Winter came and went and the seventh year students of Hogwarts soon found themselves in the midst of full NEWT preparation. As the exams grew nearer, professors would not only give more advice on how to pass them, but they began instructing them on how to survive the real world. Audrey's heart dropped. She would be on her own sooner than she realized.
"What you have learned in your textbooks is not what will make you great later on in life." Dumbledore told his seventh year transfiguration class, "Passing a NEWT exam will not make you a good friend, spouse or parent. It will not even make you a good employee. What will make you great are the bonds you have created here. Think about how you have treated your fellow pupils. Think about the company you keep." He stared right at Audrey when he spoke that last sentence, "These are clues- visions of the future. Act wisely. Class dismissed."
"How profound." Claire giggled as they left the classroom. As usual, Tom was waiting outside the room for the three girls.
"What's profound may I ask?" he said politely.
"Dumbledore was talking about the way we act here and how it determines our future. Quite right actually." Vicky chimed in. Tom's face turned stony at the mention of Dumbledore's name. Audrey knew that Tom didn't like Dumbledore very much and Dumbledore felt the same way. It was strange for a teacher to openly dislike a student as they were not supposed to have any bias but everyone in school knew about the animosity between the two. Dumbledore took whatever chance he had to tarnish Tom's perfect image. He had been the only one who believed that the giant third year boy hadn't killed Myrtle and even persuaded Dippet to let him stay as a groundskeeper.
Audrey's heart sank when she thought about the incident. Dumbledore was right. He could see what the whole school was blind to. Their handsome, charming, Head Boy was a twisted individual. He belonged in Azkaban for goodness sake. Audrey knew this.
"See you at lunch." Tom said when they reached Audrey's next class. He bent down and kissed her hand. Claire barely held in a squeal. But Audrey only managed to crank out a weak smile. What kind of person was she? How could she be dating him?
She looked right into his eyes and they sparkled at her. They were pure and gentle and warm. But Audrey had witnessed the coldness and evil of the same eyes as well. Which was the real Tom? Why did it even matter? If he clearly had an evil side, why hadn't she reported him? Why couldn't she do the right thing? Any logical person would have told the authorities right away. But Audrey wasn't thinking logically at all. She was too in love to think straight. She had fallen so hard she couldn't get up.
Audrey shook her head and squeezed her eyes shut. She had promised herself she would stop thinking about it. She didn't want to think of such horrible things. They put her in a bad mood. It was much more pleasant to think the opposite. The Tom she knew and loved would never hurt anyone unjustly. At least, not again.
April was proving to be pleasantly warm that year. So warm, in fact, that the Quidditch pitch opened for spring early and students were playing games at lunch. Audrey was not one of those students, as she barely knew how to fly. But she would go watch Vicky play as usual. Tom sat next to her with his arm draped over her shoulders. He had been overly pleasant since last month's incident but Audrey was complaining. He had been nothing but the perfect boyfriend to her. When it became clear that he wouldn't hurt her again, she had let her guard down.
Audrey watched blurry figures zoom past her. Though she had never been a fan of playing Quidditch, she enjoyed watching the game from time to time. Currently, she was watching a friendly match between a bunch of students from various houses. The only two from Slytherin playing were Vicky and Mark Rosier- both chasers.
Tom's friends, who were sitting in the row in front of them, were all cheering for Rosier.
"Go Mark! Woo!"
"Ros-i-er! Ros-i-er!"
"And he scores!"
Tom, as usual, didn't utter a word of encouragement. But, for some reason, he seemed much colder than normal.
Rosier landed with ease onto the grassy field, still smiling over his last goal. Vicky patted him on the back, beaming. "Nice throwing there, Rosier." she complimented. He looked up at the stands at Audrey, blushing profusely. The two of them marched up the stands, deep in conversation about the game.
"I never knew you were such a great chaser Mark." Tom said as his friend sat down next to him.
"Well," Mark stared at Tom, "I'm full of surprises."
Audrey shuffled uneasily. A tension had suddenly formed between Tom and Mark, though both were still smiling. Audrey put her hand on Tom's arm.
"Is everything okay?" she whispered to him.
Tom turned to her and placed a warm hand on her head. "Of course." He lied. It was scary how convincing he sounded. But there was clearly something going on between the two boys that she wasn't aware of.
When Tom entered the Knight's meeting he had arranged the week before, he was exhausted and in no mood to put up Mark Rosier. He gritted his teeth when he saw Mark sitting at the row of desks set up like a long table. The Knight's numbers had increased since the beginning of the year and now a dozen boys and about two or three girls were standing in the classroom around the desks. Tom took his seat at the head of the table.
"Evening everyone. Welcome newcomers." he started, "Let's begin shall we."
"Rosier." Tom boomed.
"Yes my Lord." Mark said shakily.
