The Last Drop |Tom Riddle|

Chapter Two: The Party

"Relax." Eleanor said to the exasperated man. "I don't want to do this anymore than you do but we must. Then it will be over soon."

The two of them laughed and she told him to get a drink for she would handle the rest.

When she finished within the hour, she retired to her room which had been up the stairs on the left and then she had to walk down the small balcony overlooking her entrance to the right side of her home where she kept her room and bathroom.

Eleanor kept paintings from the villagers nearby on the plain white walls and flowers from her backyard in her halls to keep things interesting. Despite being alone in this big house she often shared with the family who helped her decorate it now, it was still her peace at the end of the day that it brought it.

Eleanor's room had been one of the largest rooms of the house except her library and office.

The floors remained a soft marble and the walls became a light gray. Her bed sat low with a full set of ocean blue blankets and pillows and an elegant headboard against her wall in the middle.

Two large windows with a glass door between them lead out to a balcony and a large white curtain with a stripe of blue that matched her bed set at the bottom was drawn back to reveal her snowy garden.

She bathed in the large bathroom on the other side of her room behind another door and came out in her silky robe where her outfit lay on her bed and she headed towards her large vanity near the windows. She hardly wanted to get up from the steaming hot water as she almost fell asleep sitting there, but there was too much to attend to.

Marcella, Alan, Margot, and all the elves downstairs caused a lot of ruckus.

This was what she gets for offering to host the Christmas Party with an additional celebration for her promotion. But she hadn't really hosted a party since she still lived in the Parkinson Manor and she never really thought of them unless she had to go to one for Ministry purposes.

Eleanor wondered now as the Head Auror if she would have to attend more. Not only did Colin dread them but her brother did as well. Eleanor looked down on the white desk and studied her necklace where the Pendant and the Gaunt ring sat.

At the very least, this party may be able to distract her from today's new revelations and the new suspect she had on her hand but still would not dare to speak out loud of. Part of still didn't feel real. Out of habit though, she lifted the ring as it sat on the chain.

"Where are you, Tom Riddle?" she whispered into the air.

Eleanor thought about him from time to time.

The summer after graduation she often visited Borgin and Burkes based off of rumors she heard. She left numerous letters for him detailing her Auror training and how she had wished he was here. Someone even said he had asked for a job back at school to be a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. She could have saw him successfully standing in that position rather than at a magical antique shop. But while each one suited him well just by a little bit, neither of them held him.

At the very least though, she knew he was alive somewhere. She could feel it.

But as her eyes drifted back up to her reflection in her mirror, she let out a startled gasp as she caught sight of a blackened ghastly figure and spun around, summoning her wand within a second only to fire a purplish beam of light at nothing but her wall.

Eleanor's heart thumped against her chest, rattling her nerves like a ringing bell and she had stared frantically at the spot where she thought she saw Tom Riddle.

Taking deep breaths, she frustratingly turned away and threw the ring towards her vanity out of frustration. This happened sometimes but it seemed awfully inconvenient for it to occur today, leaving her angry and upset.