Painful Redemption | T. R.

Chapter Twenty

"No. I wouldn't do that if I were you."

The common room began to fill with murmurs again. Anastasia was practically standing in front of Tom, him smiling cheekily and not at all concerned about whatever was about to happen. Isidore held his wand high, his hand visibly shaking. His gaze seemed to be on fire, yet his body betrayed him. Everyone realised that they would have to do something to prevent the catastrophe from happening, yet no one could move. They all felt paralysed with fear.

Isidore was not the aggressive type. Very rarely did he raise his voice, even more rarely did he get into fights. He was usually the one who calmed the waters, trying to soothe tempers. He was very quiet, smiling most of the time. Even if he was having a bad day, he often pretended it didn't affect him to avoid worrying others.

In this, he and Anastasia were strikingly similar.

It was a bit strange for everyone to see him like that. The girls certainly hadn't noticed, but nothing went unnoticed by Abraxas. Ever since he had set foot in the school a few hours earlier, Isidore had been unrecognisable. Not because of the scar that marked his face, but there was something about him that made him look totally different. As soon as the person he was talking to turned his back to do something else, the boy's face changed light. His lips tightened into a line, his forehead perpetually furrowed. That was definitely not Isidore.

In fact, after sighing audibly, making everyone turn a little in his direction, Abraxas chose to take courage. He was the only one who, after all, knew every single detail of that evening - and how, because of him, Isidore had been found a little too late. He approached the latter, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Leave it, it's not worth it," he murmured softly.

Isidore seemed to snap at the sudden touch. He turned quickly, now pointing his wand at Abraxas' face. The blond did not even seem to startle, though he should have at that moment. But it was better to threaten him than Tom Riddle. And this they both knew perfectly well. Still, he slowly raised his hands in defence. He didn't move from where he was, but tilted his head forward. "Don't do shit you might regret. You only came back a couple of hours ago, so why don't you put your wand down?" he told him again, pointing at his wand with his gaze as the other swallowed noisily, a drop of sweat sliding slowly down his forehead.

Druella was visibly terrified. No, maybe even worse. She feared for everyone's lives. Having lived in the last period in close contact with Isidore and no one else, she had managed by half-measures to let him open up to her, albeit rarely. They were twins, but that situation should not concern her in the least. Still, she needed to know. She was afraid because in an instant all the times she had to run into her brother's room in the middle of the night to shake him vigorously, wake him up from his nightmare, interrupt his terrifying screams flashed before her eyes. The moments when she had found him in the garden with alcohol, which was undoubtedly not allowed in their house. The moments when he would move food with his fork to the sides of the plate, and throw it at the end of the table when asked if he had no appetite, before violently getting up and disappearing again.

She had talked to him seriously one night. Both of them sat on the garden steps, smoking a cigarette, hiding from their parents. Druella didn't even want it, but at that moment she thought Isidore needed it. So she did it anyway.
It was Isidore who had woken her up. He looked like he had been sweating for hours, his face was tired. He said his scar burned and that he had not closed his eyes because of the pain. So Druella had put on something warm and together they had headed outside.

"We don't have to go back now, if you don't want to," his sister had told him, resting her head against his shoulder. He sighed for a moment. "We can make up some other excuse. We'll find a way. Or, say we come back and go on a little holiday. Just you and me. Can you imagine, the Rosier twins being heartbreakers around the world?"