Beth looked around her. He'd gone. Suddenly she gasped. What if he came back? And found her like this! She had to move, she couldn't just lie here and wait for him to come back and finish her off. She groaned and pushed herself upright, ignoring the angry throb in her head and the lightning bolt of pain in her stomache. She stood. Too fast. Everything around went black and she fell back onto the sofa, unconscious.

Tom stopped at the entrance to the common room, staring at the bracelet in his palm. Just walk in and give it to her, he told himself. You don't have to say anything, just do it! He took a deep breath and walked in, stopping behind the sofa.

"I doubt you'll want this but… here." He frowned when she didn't turn and sighed. "Well, I would have thought you might at least say something to me…" His voice faltered and he walked around the sofa to get a good look at her face. Tom blinked then lifted a limp hand, letting it fall. He swore explosively. "Hell! Think, think, er…, ok right." He gently moved her around so that she was more comfortable, terrified thoughts racing through his mind. He lifted her head and slipped a cushion behind it then knelt beside her, taking her icy cold hand in his and tapping it lightly.

"Beth? Beth, come on, you have to wake up for me."

She moaned, turning her head from side to side. Her face contorted as if the worst of nightmares was flashing through her mind. Tom kissed her hand, closing his eyes and whispering to her.

"I'm so sorry… never meant to hurt you, I swear… guess I'm just the idiot as usual who can't control himself…" He smirked, covering up any signs of weakness.

All of a sudden, Beth sat bolt upright, her eyes flying open in terror. She spotted Tom kneeling beside her and gave a small involuntary shriek, snatching her hand back from his and backing away into the corner of the sofa. She stared at him, her eyes wide, cringing as she jolted her stomache. She felt, and looked, like a wild cornered animal.

Tom watched her then looked away, unable to bear the sight of her looking so scared. "I…um… just forgot something… wanted to check you were ok…"

Beth shook her head slightly then buried it in her arms, tiny sobs escaping, her whole body trembling. Tom stood, incapable of watching her cry. "Maybe it would be better if I left…" He bit his lip, his heart hammering with guilt.

Her hand on her stomache, Beth painfully stood up and limped over to the fire, her face suddenly wiped clean of any feeling but pain. She scrubbed at the tears on her cheeks with the back of her hand.

"Do what you want. I don't care anymore." She stood and stared blankly into the fire as Tom stared incredulously at her back.

"Don't say that. Look, I am sorry for what I did and I don't have anyone to blame except myself, just…" He wiped his mouth and stared at the floor painfully.

Beth continued to stare into the fire. It was strange. Just a few moments ago she'd been terrified of the guy standing just behind her. Now, all of a sudden, it was all gone. She couldn't remember any good times they'd had, or bad times either. Her memory was completely blank. But, most importantly, it felt as though she'd never met Tom. And that he was someone she never wanted to meet. She didn't hate him. Nor did she care for him. It was as if… she couldn't feel anything for him. Beth turned slowly to look at him, her eyes dead or any emotion.

"It's true. I don't care. Go. Stay," she shrugged. "Entirely up to you."

Tom shook his head, refusing to believe. "Don't shut me out, please. Hurt me, curse me… just don't shut me out." His eyes were full of sorrow as he stared desperately at her. Somehow it seemed as if the worst punishment was, in fact, no punishment at all. It was nothing.

She frowned and lifted up her shirt to reveal an ugly cut, sealed, but surrounded by a huge multicoloured bruise which covered the entire area of her stomache. She looked up at him again, speaking slowly and calmly.

"Look what you did. I thought you of all people would never hurt me, but you almost killed me. You really think I'd forgive you for that? It was just an argument and then you have to go ahead and torture and almost murder me." She shook her head, looking like was lost in a ream. "I would appreciate it if you left and never came near me again." Her arm lifted slowly, her finger unfurling as if in slow motion to point to the bracelet still clutched in Tom's hand, the knuckles white from the tight clenching of his fist. "Keep it. I don't want it. I don't want anything to remind me of you. I want you gone. You can stay here or leave, that's up to you. But I never want to see your face again. And this isn't just for me. After what happened here you may be in danger, especially when Marc finds out. If you two fight over me… I'm not worth fighting over. Never come near me again, do you understand?" She stared at him, her eyes still dead.

