Chapter 654: Chapter 654: Christmas Gift (Edited)
Watching the fireworks outside, Hermione felt deeply moved. It was the first time in her life that someone had dedicated a fireworks display to her, and moreover, her name was written in them.
Not only did she feel moved, but all of Hogwarts was astonished.
When had the young wizards of Hogwarts ever seen anything like this? It was as if someone had set up candles and played the guitar under the girls' dorm at college. The students who were awake rushed to the windows and woke up their sleeping friends to witness the spectacle.
However, due to the geographical location of the common rooms, only the students of Ravenclaw and Gryffindor could witness this visual feast. The Slytherin and Hufflepuff students, even if they felt it, couldn't see the situation firsthand.
Did they go out of the common room to take a look? They didn't have the courage to do so.
After the brief excitement, Hermione looked at her name in the sky and felt a little embarrassed.
The way Tom did this, to be honest, was a bit cheesy and arrogant... Hermione blushed intensely; her skin seemed on the verge of bleeding. When she heard footsteps coming from the dormitory, Miss Granger panicked.
Should she respond?
Hermione found herself in a dilemma.
But she soon felt relieved: after all, they were already together, what did accepting to be his partner at the ball mean?
When she came to that conclusion, Hermione rushed to the window, opened it, and shouted, "I accept!"
Her voice wasn't very loud; the Gryffindor Tower students didn't necessarily hear it, but the Ravenclaw students and Tom on the lawn heard it clearly.
Tom smiled and pointed to a pile of boxes beside him, which began to light up with fireworks and crackers on their own.
In the blink of an eye, hundreds of bright lights streaked across the sky, illuminating the entire night as if a meteor shower had occurred.
All the students who saw this scene were amazed. Even the Durmstrang students on the ship and the Beauxbatons students who lived near the Forbidden Forest heard the noise and poked their heads out to witness this magnificent scene along with the Hogwarts students.
"Tom, would you like to accompany me to visit Mr. Filch in the Punishment Room?" At some point, Dumbledore appeared behind Tom in his dressing gown and a kindly smile.
Evidently, Dumbledore couldn't tolerate Tom's flagrant violation of the rules. While he owed Tom and Hermione, he wasn't going to blindly yield or condone.
To Tom's horror, Dumbledore counted on his fingers the number of school rules Tom had broken.
"Out after curfew, setting off fireworks, causing loud noises during the night... do you have anything else to add?"
Tom freely admitted his "crimes."
"Very well, then come with me," Dumbledore nodded, leading the "culprit" away.
The commotion in the castle continued to spread until Professors McGonagall and Flitwick appeared in their respective common rooms. The young wizards calmed down and returned to their beds to rest.
Of course, Hermione was surrounded by her friends in the dormitory as soon as she returned.
"Hermione, would you like to accompany me to the Yule Ball?" - they imitated the boys enthusiastically, joking and laughing with Hermione.
The girls got excited until they finally settled down. Padma, panting, adjusted her hair and expressed with some nostalgia, "Hermione has become a young lady who has been publicly confessed to!"
Faced with Padma's direct question, Hermione felt somewhat nervous and anxious. She responded timidly, "This... this isn't a confession! It's just an invitation to the Yule Ball!"
Hermione's face was flushed, and due to the recent teasing, she was sweating a bit.
Padma wrapped her arm around Hermione's neck and gently licked a drop of sweat from her cheek.
"This smells like a lie, Miss Granger!"
"Let go, what are you doing?! Hey!"
Padma released Hermione and looked at her with envy, thinking to herself how surprisingly well Hermione had grown up lately.
Amidst laughter and jokes, the girls spent the night.
Meanwhile, Tom was taken to Filch's office and spent the whole night helping to set up the Christmas Ball decorations as punishment imposed by Dumbledore.
Hogwarts had two semesters per academic year, and the first one ended before the Christmas holidays. In the last week of the semester, the school became increasingly lively. Rumors about the Christmas ball were flying everywhere, some seemed ridiculous, like Dumbledore ordering three hundred barrels of Mrs. Rosmerta's butterbeer from the Three Broomsticks. Others seemed very real, like the appearance of The Weird Sisters to perform at the event. However, even the most absurd rumors could be true, as Tom saw the three hundred barrels of butterbeer stored in a supply room.
Tom's fireworks display was often a topic of discussion among the young wizards. The boys hoped to learn his skills, while the girls considered how they would respond if they found themselves in a similar situation. Meanwhile, Fred and George's inventions continued to sell very well, with everyone spending money on pranks and having fun.
