Lenora's Love; A Tom Riddle Story

Overprotective

      Lenora slept until past noon as did most of the house. She laid on her bed feeling still depleted when she awoke. If it wasn't for Lilith shoving a coffee and muffin in her face she probably would have laid in bed all day.

"Why are you so peppy?" She groaned,

Lilith smiled grabbing a small vial from her pocket, "well  not all of us dove halfway in the bottle last night".

Lenore gave her a sour face.

"I brought you a hangover elixir as well" Lilith said in a sing-songy voice.

"Who made it?" Lenore grumbled from underneath her pillow where she hid her head.

"Tom" Lilith said leafing through Lenora's dresses from her open closet, "he made you that coffee too"

"Throw it out" Lenora lifted her head up, "I'd rather suffer".

Lilith snorted, "well excuse me princess" she dumped it in her coffee anyway when Lenora looked away.

Lenora took a sip of the coffee, "you destroyed the elixir?" She asked.

"Obliterated" Lilith said with a smile.

Abraxas, she could forgive. Tom she refused to even look at. His eyes flicked over the newspaper as she came down the stairs.

She sat in the front room with the rest of the guys watching Lilith saddle next to Theo happily. Black looked out the window sullenly, he refused to meet her eye.

"Are you going to thank me for the coffee?" Tom asked as she sat in the only seat available. Unfortunately next to him.

He passed her a section of the newspaper. Abraxas shot her a look and for a moment she felt defeated.

"Thank you Tom," she said quietly as she read.

They all sat for a while making conversation, remarking on articles in the paper. Abraxas got up and sat on the floor next to Lenora and they chatted about new music.

"Well" exclaimed Lilith loudly, "I only have two days here and tomorrow Theo and I have a date"
They all looked at her dumbly.

"So Nora and I are going shopping" she smiled at Lenora who raised her eyebrows. Even though she was surprisingly not hungover, she was not in the mood.

"Lovely!" She said standing up, suddenly relieved to be escaping.

They returned bags in hand. Theo sat on the porch waiting for them. He flicked his wand carrying the bags from their hands and floating them upstairs. Lilith and him embraced like two lovers separated for dynasties, making Nora look away shyly.

Wanting to give them their privacy, she began to walk backwards in the lawn.

"I'm going to go for a little walk guys" she called out.

"Are you sure?" Theo called out, "it's getting dark".

"Lumos" she said and her wand lit, "I'm fine".

She meandered to the back for the house, if she were anywhere else she may have felt frightened. Alone in the dark she walked the woods she had known even as a child. Over rocks and fallen branches until she heard the babbling of a small waterfall.

Even under the endlessness of night, her favorite spot was beautiful. Lenora found a rock and climbed onto it watching the quiet glimmers of the water

   She sat there for over an hour and began to walk along the bank. Her wand lit the area and she saw some small unusual flowers. Nora crouched and squinted, little white blooms that looked vaguely familiar.

Water hemlock she gasped. A very rare and unusual ingredient for very powerful potions.  Wasn't this just perfect? She conjured a small pouch and cut them carefully. She made certain not to touch the blooms, they were absolutely poisonous. She placed the pack in the pocket of her dress.

"Are you a fool?" The voice made her jump although she knew who it was.

"Are you my shadow?" She quipped back not in the mood.

"It's dangerous at night" Tom said, "hurry up"
He looked at her queerly sitting on the ground, "what are you doing? I didn't know you came here at night too."

Lenora have him a curious look, "how did you know I came here at all?"

Tom felt caught, for a moment he doubted his own abilities to Obliviate. He stared into Nora's eyes for a hint of the truth but there was nothing.
"Just hurry up" he said, "before I throw you in the creek".
She patted her pocket softly thinking about the possibilities it held inside.

  Tom held his arm for her and she begrudgingly took it. He held her tightly, it wasn't lost on her the change in his behavior. Why was Tom had been acting so overprotective? He always had been intertwined in her life but this new attitude was a bit much.