The rest of the week drags on and on Thursday evening, everyone is excitedly chatting in the common room about the Halloween feast and party that is happening tomorrow. You'd decided you were just going to go as a black cat.
It was simple, quick and easy to do and was just enough to get you in the Halloween spirit for standing around and chatting with your friends whilst you had a few drinks together.
You'd found that recently you weren't living for time with your friends as much now, now that your brain was consumed with Tom. Hanging out with your friends wasn't as exciting or as fun as your secret moments with Tom. You found yourself savouring every single little smile or moment of eye contact in a corridor, as well as every secret kiss and cuddle up in the hideout room or outside your dormitory door at night.
You found that the days seemed to drag but on the days when you could race up to the secret room and make with Tom, made all the long boring classes worth it.
It was like an obsession and you found yourself smiling to yourself at random moments throughout the day remembering your time together or something he'd said. How your friends hadn't picked up on your new ridiculously happy demeanour you weren't sure.
By Wednesday, you and Mattheo had managed a few polite moments of conversation outside of class after being forced to work together in a group in charms.
He still smiled at you awkwardly and it made you feel so uncomfortable, but it was good to see him walk into the smaller common room earlier with some of your other friends, wanting to be part of the prank. It was like he was getting back to his normal self and it made you pleased.
You had all just snuck back down from the smaller common room where you'd all huddled together in secret, finalised your plan for tomorrow's devious prank.
It was going to work. It had been well planned and thought out.
This prank and the resulting party was going to go off without a hitch.
You smile and laugh at Daphne as she carries on her impassioned rant about Halloween outfits and shake your head as she tries again to convince you to let her do special FX makeup on you.
She gets so excited about her own costume ideas she starts ranting louder, her hands waving excitedly and your eyes flick across to the other table where Tom was studying as his movement catches your eye.
You watch as he rolls his perfect dark eyes at Daphne's excited ranting, so you pick up your phone and text him, pleased to have another reason to speak to him, amused at his reaction.
-
"She's coming!" You whisper loudly across at the others, looking down at your phone, reading the text that Pucey had just sent you from his lookout position on the floor below.
It was the afternoon break on Friday. Most students were outside or in their common rooms relaxing before after-school activities begin but some of the Slytherins were up to something. Including you.
Mattheo and Theo press themselves up out of sight in an alcove on the other side of the corridor and you and Enzo do the same on your side. You press yourselves flat against it more, breathing in tightly as you hear the clacking sound of tiny little kitten heels walking towards you.
A few seconds later, a short woman in a bright fuchsia two piece skirt and suit jacket waddles her way past you all.
The victim of your prank.
Dolores Umbridge.
Her head is down, muttering to herself angrily and her clipboard as she walks up the corridor towards her classroom. Your heart thuds as she passes, trying to keep perfectly still so she doesn't see any of you.
Theo grins across the corridor at you and Enzo and Mattheo watches her walk away until she enters her classroom. You all creep up the corridor following her silently.
One of your other accomplices, Daphne, had already done her part of the prank earlier during her free period, sneaking into the office under the disillusionment charm and replacing Umbridge's pink powdered sugar with powdered pink puking pastilles.
It was well known that Umbridge loved to have many cups of tea throughout the day and she always took a small afternoon tea break during this break time.
You all peek round the classroom doorway carefully and you see an empty classroom.
Between you all, you had taken turns tailing her over the past week, making a note of her routine so that this prank could go off without a hitch.
It was 4pm. Time for Umbridge to take her twenty minute tea break before heading off to monitor detention. That means you have fifteen minutes at most to pull this off.
You all wait at the doorway to the DADA classroom, listening intently, waiting for the confirmation that Daphne's part in the prank had worked. You just had to wait for the cue.
A couple of minutes later, you hear it. The sound of someone throwing up violently. It makes you grin as it's the sign that the plan is working. You all creep through the classroom towards the teachers' office.
Theo stays by the door, he was going to execute the next part of the plan after this one.
Up now was Enzo, another one of the good sprinters in your group, just in case it was needed. He creeps forward heading for the office stairs.
"Disillusion!" You hiss at Enzo.
You watch as Enzo disappears on the stairs up to the DaDA teacher's office, the door very slightly creaking open, the sound of someone being sick becoming louder. Not even fifteen seconds go by before the door to Umbridge's office moves again, the sound of her throwing up in her private office bathroom becoming louder, making you all snigger with laughter.
Enzo rematerialises and grins at you all, raising the wand up high and you all give him a thumbs up sign.
Enzo throws the wand along the length of the classroom to Theo waiting by the door and he takes off running down the corridor with it to hide it somewhere in the school, most likely the roof or by throwing it in the lake as he had suggested earlier.
Now it's your turn to play your part in the prank.
You turn back to the office door and point your wand at it, locking it with a super-lock spell you'd managed to find out from Pucey. It meant that the door could only be unlocked by magic, so Umbridge was now trapped in her office, unless someone came to help her. Which they wouldn't because no one would come up here looking for her, staff or pupil, as no one liked her. At best she would be found after curfew by Filch.
"Go!" You say quickly, shooing the boys with your hands and Enzo and Mattheo who were waiting at the door already, start running. You run up the gap in between the desks and out of the DaDA classroom following them as fast as you can run.
