Promised And Kept - Tom Riddle x reader

Part 5 - Recovery and Revelation

The air was still thick as the green flames burnt down where Ben and Camille had left for St. Mungo's and you could hear the blood pumping in your ears from how fast your heart was beating while your stomach twisted and turned in a nauseating manner. Tom stood next to you, quiet.

"What the hell did you do?" you asked, finally able to turn and look at him.

He shook his head and swallowed hard. "I didn't do anything."

"What do you mean you didn't do anything? The wine was poisoned. What-"

"I didn't do it," he muttered as he wandered around the living room, his steps echoing with audible thuds. "The ministry sent it as a gift a few days ago. I haven't touched it since and told the elf to serve it tonight."

"Hang on. The ministry?"

"Yes, the ministry."

"But why would they send us poisoned wine? That makes no sense."

"That's what I've been asking myself since you warned us." He still walked around in circles and rubbed his hand across his face in frustration.

"Would one of your coworkers do something like that?" you asked, starting to follow his trail. "Does anyone hate us that much?"

Tom hummed and shook his head slightly. "My first guess was Abraxas, but he doesn't have the guts. And, I hate to admit it, he's not stupid enough to send something like that from work."

Nagini slithered over to Tummy, who was still wiping his eyes, trying to suppress the occasional sob from escaping.

"Madame, Sir," he whined as he fell to his knees and held up his folded hands. "I didn't poison it, I swear on my life. I would never."

"I know, Tummy," you said as you bowed down to his eye level.

Nagini had encircled the elf with her long body and hissed with her head pointed towards Tom, talking to him in Parseltongue. He watched the snake for a moment, then looked into your eyes and nodded once. "Nagini was with him. He's telling the truth."

Tummy burst into sobs again. "Ah, Miss Nagini, thank you, thank you! I swear, I would rather poison myself, Madame."

"I know, I know. It's alright now. Everything's going to be alright."

The elf nodded and sucked in a shaky breath. "Will Miss Camille be fine?"

"Yes," you answered, although your chest ached at the thought. Only the medics could be sure of that. "And what if it wasn't a colleague?" you asked Tom as you stood up straight. "What if someone just made it seem like the ministry sent it?"

"That was my second thought. The parcel had the ministry's emblem on it and everything. I didn't deem it necessary to check its validity. They send gifts all the time."

You nodded, tugging on the hem of your shirt.

"You believe me, don't you?" Tom asked as he turned around before he came closer and cupped your cheek with one hand, shaking his head again. "You know I would never do that to you."

He watched closely as you pondered. Would it make sense for Tom to do something this extreme? Why would he want to kill off Camille and Ben anyway? And what if you had taken a sip too? Yes, you were fighting the day before but if this was his way of going about an argument, your relationship problems were way worse than you had thought them to be. He could have easily blamed Tummy too. No one would know besides him and Nagini. No matter how you looked at the situation, Tom being the one doing it made no sense.
His palm was still on your cheek as he waited for an answer with his eyes staring into yours.