authorsnote: kicked my feet writing this chapter
do enjoy
also shameless lil plug, I have another tomione story I JUST updated on my page: I've seen this film before
songrecs: invisible string - taylor swift (lit this fics song)
'Time, mystical time, cutting me open, then healing me fine. Were there clues I didn't see?'
- Taylor Swift, Invisible String
-x-
The forest seemed … different.
She knew objectively it couldn't be, Hogwarts had barely changed, and she knew nature, aside from rolling seasons stayed much the same. The same trees, grass under her shoes, a doe springing away in the distance, and yet, and yet … something in the air felt changed.
She couldn't say so of course, instead she followed Tom through, into air that felt different, trees that looked the same but seemed slightly off, she didn't know how to describe it.
She did hesitate as Tom showed no signs of slowing or stopping at the tree boundary. She could see things were the same, many students hid in the forest if out late with curfew or snuck in for … something she was suddenly imagining doing with Tom and blushing, and she dipped her head.
But none went past the first ring of dense trees, trees that were thick and packed, as thought telling potential invaders to turn back. She had been in deeper of course, on more than one occasion, but never for a light stroll, or a date.
A date. That's what this was, wasn't it? He'd said as much; a date. Perhaps her first, except for Viktor, but did a dance at fourteen count, compare? No.
Her cheeks remained pink; her heart fluttered, her first real date.
Foolish girl.
He wanted to date her, he did, she had plenty of evidence for it after all…
'I'm not getting undressed in front of you'
'Why, it certainly feels inevitable doesn't it?'
Her cheeks surely could not get any redder.
Until …
"What are you thinking about?" Tom, a smile in his voice, as she raised her gaze to him and that grin as he held out a hand to take hers, past the boundary of the forest, of where was only slightly forbidden, into the truly.
Forbidden.
"Nothing" She snapped, though there wasn't enough bite in her tone, to which Tom laughed and she glared, with a roll of her eyes. He was so arrogant, why did she find it endearing?
Damn him.
"Hmm" He said, but he seemed to let her off the hook, waited for her hand, "Come on"
"Isn't it dangerous?" She asked, reminding herself she couldn't know, but surely anyone would balk at the thick wall of trees, the darkness in the air, the shift to it all trying to get them to go away … or lure them in, whichever was worse.
"You think I would let anything so much as harm a hair on your head?" Tom said, still grinning that sharklike grin, and yet there was an undercurrent, a seriousness too it.
And then she was grinning herself, and taking his hand, because in that moment she knew Tom Riddle had been utterly, completely sincere. He would never let anyone or anything hurt her.
How could she not take his hand?
She'd never find out, as her fingers slid over his, and he guided her further into the forest.
Not, as she'd feared into an acromantula nest (though she supposed it was just Aragog at the moment), or a herd of centaur, or anything so dangerous or luring. There were no giants here, or maybe there were, and all other make up of creatures, but none in her sight, and Tom, Tom was here.
And all now, as they stepped onto an outcropping overlooking a clearing, her focus.
The clearing was a rock outcropping, overlooking a dip in the forest, pretty yes, but Tom was her focus as he seemed to pull a basket out of thin air, a blanket, conjuring them up, only muggles packed and hauled things through the forest after all.
Tom, half-blood or not was deeply magical.
It was something to see, an oddity almost, and yet it fizzed something in her blood. Pureblood wizards didn't appreciate magic, not like they did. Though he conjured with a flick, the magic felt … it felt warm. He appreciated his magic daily, just like she did.
And he was so … so good at it, that also struck her, just how effortless it all seemed to him, the magic spinning from his wand, a blanket conjured out of tree roots, a basket previously shrunken resized, a flick of his wand to cushion the floor, delicate spells, with a deft touch.
She didn't realise she was gawping at him until he went to sit down, and with pink cheeks she quickly followed him to sit down, this was a date after all, a date …
Her cheeks were definitely the colour of tomatoes now, a date.
