Credence walks quickly around the corner, head down and shoulders hunched, gripping the strap of his book bag so hard it starts to flake off.

"Oh, brother dearest~"

Credence freezes, eyes going wide before he hesitantly turns around.

Gellert is leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, a too bright smile on his face, stretched wide and distorted.

"Gellert," Credence says quietly, eyes darting back to the corner he just came from.

"They're gone," Gellert tsks and the smile falls off his face. "What was that?"

"Nothing," Credence tries.

"Don't you ever lie to me," Gellert murmurs, eyes narrowing. "Tell me, Credence, or must I involve Tom? You know he'll be worse than me."

Credence hesitates. "Sometimes they say things, but it's not bad or anything."

"Bad doesn't factor into it," Gellert corrects. "I will admit, those were pathetic insults. But they still insulted you, and you can't let that stand."

Credence drops his voice and steps closer, looking around nervously. "Harry says I shouldn't eat people."

"Why is it always eating with you?" Gellert tsks. "Be a little more creative. Have you ever scalped someone? You might like it."

"I'll tell Harry if you do that to people," Credence says firmly.

"Oh, now you grow a backbone," Gellert sighs with an eyeroll. "Deal with it or your big brothers will have to deal with it for you."

"I thought you were going to be the nice one now," Credence tries. "And you both promised Harry you wouldn't get expelled."

Gellert smiles charmingly. "I find your lack of faith disturbing."

"And?" Tom raises an eyebrow but doesn't look up from his book, tucked into one of the narrow window seats in the tall tower's empty room, long legs stretched out onto the ottoman.

"And nothing, he's just gone quieter and better at hiding from them," Gellert muses, leaning against the opposite wall and peering out through another narrow window. The glass is so clean he can practically see everything – oh, it's enhanced. As expected of Tom's lair.

"Credence needs to learn he's not a human anymore," Tom tsks. "Always acting so meek when he's a being of ash and broken chains."

"But if Harry catches on to the trouble, he's going to be so sad," Gellert sighs, a touch dramatically but this conversation needs to be moved along regardless so he feels it's necessary.

Tom snaps his book shut and frowns at Gellert. "What are you really here for?"

Gellert turns and smiles cutely with dimples. "Dearest brother, could you perhaps take out the trash, seeing as you've done away with an inclination to play the good boy?"

Tom rolls his eyes. "I'm playing, I'm just not getting so deep into the role like you."

"What happened to being the protective brother?" Gellert complains. "Our poor dust bunny is being bullied by the rabble. Are you going to let that stand?"

Tom grabs Credence by the elbow as the Obscurus tries to leave, stepping back into the Hufflepuff common room with him.

The room is torn apart, the entire dorm unmade as the walls obediently rearrange themselves into a proper courtroom for this judgement of God, people frozen wherever they are in the rooms, and the perpetrators are pulled through, yanked past stone slotting together again, and they hang there for a moment.

"Hello," Tom says into the quiet, the muffled, smothered silence because Tom doesn't like people interrupting him. "I don't believe we've met."

The three are slammed down onto their knees from the sheer pressure of Tom's magic and barely catch themselves with their hands before their faces are forced into the ground.

"My name is Tom and this is my darling little brother," Tom says blandly. "Now, I've been hearing rumours recently..."

One of the boys starts sobbing without noise.

"But it can't be true," Tom sighs. "After all, Hufflepuff is a house of loyalty and kindness. Right?" He tilts his head and allows them speech.

"I'm sorry," a girl chokes out. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, please-" and then she can't talk anymore because Tom gets bored quickly.

"I believe that this must be a misunderstanding," Tom dictates. "You see, my brother here is a bit...sensitive."

A boy's arms finally give out and his head hits the ground because he tried to look up, to cast his gaze upon a messiah without permission.

"You need to be kind to him, he's rather delicate," Tom tsks. "And I'm sure you will be, yes?"

"Yesyesyespleasestop."

"Wonderful," he says and turns to Credence. "Look, brother, you just need to learn how to communicate with your little friends."

Credence looks from the prostrate teenagers to the frozen students artfully arranged around the common room and then finally to Tom. "Communicate?"

Tom waves a hand and everything reverts, the three thrown back into their rooms, walls shifting, and people snap back into motion mid-sentence without noticing a single hitch.

"Don't look at me like that, get to class," Tom orders. "Your grades are horrendous, and I expect better from you."

"Yes, brother," Credence grumbles, slipping away.

.

A/N: So maybe Tom is still a little bit frustrated with playing dumb in this school.