The students were distracted, and some professors, like Professor Flitwick, stopped teaching altogether and played with the students instead. He brought Tom and Hermione's modified magical chess set to the Charms classroom and enjoyed playing together. For him, this was much more interesting than teaching. During the free moments between chess games (after losing one, he watched Tom and Hermione play), Professor Flitwick discussed with Tom the suit of armor he had created for the Triwizard Tournament and helped perfect the details.
However, other professors were not as lenient. Professor Binns continued to lecture about the Goblin Rebellion, Professor McGonagall and Moody didn't allow the students to relax and kept them busy until the last second of their classes.
As for Snape, he looked more exhausted lately. The reason was simple: he was focusing most of his energy on developing the potion for Hermione while still teaching the students, which was a considerable challenge. These two tasks absorbed almost all of his energy, leaving him with little time to bother the young wizards.
Tom's slaughterhouse business was thriving, and it could be said to be booming. According to Yuri's letter, the factory's capacity had multiplied several times, and around Christmas, they reached the peak of slaughter. Thousands of heads of cattle were being sacrificed in his factory every day, contributing their succulent meats.
All of this was thanks to the low prices. Since they didn't have to worry about ecological waste recycling costs, the slaughter prices at Tom's slaughterhouse were among the lowest in the entire state of Texas, or possibly even in all regular slaughterhouses in the United States. As a result, Texas farmers flocked to Tom's slaughterhouse, forming long lines outside the place.
The slaughterhouse's production capacity was at its maximum, and it never stopped killing, bleeding, and disposing of the blood and acids from the delivered animals, delivering clean meat to the satisfied farm owners.
The blood color inside the magic stone increased visibly, and in less than a month, it had accumulated approximately one-third of the progress. If Tom's slaughterhouse business continued like this, Hermione could have a newly created magic stone before Easter.
Tom's slaughterhouse not only attracted farm owners but also caught the attention of butchers who gathered outside the factory to do business with farm owners. Often, when a load of cattle was taken there, it was sold out before entering the slaughterhouse. Suddenly, Firetown became very lively. Farm owners, with their pockets full of new bills, spent money at the town's bars and played a bit, enjoying a few days of leisure before heading back home.
Clear-headed people could see that as long as the slaughterhouse could maintain such low prices, Firetown's prosperity would not diminish. As a result, pubs, casinos, and people involved in the meat and fur trade sprouted up like mushrooms after rain.
Continuing like this, Firetown had the potential to become a commercial center.
There were some people who sought trouble. For example, officials from the Environmental Protection Department of the country were very curious about where the ecological waste from this factory went. The slaughterhouse's explanation was that they used advanced biological degradation technology to break down the blood and entrails into water, carbon dioxide, and some inorganic salts.
The Environmental Protection Department officials were speechless. The local government, which was enjoying the benefits of the factory, also didn't welcome these officials, so they had to leave disappointed.
What happened in the Muggle world did not affect the magical world. British wizards were still more concerned about the changes at Gringotts.
Since the Dementors took away the top officials of Gringotts, the bank had been in chaos. Fortunately, the Ministry of Magic intervened in time and took over Gringotts. Furthermore, thanks to its improved system, the absence of leaders did not affect the normal operation at the basic level, so the chaos remained within a fairly small scope.
During the time when the Gringotts council members were detained, the Ministry of Magic quickly took their positions and took over their work. Ministry of Magic employees might not understand finance, but they knew about administration. With the support of a group of traitor goblins, the wizard-led bank was fully formed.
The wizards changed the power structure of Gringotts. Previously, all the top positions in the bank were held by noble-born goblins, but now it was a combination of both family-born goblins and goblins. The top of the power pyramid was removed and replaced by external forces, and the central part of the pyramid was replaced by the middle class. Both the lower dunderborn goblins and the family-born goblins did not lose out; some of them even managed to perform class shifts that would not have been possible under normal conditions. This made the internal resistance in Gringotts not as strong as imagined.
Now Gringotts was closely tied to the Ministry of Magic, and it was said that after the New Year, the Ministry of Magic would establish a new department: the Magical Finance Department. This department would historically appoint a goblin as the deputy director. As for the responsibilities of the department, they would be in charge of coordinating work with Gringotts and overseeing the bank's financial activities.
This is what happened before Christmas.
As Christmas approached, Hogwarts Castle showed its best appearance. For one night, the castle was adorned with lights and decorations: marble pillars hung with ice columns that would never melt, and the twelve Christmas trees reappeared in the Great Hall, hanging with all sorts of automatic gifts: bells that rang on their own, golden owls combing their wings while sitting atop the trees, small fireworks that exploded when someone approached... These small gifts were there for anyone to take. Any interested young wizard could take a few. The castle's armor was also polished until it shone, and they were enchanted to sing carols when someone approached.
