The door swings open quietly but swiftly and Vera walks in, her usual confident self, proclaiming her apologies for being a few minutes late on account of being with the Slytherin quidditch team on the pitch and losing track of time. Of course, Dippet still smiles at her and beckons her to take a seat, the french press of coffee they usually share already waiting for her.
Tom forces a smile as well, knowing the headmaster is watching him. She's barely said a word to him since leaving him to the sound of crashing waves, though she's been spending more time with Orion than ever before. They're on the pitch on weekends and in the library on weeknights, generally doing their best to raise hell wherever they go. They've already thrown three parties in the two weeks they have been back, successfully tricked five of the professors into canceling classes with a rumor that doxies were loose in the castle, and started an elaborate, castle-wide game of tag. He'd mentioned the distractions to Orion and had only received reassurances that he would still be dedicated to fulfilling any task Tom assigned him, along with excuses about how they were just enjoying their last weeks of freedom and complaining about wedding details together.
Tom was too proper to be jealous, and he knew Orion would never dare touch her. It was the Black way, a devotion to family and fortune – and a knowledge that even those did not posses the strength they used to – which served Tom well enough in ensuring the loyalty of his most capable servant. Anyway, he could never imagine himself running around the castle like that, carefree and playful. There was still too much he had to do, to learn, before school was over. Still, when he passed by them huddled in their corner of the common room, talking and laughing, on his way to bed late every night, he could not help but wish she would wile away her nights with him instead, talking to him with that veiled honesty they had shared for what seemed like the briefest of moments. He wanted to know her in ways that no one else did, to invade her shell of prosperity, pleasure, and polish, to escape her enchantments and to know her in a real way - the same way she seemed to simply know him.
"It's wonderful to see you both again," Dippet starts exuberantly. "Things seem to be going very smoothly this term. Patrols on schedule, Hogsmeade trips going swimmingly, no complaints from students or staff. I knew you two had great potential if you worked together. However, there does seem to be one small problem. Professor Slughorn has recently noticed a few potions ingredients have been in unusually short supply. It seems there is a problem with the security of his storeroom. Now, I would of course never suggest that any prefects would do such a thing, but it seems someone has found out how to slip past them and unlock the room."
"Well, that does seem like quite the problem for the professor! It would be just terrible if it affected his classes. If you don't mind me asking, headmaster, are any of the ingredients that have gone missing dangerous?" Vera asks sweetly.
"A few certainly could be, and a few are very valuable. Among other things, a batch of valerian has been taken, which could be used in a Draught of Living Death. In addition, the costs to replace the fairy wings, ashwinder eggs, moonstone, and unicorn horns that were taken is an unexpected setback for the school."
"We can assign more prefects to patrol the dungeons until the security of the storeroom is enhanced. I'm sure Vera and I can help keep an eye it as well, given that the potions classroom is so close to the Slytherin dormitories," Tom offers, trying not to grind his teeth at the loss of the materials he needs. He had been brewing small batches of a weak love potion to spray on himself before speaking to the Grey Lady, and it was a vital component in charming her into revealing her secret.
"That sounds like a very sensible solution. It would be best if the extra patrols start tonight," Dippet replies.
"Of course headmaster, we will take care of it right away," Vera comments cheerfully.
The hallways are empty as everyone has already scurried off to class by the time they are done with the meeting. Vera and Tom walk nearly step-in-step as they head toward Charms.
"I have a storage cabinet of ingredients in my room. You can have whatever you need, as long as you leave me out of any potential trouble that may result from it," Vera says as soon as they are out of earshot of the headmaster's office.
He immediately knows she would never offer up something like this out of kindness. She must be the one digging through the valerian and faerie wings that had gotten them caught, and she was just pre-empting his reaction in case he found that out.
"If you'd just taken ingredients from your own store instead of Slughorn's perhaps there wouldn't be a need for that," Tom bites back sharply, still angry at the endangerment of his plan. Luckily such an odd assortment of things had been taken between the two of them that it would be impossible for the professors to pin down what he was making. Though judging by her ingredients, he knew exactly what she was up to. They were very rarely combined. "Why do you need a Potion of Dreamless Sleep anyway? What happened to your doctor's special prescription?"
