Tom Riddle - Downfall

Chapter 22: Noises

The next day. I'm walking to the library again to finish the assignment with Tom. While I walk through the corridor, I can hear strange noises around me. Like whispering. I shake my head and head to the library faster. There Tom is already waiting for me. "Hey Tom, I see this time you're here." I start teasing him. Tom quickly responds to my joking comment as you enter the library.
"Yeah, funny... So, are you ready to finish this assignment now?" He says to me with a slightly annoyed expression, as he still seems to be affected by my teasing.

He opens his bag and takes out his books and notes to begin working on the assignment, and he doesn't look at me as he sits down to start working.
"Uhm.. when I came here, I heard strange noises around me. Maybe I was just imagining it. Kim has made my head spin with the ghosts of basilisks and secret chambers." Tom seems to stare at me now. I definitely got his attention with this. He looks up at me curiously, and his curiosity leads to him asking me a question.
"So, what do you mean by 'strange noises'? What exactly did you hear?" He asks me carefully now, giving me a suspicious look.
"I don't really know. Forget it. It's just because of this rumors"
Tom gives me a curious look since I've now told him about the strange noises, but he doesn't want to push me further if I don't want to explain more about it.
"Alrighty, it probably is, yeah." He says with a shrug and turns his attention back to his work. There's a short pause before he looks up at me again, but he still continues to work while he asks a question at the same time.
"So, um... about that rumor..." He trails off and looks at me now, giving me a puzzled look.
"Do you know anything about it?" I whisper to him. Tom shakes his head quickly in response to my question and whispers back to me as he still looks at his notes. He seems rather nervous about me asking him directly, though, and his expression turns slightly more serious as he tries to explain to me
"...No. I don't know much at all..." He says rather quickly, but he quickly changes his tone to sound more casual and smiles back at me with a warm expression. "I'm sure it's just a made-up story. But, um, can I ask you a question now?"
"Yeah, of course?" I smile at him.
Tom looks over at me now and takes in a deep breath as he tries to find the courage to ask me this question.
"Um... so, I was wondering..." He trails off with a slight nervous expression now but takes another deep breath and continues to speak. "... I know we just got to know each other, but..."
He pauses for a moment as he still seems nervous. He's hesitating to ask this question, but he knows he has to ask me.
"... Do you want to go to Hogsmeade with me for the day?"
"I already go with Kim and Sebastian, but you can come with us. The others won't mind. " I smile at him friendly.
Tom hesitates for a moment when I invite him to go with him and your friends for the day, but then he quickly nods his head in agreement with me.
"Okay, yeah... I wouldn't mind going with you all to Hogsmeade for the day."
He seems somewhat relieved now, and he smiles at me before turning back to his work and continuing with the assignment as he talks to me.
"Ok, we should finish this now,"

We worked on the assignment for the next 2 hours, and finally, we finished it.
"Finally. We can give it to the professor tomorrow. I'm sure it will be a good grade. "
Tom nods at me as I mention turning in the assignment the next day and seems to agree with my expectation of getting a good grade on the work I've done so far.
"Yeah, I think we did pretty well with this one." He looks up from his work again for a moment before shifting slightly in his seat as he seems to be thinking about something.
"...Hey, Lucia..." He says to me quietly, as he gets my attention for a moment.
"Hey Tom," I say, teasing him.
Tom seems to smile slightly at my teasing, but he also seems concerned and a bit worried about something. He hesitates for a moment as he tries to figure out the right words to say to me
"... Hey, I, um..." He trails off for a moment and then continues to speak with a more serious tone.
"... I wanted to ask you... Can I walk you back to your dorm?"
I nod as he says this, and he stands up with me as we both begin to make our way back to the dormitories. As I start walking, he seems to walk a bit closer to me now than he had been before.
"...I'm... I'm glad you're coming with me. We'll both feel a bit safer, I think." He mentions as he continues walking next to me.
"What do you mean?" I look at him suspicously. "Anything you don't tell me?"
Tom is taken a bit aback by my suspicious comment, but he quickly shakes his head in response to my question as he continues to walk with me in the direction of the dormitories.
"No.. nothing, it's nothing. I just... I just mean that... It's getting a bit late in the day, that's all. There's nothing to worry about." His face goes red as he tries to play down the significance behind his comment, but he doesn't deny the rumors completely. He's trying to keep it a secret from you still.