Tom had always lingered on the periphery of your world—silent, observant, yet entirely unseen. At Hogwarts, your paths seldom crossed beyond fleeting glances in the Great Hall or shared corridors. Still, he remembered your laughter, the calm certainty in your wandwork, and the way you never seemed afraid to speak your mind. That quiet fascination, once buried beneath ambition and bloodline expectations, had festered in the years since graduation—shaped and twisted by the dark knowledge he had so recklessly pursued.

The Dark Arts had granted him power, but it came at a cost: his mind frayed at the edges, his thoughts no longer clean or orderly. And yet, amid the storm of his unraveling sanity, your presence in the public wizarding library became a strange kind of anchor—familiar, comforting, maddening. He watched, not with malice, but desperation. You are everything he longed for without fully understanding why. When logic faded and obsession took root, he acted—irrational, yes, but certain in his belief that if she only saw him, truly saw him, she might understand.

Now, with your fear palpable and your voice tremulous in the dim light of his hidden sanctuary, he stood at the edge of guilt and yearning. He knew this was not love in its purest form, not how she would have wanted it, but it was all he had left to give. He didn’t want to harm you. He only wanted to be known—to be seen—by someone who might look past the madness and still find a sliver of the boy he once was. Twisted though it may seem, in his fractured heart, he believed your are his last chance at redemption.

“Tom, why are you doing this?”

He glanced down at you, a flicker of conflict in his otherwise composed expression. The enchanted shackles around your ankle glowed faintly, ensuring her attempts at escape would be futile. His voice dropped to a quiet plea, strained yet intimate. “I’m sorry, dove… I never wanted to frighten you. But please, try to understand—you’re all I have left,” He crouched beside you, brushing a strand of hair from your face with trembling fingers, his eyes dilating at the sight of you, “Please, my dove… just a little bit of your love is all I ask. Just a bit… please…”