The Girl from Azkaban ~ Tom Riddle (18+)

𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕿𝖜𝖊𝖓𝖙𝖞-𝕺𝖓𝖊

~✧~

In the middle of the night, Tom was awakened by a soft whimper; the young wizard was a very light sleeper by nature, but that he had heard this soft sound made him wonder.

He immediately glanced at the corner to the right of his bed, where the panther lady had taken a seat yesterday. Despite the barely lit room, he recognised all his surroundings in as much detail as if it were the middle of the day.

Huddled in the blanket lay his precious little witch. But now no longer in her animal form, but in her human body. Her face was partially hidden by her beautiful dark hair; this was one of those particularly extraordinary moments when Tom remembered why she was so important to him and why he had wanted her with him even before he knew about her extraordinary gift.

If anyone had seen him get up and go to the weak girl, who was shaking badly despite the blanket, some would never have believed that he would one day bring about the darkest times that no wizard could ever have imagined.

As gently as he could, he lifted the blanket from Tara's body. He watched as goose bumps spread over her fully naked body. Without further hesitation, he picked Tara up off the floor and pressed her firmly against his warm chest. With her, he sauntered back to his bed not far away. Immediately, Tara snuggled closer to her source of warmth and sighed contentedly.

Tom brushed the strand of hair from her face that he had spied earlier. He studied the soft contours of her face; her brow furrowed briefly and relaxed again as soon as he pressed his lips to her forehead.

He wrapped a muscular arm around Tara, allowing her to snuggle even closer and draw even more warmth from him.

While Tara didn't have much trouble staying asleep during all this, Tom had a much harder time. For another hour or so he gently stroked her bare waist and thought about Tara and him.

He felt torn. His emotions often led him to do what others would call "terrible things", but he didn't feel that way. Tom believed that all his actions were based on a good reason. Everyone he had to punish had done something wrong, and since he was one hundred percent sure that he wanted to save this world polluted by mudbloods, his followers could not afford a misstep without consequences. Outsiders might wonder how he could sleep at night; did he not feel guilty? And the answer was as easy as a feather. All he had to do was close his eyes and he was plunged into darkness. Even at the present moment he was not plagued by guilt, at least not really, he merely felt responsible for another person who was not himself. Nor was it compassion for Taraphina, he had just decided to help his little beauty recover - after all, he had put her fragile body through enough stress and pain lately.

After Taraphina had finally stopped shivering, Tom also decided to let himself be seduced by the darkness and silence.

~✧~

Tara was the first to wake up the next morning, but still kept her eyes tightly shut. She enjoyed the warmth she felt against her back and the soft feeling beneath her. It was only when a bony hand came to her hip and pushed her forward slightly that she realised where she was.

In Tom Marvolo Riddle's bed.

Her eyes fluttered open in fright.

"Tom," she groaned softly, her shame clearly evident in her voice.

"Just hold still and go back to sleep," he merely growled from behind her, his voice still sleepy and therefore deeper than usual.

Unsure what to do now, Tara just decided to close her eyes again and try to sleep again.