What was interesting was that some of the armor only knew half of the song lyrics, so once someone stopped to listen, they would soon stop because they stumbled.
With all these things and many more, the students from the other two schools were amazed. It can only be said that the house-elves of Hogwarts put in a lot of effort and brought a lot of prestige back to the school.
Finally, Christmas holidays began. The teachers left the students with many assignments, including Professor Flitwick, who had enjoyed his time with the students before the holidays. However, once the holidays began, the students had no inclination to do the assignments; they were all busy having fun.
Along with the Christmas holidays, heavy snowfall arrived. The snow covered the Forbidden Forest and the castle's grounds, and it even formed a thick layer of ice on the surface of the Black Lake. From the castle's windows, the Beauxbatons carriage looked like a large pumpkin, and Hagrid's hut resembled a gingerbread house with icing. With a crystal-clear layer of ice on the outside, the Durmstrang ship looked like it had an ice shell, turning Hogwarts into a fairy tale world.
There was no happier time than this. The young wizards had no worries and spent their days lounging in the common rooms, playing chess with friends, skewering food on iron spikes and roasting it over the fire... Everything was so relaxed and enjoyable.
Hermione also changed her attitude and stopped mentioning studying. However, it seemed that she was preparing something in secret, as she often disappeared for a short period during the day, and not even Tom knew what she was up to.
And so, Christmas arrived.
On Christmas morning, Tom woke up from a deep sleep. He opened his eyes and realized that it was still dark outside, with only a faint glow flickering on the horizon, indicating that dawn was near.
Tom felt curious about why he had woken up so early. Soon, he found the answer, as he felt another body in his bed.
It was a soft and tender body.
The sensation of smooth, silky skin completely dispelled sleep from Tom's mind. He opened his eyes, sat up, and was immediately pushed back down.
"Tom, here's your Christmas present!" Hermione's voice sounded near Tom's ear.
Chapter 655: Chapter 655: Midnight Roses (Edited)
Hermione's voice surprised Tom. This surprise was different from the previous one. The first surprise was due to the sudden appearance of someone in his bed, but this time, the surprise was because Hermione suddenly appeared in his bed.
Tom lived in a shared dormitory. Although he enjoyed various invisible privileges at school, he shared the dormitory with some fellow students of the same year. However, due to his multiple occupations, he was not very familiar with his roommates.
This presented a problem—Hermione was now in a room full of burly men! If this were a naughty novel, at this moment, Hermione should be discovered by Tom's roommates without them realizing it, and then she would be photographed. Roommates would often secretly look at those photos. Finally, unable to contain themselves, they would put something in Hermione's drink... If they wanted to enjoy themselves a bit more, they would simply get Tom drunk, and then...
Tom felt nervous and sweaty. This situation was simply a nightmare and unacceptable to him. The situation of "My wife is a very traditional girl, we are deeply in love, but now we are getting tired..." could not happen to him.
So Tom was worried.
He lowered his voice, grabbed Hermione's shoulder, and whispered, "What are you doing here? Go back quickly!"
He drew back the curtains beside the bed and saw that his roommates were sound asleep, which reassured him a little.
Tom turned to Hermione and said in a low voice, "They've already fallen asleep, now you can... mmm..."
Hermione completely ignored Tom as she enveloped him like a gentle snake and kissed him.
Tom felt very nervous but also excited to defy the rules. He made an effort to remain silent and not make any sound.
Seeing how cautious Tom was, Hermione laughed and released her mouth from his. She raised a finger to her lips, making a shushing gesture. Then she leaned in close to Tom's ear and whispered, "Shhh... We don't want to wake up your roommates, do we?"
Tom closed his mouth, not making a sound and not daring to move.
Seeing this, Hermione found it even more amusing. The thrill of sneaking into her boyfriend's dorm room and then playing with him was just too stimulating. She caressed Tom's chest and then gave his bottom a playful pat. The cold sensation made Tom's skin tingle.
"Lift it up," Hermione said mischievously.
Tom: ???
"Please, don't do this... It's, it's too embarrassing..." Tom murmured quietly.
"We've done this many times before, isn't it only fair that we switch roles now?" Hermione said playfully.
Although Tom wanted to say something more, thinking about the consequences of making noise, he gave in. He obediently assumed the position Hermione requested.
Hermione: ...
