I felt the next few months flew by, all too soon I realized that we were now a week away from the end of the school year.
I felt anticipation of finally being able to be alone, even if it does mean staying here for the summer break. The professors informed me that I would be staying at one of the lofts here and Tom in another. We are to stay here under the watchful eyes of the professors.
I was currently in the common room arguing with Tom once more.
After he invaded my mind while I slept, he discovered of my plans to confront Nikolai, mind you it was alone. To say he went bonkers would be to putting it lightly.
Following the discovery, he wouldn't let me out of his sight even for a second. He had people from our group following me, escorting me, and watching my every move.
I hadn't been alone since then. Now, we were arguing all the time because he wanted to know why I was hell-bent on letting him find me.
You see, I had managed to confront Dumbledore after I had the vision that involved him and Grindlewald, he only confirmed my suspicions. Grindlewald was looking for me, it isn't to gain anything but to protect me. He knew that I was in danger, and he wanted to protect me at all costs.
Judging from the vision I had, I could only conclude that he was the last living relative I had on the Riel side. I brief wondered if I should go and speak to him, but judging from the look I received from the Professor, I knew it would be idiotic to attempt to go while school is still occuring.
Snapping back into reality, I watched as Tom was still pacing before me as I currently sat on the chesterfield, near the emerald flames.
"Don't act out of stupidity Soph, listen to me please. Let yourself see reason for once in your life." He pleaded, looking towards me before he continued pacing.
"This is your own fault. Didn't I warn you not to ask questions you aren't ready to hear the answer to? Well, this is what you get. It finally came to bite you in the arse." I retorted, scowling down at the ground.
"Give me a reason, valid one, as to why I should let the love of my life confront a psychopathic cold-blooded killer by herself without any help or back up, and I will gladly let her go." He said, crossing his arms over his chest as he towered over me.
"Because, if you don't, he will kill and hurt more people that we know and care about. Do you really want something to happen to Bellatrix's parents next? The Lestranges? The Dolohovs?" I asked, standing up to look him in the eye, though he towered over me, even with heels on.
"That's not a good enough reason. We can all go. We are all skilled in dueling, thanks to your practicing with them behind my back, which I knew about. That'll be better than you going alone." He argued, scowling as he gazed down at me.
"Tom, listen to me. I am not trying to hurt you. That- that isn't my intention." I tried, my voice trembling before I began lowering my gaze.
"Then why won't you let me go with you?Do you not trust me to have your back? Why are you pushing me away, when all I'm trying to do is help you?" He asked, his voice raising an octave, hurt flashing within his eyes.
"You know that isn't the reason, Tom." I said, my voice cracking, as I looked away.
"Then what is it?" He pressed, raising his voice an octave.
"Because I can't lose you!" I answered, my eyes beginning to burn, "I won't lose you. You're the only one that I care about. The only person that would affect me greatly if something bad happened to you because of me. It would destroy me. Please- Just try to understand." I pleaded.
He stared at me for a moment before shaking his head at me.
"I can't sit around waiting to see if you're hurt or not. I am coming. Whether you like it or not. As for the practicing the dueling, good call. They're almost as skilled as we are." He said, throwing a half smile my way.
I scoffed in response, throwing my hands up in the air in exasperation.
"You two should honestly think about getting a room. I can feel the sexual tension all the way from my dormitory." Rabastan commented dryly, as he took the seat that was across from me.
I narrowed my eyes at him, before looking back at Tom, who rolled his eyes in annoyance.
I smirked before I looked back towards Bastan. Before I could utter a word, Bellatrix skipped in, with her sisters trailing behind her.
"Did you two settle your differences like good little children?" She teased, sitting down next to Bastan, bouncing in the seat.
"Have you thought to searching for your brain yet? Perhaps, you could use it if you have?" Tom snapped back, settling next to me on the chesterfield.
I must admit it felt great every time he was near me. I felt safer, more confident in his presence, something about the power radiated off of him when he walked into a room made me feel safer.
