𝑆𝑜 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔， 𝑅𝑖𝑑𝑑𝑙𝑒 || 𝑇𝑜𝑚 𝑅𝑖𝑑𝑑𝑙𝑒 𝑋 𝑂𝑐

twelve.

"Merlin. I'm so sorry! Tom's watch was broken, and I didn't realise the time!" Vivian yelled as she ran into the dorm. It was silent. There was only one light on, and that was coming from Abigayle's corner.

The other girls were in a deep sleep. Balloons were scattered on the floor and, some pinned next to a big banner that was hung on the wall, saying both of the girls names and 'Happy birthday'.

"So that's where you were instead of here celebrating with your friends?" Abigayle perked up, crossing her arms in fury. Vivian pleaded with the girl, hoping she'd forgive her.

"I know you're angry, but-" Abigayle cut Vivian off. "Angry? Angry doesn't begin to describe how I feel, Vivian! I'm livid! This was a special night for us! Geraldine baked us a bloody cake! Mildred blew up balloons! Even Irene wrote her name on the stupid cards! And you couldn't be bothered to show up? What type of friend would do that?" Abigayle was yelling at this point.

Vivian began to realise how bad of a person she sounded. It honestly wasn't her fault, but Abigayle wouldn't see it that way. She felt like the worst person right now. All she wanted to do was go to bed, but she couldn't leave this unhandled.

"What's going on?" Geraldine asked as she began to wake up. Once she saw Vivian, she realised what was going on. "You're late." Was all Geraldine could say. She was just as disappointed.

"I'm sorry." Vivian began to tear up as she saw her friend still wearing the matching pjs and tiara. Her sash was laying on the floor. Vivian sat on the edge of Abigayle's bed.

"No. Vivi! Just go to sleep. I'm tired!" She shouts, ripping off her tiara and turning on her lamp. "Goodnight." Her voice slightly cracked as she lay down, turning away.

Vivian sat on the edge of Abigayle's bed, feeling awful for what she had caused. She expected this night to be filled with laughter and happiness from Vivian's friends and herself, but it wasn't.

Vivian didn't know how long she sat at the edge of Abigayle's bed for. It felt like hours, but in retrospect, it was probably only thirty minutes. She eventually got up and made her way to her own bed, climbing in and finally, falling asleep.

—꧁꧂—

Vivian had woken up much later than anticipated. None of her friends had woken her up, which she didn't expect them to, to be honest. They were in a fight, so it made sense why they wouldn't want to speak to her.

Vivian stared into the mirror. She looked shattered. She had hardly slept a wink last night. Vivian had felt so sorry about everything that had happened, and she wasn't sure how to fix it.

It was already 9.23 A.M and Vivian couldn't afford to miss any more class time. She had defence against the dark arts first period and was definitely not looking forward to it. Irene and Mildred were in her DADA class.

"I'm sorry I'm late, Professor." Vivian greeted Professor Merrythought. "Punctuality is key, Caledonia. Riddle doesn't have a partner. Pair with him." Professor Merrythought was rude and stubborn. She always chose favourites in the class, making others feel inferior.

'Perfect' Vivian thought to herself as she approached Tom. "Hello." She quietly said as she clasped her hands together. "You look a mess." Was the first thing that came out of the brunett's mouth.

"Excuse me?" Vivian spoke in an aggravated tone. "You look tired, and your hair is somewhat messy." Tom stated as he analysed the girl's currant state. "Didn't sleep well." Vivian shrugs.

"I suppose it'll be easy to take you out then." Tom traced his fingers up and down his wand slowly. "What do you mean?" Vivian asked in a confused tone. It Tom was going to take her out like kill her, that wouldn't be the worst thing during the past 12 hours.

"We're duelling." Tom said it bluntly. Of course, it was duelling. Vivian groaned in annoyance. "I hate duelling." She drew her wand out. "Perhaps you're bad at it." Tom mildly suggested. He had that look on his face, the one that said, 'I'm better than everyone.'

"You wish, Riddle." Maybe taking out her anger in duelling would be a good thing. Vivian watched as the other pairs duelled. "Why didn't you have a partner?" She asked Tom. Maybe it was because he is a loner.

"I'm smart. I know things. It scares people." It's true. Tom was intelligent, and people did seem to avoid him. Maybe it was his off putting aura that made people turn in the other direction.
"I'm terrified." Vivian laughed.

It was finally Tom and Vivian's turn to duel with each other. Usually, Vivian would've felt nervous, but because of all the rage she felt, which was partly directed at Tom and partly at herself for missing the party, her anxiety seemed to be buried deep.

The two get into their stances. "Now!" Professor Merrythought exclaimed. "Confringo!" Vivian yelled. A fireball flew at Tom, which he easily blocked. "Everte statum!" She yelled another spell. Tom blocked it with ease again.

"Do something, Riddle!" She yelled loudly. Vivian was confused as to why Tom wasn't striking her. Tom wanted to use an unforgivable curse on her so desperately. He knew he couldn't do it in school, but there was something that was so tempting.

Vivian was too busy attacking Tom, she completely forgot Tom could also attack her. "Stupefy!" He said proudly. Vivian tried to block it but she was too late.

She went flying backwards onto the floor, hitting her head. "Merlin, Tom!" She groaned, holding a hand over the back of her head. She pulled her hand away, and there was a small amount of blood.

"Riddle, take Caledonia to the matron, please." Professor Merrythought sighed. She saw this almost every day from a hand full of students; this was nothing new or serious.

Tom helped the girl up, and they both began to walk to the matron. "You're angry." Tom spoke. "You did hurt my head, Riddle." Vivian nodded and chuckled. "No. Even before then, you attacked me like I was nothing. You're good. If your anger didn't get in the way of your defence, you might've actually beat me." He praises Vivian, and this made her very happy.

"Why are you upset, though?" Tom spoke again, curious as to what happened after she left him last night. "I missed the party. My friends hate me. I'm a horrible person." She spoke on and on.

"All for a party? They must be very social."
"It's not because it was my party. It was Abigayle's too. It was our party. We've done this every year since first year, and I went and ruined it by being with... it doesn't matter." Vivian tried desperately to change the subject.

"That's unfortunate. Oh, well, you'll meet other people in life and find new friends." Tom shrugged. He didn't see the big deal of not having friends, which it is, by the way. Without her friends, Vivian can't enjoy the little moments.

"Tom, they're not just objects I can throw away. My friends mean something to me. I'd kill for them." Vivian frowned. She would do absolutely anything to make her friends forgive her. The thought of them genuinely made her sick.

"Caring makes you weak, Caledonia."
"So, what? You just don't care about anyone, do you?" Vivian asked. It was obvious she had an attitude towards Tom right now. "No, not particularly."

"Well, I care about my friends, and I am going to make it up to them, Riddle. I will."