Calculated Charisma

April 14, 1945

Although she was rather nervous to attend her first Knights meeting, Rosemary was dreading the inevitable run-in with Faye even more. At least she could rest assured that they (well, mostly Tom) had tied up all of the loose ends in her association with Jasper.

So she had thought, anyway. But then she remembered there was a loose end she had yet to take care of: Myrtle.

A loose end that did not seem happy to see her.

She was hovering above her toilet and pouting when she saw Rosemary enter the lavatory. "Well, look who it is…You forgot all about poor little Myrtle, didn't you?"

"No…of course not," Rosemary lied with a wave of her hand, as if the mere suggestion was ridiculous.

"Liar!" Myrtle suddenly screeched and swooped down toward Rose, stopping just inches in front of her face. "I knew everyone would forget about me after all those other muggle-born students were killed. Since then, not a single person has come to make fun of the fact that I died…"

"That's a terrible thing to say," Rosemary said disapprovingly, but then wondered what right she had to talk given the person she was dating and the nature of the meeting she was attending that evening. "The reason nobody is visiting you anymore is because they're all terrified to step an inch out of line. And I haven't visited because I've been so busy trying to keep them there..."

"But you've been busy with other things too. I saw the papers – the Grey Lady brings them to me sometimes. You working on the antidote is fairly ironic, don't you think? I was thrilled to hear that awful friend of yours, Markus Avery, was expelled."

Rosemary just stood there, afraid to say something too incriminating. But was it even possible for her to incriminate herself more at this point? She had already dug herself into a fairly deep hole.

"You know, I was thinking…If I turned you in, I might be rewarded. After all, you are Head Girl and it would make quite the splash. They might even let me leave this awful bathroom and allow me to roam the castle…Then I could haunt Olive Hornby again." Myrtle's eyes gleamed with revenge and Rosemary's heart began to pound nervously. "I bet you're regretting that you forgot about me now."

"It's your word against mine, Myrtle," Rosemary rolled her eyes, attempting to sound unconcerned. "Headmaster Dippet would never believe you."

"Well there's only one way to find out."

Time for a new strategy.

"Would you really do that?" Rosemary did her best to look wounded. "Myrtle, I thought we were friends."

The ghost suddenly looked furious. "Do you really expect me to believe that someone like you would ever want to be friends with someone like me?"

Rosemary stared at her in silence. If an appeal to friendship hadn't even worked with Myrtle, what would?

For a moment, she wished Tom was there to help – surely he would know what to do. But at the same time, did she really want to get in the habit of relying on him to solve all of her problems, especially given the means he might use to do so?

No. She could figure this out on her own.

Myrtle suddenly giggled rather maniacally and Rosemary realized the desperation must have shown on her face. "You haven't spoken to your boyfriend lately, have you?"

Rosemary shook her head. "Warren and I…"

"Not Warren. Riddle."

Her heart began pounding once more. What did that mean?

"I'm just giving you a hard time, Rosemary. Of course we're friends. I'm not going to tell Dippet. Riddle made me promise…and in return…"

What in return?! She cursed him mentally for getting involved when he didn't have to. She could have handled this…right?

"He promised to bring me Hornby."

Rosemary was waiting for him at the landing near the Great Hall as he finished rounds. "You spoke to Myrtle."

Tom stared at her blankly as he tried to determine how she had taken it. "I did," he said as he began walking in the direction of the dungeons.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I have had quite a bit on my mind lately," he told her. "It must have slipped."

This much was true, actually. He had been so busy helping the Ministry with their inquiry and plotting his takedown of Grindelwald that he had almost entirely forgotten the plan he had crafted to deal with Myrtle while she Rosemary was away at St. Mungo's.

But 'forgetting' had been part of this plan in the first place anyway. With his newfound determination to corrupt Rosemary, he simply couldn't pass up the opportunity. Admittedly, it felt a bit underhanded to lie to her. But how wrong was it really if it brought them closer in the long run?

"You thought I would disapprove." She didn't sound angry, necessarily…just disappointed. And she certainly didn't seem to believe that he had forgotten to tell her, which wasn't entirely unexpected. Things didn't just 'slip' Tom's mind.

Tom shook his head. "I didn't want to give you something else to worry about."

"I can take care of myself, Tom," she replied indignantly. "It was my mess – I should find my own way out of it."

He smirked, proud of how well he clearly knew her; this was precisely how he had envisioned her reaction. "Well," he said smoothly. "You're more than welcome to fulfill my side of the bargain then."

At that, a hesitant look spread across her face.

