Love & Potions: A Tom Riddle X Reader Story. Part 2 (Fifth Year)

Chapter 21: The unravelling secret

Tom shakes his head.

"No. As beautiful as you will look, I am very good at keeping a calm, good poker face."

You make a 'hmm' sound and think for a moment.

"So is that what we're going to do? Pretend to just be each others dates and slowly spend more time together in the new year in front of people at school and maybe it'll soften the blow for him?" You ask Tom and he nods.

"He might be an irritating little...goblin...but he is still my little brother. He has good taste in girls, I can't deny him that. Besides, it might give him sometime to find someone else to like if we don't go all public on him right now. Narcissa is inviting everyone she knows to the party at Malfoy Manor, even some girls from other families that go to Beauxbatons. Perhaps he will find some other girl to fancy...or he might see a girl at the Ball...you never know..." Tom says and you consider what he says. 

Yes, maybe this needn't be the big blow-up fight that you have been fearing. Mattheo may have only reacted so badly last time because of the shock and the intimate act he was witnessing. If it was softer and slower, if he saw you spending more little moments with Tom, maybe he would react less harshly, he'd be less surprised when it finally becomes obvious that you were a couple.

"No...I get what you mean, that might work...I think you're right. I think that's what we should do. Just pretend to only be each others dates." You smile as you feel a little relief that perhaps the large, blow up you were expecting to happen on the night of the ball, might not happen at all now. You smile down at Tom. "You know, I like soft, caring Tom."

He stops still and looks around at you, his eyes narrow. "Never...call me that again. I am not soft. I simply don't want to cause absolute bedlam at home and at school simply because my brother and I both like the same girl." Tom says flatly. There was something in the way he said at home that made you worry for him. Something that denoted trouble of some sort.

"Okay...well... I like it when you show your caring side."

Tom grunts in reply and continues walking and you soon start talking.

Soon you arrive back into the school ground and stop in the courtyard not far from the Slytherin common room, watching the others who ran ahead of you have found fresh untouched snow to fight in. You laugh as you watch Warrington and Rosier slide down the hill on their fronts and Theo lob a snowball into Pucey's face.

"I'll go get you the essence of dittany, or if you're too cold I can give it to you indoors?" Tom asks and you shake your head, wanting to stay out where the fun is happening.

"Just put me down here. I'll wait out here with everyone, I want to watch this snowball fight."

"Okay. I'll be back in a moment."

Tom lowers you down gently and you sit on one of the stone benches, and Tom disappears into the castle and a few minutes later, you're laughing as you watch Theo with Enzo on his shoulders battling Pucey and Mattheo in a game of chicken in the snow. Tom taps you on the shoulder and his sudden reappearance makes you jump. You smile up at him and thank him as he hands you a small vial of essence of dittany. You unstopper it and drink it.

"Ah perfectly brewed as usual, potions master...my compliments to the chef.." You say with a jokey drunken giggle that makes Tom roll his eyes as he takes the vial back off of you. He stands next to you and smirks and chuckles a little as he watches the other boys playing in the snow. Daphne and Blaise are nowhere in sight and you're sure they've run off to one of their dorms, they'd barely had their hands off of each other all evening. Pansy and Millie had headed back hours ago for a girly movie night.