"I would like to speak to you in private." His voice chilled the already cold room. Roasier bowed his head as he walked back towards his master. Tom stared at Mark with fury in his eyes. One of his most trusted servants had dared to betray him. Mark stood there, motionless, waiting for Tom to speak. Tom slowly raised his hand, leaving it hanging in the air for a few moments. Mark shut his eyes tightly and then Tom promptly backhanded him across the face.
"How dare you." Tom spat.
"I'm so sorry my Lord!" Mark said as he fell to his knees, groveling. "I cannot help it!"
Tom kicked the boy pleading in front of him. Mark groaned in agony. "You thought the others wouldn't tell me? You thought your Lord wouldn't find out?" he laughed while repeatedly kicking him.
"I beg for your mercy!" Mark cried and Tom gritted his teeth. There was no reason why he should not have tortured Rosier until he begged to die. But he was usually a very trusted servant with no prior mess-ups.
"I'm letting you off easy this time, Rosier." Tom said as Mark struggled to get up. "But it saddens me to think that you would plot this scheme behind my back. And more so that you thought you would succeed. What were you going to do when I found out? What were you going to do when I found out? Run to another country? You know I'd find you. And I'd kill you."
"I guess I didn't think it through." Mark whimpered.
"Clearly. I don't want to kill you. Don't force me to." Tom walked out of the room leaving Mark on his knees on the cold stone floor.
Three Days Ago
Tom sat in his usual spot in the common room, reading the Extensive Biography of Helga Hufflepuff. March had just arrived and instead of bringing cold winds and rain, a dry, mild climate had come instead. Therefore, most students were outside and the common room was empty. Even his Knights had gone out without him. It was a nice change of pace from being with them constantly. It gave him more time to research the founders.
"Liam! Wait!" Tom heard Mark Rosier yell outside of the common room. It seemed his followers were back early. Tom sighed and closed his book, quickly hiding it under the armchair's cushion.
"Gerroff me Mark!" Liam shouted as he entered the room. He yanked his arm from Mark's grip. When the two boys spotted their leader, they composed themselves and slowly approached him.
"What do you two want?" Tom said in an agitated tone.
"Rosier is a bloody traitor!" Mulciber said, clearly happy that he was getting someone else in trouble. Tom squinted his eyes at Rosier.
"It's not true my Lord! I've done nothing!" Mark cried.
"Not yet!" Liam said sternly and whipped a red journal from behind his back. "I found this in Mark's bag. I think you should take a look my Lord." Tom took the red, leather bound book out of Liam's hand and examined it. It seemed to be Mark's personal diary.
"Look at page 50." Liam sneered. Mark was standing with his head down, muttering what sounded like prayers. "Make sure to read it out loud my Lord. Just to increase his shame."
Tom opened up to page fifty of the diary. It was filled with Mark's scribbly handwriting and a grease stain stared at him in the middle of the paper. "I sat near her today at lunch and my heart wouldn't stop pounding. For the past few weeks, I've been unsuccessful at getting her out of my mind. I love everything she does. The way she talks, the way she smiles, the cute way she plays with her hair. I wish I could tell her how I feel but I could never muster up the courage. Why am I reading this? It's just Mark babbling on about some girl!" Tom yelled.
"Here," Liam said, taking the book back, "Skip to page 52. Bottom paragraph."
Tom sighed and began reading the small paragraph, "If I continue to carry on like this, I fear for my life. Though I cannot help the way I feel about her, I must control my impulses for pure survival. Maybe one day, far in the future, I can finally tell Audrey how much I like her." Tom's hands began to shake as he gripped the journal tightly.
"Please my Lord! I beg for your forgiveness!" Mark threw himself to the ground dramatically, sobbing and pleading.
"Keep reading my Lord!" Mulciber rubbed his hands together with glee.
Tom's eyes darted back to the page, eager to read more of the infuriating journal, "Maybe one day we could be together and run far away from him. I'm sure she'd like me just as much, if not more than my Lord. One day…"
"See? He's a filthy, conniving, piece of shit!" Mulciber spat.
Tom looked down at Mark, who was shielding himself with his arms. He could feel the anger coming up inside of him. He refused to let things get out of hand again. He would control his temper this time.
"Get out." Tom spoke calmly at both boys. Mark looked up at him, his face white as snow, stunned. "Leave, both of you." Mulciber looked extremely disappointed but left the common room. Rosier slowly backed away from Tom, flinching every few seconds until he reached the door.
Once the boys had left, Tom waited. He stood and waited for them to be long gone before he left. After ten minutes had passed, he left the common room and marched up the dungeon stairs. Then up to the second floor. Then the third, fourth, and so on until he had reached the seventh. He stood next to a bare wall frantically wishing for a place to vent until it appeared. His sanctuary that only he knew about had revealed itself. He stepped into the cool, bare room and shut the door behind him.
From the seventh floor corridor, a first year girl squealed as she heard spells blasting against the apparently normal wall.