You're all running down the corridor, the boys sprinting so far ahead of you that they're at the stairs already, skidding into each other as they turn and race down them.
As you run past a doorway you're almost winded by someone grabbing the front of your jumper and pulling you off to the right into a classroom. Fear and panic fills you as the person slams you quite hard up against a wall. Your eyes go wide as you recognise them.
"What are you getting yourself into now, trouble?" Tom smirks down at you, his voice teasing and your chest heaves as you gasp out a laugh of relief when you see who it is who grabbed you.
He lets go of you but keeps you pinned against the wall with his body as he waits for you to answer him, his arms either side of you, his body so close you can't really duck under his arms either.
"Nothing." You say in a sweet innocent tone with a smile.
"Didn't look like nothing to me... looked a lot like you lot were stealing a teacher's wand?" He raises an eyebrow in amused disbelief, tutting you afterwards in a way that makes you nearly blush.
His sudden appearance had startled you in a good way but you were now also a little nervous. Even though he was your boyfriend, he was also Head Boy and if he wanted to, he could dole out detention for this or worse turn you in to the teachers. Tom had a strange sense of humour and for a moment you watch him with worry, hoping he won't turn you in or punish you out of some perverse joy he got from his position of authority. You knew him well enough now to know he liked to tease and would probably find it funny giving his own girlfriend detention.
"Uh... no? We were just-" You manage to say whilst still trying to calm down from the adrenaline you feel but Tom interrupts you, his tone firm and serious.
"Don't lie to me Y/N. I just saw Theo run off with it and the rest of your friends sprinting for the common room."
You grin at him as you realise he must have seen almost all of the prank being pulled off and you know you've been rumbled. There's no way out of it but you still don't want to spill any extra details in case he does give you detention for fun.
You look up at him and you wonder how he knew where you all were. The castle is huge and this wing nearly empty as people enjoyed break time outside.
"How did you know where we were?" You ask raising an eyebrow.
"I watched you all leave the Great Hall, Mattheo had that look in his eye, so I followed... stealing a teacher's wand...bad girl." He shakes his head in a playful mocking way but your smug facial expression at him not knowing the full extent of the prank.
He looks your face over and tilts his head slightly as he thinks.
"What else did you do to her?" He asks slowly as his mind thinks, his eyebrow raised and he lowers his head closer to you and his voice drops down lower into a more serious, warning tone. "Y/N... you are aware of the amount of trouble you will be in if any of you have incapacitated a teacher..."
"Oh relax. It's only ground up puking pastilles in her tea instead of sugar, she'll be fine tomorrow. Mattheo wanted to tie her up and leave her out in the forest all night!" You say as you roll your eyes and grin again.
Tom chuckles a little at the thought and he looks back in the direction of the corridor, you can see him wondering why Umbridge wasn't stumbling out of her office on her way to the Hospital Wing to get help. He turns his head down to you, his hand on your cheek, his thumb rubbing it slightly.
"You locked her in her office, didn't you?" He says slowly and his eyes study your face even more closely and you can't help but flash a slightly smug expression at him, causing the corner of his mouth to slowly lift. " It was you, wasn't it? The locking her in part? You little troublemaker..." He says quietly, turning his head down more staring at your growing grin and it makes him chuckle and shake his head.
You can't help but grin even more smugly at your part in the prank as Tom realised what you've done. It would hopefully mean Umbridge would stay in there well into the party if not past it, meaning you guys could get away with your Halloween party in peace.
None of the other teachers liked her so you were sure they wouldn't be seeking her out, even if she was meant to be on duty tonight. Her absence would be put down to her wandering around elsewhere in the castle looking for trouble makers and all teachers and staff would just be pleased she wasn't in the same room as them. It was a perfect plan.
"She would ruin the night for everyone!.
We just want to have a party and be able to sneak out without her and her crazy rules spoiling our fun." You say putting your arms out a little, trying to justify your actions to him.
"Rules are there for a reason Y/N...and I'm sure attacking a teacher is very high up on the list of no-no's...."Tom says quietly as he strokes your cheek and smiles, his other hand on your waist, his voice soft and almost teasing.
You can't help but stare up at him, enjoying how close he was, even if he had you still pressed up against a cold stone wall. You'd barely seen him the past two days because of all of his work and right now you don't even care if he's about to drop you in trouble, you're just enjoying his teasing voice and soft touch.
He smelled so good. He looked even better as his hair had slight curls to it today. You wanted to kiss him again but you snap yourself out of it and playfully talk back to him.
"Yeah to be broken..." You grin at him and he does his amused head tilt, raised eyebrow and smirking look that always makes you bite your lip.
"You really are trouble..." Tom smirks down at you and shakes his head, his eyes running over your face and he looks away at the door and then back at you. "Fine ... tell you what, I'll join in too. It's not fair you get to have all the fun. Text Theo, tell him the password for the Gryffindor common room is 'Mimbulus Mimbletonia' and to use the disillusionment charm to sneak in there." He nods down at you, moving his head closer to you and he gently kisses your cheek. You grin at his helping you, and text it quickly to Theo as you speak.
"Tom Riddle, Head Boy, helping us with a prank! I'm in shock. So kind of you!" You say teasingly and he shakes his head and when he grins at you there's a hint of playful evil to his face.
