"Volga, do you know what happened?"
Rolling her eyes, Volga glanced at the junior chatting with someone in the corner. She did know something, though only about how that half-blood had played those idiots like fools and gathered a large following. "Who knows? Perhaps your little wildcat has grown tired of you... fellow."
Abraxas fixed Volga with a warning glare. Only after not hearing that damned "Master" did he look away, letting out a faint sigh. "Hah... I really do hate those idiots. Tch..." Rising to smooth the wrinkles from his robes, Abraxas walked over to Tom, laid a hand on his shoulder, and looked down at the people gathered around him.
The others wisely left, leaving their leader with the heir of House of Malfoy. Tom still wore his flawless false smile. He rose, lowered his posture, and bowed slightly to the person behind him. "Senior Abraxas..."
"Didn't I tell you to call me Abou?" Abraxas interrupted unhappily. Pressing his lips together, he pulled Tom away and only released him once they had entered his dormitory. He tapped a cup and handed him some hot tea. "Little Tom, are you trying to distance yourself from me?"
Cradling the exquisite porcelain, Tom lowered his eyes to the teacup in his hands. Look at that—the tea set his senior used to entertain guests was something he had never seen in his life. Hadn't that distance always existed?
"How could that be? I simply don't want to cause you trouble, Abou... Those increasingly outrageous rumors might cause Senior Greengrass to misunderstand, wouldn't they?"
It was obvious that Tom did not mean what he said. Abraxas stepped forward and raised a hand to ruffle his hair, only to see Tom smile and step back. A flicker of hurt passed through Abraxas's eyes. He