Paper & Cranes

Scarlett thought back to the memory when her Uncle gave her the Time-Turner for her birthday. How did her Uncle come across a Time-turner? Crainer’s paper wings beating urgently brought her musings to a stop and she suddenly remembered where she was. 

“Where’s the blue light coming from?” a voice muttered and Scarlett froze. Crainer quickly hid in her robes pocket and Scarlett peaked through the shelves but couldn’t make out who the person was. Most likely a Prefect doing their nightly rounds. The Prefect was coming in the direction she was hiding and she cursed herself in her head. 

Before she could think of an excuse for why she might be in the restricted section late at night, a hand covered her mouth from behind and dragged her out of the restricted section, behind some other shelves away from the Prefect. She struggled and squirmed, doing all she could to get out of her attacker’s grasp but it was no use. 

Her attacker stepped in front of her, still covering her mouth despite her struggling, and pushed her back against the bookshelves, pinning her. “Relax, it’s me.” Tom’s voice muttered in her ear and she relaxed instantly. 

She grabbed the hand that was covering her mouth and spoke in a low pissed-off tone. “You almost put me into cardiac arrest!” 

Tom’s hand easily got out of her grip, instantly covering her mouth once more. “Quiet!” he quietly hissed, looking at her intensely. 

“Who’s there?” The Prefect asked which had Scarlett freezing once more. The Prefect hadn’t left. 

Scarlett’s eyes met the intensive ones of Tom and it was then that Scarlett noticed the position they were in. He had her pinned against the bookshelves. The realization had her cheeks heating and she averted her gaze, looking everywhere but at Tom. She could feel his burning gaze on her and she was suddenly grateful that it was dark, for there she could imagine his smirk and smug look as he relentlessly teased her for being able to make her blush. She didn’t know how long they were in that position, waiting for the Prefect to leave, but she could feel Tom’s unwavering stare on her the entire time and she determinedly avoided his gaze. 

“Are you uncomfortable?” Tom whispered and she finally met his gaze. His eyes had softened though he still watched her with a type of intensity she didn’t quite understand. 

“N-no,” she whispered back, stuttering. His close proximity was hindering her ability to think straight. 

He moved closer than he already was, and her heart was beating faster as for a second she thought he was going to kiss her but he moved at the last second, his lips grazing the shell of her ear. “Liar,” he whispered, before stepping back, giving her space. 

“Look at me, please.” He said in a low voice, and she did. He watched her intently for a moment as she struggled to not look away from his intense gaze. 

Crainer, zipped out of her robe pocket, flying up to Tom excitedly. “He’s gone,” Tom said, eyes flickering to the glowing magical creature in front of him. His hand moved to pet it as Scarlett watched, enraptured at his display of affection to the magical creature. 

Gathering herself together, she asked the question that had been plaguing her since he randomly showed up. “What were you doing here late at night?”

Tom raised an eyebrow. Scarlett couldn’t help but notice that he looked incredibly attractive with that expression, especially under the blue glow cast by the animated paper crane that captured Tom’s handsome features perfectly. It was distracting, how good he looked.  “I should be asking you that question. What were you doing snooping around the restricted section at midnight?” he asked, tilting his head to the side as he noticed her entranced stare at him. 

She snapped out of her trance, looking flustered. “You’re up late at night,” she said, unintentionally stating the obvious. 

Tom smirked, seemingly well aware of what was causing her flustered behaviour. He was not helping. “Did you forget that I’m Head Boy?” he asked rhetorically before his gaze landed on the book she was holding in her arms. “Time-Turners,” he muttered before looking at her questioningly. “I wasn’t aware the topic interested you,” he said, taking the book from her, lightly brushing their hands together as he did so, causing her to quickly withdraw her hands to her side. 

She steeled herself, becoming serious. She trusted Tom. “I wasn’t until Brax mentioned it at the last Knight meeting. I originally only wanted to do a bit of light reading to quench my curiosity. But get this.” she paused, watching as Tom looked curious. “Somehow I’m in possession of a Time-Turner,” she said quietly, taking the Time-Turner necklace from under her shirt. 

Tom’s eyes zeroed in on the time-traveling device, eyebrows raised in surprise. “Where did you get that from?” he asked, schooling his expression into one of blankness. 

“This was the only thing I had on me when I was found by Mrs. Cole in the woods all those years ago. I’ve had random flashes of memory since then, apparently, this was given to me by my godfather for one of my birthdays.” She said, furrowing her brows in thought. 

Before Tom could respond, Crainer zipped into her robe's pocket once more, leaving the library completely dark again, signalling another presence coming to the library. “You can’t stay here,” Tom whispered, handing Scarlett back the book. 

“I’m telling you, there were people in here. I heard hushed whispers, probably snogging  behind some shelves.” The same voice from earlier said. The Prefect had returned, seemingly with his partner from the sound of it. Scarlett’s face burned at the implication. 

“Leave now. I’ll lead them away,” Tom whispered, a blink later, he was gone leaving her to the darkness. Scarlett swiftly made her out of the library as she heard Tom giving orders to the Prefects. Being Head Boy does have its perks. 

She made it back to her dorm unscathed, placing the Time-Turner book on top of her Occlumency book, and deciding to go through the contents tomorrow. Yawning, she changed into her nightgown before climbing into her bed, sleep overcoming her immediately as soon as she hit the bed. 

