Tom was walking down the hall from breakfast when he heard a familiar laugh. He paused for a moment and listened.
"No, no, Ricky front of foot then back of foot." Said Ophelia, he then heard the tapping of feet on the stone floor
Tom rounded a corner, and remained out of eyeline.
"I knew you could get it." Said Ophelia, and Ricky smiled after her.
"Bloody hell, I never knew how difficult dancing was." Said Ricky.
"It's all good, when you have the right partner of course." Said Ophelia, "Now dance with me,"
"No, I can barely even dance on my o-"
"Dance with me," said Ophelia taking his hands and spinning herself with one. "I'm drunk because of whatever was in that flask, I taught you how to dance the least you could do is fucking dance with me."
"Holly calls it a funky monkey, tastes like arse but it will get you fucked up."
"I like that girl. Now, dance with me." Said Ophelia, "Or are you a little bitch."
Ricky laughed, "Lettle Betch." He mimicked and Ophelia scowled at him but it faded when he took the hands she was offering.
He spun her away then pulled her in close before letting her move again.
"You should never do that in real life." Said Ophelia as he dipped her.
"Why?" Asked Ricky, confused.
She came back up and showed him his wallet she had just nicked.
"You never know who you're dancing with." Said Ophelia, giving it. Back to him. "Can we get food? I don't want a hangover."
"Sure, to the kitchens." Said Ricky looping his arm through hers.
"Hazah!" said the drunken Ophelia.
Tom rounded the corner and made sure they could hear him coming they both turned around.
"Ophelia, I wanted to discuss the prefect duties." Said Tom and Ophelia huffed.
"We literally had the meeting last night, what could possibly change in less than twenty four hours?" Asked Ophelia,
"Are you drunk? McKenna, did you get her drunk?" Asked Tom walking over and looking at the flush on her cheeks. She glared up at him. But he didn't want her leaving with McKenna. If Ophelia was going to make bad decisions with someone it should be Tom.
"No, I got me drunk. Because you, you treat me like shit and I needed a drink." Said Ophelia,
"You don't know what you're saying, Ophelia, come on I'll get you a sobering up potion." Said Tom but Ophelia shook her head. He huffed and detached her arm from Ricky's "come on, Ophelia."
"Stop, Riddle." Said Ricky in vain, "you can't treat her like this."
"McKenna, find another girl to chase." Said Tom, as Ophelia tried in vain to get him off her arm. "Try someone who you actually stand a chance with. There are ogres in the forest you know?" Spat Tom.
Ricky didn't know what to say. He felt Tom's words cut deeper than knives. Tom Riddle is a master of cruelty. He knew how to make others hurt. He knew what he said hurt McKenna and he didn't care. He cared that Ophelia was now tipsy. He cared that McKenna looked at her in class. He cared that McKenna wanted to touch what belonged to Tom.
"You can't say things like that to my friends." Said Ophelia, as he dragged her away. "Stop."
"I'm getting you a sobering up potion, let me take care of you." Said Tom as he pulled her to a familiar blank stretch of wall.
"Stop." She said again as he paced, with her arm clutched in his hand. "Love, I'm serious, what are you doing?"
"You aren't meant to be drunk with him." Said Tom as he opened the door and pulled her inside.
There were a few couches and a table, and a fireplace for good measure. On the table lay a sober up potion. He handed it to her and waited until she drank every last drop.
"What do you mean? I'm not meant to be drunk with him." She mimicked him, "He's my friend, he was helping me feel better."
"You have enough friends." Spat Tom, as she sat down on the couch.
"If I stop playing with Sandra and Jason can I play with Ricky?" Asked Ophelia, raising her eyebrows at Tom who paced the length of the room. "I'm not a child, I can do what I want."
"I just don't like the way he looks at you." Said Tom and Ophelia's eyes widened. "You really don't see it? Still?"
"I've only ever really payed attention to the way you look at me." Admitted Ophelia, and Tom sat down next to her. "But you don't own me, I'm not a toy."
"I thought you liked being mine." He said with a suggestive smirk.
