What if He had a Choice?

49

An added complication, is what it was...though Tom knew he could try and figure something to fix it, he was not sure he wanted to risk another debacle in front of everyone, so he resolved himself to taking the boy to the Room of Requirement to test it further. From what he could tell, distance was a main factor, which meant if he left the boy in the room, and wandered about the castle for a bit, he should be able to tell how badly the influence would be. First, of course, he would have to charm something and infuse it with his magic. It would have to be something of value, he doubted the boy would be caught dead wearing anything that was not, and there was still a half a day of classes left so something like this simply could not wait, unfortunately, for his testing, so he gently pulled himself away from the boy with a whisper and a small drift of magic lingering on the Malfoy Heir, telling him he would return swiftly, and to wait for him.

Tom drifted through the halls in the shadows, trying to stay as unseen as possible. it was not easy, and had not been even in his own time. Against his own will he seemed to call for attention, which normally was amazing, until he had something to do that required the exact opposite. As frustrating as it was...Tom could not say that it was too big a deal, he could always redirect if needed, and he had more often than not. He was quite good at that, after all.

Sliding through a few lesser known passages, Tom made his way to the Room of Requirement, asking for the room of lost things, and in specific, something that a Malfoy Heir would find fit to wear. It did not have to be obvious, but Tom needed to infuse, preferrably a metal, with his magic to help Draco with the distance. If this was what he thought it was, and just a dependency issue, than it was easily fixed and not a single person would be made wiser to the fact. Metals were the best when it came to holding foreign magics, and Draco would require some form of jewelery or fashionable clasp or something if he were to wear it regularly.

Tom may be many things, but he was not a miracle worker. He knew how much Malfoy's took pride in their appearances. It was ingrained into them before they could even talk, always conversing about the importance of appearances, according to Abraxas. Tom found he could not much argue with the Malfoy Heir of his time's logic. Appearances did hold quite the value, after all, and he knew that it was important to be careful of how others percieved you. This was made even further true once Dumbledore entered the equation...the bigot.

Once the door finally showed itself upon the third turn, Tom entered it, rather surprised at the sheer amount of jewelry there was to choose from...but then again, the Room of Lost things had been having things thrown into it for centuries, it was not exactly surprising that there would be beautiful and ancient jewels. He just needed to find something that would appeal to Draco, and appeal Draco to Tom. As much as Tom had no intention to take Draco so early, it would not help to have the boy's neck or wrist bejewled in a pretty mark of Tom's magic. The other was delicate, and Tom wondered, idly tracing a few pieces of jewelry with his fingers, whether a thick or thin wristband or necklace would serve the boy more.

After a few minutes of wading through various tables and drawers, vanity and cabinets, Tom found something...but it was rather risky. Still, he could not help himself, and picked up the silver chain. It was to wrap around the throat, and had two silver serpantine dragons encrusted on the front and entwined with each other, with emeralds for eyes. It was goregous, and a quite cursery look told Tom entirely real silver and emerals. Not a hint of platnium or silver plait to be seen. Another nudge with a few cursery spells showed Tom it was not cursed, and he couldn't help as a smile echoed through his lips.

Sure, it was not a necklace, or wristband, but it was something...and Tom wondered...How would Draco react to such an obvious claim...how would the other houses react? It was quite clear they would react viciously, and a dark part of Tom couldn't help but lick his lips and let a dark gleam enter his eyes at the thought. Draco was highly respected among his house, but so obvious a courting gift would make them likely naucious, similar to miss Parkinson earlier. A laugh echoed around the room as he slowly, but meticiously, began infusing the metal with his magic.

It was a tedious, and rather exhausting, process. He also added a few charms to protect the boy, particularly since he was not going to be there to save the other for a majority of the day. He did not need his favorite pet getting cursed because Tom had not bothered to add a few simple protection charms. They were easy, and because they were cast by him, would allow the silver to hold the infusion of his magic just a bit longer than it would normally. Dark Magic was always the best when one wanted to have something linger for longer, but there were not many dark rituals or spells that would not hurt Draco, or have a negative backlash against him, which was definitely not something Tom wanted.

He would have to research a few, or perhaps make one himself.  He had some experience in making curses, and he knew as he got older he had successfuly managed to mark many of his followers with his own brand of dark magic, as he had been working on for several years up until then. His first test subject had been Abraxas, he knew, and while he was obviously not around in this conciousness to be able to tell if it had any positive or negative drawbacks, it had done what Tom had wanted it to. It was likely he honed the spell later on, but Tom could not be sure.

letting the chain dangle off his finger Tom hummed. It was about as good as he was going to get, at least for now, and he could not spend too much longer on it. Lucius, the bastard, had taken up so much of their damned lunch hour. Moving swiftly, Tom exited the room and made his way back to the hospital wing, hauling himself up the stairs and towards Draco's bed once more. The boy's icy gray eyes fell onto his dark ones and he struggled to sit up. Tom pushed him back down effortlessly, aided by the fact that Draco did not fight him-but when did Draco truly fight him on anything? He allows me anything I want, touch him anywhere, do anything to him...gods...it is so...Tom pushed the illicet thoughts from his mind for now. There was other things.

"I got you something, likely to help with our distance apart, but you will have to inform me at dinner whether it worked or not, yes?" Draco nodded silently, still watching him. "Lift your head, my dear," Tom whispered leaning in close to Draco's ear. He felt the pale cheeks flush with heat as he did as was asked. So...helplessly obedient...and slowly Tom dragged the metal around his neck, clasping it behind, and whispering a sealing charm to keep it from falling. Draco would have to ask Tom to remove it during quidditch, else the metal would get far too hot and start burning his neck.

It doubled as a way to make Draco helpless and even more dependant on him, even if he was not suffering the magical effects of being dependant. It would also double as a punishment when Draco angered him, which was a plus. Pulling the mirror from the side table drawer, Tom held it out to him, watching as Tom inspected it, his eyes clear and sparkling.

"Why..."

"Think of it as our first courting gift. I was supposed to give you one ages ago," Tom admitted, dropping into the seat, playing idly with his wand. "But I had not managed to find something I felt truly...fit, so I had not done so yet. I know it was rather uncouth of me to barge such a tradition, but, you only deserve the best, after all, and Lucius would no doubt not stand for something subpar. this helps you, and will protect you minimally of course, and I felt it rather matched you..." He watched as Draco's eyes widened, and the red etched its way down his cheeks, neck, and further unseen. He smirked a little, unable to help himself as he reached out to stroke the Heir's cheek. "Beautiful." He whispered softly.