The Seven {tom riddle}

Chapter Eleven

The next morning brought nothing but rain; Hera's story was left in the darkness and nightmares that had plagued the long night. Both girls had slept fitfully, jolting awake as the blare of their alarm broke the gentle patter from outside.

The weather seemed to be affecting everyone and breakfast passed in relative silence, with nothing beyond a few sleepy 'good mornings' before the group dispersed. Tom and Evelyn walked separately to Transfiguration, neither looking the other's way.

To their equal dismay, Dumbledore had apparently done a little rearranging of the room, organising the desks into pairs and announcing a new project. 'The Avis charm!' He said cheerfully, as the class clustered at the back of the room to find out their partners. 'Conjuring life from air. Difficult stuff but I expect the best from all of you! You have two weeks, work in class time and outside it, I await a demonstration and 2 rolls of parchment on my desk by September 19th.'

Evelyn tried to shuffle a little closer to Zara and a little further from Riddle. Riddle gave her a rather nasty glare.

Dumbledore coughed. 'Unfortunately I have taken the liberty of choosing your partners for you! Miss Ollivander, I suggest you scoot a little closer to Mr Riddle. I'm sure you two will produce something spectacular!' He continued to pair off the class as everyone grumbled, finding their seats.

'Ollivander.' Riddle snaps as she tried to put her books down. 'Could you possibly take up any MORE space?'

'Maybe it's your fat head taking up all the room' she mumbled under her breath.

Riddle evidently heard this. He had a rather basilisk-esq glint to his eye when he was angry, she thought, trying to avoid his gaze. If looks could kill she'd certainly be 6 feet under.

'Look,' she sighed. 'It's just one project. How about we pretend we're the bestest of friends for two weeks and then we can go back to trying not to know eachother.'

He smirked. 'Bestest of friends? You wish.'

Tom was upset with himself. He knew something was off with Evelyn— Ollivander rather. She did not belong here. All he knew was he needed to find out more, and arguing with her was not the way to go but he just couldn't help it? She was so irritating. She made his cool composure crack a little, she always knew how to get under his skin.

What was she doing? Why did she have to write like that. That was not how you held a quill. And Merlin above could she stop sighing? Every deep breath out made the curls on her olive forehead flutter a little, and he desperately wanted to pull on them. He could see that blasted necklace rising and falling, just under the creamy silk of her blouse. He shifted a little in his seat. He coughed.

'Can you STOP coughing.' she hissed. 'Merlin it is so annoying. I am trying to think and all you've done is sit there and look at me. Do you want to help or not.'

'Yes, yes fine. I was—thinking.' He leaned across her to grab her copy of their year 6 Transfiguration textbook. His arm brushed against her and she jumped. 'What page?' he asked, to cover the awkwardness, putting the book between them.

She reached across to turn the pages herself, each of them holding a side of the book open. Her perfect nails skimmed each page lightly, pulling the leaves from under his thumb. She looked up at him through her lashes and smiled. '73.'

Tom tried not to cough again. 'Thank you.' he shot back a half smile of his own.

After half an hour of making notes from the Sixth Year's guide to Transfiguration, Dumbledore held up a hand. 'This classroom, the next two along and the Library are free should you be ready to start practising. Of course, no complaints if you'd rather write the two scrolls first!'