"Oh I'm not doing this out of the kindness of my heart Y/N... I want a little payment... for helping keep you out of trouble." He smirks at you and his words make you blush.
He'd gotten so good at finding the right words to make your whole body want to blush. Half the time it wasn't even what he said, it was the way he said it.
He kisses you and you wrap your arms around his neck, closing your eyes, his arms around your waist, holding you tight to him. You kiss and he turns you around, walking you backwards, you turn your head to see where he's walking you to but he grabs your chin, turning your head back to him and makes you kiss him back. You close your eyes and you feel your thighs bump into a desk. He immediately bends and lifts you onto it, barely breaking from kissing you.
"Tom... we can't do stuff like this here... What if someone comes in?" You whisper as he kisses your neck.
He kisses your lips again in a way that makes you close your eyes and forget where you are, almost dizzy when he pulls away for a moment and he turns his head away and locks the door with his wand.
"There. No interruptions." He grins at you and it literally makes you feel weak as he moves back, bending over you and kissing you again, both hands holding your face.
"Tom...we shouldn't..." You try to say as he kisses you.
"I thought you just said rules were made to be broken?" He whispers to you, his mouth not far from yours, sending shivers down you with the velvety way he whispers it to you, his breath hitting your lips.
His words make you bite your lip. There's something about the fun, playful, rule-breaking side of Tom that only you really get to see that makes you not want to stop him, no matter the risks.
He sees you relent and he comes back down kissing you again, his hand tighter on your waist, tilting your head up to him with the other as he stands between your legs as you sit on the desk. His hand slowly trails down onto your hips and then rests on your thigh, pressing firmly onto it, his grip tight as he continues to kiss you.
Suddenly, an annoyingly jaunty whistling tune, two voices splitting the tune between them can be heard from the corridor outside the classroom you're in and Tom instantly breaks away from you as soon as he hears it and his eyes go fierce and annoyed, his jaw locked at the interruption. He pulls away from you fully, fixing what little imperfections in his appearance and uniform had been made during your kissing.
"Ugh... Stay there." Tom commands, pointing at you as he walks off to the door, his face annoyed.
"Wait...what?" You say nervously, hoping to Merlin it wasn't teachers on their way in here.
"Actual trouble..." He says with a sigh as he walks over to the door. He pulls open the door and barks down the corridor as he leaves. You follow him to the door and peek out at the painting frame across from you. It allows you to see a slight reflection of the three of them stood in the corridor.
"Weasleys!" Tom barks loudly.
You watch as two lanky ginger boys, one carrying a cardboard box spin around on the spot. The Weasley twins.
"Ah Riddle... afternoon!" They say in unison, their voices filled with false cheer as they spin round, greeting him, one of them putting the box behind his back. Fake smiles on their faces.
"What are you two up to now?" Tom says sternly, crossing his arms and tilting his head.
"Nothing.... Just stretching our legs. You know getting out steps in..." The left twin answers.
"I highly doubt that. You two already run your mouths enough, I don't think your legs require more exercise too. " Tom snarks at them.
"Rude... I thought you had manners, Riddle. You see, unlike you, we do have manners and are nice people. So nice in fact that we wanted to pay professor Umbridge a little visit. Get her in the Halloween spirit." The twin on the left replies with a cheeky grin.
Toms' head tilts to see the box behind them and he puts his hand out.
"Hand it over."
You look at one of the Twins hands, holding a cardboard box with holes behind their back and you wonder what is in it.
"Aw come on. I know you're like no fun but -"
"Hand it over or I'll give you detention." Tom interrupts whichever twin spoke.
"You know you're in our year right? It's not like you're talking to first years, you don't scare us. We could just...lock you in a cupboard..." One of the twins says in a voice meant to intimidate and he steps forwards, the other twin following his move, showing Tom that they weren't afraid of him.
You watch as Tom gets even closer to the twin that stepped forward the most.
The Weasley twins are nearly as tall as Tom but they don't hold any of his naturally intimidating nature, the dark scary eyes or the quiet unnerving presence that he can possess when needed.
You can only see the back of his head and a moment later you see the Weasley's swallow and look at each other, before sighing in unison as they give in.
"Fine. It was only a prank." You watch them hand over the cardboard box with breathing holes on it. You wonder what creature is in it. Tom opens the box and looks down into it. A small dark chuckle escapes him and you see him close it and hand it back to the twins.
"You know what? I'm feeling suddenly very in the Halloween spirit myself. Go ahead with your little prank." Tom says casually.
"What...seriously?" The twin on the right says with a raised eyebrow. They both eye Tom with suspicion. He never lets them get away with anything.
"I have more important matters to attend to than trying to stop you two idiots. Like you said, it's only a prank. You've not learned by now... so you never will. Enjoy detention when you're caught."
Tom waves his hand at them, telling them to walk away and they eye him even more suspiciously but walk off in the direction of the DaDA classroom and disappear into it.
Tom comes back into the classroom, locking the door behind him and moving to you, wrapping his arms back around you, picking you back up onto the desk so he could continue what he'd started, making you giggle at his eagerness.
"What was in the box?" You ask curiously as his hands rest with a tight grip on your thighs.
