Catharsis [Tom Riddle]

Chapter Forty-One

    Avalon stared at the wall before her. Morning was peeking through her window as the day broke into her room. Another sleepless night had passed, though this time, the nightmares hadn't woken her up-- she hadn't even been able to fall asleep to begin with.

She knew that it was foolish of her to not have spent the night with Tom, but she needed time alone to get her thoughts clear. She needed to be sure that her decision to take a chance on him was truly her own and not something that had been influenced by his constant presence around her.

A whole night passed, though, and her mind was still made up. She was going to do everything she could to save Tom Riddle from himself.

She thought about the few days ahead. Today was her last day in the castle. By afternoon, she and Tom would be off to Nott's estate to spend the last few days of the year surrounded by pureblood elitists. The thought made a chill run down her spine. She hoped and prayed that she would be able to keep her cover amidst all of them. It was one thing to lie about her background to the boys... but she worried about the possibility of their families being there when she arrived. Avery had said that his family and Nott's go to Spain for the New Year, so she crossed her fingers and hoped that they would be gone when she and Tom arrived.

Thinking of Avery made her feel a little more at ease, though. She was growing to miss Orion and his bright smile. At least having him at the estate would make the trip much more bearable.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the soft sound of knocking on her door. It was so quiet that she barely heard it, but still, she got to her feet and walked to the door, slowly opening it to reveal Tom standing at the entrance.

"Good morning," she said, stepping to the side to let him walk in.

"You're awake," he noted as he strode in, impatiently tapping his foot as he awaited a response.

"I never slept," she shrugged.

"You didn't return last night."

"I had things I needed to attend to," she replied.

He looked around at her room. "You haven't even packed for Nott's."

She rolled her eyes and flicked her wand toward her closet, watching as an array of clothes slowly floated out and into her luggage before it neatly locked up. "Happy?"

"What's the matter with you?" he asked, his voice clearly agitated. "You've been acting strange since yesterday morning."

"Nothing," she said, forcing a smile as she closed the gap between them and took his hand into her own as she looked up and met his accusing eyes. His frown faltered when she lifted his hands to her lips and pressed a soft kiss on his knuckles. "Let's go to breakfast." He let out a deep exhale, but didn't complain as she got up on her tip-toes and kissed his cheek before quickly swiping her wand and getting dressed and ready.

When she was done, he extended his hand, a hint of a smile finding its way back onto his lips as she laced their fingers together and the two of them made their way to the Great Hall for breakfast. They sat down at Slytherin's table-- he still refused to sit anywhere else-- and her hands immediately darted toward the blueberry-lemon scones while he reached for his coffee.

They held small conversation while they ate. He was still a little wary of her after she had so suddenly bolted from his room the day prior, and she was still shaken by the long night of going back and forth with herself in regards to whether or not she could put her faith in him.

They were both rather surprised when a golden-brown barn owl flew in through the rafters. Avalon recognized it as her roommate's own owl immediately. As it flew closer and closer, both Tom and Avalon's eyes widened when they saw the appearance of the letter it dropped off.