Adventures of Beatrice the Basilisk

Chapter 23: Apology Video

AN: GUYS CW, Tom's POV! We know it's been a while since you've had to endure him, but please, do it for us bby!!!!!! We are truly sorry, may ye all forgive 🙏.

The jarring sound of Alphard's incessant humming woke Tom up from his deep, dark slumber. His eyes snapped open the second the cacophonous sound spouted from the long-haired, elegant boy. Tom sat up with a start, immediately looking over to find the baguette tucked in next to him (yes, yes, we know he's seriously unhinged), and releasing a loud sigh of relief as he saw it before reaching out to hug it tightly.

"Would you shut it, Black!" screeched a boy who Tom couldn't remember the name of, before throwing a pillow at the humming 11-year-old. Alphard deftly dodged the pillow, giving the boy who chucked it a glare.

"Erm. No, I quite like the tune," Alphard rolled his eyes, running his hand through his perfect, glossy, delicate, shiny, black, blackbeetle, blackberry, black hair. Tom rolled his eyes; Alphard was truly insufferable. Another boy who Tom forgot the name of simply grunted from his bed near the corner. Tom decided it was time to get up, it had nothing to do with the movement of the other boys around him, nothing! He held his baguette tightly as he gathered his uniform and headed to the attached bathroom to shower.

Emerging in the common room half an hour later, Tom spotted Onika and Beatrice immediately. They were fussing over school work or something, how boring. Tom had given up on school the second he discovered baguettes. Seriously, there are more important things in life than school and his friends (eugh Tom hated the word) needed a wake up call, pronto.

"Tom! There you are!" Onika called out, grinning from ear to ear. Tom made his way over to their usual table in the corner slowly. He really didn't want to have to think about school this early in the morning.

"We were just thinking about study notes, Tom. We think we've made good progress, but there's still a lot to do. How are yours going? You never seem to want to revise with us." Beatrice blurted. The audacity of this girl! Tom rolled his eyes.

"Oh...um... My study notes are actually all done," Tom boasted. He had not even started making study notes. He had decided as soon as he learned about the exams that he would simply ignore them.

"What?! Can I look at them? I always think I'm forgetting things," Onika said eagerly, her eyes lit up with their usual electric enthusiasm.

"No. Sorry, I don't want you copying me," Tom held his nose high, pretending to be superior to his two friends. Onika's face fell.

"Oh, well... good job for getting them all done already. I knew that Ravenclaw boy would be a good influence on you!"

"Yeah... haha!" Tom laughed nervously. Quirrell had already finished all his study notes, and Tom pretended to, just so he could watch the other boy work; it was captivating.

* * *

After Defence Against the Dark Arts on Thursday, Tom left the classroom in a hurry to get to lunch. His baguette cravings had begun to bore a hole into his mind. All he could think about were baguettes. And his stomach! His stomach hurt like how it felt after a week of plain, sticky, thick, cementlike, grey, grey, grey porridge at the Orphanage. Although it was cliche, he could have sworn a third year a few steps ahead looked like a baguette. Maybe he was addicted to baguettes, but he would never admit that to anyone.

"Stop, Jolande. He'll hear us!" Beatrice cackled. Tom whipped his head around to see Beatrice, Onika, and Jolande strolling behind him with linked arms, giggling to each other as they whispered loudly to each other. Tom narrowed his eyes at them, but the girls were too busy scheming to notice. He rolled his eyes before speedwalking the rest of the way to the Great Hall. Who cares what his friends think when his beliefs were superior? He had learned that after finally finishing the first chapter of 'A True History of Magic. With close reference to the supremacy of Purebloods' late last night (that book was seriously incomprehensible in Tom's humble opinion).