my riddle to solve (tom riddle)

ten

Turns out, Riddle had choked me pretty hard. Within hours of our argument, purplish marks had started to form around my neck. Obviously, I did a quick spell to make them disappear before anyone would question what they were.

Potions class was now almost unbearable. Riddle and I still didn't speak to each other, yet now there was a dangerous tension between us. No one else seemed aware of the wicked glares that flashed between our eyes. We continued to get outstanding marks on all of our potions.

I mailed the Zonko's products to the twins, attaching a letter to make them promise they wouldn't tell our parents that it was I who sent them the package. They both sent me letters of gratitude, swearing that they wouldn't. I missed them dreadfully.

Abraxas had been avoiding me over the past two weeks, which was most likely Riddle's doing. All of our friends had been told that we had spent a normal day at Hogsmeade, as none of them needed to know any of the unpleasant details.

Adelaide had been spending more and more of her free time with Lestrange. It was rare to find her in the Ravenclaw common room, seeing as she spent most nights in the Slytherin one now. She seemed genuinely happy around Lestrange, and it would've been cruel of me to try and keep them apart.

The morning of Halloween was a foggy one. The fog that surrounded the castle was so thick that it almost seemed to be a cloud of smoke. I was looking forward to tonight's feast, which was sure to be followed by a party in the common room.

The professors were all in a cheery mood; many of them had even decorated their classrooms with pumpkins and skeletons. Professor Slughorn decided that today would be the perfect day to have us brew the Vamperian potion, which was a type of blood-substitute for individuals suffering with Vampirism. As I was stirring in the crocodile hearts, Riddle chose to speak to me for the first time in weeks.

"Have you ever encountered a vampire before, darling ?" he asked in his cold and silky voice. I bit my lip for a few seconds to stop myself from glaring at him. He had parted his hair down the middle today, so that his ebony curls hung loosely from his forehead.

"No, I haven't. Why do you ask?" I hadn't looked him in the eye, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of that.

"Just curious. You know that your dear friend Adelaide has, don't you?" Obviously, I did. Adelaide loved to tell the story of how she had fought off a vampire in a Muggle church last Winter Break. I was a bit surprised that Riddle knew about this, but I chose not to ask who he had heard the story from.

"Yeah, she told me. Did you add the salamander blood yet?"

When I entered the Great Hall that evening, it looked marvelous as always. Floating white candles were tonight's only source of light, making everything feel eerie and exciting. To my great surprise, Lestrange sat at our table during the feast. It was against the rules to sit at another house's table, and everyone knew that. Since it was so dark, I figured that none of the staff had noticed the green tie amongst the sea of blue ones. I actually didn't hate Adelaide's boyfriend or anything, he was somewhat funny and decent enough to me.

Once I had finished my pudding, I persuaded Raymond and Cindy to go back to our common room with me. We were stopped right outside of the Great Hall by a frantic looking Adelaide.

"Ophelia, could I have a quick word with you?" she asked quietly. I could tell by her pained expression that she clearly wanted to talk alone.

"You guys go ahead, I'll catch up with you in a bit," I assured my other friends. Once they were out of earshot, Adelaide spoke up.

"How have you been Ophelia? We haven't talked much today," she asked as she fiddled with her hands. I gave her a puzzled look. Something wasn't right.