Chapter 46

Anastasia walked into the dining hall holding the parcel and headed towards the Slytherin table. She kept her eyes firmly placed on the floor as she approached the group, feeling shameful and nervous after previous night's affairs. She headed for a space at the edge of the group, but as she went to sit down she heard Tom's voice mutter her name. She looked up to immediately find his piercing stare. He pointed at the space next to him and watched her as she anxious walked towards him. Anastasia sat down, feeling sick with unease.

"What is this package Miss Delaney?" Tom announced loudly, smirking. Anastasia eyes widened as she felt stares falling on her.

"It's the package you asked me to wrap up." Anastasia stated quietly, trying desperately not to turn red. Tom grabbed the parcel and inspected the label, pretending not to know what was inside and the memories of the night before that flooded his mind.

"Lestrange, this is for your brother will you please use your owl to send it off?" Tom ordered. As Marcus' hands grasped the package Anastasia's body cringed. The humiliation was too much. She may be powerless against him, but she refused to become a quivering mess Tom could step on. She went to stand up, wanting to leave in protest but Tom grabbed her arm with the speed of light. His tight grip pinched her skin and pulled her forcefully back down. She felt trapped.

"You see now how well I've treated you so far, Miss Delaney? I could have treated you like a servant this whole time, but I didn't." Tom whispered as Anastasia stared into her lap. "Time and time again I have gone against my better judgement with you. You've become a consistent source of disappointment." Anastasia looked up at him defiantly.

"How?" She hissed, making Tom raise his eyebrows. "How have I disappointed you? When have I not successfully fulfilled a task you required of me? How is it my fault that other men have taken an interest in me? How-" Tom placed his hand on her thigh and squeezed, indicating for her to stop. Anastasia breathed heavily, realising the silence that surrounded her.

"Not here." He whispered with a devilish smirk.

After breakfast she found herself following Tom, once again, into a classroom. As she shut the door behind her she opened her mouth, ready to argue.

"This is the side of you that caught my attention a year ago. I was starting to worry I had killed it." Anastasia stared back in confusion. "You have done well, but you have also made mistakes Miss Delaney. I've made you my most esteemed follower, and you very nearly made a fool of me. I can't have that. So, now I have two options: trust that you won't do it again, or torture you through belittlement and insignificance. One is definitely more tempting than the other." Anastasia analysed his grin, annoyed at the fact that she knew he was right.

"Why don't you just kill me?" Anastasia asked making the cock-sure atmosphere in the room shift dramatically as she took a step towards the looming figure.

"Believe me, I've thought about it. I nearly did that night at the Avery's." Tom matched her and also took a step forward.

"But you didn't. Why?" Tom stopped, and Anastasia saw a whisper of concern wash over his face for a moment. "Why are you so upset in the first place? All of this because another man loves me?"

"I'm the only one you're allowed to follow Anastasia, I-" His voice began to rise alongside hers.

"You never asked if I loved him back! I don't, you know I don't so why does it-"

"You entertained the idea of loving him! You allowed that pathetic, foul man to think he had a chance with what is mine!" Tom shouted, the veins on his forehead beginning to show through his skin.

"Then why don't you just kill me?!" Anastasia screamed, with more raw emotion than she knew she had within her.

"Because I don't want to!" The pair stopped mere inches away from each other. Both breathed heavily and digested the words that had been spoken. They were so simple that they could be construed as meaningless, but both knew the weight they held. The fact that Tom didn't want her dead showed he cared for her, on some level, and he had never cared for anyone other than himself before. Tom stared down at Anastasia, his chest still rising and falling dramatically.

"I don't want to, but I will if you make me." Tom said, expressing his feelings for her in the only way he knew how. He watched a faint smile grow on Anastasia's pink lips. She desperately didn't want to believe him, but his eyes and lips hovered above her and her mind was too scrambled to think.

"So, what am I supposed to do if a boy tries to flirt with me?" Tom watched the hunger grow in her eyes as she began fiddling with his tie. He had never seen her look at him like this. The night before had awoken something in the both of them, a dark urge of desire that neither quite understood.

"You'll tell him who you belong to, and I'll make sure he's never able to speak again." Tom whispered. Against all logic and thought, Tom's demeanour and his words set her insides aflame. She was overwhelmed by the fact that he actually cared for her. His violent words weren't a product of his free-will, but came from a place of devotion, a place of obsession. All for her. Anastasia tilted her head up, lifting her lips to meet his. Tom kissed her back gently, wrapping his arms around her as he lost himself in the moment.

"I'll never let you leave me, Anastasia Delaney." Tom warned.

"I'll never try." Anastasia returned, making Tom throw his lips back onto hers, clutching on to her clothing as he pulled her into him as much as he could. His tight embrace made her underwear g wet, but the pair suddenly separated as they heard a voice outside the door. They both looked back at each other and grinned. Anastasia couldn't believe the smile she saw, it was t he same as the one he had after he had created the horcrux. Tom grinned because he felt he had finally achieved what he set out to. She was inarguably his.

"We're late for Transfigurations." Tom held out his arm, sarcastically offering to escort her to class. Anastasia rolled her eyes, forgetting what a diligent student he was, and forgetting he had signed them up for Dumbledore's class. The pair left together the classroom in a completely different state than they had entered, both completely consumed by the other.