the devil's redemption [tom r.]

41|| Camping in Woodlands.

You got the world but baby at what price

Something so strange, hard to define

It isn't that hard boy to like you or love you

I'd follow you down down down

You're unbelievable

...You're screwed up and brilliant

And look like a million dollar man

So why is my heart broke?

~Million Dollar Man by Lana Del Rey

¤¤¤¤¤¤

AFTER A WEEK OF excessive studying and quizzes, Hogwarts students were finally allowed to leave the school on the twenty fifth of March, which happened to be a Saturday.

Tom and Rosalind had exactly two weeks to be able to find the Lost Diadem of Ravenclaw. It was also fair to say that Tom leaving Hogwarts twice on breaks was raising suspicion. The majority, however, were satisfied with assuming that Tom left with Rosalind to see her family. It was the only logical explanation.

The pair didn't deny anything, nor did they confirm it. They preferred to remain silent, letting people deduce whatever they wanted. The only person's suspicion they dreaded, was Albus Dumbledore's. His wariness of them wasn't exactly an advantage, since he was wise enough to try figuring out their ploy.

But as far as they knew, the great wizard was completely oblivious, so they had nothing to worry about.

Tom and Rosalind sat silently in their compartment, each holding a book without bothering to converse with each other. The latter ignored the novel in her hand, however, and chose to watch as the train sped by the lands of Scotland. Her thoughts strayed back to the time they discussed their destination. They'll have to stay in a forest. She internally hoped that they would find an inn for their stay, since the chill of early spring was not pleasant enough to allow them to roam the woods freely.

"How will we go to Albania?" Rosalind asked abruptly, shutting her book as she knew she'd be out of focus for the rest of the ride. Her mind always wandered to the dangers that laid ahead.

"We'll use a portkey," the boy sitting in front of her didn't bother looking up as he answered. He was too engrossed in his book –that probably involved the Dark Arts– to pay her any attention. The only sounds they could hear in their serene silence were the occasional flip of a page or footsteps from outside the compartment. They remained like that for a few minutes, without any interruptions.

"Where will we stay?" Rosalind inquired once again, and she knew she was walking on thin ice. Tom wasn't in a great mood, and she wondered why. He should've been excited. He was about to retrieve an artefact that had been lost for centuries. Of course, the chances of them finding the diadem in a huge forest, where it had been hidden for hundreds of years were slim, but Tom always managed to get what he wanted.

Tom sighed, glowering at her while he marked the page he'd reached in his book, before closing it with a snap. "We'll have to stay in a tent, a magical tent, for sure. There aren't going to be any inns like last time. The Albanian Forest is in the middle of nowhere."

He then settled for staring out the window, like she'd been doing. Rosalind assumed he was planning, how he'd find the diadem, turn it into a horcrux, and then most probably hide it. With her being a Ravenclaw, even if it was for less than a year, she felt uneasy at the thought of Tom defiling the relic –that belonged to her house founder– with his dark soul.