Extra Ordinary (Riddle Era)

Chapter 46

Of the many fearsome beasts and monsters that roam our land, there is none more curious or more deadly than the Basilisk, known also as the King of Serpents. This snake, which may reach gigantic size, and live many hundreds of years, is born from a chicken's egg, hatched beneath a toad. Its methods of killing are most wondrous, for aside from its deadly and venomous fangs, the Basilisk has a murderous stare, and all-

"Interesting book choice."

Tom blinked, raising his head with carefully controlled nonchalance and turning just enough to see Steele as she stood behind him, frowning slightly at the book open in front of him, hovering a hair closer than Tom thought was entirely polite.

"Not exactly light reading," she remarked, turning from the page to meet his gaze, the movement bringing their faces rather unnervingly close together.

Still, Tom made himself shrug and smile, made himself seem unbothered. "More a point of curiosity than an attempt at relaxing," he admitted. Which wasn't a lie. Which shouldn't have mattered, of course, but it was Steele and he had learned and learned well by now to avoid lying to her if at all possible.

Steele sniffed and shook her head slightly. "Have you considered relaxing?" she suggested, the light words, Tom thought, hiding, as they so often did, some deeper meaning. "Just food for thought," she added, smile spreading, presumably in response to some minute change in Tom's face no one else would have noticed. That Tom himself couldn't have explained.

He didn't let himself dwell on it. It was a waste of energy better spent making sure this conversation didn't turn into a discussion on why, exactly, a book on dark creatures was point of curiosity. So he simply made himself chuckle. "I'll put it on my to-do list," he assured her. "Somewhere between Transfiguration, Charms, and Prefect Duty."

"And obscure magical creature research for the sake of 'curiosity,'" she added, the beat before the last word just long enough put Tom on edge.

"Well of course," he returned lightly, refusing to cave to the emphasis in her tone, the suspicion he wasn't sure she was trying to hide. "It's a necessary part of any well balanced life."

Steele sniffed again, the noise that of the half laugh she seemed to give all too often. "I'll have to try it out sometime," she said. "At the moment, however, I think it's time for bed. Or at least," she added with a sideways sort of smile, and a tip of her head towards where the library exit was hidden behind the shelves. "To go back to the dormitories."

Frowning Tom glanced at his watch and had to bite back a foul word. Steele was right. It was nearly curfew. This wasn't entirely a problem, per se - Tom generally ignored curfew anyway - but it was an inconvenience, particularly because with Steele here, it meant a whole production of pretending to go back to his dormitory before sneaking right back out again. Even if Steele wasn't there, he'd have had to pretend to leave the library and wait awhile before coming back. All of which was a waste of time. Time Tom was increasingly finding he did not have.

Never before had Tom found himself quite so close to a state he supposed might be called "overwhelmed." But between researching Slytherin's legacy, the chamber below the castle, and the creature within, performing the deeply boring duties associated with being a prefect, work prepping for OWLs, and maintaining at least a baseline social presence, Tom was swamped. Time spent walking out of the library and down even a single hall he didn't absolutely need to walk down was time that came out of his sleep. And that sleep was already annoyingly limited these days.

His only saving grace, really, was that everyone was starting to show signs of wear. Even Hornby had bags beneath her eyes most days and her already slightly sharp disposition had only worsened. The others were little better. People were wound tight, signs of exhaustion and stress showing. The only person who seemed entirely unaffected, other than - Tom hoped - himself, was Lucy Steele. Because of course she appeared unaffected. She always appeared unaffected. To the point where even Tom was starting to wonder if it might not be only an appearance.