Chapter 3: Wrath
The first month at Hogwarts had already passed, and Grace had become fast friends with the girls in her dormitory and some of the boys in her year. Tom had been successfully ignoring her even though they had Potions and Transfiguration together. Usually, Grace saw Tom either alone or with that Lestrange boy, but every time their eyes would meet or they'd run into each other in the Great Hall Tom would completely ignore her entire existence. It made Grace sad to see them like that despite her friends telling her that it was for the best to not befriend a Slytherin. No one, except for Tom, knew about her earlier years at the orphanage and her adoptive parents had begged her to let it stay that way.
It was the middle of October when things started to change. Grace was sitting between Mary and Gillian, her eyes trying to focus on her breakfast and not Tom Riddle's back, when Alphard plopped down in the seat across from her, a big grin on his face.
"Hello ladies," he said to get their attention.
Gillian grimaced in disgust and gave Alphard a scornful look. "You," she said, "are a Slytherin."
"Yeah, I noticed," Alphard replied bored and picked at the Slytherin emblem on his blazer. "But I'd much rather sit with you." He waggled his eyebrows at Gillian who frowned.
"What is it, Alphard?" asked Grace and put down her fork. "Are the others giving you a hard time?"
"Nah," the boy said and turned around to wave at his cousin. "They are just boring, you know? Also," he lowered his voice and looked up at the girls, "I think Abraxas is mad at me for hiding his socks and underwear."
Grace laughed while Mary and Gillian just threw Alphard exasperated looks.
"Did you already start working on your Potions essay?" Alphard asked, this time only directing his question at Grace who had continued picking at her breakfast. "If not, would you mind meeting at the library on Friday to start on it together?"
There was a hopeful gleam in his eyes.
Grace shrugged her shoulders and smiled. "Sure, why not."
Alphard grinned at Grace and got up.
"Well, duty calls," he said and waved. Grace's face fell.
"Aren't you going to eat something?" she asked, shoving a plate with buttered toast in Alphard's direction. The tall boy shrugged his shoulders.
"Not hungry," Alphard answered. "Besides, I forgot my satchel. Don't want to be late for Charms, right?" He turned around and left.
But before he had reached the entrance to the Great Hall, a tiny hand had closed around Alphard's wrist and pulled him aside. Alphard turned and looked down at Grace with a baffled look on his face.
"I need to talk to you for a second," Grace said in a hushed tone. "In private."
Alphard cocked an eyebrow.
"It's about Tom. Tom Riddle," Grace muttered and looked at the taller boy with big eyes. Alphard could see concern lining her soft features, though he did not understand why.
"How do you know him anyway?" Alphard interrupted Grace, a sharp tone to his voice. "He is most definitely not a pure-blood, so how is it possible for you to know him so ... well?"
"That is actually none of your business, Alphard," said Grace, the concern in her eyes slowly replaced by annoyance. "Also, it should not matter that he is a half-blood, and you know that as well as I do. Anyway ... how has he been lately? You two are sharing a dormitory, right?"
"Why don't you ask Riddle yourself?" Alphard huffed, clearly annoyed that Grace would ask him of all people.
"I can't," Grace answered sadly. "He has been avoiding me since the beginning of the school year."
"Well, I can't help you," Alphard snapped. "Besides, you're better off without him. He's a weird kid. I'm not buying his act."
Before Grace had the chance to ask for the meaning behind Alphard's words, the tall boy had turned around and sauntered off towards the dungeons. The young girl sighed and stared at Alphard's retreating back; she was not at all surprised that someone as lively as Alphard hadn't become friends with Tom, though it still bothered her that Alphard had been so vague. Should she try to catch Tom after class and force him to talk to her? He most definitely couldn't avoid her then.
Grace sighed again and turned around, only to bump into someone's solid chest.
"What—?" she gasped, but said someone already had an iron hold of her hand and shoved her into the nearest classroom. Grace's back collided with one of the desks and, for a second, she saw stars behind her closed eyelids.
"What were you doing, talking to that fool of a Black?" a voice snarled down at her and Grace opened her big eyes to look right into Tom Riddle's face. His eyes were narrowed and he seemed to be furious as he stalked her like a hawk would its prey. Grace leaned back against the table she had collided with and tried to ignore the pain that shot through her body.
"I'm not quite sure what you're referring to," she said in a firm voice, wondering what Tom was so mad about.
