30 Chapter Twenty-Nine: Replacing Rumours with Romance

Cordelia always thought it was peculiar for people to separate their work from their personal lives.

The task of breaking your day apart into two and changing yourself entirely to fit that aspect always seemed tedious and overbearing, just like most things adult purebloods did. Yet just like every other belief the community she grew up in engraved into her head, Cordelia had come to realise that separating work from personal ordeals was often the only thing that kept them sane.

At least, that was the case for Cordelia.

To everyone else she was and would continue to be Cordelia Black, the simple yet serene Slytherin Queen. The head girl who could do no wrong, and even if she did, could never be convicted of her sins.

If only they knew of the things Tom would make her do, of how the hour she supposedly spent getting ready brushing and styling her shoulder-length brown hair was really a ruse to steal ancient tomes and brainstorm crimes with Hogwarts' perfect golden boy, perhaps the people around her would be just as affected as Cordelia was.

In a way, the entirety of Hogwarts certainly had been subjected to a silent shift in attitude ever since that night in the chamber, yet their gossips and excited giggles were far too benevolent for her taste, especially when the sudden increase of scrutiny only ensured Cordelia had to constantly pretend to be smitten with the boy she had come to loathe.

The entire ordeal was quite hectic, but Cordelia had somewhat gotten used to the change after the course of a week.

It certainly did help matters to finally know where she stood with Tom.

It had taken a while to ease the confrontation out of him, mainly because Cordelia refused to be alone in the same room as Tom for too long, yet somewhere between dismissing questions of a betrothal contract and reading up on potential hideouts of the giants, the two heads of Hogwarts had finally sat down and had the conversation they needed.

The recollection of that night made Cordelia sigh as she sunk further into the couch in the heads dorms, recalling exactly what had occurred that night.

The fire was beginning to die down, with its flames licking the bottom of the pit and alerting them of how late it had truly gotten, however, considering Tom had no intention of letting up anytime soon, the brunette across from him couldn't help but make a small sweep with her fingers that made the wood on the side fly into the pit.

Her action drew Tom's gaze away from the tome before him for a brief moment, taking a moment to analyze the way her features lit up with the fire's flames before dropping his gaze down to the map splayed out on the table between them.

"Minsk."

He didn't have to tell her twice, with Cordelia's hand already racing across the parchment until the tip of her quill rested on the jagged country beside Russia and quickly scribbling onto where she presumed Belarus's capital lay.

The action made Tom nod swiftly before turning back to his tome and flipping a page, choosing to spend time deciphering the foreign language than bother addressing the tension built up between the two of them. Just like he had for the past week.

That day was dedicated to finding potential locations inhibited by giants, yet another pursuit of his that Cordelia couldn't understand for the life of her but chose to overlook. After all, there were moments where the Dark Lord asked for her opinions and others where he simply required her assistance, the current night just happened to be the latter.

They didn't talk much, not that they ever did, really, but the silence encompassing them made things easier, with the apprehension and hatred driving them to focus on the task at hand and avoid each other as much as possible.

It had been like that ever since she returned from the sleepover, with Tom and Cordelia acting like they were courting when in public, but barely interacting with each other behind closed doors. He would simply give her an order and expect her to follow through, being insightful enough to know Cordelia wasn't keen to start a fight yet still aware that poking a slumbering snake wasn't a good idea.

They had gone all but dormant for the time being, yet even so the brunette boy across her saw the need to have her work with him on things he could have done by himself.

Perhaps this was his way of integrating her into his future plans, or perhaps Tom simply required a second pair of eyes. Whatever the reason was, Cordelia found herself feeling a little more annoyed than she usually did, and chose to finally let her emotions get the better of her as she finished marking up yet another spot on the map.

"Why do you insist on lying? Or have you just grown to feel something for me?"

The room remained quiet for a moment, with the crackling firepit and soft scratches of his quill being the only sounds around them, however, Tom responded just as the pause of silence started to feel a little too suffocating and drove her to conclusions she would rather not contemplate.

"Don't flatter yourself. Rumours don't die, they're replaced."

He reached forward as he spoke, choosing to mark the next location by himself and in turn finding an excuse to avoid her pressing glare.

"I would think you would rather be my lady than a useless pawn who is nothing but the result of an affair."

