The Devil Himself
On the 25th of December, Christmas day, Scarlett and Tom took the Knight bus to the second Malfoy Manor. Scarlett was wearing the same dress she had worn to Slughorn’s dinner party, considering she hadn’t stayed for long. Tom’s attire was identical to the one he had worn on the night of Slughorn’s dinner party as well. Entering the manor, Scarlett noticed her parents tensing as they made their way to her, their eyes never straying away from Tom. She frowned as she wondered if Tom had met her parents before and if he had, perhaps he had left a bad impression.
“Darling, is he the friend you told us about?” Her father asked, making Tom perk up.
“You talk about me?” Tom teased her with a grin, ignoring how her parents had tensed up. Before Scarlett could respond to either of the questions, Tom had held out his hand to her father and introduced himself. “Tom Riddle, sir,” he said with a charming smile as Scarlett rolled her eyes fondly. He was already trying to charm her parents, though Scarlett couldn’t help but frown when her father ignored his hand.
Her mother shook Tom’s hand in the place of Draco, her gaze flickering to Scarlett thoughtfully. “Scarlett told us a lot about you, though she neglected to mention your name,” Hermione said lightheartedly, trying to take the sting out of her husband’s cold shoulder.
Tom, to his credit, smoothly accepted Hermione’s handshake as if that was what he meant to do all along. “All great things I hope,” he said, flashing Scarlett a grin as she looked flustered. “Thank you for having me, Mrs. Malfoy,” he said with a genuine smile that took Scarlett by surprise. Tom was genuinely trying to leave a good impression on her parents.
Her mother’s gaze flickered to her father’s as if she were surprised as well. “Oh, Tom. None of that Mrs. Malfoy nonsense. Call me Hermione,” Hermione said, sending Scarlett a wink causing her to quickly avoid her eyes.
“You can call me Mr. Malfoy,” Draco interrupted coldly, causing Scarlett to turn to her father, baffled at his cold behaviour towards Tom.
Looking unbothered by her father’s cold shoulder toward him, Tom politely responded “Of course, Hermione, Mr. Malfoy.”
Her father’s icy expression didn’t change and Scarlett was seriously thinking if Tom had offended her father in the past. “I’ll show you my room,” She offered, looking awkward and unsure what to do with the situation except thinking that she should maybe get Tom away from her parents.
“Leave the door open,” Draco said in his normal warm tone to his daughter before continuing to glare at Tom.
Scarlett turned red as she hastily dragged Tom up the stairs and away from her parents. “I’m sorry about my father, I don’t why he’s acting like that with you,” she muttered to Tom, scrunching her nose as she tried to deduce why her father was wary of Tom. Abraxas could have warned him about Tom a while ago. Her mother seemed apprehensive of Tom as well, but she had put her doubts aside.
Tom grabbed her hand as they reached the top of the stairs. “Never apologize for something like this. Your father is being protective, which I appreciate. I am trying to sweep you off your feet after all.” he said, smirking as he said the last line which caused her to stumble. His smirk dropped as his reflexes kicked in and steadied her before she could tumble down the stairs.
“Are you alright?” he asked seriously, his eyes shining with concern. His lips drew down into a frown as he looked her over as if she might be hurt.
Getting out of his arms, Scarlett quickened her pace to walk a few steps of him, calming her racing heart. “I’m fine,” she said nervously.
Before she could reach her room, she felt a hand gripping her arm, stopping her in place. “Are you sure you’re alright?” Tom’s voice was almost seductive as his lips grazed the shell of her ear, much like the time he did at the library weeks ago.
“Y-yeah!” she squeaked, squirming out of his grip as he let go, sensing her discomfort. Though Tom respectfully kept his distance as she led him into her room, he looked pleased with what had just transpired between them, grinning from ear to ear and he kept looking at her for her reactions.
Scarlett didn’t know what to make of Tom’s occasional flirty behaviour with her but she felt confused and nervous every time he shamelessly flirted with her. It was almost as if he was attracted to her and wanted her to know, although she couldn’t help but think that Tom meant for it to come across as playful instead of flirty.
She snuck a glance at him to see him still watching her with a grin and she quickly looked away.
“You have a nice room,” Tom remarked, making her turn to look at him.
“Thank you,” she mumbled, looking shy.
Scarlett felt a light feather touch on her chin lifting it and she saw Tom looking down at her with a serious expression. “You don’t need to be nervous around me,” he assured her softly, looking at her in a way that was making her heart stutter.
How could she not be nervous when he was looking at her like that? She opened her mouth to respond, but no words came out. She wasn’t sure how to respond to that. Her eyes darted away from his as her thoughts raced to come up with something to say. “We should… get back to the ball.” She said, changing the subject.
Scarlett shifted on her feet when Tom didn’t respond, only continuing to look at her with that intense gaze of his. “Okay,” he relented after a few moments of uncomfortable silence.
