Dead Love || Tom Riddle

Chapter VIII - House of Guant

Wanted to clarify a few things about the story: 

First, I realized way to late that Aurelie's house elf Maue was knitting her clothing and folding her clothes, therefore in possession of it, contradiction the rule that a house elf cannot have or be given laundry or else they'd be freed. However I adore the idea of the her house elf knitting her sweaters so I am keeping it in the story. 

Also Killian Aberforth and Darcy are half-siblings by their father, she is a year older (decided after I had already written Killian with Roman features and Darcy with Asain).

Orion Black, father of unborn Sirius and Regulus, was nephew to and named after Aurelie and Augustine's father. In truth I couldn't think of another name that sounds "Black" enough. 

Also I don't know why but in the image above^^^ it keeps uploading like five of the same thing, so just ignore it if it happens again. I swear I know how to use a computer. 

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Tom took her hand, placing her palm flat over her heart. Enjoying the soft thrum of her heartbeat and shutter in her breath. As he taught her, she released a small hum of magic slowing the pace of her heart and casting an imperceptible shield against spirits.

"It's similar to a patronus. Instead of dementors, it will shield you from your ghosts."

"Will—"

"No one will be able to tell," he answered before Aurelie could even speak it. Tom didn't want anyone to know of her talents either.

"Will it affect the ghosts in the castle? Like Rowena or Headless Nick?"

"I cannot be sure. I wouldn't advice trying around them though. No one spills gossip better than Hogwarts' ghosts."

Tom summoned her a cup of tea and let her rest on the sofa in his office. She watched him light a cigarette and began grading papers. He didn't seem to enjoy reading with the opinions of megger students drinking multiple rounds of coffee and a few of whiskey. She realized then she knew almost nothing about him.

She swallowed and burrowed deeper into the mossy sweater pulled over her uniform. "Riddle? I haven't heard the name before."
"That name is far too small to be seen by your family, Aurelie." He answered with indifference not looking up from his papers.
"What do your parents do?"

"They're dead."

"What happened?"

He turned his head toward her with a relaxed expression. "Maybe you should sleep."

She didn't say anything afterward and eventually she did begin to close her eyes and fall into the cushions. It wasn't the first time and Tom usually enjoyed it. He could watch her, listen to her breathing without worrying. He didn't enjoy that she pulled his focus. He didn't enjoy that she was peering into his life. He knew that his brutality would only remind him of her parents. He knew she would look at him the same if she knew he was a halfblood.

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Laurie liked to give Aurelie little things he found. Ribbons, hag stones from the Black Lake, wild strawberries, chocolate, daisies, free joints that he sold that she had never smoke but kept in a wooden box under her bed. He's completely unaware over her curse but he always thought her sad. As a subtle way to console her, he offered her little things like a crow building a nest. Today he'd given her a snail he found it the greenhouse knowing she like odd things that creeped or crawled. It was small green snail the size of the pad of her thumb with a gold stripped shell. With her head lying on her elbow, Aurelie watched it slide across the Hufflepuff dining table in the great hall leaving a cold trail of slime. Rosie was stitching a tear in her Quidditch uniform before the game in an hour. Sigyn Graves joined them at the Hufflepuff table reading Witch Weekly a fashion magazine exhibiting woolen frocks and trouser and pointed witches' hats in the autumn issue.