"Two little rats." He replies softly as he bends his head, his hands moving up onto your waist gently stroking it and he kisses down your neck, your hand coming up to his hair.
Hearing what's in the box makes you grin. Of course, the Weasleys were going to pull an insanely good prank on a teacher on Halloween. It was like having turkey at Christmas; a time honoured tradition. The school wouldn't be the same once they left, their pranks were legendary.
"Wait...you're letting them prank her?" You say in shocked realisation.
That wasn't like Tom at all. He was Head Boy. A stickler for rules.
Tom smirks and continues kissing your neck as he talks, his hand slowly rubbing up and down your side.
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because... like I said, I have more important matters to attend to." He murmurs, his tone amused as he continues kissing your neck and nips it slightly with his teeth, a soft throaty groan coming out as he does it, making you giggle. Your fingers stroking the back of his head as he kisses you.
"And...because when she eventually stops being sick, she will realise she is locked in her office with rats, the animals she hates the most, and she has no wand. It will be found in the Gryffindor Common room...the common room of the... Weasley twins.. et voila...you naughty Slytherins get away scot free and Gryffindor lose even more house points than they were going to."
"Ohh... you are clever."
"No, I'm a genius. And you owe your genius... so shush, sit still and let me kiss you as much as I want before the bell goes." He says pulling you closer, stroking your cheek again as he kisses you again. You pull away and smile.
"What have I done to you? Mr Perfect Head Boy..." You giggle and smile at him, touching his cheek.
"... You are a bad influence..." He grins and kisses you with so much force, and you pull him into you more.
You continue kissing, his hand stroking your hair, the other hand a firm grip on your thigh again, your hands stroking his side and stomach and a few minutes later you break apart, bursting with laughter as you hear panicked shrieking and shouting further down the corridor. You look at each other and carry on kissing and gently touching each other until you hear the bell go.
As you get up and leave the classroom you have to ask Tom the question you've had for a few minutes now.
"So why did you let us all prank her? That's not like you...teachers' pet..." You say with a cheeky grin and he makes an unamused smile at you.
"Oi... less of that you. She insulted me the other day."
You raise your eyebrows, a little surprised that of all the students she would have a problem with, it would be the Head Boy.
"What did she say?"
"She said she admired how excellent and studious and intelligent I was." He says and pauses and you make a slightly confused at things that sound compliments, but then he continues and his voice is thick with loathing. "How I was just like my...father. That she expects great things from me...when he makes his full return."
You stop walking and look at him, his quiet rage clear on his face. His words shock you. You knew Umbridge was bad news but you had no idea how bad. Was she a... supporter of Voldemort? And if she was, why was she being allowed to teach here?!
The return of Tom's birth father was merely rumours at this point but there were plenty of strange goings-on out in the world that the Daily Prophet was quietly reporting on: people going missing, random murders, random break ins. All of which could support the idea that perhaps he was returning. It was a terrifying thought and something you didn't want to dwell on or it would send you down an anxious spiral.
You turn and look to make sure no one is coming up the corridors and you stretch up and hug Tom tight and kiss him.
"Well... she's not wrong about those things, you are all of those things and more, but not for that reason." You say softly to him as you hug him and you let him go and look up into his eyes with a soft kind look. "As for what she said...well, she deserves every second of being trapped in there with those rats. You're nothing like... him! You're good, you're no blood purist...you won't be some Death Eater or mindless follower ...even if he does somehow come back...which he won't."
He turns his head down at your bold mentioning of Voldemort's most loyal followers, a group of people that inspired fear. Most people wouldn't dare mention either them or The Dark Lord's name out loud, for fear of them. Even now.
"Oh? And what if he does return, forcing the Malfoys back into his servitude and Mattheo and I? What if we have no choice but to do it?" He asks you, his voice a little tense, his face tight.
"He'll have to get through me first. He's not having you. No chance." You say in a light playful tone with a smile.
"And how exactly do you plan on defeating one of the greatest wizards of all time, huh, my love?" Tom asks raising his eyebrows and crossing his arms, an amused expression across his perfect features.
"With my bare hands if I have to... I'll say to him... look here...bad man... you leave my Tom alone..." You say with a little adorable grin, poking Tom slightly in the chest as you speak, knowing that your cute answer was cheering Tom out of his slightly darkened mood from a moment ago. He shakes his head and grins and he leans forward and hugs you tight, kissing your forehead and then resting his head on yours.
"You are actually adorable, do you know that?"
"No...I'm terrifying...Voldemort's worst nightmare...Sod Potter or Dumbledore, it's me he should be afraid of..." You say with a little grin, smiling up at him, pleased your humour was working at lightening the mood.
"Yes, I'm sure he'll struggle to sleep at night after facing you..." Tom smirks and leans back from the hug, still holding you and smirks down at you, shaking his head and chuckling a little. "And to think there were those of us that doubted your being placed in Slytherin Y/N... I have to admit it would be amusing to see him be taken out first by a baby and then a lovestruck teenage girl..."Tom says the word and your cheeks immediately go pink.
Lovestruck? Love? No...he was only teasing you... did your actions show you loved him? Did you love him yet? You weren't even sure... you'd never been in love before, as far as you know...
