ethereal | tom riddle.

shower

Tom's inner circle had a meeting later that night. Eliza never came to the meetings. Tom kept her out of their doings and unless he needed her to do something, she was not informed about their ongoings.

She was entirely fine with that. She had no particular interest in attending and for the most of it, she was perfectly alright not playing a part in whatever it was that they did.

Sometimes she would feel left out, especially at times when they would all be talking about it at lunches or brekafast. She did know that it wasn't like they were partying without her, but sometimes she just felt a little bit in the dark.

Abraxas would always try to include her in the conversation or change the topic so she could be a part of it. Tom would answer any question she had, but only if she asked.

So Eliza didn't realise that they had a meeting going on that night when she walked into Tom's room at around 11 at night, wearing nothing but a robe loosely covering her underwear and bra underneath.

She walked in casually, and when she realised that there were others in the room, she tightened her robe so it covered her better. All the boys in the room froze as they looked at her, not uttering a word as she strolled in.

Tom nearly rolled his eyes at the boys, shaking his head at them. They however, were too preoccupied wondering why she was wearing nearly nothing as she came to his room so late at night.

"Yes Eliza?" Tom questioned.

"My shower isn't working. Can I use yours?" Eliza asked, on her tip-toes reaching for a towel from his drawers beside the bathroom door.

"Go ahead." Tom sighed, blocking out all the thoughts in the heads of the guys in his room as Eliza walked into the bathroom, locking it shut behind her. "All of you, stop thinking about her like that. Shameless creatures. Especially you, Rosier." Tom snapped, irritated with where all their minds were at. "Salazar bless your girlfriend."

They all turned away, cheeks tinged red. Abraxas just rolled his eyes at them. Tom continued the meeting as they had been. Eliza walked out of the bathroom around half an hour later, her hair wet and her robe tied neatly around her body.

All the boys tried their best to ignore her as she went through Tom's wardrobe in search for something to wear, not wanting to face Tom's wrath. She went back into the bathroom and changed into his black shirt she had found and a skirt of hers that she'd forgotten in his room a week ago.

The shirt was far too loose on her but she plopped onto the bed, joining in the meeting. Tom gave her a look, shaking his head but continuing the meeting with her there. 

She didn't actually pay attention to what was going on. She just read the book on his bedside table about the Slytherin origins and history. When she got bored of the book, she got up and took the pen from his desk to draw in his diary.

She went back and sat on the bed, doodling flowers as the people in the room looked upon her curiously. She seemed to be very comfortable in his room with all his things. They found that to be very strange, despite having seen it often. Especially knowing that if any of them so simply even borrowed his pen, that they would be faced with glares and chiding from Tom.

Once the meeting ended, everyone other than Abraxas left. He lingered for a while till everyone was gone. Eliza put down the book and looked up at Tom who sat down beside her.

Abraxas remained seated on the chair at the desk, facing Tom and Eliza. "Tom, I wanted to have a word with you about something."

"What is it regarding?" Tom questioned. Abraxas gave Eliza a quick look, and then looked back at Tom. "Are you going to go back to your room, Eliza?" Tom asked her, realising what Abraxas wanted to speak about.