Chapter 20:Slughorn's Christmas Party
Genevieve sat in the couch by the common room's fire place that night with Abraxas, Canopus and Alphard. Canopus and Alphard were having another match of chess, and Abraxas was quietly reading a book called, "Uncovering the Secrets of Myth~ are they real?~"
"Hey,.. I was wondering, did you all get the Astronomy homework right?" Alphard asked all of a sudden, "Because my astronomy sheets doesn't seem to match no matter how much I try."
"I don't know, but I think it's wrong. Who cares anyway?" Canopus smirked as his bishop smashed Alphard's queen into pieces.
"Did you make sure the position of Jupiter was right?" Abraxas asked, not looking up from his book.
"Yeah?" Alphard moved his porn forward.
"The position of the Sun?" Genevieve suggested. Remeberng bitterly how she once got the position of the Sun wrong, thus messing it all up.
"I'm sure it's right," Alphard mumbled.
"Then, I'm not sure what's wrong," Abraxas raised his head from the book, furrowing his brow in confusion.
"Bah, who cares about the homework, anyway. It's not like it's going to kill us if we fail," Canopus snickered, and watched as his Knight dragged the broken pieces of Alphard's porn to the side.
Genevieve giggled as she saw Abraxas frown at Canopus in disbelief, but quickly clutched her stomach as a pain hot through her muscles. It was today's morning, after she parted with Riddle, when she found a big bruise on her abdomen. Genevieve slightly frowned.
Abraxas was the first to notice her unusual behaviour, "Genevieve? Something wrong?"
Genevieve shook her head in panicked way, "What? No,.. no."
"You were clutching your stomach. Stomach ache?" Abraxas raised his eyebrows.
"Yeah, it's just that... I ate too much during dinner," Genevieve gave a high-pitched laugh, "Haha. Silly me,..."
"But you barely ate anything for dinner," Alphard furrowed and observed her stomach in suspicion, which Genevieve hid with her arms in an embarrassment.
Genevieve opened and closed her mouth several times, "Well, um, you see,..."
"You know what you are not good at?" Canopus cleared his throat, not taking his eyes off from the chess board.
"Lying to us," Canopus shook his head, "Honestly Genevieve, you have to come up with a better lie if you are trying to keep a secret from us."
Genevieve bit down her lip. She was such a great liar, wasn't she?
Realising the uneasiness of her, Abraxas gently laid his hand on her shoulder, "You know you can tell us anything, Genevieve," smiling.
Genevieve gulped, "It's-, it's a bruise."
"Why do you always have a bruise, Genevieve?" Alphard asked as he yawned and stretched his arms.
"It's because she is being abused," Abraxas' ears turned bright pink as an anger flamed up inside him.
"WHAT!?" Canopus rose from his seat, knocking over the chess board on the table.
"Who is abusing her?" Alphard furrowed his brows, clearly displeased with the news.
"If it's that Cygnus Black again, I'm going to break his nose!" Canopus spat on the floor.
Abraxas wrinkled his nose in disgust, but soon it vanished as he turned to her, "What really happened, Genevieve? Was it Riddle?"
Genevieve nodded reluctantly.
Alphard gasped, and Canopus' knucles turned white from the pressure.
"He has been,... pressuring her for some time now. Asking all about her families, and other things," Abraxas explained.
"It's always been him. Always. That git. That son of a cow," Canopus muttered darkly under his breath.
"And he punched you in the stomach?" Alphard eyed her stomach both in worry and disbelief. Genevieve shook her head.
"Have you been gone with him last night?" Abraxas asked all of a sudden and Genevieve froze.
An understanding dawned the chess players' face.
"You HAVE GOT to stop going out with him. You deserve someone better!" Alphard desperately explained.
"Yes. A man who's kind, responsible and willing to take care of you. A man who respect you! Not a man who would only use you as an entertainment, or to use you for one's ecstasy," Canopus flung his arm around her shoulder, and his eyes swelled with tear.
"I am not kind of a cheap woman who would let anything like that happen," Genevieve declared, slightly blushing with the disturbing thought.
"Then where did you two go?" Abraxas narrowed his eyes in confusion.
Reluctantly, Genevieve explained how they casted Exitium Reverie to each other, and the Memory Reverse has been happening whenever they got a head ache. And about 's bookshop, and how they went to ' library last night.
"I'm gonna kill that guy," Canopus glared in the direction of common room exit, his eyes twitching.
Abraxas searched through his bag, and took a bruise ointment and handed to her.
Genevieve mumbled a small thanks.
"Do you think he's right? I mean. How he told you that you two are destined together," Alphard questioned. He didn't seem to mind the wizard chess anymore.
Abraxas considered about it for a moment before nodding, "I think it's true. Maybe he saw something. Although it's a great disaster if you are destined with him."
"Yeah, but don't you think he could have interpreted it in a wrong way?" Canopus interrupted, "Just because he saw something, doesn't mean it's going to happen. I mean, who on earth would believe in DIVINATION? They are just bunch of stupid stuff talking about destiny and other things."
"Whether was right or not, you have a choice, Genevieve," Abraxas leaned in closer, "Avoid him or just let it be. Although we don't know how your actions are going to affect afterwards."
