After Cassiopeia had returned to Houlton Manor she went to the living room and lit the fire. Although it was deep in the middle of the night she couldn't even think of going to sleep. She sat on the sofa and covered herself with a woollen blanket, reaching for a book and waiting for Tom to return.
She had been reading for over an hour when finally the soft sound of Tom apparating to the mansion made her look up. She watched as the door swung open and Tom walked into the living room. The flickering fire illuminated the room in a warm tone of gold and red. Tom's dark hair shone beautifully in the light of the flames. He was looking at her, his eyes dark and bottomless, a carefully disguised sparkle gleaming in them that made every inch of her body burn. Cassiopeia felt a wave of passion flood her. There was so much wrong with him, with what he did, with how he did it and why he did it. But at the same time he still felt so indescribably right to her, inevitably drawing her towards him, into the poisonous depths of his magic, and once again she wanted nothing more than to drown in his darkness, like so many times before.
Tom wordlessly closed the distance between them, his gaze locked with hers, greed and desire now evident in his eyes. Before Cassiopeia could even get up he was standing in front of her and pushed her back down on the cushions. The next moment he was kneeling above her, making her blood drum in her ears and taking her breath away with his lips. She felt his body move hard against hers and she desperately yearned for him to get closer. Running her hand through his hair she determinedly pulled him towards her. She felt his lips turn into a smirk without ever leaving hers but she didn't care, letting herself get swept away by the wave of passionate fire that was burning between them. Tom sensed that she craved for him and he was more than willing to comply, finally giving in to this longing desire that had been running through his veins ever since he had found her standing in that hallway at the asylum.
x-x-x-x
When their breathing finally slowed down, Tom leaned his head against the back of the sofa.
"I never want to lose you," he mumbled into the cushions, his voice low and husky. "I don't want you to ever leave me."
Cassiopeia's lips twitched into a small smile. "You know that I won't leave you if I can help it." She ran her fingers over his back. It was still sweaty and heated, making him seem so warm and alive. She pulled him close again. "You are everything I always wanted," she whispered into his skin.
Tom shifted his weight and lightly rested his forehead against hers. "I want it to stay like this forever. I want us to stay the way we are forever. If there was a way, would you take it?" He felt Cassiopeia tense and brushed his lips against hers. "I'm not talking about Horcruxes. I'm talking about other means, other ways..." His voice trailed away and he pushed his body up with his arms, looking into Cassiopeia's eyes. "Would you take them?"
Cassiopeia looked back at him. He was watching her intently, searching for any sign of her thoughts. Cassiopeia took in the unusual warmth that was shining in his eyes. She sighed. "That sounds so intriguing, Tom. But there is no eternal life, there is no eternal youth in this world. It doesn't matter that I would love to be with you forever because that doesn't change anything."
"But if there was..."
Cassiopeia cut him short. "We have been looking for ways to immortality for ages. Your Horcruxes were all we found, and we both know what I think about them. Tom, please don't make me long for an eternity together with you that I'm not about to have. Let us live here and now, make me feel alive here and now, because that's what life's about." She ran her hand up his arm that was strained from holding up his weight. When her fingers reached his head she ruffled his hair and he let her pull him close again, his lips caressing hers, taking in her scent and giving in to his body's desire once again.
x-x-x-x
It was already morning when Tom left. He had told Cassiopeia that he had business to attend to at Malfoy's, and Cassiopeia had chosen not to ask any further. She was positive that one way or the other, whatever his business was, it would surely come to haunt her early enough. Sooner or later his businesses always did, after all.
Cassiopeia went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast. While she was frying pancakes she thought about what Tom had said last night. About them staying together. About forever.
Up to now she had always deliberately chosen not to dwell too much on how and where her life was going to proceed. After all, there was no denying that loving Tom had always made planning any possible future more than difficult. Loving him had forced her to sort out her priorities very early.
She remembered that as a child she had been dreaming of becoming an Auror. However, falling in love with one of the darkest wizards of all time had let this idea seem...ridiculous, to say the least. With the plan of becoming an Auror out of the question she had chosen to work as a teacher for home schooled children and for a few years she had actually been able to teach the children of a number of wizarding families. But then Tom's new Ministry government had prohibited home schooling, making attending Hogwarts obligatory for all pure-blood and half-blood children. Thus, Tom had once again deprived her of her job. But when she had complained to him he had merely shrugged and stated that she didn't have to work at all, seeing that she had inherited enough money to afford her living. Even though she had disagreed there had been no point in arguing with him, because, in the end, it wouldn't have changed anything anyways. So she had settled for spending her free time reading and studying, hoping that maybe one day it would at least pay off. All in all, she had always just lived from day to day and from week to week, never knowing where Tom's war would take them the next moment, whether his hatred and fury would finally destroy them or what else might happen before the end of the day.
Forever seemed to be a misplaced word in a world made of war, contempt and hatred, in a world as dangerous and fragile as Tom's. And yet there were these moments of passion, like last night, that made him seem so different, that really made her want to stay with him forever, that made her want to forget all about contempt, hatred, darkness and war. These moments when she just wanted to be in his arms, his body so close to hers, his breath on her skin, his magic all around them and his passion carrying her away. These were the times when she knew Tom was really caring for her, when he was completely unguarded and honest, when he was only Tom, not the possibly most dangerous dark wizard of all time.
Author's note: Thanks for reading!