She only intended to tease her boyfriend, but she didn't expect him to actually do it. No, she has to hold back, she can't laugh! But it's just irresistible, please don't pout so much!
Hermione, seeing Tom, couldn't help but laugh out loud. Laughing heartily, her laughter echoed loudly in the quiet night.
Tom: !!!∑('Д')ノ
His face turned pale with fear, just as he was about to use a spell to make his roommates fall asleep one by one, Hermione said something that reassured him.
"Tom, I'm a witch, so I can completely isolate sound with magic. The sounds from your bed and external sounds are completely isolated," Hermione said.
"Oh, I understand..." Tom sighed in relief. Now he didn't have to worry about his most precious treasure being seen by other people.
"This spell is very useful. Do you want to learn it? If you want, I can teach it to you," Hermione said as she put her hand on Tom's waist and gave him a little pat on the bottom.
Tom: ...
Hermione was playing with this spell in a very creative way! Wait a moment, this spell seems perfect for use on seducers!
As for what kind of seducers Hermione captures... Flowers are also seductive! Boys must protect themselves when they're out! Tom teased in his mind.
To avoid being seduced, Tom tried to turn around, but he was stopped by Hermione.
"Don't move!" An icy wand was pointing at Tom's waist. At some point, Hermione had drawn her own wand and was aiming it at him.
"Wait a minute!" Tom felt that something was wrong. "Hermione, you can't use the wand for this!"
Hermione: ...
At first, she didn't understand, but when she realized what Tom was trying to do, a blush rose to her cheeks, and the wand in her hands seemed to heat up.
"What are you thinking?" she said a bit embarrassed while giving Tom a light slap. Then she waved her wand, and a pink cord sprouted from the tip, tying Tom up.
"This is a punishment for what you just thought!" Clearly, Tom misunderstood the purpose of Hermione drawing her wand, which made her feel a little annoyed.
"What a nuisance, I just wanted to do something romantic..." Hermione muttered as she toyed with her wand.
!
"Come on, stop teasing me, look at this." The wooden wand moved over Hermione's delicate fingers, and instantly Tom's bed was filled with rose petals.
An intoxicating fragrance of flowers wafted through the air and reached Tom's nose.
"How about that? You took me to see a fireworks show before, so I'm returning the favor with a sea of flowers, do you like it?" Hermione gazed into Tom's eyes, full of love.
Feeling the aroma of the petals, seeing the girl less than an inch from his face, Tom couldn't contain his emotions any longer.
He replied, "I love it."
"I'm glad to hear that." Hermione took the initiative and kissed Tom.
After a long time, their lips parted, and their heavy breathing echoed in this small world isolated from the rest of the world.
It was only at that moment that he had time to look at what his girlfriend was wearing that day.
Seeing Tom's gaze on her, Hermione looked at him coquettishly. "Do I look good?"
Tom swallowed and his throat went dry. He nodded firmly and said, "Very beautiful."
That day, Hermione had specially prepared a Christmas outfit for Tom, with very little fabric and mainly in red and white colors.
Tom examined Hermione's beautiful face and felt that everything about her was simply irresistible. She had cute rabbit ears on her head and a red ribbon around her neck. Besides the soft red velvet, she was only wearing a small silk bra, which held her two white rabbits. The edges of the bra were adorned with white fur, which wrapped around the silky red fabric, forming a strong color contrast that caused a rapid heartbeat.
Under the silk bra, her abdomen was exposed. Hermione's exposed skin wasn't as white as the fur, but it had a healthy glow, like white lamb fat.
Tom realized that Hermione was wearing a pair of black leather gloves. Suddenly, he understood why, when she touched him earlier, he felt a cold sensation.
Tom's gaze moved away from the gloves and was drawn to the small triangle. It was a piece of white velvet fabric that barely covered the intimate area but looked like it could be pulled aside with a slight tug...
On both sides of the triangle, there were thin white ribbons that tied the fabric at the narrow waist. In the center of the white fabric, there was a red bow that concealed a surprising secret.
The person who designed this outfit understood the contrast well, using white to enhance the red and embellishments to arouse even stronger emotions. Despite being dressed, it was even more seductive than being naked.
And those long, straight legs were perfect like ancient Greek sculptures. Unlike Greek sculptures, Hermione was wearing a pair of brown, heelless leather boots with a golden metal buckle on each side of the shaft, adding a wild touch to this little bunny girl. If the girl before was a domesticated bunny, then these boots transformed her into a wild bunny.
