Tom sealed the door as if welded shut, laid a second layer of a Muffling Charm, then strolled toward Cassandra, whose shrieks only rose.
Cassandra retreated and retreated, finally curling into a corner. The proud air from yesterday had vanished. Her pretty face was full of panic and confusion.
"Do not come any closer..." Her voice had a sob in it, yet it did not stop Tom.
He set a chair down and sat at his ease. With a tap of his finger, Cassandra stiffened again, petrified. This time it was an ordinary Body Bind, with a fixed duration.
"Take your time crying. When you are tired, we will talk. I am in no rush. Thanks to you, I can skip class openly today," Tom said, unhurried.
Cassandra lowered her head and sobbed as if she had not heard him.
When it came to coaxing girls, Tom had a set of rules. Whatever the age, girls were emotional creatures, quick to sink into their own world and logic. At such times, words were useless. They would not hear a thing, and any reasoning you offered would turn into an accusation in their ears, feeding the storm instead.
So the best method was to wait for the outburst to burn itself out, and only talk once reason retook the hill.
What then, if you meet the sort who does not calm down without coddling or a guilty apology, who keeps kicking up a fuss forever?
You run.
If you do not, you go mad.
...
So the room took on an odd look. A very pretty girl curled up at the corner of the bed and cried. A very good looking boy sat nearby and read the morning paper at leisure.
Cassandra had issues with her ideas, not her head. Once she saw Tom was not moving to do anything more, her fear eased. Then she realized he had no intention to apologize or coax her, and a fresh wave of grievance made her cry harder.
Even if a girl were made of water, she would still cry herself out. While cursing Tom in her heart, Cassandra cried... and, who knew how long later, fell asleep.
Tom:
That was a miscalculation.
How did he forget that once the tears stop, drowsiness follows.
He looked at the sleeping Cassandra and made a decision. If you sleep, I sleep.
...
By late morning, Cassandra blinked awake. The world seemed lower than before. She looked around and realized she was not on the bed but on the floor, with only a small cushion beneath her. She looked up and saw Tom Riddle asleep on the bed, breathing deep.
Sometimes you can only laugh when you have no words. Cassandra laughed from anger.
Now that her head was cool, she could piece it together. Likely the Hogwarts professors had told Riddle to apologize.
Was this an apology?
Did he know how much that half hour in the wall had shaken her? The thought of the story reaching Ilvermorny made her want to die.
"Awake?"
While she was spiraling, Tom yawned, bleary eyed, and waved away the last of the petrification he had set.
Cassandra sprang up at once. She did not draw her wand. She went straight to the door. Of course, it did not open.
"Do not run. We can talk first."
"With this attitude, what is there to talk about?"
"Who said I came to apologize?" Tom cocked his head. "My job is to make sure you can go to class like normal, not to let you hide here like a turtle."
"I am not a turtle!" Cassandra snapped.
Tom yawned again. A chair slid to a stop behind her. "If you are not, then say your piece clearly. Start with why I should apologize to you. Did I do something wrong yesterday?"
Cassandra drew a steadying breath. She did not sit. "You did not. I was weaker than you. You caught me off guard and won. I lost, and losers have no standing to speak of right or wrong."
"So the brain does work," Tom said, puzzled. "Then what possessed you yesterday, charging up to pick a fight with me?"
"Because that is what I think."
Cassandra lifted her chin and met his gaze. "You are a year younger than me. You are not from our world by birth. What right does an outsider have to pass judgment on us?"
"Because I have the strength."
Tom spoke evenly, almost patient. "You believe your birth sets you above others."
"No." Cassandra corrected him. "I am not above others by nature. I am above because I am better. Listening to me is the right choice."
"Fine. By your logic, let us compare who is stronger," Tom said. "Take one thing. I killed a basilisk only recently. Do not tell me you did not hear."
Cassandra turned her face aside, embarrassed. "I thought it was fake. A second year killing a basilisk, that is impossible. You took part, I am sure, but I judged you were not the key."
Tom laughed in anger. "I take it back. Your brain does not work. You live entirely in your own assumptions."
"What gives you the right to say that?" Cassandra bristled. "The report flew in the face of common sense. It was not only me. Professors Graves and Caruso did not believe it either. Our school treated it like a joke."
"And yet they did not come pick a fight with me," Tom said, pricking the hole in her logic with one sentence. "You did, and paid the price."
"There are plenty of fools in the world, but as long as they do not provoke me, I am not going to line up to teach them all a lesson. You, though, came charging in with nothing checked, relying on your own guesses until I smacked you in the face. If you are not being foolish, who is?"
"You do not trust Hogwarts students? Then why not verify it with Veritaserum, or the Imperius Curse?"