The Price of Gold | tom riddle

Chapter 25 - Home and Hot Soup

It seemed like a good idea in the moment. Tom was the perfect boy to bring home - he was intelligent, elegant, well-mannered, handsome and most of all, he knew how to put on a facade.

But as they sat together on the Hogwarts express, watching each of their friends leave one by one, she was beginning to feel nervous.

Whenever she was alone with Tom, there was no rest. Her mind was constantly on edge, anticipating the worst case scenario. Though, over the last few weeks, the worst case scenario had become hard to predict. She didn't know if being hexed by Tom Riddle was worse than being kissed by him. If Ostara was being honest, they were almost the same feeling. It was hard to identify where the line was.

"Your father knows I'm coming?" Tom asked, sitting across from her in the carriage.

"He knows I am bringing a friend home for Christmas," she replied.

"You know you could have used me as your seductive suitor," Isidore said. It was just the three of them in the carriage. The rest of them had made earlier stops to either board other forms of transportation, or head straight home. Isidore and Ostara however, lived further away than the rest. They were to meet their family at the station and return home from there.

"Isidore, I don't want to stress you out. The dynamic back at my village will be far from a peaceful forest sanctuary. I don't want to risk your condition worsening for my own benefit."

He inhaled then nodded slowly. "I understand Star."

"What are you doing for Christmas, Rosier?" Tom asked, shutting a book and turning to look at the boy next to him.

"It'll just be my sister and myself. Mother and Father will be," he hesitated, "well... you know where they'll be." He looked down to his lap.

"Where?" Ostara asked.

Isidore hesitated, "Eh."

"Read the room Stiltskin. Your nose doesn't belong in everyone's business," Tom snarled.

"But yours does?" she snapped back.

"Obviously."

"It's fine Riddle." Isidore calmed him. "They'll be in Paris, with Grindelwald."

Star blinked. "The Grindelwald? The evil wizard Grindelwald?" She inhaled and tried to contain her emotions. "I'm sorry I didn't mean-"

"Yes Ostara. The Grindelwald. It's not a very common name," Isidore said. "We may seem like just a group of high school rich kids, but you must remember the types of families we have come from."

"With Abraxas' whining the other day at lunch, how could I forget?" She rolled her eyes.

"I don't support him, if you're wondering," Rosier said.

"I wasn't, it's, it's none of my business." She shook her head then took a breath in. "We're not our parents, and we shouldn't suffer for the mistakes of them."

"I think we all already have," Tom chimed in.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ostara snapped.

"Nothing," he replied.

"Good. But Isidore, if you and your sister would like to spend Christmas with a family, you're more than welcome to join Tom and I. I can owl you the address when we get to my house."

Rosier smiled. "I will speak with my sister about what she wishes to do. She is the lady of the house after all, what she says goes."

"Would you pair shut up? I'm trying to read," Tom snarled.