Avani had one true friend, Circe Fernsby.
Life would have been easier for Avani if Circe was not a muggleborn. Because being a muggleborn and a Slytherin seldom sat right.
In Circe's case, the two aspects fit like a rectangle in a triangle.
She often found herself the centre of attention of bullies, and Avani, being the impatient, hotheaded and intolerant girl she was, could not stop herself from standing up for her friend. Things got somewhat out of control when Avani was fighting.
It wasn't her fault that Mathias Black had chocked on the blueberry pie that she had shoved down his mouth.
He was an arrogant seventh year Slytherin. He had one of his mates add Veritaserum to Circe's food and made her tell everyone who she fancied. It happened to be the caretaker of Hogwarts. Circe was so embarrassed, she had walked out of the hall. She didn't cry, she never did, but Avani could tell she was upset.
After chocking on the pie, Mathias didn't die, unfortunately. Another unfortunate that came out of the ordeal was the fact that Avani was assigned detention.
With how her fate had been playing recently, she wasn't surprised a bit when the detention happened to be with Tom.
Avani used the shiny armour decorating the hallways of Hogwarts as a mirror to fix her hair. She did not know why she was doing that. She certainly did not want to impress Tom. And even if she did, she would not accept it. In her head, she was just passing time, purposely meaning to be late for detention.
Avani picked on her lips, twisting away the slightly chipped skin. She grimaced when she pulled too hard. An ache bloomed in her lower lip, the area turning a dark shade of pink.
"Fuck," she whispered, licking off the blood from her lip. She hung about for a while more, before getting bored and deciding to go to Tom's office. Annoying him bought her immense happiness, though it usually ended up with him leaving or her getting angry and throwing something at him. Still, bickering with him remained just as exciting.
His door was locked and she knocked twice. She tapped her foot on the floor as she waited.
When Tom did not open, she knocked thrice more, this time with her fist. The whole door rattled.
"Just a second, Miss Chaudhry," came a voice from the other side of the door.
Avani scoffed at the use of her title. He had really gone out and beyond to maintain things professional between them, pretending Paris didn't happen. It should have relieved her, it was what she wanted after all. To forget the time in Paris.
But strangely, she was not not as satisfied as she should have been. Because Tom looked like the winter hadn't affected him a bit. She, on the other hand, could not stop from thinking about him. It was tiring, really, and oddly humiliating, but she really had fallen for him.
She just wasn't sure she had gotten up yet.
She wished when she was to get up, it would happen fast. She hated being in her feelings, lusting after a man who did not want her.
Avani sighed, pinching her forehead that had begun to ache. She kicked the door this time.
The door opened.
"Finall- oh shit oh uh... Professor Dumbledore?" Avani stuttered, slapping a hand over her mouth.
Dumbledore smiled at her, glancing briefly at his watch. "Are you in a hurry, Miss Chaudhry, because those knocks sounded really loud."
Heat creeped up her face and she glanced behind Dumbledore, seeing Tom stand there. He didn't have his usual arrogant expression, instead he looked... tired.
"Yes," Avani started, "I thought I saw a wasp in the hallway and I was just scared."
Dumbledore's eyebrows cocked up. "A wasp?"
"Indeed, Headmaster."
"Scary things wasps. I myself am very afraid of those little creatures. One bit me on my upper lip a few years back. My cheek had swollen to the size of an orange," Dumbledore said, indicating the size of the swelling with his fingers. "I will ask the Caretaker to take care of it."
Avani nodded, rocking on her feet.
"Was the wasp the reason why you are twenty minutes late?"
Avani sucked in a breath, trying to come up with a lie. "It was actually Circe. She was extremely upset because of what went down at the great hall."
"Yes, and I did not get the chance to tell you this before, but I'm very impressed by how you stood up for your friend. Though I would have preferred some less violent methods."
Avani licked her lips. "I'm sorry about that. I lost my temper."
"It's alright. we all do at some times. Now, I should depart. I would hate to waste your time," Dumbledore said.
Avani bid him goodbye and watched him walk down the hallway. When he was out of sight, she sighed, stepping into the office.
"Close the door," Tom said, "wouldn't want that wasp buzz into my office."
"Not when you're already here," Avani said, shutting the door with her foot.
Tom ignored her, sitting behind his desk. He was wearing his glasses, which he usually only wore when he was having a headache. He rolled up the sleeves of his white shirt.
