holding on {t.r.}

t w e n t y t w o

The next morning before breakfast, Tom waited in the common room for Lestrange to show his face. He was known to wake up the latest, so the common room was conveniently deserted.

Tom stood where he couldn't be seen, using the element of surprise as one of his many methods of intimidation. Lestrange barely made it into the room before Tom angrily threw him against the wall and dug his want into his neck. Lestrange held his head high, but he was afraid.

"You're a fucking fool. How dare you doubt me?" Tom asked, unleashing the wave of anger he built up over night as he sent Lestrange to the ground writhing in pain.

"I'm sorry," Lestrange choked, desperately trying to hold in his screams. Tom knew he couldn't use an unforgivable curse on school grounds, so he did the next best thing: he infiltrated Lestrange's mind in such a way that made him believe he was in horrible pain despite no real curse or jinx being used against him. This act was one of Tom's many unique skills. "I'm sorry, My Lord! Please!"

"You won't touch a hair on her head. You won't even think of speaking a word to her, do you understand?" Tom asked. Lestrange nodded, agreeing between grunts and gasps for air. "If you do, you will endure forms of torture so unimaginable that you will beg for me to kill you."

Any confidence in Lestrange from the night before was erased from existence as Tom stood over him, reasserting the power no one would ever dare to question again.

"Yes, My Lord," Lestrange whispered, feeling a sense of relief as he began to catch his breath. Satisfied, Tom left the common room and made his way to the Great Hall as if nothing happened.

"Have you told him what you told me?" Melissa asked Alexandra, watching as Tom approached them.

"No," Alexandra admitted. "It's not important."

"Yes it is, you-"

"I think this is the first time you've ever been late to something," Alexandra greeted Tom, ignoring Melissa.

"I'm not late, it's breakfast," Tom defended as he filled his plate. "I was thinking we could meet after class to begin working on the Patronus charm if that's all right with you, of course."

"Absolutely," Alexandra agreed. She hasn't attempted her Patronus recently, but she hoped remembering her recent trip to Hogsmeade would help her succeed.

Something about Tom's attitude throughout the day seemed strange to Alexandra. He seemed angry, but this was a different type of anger; a type of anger neither of them recognized.

They only had two classes that day, so the day moved along rather quickly. The pair made their way to the Room of Requirement, neither of them expecting what they would be met with at their arrival. Tom didn't even notice the change of scenery as he stepped inside of the room.

"There is something I must discuss with you," he stated, picking his head up to look at Alexandra who still stood in the doorway with her eyes wide as she looked around the room.

"This room," she stated breathlessly, examining the mirrors lining the walls, the golden arches above her head and the beautiful chandelier that hung above a fireplace that provided her with a feeling of warmth despite it not being lit. "It feels so... familiar."

"Have you been here before?" Tom asked, watching her slowly walk towards one specific mirror sitting in the corner of the room. She shook her head, staring almost soullessly into the mirror.

"Do you see this?" She asked, examining the reflection that not only showed her, but a number of people surrounding her. She couldn't see their faces, but she felt like she recognized them. They were all wearing robes, mostly Gryffindors, a Ravenclaw and a Slytherin. As she examined the image closer, she noticed that her reflection was wearing Gryffindor robes. "Tom..."

"I see you and I," he stated, confused as to what she was so taken by.

"You don't see all these people?" She asked, reaching her hand out towards the mirror. Her reflection didn't move, but, instead, her hand met with that of the mysterious boy in Slytherin robes. Her other hand flew over her mouth as a plethora of feelings overwhelmed her. She began to cry, but she smiled, bringing her other hand to the mirror as it met with a hand now belonging to a boy in Gryffindor robes. Tom watched as she desperately reached for something or someone he could not see as he finally recognized that they were looking into the Mirror of Erised. "God, they seem so real."

"This mirror is dangerous. It does more harm than good," Tom told her, his heart breaking as he watched her cling to a past she would never fully remember. "Perhaps we should return to the common room."

"But-" Alexandra protested, trying incredibly hard to remember the faces and names of the people she desired to know. She knew remembering would only hurt her, but she couldn't help but wonder if being constantly curious was worse. "I can't leave them. Not again."

"They're not real," Tom stated, taking her hands and pulling them away from the mirror.

"No," she cried, unsuccessfully attempting to pull her wrists from Tom's grip before giving up and falling into his chest in tears.

"I'm sorry," Tom told her, holding her as the room transformed around them into a more familiar setting. As she began to calm down, he pulled out his wand and quietly uttered an all too familiar spell that he truly hoped he would never have to use again. In one short moment, any memory surrounding the mirror was gone and was instead replaced with a new, planted memory of Lestrange threatening her earlier in the day. This new memory would not only explain her distress, but will also keep her away from Lestrange in the future. "I swear to you, he will not hurt you again."

"It wasn't a big deal, I don't know why I got so upset about it," Alexandra said, wiping her tears. "I'm sorry."

"No need to apologize, love," Tom assured, sighing in relief as he saw her smile once again. "Shall we start practicing, then?"