She purses her lips, "Seeing as it's not the most widely prescribed thing, he only gets a shipment a month. I gave my last two to you, if you don't recall. Raids delayed the next one for another two weeks. It is exceptionally hard to get a decent set of fairy wings. Nevertheless, I am sure I will find a replacement. Anyway, to avoid another incident of sabotage during potions, you can come and take whatever you need tonight. After patrols of course, wouldn't want anyone having a foundation for rumors."
"Of course not," Tom hisses before turning sharply down the staircase. He's in too rotten of a mood to listen to some ancient goblin prattle on for an entire double class.
He has never been to the girl's dormitories before. Despite being the same shape and structure as his room, her's is a thousand times more welcoming, with bright candles in every corner and photos plastered on the walls. After walking him up the staircase, she unlocks a large cabinet by the window for him and plunks down on her bed with a book, seemingly completely uninterested in which ingredients he needs.
It takes him a long time to find the things he needs, but it is not because the cabinet is anything less than meticulously organized. Rather, he's distracted by the photos of her on the wall, pictures of a champagne toast on top of the Eiffel Tower, the start of a gala at the Plaza Hotel, the commencement of a speech in the House of Lords, a picnic in front of the Port of San Fransisco. In short, pictures of a world - a life - enjoyed in the most remarkable of ways, in ways he would probably never have the chance to try. And nearly each picture featured Dante by her side, as if an account of how they had grown up over the last two years.
Noticing he's been standing still for a while, Vera speaks up, "If you've got everything you need, I can walk you down. Unless you prefer to slide, that is."
Tom turns, his free hand instinctively working his way through his hair as he shoves the last of the ingredients into his schoolbag. He talks without really thinking, "I've been brewing my potions in an empty classroom by the astronomy tower if you need a place."
She sighs, putting her book down and standing, "You need a license to get fairy wings so I doubt I'll be doing any extracurricular potion making soon."
He walks toward her bed, thinking he just intends to leave the room with her, yet knowing he wants to do so much more. "So how are you going to sleep?"
Vera shrugs, "I won't."
Tom smirks, "I do know one thing that helps you sleep."
She glares at him, "People talk Riddle, and someone is bound to find something to say sooner or later."
He raises an eyebrow, "You don't think I can keep my mouth shut?"
"I don't know if you really want to."
"You think that after all this time publicly declaring how ridiculous all those boys that flock to you are I am going to go out and admit I have too?"
"No, but I think you'd love to go out and tell everyone you've conquered me."
His smirk twists into a very seductive smile as he closes the distance between them and sweeps her hair away from her face,"But that's what you like about this, isn't it? You like it when I hold you down and make you beg for it. You like that I'm not one of those other boys that treats you like a soft, fragile object."
Her breathing noticeably quickens. She steps back, "One way or another, people are going to find out if we keep going with this. It's better for both of us if they don't."
"I can keep a secret," Tom says, stepping toward her again. She's nearly against the wall right now. "And I know you can too. More importantly, I know you'd much rather I just shove you against this wall and make you admit you want this. Though you might be a little too busy to form any coherent sentences."
Vera's breath hitches in her throat. She doesn't dare step back again, "There will be consequences if people find out. And they won't just be for me."
"I understand that. But how is anyone going to find out? We're up here alone right now. And if it happens again, I won't be careless about when and where."
Yes, carelessness. That was the thing to blame for the fact that they had, at one point, probably had sex in every wing of the castle. Definitely not the fact that he just couldn't help it.
She glares at him, but the way her skin is glowing shows her real emotions, "If anyone finds out, I will personally murder you."
Tom chuckles, knowing they're both not really joking, "I'll murder them first."
