ethereal | tom riddle.

slither-in

A/N: I am so fucking terrified of thunderstorms and fireworks; also if the science is wrong in this just ignore it

Two weeks later, after another one of Slughorn's parties, too tired to walk, Tom and Eliza apparated back to his room late at night. The sound of the heavy downpour filled the room as they reached. Eliza removed her heels first, nearly moaning with joy at the relief she felt. Never again, she thought to herself.

Tom helped Eliza out of the dress, letting her get ready to sleep before him. She wore one of her slip dresses she kept in his room and then immediately went to bed. "Goodnight Tom." She murmured.

As usual, she didn't expect a reply and she didn't get one. He took off his shirt and changed pants. He didn't go to bed then, but he dimmed the candles in the room and sat on the chair at his table. He noted things down from his book, deep in thought as Eliza slept.

The sound of the pouring rain didn't seem to be stopping and resonated through the room. A while later, Tom noticed Eliza shuffling in the bed, shifting from here to there as though struggling against something. Thunder sounded throughout the castle, and Eliza awoke, sitting up suddenly.

Then, another flash of light came followed by a loud thunderous noise. Eliza's heart started beating faster and her breathes began to stagger. She tried taking deeps breaths but it didn't work. She gasped for air, clutching at her chest. Tears began to slip as she was reminded of her nightmare.

Her mind went back to her being in that house. Her breathing became worse and she began to hyperventilate. Any desperate attempts of slowing her breathing didn't work.

Tom was by her side in an instant and she melted into his arms as he held her. He stroked her hair, her heart beat slowing gradually, as one of his hands held hers. Without her knowing, he used a bit of magic to calm her down. Once she'd stopped panicking, he used both his hands, holding her face and lifting it to look at him.

His thumbs wiped away the tears that remained on her cheeks. He looked at her, his hands still cradling her face. He kissed her forehead, her eyes closing as he did.

She let her head lay on his bare shoulder, taking a deep breath as her tired eyes shut. He felt her fall into a deep sleep again, curtesy of a sleeping spell he'd put on her. Putting out all the candles with a wave of his hand carefully so as to not wake her, he too went to bed. The room only lit by the moon's faint glow, he put the blanket over them both.

She was comfortably wrapped up in the blankets beside him. He let out a sigh, turning to his side to look at her. She looked peaceful with the silver glow dancing on her face and hair glinting in the darkness. She shifted closer to him, her head resting against his chest.

One of his hands stroked her hair and he let his own eyes shut, his other hand wrapping around her and holding her closer.

*

"Just five more minutes, Tom. Please!" Eliza begged as Tom tried waking her up for the millionth time that morning. That was their everyday routine. He'd wake up two or three hours earlier than her each day, and be fully ready before she even woke up. And when he tried to wake her up, she'd beg him to let her sleep for a few more minutes, which would end up turning into at least 45 minutes.

Which is why Tom simply started waking her up everyday an hour earlier than she had to be awake by. Saved them both time and effort.

She got up eventually, taking a bath and coming out with a towel wrapped around herself. She dressed herself, and Tom didn't once look up.

When she was finally ready to leave for breakfast, she took her books laid out of the bed and they went down to join the others. Breakfast went about as usual, and Tom and her went to their next class together.

"Oh, did I tell you what I heard?" Eliza said excitedly as her and Tom walked through the corridors to get to Potions. "Imagine you're hitting on a girl. Okay, not you, but someone. And they say 'oh, you're pretty," to the girl and then go 'mind if I Slytherin your bed tonight.'" Eliza waited for a reaction but Tom simply raised his eyebrow. "No, I don't think you're getting it. Slither in, like Slytherin. It's funny, Tom."

"Never said it wasn't." Tom replied. "Where'd you hear that?"

"Oh, you know, just Theo trying to flirt with this girl."

"And that worked?"

"I don't think she was listening to him, to be quite honest. She just seemed eager to get his pants off. I don't know how he does it-."

"Not that way, Eliza." Tom says, just as they approached a fork on the path to class.

"I knew that. I wasn't going there, Tom. I know where class is." Eliza quickly defended, rolling her eyes though both of them knew that wasn't true. 

Eliza and Tom continued their walk to class with her going on about whatever came to her mind. They reached class in time, but found their usual places in Slughorn's class to be occupied by some Gryfinndors.

That they thought was odd since their Potions class would only ever have Hufflepuffs and Slytherins. Before they could connect the dots, Slughorn entered the room frustratedly. He set his books down on the table with a sigh and looked around his class where many were standing.

"Students, we will have to accommodate the Gryfinndors in today's class. I won't bore you with why, but please adjust for today." Slughorn waved his wand over the classroom, and chairs appeared in the empty places. Tom glared at the Gryfinndors in their place, who noticed immediately.

The boy nudged the girl and whispered something to her. Her eyes widened as she turned around to look at Tom. Quickly, both of them gathered their things and moved to the chairs on the other side of the room.

Eliza had to bite her lip to stop her from laughing as Tom and her sat down on their side of the class. The others around them shuffled around to give them more space.

Slughorn waited a moment for everyone to settled down, and then begun class. When he asked a question, three students' hands shot up- a Hufflepuff and two Gryfinndors.

"Yes, Ms. Lavane?" He asked the Hufflepuff.

"Wolfsbane, professor." She answered.

"That's correct." He smiled and then asked another question to which only two Gryfinndors raised their hand. He looked between the two of them and then around the room. With a sigh, he gestured to one of them to answer.

"Lavender root." The boy said confidently, but Slughorn shook his head.

"Incorrect." Slughorn said and then looked at the other Gryfinndor who'd wanted to answer.

Smugly, the boy responded. "Nightingvalley roots." Slughorn made a disappointed noise and looked to the ceiling shaking his head.

"Tom, m'boy?" The professor smiled as he looked towards Tom.

Tom was writing something in his Defence against the Dark Arts notebook, and answered without looking up. "Hollowed Meadowing seed."

"Excellent, Tom. Others, make a note. You, Gryfinndor boy in the back, what's that you're writing during my class?" Slughorn angrily made his way over to the boy, snatching the notebook and tossing it in his drawer. "No one is to do any other subject during my class. Have I not made that clear?" Some students discreetly put their other books inside, not wanting to be yelled at.

Tom, however, continued whatever he was doing without any thought of the Professor's warning. Slughorn turned to Tom, and the Gryfinndors smirked at the thought of Tom getting in trouble. However, Slughorn simply ignored that Tom was still writing in his DADA book, and awarded 10 points to Slytherin. The Professor made his way to continue class.

The Weasley in the corner of the class scoffed. "Is there a problem, Mr.Weasley?" Slughorn said slowly as Weasley's eyes widened in fear.

"N-no, professor."

"As I thought."