𝕬 𝕯𝖆𝖗𝖐 𝕷𝖔𝖗𝖉 𝖎𝖘 𝕭𝖔𝖗𝖓 | 𝑇𝑜𝑚 𝑅𝑖𝑑𝑑𝑙𝑒 |

Chapter 38- A Summer Apart

Since the horrible culprit of all those attacks had finally been reprimanded, the students were left to enjoy the small time they had left at Hogwarts before the summer vacation started. The school was more relaxed than it had been in months, but now it was Frankie's turn to be the one stuck and scowling in a hospital bed. It was Monday evening, when Tom finally came around to visit her in the hospital wing. Visiting hours didn't extend after supper time but being the hero of the school gave him special exceptions. He had been busy with his O.W.L retakes from when he'd been stuck in there and hadn't gotten a chance to visit, since he'd helped carry her up last Friday evening. She was fine for the most part, but her continued fainting spells required her to stay there for a few days longer. Apparently, according to Daphne, she wasn't speaking to anyone who came by to visit her. At first Tom thought that couldn't possibly include him, but the second Frankie saw him entering the wing she immediately and very obviously looked the other way, out of pure spite. Not only was he included, he was the clear cause of this stubborn behavior.

"Stop being a child." Tom commanded, sitting down in the visitor's seat despite her contempt. He knew she was going to be a little upset at him for framing that half-breed oaf, but this was ridiculous. She didn't answer him, clinging to her angry and childish manners, regardless of his cold demands. Her hazel eyes remaining fixed at the other side of the room, "You have no right to be angry with me."

Still, she said nothing.

"I know he was a friend of yours, but that doesn't make him innocent," he continued, despite the fact that she was not answering. Surely, she must have at least been listening to him. "Sometimes people are not always who they appear to be..."

"I'm not angry, Tom..." she smiled, to much of his surprise. Although, as a person who had examined her smile for many years, Tom could tell there was something amiss. Her fake smile faded, and her voice slowly dropped from honeyed sweet into a chilling darkness,

"I'm just a little upset that you sent one of my dearest friends to prison to have his soul literally sucked out of him! You unbelievable prat!—How dare you tell me I have no right to be angry!"

"It's not like I had a choice!" Tom snapped back, shooting up from the chair to tower above her. It was a little too close to the truth that he knew Hagrid wasn't the culprit and still blamed him, but Tom didn't care at the moment. Her hostility was getting him angry as well. Why couldn't she be grateful for what he had just done for her? For them. Now, they could remain together, and the school could remain open. "It was either him, or you!"

"I would've gone! I would've gone to Azkaban, rather than betray an innocent person." Frankie yelled back at him. She stood up on her bed to tower above him more. Her eyes were so wild and crazy that they didn't even resemble their normal color anymore. Tom's decision had clearly pushed her somewhat over the edge. He sat back down out of a slight fear. He'd never seen her this upset. "I was all set to do that, before you ruined everything! What is wrong with you, Tom?"

For the first and only time in his life Tom almost felt true remorse. It was never his intention to break her. But, he was never cut out to play a hero and shouldn't have tried to rescue her from his own villainy.

"I did what I needed to do to save both you and the school." he stated, trying to remain calm despite her irrational lashing out at him.

"Why? Why would you do something so horrible to save me? Are you really that scared of losing me?" she yelled, hysterically. He squirmed. She'd touched on something he hadn't wanted to face directly. The fact that he might've done it more for himself then he had for her. "I feel very dearly for you, Tom—but I don't need your smothering protection. I stand perfectly well on my own. You've always known that!"