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There was this girl, a few years below Tom at school. He’d catch a glimpse of her, every now and again for the better part of two years, and somewhere along the line, he realized how nice looking she was.
He’d asked Abraxas, the first time he really saw her, who she was. Harriet Potter, of the most noble house of Potter, twin sister of Dean Potter, the golden child of his family. Harriet was a relatively quiet girl, clumsy, and probably the most beautiful creature Tom had ever dared to lock eyes upon.
He was a sixth year, she was a fourth year, he was a Slytherin, she was a Ravenclaw. She was probably the shortest in her year, he was by far the tallest in his own. She had beautiful forest green eyes, inherited from her mother, he had the watery-blue eyes of his father. He was obsessed.
They’d never talked, but they did nod at each other when they passed in the hallways and Tom was intimately familiar with her brother, who couldn’t go a day without boasting how he’d destroyed the Dark Lord Grindelwald. What a load of bull. Everyone knew his mother’s charm had done that on accident instead. But still, he had his admirers that fawned over his every move. And he was so, so loud. It was annoying, so bothersome that Tom had contemplated hexing the git more than once already.
But he did have a gorgeous sister who Tom wanted to charm, so he let it go for now. It wouldn’t do to alienate himself further from his future family-in-law. Because that was surely were they were headed. Of course, as Abraxas pointed out, he would have to introduce himself first, and this year had given him the perfect opportunity.
The Triwizard Tournament had gotten them a lot of publicity, especially because of the drama surrounding their selected champion. Tom hadn’t really payed much attention after it was revealed someone had apparently tried to manipulate the goblet and failed.
Anyway, they were now hosting a yule ball, which was far more important for his cause. He’d made it clear to all his minions that Harriet was off limits and it was still early enough in the season that no one else had asked her yet, either. Which was why Tom was putting extra care into his appearance today, gelling his hair carefully. He wanted to make the right impression.
Their schedules crossed after her care for magical creatures class and his herbology one, meaning that if he was fast enough, he could separate her form her comrades and ask her at the edge of the forest, a pretty beautiful location.
Truthfully, he wasn’t really afraid she wasn’t going to say yes, since he knew for a fact she didn’t have a crush on anyone else and that he was widely regarded as the most handsome in his year. He’d been told so by multiple girls now, all of who’s advances he’d rejected.
Herbology went uneventful as ever, he was only taking the subject because it was needed should he want to do his masters in potion instead of directly starting at the ministry. At the moment, he was rather favoring the former option, simply because he liked the sound of being a known master of a subject. Besides, potions had their uses.
Thankfully, the professor let them out a little early and Tom made his way across the hills towards the groundkeepers hut, where he knew Harriet was currently working with hyppogriffs.*
He waited patiently, just out of sight, and watched as she fed the creatures apples. She looked good in her robes but he could’t wait to get a glimpse of her in her ballgown. Despite her family appreciating her less than she deserved, she was still a Potter, and so her robes were sure to be expensive and incredible looking.
Finally, the students began to pack up their books, making their way back to the castle. Harriet hung back, talking quietly with the professor who had a small smile on her face. Clearly, she liked Harriet enough to answer her additional questions, ever the Ravenclaw.
But finally, Harriet shouldered her bag. Tom waited a few more moments and then got up to follow her. He quickly fell into step with her. She glanced to the side and smiled at him. Her lips were rosy colored and soft looking.
“Hey Harriet, I’m Tom. I’m not sure we’ve been introduced yet.“
He ran a hand through his hair and smiled nervously.
“Hi Tom, it’s nice to meet you. I don’t believe we’ve talked before. Can I help you with something?“
She blinked up at him with her big eyes, dark lashes framing the vibrant green.
“Yes, actually. I wanted to ask you if you would like to go to the yule ball with me?“, he sounded more nervous than he’d expected. She stopped walking. Tom did as well. She tilted her head to the side, giving him a wonderful view of her beautiful neck.
“Mhm, yeah, why not! It’s very nice of you to ask me, Tom.“
He breathed out a sigh he hadn’t known he held. All was going according to his plan. This was great!
“Great! It was nice talking to you-“, suddenly feeling awkward, Tom began to walk again, maybe a tad faster than he needed to.
“Hey, wait up!“, Harriet called from behind him. Tom slowed down again a bit and looked at her hesitantly. She was slightly red in the face because she’d been running to catch up with him. Great, he was so smooth.
