Sacred Silence | A Tom Riddle Story

38: I did something bad.

- A warning just in case: this chapter contains explicit content, so, if you're truly just here for the plot, sorry.

They walked for about an hour, stopping for a little while to sit on a bench overlooking the river. They didn't talk much, just drank and smoked cigarettes. His flask seemed to contain an endless amount of strong, clear liquor, and his silver cigarette case always remained full.
Shiv had decided that tonight would be for getting drunk and having fun. Tomorrow, she would worry about her choices. Tomorrow, she would feel bad about them.

'Brax and Rome were going to drink in the pub next to the hotel. Slughorn wouldn't let them leave otherwise,' Tom said after a while. He tucked his flask back into his blazer and got up.

He reached out a hand to her, and she took it without thinking to much about it. Tomorrow, she thought.

They decided to walk towards the pub because Shiv was a little too drunk to trust herself on the back of a bike. She was by no means inebriated, but she definitely had a little more to drink than she was used to. She had no idea what the liquid in Tom's flask even was, so she couldn't get a clear picture of how much she had to drink.

They reached the small cafe a little after 11. The owner was about to close up, trying to get rid of a pleading Abraxas on his front steps.

'It's not even midnight yet, come on,' Brax groaned. 'We can't go anywhere else.'

The man didn't really seem to understand him, though. He pulled a kitchen towel off his shoulder and started whacking in the direction of the two boys.

Shiv quickened her pace, Tom following close behind her. 'Hey, no need for that,' she called out in French.
The man scoffed, but stopped and placed his hands on his hips, starting off on a long rant about how he just wanted to close up his pub and leave for the night.

Abraxas looked at her gratefully, but didn't pass up on the opportunity to trail his eyes across her body, taking in the short black dress, flushed cheeks and slightly messy hair. She wasn't sure how much Tom had told them about their plans for tonight, but she definitely looked like a girl getting back from a first date.

Tom walked up behind Shiv, and it took less than a minute before the man in front of them was confunded.

'I can stay open for another hour or two,' he said in a dreamy voice whilst he turned back around and opened the door for them.

-

The cafe owner had 'given' them free access to the bar and had then left to go upstairs. Tom had him under imperio the whole time, yet she didn't see his hands near his wand. Instead of being scared or appalled, she was fascinated.

Right now, the four of them were playing a drinking game on a large round table in the middle of the room. Bottles of alcohol, half empty glasses and ashtrays laid scattered around its wooden surface.
Abraxas was explaining the rules, but Rome and Tom were trying to see who could take the most amount of shots in 10 seconds, whilst Shiv counted down.

'So the idea is-' Brax tried again, but no one listened to his attempt. Eventually, he gave up and started building a house of cards whilst watching Shiv and Rome battle out the same competition.

This wasn't a great idea, however, because she felt her head start to spin a little and her vision blurred slightly.
Rome didn't look to good either, so he threw up his hands in defiance and started helping Abraxas with his cardhouse.

Tom got up, stroking her hair lightly as he walked past her, towards the bar.
He disappeared behind it momentarily and came back into view with a full bottle of whiskey and a glass.
He strode over to two big lounge chairs that faced away from the inside of the cafe, providing a clear view of the dark street that showed through the floor to ceiling windows. He sat down in one of them, crossed his legs, and poured himself a glass.