Invictus [Tom Riddle / Tomione]

To Have and Have Not

It was Friday evening, and Hermione had picked up her dress for the inaugural banquet from Twillfit and Tattings. She had planned a girl's night with Cedrella Weasley, her co-worker, Eulessia Baron, and her two elf friends, Lucky and Piksy.

First, they had dinner at a popular wizarding restaurant in Kettel Court, after which Hermione took them on a tour of the new wizarding Bank which was finally nearing the end of construction. Then, Hermione had suggested they go to the muggle cinema. It was an entirely new experience for Eulessia, Cedrella, Lucky, and Piksy, due to the fact that the magical community had no equivalent for movies or moving pictures. Lucky and Piksy attended as well, under polyjuice potion, and Eulessia and Cedrella were flabbergasted by the entire outing. They saw the Oscar winning film "Key Largo," starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, the latter of whom happened to be one of Hermione's favorite actresses of the period.

After the film, they'd all agreed to go back to Hermione's flat and bake sweets and prepare their attire for the banquet the following evening. Since it was a ministry event, Cedrella would be attending with Septimus, and Eulessia would attend as a press representative. Hermione, of course, would be attending on the arm of Gaspard. They had decided to spend the night at Hermione's flat, so that they could all get ready together the next day with the aid of Piksy and Lucky. Cedrella was in a particularly pleasant mood, as her sister Callidora had agreed to watch baby Bilius for the weekend, a gesture which genuinely brought tears to her eyes, as the rest of her Black relatives had disowned her for her marriage to Septimus. To see her sister truly trying meant the world to Cedrella.

Later that night, the friend group finally made their way up the elevator of Hermione's building, and the polyjuice had begun to fade from Lucky and Piksy. They were laughing together about one of Hermione and Eulessia's irritating co-workers as Hermione waved her wand to open the door to her flat.

The ladies giggled as they walked through the foyer. "Merlin's beard, I've never laughed so hard as when Kogrod hid Eustace's quill for the entire day. He kept asking every single person in every department and I could not keep a straight face."

As the ladies entered the sitting room, the group stopped short as they found Tom Riddle standing there waiting in the center of the room. He'd been sitting on the sofa, but stood abruptly when the women entered. To his credit, he looked quite shocked to see Hermione with company.

"Oh, my," whispered Eulessia in a scandalized tone. "Will you be joining the girl's sleepover?" She snuck a glance at Hermione and grinned. "I wasn't aware you'd hired a male entertainer, Hermione, but I'm certainly not complaining."

Hermione's eyes widened with something resembling immense mortification and she gave Eulessia her best "shut the hell up" look and strode across the room with intent.

Riddle stood observing the scene with amusement, his jaw jutted to the side with a barely concealed smirk.

Hermione walked up to Riddle and spoke in a muted tone. "Can we talk outside?"

He nodded, flicking his eyes at her companions and bestowing them with a nod before he walked through the foyer out into the hallway.

Hermione followed him through the door and closed it behind her. She could hear giggles coming from inside once it was closed.

She turned back to Riddle. "What are you doing here? How did you get in?"

"Same way I got in last time."

She looked at him with eyebrows raised. "Which was how?"

He smirked, then reached out to brush his fingertips along her cheek. "Tell me one of your secrets, love, and I'll tell you mine."