LACY
Tom was wearing a pair of black washed jeans and a muted blue sweatshirt when he emerged. His hair was still dark and wet, falling over his face. You couldn't have told he was from a different era.
Lucia expected him to look uncomfortable in the new clothes, but he walked over to his bed and sat down looking like he'd never worn anything else. Lucia couldn't stop staring.
"Eyes to yourself love." He chuckled as he lay back on the bed, one leg lazily bent up whilst the other was straight.
"You look so different, I can't believe it. You're a modern man Tom Riddle." She turned to face him.
He chuckled.
"So, what shall we do for the rest of the day? I'm still hungover as hell, so I really don't want to go anywhere." Lucia said to change the subject from Tom's appearance, "I'll go down later and book the room for a couple more days, I really don't have anywhere else to go."
"I'm happy to just stay here. Do you have any of your schoolbooks? I want to see how much they've changed." He asked.
She walked over to her trunk and pulled out her books for her seventh year at Hogwarts, laying them across the table.
He walked over to stand beside her in order to observe the different books she had. She felt goosebumps rise on her skin as she felt his breath tickle her neck. Luckily, he seemed not to notice the effect he was having as he read the various titles. He picked up her Defence Against the Dark Arts book.
"Of course, you would choose that one." Lucia scoffed.
"Are you painting me to be predictable Lucia?" He responded to her comment coolly.
She felt the cool air hit her back as he walked back over to his bed and opened the book to begin reading. Lucia picked up the TV remote on the table and began flicking through channels on the small TV in the corner.
Tom looked up from the book to observe the strange device, but returned his eyes back to the book when he decided the program didn't interest him.
A few hours passed like this, with Tom occasionally switching books and reading them rather intently to observe if there was any modern magic that would be of benefit to his search. He made some notes in his journal.
Finally, Lucia flicked the TV off and walked over to see what he was doing out of boredom.
She sat beside him on the bed so their shoulders were touching, and peered down to look at the neat cursive writing that littered the pages of his book.
He was now looking at the Herbology book with concentrated eyes.
"Your handwriting is really pretty," She commented, "Mine looks like shit."
"Your profanity never ceases to shock me." He responded lightly.
"Do you not swear, Tom Riddle?" She turned to face his sharp features.
"I never said I didn't. It's just that in my time it was considered unladylike to spit such profanity." He replied, meeting her eyes. His tone wasn't harsh like it would have been had he been talking to anyone else.
"I don't think you've ever witnessed me do anything ladylike." Lucia laughed, staring into his dark eyes.
"That is true. I can't say it bothers me that much though to be quite honest." He said casually, "It is kind of boring conversing with someone when they're constantly trying to give a good impression."
"Is that your way of saying you enjoy talking to me?" She poked, flashing him a smile.
"I wouldn't go as far as that..." He scolded playfully. This was different to how he ever acted back home, but something about Lucia made him feel unafraid to let his guard down. He didn't feel like she was constantly trying to decipher underlying meanings in what he said, or what his actions meant. It was quite refreshing actually, and although he'd never admit it, he was enjoying spending time with her.
She watched him read for a while, resting her head gently on his shoulder as he made more notes in his journal.
She pulled out her phone after she'd watched for a while, looking through her social media. Tom peered curiously at the screen.
"What even is that? Is it a wizarding device?" He questioned.
"It's muggle actually, they're pretty good. The muggle world has advanced so much, you wouldn't believe it." She replied.
She showed him the different features of her phone, exploring each of her apps and explaining their function and purpose. He stared intently, taking in every detail.
She opened the photos app to show him what muggle photographs were like now, also pressing on a few videos she'd taken.
Tom was quite impressed, although he'd never admit it to anyone aside from Lucia, as he knew she wouldn't critique him for it.
"Do you want to have a go? I'm going to quickly go down the reception to see what takeaway we can get delivered for dinner and book the room for a bit longer. I can't be bothered leaving the hotel to get food." She said, handing him the phone and grabbing a purse. She walked out the door.
He began to scroll through an app with a blue logo saying Facebook. After a few minutes he decided to return to the muggle photographs she'd taken, flicking through them.
In one photo, her and another girl with darker skin and frizzy hair were holding martini glasses, sticking their tongues out seemingly at a busy bar. Their outfits were like the one Lucia had been wearing the night before in their coverage. So she was telling the truth that this was what people wore these days.
He kept flicking through various photos of her with friends, but stopped when one photo popped up.
Her long blonde hair was down, and she had taken the photo in the mirror. But the shocking thing was that she was only wearing a black lacy bra and underwear.
He felt blood rush up to his cheeks. Did everyone take photos like this?
He suddenly felt very guilty, thinking back to her comment about indecent things on her phone. He flicked to the next photo, hoping to find another picture of her and her friends instead. Yet it was the same lack of clothes, but this time not in a mirror. She was lying seductively on a bed, the sheets twisted around her legs.
He'd seen enough and felt terrible that he'd seen these pictures not meant for his eyes. They were very attractive of course, but quite a shock. He tried to ignore the tightening of his jeans and quickly flicked out of the app.
Why the hell did she leave her phone with him to look through if she knew those photos were on there? He felt very guilty and pressed the backs of his cold hands to his cheeks to get rid of the hot flush.
She was definitely unlike anyone he'd ever met before, but it didn't bother him like he'd expect. In fact this difference actually made him like her even more, because he didn't feel like she was constantly seeking the approval of others.
He heard the beep of the key card being pushed into the door as Lucia returned, and quickly picked up the Herbology book again. She walked in holding various pamphlets from the reception.
"What kind of thing do you like?" She questioned as she walked over, sitting on the edge of his bed and laying out the pieces of paper. "This is what they had from the area, but if you don't like any of this, we can have a look at something online."
"I don't really mind. I'll eat most things." He explained. He never had much choice at the orphanage when he was younger, so he'd learnt to like most things.
"I feel like pizza I think." Lucia declared, picking up a menu of a pizza joint not far away.
She picked up her phone, and Tom's body stiffened. Would she know what he saw?
He was relieved when the photos didn't pop up when she unlocked the phone, and she tapped on the phone app to type in the number of the pizza place.
She rang up to order a couple of pizzas, assuring Tom that you had to have leftovers because it always tasted better for lunch the next day.
"Did you like the phone?" Lucia asked as she hung up after ordering, "What apps did you end up giving a go while I was out?"
Tom felt heat in his body again, "Yeah it was quite impressive actually. I looked through Facebook and a couple of photos with your friends in them." He tried to sound casual.
"Oh my God, I'll have to show you this one photo from Hogwarts I took last year..." She started as she opened the photos app. The dreaded photo popped up on the screen.
To his surprise, she started to laugh. He had expected her to be angry at him for snooping too much.
"Bet this gave you a hell of a surprise. Sorry about that, I forgot they were on there." She said almost casually.
"Indeed." He said warily, allowing himself to smile along with her amusement.
"You're just learning all about the aspects of the modern world, aren't you? Wait until I tell you about Tinder." She laughed.