Malefic [BOOK 2]

Dangerously Adorable.

If they were talking about the locket that she had in mind then the story was moving way too fast for her liking. Tom was only in his sixth year. The locket of Slytherin wasn't supposed to make an appearance this early.

Her interruption in the story brought up changes in the storyline. Soon, every action might turn unpredictable. That very thought scared Leo.

"Who was it?" Tom asked.

"Hepzibah Smith. She has a hobby of collecting rare items," Avery informed, "But we have located her as well."

"Very well."

Leo didn't think that the situation was very well. It was far from it. She had to stop this from happening again. But she had absolutely no idea that this would happen so soon. She had no plans, no information and definitely no excuse to just vanish from everyone's sight and go detective mode. Especially now that Tom had grown a bit closer to her.

He would certainly question her if she were to follow him to Hepzibah Smith's place for a cup of tea and a very dangerous locket.

"This coming Saturday, students would be allowed to go to Hogsmeade. I will personally visit the lady and bargain for the locket. Malfoy should accompany me," Tom informed out loud.

Leo couldn't understand why Tom was revealing all his plans in her presence.

"My lord, do you think it is a good idea to discuss our plans in the presence of our guest?" Avery asked with a slight edge to his voice.

The word guest had never sounded so much like 'pest 'to Leo. Nonetheless, she had to agree with Avery.

This could be a trap. Tom was smart. He could set this up, just to catch Leo off guard. He surely wasn't doing this because he trusted her.

Right?

"I hope by guest you don't mean Maybelle. She has my trust and therefore you lot do not have to worry about her presence," Tom said with a very scary smile, so scary that all of the boys looked down except Avery.

Avery wasn't looking at Tom though. Oh, no. The boy wouldn't dare to raise another question at the future dark lord. Instead, Avery was drilling holes into Leo's forehead.

The poor girl wasn't quite sure what her fault was. She didn't ask Tom to bring her there. She even tried to run away. The last thing she wanted was to have some beef with Tom's followers.

Leo tried to stare back at Avery and offer him a smile. As soon as their eyes met, Avery scoffed under his breath and turned his head away.

Leo's smile turned upside down. The tension in the air only thickened. She glanced at Tom who, surprisingly, was already looking at her. His head was resting on the palm of his hands and he looked quite bored. The way he was staring at Leo looked like she was the only interesting person in the room.

Leo's cheeks immediately flared up. She was thankful that the room was quite dark. No one would see how red her cheeks and ears had turned.

The whole exchange between them didn't go unnoticed by Tom's loyal followers. Leo hesitantly glanced at Avery once again. This time, the boy didn't even try to hide his distaste for Leo. The girl pondered on whether she should just spark a conversation to ease the awkwardness.

Not a very wise choice.

"So, gentlemen, what are your thoughts on aliens?"

The silence was too loud. Leo's lips were stretched into a huge grin that looked as real as Tom's love for hot-pink coloured clothes. No one attempted to share their thoughts on aliens, not even Tom. Leo opened her mouth to ask another question about the existence of zombies when Avery stood up from his chair abruptly.