Sacred Silence | A Tom Riddle Story

57: Amortentia.

Anthony had broken things off with Flo not long after. He was as careful with his words this time as he was with Rosalind, which was to say not at all.
He had pulled her back after Flo and Shiv had finished their first class the morning after the scene in the library. Of course, Florance had seen it coming, but Anthony had been very blunt, offering zero form of comfort during or after.
Shiv hadn't seen Flo the rest of the day, and later, she found her asleep in their dorm. The curtains of her four poster bed closed shut.

Florance had told her what had happened leading up to her fight with Rosalind. It turned out Anthony had taken the liberty to give her a kiss on the cheek, which had sent Rosalind into a frenzy. She claimed Florance was trying to get under her skin, do it all on purpose to drive her crazy. She had thrown a full bottle of firewhiskey into the fireplace, missing Flo by an inch, and it all went down from there.

The Friday after started without Flo as well, but this time due to Shivs extracurricular potions lessons.
She tumbled into the classroom 10 minutes late (she blamed it on her difficult hair), and tried to get to her seat as quietly as possible. Finally, she climbed onto the high chair next to Tom's behind the work bench they shared. He looked at her sideways and shook his head, his expression a mixture of disappointment and annoyance.

Slughorn cast her a forgiving look, and for a moment, Shiv thought she saw a hint of a smirk on the teachers face. She wondered if rumors about her and Tom had reached him, and if so, how he felt about his two star pupils becoming a 'couple'.
It was still all very fucking weird.

'You look particularly appealing today,' Tom said quietly as he took out his notebook.
Shiv bit back a grin and crossed her legs, turning towards him a little. 'Goodmorning to you, too.'

Slughorn started instructing the small group of students on their tasks for today. They were to brew amortentia again, this time showing him their perfected versions at the end of the year.
Last time they did this, it had been a challenging but overall fun assignment. Right now though, it made Shiv nervous. She didn't want to brew it because she didn't want to know what it would smell like to her when it was finished. The potion was never wrong.

'You'll do the liquids, I'll do the solids,' Tom stated, and he got up to get their ingredients without another look or word.
Shiv followed him with her eyes, trying to detect any hint of nervousness in his demeanor. He looked perfectly fine, with is usual cross, bored attitude.
Tom returned with the things they needed, and they worked together in familiar silence for a good while.

After about an hour, they both sat there, quiet, staring at the bubbling potion in front of them. It had turned a bright, glowing pink.
Shiv tried to stay out of the steam that drafted from it.

'Now take out your notebooks and discuss your final product with your partner,' Slughorn chirped. 'I won't force you to share your findings with the whole group, but you all should be smelling some very interesting things. See if you feel comfortable sharing it in pairs.'

Shiv succeeded in holding back a groan and took a very, very long time to take out her notebook. She even dropped a few quills on purpose, taking her sweet time to crouch down and put them all back in her bag.

'Looks fine to me,' she eventually mumbled, only glancing up at the cauldron for a split second whilst she sat back down. 'I say we bottle it up and store it, better not to wait to long.'

Tom had gone silent, his arms crossed as he sat on the stool, watching her every move. 'You seem nervous, Siobhan.'

Shiv took a deep breath and turned to face him directly, forcing her expression to become blank. 'What do you smell, Tom?'

Tom straightened in his chair and took a few moments to analyze her face. His was completely empty of any emotion, giving away nothing no matter how hard Shiv returned his stare.
Then, he leaned in a little towards the cauldron, closed his eyes, and breathed in the glowing fumes coming from the bubbling pink liquid.
It felt like an awfully long time before he retreated and looked at her again with those bloodshot, dead eyes.