Meanwhile, Tom was walking down a deserted corridor in the direction of Head's Dorm from the library. After working several times with Malfoy and Bellamore, including today, the potion has gotten closer to the completion. Only that that annoying Malfoy didn't let Genevieve stay alone anymore... Tom has been reading a book on Veritaserum, but still not so much were discovered about how Veritaserum works, so that meant he couldn't really rely on books to write an essay.
"Tom! Tom!" a shrieking voice echoed through the corridor, and Tom winced.
A fake smile plastered on his face, he turned around. It was Olive Hornby, followed by Novellyn Lovegood, both purebloods from the Ravenclaw. They were also the girls in which Tom shared his Potions class.
"Hi," Tom sent a beaming smile to them. The girls giggled.
"Um,... You see, Novellyn and I were working on our Amortentia, you know, for Slughorn's assignment," Olive Hornby explained, all of a sudden extremely interested in her feet as she fidgeted with her hands, "And we were wondering, um, if you could test it for us?
"Of course, not taking the potion, but smelling it," Olive Hornby now started fidgeting with her hair, "Just in case?"
Tom made his cheeks blush, "Are you sure it's okay with me?"
Sensing his modest attitude, Hornby and Lovegood nodded her head, "Of course!"
"We even put a bobblytrunk in it for you!" Lovegood exclaimed, as though that made things all better.
"What's a bobblytrunk?" Tom asked as though he sas intrigued by it.
"It's a-," Lovegood started to explain, but was interrupted by Hornby who nudged her with an elbow.
"So could you specifically describe what you can smell?" Hornby opened a vial she has brought, and handed it to him.
A bright pink fume rose from the potion, but before it reached his nostrils, it turned black, or at least a very dark navy. The two girls giggled.
Tom loved the smell. It was like smelling all the things he liked.
"I can smell library. The smell of dust and old parchments," Tom continued, "Earl grey tea, and...," Tom had to stop himself.
And blackberry.
The blackberry reminded him of a particular girl. That Slytherin girl, mysterious, powerful, and somewhere tragic.
But. Why ON THE BLOODY HELL, was he smelling her perfume?
Of course, one would answer the smell differs to each person according to what they are attracted to. But obviously, that is not his point. The point was, why was he attracted to her, out of all the people!? Stubborn, unyielding, and even sometimes a threat to him. Thinking sensibly, she was the least likely person a man would be attracted to.
"Tom?"
The voice of Hornby brought his mind out of his thoughts. Right. He had to answer their question. But he was not going to admit that he smelled blackberry. Must think of something, anything...
"A squid."
The moment he said the word, his face turned pale and contorted into discomfort. Did he just really say that? He remembered reading about it in one of the ingredients for the veritaserum. But honestly, that had to be the first thing that came up in his mind!
The two Ravenclaws stared at him for a moment, but just giggled.
"You are so funny, Tom," Hornby giggled.
"Thank you so much!" Lovegood said, also giggling, and the two girls left, almost running away, as they whispered to each other excitedly.
Tom let out a sigh of relief, but froze when he saw the ghost Myrtle Chaisty floating in the midair. The moment he accidentally killed her in the bathroom came back.
"Hi, Tom," she fluttered her eyelashes as though trying to look attractive.
Tom suppressed the urge to roll his eyes.
"Have you seen Olive Hornby around her? She keeps on running away from me," a silvery tear ran down her cheek.
With a sigh, Tom pointed in the direction in which Hornby and Lovegood left. After throwing a cute smile he would hardly call successful in his direction, Myrtle went running after her, or rather floating as she screamed, "Olllive Hooornby!"
Tom then heard a scream which he assumed belonged to Olive Hornby.
Tom sighed and leaned against a wall, both confused and annoyed by the fact that he smelled blackberry perfume from the amortentia. He was NOT, and never will be attracted to her! Thinking sensibly, it was impossible! No man on this earth would adore her. Many explanations can be made on why he smelled blackberry. Maybe it was only just a blackberry he smelled, and he liked blackberry without noticing, and Genevieve Bellamore was not related to it. Or they just made a mistake when making the potion. But the fact that the smell immediately reminded him of,... Genevieve, was very unsettling.
Sighing again, he ran a hand through his hair, messing it all up. He didn't know what he was thinking, he couldn't control his thoughts and emotions. He couldn't help but feel attracted to her. He had felt attracted to many numbers of girls in this school, but this time, it was a litle different. He usually felt attracted to a girl because of their looks, or his urgent need of physical ecstasy. But this time, he was attracted to her power and her potential. Something what's in the the inside, and not her outside. Something like this never occurred to him since when he was at the age of something like 4, or 5. When he was still immature, sentimental and a fool, when he still used to let out any emotions he felt inside, mainly anger and sadness, but in rare occasion, joy. But after all those years of practicing to control and hide his emotions, after all those years of effort, numbing the pain he always felt somewhere in his heart. He was being unable to control his emotions again. All. Because of. Genevieve Bellamore.
He felt like he couldn't trust himself anymore, the only thing he has been relying through his entire life.
But no, he couldn't lose himself now. After all he himself was the only one to trust! What is he going to rely on if he couldn't trust himself?
