a friendly slap. "How about...you go inside and choose something you think I'd like and I'll save us both a seat." She gestured at the tables behind her, then turned and walked toward them without waiting for a response.

Tom had been about to respond that, of course they could get ice cream, but he definitely wouldn't be doing anything she wanted. Instead, he watched her go. He had a mind to follow her, to tell her to get the ice cream herself, but he found himself inside Fortescue's picking out something she might enjoy. If any other girl had ordered him about like Buffy just had, he wouldn't have given in, but...this was Buffy Summers and apparently she had him wrapped around her little finger. The idea disgusted him—and somehow made his heart flutter.

~oOo~

"Hmmm..." Buffy moaned obscenely, then licked her lips. "This is sooo good. I don't have any clue what you chose for me, but... Oh. My. God. So yummy!"

Tom stared at the girl beside him. She looked...well, he wasn't mentally prepared to even think about how she looked at the moment. And he certainly didn't care for the way his body was reacting to her little public display of pleasure. Did she understand what her behavior could do to a fifteen year old boy? Frowning, he looked around them. One old couple was staring—then woman giving them a look of disgust, the man's mouth hanging open. Or what it could do to an older man, he amended, his eyes leaving the gawking couple and sweeping the rest of the area. No one else seemed to be about though.

"Buffy!" he hissed at her, a bit of his magic zipping out and grabbing her attention.

"Ouch!" she hissed back. "Did you just...zap me? I thought that wasn't allowed outside of school!"

Tom bit his lip and glanced around again. "Er...it's not. I'm sorry, Buffy. It was...accidental. I'm not even touching my wand."

Buffy snorted. "Well it hurt, damn it!" she barked, glaring at him. "Just you wait, Tom Riddle. As soon as I'm able...I'm gonna hex you silly!"

Tom scoffed at her threat. He didn't think she'd follow through. "You were...causing a scene," he said as he glanced at the older couple. They'd gotten up and were hurriedly leaving. They were arguing. When they were out of sight, Tom leaned forward. "Buffy, you can't do that...in public," he said.

She stared at him innocently. "You mean...eat my ice cream?" she asked, giving it another indecent lick.

"Buffy. Stop it," he all but groaned, wishing they were anywhere but here where anyone could see them. She was playing with fire.

Taking the last bite, Buffy picked up her napkin and wiped her mouth—then threw it at him. "Okay. Fine. You're absolutely zero fun, Tommy," she said.

He looked down at his ice cream—it was nearly gone as well. Not once had he purchased a dessert for himself—or a girl. And the only time he had, she told him she wasn't having fun.

Buffy watched him and seemed to figure out what he was brooding over now—and gave him a little kick.

Looking up sharply, he glared at her. "What was that for?" he growled as he reached down and rubbed his shin.

"It was...because you went all weird on me again," she responded. "What's wrong with you?"

"I'm sorry you aren't having fun, Buffy," he said quietly. "But does that mean I deserve to be kicked?"

Buffy rolled her eyes. "I say one thing and you hear something else entirely. It's no wonder people think men are from Mars and women are from Venus."

Tom stared at her. "Er...am I meant to understand that?"

Buffy laughed. "No! I'm just...talking to myself, I guess."

He continued to stare at her.

"I was only teasing you, Tom," she said.

He snorted. "In more ways than one apparently," he grumbled.

Buffy grinned. "I'll try to behave myself."

Tom eyed her skeptically. Why didn't he believe her? It seemed she enjoyed torturing him. It must be a female thing. He'd seen the way the older girls in his House taunted the boys. Outside their House they were at the pinnacle of decorum. Within the walls of the dungeons, it was a completely different story. Nothing was blatant, of course—their subtly was an art.

"Are you ready to continue shopping?" he asked after a moment.

Buffy shrugged, then moved to get up—causing Tom to get up in a hurry to pull out her chair.

"Ahh, how sweet," came a voice from a short distance away.

Both Buffy and Tom turned to find four teenage girls watching them.

"Abraxas mentioned that he'd run into you," a blonde girl said with a teasing smile as she fiddled with a strand of long hair. She turned her gray eyes on Buffy, her smile fading. "Buffy, I presume?"

Buffy nodded. "That's me!" she quipped. "In the flesh."

The other three girls giggled. The blonde, however, sniffed. "Charming," she said, her eyes going back to Tom.

Tom cleared his throat and said, "Buffy, this is Honorine Malfoy, Abraxas' younger sister." Then, gesturing at each girl in turn, went on. "And Dulcina Gamp, Adalaide Lestrange, and Sinistra Lowe. They are all in my House at school. Buffy is new to Britain and will attend Hogwarts this term."

Buffy smiled and gave a little wave of hello, but didn't say anything. She was already feeling out of place.

