Burning Roses

11|Jealousy invites pride

Things are about to get spicy😏😏😏

○DALAYZA○

I brush out my pale hair, framing my face with a few strands and tying up the rest in a low ponytail. I adjust my plaid skirt, covering my hands with the sleeves of my black turtleneck. If I want to gain Tom's trust, I need to become him. Not literally, just tidy up my appearance and share the same hobbies. The only hobbies that I know of though, is studying the dark arts, slytherin's history, and thinking that I'm better than everyone. Pretty easy. I take one last look in the mirror, and open the door. 

"I'm going, you can invite Rowen now but make sure not to have too much fun!" I yell at Sierra, who blushes crimson. I giggle to myself and walk down the stairs into the common room, where I see Tom and Xavier talking at one of the tables. Tom wears his own black turtleneck, along with black shiny shoes and black dress pants. God does he always have to look like he's going to a funeral? 

"Tom." I greet, and he nods his head. We both bid our goodbyes to Xavier, walking out of Hogwarts and into Hogsmaede. We walk side by side in silence. I take in the scenery, we're walking on a cobblestone stone path, the stores around us gradually getting larger and fuller. Little kids run around us, chasing eachother with their toys. I hear Tom lowly scoff, taking a turn into a darker path. I walk behind him, the path getting smaller and smaller the deeper we go in. We finally come up to an old shop, with cobwebs on the sign. Either way I wouldn't be able to read the sign, the words are either covered up or hanging off by a nail. Tom opens the door, moving to the side and gesturing me to go in first. I hesitantly walk in, whimpering when I see a small rat in the corner of the room. The room itself is small, but when you look up you see the store goes all the way up to the sky. The floors are filled with bookshelves that are filled with books. It goes on like that forever. I bet you can find a book covering any topic in this shop, all the way from "How to discipline your toad" to "How to cover up a murder". Tom walks in behind me, and that is when I see that their are a few people in the shop. An old man with a bald head and red beard sits behind a desk. He's writing something on his hand. An old lady with a purple feathery hat with purple lipstick and a purple dress. And a little boy, who has thick square glasses and curly red hair. 

"Wait here." Tom says, disappearing up the many stairs. I huff angrily, feeling uncomfortable with the red haired boy staring at me. I look around the shop, running my hands down the spines of the books. The purple lady is reading titles of potion books, while the man with the beard gets up out of the chair, taking a piece of parchment and writing down the same words he just wrote on his hand. I look at the the books infront of me, "The art of Revenge", "The perfect way to get revenge", "How to be Karma". Huh. I take out a few books, bringing them up to the man with the beard. 

●TOM●

Where is it, where is it, where is it? Ah, there it is! I take the large, thick book in my arms, starting my journey back down the stairs. I finally get to the bottom, barely dodging the boy with the thick glasses at the bottom. I scowl at him, walking over to the desk. The man with the beard, Mr. Adhar, takes the book, shoving it in a big bag. I give him the money, and while he's getting my change, I steal a glance at Dalayza. She's talking with the purple lady, a potion cookbook in her hand. She's nodding along to something she's saying, giggling a bit. I take this time to look at her, really look at her. She was rare, most girls would admire me from afar or be too scared to even look at me, but not Dalayza. No, she talks to me as an equal, like she's on my level. And I hate that. I'm so much better than her, I'm so much more skilled then her. She deserves what her father gave her. She deserves all the pain and sorrow she went through. 

"Here you go." Mr. Adhar says, handing me the change and the bag. I nod over to Dalayza, who thanks the woman and runs over to me. I notice she has a bag in her hand, three books. I open the door for her to walk out first, and I follow behind her. Her skirt sways from side to side as she walks, she's practically skipping. What is she so happy about?

"You bought some books." I say matter-of-factly. 

"The purple lady recommended some cookbooks." She answers, and I watch her shoulders drop. Her face stares straight ahead, I'm not able to look at her eyes. I don't trust her, she changes her mood every second. One minute she looks like a happy little hufflepuff, and the next she looks just about ready to rip your throat out. I simply can't read her, and that angers me. I can't see her true intentions, so there's no trust. She leads me out of the dark alleyway, right into the middle of a huge crowd of people. 

○DALAYZA○

"Where are you going?" 

"To Madame Puddifoot's." I answer casually. 

"No, no we're not." 

"Why? I just want to get a cup of tea! Please!" I don't want tea, I want to distract him. I would just slip veritaserum in his drink if that wasn't frowned upon. Tom clenches his jaw, putting his hands in his pockets deep in thought. He finally rolls his eyes and starts to walk by my side, half leading me to the shop. Madam Puddifoot's is a sickly shop, always filled with sickly couples snogging and doing unholy things under the tables. It's filled with bows and pink, and little hearts. It's absolutely horrifying on Valentine's day. But, that's exactly why I chose the shop. Tom will feel uncomfortable with all the snogging teenagers, he'll feel as though he's under pressure. And when someone feels as though they're under pressure, they crack. Secrets slip out, and they say something that they regret. We finally get to the sickly pink shop, Tom opening the door for me. I immediately regret my decision. The shop seems to be filled with overly-touchy couples, all of which have their lips locked. The shades of pink blind me, and I stumble back into Tom's chest. 

"Hello and welcome to Madame Puddifoot's tea shop! Please follow me to your seat." A short, plump lady says. She leads me and Tom to a table, smack in the middle of the couples slobbering all over eachother. I scrunch up my nose, and out of the corner of my eye I see Tom smirk. 

"Do you know what you would like?" The lady says, after Tom pushed my seat into the table. 

"Rose milk tea please." I answer. 

"And for you sir?" 

"Coffee." Is all Tom says before flashing the lady a fake smile. He sits down in his seat across from me, glaring at the pink bows decorated on the table. I lean my chin on my hand, trying not to look at the sickly couples sitting in this sickly shop. The lady comes back with both me and Tom's orders. She dosen't leave though. 

"Yes?" I ask the lady, who is standing in between me and Tom, staring at us. 

"Oh nothing, I just know you two would make the most beautiful children." She smiles happily. I spit out my tea and Tom clacks his coffee on his plate, spilling it. 

"We're not together." Tom says quickly. 

"No? Well that's a shame." The lady says, before leaving us to welcome yet another sickly couple that has entered the shop. I wipe my mouth with a creme pink napkin, crumbling it up and setting it down on the table. The shop is filled with giggles and low classical music, I watch as a boy whispers something into a girl's ear, making her blush uncontrollably. I can totally see Sierra and Rowen going here, but definitely not me and Tom. 

"So..." He starts.

"So...." I repeat awkwardly, staring at his hands that are holding his coffee. An uncomfortable silence hangs over us, until a boy with blonde hair and blue eyes walks up to our table. He leans on the table, making the tea in my cup spill. 

"Archer Lore, it's nice to meet you." He thrusts his hand out at me, bringing my hand up to his lips and kissing it gently. Not even sparing a glance at Tom, who is silently fuming. 

"Uh-Dalayza Ariti." I answer confused. 

"What a lovely face you have." Archer says, bringing a hand to my face. Tom then stands up, moving his chair next to mine. 

"If you don't mind, me and my girlfriend would like some privacy." He says in a calm tone, placing a hand on top of mine. My eyes go wide and my lower lip quivers. Girlfriend? Archer laughs. 

"Girlfriend? Please, no one believes that bullshit." He says, pointing an accusing finger at Tom. Tom's eyes fill with anger, and then he turns to me. I look up at him worridly, afraid of what he's about to do. He leans down so he's the same level as my eyes, and our lips connect. Tom Marvolo Riddle kisses me.