I am not really starting to like Genevieve, Tom convinced himself. It was just that, he was in need of a physical pleasure with another girl. It didn't necessarily mean it HAD TO BE Genevieve Bellamore.
Physical pleasure,... An ingenious plan popped up in his mind, and so he decided to put the plan into action immediately, by chasing after Olive Hornby.
Tom was waiting in front of the entrance to the Slytherin common room. And in front of him, Olive Hornby staring dreamily at him.
"So why did you call me, Tom?" Hornby fluttered her eyelashes several times.
Tom couldn't no longer wait for Genevieve to come out, he knew Hornby was getting impatience by the minute. And for a moment he thought he heard somebody, which sounded awfully like Myrtle Chaisty, screaming Hornby's name. He better get this done before Chaisty finds them together in a dark corridor.
So without any warning, he kissed her. Tom heard Hornby gasp, but seeing she didn't back away, Tom sucked hard on her lips. He felt her hands moving towards his hair, so he pinned her hands on the wall with his hands. He did not like it when others touched him. Tom nudged the hem of her lips, and it immediately opened so that he could tangle his tongue with her's and explore her mouth. As he kissed her, he thought of Genevieve, wondering whether if she will ever come out. Wondering what Genevieve might feel, if she ever came out, seeing him kiss a girl like hell. He remembered when he kissed her before. Not on the lips, but on her neck. That sweet, smooth and milky skin. Scared panting that came out of Genevieve's hot red lips.. Oh how he loved seeing people in fear. It was intoxicating.
He heard the stone door to the common room open next to them.
Genevieve decided to go and grab a snack from the kitchen, since she was starving. So she skipped up the stairs to the common room, and towards the exit. Abraxas, Canopus and Alphard must have gone to their dorm already, since the fire was illuminating the common room with a few students.. She opened the door, and the first thing she heard was moaning, "Mmmmmm,... Tom."
Genevieve turned her head to the left in wonder. And the sight made her heart ache, and she felt like her heart was crumbling into pieces.
Riddle and Olive Hornby were kissing. They were kissing fiercely as though there were no tomorrow. Riddle raised his head to glance at her in the corner of his eyes, and so did Olive Hornby. Riddle sent a victorious smirk at her, with a cold look of disdain. Olive Hornby looked at her as though she was merely a distraction to their precious moments. But soon, they returned their attention back to their business, completely ignoring Genevieve.
Genevieve felt excluded, and hurt. VERY, VERY HURT. She didn't even understand if this pain in her heart was coming from her emotion, or some kind of problem with her heart. She couldn't think straight, and she was completely overwhelmed by her emotion.
Although she didn't let any of this show in her face. She remained indifferent, and denied to admit that she was actually feeling sad and hurt because of Riddle. She denied to admit that tears were almost pouring out of her eyes.
Instead, she forced herself to look away from them, and ran away in the direction of the kitchen.. Although the sight made her lose the appetite very much.
For the next week, the last week before the Christmas break, Genevieve couldn't see HIM in the eyes. When they passed each other in a corridor, when they were in a class, when they were brewing the last few parts of the veritaserum with Abraxas. Genevieve tried to ignore the fact that the saturday night, Riddle had actually broken her heart. But it was difficult when every time she saw him, her heart burned and squashed itself which caused her great pain.
She must have been very quiet and dreamy that week, because Alphard did ask her one morning what was wrong with her.
"Are you okay, Genevieve? You look,... unfocused," Alphard asked over the breakfast table.
"Huh?" Genevieve raised her eyes from her fried eggs, which she has been poking with her fork and now the yolk was oozing out.
"Oh, yeah... I'm okay. I'm just feeling tired," Genevieve flashed a weak smile.
"Yeah, I agree. So many assignments," Abraxas groaned and rubbed his eyes.
"But that will be all over in a few days!" Alphard exclaimed.
Abraxas nodded with a smile, but suddenly his smile dropped.
"Genevieve, we have to tell you something,..." Abraxas whispered with a frown between his brows.
Genevieve arched her brows and leaned closer to catch his words.
"Well," Abraxas gulped. "Last time we were summoned by our dark lord in midnight. And he, Riddle didn't invite you, because he wanted us to spy on you."
Her heart clenched when he mentioned the name Riddle. She let out an equivocal answer.
"So,... we were wondering, if there are anything that you don't mind us telling to him. You know, you won't mind us telling him what food you like, right? Things like that," Alphard continued, now that he understood what Abraxas was talking about.
Genevieve shrugged, "I like chocolate chip mint ice cream."
Genevieve fell silent again, thinking for a moment, "You can tell him I'm a muggleborn, he knows that already. My father is Harold and my mother is Fiona, but I've never met them because I grew up in an orphanage... Um, what else am I supposed to say?"
Canopus shrugged, "Your favourite colour?"
Genevieve thought through her favourite colours. "Forest Green," she finally answered.
"That will do," Canopus smirked teasingly. Genevieve snorted.
As they left early for the class, because Canopus has forgotten to finish the remaining homework for the overdue Potions homework which he had to turn it in today, and Abraxas had to help him with it.
"You guys go without us," Alphard insisted when he fell in the steps with her by the stairs that lead to the dungeon, and Abraxas and Canopus turned around in order to wait for them.
