Turned - Tom Riddle

Chapter Twenty Four

Three weeks had passed and there was no sign of Tom. Elizabeth hadn't really noticed. She had been so distracted with her classes, her friends, and of course, Joshua.

On a cold Thursday morning, Elizabeth read from The Daily Prophet while sipping on a goblet of water. She had made it down to breakfast early and was sitting across from Melissa who was deep in conversation with Bonnie. Elizabeth's friend group and Joshua's had combined into one. Walburga and Henry went into Hogsmeade and had coffee, Pevlos and Joshua spent days together going over Quidditch strategies and scrimmaging against one another.

Klaus walked in with Matilda, their hands intertwined. They had grown quite close over the few weeks they returned. Matilda even admitted she felt serious feelings for him, possibly even love.

"Hello," Matilda hugged Elizabeth as she sat down. Bonnie and Melissa's conversation drew to a close and Elizabeth folded her paper, setting it down.

Klaus sat down next to Matilda. "Morning," Elizabeth greeted the couple.

"I barely finished my work for Slughorn last night," Klaus groaned and rested his head on the table.

"I feel you, I only got about four hours of sleep last night because of it," Walburga agreed. He had asked them to write a whole essay on the importance of correct measuring in potions after Bonnie had accidentally added too many lacewing flies to a potion.

All of them gave Bonnie a stink eye. "Sorry, how was I to know that eight instead of seven would make the cauldron combust?"

"He told us to add no more than six!" Klaus cried, exasperated.

Bonnie shrugged, "I thought it would give my potion an extra oomph."

"And an oomph it gave," Joshua butted in, sitting down next to Elizabeth. He kissed her cheek and picked up the paper she had finished. "Sleep well?" he asked her after the conversations had picked up again.

"Very well, actually. I was able to finish my essay about measurements before dinner," Elizabeth boasted. "Writing comes very naturally for me."

Joshua slouched his arm around her and pulled her in tightly, "You're so smart, I'm surprised you weren't placed in Ravenclaw."

"Oh, she is not a Ravenclaw," Matilda shook her head. "She doesn't have the thought process of a Ravenclaw."

"Yeah, she wouldn't be able to figure out one of their little riddles. Well, it'd take her a while, I'm sure she could figure it out, though," Melissa added with a smile.

Joshua squeezed Elizabeth's shoulder, "I'm sure you'd do fine in any house."

"Quite contrary to you," Elizabeth pointed out. "I couldn't see you as anything other than a Gryffindor."

"Is that so?" Joshua smiled, his eyes shining.

Elizabeth nodded and leaned her head against his shoulder. After a brief moment of relaxation she heard Walburga gasp. "What's the matter?"

"Tom's back," Walburga whispered, nodding to the large doors. The entire group turned their heads to get a glance at him. Elizabeth looked at him in pity, his eyes looked sunken back and he seemed more rigid and tired. His features were so sharply defined, she feared they would slice through his skin.

Joshua's grip on Elizabeth's shoulder became tighter as Tom drew closer. As he slowly stalked past them, he locked eyes with Elizabeth. She tried to look away, but she couldn't. His eyes were captivating.

Tom stopped walking and Elizabeth feared he would say something. The group looked up at him, waiting for him to speak. He stood there, looking down, glancing from person to person.