Chapter 1
Tom Riddle POV
The day had started like any other day. Tom had woken up at 6, and gone for his jog. He'd taken his shower upon coming back, and made himself a boiled egg with his regular black coffee.
His day as a mid-tier employee at the Department of International Magical Cooperation would begin at 9:30am, and predictably end at 5pm. He just had to brief his superior officer, the dear old Herbert Ambrose, on the meetings to be scheduled for the upcoming delegation of Ministers from the French Magical Ministry on the Cooperation Treaty for two subject matters, namely, the transportation of magical creatures, and the research on Ancient Magical Potions from both countries.
Recalling Ambrose's visage, it was all too easy, just as easy it was wrapping his old House Professor Slughorn around his finger. Everyone in his department knew that he was the real power behind Herbert Ambrose. The old man was about to retire in a month, and though Ambrose had more than hinted that he would become the next head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation, he had also put in place some safeguards.
The safeguards were garnering the votes of a few other Departmental Heads, through the deep pockets of Abraxas Malfoy. He had gotten the Malfoys to swear their allegiance to him in his 7th year at Hogwarts. He could wait a few years, getting the required experience as a Departmental Head, and the next step for him was undeniably the position of Minister of Magic. It was all going to plan...meticulous planning from his former years to even now.
He had carefully built his position as an unopposable authority for Slytherins, and the purebloods, but he needed to change tactics if he wished to become Minister in a few years. He needed to build an image of someone who catered to everyone, not just the purebloods, and there was a strong wave of support for the muggleborn, a campaign of equal treatment at work, work discrimination and a whole lot of things keeping muggleborn inclusion in the magical society at the forefront, and while he had so far cultivated his network within the purebloods, he knew just the person to branch out into an image of the most inclusive diplomat...he did not care as long as it helped him reach the top.
His image was of a poised and dedicated Ministry worker, with a brilliant track record of achieving smooth transitions of difficult treaties. He knew he was popular among the females, they projected their desire at him. As for the males...well he had made the pretense of befriending people across the rank. He did not care about them, as long as they served his needs. One of those friends he had who had some money and influence with youngsters was Ronald Weasley.
Weasley operated a Joke Shop with his brothers, and that shop was raking in galleons, apparently catering to the latest prank items and whatnot. He had come in contact with Weasley while helping the Magical Sports Department with the clearances for the Quidditch World Premier hosted by Britain a few years ago. Their joke shop couldn't get clearance for a stall at the games. He had helped out, but it was not philanthropic. He had known that the young Weasley would feel indebted, and he was simply creating his follower base in the youngsters. Weasley was an important piece on his chessgame, for his girlfriend as he had come to know from his connections, was a muggleborn. He needed to cultivate that connection further, and luckily enough he had an invitation that he was going to accept.
Taking a deep drag of his coffee, Tom flipped open the cream colored Invitation Card which featured a proud lion head as its stamp:
"You are cordially invited to the Wedding Ceremony of
Harry Potter
and
Ginevra Weasley
at The Burrow on ..."
Chapter 2
Hermione POV
She was running late. She knew that, but really she couldn't just thumb her nose at her responsibilities. Hermione was undergoing her training in the Department of Magical Psychiatry. And since she was doing a dual specialization, she had to run to the Medicine Department to get some work done there as well. Her dual specialization was in Magical Psychiatry, and Magical Remedies. Her report on the healing properties of Asphodel was due by the end of this month, and she was already stretched thin on many ends.
Ginny had already sent her two owls, asking her when she would be able to return. She had taken a half day's leave today to attend her best friend's wedding, but an emergency case had held her up as her senior, Dr. Ivans had paged her in.
Bessy, the head nurse gave her a stern look as Hermione filed the last of the papers for her day.
"You know you had taken a half day today, so why are you still here at 2pm?", Bessy demanded of her.
