Raid
Tom slammed the books down on the table, “That's the last of them.”
Reg gave Tom a disapproving look, but when Tom just rolled his eyes, Reg picked the books up, flipped through them for a while, and then said- “We already looked at all of this stuff.”
He placed the books gently, pointedly in a clean stack, spines aligned.
Tom leaned back in his chair, head resting on the edge and looking up at the ceiling, as he swung back on two legs gently.
They remained in silence for a few minutes, then Tom mused, “I'm sure there are more books on the subject, they're just not here.”
“This is one of the largest libraries in the wizarding world,” Reg said, waving a hand at the library they were in. “If the books are not here, we are unlikely to find them elsewhere.”
Tom snapped his chair back to 4 legs, and flicked Reg's forehead with a light stinging hex.
“These are muggle books Reggie.”
Reg rubbed his forehead and scowled, “Don't call me Reggie. You sound like my mother.”
Tom continued as if Reg had not spoken. “We can find more in the muggle world.”
Reg raised a disbelieving eyebrow.
“You don't believe me?” Tom folded his arms over his chest.
“Muggles have books that the Hogwarts library does not?” Reg scoffed.
---
Tom took unhealthy amounts of pleasure in the slackness of Reg's expression as they entered the muggle library.
“I do like being right,” he mused.
Reg wiped his face clean and gave Tom a blank look, “Gloating does not suit you.”
Tom cast a wandless surreptitious stinging hex at Reg and smirked as Reg glared, “I look good in everything.”
Reg scoffed and walked off to examine the nearest shelf.
Tom walked in the opposite direction, looking around till he reached the section on mathematics. It was much larger than he had expected, he felt a momentary pang for not having been exposed to this stuff when he was a child, as the girl had mentioned, but he squashed it and moved deliberately to examine the books more closely.
He would learn all this stuff and he would figure out how to use it as the girl had. He didn't need guidance now that he had discovered these things existed.
He got sidetracked by a couple of interesting books, but he quickly Gemino-ed and shrunk every book on geometry and a few others that caught his fancy.
He noticed a muggle girl looking at him, and for a moment he thought she'd seen him perform magic. But she looked hurriedly away when she caught him looking back. When she shyly looked at him again, he winked at her. She blushed and lowered her eyes to the book she was reading.
Tom smirked in satisfaction and went to find Reg.
---
The pockets of Reg's transfigured trousers were suspiciously bloated. He was surrounded by piles and piles of books. Tom watched from the head of the column where Reg was ensconced as he tried to simultaneously read and Gemino a book, and then shrunk it and stashed it into his pocket and picked up another and tried to do the same.
“What the hell are you doing?” Tom hissed, “What if a muggle catches you?”
Reg put on an affronted look, “I used a muggle repelling charm.”
Tom was taken aback. “You used a muggle repelling charm in a muggle library? You idiot! Are you trying to get us arrested?”
He grabbed the back of Reg's collar and hauled him up.
“I was going to remove it,” Reg declared.
“Yes, but leave behind enough of your magical signature to implicate yourself,” Tom hissed.
“No one would come here,” Reg protested, as Tom dragged him along. “Wait Tom! There's these books I want to get.”
“You pockets are already overflowing, you greedy prick.”
“I'm almost done,” Reg protested.
“Right,” Tom drawled disbelievingly.
“Yes, I am.”
Tom undid the muggle-repelling charm as gently and thoroughly as he could, and then cast a cloaking charm on Reg's suspicious trousers and dragged Reg through the library. He didn't let Reg go until they were out in an alley and Tom disapparated them both to Hogsmeade.
Reg shook off Tom's hold, ran a hand through his long hair, smoothing it down, then glared, “I wasn't done.”
“You wouldn't have been done till you had the whole library in your pocket,” Tom said dismissively as he began walking towards the Three Broomsticks where Malfoy was meeting them.
Reg followed him, “You're insufferable. We could have stayed a little longer, all those books,” he ended the sentence on a whine.
Tom chuckled to himself, “Don't worry Reg, you have a lot of books in your pocket and they'll keep you occupied.”
Tom pushed the door to the three broomsticks open and they made their way to the table where Malfoy and the boys were making a riot. Tom sat and was instantly absorbed in the conversation. Reg sat next to him, ignored everyone else as he unshrunk a book and disappeared behind it.
---
It was Reg’s birthday.
Tom woke him after slashing his four-poster curtains open and levitated and then abruptly dropped the mattress Reg was lying on.
Reg jerked awake, and scowled through bleary eyes when he saw Tom at the foot of his bed.
He looked around the dorm at the other four posters with all the curtains drawn, then looked up at the ceiling, holding back the urge to scream at Tom.
Tom smirked and tossed a small bag at Reg’s face. Reg barely caught it. He looked at Tom and scowled again. Then stifled a yawn, and ran a hand through his hair.
“Happy birthday.” Tom intoned obnoxiously and left the dorm to have a quiet breakfast before the whole of Slytherin woke up.