"I'll catch up with you later at History," Genevieve assured. Abraxas and she shared the double History class first thing in the Wednesday morning, although Abraxas had to go through 'another' double morning period of Divination with Alphard after History. On the other hand, Canopus had double free period which was enough for him to finish the homework.
Abraxas nodded, and lead Canopus down into the direction to the Slytherin Dungeons. Genevieve's eyes followed them until they disappeared behind the corner.
Genevieve shifted her eyes onto Alphard, "So, what is it?" She has already assumed that he wanted to talk about something. 'But what?' she wondered.
"I just had to talk to you, Genevieve," Alphard ran a hand through his black, short and curly hair with a sigh as though he didn't know where to start.
Alphard's eyes always twinkled in joy. But in rare occasion, his eyes turned hard and serious. Such when he had to bear one of his friends getting punished by the Dark Lord in front of him. Alphard's eyes were exactly like this as he talked to Genevieve.
Alphard laid both of his hands on Genevieve's shoulders, and stared into her eyes. The dark lighting in the Dungeon casted a shadow over his face, and Genevieve couldn't read what he was thinking. He slowly leaned towards her, now her face only two inches away.
"I have to ask," Alphard voice came out in a low, quiet whisper, "Are you in love?"
The question hit her hard. Was she in love? No. At least that's what she believes. 'Or want to believe,' a voice grunted somewhere in her head.
"No! I mean, no,... I don't think so."
Genevieve could see Alphard raise an eyebrow in the dim light.
"Well, I'm not sure, actually," Genevieve added quickly.
Alphard gave an 'I-told-you-so' look.
Genevieve decided to tell him the truth, after all, he was her friend. "I'm not sure if THIS is love," she whispered in a rasped voice.
"I think it's love," Alphard muttered slowly as he considered about it. "Your expression,... they changed in a way over this week or two. But by the way you look so sad and hurt, I assume your relationship is not going very well."
She shook her head.
"I'm not good at treating girls, or pick-up lines like Canopus. But I can say this; I'm better at understanding people. And by the way you look at HIM, I know how you are feeling about him these days," Alphard confessed.
"Although, I wouldn't say he is the best one out of all to choose," Alphard muttered.
Genevieve was speechless. He knew it all, didn't he? He just read her feelings like reading a book.
"I am ashamed of myself, really. I don't know how I started feeling like this about him," Genevieve mumbled with a sigh. Life was all just a mess.
"Well-, I don't blame you," Alphard said simply.
Genevieve wrinkled her nose. "You don't?"
"Well, he is attractive, kind and handsome, and in some way, naughty. It's what everything a girl desires, right?" Alphard shrugged with a sigh as though he was, in a way, jealous of Riddle.
"But, those are what it seems like. After all he has done to me, to you, to Abraxas and Canopus, I feel attracted to him. Still knowing that a devil lives inside him, I want to be in the place of Olive Hornby," Genevieve's voice cracked. Alphard had no idea what Olive Hornby had to do with Riddle, but he was able to guess.
Alphard embraced her in a calming way and squeezed her shoulders, "You can't think logically. Human's feelings don't work like that."
"But why? After all those hard times because of him," Genevieve sighed. She was completely lost.
Alphard released her and looked down at her. "Maybe. Just maybe, you somehow was able to catch a glimpse of him. A part of him that he never shows to anybody, not even to us. A part of him," Canopus continued after a sigh as he stared right into her eyes, "we would have never expected him to have."
Genevieve couldn't say a word for quite a long time, and she just stood there, thinking back to when she saw him in the memories. The image of Riddle being kicked over and over repeatedly flashed across her mind. But he never showed himself as weak in front of the others. Always strong, cruel and on his own.
Maybe Riddle did have a side nobody knew. Maybe he was hiding a part of him from others.
"But still, unfortunately, Tom is Tom. He can't change. This relationship is unhealthy. It's hurting your feelings, Genevieve. You should forget about him, and maybe stay away from him for a while, I don't know. You deserve someone better, and don't let him dominate your feelings..."
Alphard talked, but all the words meant nothing to her right now. It was like the words went through her left ear, and never left, but they circulated around her head. Staying there and waiting for the words to be acknowledged.
Genevieve felt something warm tightly close around her hand for a second. But then it was gone.
When Genevieve came back to consciousness, Alphard was already gone, and the dark dungeon corridor, with only one light coming in from the direction of the Great Hall, was deserted. Genevieve stared down at her hand. The tingling and warm sensation of Alphard's hand was still there.
Alphard's words came back to her again. "You should forget about him,..."
Maybe Alphard was right. She did feel a little sorry for him about his father, but that didn't mean she had to present herself as punching bag. Maybe it was best to leave him alone.
The last few days passed quickly. They have all finished with the Veritaserum and the essay for it, which were both perfect she was sure. She tried her best to ignore Tom all the time, and remain calm and indifferent, like she didn't care about him.
"Not this dress," Genevieve heard Christina Yaxley behind her murmuring to herself. She was sitting on her bed, waiting patiently as Yaxley carefully picked a dress for her for the Slug Club's Christmas Party. Abraxas has volunteered to choose a dress for her, but Canopus suggested Yaxley choose her dress instead of him so that it will be a 'pleasant surprise' as he said.
