After the Lights Go Out

Part 4 - The Game

February 1945

Two can play this game, that you knew for certain. The dance had not ended on the Yule Ball, it was still going with every step just as calculated as the last. You needed to forget about Tom Riddle, for as long as the Tournament was going on, he could be nothing more than your enemy. This was of course the way Terrence first entered the chess board, as nothing more than a pawn you could use to move closer to Tom and his queen. In the end it was so brilliant, so meticulously planned out that neither of them could tell, until the move was finally made, and the round was won.

Psychological warfare was simple enough, but you preferred to take such matters head on, no matter how brutal the end results may be. The Ilvermorny champion had thought it had been his own idea, within this short amount of time he could not possibly have understood just how much you got him wrapped around your little finger. So naturally, by the first Hogsmeade Weekend of the year you were heading on a quite public date with Terrence to Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop.

You felt somewhat cruel as you sat there by the fogged windows, gazing distractedly out into the street instead of listening as Terrence babbled about Ilvermorny and of all the ways it was oh so different from Hogwarts and likely Beauxbatons. The interiors of the tea shop were disturbingly pink and frilly, reminding you of the dormitory back in France. All the times you'd spent time hiding in your room, sickened by the vanity of your classmates and of the false sincerity of the fairy-tale you seemed to be living out at that time.

Terrence Stokes was of course, quite fit to play the prince. Tom on the other hand would have been the honest villain, the only one who seemed to be able to look right through the falseness of everything. The one who surely would never sugar-coat anything, and neither pretend that you were just another damsel in distress. You had seen him only a few times lately, walk around the snow covered school grounds with Lucretia Black. But surely, he'd never willingly bring her to someplace like Madam Puddifoot's.

"So, what do you think?" Terrence repeated himself and you blinked at him absentmindedly,

"About what?"

"About going to America with me, after all of this" Terrence smiled smugly to cover up his nervousness, and rather than answering directly you returned the smile as best as you could.

"Perhaps one day"

There was nothing appalling about Terrence, he seemed to posses a lion heart and was kind and decent. Unlike someone else who seemed to posses just about every opposite trait and attribute, and yet there he was haunting your mind at every moment spent awake and in dream.

Those dark empty eyes, the way he had looked at you as he asked why you had let Terrence lead the dance. The fact that he had saved you from getting crushed to death by a troll, and then in some absurd potential act of jealousy – caused Neil Lament to have a terrible accident, just so he could not take you to the ball. Whatever deranged tactic he had, one thing was for sure; Tom would rather see you alone and miserable than with anybody else.

And so you awaited his next move full of expectations, knowing that by now the entire school were fully aware of the two Triwizard champions teaming up, possibly causing them to be an even greater threat to his victory during the next task to come. You wondered what he might do now, if he would find a different tactic or if he'd find a way to take it out on Terrence instead.

But weeks passed by, and just as spring was nearing you were starting to believe that whatever had been going on between the pair of you, was now dying out. There were no more embers left from the fire, and it seemed like Tom did not even look your way anymore.

Well, that was until the last evening before the second task of the tournament. You spent the time of preparations alone in the library, studying dark magical creatures, useful magic and potions you still might have had time to make. As you had not won the previous task, you did not have sort of clues at all at what was coming next. You could still envision the golden rabbit in your head, when you noticed the flickering of the single candlelight before you.

"Terrence... darling?" you questioned out loud into the dark library, but no one answered nor presented themselves. You immediately got chills, realizing that you were not the only soul present there that night. That somebody was watching you like some animal stalking its prey. You quickly grabbed your wand and pointed it towards the dark.

"Homenum Revelio" you whispered, and you indeed felt a presence standing somewhere very close by. But before you could do anything further, he had already revealed himself into the candlelight.

"It's a little late to learn any new tricks, don't you think?" Tom mocked you with not even a faint of humour,

"What do you want, Riddle?" you spat, still aiming your wand at him. Now he finally let out some sort of laugh, gesturing for you to lower your wand.

"I want to win" he glowered, "Don't you?"

You pulled some sort of grimace, perhaps he was truly worried about you teaming up with Terrence, after all it left him with a disadvantage for the next task even if he was in the lead.

"At this point my sole motivation is to watch you loose.." you admitted incredulously, and his grin disappeared.

It happened very quickly, within the blink of an eye he had you pushed up against a towering bookcase, now with his own wand aiming at your throat.

"How awfully bold of you" he hissed through gritted teeth, and you could feel his warm breath against your neck. The goosebumps were standing, and for a moment you did not know what to say or do at all, until an unexpectant laughter escaped your lips.

"Oh Tom, I bet you really wish you had not saved me, now"

Tom pressed you more harshly against the bookcase, and several books stumbled to the ground around the pair of you. You were starting to worry it might alert the Hogwarts caretaker, Filch, but you did not want the situation to end just yet at all. His lips were mere inches away from yours, so close you could feel their warmth radiate against yours.

"I don't have any regrets" Tom suddenly whispered as he finally stepped back, de-escalating the situation.

"But I guess you'll really just have to wait and see by tomorrow"

You could finally take a deep breath, and you quit your standing at your tip toes.

"W-what do you mean?" you stuttered, but his visage would not reveal anything at all.

"Goodnight" he said, and then he returned to the dark.