Midnight Knights Unite
Despite meeting her parents in a week (should she even refer to them as her parents when nothing has even been confirmed yet?), worrying about it was the least of her concerns. He was rumoured to have formed a secret group, the Knights of Walpurgis. He’s too involved with dark magic for me not to be wary of him. What had Tom been up to while she had been gone for years? If the group was formed in secret, then they would most likely have their meetings at midnight. But where?
During the next few days, she observed Tom closely, trying to figure out where he held the meetings to no avail. She took to the next possible solution: trying to figure out the members of the meeting. Lestrange was a high possibility, considering how he was afraid of Tom. Tom also had no problem dropping his charming facade in Lestrange’s presence, probably because Lestrange had already seen the worst of him. Scarlett came up with a plan to follow the black-haired boy when he left for the Knight meeting at midnight, but even then, she had no way of knowing what days the meetings were held. She would have to take a shot at the dark then.
On Thursday, at fifty past eleven, she decided she would pretend she fell asleep in the common room while she waited for Lestrange to leave for the meeting. It was a brilliant plan in her opinion. A few minutes passed and she heard shuffling, faint footsteps pausing as the person- most likely Lestrange- probably registered her form on the couch. A few seconds passed and the shuffling continued, though quieter as though the person was making an effort to not wake her up. She cracked an eye open, and sure enough, Lestrange exited the common room.
Scarlett let a few seconds pass before getting up, hurrying out of the common room and discreetly following Lestrange from behind. She made sure to hide every so often, leaving a safe distance between Lestrange and her. She saw how the black-haired boy kept glancing back more than once, as if paranoid. He led her up to the seventh floor, stopping in front of some wall.
Scarlett watched as a door appeared a few moments later and Lestrange entered. Not wasting a second in case the door decided to close on her, she quickly followed behind. Upon her entry, the black-haired boy was nowhere in sight, though the rest of the Knights stared at her in shock and looked a little bit fearful. The room was spacious, resembling the Slytherin common room with the light in the room giving a green tinge, the dark green leather chairs and coaches, and the fireplace.
“I knew it.” A cold voice snarled and she whipped around to see Lestrange staring down menacingly at her. “I thought I kept hearing footsteps following me from behind. Then I thought it might be you as I only saw you sleeping on the couch on my way out. You’re not as discreet as you thought,” Lestrange said furiously, glaring at her.
Scarlett looked at him warily. “Listen, I don’t want any trouble-” she had started to say but he cut her off.
“Too late.” Lestrange snarled, taking out his wand and pointing it at her. “Cru-”
“Crucio!” a cold voice from behind her said sharply. Scarlett turned to see a furious-looking Tom. It was the most furious expression she had ever seen on him, and he was glaring coldly at Lestrange as he fell to the floor, writhing and screaming from the curse. Seeing the Cruciatus curse at work, Scarlett could barely contain the horrified expression. She flinched at the screams and looked away.
At the sight of her discomfort, Tom lifted the curse right away. “No one touches her. Touch her and I’ll do worse than the Cruciatus curse.” he threatened, his gaze so cold that she flinched again. She had no doubt he would go through with the threat.
Tom, noticing her flinch once more, softened his gaze when he looked at her. “Are you alright?” he asked softly, as the other Knights dropped their jaws in shock. They had never seen Tom show such softness towards anyone.
“Y-yeah.” She cursed herself for stuttering, especially when she saw Tom frowning at her. She cleared her throat. “I’m fine,” she said firmly, even though she wasn’t. She had just witnessed the Cruciatus curse used on someone. Had Tom not intervened when he did, she would have experienced the torture curse herself. She shivered at the thought of the Cruciatus curse used on her. It was said the curse inflicted excruciating pain on the victim.
Scarlett saw the concern in Tom’s eyes and while she appreciated his concern, she couldn’t face him right now. She tried not to glance at the unconscious Lestrange on the ground or the hurt on Tom’s face as she all but ran out of the secret room, returning to her dorm in record time.
