Death's Daughter || Tom Riddle

Bookstore encounter | 25

Nyx watched as the two new friends joined arms and skipped off to Hogsmeade. She noticed how Evergreen and Mirage somehow got along quite easily which made her uneasy. She didn't quite know what to think of the two.

Dumbledore's warning overwhelmed her to the point where she was even more paranoid than before. He mentioned how her life was in 'grave danger,' even though he gave her no details on how her life could be threatened. After staring at the pair of friends finally leave her sight, she felt a tug to follow them, just in case. But yet, a more sensible part of her felt like it would just make her life riskier. Following two untrustworthy people into the unknown, without a plan or a backup plan.

She felt like she was reliving the time when she went into the cemetery late at night, a ridiculous decision. But instead of getting haunted by ghosts, she made a friend. Ravenous, to be exact. And for the present, she felt like doing a foolish act too but could the outcome turn into a god blessed turn instead? After her logical mind and hopeful heart fought for what felt like an eternity, she rose from her seat where she sat and followed the duo where she last saw them, hoping they hadn't gone too far.

She spotted the two girls a long distance away but did not rush forward to get closer. Instead, she kept her head low and pretended to be another wandering student off to Hogsmeade, keeping a low profile as much as possible.

The air was windy and cool, which made her regret not taking a coat with her, nevertheless, she continued on. It's not like she hasn't endured a much colder experience before. She thought back to the time when winter came, back when she was still living in that dreadful orphanage. The heaters were broken, the windows opened, and snow managed to make its way into the building. The only warm room was the caretaker's common room, which was restricted to children.

She furrowed her brows when a droplet of water fell onto her nose. She stopped in her tracks to wipe it off, but instead of getting dryer, another drop of rain fell onto her dark hair. And then another, then another, then another, and another. She quickly covered her head with her pale hands and rushed for cover, in a bookstore nearby. Once she entered, the first thing she smelled was the smell of parchment. Nyx had always liked to smell her newly purchased parchment every time she bought one. Some of her friends would call her a psychopath for doing that, whilst others would say they find it relatable. Well, she didn't quite have many friends, it was Caelum who found her actions weird, and Abigail who found it relatable, and Hunter only furrowing his brows in confusion.

Nyx pulled out her wand and cast a drying charm on herself, and tucked it back into her school robes. She then looked out of the shop's window, only to find it was raining even harder than earlier. She sighed in relief, glad she found shelter before the downpour and then thought back to why she was here in the first place. By now, Evergreen and Mirage were probably far away, laughing together at the Three Broomsticks or who-knows-where.

She decided she would let the two go for today, and so she took a look at some books aligned on the shelves in front of her. Most of them were educational, whilst others were fictional. Since she had never stepped into this bookstore, she decided to check out all of the books the store had to offer. She started off with the fictional books. Most of them being written by muggles, but nonetheless, interesting. She then moved on to the educational books, now written by wizards and witches.

Whilst examining each of the book titles, she looked upwards to see an interesting title, just out of reach. She first tiptoed to try and reach the book with failure. She groaned and took out her wand, just about to summon the book towards her outstretched hand when another pair of hands plucked the book off of the shelf. She quickly turned around to face the owner of the hands, almost crashing into a figure rather too close for comfort. She looked up and saw someone she didn't quite expect to see after his long disappearance.

"Riddle."

"Rivers."

They both stood there, staring at the other. Nyx's onyx eyes pierced Riddle's dark brown ones, whilst Riddle's eyes seemed to light up in amusement. She noticed how his mouth seemed to have twitched upwards for a second too. "Hand me the book, Riddle." She said rather aggressively. "And if I don't?" He taunted, giving her a childish smile. Nyx rolled her eyes and whispered the summoning charm under her breath, making the book soar out of his hands that were clasped over the book. This caught Riddle off-guard, making his eyes widen for a moment, but he quickly regained his cool posture. Instead, he decided to start a conversation with her. "I've never seen you in this store. What brought you here?" He asked, leaning against the bookshelves while his eyes were still trained on her figure. "Rain." She answered shortly, and pushed past him, looking for a peaceful and quiet corner to read the book.

Fortunately, Riddle didn't follow her and instead, went back to the bookshelves, his body hidden from view. She read the book she picked out until the rain ceased. Because she found the book to be enjoyable, she decided to purchase it. She paid the man at the counter and left the store, a bell ringing behind her, signaling her departure. But not before she got at least a foot from the place, she heard a ringing sound of the bell behind her. She looked back and saw Riddle, leaving the store, book in hand, and trudging the cobblestone road to Hogwarts.

He soon caught up to her and then they were walking next to each other at the same pace. She tried to out-walk him but he somehow managed to find his way beside her again. Finally, she gave up her escape and walked alongside Riddle, not sure if she should strike up a conversation with him first or wait until he had something to say.

After a moment of comfortable silence, Tom decided to speak to the flushed-faced girl beside him. "Did you buy that book back from the store?" He asked curiously. "Yes, I did." She replied back smoothly. He wasn't the type of guy to strike a conversation with a girl so he decided to keep his mouth closed for the rest of the trip back to Hogwarts.

But after a short moment pause, he said, "Waltz practice this evening?" She responded with, "Alright, same place?" He nodded his head, not sure if she saw his answer, but because she didn't say anything else, he took it that she saw him nod.

When they finally arrived at the castle, they immediately separated ways, not even bothering to say goodbye.

She went her way, whilst he went his way.

Any student would have thought he was just heading towards the seventh floor to roam around aimlessly, but if anyone who knew Tom well, they'd know he wouldn't do anything aimlessly. In fact, he was taking his newly purchased book to the Room of Requirement to test some new spells with the Knights of Walpurgis.

What Nyx didn't know, was that Tom was planning something way ahead of what she could imagine.