Hermione smiled at her. Bessy was one of the few co-workers who looked out for her, many times pushing food into her hands when she saw Hermione at her limit. "Mr William's seizures have stopped. We have got his potion, and he can be released by tomorrow, and since, I'm not going to be here for sometime, I need to finish up his discharge paperwork."
Bessy did not look pleased by her explanation.
"Look Bessy, I'm done now", Hermione stacked the papers, and with a small whisk of her wand the paperwork went to the appropriate desk for clearance.
"Hermione, it's good to be so dedicated to your work, but you have a wedding to attend today, and if I'm not wrong, you are one of the maids of honor...how do you plan on attending the event if you're still here."
Giving a huge sigh, Hermione stood up, gave a quick hug to Bessy, murmuring a quick, "See you tomorrow, Bess."
Taking her trusty beaded bag, Hermione rushed to the Floo Network to get to The Burrow.
---
Predictably she was late. The other maids of honor, Fleur Delacour (Bill's wife) and her sister Gabrielle Delacour, were already dressed in a one shoulder Magenta colored gown. It was already 4pm when she finally had taken her bath, lathered and shaved her legs, and finally felt ready to don her Maid of Honor dress.
Ginny had chosen three Maids of honor, and each had a different corsage pinned to their dress. Gabrielle, the youngest of the three had a white rose corsage, symbolizing innocence, Fleur had a yellow lily artfully arranged, symbolizing happiness, and Hermione had a daisy on her dress symbolizing loyalty and friendship.
Once Fleur had tutted over Hermione's dress, and her hair, especially her hair, and the time had ticked to 4:45pm, Hermione finally put her foot down. "Fleur, we need to go to Ginny now. I'm sure she has had quite a lot of dealing with Mrs. Weasley today."
Hermione's hair would need to be taken care of later, Ginny was their priority today. To reach the bride's room, Hermione had to maneuver around a lot of female Weasley relatives, all clucking over Ginny, and telling Molly how the dress should be.
Ginny silently signaled to her to rescue her from all the relatives thronging around. Hermione nodded to her. She first sent two old relatives down with the promise of starters awaiting them. It took a good 20 minutes to almost empty the room, with finally only Molly and the Maids of Honor sitting with the bride.
"Gin, darling, your Aunt's tiara would look wonderful with the dress, let's just try it once -", Molly started saying before Ginny intervened.
"Mom, please, you know it is too heavy, and I want a modern look, it simply does not match this dress...", Ginny began heatedly, but the look of hurt in Molly's eyes stopped her, and Ginny again shot an exasperated look in Hermione's direction.
Hermione knew that Mrs. Weasley had felt unhappy with Ginny's wedding outfit, and the small squabbles over the past few months were coming to a head, stressing everyone around. She had to talk to Molly.
Quickly taking Molly's arm she requested, "Mrs. Weasley, I know this is a bit unexpected, but could you come with me to the storeroom, George had been looking for you regarding some decorations stored there."
Molly Weasley dropped convincing Ginny, and immediately took Hermione's arm, "Goodness, why didn't you tell me about that sooner, I bet it's the backyard lights that have stopped working, we had a spare...", and with Mrs. Weasley taking her arm, Hermione had walked down the stairs, and just as they were about to go to the storeroom, Hermione stopped her.
"Mrs. Weasley, George really did not ask about any lights... I just wanted to talk to you", and Hermione conjured a plush chair. "Here, please sit down, I know you've been run down with all the preparations."
Molly shot her a long glance before settling on the chair. "I somehow suspected you just wanted me to come out of the room -- It's just that, Ginny's my only daughter", Molly wiped a tear from the corner of her eye, "and I wanted to see her dressed in the family jewels, something traditional."
Hermione felt a small throbbing in her head. She empathized with Mrs. Weasley. After all, she was an only child, and many times she wore dresses that she did not love as a child, but clothes that her mother thought looked cute on her. She resisted the urge to start massaging her throbbing temples, and wracked her brain for a solution.
