𝕬 𝕯𝖆𝖗𝖐 𝕷𝖔𝖗𝖉 𝖎𝖘 𝕭𝖔𝖗𝖓 | 𝑇𝑜𝑚 𝑅𝑖𝑑𝑑𝑙𝑒 |

Chapter 42- Spiraling and Escalating

The dreadful reality of that awful night only started to really get to Tom a couple weeks later, when everyone came back from vacation and classes started up again. A newly matched pair in Gryffindor was naturally a hot subject to drop when the student body returned. Tom hadn't even seen Frankie the entirety of the break. She didn't show up for meals. He should've figured the orphanage diet would be useful for something. Sunday walks were also done, even though he'd waited in the entrance hall all day for her. Frankie was determined to keep a castle amount of space between them, probably sensing his desperation. His desire to make her rethink her decision. Tom figured that she knew it was possible, which is why she wouldn't dare face him now. He had this foolish notion that if she just let him have five minutes alone, he could talk her out of all of this. However, a small part of him also knew that sad little thought was more of a lie to make himself feel better about the miserable conditions he'd been thrust into by his own mistakes.

Unfortunately, the ugly feelings didn't stop there. She'd left him with even more woefully pathetic thoughts passing through his mind like, "If only I had just gotten to her ten minutes sooner, I wouldn't be in this goddamn mess!" However, deep down he knew this entire catastrophe was his fault. She had every right to leave him after what he'd said to her. Tom would secretly admit that to himself, at least. There was so much time to tell her how he felt, and she might've been his if he hadn't spent most of their days too frightened of his own emotions. He should've told her a long time ago if he had ever really hoped to have those feelings returned.

So, ever since the new term began, Tom was forced to grin and bear it. His fine ears tuned to listen to all the girls in their year buzz about the new couple despite how much he didn't want to hear it. Frankie didn't turn his way. She beamed all her light towards Quin, and he beamed an equal sort of joy back. The sight of it all made Tom want to use the Cruciatus Curse on himself, over and over again. It'd be less of a sickening, heart-wrenching pain. However, he was going to have to continue to endure. What could be done about it? While Tom had briefly considered taking matters into his own hands, he knew that no matter what he did, it wouldn't probably work. It was only the beginning. The facts were clear and cruel. They were not going to be breaking up anytime soon.

As her cold neglect quickly began icing over his slowly thawing heart, his mind was plunged back to darkness. Killing was the quickest solution that came to his mind in order to get her back. Tom could easily order the Basilisk to destroy Quin, and no one would ever know the buffoon's disappearance/murder was all his doing. However, that plan also had a lot of problems, despite its simplicity. One of them being Dumbledore. Ever since vacation ended, Dumbledore was bizarrely intent on keeping an eye on him. It seemed like he was hiding around every corner and browsing in every corridor. He even sometimes "secretly" followed Tom to classes, even if his was all the way at the other end of the school. Tom really wanted to know the cause of this sudden spike in supervision, but knew he wouldn't get the real answer if he confronted Dumbledore. It probably wasn't the best idea to go murdering other students anyway. Now, that Hagrid was in Azkaban, Tom no longer had an easy fallback if he got caught. Also, she'd be horribly upset if he died. That idiot made Frankie happy and, right now, that just wasn't something Tom could do. So, he'd wait. Maybe things would change. Maybe they would not.

Suddenly, amidst Tom's deep thoughts and mindless staring at Frankie and Quin from an empty nearby corridor, someone had wrapped their arms around his waist from behind him like a slithering snake. Oh, great. It was more of his unfortunate reality.

"Get off me." Tom hissed, coldly, knowing it could only be Lyra. They were alone, so he could be as cruel as he wanted. He still hated her, however, in public's eye they were also the sixth year's new shining couple. Tom kept up his charming, princely façade with Lyra in front of the student body, acting like she was his equally glamorous princess. The gossip around them was strong as well. People seemed to think she suited him. Tom thought he should've told her to take a hike and fight out the rest of his school days alone. He was confident he could do it, but for some reason that option didn't seem viable. It would essentially be doing nothing, and Tom wanted to be doing something, even if it was cruel. That ugly part of him knew Lyra was the one girl Frankie truly hated. Surely, he could make her writhe in the same sort of jealousy he got when he saw her and Quin together. Unfortunately, so far it seemed to have no effect on her. Had she even noticed?