"Well you hardly know me, Riddle," she mimicked his tone.
"That," he looked her up and down, "is correct." He peered over at the splotches of black ink in the margins of her book, furrowing his brows. "Now, why are you vandalising your textbook?"
Evelyn shut her book, sliding it into her robe pocket, "well, firstly I wouldn't call it vandalism, the book belongs to me, and secondly, I am making notes."
"Interesting," Tom said.
"What is?"
"Well," he began, "I would personally find it rather embarrassing to require extra notes simply to pass my OWL exams, but I guess some Ravenclaws simply aren't as intelligent as legend has it."
"Excuse me!" She scoffed, standing up so she was directly in front of him. "I'll have you know I am very intelligent, possibly even the best witch in our year!" She wasn't entirely sure how true that was, but it didn't matter to her.
"Possibly, but I am certainly the best student in our year." With that, he simply left. He gave Evelyn no chance to respond before he turned hot on his heel and made his way out of the courtyard.
"Evelyn! What was that all about?" She heard the familiar voice of Sara giggling behind her. "Tell me everything!" She squeezed her best friends arm.
"He was simply informing me that he is smarter than me as if I wasn't already aware of that fact." She rolled her eyes.
Sara batted her eyelashes, fixing her hair with one hand and applying a fresh coat of lipstick with the other. "Do you think he noticed me when I walked into the courtyard?"
"Oh absolutely," Evelyn lied to her friend, Tom seemed more interested in the moss growing on the walls than in Sara but she couldn't crush her best friends spirits. "Is Lily not done yet?"
"No, she dropped her first phial so she's had to redo the whole Potion! She will probably only just make it to Charms on time!"
"Speaking of, we should probably go."
Evelyn led the way out of the courtyard and the pair made their way across the castle towards the Charms Classroom. Charms had always been one of her favourite lessons, she adored how one wand could hold such power, it could cause destruction or peace, depending on how the user chose and that was simply incredible.
By the time the duo arrived outside the classroom, Lily was waiting for them. "How are you done so quickly? I thought you would take ages!"
"I stole some of my partners, there was no way I would get it done in time and I didn't exactly fancy detention!"
"Well, it's good your here because I want to go find Tom so you can keep Evelyn company in Charms," Sara gave the pair a quick smile before she darted out of the corridor.
Lily and Evelyn exchanged a confused look. "I guess it will just be us two then."
They took their usual seats, pulled out their parchment and quills and waited in silence. Once all the students had done the same, Professor Blackburn stored into the classroom with far more excitement than Professor Slughorn had displayed.
"As all of you know, you will be taking your Charms OWL this year, there will be one written part and one part practical, we will start today with some very simple revision questions to prepare you." He smiled at the class, waving his wand over the pile of parchment causing it to float around the room, one piece placing itself in front of each student.
Evelyn knew this work would be a breeze, something about Charms came so naturally to her. She pulled out her quill from her bag and dipped it into the pot of glistening ink, slowly beginning to write and form answers in her mind to each question. After gathering answers in her mind, she transferred them onto the parchment with ease. Within half an hour, Evelyn was done. She sat back and watched as the other students worked away on their questions, each one scribbling away hurriedly on their parchment.
After her simple Charms lesson, Evelyn was feeling refreshed. She breezed through the rest of her lessons with ease and feeling content as she only received one piece of homework all day. Once all of her friends had finished their lessons, they met up outside the library. "How much homework have you two got?"
Lily smiled, "only one piece!"
"Two, and detention for missing Charms!" Sara dropped her shoulders with a sigh. "It's not fair, finding Tom was academic, it probably taught me as much as I would have learnt in Charms anyway!"
"And what did you learn?"
"Well, I don't think I'm going to get anywhere with Tom Riddle this year!" It was the answer Evelyn had expected, but nevertheless she didn't enjoy seeing Sara look so let down. "He wouldn't even look at me when I sat next to him!"
"Maybe next year?" Lily suggested, squeezing her friends hand lightly.
"Maybe not, I don't think I'll ever be able to even hold a conversation with him, he is utterly impossible and I can't stand it!"
Evelyn sighed deeply, "I know exactly what you mean Sara, even talking to him for a few minutes felt like someone was sucking the life out of me, it was horrific!" The trio strolled into the library, taking their usual seats without a word and began to lose themselves in their work.
That night, Evelyns sleep was uninterrupted. From the moment her head hit the pillow until the moment the sun shone in through the dormitory window, Evelyn was in a deep sleep.
"Breakfast time!" Lily exclaimed from her the edge of her bed, somehow already in her robes and ready for the day ahead. She far too loudly for Evelyn's liking, earning a loud grunt from both her and Sara. "You coming?"
Evelyn took a deep breath in, "give me two minutes. I don't think Sara is up to it this morning." She gestured over to Sara's bed which appeared as though had been inhabited by not only her but also Lily's cat.
"I hate your cat," Sara muttered into her pillow, but nevertheless one of her hands remained resting on Midnight's snoozing body.
Evelyn quickly slid into her robes, pocketed her wand and linked arms with Lily as they made their way down to the Great Hall. The duo collected their usual breakfast and took their usual seats. As Evelyn leant forwards to take a bite of her toast, she saw her usual copy of the Daily Prophet drop in front on her. "Bloody owls, my Daily Prophet is covered in butter!"
She wiped off her copy with a napkin and a growl, shaking it in an attempt to dry it off. As she shook it, a small sealed envelope went flying towards Lily. "Sorry! I didn't know that was in there!" Lily shook her head, handing Evelyn back the letter as she returned to her food.
She picked up the envelope and inspected it, Evelyn only ever got post from home but as she turned the letter around, she spotted the Hogwarts crest sealing it.
Her fingers slid under the seal, popping it off and pulling the letter out from inside its envelope.
Dear Miss Rivers,
It has come to my attention that you are already exceeding expectations in all academic aspects, an obvious favourite being Charms judging by your test results from last year. It would bring me great pleasure to have you attend the first of hopefully many Slug Club dinners. During these gatherings, we will simply talk and eat with other students of similar interest to me as you.
If you wish to attend, they shall be held fortnightly, the first meeting will be starting on the third Sunday of November at 6:00 in my office. I very much hope to see you there.
-Horace Slughorn.
Evelyn's eyebrows furrowed again in confusion as she read the letter. Her eyes glanced across the room at the other students in the hall, scanning to see if anyone else had seemingly received the same letter but there was barely anyone in the Great Hall other than first years. She couldn't see another Ravenclaw with the letter, any Gryffindor, or any Hufflepuff.
Turning to look behind her at the Slytherin table, she spotted one of the few people she would have hoped would not be attending fingering the very same letter. Upon looking at Tom, she could tell that he too was scanning the room for others with the same letter and had finally stopped searching when he saw Evelyn looking him dead in the eyes, holding the same letter he had in front of him. Neither Evelyn nor Tom looked away, instead, they seemed to be investigating each other, running their eyes across their whole body a few times before looking away.
After Evelyn looked away, she could tell that Tom had not yet done the same. With an uncomfortable feeling in her body, Evelyn pocketed the letter and headed towards her next lesson.