Her Dark Artifice [t.r]

Chapter 3: The Premonition of Death

III

THE NEXT MORNING, Tom was waiting alone for Evadne at the bottom of the dimly-lit stairwell to the girl's dormitory. His hair had been gelled and brushed neatly out of his face and he looked a lot less rugged than he did aboard the Hogwarts Express last night. Now he was polished, neat, proper - the charming Tom Riddle that everyone adored.

Relieved to be back home at Hogwarts, and able to sleep without the sound of the air-raid sirens for the first time in two months, Evadne had overslept. For fifth years, their prefect duties began at six-thirty in the morning, two hours earlier than most students stirred from their slumber to drift into the Great Hall for breakfast, where they'd all also receive their timetables for the first term from their Head of House.

The time now was ten minutes past seven.

She was late.

Very late.

Tom checked an imaginary watch on his wrist. "You're late," he said, clearly annoyed. "If you're not serious about our duties, the role could've gone to Droope."

"Who, Margot?" Evadne scoffed condescendingly. She wasn't a morning person and was less tolerant of other people so early on in the day. "Whatever."

"You're half an hour late, you leave me waiting down here like a headless swan, and you're the one being tart."

Evadne brushed her hair out of her face with her hand. She then manoeuvred past Tom who loomed over her, jutting his jaw. If his presence wasn't intimidating enough, it didn't make it any better that he was so tall and imposing.

Evadne was willowy herself - she towered over most girls her age - but not nearly as tall as Tom. He clasped his hands behind his back and indignantly marched past her into the common room out of the dim stairwell. Evadne quickened her pace, and taking notice of this, Tom quickened his, too, until Evadne was a little out of breath and he looked down at her over his shoulder, sporting a sly smirk.

"Struggling to keep up?"

"Be quiet, Riddle."

"Quiet as a mouse, of course," he said in a heavy voice, opening the door to leave the common room. It creaked as it unlatched itself, and then the sound came to a screeching halt.

Evadne hesitated.

He raised his dark brows as if to usher her onward.

Evadne reluctantly ducked beneath his arm and stepped out into the unusually cold stone corridor.

*