She stripped off her uniform blouse to wear the dress. She was humming one of the christmas carols she used to sing at the orphanage, until, her hand stopped. Her humming stopped as well. What she can peek from the blouse sleeve, was her scar on the right wrist. To her terror, the black disgusting swirl of tatoo-ish scar was getting bigger than ever.
Genevieve shifted her eyes to ignore it, but undoubtedly, it was getting bigger for sure. The black swirl was now surrounding almost her entire wrist, like an enormous ugly bruise.
"How about this one?" Yaxley's voice sounded far, but Genevieve managed to mumble something she did not know, as she tried to forget about the scar.
It was probably nothing. It is going to go away soon, Genevieve convinced herself. But she doubted it.
Yaxley pulled out a dress from her trunk full of other clothes.
It was a beautiful dress, orchid pink and skirt reaching down to ger knees with black Victorian lace decorating the hem.
She tried it on, and she was happy to notice that it fit her perfectly and so did the heels. Kind Yaxley was patient enough to teach her how to put on makeup. After a few failure with her lip gloss, she managed to put on a presentable makeup.
"The dress match your eyes," Yaxley smiled in content.
"Thanks," Genevieve stared at herself in the mirror as though looking into somebody else's face.
Abraxas waited in the common room with Canopus for their dates to appear. Alphard has already gone to pickup Fifi Pinkstone. They were fully dressed in suites and ties, which Canopus had trouble tying it and lost his temper. They both sat silently on the black couch placed near the fireplace, both in their own deep thoughts. Canopus seemed excited, and Alphard looked like he was going to have nervous-breakdown. But so far, Abraxas wasn't feeling nervous or excited. It was Genevieve, anyway. She wasn't horrible, but he didn't feel like flying up to heaven either. Just Genevieve, yes.
When they heard footsteps from the girl's dorm, they hastily stood up, fixing the wrinkles on their suites as they done so.
Genevieve was wearing a pink short dress, with a crystal necklace around her smooth neck. She was wearing pink heels. Although it wasn't him who prepared the dress, he had to say it was perfect. Simple, but beautiful. And cute, yet elegant. He felt a heat rising up in him to his face, and he couldn't take his eyes off her, even though he knew it was rude.
"Hi, Abraxas," Genevieve casually curtsied as she blushed a little.
"Hey," Abraxas managed to say, but somehow his voice seemed far away, and even dreamy.
"I chose the dress for her," Christina Yaxley laid her hands on Genevieve's shoulders possessive way. She seemed very proud of herself and Genevieve.
"What do you think?" Genevieve twirled on the spot as she looked down at her skirt float around herself, smiling.
Abraxas smiled, but was speechless.
Genevieve noticed Abraxas' silence, and looked away from her skirt. "Abraxas?" looking slightly worried.
Canopus nudged him in the side, and Abraxas was drawn back to consciousness.
"Yeah, you look nice," Abraxas gave her a beaming smile.
"Thanks. You two look great too," Genevieve smiled.
"Now, come on, enough of flattery. We are going to be late to the party. May I escort you, Christina?" Canopus held out his arm to Christina Yaxley.
"It will be my pleasure," Christina Yaxley giggled as she took his arm.
Abraxas suddenly noticed that he also had to escort her. Will he do it right? His hands were suddenly very sweaty.
Fortunately, Genevieve approached him and placed her hands on his arm without a word. They followed Canopus and Christina out of the common room hole.
"Are you alright?" Genevieve gently patted on his arm, seeing Christina and Canopus flirting together in front of them, she shifted her eyes onto him.
Abraxas gulped and managed to say, "Yeah."
"Let's just enjoy the party tonight," she gave a reassuring grin.
Suddenly, all the weight seemed to lift from his shoulders. Yes, that's right. He just had to enjoy himself together with Genevieve.
He heaved a deep sigh, "Yeah," he said it again. But this time, he felt relieved and calm.
Slughorn's office was enlarged to the size even bigger than when having Slug Club, Genevieve noticed. Food counter was placed in the corner, with a gigantic christmas tree next to it. The place was packed with people, all wearing colourful dresses. A few couples were dancing the popular dance, jitterbug in the centre, while others applauded for the dancers or talked to the others.
She spotted Orion Black by the food counter, so she smiled at him, and he smiled back. She also spotted Cygnus Black and the Black twin girls to her utmost disgust. Cygnus Black sneered at her, so she glared him back, ready to slap him again when necessary.
When she saw Riddle talking with Slughorn, and Adria Parkinson, a Slytherin girl she danced with on Halloween Night, stood by his side looking proud of herself, the bottom of her stomach burned with fury, but she decided to ignore them by looking away.
"I'll go get a punch, okay?" Abraxas smiled. Genevieve nodded, feeling slightly uncomfortable to be alone.
Thanksfully, Abraxas came back soon and handed her a glass. She mumbled a word of appreciation and she sipped a little from it. It tasted of cherry.
"Oh! ! How nice of you to show up," a cheery voice she knew too well, echoed in the office behind her. She turned around on her heel, and as she expected, found Professor Slughorn waving at them.
As they approached Slughorn, she saw Riddle and Parkinson. She gave a weak smile to Adria Parkinson, who returned it with a wave. But she sneered at Riddle, hoping that this would make him infuriated. She also found another man she was not familiar with.
