Leo found herself in quite a difficult situation. The memories of last night were still fresh in her mind. Tom had never looked so vulnerable. Leo wanted to just turn him tiny and keep him inside her pocket, protect him from the entire world.
After years, Tom had finally opened up. He trusted her enough to open his hard shell and let her in.
Leo didn't mind staying in that shell for the rest of her life.
The only thing that still bothered her was him trying to make Horcruxes. Even after all her requests and warnings, Tom was still trying to find stupid pieces of jewellery to put his soul into. She swore that Tom gave her 'Material Girl' vibes sometimes.
"Leona, you are daydreaming again."
Leo jumped at the mention of her full name. Her eyes focused on Tayden who was staring at her with eyes full of concern. She was currently helping him to give out flyers for their upcoming event arranged by their little club.
The plan was to find more students who were being suppressed by society and offer them as much help as possible.
She glanced down at her hand where the flyers were supposed to be. Now, she was cradling only air. Hearing Tayden chuckle beside her, she fixed her gaze on him once again.
"We finished a while ago," he informed.
"Ah. Right," Leo chuckled awkwardly.
Tayden placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, "What has been on your mind since morning? You look troubled."
Leo shook her head, denying that she was overthinking everything. Tayden was a good friend. But she felt like she would just waste his time by rambling about her problems. She bet he had other things to do.
The boy was thinking quite the opposite though. He wanted Leo to share whatever was on her mind. He wanted to be of help, just like she had helped him.
"Walk with me, Leo," he asked softly but left no place for an argument.
Leo hesitated but started walking beside him in silence. They didn't have any classes to attend. That gave Tayden some time to listen to Leo's problems.
The two students quietly walked toward the courtyard. Leo appreciated the silence. Tayden was never the one to force information out of her. He was understanding, caring and very respectful.
In fact, Leo really liked spending her time with Tayden. Considering how her friendship with Zayden had turned out, she was quite hesitant to open up to Tayden. But as time went by, she could see how understanding the boy actually was.
He was not the best student out there but his character made up for it. You could ask him to hold a poisonous cobra for you and he would do it without a question.
He would listen to Leo's blabbering all day long with a bright smile on his face. He was never the one to judge anything. He was a friend that everyone wanted.
Leo was very lucky to find someone like him.
Tayden finally stopped in between two pillars and leaned against the railing. His hands were crossed over his chest as he regarded Leo with a questioning look.
Leo immediately knew that she had to spill the beans.
It was truly a struggle for her. She opened and closed her mouth a couple of times but failed to arrange her thoughts. At one point, she groaned under her breath and yanked her hair in frustration.
Tayden shot her a sympathetic look, "Is it about Tom Riddle?"
Leo rubbed her face as her ears slowly turned red. She nodded sheepishly and avoided Tayden's knowing look.
The boy suddenly gasped, "Don't tell me. Have you developed feelings for the boy?"
Leo wanted to die out of embarrassment. Having feelings for Tom was one thing but hearing it out of Tayden's mouth made her feel very shy.
"Is it that obvious?" She mumbled, finally meeting Tayden's amused face.
"No. But I can tell because he is the only one you talk about," he pointed out.
Leo suddenly grew defensive, "I do not!"
"You do. You mention him when I gave you chocolate cookies. You muttered his name when we crossed puppy. You even narrated a whole story about him finding you stuck in between two walls because you were trying to catch some exotic lizard and how he saved you. You narrated it three times already," Tayden counted on his finger.
Leo slapped his hands away, "Okay! I understand."
"You should tell him," Tayden mused.
"What? No."
"Why not? It's better to tell him than keep it to yourself," Tayden tried to argue.
Leo waved him off. If only Tayden knew that Tom was not like your average teenage boy. He would simply not accept her if she were to confess her undying love for him.
"We are really good friends and I don't want to ruin that. Besides, it is not like I didn't confess already," Leo mumbled and cringed as the memory replayed in her mind.
Tayden's eyes widened with excitement, "You did?! What did he say?"
Leo shook her head at how happy Tayden looked. If only she could be that excited too.
"He got offended because I called him a turtle afterwards. That was like the worst rejection ever. You can't tell me to confess to him again," Leo argued back.
Tayden shook his head like he was talking to a child.
"That is not the only thing bothering you, is it?" Tayden asked carefully.
Leo's body slumped down. She looked defeated. Her face looked aged and she felt like she was ready to just leave the world.
"How come you know everything?" She whined softly.
Tayden shrugged with a sympathetic smile, "There's this voice in the back of my head telling me that my little friend is in need of help."
That statement earned a soft chuckle from the girl. She was glad that Tayden was her friend. Not everyone is blessed with such friendship.
