Her hands felt soft cotton fabric.
Ivory shuffled around, her eyes slowly blinking open. Where am I? She looked around where she lay. It was dark, night out. There were beds laid against the wall, 6 in total. A sterile scent was strong in the air as she took a deep breath. Then her memories came back to her, she remembered blacking out just as she was about to go back to her dorm.
I must be in the hospital wing, then.
The dark blue dress she was wearing was now replaced with her white nightgown. She supposed one of her two roommates changed her some time that night.
Sighing, she took the blanket off of her as she struggled to stand up, her legs wobbled as they struggled to support her upper weight. Ivory sighed, trying to muster enough strength to walk outside the wing. I really need to feed now, she said to herself, focusing only on her search for blood.
The halls were dim, only the light of a couple of candles lighting the way. Her feet took her to the nearest exit. Slowly, she pushed open the door and went outside. The grass was moist with the rain that morning, the full moon's light only reaching the edges of the dark forest.
Her breathing quickened as she stretched her limbs, pain growing as her flesh teared, muscles growing thicker. Her ears grew longer, the outer part forming into a point. For a while, she stilled, waiting for the pain to subside.
As it faded away, she ran.
Ivory sprinted towards the forest, her steps leaving light footprints from the power she was exerting. Red eyes darted around, easily seeing in the dark. The forest was silent, except for the occasional flap of bird's wings and cricket's chirping. The blonde girl —mare, stood motionless, waiting for prey to come. When she heard light treading and smelt it's peculiar gamy scent, Ivory slowly prowled towards it.
It turned out to be a deer like she expected. It was by a small pond drinking water, oblivious to the glowing golden red orbs lurking from behind a tree root. She patiently waited for the right moment, when the deer would turn it's head down to drink again.
Just as it did, Ivory lunged towards the deer, sounds of distress emitting from it. The deer thrashed around, the long antlers giving her difficulty in wrapping her arms around it's head. But it slowly got tired.
As it ran out of stamina, she took the opportunity and dug her claws into it's skin, keeping it from moving even more. It bawled from the pain, thrashing around with it's last efforts to escape.
Finally, she dug her teeth into it's neck.
Blood pumped into her mouth as the deer's heart beat quickly from the adrenaline. Ivory can feel her strength coming back with just that, so she drank further, unable to control her thirst much longer.
Sucking in the last few drops, she dropped the deer, no longer holding it in place with her nails. There lay its carcass, visibly thin from it's blood being drained till the last drop.
Ivory felt invigorated, her lips no longer dry and chapped like the last couple of days, and her hair glowing more radiant than ever. She wiped away the blood off of her mouth and chin as she turned away from it, some still on her chest and dress.
I wonder how my classmates would react if they saw me like this, Ivory chuckled as wondered to herself.
On the way back to the castle, her mare state slowly faded. Returning back to her normal human self, Ivory casted a wandless spell that removed the blood off of her clothes. Matthew was the one who taught that to her, with him always getting into fights he basically mastered the charm, she now uses it whenever she feeds without a wand. Of course, he doesn't know that this is what she was using it for. Now feeling revitalized, she thought of turned into a bird to go back to the castle faster.
Shapeshifting for her was far more easier than forming into a mare. With a hop to jumpstart her flying, she turned into a raven.
Just as she was going back inside the hospital wing, she caught a whiff of the familiar amber-coffee-whiskey scent. Riddle? Her theory was correct as she entered the room. There he stood over the bed she slept.
"Unable to sleep again, Riddle?"
Her voice broke the silence around them, startling Tom as he turned around to face her.
"Yes, it appears so." He murmured, straightening his stance before speaking again, "Where were you?"
He checked on her late afternoon, expecting her to be awake. But when he arrived, she was still asleep, looking so sickly as ever. So why does she look good now? Radiant even.
"I was hungry, so I went to the kitchen, Walburga taught me how to enter." The lie forming easily on her lips.
Both of them stood there, confused about the other's presence.
"I didn't expect you to visit so late, what time is it?"
"It's 1, nearing 2. I was just checking up on how you were doing, you did just faint unexpectedly this morning."