Looking relieved, Scarlett moved to exit her room when Tom’s hand grasped hers. Turning to look at him questioning, he only smiled at her and tightened his grip on her hand, his gaze flickering to the pink dusting her cheeks.
Arriving back downstairs, Tom had left her side briefly to get them refreshments. Right away, she was approached by someone. “Can I ask you for a dance?” a boy who looked to be her age said, holding out his hand. Scarlett was about to gently let him down when a sharp voice from her side answered for her.
“She’s taken.” Tom had returned empty-handed, he hadn’t taken three steps when the boy approached her, whom he was now glaring daggers to. The boy took the hint and scurried away, making Scarlett turn to Tom.
“You didn’t have to scare him off, I was going to gently let him down.” She protested to no avail as Tom looked at her with a dashing smile.
“Dance with me?” he asked, holding out a hand and smiling at her earnestly. Scarlett knew he would whisk her off to dance with him anyway and she would have let him, but she appreciated his chivalry.
She beamed at him. “Let’s,” she said, placing her hand on his and they made their way to the dance floor. It was only when they had arrived at the dance floor did Scarlett realized she had no idea how to dance. “Erm… is now a good time to mention that I have no idea how this dancing thing works?” she mumbled, flushing from embarrassment.
Tom chuckled, looking at her with a soft look that was only ever there for her to see. “All you have to do is follow my lead,” he assured her as the couples around them twirled to the rhythm of the music.
They began to dance, Scarlett stepping on Tom’s toes by accident at the beginning but gaining momentum as she slowly adapted. The pair moved gracefully across the dance floor, swirling and twirling as the sound of the orchestra filled the air. Scarlett followed Tom’s lead as he led her across the dance floor, the others disappearing as the two focused only on each other and it was as if they were in their own world.
It was only when the music came to an end, with the other dancers watching, captivated as the young man dipped the young lady, that the pair realized all eyes were on them as if they were part of an ethereal performance. Tom took the attention in stride, while Scarlett flushed, preferring to be out of the spotlight. Together, they moved away from the dance floor, presenting the image of a power couple.
Tom leaned in to whisper into her ear. “Did I tell you how beautiful you look tonight?” he said huskily, causing her to shiver, which did not go unnoticed by him.
“No, tell me.” She said breathlessly.
Looking into her eyes intensely, he spoke in a serious tone, “You look beautiful every day. But tonight, out of all the billions of stars, you look like the brightest star in the sky.”
Her lips parted at his confession, and in that particular moment, Scarlett found herself unable to look away from his captivating eyes. She only blinked out of her daze when Tom poked her in the cheek, accompanied by a mischievous grin.
“Oh,” She said softly, before mentally slapping herself. Who responds ‘Oh’ to that? Averting her gaze, she looked around for an escape before remembering he never came back with the refreshments. “I’ll get us the drinks you didn’t get,” she said playfully and without waiting for Tom’s response, briskly walking towards the refreshment table nearly hidden in the shadows.
Scarlett went to grab two cups of butterbeer when hands grabbed her from behind, one covering her mouth as she yelped, the others dragged her towards the hallway and into the drawing room. She struggled and kicked but she was powerless against her two attackers. She looked into her pocket and Crainer discreetly zipped out to get help.
Scarlett stumbled onto the floor as she was roughly shoved forward. She instinctively reached for her wand as she stood back up, but she froze when a cold voice spoke. “Ever since you appeared at Hogwarts, Tom seemed to be obsessed.” it snarled and she turned face to face with Lestrange. She flinched at the pure hatred in his eyes. “Although I don’t see the appeal,” His lips curled into a menacing smirk.
“Lestrange. What do you want?” Scarlett asked, eyes darting to the exit behind him which was blocked by the other Knights. She cautiously took a step back from Lestrange, not liking the dangerous gleam in the eyes of the crazed-looking Knight.
Lestrange, noticing her taking a step back grinned maniacally. “I want revenge,” he said in an amused tone, as if it was a normal thing to do, kidnap someone and declare vengeance.
Scarlett looked at him warily and she could see the other Knights watching fearfully, seemingly nervous. “Look, if this is about the time when Tom forced you out of your seat, I sincerely apologize for that,” she said calmly, clutching her wand tightly.
The menacing Knight grinned wider. It was creeping her out. “The apology is nice, but it isn’t about that. Not entirely.” He said nonchalantly before he suddenly moved. “Expelliarmas!” he shouted, pointing his wand at her but she had prepared herself in case he decided to attack.
“Protego!”
A red light shot from Lestrange’s wand without him verbalizing it and she cursed under her breath as she moved, stumbling to the floor as the stunning spell missed her by inches. He used her distraction to disarm her. “Expeliaramas!”
Her wand flew to his outstretched hand and he tossed it to the side like it was nothing. Scarlett hadn’t accounted for Lestrange mastering nonverbal spells which was an oversight on her part as he was part of Tom’s Knights of Walpurgis. A group that specializes in the dark arts. He would know nonverbal spells. She paled as she realized Lestrange probably intended to use the Cruciatus curse on her, finishing what he intended to do the first time.
