"Bloody hell," Avalon groaned. "If one more person tries to convince me that mash is better than chips, I'm going to lose my goddamn mind."
"It's not my fault you lack taste, woman!" Orion laughed, piling a spoonful of mashed potatoes into his mouth as she shook her head, an annoyed look on her face. The Great Hall was bustling during dinnertime, the grand room filled with the chattering of friends and peers, all echoing together into one indistinguishable blend of conversation.
Nearly a week had passed since Avery had flown to her room, and since then, things had returned to normal between the two of them. It became increasingly evident to Avalon that her original view on Orion had been correct-- he was a true friend who cared about her deeply. She almost felt guilty for ever doubting that.
Since learning about what Lestrange had done, Avery spent most of his meal times either with Avalon or with his Quidditch teammates, opting to stay as far away from his old friend as possible. He and Avalon sat at the very end of the Slytherin table, far away from their peers, as they ate their dinner in the peace of their own solitude, but every once in a while, Avalon's eyes would glance up the table and catch a glimpse of Lestrange, Rosier, and Mulciber all sitting together.
Rosier and Mulciber seemed to constantly be talking and laughing, but she rarely saw Lestrange join in on their conversation. It appeared his entire demeanor had changed the night of his birthday: gone was the boy with the charming tongue and mischievous smile, replaced only by the ghost of his former self. Every once in a while, she would see him speak to them, but when he did, his face was stoic and his eyes cold-- the Xavier Lestrange she had once known was gone.
She pried her stare away from the boys, shaking her head as she forced her attention back towards Avery. Though, when her eyes landed on him, she saw his own gaze drawn over her shoulder to the Hufflepuff table, an absentminded smile on his lips. She turned around for a moment to follow his eyes, spotting Clara and her friends chatting together at their own table.
"She left me flowers outside my room the other day," she said, breaking him out of his trance.
He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "I may have told her that you were having a rough couple of days."
"It was very sweet of her," she smiled.
"She handpicked them from the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest," he chuckled. "The two of us have started to meet each other there once in a while. Can't say it is the most romantic spot, but at least it gives us privacy."
"Be careful around there. There's a lot of dangerous creatures that roam the area."
"She knows her way around, don't worry. We never go deep enough for it to be an issue." He took a bite out of a cookie, downing it with a glass of milk. "Reckon it's probably safer for us there than it is here."
His eyes skirted up as Axel and Rosalie made their way over, stopping beside them. "Nice to see you two finally left our dorm," he said, sending a sarcastic smile to his best friend.
Axel chuckled, rolling his eyes. "Hello to you, too."
"Mind if we join you?" Rosalie asked, to which Avalon and Orion both invited them to sit. Axel quickly wrapped Orion up in a conversation about their next upcoming Quidditch game, rapidly stealing his attention and leaving Rosalie and Avalon on their own. The petite blond girl reached over and began neatly scooping food onto her plate before picking up her fork and knife and cutting into her meal with pristine etiquette. She popped a bite into her mouth before washing it down with a sip of water and patting her lips dry with a napkin, then turning her attention to Avalon between bites. "How have you been, love? I haven't seen much of you since you and Xavier parted ways."
"I've been well," Avalon said, and for the most part, she meant that. Things had become a lot easier for her to deal with, and time had given her clarity and healing. "Just keeping busy."
"Well, try not to be so busy that you forget about the rest of us," she smiled. "Just because the two of you broke up, doesn't mean that you have to stop spending time with the group. It's rare to have girls join us-- I don't want to lose that." Avalon opened her mouth to speak, but Rosalie cut her off excitedly. "Tell me you'll be at the party this weekend."
"Party?"
"Oh, didn't you hear? Slytherin is hosting a gathering on Saturday to celebrate Tom being named the next Head Boy!"
"I was honestly unaware he was even selected," Avalon admitted.
"Apparently, Slughorn accidentally let it slip during Slug Club. I thought you would have heard since-"
"I haven't really been going to Slug Club recently," Avalon said. "Regardless, I appreciate the offer, but I think I'll have to pass."
"No, you have to join us!" Rosalie pouted. "Adonis was able to get his hands on Veritaserum. We're going to use it for a game of Truth or Dare. It'll be fun! Last time we played, Demitri was dared to try and kiss the portrait of Salazar Slytherin. It was all that the paintings chatted about for the next week."
Avalon let out a laugh that she hoped didn't sound too forced. "Perhaps I will try to swing by," she said, knowing that it was a lie.
"Please do. We'd love to see you there," the girl said, her smile returning to her lips.
