Holiday From Real

I sighed and stared at the wall while Lauren started to get ready for Astronomy. She woke up an hour early so she could finish her chart and be dressed in time. I sighed again, but much louder than before. Lauren whispered, "So you're going to be with Tom?"

"Hopefully."

"Where are you going to wait for him?"

"The Room of Requirement."

Lauren nodded and then asked me, "What do you want me to tell the teach?"

I shrugged, "I don't know."

"Want me to tell him you're both gone 'cause you're fucking?"

I chuckled, "Like it's goin' outta style."

Lauren bit down on her bottom lip to refrain from laughing loudly and waking up our sleeping roommates. I slowly got up and slipped into a baby blue, overhead hoodie, and then into my leather jacket. I grabbed my wand off of my trunk and then told Lauren, "I don't think I'm making a lot of progress with him."

Lauren sat down on the foot of her bed and looked at me, "I think you are."

"Why?"

She shrugged, "I think that his biggest issue, the one thing that makes everything he ended up doing even possible, is because no one loved him. I may not know all that there is to know, and I may not see a lot of things, Karma, but my eyes still work. And you two have chemistry like I've never seen."

"What are you talking about?" I chuckled nervously.

Lauren rolled her eyes at me, "I see how he acts around you. He doesn't act the same way. It's like you two met, you went to a few of his meetings, and he just instantly became comfortable with you. When you ditch classes, he doesn't operate the same. He still functions and all, and he completes the tasks and all, but he isn't as happy or comfortable."

I gulped, "I don't know what I'm doing, Lauren."

"Well," She rolled her head in a circle as if it helped jumble up some thoughts, "I think you're scared. I think you're scared he's going to become the same terrible thing."

I drew in a deep breath and put my hands on the back of my head, "I'm scared I'm going to become some sort of enabler."

Lauren got up, walked over to me, and hugged me. "I believe in you. We all do. The only person who doesn't is you. Just trust yourself. You'll do the right thing."

I hugged her back and squeaked out, "Thanks."

She let me go and nodded, "Go on. It's one thing to keep him waiting, it's another to miss him."

I laughed and then left.

-----
I wasn't going to try to find Tom. If there is one thing I know about him, it's that he'll find me. That being said, I decided to hang out in the ROR. I didn't want to be too hard to find, and where else do you go when you need to find something in this place? It took him about an hour to come and get me, though. I pretended not to notice him when he entered the room. I focused on filing my broken nail on my index finger. Tom took a seat across from me and watched as I made the nail even and matching to my other ones. He smirked with amusement, "Are you too busy for me tonight?"

I didn't look up from my nail, "You make it sound like we're lovers."

Tom laughed. The skin around his eyes crinkled, and the corners of his lips twitched before his cheeks tugged them up. I looked up into his green eyes and softly sighed. They're the same color as a lush, healthy field of grass. Tom leaned forward a little bit and smiled devilishly, "Do you want to see something amazing?"

"Depends on what it is."

His smile grew, "Well, what is your operational definition of amazing?"

I laughed and leaned forward, "How long were you in my room?"

Uncomfortable shock flashed across his eyes, "Why do you think I was in your room?"

"Because that's a term used in psychology, and I know you don't take psychology."

"That doesn't mean I was in your room."

I laughed and leaned even more forward. I rested my elbows on my knees and held my hands together while looking at him. "I won't be mad as long as you tell me the truth."

Tom laughed, "What am I, five?"

I shrugged, "Don't try to change the subject on me, Tom-Tom."

He sighed and leaned back against his chair, "Don't call me that."

"Voldemort is a stupid name and I won't call you it."

He glared at me, "It is not a stupid and you will—"

I stood up and started to walk away. I slid my hands into the pockets of my leather jacket, "You're not the boss of me, Tom."

Tom shot up from his seat and followed me. He grabbed my left elbow with his right hand and forcefully yanked me against his chest and then against the wall. He pinned his arms on either side of me. He looked down at me with an angry, power hungry smirk, "It seems I'm in charge of you now."

I refrained from smiling and said, "Oh no." in the same voice as the gay guy in Family Guy. What's his name? Bruce? I sighed and pressed my hands against his chest, but I didn't put a lot of force or pressure into it. "I'm stuck against a wall and an extremely handsome young man. Whatever will I do?"

