how it feels to be alive {tom riddle}

sixty-three: graduation

GRADUATION

"Good evening students and staff." McGonagall's voice echoed throughout the Great Hall, "It is today we come together to celebrate the achievements of our seventh year students in their graduation from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

Candles floated elegantly above, with round tables filled with students and staff around the borders of the large room. The ceiling was bewitched to show a clear night sky alight with bright stars.

Lucia sat with the other Ravenclaws, the Slytherins far away on the other side of the room. She attempted to find Tom with her gaze without much success.

The speech included many mentions of the triumph of completing education at Hogwarts, of the opportunities ahead, of the hard work put in by every student.

It was all really a blur for Lucia, it didn't even apply to her. She was fortunate that the classes she had completed had meant she could graduate, but with half a year missing from her transcript there was unlikely to be much ahead for her.

Names began to be called onto the stage to collect a scroll and shake the hand of the Headmistress.

Due to her surname's high position on the alphabetical list, it wasn't long before she was walking across the stage with the echo of her heels against the stone thumping in her ears. The satin of her dress tickled her legs as she moved towards McGonagall and collected her scroll with a smile. It was all a blur really, but she was relieved to be done with it.

She made her way back to her seat and continued to watch other students walk up to repeat her actions. They filtered across the stage, some she knew well, others she hadn't exchanged words with her entire schooling life. It was a kind of goodbye to them, as it was the last time she'd lay eyes on some of these people she'd occupied the same walls as for all those years.

Tobias walked with arrogance as he collected his scroll, but Lucia caught a hint of a scar visible beneath the collar of his shirt which made her tense for a moment as she recalled how he'd obtained it. She was yet to speak to him since she had returned, and hoped dearly she would be able to avoid it all together.

Lucia kind of zoned out to the sound of names being read out to the crowd. She perked up instantly when she heard the name that made her stomach drop just at the sound of it.

"Tom Rosier"

His black dress pants were fitted to perfection and crisply pressed, and his shirt and suit jacket without a crease to be seen. His curls sat tamed and styled nicely on his head in a way that they still appeared as soft as Lucia new them to be.

It was the first time she had seen him that night, and he never failed to take her breath away.

He walked across the stage with confidence, but not akin to the arrogance which Tobias exuded. It was more self-assured, as if he just knew the power he had.

McGonagall gave a tight lipped smile as she shook his hand, and he continued across the stone floor until he was walking back to his seat. Lucia followed him with her eyes to see where he would be sitting. As if he felt her gaze, his eyes flicked across the crowd until they rested on hers. It wasn't as if there weren't others looking at him, she supposed who wouldn't look. But there was something about the way he just sensed her energy projecting towards him like a magnet bound to inevitably meet with its opposite. They both felt it, the pull together.

The eye contact only lasted a second or two, but to Lucia it could have been an eternity. She would gladly spend an eternity looking at him. His stoic expression softened slightly for her, becoming warmer before he averted his gaze back to the direction he was walking.