Veronica could have sworn her heart had given way. She could feel the butterflies explode within the confines of her chest as she slowly turned to face him. Heat resonated off her as she stared into his cold malice eyes and for once she was surprised he hadn't whipped his wand out for the sheer fun of it.

"Can't I bathe in peace without you stalking me?" She remarked sarcastically as she tried extremely hard to pull off an unfazed expression.

Tom let out a grumble of a laugh as he pulled out a small black bag of toiletries seemingly out of nowhere. "I was actually thinking the same thing." He retaliated in the same tone.

Despite her mouth going dry, her legs feeling like jelly and the surge of adrenaline flooding her veins Veronica played well on his bitterness and in turn, could forge a condescending look quite easily as she grabbed her things from the sink. As she quickly picked up her belongings she decided to peek up at the now cloudless mirror and she almost jolted when she saw Tom's reflection stood directly behind her. In shock, she dropped her things again as she quickly spun herself round to face him, backing as much as she could against the ceramic bowl.

Tom on the other hand was in mild interest of her body, he had a look of pure childlike wonder as he stared at the white scars on her chest. Veronica eyed him for a moment before quickly hiking up her towel and obscuring his view.

He smirked as he noted her uncomfortable nature. "I wouldn't have had to do that you know." He spoke up suddenly. "But you never learn. It's like you deliberately push me to hurt you." He flicked his eyes up to look at her; a dark sullen look descended his pallid features.

"That's right Tom, I purposely want you to hurt me." She said sarcastically. "Now move, you're in my way." She ordered.

Tom arched his eyebrow at her as he tried to survey her unreadable exterior. "You don't want me to move." He remarked as if he had suddenly divulged into her thoughts. Veronica tried to pull a confusion expression but instead ended up flushing pink.

"You're not a mind reader Tom, so stop acting as though you are one. You know nothing about me." She shot back as she looked away from his penetrating gaze.

Tom laughed, but in a far from humoured way. He slowly reached out and trailed a long finger against the skin on her forearm. She recoiled instantly from his touch before it lightly trailed up past her chest until it nestled at the nape of her neck. Pain shot through her as she felt his touch go from a gentle brush to a violent grab instantly. He knotted his hands through her damp silver waves and with doing so, used this as leverage to pull her closer to him.

"Look at me Bennett." He snapped as she closed her eyes at the sharp pain emitting from her scalp. "Look at me!" He growled once more and at this point, Veronica could tell instantly that his charming façade had out stayed its welcome. She reluctantly looked back at Tom as she saw him lean into her, his lips literally danced against the shell of her ear before whispering "I know a lot more than you think."

Almost immediately he released any hold he had over her and she stumbled from his grasp.

She rubbed her head soothingly as her eyes glared at his turned back. You'd think she would have realized by now that antagonizing Riddle would never have a pleasant outcome but she couldn't hold her tongue when he was around. There was something about his constant arrogance that fuelled her anger and drive to outwit him. But it could have been the slight attraction towards him that stirred feelings of sadness that he had chose to turn away from her, wasn't she worth his attention anymore?

"What, no wand this time?" She huffed.

Tom smirked again before spinning around to look at her again. Veronica had crossed her arms whilst an uninterested expression had taken over her features. "And you say you don't purposely push me?" He sneered callously.

Veronica flicked her tongue over her lips before exhaling a long breath. "It's what I've come to expect from you."

"Should I be impressed that you learnt something Bennett? Because I'm not. It's common knowledge not to test me, why do you think you're exempt from everyone else? You have no privileges when it comes to me, I'll treat you like the rest of the vermin in this school despite whether or not I think you deserve it." He said with an uninterested glimmer in his eyes.

She paused a moment, carefully selecting her words before retaliating back. "Come off it Tom. You know I have some hold over you, you just don't want to admit it." She had to stop and think for a moment at what she had just said. Why was she goading him to confess non-existent feelings for her?

Tom's face dropped. All arrogance had faded instantly and was replaced with a look of pure revulsion. "You have no fucking hold over me." He spat venomously.

Veronica knew not to press things further, but something daring within her couldn't be stopped. Despite her heart beating frantically against her chest, she sought a thrill of excitement from the situation, like one would if they were anticipating a firework going off. "Don't I?" She asked in a mocking tone of innocence.

Tom's nostrils flared with anger as he glared at Veronica with pursed lips. "You don't know how lucky you have been for me to have let you go after all those times of disobedience. If I had my way, you'd be rotting in the dungeons."

She looked down at her nails in an uninterested manner before peeking back up at Tom who was continuing to seethe. "Oh, are you finished?"

Veronica was deliberately pushing Tom past his limits and for reasons she couldn't be too sure of. Was it for entertainment? Out of boredom? Or was it that she enjoyed a spot of flirting with the so called 'danger'? She really couldn't be too sure anymore. She was becoming slightly addicted to the adrenaline coursing through her veins as she continued to push Tom until he was at breaking point.

