Sacred Silence | A Tom Riddle Story

58: Party favors (Part 1).

Shiv decided it was best not to tell anyone the exact details of her conversation with Dumbledore. There was no point. It would only complicate things further. If Tom found out she had been offered help from the only person at Hogwarts that hadn't fallen for his charming act yet, he would doubt her loyalty, no matter what her answer had been.

All she wanted to tell Tom right now was the news of her O.W.L. results. She was so excited to share the news with him that she momentarily forgot about the other half of the conversation or the look of rage that had been on his face before he left.
He couldn't stay mad at her, right? She had done something really well, something she had worked incredibly hard for.
She caught herself being excited to tell Tom, hoping and imagining him telling her how proud he was. Then, she wondered if he was even capable of being proud of anyone but himself.

It didn't take long to find him again. At lunch that day, she went up to the top floors corner of the library, knowing that's where their group had been spending most of their free time there these last few weeks.
She found Tom and Abraxas smoking in the two lounge chairs under a now opened window. A cool breeze drafted the cigarette smoke her way. It was better this way, Tom wouldn't be able to bring up what happened during potions whilst Brax was here. She could drop the good news, and if she was lucky, Tom would forget about the whole thing.

'Hey you,' she said as she walked over to the pair and pushed herself up to sit on the table in front of them. 'Guess what,' she grinned.

Abraxas took a deep drag of his cigarette and crossed his legs. 'You..' he let the smoke out of his lungs, 'Got a compliment from the headmaster?'

Shiv shook her head, still grinning. Tom raised his eyebrows at her but remained silent.

'I got 100% in all my exams!' She blurted out, no longer able to keep it in. 'First one to do so since Professor Dumbledore himself 45 years ago.'

Abraxas face lit up. 'But Shiv, that's amazing! Wow. Well deserved!' He looked genuinely happy for her.

A small smile tugged at Tom's lips as his eyes fixated on hers. A few seconds of silence passed before he broke it. 'Congratulations dear,' he spoke softly, and the sound set her body on fire once more.
Merlin she wanted to go over to him, climb onto his lap, feel his hands on her waist. The potion was never wrong.

'Well, that's one more thing to celebrate tonight,' Brax grinned as he relit his cigarette that had died down.

'Celebrate?' Shiv asked, her eyes finally moving away from Tom.

'The end of the year celebration. Big party in the Slytherin common room? Rosalind has been planning for days. Made me buy some expensive liquor for this drink called a 'Rozy delirium', sounded fucked awful if you ask me,' Brax trailed off.

Shiv had totally forgotten about the party. It was true that today was the last day of classes, but celebrations had been the last thing on her mind these days.
'And you will be attending this party?' She spoke to Tom.

He sighed. 'There's alcohol there.'

Shiv rolled her eyes but then remembered not to push any of his buttons. She wanted to say that there was alcohol in his dorm as well, but she didn't. 'Than I suppose I'll be there too. Will there be more people from other houses?'

Abraxas nodded as he took another drag of his cigarette. 'Basically everyone is coming to us tonight. But really, I'm not looking forward to all the babies that will try to sneak in.'

Shiv hesitated for a second, then asked, 'Should I bring Florance?

Brax seemed to have to think for a second. To her surprise, Tom was the first to answer. 'Bring her. It'll be good for Rosalind to see her little outburst didn't work. Brax, keep an eye out for the girl tonight.'