“If we’re doing this, I think I’d like to get to know you a bit better first. How would you feel about going to Hogsmead with me, next week?“
Tom could’ve screamed, he was so lucky. He nodded instead, trying to keep up his poise. “That sounds agreeable. I’ll meet you at the Ravenclaw entrance at ten?“
That gave him enough time to shower, change about five times and fuss over his hair. Harriet nodded again, her unruly black hair framing her face like the mane of a lion. It looked good on her. Maybe he would tell her that next week.
They didn’t talk on their walk back to the castle, but Harriet did walk a bit closer than probably needed and every so often, their hands would brush against each other. It send a shiver down his back.
That night, Tom planned their entire walk through Hogsmead, complete with a map, estimates of the time needed in each store and what Harriet would likely order to eat, should they become hungry. He then made sure his minions knew not to bother him on their time out and that they were watching out for Harriet, should any trouble arise. He didn’t want that to happen, but she was the sister of the so-called savior, and as such, a target.
(Not for the first time, Tom wanted to point out that they had no clue who of the twins actually repelled that spell, via the magic of their mother. Dean had just claimed it was him and everyone went along with it. For all they knew, it might as well have been Harriet. Not that it mattered much, since the Dark Lord was dead either way)
The morning of their date (because what else could one call this) came faster than Tom would’ve liked, but also not quickly enough. He was usually the ice-prince of Slytherin, known to keep his emotions in check at all times, but he just didn’t have it in him to do that today. Something about this fourth year reduced him to a nervous pit of anxiety.
He stood outside the opening to the Ravenclaw common room at 10 am on the dot, and waited with bated breath as Harriet emerged. She was breathtaking, as always. Only today she wasn’t in uniform, a nice treat.
Her hair had a little bow in the back, and she was wearing a skirt, not unlike the one she usually wore anyway, except quite a bit shorter and a dark green. On top, a dark turtleneck and a long coat.
There was a bit of silvery jewelry gleaming from her ears. She was dressed in his house colors. For a second, he forgot to breath. She giggled a bit and flushed red.
“Good morning, Harriet“
“Hi Tom. Did you sleep well?“
They made their way out of the castle and towards the little town at the bottom of the hill. Not a lot of other students had gone out quite this early, so they met nobody else.
To Tom’s demise, Harriet wasn’t just pretty and evidently intelligent, she was also very funny. So funny, in fact, that she drove tears to his eyes, he laughed so much. They just fit.
They talked about their shared interest in literature, especially in certain action novels that many looked down upon as too ‘muggle’ which were Tom’s guilty pleasure. The conversation easily transitioned into other hobbies, like flying, which Harriet was apparently very good at. Tom favored his feet firmly on the ground, but the way she described the feeling of wind in her hair and the snitch in her hand, made him promise to go to her next quidditch game.
They fit well, perhaps too well, because Tom was quickly falling from a simple infatuation towards something far more dangerous. But he couldn’t help himself, Harriet was so earnestly good, but with a sharp edge that made her superior to those of Hufflepuff that simply smiled because they had no better thoughts in their head.
The entire way back, they debated color, because Tom was very firm in his stance that he wanted to match Harriet. (And so maybe Tom was a tad bit possessive and wanted to make sure everybody could see whom Harriet was with. Sue him.)
Originally, Harriet had planned on going in burgundy, or maybe in purple, which turned out to be her favorite color. Tom was very much against the idea of red, no matter in what incarnation.
He didn’t really have anything against purple, especially because Harriet thought she would choose a lilac instead of a brighter tone. But eh did make a valid effort to convince her to go in green. She’d laughed but told him in no uncertain terms that her father definitely wouldn’t like her going in green, Slytherin green or otherwise. Apparently, the Potters came from a long line of Gryffindors, and the fact that she’d been a Ravenclaw was already a soar spot. They came up with a compromise that both of them liked, and Tom brimmed in satisfaction at the knowledge that they would be the most beautiful pair of the night.
There was an edge to her voice as she told him about her family though. It was clear that she liked them a lot, loved them even, but there was a lot of hurt there too. Especially with her twin brother apparently, the git. Tom had already been firmly on her side beforehand but now, yeah, the prat could get it.
He steered the topic back towards something a little more fun, debating the importance of treacle tart for the buffet at the ball. Harriet was visibly passionate about the treats and Tom played along. They parted ways right at the steps to the dungeon, and to Tom’s utter surprise, she quickly stepped on her tip toes and pressed a chaste kiss against his cheek, before turning and running up the stairs to the Ravenclaw tower.
