His Saving Grace

Chapter 5 - Confrontations & Predicaments

I quickly apologized for carrying myself in such an ungraceful manner, but he quickly put his hand on my arm and reassured me that it was purely his fault.

"It's alright Athena, it's on me. I was barely looking in which direction I was going and you're definitely not ungraceful.", he said with a slight chuckle.

Then, he lowered his hand to my waist and we made our way inside the room. I asked him if he wished to sit with me, to which he responded with a long explanation about how Slytherins were "not supposed to mingle with the enemy during class", the enemy apparently being me, due to the Slytherin Head Boy's newest orders for his blind admirers. Abraxas disliked Tom Riddle, one of the few Slytherins to hold such an opinion, but he still took Riddle's words seriously.

I rolled my eyes and laughed loudly, but since I understood that Slytherins took Riddle's words very seriously even if they did not particularly liked those words, I reassured Abraxas that I would be fine on my own and made my way towards the front of the class.

I greeted Professor Snape, to which I received a look of acknowledgement in return. Snape acknowledging a student's presence in the class means a lot, so I never expected more than that from him and that was fine by me. Various Ravenclaws, Slytherins and a few Gryffindors made their way inside the dark and spacious Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. I never understood how anyone could dare to arrive less than ten minutes before the class started, Snape was the only individual that cared for punctuality more than my aunt.

Of course, this did not apply to Riddle who arrived with the sound of the bell and was still positively acknowledged by the professor. Riddle made his way to the front and, out of all the seats he could choose, he decided it would be perfect to sit right next to me.

During the class, I was trying to focus on what Professor Snape was discussing, but I kept feeling Riddle's deep cold stare on my profile which greatly annoyed me and I could not handle it anymore. After a few minutes of waiting to see if he would stare at something else or sneer at someone who breathed near him, I noticed that he was not going to stop.

I faced him and said a tad too loudly, "Riddle, take a picture it'll last longer." and rolled my eyes.

Professor Snape stopped talking and I noticed everyone was staring at us. Okay, maybe I did not speak in a slightly loud manner, I definitely screamed at Riddle. As Snape walked towards our table, my anxiety increased by a long shot. I could not believe I had already made a scene in a classroom and it had not even been a full day, but I blame it on Riddle and his unnecessary staring.

The professor looked at us and said, "Any problems Miss Alastair, Mr. Riddle?".

Before I could respond, Riddle said, "No problem at all Professor Snape, the most sincere apologies on Athena and I's behalf."

I definitely thought that someone drank a polyjuice potion and that this boy sitting next to me could not possibly be the rude, disrespectful and arrogant Tom Riddle. I was extremely confused as to why he did not completely throw me under the bus for being disruptive, but I let it go. Then, as Snape nodded to us and continued with his lesson, I no longer felt Riddle's gaze on me and I was greatly relieved to be able to successfully pay attention to the remainder of the class. Once the bell rung, I quickly apologized to Snape and wished him a good day to which he reacted merely by nodding in my direction.

As soon as I exited the room, I scurried through the halls and made sure to find Riddle before making my way to Divination. I was already near the entrance of the class, yet I had not found the person I was looking for. I decided not to stress because he was probably in this class as well and he is not that important to begin with.

I know one would ask themselves why I despise him so much, but it is impossible not to. Since first year, he has been one of the most arrogant, disrespectful, rude and insensitive people I have ever met in my seventeen years. He is so sinister and dark, it is surprising he has not turned to the dark side of magic. But my deep-rooted dislike for such a plague of a man is not nearly as important as my success, so I entered the class, found my seat and erased Riddle from my thoughts.

I said a quick hello to Professor Trewlaney and received praise in return, as usual. Unlike Snape, she was much more charismatic and I was undoubtedly her favorite pupil.

"Oh Athena my dear, how nice to see you again! How was your summer darling?", she asked cheerfully with a pondering look glistening her features. "My top student hopefully had a good summer because you deserve it, but the horoscopes we had read before the summer said yours was going to be quite uneventful. Your aura seems quite at ease which fills me with tremendous joy. Oh oh enough talking from my part, please do tell!"

To which I gave her my happiest of smiles and replied, "Well Professor Trewlaney, as you know, my aunt is quite a difficult woman and the manor is a lonely place so my summer was spent practicing spells, staring at the ceiling and making friends with the house elf that cleans my room. Very uneventful, just like the horoscope said."

She then smiled at me softly, nodded and started her class.

I adored and craved the motherly love and attention she constantly gave me. My mother passed away when I was very young so I do not even remember what she looked like. What I do know, is that the Alastair empire was already diminishing way before my parents' passing and my aunt and I are all that is left. We still hold high amounts of power and respect among the elite wizarding families, but there is no one I can turn to and consider family anymore.

Divination was the only class in which I never felt unseen and I knew all of my efforts were strongly appreciated by Trewlaney. Similar to myself, she was quite misunderstood by many. I can truly say, I would deeply miss Professor Sybill Trewlaney when it was time to leave Hogwarts.