The Serpent's Eye (A Tom Riddle fanfic)

Chapter Seventeen: Hogsmede

"He knows how to play, little bitty baby Potter." -Bellatrix Lestrange

Azalea woke up the next morning still dazed from her trauma-induced nightmare. Ever since she had gotten here, these kind of dreams had been plaguing her dreams nightly.

Taking her hand, she ran it through her hair, trying to get out all knots. She grudgingly kicked out of her blanket, disrupting the kitten that was sleeping soundly on top of it.

She had quickly gotten ready, hoping for a distraction from her thoughts. She dragged her body down to the Great Hall and was in dismay when she got there. Riddle and his group were already there, talking and eating breakfast. Letting out a sign, she went to the table. Sitting as far away as she could.

As she dished out different proportions of food, she heard someone call her name. "Azalea!" Looking towards Riddle's direction, she saw that the one who called her was Malfoy. He had gotten up from where he was sitting and made his way towards her.

"Are we still on for Hogsmede? The forms are going to be collected today," he said, inviting himself to a seat beside her. "Oh, they're collecting them today!" Azalea's shocked reaction had been genuine. Although she knew from the beginning that she wouldn't be able to go due to having no guardian here, she, for some reason, decided to say yes to his invitation. Malfoy's smirk turned into a smile, "so, it's clear you forgot then."

"Yes, but I don't think it would help either way. I don't have a guardian to sign the permission form anyways." His smile fell to a confused expression. "Where are your parents?" He asked.
Azalea was hesitant to answer this question. "They died," she answered shortly and vaguely. "But I don't want to bore you with my problems."

Malfoy leaned forward at this. "Now what kind of a man would I be if I didn't listen to a lovely lady like you with her problems?" He asked flirtatiously. Azalea released a genuine laugh at that. "A typical one." She answered back, jokingly. He smiled along with her at that. Leaning back, he said, "Slughorn adores you. I'm sure with a little convincing, he'll let you go without a form." She nodded in agreement.

The two stayed there and just talked, both unaware of the watchful gaze of his group of "friends."

Malfoy and Azalea's conversation stopped when they heard a familiar and joyful voice. "Rosefield. Malfoy. How are you both on this fine morning!" Both of their heads' snapped to the professor in sync. "Quite well, professor. How about you?" Azalea asked politely. The professor let out a jovial laugh. "I'm fine my dear child."

"Professor, I'd like to ask a favour, if that's Ok with you?" Malfoy asked,
cutting in. The professor lifted his hand, signalling for Malfoy to go on. "Azalea forgot to get her form signed for Hogsmede. And has been waited to go since the school year started. Is it possible that you could just - excuse her?" Slughorn sighed. "As a teacher, I'm not suppose to allow that ... but,
you're a trustworthy couple. So, you have my permission." Azalea's face widened in shock as she watched his retreating figure. She knew that he like her, but she didn't think he liked her enough to do that! She turned to Malfoy and saw his smug expression. "See?" She scoffed and playfully rolled her eyes in response. Malfoy got up from the table. "Shall we start heading?" Azalea looked around the table and saw that the hall that was once empty was now full with students also making there way to the field trip. This too made Azalea get up, taking his arm that he was offering.

~

From her time and this time, Hogsmede didn't seem like it had changed at all. Everything had been exactly as it was when Azalea went with her brother and Ron.

"Which store do you want to go to?" Azalea's eyes wondered around, and stopped at Honeydukes. "How about there," she said, pointing Malfoy in the direction."

"You have a sweet tooth?" He said chuckling. "Why does that not surprise me," he finished. "Umm ... yea." Azalea said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "I could eat sweets all day!" He chuckled again.

As soon as they entered the store, the storekeeper was already offering her assistance. "Would you like any help finding anything?"
"No, we're fine, thank-you. Just looking around."

The store was also just as amazing as she remembered.

Azalea had came across what she assumed to be blood-flavoured lollipop. "Hey, Malfoy!" She said, calling his attention. "You want one?" He came over to the display to see what she was going on about. And when he did, his face soured. "Aren't they for vampires?"

"Yea, but I bet they're tasty!" She said, picking it up and held it out to him. "Ewe. Get that away from me." He said, still disgusted. Azalea gave a squealing laugh of mirth at his reaction. By this time, Malfoy was laughing along with her. "You know, you're not like most girls." He said, staring intently at her. "And I mean that in a good way." She didn't say anything nor moved when she noticed him leaning closer. Soon,
he closed the distance and she felt his soft lips press against hers and start moving. Azalea didn't know what to do so she awkwardly starting moving her lips against his as well.

When he moved away, Azalea quickly shut her eyes, making it seem like she enjoyed it rather than the kiss making her feel uncomfortable. It wasn't that he was a bad kisser, because he definitely wasn't. It was just ... awkward. She opened her eyes to find Malfoy already staring at her.

"That was nice." Azalea lied. Though Malfoy seemed to believe it. He flashed her a cocky smile.

"We should start heading back. It's almost sunset." Azalea looked out of the window to the shop and saw that the sun was setting. "Yea. Let's start heading."