EXILE | TOM RIDDLE

18. Love, What's It Good For?

I am barely capable of functioning, throughout the next few days. Perhaps it is an after-effect of the curse Tom had inflicted upon me, depriving me of my free will for those moments. Or, more likely, it is my own mind and body struggling to cope with the events I know are only days away.

"Are you alright?" Abigail asks, not for the first time, as we exit a Charms class. "You've been acting funny all week. Did something happen?"

"No," I answer simply.

"Oh Merlin, don't tell me it's Tom again."

"It is not," I insist a little too fast, and when she arches her eyebrows, I swiftly continue, "I am just...still upset over what happened to Finn. It is still affecting me, I suppose."

"It's the same for all of us," she sighs, running a hand through her corkscrew curls. "I'm sorry, Beck. I know you and him had a...unique relationship, but it's still hard for you. I didn't realize how hard you might be taking it."

"You were closer to him. It is your loss we should be reflecting upon, not my own."

"I have no idea what that means," she lets out a gentle laugh as she swings an arm over my shoulder, hugging me tight to her. "Have you talked much to Alphard lately? He's been avoiding me like the plague, these past few months."

I shake my head. "No. He...he must be in mourning still."

Abigail nods in understanding, opening her mouth to add to this, but before she can, something brushes against me, jolting me to the side and ramming me into her.

"What was that for?" Abigail blinks rapidly as I swiftly stumble away from her, watching as a young girl dashes past us, not paying any mind to the fact that she nearly knocked us over. Sniffles radiate from her as she turns the corner, and only just am I able to get a view of the tears running down her face.

"That girl...she ran into me," I blink.

She lets out a snort. "What a little bitch."

"She was crying," while I do not intend for my words to come out like a scold, Abigail flinches ever so slightly. "Sorry, sorry. I just...I think I should see if she is alright. She was young, and sad."

"You're too sweet for this world, Beck," Abigail swats me on the shoulder playfully as I walk away, struggling to keep up with the crying girl.

It does not take long to track down the girl, hiding in the bathroom as she slams the door to a stall shut.

"Hello," I call out, stepping inside the bathroom, a horrible feeling in my gut that I cannot quite place. Only when I look around, recalling just exactly what bathroom we are in, do I let out a sharp gasp. Tom's bathroom, the one he promised to open any day now, release that damned basilisk. "Excuse me, little girl, we...we should not be in here. Can I take you back to your common room?"

All I hear is a sniffle in response.

"Hello?" I repeat, this time a question. "Listen, I do not think we should be in here. It...well...we just should not, okay?"

Another sniffle.

I gulp, and as I am about to step towards the stall and pry it open, a clamoring sound causes me to jolt, and I whip around to the door to the bathroom. My heart sinks, so low I wonder if it will ever return to me. "Tom, what are you—"

"Quiet!" He hisses in response, and in the stall, the girl lets out a loud hiccup. "Be quiet, Little Bird. It's almost here."

"Is that a boy?" She screeches, her high pitched voice like nails on a chalkboard. "You're not supposed to be in here, boy!"