You swallow nervously as you try to think about it, your stomach swirling with slight anxiety as you feel your breathing change a little. You smile and laugh awkwardly and step back from his hug. He doesn't seem to notice the effect his words have had on you. He looks at his phone and sees it's time for him to go where he needs to be.
"Right, I need to go help set up for the school feast and party for the younger years." Tom says quickly. You nod, knowing that tonight's party was mostly going to be you and your friends. Maybe seeing Tom at the end of tonight.
"Are you sure I can't convince you to dress up for it if you do come to the party later?" You say sweetly and he looks at you with his usual unamused face.
"No. You know I don't like that sort of thing." He says dryly.
"Fine...party pooper." You say rolling your eyes at him and crossing your arms but you smile.
"Remember... be good tonight. No more trouble." Tom says to you with a stern look and you lift your eyes to look down the corridor as you see other students starting to reappear.
I will... what time should I see-.... You." You watch down the corridor as you speak and turn your head to smile at Tom but he's gone. As if he had just disapparated.
"Yeah that is still creepy..." you say to yourself and you turn and walk back to the common room.
-
Later on that evening, the Halloween festivities were in full swing. Dinner that evening had been replaced by the annual Halloween Feast. The tables brimming with a ridiculous amount of pumpkin themed foods and snacks as well as the usual full feast that came out for dinner. Your friends and you ate quickly before running off back to your dorms to get ready for the party.
You watch as Daphne sits on the floor applying her special effects makeup that she had skipped dinner to apply, eating the food you'd brought her off of a paper plate.
She groans at you as you slip your black cat ears on your head and draw whiskers on with your eyeliner and tuck your fake tail into the back of your outfit. You bend over and put your shoes on admiring your look in the mirror. It wasn't exciting or original but it was enough.
Soon, you're all downstairs in the common room enjoying the party. You smile as you see Draco and Astoria in their cute angel and devil matching costumes. Astoria with her fluffy wings and golden halo hovering over her head with a spell. Draco's little red horns and red t-shirt, Astoria's bright red lipstick mark on his cheek which he was proudly showing off. It was adorable to see them matching, how happy they looked together but it made you a little bit sad that Tom wasn't ever probably going to be the type of boyfriend to want to do such things with you.
You take another long sip of your drink and join in the conversation going on around you. You smile politely across at Mattheo and Theo, sitting opposite you and listen to Millie as she praises you all for the prank you pulled on Umbridge earlier that allowed the party to go ahead.
The room is filled with fifth year to seventh year students from all houses, the common room a sea of fancy dress costumes. You sit and drink with your friends, politely excusing yourself from the game of spin the bottle that them and a few others are wanting to play. They try to get you to play but you laugh it off, saying that the last time traumatised you. You watch the game instead and clap along and laugh as the dares and truths happen, enjoying being a spectator for tonight.
A short while later, and a few dances later, you're chatting with Pansy, and you look down to see you have a text from Tom telling you he's finished his Head Boy duty early as the teachers don't need him anymore.
You try to hide your smile and ask him where should you meet him, hoping he would say exactly where you wanted to go. You were a few drinks in now and the appeal of being alone with Tom rather than here at this party had really taken over.
Especially after what happened in the classroom earlier. He replies almost instantly with the two words you wanted to see. You make your polite excuses about needing some fresh air to Pansy and she turns back, takes more of a drink and goes off to talk to Theo, fueled by dutch courage.
You manage to quickly stumble your way up through the stairs and corridors to the right wing of the castle heading up towards the room you two had been using for when you wanted to spend time together alone.
Irritated you look around, trying to find the tapestry. You were sure it was around this corner. That that had been the right flight of stairs to come up? You go back down them slowly, feeling a little dizzy. You decide to stay put and wait for Tom to appear, knowing that he'll probably find you soon if you stayed put in the right corner of the castle.
You stand in the cold corridor, rubbing your arms a little, the faint sound of music floating up throughout the castle to you as you wait for Tom.
You stand there, looking down at your phone when the candle light around you flickers a little. It makes you lift your head and then you look down and continue flicking through your social media, looking at peoples halloween pictures.
Your phone screen changes suddenly and it's a phone call from an 'Unknown' number. You stare at it for a moment wondering whether to answer it or not but then you wonder if perhaps it's someone in Slytherin whose number you don't have ringing you, so you answer it but stay silent, waiting for them to speak first.
"Hello?" A strange male voice says to you.
"Hello...Who is this?"
"Mmm... no one interesting... I was just wondering if a pretty-sounding girl like you had a boyfriend?"
"Ugh...creep... piss off." You say and hang up, rolling your eyes.
You try to use your phone but it keeps being called, over and over by the unknown number. On the seventh immediate attempt, instead of hitting the red button again, you answer it angrily.
"Who is this?! What do you want before I block you! If this is some stupid prank..."
"Not very nice... I just wanted to talk to you... do you have a boyfriend?" The voice asks again and the distorted line makes it difficult to hear them well. You swallow nervously not knowing who the hell you're speaking to but you say it in the hope that the person hangs up.
"Yes... yes I do. Sorry... who is this?"
"Ohh... that's a shame." The voice sounds sad in a fake mocking sort of way, like they were messing with you.