It was at that moment that Avalon noticed Riddle walk into the Great Hall. His entrance was noticed by several girls near the door, and they quickly pulled him in for conversation, adoration in their eyes as they spoke fondly to the smiling Prefect. It never failed to amaze her how well he hid his true nature behind that flawless smile of his.
"If you all don't mind, I'm going to excuse myself now," Avalon said, standing up abruptly as she grabbed her things off the table.
"Already?" Rosalie asked.
"Yeah, stay awhile, Hendrix," Axel chimed in.
"I promised Zelda that I would go to the library with her to finish up some work tonight," she said, her words slightly rushed as she tried to ensure that she would leave before Riddle reached them. "I'll see all of you around later, alright?"
"I'm going to be around the library tonight, as well," Orion noted. "I'll probably see you there at some point."
"Perfect," she said, offering them all a half-hearted smile as she began to see Riddle making his way towards them, finally free from the shackles of his previous conversation. "Have a nice rest of your dinner."
Before the Prefect could reach them, she hastily walked off toward the Ravenclaw table. She had been doing her best to avoid him for the past week. Much of her time had been spent in the library, huddled in the Restricted Section while hounding over books in a desperate attempt to find any sort of information about how to destroy a Horcrux. However, it appeared Horcruxes were not a topic found in books-- even in the Restricted Section-- so her search had been less than successful. Nonetheless, she tried to avoid him. Seeing him only made her think of the night he had intervened to get her to safety, which was a thought that she didn't like to linger too much on.
It still made little sense to her why he had helped her-- let alone tortured his own friend over it. But, she did her best to not dwell on the thought. She couldn't afford to.
She had found herself growing more and more inclined to question Riddle's morality these days... and she knew that was a dangerous slope to slide down. He was evil, there shouldn't be a question about it. She had lived through the catastrophic aftermath of his own path-- her existence in this time was proof that he could not be trusted. And yet, still, she couldn't stop wondering if a part of his humanity was still intact.
Still, it didn't matter. She had a job she had to do. And she couldn't allow herself to fail. Not when so many lives depended on her successfully completing it.
She finally spotted Zelda sitting with a group of her other friends. When she reached her roommate, she tapped her on the shoulder and watched as Zelda turned around and smiled. "I'm ready to go to the library whenever you are," she said.
Zelda nodded, picking up her cup and taking one final sip of her water before turning back to her friends. "I'll see you all in the common room later," she said to them, shortly after standing up and grabbing her book bag off the bench beside her, slinging it over her shoulder as she joined her roommate. "Let's go."
The two of them made their way over to the exit, but Avalon was painfully aware of the dark brown eyes that followed her as she walked out of the hall. She didn't dare look in his direction, instead just putting her head down as she entered the outside corridor and began her trek to the library with Zelda.
When they arrived, the space was filled to the brim with countless students. With about two weeks left until the end of the term, many of her peers were beginning to study for their final exams or completing their last assignments. Zelda, always the diligent student, was keen on prepping with ample time, so she had been accompanying Avalon to the library incessantly for the past few days. However, Avalon, herself, found it difficult to prepare for exams when she had much more pressing issues to attend to.
Zelda grabbed a table for them in an empty back corner of the library and Avalon quickly descended into the Restricted Section, finding two new books and bringing them back with her in hopes of finding something-- anything-- that could be of use to her.
She stared at the two books before her, taking in a deep breath as she took in the massive size of each title. With an exasperated sigh, she opened up to the first page of the first book and began reading.
Her eyes scanned the words tirelessly. One page became one chapter became one book became both as the hours dragged on and on and on.
Slowly, the library became less and less crowded as exhaustion took victim even the most persistent students. Even Zelda had become incapable of holding in her yawns as time dragged them into the dead of night. She glanced over at Avalon, who still had her head buried in her books, her eyes showing no signs of tiredness as they quickly scanned every word on each page. "How much longer do you reckon you'll be here?"
Avalon looked up, shrugging. "A few more hours at least."
"Merlin, you really are nocturnal, aren't you?"
"I just have to finish up my work," she laughed half-heartedly. "You go to bed. I'll be quiet when I come back."
Zelda sighed before reluctantly nodding, her sleep-deprivation beating out her desire to push through with her studying. She slowly began putting her things back into her bag, her eyes glancing over to the book in front of Avalon. She narrowed her eyes on it, curiosity in her tone when she asked, "What even are you studying?"
"Just trying to find something for Potions," she lied, knowing her roommate had opted out of taking that course.
"In a book from the Restricted Section?" Zelda asked, leaning over a bit to get a better glimpse of the book.
