ethereal | tom riddle.

birthday brunch

Eliza woke up to the boys all asleep in her room, everyone other than Tom of course. They all woke up to the sound of him entering the room at 7:30 in the morning, perfectly dressed up in his uniform.

Eliza slept on her bed, Theodore lying on Abraxas' bare stomach at the foot of her bed as Zabini and Orion slept on a chair each, their heads barely having any support. Rosier, however, easily had the strangest sleeping place for that night, laying fast asleep on Eliza's table, using her thick textbooks as a pillow for his head.

Tom had left the previous night after they'd all fallen asleep, and then went back to his own room. He, of course, could not have been one to sleep on the floor or chair. Everyone other than Rosier stirred to consciousness by the loud creaking of the door opening as they rubbed their eyes or squinted at Tom in the door way.

They all groaned and made sounds of irritation and they stumbled to get up. "I suppose we delay breakfast." Tom sighed, shaking his head as they all nodded and mumbled him a tired 'yes'.

They managed to some how make it out of her room and went to their own dorms to get ready for breakfast. Eliza was surprised when rather than going to the Great Hall for breakfast, they instead led her to the lake side where a little picnic was set up under the shade of a big tree.

Eliza's jaw dropped as she looked at the cutest arranged picnic in front of her. On the mat were all her favourite breakfasts in large bowls and plates for each of them.

Eliza absolutely loved the breakfast, finding it especially adorable that they all had cared so much as to do this for her. She had been absolutely begging them to have a picnic by the lake, which wasn't something they had ever done.

They ate and laughed as usual, eating heartily in what seemed to be their own private lake since no one was there at the time. The sky was cloudy, almost as though it was going to rain, so the weather was pleasantly chilly.

They went back up shortly after their meal, all heading off to their own classes of the day. At Potions sixth period, Slughorn wished Eliza dramatically, making a whole speech in front of the entire class about how wonderful a student she is.

It took up about half the class, Slughorn even going as far to give her a gift after class. The book he had given her was a collector's edition of her favourite romance literature. She thanked him genuinely, appreciating greatly that he had remembered their conversation from a few years ago.

On their way out of class, Tom and Eliza were stopped by an unfamiliar Slytherin boy in the corridor. "Happy birthday, Eliza." A first-year came up to her, awkwardly blushing at her as he gave her flowers. He looked up at Tom, as though just realising he was there. Tom was giving him a glare, an arm sliding protectively around Eliza as she smiled and accepted the flowers.

The boy scampered away quickly, scared of Tom. Eliza turned to Tom, happy about the flowers until she saw Tom's expression which made her roll her eyes. "He's a first year, Tom. A child." He turned to look at her, an eyebrow raised. "At least he got me a gift." She said, giving him a pointed look. At that, his lips turned up at a corner.

He was still holding her by the waist as he leaned down slightly, tucking her hair behind her ear. "Oh, darling. Don't worry, you will get a birthday gift tonight. I promise you will love it. Even if your screams don't sound like it."

Her breath hitched in her throat, as he pulled away from Eliza's suddenly red face. She cleared her throat, and looked down to avoid his gaze. She then realised, the flowers in her hand had wilted. They had gone from being a bright bouquet of red roses, to ones that looked dry and lifeless with the drooping flowers on the weak stems.

She glared at him, despite loving how petty he had gotten. "You did this." She simply stated, knowing for sure that he did that just so she wouldn't keep them up in her room.

"What are you going to do about it?"

"You're jealous."

"You're already mine, I have no reason to be."

"Sure."

They continued on their way to lunch, taking their usual hidden path through the back courtyard where no one ever was. Eliza's face lit up upon realising that it was raining, and she grinned at Tom as she looked up at him with a very obvious idea on her face.

In under a minute, Eliza ran out onto the green and wet grass, immediately becoming drenched in the cold prickling water of the rain. The smell of rain in the air was beautifully comforting, and Eliza spin around with her open hair, frolicking through the pouring rain.

Tom sat on the bench close to her protected from the rain, their books beside him. Eliza took his hand, tugging on it as she asked him to dance with her. She played the birthday girl card and he grudgingly agreed.

They slow danced in the rain, the pattering on the droplets again the grass their music as they moved in a rhythm that seemed practiced, but was actually not.

He spun her around, her giggling as she fell back into his arms and continued their little dance through the courtyard. It seemed as though in that moment they were in a world entirely of their own. There was not a person to be seen or a sound to be heard that wasn't Eliza's laughs or the pattering of the rain.