"Students, did you see how did that shadow move? A lunar eclipse happens when the Earth shadows the moon. And this happens on some specific full moons." Professor Sinistra was going on and on about the eclipse.
It was one long night for the fifth years. They were standing there from 10 PM. Initially, students were enthusiastic, but as soon as they realized that the eclipse was supposed to last for 5 hours and their teacher wanted them to observe every phase - the start, the peak and the end - they lost their interest. They were standing there for the past two hours and there were still no indications for a peak stage.
Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs were standing on one side of Professor while Slytherins and Ravenclaws were sharing the other side. Alexa could clearly see that even some of the most sincere eagles were dozing off.
Tom was standing across Gryffindors. He was supposed to take down the observation. He was supposed to listen to his professor. It was his O.W.L. year for Salazar's sake. He was taking down the observation, yes, but they were of her. He observed how she took down every single detail about the progress that was happening. A strand of dark hairs fell on her face. A smile grew on his face when he saw her tucking that behind her ear. Her eyes were narrowed on her parchment. Her bottom lip was tucked in between her teeth. He turned red and looked away instantly not looking at her again. A completely new type of shiver went through his body. He didn't like this new feeling. It made him feel inferior. By the end of that session, he would confront her, that was sure.
"Hey look, it appears that instead of going to peak stage the eclipse had entered in its ending stage," Logan murmured to Alexa, his eyes still glued to the moon. Those two were standing together along with their house-mates.
"I think it appears only to you," she whispered back to him, a silent giggle escaping her lips. She was noting down the changes in shadow keenly. Unlike her classmates, her enthusiasm was lasting longer. She was terrible at many subjects, but Astronomy had always been her strongest point. She wanted to study Alchemy in her final years at Hogwarts.
"Okay class, you can leave," Professor Sinistra announced at the end of the class. "We have observed almost every stage and the eclipse will end in not more than thirty minutes. Since all of you are tired you can go." Everyone cheered. Finally, they would be able to go back to sleep, but their professor was not finished, "I am, however, expecting a thirty inches essay on the observations of today's total eclipse on my desk in our next class." The cheerful environment turned to grave silence because most of them had not taken the observation sincerely. Even those sleeping Ravenclaws looked gobsmacked.
"Snow, you are giving those observations to me, okay?" Logan whined next to her.
"Snow?" Alexa looked at him surprised.
"Yeah. Your surname is Winters," he said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Okay, McLogan," she countered, smirking at him.
"McLogan?" he replied looking at her in horror.
"Yeah. Your surname is McLaggen," she said mirroring his earlier tone completely.
"Whatever snow, just because I am a good boy I am not killing you," he continued, "now come on. Let's go."
"You go ahead, I want to complete this."
"I can wait for you. Anyway, I am not sleepy," Logan said as he yawned.
Alexa chuckled, "Sure you are not, but you need your sleep. I want to study this eclipse until its end. Go ahead."
"You sure?" he asked concerned, "or I can just sleep here. It's comfortable here."
She smiled looking at him. Somebody caring for her was totally new to her. It was only her who had watched her back.
"Don't worry. I will be fine. Go with your other friends. I will meet you in the morning," she replied clearly overwhelmed by his concern.
"Fine. Goodnight Snow." He smiled at her. His eyes were half-closed with the sleep.
"Goodnight McLogan," she replied and went back to her work.
Unknown to both of them a dark-eyed Slytherin prefect was listening to their conversation. He turned red again that night, only for completely different reasons. This time his blood was boiling.
Once he was sure that she was the only other person in that tower he came out from his hiding spot. He observed her again. She engrossed in her work again, totally oblivious to his presence. His rage completely left him when he saw her smiling at her parchment. It was clear to him that she fancied that subject. At least, she was not poor at every subject. His mischievous side took over.
"So, you do have some academic interest after all," he said breaking the silence.
To say she was shocked was an understatement. She dropped her parchment. She looked up only to meet the eyes of one person she was thinking about for half of her day, to whom she wanted to curse, and to whom she was avoiding throughout her dinner. The devil, whom she wanted to run away from, was standing right there in that tower with his hands in the pockets of his cloak. His head was tilted to one side with his usual smirk playing on his lips. He knew the effect he had on the opposite sex, but whatever he had on her was more amusing. The way fear danced in her eyes - clearly showing that she was affected - and frankly speaking he was enjoying the show.
She looked away from him and bent down to gather her parchment. It didn't interest her anymore. She wanted to get away from that place as soon as she could. She collected her parchment and stood up in a hurry only to come face to face with that one wizard. He was close, too much close for her comfort.
She instinctively took a step back, her parchment was clutched to her chest tightly. If possible the smirk on his face widened. He took one step again, forcing her to take one back. Tom was liking this scenario. He felt in control.
The process continued until her back hit the stone wall of the ancient tower. Her breath hitched. Her eyes widened. She was about to make a run for the exit of the tower on her left side, but it appeared that Tom had read her mind. He took one final step trapping her successfully. His hands were placed on either side of her and his body was forcing hers in that wall.
With him being almost a foot taller than her, he was towering her. Her eyes were down-casted. She wanted to leave that place. He was intruding her personal space again. The rage started building inside her. She was biting her bottom lip hard to stop herself from cursing him.
"From your so exceptional talent in Potions, I almost thought that study didn't interest you, but I was wrong," he leaned forward and hushed, "wasn't I, sweetheart?"
By now, they were breathing the same air. The shiver ran down her spine.
"Don't call me that Riddle," she hushed back. She had suddenly lost her strength.
Tom pulled back to look at her. She was not making eye contact with him. He had seen her making eye contact with that badger while she talked with him. The remembrance caused him to become angry again.
"That worthless badger can call you snow, but I cannot call you sweetheart? That's an injustice sweetheart." Though his smirk was in place, his eyes were filled with the molten lava.
"That worthy badger is my friend," she hissed at him. She was not going to back down so easily. "While you are not Riddle." By now, she was looking straight into his eyes. They had started to turn into their original deep violet shade. This time they were glowing, enchanting him more. He was so lost in their beauty that he didn't notice her clutching her wand tightly in her left palm.
She was breathing heavily. She was trying to control herself. She didn't want to tense the situation she already shared with that annoying git. Yes, that was what she was going to call him.
"So in what? One meeting, wasn't it? You are calling him your friend?" He leaned back to her again. "Are you that type of girl who goes in the closet in second meeting? After all, we also had our second meeting in the closet." He looked at her challengingly. In the light of new emotions he was feeling, he had lost the control he had on his tongue. He didn't know what he was feeling was jealousy.
By now, whatever control she had on herself abandoned her. She was shy, yes, but she was a girl with honour. Damn to consequences she uttered the simple words that stunned him,
"Stupefy"
With that she went to her common room, leaving behind the very frozen body of the star student of their year.
~*~*~
Let me know what do you think.
#fact: Stupefy is a stunning spell which is commonly used in duels.
I will edit this chapter soon. Tom's reaction in the next chapter.
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