A/N: Shout out to the guest reviewer who reminded me today that I haven't updated this in 9 months - oops! Here's a short chapter to tide you over :)

Chapter 37 - Circles

Fury.

Betrayal.

Rage.

Loneliness.

The words swirled in his mind, unfurling and concatenating with white noise as he viciously upturned his study table with his bare hands, his fingers already starting to bleed from the splintering wood. Breathing heavily, he turned towards the full length mirror in his room, barely registering the shake of his fists as he punched the reflective surface until it cracked and fell to pieces on the polished wooden floor.

Pain bloomed beneath his knuckles, his skin shredded and bloody. He knew he could heal it - it was nothing he couldn't accomplish but he wanted to feel it. He wanted to be distracted from what was truly hurting him.

Panting, Tom fell back on his bed, his room now deathly quiet as the sun set behind the window panes. Whether or not it was a part of Orion's ploy, it didn't change anything. The truth was that Orion Black had kissed Cho Chang and she didn't try to stop it.

Perhaps if she had wrenched herself away or hexed him or did something ,Tom might have been able to excuse it as part of their charade. What he couldn't accept was the way Orion's hand lingered on her cheek long after their kiss. He couldn't accept that when they finally pulled apart, she still looped her arm through his as they walked together back to the castle. He couldn't accept that all the affectionate exchanges they had flamboyantly displayed right in front of him over the past few weeks could have actually been sincere.

He had counted on leaving them them alone for long enough so that they would give up their foolish plans if he didn't react to them. But what if he had waited too long, what if he had all but given them permission to be lovers while he kept his distance?

He could almost imagine Cho, her nose scrunched up as she would retort "Why do I need permission from you?" but the thought brought him no sense of amusement. While he had initially wanted to kill Orion, he could not deny that he was a better match for Cho in every sense of the word. Yes, he was entitled and arrogant but he could give her the world if she wanted it. Tom could give her the world too but he didn't think she would appreciate what his version would look like.

Tom felt so tired, the countless amounts of sleepless nights catching up to him as his hands throbbed beside him. Closing his eyes, he drifted in and out of a fitful slumber, his mind blessedly blank in unconsciousness.

"You what?" screeched Arlene, her voice rising up an octave higher than usual in her shock. A few fellow housemates swiveled around to look at the two friends before returning back to their game of Wizard Chess.

Arlene lowered her voice significantly, finally remembering that they were in the common room and not at The Three Broomsticks.

"Cho, please tell me that you were joking earlier," said Arlene, her eyes as wide as saucers. Under any other circumstance, Cho would have found it funny. Arlene wasn't usually the one to gossip but this piece of news seemed to have spiked her interest.

Cho sighed, "I wish I was joking Arlene. I don't know what to do now."

"Are you in love with him?"

"Merlin no," scoffed Cho without hesitation. While Cho had never told Arlene the specifics of what was going on, she seemed to have a keen sense of what was playing out. While Cho could handle what the rest of the school thought of her, she did care about her friend's opinion. Luckily, they never questioned her about it, for which is she eternally grateful for.

Arlene lowered her voice even further, "Are you still in love with Riddle?"

She should have seen that question coming but it still stunned her into silence. Did she ever really love Tom Riddle? And even if she did, with all the had happened between them, did she still feel the same now?

"I don't know," murmured Cho, "With all that's happened it's hard for me to say but I still want to help him."

Arlene tilted her head, staring at her strangely, "What do you mean with all that's happened?"

Cho could read the curiosity in her eyes and for some reason, she had the oddest feeling that Arlene somehow knew. Not about Tom's frightening future but on the untold stories that Cho had fed her when she couldn't bear to tell her the truth.

Cho drew a shaky breath, "I can't tell you exactly what happened Arlene but Henry was right all those months ago - Tom isn't who everyone thinks he is."

"But you think he could be more?" questioned Arlene.

Cho laughed, the sound almost hysterical, "Stupidly, yes. I'm just trying to get him to realise it before it's too late."

