kneel | Tom Riddle

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52| consequences

Seraphina marched along the old corridors with a pile of books under her arm. The sun was still rising, but she promised to herself she would wake up remarkably early so she could visit Tom before class.

The halls were empty and silent, unlike her mind, which was filled with thoughts of dread and apprehension. She hadn't been to the Hogwarts' infirmary in a long time, so she wasn't exactly happy to visit Tom in there. Going to the infirmary was never a positive thing since he meant something terrible happened. And it happened indeed.

Her night was restless thinking about what Tom had done, which meant she only had a couple hours of sleep. It was still hard to believe Tom created a Horcrux and now he was extremely sick for doing it. She couldn't understand how much he suffered from doing it, but the way he screamed and screamed the previous night showed he was in a lot of pain.

There was little she could do to help him, but she wanted to make him slightly happier. That's the reason why she decided to bring him a tone of books to keep him entertained while he's in the infirmary resting.

The witch finally reached the infirmary and sighed deeply before silently opening the door, afraid she would wake him up in case he was sleeping.

Looking inside, Seraphina was glad he was the only one in the big infirmary and was quite relieved when she saw him with his eyes open. He turned his head on his pillow to look at her, even though he didn't need to move a muscle to know it was her. In reality, all he wanted was to see her, his precious Seraphina.

"Tom, you're awake," she walked towards the bed and he didn't say anything, looking at the books she carried with her, "How are you feeling?"

He stayed in silence for a few seconds, admiring her features and appreciating her presence. As pathetic as he was being, the truth was that he needed her, "I'm fine," he answered, not taking his eyes off her face.

She dropped the books on a chair next to his bed, "I'm glad," she smiled, "I brought you some books from your dorm. I figured you would want to do something productive while you're here."

"Thank you," he whispered weakly, already tired from talking. Tom watched her sit on the bed next to him and reach for his hands.

"Your hands are so cold," she frowned after taking his hands on hers and caressing them with her thumbs.

He shrugged, "Yours are just warmer," he embraced the warmth of her hands and felt quite better from her closeness. At least, he was not as cold as he was before, but he was still feeling tired like he had never felt before, "How did you sleep?"

"I've had better nights, if I'm being honest. I was really worried about you," she admitted, looking at the dark circles under his eyes concerned, "I suppose you didn't rest well either."

"I actually slept for a long time, but I'm still feeling drained," he admitted, doing an effort to squeeze her hands in his, but it was pointless.

"Well, those are the consequences of wanting to be immortal. That's what you get from being foolish enough to create a Horcrux at the age of seventeen," she teased him with a low voice, scared the matron would suddenly appear and hear her words. Tom didn't say anything, just looking at the freckles on her face, which were illuminated by the sun rising coming from the window behind his bed, "Do you feel any different?"