Slughorn's eyes twinkled seeing Abraxas and her, "I see that you have brought a date! Abraxas Malfoy, hm?" He threw her a wink, "I always knew there was something in between you two."
Genevieve blushed and mumbled her thanks for inviting them.
"Nonsense! , , I would like you two to meet Robert Tugghings. He is one of my ex-students, and he works as a head of Auror," Slughorn gestured to .
was a tall man in his late thirties or forties, with not many brown hair and a brown mustache. He seemed very fit, and was wearing an eye-patch, which intrigued her very much.
"Robert, this is and . One of the most talented students in the entire school! Same as here,... Well, aren't they a cute couple."
Genevieve blushed even more if that was possible, but smiled and shook hands with him. "Pleasure to meet you, ."
"Pleasure to meet you too, young lady. And you too, one of the famous family, the Malfoys," beamed at Abraxas.
"I hardly think my family is famous, sir," Abraxas shook hands with as well.
"There will be a slow-dance for next one," Slughorn whispered into Abraxas' ear and teasingly winked at him, but it was clearly audible to all of them.
Abraxas and she bid farewell to them. The situation was too embarrassing, Abraxas later said.
Tom's inside burned with a strong emotion. From fury, or whatever this emotion was, he did not know. Maybe it was even jealousy. Genevieve Bellamore dared to come in that beautiful dress that matched her dress that sent him shivers down his entire body.. Trying to attract all men's attention in the party, trying to take over men's feelings and lose control. He hated how she did that. And she dare come with Malfoy! Even more, she sneered at him after throwing a smile to Parkinson.
It was like,... he was worth nothing. She chose Malfoy over HIM. Now as he watched her twirl into Abraxas' arms with the joyful music, his heart clenched.
Abraxas and Genevieve danced to quite a lot of music, and they were exhausted when they finally sat together in the corner.
"You are quite a good dancer," Genevieve giggled as she sat down, her face red.
"Thanks. I was actually taught by teacher when I was small. My mother thought it was really important to know how to treat ladies," Abraxas imitated dancing waltz in the air with his arms.
Genevieve giggled, "What else did you learn?"
"All sorts of things. Manners, how to eat, how to talk, how to walk and sit. How to choose your clothing, and how to treat ladies," Abraxas gave a meaningful look to Genevieve. She blushed.
"I'm going to go get another drink. Do you want some?" Abraxas stood up. Genevieve smiled and nodded.
But just as Abraxas left, another person came to sit down next to her. She was shocked when she noticed that it was Draco Pevensie.
"Don't worry. I don't hate you anymore for how you left and betrayed me," Draco said quickly.
"I just,..." he stammered for words. "I just wanted to know how you were doing..."
"Well, um, I'm doing fine," Genevieve muttered. She actually preferred not to talk to him, and she hoped Abraxas would come back soon.
"That's good...," Draco mumbled, looking down at his fingers, "Can I talk to you somewhere private?"
Genevieve was confused by this sudden propose, but she looked around herself, looking for Abraxas. There he was. He was caught by on his way back, still holding the two glasses of punch.
Looking back at Draco, Genevieve nodded. Draco lead her out of Slughorn's office out into the corridor. Compared to the inside, the dungeon corridor was very quiet, Genevieve thought as she closed the door behind her, the sound of people's cheers fading away.
"So?" Genevieve asked impatiently.
Draco heaved a great sigh. "Can I go out with you?"
Genevieve sighed, thinking back to when he first said that to her. Yes, this was not the first time. It was right after the year started, when he came to tell her his feelings.
"I thought I already gave you my answer," Genevieve grumbled annoyingly.
Draco opened and closed his mouth several times. "Yes, well yeah, but-,... Wh-, Why did you resist me anyway? We were friends, we were perfect for each other!"
"I didn't think we will go well together," Genevieve mumbled and stared him at cooly.
"Why? I demand to know why, Geneve," with a mention of her nickname, anger seeped into her voice, suddenly sounding dangerous.
"It's because, you FREAKING told the oldy-moldy Dumbledore about my secrets last year! About this?" Genevieve rolled up her right arm sleeves. The ugly scar appeared. Draco gasped.
"But he already knew it, Geneve! For god's sake! He already knew that you were the girl he cursed years ago, before the first time he came to the orphanage to tell you you are a witch!"
She remembered about the first time she saw Dumbledore come into her orphanage room. Oh, how she had been scared. She was afraid that he was going to drag her back to the prison she used to live for years. But in the end, and to her wonder, he didn't. He invited her to Hogwarts, but never mentioned about the 'trace' on her right wrist, or her needing to go back to that science lab. He even acted like he never met her before.
"Don't you remember? When I told you about where I came from back then in the astronomy tower. I told you not to tell anybody. And when I say anybody, I mean anybody. Even people who already know about me," Genevieve glared at him, "Why did you do that anyway?"
"I thought it was better for you. Because if you go back to Dumbledore, and that ugly trace on your wrist is gone, you wouldn't die at the age of eighteen!" Draco shouted.
Genevieve gasped. She has known about it for years, but it terrified her as the realisation sunk in.