The guilt at the back of her mind was easily shoved further back, as Tom handed her a goblet of pumpkin juice, as she tried to think how to act, and yet she remembered the two of them in Hogsmeade, sharing a book, that had been like a date too in hindsight, she needed just not to overthink it, not to panic, not to worry, not to get in her own head…
"Stop worrying" He said with a smirk, and that was effective at breaking her out of her own thoughts as she glared at him, rolling her eyes as he laughed.
"Stay out" She chided, and yet there was no malice behind it for now, as they both settled back, Tom produced a little platter of fruit, and for a moment they ate, in silence.
And yet, it was companiable silence, it wasn't awkward or uncomfortable, it wasn't nice, it was … it was incredibly peaceful.
To be next to someone, whose mind moved as fast as hers and to just be quiet for a second was quite something.
"Did you do the advanced reading for McGonagalls class?"
A grin broke out on her features then, she couldn't see it mirrored Toms, a true grin, a slash across both their features, to be with a like minded person, to be with their mirror, in more ways than one.
Their silence had been peaceful, but this, as Hermione said;
"Of course, what did you think of chapter 6? Did you pick up the additional text"
"Yes, though I had to search for an hour for a second copy, since you took the first"
"You could have used it after me"
"Next time I'll read over your shoulder"
This was better.
This, a bit of banter back and forth, a smile as Tom peeled an orange and handed her half, as she poured them more juice, as Tom spoke about an obscure Transfiguration text he'd dug out in his search for the reference, as they agreed to read it after dinner. As Hermione suggested a study date without even thinking about the word 'date', as Tom agreed in such a breeze, it was like they were already dating.
… were they?
It was easy, comfortable, and they both smiled until their cheeks hurt (well Tom smirked, and twice Hermione squarked as Tom teased her, but in essence, the joy around them, was like magic itself).
It was easy to forget any guilt, easy to focus on how this could be better, different but better.
She might not need to defeat Lord Voldemort, if she prevented him from happening all together.
She knew it wasn't that easy, that Tom would never be content climbing through the ranks of democracy, but for now she allowed herself to ignore what could happen, might, would, happen, and instead happily traded ideas on the new Potions essay with Tom.
Tom, she was already far gone.
Especially, as the day wore on, Tom produced more food, Hermione dug out a Potions book she had on hand, found herself with her head in his lap, he reading a passage on antidotes to her.
When had she ever had this? Any chance at this? A boy happy to sit and read with her, a boy who could match her?
A boy who, (though she had no idea), would burn the world for her, and any pureblood institution that dared close its doors to her.
Who had fallen indeed?
It was comfortable, content, but there was a thrill in her belly as well, that Hermione couldn't deny, as Tom turned a page of her book, fed her an orange slice, as neither bothered suggested getting back, even as lunch passed well into a lazy afternoon, and Tom told Hermione of a dual he'd had with Abraxas that had her laughing, tears trickling down her cheeks as he spoke about when bored repeatedly switching Abraxas into different animals, she couldn't tell him why she found it so funny after all, but she did giggle all the way into early evening.
That was another thing she ignored, what this meant; her head in the enemies lap, Tom playing with a curl of her hair around his finger, ignored that he could never really know her, she could never tell him her real origins.
And could never let him pluck it from her head.
Usually, Hermione could never be willfully ignorant of anything, she always had plans long through the alphabet, but for now, as Tom read a passage on anti-venoms, finishing up the book, Hermione comforted and happy, her curl winding around and around his finger, she ignored any hiccups.
For now.
"Shouldn't we get back?" Hermione turned to him an hour later, it was Scottish Winter after all, and the sun was starting to hide behind the threes, threatening to plummet the forest into complete darkness. But he shook his head, he had plans yet beyond the night.
And he'd been honest, he wouldn't let a single thing hurt a hair on her head, not whilst he lived.
"Not yet" He said with a shake of his head, and then he moved slightly, to lie down next to her, laughing as Hermione whined in annoyance at being displaced, but she wiggled around to him, both of them lying on the ground then to look up as the stars began to just peek through the sky.