His hands find the zipper of her skirt as he pushes her back against the wall, every curve of her body still so familiar that an image of her might as well be carved into his brain. His lips bypass hers, knowing the way she will react to a kiss now. They are not in some tiny studio by the sea where they can pretend to lead normal lives, lives where this could all just be brushed aside as an adolescent adventure. They know better, or they should, but what does that matter when he can feel her heartbeat in his body?
Orion has been sitting in the common room for an hour, banging his head against the wall repeatedly and wondering why Vera is still not back. He's in the corner by the door now, laying absolutely still and trying to hold his mind back from going into another frenzy about this whole engagement to his cousin thing. The only way he can deal with it is by being with her.
He opens his eyes but doesn't move as he hears a noise from the girl's staircase. He's surprised when he looks over and sees Tom, dimly illuminated by the fireplace, stepping toward the boy's dormitory now. He looks happier than he did when he found out the person the basilisk killed was a mudblood. Orion smirks to himself as he figures out what Tom must have been doing up there. He had never thought his always uptight master was interested in sins of the flesh.
Orion's barely closed his eyes again when there's another noise, softer this time. He doesn't open them until he hears footsteps closer to him and a book thumping on the table. Vera's eyes flicker to his as he sits up.
"I thought you were asleep," she whispers.
"I was," he lies, rubbing his eyes, knowing it's better for him if she doesn't know that he knows.
"I just came down to get a book I left here," Vera says, motioning to the thick text she had dug out from under the pile of textbooks and papers which had accumulated in just a few hours.
"I thought you had patrols tonight," he mutters. He didn't think she had patrols, she had told him she had patrols.
"Oh, it was with Riddle so I just had that Hufflepuff do it. You know, the one with the crush on you. I always forget her name," Vera says, sitting next to him.
Orion is trying not to be terse but he can't help it, "Pandora Lovegood. We have three classes with her."
She shrugs, "Who cares about Hufflepuffs anyway. What are you doing down here?"
He looks toward the fire, "Waiting for you to get back."
Vera reaches out, hand meeting his in the empty space between them, "Still thinking about it?"
"She asked me what flowers we wanted today. What a stupid question. I can't even name three flowers that aren't used in some spell or potion."
"I know, I heard the argument during dinner. It isn't her fault, you know?"
"Yes, it is. She could have said no when my parents announced it over dinner. Instead she looked all too amused."
"You could have said no too," Vera points out.
"But she's dating a pureblood. She has an excuse. I don't."
Vera laughs, her hand moving up to his face to take away an eyelash that had fallen down while he slept, "You could have one by now if you wanted. That Hufflepuff girl is a pureblood. She has to be because Riddle wouldn't do patrols with her if she wasn't. She isn't terribly ugly either, if I remember correctly."
"She isn't terribly sane either, if I remember correctly," Orion remarks snidely.
"For what you need, does that really matter?"
"What do you mean, what I need?"
Vera smiles before stretching out her legs, laying her head in his lap and looking up at him, "A good romp in the sheets would help lift your mood."
It would, if it was with the right person. But she had fucked the person she had said she hated most in the world before she had fucked him. What did that say about what she really thought of him?
She changes the subject in response to his silence, "If it helps, I chose yellow lilies."
He strokes her hair, "Orange would be more fitting for mine. For yours too, I would say."
"I'm fine with marrying him. I just wish I wasn't marrying him right now. If you can't say the same thing about Walburga you better hurry up and find someone you do feel that way about, because you at least need to be able to bear the rest of your life."
"You didn't seem fine with marrying him a few weeks ago."
She looks toward the fire, saying simply, "You know what our responsibilities are. We could not belong in the places we do if we knew how to care about people. You know the way the world works."
"But wouldn't it be amazing if it didn't work that way anymore?" Merlin, wouldn't it be amazing if he could marry her? He didn't even care if he had to be some poor orphan to get her to consider him.
"Just because we have magic, it doesn't mean we can make miracles happen."
