my riddle to solve (tom riddle)

twenty-one

a.n- a lovely pic of Tom because why not?

When I woke the next morning, the light dusting of snow that covered my balcony was the first thing that caught my eye. The crystalline flakes were too sparse to create anything like a snowball, but I suppose it was pleasant to look at.

"I hope we get a real snowfall before Raymond has to leave. Snow Fights are much more fun with an even number," Aspen declared at the breakfast table.

"I don't know if the three of you are at a high enough skill level to compete against me. A few years ago we had a massive snowball fight at the school, and I nailed Professor Binns right in the face." I was happy to see that Raymond seemed to be feeling better than he had last night. I hadn't had to drag him out of bed or anything like I had expected I would need to.

"Yes, and you also scored yourself two weeks of detention," I reminded him. He shrugged as he bit into an apple slice.

"It was most definitely worth it. Detention usually isn't that awful, unless of course it's with Pringle." Apollyon Pringle was the school's caretaker, and one of the most vile humans I'd ever met. I tried my very best to steer clear of him and his wretched pet cat.

The rest of the day was quite uneventful. My father left for a business meeting, and my mother had been invited to tea with Mrs. Parkinson. Raymond took the twins out to a nearby clearing and let them each have a go on his broomstick, which would've given my mother a heart attack, had she been present. Things didn't really pick up until the next morning; my seventeenth birthday.

Raymond loved planning elaborate surprises and gifts whenever one of our friends had a birthday. I was shaken awake before the sun had even started to rise. My friend was standing over my bed wearing a bright pink paper hat and holding a bottle of vodka.

"Happy birthday, Ophelia! Hurry up and get dressed, we need to be in London in less than an hour." I stumbled out from under the covers and quickly pulled on my baby-blue dress and paired it with my black lace stockings. I sat at my vanity applying make-up while Raymond tapped his foot impatiently.

"You know, if you'd like to be helpful you could go and get me some coffee," I grumbled. He grinned sheepishly and held up the bottle of vodka.

"Wouldn't you rather have a shot of this stuff?" My general rule was that I didn't drink before seven P.M, but I decided I could make an exception just this once.

Everyone else in the manor was still asleep, expect of course the house-elves. Raymond handed Tippy a note that was to be given to my mother once she woke up. As we pulled on our coats and started to leave, I reminded Raymond that he really couldn't carry around a bottle of liquor.

"Right. I suppose I'd like to avoid being kicked from anywhere today," he decided as he placed the vodka on the top of a shelf. Although I was now of the legal age to do so, neither of us knew how to Apparate, which meant we stuck to Muggle transportation. A brief walk down to the nearby village and we found a bus station that could take us into London. Raymond had a difficult time using the Muggle money, which earned us many stares from other passengers. We ended up seated next to an old lady carrying a little dog in her handbag. The dog barked and yipped at us for the entire ride.

"Are you going to tell me what you've planned, or are you going to carry on with this secrecy stuff for the entire day?" I pestered Raymond as we got off of the bus.

"Well, I thought we'd start off by doing a bit of shopping. It bores me to death, but since I'm such a wonderful friend I penciled it into the schedule. I've gotten us a reservation at some exclusive Italian restaurant, and that's where we'll have lunch. Then I've planned a visit to the Royal Observatory in Greenwich park. It's supposed to be much more exciting at night, but we're going to be busy this evening. I figured you'd still enjoy the museum part of it."