Turned - Tom Riddle

Chapter Sixteen

Over the next week, every time Elizabeth and Tom went off to the room, they became less and less focused on their original goal. On a crisp Thursday night, they sat close together in two chairs facing each other, the two's knees nearly bumping. A fire radiated warmth to their cheeks.

"You can't honestly think that dragons are harmless," Tom retorted in disbelief.

Elizabeth sat on her knees, "They're like bees, they only attack out of self defense. If you don't do anything wrong to them, they won't attack you."

"Have you ever actually encountered one?" he raised an eyebrow. Elizabeth was beyond getting irritated when he questioned her. She just saw it as more opportunities to impress him.

"Yes, as a matter of fact," she answered, "She did not hurt me because I didn't hurt her."

"You talk about them as if they're humans," he chuckled. "That's one of the traits I admire about you; you always try to see the best in everything."

Tom had complimented her before, but never straight up like he had just done. Elizabeth couldn't help a small smile from tingling at her lips. "One of the traits?" she questioned.

For the first time, he looked flustered, "Er- well, you know. You just have admirable things about you."

"Like what?"

"Well, you're intelligent, you care about those around you, and you never let anything get to you. Normally, any other person would have run from me by now, but not you. You aren't afraid of anything," he kept a calm facade, although Elizabeth could see in his eyes that he was nervous.

She looked down at her hands which were folded in her lap, the biggest grin on her lips, "That means a lot coming from you, Tom."

"Why do you say that?"

"Before I actually talked to you, you seemed like you didn't care about anything or anyone," Elizabeth started apprehensively.

Tom raised an eyebrow, "And what do I care about now?"

Her stomach lurched. "Well, I... I don't exactly-," she stopped talking as his hand moved over and made contact with hers.

"I know. I care about you, Maryn. I don't want anyone to hurt you, ever." Tom was looking into her eyes. "I don't want to hurt you either. Just know that."

"I wouldn't want anyone to hurt you either Tom, not like they could," Elizabeth told him with a small giggle. She could see the enjoyment in his eyes. He chuckled to himself. "What?" Elizabeth asked.

Tom smiled, "I normally loathe when my peers call me by that name. It was my coward father's name, and it was passed on to me by the woman who gave birth to me."

"And?"

"You've called me Tom since day one, and for some reason, I could listen to you say that name for hours on end," he gave her a gentle smile. "I was confused at first when you were sorted into Slytherin. There is a certain... prejudice against us. I'm sure you've seen examples." She had. When Sophia spit her juice out, when Henry hadn't trusted her with the secret of the ball, and when Joshua didn't trust her with Tom. "Although many refuse to accept the rumors, we are a particularly prideful bunch. I, among many other of my colleagues thought you would best do in Hufflepuff," he admitted with a chuckle.

Elizabeth shifted uncomfortably. She didn't know where he was going with this. Of course anyone at Hogwarts was confused as to why she had been placed in Slytherin. They didn't really know her. She had done things that would shock even Tom Riddle.