"I'm sorry, Genevieve. But,..." Draco ran a hand through his red hair. "I don't want you to die. You know that your trace is getting bigger," Draco nudged at her wrist with his chin.
"I prefer to die rather than going back to the prison where they treat me like a science experiment," Genevieve's voice shook.
Genevieve's trembling hand reached out for the Slug's office door, "I left you, because I felt like I could never trust you," Genevieve said, never turning back to look him in the eye.
"I'm sorry," with a sigh, Genevieve went in, and Draco Pevensie was left in the dark dungeon corridor alone.
Genevieve tried to suck up the tears that swelled in her eyes when she saw Abraxas running in her direction, still holding the two glasses of punch.
"Genevieve! Where have you been?" Abraxas panted, "I was-, are you crying?"
"I-, well, I went to powder my nose. But when I sneezed, the powder flew into the air,... and got into my eyes...?" Genevieve quickly came up with a lie, still feeling guilty. But she just did not want anybody to know about her 'trace'.
Abraxas looked into her eyes, slightly frowning, "Are you okay? The powder do hurts when it gets into your eyes. You want some drink?" Abraxas held out the glass. The ice in the punch has already melted, and Genevieve wondered how long she has kept him waiting. With a smile, she took the glass.
"Do you want to go on another dance?" Abraxas asked after finishing his drink, holding out his hand for her.
Genevieve beamed at Abraxas, and took his hand. Abraxas pulled her into him and swayed to the music.
The music was slow this time, and they danced in a different way. She didn't think it was a waltz, salsa or any types of dance she knew. It was just messy and funny, swirling and swaying to the music. Genevieve giggled for no reason, and Abraxas chuckled seeing her. She hugged Abraxas friendly, and Abraxas blushed deeply.
Tom was seeing all this from near the Christmas Tree. Beside him, Olive Hornby was trying to make him kiss her under the mistletoe, but Tom just ignored her. Instead, he wandered how great it would be if he could just tore Genevieve away from Malfoy, and drag her so that he could kiss her under the mistletoe. She will probably reject him, but well, who cares. He gets to kiss the girl.
Seeing Genevieve giggling and twirl under Malfoy's arm, hot fury and jealousy burned inside his stomach. His hand twitched to reach for his wand. Should he just really kiss her? Or should he hex both of them for displeasing their master?
"You like her, don't you?"
A voice whispered into his ear. He whipped around to deny, but instead, found no one. He looked around himself in wonder, who has been talking to him. No one was in less than three metres radius from him, except Olive Hornby. Elated with joy that he has finally turned his attention to her, Olive Hornby blushed. He soon looked away from her.
"Can't you see where I am?" a voice whispered again, but this time, Tom noticed that the voice has been whispering inside his head.
Tom looked around himself once more. He found the owner of the voice. It was a him. Tom knew this because the man was looking straight at him, looking intrigued.
What scared him the most of all, was that he had wavy black hair perfectly combed, with straight nose and crimson eyes. Wearing a Slytherin Hogwarts uniform, looking quite handsome, smart, and a little arrogant.
He was the exact copy of himself.
"I personally feel I am as charming as you," a voice echoed in his head.
The first idea that came to his mind was that he was his bloody muggle father. But he was already dead. Fortunately, he had already killed him last summer, so the next thing he had thought was that it was a ghost of his father.
His exact copy chuckled. "No, I am not your father nor his ghost. But that is a good question indeed."
"I am part of your soul, Tom Marvolo Riddle," the man finally answered.
Tom's mouth slightly fell for a moment, before closing it again.
"Do you think you could go get me some drinks?" Tom politely turned to Olive Hornby, who nodded energetically and ran off to the food counter. After Tom saw her disappear amongst the crowds, he grabbed two glasses of punch from the food counter himself, and headed towards the exit.
The other part of Tom must have known what he was thinking, because he followed Tom out of the Slughorn's office. To his most surprise, nobody seemed to notice his soul's presence as he zizagged through people in the direction of him. Tom led his way through the corridor to the Courtyard through the shortcut.
Tom was relieved to see that none of the students were in the Courtyard. All the students were probably in either the Slug Party, packing their bags to leave tomorrow, or in their common rooms. Perfect.
Tom sat on one of the stone seats where the students played Gobstones. His copy sat across him. Tom offered him the glass of punch, but he rejected it.
"I can't drink," his soul said.
Tom nodded, and drank all of his punch with a swing.
"So tell me how you came apart from my soul?" Tom asked. It felt very absurd to talk looking at himself.
"I am not entirely sure," his soul stuck out his tongue a little bit, exactly like him when he was concentrating.
"However, I assume it is because of many bad things we have been doing," his soul quickly glanced at him and his eyes twinkled for a short while, "Our soul is unstable."
"How long have you been away from my soul?" Tom took a sip from another glass.
"I believe it's about two or three days. But I recall, the first time I separated from your soul was few months ago when you were using Legilimency on Draco Pevensie," his soul gazed up at the moon.
Tom suddenly remembered the time when he was unable to use Legilimency on Draco Pevensie. That time, an extreme headache has occurred to him, and he couldn't continue the Legilimency on him! His anger exploded.
"So it was you who interrupted my interrogation!?" Tom bellowed in anger.
