𝕬 𝕯𝖆𝖗𝖐 𝕷𝖔𝖗𝖉 𝖎𝖘 𝕭𝖔𝖗𝖓 | 𝑇𝑜𝑚 𝑅𝑖𝑑𝑑𝑙𝑒 |

Chapter 62- You and I

"I suppose I see no harm in that." Dumbledore answered. So, with his apparent blessing, Tom led Frankie towards the door. Once he got her out of here, they could start talking properly without the leering eyes of that man watching them and he might even still get a chance to sneak away and hide a Horcrux somewhere.

"Goodnight then, Dumbledore." Tom added, opening the office door. Frankie looked back to say goodnight as well, but then saw something in the old man's distressed blue eyes. Something was wrong. He was worried. She wanted to go to him and ask if he was alright, but Tom hastily shut the door and pulled her down the stairs. They didn't start speaking, until they were at least halfway down Gargoyle Corridor.

"Didn't Dumbledore seem worried to you?"

"He's the same as ever—"

"No, he was concerned! And I can't fault him—You're supposed to be dead!" Frankie snapped, suddenly. Although, he had been actively trying to skirt the subject until he came up with a few good lies to tell her, she wouldn't allow him the opportunity. She had to know right this instant why he'd left her all those years ago. Unfortunately, the spineless coward in him still wanted her in the dark. "Where have you been, Tom?"

"More traveling and such. I quit working at Borgin and Burkes once I earned enough money." Tom replied, simply. It wasn't technically a lie. Wait, when did I go back to caring whether my lies were actually lies or not? Good grief... Every second he was with her it felt like his new self, the man he had worked so long to be, was starting to fade away.

He didn't like it.

The feeling burned viciously inside his chest. It was like if someone was putting a flame right over his icy heart and trying to thaw it out. He could not possibly still love her. After all this time and everything he'd done to mold himself into this new man, he was incapable of feeling love anymore. Love was weakness. Love was a foolish distraction from his goals. Yet there he was, still voluntarily walking beside her. Not using the golden opportunity alone in the dark to kill love once and for all and return to his quest for power, like Voldemort wanted him too.

"I'm sorry for not writing. Twilit stopped finding me for some odd reason—is he alright?"

"He's fine..." she smiled, yet she probably wasn't satisfied with the vague uninformative answer. The question would most likely come up again later, knowing Frankie far too well. And, when it did, he would be forced to give her a better answer.

Tom looked away for just a moment and realized they had mindlessly wandered to the tree by the lake. Every trivial conversation, every Sunday walk, they all came flooding back to him again and this time he could not simply shove them away. The wind and fog had vanished, leaving them with a clear starry night sky. They both simultaneously sank into the fresh powder, not caring about the cold consequences. It was their spot, and they were going to sit in it after many years apart.

"I'm pleased to know you quit working at that horrid shop at least. I never liked you working there."

"You said almost the exact same thing when I started the job. It's a sketchy establishment, certainly—but it's somewhat close by. You could've actually visited me occasionally." he reasoned, a little bitterly. Tom remembered sitting on that wobbly old stool behind the counter at Borgin and Burkes, wishing she'd pass on by like she had before, with a bag of Flesh-Eating Slug Repellent in her arms. He just needed five minutes, or even a glance and a wave again would do. In those days, he wouldn't admit it to himself, but he missed her quite terribly. It took years, before he realized that she wasn't going to pass him by again and he couldn't just sit there on his ass doing nothing with his life.

"I did try—remember? You're the one who said I ought to stay away from Borgin and Burkes." Frankie argued back. Tom had completely forgotten she often snuck away to London and meet him at the Leaky Cauldron. It was never enough for him and eventually he got too busy at the shop to see her. "Mr. Burke would've cursed me for sure. I'm sure he didn't want his shop keep flirting with girls, while he was supposed to be working,"