Starry skies and Gardenias

Chapter 147

'Yes.' Tom wrote a long while later. 'You are right. So, what are you going to do now? Turn me in?'

Isabella didn't write immediately. 

She put her quill down, and closed her eyes wearily. 

She was such an idiot. How could she forget? Everybody approached her because they found her useful to them. 

She had just gone too soft, and sappy and decided that everything was suddenly sunshine and unicorns.

She had no right to get disappointed. Because it was all her fault. 

It was done. So, now she should know better. She should move on, and learn not to make such a mistake ever again. 

'No.' Isabella wrote. 'I am not a fool, Tom'.

'I know.' Tom's reply came. 'And that is why I like you. You are very clever, and you know where to draw the line. Even though you are kind, you know where to limit it. The moment it does not benefit you, you'll abandon it.'

Those words weren't true. But coming from Tom, it made her feel disgusted by herself. 

She had to tell herself that this was the rule she always went by and that whatever Tom said wouldn't shake her principles. 

For Tom, this was just routine. 

He had framed Hagrid the same way. Poor Hagrid, being the gentle soul he is never would have expected such a betrayal. 

Hagrid hadn't called Tom by his last name, in the memory she had seen. He called him 'Tom', as though they were friends. . .And it was likely that Tom already knew about the acromantula that Hagrid was hiding. 

The only reason Tom decided to give Hagrid in was when he was threatened by the possibility of the school shutting down. 

Hagrid must have been his backup plan all along. The half-giant outcast boy, who was hiding a dangerous beast...all Tom had to do was act kind and say that he wouldn't tell anyone, and innocent, thirteen-year-old Hagrid would have believed him.

'Are you going to throw me out now?' Tom asked.

'I said, I am not a fool.' Isabella scribbled angrily. 

'Oh, I know.' Tom wrote promptly. 'I just want to listen to your wonderful explanation. It is always fascinating, what goes on in that mind of yours.'

'You do realise that you are making me very angry, don't you, Tom?' Isabella wrote. 'And I don't get angry very often.'

'Bella, you are not angry.' Tom wrote. 'You are just disappointed. You know better than to get angry for reasons such as this. Especially when you know you are the one at fault. Why would you trust a diary that has been writing back to you?'

Isabella put her quill down again and let out a frustrated sigh. Tom continued writing.

'At first, you were very cautious.' he wrote. 'For everything you told me, you asked me for something in return. That's when I felt we were similar. Then, you got comfortable. And gave away all your secrets. I was never the one to blame. Had you remained like you were at first, we would have gotten along perfectly well.'

'Tom, you are the world's biggest prat ever.' Isabella scribbled.

'As that may be, what is your plan?' Tom wrote, mockingly. 'Won't you let me know? I am very curious.'

Isabella had nothing to lose by writing it. And there was nothing Tom could do either. 

She had noticed that if she stopped writing in the diary, or rather stopped pouring her heart out into the stupid book, then Tom could no longer possess her.