"Let me rephrase my earlier question," Tom answered in a dark voice and stepped closer. "Why were you and Black talking about me behind my back? If there is something you would like to know you should have come straight to me, not ask that insolent—"
"You have been avoiding me for more than a month!" Grace interrupted, her face slowly turning red. "I don't know why, or what I have done to you. You've done nothing except giving me the cold shoulder when I needed a friend who has known me for more than half of my life. And you are telling me I should have come straight to you?!"
A noise escaped her mouth that sounded like a snort and Tom clenched his fists.
"I only asked Alphard how you've been lately," Grace said, her voice growing softer again. She looked up at Tom through her thick lashes, her cheeks still tinted red and her small body pressed against the wooden desk. "I thought he might know something."
Grace looked into Tom's dark eyes and let out a sigh.
All of a sudden, Tom was directly in front of her, his long fingers gripping her chin tightly and forcing her to look up into his blazing eyes. Grace winced as his grip tightened, and Tom lowered his face to be at eye level with her. For the first time, Grace believed that Tom was going to hit her.
"It seems you have been roaming these halls with a misconception attached deep within your pretty little mind," Tom whispered, his cool breath hitting her face. Grace whimpered, tears collecting in her blue eyes as she stared right back at the taller boy.
"You are no friend of mine," Tom continued, "nor will you ever be. Stop making a fool of yourself, Grace."
He spat out her name as if it were poisonous and let go of her chin. Tears were now streaming down Grace's face but she still didn't look away.
"Why are you doing this?" she asked and winced as Tom raised his hands, but he only straightened his tie. "Why are you being so... cold and distant?"
"You left me at that freaking orphanage all by myself!" Tom hissed. "What did you think, that I would welcome you back with open arms? You chose wealth and a big mansion over—"
Tom faltered and shook his head. "Never mind," he said and turned around. "Just stop getting in my way."
With those words hanging in the air, Tom left. Grace whimpered again and wiped away the tears that were still slowly streaming down her face. How could Tom have been so cruel just now? Did he really think that she had left him behind by choice? Grace knew that he had never been one to be led by his emotions but she had dearly missed him and wanted nothing more than to reconcile her differences with Tom.
The small girl sighed and hoisted herself up from the uncomfortable desk she had been leaning against. Her friends were probably already worried about her whereabouts, so Grace slowly made her way back towards the Great Hall where Mary and Gillian were nervously waiting for her. Grace aloofly noticed that most students had already left for their first lesson of the day.
"Where have you been?" Gillian asked concerned, handing Grace her satchel. "We saw you leaving with Black, did he pester you?" Mary was nodding behind the tall blonde.
"No, I just needed to ask him something," Grace said, busily rummaging through her satchel. She noticed Gillian and Mary glancing at each other but chose to ignore it.
"Now, we don't want to be late for Herbology," she said, repeating Alphard's earlier words with a forced smile.
October slowly faded into November, and November into December. During the last week of classes before the holidays, the grounds were covered in thick blankets of snow and more and more students could be seen outside, engaging in snowball fights. Everyone now dreaded Herbology and Astronomy as it was freezing outside and even the thickest coat wouldn't help in the top-most level of the Astronomy tower. Deep down, Grace didn't mind at all as their last Herbology class of the year got cancelled because of a snow storm; she had despised the subject ever since Mary had been stung by one of the plants and had been sent to the hospital wing with hands two times their normal size.
She and Gillian were hurrying to their last class of the year, Defence Against the Dark Arts, when they bumped into Alphard, Malfoy and Avery. Grace couldn't help but glance behind their backs in hopes that she would find a hidden Tom Riddle. Of course, that was not the case.
Malfoy ogled at Gillian who just sneered at him and flipped her hair.
"Come on, Grace," the blonde said and grabbed her friend's hand, smirking when she caught Malfoy's disappointed look. "We're going to be late for class."
Grace smiled apologetically at Alphard and let herself be dragged along by Gillian who was obviously not very fond of Slytherins. But before the girls had rounded the next corner, a panting Alphard appeared at their sides, looking at Grace expectantly.
"Meet me in the Entrance Hall after dinner?" he asked, brushing some strands of his black hair aside. "I would like to show you something."
Grace could hear Gillian's irritated sigh, but she nodded. "Sure," she answered, and before Alphard had the chance to add anything to his previous words, she and Gillian had disappeared around the corner. The tall blonde immediately rounded on Grace, hands on her hips and a worried look on her face.