The last couple of months had been great, we've grown closer than before, so much so that we need not be in the same room to hear each other's thoughts now. It was optional whether we wanted to leave or to open the link or not.
"Well, that isn't not very nice." She muttered, pouting at the floor.
"It's not nice to eavesdrop on a private conversation either." I said looking at her with an eyebrow raised.
"Y-yeah, Bastan. You can't just butt into other people's conversations. Who do you think you are? The Queen of England?" She asked, looking at him.
"I— didn't. I simply commented on the sexual tension that is radiating between the lot of them." He stuttered.
"Right... Well, I am going to head to bed. I-I'll see you all tomorrow. I'm not really in the mood for this." Lucius said, getting up from his seat along with most of the others.
Narcissa and Andromeda disappeared too, throwing a smile my way before they left.
After that everyone seemed to disappear, leaving me lost in thought along with Tom, who sat next to me, staring at the flames in the hearth, emotionlessly.
I knew he wasn't about drop the subject of me leaving alone, and not without a good fight. I also knew it was a lost cause.
"Alright. You win." I sighed, throwing my head back defeated.
"I knew you'd see it my way, darling." He said, smirking and winking at me as he patted my leg hard.
"Ah...Jerk." I muttered standing up and heading to my room to sleep.
Over the course of the next week we all kept meeting in the Room of Requirements, studying offensive and defensive spells.
I had them trying out DADA spells and a few from the Dark Arts, I knew that these people that were looking for me either had knowledge of it or knew spells in the Dark Arts.
We had all gotten to a point where we were all fairly matched and skilled at dueling and potion making.
Tom and I had been practicing a spell we came upon in the two books that I acquired during Christmas break.
We had practiced building our pain endurance, in case we were in a situation where our opponent wanted to inflict pain, we'd be able to with stand it to a point.
"I don't understand what we're practicing this for. It's not like we will be needing this. All we're doing is confronting this bloke. Do you real want to bound your soul with someone else's if they were to get fatally injured?" He asked as he flicked his wrist once more. "What if that person isn't a nice person?" He asked.
"It's better to be prepared. We don't know what can happen... If either one of us gets hurt the other has to do this. Do you really want to die, Tom?" I asked him, knowing the answer fully well.
He shook his head, scrunching his brows up before he squared his shoulders before he began reciting the spell once more.
A blast of light hit the far wall, before disappearing completely into thin air.
"I hope that you are right about this. Or we could get into serious trouble if something were to happen." Tom stated, before turning scanning the room entirely, checking on what everyone else was doing.
"I want to be accurate on this, Tom, but we both know that the future can change within seconds based on anyone's decisions... I've been practicing, concentrating really hard, on the future. So far, all I know is when it'll be happening... There will be deaths but not as much as there could be if we don't do this. There is a potion that I shall be brewing and administering to everyone before we run off. You wanted to be allowed to come, this is what we will all be facing." I said, as I produced a phial filled with transparent lilac liquid, showing him the potion I had but hadn't finished brewing more of it to administer to everyone.
I slowly got to my feet before I focused on the scene I had seen just after we arrived back from break. I could feel my back begin to strain and my brows begin to furrow before a clear wispy cloud-like substance began shooting out of my hands before me, forming a transparent cloth before turning into the images I had seen of the battle.
I felt as everyone's movements began to halt, a collection of gasps could be heard as they all turned to watch the scene play before them.
"Death is what we are trying to prevent here. The less fatalities we can evade the better." I said as the scene stopped playing.
All I knew that Nikolai and his army would be coming with the pretense that they were here with Grindlewald. As far as I knew he wasn't truly on anyone's side besides his own.
It would be after we graduate, meaning, that we'll be back to fight with battle, along with many who are graduating this year.
Something in the pit of my stomach told me that pain was about to come our way. I just didn't know if I would be able to prevent anything.