Tom was left behind, slightly dazed and with the lingering feel of Harriet’s lips on his cheek. Absently, he brushed his hands against the spot, it tingled.
He shook his head and grinned. That girl… He was fully enchanted.
They sadly couldn’t meet up again before the ball, as Tom began to drown in homework and Harriets own classes picked up in preparation for the OWLs. They did exchange a few letters, and punctually, a month before the ball, an owl gave Tom an envelope at breakfast. Inside, beside the note from Harriet, was a piece of light, lilac fabric. Tom grinned broadly, enough so, that Abraxas to his right choked on his pumpkin juice in surprise.
It wouldn’t be hard to transfigure his robes so they would match Harriets.
As the yule ball grew closer, the tensions ran high. Decorations got hung up everywhere, tiny ice-crystals hanging from the ceiling. The weather became truly freezing and students flocked together in the common rooms to gossip about who was going with who. Tom was glad he’d asked Harriet so early, since not a day went by were Harriet wasn’t asked. She declined every time, leaving him with a satisfied feeling in the back of his stomach.
Dean was having some trouble, to absolutely no ones surprise. What his friends saw in him, Tom couldn’t say. Not that he cared much about the savior. Mostly, he just cared about Harriet who always smiled at him in the great hall.
His own robes had been delivered last week and he couldn’t wait for them to match. He’d heard that the other houses were doing dance recitals, but the Slytherins didn’t. Most of them could dance anyway, and the few who couldn’t, learned on their own. Tom couldn’t imagine having to be taught by McGonagall or Flitwick. He’d actually rather eat a broom.
The morning of the ball, the great hall was closed, in preparation for the night. The students ate in the common rooms instead, not that many actually did. Most of the girls hadn’t even left their dorms at all, too busy prepping for tonight. Tom chose to start on his homework instead. It wasn’t particularly hard though he did struggle with Arithmacy and made a note to read up on it more, later on.
Around six, he got up from his seat in front of the fireplace and made his way to the showers. The hot water did wonders for his tight muscles, and he came out fresh and ready for the night. A few quick charms ensured his hair would stay the same all night.
His outer robes were a dark forest green with lilac lining, his robes below, a lighter sage. All with the accents from Harriets dress. He’d promised to wait for her at seven, and so he made his way out the door without waiting for the others, though he was sure he’d meet them in the great hall later tonight.
For now, the halls were filled to the brim with students, especially males, who were waiting for their dates. Tom joined the others waiting patiently at the entry below the eagle that had never made sense in the context of the Ravenclaw house. No matter, wizards weren't exactly known for their great logic, anyway.
Finally, at 7:03, the door opened and revealed girls, (and some boys), all eager to leave for the party. None of them mattered much though, because finally, Harriet emerged. Tom hoped his jaw wasn’t too close to the floor to become undignified, but she looked fabulous. She blushed shyly and linked her arm through his.
“Hi Tom!“
“Hello, Harriet. You look good“
“You think so?“, she did a little twirl. “The dress has pockets!“, Tom snorted. She got excited about the stupidest things.
“You’re a witch, Harriet. Everything can have pockets, if you want it too“, she blushed again. He wanted to see how far down the blush spread, but he held back. Tonight was not the night for such thoughts.
“It’s the principle, though!“
“If you say so“
They walked towards the great hall, and slowly the hallways started to fill out. More and more couples joined them, the usual flood of grey for once exchanged for colorful fabrics. It was beautiful, but all Tom had eyes for was Harriet. He really couldn’t believe his luck.
The house-elves had done a great service tonight, the hall looked like an ice castle, romantic and softly lit as slow snowflakes made their way down. Despite the ice, it wasn’t cold, not really. Somewhere, there was music playing.
Tom could see all the houses intermingling together for once. Abraxas had of course brought his fiancee, though he didn’t like her much. She was dressed in black and Abraxas had a look as if he was biting into a sour lemon. Tom snorted.
On the other end of the hall, he could see Dean with his friends and a simpering little brunette, of course in Gryffindor colors. Dean had his chest puffed out, effectively making him look like an overly stuffed mushroom or pepper. Harriet followed his eyes and snorted as well.
“He always looks like that.“, she said with an eye-roll.
The champions, lead by Diggory, opened the dance floor. It was obvious that most of them barely knew how to dance, he could see the Veela’s pained look every time Davis stepped on her toes. That had to hurt.