Tom's upper lip curled into a cruel snarl as he launched himself at her. His hands gripped and tightened around her throat as the impact from the colliding bodies resulted in Veronica's head smashing against the mirror behind her. She could feel her face tingling as the sensation of blood rushing to the skin was becoming stronger as Tom's grip hardened. She scratched at his hands whilst her legs kicked and struggled against the rest of Tom's towering frame.

She stared into his eyes feeling like if she had one last thing to do before she actually did die was perhaps scar him with her own piercing stare like he had done to her for so long but she found that tears were leaking from them on their own accord. The pain in her chest felt as though she had been stabbed repeatedly as she tried desperately to take a gasp of air but Tom's hands were preventing her to do so. She was going dizzy, the darkness started to cloud her vision as all she could was stare at him whilst emitting croaks and whimpers.

She thought this was it, she had pushed him one step too far. She had let her cockiness get the better of her and this was the price she was going to pay. She was going to die and all because she had ran her mouth. He had warned her, he had warned her so many times, yet she chose not to listen. This is it. She thought. Whether it was because of the lack of oxygen and dizziness or she really was losing her mind she heard it again, she heard Tom's voice echoing around in the back of her mind. But she was watching him; she could swear on her last remaining seconds of life she didn't see his lips move once.

"Is this really how you want to die?" His eyes continued to sear with rage as his hands began to shake from the applied pressure.

She went to move her lips in a bid to respond but found she couldn't even muster that. Eyes rolling up ward, she was awaiting deaths arrival as she knew it was imminent and then the darkness came. With it came relief from all the pain she was experiencing, all sounds and sensations became muted as she welcomed it.

Tom retracted away from her throat and paused a moment to a wait for her big intake of air but was stunned when she continued to loll against the sink like a rag doll. She stayed that way for more than a couple of seconds and Tom noted her chest hadn't heaved in the oxygen like it had done the last time. Panic now flooded his system as he began to tap and shake her lifeless body.

"WAKE UP VERONICA, WAKE UP." He grunted as he cupped her cool face and pulled it close to his own. "Listen to me, wake up." But still she didn't stir. He let out a loud growl of frustration as he spoke once more. "You're not leaving me… You're not leaving me like everyone else has." Venom dripped from those ushered words as he pulled her pale body against his own. He would try anything to get to her to wake up.

He wasted no time as he picked up her fragile body and carried it to the stall that was currently still occupied with Veronica's clothing. He placed her down on the ceramic floor of the shower as he twisted the tap to allow warm water to spray down freely upon them. Tom wasn't even aware that he was soaked to the bone as he kneeled down beside her, trying frantically to gain a response from her.

He felt numb. His hands were shaking with fear, had he actually killed her? If had, he certainly didn't have the intention to; he was only trying to teach her a lesson about respect.

"FUCK!" He bellowed out loudly as he ran a hand through his damp raven curls in anger. "FUUUUCK!" He screamed again as he punched the wall nearest to him.

Now panic was plaguing him and he longed just for a moment's peace to gather his thoughts but he knew he couldn't waste any more time. He reached over and pulled up her slumped body, grasping her face in between the palms of his hands. He analysed her face for a moment before pulling it into the direct flow of the water. He held her there for a moment as he watched her face closely for any signs of reaction; he felt the low pang of fear resonate within his gut when he noted that this had no affect. He then began to panic again but this stage of adrenaline hadn't lasted long because no sooner had he succumbed to it, he noticed her eyelids fluttering.

He let out a long breath that he hadn't realised he had been holding in. Relief flooded him as he saw her splutter against the incoming rush of warm water.

She retracted her head away from the water flow groggily and instead, lolled it against whatever would allow her to lean upon. Unfortunately for Tom that happened to be his upper chest where her face was pressed uncomfortably close to his neck. He too felt obliged to try and withdraw from her but found he couldn't. He was relieved to say the least but this didn't deteriorate the resentment he held for her but regardless of such, he still couldn't deny he was happy that she was still alive.

She mumbled something incoherent against the flesh of his neck which caused him to rouse slightly. He thought quickly of what to do next, how to even handle her in such a fragile state. He couldn't just leave her here and he certainly couldn't take her back to her dormitory. That Mildred girl was always interfering in situations that weren't a cause for her concern and he definitely couldn't take her to the infirmary.

Then like a flash of brilliance, realisation struck him. He had the perfect plan.

Can I just say a big thank you to everyone who reads/reviews/favourites this story. I hadn't realised so many of you liked it! It's not only made me even more determined to finish this off (hopefully not anytime soon) but to update quite frequently. I'm seriously so happy that a lot of you take the time to read this.

And I know in the last update I said this chapter was going to be Lemon but I kinda felt the situation needed building up a lot more, so with that being said, I can safely say that the next update won't disappoint you at all. I'm actually in the process of writing and revising the new chapter so the next update could be posted in the next few days.

As I always say, please let me know what you think. I like to hear what everyone has to say and what they think should happen!

Much Love,
Kawaii Thirteen