This chapter is dedicated to my wonderful readers who are from the USA, Canada, Mexico and the UK. You people are awesome.
Did you like this new cover? I personally find it wonderful. A special thanks to Bandsmakelifegreat for making it.
~*~*~
Walking earlier than usual, Tom entered the empty classroom. It was the first day of his classes, but he couldn't resist a temptation to come early. Hogwarts was his home, and the vacations that he had to spend away from this place made him homesick. His nostalgia forced him to even skip his breakfast. If it had been his choice, he wouldn't leave the school. Muggle world was nothing but a torturous reminder of his failed family relationships, so he wanted nothing to do with it anymore.
Tom looked at the empty seat beside him. The seat that belonged to his friend - Anthony. His mind playing back the events from the night before. Apparently the latter needed some sleep that morning.
*Flashback*
Still, in a daze, Anthony entered their dorm. His mind not noticing brooding Tom following him. With wand clutched in his pale fist, the latter was barely managing to conceal his displeasure. And apparently, the Avery was the only one who was oblivious to that vulnerable volcano.
Tom's gang-members, or knights of Walpurgis as he had planned to call them from this year, had dutifully deserted the two best friends.
Tom turned around and locked the door of their dorm cautiously.
"Silencio" He muttered, making sure the anticipated conversation stayed private.
"So, mind telling me what exactly is happening between you and my girl?" Tom spat. His pent-up tension exploded. The hold he had on his wand tightened.
It was difficult to tell whether it was his tone or his words or both together had brought the elder Avery in the real world.
"Nothing," Anthony replied.
"Don't lie to me," Tom said through gritted teeth. "I hate it, and you know that."
"I am not," Anthony denied again. His hands held up in surrender. "You know I am not one of those who will go after a taken girl."
This calmed down the raging fire inside the Slytherin Prefect, which came back with full force when he recalled their bittersweet interaction. Sweet for them, bitter for him.
"Then tell me, my dear loyal friend, why were you sharing secret smiles with the taken girl?" Tom hissed.
"Alexa is yours, but we are friends now. She told me herself that she was anxious about the sixth year and I was just trying to ease her nerves. I got to know her better this summer. She was a guest in Avery manor," Anthony explained.
Anthony was used to Tom's tantrums. In his heart, he believed that the latter won't hurt him over a girl. Well, that was his opinion. They were best-pals for a reason. And presently, he could tell his friend was too occupied to process the bomb that had been dropped, to perform an actual action.
"What the hell!" Tom exclaimed once he came outside his state of meditation. "Why was she in your house? How long was she there?"
"Calm down, Tom," Avery spoke. He was trying hard to hide his amusement. He was fairly acquainted with jealousy. "Dumbledore wanted her to stay at our place for a month. It wasn't preplanned, at least not from my father's side."
"And you didn't tell me because-"
"You told me not to send an owl at your place, remember?"
Well, that was the truth. Unfortunately for Tom, he stayed in a muggle orphanage. And unlike wizards, muggles were not accustomed to receiving and sending messages using owls. To avoid any suspicion, Riddle had instructed his friends to not send owls. Since they were all from pure-blood families, they never got the concept of postal services clearly. This meant the Slytherin prefect was isolated from the magical community during his stay at the orphanage. This was another reason he detested the muggle world.
Tom exhaled a deep breath. He tucked back his wand knowing that Anthony wasn't at fault. "Did you find anything related to her family?"
And just like that no-nonsense Tom was back. The boy never called Alexa by her name in front of Anthony or anyone for that matter. He didn't realize this, but not everyone was that oblivious.
"Not much," Avery replied. "She is an only daughter of Adrian Goldstein whose current location is not known."
Tom looked deep into Anthony's eyes. It was his way of finding whether a person was telling the truth or not. He was not yet a Legilimens, but he knew a few handy body-language tricks. He noticed that Anthony wasn't lying.
"Adrian? Well, that confirms it," Tom smirked.
"It confirms what?" Now it was Anthony's turn to question.
"Do you recall today's sorting?" Tom asked.
Anthony nodded his head.
"Your brother was complaining about his dorm-mate, suspecting that he was a mudblood."
"Oh yeah! Ares was having tantrums saying his dorm-mate didn't confirm his blood status," Anthony replied absentminded. His eyes widened as a realization hit him. "Salazar! Don't tell me Adrian Winters is related to Alexa."
Tom gave a full-blown smirk. One that would make Cheshire cat die with shame.
"Yes, he is. He is her aunt's son, the one who died not long ago. Now we know that he is named after his uncle."