"Mrs. Weasley, you have a diamond pendant from your own wedding, if I'm not wrong, Ginny had shown me the family album, and I think instead of the tiara, that pendant would look great on Ginny. She'll be wearing a piece connected to her mother, and a part of her family legacy."
Molly Weasley gave Hermione a measured look, and wiping a few more tears, she regained her vitality as the Weasley Matriarch. "Yes, that would work, and Oh! it would match Ginny's threadwork, Oh! why didn't I think of this before." Startling Hermione, Molly Weasley gave her a bear hug.
Releasing her, Molly stroked Hermione's still unkempt hair and said, "Oh! Why did you and Ron have to break up. I really wanted you as my daughter-in-law. If it didn't work out with Ron, I'll talk to Percy, both of you are more suited--".
"Mrs. Weasley, I really think both Ron and I are happy with our decision to go our separate ways. Besides, I think of Percy as an elder-brother, so please don't set me up with him. And keeping all this aside for now, we need to get Ginny readied within the hour, we really can't waste any more time."
Chapter 3
Hermione POV
Ginny and Harry had just exchanged their vows. And the reception was fully underway. People queued up to congratulate the newlyweds, and the dance floor was almost jam packed.
Hermione discreetly picked up a small plate and plated it with a generous helping of the wedding cake. She looked around for an uncrowded place to enjoy the treat, and the magically constructed flower arbor seemed the best place. She conjured a chair and sat down to eat the red velvet, chocolate cake, when she heard a muffled cry at the far end of the arbor. Hermione immediately shot up, her cake plate kept on the chair, wand gripped at the ready. Another cry came, and this time, Hermione felt as if the voice belonged to Gabrielle Delacour.
Without any further thought Hermione rushed out to where she had heard the cries. A blond haired boy had a chokehold around Gabrielle's neck and his other hand was fisted somewhere in Gabrielle's skirts. The blinding rage that filled Hermione was so instantaneous that she didn't even realize she had cast the incantation, "Petrificus Totalus" at the boy mauling Gabrielle.
Gabrielle shot her a panicked look, and as Hermione went to her, Gabrielle almost blubbered, "You...what are you doing here?"
"It's okay Gabrielle, I'll not let him hurt you, it's--", but Hermione was stopped by the enraged look on Gabrielle's face now.
"You don't understand. He was not hurting me. I..., we were...Oh! don't tell my sister", and Gabrielle, immediately dropped to the boy whose face was hidden from Hermione's view. Gabrielle ended the petrification, and the boy awkwardly stood up dusting his clothes.
The two of them gave her embarrassed looks. Gabrielle took the lead in explaining that she had come with the boy there on her own, and their activity was consensual. Gabrielle vacillated between looking embarrassed and annoyed at Hermione, firmly taking the boy's arm pulling him back to the crowd, parting with the words, "Don't tell my sister."
Hermione was looking dumbfounded at the retreating backs of the two, when a chuckle reached her ears. The arbor was near the treeline, with many lantern lights hanging on the branches. She could barely make out the silhouette of tall person now standing just behind the dahlias at her back.
Blood rushed to Hermione's cheeks. She knew that person would have witnessed the colossally embarrassing incident. She had had enough for one day. First the hospital, then the drama during the wedding dresses, and now the misunderstanding. She sharply said, "Since you're laughing at me, it is only fair that you show me your face."
Chapter 4
Tom POV
At 7pm, he had apparated to The Burrow and by 7:40pm, he got the chance to congratulate the couple. He snuck a chat with Ronald Weasley, surreptitiously enquiring about his muggleborn girlfriend. He did not particularly care about Muggleborns, but it was a fact of the Wizarding World that very few Muggleborns had stuck in the Wizarding Community. And even fewer were connected to pureblood families like the Weasleys. Not just that, this particular muggleborn was quite accomplished from what he had heard from Weasley the last time they had chatted around 2 years ago...this girl was some researcher in Magical Medicines if he recalled what Weasley had told him correctly.
