Catharsis [Tom Riddle]

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Avalon liked to listen to the sound of his heartbeat.

She felt oddly at peace with the quiet drumming, so she closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, her head gently resting atop his bare chest as his fingers lazily played with her midnight hair. The warmth of his body was growing to be one of her favorite things to cuddle up to in the cold of the winter. She wrapped the blanket tighter around herself before shifting up closer against him, the feeling of her skin against his easing her mind.

Tom watched as she curled up against him. He relaxed into her touch, finding solace in their shared moments after intimacy. It was strange, Tom thought to himself. He'd had plenty of physical encounters with different women in his life, but with them, he never stayed long. With Avalon, though, he couldn't bear to leave-- even if that meant spending most of his time in the Ravenclaw Tower.

He moved his fingers out from her hair until they graced the high-point of her cheek. His touch was feather-light, but her eyes still fluttered open, trailing up to meet his as a tender smile etched onto her swollen lips.

Slowly, her eyes danced around her dorm, though his gaze remained only on her. She looked fondly towards the fireplace, crackling quietly in the corner, before watching tiny snowflakes fall onto her window, the intricacies of their delicate patterns leaving a mosaic of icy art along the frost-bitten glass.

"Can you believe in a couple of hours it is going to be Christmas?" she asked, excitement in her quiet voice.

"Is it?" he asked, having lost track of the days.

She furrowed her brows. "Yes, it is." He felt her shift her weight slightly, sitting up a little, pulling the blanket up with her to cover herself. "I absolutely adore this time of year. Don't you?"

He shrugged. "It's not much different from the rest of the year, in my opinion."

"What do you mean? It's just so... pleasant," she said warmly. "Sitting by the fire while the snow falls, decorations everywhere, eating Christmas cookies... how could you not love it?"

"Frankly, I don't partake in any Christmas celebrations," he said.

"Then what do you do? Surely, you must have some sort of tradition," she asked, curiosity in her eyes as she looked at him.

"I do nothing," he shrugged.

"Not even when you were a child?" she asked.

"The place I grew up was not prone to such festivities."

"The orphanage, you mean?" she asked softly, her eyes gentle as she gazed into his.

His body tensed at the word. "Yes," he said, his tone growing agitated.

She began to open her mouth to ask another question when she felt the heat of his body leave the bed as he stood up, pulling on his clothes and getting dressed. "What are you doing?" she asked, confused.

"I think I'll be spending the night in my own dorm tonight," he said coldly, pulling his sweater on over his head.

"I didn't realize I had struck a nerve," she remarked, watching as he grabbed his wand off of her nightstand. "I just wanted to know more about you."

"You know plenty," he replied, trying to hide the agitation in his voice as he walked towards the door.

"You can't be bloody serious right now," she frowned, her frustration quickly rising. "You don't get to ask me about my past and then cower away the second I ask about yours. Trust is a two-way street, Tom."

He took in a deep breath before putting his hand on the doorknob and opening it up. Before he left, he muttered out a stern, "Goodnight," and then strode out the next moment, abandoning her in the silence that he left in his wake.