An hour later, Cho stood at the gate, hesitating whether to press the doorbell. Before she could, the iron gate swung open.
Tom poked his head out. "Why didn't you call me?"
"I was afraid I might have gotten the wrong place," Cho admitted with a shy laugh. She knew about Tom's background.
But an orphan… living here?
"Come in," Tom said, stepping aside and holding the gate open. Once she was inside, he explained, "A teacher of mine, he's quite wealthy, helped me get this place."
In truth, Tom had bought it using gold refined from the Philosopher's Stone, so calling it a "gift" from Nicolas Flamel wasn't wrong.
"I see," Cho nodded thoughtfully. "Then your teacher's incredibly generous."
Tom shrugged with a faint smirk. "Well, he doesn't have any heirs."
Cho blinked. "…Why does that sound like you're inheriting from the dead?"
Inside, the living room was scattered with ornate picture frames, tapestries, and various art pieces.
"I've done most of the setup," Tom said, gesturing at the mess. "All that's left are the finer details , the decorations. I wanted your opinion on where to place these."
"You trust my taste that much?" Cho knelt to examine an intricately patterned tapestry. "What if my suggestions don't match your aesthetic?"
"Then I'll reject them," Tom said casually, lips curling into a teasing grin. "But between the two of us, we'll finish faster than I would alone, right?"
Cho rolled her eyes. "You've got quite the nerve, don't you?"
Still, she picked up the tapestry and walked toward the stairs. "This one looks good here."
She took the task seriously , perhaps too seriously. For each choice, she pondered endlessly, sometimes comparing several items before deciding which matched best.
But like many girls, Cho suffered from chronic indecision, so ultimately Tom had to make the final call.
Still, the saying was true , men and women working together get more done. Even though Tom couldn't use magic while she was around, the two of them managed to decorate the entire first floor and both staircases in just one afternoon.
Cho wanted to keep going, but Tom stopped her.
He hadn't asked her over to work herself to exhaustion , just to have some company.
"There's no rush," he said. "We won't finish everything today anyway. You can come back tomorrow. Let's eat first , I'll take you home afterward."
The ingredients in his fridge were regularly restocked by house-elves, so freshness was never an issue. Tom prepared roast chicken and braised beef, while Cho made two Chinese dishes of her own.
During dinner, she looked around, amazed. "You've got so many spices , even yellow wine for removing the smell from meat! And half of these, I've never even seen."
Tom chuckled. "Those are from Hannah. Her cooking's way better than mine. You'll have to try it someday."
Over the next few days, Tom's schedule was perfectly balanced.
In the mornings, he'd go to Greengrass Manor, helping Daphne catch up on her summer assignments.
In the afternoons, he'd decorate the villa with Cho.
In the evenings, sometimes they'd have dinner together , and if Cho went home, Tom would head to Hermione's to mooch a meal.
Hermione, of course, was already deep into her studies for the next term , she'd reportedly finished half the syllabus.
Later at night, Tom spent time in the Learning Space, watching the newest episodes of Tom and Jerry with Ariana Dumbledore. His mastery of time management was simply extraordinary.
Ariana, lately, had taken to challenging Grindelwald every few days. She no longer feared him at all , in fact, she shouted daily about wanting to "suppress the First Dark Lord."
Unfortunately, each battle ended in her defeat.
Despite Ariana's incredible talent for dark magic, Grindelwald was still a genius , and surpassing a young Grindelwald in pure magic alone was nearly impossible. She'd have to embrace the darker side of magic , forbidden magic , to close that gap.
But Ariana refused to touch that path… and thus continued to be defeated.
,
The morning of the new term, Tom woke up early. Outside, everything was blanketed in white , snow had fallen through the night, covering the world in pristine silence. Even the window ledge was layered with soft frost.
Dressed neatly, Tom stepped into the Floo Network, arriving first at Greengrass Manor. He dragged a sleepy Daphne out of bed for breakfast, holding one girl in each hand as he led them back to his home , before heading next to Granger's house for Hermione.
Mr. Granger drove them to King's Cross Station. On the way, he joked about squeezing into the cramped car, until Tom casually expanded the back seat with a charm.
Mr. Granger fell silent for a long moment, then finally sighed. "If ordinary people had that kind of ability, housing prices would never have gone up so absurdly."
Hermione chuckled. "Dad, the Extension Charm is a difficult spell. Even among wizards, very few can do it properly. Don't compare everyone to him, " she gestured at Tom, ", the resident prodigy."
Both Greengrass sisters nodded in agreement.
Tom feigned indignation. "Prodigy is fine, but freak? That's uncalled for."
Hermione pouted. "Prodigies aren't supposed to break the laws of magic every other week."
Tom pinched her cheek lightly. "Then I guess your 'freak' will have to marry you one day , and the children will be freaks too."
Blushing, Hermione swatted his hand away.
Snow covered the roads, so Mr. Granger drove slowly for safety. They had left early, yet by the time they arrived, it was only half an hour before the train's departure.
"Take care of yourselves, and write home often," Mr. Granger said, waving as they entered the platform barrier.
He stood there long after they disappeared, staring at the steam cloud drifting over Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, before sighing deeply and turning toward the car park.
"The magical world…" he murmured. "What a marvelous, unreachable place."