"Slughorn recommended I read into them to better understand some of the more arcane potions that we may not cover in class," she said, letting out an internal sigh of relief when Zelda leaned back into her chair, seemingly accepting the lie.
"Alright," Zelda said, her voice tired. "Good luck with your work. Try not to stay up too late, you deserve some rest."
Avalon smiled and watched as her roommate waved goodbye and headed off, leaving her alone at her table with two completed books and no more useful information than she had hours prior. She took a moment to stare at the pages in front of her, letting out a quiet groan as her fingers tangled into her hair and tugged at the roots in frustration, but tried not to let her annoyance phase her as she warily stood up and grabbed the books, walking back over to the Restricted Section to swap them out with a few new titles.
She put the books back in their rightful spots before her eyes scanned the abundant list of new options that sat in front of her on the shelves. There were so many books that she felt overwhelmed even trying to figure out where to begin. Her fingers danced along the spines of various titles, trying to find anything that might hold clues into what she was looking for. Slowly, she reached out and grabbed a book off the shelf, holding it to her chest as she scanned for more options.
The sound of footsteps broke her out of her thoughts.
She whipped around and saw Riddle make his way down the aisle, his crisp white sleeves rolled up to his elbows and his long pale fingers stretched across the spines of the three books he carried in his grasp.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, trying to keep her voice as cold as possible when he stopped in front of her.
"As I'm the only Prefect here, I believe I should be asking you that question," he replied.
"Dumbledore gave me a pass," she said, a scowl on her lips.
His eyes skirted towards the book she held in her grasp. "To study Dark Magic?"
She shrugged. "Know thy enemy..."
"...and know yourself," he said, finishing the quote with a slight smirk on his lips. She rolled her eyes before turning back around, returning to her original goal of finding another book to grab. Tom continued, "Care to tell me why you've been avoiding me?"
"Don't flatter yourself, I've only been busy."
"How many times must I remind you that you're a terrible liar?"
Her breath caught in her throat for a moment, but she tried to not show it. Instead, she just focused on the shelf before her. One particular title caught her attention and she looked up at the book, standing on her tip-toes as she tried to grab it off the top shelf.
Before her fingers could latch onto it, Tom's arm reached past her, grabbing the book with ease. She spun around, looking up into his eyes as his hand remained placed on the top shelf, his body looming over hers. Slowly, he pulled the book out, keeping his dark eyes locked on hers, before he handed it to her and said, "We need to talk."
When she turned around and began to walk away, he had to try and hide his irritation. She was acting as though he didn't exist-- that's how she had been ever since Lestrange's birthday and he was fed up with it. He took in a deep breath, trying to steady himself before he briskly followed after her. "You're just going to ignore me, then?"
She shot him an annoyed glare as she sat down at her table, opening up her book and starting to read. "I have work to do."
He fought the urge to roll his eyes as he pulled out the chair across from her and sat down, too. When she raised her eyebrow at him he merely shrugged and opened one of his own books. "So do I."
There was a tense silence between them as they both began to read their books, though Avalon was glaringly aware of the way his eyes would float up and watch her every so often. She didn't dare meet his gaze, though. She couldn't.
It unsettled her to look at the boy while sitting across from him, reading about ways she could kill him.
Still, she tried not to think about it as her eyes scanned page after page after page. Nothing grabbed her attention and she was beginning to lose the last shred of hope that she had, when suddenly, one sentence stuck out to her.
'Fiendfyre, when controlled properly, will destroy anything and everything in its path, making it the ultimate tool of destruction.'
She felt her breath hitch in her throat as she reread the line over and over.
Good, she thought to herself. This is good.
Her eyes scanned the rest of the page as she read more about the spell, trying to keep her face stoic as she took notes in her mind of the effects, casting, and power of the magic. She couldn't know for sure, but it seemed as though this was her best lead yet.
By all accounts, she should have been thrilled. But, as she stared at the page, trying not to take notice of the boy sitting across the table from her, she couldn't shake the feeling of nausea that rose into her stomach.
His voice demanded her attention. "You can't ignore me forever."
"Who said I'm ignoring you?" she said nonchalantly, not meeting his eyes.
"You won't speak to me."
"I'm speaking right now, aren't I?" He took in a deep breath, his patience wearing thin. Still, he tried his hardest to keep his voice at a quiet whisper to not disturb the few people that were still in the library. Avalon continued, "You merely don't like what I'm saying."
"I just need to know-"
"Know what?" she asked, cutting him off as she finally met his gaze. Her eyes were filled with a burning intensity, one that he hadn't seen in quite some time. "What could you possibly need from me, Riddle? Are you expecting a 'thank you?' Or for me to bow down and worship you the way the rest of the school does, all because you did what anyone should have done?"
