The Last Drop |Tom Riddle|

Chapter Nine: Torn Between Two Evils

||No quote, but just a reminder to please comment because I really enjoy hearing feedback. Without it, its very difficult to continue on with the story!

January 4, 1953

Sugar and cream blended together and made Eleanor's coffee a few shades lighter. The private meeting room was left untouched over the past week, smelling of old books and her freshly brewed coffee. It was early. No one would be here for another fifteen minutes at the least but she intended to be at work at the crack of dawn anyway.

With her well needed recovery weekend, she intended on beginning her year this Monday morning when she could concentrate on the case and not Tom Riddle or Colin. Perhaps it would be easier said than done.

When the door opened, the man who entered jumped like a cat when he noticed Eleanor sitting at the table already. She looked up to see Colin and her breath hitched.

"Good morning." Eleanor greeted.

The best way to start this week off would be to pretend she did not ditch Colin on New Years only to make love with someone she should despise.

"Oh, hello." Colin awkwardly greeted, setting down his brief case a few seats away from her.

Silence fell and she continued to sip her coffee and scan over the papers. Her heart was thumping as she mentally told herself to calm her nerves because there was nothing wrong. Nonetheless, she could not sit comfortably and focus on her papers and it seemed that Colin was not the calm type this morning either.

"I would like to address the elephant in the room because I'm not going to be able to get through this pretending like something didn't happen." he breathed.

Eleanor was glad he spoke first but now her coffee bitterly went down and she had to think of how to respond. A sigh passed through her lips as she placed the cup down and she crossed her arms.

"I'm sorry. I freaked out just a little bit." she admitted. It was true. She didn't have to let Tom run off with her. "I really enjoyed the night. I truly did. I just don't think I was ready for us to start something again with all that is going on."

Colin nodded. She looked away again but she still sensed that he was off about something. Eleanor almost forgot about the fact that he might have been connected to the group that attacked Tom's men that night but the chances were still so slim that she didn't dwell on it too long. It was highly unlikely but Eleanor could never be one hundred percent in this life she led.

"Well I'm sorry if I was a bit forward." he huffed.

Eleanor couldn't help but smile.

"I accept but while you're at it, can you apologize for every other time you were deemed too forward?" she chuckled. His smile appeared again and seeing that rid her of her worries of the past weekend.

"I'm sorry for trying to flirt with you every second of the day. But that date of yours, I'm curious. Is he the reason why you're so frazzled about the idea of us trying something again?" he asked.

That's when reality came sinking back in and she looked down.

"It's complicated. We were very close back at Hogwarts and he kind of popped back into my life again and his intentions are a bit hard to perceive. I think I'm just struggling because he's changed and I'm not sure how I feel about him anymore. So perhaps it has made me a bit frazzled." she explained.

There was so much more she wanted to scream out loud but knew it was a death sentence and felt her chains tighter now. It was hard to convince herself that the feelings she had for them were a mistake and needed to disappear.