"What? Why? Tell me who this is or I'm hanging up..." You ask in a huffy way and as you say it you feel your chest tighten a little. Your heart sinks as you hope to Merlin this isn't Mattheo playing a prank on you and about to confess his feelings to you.
Could it be a drunk phone call? Was it him? Was that his voice when he had a drink? You were a little drunk yourself so you couldn't quite tell.
Last time you'd seen him he was far from sober. You hoped it wasn't him especially as you had said you had a boyfriend, you didn't want him asking any awkward questions. You hear a crackling sound as if the phone has moved and then the voice comes back and it's different.
"I just want to talk to you more..."
"What? Why?" You say in a snippy tone.
"I wanna know who I'm looking at."
Your head shoots up, not only because you recognise the line from the movie but the voice...The Ghostface voice from the Scream movies. You swallow nervously.
You realise someone is watching you. You can feel the hairs on your neck standing up. You swallow and swivel your head around and you look down the corridor again and then the other way and lean a little to the side to see the stairs. You're completely alone. As far as you can see.
"Very funny...is this some kind of joke?" You snap into the phone.
"More of a game really."
"Oh hilarious. You've watched too many scary movies. What do you want?!" You reply sarcastically, knowing they're quoting more of the Scream movies, rolling your eyes and getting more pissed off now. It was most likely Mattheo, he loved scary movies.
"You make a very pretty kitty..."
The creepy compliment sends a chill through you. The way the two words at the end rhyme together and sound when put together making you shudder. They definitely could see you. You turn your head again.
You'd been drinking but suddenly you felt stone cold sober. Whichever friend this was, they were taking the absolute piss now.
You were sure it was Mattheo with the way the words were being said to you. The flirtation thick in the callers voice. You swallow and then get angry and snap into the phone.
"Matty this isn't funny!"
"Oooh sorry... Guess again..."
"Theo? If Matty has put you up to this I swear... or if you're doing this together...I will stuff your beater's bats so far up both of your asses!" You say angrily into the phone and the voice lets out a small laugh that's all distorted.
"Two strikes... one final guess pretty girl..."
You swallow and force yourself to calm down a little. It was just a stupid prank and you could hang up and block the number at any point but no, you were annoyed now. You felt a little scared but also annoyed, you wanted to know who was trying to wind you up. There was only one other person's name that sprung to mind,
Draco.
Surely it wasn't Draco? He didn't really go in for pranks and was usually the one getting pranked...but he didn't like you very much. It wouldn't take much to convince him to prank you.
You were sure it wasn't Enzo, he wouldn't want the thumping you would give him if you found out it was him.
As you worry you hear a text notification and you look at it and see it's from Tom, asking where you are. You text him that you're trying to find the hideout room and for him to hurry.
"You better answer me pretty girl...although I am enjoying the view..." The voice comes back again through the phone and you look around.
"Draco?" You say weakly even though you know it's not him as he would never even flirt with you for a prank or a bet and the voice makes a sound like an ooh of someone when they hear the wrong answer.
"Incorrect...time's up little kitty." The creepy voice says slowly and your phone lights up as the call disconnects. You stare at it, your face confused.
Suddenly all the candles that line the walls, they all flicker in a row, one by one and then they all go out entirely, darkening the corridor so much you can barely see.
You scream a little in fright in shock at the immediate darkness and start walking back a little towards the light at the end of the corridor.
You turn and look over your shoulder at the dark corridor behind you when the candle lights flicker back on and you see someone standing there in the middle of the corridor. It makes you scream and jump quickly in shock and fear from the suddenness of their appearance.
Someone dressed as Ghostface.
Your eyes go wide from the shock of someone randomly appearing, your breathing heavier from the fright that their sudden appearance and the flickering candles had given you and you step back, once and then again.
Their head tilts, the mask tilting with it in a freaky way as they watch you. You swallow and step back again, knowing it's just someone trying to mess with you. If it was Mattheo, you were going to get him for this. He knew how much you hated being scared.
He also knew how much you'd had to drink having been one of the people handing you drinks throughout the night with a polite smile as a sort of olive branch.
If he'd been doing it to get you drunk so he could prank you better, he was gonna hear about it later. This is exactly the kind of stupid prank he would find hilarious. To be fair, that any of the boys would find hysterical.
You turn and walk away, trying to stay calm because of how freaked out you are and as you take your third step, all the candles go out again as you refuse to engage with the person, hoping that if you disengage they'll run off and prank someone else.
You scream in fright from the shock of being plunged into darkness again. The candles at the other end of the corridor flickering on and off.
The adrenaline coursing around your veins as you march off. You start walking away, trying to remain calm to show this person their prank wasn't going to work on you.
"Don't walk away pretty little kitty..." the creepy ghost face says to you and you speed up as they continue following you, a half corridor behind you. You hope if you can get to a busy corridor they'll disappear.
You look over your shoulder and the person starts walking towards you faster, and after a few steps their pace quickens even more, making you swallow more and you turn your head back and run, wanting to get away from them.
You turn the corridor into the next one, running down it and then the next one, and up a short flight of stairs and take the corridor to your right, racing down it, cutting up a short flight of stairs and round a corner, hoping that putting some distance and turns between you and them would make them stop their prank.
