Perception A Tom Marvolo Riddle Fanfiction completed

Chapter Six - Envy

Astronomy class had stretched endlessly, and it was already past curfew. Cassiopeia was walking along a corridor towards Ravenclaw tower when she suddenly grew aware that someone was following her. She quickly turned around, only to find Andromeda Yaxley and Persephone Nott walking up behind her. Cassiopeia eyed the two Slytherin girls warily, her hand slowly reaching inside her cloak pocket and her fingers touching her wand. It surely meant nothing good that the two were following her through this deserted corridor this late at night. She had heard them whisper behind her back more than once, and things had finally gotten worse with the Yule Ball. Surely, Yaxley had hoped to end up as Tom's date for the ball, and she certainly felt that Cassiopeia had prevented that. Yaxley approached and eyed Cassiopeia spitefully.

When she was standing in front of Cassiopeia, Yaxley spat, "I want you to keep your filthy hands off my future husband."

Cassiopeia almost choked. Of all the things she would have expected Yaxley to say, this was certainly the most ridiculous and utterly most absurd thing to come up with. Cassiopeia couldn't stop a sneer from appearing on her face when she replied, "You can't be serious."

Yaxley snapped, "Of course I'm serious. Do you really think you stand a chance against me? Look at yourself, you're nothing special." She flipped her long blonde locks over her shoulder.

Cassiopeia raised an eyebrow. "If I'm not mistaken, Tom asked me to the ball."

Yaxley glared at her, her voice venomous, "Don't you dare to claim that he asked you of his own free will. You somehow tricked him."

Cassiopeia's eyes grew wide with disbelief. Surely, even the self-centred Yaxley couldn't be as ignorant as to believe that Tom could ever be tricked into doing anything by anybody. Cassiopeia slowly felt her temper flare. Her hand tightened around her wand in her pocket, and she hissed, "I didn't trick him. And if you only knew him just the slightest bit, you'd be aware that any such thing is absolutely impossible."

Yaxley screeched, "How do you dare say I don't know him?" Then she pulled her wand and motioned Nott to do the same.

But before any of them could cast a curse, Cassiopeia had already drawn her own wand and stunned Nott. Yaxley threw a panicked glance at her companion and frantically waved her wand at Cassiopeia. Cassiopeia deflected Yaxley's badly aimed curse with a flick of her wand. She couldn't quite believe that Yaxley had actually intended to curse her. She had never affronted Yaxley in any way, and she felt that Yaxley had no right whatsoever to attack her. But surprisingly that wasn't what irked her most.

Cassiopeia's voice was icy when she replied, "You ask me how I dare? How do you dare to insult Tom like that?"

Without warning she quickly brandished her wand and sent Yaxley crashing into the opposite wall. Yaxley slumped to the ground and stared at Cassiopeia with wide eyes, panic visible on her face. Cassiopeia's eyes were burning with anger.

"Expelliarmus!" Cassiopeia flicked her wand again, and Yaxley's wand soared through the air and right into Cassiopeia's hand.

Yaxley fearfully scrambled to her feet, but Cassiopeia had already sent another curse, slamming the girl back into the wall. Yaxley's face contorted with pain. The next instant Cassiopeia was standing in front of her, her wand pointed at Yaxley's throat.

"So let's talk again about who's nothing special," Cassiopeia hissed.

In this moment footsteps echoed along the corridor. Cassiopeia slightly backed away, but she didn't lower her wand. Yaxley's gaze darted over Cassiopeia's shoulder and instantly a wide smile spread on her face.