Lestrange only looked amused when noticing how Scarlett was as white as a sheet. “Now, this part might make you scream, but I’ll let you know that you can scream as loud as you want,” he said in an overly sweet tone, proving her right that he was going to use the torture curse on her. Scarlett didn’t want to be right. Not this time. “No one would hear your screams. I made sure of that,” Lestrange whispered excitedly.
“Are you sure about this? Tom will kill us all,” One of the Knights whimpered fearfully causing Lestrange’s lips to twist into a snarl.
“Who cares about what he says? I thought we all collectively agreed that I’m the leader now. I am the one who’s been running proper Knight meetings since the ones Riddle runs are to help this outsider!” Lestrange barked at the Knights before he turned back to coldly glare at Scarlett. “I didn’t suffer for years at the hands of Riddle just to see him give it all up for a girl,” he said sharply. “Crucio!”
All Scarlett felt was excruciating pain, like white-hot knives were piercing every inch of her skin and she crumbled onto the floor, screaming so loudly she was pretty sure the entire manor would hear, but no one would hear her screams. Lestrange had taken measures to make sure of that.
She breathed heavily, temporarily relived when the curse was lifted but the dangerous glint in Lestrange’s eyes told her it wasn’t over yet. “That was your first time being subjected to the torture curse, right?” he cooed, making her skin crawl. “Imagine going through the curse thirty-three times… Oh yes, I counted each and every time Riddle used the curse on me. Crucio!” he spat, his voice full of hatred.
She screamed once again as the intense pain hit her, it felt even worse than the first time. Tears were falling on her face as she screamed, the unbearable pain seemed to intensify every second. It felt like time had frozen and she was in a never-ending loop of pain. It felt like the pain would never end.
“Expelliaramus!” a distant voice shouted in fury, the pure rage almost made the voice unrecognizable but Scarlett slumped on the floor, closing her eyes as the Cruciatus curse was lifted from her, Lestrange’s wand flying into Tom’s hand. Tom blindly sent stunning spells to the other Knights, taking them out as he kept his furious gaze locked on Lestrange.
Fear flickered onto Lestrange’s face as the devil himself arrived looking lethal. Tom immediately made his way to Scarlett, cradling her in his arms. Lestrange seeing the opportunity, scurried to leave when Tom snapped his furious gaze to him. He was beyond furious. He looked ready to kill. “Avada Ke-”
“Tom,” A raspy voice called and Tom looked down to see Scarlett weakly grabbing his arm to stop him from conducting the killing curse on Lestrange. His momentary distraction had allowed the newcomer to disarm him.
“Expelliarmus,” a sharp voice said, both of the wands in Tom’s hand flew to the owner of the voice, making Tom glare at the newcomer for foiling his plan to murder Lestrange. “Stupefy,” Before Lestrange could leave, he was hit with the stunning spell cast by the newcomer.
Scarlett’s father had arrived, looking calm. He was anything but that. Draco was furious that someone had subjected the Cruciatus curse to his daughter. Hermione, having arrived alongside her husband hadn’t looked any better. Hermione had experienced the torture curse before and she rushed over to her daughter, fussing over her.
“As much as it pained me to do that, there are witnesses here. I’ll do everything in my power to chuck Lestrange and the others into prison,” Draco said calmly, noticing Tom’s glare.
Seemingly satisfied, Tom softened his gaze as he turned his full attention to the girl cradled in his arms. “Are you alright?” he asked softly, not noticing the surprise flickering on Draco’s face at Tom’s obvious concern for Scarlett.
Scarlett opened her eyes, seemingly disorientated before responding. “Yes, but-” she had started to raspily say but was cut off when the older boy swooped her into his arms, carrying her bridal style as he stood up.
Her weak protests of “Tom, this isn’t proper, put me down!” went ignored as Tom faced her surprised parents. Scarlett buried her face in his chest as her face burned, her mother was already cooing at the two of them.
Her parents' surprised expression was ignored by Tom as his primary concern seemed to be taking care of her. “I’ll take her to her room,” was all he said, before taking off to her room.
The chatter in the drawing room gradually died down as the guests watched with curiosity as a young man determinedly carried the young lady in his arms. While Tom was unaffected by the attention, Scarlett’s face burned as she felt self-conscious and she weakly squirmed in his arms. “Ignore them,” Tom’s gentle voice made her look up at him in admiration as he climbed the stairs, making his way toward her room.
The door to her room opened automatically, courtesy of Crainer, the animated creature using an unlocking charm and magically summoning a gust of air. Tom gently laid her down on her bed and her eyes fluttered shut, exhaustion overcoming her. Scarlett could feel him tucking a strand of her blonde hair behind her ear before gently caressing her face. “I’ll be back,” he quietly said, before she heard the door to her room gently closing as he left to do whatever he meant to do.