Chapter 7

Tom and I were walking towards the dormitory to get ready for the quidditch match against Gryffindor. Corie was off with her team for some last minute practice. After our near loss against Ravenclaw two weeks ago, they weren't taking any chances. As we entered the common room, I sped towards one of the lounge chairs and sat down. We were both dripping wet from Charms where we were practicing some Atmospheric charms. One of the stupid Ravenclaws got over zealous and sent the entire bloody room into a rainstorm. I was completely exhausted. From the corner of my eye, I saw Tom wave his wand and hot air came out from the tip of it. He quickly dried both our clothes before restoring his wand back into his robes.

"Thank god that's over with," I said.

"Yeah. Me too," Tom said as he took the seat next to me. We both sat there in order to regain out strength and sanity…

"We should both get ready for the match," I said while slowly getting myself on my feet.

"Actually I have to do a quick errand. Prefect duties… but I'll meet you there."

"Oh… okay. I'll see you later then." I walked to the dormitory to grab my scarf and freshen up a bit. When I went back to the common room, Tom was already gone. I was a little upset that I wasn't able to see Tom much but I didn't want to make a big deal out of it since he was probably just really busy with his prefect duties all the time. I just wished this day would have been different… I was hurrying off to the quidditch pitch when I accidentally bumped into someone on my way there. The impact caused me to fall back unto my butt.

"Oh pardon me," he said as he helped me up.

"No, it was my fault. I was rushing without paying attention. I'm sorry, Hagrid," I apologized.

"You're the one that fell, Eliana."

"Hagrid, you do know you can call me Eli." I wasn't very fond of Gryffindors but Hagrid was different. I was reluctantly paired up with him during our Magical Creatures class, which turned out to be a lot more fun than I had predicted. We were one of the first groups to find a bowtrucker and even befriended it. Hagrid definitely knew his way around magical creatures and he was quite a nice guy too. We made our way to the quidditch pitch as we continued our conversation.

"I know that but every time I do it, Riddle give me a nasty look." I couldn't help but giggle at that. Tom had a way of spooking other students that I was surprised I even had other friends besides Corie and Tom.

"Ignore him. He's just always cranky," I joked.

"Speaking of which, where is he anyways? Doesn't he always accompany you to quidditch matches?"

"Yes but lately he's been very busy… with prefect duties and such. He told me that he would meet me at the pitch."

"I see… well here we are." I looked forward and realize we had already arrived at the pitch.

"Yeah. I guess we are. Well good luck today."

"You too, Eli. But, if I may be so bold to say, we both don't probably mean it." I gave a hearty laugh at his comment.

"I suppose you're right," I said, "I guess the proper thing to say is 'May the best team win'"

I held out my hand, which he shook with a large grin while saying, "May the best team win."

I had turned around to head towards the Slytherin side entrance when I heard Hargrid yell out, "Oh and a Happy Birthday to you, Eli."

"Thank you, Hagrid," I beamed as I swiveled back to him.

We both parted ways as I walked towards Slytherin's side. I scanned the audience but couldn't find Tom anywhere. I just deduced that he got held up with his prefect duties and would be late. However, as I turned my head, I caught a glimpse of Valentine and the other Slytherin prefects at the stands.

"That's strange," I thought. Just then the two quidditch teams made their entrance. The match was starting. I opted to ignore my suspicion until the match was over or Tom showed up… the latter didn't happen.

The game ended with Slytherin winning so Corie and I decided to join the celebratory party in the common room with the other Slytherins. I sat on the couch in front of the fireplace when Corie snuck up from behind me. I turned around to see her holding a small cake with candles sitting on top. The other students were too busy partying to notice.

"I know you didn't want anything big but I couldn't resist."

"Corie... Thank you! You're the best!" I gave her the tightest hug I could muster which caused her to almost drop the cake.

"Okay! Blimey Eli! I need air you know. Now hurry up and make a wish." I closed my eyes and made my wish before blowing the flames off the candles. We both sat on the couch and ate the delicious chocolate cake while enjoying the hard earned victory.

"I wish Tom had seen it. It was a great match," I said.

"Was he not there?"

"No. He said he had prefect duties." I didn't mention the fact that all the Slytherin prefects were at the match. I wanted to ask Tom before making accusations.

"Well that's a shame… hey, it's getting late. I'm exhausted."

"You should go to bed Corie. I'm gona wait a little longer."

"Okay but don't stay up too late."

"Okay mom," I giggled as she patted my head, yawned and headed to the dorm. As I stared into the fire, I felt my eyes grow heavy as I nodded off to sleep.

I awoke to hear the common room main entrance opening. I slowly opened my eyes to find that everyone had retired to their rooms. I could see a silhouette of someone sneaking towards the dorms.

"Hello?" I said groggily.

"Eliana?"

"Tom?" I yawned, "Are you just getting in?"

"What are you doing here Eliana? Shouldn't you be in bed?"

"I was waiting for you. Where were you? All the prefects were at the match except you."

"Professor Slughorn asked me to help him with something. I guess we got carried away." I could sense that he wasn't telling me the whole truth but I was too sleepy to pry.

"Oh… well we won."

"Yeah I can see that." The common room was still a mess from all the festivities that occurred earlier. "Well, I'm going off to bed."

"Wait Tom!" I stood up and stumbled to his side, "Corie and I saved you a piece of cake. You should take it up to your room so you can eat it tomorrow."

"No it's okay. You keep it. I haven't been in the mood for sweets."

"Oh… well maybe tomorrow after classes we can hang out. I wanted to see if you wanted to come up with a plan for our Hogsmeade date."

"I'm sorry Eliana but I'm going to be busy tomorrow… Maybe some other time. I really need to get some rest though. Good night." He quickly went up to his dorm leaving me there speechless. I wasn't sure whether to be upset that he forgotten my birthday, insulted that he wasn't telling me the truth or disheartened that it was getting more and more difficult to schedule a time to hangout with him.

In the following weeks, it became nearly impossible to find time to talk to Tom. He had apologized for forgetting my birthday but that was it. He was either busy with prefect duties or off to god knows where doing god knows what. I would only get to see him during some breakfasts and lunches and our classes. And what infuriated me the most was that he never spoke of his actions or ventures. I was starting to feel that Tom was doing a lot more than schoolwork during his free time and I wasn't sure if I wanted to know the details.