Herpo the foul is supposed to have made the first Horcrux. No matter what, it remained undiscovered. Hence, it is believed that he is still alive.

Tom turned the page. It was the end of the book. That's it? The frustration grew inside his body. He slammed the ancient book shut and turned it over to read the title of the book he just finished. The darkest of the dark. Tom groaned. By the title, he thought he would finally find the secret of the foul's apparent immortality. Of course, he was named foul, so he must have had done something dark. Tom ran his hand along the spine of the book. His back rested against the headboard of his four-posture as his chocolate orbs landed on the silver lantern hanging in the centre. Trust Hogwarts to turn even the supposed darkest book into the grey one. No matter how brilliant he was, the boy never understood the discrimination between light and dark magic. For him, magic meant magic. No dark, no light. It meant knowledge, which he thirsted. It meant power, which he craved since his childhood. In his opinion, because of this mindset about this so-called differentiation of magic, wizards were not utilizing their full potential. The potential was the reason for their uniqueness.

The story of Merlin, the greatest wizard ever lived (before himself, his mind added subconsciously) flashed before his eyes. Unbelievably he had heard the story when he was a kid from the muggle-st of them all. Mrs Cole, the old lady warden of Wool's orphanage, had a tradition to arrange the gathering of all the kids in the orphanage and tell them a story every Saturday night. And even though, the boy used to stand broodingly in the corner he was neither deaf nor dumb. He had heard the legends of the famous wizard and the king duo so many times. His young mind had always wondered what would it be like to be in Merlin's place. His sharp brain used to sympathize to the wizard who did everything, still got no throne. A mere servant in the court was what his status was in the king Arthur's court. Since those days, he never wanted to serve another. He wanted to serve himself. An act of ultimate freedom he believed it to be. Tom remembered making an unvoiced oath to himself that day that he won't serve another. Like ever. 

Now that he was sixteen, however, when he thought about it he realized what difference did it make. Had Merlin used this so-called dark magic, he would have had riches and power beyond measures. Don't take him wrong, he was really proud of the wizard and his chest widened whenever he recalled the little fact that he was a fellow Slytherin. His mind tried to imagine the scenarios where the great wizard would stroll around in the common room. There was no official record, but many times Tom even wondered if he was living in the same room that once Merlin himself lived in. It made him fall in love with his house all over again. 

The only point where he could fault the great wizard was his opinions about Muggles and the choice he made to advise a king. Salazar Slytherin must have been disappointed too, but anyway he could not resist the fact that he was indeed the most powerful wizard. The wizard even had his portrait in the castle, and the boy wondered if he would have his one day in the ancient building too.

Tom came out of his monologue and tucked the book neatly below his pillow. His attention grabbed by Anthony who was still engrossed in the book he was reading. Generally, the boy ignored the reading choices of his fellow dorm-mate, since most of the times it was some book about divination. His eyes squinted when he couldn't recognize the style of the cover. It appeared slightly odd.

"What are you reading?" He asked nosily.

The boy shut the book instantly and hid it behind him. "Nothing." He spoke too soon.

Tom's eyes turned into slits as he pinned his friend with his stare. Anthony hiding something from Tom had never happened before. Tom usually shared his choices with him as well, though he deliberately avoided telling him exactly what he read and why he read it. Most of the times he indulged reading the dark magic. This boy in front of him was the purest human he had ever encountered in his life. And a part of him, very minute mind you, wanted him to remain that way. Pure and uncorrupted.  

Tom stood up from his place and stood beside Anthony's bed. He folded his hands in front of his chest and raised a challenging eyebrow at the teen.

Anthony sighed. "Promise you won't tell this to anyone."

"Really?" he questioned mockingly. In his opinion, Anthony was just being dramatic. And somehow, it made him more curious than he already was.

When Anthony didn't budge, Tom sighed himself. "Fine," he muttered. Curiosity always wins.

Anthony smiled boyishly and showed the cover of the book.

And just like that curiosity killed the cat.

"A romance novel? Really? What is happening to you? Are you spending more time with Rosier?" Tom asked in horror.

It was true. Evan Rosier enjoyed not only gossiping but also reading love stories, something Tom thought was a waste of time. 

Anthony turned red. Brighter than tomato. Deeper than blood. "I do not spend too much of time with Evan and even if I do what is wrong with me enjoying a good love story?" He questioned feeling defensive.

Tom lifted his hands in mock surrender. "Nothing. I just thought you were one of those who didn't waste their time in imagining things."

Tom wasn't wrong to think like that. Pureblood boys considered themselves superior to others. The ancestral money that they inherited did nothing but boosted their ego. And in his time, boys, spoken for or not, believed in action more than imagination. It was pretty disgusting to even think that the hormonal teens were ridiculed on a notion of wasting time reading the theory when they could actually experiment with over-enthusiastic females. It was no secret the females in those days were trained by their parents to trap the wealthiest. When they should be doing more productive things they were busy practising production itself. Tom wasn't sure where to place his disgust - the boys for being libertine or the girls for being so slutty. In his opinion, both parties were a shame to the name of magic. The whole notion repulsed him.