It was a bit disappointing to know that Weasley was now dating some Lavender Brown.
But not everything was disappointing. He had not just come here to renew his acquaintance with Weasley. He had also come to meet the Romanian Minister for Magical Creatures. Charlie Weasley had been awarded for some exceptional work with Romanian dragons, and if the rumours were to be believed, the Romanian wanted to get his daughter wedded to Charlie Weasley. Be that as it may, he wanted to talk to the man about certain international collaborations. He had casually sat around the florid man, with his wine, and gotten a few contacts for sending collaboration agreements through them.
His informal talk concluded with the Romanian Minister, Tom rose up to leave the reception. He had reached the edge of the property nearing the arbor when he saw a girl holding a plate of cake put it down on her chair, before rushing around the arbor to the treeline. He did not know what made him follow behind her, but he saw her petrification spell, and the ensuing incident with the youngsters who ran away from her. He could not control his laughter at the bewildered look on the brunette's face.
Obviously hearing his laughter the girl turned around and said acerbically, "Since you're laughing at me, it is only fair that you show me your face."
Her voice bristled with barely contained anger, but when he got a full look at her face, he couldn't help thinking that she was a beautiful, with warm brown eyes and delicate features. She wore a magenta gown that accentuated her petite frame, but it was her face that captivated him with its hint of both strength in her strong brows and softness in her dainty features. Her hair which had been in an elegant twist fell around her shoulders in frizzy curls, and the flowers keeping up her hair lost their battle and fell at her feet.
The girl feeling her tumbling hair gave an aggravated grunt, and shook her hair free of the remaining, was it daisies, yes, it was some daisies that had been artfully arranged in her hair, and now that he looked at the dress, a daisy was pinned to her shoulder too.
He stepped in front of her and had the satisfaction of seeing her suck in her breath. Females had always found him handsome, and this girl's blushing cheeks gave him the satisfaction of knowing that his looks affected her.
---
Hermione POV
The man who stepped forward was very dashing. He was dressed in a classic black suit with a white shirt. The fit of the coat showed a broad but lean frame.
He had obsidian eyes, and high cheekbones that accentuated the harmonious proportions of his face. Harmonious proportions of his face, get a grip on yourself Hermione, she mentally chided herself.
"How long have you been standing there?", she demanded.
The man, instead of responding, just gave her an unnerving assessment, his eyes moving from her face to her feet, and before she could say anything else, he advanced on her, hand outstretched and the daisies that had fallen on the ground from her hair levitated into his hand and he walked towards her.
Hermione watched in stupefied silence as the man took hold of her arm holding her wand, and just as quickly as he had levitated the daisies, his hand encircled her wrist, and the daisies arranged themselves into a bracelet around her hand. Just as quickly as he had taken her hand, he released it and walked back a few paces.
"I had just arrived when I had the good fortune of seeing you petrify the lad, " and the man gave her a grin which she could only describe as teasing when he continued, "Not in good form of you to separate two young lovers, my dear."
Hermione's irritation had almost fizzled out, majorly due to this man's bizarre action of putting the daisies on her wrist which tingled warmly with ghost sensations of his touch. She ignored his comment about the young lovers. How was she to know that Gabrielle was not being assaulted.
"Who are you?", she asked, her curiosity piqued.
"Tom Riddle, an acquaintance of Mr. Weasley, " the man answered.
"There are many Mr. Weasleys in attendance, which Mr. Weasley are you talking about?", Hermione questioned. She usually would not initiate conversations with strangers, but she didn't understand why she wasn't letting this man go already.
Tom Riddle gave her a smile that did not quite reach his eyes, "I'll tell you which Mr. Weasley, if you agree to a dance with me right now."
Hermione did not know what it was about Tom Riddle, but she agreed to the dance. Maybe it was his pretty face that made her behave like this.
