Masquerade (Discontinued)

Chapter XVIII

One Hyde Park, London, England, Great Britain

Sunday the 6th of March 1999

1:30 AM

Bella giggled as Tom popped open a champagne bottle, and the bubbling mess rolled down the neck of the bottle and dripped onto the floor. The man cursed, even as Bella pulled the bottle from him and poured it messily into two champagne flutes. She pulled him down onto her armchair, sitting in his lap and downed the whole thing in one go, her body warmed by the taste of sweet alcohol.

"You guys are crazy. This way and that, always breaking up and getting back together. It sounds exhausting," James sighed. He grinned over at Lily. "Lucky we didn't have that problem, did we?"

Lily pursed her lips. "Don't think I didn't consider it in the beginning."

"What? Why?" James demanded.

"You were getting between Narcissa and I. We were like sisters, and then here comes this utterly charming idiot-boy with the attention span of a teaspoon. Yes, truly, you're quite lucky I decided to keep you," Lily laughed. James pouted, spawning Lily to laugh even harder.

"I wouldn't let Hermione's hatred of him get in the way of us," Bella said, looking over at her mother.

Tom blinked. "Hermione hates me?"

"Oh, darling, so much. Despises you, actually."

"Since when?"

"I don't know. Perhaps around the time you broke my heart, and then added salt to injury by getting her thrown in Azkaban for life," Bella said, lightly. She smirked over at Tom to assure him that she was not still hurt.

"But, I have no intention of leaving her there!" Tom protested.

"You should tell her that yourself," Bella rasped against his neck, licking a long line. Tom groaned, tilting his head just so.

James grimaced. "I think that's our cue…Lily?"

"Yeah, I'm not too interested in sticking around," she murmured.

The two didn't even notice the dead duo disappear. Bella pulled away, and stood up, holding out her hand. Tom grabbed it, and Bella smirked, leading him back to their bedroom. She dropped his hand as they entered, like wildfire. She swallowed hard, staring at the large bed before she broke away from him to stare into the mirror. She looked exhausted, she noted. She looked older. So much older, as if she had seen too much, and impossibly young, all at the same time.

"Tell me one thing…why did you stare at her for so long? You held her. Why?" Bella asked, her back facing Tom. She stared at her feet, and when she looked up, in the reflection of the mirror, he still stood in the doorway, creating a long shadow.

"In her eyes, I saw you. I saw everything you are, everything you could be, everything you will be, and I saw me. In her…I saw what we could be. What we could…have."

Bella swallowed hard, and closed her eyes. She heard what he was saying, what he really couldn't say.

She wrapped her arms around herself and when she looked up again, Tom stood behind her, visible in the reflection. She shivered when he ran his hands down her bare arms. He wrapped his arms around her waist and dropped his head onto the top of her head. She leaned back into him and sighed. She stared at the picture of them as Tom took a deep breath, taking in the scent of her hair. She touched tentative fingers to his large hands and cleared her throat.