"If I get eaten by a giant its on you" Hermione said, and she missed the look Tom gave her, the look that Hermione always spoke … just off, words and phrases not normally used, had he figured it out?
No … not yet.
He wasn't sure what he was trying to figure out. Like a complex problem in class he knew he needed to solve but couldn't quite see what he was trying to solve. But it would come to him, it always did.
But he was watching her, the little witch who seemed to have come out of nowhere, as she pointed at the first constellation peeking through the sky and named it with a grin, watching her with interest.
For more reasons than one.
Where had she come from? Why was she just that bit different from anyone he'd ever met? Not just smart, and beautiful, and utterly uninterested in acting like every other girl he knew, but also … the way she spoke, the things she knew, the fact her thoughts seemed to shout at him, but there were others, when he probed just a bit, behind a wall he wasn't even sure she knew was there, what was her story?
The mystery of Hermione Dagworth-Granger indeed.
A mystery he was keen to unravel, and he could admit to himself, was keen to do so for more than just the curiosity.
As he looked at her smile, point out another constellation, and turn to him with such a grin he couldn't help but return it. Yes, it was more than just wanting to know, Hermione was more.
She was his, that was all that mattered now, everything else came second.
Second, not forgotten, but she was first.
"We really should get back" Hermione repeated half an hour later, as she'd named several constellations, enough to tell her they needed to leave. There might not be Aragogs hoard in the forest yet but there'd be plenty other nasties she, nor Tom could handle, not that she doubted him, but some things were just out of two teenage wizards reach.
"Not quite yet" Tom said again, and Hermione rolled her eyes, forcing herself to sit up. Comfortable as she'd been, full of the food Tom had bought, full on the day with him, on endless conversation, never running out of things to talk about, but also the silences that had been comfortable and nothing awkward.
It had been a magical day, perhaps one of the most magical of Hermiones life.
She had never thought, upon waking, terrified and alone, in a different time, that she'd ever feel this way.
In truth before she'd travelled back, she wasn't sure this, a crush yes, but something more, something deeper as Tom sat up with her, caught her eye, and held it … even then she wasn't sure this was something she could ever have.
And her protests fell as he looked at her, his grey eyes meeting her brown, and leaned in, and she knew what was coming, as Tom smirked, cupped her cheek, and leaned in.
Knew what was coming, knew the guilt in the back of her mind would come tenfold tomorrow, heard her own protest die on her tongue.
And she leaned in too.
Leaned in and kissed Tom Riddle, a gasp leaving her lips as she did so, smothered as they met, the magical day topped off by the most magical moment of her life, a kiss that surely couldn't be real, had to be fueled by pure magic.
As his lips slid over hers, his hand sliding into her hair, her hands coming to his chest as she almost fell into him, his other arm pulling her in close, on her waist, hers looping around his neck, lost to the kiss that truly she'd never felt such a thing before, such joy soaring in her heart, such heat in her tummy, such magic…
"Hermione" He said, voice gravelly as he pulled back, grinning now, not smirking, grinning, "Look" He turned his head, breaking the kiss (which Hermione would like more of), to point, point out across the rock outcropping, down into a dip in the forest below.
Where two unicorns, a mated pair, now stood, side by side, pure white, silver manes, and Hermione laughed, she laughed and giggled, and felt that magic swirling around them.
Tom Riddle had brought her on a date to the Forbidden Forest, and made unicorns show up, had probably researched this spot to make her happy, had brought food and drink, and given her intellectually stimulating conversation all day, before kissing her and threatening to knock her drunk from how it had felt.
She was grinning, as was he, as she turned back to him, and this time she leaned in first, their lips met again and she was lost.
But so, to his surprise, was he, completely.
lil fluffff (don't get used to it, tho we will have a lil bubble ...)
really need to point out: tom is not a good guy, but hes not voldemort, and trust me hermiones conflict over that is far from over (but shes caught feelings, and there ain't no going back from that ... not that tom would let her)
more to come next chapter, and o yes, I'm bringing in some tropes
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speak soon