Tom chuckled once and smirked semi-crookedly.

I sighed and relaxed my body, "It's not like I've ever fantasized about this. I am surely doomed."

Tom's smirk widened, "I'm flattered."

"And I am shaking in my pants."

Tom laughed at me and said, "You and your American friends never did catch on, did you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Pants here mean underwear where you're from. What you mean is trousers."

I sighed and rolled my eyes, "Your lingo is so weird. Fanny means vagina,"

Tom giggled. Yes, giggled.

"Randy means horny. The loo means bathroom. It's ridiculous."

Tom bent at his knees so we could be eye to eye. Only several inches were between us, sending a small, fast, shiver up my spine. "Anyway, Karma,"

I stared directly into his eyes.

"It seems that I am in charge of you."

I laughed at him.

He glared at me.

"It may seem that way, but the truth is, Tommy," I smirked, "is that you're a megalomaniac. And terrible things will happen if you don't cut all this out now."

Tom pressed his body against me and whispered in my left ear, "Like what?"

I gulped. I didn't feel good this close to him, I didn't feel safe. "Murder, widespread fear. I don't know, Tom, but you need to stop while you still can."

His lips were maybe a centimeter away from my ear. His breath tickled my skin as he said, "I can do whatever I want."

My voice shook when I replied, "You're just a man."

He stayed silent.

"And a man can't do whatever he wants. There are bigger things than you, Tom. No matter how powerful you become—"

"You're scared of me right now."

"I'm scared for you."

Tom quickly turned his head to be looking into my eyes, brushing the tip of his nose against my sensitive neck skin. It hurt to look at him since he was so close to me, but I stared back. He stared deep into my dark eyes, and I stared deep into his dark eyes. The left side of his nose rested against the right side of my nose, and I just couldn't help myself. I drew in a deep breath and brushed my lips softly against his. I didn't kiss him, but I did let my lips linger. I didn't move them; I stared into his eyes and watched his stages of reaction. He went from shock to fear to a look I've never seen in him. Tom blinked and then slowly pressed his lips against mine. We awkwardly stared into each other's eyes as he rather clumsily moved his lips to kiss me. We didn't kiss for more than thirty seconds, but it felt like it lasted for an hour. When Tom pulled away I asked him,

"Was that your first kiss?"

"Was it yours?"

I blinked once, "No."

He blinked once, "Yes."

I smiled, but he started to talk before I could voice my true opinion.

"Don't you judge me—"

"I wasn't going to."

Tom stayed silent.

"The way all these girls look at you, you could kiss any one of them. You could kiss them all."

His face was empty of expression, "I don't like any of them. They don't really like me, they like my face."

I stayed silent.

He stayed silent.

I kept on being silent.

So did he.

I stared at him.

He stared back.

I sighed.

He sighed.

I finally broke the ice, "Why did you kiss me?"

"Why did you kiss me?"

"I brushed my lips against yours."

"Then why'd you do that?"

I gulped, "It felt right."

Tom laughed and walked away from me. I stared at him and then asked, "What is the amazing thing you want to show me?"

Tom stopped walking and slid his hands into the pockets in his school slacks. He looked at me over his shoulder, "Do you like to know secrets?"

I couldn't help the crooked smile that crept onto my face. I slid my hands into the pockets of my leather jacket and walked over to him. "I'm especially fond of chambers."

Tom smirked and started to walk out of the ROR. I walked to his right while he said, "Then I think you'll like what I have to show."

My smile widened, "I hope so."

Tom looked at me from the corner of his eyes, but he didn't say anything. He remained silent the whole walk to a very specific bathroom. I lingered at the entrance while Tom walked over to a sink. He whispered "open" in Parsletongue and stepped a few feet back. The sink slowly turned into a hole leading to the bowels of the school. Tom looked over his right shoulder at me, "Are you ready?"

I gulped and walked over to him. I stared down at it and was instantly overwhelmed with fear and surprise. Unlike Harry's experience with the Chamber, a staircase was revealed. Tom slid his right hand out of his pocket and offered it to me. With some hesitance, I took his hand and gulped as he walked us down the old staircase. We weren't even half way down before I said with a cracked voice, "Ta—Tom?"

"Mhm?"

