two can keep a secret,

chapter eight.

Lilith.

"Quote of the day?" Blaise asks as I sit down at the table for lunch. I slept through breakfast, and I was going to skip lunch. They're all here, as always.

"You look like shit," Draco says while I put my forehead in my hands.

"If Draco says one more goddam word, I'm going to snap his neck, and then do the same to Riddle for fun."

"Feisty this morning, are we?" Riddle asks.

"Fuck off."

"I warned you," he says as I put my forehead on the table.

"Blah, blah, blah. All right? I get it. I'm hungover so just shut the fuck up before I bash your head in."

"Can you teach us another game tonight?" Pansy asks, trying to be quiet.

I nod against the table. "If I don't feel like drop kicking someone."

"But you always feel like drop kicking Mattheo," Blaise says, patting my back lightly.

"He's the only exception in this situation," I mumble against the table.

"Aw," Riddle says, "I feel special."

"Shut up."

☯︎︎

I'm sitting in the common room on the floor. A few people are sitting around the table with us. I'm wearing black jeans and a ripped, baggy Green Day shirt. I'm lazy and tired, and my head still hurts. I went back and sat in my bed all day, trying to get my damn headache to go away. It never went away. I'm sitting here trying to explain how to play Uno to them.

"No, you can only place down the same number and or color," I say as Draco places a green one over a blue seven. "Draco, those aren't even- Oh my god, you guys suck."

"Are you on your period or something?" Nott asks.

Pansy, Daphne, Astoria, Me, and Riddle all glare at him. Riddle more subtly, but it's still there as he stands next to the fire. "No, I'm hungover, you douchebag. Fuck off and tell me when you actually get a girlfriend and not a hook up."

Blaise tries to stifle his laughter while Daphne high fives me.

"Give me your cards, people. I'm reshuffling them."

Everyone gives me their remaining cards and I start to go through them.

"Crabbe, this is a playing card, not an Uno card," I say, flinging a queen of hearts at his face. It hits him in the forehead and he starts rubbing it, looking down at the card weirdly.

I keep trying to explain how to play this game, and none of them have any idea. It's literally one of the easiest games ever. After a while, they all give up and go back upstairs. I'm not tired anymore, but I'm bored. And I don't feel like sitting in a room alone with Riddle.

I get up and start to walk out of the common room.

"Where are you going?" he asks.

I turn to look at him. He has his back to me as he looks into the depths of the Black Lake. "You don't need to know that," I say.

"You could get caught."

"I know."

He doesn't say anything else. So, before he can, I slip out of the room and start for the astronomy tower. It's a long walk, but I could do for one anyway.

When I get up there, I lean on the railing and watch the stars. And a while later, I feel a presence behind me.

"Did you follow me up here?" I ask as I hear the click of a lighter.

Riddle hums in response, walking up beside me with a lit cigarette in his mouth. He takes it out of his mouth and leans next to me on the railing. "It's nice up here."

I nod. Um, okay?

"You shouldn't have worn that dress last night."

I roll my eyes and turn to him and he puts the cigarette back in his mouth. "Why's that?"

He takes the cigarette out of his mouth and blows smoke, looking down. He looks over at me and shakes his head, looking forward again. "Every guy in that room was staring at your ass the whole night."

How comforting.

"Were you included in that?"

He scoffs. "No, I wasn't. I'm at least decently respectful. I know how to be a decent human being. If I was going to stare at your ass, I would date you."

I hum as he puts the cigarette in his mouth again. "So, why do you care if guys stare?"

He glanced at me, blowing smoke out of the side of his mouth. "It's disrespectful."

"To me, but not to you. So why do you care?"

He shakes his head and pauses, as if thinking. "I don't," he says.

"Liar."