Lies and falsehoods, armour made of ambition and cruelty. Irremediably, Tom Riddle's destiny has been written from the beginning, foreseeing a dark and deviant path. But to everything there is an exception, and Anastasia Atwell did not know she was...
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Tiernan Lestrange
"And this is the last one."
Anastasia dropped the paper on the desk with a victorious air, a proud expression on her face as Tom relaxed in his chair, grimacing with amusement. It had taken them a good two days, but at least they had managed to get their work done without too much fuss and that was the most important thing.
Unlike the previous day, there was no sunshine to warm them up, but a heavy rain was beating against the windows at a fast pace and making far too much noise. They both wore something heavier to keep them warm. They had asked their teachers to leave class a few minutes early so that they could attend to their Head Boy and Girl duties, and they had been granted without question.
Their fingers were smudged with ink, their eyes were tired, and every muscle in their arms and backs seemed to be on the verge of giving way to pain and exhaustion, but there was enough satisfaction to allow them to ignore everything else. Anastasia slowly shifted her chair, getting back to her feet and stretching. Tom was watching her with a furrowed brow as she stretched her arms forward. The girl gathered and tidied all the papers into one pile, ready to pick them up and bring them to the Headmaster's office as soon as possible.
But Tom tied a hand around her wrist, forcing her to leave the papers again. He was looking at her with confusion.
Anastasia shrugged. "I promised I'd take care of it."
He rolled his eyes, a sigh leaving his lips. "Goodness, do you always have to be in a hurry? Just relax for a second. Five minutes won't make a difference to you. Go back to your seat."
The dirty look Anastasia gave him in response was totally unwelcome, but the boy chose to let it pass because he had something else on his mind at the moment. She, just as she had done the day before, intertwined both arms on the desk and rested her chin against it. She could have used that five minutes to regain strength in her arms and back. She had looked up at the stained glass windows, her eyes large and wide, like a curious child.
Tom, on the other hand, had his back against the chair, his arms linked to his chest. He was watching her out of the corner of his eye, battling with a tuft of hair that fell back over her forehead, which was obviously in the way of her vision. The boy cleared his throat.
"I noticed how Lestrange made an impression on the most mysterious girl in school."
Anastasia giggled, lowering her face into her arms for just a moment. She certainly couldn't burst out laughing inside the library, there where everyone would start shushing her. "And what makes you think that?"
"I don't know." Tom bent his lips for a moment. "Probably the fact that I caught them hanging around the school last night?"
Anastasia straightened up in her seat all of a sudden, her lips wide and her expression hurt. "Are you kidding?" She hoped he was. But when Tom shook his head, she wrinkled her nose in annoyance. "I can't believe this. I was the one who convinced Tiernan he should step up, and now that something's going on, I'm not allowed to know about it?"