But soon her smile slipped away. She knew it was okay to tell Tayden all her secrets but the last thing she wanted was to drag the poor boy into this mess. But she did want to lift some things off of her chest.
"You see," Leo started with a sigh, "Tom is not the best boy out there. He has his flaws, we all do. But this boy is just obsessed with ideas that would eventually harm him."
Tayden nodded, "Well, you could warn him."
Leo smiled bitterly, "If only that was so easy. He is so blinded by the thought of being powerful, that he forces himself to appear strong. I did warn him about the consequences of his actions but he believes that he would sacrifice anything to become the most powerful wizard of all time.
Tayden grew quiet. Both of them looked at the fountain in the centre of the courtyard from a distant look.
After all these years, Leo was finally out of ideas. The only thing left to reveal was that Tom was the one who brought her to this timeline. But she was afraid that revealing that bit would change the future completely. It would be too hard for Tom to understand. She didn't even know what his reaction would be.
No one would want to turn into a bald man with no nose.
"How about you tell him again. Tell him how you feel and make him realise just how much his safety matters to you," Tayden suggested.
Leo shook her head, "No. I am okay with just being friends with Tom. That's as close as I can get."
Tayden scoffed in disbelief, "Just friends? He looks at you like you are the only person in the whole school. He might not be the best out there when it comes to expressing his feeling but he does express them through actions. You are just too slow to notice."
Leo frowned, "Hey, did you just call me slow?"
Tayden rolled his eyes, "That's not the point. What I am trying to say is that you need Tom and he needs you. So, don't let go so easily."
"Fine!" Leo rolled her eyes, "I've been avoiding him all day, though. How am I supposed to confront him now?"
Tayden smirked, "Well, you better think fast. He's coming right this way. Fast."
Leo stiffened, "What?"
"Oh, he's close."
Leo started to panic. She didn't even dare to turn around. She looked around to find a route of escape. Alas, there were none.
"Sweet mother of cheesecake. How far is he?" She flailed her hands in the air in hurry.
"Ten-"
"Oh, thank Merlin. Ten minutes-"
"Nine, eight, seven..."
Leo nearly fainted when Tayden started the countdown. She smacked him on the forehead making him yelp out in pain. Before the boy could get his revenge, Leo was already being dragged away by Tom.
Tayden on sent her a small wave before walking away while whistling to himself.
She made a mental note to pluck out his lashes one by one once she was done dealing with Tom.
She could only glare at the back of Tom's head as he lead her to a more quiet area. The students around them were looking at their connected hands and whispering among themselves but Tom didn't seem like he cared.
Leo didn't know whether to feel smug or be embarrassed about it.
When they finally arrived at the end of the corridor, Tom let go of her hand. She stood in front of him while staring at her untied shoe laces. She couldn't bring herself to look at Tom.
Tom was leaning against the wall while facing her. His hands were crossed in front of his chest. He had a very disappointed look on his face.
When he realised that Leo was not going to talk, he spoke up.
"You were avoiding me again."
It wasn't even a question.
She flinched when Tom took a step closer. She didn't dare to step back worrying that it might offend him. She forced herself to meet his gaze and chuckled nervously.
Leo could help but notice how handsome he looked. Although her brain was telling her to stop gaping at him, she couldn't stop.
Did he put extra effort into his hair today? It looked perfectly messy. She like how it was longer than before and framed his handsome face perfectly.
"Leo, you are staring," Tom simply pointed out.
Leo snapped out of her daze. Not knowing what to do she flicked Tom's cheeks and laughed a bit too loudly.
"The-there was a fly," she managed to stutter out.
Tom raised a perfect eyebrow, not believing her at all, "The fly must have been pretty interesting for you to stare at it with that look."
Leo frowned, "What look?"
Tom lowered his head until he was the same height as Leo.
He pointed at her eyes while peering into them, "That look."
Leo couldn't take it anymore. She stumbled back while waving in front of her face like she was trying to fight an invisible bee. Her whole body started malfunctioning and she almost collided face-first with a pillar. Her cheeks flushed until she looked like a strawberry.
Tom only watched her in amusement. If she could, she would have smacked that smug look off of his handsome face.
"See? That is why I avoid you, Tom," she mumbled angrily.
"I didn't really do anything," Tom stated in confusion.
Leo ran her fingers through her hair and huffed, "Exactly! You don't do anything but you still end up making me feel like I'm in the Sahara desert."
Fudge! I'm going to say it.
"The desert? What do you mean-"
"I like you, Tom."
There. I said it.
Tom only blinked. His face lost whatever little emotion it had. Leo wanted to dive head first into the black lake and let the merpeople have her as an evening snack.
