A Timing Revelation
At midnight later that night, Scarlett and Abraxas arrived at what she now knew as the Room of Requirement. Tom was already there along with the rest of the Knights. It seemed like he made a point to be there earlier than usual to ensure that nothing would happen to her. The room was the same as it had been the night before, though Scarlett noticed two extra green leather chairs the room had provided for the additional arrivals.
Upon their arrival, Tom’s eyes zeroed in on Scarlett right away while the other Knights watched the new arrivals with a sense of wariness. “You made it,” Tom said, looking at her with a soft look he reserved only for her. He turned his gaze to the blonde beside her, all signs of softness disappearing as he looked at Abraxas with disdain. “Malfoy,” he greeted in a formal tone for Scarlett’s sake.
Scarlett’s lips twitched as she tried to contain her smile at the fact that Tom was making an effort to be more polite to Abraxas. Tom’s eyes shifted to her, his own lips curving upwards at her attempt to conceal a smile. Abraxas watched their interaction with a smirk while the other Knights watched with a mix of confusion and surprise, puzzled at Tom’s infatuation with the girl.
A cough made Scarlett turn her gaze away from Tom to the culprit, Lestrange was watching the two blankly. “Any moment now,” he said, hinting that they should start the meeting.
Scarlett could see Tom’s furious eyes snap to him, gripping his wand tightly. She averted her gaze, shifting to her feet and preparing to run should Tom lose control and decide to use the Cruciatus curse again. Abraxas tensed from where he was standing beside her but sighed in relief when Tom’s face softened as he glanced at Scarlett. Tom’s grip loosened on his wand and he made his way to a love seat. She could see Lestrange’s brows jump in surprise as Tom walked past him without casting the torture curse on him. Acting on instinct, she moved to sit next to Tom on the loveseat.
The other Knights dropped their jaws as Scarlett sat next to Tom without getting hit with the torture curse or so much as a glare from him. It was clear that Tom had a soft spot for the girl.
Scarlett could see Lestrange narrowing his eyes at her, looking thoughtful. She was unsure of what to make of his reaction and she moved closer to Tom, uncomfortable with the attention she was getting.
“If you’re all quite done with staring at her as if she were in a zoo,” Tom drawled, sensing her discomfort. The Knights, sans Abraxas, were quick to avert their gazes elsewhere to avoid Tom’s wrath. Scarlett looked relieved, though she felt bad, it was clear the Knights were afraid of Tom.
It was silent for a beat, with the Knights either staring at the floor or elsewhere before Lestrange spoke up. “About the last meeting, I did-” he had started, but was cut off by Tom.
“Forget about that. Forget what I told you all to do about every meeting prior to this one. We have more important matters at hand right now,” Tom said in a dismissive tone, watching as the other Knights looked up from the floor, staring at him in shock. “What do you all know about the Malfoy family?” he demanded, looking to Abraxas as he was the only Malfoy heir.
Lestrange frowned as his gaze shifted to Scarlett, noticing her resemblance to Abraxas. His lips curled into a snarl as he realized what this was about. “You’re dropping everything for a girl no one knows anything about?” he asked in disbelief, shooting a glare at Scarlett.
At that, Abraxas stood up from where he was sitting and made his way over to Scarlett, standing in front of her in a protective stance as he glared at Lestrange. The Malfoy heir looked intimidating but it was nothing compared to the furious look Tom was sending Lestrange, who had paled. “I know her and that is all that matters,” Tom said in a sharp voice, clutching his wand tightly. He paused in consideration before adding in a mocking tone, “ If anything, you all know about her as well. I had you dimwits looking for her for years.”
The Knights gaped, their eyes flickered between Tom and Scarlett as if they were watching a tennis match. “Some good you all did, what a bunch of useless idiots,” he barked, glaring at the Knights in question. A light tug on his arm had him turning to Scarlett, softening his gaze as he did so. Her lips were drawn into a worried frown and he closed his eyes, taking a deep breath before opening them again, sending the Knights one last glare before looking to Abraxas. “Well?” Tom asked in a calm tone as if nothing had happened.
“I heard from my father that the Ministry had recently acquired a time turner if anyone cared to know,” Abraxas said airily, moving to take his seat back on the couch nearby now that Scarlett seemed to be safe from Lestrange’s scrutiny.
“Well, I don’t care about time turners, thank you very much,” Tom snarked, missing how Scarlett’s eyes gleamed with interest at the subject. There weren’t many books on time turners at Flourish and Blotts, if at all. She couldn’t find any information on the subject except for the fact that it was a magical device used for time travel.
The meeting continued as Scarlett took on the role of a spectator, never once speaking as she listened to Tom demanding information from the others. Abraxas reiterated how his uncle had been disowned upon marrying a muggle witch and how he’s now filthy rich. Her cousin had been reluctant to divulge any more information in the presence of the other Knights.
The brief meeting concluded with Tom ordering the others to get out of his face and they all scurried away except for Abraxas, who narrowed his eyes at Tom. “You hurt her, and I’ll show you what a Malfoy can really do.”
Scarlett gaped at her cousin delivering the shovel talk to Tom. They weren’t even dating. “Brax!”
The blonde ignored her, his cold eyes on Tom as he waited for his response. “I’ll never hurt her,” Tom said solemnly, his soft as he looked at her.
