The Barrier - Tom Marvolo Riddle

9

Silver was walking with Leona and Sophie after Herbology. They were talking about Leona's cat, Toddie, when Alfred caught up with them and joined their talk. Silver never really had pets. Her real parents, The Hernades, of course, never let her take care of any pet. Neyda had a dog though, and Silver was fine with that. Remembering her parents made her uneasy. She wondered where they are now. Could they be dead? Did they had another kid, Did they separated? She knows nothing about them. She wants to know where they are now, but at the same time, she wanted nothing to do with them. Silver now thought of Cassandra as her mother and Neyda as her sister. They sure acted like they were, and Silver was grateful for them.

Silver was taken out of her thoughts when she saw the Slytherins coming up to them, or basically "The Knights of Walpurgis". Ugh. They all stopped talking when the knights got closer to them.

"What do we have here? The group of rejects." The boys laughed and snorted at Abraxas Malfoy's comment. He stepped closer to Sophie, when Alfred bravely got in front of her. "Back the fuck off, Malfoy."

Leona looked worried when Alfred said that. Silver though, admired his courage. Malfoy laughed in Alfred's face. "I do whatever I want, Prewett." Abraxas shoved him aside, Alfred fell to the ground roughly. Sophie is obviously their biggest target, since she's muggleborn, a hufflepuff, and just overall naïve and shy.

Abraxas Malfoy pulled Sophie's hair. "You get uglier and uglier everyday, mudblood."

That seemed to be the last straw for Leona. She clenched her fists and threw a punch, right on Abaraxas' cheek. He howled in pain. The boys looked furious, seeing one of their members got humiliated like that. Rosier stepped forward, about to hit Leona. Leona closed her eyes, ready for the hit she was going to get, when Silver roughly yanked his arm back.

"When you try to impress a woman, you don't hit her."

Rosier looked at Silver with a red face, like he was going to kill her. "Embarrassing, aren't you?"

Rosier now raised his fist to Silver, and punched her. His fist landed on her left cheek. Silver groaned in pain. Sophie quickly went up to Silver and checked on her. Rosier spat on Sophie. Ew, disgusting.

Silver shut her mouth and tried to hit Rosier, but she was pulled back by two boys, who she didn't care to see. They restrained her from getting close to Rosier, and he smirked. He punched Silver's face over and over. Sophie screamed, Leona begged them to stop, and Alfred tried to pull Rosier back. Rosier stopped after a few punches and laughed. Silver's face felt puffy and numb. But Silver sneered. "You're still embarrassing, Rosier."

Rosier looked absolutely embarrassed, he grabbed her collar and almost banged her head to the wall when a calm voice was heard.

"Let her go."

Rosier turned to the source, with a murderous face, when he saw that it was Tom who was speaking. His face fell, and he quickly let go of Silver. The boys who were holding her back did too. Silver scoffed and wiped the blood on her lip. She looked at the knights in disgust.

Tom walked to them. "I am so sorry for my... 'friends'." He turned his attention to the boys, and they shrink at his stare. Alfred laughed darkly and straighten his robe. "Sorry? That's all you've got?"

Tom looked at Alfred with fake regret in his face. Sophie quickly pulled Alfred back and whispered, "Shut up, he wasn't included in this!" Tom smiled at Sophie. Fake ass snake.

Leona folded her arms. "Look at what they've done to Silver," Leona said bitterly to Tom, while looking back at the boys. Tom sighed and now turned his attention to Silver. He kept his smile on. "May I bring you to the Hospital Wing, Ms. Prennington?"

Silver rolled her eyes, while Sophie smiled at Tom gratefully, believing that he has good intentions. If only she knew. "No, you may not.", Silver answered.

Tom looked at her dangerously, like he was threatening her without using any words. Sophie stared at Silver in disbelief. "Silver! It will be better if you go with Tom and get your face treated!" Leona shrugged, and Alfred huffed. Silver groaned and dangled her arms. "I'll be fine!"

Sophie though, pushed Silver to Tom's direction. "Silver... if you don't go with Tom, I'll be very... angry at you." Now it was Silver's turn to look at Sophie in disbelief. "I'll take her to the Wing." Alfred offered. Silver was about to walk over to Alfred, feeling grateful of him, when Tom grabbed onto her arm and pulled her to him.

"Prewett, I'm not doubting you, but I'm sure it will be safer if I take her." Sophie gleamed. Sophie clearly was trying to play matchmaker with Tom and Silver, which is kind of her, but not appreciated. Alfred rolled his eyes. "Tom, she clearly doesn't want to go with you, let the girl choose." Silver opened her mouth, but Leona cut her off. "Ugh, just go now you two!" Hearing that, Alfred narrowed his eyes at Leona, and Tom dragged Silver away.

Tom was pulling her when he spoke up. "That was quite a fuss, don't you think?". Although it seemed like a normal question, it was clear that Tom was annoyed at her behavior just a few seconds ago. He narrowed his eyes at her. Silver let out a protesting sound. "Why would I want to go with you?" Tom looked back at her and clenched his jaw, he stopped walking, making Silver almost fell.

She was about to protest when he held her wrist tighter. "Don't you think once that you can talk to me like you can boss me around because I assure you, you don't." Silver let out a breath and nodded in fear. With a behavior like that, she's never going to make progress. So even if she doesn't want to act a certain way, she knew she had no choice because she needed to succeed. She needs to save a world from the wrath of Voldemort.

And so, they kept walking. A lot of students were watching them walk together, with Silver's wrist held tightly in Tom's hands. They were whispering and bundled up in a group, looking at them. Some were looking with confusion, some with surprise, but a lot of them, the girls I mean, were looking at Silver and Tom with jealousy and hatred. Of course, it was directed at Silver. It was a surprise because Tom never really got close with any girl. Because Tom obviously only got close to people when he needed something from them. Honestly, she wants to make them jealous of her, but not in a moment like this. Not when she felt like she could be dead if she made the wrong move to the boy walking beside her.

They finally arrived at the hospital wing. The lady there looked confused when she saw Tom walk in, until she saw Silver, a bit behind him, with her face covered in bruises and some blood. She quickly took Silver away from Tom and treated Silver's wounds. Tom stayed there for a bit, but then, he left.