"You are unexpectedly chatty and calm this morning."
Abraxas had been watching her since she entered the enormous wooden doors of the Great Hall with books under her arm, a big smile on her lips. Not that she was usually in a bad mood, but in the morning it took her a while to get her brain working regularly.
Upon hearing those words, Anastasia lowered her coffee cup onto the table, shrugging. "I must have slept better than other nights."
It was still too early for most of the students, despite the strong rays of the sun hitting the tables from the large stained glass windows in the hall. Some were quietly eating breakfast, others still had to arrive.
The inviting smell of freshly baked croissants and hot coffee and tea was something divine that one could not deprive oneself of early in the morning.
At their table, of their year, there were only the two of them sitting side by side. They had said good morning to each other between yawns and sighs, and after munching on a biscuit and taking a sip of hot tea, Abraxas had started asking questions.
"How did it go last night?" he inquired, casting a glance at the girl, waiting to see her burst out.
But it didn't, and that only made him suspicious. Especially when she smiled at him and said, "We chatted and it all worked out."
Abraxas reflexively raised his eyebrow, swallowing noisily. If there was one thing that was certain, it was the fact that in the condition Anastasia had been in the night before and in the condition Tom Riddle was in on a daily basis, no one would have bet on such a quiet and not at all bloody reunion.
"Let me get this straight, you have... Talked?"
She seemed to look at him as if confused, almost shocked that he didn't believe it. But something was off, and maybe Abraxas had even figured out what it was. "How do you resolve with others when you have a problem?"
"Believe me, you don't want to know."
The fair-haired boy continued to mumble something, to investigate whatever had happened the night before in an attempt to figure out if his hunches were true or without any reason to exist. But it was incredibly difficult to tell.
Isidore Rosier and Xavier Nott took their places between them after a few minutes. Their eyes were struggling to stay open as hot coffee poured itself into both their cups.
"Good morning to you too, guys," Anastasia hummed, watching them sip the hot liquid without any fear, as if they necessarily needed it to face breakfast without risking hitting their heads against the wooden table.
"Please address me after I finish my second cup of coffee," Xavier replied in a low voice, raising a hand so he could restrain her before she could start talking, something his brain wouldn't be able to handle at the moment.
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Painful Redemption | T. R.
FanfictionLies and falsehoods, armour made of ambition and cruelty. Irremediably, Tom Riddle's destiny has been written from the beginning, foreseeing a dark and deviant path. But to everything there is an exception, and Anastasia Atwell did not know she was...