Sacred Silence | A Tom Riddle Story

25: The ministry.

Siobhan looked over to her left. Tom sat there, scribbling in his small black notebook. It was busy on the London underground. They were both dressed in muggle clothing. If you didn't know better, they almost looked like a normal, good-looking couple.
Shiv tucked some fly away strands of hair behind her ears and tried to sneak a glimpse of what Tom was writing. He always kept his journal turned away from her, like he was hiding some big secret.

'This is our stop,' Shiv said, and she watched as some people around them got up from their seats. Tom snapped his journal shut and slipped it into his leather shoulder bag. Together, they made their way through the busy underground station.
She followed closely behind Tom. He was wearing a long black overcoat that made him look even taller. When she almost lost sight of him, she hooked her fingers around the edge of his coat.
He didn't look back at her, but he grabbed her hand in his lightly and led her to the exit. She noticed his cold silver rings against her skin and felt a small smile spread across her lips. When she realized this, she cursed herself under her breath and bit her lip. This was exactly why she didn't want to spend more time alone with him.

They used the visitors' entrance to get into the ministry. Siobhan immediately felt more at ease around the sea of witches and wizards.
Small paper messages were flying through the air, sparks in all sorts of colors shot up from wands around the hall, and busy chatter was heard from every direction.
In the midst of the chaos and people, she saw Cillian stride towards them.

'Shivvy,' he called out with a big grin. Siobhan gave her brother a polite hug. Cillian looked way too excited to see them. It was obvious his excitement was caused by her, though. Her brother looked at Tom as if he was the second coming of Merlin.
'Cillian,' Tom said in a matter of fact way, and the two young men shook hands.

They followed Cillian through the large hallway, into an elevator, and down to one of the lower floors where he worked.
'Altair was here an hour ago, stopped by when he heard you were visiting. Haven't heard from Amos in a while, you?'

Shiv shook her head and looked around Cillians office that they had just entered. It was neat and organized. She had to stop herself from laughing. Cillian was normally just like her: chaotic and messy. He must have cleaned the whole space when he heard Tom would come Ober today.
On a small round table in the middle of the room laid a stack of classified files. She wondered if her brother was breaking some important rules by showing Tom these papers.

Cillian quickly began rambling about everything he had prepared for Tom. 'You will love it. I've even gotten the very old files from the last attempt 200 years ago. Took me a while to dig those up, but I knew you'd be interested!'

Tom, who was already standing at the table examining the files, looked over his shoulder at Cillian. 'Thank you, I appreciate it.' His voice was as charming as ever. Cillian looked as if he might come in his pants just by Tom's praise. Siobhan fought the urge to roll her eyes.

'So what are these files about, exactly?' Her questioning eyes met Cillians briefly before she directed her attention to Tom, who folded his hands behind his back and turned around slowly to face Cillian, that same polite smile on his face once more. 'Will you excuse us for a moment?'
Cillian looked disappointed but gave a small nod and left his own office, leaving Siobhan and Tom alone together once more.

'So?' Shiv asked, impatient. She picked up one of the files and opened it, flipping through it's pages.
'Siobhan,' Tom placed his hand on hers and forced the file shut. He looked down at her and sighed quietly.

'We're looking into a very specific type of dark magic today. Your brother has been so kind to provide me with some recent information that has come out about it. Now, listen to me,' his eyes were cold and serious.
'I brought you here because I need someone who won't be corrupted by a moral compass. I'm sure you will find what's in these pages disturbing, but equally fascinating. It's complicated, advanced magic, and I need to know everything about it.'