His hair was tousled, and there were dark circles lining his eyes. He looked exhausted. Avani wondered if it had something to with Dumbledore leaving the office just a few moments ago. She had noticed the past few days that the two of them had a strained relationship.
Tom looked up at her, raising an eyebrow. "Get to work."
"You didn't tell me what I was supposed to do?"
Tom leaned back in his seat, looking around the office.
"Did you not think of what I was supposed to do in your detention before? I must say, Professor Riddle, you're slipping."
"I was busy. Start by cleaning the bookshelf."
Avani walked to the bookshelf, dragging a finger across the spines of the books. "It's already clean."
Tom, who had began to mark some papers, looked up, an annoyed expression lacing his face. The look hurt Avani more than it should have. He truly didn't like her.
"Then write an essay expressing your guilt over what you did in the great hall. Make it five feet long," he said and went back to work.
"Five feet? Seems like a rather waste of time, don't you think? We both know I don't regret my actions one bit."
Tom slammed his quill on the table. "What is it that you want to do then, Ava- Miss Chaudhry?"
Avani tried to ignore the ache in her heart that his tone induced. "I- uh could do the homework you gave us today. I haven't done it yet."
"Do that," he said, pulling out a sheet of parchment from his drawer and handed her a spare quill and an ink pot. Avani sat across him on his desk, and began writing her essay on what would happen if an amortentia induced individual was to encounter a boggart.
The two of them worked in silence for quite a while, the sound of their quills scratching on parchment being the only sound to be heard besides the tick of the clock.
After a little time, Avani heard Tom groan, pressing his thumbs lightly against his eyelids. Avani licked her lips, ignoring the flutter in her stomach and went back to her essay.
After a while, she heard him ask, "do you want some coffee?"
Avani looked up, startled, but since she did not have a reason to say no to coffee, she nodded.
"Marvellous, make some for the both of us."
Avani let out a laugh full of disbelief.
"Hurry up. We don't have all night."
"Of course, sir," she said, her tongue dripping with a bitter undertone. She stood up, going to the little kitchenette in the corner of his office. She heated the machine with magic, and placed a tea cup under it. He did not have any sugar or milk in his office, so she skipped making one for her. She made Tom's coffee float around her, making it land softly on the desk.
Tom had stood up now, standing where Avani was sitting before, looking down at her essay.
"Is it going good?" she asked. Something within her craved a compliment.
"It's fine," he said, picking up the tea cup. The white china looked awfully small in his hands.
"You didn't make one for you?" Tom asked.
"I'm not a masochist. I don't like black coffee."
Avani looked at the clock on the wall, seeing that forty five minutes had passed, leaving them with a quarter of hour. She sat down in her seat, deciding she wanted to complete her essay there, instead of having to do it back at the dorm.
Tom stood over her, sipping his coffee as he watched her write. He placed one hand hand on the back of seat, leaning down a little.
He read a paragraph of her work, humming to himself. "That's interesting."
Avani groaned, leaning forward to hide her essay from his sight. "I haven't edited it yet. You don't get to judge."
"If you say so," he said. He continued standing besides her until he finished his coffee and Avani finished her essay.
There we're still ten minutes left. Avani looked up, about to ask him if she should stay there for the left time or if she could leave.
Her words lodged themselves in her throat, curling up and hiding in the safety of her voice box, when Tom rested his thumb on her lip. Avani felt the ache in her lip burn, the little wound still raw.
Tom looked down at her, brushing her lip with tender touch. When he realised what he was doing, he cleared his throat and withdrew his hand.
Avani did not know what came over her, but she grabbed his hand and placed it on her mouth again. His hands were warm and big and everything which had made her fall for him in Paris. His hand melted on her skin, and his eyes darkened when she stood up.
How was she meant to forget him, when he walked around the the hallways looking like the way he did, reminding of the things they had done in the French city. She was neck deep in her feelings, and she did not want to swim out just yet.
So she mustered all the bravery she had in her Slytherin body, and raised herself on her toes, swinging her arms around his neck for support as she touched her lips with his.
He was still for a second, both of their eyes opened as they stared at each other. For a moment, Avani thought he would push her away, lecture her on how she was student and what she was doing was improper. Avani would have told him the thoughts she had at night, and that her actions were not half as inappropriate as them.
Tom did not push her back, instead, he closed his tired eyes and deepened the kiss.
Avani was fuelled with heat and she forgot why she had hated him. She forgot how he had hurt her and how he had left her humiliated, because his touch felt stronger than any of those emotions ever could.