how it feels to be alive {tom riddle}

twelve: movie

As the story continued, the blood, gore and jump-scares became all the more present. Some others in the theatre gasped and jumped, but Lucia and Tom were relatively unphased by the violence, instead finding it quite entertaining.

"Are you scared?" Lucia leant over to whisper in Tom's ear.

"Very much so, I think I might cry like that man over there." He whispered back sarcastically, gesturing to the middle-aged man who was practically trembling with fear.

Lucia laughed quietly and reached into the popcorn cup to retrieve a piece, bringing it up to her lips. Tom wasn't watching the movie, but instead had his eyes fixed on her.

She smiled a bit as she noticed his gaze, and brought her hand back to the cup to grab another piece. This time when she brought it up, she instead raised her hand to Tom's lips, which he parted to allow her to put the kernel in. She let her fingers linger over his lips for a second, enjoying the smoothness of them before bringing her hand down and returning her gaze to the movie.

He smirked, chewing the popcorn and shaking his head.

"Stop teasing me." He whispered in her ear, his lips brushing her skin.

"You're the one who continued it." She replied innocently, not tearing her gaze from the screen.

A moment later, the felt his hand rest on her thigh, and her breath hitched in her throat.

She snapped her head to look at him, but his eyes were focused on the screen again. However, she didn't miss the smirk playing on his lips.

When she returned her gaze to the movie again, he began to rub circles on her exposed skin. Goosebumps raised involuntarily on her as his hand traced higher up her thigh.

"Tom..." She warned, not knowing how far he would take this, let alone how far she would let him go.

"Watch the movie, Lucia." He said innocently, drawing his bottom lip between his teeth.

"You're distracting me." She replied bluntly.

"Am I now? You know, in school they always taught us that it is your choice to be distracted by the actions of others." He said sweetly, continuing his actions.

She sighed in annoyance, placing her hand over his. His movements on her thigh stopped and he turned his hand to interlace their fingers.

He then brought her hand up to his lips and kissed the back of her hand softly, his lips lingering on her skin for a few seconds before he placed them down on his lap and began to rub circles with his thumb.

They continued watching the movie in silence, their hands still intertwined on Tom's lap.

The movie had a grizzly ending, which Tom quite appreciated. He didn't enjoy the movies that concluded with the good guys living happily ever after. It just wasn't accurate. In real life, the villain would never back down that easily. So when the murderer killed all the people in the end this time, Tom felt a sense of satisfaction.

As they walked down the hall out of the theatre, they kept their hands linked.

"So... did you like the movie?" Lucia asked casually.

"I only liked it because of the ending." Tom explained.

"Everyone dying? You really are morbid." She laughed, "So you're fine with other people dying, as long as it's not you?"

"Indeed." He replied simply.

"You're a complex one." She shook her head.

"When do you go back to school?" Tom asked, changing the conversation.

"The school year starts 1st of September." She said regretfully.

"I could come, you know." He suggested.

He'd thought about what to do when Lucia had to go back to Hogwarts a lot, and the idea that came to mind was him also attending with her. Being within the walls of Hogwarts could prove highly useful to him, with the resources and presence of other magic folk there.

"Tom... I really don't think meddling with the future like that will do you any good." She sighed, knowing they shouldn't mess with time.

"Think about it, would you? I really think we could make it work." He said.

"What if someone were to recognise you from an old school photo or something? I dare say with a mind like yours you were hardly a forgettable student." Lucia explained, knowing this was dangerous territory.

"We'll work it out closer to the time." He huffed, obviously irritated by not having every one of his desires immediately fulfilled like usual.

"Do you want to get some lunch?" Lucia suggested, steering the conversation from this complex path.

"Yeah." Tom agreed, his mind elsewhere.

He wanted to get to Hogwarts.

author's note

thank you for over 600 reads.

I had originally intended for this story to be pretty short, but upon doing some planning I can see the direction I want it to go.

it will still be a while before Hogwarts is even in the picture though, I just wanted to bring it up sooner rather than later.