Sacred Silence | A Tom Riddle Story

9: At least I'm pretty when I'm scared.

Siobhan and Florance walked down Ravenclaw tower. Juno was walking between them excitedly, wearing her small black bowtie.

In the entrance hall, they met up with Milo. 'My sister, you look wonderful.' He gave Flo a hug.

'And, wow.. Siobhan.' He smiled at her in admiration, and for a second, Shiv felt her heart rate increase.
Together, both girls on one of Milo's arms, they made their way to Slughorns office.

The door was open. The room was undoubtedly made bigger with some sort of extension charm.
There was a wide space for dancing in the middle with small circular tables standing around it.

Siobhan noticed a table that had most of the current slugclub sitting around it. They walked over and sought out their table placing.
Siobhan was next to Milo, who had Florance on his other side as his plus one. The seet to her left, however, showed a small nametag that said 'Tom Riddle'.

Sitting down, Shiv suddenly doubted her whole plan. Him sitting next to her was the ideal situation, but suddenly, the nerves crept in.

Slughorn came by to greet them. They all stood up to share their usual awkward embraces. He complemented her on her work in the extra potions lessons and asked her about her article with Dumbledore.
She took the compliments with a polite smile and returned the favor by saying she never could've done it without such an excellent professor.

'You can leave the flattering to me, Selwyn,' a charming voice from behind her sounded. She turned her head, his dark eyes met her light ones.

Slughorn threw his hands up in delight. 'Tom, my boy! How happy I am to see you attend my little get-together. Now, if you don't mind.. I have some people I'd like you to meet..'

And with that, Tom was whisked away into the gathering of people around them. Shiv felt a sharp pain in her chest. Not because Tom was being dragged away from her, but because it wasn't her. What else did she have to do to earn the privilege of being introduced to important people?

She closed her eyes and rolled them behind her lids.

'You really do look lovely tonight, Shiv.' Milo said, and he placed his hand lightly on her wrist.

'Thank you, Milo. You and Florance both look absolutely stunning,' she said as she gave him a small smile. A piece of his straight blonde hair fell in front of his green eyes.
She had always thought he was attractive. He was also very polite and kind. They had definitely flirted a little bit over these last years, but neither of them ever tried to turn it into anything more.

They had kissed once, when Milo had caught the snitch to win Hufflepufs' match against Ravenclaw.
That was at the end of last year. It happened after a little too much of Florances enchanted wine. They never really talked about it afterward.

When dinner appeared in front of them, Tom quietly took his seat next to Siobhan.
He was wearing an all black suit that seemed to accentuate his tall stature.

When he sat down, he looked over at Shiv. He didn't even try to hide that he was scanning the bare skin on her chest and shoulders. A content smile formed around his lips, but he didn't say anything.

They listed to Sluhorns way too drawn out welcoming speech. Milo made a soft snoring noise, and Shiv giggled a little.

When it was over, she knew she had to start making her moves. Tom wasn't going to be seated next to her for long.