"You're very charming," she said quietly. "Not just charming, but beautiful in the sense that the world could almost pardon you for your sins."
Tom grinned cunningly, perhaps even blushing though he'd never admit it. "And you're very much mine."...
I laid on the ground, back in the Riddle manor, helplessly. The room was more closed in, the fireplace blazing green instead of red and oranges. The only shadow in the room was the one approaching me. My body was petrified, but my heart raced faster than you could hear and his figure approached me. My eyes examined the room in panic, looking for a way out as he got on his knees and stroked my cheek with a grin.
Then in a blink, I woke up in my dormitory. Alone.
Christmas break ended and the halls began to fill again. Some students struggled to adjust to their new classes and for some, it was the same old. Nothing about Druella was new, unless you counted her closer relationship with Cygnus–Not that I noticed, but more like I was being forced to hear about it.
I didn't show up to class on the first day and had to lie about getting food poisoning. I couldn't bear to be in class and cover up Serenity's disappearance to Druella or anyone on the Slytherin quidditch team.
On the second day of the holiday's end, I attended class. I had stopped showing up to Riddle's tutoring lessons with Theo. Day by day went slowly and painfully without Serenity.
"Are you alright?" Druella asked me as we made our way to class. I nodded and she paused, pulling me aside of the corridor. I couldn't lie to her, it'd be too painful to watch her struggle with the right words to say...
"You're not gaining feelings towards someone else, are you?" she questioned me. "Because Nott is a-"
"No!" I exclaimed right away. "Never, what makes you think that?"
She looked over my shoulder. "I just don't want you hanging out with the wrong crowd."
I turned my back and saw Riddle's shadow disappear.
Then later that night, just as I predicted, every student was pulled away from their beds in the middle of the night. Just like last year when Myrtle Warren was murdered. We were summoned to the great hall. Not a second was given for us to change so Druella and I showed up in robes and slippers. All of the students were crowded, slowly forcing ourselves into the great hall. I could hear whispers and rumours boiling already.
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"D'you think someone else has been murdered?"
"It's Warren all over again."
"It's as if this school is cursed or something!"
There were many agreements on that one.
I felt a familiar touch on my arm and saw Theo. I knew he had noticed my behaviour lately. His hand slid down my arms, past the compass-watch, and gripped my hand in his. His silence said more than anything else in the room; It will be okay.
In that moment, in the middle of my mourning, I knew I had fallen in love. It wasn't the feeling everyone described in tales. It wasn't an overwhelming sensation of being caught off guard and realising how much you were grateful for them.
