The Serpent's Eye (A Tom Riddle fanfic)

Chapter Twenty-Five: A Dinner Invitation

"It matters not what someone was born, but what they grow up to be."- J.K. Rowling

Azalea once again found herself waking up later than usual. She chalked the odd occurrences up to the nightmares that increased in frequency as soon as she came to Riddle's time.

It was a joy to the young witch when she noticed there was still time to make it to class without being late.

She quickly put on her robes and rushed to the Great Hall to get some food. She was glad when she saw Ocean there and was shocked when she saw Coden. It had been awhile since she saw Coden around the school.

"Thanks for waking me up in the morning, Ocean. This is now the second time." Azalea sarcastically said as she sat down across from them. Although she addressed Ocean, both she and Coden looked up from their conversation with each other to the intruding raven-haired witch. "We tried!" Ocean defended herself. "You wouldn't wake up. I think you were having another nightmare."

The teasing look Azalea had on her face dropped when Ocean mentioned the nightmares. Her action did not go unnoticed by Ocean. "Do these dreams happen a lot." She asked, looking genuinely at her friend. "They didn't happen that often when I was at Hog- I mean my other school. I don't know why they're happening so often now."
Ocean nodded her head thoughtfully at Azalea and all three of them went to eating peacefully.

Azalea had barely finished her buttered toast before the tower's clock chimed, warning the students class was about to start.

The three of them made their way to class and Azalea laughed quietly to herself about the set up of the group. She found herself in another trio, but this time she wasn't the only girl.

They continued their conversation all the way to the classroom. During which Azalea found some common ground with Coden: they both liked literature, especially fairytales and they were both orphaned. He didn't elaborate any further regarding his parents' death and Azalea knew not to pry into matters like that. To this day, Azalea found that she lacked the ability to speak of her parents without that painful lump in her throat, and she had yet to establish an emotional bond with them. She could imagine it was twice a heartbreaking for someone who did manage to get that relationship, like Coden and his parents had.

The trio made it to the Transfigurations classroom just in time for Professor Dumbledore's lesson. Ocean and Coden quickly took a seat beside each other, leaving the only open seat beside Riddle. It looked like Azalea would have to sit beside him once more.

Riddle, as usual, did nothing to acknowledge her presence. Instead, he sat with his quill hovering over a scroll paper.

The pair sat there ignoring each other until the end of the lesson when Riddle decided to finally break the silence. "Have you gotten the invitation to Professor Slughorn's dinner party?"
Azalea looked up from her notes she was finishing up, disoriented by the fact that he had been the first to converse with her. "No. Why do you ask?"
She noticed his lips form a smirk at her answer. "He handed the last of his dinner invitations out yesterday. I am shocked to hear you didn't get one." His facial expression didn't appear like he thought the news was shocking at all. "He said the dinner was suppose to be a couple's affair," he drawled on.
"What are you getting at, Riddle?"

Riddle stared at Azalea for a few moments. His face was expressionless and it seemed to Azalea as though he was forming multiple hypotheses about her. "I'm asking you to be my plus one, especially since you now appeared to have fallen out of Professor Slughorn's favour."
"And what makes you think he doesn't like me anymore?"
"He likes the students who have great potential and so he rewards them accordingly for that. Since you didn't get an invitation, he obviously doesn't see much potential in you anymore."

Azalea wanted to protest to his offensively absurd claims, but she halted. This was precisely the opportunity she needed to get closer to Riddle.

"Fine. I'll be your plus one."