---
Tom POV
The girl agreed to the dance, and he crooked his elbow at her to take. She enclosed her hand on his arm, and he smelled her scent hitting him...fresh parchment, ink and honeysuckle. They walked towards the house near the reception, but she looked askance at him when he stopped.
"I don't particularly wish to join that crowd. We can hear the music from here. Let's dance here," he told her.
The girl looked at him and to his surprise she gave a quite chuckle, "Suit yourself. Let me warn you, your toes might not survive my dancing. If we join the dance floor, you can at least leave me citing the crowded space."
Turning her around in his arms he encircled her waist, "I think my toes can handle a challenge."
They started swaying to the tunes of a slow song, and none of their toes suffered any casualty.
"Since you know my name, it is only fair that I know yours," he asked the girl in his arms.
"I'm Hermione Granger. Harry and Ginny have been my friends since Hogwarts, and that's why I'm at their wedding. What about you, you still haven't told me who you're acquainted to."
Tom's mind began whirring. Hermione Granger. He knew that name. This was the elusive muggleborn ex-girlfriend of Ronald Weasley that he had wanted to meet. His agenda had been more along the lines of charming her as she had an influence over the Weasleys that was quite apparent. The Weasleys were part of the few influential pureblood families. Plus, he had needed to meet her, at the time he had thought of this, his idea had been more along the lines of having Ronald Weasley and his muggleborn wife as his campaign supporters in a few years. This girl was among the very few muggleborns who had made a firm foothold in the wizarding community, and he had thought to use her in his campaigns in the coming years. Well, even now he intended to have her as his campaign supporter, but it would now be as his wife.
He twirled the witch in his arms and brought her back, deliberately using more force so she crashed into his chest, and he got the excuse of tightening his arms around her in a show of steadying her.
"Ah! I'm sorry, I just stumbled back there...", Miss Granger told him. When she looked up at him, she was slowly rubbing her nose, and her eyes had turned squinty. Other females in her position would have tried to flirt with him, try to touch him in this close proximity, or would try to appear to lean more onto him feigning loss of balance, but apparently not Miss Granger. She pushed at his chest, and he released her. She was still rubbing her nose. "I think I bumped it," she mumbled at him, and when she moved her hand he saw her nose had indeed pinkened, even her eyes watered. Hermione Granger, with her pink nose and watery eyes exuded such a frail femininity that it evoked contrasting emotions from him, possessiveness, protectiveness, and the urge to make her cry more so that she showed that vulnerable expression to him and him only. Before seeing her, he didn't know he was into dacryphilia, but maybe he just hadn't seen the right person...but looking at her, he knew in his bones that he was going to claim this woman for his own. It was a good thing that Weasley was out of the picture, and if she was dating anyone else, he would ensure that that relationship ended.
Hermione POV
It was really awkward. First, that incident with Gabrielle and the boy, and now bumping her nose in a simple spin, she had also shown clumsiness to this man.
She really could do with some rest for her aching feet. Even feeling the embarrassment, Hermione did not want to end her meeting with Tom, so she offered some coffee back in The Burrow, and he came along with her.
As she entered the kitchen, she remembered her plate of cake. When he asked her why she had stopped, she told him about the cake plate she had left.
"Was that cake really so good that you would walk back to get it?", Tom had a puzzled look on his face.
"You don't get it, I didn't even get to take one bite. And I think cake will go well with coffee," she replied.
He shrugged, "You could just summon it."
"I could, but it is not in a container, it'll probably fall or only the cream or the crumbs would come here if I accio it," Hermione sighed.
Tom got a calculative look on his face as he asked, "You left it on a chair in that arbor, right?"
But he wasn't really asking as he stood up and walked to the open window at the back of the kitchen, and less than a minute later her cake plate fully intact was in his outstretched hand. He nonchalantly strode back presenting her with the cake.