As soon as the first song ended, Tom stepped forward from his position against the wall. He held out his hand, which Harriet took. Her gloved hand looked so delicate in his own, he pulled it up to his lips and kissed it softly. Harriet giggled. “Would you allow me this dance, my lady?“, he did a bit of an over-exaggerated swagger. She laughed. Merlin, Tom would do anything to hear her laugh again.
“I will“
He lead her to the dance-floor just in time for the next round of songs. She fit perfectly in his arms as they began a traditional slow waltz. Thy were by far not the only ones but Tom dared to say they were the most elegant, by far the best dancers. It was to be expected, since Harriet was a Potter and had surely learned to waltz like she had learned to walk. Tom himself had taken a few weeks to get the hang of it, but with a little bit of transformation and a good silencing charm, practicing wasn’t difficult.
They turned and turned, and Harriet twirled a bit. She looked magical, Tom told her so. She flushed adorably, right up to her bejeweled ears.
Maybe half an hour later, they took a break, Tom offering to get her and himself something to drink whilst she mingled with some of her friends. He didn’t know them well, since all of them were younger than him, but he had seen the Lovegood girl in the hallways, oddly enough, mostly barefoot. She always looked like she was dreaming and he was sure he’d seen her read a magazine upside down once. Her date, a Longbottom boy, could dance fairly well but Tom didn’t even know what house he was in.
Harriet seemed to like them well enough, as she struck up easy conversation, something about charms.
The pumpkin juice was very obviously spiked, probably by a Gryffindor. Tom rolled his eyes and charmed it to at least not smell. He sipped the juice and grinned, yes, this would do. Dumbledores eyes caught his from across the room. Tom had the odd urge to hold up his middle finger. The old man always seemed to have him on the kicker for some reason. He’d barely even done anything to be this suspicious of.
He passed by another one of his knights on the way back, and they nodded at each other. Rosier was a brute, but he wasn’t too stupid to follow orders so he was okay in Tom’s books.
He sent a commiserating glance towards Abraxas, who was still ensnared by his fiancee.
Back at Harriets side, he delivered her the drink and then put his hand on the low of her back. “Watch out, the juice is spiked.“, he said. Longbottom’s eyes narrowed but he didn’t say anything. The Lovegood girl grinned.
“I saw the nargles earlier, I believe they had firewhiskey“ ok, whatever that meant.
Harriet nodded, “Duly noted“
Then she drank her entire juice in one go. Luckily, or un-luckily, depending on how you look at it, the cups were linked back to the drinks, and the cup refilled itself. “Oh, that’s stronger than I expected. A wonder that none of the teachers noticed“
“I’m pretty sure they did and just don’t care“
Harriet put her cup back down and pulled Tom up with her. “Come on, I want to dance again. Dean said they’d change it to the Weird Sisters in an hour“
Discreetly, Tom put a protection charm over her cup, before letting himself get dragged along. It was so terribly easy to just put something into an already spiked cup—
They danced until they physically couldn’t anymore and the Weird Sisters began playing. Tom had never been a big fan of their music but he figured the other students would appreciate it.
The cup was still standing at the table they’d been at earlier and Harriet drank eagerly. Her face was flushed and Tom himself had to catch his breath. He hadn’t imagined dancing being this physically taxing. Suddenly, the temperature in the hall was no longer nicely warm but suffocatingly hot. He tugged at his collar.
“Do you want to go for a walk?“
Harriet looked up at him in surprise and grinned. She emptied her cup again and stood up, now with the slightest bit of sway in her step. He put an arm around her waist to steady her. He’d drunk about as much as she had, but he was also at least a foot taller and heavier. It was no surprise she noticed the alcohol more than he did. And anyway, she clearly wasn’t drunk yet, just a bit tipsy.
The sprawling hills surrounding Hogwarts glittered, covered in a heavy layer of snow that was undisturbed. It was beautiful. Tom could see his breath in the air, forming a little cloud. He was glad for his coat and for the cold, he hadn’t realized how hot it had gotten underneath the layers of formal wear. Harriet sighed. Her lips were painted a soft pink and in the soft light coming from the windows, her cheeks glittered.
“Nice night“, he said, for lack of anything else.
“Yeah, it really is“
He still had his arm around her waist and he was acutely aware of the closeness between them. In all his fantasies, none of them had ever come close to the real thing.
“Oh come on“, Harriet said, and turned, until both their chests were pressed against each other.
“Say stop if you don’t want this“, she whispered and pulled him down by his coat, until their heads were on a relatively equal level. Then, she pressed her lips against his and his world short circuited. Instincts took over, as one of her hands found the way into his hair and his own pulled her impossibly closer by the waist. Her mouth was hot and her lips just a pillowy soft as he imagined.
