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"No, Tom! Don't! You'll hurt him!" You ran to your friend and grabbed onto his sleeve, desperately trying to pull him away from the agonizing boy on the ground. Said boy was your classmate and the one who always started rumors about Tom and even though you tried to reason with him, Tom decided he was the one to take matters into his own hands, but you never thought he would use the Crucio spell on him! You had a bad feeling the entire day and your heart sunk in your stomach when you found them in an abandoned hallway, Tom hoovering above him, while the boy was twisting, an agonizing expression on his face and mouth wide open in a silent scream. You were somewhat glad that Tom used the silencing spell, otherwise the entire school would be gathered around them and Tom being expelled was the least that could happen.
"Let him suffer!" Tom yelled followed by a maniacal laughter as he inflicted more pain on his victim. "Please, Tom, if you kill him..." you stuttered, panicked, but you wondered what to say. If you kill him, you will go to Azkaban? You'll be expelled? You were more than familiar with these moments of madness in him and you were worried about him every time. He seemed to calm down more in your company or when you talked with him. But him trying to kill someone was on an entirely different level! You had to admit, you were afraid of him whenever this part of him shows and you dared not argue with him.
"If you kill him, I'll never look at you again!" You stated plainly. Tom's laughter suddenly stopped when he heard your words and turned to look at you with wide eyes, the madness slowly disappearing from his face. "You will?" He whispered, his attention taken away from the boy on the ground. You backed away a few steps, afraid that you might anger him and have the same fate as your classmate. You stalled for time, avoiding his gaze. You pulled out your wand and pointed it at the boy "Obliviate." You murmured and watched the horrified expression of the boy slowly dissolve into pure confusion.
With that, you turned on your heel and stormed away without looking at Tom again. "Wait Y/N!" He yelled and followed after you, but you didn't turn any attention. You were glad it was almost nighttime and nobody was around in the hallways. The students were in the common rooms and nobody was going to see the tears threatening to leave your eyes. "Y/N!" Tom grabbed your hand, stopping you next to the entrance of a large terrace with a view of the lake outside. He pulled you outside on the terrace where you could talk in solitude and you didn't struggle. You loved Tom. He wasn't just a friend to you and it pained you to watch him dissolve in madness.
He leaned against the stone fencing, avoiding your eyes with guilt. "I'm sorry." He murmured. "Why are you apologizing to me? It wasn't me you tortured just now!" You snapped and sighed, covering your mouth with your hand and stared into the distance worriedly. "You don't know why I did it." He stated, making you even angrier. "I know why you did it." You yelled "Because he hurt your pride. The great lord Voldemort's pride was destroyed with a few rumors." You rubbed your temples, pacing around on the terrace. Tom watched you with guilty and sad eyes "No." He answered "I wouldn't care so much if it was about me. But I heard him explaining to some students how you were his whore and how he did whatever he did with you. And how you begged him to stop messing with me, but he 'does not take orders from a woman'." He spat out angrily. Your stomach turned as you listened to the story. He was protecting you! "But that still doesn't mean you had to kill him." You whispered, stepping closer to Tom.
"I don't know what came over me." He stared into the distance, still not looking at you "I didn't even want you to witness this." He bit his lip. He was gripping the fencing so hard, his knuckles had started to whiten. "You always say you don't know what came over you." You crossed your arms over your chest and narrowed your eyes at him "Like that time you made Alois Grimshaw's cauldron explode in potions class but you 'forgot' that the potion could have burned her skin off the moment it made contact with the skin." Tom winced for a moment at the memory "The professor fixed the problem." He stated simply with a stone expression. "Or when Edmure Blackadder fell off his broom from a height of 30 meters?" You continued reminding him. "He was caught midway." Tom answered. "The basilisk?" You whisper-shouted in case someone was listening "It killed a girl, Tom!" This time he stayed silent. "I'm scared of you!" You straight out shouted in his face.
He looked at you with a silent plea in his eyes. He reached out for you, but you moved away "Y/N... you know I would never hurt you..." he murmured, but didn't dare move towards you. "How will I know for sure?" You asked. "In my dreams... sometimes I wander in a forest. The deeper I go, the darker it gets and the path seems to disappear in the trees, because they were so close to each other..." Tom covered his eyes with his hand, probably to hide the tears in them "The deeper I go, the trees seem black, dead. I don't know where to go. I'm scared. But when I succumb to the darkness, you appear. You tell me to follow you and grab my hand. And just as we reach the end of the forest, I wake up."
His words made your heart race. You stood in your place like you were made of stone. "If you leave, who will help me escape the darkness?" His voice was on the brink of breaking. Your heart was too. You stepped closer to him and took his hands in yours "I will help you, Tom. I won't leave you. I will do everything in my power to save you from yourself." You whispered soothingly. Suddenly Tom pulled you to his chest and embraced you, burying his head in the crook of your neck "I love you, Y/N..." he stuttered in a whisper. You knew he was crying. His breathing was choppy and he was quivering slightly. "I love you too, Tom." You answered, caressing his head. A moment later he pulled away from your neck and moved in to plant a kiss on your lips.