I stopped walking, forcing him to stop. He looked at me over his shoulder. I gulped and said, "I have a terrible feeling that I might not come out of here."

Tom laughed at me, "I won't let anything hurt you, I promise."

"It's not that."

Tom looked a little bit confused, "Then what are you talking about?"

In a shockingly small voice, I whispered, "I'm afraid that I won't be the same person when I come out."

Tom rolled his eyes, "You're worrying over things that aren't going to happen."

I didn't say anything else; I didn't know what else I could say, so I just kept walking with him. He led me into a damp, cold, stone area. Large pillars of Salazar Slytherin held up the chamber; I looked around and gasped with fear and wonder. Tom smirked and looked down at me, "You like the place?"

I gulped, "In a twisted sort of way."

He laughed at me.

I inched closer to him and said, "I want to leave. Now."

His voice had a soft tone of sadism, "But we just got here."

Water splashed and rocks rolled around as the basilisk neared us. I cringed and shamelessly pressed my body against Tom's. I buried my face in his chest and held him tightly. He awkwardly wrapped his arms around me and said, "I can tell it to leave, if you don't want to see it."

"If I look into its eyes I'll die. If I look at its reflection I'll be petrified."

Tom laughed at me, "And you call yourself a bad ass."

"I am a bad ass."

"Then prove it."

I glared at his chest, "I don't have to prove anything to you. You said you wouldn't let anything hurt me, but you're scaring me."

Tom sighed; I didn't need to look up to know he rolled his eyes. He wrapped his robe around me and hissed something. It was a different hiss than I've ever heard him use before. True, I haven't heard him hiss too many times, but I didn't have to hear him many times to know he was using a stronger, different tone. It was filled with dominance and power. I cringed at the sound of it and didn't know what was more dangerous, Tom or the basilisk. Tom sighed as the basilisk slithered away. I could hear that it was long gone, but I didn't let go of him. "The basilisk is gone."

"My fear isn't."

I sighed.

He held me a little bit tighter.

"Tom,"

"Karma,"

"I'm scared for you."

He scoffed, "Why?"

"You're making terrible mistakes. You could do such great things, Tom. You could be such a great wizard, you could contribute such great, new things—"

"I will be—!"

"No you won't!"

"Oh how do you know?" He shouted and pushed me away from him, "If you think you're so right—"

"I am right!" I stomped my right foot as if I was a first grader, "Damnit, Tom! I am right! Open your eyes! Take a step back! Understand what you're really planning on doing!"

"How do you know you're right?" He roared and took a step closer to me while angrily waving his arms.

"I wouldn't be here if I was wrong!"

Tom stopped walking.

I gulped.

"What?"

I didn't say anything.

His voice was soft, but it wasn't kind, "What did you say?"

"I—I—"

Tom waved his right hand as if to dismiss his question, "What do you mean? You wouldn't be here?"

He took a step closer, so I took a step back. "That I wouldn't exist—"

"Bull shit!" he shouted, "Bull shit! You and your friends aren't like the rest of us! And it isn't because you're American! You're weird! All of you! You're not just not from here, but you're not from this time!"

I took another step back and defensively put my hands up, "Calm it down a notch, Tom—"

"When are you from?" Tom shouted and took a big step towards me. He tightly gripped my shoulders, making me yelp from the feeling of his fingertips through my jacket and into the top layer of my flesh, "How'd you get here?"

"All I know is why!"

Tom rolled his eyes, "You don't know when you're from?"

"That doesn't matter!" I screamed and pushed him away from me. He stumbled, but he didn't fall. I pulled out my wand with a shaky hand, "All that matters is I'm here, okay? All that matters is why!"

"Why are you here?" He shouted and grabbed his wand. He pointed it at me, but his hand wasn't shaking, "Tell me!"

I drew in a deep breath, "Because you turn into the Devil and cause needless pain and misery and destruction and then you die! You die! Twice, damnit! Because you're too insane and tenacious and you come back even more evil and then you die again! But for good!"

Tom looked at me with wide, horrified eyes. "What?"

I gulped; he wasn't lowering his wand.

I stared into his green eyes, "I should have left. I could have figured it out."

He croaked, "Why did you stay?"

I drew in a deep breath, "For the same reason you kissed me."