Braving the Past

Chapter 44: One Lost, Another Gained

Tom awoke from the best night's sleep he'd ever had. And that was saying something since he was kept awake most the night by shivers as his body fought off the remaining bits of the curse.

Hermione had been snuggled up against him, frizzy hair itching his nose, clothes half damp, body as warm as a bright summer's day. Even as his stomach growled, he lay his head on top of hers and listened to her slow, even breaths, doing his best to remain still.

Though tired, Tom felt much better than he had during the night. He suspected the curse had nearly run its course, thanks to the potion Hermione had spread on his injury. As he searched his memories for exactly what had happened yesterday, he found a fresh surge of hope that he probably should have stamped out but couldn't bring himself to do.

The way she had protected him from that merperson...

No, he would do well to stop those thoughts from penetrating before more pain followed. Hermione had been quite clear last night what her feelings were on the subject. Whether her actions proved her words or not, he would do his best to follow Lily Evans's advice and earn Hermione's trust the right way - wherever that got him.

Besides, he would win her over eventually. He was never one to give up something he'd set his sights on without a fight. Or in this case, someone.

Hermione stirred, pulling Tom from his thoughts. She gave a large yawn and moved her hand from his chest to rub her tired eyes. Tom felt the morning cold seep in where her warmth had left. It took another moment for her sleep fogged brain to catch up before she slowly pulled away, her cheeks filling with a soft pink.

She cleared her throat. "Good morning."

"Good morning," Tom repeated, his eyes taking in every detail of her.

"I'm sorry if I've made you uncomfortable," she said, motioning to where her warm body had lain.

"Nothing could have made me happier," Tom replied, barely holding back a smirk. He was trying to be good now, and good guys didn't seem to smirk.

Except for that dramatic Sirius fellow. He'd take second place in a smirking contest - Tom felt confident enough to put himself in first in this scenario.

Hermione rolled her eyes and raised to her feet, stretching her arms high into the air.

"How do you feel?" she ground out through her stretches.

"Much better, thanks to you."

"Yes, well, you're lucky I had some Essence of Dittany left," she said. "But it's almost gone, so you must be more careful."

"If I had my own blasted wand, I would have gotten along just fine," Tom said, inwardly cursing his horcrux self.

Hermione raised one side of her mouth up in a sly smirk.

Maybe good guys smirked more than he thought. The look worked on her.

"Check your pocket before you keep complaining about losing your own wand," she said.

His face fell in surprise, and he scrambled up off his robes to do as she said. Sure enough, there sat a wand, shorter than his but sturdy. He looked up at Hermione in amazement.

"How did you...?"

She crossed her arms and leaned against the dusty wall. "I snatched it from one of the Death Eaters before we left. Figured you could use a little something to protect yourself with." She looked at him thoughtfully for a moment. "Though you really handled yourself quite well in the beginning using wandless magic."