Hogwarts was a complicated maze, they'd probably get lost trying to find you. You hope. You stop and stand still in this brightly lit corridor with large windows to catch your breath.
What a prick....You think to yourself.
You hate people that took things too far. Even though the voice had said it wasn't them you're sure it's probably either Mattheo or Theo or some seventh year enjoying scaring the life out of anyone they came across, wandering the castle looking for people to scare. Possibly the boys passing phone numbers around to scare as many people as possible.
You stand there for a moment, catching your breath and relax a little as you can't hear anyone coming and breathe out a big sigh and start walking, turning down one of the darker, narrower corridors, heading back in the direction of the common room. Tom hadn't replied yet and you were sure he'd been pulled back in to help with some part of his duty as Head Boy as he hadn't responded. When you'd been late to meeting him before, he'd texted you multiple times so you were sure he was busy.
Mattheo was getting hit for this later, your heart was still pounding and the more you thought about the prank as you walked, the more sure you were it was him behind it. You were now a hundred per cent sure it was him. He had always joked about chasing people through the castle as Ghostface. Him and Theo keen to wear matching outfits and scare people.
Suddenly the candles all go out and you scream a little again.
A hand comes over your mouth and you reach up and grab at it, trying to get it off of you, screaming into the palm over your mouth. In the slight glimmer of moonlight coming in from the windows, you see the hint of white above you and a slight flash of movement.
You feel something slightly sharp poke into your neck and your eyes go even wider with fear. You know it's the person in the Ghostface mask, as you struggle against the person, you see it. Your body pulled back tight against them and you can feel them.
Tall and strong, it's definitely a boy. You stop trying to scream and grab their hand tighter, about to start kicking them away when the person leans down to your ear, your nose puffing away in fright, blowing air over their hand, your nostrils flared in fright as you try to calm down and a normal human voice speaks to you.
"Hello love..." You hear the voice and your eyes go wide in realisation as you recognise it. The person unhands you as soon as they speak and you spin round to face them.
"TOM?!"
You watch as the hand reaches up and pulls the mask up and you see him grinning at you. As soon as you see his face, you shove him hard in the chest and cross your arms, your face angry, just making him chuckle.
"Sorry, love. I had to." He chuckles as you hit him in the arm.
"You absolute dickhead! I nearly had a heart attack!" You say in gasps, your hand on your chest.
Tom simply laughs at you, still amused at your reaction, stowing the fake knife back in his pocket.
"What the hell! I thought you didn't dress up! Where the hell did you get that?!"
"Borrowed it off Pucey, told him I was going to scare Draco. They're all wearing this tonight, pulling pranks on people. Turns out they had an extra one." Tom says to you with a smirk.
He lowers the mask to his side and steps forward to you and you put your hand out telling him to stop, your other hand on your chest, your eyes angry, your breathing still ragged.
"No. Stay back. You really scared me."
"Aww come on love, it's Halloween. You're meant to be scared, I was only wanting to give you a little fright. I didn't actually expect you to run from me. Plus you did say I should dress up." He smirks at you and moves over to you, ignoring your hands trying to push him back, squashing them between you and him, forcing you to accept the hug. You lift your eyes and glare at him and you try to pull away from him and he holds you tight to him.
"Hey...hey... I'm sorry. I was just having a bit of fun..." He says softly and he leans down and tries to kiss you but you turn your head. He lets go of you with one hand and pulls your face back to him, his eyes narrowed that you won't accept his apology.
"That was mean. When I said dress up I meant something cute and matching or silly like a superhero not make me relive the fucking Scream movies." You hiss angrily at him and he chuckles at you and lifts your chin again.
"Im sorry. I was only messing with you...might have taken it a bit far... was funny to see your sprinting again, you can run quite fast." He says softly and he kisses you whilst he snorts a little laugh at you. You pull your head back, still annoyed with him.
"Wait, how did you...the phone call? How did you...?"
"Oh I just hid my number and called you..." He lifts the voice changer back to his mouth, "Hi beautiful..." his voice coming out exactly like the creepy voice on the phone and in the Scream movies. You frown more when you realise he probably texted you from his number to make you not think it was him.
You make an even more unimpressed, pissed off face and fold your arms. Your cheeks still hot and red from embarrassment, your anger with him not fading.
"Come on...it was only a little prank...let me make it up to you...I've got something planned."
"No Tom I don't want t-" you start to say in a huffy tone.
"Aww come on...it was a joke. I've got something to show you. Something nice. Part of my actual plan for tonight...this was more spur of the moment..." He says with his usual winning smile and you sigh. His face making you curious what he was talking about.
"Fine. But if you ever try to scare me like that again, I will hex your ass. I will... you will get Avada'd. Am I clear?" You say huffily and your words make his little dark chuckle come back out.
"I'm quite surprised you didn't pull it on me when I started walking towards you. You looked so freaked out."
"I forgot I had my wand on me. You scared me so much."
Tom smirks and he lifts your hand as you walk up the stairs together and kisses it, him leading you up back through the castle towards the hideout room.
"I'm sorry, love. What can I say? The spirit of Halloween possessed me." He says with a cheeky grin, you roll your eyes at him still annoyed with him but pleased it was finally time for the two of you to be alone.
Whatever he's planned it better be good... you think.
"Wait here." He kisses your cheek and slips in through the door.