She arched her back into him and all he could think about was never letting go, not even to breath. He hoisted her up unto the railing of the platform they were currently on and stepped between he legs. Like this, their height difference was nearly null.
They pulled apart for a second to breath and then returned to each other. Harriet made the softest of whimpers against his skin and Tom could barely stop himself from outright growling. Normally, he was a creature of control, but everything seemed to melt away when it came to Harriet. Her skin on his felt marvelous, silky smooth and so hot to the touch. His hands ran up and down her curves and hers had tangled themselves so closely to his head that she could pull him around however she wanted. Not that he particularly objected.
“Good?“, she whispered in between heavy breath. How she could even think like this, Tom had no clue.
“Good“, he said. She shivered, and puller her thin robe closer. He was starting to feel the temperature as well, now that the sweat was beginning to dry. This could’ve easily been fixed by a spell but like this, it felt impossible to take out his wand and cast it. Instead, he took his own, much heavier robe, and pulled it off, stepping back for a second to rest it on her shoulders.
She looked like devil incarnate, already her lips were swollen, wearing his robe, in his colors. Tom couldn’t believe his luck. He kissed her again, for good measure. Her fingers ran up and down the collar of his robe.
“We have to go back inside, I promised Dean I’d dance with him“, her voice ghosted along his skin as she kissed his neck.
“Like this? Everybody will know what we’ve been doing“, it was true. Both of them were probably a mess, ruffled hair and wrinkled robes. And of course the flush on their cheeks and swollen lips.
Harriet shrugged. “So? It’s not like we did anything illegal.“
She hopped of the platform he had sat her on. Abruptly, they were no longer on eye level.
Tom shivered slightly. Despite his cavalier act, it was still freezing outside and without new exercise, he noticed that as well. Scowling, he finally pulled out his wand to cast the charm. Harriet giggled. “Somehow, I keep forgetting we’re wizards.“
Tom grinned. “I can keep reminding you, whenever you like“
They walked back inside. The mood in the great hall had changed drastically from the rather serene atmosphere from before. Now, it was practically a party. His classmates were jumping around in a poor approximation of actual dancing, obviously drunk. Tom eyed the juice and drank some more. Even he was starting to feel it.
Harried pulled of both of the robes she was wearing and put them at their table. “Come on, I have to go find Dean.“
Tom groaned but followed anyway. Tonight, Harriet could probably ask for anything and he’d give it to her gladly.
The music was so loud that they could no longer talk and sometime whilst they were gone, the teachers had disappeared.
Harriet navigated the crowd with ease leading Tom to suspect she must’ve been to a few parties already. He grinned. This girl. She seemed so sweet, and yet-.
Her hand hadn’t left his a she pulled him along, until she stood in front of her brother. Their robes clashed horribly, but Tom did have to admit that he could see the resemblance. Same hair and eyes, same general statue, even the same lips, pulled into a smile. Maybe this Dean wasn’t that horrible. His arms were flaying widely, but they found their way around his sister quickly, clearly the boy was wasted. But Harriet just laughed and went along with it. Tom was sad to see her let go of his hand, but he could admit it was nice to see her get along with her brother. Dean was graciously ignoring Tom, though he must’ve noticed his sisters date. At least he hadn’t made a big deal out of it.
Suddenly, a new hand found their way to Tom’s upper arm and he whipped around. A broadly smiling Abraxas had appeared, shouting something Tom could barely understand into his ear. Tom shrugged but Abraxas kept on grinning and jumping. And maybe the alcohol was hitting a little harder now, because the atmosphere was contagious. Suddenly, Tom found himself grinning and jumping enthusiastically too. Abraxas was a lot of fun at parties, but he’d known that already. The Slytherin parties were legendary after all. At some point, Abraxas, Tom, Harriet and Dean were all jumping together, laughing and Tom could almost forget the outside world existed at all, all that mattered was this moment, this night.
And if Harriet glancing up at him like that, he was gonna kiss her right here. Clearly, that had been her intention anyway. Because suddenly, Toms arms were full of a 5’2’’ Ravenclaw, enthusiastically making out with him. Abraxas was laughing and Dean pointedly turned towards his other friends and here they were. The two of them, on the yule ball, making out, having a good time.
What a dream.
And in 15 years time, when their children asked how they got together, Tom would tell them about this night and the yule ball, the memory dancing so vividly before his eyes, as if he were still there.