33 Chapter Thirty-Two: To Revive A Dead Heart

Tom's POV

When Tom Riddle had set his mind on making Cordelia Black his Dark Lady, he had done so with the promise to not let her get too close, to make her know enough to be of use to him, yet be oblivious enough to be unable to be used as the smoking gun Dumbledore needed.

Yet somehow, the apathetic young wizard found himself anxiously working his jaw as he led Cordelia to the seventh floor.

"Do you trust me?"

Tom whirled on his feet as he spoke, coming to a stop with his back facing the enchanting wall that concealed the Room of Requirements to instead stare at the sceptical witch before him.

"No."

He couldn't help but feel amused at her straightforwardness, causing Tom to walk towards her with a cynical smile that had her left foot shifting but stopping right before she could take a step back.

"Good. You would be a fool if you did. But you are no fool are you, Cordelia Black?"

Tom circled her like a shark to its prey as he spoke, only stopping once he had returned to her front and was close enough to be able to twirl a strand of brown hair around his finger if he saw fit. Yet that somehow wasn't enough for him, urging Tom to take yet another step forward until he was but a hair's breadth away from her.

"Close your eyes."

The hesitance and hostility Cordelia held impossibly heightened at his words, yet it was that curiosity of hers that had Cordelia wordlessly slipping her blue eyes shut.

Tom spun on his feet and was once again in front of the familiar brick wall within the next second, allowing himself to shuffle his feet and pace back and forth before the wall just as he had every night for the past two years as he visualized the room his knights would occupy to train.

It was only when the bricks began to shuffle and break away to mould into a green wooden door with a black knocker that Tom returned to Cordelia's side, this time with a small smile painting his face.

"Open."

A glimmer of recognition flashed across her face as Cordelia's sight set on the door before her, no doubt recalling the start of their sixth year and how he had caught her attempting to sneak into the meeting with his knights. The memory felt so long ago that Tom felt himself smiling almost nostalgically at the thought of it.

Back then, they had the mindsets of children and would banter like one too. The two had a sense of reckless abandon that had to be forgotten in order to overcome the Triwizard Tournament, a mindset that allowed them to openly loathe each other back then, but also trigger the series of events that led to how they were now.

"So this is where the pureblood boys disappear every night."

"They need a place to be trained properly."

He could almost feel her confusion as he led her through the threshold, yet Tom opted for showing rather than telling and refrained from speaking as he took her left hand and tugged her forward, allowing Cordelia to analyze the large chamber before her while the door behind them vanished.

The chamber decked with marble tiles, scattered mirrors and identical bookshelves would have almost looked peaceful if it wasn't for the grunts and yells of the pureblood wizards scattered around them. Wizards who were too absorbed in dueling each other in pairs to notice the duo that had joined them.

It was only when Abarax, the wizard who had been assigned to supervise the others for the night, looked up and spotted them that his knigths finally came to a stop, abandoning their positions around the chamber to instead line up before the duo who were now stationed in the centre.

Cordelia clearly needed a moment or two to process exactly what she was witnessing, yet Tom didn't allow her one as he instead scanned the crowd before settling his gaze on a blond wizard at the back and gesturing him forward.

"Aldrich. Come forth."

The wizards gathered in the chamber were aware that the blond wizard was summoned due to his failure to navigate the previous task assigned to him, however, Cordelia was oblivious enough to see Tom's decision as a petty attempt to single out her ex.

While her chain of thoughts was awfully vain and predictable, Tom chose to refrain from calling her out to instead gesture for Aldrich to kneal and prepare for the punishment that was to come.

A punishment that wouldn't be dealt by him.

Cordelia Black could act as docile as she pleased, but at the end of the day, Tom knew the only reason she chose not to strike back was due to priorities. After all, no one would believe a teenage pureblood witch they were striving to topple over a promising young wizard backed by one of the most influential political figures of the wizarding world: Armando Dippet.