"New to Hogwarts?" the one called Dulcina questioned. "I've never heard of such a thing."

Buffy shrugged. "Now you have," she said.

Dulcina hmm'd and flipped a golden curl over her shoulder. "What House do you think you'll be in, Buffy?" she asked next.

"I have no idea," Buffy said. "My previous school was...not the same. No Houses at all."

Honorine frowned.

"But you must have a feeling," Dulcina pushed.

"Nope," said Buffy. "Not a clue."

The two girls that hadn't yet spoken laughed again—and received a dirty look from Honorine. She'd been watching—both Buffy and Tom. Tom didn't look too pleased either—but he appeared to be letting the scene play out.

And then they were interrupted.

"Buffy. Tom. Haven't you finished shopping yet?" Vin asked as she and Sophie walked up to the group—heavily laden with packages.

Buffy looked at Vin and shook her head. "We decided to get ice cream," she said.

Sophie snorted. "Of course you did."

"Well, you know, all that clothing therapy was hungry work," Buffy remarked, nodding at the sisters' packages. "I see you made more purchases."

Sophie nodded. "Oh yes! Wait 'til you see some of the interesting things we've found."

Honorine eyed the women's parcels and turned her nose up. She could tell where the two women had been shopping just by the way they were tied. "Hmph. At the secondhand shop?"

Buffy turned to glare at the younger girl. "Vintage is very popular where I'm from," she said, then looked back at Sophie. "I can't wait to see what you found."

Sophie was bubbling with excitement as she held out her handbag so Buffy—and only Buffy—could look inside. "Look. See. Marvelous stuff."

Leaning in, Buffy's breath caught as she stared in surprise. "You got those at the secondhand store?"

Sophie nodded enthusiastically. "Oh, yes."

"They might be worthless, but…" Vin shrugged. "We thought you could give them a try."

Buffy grinned. "I love you guys!" she burst, reaching out and hugging the sisters.

After a moment, Buffy backed off and Tom introduced everyone. "And these are Buffy's aunts, Vin and Sophie Fairweather," he finished.

The younger Slytherin girls nodded politely. Three of them said a quiet hello—only Honorine kept silent. She was curious about Buffy and her aunts, but wanted to remain indifferent to them. Time would give her the information she needed.

"Well, Tom, we'll see you at Hogwarts," Dulcina said as Honorine began to pull away.

"Yes. Of course," Tom said, giving the girl a polite nod.

The other two girls giggled as they all walked away. None of them bid farewell to Buffy or the sisters.

"Well, weren't they lovely creatures," Vin remarked as she adjusted her big white hat.

Tom didn't say anything, but Buffy did. "Not really."

"You know, Buffy, some witches don't require any sort of instrument to deliver a well-placed hex," Sophie said as she raised her hands and wiggled her fingers—sparks that looked a bit like static in a dark room zipping between her fingertips. "If you'd like, I could..." She grinned evilly.

Vin chuckled, but grabbed her sister's hands. "Not today, Sister. Let's give Buffy a chance to fight her own battles...even if those girls deserved something more than they're accustomed to."

Sophie harrumphed. "That is...no fun."

Her eyes going to Tom, Buffy grimaced. "Is everyone in your House especially unpleasant or have I just met the dregs?" she asked directly.

Tom didn't want to respond—out of fear he would give Buffy another reason to be repelled by him. Instead, he frowned, then looked at her imploringly. "We aren't... all bad," he said, wondering if she believed him. Did he even believe himself?

Buffy snorted. "Okay," she drawled.

All right, so she didn't believe him. But perhaps it didn't matter. Clearly, she liked him—if she didn't, she'd stay clear of him—so maybe she didn't care. She was dark by nature as well and...she hadn't said that she hated the thought of being sorted into Slytherin or that she'd rather be in any other House. It wasn't as if she knew anyone from another House—other than Dumbledore. For all she knew, the students in the other Houses were awful too.

Tom hadn't really considered the students outside of Slytherin, because he knew they were off limits—for the most part. His only dealings with the other Houses were an occasional word with a Prefect or, rarer still, a Head Boy or Head Girl. But generally, Tom didn't have contact with them either, because he kept to himself most of the time—and stayed out of trouble!

Buffy though, was going to challenge the norm. He could just feel it. He knew it, because she'd said she would—make friends in all the Houses! In that sense, if she were to be sorted in any other House, then he wouldn't have to deal with it. But he still didn't want that.

"Shall we finish our shopping?" Sophie said, cutting into Tom's thoughts—which had gone awry again. "It's been a long day and I think I'll need a nap before going out tonight."

Vin nodded. "Yes. Let's finish this trip. I'm completely done in."

Buffy and Tom agreed. They still had four different shops to visit. If they were quick about it, they could be finished and home within the next two hours. That was the goal.

~oOo~

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