"Unless, of course, you do want me to take care of it…."

"I think you've done more than enough for me," she said crisply. "I was just trying to think of the best way to bring Hornby to Myrtle…She would follow you anywhere. But me on the other hand…"

Tom intertwined his fingers with hers as they stopped outside of the Slytherin common room. "The Imperius Curse should work nicely. I'd be more than happy to teach you the proper way to use it."

As expected, she received an abundance of glances, stares, and glares the moment that she stepped into the Slytherin common room at Tom's side, still hand-in-hand. Some of them were simply surprised and others were rudely aggressive, but many were envious. Rosemary found herself smirking back at them, realizing how much she had missed the feeling of having something that all of the other girls wanted.

"Hi Tom," a chorus of them sang.

Of course, their sour looks toward Rosemary only intensified as he led her up the stairs without a word to any of them.

It was strange to see the complete disarray of Adam's side of the dormitory next to the emptiness of Markus'. She glanced over at Adam, wondering how he was taking the news of his best mate's expulsion – not very well, judging by the rather depressed look on his face. Then she wondered how he and Faye were getting along…

Did it make her an awful friend to hope that they weren't getting along so that Faye wouldn't be there after the Knights meeting and Rosemary could put off their encounter just a little longer?

The sudden realization that she had once again walked into a room full of stares distracted her sufficiently from this question.

"Why don't you take Malfoy's seat next to Dolohov, Miss Horton," Tom gestured to the front row.

Abraxas looked both distraught and rather flustered. "But Tom – I mean Rid – I mean Volde–"

Voldewhat?

Tom's eyes narrowed to slits. "Move," he hissed.

Abraxas did, not that he seemed particularly happy about it.

"Is everyone present?"

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Dolohov nod. "Everyone is accounted for, Sir."

Sir?

"Excellent." Rosemary watched Tom unpin his Head Boy badge and slipped it into his pocket. It struck her as both amusing and considerably disturbing to see the care he took to ensure that the different versions of his life didn't overlap. "Then we shall begin."

As Tom launched into the meeting, he felt himself get swept up in the rush of the moment; it was almost surreal. In fact, he felt compelled to glance down frequently to check and make sure that Rosemary was still there at her rightful place in the front row amongst his inner circle, staring up at him with those sweet, innocent eyes.

Yes, things were certainly beginning to fall into place. About bloody damned time, too.

He paced in front of them in a show of his usual charisma with a spark of added energy because of his excitement in regard to Rosemary's presence. "As many of you know from the reports in The Prophet, Grindelwald's grand plan has been largely foiled. Of course, if the Ministry wasn't full of a bunch of idiotic, blubbering gits, this could have happened months ago. And it is because of this incompetency that one of our own, Markus Avery, was expelled. Do any of you believe he had anything to do with Grindelwald's plans?"

He heard a resounding 'no' in response, the loudest of which came from the corner where Adam was seated.

"Of course not," Tom shook his head.

Normally, he wouldn't have thought to waste time talking about Avery, but Tom supposed it might win him a few points with Rosemary and strengthen the bond between the members that had been close to Avery at Hogwarts.

"While it is regrettably that Avery was expelled, Grindelwald is now at his weakest. And this presents us with the chance to act. So will you stand by each other to fight for what we know is the only right way for the wizarding world to be?" He looked around at them and was met by a few fervent cheers, before glancing down briefly at Rosemary. "Will you stand by me?"

Various forms of affirmation rippled across the room and Tom smirked, his eyes still locked with Rosemary's unreadable pair. "Well then I would advise that you brush up on the dueling skills I've taught you this week. We will begin our search for Grindelwald next weekend. But now, we celebrate our recent victor over the mudbloods of the school. After all, that is precisely what Avery would have wanted, isn't it?"

Tom felt odd and almost jumpy as he filed out of the dormitory with Rosemary at his side. Things had gone quite well, so where had this uncertain feeling come from?

'Will you stand by me?'

Oh right – he had no idea how she was going to react to everything she had just seen and heard. In a way, he both loathed and sort of admired his inability to predict Rosemary like he could everyone else. Sometimes it was easy, like his plan involving Myrtle. But then at times, like that night, he was forced to take a genuine chance on her – a reality that was most uncomfortable.

Perhaps she would need some time to digest it all.

'Yes,' he thought, 'Ask what she thought about it later…now is too soon.'

"Can I – er…Would you like something...gin perhaps? To drink, I mean – a beverage." He turned his gaze away from her face, appalled at himself. What was wrong with him all of a sudden – he couldn't even manage to get out a coherent sentence? "I'll bring you some gin," he muttered and strode away before she had the chance to respond.