Her eyes widened. It was not extremely difficult to do what he had done, but it was clear he had a natural command over magic which only few people in Hermione's experience had, and one of those was Professor Dumbledore, but since he was easily a century old, it was kind of expected. But seeing the precision and effectiveness with which Tom wielded magic, Hermione felt a small quiver in her stomach. Her face heated as she realized she was getting very attracted to this man, who was very nearly a total stranger to her.
"How did you do that?", she asked him, her curiosity again firing inside her.
He gave her a smug smirk that again heated her face. "Just a summoning spell, Hermione." The way he drawled her name slowly, as though tasting her name on his tongue, made her whole face a dusty pink. Appraising her, Tom again gave her one of his slow smiles, and said, "How about that coffee, Hermione. I know you're interested to know how I did that, and I'll show it to you some other time." That snapped her out of her agitation, as she made coffee for two.
Tom POV
He finally told her about knowing Ronald Weasley, watching for any hint of lingering affection for Weasley on her face, and even skimming her mind with the gentlest touch of legilimency to gauge any hidden thoughts. He could not explain why he felt satisfied when neither Hermione's face, nor her thoughts revealed any remaining romantic interest in Weasley. He had to know if she was dating anyone else, but after breaking up with Weasley nearly 7 months ago, she wasn't in any relationship. With her fair cheeks again a rosy hue, she had asked if he was seeing anyone. "Not for the last two years," he had told her.
And it was true. Although he did not need to tell her that he had never been in a steady relationship, he had had physical intimacy with a few women over the years, and he hadn't got even into that in the past two years.
Tom was surprised to find that the simple domesticity of sharing coffee and cake with Hermione appealed a lot to him.
Tom had known from Hermione's inquisitiveness that she must be intelligent, but he was impressed upon hearing about her dual specialization in Magical Remedies and Magical Psychiatry.
He told her about his own dual Masters in International Relations of the Magical Communities, and Defence Against the Dark Arts (DADA). From there, their conversation veered into topics of international treaty making, to the purported healing properties of certain poisonous plants, to the ministerial regulations for international portkeys.
By the time their conversation began to lull, it was already midnight. The house was still quite with only the two of them, with the party going on outside.
For the first time, he had not followed a plan. With Hermione, he realized he had let loose in a way that he had never done with anyone else. More and more his conviction grew stronger that he had to take her for his own as quickly as possible.
He stood up, and Hermione followed suit. It felt natural taking her hand in his, "Hermione, I know this is sudden, but I would like to court you formally."
Hermione's brown eyes widened a bit, studying his face intently, and she had tightened her own hold on his hand, "We don't even know each other."
He gave her a sardonic smile. "I know you're studying a highly challenging dual degree at St. Mungos University for Healers. I know you are hard working and dedicated to the cause of ensuring that magic benefits everyone. I know you are pretty and smart, and now that I have met you, I would hate anyone else trying to steal you away from me. I know that both of us are attracted to each other, and it would be a shame to let any hesitation stand in the way of a truly beautiful relationship that we can have."
He pulled her closer to him and he lifted to seat her on the kitchen table, observing her. He'd move away if he spooked her. But Hermione seemed to be under the same animal attraction he was under, and she pressed herself to him, her brown eyes darkening with desire, and then he didn't know who started the kiss. It started out gentle, but when they finally broke apart they were both breathing roughly, with Hermione's arms firmly around his neck pulling him closer. He turned his face to her neck and inhaled to steady himself.
A few moments later they had both recollected themselves. He moved back from her neck, and she removed her arms around his neck. When Hermione continued to avoid his eyes, he caught hold of her chin, turning up her face to his, and asked her, "I want to court you, dating is the term your generation uses. What do you say Hermione?"
As he waited for her response, it was the only time he remembered feeling a thread of tension. He watched as her cheeks ran high with color, as her eyes took him in, before almost imperceptibly her gaze softened, and she said, "Yes, I would like to date you Tom."