At that, Abraxas’ cold expression melted away to amusement as he shot Scarlett a knowing look before taking his leave as well, leaving her and Tom alone. The duo made their way to the Slytherin common room together in comfortable silence, bidding one another goodnight as they went separate ways to their dorms.
Sleep didn’t come as easily as it did for Scarlett that night, the thought of Time-Turners plaguing her thoughts and keeping her awake as curiosity ate at her mind.
At the end of Potions class on Friday, Scarlett stayed behind to ask Slughorn for a signed note of permission to take out a book from the restricted section. Tom quickly left the classroom before the Potions professor could hold him back for a chat.
Slughorn brightened up when he noticed she had stayed behind. “Oho! What can I do for you, Miss Rosewood?” he asked, beaming at her.
“Sir, I would like to learn more about Occlumency-” she had started to say but the Potions professor interrupted her.
“Oho! Occlumency is the magic of closing one’s mind against legilimency. It is a rare and difficult skill. You are ambitious for wanting to learn about it, Miss Rosewood, I’ll give you that. Unfortunately, though, it is not part of the normal curriculum taught here at Hogwarts. It is a useful skill once you master it, it can be of help during unexpected times.” Slughorn said, his expression taking a faraway look at the last sentence as if it had happened to him. Scarlett felt triumph take over her as she realized that the Potions professor was an Occlumens. Surely Slughorn would understand her wanting to learn more about Occlumency and sign the permission slip to allow her to take out a book from the restricted section.
Scarlett’s charming smile could rival Tom’s. “I understand the benefits of Occlumency sir, that is why I wanted to ask you to sign a permission slip for me to take out a book on Occlumency from the restricted section. If that’s alright with you, sir?” she asked politely, holding out a piece of paper. She neglected to mention Time-Turners as she didn’t think it was wise to bring attention to the fact that she was interested in researching Time-Turners.
Slughorn looked enthusiastic at her interest in the subject. “Of course I can!” he said warmly, and he pulled out a quill. “Occlumency may be hard to master, especially if you’re learning from a book, but it can be done. You are talented and ambitious, Miss Rosewood, I have no doubt you’ll find a way to master the skill,” he said, scrawling a loopy signature on the note and handing it back to her.
“Thank you, Professor,” Scarlett said gratefully, slipping the note into her bag before leaving the classroom to find Tom outside leaning against the wall, waiting for her.
Without speaking, they both made their way to the library straight away. Entering the quiet library, they made their way to the librarian. Scarlett took out the permission slip from her bag and handed it to the librarian.
“Guide to Advanced Occlumency,” the librarian muttered before stalking between the shelves and returning minutes later, carrying the appropriate book. Scarlett had thought she would be able to search the restricted section herself. It was a miscalculation on her part. She would have to sneak into the restricted section herself at night to look for the Time-Turner book. She took the book from the librarian, muttering her thanks as she and Tom went to take their seats at the tables.
Tom watched her for a moment before speaking. “You could’ve asked me if you wanted to learn Occlumency. I could teach you,” he said, surprising her.
Slughorn had told her that it was a difficult skill to master. “You’ve mastered Occlumency?” Scarlett asked, impressed. She always knew that Tom had an intelligence that could rival hers or even surpass hers.
Tom flashed her a smug grin. “And Legilimency,” he said, smirking, as she gaped at him. His grin widened and he seemed to enjoy impressing her. “I could teach you Occlumency,” he said, his smirk disappearing to take on a genuine smile.
Scarlett’s heart stuttered as he smiled- his real smile- at her. Who could say no to that? “Okay.” she agreed, returning the smile and looking at him with admiration.
Tom gently took the book on Occlumency from her hands and set it on the table in front of him. “We’ll start now,” he said, opening the book to the first page. “The most basic form of Occlumency is to clear your mind…”
───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────
Tom had spent the rest of the evening going over the basics of Occlumency and giving her tips before telling her that for their next lesson, he was going to attempt to break into her mind using Legilimency and she would try to resist as best as she could. Later, they would walk back to the Slytherin common room together before going separate ways to their respective dormitory for the night.
Scarlett would spend hours going through Guide to Advanced Occlumency while she practiced clearing her mind. With the combined efforts of Tom teaching her and her practicing, she felt confident that she was going to be able to resist Tom’s probing her mind for some time.
At midnight, Scarlett quietly made her way to the restricted section of the library. It was dark, but with Crainer flying a few steps in front of her and its sparkly blue light trailing in its path, illuminating the path in front of her, she made her way to the shelves easily. She started to search the shelves, Crainer floating around nearby emitting blue light and helping in the search as well.
After a few moments of shuffling here and there from Scarlett, Crainer’s paper wings beating made her turn and she spotted a book glowing blue as Crainer was floating near it. She went to take it off the shelf, the glowing book returning to its normal state at her touch. “ The Nature of Time-Turners & Time Traveling. Yes, this is it,” she said quietly, running her fingers on the gold foiling of the cover. She skimmed through the book to gouge the topic, but as she came across a page with a familiar-looking necklace, she gasped. With speed she didn’t know she possessed, her hands went to the exact necklace hidden under her uniform. She compared her necklace to the illustration on the page. They look exactly the same. She was somehow in possession of a Time-Turner.