These boots looked somewhat like a cowboy's riding boots, with a sense of weightiness, but precisely because of that weightiness, they highlighted Hermione's beautiful legs even more.
The boots also created a feeling of confinement, firmly trapping those beautiful legs.
Tom couldn't bear to see her so confined, but unfortunately, at this moment, he was firmly tied up by Hermione and couldn't move.
It seemed that Hermione noticed Tom's desire; she wriggled and extended one foot toward him.
The sound of the metal zipper was heard, and the boot shaft opened slightly, alleviating the confinement a bit. Beneath the brown leather, there were black silk stockings with lace.
Tom's breathing became heavy once again.
"If you like it, tonight... your Christmas gift has arrived, do you want to unwrap it?" Hermione whispered in Tom's ear.
"Yes."
The ropes loosened, and rose petals floated in the air.
...
Much, much later, the morning sun shone on the bed's curtain, illuminating two intertwined bodies.
Hermione turned, and Tom slid out of her, while the boy lying next to her sighed. However, soon, the sticky sensation made her frown.
"Tergeo." Hermione lazily waved her wand and cleaned all traces of their act. Then she noticed that, although no sound could be heard, rose petals had seeped out through some cracks in the curtain.
"Sigh..." she sighed and extended a white arm from behind the curtain. "Tergeo."
The rose petals scattered on the bedroom floor disappeared completely.
The warm sun illuminated Tom and gave him some vitality back.
"You're a little rascal," Hermione rolled her eyes as she looked at Tom, who was like a puddle of mud on the bed. Hermione's playful spirit emerged once again.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, Hermione attacked him again and tied Tom up once more. But this time, she chose to bind his limbs with ropes to the bedposts.
Tom: ???!!!
He was about to ask what was going on when Hermione covered his eyes with a cloth.
Tom: ???
Then, Hermione pinched Tom's nose, forcing him to open his mouth. At that moment, she stuffed a piece of silk fabric into his mouth, sealing it completely.
"Ugh, ugh!" Tom struggled without understanding, but it was destined to be futile.
Hermione used a transformation spell to turn one of the rose petals into a shiny blade.
Tom was struggling, but with a single movement from Hermione, he went stiff, not daring to move even an inch; he felt something cold and sharp pressing against the inside of his thigh.
"If you turn into a phoenix and then return to normal, do the cut parts grow back?" a demonic voice echoed.
Tom: !!!
Why? He really wanted to ask Hermione, wasn't everything fine just a moment ago? Why suddenly...
But he didn't have time anymore; the cold blade slid...
There was no blood or expected pain.
"I'm teasing you!" Hermione said, laughing. "Be more careful next time and don't disobey my requests again. I told you Professor Snape or Madam Pomfrey wouldn't be willing to provide us with that kind of potion, so be careful, okay?"
Tom nodded repeatedly.
"All right," Hermione said, tossing the black hair aside.
"This is just a small punishment." While listening to Tom's muffled sounds, Hermione swept away a whole set of dense dark bushes.
During the clearing, a crystal-clear spring gushed forth. Seeing the tender earth, Hermione couldn't help but laugh.
"Well, I wish you a Merry Christmas!" Hermione kissed Tom's cheek. After wiping her hands clean of the "spring," she wrapped herself in the wizard's robe at the foot of the bed. Taking advantage of Tom's roommates still being asleep, she silently slipped out of the boys' dormitory.
Of course, as a precaution, she enchanted herself with an invisibility spell before leaving, so even if someone got up early to go to the bathroom, they wouldn't see her.
After Hermione left, Tom realized that the girl had forgotten to release him!
It was revenge! He thought to himself.
But fortunately, Hermione remembered Tom's situation upon returning, and within a few minutes, the ropes on his hands and feet disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Back to his freedom, Tom quickly removed the piece of silk fabric she had stuffed in his mouth. The black fabric with holes was now wet, so he balled it up and tucked it under the pillow.
Tom grabbed his wand from the bedside and cleaned up the remaining rose petals on the bed. It was then that he felt an uncomfortable sensation.
It was a subtle friction sensation.
The origin of the sensation was in the forest Hermione had cleared; although the trees had been cut down, the trunks were still there, giving him a novel experience, something spicy and fresh at the same time.
Tom felt his face was slightly flushed. He dressed quickly, and at that moment, his roommates also woke up from their sleep.
"It seems like there's a smell of flowers," said Anthony.
"I'm smelling it too, it's like the scent of roses, did someone use a new shampoo?" Michael replied.
Tom's roommates had no idea what had happened the night before, only a faint scent of roses wafting in the air was whispering something to them in silence.
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