"I can't do that to Rebekah," Anthony declared firmly. 

Tom should have known. It shouldn't have surprised the boy that Avery would remain loyal to the girl he was engaged to. He was loyal like that. He should have known his pal was pure, not only in blood but also in the heart. And to be honest, he wasn't sure if the girl in question did really deserve him. She had done nothing but given him a cold shoulder, when in fact she should have been a little thankful for ending up with the boy like him who cared for her more than anyone unlike the other pigs. Over the years, despite telling himself otherwise, Anthony had grown upon him. Was it because Avery never left him? Or that he cared? Tom did not know. All he knew that Avery was a great companion and didn't deserve to be treated like that.

Tom remembered seeing his pal upset over the girl and many times comforting him. Not with the words of course, but with some simple action like pat (he was bad with handling emotions) on a shoulder or by offering him some chocolate (he never liked those anyway, unless he tasted it in Alexa's mouth which he had found quite recently). He just felt like Anthony could do so much better, yet he was stuck on the Greyback girl, the so-called feminist of their era. All because apparently, his pal loved her. Tom snorted inwardly. He had heard enough stories from Mrs Cole to know that love is blind. Indeed it is. And Tom didn't do anything blindly. Thank Salazar for that.

"Why did you snort?" Okay, so his snort was not inward. Tom came out of his meditation after hearing a question from Anthony. The latter's blue eyes were looking suspiciously at the former. What should he say? Tom contemplated. What should he possibly say about Rebekah that wouldn't make Anthony mad?

"Nothing," he settled. 

Tom turned around to go back to his place, but Anthony stopped him.

"May I ask why are you so ridiculed by the notion of reading love stories, Tom?" 

Tom turned around. His chocolate eyes pinning the other black-haired boy with a stare again. His sinfully attractive lips suddenly felt dry, so he sucked on the bottom one while forming the proper reply in his sharp mind. After some time, he finally chose the words carefully, "I find them ridiculous, because they waste your time. I mean look at the characters." He motioned his hand at the book in Anthony's hands. "I am sure the book is about some prince or duke or some man in authority. Tell me it is not about that man finding love in some extremely poor woman who is also a damsel in distress and they live happily ever after."

Anthony looked at him shocked. "For a boy who doesn't read them, you sure know them."

"Mrs Cole used to read them to us too." A tinge of pink covered Tom's otherwise pale cheeks. It was embarrassing to admit not only that he knew what was a usual notion of love stories but also that he had spent his childhood in a damn orphanage. The latter part was painful. And one gaze at Anthony's proud face told him that the boy knew how he felt, for he hadn't shown Tom pity. Anthony knew Tom enough to know that the latter would never appreciate pity but that didn't mean he didn't feel pride that Tom had endured so much in his childhood. And Tom appreciated that. "They all are the same. After the marriage, people will suddenly start kissing the road she walks on without her doing anything to actually earn it. I hate it when people get something that they don't deserve just like that. It is not how real life works."

A few moments of silence passed. They both looked at each other. Tom waited for him to counter and Anthony waited for a  proper comeback. Giving up, he knew Tom was right. "You are right, but that's why they are stories. They are not reality. Reality is harsh, and stories provide an escape. They are written so that people won't stop believing the power of love. A good story makes them forget their reality. It is to signify that there should be hope and it doesn't matter who the person is because everyone deserves a happy ending."

Tom couldn't believe he was having this type of conversation. And it took everything to not snort again. Though he did hear him out, he still stood by his statement. He didn't like handing things to someone just because of an association. "I still don't think it is a nice thing to keep someone away from reality. Weak people like them should never be your role model neither should they be so stupid."

"What if the person in question actually wants to share this power? What if they love someone so much that they can't imagine living without them? That is one of the reasons why women change their last names after marriage. I think this is one of the reasons why duke's wife becomes a duchess and the lord's wife becomes a lady, or it can be another way around."

Tom inhaled deeply. That is what he meant. He didn't know about anyone else, but he sure as hell wasn't going to give someone title just because they were associated with him. Why should he when all his life he was never handed with anything, like ever? He had worked so hard for every single fibre in his clothes. He broke his bones by working for every page in his books. If a person wanted something from him they would be needed to prove him first that they are really worth it. Anthony's words were still flooding in his mind. He didn't know why but suddenly Alexa's face flashed in front of his eyes. Lord's wife becomes a lady. She was no exception. No matter how much he enjoyed chasing her, possessing her, kissing her and enveloping her in his arms, he wasn't going to give her anything she didn't earn from him. If she wanted to become his lady she would have to prove to her lord that she was capable of living up to her title.

~*~*~

I updated because I am awesome like that and you are amazing like this. A chapter for telling how Tom cares about Anthony. Anyway, in the last chapter, I left a subtle sentence "we have been informed" Have some clue "by whom"? Remember the whole class knows about it and words travel around the castle fast. 

Next chapter is something special. Do look out for it. *mischievous smile*

I hope you enjoyed reading it.

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Thank you all!!!