Poison A Tom Marvolo Riddle Fanfiction completed

Chapter Eleven - Masquerade

It was already early December and outside it was snowing. Tom was sitting in the Slytherin Common room and reading a book. As usual, the other students spared the seats around him leaving him his space. A group of girls was sitting at a table a little away. They were chatting excitedly. Tom didn't mean to listen to the silly banter but his ears suddenly caught a name that raised his interest. Without looking up from his book he listened in to the whispered conversation the girls were having, eyeing them from the corner of his eye.

"I absolutely don't know why he even wastes his time on her. He could do so much better," Andromeda Yaxley was saying, flipping her blonde locks over her shoulder and clearly thinking of herself.

The other girls nodded their consent.

"She's nothing special. Her looks are more than average and she's absolutely boring," Persephone Nott chimed in.

"She did not even make it into Slytherin despite her pure blood. How poor is that," Yaxley sniggered.

The other girls joined laughing.

Tom couldn't suppress a smirk. These superficial fools. They didn't know anything. If they saw his true face, they would lower their accurately made-up eyes and run for their lives. If they knew what Cassiopeia knew they wouldn't fancy him but fear him. People were so easily deceived by looks; sometimes Tom couldn't believe it. They knew nothing and still they had the nerve to judge. An evil grin flashed across Tom's handsome face. One day he would make those idiots pay. He would make them pay dearly.

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When Christmas break approached, the students grew more and more excited. Headmaster Dippet had announced that there would be a Yule ball the weekend before the holidays. There was a committee preparing the event and the ball seemed to be the only topic of conversation available among the student body.

Cassiopeia was sitting in the library trying to finish her Herbology homework when Tom slipped into the seat next to her and leaned back. He watched her writing her essay for a moment before he asked, "So, do you already have a date for the Yule Ball?"

Without looking up from her parchment she answered, "No, I don't." She continued writing. "What about you? I guess you are spoilt for choice. After all, who wouldn't want to go with charming Mr. Perfect?"

Tom chose to ignore her sarcasm. "That's exactly the problem. These brainless fools and their silly behaviour around me already make me sick and the ball hasn't even started yet." He paused. "You go to the ball with me."

It wasn't a question and Cassiopeia knew he didn't expect an answer. She looked up from her parchment, arching an eyebrow. Tom smirked.

"I need a date that doesn't make me want to curse life out of her before the end of the evening. This whole ball is despicable enough without it ruining my reputation. Unlike them, you don't expect anything that I'm not about to give."

Cassiopeia sighed. "Your honesty is really disillusioning."

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Cassiopeia didn't know how but word about her being Tom Riddle's date for the Yule ball spread fast, making her the target of many hostile glares of a good part of Hogwarts' female population, especially the Slytherins. However, she strongly suspected that Tom was responsible because he wanted to get rid of the other girls' attempts to gain his attention.

When the day of the ball was finally there, Cassiopeia was nervous. Her roommates had been chattering about what they were going to wear for days and they were rummaging through the dorm excitedly, helping each other get ready, fixing their hair and applying make-up. Cassiopeia put on the dress she had chosen and performed some hair fixing and make-up spells. She had spent some time in the library researching those spells and she was quite pleased with the result of her effort. Tom was undoubtedly going to look impeccable, as always. For him, the whole evening was nothing but a grand stage for his acting skills and he was surely expecting her to not ruin his performance. She knew she was only dressing up for the others. She sighed. On Tom, all her effort would be wasted after all.