Love & Potions: A Tom Riddle X Reader Story. Part 2 (Fifth Year)

Chapter 20: Private dance lessons and unveiled fears

"You brought them with you?" Tom asks you almost immediately as he opens his dormitory door and and you nod and enter, pulling your heels out of your bag.

"Muffliato" Tom mutters pointing his wand at his door as it closes, and then he whispers a locking spell.

"Uh, why are you doing that?" You ask raising an eyebrow at him.

"I don't want the rest of the dormitory knowing I'm practicing dancing. I also don't want them to hear you clomping around...they'll think it's me doing drag." He says 

"Tom!" You say with a shocked grin.

"I'm only kidding, love." He says with a grin and kisses your forehead before he pulls his jumper off and his tie and adjusts his sleeves, rolling them up and clearing his throat.

You turn around and sit on the edge of his bed and put your heels on.

"Uh... this is going to be difficult." You say with slight apprehension. You hadn't worn heels very much before and now you were going to have to spend an evening dancing in them. You'd had trouble enough walking the few streets through Edinburgh with Tom the last time you wore heels.

"Do you not trust me? Or am I not as good a dance instructor as Enzo?" Tom says raising his eyebrow at you and crossing his arms.

"No! I don't mean anything about you. I just... doing it in heels. I forgot I have to do it in heels." You mumble.

"I won't let you fall, you'll be fine." Tom says with a smile. "Right, let's get started."

Tom holds his hand out and you put yours in his and he pulls you close into position, his other hand on your waist. He starts the music again and he counts you both in and he starts to lead you in the steps. You're doing better than you expected but you've forgotten some of the steps from the hours practice you had two days before. 

You keep practicing, focusing on his face and allowing your muscles to relax where they need to and tighten when they need to, trying to keep a straight back. After about thirty minutes of practicing and a few little comments here and there from Tom you sit back down on the edge of his bed.

"Ahh... my feet are hurting already." You say with a pained sigh and kick your heels off, rubbing your feet.

"I'll put a numbing spell on them if you would like, love? Then you can wear them all night and they shouldn't hurt your feet?" Tom says with a smile and you nod a thank you at him as he picks your heels up off the floor and points his wand at them. You see a silver sheen fill your shoes and seep into them, disappearing from view. He then points it at your feet and silver gossamer type socks cover your feet before soaking into your skin. When you slide your feet back into your shoes, the part where your toes meet the rest of your foot doesn't hurt anymore.

"What would I do without you?" You say with a smile and kiss his cheek and he smirks in return raising his eyebrows in a playful way.

"I don't know how people remember all these steps." You grumble a little as you try to remember them in your head. All the memorising made you feel like the formal dancing was going to take the fun out of the Ball, especially if you couldn't get these steps right. Tom could lead you well enough that it might not be noticeable but you wanted to get it perfect. 

Your perfectionist nature taking over you, determination filling you as you move yourself around on the floor trying to remember how to hold yourself and move properly. You watch yourself in the mirror, trying to keep an eye on how you look at each step. Tom watches you for a short while, his eyes looking from your feet to your head over and over as you practice. He lays out his work in order for later once you're gone. As you follow the steps you notice he has at least six pieces of homework to do.