Ophelia rolled her eyes, "First of all that's only during a shag, and it's because you like it and I like that you like it, second, you can't treat my friends like obstacles to get to me." She said, her golden eyes boring into his grey ones.
"I know you aren't a toy." Said Tom, "Ophelia, I adore you."
She shut her eyes tightly. She shook her head.
"No you don't. You don't love or even adore me. You love who you are when you're with me. You love the way I make you feel, and you love the idea that you're the only one who gets to feel that way." She said.
"I do love you." He said Ophelia looked to the ceiling.
"Then why do you keep lying to me?" She asked, "why do you keep manipulating me?"
"What do you mean?" Asked Tom his heart rate accelerating, she couldn't, she couldn't leave him, not again time without her passed agonizingly slow. What had happened? What had changed? Did someone tell her exactly how far he had gone?
"I accepted that you had darkness and all that crap inside you. I thought maybe I was the limit. But I can see how stupid I was. A stupid little girl who always falls in love with the wrong people." Said Ophelia, shaking her head and refusing to look at him. "I'm not, I won't come back to you until you put it all behind you. I mean all of it. You tell the school that you were lying about me being a slag, you disband the Walpurgis whatevers, and you find a way to reassemble your fucked up soul."
"Ophelia, I can't just-"
"Then I can't just. You manipulated me. You don't do that to someone you love. I've done the whole proving myself to you thing, after you called me a whore and continued on your dumb ass path, I even tried to show you a better way, I let you know I loved you." Said Ophelia, "You never even apologized. For any of it. I should've known better. If you do decide to end it all come find me." She stood up and walked to the door.
"Ophelia."
"What?"
"Thank you for loving me."
—
Tom was depressed. Not like weepy, he was going to kill himself depressed, just completely empty inside. Why didn't he just apologize to her? Why couldn't he form the words I'm and Sorry.
His bed still smelt like her. Stupid Honey. Every morning he smelt it and subconsciously wished she was laying next to him. He had to keep going.
Death was all around him. In his mind you were either a victim or a victimizer and he'd been a victim of circumstance for far too long.
He stayed silent most days, Ophelia was actively avoiding him now. She spoke to him about their Head student duties but that was the extent of it. Tom missed her.
He had tried replacing her, that hadn't worked.
He had tried banishing all thoughts of her from his head and that hadn't worked either.
Sometimes he caught her staring at him. She would shake her head and look down. Once, when he was visiting the chamber of secrets he had even seen her crying by the sink. He didn't approach.
"I deserve better, I deserve better, I deserve better," she was repeating, "I'm not weak, I deserve better. I do matter, I should be enough."
At least it affected her as much as it did him. They had at least gotten closure.
McKenna was hanging around her more which Tom despised. But he didn't stop it because some of what Ophelia had said to him rang true.
The title he had given her as easy caused many students, male students, to look at her differently. Mostly Slytherins. The other three houses knew the truth. That Tom had been a dick to her during the split. That he wanted to make himself look the victim.
She could do with some protectors. In Tom's mind she needed one.
Tom sat in the dining hall. He watched as a red envelope fell from her owl and she smiled as she opened it.
She showed it to Primrose who laughed at it.
Tom shook his head and turned his attention back to his book. They were like magnets, he and Ophelia, Tom had confidence that it was only a matter of time before her resolve crumbled and she was in his arms again.
—
Ophelia was doing far better this time around. Only really crying every other week. She had a strong support system. Currently she was sitting on a bench next to Primrose as Jason told them the story of the tramp stamp.
"Basically we were in Vegas,"
"What the hell were you doing in Vegas? In America?" Asked Primrose, and Jason rolled his eyes,
"The war doesn't stop gamblers, anyways, then I met this girl,"
"Was she pretty?" Asked Ophelia, "Did she beguile you?" She said sarcastically,
"Yes, she got me drunk and then it turned out that the tattoo artist was her ex boyfriend, and you can imagine what happened next." Said Jason, as he paced in front of them.
