Sacred Silence | A Tom Riddle Story

30: Hogsmeade.

She helped him translate pieces of chapters he had marked as important for several hours. It was well past 3 when she finally climbed into bed and drifted into a restless slumber.

She woke up quite late next Saturday morning, having slept a good 8 hours, but still feeling tired. She swung her legs off the side of the bed and came face to face with a still sleeping, sick looking Florance. Her cheeks and nose were bright red, the blankets pulled up to her chin. She made a soft snoring sound and had a thin layer of sweat on her forehead.

'Flo,' Shiv whispered. 'Florance?'

Her friend opened her eyes slowly. With a cracking voice, Flo groaned, 'Shiv.. I think I have the flu.'

Shiv nodded, having figured out that much herself. Maybe their trips outside at night were a little too enthusiastic. In their earlier years, they only went out in the spring and summer. But school became more stressful with the year, so now they made their way out every Friday, no matter how bad the weather.

She walked to their bathroom and filled a glass with water, placing it next to Flo's four poster bed. Pressing the back of her head against Flo's burning forehead, she looked at her friend in concern. 'You're burning up.'

'I'm gonna go down and meet Milo, I don't think you should go to Hogsmeade with us today, Flo. You need sleep, and I will ask Madam Bellrose to send some medicine up,' Shiv told Flo, who was looking up at her with watery eyes.

She put on some flowy black pants and a thickly knit navy sweater. Then, put her curls back in a ponytail and grabbed her bag and wallet.
'Do you want anything?' Shiv asked as she walked over to Flo once more and gently pushed her white blonde hair out of her damp face. Flo shook her head, already drifting off.

-

An hour later, she was walking down the frosted path through the meadows towards Hogsmeade with Milo by her side.
He was wearing his thick winter cloak and a mustard yellow Hufflepuf scarf. His cheeks glowed red because of the cold, and his blonde hair was a little wet because of the light fall of snow that bad returned.

'She hasn't been taking enough rest, I have told her that so many times before,' Shiv sighed, referring to Flo. She kicked a small frozen rock that laid in front of them whilst walking.

'She has been taking too much on her plate, and she's worrying too much as well,' Milo replied. Shiv felt a sharp sting in her stomach at the end of his sentence. She knew Flo had been very concerned about her in particular. They were best friends, inseparable, and Shiv had definitely added to Flo's sleepless nights.

'Yeah..' she mindlessly said back.

'Sionhan!' The friendly, youthful voice of a girl called behind them.

She saw Ash Greengrass hurry over to them. Ash was a fourth year Ravenclaw who Siobhan was on fairly friendly terms with.
Ash was amazing at wizards chess, which is how they had come to kinda knew each other. Shiv loved to play, and Ash was one of the few good competitors in their house. They often spend late nights playing game after game, not wanting to be the last to lose.

'Just wanted to chat about something,' Ash started, and she looked at Milo with a polite yet hostile expression. Milo took the hint and slowed down, leaving Shiv and Ash a few steps in front of him to talk.

'What's wrong?' Shiv asked. She had come to see Ash as somewhat of a little sister. Although she was a year younger, she was already eager to be the next Ravenclaw girl prefect and she often helped Shiv with small tasks around the common room. They mostly just worked together in silence, which they both didn't seem to mind.

'Just wanted to let you know.. Myrthe has found the secret passageway behind the portret of Helena Ravenclaw. She's been using it to sneak out at night. You know I hate being a snitch, but she's so vulnerable alone at night. I don't want anything to happen to her,' Ash explained in a rapid but soft voice.