The Fear in The Child

Unexpected Expectations

The next morning was...not what Tom had expected. He had not slept well, though he supposed that was to be expected. He disliked sleeping in placed that he did not know well, and even though he was aware that none of them likely had any quarrel with him, he was...unnerved at the idea of meeting Abraxas again. He could play his part well, yet it was rather discomforting that he would have to face his old...ally, he could not particularly call Abraxas a friend, but he was a suitable ally. Suitable enough at least, and he was rather frustrated at the fact that he was not aware of when that could happen, only that it could. He disliked the unknown, though he knew quite well that he would be able to play the other, he was quite good at that, even if he was at a rather large disadvantage of not knowing anything of what he could have said to the other. 

Still, he would not allow such things to unnerve him. It would not do, of course. Tom needed to keep a clear head for this. Should he just play stupid, as though he knows nothing of his parents, he should be capable of pulling this off. He was aware the Dumbledore wished to pass off the idea that he was the son of...himself, which seemed to work quite well among the staff at Hogwarts, the minimal staff that he knew Dumbledore had spoken to, the Slytherin head of house, and the Gryffindor head of house respectively. He could feel it in the way that they watched him, carefully, and in the Slytherin head of house's case, unnervingly. 

Tom never really did like being stared at. It made him feel out of balance, and he was not exactly fond of feeling such things and as such he tended to dislike the feeling of being watched. Though, there was not much that he could really do about it, Tom knew well enough that it seemed to work decently well. If anything of the stories of what he had done when older were true, Tom would have to assume that he had slowly descended into madness. It was a rather interesting side effect, he had to admit. He had not believed that splitting his soul so many times would actually cause such a thing. Not much that he could do about it, however, so he refused to dwell on such things. He could understand the wary looks of the Gryffindor teacher, what he could not quite understand is the blank, yet calculating look of the Slytherin Head of house. As though he were confused over something, and did not quite know what to make of him. It did not bother Tom as much as it probably should, likely because the other was a Slytherin. 

Tom breathed softly, calmly, and carefully assessed what he should do. It would be best to remain playing as though he knew nothing of his family. Not that it was too much of a lie, he knew next to nothing other then the fact that he had a family member named Morfin who had died, and had left several things in his possession, which Tom had found out without Dumbledore realizing that he knew. Magic was quite fascinating. It had detected him the moment he had stepped foot in this time. Yet, he had no idea really where this place was, and so he supposed it was good that Lucius had said he was willing to aid him in finding it. He was sure that he could figure it out himself, but he doubted that it would be wise to try and go himself. It was the best choice that he really had, because he did not really know what Abraxas knew and what he did not know. 

With that decided, he barely managed to withhold a flinch as a House Elf suddenly appeared in the middle of his room, big eyes, big ears, and with a rather large pop and slight bits of smoke. He inhaled softly, carefully calming himself. He needed to be more proactive with controlling himself, otherwise who knew what sort of weaknesses he would give off. Tom knew that he could easily defend himself if he needed to, but he would rather not give off any slight sort of weaknesses that could potentially be exploited. 

"Master Malfoy and his family are waiting for you in the dining room." The elf said simply. "Sir Draco has ordered me to give you this to change into." With a second pop a set of clothes appeared at Tom's feet. Tom gave the Elf a blank stare and a small nod. 

"Very well, I shall be down soon. Please give Draco my thanks," The elf nodded and left the room. Tom, meanwhile, inspected the clothes which Draco had given him to wear. They were rather simple. A deep green tshirt, and black slacks. He inhaled softly and swiftly changed before heading to the bathroom to wash his face, and brush his hair and teeth. It would not do to be somewhat composed. He had no idea if Abraxas was downstairs or otherwise. He would bet that he was. The Elf had said the 'family'. Tom took a few minutes, then, to try and compose himself. It would not be easy to face Abraxas, after all, for Tom he had barely seen the other a few months ago, but for Abraxas it had been years. He was not entirely certain what would come from this meeting and he had to say, he was rather unnerved.

It did not take long before the Elf had popped right back into the room, and Tom bared his teeth angrily at it. 

"What now?" He asked, his words belying the anger which hid behind them. 

"Master Abraxas asks that you head down now." Tom stiffened, his eyes hardening slightly. So, he was here. Of course he was. Tom had been prepared for him to be there, but the realization that he was correct in his assumptions, well it was rather...unsettling. He gave nothing but a small nod. 

"I am afraid I do not recall how to get to the dining room. If you would show me please," Tom said simply, and the Elf just gave a small nod as they turned and headed down.