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Scarlett had been avoiding Tom. She didn’t mean to. But she felt as if she didn’t know him anymore. She had always been aware of Tom’s violent tendencies and she was never afraid of him for it. He had never once raised a hand against her. Not even when they had first met, she remembered seeing his right-hand twitching. Yet he held himself back from hurting her. But seeing Tom using an unforgivable with no hesitation and remorse had shocked her to her core.
“You’ve been very quiet, Scar. What’s up?” Abraxas asked, snapping her out of her trance.
Scarlett averted his gaze as she fidgeted with the hem of her skirt. “Tom used the Cruciatus curse.” She muttered.
Abraxas narrowed his eyes. “He didn’t use it on you, did he?” he asked, knowing the answer but wanting to get a reaction out of her.
“Of course not!” She snapped indignantly but regretted it instantly. “Sorry,” she muttered. “I didn’t mean to snap.”
Abraxas didn’t respond, only patiently waiting for her to speak. “It’s just when you told me he was involved in the dark arts, I didn’t expect this. Granted, he did use it because Lestrange was about to cast the Cruciatus curse on me-”
“Lestrange was going to use the Cruciatus curse on you?” Abraxas yelped, the librarian giving him a dirty glare as he mouthed a ‘sorry’ and sat back down.
“You dimwit! Say it a bit louder, why don’t you?” Scarlett hissed, glancing around and thankfully no one was around. The librarian definitely heard him though. She looked to the said librarian, who pretended nothing had happened.
“Sorry, sorry,” Abraxas muttered, looking chastened. “Continue,” he said, still looking alarmed and concerned for her well-being.
“My point is, Tom is capable of the unforgivables. If he can cast the Cruciatus curse, he most likely could cast the Imperius curse and the killing curse as well!” Scarlett’s hushed whispers were borderline hysterical as she didn’t know what to do with the information.
“I never thought I would say this,” Abraxas muttered under his breath before continuing in a voice slightly louder but not too loud. “Forgive me, but I am grateful for Tom’s intervention. I wouldn’t want the Cruciatus curse cast on you.” Abraxas said, looking soured as he did for expressing his gratitude for Tom, even if it was at her expense.
She groaned and slammed her head down on the table, her arm taking the most of the impact. “Have you talked to Tom about this?” Abraxas asked sympathetically.
Scarlett looked up at him, guilt clear in her eyes. “I might have been avoiding him…” she mumbled.
Abraxas winced. “Ouch. Man must be going insane,” he muttered. “I say you guys should talk it out. Communication is key, you know?” he advised, spotting Tom entering the library. “Oh look, speak of the devil. Talk to him.” Abraxas said before getting up and leaving.
Scarlett looked at Tom with wide eyes as he spotted her, she quickly walked past him, exiting the library and into the halls. A hand lightly gripped her wrist and she flinched against her will. Predictably, Tom had followed her. She turned to see the boy in question, who had let go of her wrist immediately upon seeing her flinch.
“You’ve been avoiding me,” Tom stated with a frown. Scarlett avoided his gaze. The students in the hall were staring at the pair curiously, wondering what had happened between the two. Tom gripped her wrist once more and led her to the broom closet. Once he shut the door, he turned to her, only to see her flinch yet again.
His jaw clenched. “You know I would never hurt you,” he said softly. At her silence and continued avoidance of his gaze, he went on. “Please don’t be afraid of me. I don’t want you to be scared of me.”
Scarlett finally met his gaze. He looked vulnerable. His expression was so soft and earnest, the way he looked at her, as if scared she might leave him again. She shifted nervously. “Please don’t use the Cruciatus curse anymore. Or any other unforgivables for that matter.” She said quietly.
Tom’s eyes softened even more. “Okay.” He said with no hesitation. “I won’t.” And he genuinely meant it. She could feel it from the way he drew her into a hug, one hand wrapping around her waist as his other hand on the back of her head, making her rest her head on his chest. She felt as if she could stay in his arms forever.
