Into Your Gravity ( Luna Lovegood & Tom Riddle )

Chapter twelve: Apples

My wave, my shark, my demon in the dark,
the blue tide pulling me under.
Or are you my soul, my heart, pull everything apart?
Are you gonna, are you gonna be my love?
Shark - Oh Wonder
•

The following morning, when Luna emerged from the Ravenclaw common room, it was to find Tom waiting at the bottom of the spiral staircase up to the Tower. He was leaning against the wall across the corridor, hands in his pockets, staring at the ground. He appeared lost in thought, and he did not look up until Othello meowed at him from Luna's pocket.

"Oh!" He stood up straight. "Good morning."

Luna eyed him, the faintest bit wary. "Good morning."

Tom appeared to struggle for words for a moment, opening then shutting his mouth several time. Then he grimaced and said, "If you're going down to breakfast, we should walk together."

After searching his face for several long moments, Luna nodded. Without another word, they fell into step, side by side on their way to the Great Hall, walking in silence the majority of the way.

"You were quite frustrating yesterday," she said as they approached the breakfast table.

"So were you," he shot back, as he again pulled her chair out with a wave of his hand.

"I feel you were a far sight more frustrating," she replied, sitting down in the chair.

"I strongly disagree," he said, sitting down next to her.

Luna inspected him, and he met her gaze. Then she smiled. "You're extraordinarily exasperating."

"I'm extraordinary in a number of ways. And you're infuriating," Tom said. The faintest lopsided smirk crept onto his face despite his stern voice and raised eyebrow.

This seemed to settle the matter.

The next handful of days, the two were bordering upon inseparable. They met for every meal; Tom began to gain back some of the weight he had lost over the past few weeks, his pale face regaining some of its color, the dark circles under his eyes disappearing. He didn't argue when she followed him to the library each morning, where the whiled away hours together, sometimes engaging in conversation, and sometimes in silence side by side as they pursued their individual interests. In the afternoons, they either returned to the library or went for long walks around the school grounds.

On the morning of New Year's Eve, the two of them were in the library as per their new usual. They were seated at one of the tables, numerous books spread around them, but Luna had cleared an area just in front of them and was scribbling away at a piece of parchment.

"What is that?" Tom asked, looking down his nose at the drawing Luna was making for him.

"It's a Blibbering Humdinger, Thomas."

"Stop calling me that. It's not even my name, Lovegood."

"Stop calling me Lovegood, then."

"At least Lovegood is your actual name."

"Look at this, Tom, look at the way its wings are. . . ." And out of the corner of her eye, she could have sworn he bit back a smile in spite of himself.