"What was that about?" she demanded. "Since when have you been fraternising with the enemy?"
"Oh, relax," Grace laughed, her blue eyes sparkling. "Alphard and I have known each other for years. Our parents are acquainted. Besides, he's not our enemy just because he's a Slytherin."
Gillian looked at Grace as if she had gone mad.
"I also saw Malfoy looking at you," Grace smirked and began walking again. Gillian followed her with a snort.
"He's vile," she just said. "Also, don't try and change the topic. I'm not comfortable with you and that Black being friends. He's trouble, Grace, I can sense it from miles away."
Grace just shook her head and entered the classroom. Alphard and she weren't exactly friends, at least in her opinion. She had always enjoyed his company and he was able to make her laugh during their rare study sessions, but she would never dare confide in him which was mostly because of the rest of his family. Grace couldn't stand Alphard's older sister Walburga, an arrogant and nasty girl attending her third year at Hogwarts. She had met Walburga once or twice at the Black's manor and had stayed out of her way ever since. Alphard's parents didn't differ much from their oldest and only daughter, and Grace was always amazed that Alphard, surrounded by his cold-hearted family, had grown up to be such a lovely person.
The two girls sat down at the back of the class and unpacked their books. Gillian looked up when someone approached them and nudged Grace, forcing her to look up from her things as well. It was Simon Walker, a Ravenclaw in their year. He was fidgeting and blushing, and again Gillian blessed them with her famous annoyed sigh.
"I have a message for you from Tom Riddle," Simon mumbled clearly uncomfortable, starring at Grace. "He wants to meet you in the Entrance Hall after dinner."
Gillian had been furious that Grace was now meeting two Slytherins and was trying hard to persuade her friend that meeting neither of the two boys would be the safest option.
"Besides, I highly doubt either of them will be pleased to see that they apparently had the same idea of meeting you," Gillian argued for the umpteenth time when Grace was leaving for the Entrance Hall.
"I'll be back soon," the brunette huffed. "It's not like I'm going on a date with either of them."
All day, Grace had been trying to figure out what Tom would be wanting from her. He had made it perfectly clear that he neither enjoyed nor wanted her company, and had successfully avoided her since that fateful day in October. It still hurt, but Grace had never been one to impose herself on others, especially not Tom. Maybe Simon Walker had only played a prank on her, she thought with a sour taste in her mouth.
Grace peeked out of the double doors into the Hall and spotted Alphard standing in front of the house point hourglasses. He seemed slightly nervous and was constantly running his fingers through his black hair. Since Tom was nowhere to be seen, Grace hurried towards Alphard, a small smile gracing her lips when she saw the relieved look on his tanned face.
"Hey," she said amicably, stopping in front of the taller boy. "As requested, here I am."
Alphard grinned, handing over a small package. It was wrapped in glossy paper with a small red ribbon on top. Grace accepted the package, surprise written all over her face. "What—"
"I just wanted to get you something," Alphard said almost shyly and Grace raised her eyebrows. "You know, with Christmas and your birthday coming up. But don't open it yet, I want it to be a surprise until your actual birthday."
Grace didn't know what to say. She was slightly embarrassed that Alphard seemed to know all about her birthday when she couldn't even remember his.
"Thank you so much, Alphard," she uttered and pressed the package to her chest. "I don't even know what to say."
Alphard just shrugged and grinned again.
"As long as you like it, I'm happy," he said, and Grace knew that he meant it. She leaned up on her tiptoes and kissed the black-haired boy on the cheek. Alphard blushed scarlet and Grace laughed loudly.
Though, when Alphard suddenly stared at someone behind Grace and yelled, "Oi, Riddle, what'chu looking at?", Grace whipped around, her laughter dying in her throat.
Tom stood in front of the marble staircase, hands in his trousers' pockets, an elusive look on his face. For someone who didn't really know Tom that well he might have come across as bored but Grace had known Tom long enough to see fury glinting in his dark eyes. Grace and Tom stared at each other for a second before Tom turned around lazily, walking off towards the dungeons.
With one last desperate look at Alphard, Grace left him standing there and hurried off to atone for her mistakes.
Guys, I'm SO sorry that it has taken me so long to update. Really, I am. After CountOnIllusions review, I knew I needed to update again asap, so here I am.
Please READ & REVIEW and tell me what you think!