Just as she finished a sound floated down from the boys dorms and Joe, Beth's younger brother, walked into the room. He took one look at Beth and the state of her stomache, her shirt still clutched in her hand, and ran across the room, his face white.

"Beth, what happened!?" He steered her into a chair as she muttered some excuse, something about falling against the edge of the table. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Tom's head snap up as she lied about her wound, and his grey, dull eyes met her deep, glittering blue eyes. He looked away guiltily and sat on the table, picking up the Daily Prophet and burying his nose in it. Joe looked from Beth to Tom then back again.

"Tom," he said, his voice cold. "what really happened here?"

Tom leapt off the table, the papers falling to the floor at his feet, and he backed away slowly, stuttering that nothing had happened, Beth had just fallen, like she said. "Nothing happened!"

Joe raised an eyebrow. "Tell me."

Panic taking over, Tom whipped out his wand again, pointing it at Joe's chest.

"Keep back, Joe." The dark smile had returned, playing around Tom's lips.

"Don't make me hurt you, Tom! Tell me what happened, last chance!"

Beth sat up again and rounded on them, frustration and exhaustion mixing within her to create a storm of fury, incapable of containing any longer. "Shut up the pair of you! I tripped and fell against the table…" She shook her head, leapt angrily to her feet, and started to shout, shocking even herself. "That's it! Can I not get a break?! Ever since I became friends with you lot it's been fight, fight, fight! I'm sick and tired of being the peacemaker for so long, it's so childish and ridiculous and head splitting, give me a break before I really lose it!"

She swayed again and fell exhausted back onto the couch. Tom kneeled down again in front of her, looking into her weary eyes. "Why won't you let me help you? Stop being so damn stubborn."

Beth almost laughed with amazement. She leant forward, so that hers and Tom's foreheads almost touched, then hissed quietly so that only he could hear. "Because you almost killed me. So much for love, you don't even know what love is."

"Sometimes you have to trust someone for a brief moment, especially if it means saving your life. And maybe you're right, maybe I don't know what love is. Probably because I've never been given any."

Beth's eyes softened for a moment as a memory of a feeling seeped through the confusion of her drained mind. "I did love you. I did still care for you a lot. But not anymore. You torture me, then slice my belly open." The memory dissolved and the blank look in her eyes returned. "Now, you're nothing to me. I have no feelings for you at all. And that's worse than hate, Thomas."

"Haven't you ever done something and regretted it a second after? I'll leave, I'll leave forever. Just let me help you now. Then I'll go."

"I have Marc and Joe. I have all my friends. I don't need you anymore."

"That's untrue! You need me tonight!"

"I'm fine, look." She lifted up her shirt. Bit by bit the potion he had spread over her stomache had healed the wound, leaving only an ugly scar. She glanced across at Joe, who had allowed her to talk for so long. She smiled gently at him. "Tom and I need to speak alone. I'll be fine." Joe shot a look of pure hatred at Tom, then turned on his heal and marched back up the stairs to his dorm, slamming the door behind him. Beth turned back to Tom with a sigh.

"It's true. I don't feel anything for you. I loved you, I hated you, I wanted you and I cared about you. Now… nothing. It's like you're just a shadow. I know you're there but you have no purpose. You just follow and sometimes get in the way."

Tom stood slowly. "You haven't heard the last of me, Beth. I'll be in everyone's nightmares." He glared at her, his eyes blazing with hate. Beth gazed calmly back at him.

"Not mine. Besides, too many people know where you are. Sooner or later you're going to be found. Tom…" She reached down and took his hand, staring at it as if she'd never seen it before, her eyes travelling slowly up towards his face. "You used to be an amazing person. Whatever happened… I wish it hadn't."

He slowly pulled his hand away, his fingers sliding gently over hers. "I've always been the same person. You just saw me in a different light, that's all. I'd love to be that you thought I was, but I'm not. This is me."

"This isn't you. This is your father. The Tom I knew used to know loved me. You don't love me."

Tom narrowed his eyes and hissed at her. "I'm. Not. My. Father."

Beth smiled sadly and turned, walking slowly out of the common room. Finally turning her back on Tom.