RIDDLES PROPERTY

chapter 70

It was late at night. From sleeping in an empty bed to him curled up next to her, he held on tight. Emelia lay on her back staring at the ceiling which she could barely make out.

"Are things falling back into place?" she thought out loud.

No reply.

Obviously. He was still asleep. His face was buried into the pillow with one hand over his head and his other loosely gripped around her waist. However he could breathe was a mystery to her. She could hear people whispering downstairs.

 Emelia tried making out the voices, but it was hard to tell.

"We can't have mistrust on our side!"

"He was the LEADER, for god's sake! He'd gather MY people and...and just use them for their lycanthropy. I cant just forgive him for that, Sirius!"

That must've been Remus...

"Well look at where it got them! Ophelia's a werewolf and they both have that nasty scar across their face."

"Nasty? Really, Sirius? Is that how you see us...?"

This was bad. She wanted to shut it out, but Emelia was already too invested. A bad habit, but she'd have to understand everyone's struggles to connect with them. Find their soft spot. 

"Don't do this, Moony..." Sirius whispered. "You know how I feel about us, I love you very much and...don't misconstrue my trust for Emelia a sign of forgiveness for him."

So he trusted her. That was something interesting.

"What're you doing?"

Emelia nearly yelped. Tom had a deep and raspy voice. He took his hand off of her and sat up on the bed, his face peering down at Emelia while she looked up at him, still laying on her back.

"Nothing. You should go back to bed, we have a long day tomorrow."

The more time Tom spent around her was more he could see her turning into him. He didn't mind at first, but it was starting to bother him. He was not a good person. Whatever happened to his Emelia? The Emelia who listened to him, who called him out when it was needed. She wouldn't tell these little white lies.

"You're lying."

She sighed. 

"Yeah, I was listening to Remus and Sirius. Happy?"

Tom found his hand caressing her face. She breathed almost cautiously. He liked his advantage point against her. He wouldn't dare hurt her but the thought would cross his mind.

"Now why would you do that?"

"See, my view on this situation is trying to fix what you started. They aren't very keen on letting you into their homes, sleep in their beds, eat their food. As much as I'd like to restart my life with none of this it's our mess. We started it, we're ending it."

"You're not ending shit, Emelia." 

He put his hand on the other side of Emelia's head and hovered over her, his face inches away from hers. 

"That's just the truth. I know you want a break from this, as do I."

"Then why start it in the first place," she asked.

It seemed as if everything went quiet; the cars outside, the cars, Remus and Sirius. Almost as if he had put a Muffliato spell around the room.

His whole body was over Emelia's, only the blanket cover separating them. His face crept even closer to hers, she was silent.

"Can't we just enjoy Cambridge in the night time?"

Tom kissed her lightly on the upper corner of her lips almost as if he was trying not to hurt her.

Emelia stayed quiet with her hand tracing the back of his back. A parallel, even when he had branded her, she was feeling him as if she'd created him. Her hands went up and down, she could feel his bones and spine. Her other hand laid on her stomach, dangerously close to him.

"We haven't shagged in a long time," she said breaking the silence.

He sighed.

He got up off her and went to the shower. She got up as well.

"Don't follow me," he said.

Emelia knew he didn't like to be watched. Not an insecurity, just out of pure annoyance.

She still followed him and entered the bathroom. It was dark in there, but the shower was on. Her clothes came off, thrown onto the bed. She had to feel everything to not trip and made her way into the warmth of the water. 

"Told you not to follow me."

Her breath hitched and she looked behind. His hair glistened blue in the moonlight. Emelia backed up against the stone cold wall. Her breath steadied.

"I want this forever, I swear I can spend whatever on it." he whispered into her ear with his hands against the wall. She was trapped, willingly, caught like a deer in headlights. "But don't follow me when I tell you not to."

He led his hands too her shoulders and kissed her forehead, holding her closely against his skin. Tom was embracing her in a hug. 

This wasn't inherently sexual, even if they were naked. This was love.