The Price of Gold | tom riddle

Chapter 17 - Scandals at Sundown

Ostara entered the defence against the dark arts classroom. She placed her books down on her desk next to Edison.

Her eyes glanced up to the boy. "Is that a tattoo?" She leant in and attempted to touch behind the boys ear with her finger.

His reaction time was quick and precise. He grabbed her wrist and flicked it away. "Do not touch."

"I just never picked you as the tattoo type of guy." She eyed the small black tattoo. Out of all the things it could have been, it was a plain black cross. "Why a cross?"

"Do you ever shut up Stiltskin?" he snapped.

"No, not really," she responded, with a shrug. "So what's with the cross?"

"For Merlin's sake, Ostara, has it ever crossed your mind that no one wants to hear your voice twenty-four hours a day." He exhaled and opened his textbook.

"Sorry," she said, widening her eyes and opening up her own textbook.

He sighed. "I didn't mean to be rude."

"Well, you were." She crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"You can't just expect me to tell you everything about my life."

"I never asked that, did I?" She eyed him. "I simply was inquiring something about yourself."

"The tattoo is very dear to me, Ostara," he said, taking out his quill and ink.

"Are you telling me about it or asking me to respect your privacy?"

"Do you ever stop talking?" He chuckled. "Maybe if you paused your voice for a moment and stopped interrupting people, you'd learn a great deal more."

She stared at him with her lips pursed and rested her elbows on the desk. Her chin found itself resting above her hands.

"My mother passed two years ago. She was the best person I had ever met." His eyes did not meet her gaze.

"I'm sorry to hear that, Ed."

"She was hunting, with my younger brother, Matthew."

"Hunting?!" Ostara yelped. "A woman? Hunting?" Her eyes were wide.

"My mother taught me everything I knew. She was a strong woman, she did not want to marry my father but when the Pureblood duty called, she felt pressured. She only agreed to marry my father if she could keep her free will and 'extracurricular activities'." His face glowed as he told her story. There was a small twinkle in his eyes.

"She never attended balls and dinners much. Quite a mystery to high wizarding society."

"She sounds amazing," Ostara said.

"She was. Though two years ago, she was training Matt in the forest near our estate, as she trained me. Grindelwald's men ambushed her. She was an intriguing woman, they wanted to know more about her and her skills. She resisted and got Matt to safety. However, she was not so lucky. They killed her." The gleam in his eyes dimmed.

"She sounds very brave, as are you. I'm sure she'd be so proud of you." Ostara felt compelled to reach out and place a hand on Ed's shoulder.

"Don't." He moved away from her touch. "That's the cycle of life. People live and make their impact, and people die."

"So why the cross? It's a muggle symbol, is it not?"

"That is precisely why. I like to believe that the cycle of life and death is the same for all of us. Muggle's believe in a better place after death. I've always held onto that belief; the idea that she is somewhere better, shooting once more."