Cho kicked off her blankets in frustration, rubbing her eyes that were reddened from the sleepless night. Judging by the peek of sunlight through her window, it was still too early to be up but she was far too restless to try and go back to sleep.

Tumbling out of bed, Cho hastily plaited her long hair and pulled on a clean jumper and jeans, forgoing her school robes as she quietly snuck out of the dormitories. Perhaps a walk around the grounds will help wake her up and clear her head.

Padding down the winding staircase and out of the empty common room, Cho begun her descent down the moving staircases, taking her time and relishing in the quiet of the castle.

It wasn't until she had time to herself like this that she realised how little time she had spent by herself since arriving here. When it wasn't Henry and Arlene keeping her company, there was always someone else to talk to or eat with. How would it feel to have no one at all?

Internally sighing at the inevitable direction her thoughts were taking, Cho almost cursed out loud as she ran headlong into something solid, warm and distinctly familiar.

"Oh, sorry I-"

The words died in her throat and she looked up at Tom's impassive face, his eyes shockingly cold and unrelenting as he pried away the hands on the shoulders that steadied her before. Her gaze caught on the thick bandages that were wound around both of his fists and before she knew what she was doing, she grabbed his hand.

"What happened?" she demanded, carefully turning it over to examine.

Tom yanked his hand back, ignoring the fluttering in his chest at seeing her in such close proximity to him again.

"I'm fine," replied Tom stiffly, covering most of the bandages with the long sleeves of his neatly pressed robes.

Cho bit her lip as he turned to stride away from her, making the split second decision to grab onto his wrist before she lost the courage.

"Tom, can we please talk?"

He didn't turn towards her, not wanting her to see the expression on his face.

He closed his eyes momentarily, taking a breath in to steady his voice into one of careful neutrality. "There's nothing to discuss."

He heard the sigh behind him before he saw her come around to stand in front of him.

"Please. Just 10 minutes of your time and then you never have to speak to me again if you don't want to."

He noticed the shadows under her eyes, the desperation in her voice as she all but begged for him to listen. But Tom did not want to listen. He would stand around and wait for her to tell him what he already knew.

"Don't waste your time Chang," he replied coldly, not noticing the look hurt that crossed her expression, "And make yourself scarce in front of me unless you want your boyfriend to suffer a similar fate to Malfoy."

Her brow creased, "Boyfriend?" she echoed incredulously before the thought dawned on her "You don't mean Orion do you?"

If Tom didn't already know that Cho was not the kind of purpose that would taunt him on purpose, he would accuse her of playing stupid. "Yes," he enunciated, his words acerbic "I mean Black."

She paused for a moment, seeming to reconcile something in her mind as she registered his bitter tone. To convince Tom that there was nothing between herself and Orion was a losing battle. He clearly had seen them by the lake and judging by his bandaged hands, he was not in a state where he wanted to hear Orion's name uttered again in conversation.

"Tom, I just want us to be friends again." said Cho, her pale hands twisting and untwisting as she tried to find the right words. "It doesn't have to be this complicated."

"Friends," he repeated, the one syllable dripping with a bluntness that bordered on cruel, "Were we ever friends or was that a lie too?"

A sharp flare of anger rose in Cho which she forcefully pushed down, refusing to rise to the bait. "We've both lied about a lot of things Tom but we can get past this."

His laugh was hollow, "We can get past this? Weren't you the one who called me a monster and said you could never forgive me?"

"You would be surprised at what love can do Tom" said Cho quietly, her voice so soft that Tom almost missed it.

However, Tom was not in the mood for pretty words no matter how much he wanted to believe her. Even if she could forgive him for the atrocities he would commit in the future, there was no way she could forgive him for all the times he had violated her trust over and over again in this time. She must have some sort of agenda, whether it was with Orion or Dumbledore, he didn't care. He wouldn't be persuaded by her. He wouldn't let himself be fooled by something as trivial as hope.

"Your 10 minutes is up Miss Chang. I would advise that you never try speaking to me again."

Before she could say anything, Tom turned around and walked away. He couldn't let his resolve waver. He wouldn't allow himself to hope.