#180 in Fanfiction || #1 in Hermione ||
In the language of literature, there exists a seemingly-concrete, antonymous relationship between good and evil, light and dark, hero and monster. And yet, we often disregard the transition from one to anothe...
September 1 arrives with many emotions, both happy and not, stemming between those who will attend Hogwarts and those who are meant to stay in London. Hermione practically loses her wits as she, Tom, and Ginny depart from the Burrow--sobbing as Harry and Ron give their farewells, clinging to their familiar forms. Indeed, it's not until they promise to visit at least once a month that she allows them to leave her embrace, the Trio to be split temporarily for this year alone.
After that, it's easier with the Weasleys, bidding them the promise to write and visit during any available moment, as if they'd go anywhere else for the holidays. Finally--stepping outside the house while wiping Molly's lipstick from their cheeks--Tom grasps the arms of Hermione and Ginny and Apparates them away, baggage and all.
They land outside Platform 9¾, both muggle- and wizard-kind swirling about their sides and paying no mind to their identities, a blessing that surely will not last. And now that the goodbyes are finished--a welcome notion in Tom's mind--Hermione begins to prep herself and Tom for their duties and appearance, determined to look professional as Heads of Hogwarts.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Stepping in front of him and reaching out, Hermione adjust Tom's badge to lay flat, something it was already doing--although her perfectionist eye is never quite appeased. And maybe that's the reason why Tom then raises his right hand to rake through her hair, now shiny and perfectly-curled under the station lights. Ginny rushes away at their couple moment, Hermione swatting at Tom's hand as it cups the back of her head.
"Stop it. You know I spent hours taming it," Hermione criticizes, this being the fourth time he's brushed his hand through her hair since she left her room this morning. Honestly, it's like they've returned to the 1940s, where Tom was obsessed with her locks for the reasons of teasing her, surely meaning the same here.
"I feel we are betraying ourselves by eradicating the Gryffindor mane," Tom teases, Hermione raising her left hand to smack him about the head--only for him to grab it right out of the air. And though she wishes he'd drop it--given her disinclination to touch him when irritated--Tom chooses to lace their fingers together at their sides, the cool silver ring pressing into her skin as well as his own.
"Come on," Hermione relents with a huff before he can further irritate her, pulling Tom through the passageway and into the insanity of Hogwarts' departure, bags floating behind their forms. Parents congregate near the train as ten minutes arrive until departure, Hermione and Tom passing through them with ease and without recognition, something they appreciate for the moment. And though it is not intentional, Hermione and Tom step out from the crowds, immediately being noticed by the press, waiting for them and swarming them entirely--Hermione's irritation mounting.
"Miss Granger, is it true that you're soon to be a Riddle?" a reporter voices above the rest, the first she can actually perceive in the chaos, still trying to move forward. And though she's inclined to not answer any questions, Hermione knows how information becomes more rampant and corrupted with time, instead choosing to answer concisely to avoid further rumors.