The aspiring Dark Lord had no qualms about allowing Cordelia to do as she wished while he began to gather his forces, however, while he could live with pretending to be oblivious about her facade, Tom didn't take too kindly to his knights doing the same.

They knew Cordelia too well.

Everyone did, really.

It was sort of hard to miss the tall and beautiful young witch who had been an influential presence on the Slytherins of their age ever since her first year. In fact, Tom would be lying if he said he himself hadn't looked up at her during his starstruck phase of naivety during his first year.

However, it was that influence and power that entailed the need to qualm all rumours and concerns of Cordelia's new position being a farce.

His knights doubted her. And if there was one thing Tom Riddle hated more than being undermined, it was being ridiculed.

Thus, even if he felt a slight shiver roll down his back at their proximity, Tom found himself wringing one of his arms around her waist and tugging Cordelia's back flush against him.

The sight resulted in an uproar or poorly concealed murmurs, yet the voice of his knights seemed to be drowned out the second Tom tilted his head down to rest his chin on her shoulder and whisper a command that would make or break the little truce they had established over the past weeks.

"Crucio him."

His voice held a lilt of the authoritative growl he would often address his knights with, something that had Cordelia clenching and unclenching her fist as she mulled over his words.

"Tom-"

The word was a warning, one that he chose to ignore as the brunet pressed further and allowed his nails to dig into her waist as an augury of what would come if she didn't follow through.

"Or would you rather take his place?"

Tom had Crucioed Cordelia enough times over the past two years for a shiver to roll down her back at the thought of being subjected to his dark magic, however, it was the prospect of being defamed in front of the greater part of their snakes that had her arm shakily rising to the front.

The sight of the flashing red magic that followed right after had Tom humming as he tilted his head further into her neck, putting on a facade of cynical romance that had his knights watching their comrade in horror.

"Good girl."

Tom couldn't tell if the sudden yell from Aldrich that followed was due to a peculiar increase in Cordelia's bloodlust or a reaction to his words, but the way she attempted to squirm away from him for a moment made it clear it was the latter.

Yet he couldn't care less, not when the sight of her Crucioing another brought about a wave of emotions that it shouldn't have, a wave that Cordelia no doubt felt due to the gold and black ring ironically sat on her left hand's ring finger.

It was an onslaught of emotions that had him moving forward before he could stop himself, with his other hand shifting to clutch her jaw and turn her face to the side as Tom locked their lips with a sense of reckless abandon that had their teeth clashing and foreheads bumping.

The sudden motion had her Crucio quickly fading away, causing Cordelia to drop her arm and instead wrap her other hand around his bicep. His hand travelled from her jaw for his fingers to nestle in her hair as the world around them faded away.

He kissed her like it was their first time.

She kissed him like it was their last.

Every drop of his soft, sensual and serene ocean of emotions was tainted with the ashes of her scornful sorrow and spite. Yet, as he pulled away for a moment to tug on her bottom lip with his teeth before once again leaning in, Tom found that he couldn't quite care.

At least, not until Cordelia's confusion seemed to clear enough for her to subtly try and force him off of her.

The sting of her nails digging into his skin made it clear that the blue-eyed witch felt nothing of what he did for her, yet the way her lips moved against his told Tom what he needed to know: the only reason she had reciprocated whatever it was he had felt in the chamber, what he felt then, was because she could feel his emotions through the ring.

His realization quickly broke every semblance of the moment they had, causing Tom to pull away and allow himself to suck in a deep breath as he cleared his throat and turned to address the crowd of shocked knights.

Even Aldrich, who had previously been rolling around on the marble tiles in agony, had rolled onto his back to gawk at the duo in astonishment. The sight had his familiar smirk returning as Tom wordlessly dismissed his knights, with the way the seventh year knights, and Orion, lingered only heightening his satisfaction.

However, as the crowd of wizards shuffled away and returned to their duelling, Tom found his steel gaze melting once it set onto the witch beside him, one who looked ready to launch herself at him and wring his neck.

He looked at her like he would burn the world for her.

She looked at him like she would burn him alive on a stage with the world as her audience.