Ivory walked towards her bed, sitting down on it as she replied, "Yes, though I was feeling rather sickly the past few weeks. I suppose it's the climate here. France is hotter this time of month, Scotland's noticeably colder."
Tom sat down on the foot of the bed, clutching his robes closer to him as he hummed. He looked at her, noticing that she was barefoot. Not just barefoot though, her feet had mud and cuts of grass, as if she had walked outside.
"I'm assuming you were walking outside in the cold too?" He asked, a malevolent tone clear in his voice.
Ivory followed his gaze, looking at her unclean feet. Putain, I didn't have the chance to gather my shoes. She swallowed and attempted to make an excuse but Tom cut her off.
"Save me your lies, Lavigne, you'll only end up looking like a bigger fool." Tom scoffed at her as he leaned nearer. "What were you doing out Ivory?"
With his voice now dangerously low, Tom reached out a hand to grab a strand of hair.
She didn't flinch as he pulled slightly on a curl. Brown eyes followed slender fingers as he let go of her hair, a smudge of red now evident on his fingertips. Ivory furrowed her brows, her eyes slightly widening as their eyes met. Tom's furrowed brows and narrowed eyes reached hers, suspicion practically plastered on his face.
"Are you bleeding anywhere, Ivory?" The question slowly uttered from his lips.
She shook her head, quickly coming up with a lie. "That's probably from the cherry pie I ate."
The lie was pathetic, and Tom knew that. He was right, she should've just shut her mouth and save herself the embarrassment.
A sinister chuckle came out of his lips as he stood up, stepping directly in front of her now. He brought his finger to his lips, licking the rouge liquid off.
"That cherry pie must have tasted quite salty then, is that correct?" Tom asked as he leaned down on her, scrutinising the emotion on her face.
Big eyes looked up at him, Ivory refused to raise her head further. She refused to show her nervousness. Refusing even more to show embarrassment. Tom Riddle was onto her, and something was telling her that he wouldn't stop now that he was curious about her real whereabouts.
Unblinking, she mustered a sweet smile for him. Ivory learned her lesson and now she'd kept her mouth shut.
Tom was now hovering over her, his hands on each side of her, grabbing support on the bed. Ivory leaned back on her elbows, her head tilted to the side as Tom looked at her closely. Their breaths mixed as the atmosphere grew warmer. He wanted to see the look of shock on her face as he prodded questions, how the panic would form in her features as she realized that he knew she was lying to him.
But there wasn't.
Only the sly smile on her red lips and round eyes that held mysteries he so desperately wanted to reveal met Tom. She wasn't even sweating, it was as if she was telling the truth. Or if she was playing him like he was her. Both played cat and mouse with each other, though it wasn't clear who was the mouse and who was the cat.
Something stirred inside of him, an emotion he hasn't experienced before. Tom realized that he wanted to win this game they were playing, he just had to look even closer at her actions to figure out her true intentions.
To figure out who really was the famous Ivory Lavigne.
A charming smile was now on his lips as he straightened up. "Are you feeling better now?" Tom's voice went back to his normal tone.
The girl struggled not to let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. Instead of sitting straight, she just laid down, her feet still planted on the ground.
"Yes, much better actually. I wonder if it's because of Madam Hadkins aid."
"You certainly look better."
Ivory let out a playful scoff, looking up at his standing figure, "Is Tom Riddle saying I looked horrible in the past week?"
"Exactly that."
A laugh sounded out her lips, the noise unfamiliar to Tom. As she did, he felt that unusual feeling again. He furrowed his brows and shook his head lightly in attempt to remove the sensation. He walked away from her, heading to the exit of the room.
"You should rest, the first Slug Club would be held tomorrow evening and you will come as my partner."
The statement processed in her brain. Tomorrow evening... wait... partner?
"Hold on, what do you mean partner?" She called out to Tom, sitting up from her position.
But the boy didn't respond and just kept walking until he was out of sight.
A thump sounded as her body hit against the mattress. A sigh escaped her lips, finally being able to breathe freely without him being in the room. My carelessness will be the death of me. Ivory closed her eyes, her mind running of the thoughts about the boy that was just in the room.
She wondered what tomorrow evening will bring.