The Price of Gold | tom riddle

Chapter 18 - A Rude Awakening

Ostara woke with a cold chill and a throbbing headache. She rubbed the remains of her mascara out of her eyes and yawned.

A gust of cold wind washed over her body as she opened her eyes.

She jumped.

She was outside.

She looked around to her left and then to her right. She was in the forest somewhere, or the outskirts of it. Her teeth chattered together as she tried to make sense of her surroundings.

There was no one in sight. She patted down her cloak pockets and thankfully felt her wand. A sigh of relief flushed over her.

The morning birds chirped above her as a small slither of sun broke through the shade of the tree.

With a final look of her surroundings, she made her way back into the main streets of Hogsmeade.

She fluffed her hair out in attempt to remove any twigs or grass that currently resided in there.

The streets of Hogsmeade were quiet in the morning. There was a few children out with their mothers and a few farmers bringing in stock to the local pubs.

She approached a mother and her son. The mother's face looked concerned as Star came closer.

"I'm so sorry to bother you this morning Ma'am, but could you please tell me the time?" she asked.

The mother held her child close. "It's eight o'clock dear."

Ostara's eyes widened. Everything was hazy. The last thing she remembered from last night was sitting back down at the table with her group. Everything after that was a blur.

"Dear girl," the mother began, "are you alright? Did something happen to you?"

Ostara was unsure of how to respond. She didn't know the answer herself. But there was no point bothering this lady. "No no," she smiled, "I'm quite alright. Thank you." She nodded her head and left the mother and the child to be.

Her mind was plagued with questions. She didn't even know where to begin asking, let alone searching for answers.

She was with the group last night. She found it hard to believe Tom's group would leave her on the streets alone, let alone Linius.

She wandered the streets for a few more minutes, waiting for any new information to come to light, but it didn't. Well, when in doubt, retracing your steps always helps, she thought.

Star walked herself slowly back to the Hogs Head. She pushed the door to the pub open. Inside, there was a middle aged man eating breakfast and a young girl working at the bar. It was so quiet, quite the contrast to the atmosphere of last night.

"Excuse me?" she asked the girl.

She turned to face Star, hanging a tea towel over her left shoulder. "Yes?" she replied. Her hair was a sandy blonde colour and cut into the style of a short bob.

"I was just wondering...you see..." Ostara struggled to make sense of her words. "When you started your shift this morning, you didn't happen to see anything out of the ordinary?"

The girl looked at Star with a strange expression. "Nothing more out of the ordinary than what I'm used to. But I see a lot of strange things the morning after a Friday night. You're going to have to be more specific." She polished a cup with her towel.

"You didn't happen to see...well...me, anywhere? Did you?" A rosy colour coated Star's cheeks.

The girl let out a chest chuckle. "Big night?" She smiled.