His Salvation ; Tom Riddle

XVI

SERAPHINA

"No," Seraphina groaned as she walked out of the Common Room.

"You can't just shut me out on this Sera," Simone chided as she followed her out.

It had been a week since Tom's public stunt and Seraphina hadn't caught a single break. Constant questions and pestering from Simone didn't seem to help, but the Hufflepuff managed to stall by diverting her best friend's attention to a different topic.

"You kept me in the dark on your secret relationship for weeks," she growled in response—not bothering to look over at her best friend.

Simone laughed as she pointed out, "You don't have that luxury when you decided to snog him in front of everyone."

"I didn't decide shit," snapped Seraphina. "It happened so fast, I couldn't—"

"But you gave in."

She let out a long sigh. "I gave in."

"It was about time," her best friend laughed. "We all knew it would happen eventually."

"We, meaning you and Dolohov?"

"And Carly and Bethany. It only takes a pair of eyes to see the way you two look at each other," Simone chuckled.

"How so? Because I'm sure that I look at him as if I want to kill him."

"That's true, but there's more than that." Seraphina finally looked over at Simone as they walked into the Great Hall. "You look at him like you want to kill him as much as you want to kiss him."

"No," she hissed, "I definitely do not—"

The next thing Seraphina knew, she was hitting something hard and firm—unmoving. She managed to catch herself before she could fall; meeting the eyes of one particular Slytherin she did not want to see. Heat rose to her cheeks as the Slytherin before her smirked coolly; eyes boring into hers.

Simone whispered, "Have fun."

Seraphina wanted to protest, but her best friend was already walking away. Tom shook his head and chuckled, "You've really got to stop running into me, Angel."

Her eyes narrowed. "You've really got to stop being in my way, Riddle."

He twirled a lock of her hair between his fingers, not bothering to look her in the eyes. "I think you enjoy it."

"What's your deal with public stunts." She shoved him back; not wanting to give him the satisfaction of falling into his trap. "It was one kiss."

"That was much more than one kiss," Tom chided; closing the space once more, "and I think you know that, Fina."

"Just move out of my way, Tom."

"No."

"Don't make me hit you."

"Go ahead," he challenged. "Hit me as hard as you can, Angel."

She shook her head as she muttered under her breath, "Cocky bastard."

Tom leaned down; mouth next to her ear. "Meet me outside the Slytherin Common Room in an hour. Don't be late." There was a beat. "And... wear something nice."

With that, he walked past her to the doors of the Great Hall. Seraphina turned back to look at him and hissed quietly, "I won't be there."

"You have an hour, Fina," he chided without looking back.

***

Why am I doing this, she thought to herself over and over again as she stood outside the Slytherin Common Room, waiting for Tom to walk out.