how it feels to be alive {tom riddle}

fifty-four: tongue*

TONGUE

The day that followed the incident with Tobias was a Saturday, and Lucia spent most of the morning rolling around the deep blue sheets of her bed as she drifted in and out of sleep.

It had been a restless nights sleep, but she wouldn't have expected anything less than that after such an eventful day.

After overthinking it a ridiculous amount, she had come to the conclusion she had forgiven Tom. She herself lost control sometimes too, and he really had done it with her best interest in mind. He just didn't understand that wasn't how she wanted him to support her.

Lucia had definitely missed breakfast in the Great Hall, and lunchtime was fast approaching. He stomach ached with hunger, but the lack of motivation to get up overpowered it. She often went through phases like this during particularly stressful periods of time, and usually would just sleep it out until it passed.

She heard someone enter the dorm room, and assumed it must have been one of her roommates so she ignored it. It was only when the curtain around her four poster opened slightly that she saw a head of dark curls looking down at her.

"What are you doing in here? McGonagall would kill you." Lucia grumbled, laying her arm across her eyes to shield them from the bright light entering through the gap in the curtains.

"I think she already wants to kill me if I'm completely honest." Tom chuckled, slipping inside the curtains to sit beside Lucia who was still lying down, hands full with something in his grasp.

He placed a plate in front of her, and held out a mug of coffee he had brought up, "Eat." He insisted.

Lucia wriggled up to sit beside Tom and looked at what he'd brought her, seeing a small stack of pancakes with fruit and syrup sitting in front of her.

"Like we had back at the hotel? Tom, you didn't have to do this." Lucia wrapped her arms around his shoulders, taking the coffee in her hand and placing a light kiss on his cheek, "Thank you."

"I didn't see you at breakfast, so I figured you deserved something you'd like." Tom shrugged, placing a hand on her thigh and tracing circles on it with his thumb.

Lucia gave him another appreciative smile before beginning to eat.

When she had finished, Tom took her hands to drag her out of bed to get dressed. She rolled her eyes but allowed him to take off her oversized t-shirt and stepped into the jeans he held out for her.

When she was successfully dressed in a pair of loose blue jeans and a thick, knitted jumper, Tom pulled her to the bathroom and leant on the door while she brushed her hair, teeth and washed her face quite reluctantly.

"Come, let's go for a walk." Tom insisted as Lucia began to move back to her bed as if it were magnetised. He laced his fingers in hers and pulled her towards the door to leave the dorm.

She grumbled a bit in protest, but after shoving a couple of essentials into her pocket, she allowed him to drag her out of the castle and into the grounds.

It was another cold day considering they were approaching the second half of December. Lucia wrapped her arms around herself to shield her from the cold wind, but kind of enjoyed the icy air whipping her still half asleep face.

"Everyone is going to be going home for the Christmas holidays soon." Tom observed as they passed the whomping willow, watching it shake off the droplets of dew that had settled on its branches.

"Not us." Lucia chuckled, "I suppose it will be nice to have some time without as many people around."

"I spent most of my Christmas breaks here in my time at Hogwarts, it really is pleasant with the castle mostly to yourself." Tom commented, watching Lucia kick a small rock with her worn black combat boots.