Tom's mind had gone cold, but his body kept responding to Fleur's warmth on pure instinct.
If he didn't enjoy this while he could, he had a feeling he'd never get another chance.
Even the heat and softness of a part-Veela couldn't distract him from the murderous glare he could feel from a certain young lady, or the sulking presence radiating from Astoria.
He was a dead man walking.
"Whoaaa..."
Every individual gasp was quiet, but stacked together, the whole Great Hall turned into a single wall of stunned silence, broken only by the collective sound of everyone leaning in for the show.
Madame Maxime didn't move to intervene either. She simply stood there, smiling, watching the scene play out.
At a school as strict on etiquette as Beauxbatons, what Fleur had just done would ordinarily be a scandal, but this was something Madame Maxime herself had permitted, and even encouraged.
She'd noticed how extraordinary Tom was the very first time they'd met, and since then, information about him had reached her from every direction. Madame Maxime was nearly certain by now that at least half the future of the magical world was going to carry the name Riddle.
If she couldn't lure the boy to Beauxbatons, then she'd settle for capturing his heart instead.
Men conquer the world, and women conquer men. Honestly, Madame Maxime didn't think this foolish girl of hers had what it took to conquer Tom outright, but tipping the scales in Fleur's favor even a little would be more than worth it.
And when there was something to gain, etiquette became a minor concern.
Young people chasing after romance and love were entitled to a bit of impropriety now and then. She wasn't some rigid old traditionalist.
If the students of Beauxbatons had known what was running through Madame Maxime's head, they'd have rolled their eyes clean out of their skulls.
The woman who dictated the precise length of their stride was suddenly this understanding?
Dumbledore, too, was smiling as he took in this scene bursting with youth and springtime energy. He looked happier than he had in ages, especially once his gaze swept over Daphne's flushed, furious face, Astoria's pout sharp enough to hang a kettle from, Hermione's white-knuckled fists, and a certain someone's tightly pressed lips that gave away far too much.
That only made him happier still.
Without thinking, he raised his goblet, hoping to clink it against Snape's in celebration, but Snape was far too absorbed in the show to notice.
Riddle, oh, Riddle.
Finally got a taste of your own medicine, did you?
Dumbledore found himself regretting not inviting Beauxbatons over sooner. If he had, Tom probably wouldn't have had the spare time to cause him half this much grief.
"Sister." Astoria tugged at Daphne's sleeve, practically panicking. "She stuck her tongue in!"
That finally snapped Daphne out of it. She wasn't about to just stand there playing the wronged party. She hauled hard on Tom and yanked the two apart.
"You shameless woman! Are you some kind of harlot!"
Well said!
Countless Hogwarts students silently pumped their fists, cheering Daphne on in their hearts.
That's it, don't let Hogwarts down, give her a proper fight!
But the very next second, once they got a clear look at the girl's face, every one of those onlookers lost themselves to nothing but dazed admiration.
They had never seen a girl this beautiful in their lives. Every single feature looked carved by heaven itself, and she seemed to glow from within, every smile and every glance enough to steal the breath from a room.
Fleur looked down at Daphne, who had thrown out her arms to shield Tom like a mother hen guarding her chick.
It was the first time the two of them had actually met, though each had heard the other's name mentioned more times than either cared to count.
Fleur arched an eyebrow, quickly running her own private assessment of Daphne.
Pretty, she had to admit. That round little face was cute, though it wasn't Fleur's type at all. If anything, that silver-haired girl standing behind her was the more striking of the two.
"Miss Greengrass, I presume?"
The corner of Fleur's mouth lifted into a graceful curve as she greeted her in English still touched with a French accent. "Thank you for looking after Tom for me. Do visit France sometime, and I'll make sure you're well taken care of."
That "for me," delivered in the tone of a lady of the house, was more than enough to send Daphne's hackles straight up.
"You old hag! If you want to go into heat, go find yourself a Siren! Trying to sully the Riddle bloodline, are you? Not even if Merlin himself came back from the dead, I'm telling you that right now!"
Fury flooded Fleur's lovely eyes at once. Daphne had gone straight for both of her weak points in a single breath: her age, and her blood.
Being a little older than Tom wasn't exactly a flaw, not by current standards. If anything, developing a bit earlier had its perks. But once you got to a certain age, the problem started to show.
The bigger issue was her blood. Fleur had never thought there was anything wrong with being part Veela. If anything, she took pride in it. But the common wisdom throughout the wizarding world was that half-breeds like her ranked lower than even a Muggle-born witch.
"Little girl, where are your manners? I simply said hello, and you attack me over it?"
"You call that hello? Since when does saying hello involve sticking your tongue down someone's throat!"
The students were having the time of their lives. Tom had shattered completely.
He stood behind Daphne like a man numb to the world, every last spark gone from his eyes. Not once, through countless projections with the power of Time, had he ever foreseen a scenario this absurd, and of course, it was exactly the worst-case outcome that had to happen.
Sparks flying the instant they met, and there was still more than a month left. He didn't even dare imagine how bad it might get by the end.
What garbage talent was this!
Grindelwald did this to me!
Wait. Grindelwald? Dumbledore?!
A little of the light returned to Tom's eyes. He turned to look toward the head table, and nearly choked to death on the spot at what he saw.
-------------------------
Patreon Advance Chapters: patreon .com / ElvenKing20