Making Us~T. Riddle

Chapter 7

I wondered whether she knew she had the upper hand.

She was privy to information she wasn't supposed to be privy to.

I thought that maybe rattling her as much as I had a few days back had evoked enough shock and weariness that she wouldn't realize the position of power she now had.

Maybe I should have killed her.

Three days she had not spoken to me. She hadn't even looked my way. Of course I didn't think she had allowed herself to fully think what I could be capable of. She had thought me a simple school bully.

Unfortunately we did meet again, and it was unavoidable.

It was far past lights out. Around twelve if I wasn't mistaken, when I was in the Greenhouse. The plant had been making remarkable progress given the circumstances and soon I'd be able to remove it and use it for the right purpose.

I had been on my way out when it happened. I heard voices from outside and knew I had to leave. I could not risk getting caught.

But of course when I went to leave my escape route had been blocked by none other than blondy herself. She seemed just as surprised to see me, and we simultaneously crashed against one of the tables causing a few potted plants to fall and break alerting whoever were outside that there were intruders.

And sure enough a voice called.

"Hey! Who's in there?"

I locked gazes with Cerelia and our eyes grew wide in horror. We both heard the footsteps, more than one pair running towards us and getting louder with each step.

Seconds before the door flew open a bright idea came to mind, and without worrying about consent I yanked Cerelia by the scruff of her neck and pressed her back against the table.

She yelped in surprise but I smothered it when I pressed my mouth to hers and wrapped my arms around her waist.

She struggled against me but then seemed to catch on to what I was doing and melted into the kiss, her arms wrapped around my neck. The smell of earth and rain grew suddenly stronger and my body tingled in what I assumed was adrenaline.

We didn't stop when the door flew open. It was pleasant, more so than I would have liked to admit. We only stepped away when a light flashed right onto us. I squinted against it, my eyes took a minute to adjust but when I saw who was there I had to resist the smirk from claiming my lips.

Professor Slughorn and Mulch stared at us in surprise. The shadows the light created looked almost sinister as they bounced off the walls. It took everything in me not to glance at the thing I'd planted three days ago.

"Tom?" He said after a second, like he still hadn't even seen Cerelia or simply couldn't remember her name. She swallowed beside me and I made a show of taking her hand in mine. This seemed to snap them back to life and Professor Slughorn sighed.

"No trouble here Mulch, simply two young wizards having some fun." He shook his head. "I expected more from you Tom, I'm afraid I must give you detention for this." I hung my head pretending to be ashamed. "Of course professor, I understand." Cerelia said nothing but I felt her unease as her grip grew tighter.

"Head back up to the castle you two, don't let us catch you again now. Straight to your rooms-ugh separate rooms that is." We nodded and slipped passed them out the greenhouse. Neither of us said a word all the way up through the darkness and past the lake that reflected the stars.

I remained very calm up until we reached the castle entrance, before I let go of her hand and shoved her against a wall.

"Are you insane?" I snarled in her face, to her credit she did not back down. She took a deep breath and glowered right back at me.

"If I got caught tonight I would kill you." I admitted, not seeing past the wall of red in my mind. I didn't think she knew just how serious I was.

She scoffed.

"You did get caught. Just not doing what you went to do."

I laughed. "And what exactly do you think I went there to do?"

She didn't answer and I let my hands drop from her shoulders where I had been pinning her to the wall. But I did not move away. "Stay out of my way. I won't tell you again." I snarled at her before turning my back and heading towards the door. But she stopped me.

"I know you're hiding something. And I know it's bad. I'll tell." Her voice held strong except for the hint of slight panic that gave her away.

I sighed and relaxed my shoulders before slowly turning back to her and lifting her chin with my finger. I liked her eyes.

"What proof do you have?" I inquired. "Who would possibly believe you? What would you even tell them? You think I'm bad, you think I poisoned a professor?" She opened her mouth but I shushed her before leaning forward and pressing my lips to her ear. "Besides," I started. "You like this game, whether you should be playing it or not." I felt her shiver beneath my touch.

I left her then, standing out underneath the stars in the cold winter air.