Hierarchy of Need [t.r]

Chapter Twenty Five

Ticking every few seconds met her ears, her quill tapping the table in sync. She would give anything to go back to Valentine's Day, that was probably the least stressed she's been in months.

Elio had taken her down to Honeydukes and got her a large basket of pepper imps, they also strolled along through the rest of the village and popped into some smaller and less known shops. After that they had dinner in the kitchens and put on a funny little show for the elves.

Delilah had tried to teach Elio a few lines she memorized from Julius Caesar, but it didn't go as well as planned, it looked more like a drunken parody of the play.

But now there she was, stuck in the library working on an essay for a class she didn't care about. Her grades didn't really matter to her at this point. The only classes she tried in was Defense Against the Dark Arts and Transfigurations, the latter of which she only tried so as to not disappoint Dumbledore.

The sound of footsteps disrupted the silence of the library. Tearing her eyes away from her half blank parchment, Delilah caught sight of the last person she wanted to be in the same room with.

He muttered a few greetings as he wove his way between tables, all the while Delilah shrunk down in her seat. Hopefully he wouldn't see her, considering the large stack of books acting as a blockade around her table.

After waiting a moment, she peered around the stack and found him sitting at a table about fifteen feet away, his eyes already skimming through a book as he made quick notes.

Delilah let herself observe him, seeing as she rarely got the chance to do so. She analyzed how he acted when he thought no one was watching. His shoulders were a bit more relaxed and his focus was solely trained on what he was reading.

But perhaps he was still acting? Tom rarely ever let his guard down. She never knew when he was being genuine, it was frustrating to think on whether he was a great liar or actor. As she watched him bite his cheek for a moment, she supposed there wasn't really a difference.

What if she got up, right in that moment, and told him what he would become? Would he even listen? Or wave her off as nonsense. Even worse, what if he didn't mind the creature he becomes?

No, she couldn't do that. Doing that would probably be the most idiotic thing she could ever do. That would disrupt the timeline catastrophically.

Nonetheless she couldn't help but wonder; if he knew what the future held, would he change anything?

As she looked back at the clock, it hit her how little time she actually had. She needed to do something to smooth over the little mess that had dropped around her feet before summer arrived.

Rubbing at her eyes in frustration, Delilah took a deep breath before standing up. Standing still for only a moment, having a final mental debate, she forced her way over towards Tom.

As she rounded herself to the back of him, her whole brain kept screaming at her to just turn and run out the door. But before she knew it, her feet stopped about a foot short from his chair.

Now or never.

Twirling her necklace, Delilah cleared her throat, "Riddle."

He visibly stiffened and his eyes froze on the book he was reading, which of all things was The Tales of Beedle the Bard. Straightening his back, Tom slowly turned around, not quite sure if he was hearing things or not. Why on earth would she be speaking to him?

As soon as his face was turned towards her, Delilah looked away, she couldn't bare it. Part of her was scared she'd see crimson in his eyes, even though it was far too early in his timeline.