Bloodsucker ; T.R

⁹ La révélation

"I was planning on doing that, Irma. I'm sorry I was too busy fainting." She huffed as she finally ripped the seal open, reading the message inside.

To the recipient,

You are cordially invited to the members-only dinner for the Slug Club. The introductory dinner is to be held in the first week of the second month this year.

You may bring a date or one guest if you so please. Do observe timeliness, as I will expect you to arrive at 8 pm, sharp.

Sincerely,
Horace Slughorn.

Humming as she finished reading, Ivory placed the letter back on her nightstand and excited the room.

A sleepy Maeve mumbled and groaned before she fully awoke. Her blurry eyes looked at the person to her side. "Morning Burgs, you're up early." She greeted the girl.

"I told you Maeve, I dislike it when you call me that." An irritated tone came out of Walburga's mouth, not even bothering to look up from her book.

"But you don't hate it though, don't you?" A groggy chuckle left her lips as she sat up, noticing the abandoned nightgown on Ivory's bed. "Has Ivory come to the dorm?"

"Yes, she just left actually. And she'd read the invitation already by the way. Apparently, Riddle asked her to come as his date, quite strange if you ask me."

"I agree. I don't think he has bothered asking anyone out since his invitation."

The two witches proceeded to talk about what they were going to wear for the dinner and guessed who their dates were going to be.

۝

Back in the boy's dorm room, Tom Riddle sat at his desk, writing away in his diary.

He wrote drafts about his plans for Christmas break even though it's months away. Eventually, his thoughts wandered back to a certain witch. Ivory has been occupying his thoughts recently. He noticed her blatantly avoiding interactions with him whenever she can, though he failed to see the reason why. This made it difficult for him to recruit her, leaving it for the knights to accomplish.

Tom also remembered asking her to be his date. It was for appearances, of course. Even if she wasn't invited to the Slughorn's club—which he doubted, he'd still ask her in order for people to associate the Lavigne with his name. A step closer in holding her influence within his grasp without her even noticing.

Once he was finished, Tom tucked the diary into a corner inside the desk's drawer. He stood up and proceeded to fix his hair in front of the mirror, making sure not to let a strand stray out of place before leaving his personal prefect room, the place where he opted to stay rather than the shared one with Abraxas.

"I thought you'd ask that Ravenclaw girl tonight?" Tom heard Nott's voice as he neared the common room.

There on the couch was Malfoy and Rosier, sitting across from each other. Nott stood behind the couch in which Malfoy sat, a cigarette on his lips.

"I changed my mind yesterday once I heard that she has unshaven pubes."

The boys snickered at his words. They looked in Tom's direction once they heard him approach.

"Where's Lestrange?" Riddle asked, noticing the missing person in the room.

"Old Pringle caught him and some girl making out in one of the broom closets the other day, he's in detention for that now." Malfoy answered.

"Is that so?" They turned towards a female voice that stood at the entrance of the girl's dormitory.

The girl's lips turned up to form a devious smirk, eyes the boys in the common room one by one with a glint in her eyes. Tom had already told them about her state. Now looking at her, people would have thought that the girl never fainted yesterday.

"Thank you for that information, Malfoy, it will serve useful to me." Ivory spoke with a joyful tone in her voice as she walked towards the exit.

"I can't let you do that Lavigne." Tom's voice stopped her in her tracks as she passed him.

She turned around to face him, raising a brow as she replied, "What do you mean by that, Riddle?"

"Matthew is... my friend." Ivory noticed the slight change of tone in the last word, "I know about your relationship with him and the task you were asked to do. I'd hate it if he gets scolded because of our little tattle talk."

"And what would I get in exchange for my silence?"

"What do you want?" Rosier asked.

She turned to face him, "What are you offering?"

"Tell us what you need and perhaps we may give it to you." Cyrus chimed in, now sitting beside Abraxas.

A laugh went passed her lips as she decided to sit down beside Rosier, "I don't need anything chers. It is you who need my secrecy."

Frustration was clear on the boys' faces, this didn't go unnoticed by the girl, "Why is it that all of you defend my cousin so dearly?"

"We're your cousins too you know," Alexis' irreverent tone spoke beside her.

A roll of her eyes came only as of the reply as she focused on Tom, "Well?"

He displayed a charming smile, walking slowly towards where she sat. "Let's just say, we wouldn't want anyone to obscure the path I and my friends are going towards."

Cogs turned inside her head, digging deeply into what Tom had meant by his words. Brown eyes narrowed as she thought, and then it came to her. Ivory looked up at Tom, her eyes wide and clear with understanding.

ㅤ

"You are all a part of an organization."