You're Fiona Perkins, a rather shy Ravenclaw student in your sixth year at Hogwarts. He's the last person you expect to see, especially at this hour. As you both battle your insomnia Tom Riddle and you form an unique bond. You're connected by someth...
Jane has never hung on your every word as much as she does right now as you two sit in the common room. She woke you up half an hour before everybody else, which you were not necessarily thrilled about. The sleep deprivation is slowly but steadily getting to you, and right now, you have a hard time keeping your eyes open.
But she looked so adorable, like a little child on Christmas day, wanting to know every single detail about your last night with Tom. So she dragged you into the empty common room, still in your pajamas, to be able to have a private conversation. You just couldn't bring yourself to deny her wish for that precious 30 minutes of sleep. So you retell the events of the previous night as accurately as you possibly can, only interrupted by Jane's occasional "Mhmm"s and "Oh"s and "Ahh"s.
After you finish, you look expectantly at your best friend. Jane lets out the biggest sigh and then exclaims, "Fi, this is so romantic!" You can't help but giggle. Is it? All you did was talk last night; her prediction about him wanting to snog definitely didn't turn out to be true. And even though one part of you is a little relieved about that, the other feels like he should have at least wanted to kiss you... "It was nice, for sure," you say with a dreamy look on your face. "But I just hope he feels the same way. Don't you think him needing to leave so soon was rather strange? I mean, what in the world does he need to take care of, in the middle of the night?" Jane shrugs. "Maybe prefect duties?" Could be. But you can't shake the feeling that something was off about the way he excused himself.
The redheaded girl playfully punches your arm. "Stop overthinking this. He wanted to meet again tonight, didn't he? Why would he suggest that, if he didn't enjoy himself?" You can't really argue with that. The thought of seeing Tom again so soon makes you giddy with excitement. You grin. "You're right."
"Of course I am!" Jane almost looks offended, like she can't believe you would ever doubt her, which makes you laugh.
Your mood suddenly changes as you realize you have quite an exhausting day ahead of you. Starting with Herbology and then a few hours of Transfiguration with Professor Dumbledore. Even though you respect him a lot as a teacher, he expects much and challenges the class immensely.
And then you plan to go to the library in the afternoon, since you urgently have to catch up on your studies. Promptly, you feel anxiety wash over you. All these tasks seem really overwhelming to you now, since your energy level is not necessarily at it's peak, to put it lightly.
Jane looks at you with a worried expression. "Fiona? Are you alright? I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have woken you up so early. I wasn't thinking straight... I just woke up before my alarm clock went off, and I was so curious, I..." You cut your best friend off. "It's fine, Jane, really. Today is Friday, right? I can sleep it all off tomorrow." You smile weakly at her. She still doesn't look convinced, but drops the subject.
You drag yourself through Herbology. You actually really like this subject, since you think the properties of magical plants are incredibly interesting, but today you just can't bring yourself to listen, let alone participate. Since breakfast, your fatigue is also accompanied by a horrible headache. Therefore you're more than relieved as Professor Beery excuses the class.
But a break isn't in sight. You walk next to Leontine as you and the group make your way to Transfiguration. This is one of the only classes your whole friend group attends. "Are you alright?," Leo asks you with big, concerned eyes. The sensitive girl is not the only one who seemed to notice, that you are merely hanging on by a thread today.
Nolan, one of your close friends as well, catches up to you and puts an arm around your shoulder. "Yes, Fi, I noticed, too. You don't look too well." You smile at your two friends, your chest feeling warm because they care so much about you. But you can't necessarily explain to them why you feel this way, can you? "Thank you, guys, but I'm fine, really." You don't know how many times you have said those words today: "I'm fine."
Nolan keeps his arm around as you, as you enter the classroom. Suddenly you feel someone hastily brushing past your shoulder. Rude! You look to see who it is and only catch the back of his head. But you would recognize him anywhere. It's Tom. You feel a little bit of disappointment rise up in your stomach, that he would just ignore you like this. You didn't expect to be acknowledged by him in public, but it still stings.
You sit down next to Nolan but keep your gaze fixated on Tom, who takes a seat on the other side of the classroom. You can't help but recognize again how good he looks. You can't spot any dark circles under his eyes, he looks refreshed as always. The same probably can't be said about you. His face is stern and without any emotion.
Seated next to him is a boy with straight brown hair and bushy eyebrows, who you recognize as Theodore Nott. Tom is popular amongst many of the students but he has a particular close circle of friends in the Slytherin house, who seem to admire him deeply and follow him around constantly. Theodore is one of them. Tom doesn't give you as much as a glance and with a sigh, you avert your eyes from him and instead open your book.
In this moment Professor Dumbledore rushes in and energetically claps in his hands to get the attention of the students. The sound rings in your pounding head. „You can close the books back up. Today is going to be rather practical," he exclaims. Dumbledore explains further, that you will transform the colour of each others eyebrows and Nolan immediately turns to you, seemingly excited that you will have to partner up. You can't help but smile at the sight of his friendly face. The slender boy with the blondish hair never fails to brighten up your mood a little.
"You better not burn my eyebrows or something, Horn", you warn him in a joking manner and he grins at you. "I'll try my very best."
Thankfully there's nothing to worry about; Nolan is quite the skilled sorcerer and completes the transformation spell with ease. The moment you look in one of the mirrors, Dumbledore handed out, and see your pink brows you can't help but laugh loudly. Even though the classroom is filled with chatter and laughter, since everybody is amused by their new look, you can't help but notice that your outburst seemingly caught the attention of Tom Riddle.
In your peripheral vision, you catch him looking over to you, but as you try to make eye contact with him, he quickly looks away. And he doesn't look pleased at all. On the contrary, he looks pissed. His jaw is clenched and his eyes are narrowed to slits.
Merlin, what have you done now? You get that he doesn't throw himself in your arms in public but are the death stares really necessary? How can someone be so nice in one moment and so... Tom... in the next? You feel anger rising up in you. But also... you're meeting him tonight! And after all, that still makes your heart jump with joy.
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