The Pretender | Tom Riddle

21| thou shall not trust

21| thou shall not trust

     Seren was late to the dining hall. All the others sat patiently waiting to begin breakfast. She played it off as sleep, taking her seat and ignoring the eyes on her. Her mother let out a displeased sigh, snapping her fingers as dishes began to fill in front of them. She managed to find the smallest amount of concealer this morning to hide the dark brown circles surrounding her eyes. It was quiet at the table, nobody getting the courage to speak up. Lucinda looked to Seren, eyeing her suspiciously due to her lateness. "Do you have any plans for today, Seren?" She asked the girl.

Seren looked up, turning to her mom as she shook her head slowly. Lucinda only nodded her head, "Right. Well, a seamstress will be coming by later to get your fitting for the ball. Boys, we will have all of yours tailored as well so keep your evenings free."

Tom had barely slept last night. The only thought going through his mind was how he was going to execute his plan. He'd worked on the same ending with multiple different versions on how it'd happen exactly. He imagined what it'd be like to feel the locket in his hands once more as it surged with his power running through it.

By the time Tom had finally left, Seren distracted herself in the library. She pulled out a book about a man from a small magical island who had been cursed by sirens to live his life in exile only to fall in love with a woman new to the island. She had completely changed his life around from a miserable and simple walk of life to this new world of love and excitement. It was easy to read at least a hundred pages in the couple of hours she stayed waiting for her mother to call her for a fitting.

The seamstress was an old witch, who used special ingredients and threads made from fae hair. The dress was a deep midnight blue, gold lacings running up the middle around her chest. The straps were small and only covered a small portion of her shoulders. There was a small tail to her dress, falling into a blue jumble of butterflies laced lazily throughout it. She was a short old lady with white hair in tight curls. She barely reached under Seren's chest where she pulled measuring tape around her.

The fitting didn't last long. There weren't any huge adjustments that needed to be made to the dress besides taking in a little on the sides. The fittings for the boys went just as fast. The wizard who was tailoring them had gone through them in a zipline filing in and out of the dress room.

"Hey," Abraxas was the first to speak up between the two. It had only been a day since they last spoke but when he heard she been in tears he was instantly guilty. He didn't want to make her cry, that the was the farthest thing he wanted, but he felt hurt that she was lying to him. Even if nothing really did happen the other night, she wasn't opposed to it. She didn't push Tom away or tell him not to visit her anymore. She would welcome him warmly into her arms. He regretted never confessing his feelings to her when he had the chance to. To tell her that he loved her ever since they were six years old. As dramatic as it sounded, she was the only one to truly occupy his mind. He'd try and distract himself with other surface relationships but it couldn't be helped. His mind always went back to her and it angered him that she'd never see him that way.

On top of that, Tom was in the way. The one who didn't have an ounce of love in him and wasn't capable of reciprocating her feelings. He wasn't interested in any sort of relationship, that he'd made it clear from the beginning. So it confused Abraxas deeply as to why Tom was suddenly all about Seren. Even in their first few years at Hogwarts, Tom hadn't been so open to Seren. It took a huge turn their fourth year when Seren had gotten her first boyfriend. A pure blood Hufflepuff boy who was the nicest person to ever step into Hogwarts. He was kind and caring to her, gentle and patient, everything Tom was not. So in response to her relationship, he was quick to demolish it. Filling the boy's ears with words of hatred to the point where the boy had to break it off with Seren out of fear. At the time Abraxas didn't mind what Tom did, it helped ease his mind too knowing Seren wasn't with anybody. It was after that really began to bother him.

It was when Tom's affections for Seren turned from strictly friendliness, to somewhere else. When Tom stopped letting others get too close to Seren without him getting angry. When he had to be by her side almost all the time and keep her separate from the others. It was then that Abraxas knew he'd never be able to have her anymore.

"Hey," Seren answered turning her attention out the window. There was a thing layer of snow on the ground as she watched the garden lightly grazed with it. Abraxas cleared his throat as he thought of what to say, "If you have time, I'd like to talk with you."

"Okay, what is it?" She asked turning to him finally. He looked behind him where all the others were chatting about the ball coming up in a few days. He sighed taking a small step closer to her, "Could we possibly go somewhere else? Why don't we go for some warm drinks?"

A small huff came out of her as she nodded her head. It was quiet between the two as they walked into town. She wore her big coat once more, setting her pace slow to keep the wind from escaping in with her quick and open movements. When the two got to Honeydukes, it was crowded. Many young couples inside wanting to have a warm drink.

"I'm sorry for the way I spoke to you," Abraxas said as he watched her take a sip from her drink, "I was in the wrong and I had absolutely no right to overreact that way."

"You're right, you didn't," Seren let out a sigh, "I just don't understand anymore Ab, what's gotten into you?"

"I don't like...I don't like how close you two have become lately," he answered truthfully, "I've done nothing but treat you kindly since we were young yet you continue to go with the guy who has no respect for you and hurts those you like. I just wish you'd see how he's not good for you."

"Well isn't this a turn of events?"

The two turned around, startled at the deep voice behind them. Benjamin stood, back leaned against a pillar as he watched the two. Abraxas stood up, ready to say something but Benjamin was quick to continue, "Abraxas what a true friend of Tom's you are, throwing his name out like that as if you're any better."

"Ben," Seren looked to him hoping he'd stop but he only shook his head dismissing her. "You're no better than he is, you hurt people Seren likes too. You're just as cruel as him and you'd do the exact same things he's done if given the chance."

"Can we please just get back home?" Seren asked with a sigh as she looked around at the crowded store. Abraxas stayed out not bothering to move, but she couldn't let Benjamin start speaking anymore. She didn't know where this would lead if the two continued to go at it. They were best friends, had always been, and she didn't want a rift to come between them. She looked her arm with her cousin's dragging him away.

Tom was livid, the turn of events from the day only filled him with rage. His room was trashed, the anger coursing through him in his private confines left a mess for the elves to clean. His hair was a mess of curls as he paced his room trying to understand what had gone wrong. What had been the problem that he wasn't able to solve, that there was no way he'd understand how it could happen. There was a knock on his door, persistent and never going away. He was tempted to throw something at the door, a sign that he wasn't going to be seeing anyone, but he knew better than to show his anger.

"I'll be out in a minute," he let out a huff, hands running through his hair as he tried taking it. He came to his feet, hands running against his clothes to smooth them out. The knocking stopped, he opened the door slightly finding Benjamin on the other side of it.

"What?" He asked, tone harsh. Benjamin looked around, "There's something I gotta tell you."

"Okay, let's talk in your room," Tom told him, sliding out through the small opening in his door.

"I don't think we can trust Abraxas anymore," Benjamin said the second the two were alone in his room. Tom's brown quirked upward. "He's been saying things, threatening to expose certain things and I just don't think he's trustworthy."

"What has he tried saying?"

::.