She was worth more than that, they both knew she was, yet considering their circumstances and the fact that Tom now held a murder over her head, one that she couldn't seem to feel remorse for, Cordelia couldn't help but stand down.

After all, she had asked for this. She was the one who chose to trade her biological father's life in exchange for insight on Tom's plans. She was the one who insisted on meddling and attempting to stop him from corrupting the wizarding world for the rest of eternity with his horcruxes and purifications.

Cordelia was the one who wanted to work alongside him until the time was right to deliver a hit that would make his plans blow up in his face. However, that didn't mean that playing nice was anything but infuriating.

A sigh escaped her lips as she dropped her quill to pull her hair back, tucking the long strands into a bun that allowed her to see the map with more clarity. Tom seemed almost fixated on the motion as he watched her fingers twirl the hair into a quick updo, but was quick to clear his throat and get back to business the second her blue eyes met his.

"Alaska."

The duo once again dissolved into an uncomfortable bout of silence, but this time, Cordelia found that it wasn't as bothersome as before.

"We're leaving."

Tom's sudden presence had her quickly snapping her gaze away from the table before the couch and their previous spot on the floor, instead turning towards the object of her hostility.

Cordelia simply nodded at his words, quietly following his lead and exiting the heads dorms.

There were little to no people around as the duo made their way across the castle, yet even so Tom insisted on carrying her bag for her and placing his hand on the small of her back, just like he had been doing every single day for the past week.

Cordelia didn't know what was worse, the fact that she now had to maintain physical contact with him, or that their little act of courtship was constant due to his insistence of walking her everywhere. One would think that he would leave her alone after classes, however, Tom insisted on even walking her to Dumbledore's office for the evening, even if it meant having to take an entire round of the second floor to reach the library.

She didn't really understand why such measures were needed, but the way the gaggle of girls across the castle seemed to giggle and fawn at the sight of him and muttered not-so-quietly about how Tom was such a gentleman seemed the reason for her problems.

However, Cordelia couldn't blame them. After all, the boy beside her had tricked even her for five years, thus convincing the entirety of Hogwarts that they were courting and completely smitten with one another was childs play.

Thankfully, the physical affliction wasn't as prominent as before, yet Cordelia couldn't tell if the sudden kisses on her cheek and hand were worse or better than an actual kiss or two. After all, while the action only solidified their lies, it came with the drawbacks of the entirety of Slytherin buying their lies too.

However, Cordelia had learned to become a bit of an optimist over the past few days in order to refrain from losing her mind, and chose to look on the brighter side of things, like how his choice only solidified what he had told her last night: that her relationship with Tom was just a farce.

A ruse to distract the entirety of Hogwarts from her lineage and his legacy in the making, but that didn't stop her from clenching her jaw as Tom raised her hand to his face and plant a soft kiss on her knuckle that had a gaggle of witches giggling incredulously.

"Why are you visiting Dumbledore, again?"

"So that we can plot your demise."

Both of them were aware that her response was nothing but sarcasm, yet that didn't stop Tom from tugging on her hand so she could be close enough for him to whisper threats of his choosing.

"We might be pretending to be equals as of now, but if you go against me, Cordelia, I will have Dippet ensure you spend the rest of your days in Azkaban."

It was first time Tom had voiced the true reason behind their unspoken alliance of sorts, yet unlike the past few days, Cordelia chose to fight back rather than giving in and remaining complacent.

"I wonder who they would believe, the current face of the pureblood youth or the boy with a Horcrux."

She had practically hissed the last word, even yanking back her hand for dramatic effect, yet all Tom did was back away with a scoff.

"Oh, I wonder indeed."

He didn't wait for a response after that, already walking down the corridor and disappearing after a turn, but even so Cordelia chose to linger in the corridor for a moment or two.

Hogwarts could think whatever it wanted, but the truth of the matter was that Tom and Cordelia were using each other, with their courtship being an insurance policy of sorts that ensured the other wouldn't go off blabbing about the events of the past month.

The lie certainly was an overwhelming one, but as she turned to push open the familiar brown door of the Transfiguration classroom, Cordelia couldn't help but seek solace in the fact that there would always be one wizard who saw through it all.

In a world so seemingly consumed with Tom Riddle's darkness, it helped to know that Albus Dumbledore could be her light.