TORMENT (Harry Potter Sequel)

Chapter Twenty Five

Glimmering white rays of sunshine shone through the windows of the Great Hall as the students and teachers of Hogwarts sat down to eat breakfast. Tom and Alannah sat where they usually sat opposite each other, silently eating their meal. As they ate, though, Alannah felt dozens of eyes looking at her- inspecting her- watching her every movement. She quickly grew tired of this and groaned audibly enough for Tom to hear. He looked up in interest.

"Hm?" he spoke with his mouth full. Alannah groaned again.

"Aren't you tired of them watching you?" she asked tiredly.

"What do you mean?" Tom asked, taking another bite.

"What do you mean, 'what do you mean'?" Alannah facepalmed, "Don't you know all those guys are watching you?"

"Who?" Tom asked, not turning around or looking.

"Hufflepuff boys, Gryffindors boys, Ravenclaw boys- basically a bunch of boys!"

Tom shrugged, "Oh, they've been doing that for ages now."

"YEAH I KNOW!" Alannah yelled. Sometimes she was stunned by Tom's stupidity, "It's because of what you did at the Dueling Club."

"That was over a month ago now," Tom said, putting another potato on his plate.

"What the hell did you even say to get all this kind of attention?" asked Alannah.

"Nothing too important," responded Tom simply with an uncaring tone.

"'Nothing too important'?" she mimicked, "Y'know sometimes I can't stand you."

"I thought we were friends?" Tom looked up, a hint of sadness in his tone and face. Alannah wanted to facepalm again but didn't.

"Jeez you don't understand talking at all, do you? It's just a phrase dumbass."
"Why are you so mean?" Tom spoke with 'fake hurt' clear in his tone.

"Aha!" Alannah held her finger up proudly, "So you did pretend to not understand me! I knew you were lying about how bad your social skills are!"
Tom sighed, "No really- you're right, I'm really bad at talking. I barely understand what people mean."

Alannah grinned, "Yeah. I know. I was joking," he laughed out loud, "I've known you for over a year now. I think I know you're not too good at speaking. Which is why your 'speech' at the Dueling Club makes no sense to me! What did you even say?"

Tom shrugged again, "I just said that the weak don't stay weak."

Alannah gave him a look of tired disbelief, "Yeah sure. And that's why everyone's always eyeing you up like you're a pretty girl."
Tom sipped his drink look of slight confusion on his face, "What do you mean? People don't eye you up."

Alannah gave him a stony-faced look, "Ha ha," she said stiffly, "For real though, how did you not notice them staring at you?" Alannah asked.

"I have other things to focus on," he replied.

"Like what? Class? You don't focus there," Alannah picked up her bag from her side and took out a big book from it, "Do you know how hard it is watching you do nothing while I slave away revising?"

Tom shrugged, "Just don't revise."
"Yeah? How's that working out for you? How many tests have you passed?"

Tom shrugged again, "I don't do the tests."
For what felt like the seventeenth time, Alannah face-palmed, "You ever thought about the future? These exams are important y'know!"

As Alannah spoke, Tom noticed something in the corner of his eye. There was a small piece of paper hidden behind a goblet. It was barely in Tom's reach but he managed to grab it. He held it up and looked at it.