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

On Saturday morning, Scarlett could be found at the library going through the contents of The Nature of Time-Turners & Time Traveling, making sure to bewitch the cover of the book to resemble Hogwarts: A History to not draw suspicion and attention. She learned that Time-Turners were encased with Hour-Reversal Charms, a charm that could be used to reverse time by one hour. It was said that going beyond the safety threshold of five hours could bring about serious consequences to the flow of time. She rubbed her temple, already feeling a headache. She hadn’t even figured out who her parents were and yet she had already found out she had an illegal Time-Turner this entire time, presenting more questions than answers. 

A thud on the table had her looking up from the book, blinking owlishly as she saw Tom pushing a cup of coffee towards her. “I figured you’d need it since you had a late night,” he said, sliding into the seat beside her. 

Accepting the cup gratefully, Scarlett took a sip, feeling energized right away. Tom watched with a grin, seemingly pleased with himself. “What have you found?” he asked, taking the book from her and flipping through it, not the slightest bit interested. 

He must have already known all about Time-Turners. “Nothing you haven’t known, so it seems.” she sighed, as he smirked. 

“This seems to be a pattern,” he hummed, causing Scarlett to roll her eyes, though she was grinning. Tom handed her back the book. “I hope you got enough practice of clearing your mind because, for today’s lesson, I’m going to break into your mind.” he reminded her, taking out his wand and twirling it in his fingers. 

Scarlett watched his fingers, fascinated before quickly averting her gaze. “I did in fact, practice,” she said confidently, sure that she would be able to last at least a few moments against him. 

Tom grinned. “We’ll see,” he said, getting up. At her confused look, he elaborated. “We’re going to the Room of Requirement,” 

Upon arriving at their destination, Tom broke into her mind before she was even ready. A quiet ‘Legilimens’ was the only warning she got before she felt him looking into her mind. There were flashes of what happened last night between them at the library before she quickly cleared her mind and snapped her occlumency walls shut, flushing while she glared at him. 

He was never going to let her live that down. “I wasn’t ready!” she protested. 

“The enemy isn’t going to wait until you’re ready before breaking into your mind,” Tom said calmly before his lips curled in amusement. “Good to know that you can’t get the image of me pinning you against the bookshelves out of your mind,” he said teasingly, watching as she turned away from him, suddenly finding the fireplace interesting. 

“You-” she spluttered. 

“Want to recreate it?” he finished suggestively for her, flashing her a grin as he stepped in front of her, blocking her view of the fireplace. 

Tom’s flirtatious attitude with her was giving her whiplash. She couldn’t believe that this Tom was the same Tom years ago. “You’re acting really shamelessly right now.” She muttered, avoiding eye contact. 

“Only for you,” he said, suddenly looking serious. What was that supposed to mean? That he only flirted with her?Why?

Scarlett didn’t know how to respond to that. The way he looked at her was doing things to her. “Just continue with the lesson.” she huffed out, fidgeting with the hem of her skirt. 

Tom watched her for a moment, noticing her nervous behaviour when she fidgeted with the hem of her skirt. “You did well for your first time, especially when it caught you off guard. You seemed to be gifted at it,” he praised, as her cheeks turned pink. “We’ll try that again. You are ready this time, right?” he drawled as Scarlett nodded. 

“Legilimens,” he said, waving his wand as Scarlett’s well-practiced occlumency walls once again snapped shut. She could feel him prodding at her mental shields, trying to find weak spots he could exploit. Her occlumency walls held firm, successfully blocking his attempts. Scarlett’s thoughts raced as she concentrated on defending her mind. The pressure intensified as she felt a subtle tingling sensation at Tom’s continued attempt at breaching her mind. 

Tom’s concentrated expression flickered to one of admiration as she felt him withdrawing from her mind. “Well done,” he said, grinning at her. “It seems you’ve already mastered the skill despite only recently pursuing it. You’re a natural at it, perhaps one of your parents is an accomplished Occlumens?” he mused, looking thoughtful. 

Scarlett shrugged, looking bashful. “I guess I’ll find out on the 7th of December,” she said, an amused glint in her eyes as she watched him put the pieces together.

“You’re meeting your parents,” Tom said, not a question. 

“Abraxas arranged a meeting with his aunt and uncle, he seemed pretty convinced that they’re my parents. But nothing’s been confirmed yet.” Scarlett informed him, fidgeting with the ends of her hair, the possibility of having found her parents making her nervous. What if it turns out they weren’t her parents? Or what if they didn’t want her? It’s why they gave her up to the orphanage in the first place, right?

She snapped out of her spiral when she felt a light feather touch on her arm. “If it’s any consolation, I think it’s pretty likely that they are your parents. You and Abraxas look too similar not to be related in some way.” Tom’s soft voice washed away her overthinking in an instant. 

Scarlett met his earnest gaze and gave a slow nod, still looking uncertain. “I’m sure they must be great people if Abraxas managed to arrange a meeting for you to meet them,” he added, seeing that she still looked uncertain. 

“Thank you for trying to make me feel better,” she said with a smile, her eyes shining with gratitude.

“You needn't thank me for things like these,” Tom murmured with no hesitation, affectionately squeezing her arm. As Scarlett appreciated his comforting presence, the meeting with the Malfoys stayed in her mind.