April slips into May as students slip into library desks to study for N.E.W.T.s. Tom had almost been good about holding back those distracting little urges, but the pressure of the tests and the impending deadline to ascertain the location of the founder's items were tempting him into taking a few extra study breaks. Vera had been surprisingly effective at resisting any blatantly ill advised activities – like the time Tom had shown up to "watch" quidditch practice and tried to whisk her away to the locker rooms – but her own determination to have perfect scores and her mother's determination to have the perfect wedding left her looking for as much of an escape as possible. Tom was the only one who didn't bother her for an invitation to the wedding or ask who was designing her napkins.
Vera is relaxing with a bath, head leaned back against the cold stone floor, warm, fragrant water wafting around her, as she thinks about the wedding. Maybe nothing they say about love is true. Maybe love doesn't create or destroy. She loves Dante, doesn't she? They've been inseparable practically their whole lives. They understand each other perfectly. They are willing to change for each other. What else can love be if not this? Maybe it isn't the strongest feeling in the world after all. Maybe love just feels … kind of boring.
Vera swears as she hears the doorknob clicking. Technically, prefects are limited to 30 minutes in the bathroom before it unlocks for others. Still, she thought the spell she'd been using to close the room had been foolproof all these years. She turns, picking her wand up off the tiles in front of her and intending to curse anyone who comes in to the edge of oblivion for disturbing her peace. That is, until she sees that it's Tom. Of course.
"With how long the door's been locked, I thought someone might have died in here," Tom says casually as he walks toward the sink. "Impressive spell, but hardly unbreakable."
Vera turns back and switches on the faucet to fill the bath with more hot water and rose-scented bubbles, saying sarcastically, "Thank you so much for alerting me to it's weakness. Now please leave."
Tom laughs, "You do know that this isn't your private swimming pool, don't you?"
Vera sighs loudly, "Get out."
"You know you don't really want me to," Tom says. She can feel him standing behind her. Tom slips into the pool, turning toward her and whispering, "I was wondering where you were."
Love is really just about forgiveness. Dante is good. He's kind. He will forgive her almost anything. But what does it take to break a person so much that they can't forgive you even though they want to? In most cases, not much at all.
She can feel his hands sliding down to her hips as his lips burrow into her neck. She shrugs them away, "I'm not in the mood."
"Why not?" He asks, hands still gripping her skin.
"I'm not in the mood to talk either, especially not to you."
"You know I can take your mind off whatever is bothering you."
She rolls her eyes, "I don't see how that's possible, as one of the many things bothering me is you."
He moves in front of her, eyes boring into her face, "Vera."
She still refuses to look at him, instead spitting spitefully, "Tom."
"You do know that whatever is bothering you is not even remotely worth your time, especially considering that you should be spending all your free hours working on throttling me at N.E.W.T.s."
He gets her to smile, "I'll throttle you at N.E.W.T.s even if I don't look at a book again until exams."
"If you mean throttle me on the number of questions you miss, I'm sure you are correct."
She glares at him, "You know that is not what I mean, Riddle."
He smirks, "Pop quiz: When and where did the only goblin rebellion of the 16th century happen?"
"1612, Hogsmeade. If you think that's the kind of question that's going to be on your History of Magic N.E.W.T, I think you need to spend more time reviewing material that isn't from fourth year."
"I didn't chose that question because of its relevance to the exam. Do you remember what happened the day we learned that in class?"
She laughs, "I passed around that note about your surprise birthday party, and you were subsequently banned from the library for three months."
"It would be nice to get a belated apology," he whispers, moving closer to her.
Vera is smirking as she kisses him, her hands reaching up and tangling into his hair. She pulls away an inch or so to say, "Make me sorry."
He kisses her hard, pushing her against the wall of the bathtub as he tries to hold on to as much of her as he can in the slippery water.
Vera gasps at his touch. It surprises her every time how much he can make her feel. How he can be so damn good at pushing all the right buttons.
"Tom," she mumbles into his ear, biting her lip to keep from moaning.
"Told you I could take your mind off it."
Love is really about forgetting - forgetting those little things that annoy you about the person, forgetting the cruel things they sometimes say, forgetting the moments that hurt you so much that they will leave a permanent, stretching scar if that part of your memory isn't carved out.