After contemplating her life decisions, she made up her mind. If this was going to be the end of Leona Hart, might as well say everything.
"It's scary to me how you don't do anything and yet I feel like there are fireworks inside my head whenever I'm around you. Every word that we share repeats in my head. I can't help but stare at you when you stand under the sunlight until it's downright creepy. I want to hold your hand when I walk with you. I don't even feel like eating cookies alone these days. My head is a mess if you don't shove some logic into it. I just feel so dumb..." Leo trailed off.
She was panting. Whatever came out of her mouth didn't really enter her ears. She just spilt her heart out to Tom.
"Leo, I do not think it is wise to-" Tom started but Leo raised her palm to stop him.
"You don't have to say anything, Tom. I understand that it is quite difficult for you to return my feeling. I just wanted you to know because I am done denying it," Leo finally met his eyes, "I just want you to know that I ... I can't... I can't breathe when I'm around you."
Tom his lower lip pulled between his teeth. Leo couldn't read his expression. He almost looked worried.
"Do I need to take you to the infirmary?" Tom asked with a hint of concern in his voice.
Leo shot him a look of disbelief. She opened her mouth to yell at him but only a sharp exhale came out.
Of course, he took her words literally! When would Tom ever understand her? She wanted to hug him and strangle him at the same time. Maybe she could just do both.
She sighed, "You know what? Never mind. Why did you drag me here anyways?"
Tom's face suddenly grew grim. Ignoring the fact that Tom had completely ignored her little confession, she waited for the boy to start his side of the story. He was hesitating. Leo could see it. In times like this, Leo just wanted to roll him into a heap of soft blankets and protect him from the world.
"I... it's about what you mentioned last night," he mumbled.
This grabbed her attention immediately.
"What is it?"
Tom clenched and unclenched his jaw. Fighting against his own mind, he fixed his intense gaze on Leo.
"I have decided to believe you."
Tom had yet again managed to leave her at a loss for words. She unconsciously stepped closer to the boy, wanting to hear more. Her eyes were full of hope and Tom couldn't look away.
"I'll stop going after immortality and trust you, Leo. I do not know why but I will," he paused and placed his hands on her shoulders, "but you have to promise me one thing."
Leo nodded eagerly, "tell me. I am willing to do anything. I can even give up eating cookies."
Tom could help but smile at her little statement, "I'm not that cruel, Leo."
Leo shook her head, "No, no. Tell me anything. I'll do it."
"If this is the only life I will live, I want you to live it with me," he said in one breath.
The determination that Leo felt just a second ago deflated immediately. She knew that it was not up to her and she would never give Tom a false promise. Taking in a deep breath and gathering all her courage, she placed her palms against Tom's cheeks.
"My appearance in this timeline happened because of someone else. I don't even know if I will be here forever because I could be sent back anytime. But if it was up to me, I would never leave your side, Tom. I can promise that."
She dropped her hand although she wanted to squish his cheeks. It would be a good time to make Tom look like a fish.
Tom nodded grimly, "Very well."
Leo nodded back as well. An awkward silence fell on them like an uncomfortable blanket. Leo was still not over her confession and Tom had not made an attempt to acknowledge it. Leo had the urge to shake him like a salt shaker until he admitted to liking her back but that won't be very polite.
She wished there was a potion that would turn Tom a bit more expressive. She really couldn't understand the whole- showing affection through actions- thing.
However, the thought of potions suddenly reminded her of something very important.
"Hey, Tom. By any chance did you complete the potion assignment that is due tomorrow?" Leo asked with a sheepish grin.
Tom almost looked offended, "Of course, I did!"
"Marvelous!" Leo clapped happily, "could you lend it to me?"
"No," Tom deadpanned.
"Oh, please. Slughorn would lecture me for hours and even take off points from the house. Just give me a few things to copy," Leo tried to show her best puppy dog eyes.
Tom looked unamused, "No."
Leo threw her hands up in the air in defeat, "Fine! I'll go and ask Tayden. He'll be kind enough to even write the entire assignment for me, unlike a particular Slytherin."
"Meet me in the library at 7 o'clock. Be late by one minute and you won't get my notes," Tom commanded and with a side glance, he walked off with his hands stuffed in his pockets.
Leo could only stare at his retreating figure and sigh like the love-sick puppy she was.
Tom, what have you done to me?
A/N: It was about damn time.
Although it is quite clear that both Leo and Tom have a soft spot for each other, I don't think I will turn them into sappy couples. Partly because I personally find those things a bit cringy and common in most books but also the fact that I am very bad at writing romantic scenes.
But it is honestly up to my wonderful readers. If you want to see those two all lovey-dovey and sappy, let me know.
Although, I personally love their chaotic energy.