Not About Angels (A Tom Riddle Story)

Chapter 77

Recap: skip ahead if you don't need it. 

"Did you hear? I heard that Miles Avery...." A girl told her friend, and suddenly lowered her voice as Avery passed by.

"What is it?" Avery asked, suspicious. The second year trembled as she was approached by the Quidditch star.

"I-It's nothing..." She said quietly.

"I-it's just that there's a rumor going around that...that you-you and Sam...are like a thing." her friend said, blushing furiously. "I'm sure its not true." She added nervously.

His heart suddenly dropped to his stomach. Shit.

It was a part of himself not meant to be revealed to the world. He felt at the same time scared and angry. Scared, that the world might see him differently. Scared, the people might see right through him. Scared, that he might be shunned by his peers, by his parents.

Angry, because someone had revealed his secret. Angry, that everyone else could hold hands and kiss in the hallways, yet all he could do was bury his emotions behind a mask. He has surpassed this part of himself for so long, he has been so careful. Finally, something beautiful happened, and now it's been ruined.

He felt eyes on him in the hallway. These looks were not the usual stares of admiration, jealousy, or fascination for the star seeker and Slytherin captain. Instead, they were piercing, taunting, questioning. They wanted to watch him fall for he had been in the spotlight too long.

He found Sam, and closed the door behind him.

"Did you-" He yelled, his tone harsh.

"Of course not!" Sam said, hurt that Avery would think that.

"How else did they find out?" Avery asked.

Sam felt guilty...it was because he did not listen to Cassie's warning.

"I-I know how."

"HOW?" Avery asked.

"I broke a promise. And now I have to face the consequences." Sam said. 

(End of Recap) 

"A promise?"

"I'm sorry, Miles..."

"Do you know what I have at stake here?" Avery asked quietly now that he has calmed down. 

"I know..."

"Everything, Sam. Everything. What do you think'll happen to me?" Aver asks. 

"I-I mean, it's just a rumor. They have no proof. It's not such a big deal, isn't it? It's a stupid rumor, and people will forget next week." Sam tried to assure him. 

"Maybe for you. But for me, it's so different. I have too much to lose." 

Sam laughed. "Because you're just so much more important?"

"No! Thats not what I mean, you know it...it's just that..."

"Just what?" Sam asked pointedly. 

Avery took a deep breath. "You don't understand." He said gently, his hand squeezing Sam's shoulder to calm him down. With his touch, Sam felt a fire burning inside himself. "You never will. And I hope you never will."  

Sam reaches for his hand. "What is it that I will never understand?" 

Avery pulls away. "People are always watching me, Sam. Because of who I am, and who I'm friends with, all eyes are on us. Always. They expect for me be behave a certain way...to behave like the rest of my friends, I guess. Womanizing, fighting, partying, getting into trouble. But I'm not like them...and I never will be."