Much to Horace Slughorn's dismay, Artemis Potter and Tom Riddle seem to have drifted apart a little despite having spent the summer holidays with each other. So, of course, it is upto him to bring them closer once more. If only his superb match-maki...
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-----------------------> THE DAYS PASSED BY IN WHIRLS of heavy rain and piles of homework. Tom's sighting of Artemis—except the stolen glimpses inside their Transfigurations classroom—became as rare as Fleamont winning a bet. She always seemed to be in a hurry, dashing across the hallways before he could catch her eye, books secured in her arms with a sorrowful appearance.
It didn't help that they had no other classes with each other, and neither were they paired up for the Prefect Patrols to explore the dark hallways when everyone else slumbered. Any time that Tom managed to make himself free to spend with her, Artemis was nowhere to be found, busy apparently.
Tom knew that, unlike Slytherin, Gryffindor or even Hufflepuff, anybody and everybody could—and were welcomed to—enter the Ravenclaw Common Room, as long as they answered the riddle by the eagle knocker. Unfortunately, that was where the problem laid.
Tom was a model student; the smartest in the school and the best in his year. Although Tom could definitely answer the riddle as easily as he could brew the Calming Potion, he merely didn't want to. Answering riddles was a low task, one he had no intention of doing. That was a simple truth, despite whatever his or was inclined to believe.
Due to his disapproval with the password of the Ravenclaw Common Room, Tom could not simply go there and summon Artemis out of her lair. He tried to catch her attention during dinner, but she continued to eat hastily, or sometimes, she would just pick up her plate and leave. During the latter case, Gen would run after her like she was in a marathon, piling more vegetables and side-dishes onto Artemis' plate before she exited the Great Hall, before returning to her seat.
When Tom cornered Roman and asked him about her odd behaviour lately, Roman sighed and forced a weary smile to spread on his face. "She's...Artemis is going through some things."
"What things?"
"I'm not telling you. You should ask Artemis directly, and if she doesn't feel like telling you, don't badger her." Roman's words held a hint of threat, which Tom brushed off and willed himself to nod.
"Of course. I would never make Artemis do anything she doesn't want to."
Roman nodded his head and went on his way, but Tom's gaze narrowed. It felt like he was a cat in a mouse chase. Artemis was just at his reach, but before he could catch her, she would slip away like ice.
By chance, when Tom exited the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom after staying behind to clarify a doubt he had on the syllabus, he spotted her familiar golden hair and blue-striped-bronze tie as she stepped out of the shadows that clung to the second floor of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
"Oh," Artemis said when her eyes landed on him. Then, her countenance brightened like lumos. "My muse!"
He tried to maintain a vacant expression, but a hint of a smile tore through his exterior. "Artemis," he greeted, folding his arms over his chest and rearranging his features to a stern visage.
