my riddle to solve (tom riddle)

seventeen

The song for this chapter is Starry Eyes by Cigarettes After Sex. I'd press play around the time that Ophelia and Tom leave the party.

Naturally, I had to tell my friends about what had happened with Riddle. I told them my story as we were walking to Transfiguration, and their reactions were not at all what I had been expecting.

"Ade, I called it! You owe me five galleons!" shouted Raymond as a grin stretched across his face.

"No, I don't owe you anything! You wagered that they would kiss before December, and we're well into the month. If anything, you owe me," decided Adelaide as she playfully elbowed him in the chest.

"Nope. You bet that it wouldn't be until after the New Year, and that it would happen while they were both drunk. Lestrange was the one who said it would happen around Christmas. Technically, we both owe him."

"Seriously. You all were betting on this?" I groaned. My friends shrugged and exchanged a look.

"Ophelia, if you could be a dear and not tell Lestrange about this. I really don't want to have to pay him," Raymond pleaded.

"I hate you all," I mumbled as we entered the Transfiguration classroom. Professor Dumbledore had an incredibly challenging lesson planned for today; transforming ferrets into birds.

"Hey, where's Malfoy?" asked Raymond as we took our seats.

"He's feeling a bit under the weather," Rosier said quickly.

"Oh. Could you tell him that I hope he feels better?" All of us were quiet for a moment. Last time I had checked, Raymond didn't think very highly of Abraxas. Multiple times over the years he had referred to him as a 'dumb blonde.' I supposed that it was a good thing he was trying to be more civil with some of my other friends.

"Yeah, I will," Lestrange assured him. "Ophelia, could I look at your essay? I still haven't finished mine."

-------------------------------------------------------

As the week went on, I realized how desperately I needed a break from school. The workload from classes had continued to increase since the beginning of the term, and I found myself spending most of my free time doing homework.

Potions with Riddle was definitely my easiest class. Not only was I good at it, but Slughorn absolutely adored Riddle. If we ever made any kind of mistake, Slughorn wrote it off as an 'intentional creative error.' 

When Friday evening eventually rolled around, I felt nervous for some strange reason. Adelaide was also attending the party with her boyfriend, so I was sitting on her bed as I watched her apply makeup.

"Is the red lipstick too much?" she asked as she dapped at her upper lip.

"No, not at all. It compliments your dress nicely," I assured her. I had chosen to wear a silky-blue slip dress, one that fell just below my knee. My mother would most likely consider it too revealing, which made me like it even more.

"Yes, I suppose you're right. We should head downstairs now; the boys should be arriving any minute," she decided.

The common room was still filled with students, seeing as it was only seven. I saw that Cindy was also dressed up, so I figured that she would be attending as well. I flashed her a smile before we left to wait out in the corridor.

"Merlin, Adelaide. We're going to a dinner party, not a gentlemen's club," commented Riddle as he approached from the stairs. Admittedly, her dress was a bit short. But I thought that she looked great. Adelaide simply rolled her eyes and hitched up her dress so that even more of her leg was showing.