"Yes. Although I couldn't stay separated for too long. After a while, I had to combined with your soul again," his soul bit his lips, recalling the time when Tom interrogated Pevensie. However, he did not seem to notice the other's rage.
"Do you mind telling me," Tom tried to suppress his anger, breathing deeply, "why on the bloody hell you interrupted me?"
The other part of his soul sneered, "I did not enjoy seeing you in power."
Tom was still confused, so the other continued. "Jealousy, I assume. Although I was seeing myself in power over others, it was not me who was in power."
"I also presume," his other part continued, "that I completely separated from you because of Exitium Reverie between you and Genevieve. I started to separate more often and longer since that night. If what said was right, one soul has already separated from us and currently lives inside Genevieve. It is greatly possible that it may have caused the soul to be even more unstable."
So that it is, then. Because of Exitium Reverie, again. He was now regretting that he has cursed her with that terrible curse. There will be another part of him that might ruin his life. Another thing that must be fixed before he starts going mad, or whatever. Even he knew that playing too much with his souls was no good.
"If you don't mind, can we go back to the Head's Dorm instead of thinking how unfortunate it was that I came out of your soul?"
Some time later Tom and his soul left to their dorm, completely forgetting about Olive Hornby, Abraxas was taking a walk around the corridors with Genevieve, intending to go back to their dorms after some time later.
They reflected on the party, talking animatedly. Such as when they found Charlus Potter dancing with Dorea Black, the lipstick still very visible by others. (Charlus Potter sent Genevieve a death glare after the dance, like he was going to murder her).
Or when they both cheered for Alphard when he kissed Fifi Pinkstone under a mistletoe hanging from the ceiling. He shared an indescribable feeling of joy with Genevieve that moment.
They walked in silence for a while. And Abraxas stirred uncomfortably next to her, while Genevieve dreamily gazed out the window at the crescent moon.
"You really look beautiful tonight, Genevieve," Abraxas bravely forced out a bright smile, hoping that he has not blushed while saying so.
"Thanks," Genevieve beamed at him, "You look great in suit and ties too," she smirked.
Abraxas smiled shyly and Genevieve giggled.
"Thanks for everything tonight, Abraxas," Genevieve sighed dreamily, "Although we only went as friends, it was really fun."
Genevieve sheepishly added, "I'm glad you were the one to take me."
Abraxas couldn't help but a smile spread on his lips, and he hoped dearly that Genevieve didn't see him blush.
He quickly glanced at Genevieve, and was struck with awe. Genevieve was truly beautiful, as silver moonlight shone on her pale smooth skin. And her black straight hair gleamed mysteriously in the dark, reflecting the light. Her curved cheeks, and moons that shine in her eyes. Her strict brows made her look elegant and strong, but not harsh. Her red curved lips and small nose. He never actually noticed, after all this time, that Genevieve was so beautiful.
Until he noticed something. It looked like a bruise, on her right wrist.
"What's this?" Abraxas furrowed his brows in concern, and reached for her right hand.
Genevieve gasped alarmingly and quickly pulled away, so that it was now shadowed and difficult to see.
Abraxas' eyes dulled. A little disappointed that they were still not trustworthy enough to know her secrets.
Genevieve's eyes dulled in remorse as well. "I'm sorry. But,..." she chose her words carefully, "But, I don't really want anybody to know about this."
"I understand," Abraxas forced out a gentle smile, and held out his arm towards her with a smirk, "Do you want to go back to the dorm now?"
Genevieve's face lit up, and she beamed at him. "Thanks, Abraxas."
He was satisfied to hear Genevieve relieved and happy again. Convincing himself that he has done the right thing. That it was good of him to let Genevieve keep things to herself if she wished to.
But somewhere in his heart, he didn't believe that that was what he truly felt. Somewhere, he regretted that he should have asked her further. Because he believed that he should always protect her. Because he knew that if he sees a bruise on her, he should be the one to save her from Riddle or anybody else that intends to her.
A/N: I am terribly sorry for the late update! New school year has started, and I have been kind of busy. Thank you for reading the new chapter. And juts in case if anybody is interested, Jitterbug is a type of a dance that was popular in the 1940s amongst teenagers. The dance is quite fast, and they spin a lot, I guess? I heard they used to have Jitterbug competition! And I am sorry for the lack of description for the dress. I am not very familiar with vocabs about clothing, and I have no sense of design. Shame. So, I'll leave it to you guys to how you would like to imagine! I hope everyone is keeping up with Genevieve's past. Many things happened in this chapter related to her. It is very confusing, and sometimes, I get confused as well. But I promise, that I'll write a chapter explaining about her past later on, so plz just think of those bits of conversations or thoughts (about her past) as clues. You might be able to make a good guess :) But if you want to ask questions, please don't hesitate to PM me and ask! I was hoping that in this chapter, you can see that Draco Pevensie may be selfish and short-tempered, but he does care for Genevieve sometimes. And that he distress oneself like any other character. Genevieve & Tom are starting to admit that they might be having feelings for one another! So excited to write the next chapter! And thank you marlilsis for favouriting and following both Marvolo's Ring and me as an author! YAY! Also thank you to SPARKELS77 for following my story! You readers really keeps me going :)