kneel | Tom Riddle

𝟒𝟖

48| Slug Club

Surprisingly, Tom and Seraphina didn't arrive late to the small gathering in Slughorn's office. There were only a few students talking to Slughorn at the dining table, with plenty of empty seats left.

"Good evening," Tom spoke loudly with his iconic smile, to which Slughorn raised his glass and laughed.

Seraphina made a small smile, knowing the Potions' master was already intoxicated, as always. They walked inside his office, "Evening! Leave the door open, will you, my boy? There are still a few students to arrive," Slughorn said and gestured to the table, "Join us then!"

Tom closed the door after they came in and turned to Seraphina, "Do you want to take off your coat?" he asked, being the gentleman he portrayed to be around other people. Seraphina wondered what would people think if they saw the scene he created in his dorm.

She shook her head, "No, thanks. It's quite cold in here," she glanced around the office and frowned when she saw Leo looking at the small table with pictures of Slughorn's students, "I will join you in a second," Seraphina whispered to Tom.

"Where are you going? Dinner will start soon."

She sighed, "I'm not going anywhere, I'll just talk to Leo."

Tom looked at her suspiciously, "Go ahead, he's a pureblood. Maybe he has the right to fuck you," he whispered harshly and she raised her eyebrows.

"Don't be so childish, Tom," he ignored her and joined the others on the table. She looked at his back as he walked, was he really mad about what she had said? Surely she knew too well how touchy Tom was with his blood, but she didn't care if it wasn't pure, she never did. The only reason why she said those words was because she wanted to hurt him.

Despite the evident tension between the pair, she decided to ignore that mess and give her attention to Leo, who looked heartbroken, as always. Flipping her hair behind her back, she walked towards the blond boy, who still hadn't noticed her presence, "Hi," she said, smiling at him.

He turned his head to look at her surprised, "Seraphina? Hi, how are you?" Leo managed to smile a little, but the witch could still see how shattered he truly was.

"I'm alright. What about you?" she looked at the golden frame in his hands, which contained a picture of Slughorn surrounded by his top students three years ago, Seraphina, Tom, Abraxas, Nott, and two students from Ravenclaw.

Leo placed the frame on the table again and shrugged, "I'm better I guess. It's been a while since what happened to my parents, but it still hurts, you know?"

"Of course," she answered, "They're your parents and despite what they did, you'll always care about them, you are a good son."

"Do you care about your parents?" Leo asked, looking for an honest answer.

Scratching the back of her hand, Seraphina was suddenly left without an answer. Did she care for her parents? They were never good to her, they didn't even respect her. However, she was thankful for what they provided her, a big house, good clothes, food, school material, but that was just it, material things.

She looked at Leo to see him waiting for her answer, "I don't care a lot about them, at least not as much as other people."

Leo nodded his head, "Yes, I can see why," he made a small smile.

Two more students arrived at the office, "Maybe we should go sit," she said to Leo, who followed her to the table.

Tom didn't look at her as she approached the table, not even when she sat next to him, being exactly between Tom and Leo. It was inevitable for her to remember what happened the last time she had dinner with the two of them.