Hierarchy of Need [t.r]

Chapter Sixteen

  Delilah felt dazed as she made her way down to breakfast, her throat raw and chest sore.

  She spent the entire night coughing up blood and her body had been covered in a thin layer of sweat. Plus her nerves were in a jumble after the little stunt Tom pulled. She realized he technically didn't do anything, but the slightest brush of his cheek to hers was enough to send her mind into a frenzy.

  Damn him.

  As she sat down at the table, Delilah noticed the girls were looking rather giddy at such an early hour. While the boys, save for Pyrrhus, looked miserable. "Why're you in such a good mood?" She asked Lolita, prodding at her food. She still had no appetite, she hadn't eaten a proper meal in nearly three days.

  "We start dancing lessons today, or more so rehearsal. Oh, it's going to be splendid." She clapped her hands together lightly, her tone airy as her brown eyes danced towards Cain. "And what's wrong with your voice? It's all croaky." Delilah shrugged, "allergies."

  She felt her lips tug down at the sides, she was in no mood to spin around a ballroom for hours at the rate her stamina was going. Simply walking down the stairs was winding her.

  "I promise not to step on your toes too much." Elio's voice mumbled into her hair before he pressed a kiss to her head. "Morning, how was your friend?" He asked and Delilah prodded at her food. "What?" He raised a brow at her as he bit into his breakfast. "In your letter, you said you were visiting a friend."

  She felt like smacking herself for forgetting. Delilah didn't want to lie to him, but she couldn't very well tell him she was meeting up with Dumbledore. That'd raise too many unwanted questions. "She was fine, I helped her with a little last minute gift shopping." Elio then smiled, his cheeks pushing out a bit due to the food he was eating. "Anything for me?"

  "Wouldn't you like to know?" She mused, happy to have a distraction from the person who just walked into the room.

  "Late night?" Abraxas chuckled. Despite her efforts, Delilah turned and felt her eyebrows rise at the site of Tom. He didn't look too awful, she was sure she looked much worse, but his appearance was far less put together than usual.

  There was just a twinge of purple under his eyes, the color more prominent due to his pale complexion. His typical neatly done hair was in messy waves and his tie was loose.

  Who was she kidding? He didn't look awful at all, in fact, she much more preferred him this way. Delilah felt like smacking herself yet again as she became acutely aware of Elio holding her hand.

  Tom barley spared a glance at Abraxas, but it was enough to wipe the smile off the blond's face. There was some truth to the boys words. He did have a late night, which resulted in him falling asleep at his desk around five in the morning.

  There was barely anything on the Deathly Hallows in the Avery library. Which he found ridiculous all things considered. He looked at Delilah then, and noticed she too looked rather dreadful. Her skin lost the warm glow, her eyes appeared to be sunken, and her lips were tinged red. He also noted how she was clearing her throat every few seconds.

  With a hand running through his curls a few times, his hair was back into a more presentable bravado. Waving his wand, his tie straightened and smoothed out, but the circles under his eyes remained.

  Delilah let a small sigh slip, she liked seeing him not put together.

  They entered the ball room, the tile was an inky black and stretched out, taking in the golden light of the many massive chandeliers. The walls were high and lined with golden framed mirrors, and the ceiling held a large fresco of couples waltzing.