the devil's redemption [tom r.]

32|| Amortentia.

Nothing's gonna hurt you baby

As long as you're with me, you'll be just fine

Nothing's gonna hurt you baby

Nothing's gonna take you from my side

~Nothing's Gonna Hurt You Baby by Cigarettes After Sex

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"IS DUMBLEDORE SUSPICIOUS OF us?" Tom asked after they were both sat on the leather couch in the Room of Requirement. The distance between them was enough for them not to have any physical contact, yet also close enough to feel the tension between them.

"He asked if we are. . more than friends," Rosalind explained hesitantly, feeling slightly awkward as she shifted in her seat.

"And? What did you say?"

"I said that we're. . we're just friends, nothing more," She was getting rather uncomfortable with the topic. Tom had caught a piece of her hair between his fingers as she spoke, which didn't exactly help her awkwardness.

"And is that what you consider us? Just friends?"

"Well, personally, I consider us barely friends," Rosalind replied, trying her best to ignore the way his fingers held her hair delicately.

"Oh, we're not friends Rosalind," Tom paused for his usual dramatic suspense, "We're partners; allies."

"Well I couldn't possibly say that to Dumbledore, now could I?" It was a rhetorical question, and Tom only smirked.

"You never came to the Girl's lavatory last month," Tom pointed out, retreating back to his position on the couch and crossing his arms.

"I. . found out some stuff," Rosalind crisscrossed her legs on the couch, getting into a comfortable position. He raised an inquiring eyebrow.

"Samantha. . She's Willow's mother."

Tom looked genuinely taken aback, he didn't expect something like that to happen.

"How?"

"Willow told me that her mother was a healer, and went missing last month. I really don't know, how didn't I notice that? How did I not connect the dots?" Rosalind pulled at the strands of her hair. She was still very devastated.

But at least now she had Tom. And Tom was the only person she could speak freely to. He was the only one that knew everything about her; she could tell him anything.

Then she realised, how much Tom meant to her. Despite all his crimes and mistakes, despite his darkness, he was the most important person to her currently. She lost her family, and she couldn't handle friends anymore. Although Tom wasn't precisely a friend, he was exactly what she needed.

And then she thought, he was right, they were not just friends. They were so much more. They were somewhere on the edge, between friends and lovers; if only Tom was able to love. How unlucky must she be, that the only man she ever loved, was incapable of feeling love.

"Earth to Rosalind," Tom muttered, cocking an eyebrow at her as she broke from her trance.

"Oh, sorry, what where you saying again?"

"What if, what happened between Zhelyazko Vandalov and Hallock was all a ploy? If her mother worked for Grindelwald, then it's very likely that she is also involved with his order."