Before Tom could even pretend to hesitate, Hermione—who had just blurted out the invitation—started panicking. She looked so incredibly flustered that if you shoved her underwater right then, she'd probably start blowing bubbles.
"I don't mean anything by it! I just meant—I mean—" Hermione coughed twice, trying to recover. "Since you'd just be going back to the orphanage anyway, and as a wizard, you probably wouldn't fit in well with them... why not, um... why not come stay at my place for a while?"
Miss Granger, please calm down. I never said you meant anything by it. Tom pursed his lips, putting on a look of deep contemplation. "Hmm... that's a tough one. I actually already made plans for the holidays."
The light in Hermione's eyes vanished.
"But since you're inviting me so nicely..."
The light returned!
"Alright," Tom said. "But won't me staying there disrupt your parents?" He thoughtfully considered her folks.
"No! They have to travel for work. They won't be home this week!"
Wait, no one's home? Tom froze for a second.
You mean for the next week, it's just me and Hermione? A boy and a girl, alone together under one roof? Doesn't that mean I can do whatever I want? Hehehe... The little devil inside Tom's head started cackling.
A whole week! A full seven days! I can use Hermione's Galleons, her cauldron, and all her potion ingredients however I want! Sure, her stash wasn't as complete as Snape's private lab, but Tom had a lot of experimental potions he wanted to brew. The Potions Master's office wasn't safe. If Snape ever caught Tom brewing some highly questionable dark magic concoction, he'd definitely point a finger at him and scream:
"Tom, you little bastard, what evil concoction are you brewing now?! You truly are a Dark Wizard born to the core—"
Tom rubbed his hands together excitedly. "Awesome. I'll go pack my things right now. Honestly, I wasn't even planning on leaving the castle this break."
Hermione looked puzzled. "Then why were you heading out so early in the morning? It's the holidays—shouldn't you sleep in?"
Sleep? Comfort is for the dead! Tom pointed off into the distance. "I was actually planning to petition the professors to let me bring Misha here for a few days. But I guess I can push that back now."
"Misha?" Hermione asked, surprised.
She remembered Misha. The girl was the most memorable kid at the orphanage. She was an obedient, sensible kid, if a bit stubborn. And there was always something hidden deep in Misha's eyes. Something buried far beneath the surface.
Hermione had only noticed the subtle clues when she was interacting with Misha while inhabiting "Tom Riddle's" body.
Misha treated Tom differently than she treated anyone else. Completely differently.
The level of intimacy and dependency Misha showed toward Tom was hard to put into words. It wasn't overt—at least not entirely—but she'd let her true colors slip in tiny, subtle actions.
"You could bring Misha to my house, too," Hermione offered instinctively.
"Misha? Nah, forget it," Tom shook his head. "She's really shy around strangers. She knows you, but you guys aren't exactly close. Um... maybe next time."
"But how were you going to bring Misha to Hogwarts anyway? Hogwarts is—" Hermione suddenly stopped, covering her mouth as a realization hit her.
Wait... is Misha a witch too?! Oh my god. "Right, well, hurry up and go pack your things," Hermione said hastily.
"I need to go tell the professors first." Tom took a few steps backward, patting the red scarf wrapped securely around his neck. "Thanks for the Christmas present, by the way. It's incredibly warm. It's really wonderful having you this winter."
Hermione's heart skipped a beat.
What the heck is this guy saying?! How can he just blurt something like that out in front of everyone? Does he have no shame?!
---
Tom walked down the Hogwarts corridors. There were a lot of students heading home. A lot.
And all of them were staring at him. No matter where Tom went, their eyes were glued to him.
Tom was starting to get annoyed!
Finally, someone stepped out of the crowd and blocked his path.
It was an older girl.
How did Tom know she was an upperclassman?
Faces can lie. Hairstyles can lie. Clothes can lie. But two heavy, bountiful assets on a chest definitely do not lie. Tom absolutely refused to believe any first-year could be that stacked!
Tom looked up into the eyes of the busty upperclassman. "Hello. Can I help you with something?"
The girl was incredibly nervous. She gave a quick bow. "H-hello! I asked around about you. You're the first-year, Tom Riddle, right? I-I'm—"
She was so flustered she bit her own tongue, stammering too much to even get her own name out.
"Mr. Riddle, your performance on the dance floor yesterday was absolutely, completely brilliant! I've never seen anyone dance as perfectly as you, and I've never seen anyone as handsome and dashing as you!"
Holy shit, Tom thought.
Stop with the compliments, people are watching! You're going to make me blush. Seriously, miss, keep buttering me up like that and we're going to end up having kids.
"Mr. Riddle, I like you. Please go out with me."
Tom: "?"
Wait, miss, I was just making a joke in my head, are you for real?
Hundreds of eyes instantly locked onto Tom and the upperclassman.
This isn't how dating sims work! Tom thought frantically. You can't just open with a confession! You're supposed to do this, and then that, and then do some other stuff, and THEN confess, eventually triggering a special CG event on a specific holiday!
Hiss... Tom paused.
Wait a second. If I think about it, I totally skipped all the prerequisite steps with a certain someone and went straight to the special CGs. Twice! The first time was in the monster forest, when Tom rescued Hermione from a horde of trolls. The second time was yesterday, when the grand ballroom became Tom and Hermione's personal stage, and everyone cheered for them.
This time, staying at Hermione's house for a week, I definitely have to make her play through all the missed steps. Otherwise, I'm taking a huge loss here! You can't just skip the early game and jump straight to the special CGs!
"Mr. Riddle, I'm sorry... am I causing trouble for you?" The busty upperclassman lowered her head, her cheeks burning bright red.
It was clear that even though she had initiated the attack, she wasn't nearly as shameless as Tom. With so many people staring, she was bound to get embarrassed.
Everyone was waiting for Tom's answer.
Some were jeering, some were cheering, and some were so jealous they were grinding their teeth to dust.
The two guys grinding their teeth had already decided to refund their train tickets and stay behind just to beat Tom up.
Terry and Li Su.
They had been on their way home, but they ended up witnessing the entire thing.