"In that case, Ares has no need to worry about getting infected with filthy blood," Anthony added thoughtfully. Truthfully, he was not very happy with his sibling's obsession with blood-purity. In his opinion, the latter took the hate to a very different level. "Because from what I can tell Adrian is at least a half-blood."
"How can you say that? His mother was a squib." Tom asked.
"There are still arguments over the blood status of squibs. From what Alexa told me, Sienna Winters was a pure-blood, so she might not be magical, but she had magical blood. It is like magic just skipped one generation and passed on to another."
"Hm," Tom agreed. He was stunned when sorting hat had sorted Adrian in Slytherin. Since he had spent a little time with the boy during that summer, he knew the latter was resourceful and ambitious, something that his ancestor valued the most. Still, he was happy that Adrian wasn't a mudblood. He didn't want anyone to ruin the purity of his house. Besides, Tom never blamed Half-bloods for having filth in their veins. In his opinion, it was a fault of their blood-traitor parent. Then suddenly realizing something, Tom asked again "Then why were you so dazed this whole time?"
At this Anthony's cheeks reddened. He looked anywhere but at his dorm-mate. "Um- I-It was because -"
"Because?" Tom urged impatiently.
"If you must know I and Rebekah kissed today on the train, alright?" Anthony almost yelled.
By now his neck was red too. Without giving Tom any time to mock him, the boy turned around, hid his head in his pillow and pretended to be asleep, indicating the conversation was over.
"At last," Tom hushed. The genuine proud smile gracing his lips. Despite how his friend portrayed, the Slytherin prefect was sure that he wasn't going to have any sleep that night, for his happiness won't allow him.
*Flashback Ends*
As Tom recalled this, he chuckled. He was happy for his pal. The boy had never kissed the girl he was after since forever and so the Slytherin prefect knew it was quite a progress.
"Tom?" A frail feminine voice shrilled, bringing him out of his trance. "Rowena! You are earlier than the schedule."
Tom turned around to see a woman in her seventies entering the classroom. He smiled looking at one of the best teachers at Hogwarts. Well, it was his opinion.
"Professor Merrythought, good morning!" He greeted.
She smiled jovially at the Slytherin sitting in his usual seat in the first row. Her dark eyes twinkled.
"Good morning to you too, Tom. And congratulations on your grades. Even after five years, I still think you belonged with my eaglets," the woman replied affectionately. Tom wanted to scrunch his nose in distaste, even puke somewhere, but he settled with a forced smile.
Eaglets, really? The descendant of noble Salazar with some nerdy little birdies? Studying and rubbing in other's faces with their pathetic know-it-all attitudes all the time? No thank you. It wasn't his thing. Ravenclaws were smart, but they were blind to their surroundings, something Tom was not. Yes, there were exceptions, but they were very rare. No house was better than mysterious and misunderstood Slytherins.
"Rowena! I am really going to miss teaching."
Tom's ears perked up at the sentence.
"What do you mean Professor?" He asked. His interest suddenly reverted in whatever the greying haired woman had to say.
"Oh! Nothing. I am planning to retire from this job." The woman replied as she smiled again. Her smile didn't hide her sadness.
"No professor. You can't leave us. We have our N.E.W.T.s next year." Tom spoke, alarmed. He was worried about his career and further studies. Wasn't it ironic that this was the same boy who had mocked the most studious house of his school not so long back?
"Relax Tom," The DADA professor assured smiling kindly. Apparently, she lived up to her name, always smiling. "Even I am not ready to leave this school. Maybe I will take my leave a few years after your batch graduates, but I have to do what I got to do."
There were a few minutes of silence before it was broken again.
"Oh, Ms Winters! Please come in."
Tom turned around hearing her name. She was one of those aspects that he surprisingly missed this summer. How could he forget, this year he was sharing not only potions but also DADA with her. However, her coming early was a surprise. From the events of the day before he knew they had some unfinished business. His mind recalling their last meeting. Exciting chocolate orbs landed on the dull brown ones, forgetting his surroundings temporarily.
~*~*~
I hope you liked this chapter.
#fact: I don't have anything against Ravenclaws, in fact, I am jealous of their intelligence. I hope I didn't offend anyone. It was just Tom being Tom.
What do you think about Anthony not telling Tom about Alexa's mother? Did you like the bond between him and Tom? I like it so much. I wonder how Alexa is going to react to Adrian.
Also did you like the reason behind him being dazed? Avery is a pure soul. He has his prejudices, but it is to signify that not any human is perfect. Everyone has flaws.
I am not sure about blood-status of squibs. Also if you have missed, Adrian is a Slytherin. What do you think of his sorting?
Let me know in the comment section.
If you want to read more, please vote and share this story. These things motivate me in writing more.
Thank you all!