Later, the two would get comfortable on the floor of the broom closet as Tom vaguely explained to her how he had formed the Knights of Walpurgis. “When you left, I tried to find you. I needed connections. For me to gain those connections, I formed the Knights of Walpurgis by recruiting students with influential families.” was all he told her, but it still didn’t answer her question about why he was involved with dark magic. At his clenched jaw and how he had avoided looking at her, she decided to let the subject drop. For now.
“Tonight, I’ll make sure to make it clear that your presence is allowed at Knight meetings,” Tom told her, taking her hand. “Although I’m not sure how to make it any clearer if those dimwits didn’t get the message last night,” he drawled, looking annoyed.
Scarlett shivered at the reminder of what happened last night. All of Tom’s annoyances washed away as he looked at her, concern clear in his gaze. “I meant it when I said I won’t use the unforgivables anymore. It wasn’t my intention to scare you before.” he softly said.
“I know.” was all Scarlett said, smiling despite everything that had happened.
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“You and Tom talked it out?” Abraxas casually asked her the next day at the library, which might as well be their meeting spot from how often they meet up at the library. Scarlett could feel herself getting sleepy, having not been getting much sleep after the events of last night, the dim lighting in the library provided a cozy atmosphere that only served to make her sleepier by the minute.
Scarlett hummed in agreement. “He won’t use the unforgivables anymore,” she said, yawning.
Abraxas raised his brows. “Really? Just like that?” he asked, skeptical before furrowing his brows in concern as he took in her near-sleepy state. “You should get some sleep,” he advised, poking at her shoulder when her eyes struggled to stay open.
“Yeah.” She mumbled, rubbing her eyes tiredly. “There’s another Knight meeting again tonight,” she informed him, which had Abraxas giving her a flat look.
“You mean to tell me, you’re going back? After what happened last night?” he drawled, looking at her in disapproval.
Scarlett sighed. “I know. But somehow I feel like it’s better for me to be present at the meeting, to make sure Tom doesn’t continue to go down the wrong path,” she said, putting her elbow on the table and leaning on the palm of her hand. I had people looking for you. I tried searching for you. Six years ago I looked for you. Tom’s voice echoed in her head. Had he formed the Knights of Walpurgis to look for her? It didn’t explain how he was familiar with the Cruciatus curse. But it wasn’t like she had actively been hiding from him either. It was like one day you decided not to exist anymore. I couldn’t find a trace of you anywhere. She had no doubt Tom scored the entirety of London in search of her, she didn’t doubt his abilities. He should have found her at the Leaky Cauldron. So what went wrong there?
“I figured.” Abraxas sighed, leaning back on his chair in a casual manner. “I’ll join you,” he said, surprising her.
“I thought you were cautious of him?” Scarlett asked, vividly remembering the conversation where Abraxas expressed his concerns about Tom being involved with the dark arts.
Abraxas drummed his fingers on the table as he hummed. “It’s precisely because I’m wary of him that I’m joining you,” he said, giving her a look. “I know Riddle won’t do anything to you. It’s the others I’m worried about,” he said, crossing his arms and already playing the overprotective brother despite their unconfirmed relations. Or in this case, an overprotective cousin.
Scarlett looked at him with amusement. “You do know I can handle myself, right?” she asked in a faux offended tone, but she felt touched by his concern. After a long time, it felt foreign when someone who wasn’t Tom openly showed concern for her. It was a good feeling.
Abraxas grinned, poking at her shoulder once more. “Hush, let me play the overprotective brother,” he said playfully.
She groaned. “Oh no, you’re going to be insufferable,” she said, though she was smiling. “Do you think Tom is going to be happy when you randomly show up to the Knight meeting?” she asked, not trying to discourage him from joining her, just curious.
Abraxas snorted. “I’m sure Riddle would be overjoyed. Before you came along, he would always try to recruit me for his little get-together,” he said dryly. “If not, you could vouch for me. I’m sure he wouldn’t deny you anything,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively, causing her to blush at the implications.
Scarlett looked flustered as she hastily stood up from the table. “I’m going to get some sleep,” she mumbled, yawning. She bid him farewell before making her way to her dorm to get a much-needed nap.