Chapter 8
Tom didn't want to let her answer and pushed the door violently. He looked inside, it was the Arithmancy professor, he was handsome enough for his age and he did have quite the credentials in his field. They both seemed startled by his coming.
"Tom, how could you come without knocking to a professor's office?" His chiding seemed to irritate Bellatrix
"Professor VickWell , It's not your place to be reprimanding To...I mean my students in my own office" Tom would have found this extremely funny had he not been absolutely irritated.
Vickwell seemed embarrassed by the scolding , so he cleared his throat and said
"Right, so I guess we will talk later. Bellatrix, do not forget my offer"
He finally closed the door after him and Tom put up wards on the door. Bellatrix looked at him concerned
"Tom, is everything alright?"
Tom didn't know what enraged him in this whole ordeal but all he knew is that he didn't like what he heard at all.
"Do you fancy him?" She seemed surprised by the question
"Who?" Tom didn't know if she is playing stupid or if she really fancied somebody and she was asking him who he was talking about.
"VickWell, he proposed to you for the ball, will you accept?" She looked at him as if he made a terrible joke
"Of course not! " she said before her face morphed with disgust, she looked as he made a propesterous proposition. "Isn't he a halfblood?" Tom was just feeling quite pleased after hearing her say no when it got dashed by what he heard. For the same reason, would she not consider him for...he stilled when he caught himself thinking that. Was he really desiring some old woman twice his age? He shoved those thoughts under his blank mask.
"So, you will not be accepting his offer?"
"I would not be going to some ball at all! I have something I need to do outside while Dumbledore....anyway, I have something to do...oh, speaking of the ball..." Tom was very interested in what she let slip, what would she be doing during the ball? and what did Dumbledore being occupied have to do with it? Unfortunately, she wasn't keen on continuing her sentence but turned to search for something in her bottom desk drawer. She got a package out of it and handed it to him. He raised an eyebrow in question.
"Open it " She said while there was a hint of apprehension in her face. Well, he decided to oblige. It was very expensive wizard ball robes, the kind only the Malfoys in their extravagance would wear when they had something particularly important . It must have cost a fortune. He was indeed lacking in robes to wear and was planning on how to get proper ones but he didn't think she would foresee his problem and give him this expensive kind.
"For me?"
"Of course, who else? Do you like them? if you don't..." She started. He decided to interrupt her, he obviously liked them. In fact, they were a little bit too much for a mere Hogwarts ball.
"They are great" This made her smile widely. "Thank you ...Bella" The nickname slipped from him naturally, however the reaction it got was extremely interesting. She was stuck in her place, Tom could clearly see memories being brought forth to the surface of her eyes. However, with a forced clarity that she imposed on her mind, her pupils grew as she looked at him as if trying to see him clearly, to notice all the differences in him. After a few minutes, she snapped out of it and looked at him very soberly as if she made up her mind about something
"Well, you are welcome, Tom. Which lucky lady would be accompagnying you to the ball? I can give you recommendations if you wish."
Tom found this intriguing, why did him calling her Bella trigger her to try to set him up with a girl? Was it because she was uncomfortable at the resemblance she suddenly noticed? Could it be because that person in her mind was romantically involved with her? Is that why the resemblance with a minor student made her uncomfortable and made her wish to set him up? Or better yet, is that why she was confused when he asked her if she fancied VickWell? This made Tom's good mood disappear. He simply didn't appreciate that she was trying to basically throw him to other girls even if he knew how ridiculous that sounded in his head. She very clearly didn't consider herself one of his suitors and instead tried to take a stance of a protector towards him. He looked at her carefully and decided to lie through his teeth, Bellatrix couldn't use any bit of common sense when she saw him lacking in something or in a bad situation, somehow that made lying to her very easy despite her being the one to know him most, which was strange by itself. He decided to vindictively use her own words and see what she thought of him, though he was sure it would be mere fishing of compliments
"I don't know, they think I am a halfblood and I am not worthy to be with them" This got her outraged , like it was an absolutely preposterous thing to say. Tom's ego liked that.
"How could they say that? You are the greatest, best...uh... I mean , they are the ones not worthy of you, Tom. You are above them all" She was blabbering trying to make him understand just how great he is and "uplifting" him.
"Really, you think so?"
"Absolutely! You must not let worthless people affect you, Tom"
"So, had it been you, would you have accepted my offer?"
"Of course, it would have been an honor" She was too busy trying to make him feel better about himself that she didn't pay attention to the line of the conversation. Or she probably didn't consider that he may have any intention towards her.
"Alright, I will go then. My next lesson is starting soon"
Tom went to his prefect chambers to put the robes there and get the books for the next class. He also has tonight a meeting of the little "study group" he started running. They took a special corner of the common room and nobody dared to get in their way, or rather in his way. He called them Knights of Walpurgis. Malfoy has been avoiding him recently or trying to butter him up, wonder why? He smiled sarcastically. Though it didn't seem like it was enough for him to join. As of now, none of the biggest families like the Blacks , Lestranges or the Malfoys did, but no matter.
His mind went back to Bellatrix and what she let slip, should he put a tracking spell on her or her fireplace? She is a strong witch with an unnatural amount of vigilance for a civilian, but Tom could find a way to do it, maybe he should invent one of his own that would therefore make it immune to the anti-tracking spells he knew she used? Besides, he had free access to her spaces and she trusted him. Now that he thought about it, didn't all professors have private fireplaces? Then maybe he would have to just check if they were really that private and getting outside as much as he wanted may not be a problem.