You watch him go, shaking your head still at the prank he just pulled on you. It was the sort of thing you wanted to immediately text your friends about and get their input on but you knew you couldn't. You'd have to keep your rage at him for it bottled up.
Tom comes back out of the room a few moments later and covers your eyes, carefully leading you into the small room you'd affectionately nicknamed the hide out.
"Open them"
You open your eyes in an annoyed way and slowly blink as you take in the room. It makes you gasp, the transformation from half empty to what you see in front of you.
The fire is lit and all around the room are lit candles. He'd changed the chaise-longue for a proper sofa and coffee table and in front of it a large TV. The coffee table had an array of snacks. Little pumpkins and jack o lanterns sat on the corner of the floor and a few fake spider webs in the corner of the room. A little halloween themed movie den.
He looks at you with pride, but also with that slight nervousness of a man waiting to see if his gesture was accepted, if it pleased you.
"I thought we could watch a couple of Halloween movies together. You pick one, I pick one type thing...eat snacks..." He says with a little smile.
"Tom... this is... so cute..." You say with a smile and he pulls you over to him and you sit down on the sofa staring around the room in awe. You look down at the table and see some of yours and his favourite snacks and drinks for you both.
"You pick..." He says handing you the remote and you smile as he sits down next to you, draping his arm around the back of where you're sat. As you scroll through you remember something from earlier, the question coming back to your mind as you look at the candles on the table in front of you.
"Hang on... the candles? The flickering... that wasn't you, was it?" You say slowly in a confused way. Your words make him grin and he waves his hand at you.
"Wand-less magic. Been practicing it since I was little, used to do it as a dinner party trick at Malfoy parties." He says with a grin and he lifts his palm at one of the candles on the fireplace and it flickers and he moves his palm and they all flicker, he closes it and they extinguish.
He flicks his fingers and the whole row of candles relight. You stare at them in astonishment the whole time he does it and then at him. Wand-less magic was difficult, even for adults. It took so much power, natural ability and training. Not every witch or wizard was capable of it.
How a seventeen year old could do it to multiple objects at once was beyond you...
"Merlin... you are terrifying...." You say to him in a shocked, impressed but also scared whisper.
"Told you I was. I also told you us Riddles love a bit of drama. " He says with a smug grin and kisses you again. "Now come here".
He pulls you into him so you're leaning against him, pulling the blanket up over you and he starts the film you chose. His arm draped around you as you cuddle into him and he occasionally kisses your head as the movie plays. A short while later he speaks again, his voice a little smug.
"You know... I liked the fact that you had no idea who was on the end of that phone call and you still said you had a boyfriend..." Tom says with a smirk and you lift your head up from where it's laying on his chest.
"I thought it would get them to leave me alone...but...that relationship status? Yeah... it's hanging on by a thread...Mister." You say up to him, and he raises his eyebrows down at you.
"Oh is it? Is it really?" He leans down and tickles you, making you squeal. He pins you and tickles you more and you squeal louder and he kisses your lips and cheek and down onto your neck.
You pass the rest of your evening watching your movies, occasionally kissing and eating snacks. By the quarter way point of the second movie that Tom chose, you're sat on his lap kissing him, the movie just background noise, all upset at his little prank gone. Soon, the later Friday night curfew arrives and you head back down to the Slytherin common room and dorms. The party coming to a reprieve as everyone pretends to go to bed.
Tom sneaks his way outside of your door, and you smile up at him, shaking your head. Still in shock at what he's done today, the good and the bad.
"I still can't believe you dressed up." You whisper up at him.
You smile realising that somewhere in him, Tom's boundaries were changing. He was becoming slightly more relaxed, if only just around you, and it made you smile more.
"I told you... you've got me acting crazy...trying new things... and I have to admit...it was kinda fun..." He says with a grin and you smile again, knowing you were right.
His face looks like he didn't want to admit it but he did anyway. He leans forward and strokes your cheek again, smiling at you. His hand goes up and he gently flicks the cat ears still on your head and chuckles.
"I wasn't joking either, you do look very pretty tonight. You make a very cute little cat." He says to you with a smirk and kisses you, stroking your little fake whiskers. You smile into the kiss.
You open your door and lean against it, smiling at him, taking one last look at him in the half darkness like you did every night and you look down at the Ghostface mask in his hand.
"What are you doing with it? Giving it back to Pucey?" You ask nodding your head down at it.
"Oh no, not yet anyway... I'm actually going to go give Draco a little scare." He smirks widely and twitches his eyebrows in a playful way.
You shake your head and giggle, biting your lip at this playful, fun side of Tom. The costume giving him the anonymity to relax a little.
He puts the mask back on top of his head and leans forward and kisses you goodnight for a final time and stands back. He smirks and pulls the mask down and turns, whooshing his way down the corridor. You shake your head and smile after him as the large shadowy Ghostface figure disappears down the stairs heading for the boys dormitory.
Poor Draco... you think as you close the door.
Just before you hear the party start up again downstairs, you hear the loud screaming of a boy running coming from the boys corridor and you shake your head and laugh, throwing your head back onto your pillow with a smile and you soon fall asleep.
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And here is the image that inspired this chapter! I hope you enjoyed it! 👻💀🔪