Her words were equal parts infuriating and relieving: infuriating because he realized that she thought he had saved her in hopes of getting something in return, yet relieving because even if she was angry, at least she was showing him something other than emptiness.
"I-"
"-have bruised my skin just as Xavier has. So don't act as though he is the only one who has hurt me. You two may be more similar than you think," she said. He looked taken aback by her words, but she didn't let it phase her. They both opened their mouths to speak, when a third voice caught their attention.
"Fancy seeing you two here," Orion said as he walked over, a smile on his lips.
Tom watched as the hatred in Avalon's eyes quickly subsided and she grinned at the blond, pretending as though the air wasn't still filled with the tension of her and Tom's lingering conversation. "How's studying going?"
Orion pulled out a seat next to Avalon and shrugged as he sat down. "Alright. I don't think I'll be here much later. How about yourselves?"
"Perhaps another hour or so," Avalon answered.
Orion looked between the two of them, his next words drawn out when he said, "I didn't expect to see the two of you studying together, if I'm being honest."
"I didn't either," she said, a plastic smile on her lips when she turned toward Tom, who just shook his head. Orion seemed to pick up on the charged atmosphere and met Avalon's eyes, raising his eyebrow ever-so-slightly as if to silently ask 'are you okay?' She smiled at him and put a hand atop his, squeezing it gently and nodding, which eased his own expression.
He nodded, standing back up and quietly clapping his hands together. "Well, I should get back to my table. Good luck with your studying," he said as he waved and walked off once more.
When Avery left, silence took his place. Neither Tom nor Avalon spoke again in his absence, both of them instead returning their attention to the books placed before them. Tom, however, could barely find the focus within him to read anything at all.
He couldn't thwart the feeling he got when she compared him to Lestrange. It was, quite frankly, offensive to be compared to someone as low as that bastard. Tom was stronger, smarter, more ambitious, and more calculated... he felt as though his moves were justified, thought-out... Xavier only acted on impulse. His actions were pointless and sloppy. Tom was nothing like him, he thought. And for her to even insinuate a semblance between the two of them angered him.
Though, there was more than just anger there. He felt the slightest pang of guilt, wondering how he could have hurt her enough to cause her to make that comparison.
For the next hour, neither of them spoke as they each read and reflected on their earlier confrontation. Most of the students had left the library for the night, leaving the two of them alone in the expansive sea of books. Avalon had even noticed Orion walk out through the exit a little bit earlier, though he hadn't been carrying any of his things, so she wondered if he was planning on coming back.
The moonlight shone through the windows, illuminating the two of them in a soft night glow amidst the flickering flames of the giant floating chandelier above.
Avalon's excessive tapping against the table was driving Tom mad, though he chose to try and ignore it, not in the mood to irritate her further by asking her to stop. She didn't look the slightest bit tired, he thought to himself, as she read page after page of the book before her. It was as though she were so absorbed in her reading that she had lost track of time, itself.
She absentmindedly chewed on her bottom lip as she worked, and he watched her curiously as she kept trying to tuck a shorter piece of her hair behind her ear, only to let out a frustrated huff every time it slipped back out and in front of her eyes.
The sound of approaching footsteps made them both look up in time to see Orion walking towards them, two cups in his hands as he carefully strode over, doing his best to not spill anything. "I stopped by the kitchen to get myself some snacks and thought perhaps you two could use some coffee for the long night ahead," he said as he set the cups down next to them.
"You're too sweet," Avalon said, her eyes beaming.
He rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry if they're a bit cold. I ran into Adonis while I was there and we chatted for a bit. Hopefully, it's still drinkable."
"Thank you," she smiled.
He shrugged. "Well, I'm done for the night. I'll see the two of you later. Try to get some rest, though, will you?"
"We'll do our best," she said, waving to him as he left to grab his things and retire for the night.
Tom watched as Avery once again left the two of them alone. His fingers absentmindedly reached out and grabbed the cup of coffee closest to him, taking a sip while he read the book in front of him.
As soon as the drink hit his tongue, his face contorted into a look of disgust. Avalon raised an eyebrow at him in confusion and watched as he reluctantly swallowed the coffee before looking into the cup and groaning, setting it back down before peering into the other cup.
She noticed he had taken a sip of the lighter colored drink, which Orion had undoubtedly filled to the brim with cream and sugar for her. "I don't know how you drink that," he grumbled, pushing the drink towards her as he sighed and looked at the dark coffee in the other cup.
"I could say the same for you," she said, rolling her eyes before she went back to her studying. Her fingers once more began to tap the top of the table, the sound drilling into Tom's brain.
