What if He had a Choice?

Part 28

Tom slowly but steadily steered them towards where the Trio was sitting, and Draco did notice, throwing dirty looks towards Tom, and proceeding to slightly panicked ones. He did not want to deal with the trio, not right now, and not today, and not with his father nowhere in sight. He may dislike Lucius at some points but he did have a way of cutting remarks and silencing the idiots from coming for him. More like, he did not want to have to associate with them at all, and yet here he was. Slowly walking towards them as Tom walked them over there. Tom kept his hand at the back of his neck, steering him forwards.

"Toom," Draco whined, causing the other to stop when they were not more than a few feet from the trio, the three turning when they heard a familiar voice. Draco wanted to be anxious, but looking into the calm, cool, collected eyes of Tom Marvolo Riddle, he forgot why he was nervous, simply reverting back to the comforting atmosphere that Tom had cultivated with him the past few weeks whilst his father was gone. Dare he say it, he had a sort of...tentative mentorship and friendship with the young Dark Lord.

"Yes love?" Tom asked, a small smirk on his lips. Draco frowned, folding his arms staring at him with a pout. Tom laughed at his expression, pulling him in closer, a sharp tug at his neck, holding his face to Draco's ear as he spoke. "What did you want to say?" he questioned, staring at the Trio as he did so, fingers gripping tight enough that Draco was unable to pull away even if he would have wanted to.

"N-Nothing," Draco said, nerves flooding through him, his face gaining a slight amount of colour that was not there prior to the flirtations of the Dark Lord.

Draco almost wanted to curse, but then he comforted himself. Nobody could escape the flustering that came with Tom Riddle's full attention on you. It was helpless. He was not at fault for being flustered, and as such he would allow himself this once. He was not released, however, as Tom continued to hold him there. He made a helplessly confused sound, not understanding why he was still being held so firmly. He had responded, all thoughts of what he had been about to complain about had fled, leaving him unable to really say anything but stutter out the first word that came to his mind. not that he wanted to risk truly questioning the Dark Lord either. It was a horrible move, and he had not really been thinking before he had utter the original line, having swiftly cursed himself as Tom had used the opportunity. Then again, who would not, he could not begrudge the Dark Lord.

"Nothing...." Tom was waiting, and Draco found himself almost cursing himself for failing to remember.

"Nothing My Lord," Draco whispered softly, his eyes focused solely on Tom's shoulder as he did so, thankful when the Dark Lord finally deigned him able to move. Slowly, but steadily, Draco was released, causing him to fall forwards into Tom's arms, hiding his face from the Dark Lord. Granted that probably did nothing if the low chuckle that he gave was anything to be considered, but Draco would not allow the Trio to see him so horribly flustered and affected by the Dark Lord's affections and attention. He himself was almost appalled at how easy it was for Tom to gain a rise out of him. Tom allowed him the moment of collection, granting him some form of mercy at the very least, and when Draco finally pulled himself from the Dark Lord's hug he was once more back to his regular outwardly self. Turning on his heel he ran straight into three simultaneous looks of shock and somewhat horror.

Draco swallowed, grabbing Tom by his sleeve, never daring to drag the Dark Lord, and gently tugging him towards the trio's sections. He wanted to curse the fates that put a majority of their school list in one isle. Before, he had always been quite glad of such a thing, it aided in getting the shopping done quite swiftly, and at the same time helped him avoid his father's irritant when it came to taking too long. Lucius never particularly liked going to Diagon Alley, which was why when Draco and him went, they typically split the work in half. Now, though, he was cursing the same thing for...well...the same reason.

Tom merely laughed at his plight as the two of them made their way around the trio, moving towards the school books before Ron blocked their way, glaring at them. Draco really wished that he had the ability to just blast them, but he knew that would get him into trouble, and he most certainly could not be so...impulsive in public. That would not do, so he just turned to stare at Ron, lifting a brow, questioning him even as he pulled Tom closer to him, still keeping him behind him, fingers laced protectively in the fabric of the shirt. He knew that the Dark Lord could protect himself perfectly fine, and Draco was at a loss as to why he was so...protective, but he could question that later.

"What are you doing?" Ron asked with narrowed eyes. Draco longed to roll his own at the question. What sort of stupid question was that? Truly, did they not know...He took a deep breath, to calm himself.

"Getting textbooks, or is that too complicated for you?" He asked, his head tilted to the side gently. Ron continued to glare at him and Tom.

"You never come alone, where is Lucius?"

"If you would notice, Weasely, I did not come alone."

"You know that isn't what I meant." Harry moved to try and intervene, but Hermione held him back, knowing that it would only make the situation worse, not better.

"Well, I do not believe what my, or my father, is doing is any of your business Weasely, so, if you wouldn't mind." Draco gently used his free arm to guide Ron to the side so he and Tom could get to the textbook section. Draco grabbed two. One for 3rd years and one for 6th years, holding them to Tom who grabbed them without further prompting, seeming to find great amusement in the current situation.

"Wait, who is this?" Harry asked, staring at Tom.

"Yeah, you never brought randoms with you." Draco grit his teeth, turning on his heel to glare ice at the ones who dared. The fierceness of his gaze had the three moving back a bit. They were used to Draco's smug smirks, or even his annoyed frowns, but this was different. Hermione recalled the way that the taller boy had grabbed Draco and pulled him in, and the hug that they had engaged in, her own eyes widening with a gasp. Ron and Harry stared at her confused while Draco just shot the whole group a dirty look, spinning, he grabbed Tom firmly by the wrist this time, and turning, pulled him out of the shop.

"Draco," Tom said simply, glancing down once they were out of the shop, their books neatly bagged. Draco's eyes widened and he shot his hand back.

"I-I apologize My Lord, I-I..." Tom held up a hand, shaking his head.

"Don't let it happen again." He said simply and Draco bowed slightly in understanding. "Let's get the rest of our shopping done. I do not want to be here for much longer."