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

Chapter 34: Waking Up

You suddenly feel yourself coming back to a conscious state, hearing thoughts flitting around your head. Your eyes slowly stir open properly and you gaze up at the ceiling of your dormitory and the top of your four poster bed. The emerald green curtains were all pulled back into place and you can feel the weight of your duvet and blanket wrapped tight around you, so tight in fact, they're almost binding you to the bed. Like you're in a hospital bed almost. You feel a familiar warmth and purring and lift your neck to look down at the familiar sight of your cat curled into your side, his eyes closed in contentment, his body curled up tight and his paws tucked in, his tail wrapped around him.

Your neck almost creaks with stiffness and it's so sore and your fingers stretch out to stroke your cats fur. Each finger feels stiff as you reach for him and you stroke his ginger fur and smile. Your face aches too as it curves into a smile.

I feel like I've been hit by a troll's club... you grumble to yourself in your mind and you turn your head and sit up a little, trying to force yourself to a more seated position. As you turn your head, your eyes fall on another familiar and comfortable sight, Tom sat at your desk working away. As soon as he hears you move, his head whips round and his face is filled with relief as he drops his quill immediately.

"Ah she finally awakens..." Tom says with a small smile as he turns around in your desk chair, leaving behind the pile of books in front of him. "Hello trouble." Tom whispers quietly to you as he leans down and kisses you softly. He lingers for a short moment, your lips pressed together and you feel his relief in his kiss. You grimace a little as your neck feels heavy and sore and you struggle to turn it. Feeling his soft lips on yours makes you realise how dry yours are. Your cat moves his way up between you both, desperate for attention and Tom pulls back from you and sits down next to you on the edge of your bed, watching as your cat cuddles up further into your arms.

"He's not left your side at all." Tom says quietly as his eyes cast down at your cat and his long fingers stroke your cats back and he then smiles up at you, his dark eyes softer than you'd seen them in awhile, as if the sight of you awake was everything his eyes needed to see right now.

"What happened? I feel... like I've been hit by a trolls' club..." Your voice croaks and the feel of it surprises you. Speaking had made your throat feel dry like sand, your lips nearly sticking to your gums with how dry your mouth felt.

Tom raises an eyebrow and takes your water bottle from your bedside table and refills it for you, passing it to you. You sip through the straw but the feeling of thirst hits you hard and you unscrew the cap and start to glug the water down. Each wave of water flowing down your throat, making you nearly gasp with how desperate you are for more. When the bottle empties, you're still thirsty and Tom refills it for you, his eyes filled with concern at how dehydrated you seem to be. When you finally gasp and lower the bottle back down for the final time, you smile at him.

"You tell me. What do you remember?" Tom asks whilst sitting next to you on your bed, his eyes scanning all over you.

"I just remember...spiders and uh... that acromantula... it was going to attack you both... I killed it... and then I passed out in the forest. How... did I get back here?" You ask with a confused look whilst you stroke your cat who had crawled up to your face demanding attention now that you were awake. He butts his head against your chin and you lift your fingers up to scratch his head, smiling down at his purring before looking up to Tom for his explanation.

"We carried you back. Met Firenze on the edge of the forest and he checked you over and I brought you up here to rest."

You feel a slight rush of embarrassment at finding out that Tom and Mattheo between them had to get you back here from the forest. You tuck your lips in as you try to hide an amused smile at the idea of the stubborn pair of brothers trying to get back through the forest. The idea of them having to work together, traversing the forest in the dark, you know they would have been arguing every step of the way. It would have been pitch black by the time they got back to the forests edge and the castle. You knew you had put yourself and them in great danger by agreeing to go foraging for Firenze. You watch Tom for a long moment and work up the courage to apologise to him.