Rose watched Tom curiously as he left her standing in the middle of the Slytherin common room. He was acting odd and she wasn't sure precisely why; perhaps he was just hesitant to give her too much of a special treatment in front of the Knights, as some of them didn't seem entirely thrilled of her presence to begin with.

But at the moment, she wasn't bothered with these concerns. Despite her apprehension in attending the meeting and the way her heart stopped when he suggested that they were going to pursue Grindelwald, she was actually quite glad that he invited her. Last summer, Rosemary had thought she had observed Tom in his true element at the Tournament, but it was so clear now that it hadn't be the case – this was his true element. While she watched him speak, several things clicked for her and she realized how skilled Tom truly was at engaging them. His calculating mind knew just the right balance of natural charm and intelligence to express. This was his genius. It was a shame he had no interest in joining the Ministry after graduation – he would make an excellent politician.

Overall, the realization was slightly terrifying. Although, if she were being completely honest with herself, it was at least a little sexy too.

While she waited for him to return, Rosemary looked around the room for Faye. After all, she would have to face her at some point. Rose spotted her and was about to cross the room to join her and Adam on the lounge when she heard a voice just behind her shoulder:

"Well look who it is. It's funny, really. Everyone is always talking about how clever you are…but I've been wondering how clever you really are if you have the nerve to show up here again."

Rosemary smirked and turned to face Olive Hornby. "I believe you're forgetting how things ended last time."

"Oh, with dumb luck you mean?"

"Perhaps you'd like a rematch if you're so certain it was dumb luck," Rose raised an eyebrow.

"Fine by me. Anytime, anywhere." The arrogance in Olive's voice made her blood boil.

"Myrtle's lavatory, perhaps?" The color from Olive's face suddenly drained and Rosemary continued, "Oh, I'm sorry…I forgot that you're afraid of ghosts. A little mudblood ghost, no less."

Olive looked as though Rose had slapped her. "Slut," she muttered through clenched teeth.

It was just the push Rose needed to go over the edge.

"I'd watch your tone if I were you. Next thing you know, you'll find yourself waking up alone, face-to-face with Myrtle, with no one around to save you from whatever terror she's been dreaming up for you in the last few months. So go ahead – I dare you to cross me or speak to me like that again."

Holy fuck. Tom was rubbing off on her.

"Do you honestly think I'm afraid of Myrtle? She's so pathetic. Almost as pathetic as you."

"I thought you might say something along those lines." And honestly, Rosemary was glad she did; it certainly took care of any guilt she would face in handing Olive over to Myrtle.

"Has anybody alerted Dippet that there is a cow loose in Hogwarts?" Faye suddenly appeared at Rose's side and flung an arm around her neck. She could smell the alcohol on her friend's breath. "Oh – what a relief. It's just you, Hornby."

Olive rolled her eyes and sighed, ignoring Faye. "I mean really, Horton. Look at the two of you, trying to fit in with the Slytherins, just like you always have…But you and I both know you don't belong here. It's only a matter of time until Tom realizes the same."

Before either of them could respond, Hornby turned on her heel and sauntered away. Although she had felt rather conflicted about it earlier, now Rosemary simply couldn't wait to fulfill Tom's end of the bargain with Myrtle.

"Come sit with Adam and I," Faye said excitedly, as though she had already forgotten the encounter. Rosemary wondered what had gotten her so chipper, considering everything that had been going on with Jasper and how upset she had been over it earlier that week. But when she took a seat next to the couple on the lounge and felt the nearly palpable tension between them, she realized why Faye had called her over: to be the mediator.

"So, you're one of them now?" Faye asked her while lighting a cigarette. "Maybe Adam will let me ask Tom to join now."

"It was nice to see you there," Adam gave her a small smile, as though he hadn't heard Faye.

An uncomfortable silence fell between the three of them and Rosemary wondered where Tom could possibly be with her drink.

Just when Rosemary was about to crack and break the silence because she simply couldn't take it any longer, Adam suddenly sighed. "It's not the same without Markus."

"I'm so sorry your boyfriend went and got himself expelled," Faye quipped immediately with a roll of her eyes.

"It's your fault that he got expelled!"

"Oh please, everyone knew he was dealing."

"And everyone knows you only snitched on him out of revenge, because you think he knew more about what Jasper was doing. Why don't you believe him? Nobody believes that you knew anything about Jasper and Grindelwald."

"That's because I didn't. It seems as though this is all very difficult for you to accept. Denial doesn't suit you, Adam."

