GOD KILLERS. Tom Riddle

03. Silence please

CHAPTER THREE
SILENCE PLEASE

SCALING THE STAIRS, UP TOWARDS THE DORMITORY, AUGUSTINE LET HIS HAND REST ON THE DOORKNOB IN TENSE APPREHENSION. Finally twisting it open, he glanced, for only a second, at Bunny.

He was relaxing; arms behind his back in an effective show of his muscled arms as he leaned on them, head drawn back, showing his Adam's apple as he laughed at something Theo had told him. Dressed only in a vest and baggy striped pyjama trousers, Augustine had to tear his eyes away from him as he stumbled inside.

He'd only gone to find Professor Toussaint about the upcoming lessons, but as he entered, he felt like he'd been away for years.

Getting to his bed, he kept his eyes trained on his suitcase, unzipping it with nervous hands as he tried to ignore Bunny's voice.

Luckily, another voice spoke to him, ridding him of the other.

"Nice knives," Tom spoke, leaning over his shoulder studying the knives; eyes keen on the silver gleaming things.

Augustine turned his head ever so slightly, "they're from Bunny."

"ah." Tom turned a little to look at the gift giver.

Turning back to Augustine, he added, "they're the pretty things you're going to kill him with I presume?"

"Maybe. Thought it was quite poetic killing him with the very things he gifted to me," he took one out of the box, eyeing the hilt before placing it back with its brothers.

"always have a flare for the dramatics don't you?" He retorted with a raised brow.

Augustine shrugged and cracked his neck, reliving in the pain accompanied by it, "it scares people more than if you just kill them, maybe take a page out of my book."

"For what may I ask?"

To be quite honest, Augustine had been thinking on the way back to Hogwarts on how Tom could start his rise to power. He wasn't exactly getting anywhere with the Knights right now. However now that Augustine had joined, maybe that's all Tom really needed. A boy with a sick imagination.

"Well, maybe this little ruling the world act should start at ground level," Augustine just said with a shrug, his eyes back to Tom.

Tom narrowed his eyes as if in thought, "and how would we do that?" We. There's that word again. Just like at the hotel when Tom had killed the woman.

"I don't know? You're the leader, figure it out."

....

Augustine woke with a scowl on his face. He'd always scowled in the face of mornings, never really having the same jittering look as Bunny when he rises first nor the peaceful look of Tom as he stretches and pulls himself out of bed readying himself for a light read as he rises secondly. Or even Abraxas, who lay face down every morning hoping that someday he wouldn't wake up, and then becoming quite mad when he had to get up next.

Instead, he's in between Theo and Reinhardt. Theo who groans and whines about getting up, and Reinhardt who quite literally gets dragged out of bed last by everyone else.

He stared at the ceiling for a moment, rubbing the sleep from his eyes as they blink slowly awake.

His moment of peace was interrupted by the shower turning on, turning his head to see Theo pulling himself towards the shower.

He looked at the clock, frowning at the time (7:30, the time Bunny usually forced everyone awake) and rolled over, burying his face into the pillow for another minute or so.

"Study with me in the library?" Toms voice pulled him from his moment of slumber. He rolled back over to face him; already dressed, curls unruly as ever.

He nodded simply, "let me eat first— I'm starving." He opted out on eating last night, having felt sick being anywhere near Bunny— who stuffed himself like a pig disgustingly.

....

After eating, (porridge for Tom and burnt toast for Augustine respectively) they found themselves in the back of the library.

Augustine with his legs pulled close to him as he rested a book against his thighs, and Tom sitting hunched over a mountain of books, head in hands as his eyes grazed the pages.

Flicking through another book, Augustine yawned, "what exactly are you looking for?"

Tom stayed silent for a moment, as if not entirely registering what Augustine had said, before his head snapped up, "as you said last night, I need to start somewhere don't I?"

Augustine nodded, "but surely you can't find anything in these?" he motioned towards the books sprawled out across the desk.

He didn't even know what any of them were, Augustine instead had opted for Vivienne Maxwells guide to spirits and the undead.

He found it interesting at parts; his eyes always drifting to the divination section of the book, eyeing the steps to see the future through the muscles of the recently deceased, animal and human.

There was a small part of him that wanted to do it; look into his future, to see what would happen.

He flicked the page quickly, resuming his initial read on specific chants, ridding the thought from his mind.

He couldn't look to his future, his future had already been made — many people would then say, what about free will? but Augustine knew well enough free will wasn't real, not to him with his life already done — Circe had told him that much already.

Now all he had do to was live it.

"Maybe," Tom's voice sliced through his thoughts, the prefect eyed Augustine's book, "can you see the future?" he asked casually, giving a nod to the book.

Augustine thought of the dream he had— Bunny and himself, older, slightly happier, it hadn't been real, had it?

"No," he lied, "and I don't wish I could either, I don't need to know the future."

"No? And why's that?"

"Because it's already been made, why try to change it?"

"Because falling into complacency won't get you anywhere in life." Tom retorted, "I thought you wanted to be powerful?"

Augustine slouched further into his seat, knees still propped up so he couldn't see Tom, "I do, maybe I'm already destined for it?"

"And do you believe that?"

He sat up this time, pulling his legs down and leaned close to Tom, "well why else would I be sitting here and not in Azkaban for my crimes?" he asked raising a brow at the other boy smugly.

And Tom smiled, leaning closer, "good answer."

an/

BIRDIES FUN FACTS !!

bunny's name was going to be Archibald /Archie <3

But I changed it mid writing after rereading the secret history & going ..... hmmm lemme just steal that <3

secondly,,, the book Augustine is reading is made up ,,,, I'm making up a lot of the books in this fic only bc I'm too lazy to look up at books on the hp wiki 💔