"Let's see it again." Said Primrose, and Jason scowled.
"Come on, I'm sad, I want to see a funny tattoo." Said Ophelia, pouring and giving him her best puppy dog eyes.
"Really? You are playing the broken heart card, that's low." Said Jason, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Clearly you don't know me well enough, now turn around." Said Ophelia and Primrose snickered.
Jason turned around and lifted the bottom of his shirt, grimacing when the two girls began laughing hysterically.
"It just never gets old." Said Primrose, and Ophelia laughed harder than she had in a long time.
"Now Tell is why you got that piercing." Said Ophelia, watching as Jason turned around and shrugged.
"Just thought it made me look cool." He said and Ophelia laughed. He sat down next to them and leant against the wall, "Are you trying to tell me it doesn't?"
"No, no, I'm just wondering if you did it yourself?"
"I had a friend do it." Said Jason,
"A lady friend?" Asked Primrose, Jason blushed, "A special lady friend."
"I don't think I've ever seen you blush before." Said Ophelia
"Well, she was my first love." Said Jason, scratching the back of his head.
"This is the one who broke your heart?" Asked Ophelia, recollecting his story from the beginning of the year.
"Yeah. We should form a club." He said and Ophelia jumped up.
"We should totally form a club, we can have hats and everything maybe even buttons, I would say t shirts too but then you have to guess sizes and feelings get hurt." Said Ophelia, waving her hands around.
"Calm down, Lili." Said Primrose, "But I love it, can I join? My first love didn't exactly pan out either."
"Totally." Said Jason,
"What do we do? Just sit around and bitch about our exes?" Asked Ophelia and her two friends nodded.
"Something like that," agreed Primrose.
—
Graduation was looming and Ophelia's Birthday was coming up. It was on the first of April, cool right? To have a birthday on April Fools?
It was March thirty first and Primrose was nowhere to be found. Ophelia was alone in the Library studying for Arithmancy, it was her worst subject.
"Ophelia, hi." Said Ricky sitting down across from her.
"What's up?" She asked reading over the theories and examples. She really didn't know why she took this she just knew she liked a challenge.
"I don't know I just thought you could use the company." Said Ricky peering over her book. "Atithmancy. Gross."
"Gross indeed, but I suck at it. So I have to work on it." Said Ophelia,
"I'm decent. I could help." Said Ricky and Ophelia looked up at him with a smile on her face.
"Thank God." Said Ophelia, "What is Merlin's law?"
"Well-"
Ricky explained as Ophelia listened intently. Of course he had been sent by Primrose to keep Ophelia away as she decorated the heads common room for Ophelia's Birthday. Riddle had lamented after Primrose had kneed him in the groin for hurting Ophelia.
He could have her look at him like that forever. But it wasn't the same way she used to look at Riddle.
Ophelia returned to her work, scribbling down the equations with his help.
"Is this right?" She asked, looking up at her friend.
He barely even looked at it before breathing, "Perfect."
"Are you alright?" She asked, "You seem out of it today."
"Oh, I've just been struggling in Potions." He was getting distracted during lectures,
Ophelia furrowed her eyebrows, "You can have duplicates of all my notes then."
She pulled them out and tapped her wand and she copied them before handing them over. She had loopy handwriting.
"Thank you." He said looking them over.
"Are you sure you're alright? You've been nervous lately." Said Ophelia, and Ricky shrugged.
"It's nothing." He said and Ophelia narrowed her eyes but she wouldn't pry.
"Have you seen Casablanca? I'm asking because you have the same name as the main character." Said Ophelia and Ricky raised his eyebrows.
"No, tell me about it." He said, "I give you full licence to spoil the ending," she grinned at him.
"Okay, so, it's about-" her monologue went on and Ricky watched as she enthusiastically told him the entire story, start to finish.
Ophelia liked telling stories, and she added her own pizazz to them. She could do several other accents so that was a nonissue. She didn't know if she liked the was Ricky was looking at her.
She'd never been looked at like that before. She didn't know what it meant, and to be honest she didn't know if she liked it.