"You're impossible," he growled and drained his glass of firewhiskey.

"Well when you finally come to your senses, do give a bit of thought to who will be replacing him in the wedding."

"What are you talking about? Of course he is still going to be in the wedding."

"Not if the wedding still involves marrying me," she snapped.

"Well that certainly sounds like something I'll have to give some thought," Adam snapped back at her.

Then both Adam and Faye turned to Rosemary with helpless looks, as though they actually expected her to side with either of them. "Have either of you seen Tom?" she asked distantly, pretending she hadn't heard a word of their conversation. It was the only way she knew how to hide her guilt over the whole thing.

As if on cue, Tom emerged from the crowd in front of her with a full glass of gin in hand. "Thanks," she smiled up at him. Little did he know that she was thanking him for far more than the drink.

"Of course." He seemed to have regained some of the composure that he had lost earlier.

"We'll be back in a few minutes," she told Faye and Adam while grasping Tom's hand and pulling him to the other, far emptier side of the common room.

"You came just in time…They were having another spat," Rosemary sighed in relief.

"Hm," Tom hummed. He seemed rather distracted again; maybe she had been onto something earlier when she hypothesized that he was being distant to appease the Knights.

She placed a finger on his chin and turned his face toward hers. "I can leave if you're uncomfortable."

"No –" he said quickly, which brought an inescapable smile to her face, "I'm not…Are you?"

"No," she told him, rather surprised at herself that this was her honest answer. "Thank you for inviting me."

For a fraction of a second, Tom gave her a look that she couldn't quite place. Then he stood and muttered, "Brocklehurst and Mulciber wanted to discuss a matter from the meeting…I'll be back in a moment." Rosemary could have been mistaken, but it looked as though he was trying to hide a grin when he turned away from her.

It was the second time that night that things clicked for her.

The surprises of the night were far from over, she realized, as Dolohov handed her a refilled glass of gin and joined her.

"Does this mean you're joining the cause?"

Rosemary was slightly taken aback that he asked this so directly. "I'm not sure," she shrugged. "Maybe."

Rosemary found it rather amusing that Dolohov, who had sent several dirty looks in her direction over the last few months, was perfectly pleasant now that she had Tom were back together. At least Tom could be assured that he was loyal.

Dolohov laughed for at least ten seconds before realizing that she wasn't laughing with him. "Oh…you're serious?"

"Yes. I, er…I'm not sure it's right for me."

Well, it wasn't a lie…

He laughed again, though it was more of a brief chuckle this time. "But you heard Riddle – it is right."

"I suppose you could say I'm not one for violence."

"Rubbish – I was there for your duel with Olive. Everyone saw that."

"That's different."

Dolohov shrugged. "Come to a few more meetings and you'll get it. Riddle is talking about the things our parents have talked about since we were children. The things we all know are right…that mudbloods are unworthy of formal magical learning and that they shouldn't have the same jobs as purebloods or even half-bloods. But it's even more than that, because we're not just talking about things – we're doing them. Riddle's brave that way."

She glanced at Dolohov and saw him gazing up at Tom, his eyes looking a bit glazed over, and Rosemary felt oddly guilty all of a sudden, as though she were infringing on a private moment. The admiration for him was almost palpable.

"What I'm trying to say, Miss Horton, is that you're going to join him – us. And eventually, so will everyone else."

Rosemary leaned her head against the back of the couch and closed her eyes, replaying her memories of the meeting in her head, and then opened her eyes to see Tom on the other side of the room, chatting with that same infallible charisma that had drawn people to him (whether he wanted it or not) for years. Suddenly, Dolohov's suggestion didn't seem all that ridiculous to her.

She saw him now – she really did. And as Rosemary felt her heart swoon at the sight of him, she realized that she was just as prone to his allure as everyone else.

"If personality is an unbroken series of successful gestures, then there was something gorgeous about him." – F. Scott Fitzgerald

So Rosemary is pretty much swept up in everything 'Tom' this chapter. Do you think it will last, or is it just due to circumstance (all the chaos with Jasper, Myrtle, etc.)? Let me know what you think in a review below!

Thanks so much to all of you that have followed/favorited/reviewed (especially those that have reviewed)! :D

Oh, and I think I've definitely decided to take a closer look at putting together TDLR prequel I mentioned last chapter. However, I think I'll plan on writing it a bit sporadically so that I don't derail my update schedule for TDLR (as I clearly have a hard enough time keeping this story on track as it is... -_-). I'll let you know when to look out for the first chapter!

Anywhooo, have a great week and thank you for reading!