The fourteenth of February had always been a day she hated. In fact, she could remember the exact time and day her hatred had taken route. She was in fourth year, fourteen years old and the clock hit six in the evening. Ronald Weasley had ruined everything, including her romantic heart that hadn’t quite beat the same since then. Sure, letting a fourteen year old boy ruin your perspective on love sounded pathetic but Hermione tried to not invalidate her emotions.
She hadn’t dated anyone since nor did she even entertain the thought. Her friends in university thought she was insane and lonely. But she wasn’t, Hermione was perfectly content being on her own. She had her own apartment in New York City, her own career, her own hobbies as well as two lovely cats who loved to cuddle with her.
Life was perfect.
Yet at the moment she couldn’t successfully ignore the bitterness clawing at her heart as she watched all the couples eat romantic dinners across the street from her. Covered from the rain by a veranda that was swathed in roses and fairy lights with candles and wine covering their tables. Meanwhile she was stuck under a flimsy umbrella with holes in it trying desperately to hail a taxi to get back to her apartment. She was freezing and her hair drenched, stuck to her forehead and her makeup was surely running down her cheeks in streaks of charcoal.
“You look pathetic.”
Hermione, if possible, froze even further at the sound of his voice. She must be dreaming, given it was a voice she hadn’t heard in four years not to mention it had been on a whole other continent. It sounded like the voice of the man she hated the most at university, the man who made her life hell and made her question her academic abilities. But no, it couldn’t possibly be him. Whoever it was is probably just talking to someone on the phone.
“Have you gone deaf Granger or are you as rude as I remember you?”
Hermione shut her eyes and took a small breath before exhaling and her breath danced in front of her as she mumbled the word, “Fuck.”
She turned rather slowly and her eyes flicked up to the man standing a few feet away from her and paused before an insult left her mouth. How could someone possibly become more gorgeous in four years? It wasn’t fair.
Tom Riddle smiled at her, his lips pulling back and he gave the resemblance of a shark who just caught a whiff of blood in the water.
Regaining her composure, she lifted her chin and tried to ignore the thought of how ridiculous she probably looked at the moment. “What are you doing here?”
“No hello? How are you? Has America ruined your manners?”
Hermione narrowed her eyes. “Are you stalking me?”
Tom threw his head back and laughed, the sound rich and it carried over the cold breeze and made her shiver. He shook his head and adjusted the hold on his in-tact umbrella and Hermione grew jealous. Not to mention the thick wool coat he was wearing. She would kill for that. In fact, she might kill him and steal it.
“I’m here on business.”
She blinked and pulled her eyes away from his coat. “What?”
It was now his turn to narrow his eyes. “Are you alright, Granger?”
She wasn’t fooled by his shallow attempt at empathy and her own sharp laugh left her. “I’m fine. What business brings you to the big apple?” Part of her couldn’t quite believe she was engaging in small talk with her arch enemy (Dramatic? Sure) but perhaps that was part of maturing.
He took a step closer and his long legs brought him right next to her, nearly sending Hermione off her axis. She didn’t remember him being quite that tall but he stood probably a whole head above her. His shoulders were broad and filled out his coat nicely and his dark hair had windswept curls that framed his sharp features beautifully. Meanwhile, she was sure she looked like a drowned rat.
“I’m meeting a client about a lawsuit.”
She raised her eyebrows and whistled. “Meeting an overseas client? Must be a big lawsuit.”
He shrugged, looking nonchalant about his success as always and she clenched her jaw. Hermione had struggled to find a job after graduation that would pay her enough to live sustainably yet Tom had a long list of firms practically groveling at his feet. Was he great at what he did? Sure. Did that make it any less infuriating? Absolutely not.
“What are you doing out all alone on this special day?” He asked, a tease in his tone and she was tempted to punch him in the throat, steal his umbrella, and then run away despite being in stilettos and the ground was wet.
“I could ask you the same question.” Though once she thought about it, in the time she had known him, she never saw him with anyone. Which was shocking considering his looks although perhaps his shitty personality had something to do with it.
Instead of answering her right away, his arm reached out and took hold of her umbrella. Hermione was so caught off by what he was doing that it fell easily from her wind bitten hands, however cold rain didn’t hit her head, instead his umbrella covered her.
“I haven’t found anyone tolerable enough to spend the day with.”
Hermione blinked at him as rain quickly soaked into his clothes and hair, making the curls fall into his eyes and water dew up on his lashes. His eyes were gleaming.
“What are you doing?” She sounded stupid even to her own ears. He was being a gentleman, but the idea seemed so outlandish to her that he was being nice.
“Your umbrella had holes in it.” He said simply, as if that was the only logical reason for his action.
“But you’ll get wet.”
He laughed again, “It’s a bit late for that.”
Her cheeks warmed and the sudden feeling that rocked her chest made her giddy yet nauseous all at once. Something she hadn’t felt the pang of in years and it frightened her. Tom offering her his umbrella was the bare minimum, yet for some reason that made her impression of him soften up at the edges.
Tom held out his free arm and waved a taxi down, within seconds one pulled up to the curb and her mouth fell open.
“How did you do that? I’ve been trying to get a cab for ages and I’ve only been splashed on.”
“They probably couldn’t see you.” He opened the door for her and made sure the umbrella stayed over her as she got into her seat.
Hermione looked up at him and damned herself for blushing again at how handsome he looked as he gazed down at her, drenched from the rain.
“Thank you-”
“How about dinner-”
They spoke at the same time in a single breath.
Hermione stared at Tom, dumbfounded at the fact she wasn’t repulsed by the idea. She turned around and looked at all the couples across the street and wondered what it would be like to be one of them for once.
She slid across the seat to make room for him. “That sounds lovely.”
His smile didn’t seem shark-like anymore. He just looked happy.