"Will you stop that? It's infuriating," he blurted out, his own harsh outburst shocking even himself.
A frown found its way onto her lips. "What is your problem?"
"You are my problem," he hissed, the words leaving his mouth before he could even register what he was saying. "You're easily the most aggravating person I have ever met. Everything about you is maddening. From your bloody moral superiority complex, to your inability to stay quiet, to your disgusting coffee, to your crass tongue and complete lack of decorum, to the way you up and decide to ignore me with no warning for almost two weeks." He couldn't stop himself as everything spilled out. "It's all maddening."
She scowled. "If you find me so infuriating, why did you come here?"
"To try and get you to bloody talk to me," he frowned. "I don't even have work to do, I finished it all last week," he admitted, not sure why he couldn't stop his rambling. His teeth clenched atop his own tongue, trying to end his rant, but the words kept flowing out involuntarily. "I had to talk to you. I've barely gotten any sleep since that damn night. Not because of him, but because I can't shake the feeling that I'm to blame for what happened to you."
He had to slap a hand over his own mouth, trying to shut himself up. His eyes suddenly flashed with a look of realization as he looked at the cup of creamed coffee he had drunk. Avalon followed his gaze, her eyes widening when she realized what was happening.
"What do you mean you're to blame?" she pressed as he hastily grabbed his things and began to get up.
Unable to hold his tongue under the effect of Veritaserum, he blurted out, "I told him to pursue you for information but I never thought the bastard would do anything to hurt you." As the words left his tongue, he let out a shaky breath and tried to make a bee-line for the exit, but she blocked his path, looking up into his panicked gaze.
"What information do you want out of me?"
She could see him trying to battle the urge to speak, but the words flowed out regardless. "Everything." He pushed her out of his way and kept trying to quickly leave, but she ran to meet his stride. His eyes flashed with annoyance when he saw her following him and he quickly stated, "Silencio," while pointing his wand at himself.
"Why?" she asked as she pointed her wand at him and cast the counter-charm to break his silence.
His eyes shot daggers at her as he finally made it to the exit, but he couldn't ignore her question. "Because you're the one puzzle I can't seem to figure out and no matter how hard I try, I can't let it go. And I don't understand it because I've never felt this way about anyone or anything. You're infuriating and you get under my skin like nobody else, but perhaps the most infuriating thing about you is how despite everything you do, the thought of you ignoring me still bothers me, Hendrix," he said, the words coming out in a flurry of rushed confessions. His face filled with horror as he once again began to bite down on his tongue, trying desperately to silence himself as he pushed the door open and walked out, but she made sure to follow him as he blurted out, "You've managed to become a permanent resident in my mind."
The admission caught her off guard and she paused a moment, her footsteps coming to a halt. In her hesitation, he pointed his wand at her and disarmed her before casting a quick stunning spell on her, temporarily blurring her sight and rendering her movements useless.
By the time her vision cleared and her limbs were once again able to move, he was gone. But his words lingered in the air as she stood there, staring at the spot he had once stood. Her thoughts were racing faster than ever before, but all she could do was replay his last words over and over in her head.
'You've managed to become a permanent resident in my mind.'
She was almost surprised that he hadn't just killed her right then and there for hearing all of the things that he had said-- but, what surprised her more was that in the moment, she hadn't feared for her safety at all.
She wasn't afraid around him anymore.
And it made no sense, and she grew irritated at herself for letting her guard down, but it was the truth. In a strange sense, she didn't think he would hurt her.
Not anymore, at least...
She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts.
No.
Tom Riddle was dangerous, she had to remind herself. Tom Riddle still is dangerous.
But, it didn't feel that way, and that was what worried her more than anything else.
She replayed every word he had said over and over and over in her head until they felt as though they were ingrained into her thoughts, and yet still she continued. She wondered if she should have taken advantage of his honesty and pressed him further, but she knew that asking him anything too obvious would have blown her cover, and surely, that couldn't have ended well.
Yet, a nagging voice in the back of her head kept telling her that that wasn't the only reason she hadn't tried to get more information out of him.
A part of her was relieved that she hadn't asked him about his Horcruxes. Not because she was scared about what the outcome would have been, or how he would have reacted, but because the moment she found out what they were, she'd have no choice but to destroy them and kill him.
And as much as she wanted to deny it, the thought of killing him now scared her like no other.
Author's Note
... oooooh baby, how we feelin, folks?
This chapter was a lot of fun to write, so I hope you all enjoyed it! Now, I'm off to go get some carry-out vegan sushi... Just Covid things lol. Sending you lots of love! Until next time xoxo Daffy