holding on {t.r.}

t w e n t y s e v e n

"Happy Birthday, love," Tom smiled, greeting Alexandra in the common room the morning of her seventeenth birthday.

"Thank you," Alexandra smiled. Their interaction didn't last long before being interrupted.

"Ready for breakfast?" Melissa asked, approaching the pair with Avery close by her side. Seeing as it was also Valentine's Day, the two couples were eager to go their separate ways, so celebrating Alexandra's birthday first thing in the morning was the compromise they decided on.

"You're positive she'll like it?" Tom whispered over to Avery as the girls ran ahead of them. "It seems cheesy."

"It doesn't hurt to be cheesy every once in a while, you know," Avery assured. "Although, coming from you, I can see how the actions may seem grotesque."

"Funny," Tom glared.

"So, you two have been meeting in that room this whole time, then?" Avery asked, jokingly elbowing Tom's side. "And it turns into whatever you'd like? Brilliant."

"You forget about it or I'll make you forget about it," Tom warned.

"Understood, boss," Avery nodded.

"Do you think tonight will be the night?" Melissa asked, giggling when Alexandra immediately turned red. "This is so exciting."

"I'm nervous," Alexandra explained. "What if I'm horrible?"

"It isn't going to be perfect right away, believe me," Melissa told her, smiling lightly. "But that doesn't mean it won't be meaningful."

"Right, yeah," Alexandra said awkwardly. As much as she tried, she couldn't get the thought of everything going wrong off of her mind. Tom noticed that she was distracted, having been staring out the window and tapping her foot throughout each class.

"Are you all right?" Tom asked as they made their way to the Room. He began to feel nervous himself, wondering whether she would like what he had done for her.

"I'm wonderful," Alexandra excused, grabbing his hand. "I'm just wondering what your surprise is."

"If you hate it, it was Avery's idea," Tom quickly defended, approaching the door. Alexandra smiled lightly, watching him nervously wipe his hands on his robes as he waited for the door to open. It was dark as they entered, light slowly appearing as the fireplace lit.

Alexandra stood in front of the door as it closed behind her, staring at the fire as Tom shuffled around the dimly lit room. Her eyes landed on him once again as a small string of light left his hand, immediately illuminating the room.

The room was different this time, no furniture in sight. A blanket was laid out in front of the fire place with a number of pillows placed on top. Beside the blanket stood Tom, holding flowers in his hand as he examined every small detail of Alexandra's reaction.

"I love it," she smiled, walking towards him and kissing him lightly. He handed her the flowers, gesturing for her to sit on the blanket as he did the same. She did exactly that, carefully placing the flowers beside her. He reached to the side, turning toward Alexandra with a small stack of books in his hands. He handed them to her and she took them, examining the covers and smiling to herself. In the pile were new books about a number of interests she's previously mentioned to him such as Astronomy, Astrology and even Muggle Studies.

"I've never seen you more passionate about something than when you were doing your research. I know the topic of time is less than desirable, so I thought these may help you find something new," Tom explained.

"This is very thoughtful, Tom," Alexandra smiled, looking up at him. While something told her the whole blanket and flower idea was Avery's, she knew the books were all Tom. "I love them. Thank you."

Their relationship dynamic, especially so early on, was an interesting one to say the least. Rather than spoiling each other with gifts and compliments as you would see in a relationship like Melissa and Avery's, Tom and Alexandra found romance in pushing each other to be the best versions of themselves. They didn't see their actions as an attempt to "fix" each other because neither of them believed the other needed to be fixed. It was almost like polishing a glass; the glass was perfect to begin with, having no cracks or chips, but polishing it adds a shine that wasn't there before.

"So," Melissa asked, having been waiting eagerly beside Alexandra's bed the next morning. "Did you do it, then?"

Before she could even open her eyes, a smile crept on Alexandra's face. Melissa squealed, clapping her hands together. Alexandra slowly opened her eyes and chuckled at the size of her friend's grin. "You've got to tell me everything!"

"It was weird at first seeing as neither of us had any idea what we were doing, but he was very polite and always made sure I was comfortable," Alexandra explained, sitting up.

"Merlin, get to the good stuff, will you?" Melissa whined.

"I dunno, I mean, it hurt at first and ended rather quickly, but that doesn't mean it was horrible," Alexandra shrugged. "You said it yourself, it wasn't going to be perfect, but it really was wonderful and so special to the both of us in many ways."

"You're not going to tell me what I want to know, are you?" Melissa attempted, causing Alexandra to roll her eyes.

"His business is none of your business," Alexandra told her.

"Every girl in this school envies you, you know. Especially Parkinson."

"Well, that could explain why she's never in the dorm," Alexandra laughed. "Or why she's never bothered to call me by the correct name."

"Get dressed, our lovers are waiting in the common room," Melissa joked, pulling Alexandra out of bed.

"Please never call them that again," Alexandra frowned, grabbing her clothes from her dresser. "And when I say please, I'm begging."

"So do you think it's bigger or smaller than Avery's?" Melissa asked through the bathroom door after Alexandra locked herself in it.

"I don't think speculation is the proper way to measure," Alexandra called back.

"What if I told you what his-"

"No!"