Sacred Silence | A Tom Riddle Story

23: She would never.

Siobhan didn't tell anybody about what had happened in the corridor. Abraxas pieced it together, but he was way too afraid of Tom to say anything about it, he didn't even mention it to Shiv herself. She almost started to wonder if Tom had obliviated him.

Florance definitely knew something was up. She kept questioning Shiv about that night. Siobhan mostly deflected by returning the question. Flo's cheeks already had a permanent flush to them, but since that night, they turned even redder when she was anywhere near Anthony Lestrange. It was almost as weird as Shivs own situation.
Besides, she really didn't want Milo to find out. If she ever wanted to accept his offer of a date, she didn't want him to know that something had happened between her and Tom. It was worse enough that she was already so closely associated with him.

Right now, a week later, she sat across the tall, dark-haired Slytherin boy in the library once more. She refused to sit next to him. She hadn't completely figured out how she felt about their kiss, and she didn't want to create a possibility for it to happen again.

Tom looked as unbothered as ever. He was reading through an autobiography of Salazar Slytherin and carefully made notes in a small leather journal.
He hadn't mentioned once what had happened and she had no idea what was going on inside his head. Did that kiss mean anything at all to him? Probably not. But Shiv kept wondering if he had at least felt the same thing she had. Because that longing, desperate feeling in her stomach had only gotten worse over the last week.

'Any news on your trip to the ministry?' Siobhan broke the silence between them.

'Our trip. We're going this Saturday, Slughorn has arranged a connection to Diagon Ally for us via Floo powder,' Tom answered without looking up from his book.

Shiv nodded and tried to focus on her own tasks again, but failed. 'And tell me again why am I necessary?'

Tom finally looked up at her, annoyed. 'Cillian wanted you there.'
She wondered if this was true. Cillian had never been the type of brother to ask his little sister to come visit him at work. No, he wouldn't want anyone to know he had a family member at Hogwarts that wasn't in Slytherin house.

As she looked at the boy in front of her, her mind teased her with flashes of them in the darkness. She hated how he had found a permanent little spot in her thoughts.
He had called the kiss a mistake; her mistake. Abraxas had warned her that Tom would ruin her. Altair and Florance didn't like her talking to him.
And yet, all she craved was for them to end up in a dark hallway alone again. She felt pathetic.
Shiv also didn't understand where this was coming from. She was good-looking and friendly enough to fulfill all her physical needs with anyone, but she had never felt the urge to act upon those needs as strongly as she had this last week.

She buried her face in her book again and tried her best to block out any unwanted wandering thoughts.
They worked like that for about an hour before Siobhan broke the silence once more. 'I don't think it's necessary for me to join your trip to the ministry.'

Tom only looked up briefly with his eyes, not moving his head up from his book. 'I already told you, you're coming.'

Siobhans eyes narrowed. 'Has anyone ever told you 'no' in your life, Tom?'

Tom rolled his eyes, 'They know better. You should too.'

She bit her lip and retreated back behind her book. The way he spoke always left such little room for argument. He spoke with a certain confidence and finality that not many other people possessed at his age. In some ways, he reminded her of her father. But that thought made her skin crawl, so like many other times, she pushed it away.

If they were going to the ministry together this weekend, she had to make sure she had her fucking hormones under control. She wanted to show him that she wasn't that easy, that she had standards. She was pureblood royalty, and Tom needed to be reminded that he needed her. Not the other way around.