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Chapter 6 -- Dazed and Confunded
I tried, in vain, for the next hour, to communicate that I had been Silenced, but no one really wanted to listen, or rather, see. Finally a shy third year came up to me and asked if I was alright; after a few rounds of charades, she got it and reversed the spell.
"Thanks, mate," I said, with a wink. She blushed and ran off. I walked out of the commons myself, and up to my dorm. My mind was racing; what had I said that had ticked Riddle off? That had sent him over the edge, from normal (at least for him) to psycho?
Oh yes, I remember now. I said he could be muggle born.
I sighed and ran my hand through my hair; it was around four in the morning, but my agitation gave me no rest. I needed to figure Riddle out; he was a puzzle, an enigma, a code I needed to crack…
I decided then and there that I would tell no one of Riddle's lash against me. It was simply another piece of the jigsaw that I need for myself; not something that I could hand over to others for dissecting.
And in all this, a sense of worry pounded against me. I knew that what I was doing was wrong, so wrong, and yet it had to be done. I knew it had to be done.
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The next day, I didn't see Riddle in the Great Hall. I searched the Slytherin table, but he had disappeared. I groaned inwardly and resigned myself to eating breakfast, which consisted of oatmeal and toast.
I tried to look for Riddle around the outside of the Hall, but he wasn't there either. Cursing, I began trudging along the dark corridor toward the stairs to Charms. I was pissed that I couldn't find him. We needed to talk. Suddenly, something really strange happened: a bright light went before my eyes, and then a woozy feeling overcame me.
I walked with soft footsteps up to the third floor, on every step planting a solid foot. I felt almost otherworldly, or very spacey at the very least. I heard a distant ringing in my ears, then-
I staggered backwards; I felt confused and carefree at the same time. I felt my body fall backwards. Then- a crash, and a scream. I felt the back of my head slowly, cautiously. When I took my hand back, it was red from blood. A girl and a boy came up to me and asked something, but I couldn't hear him. I could feel my body wanting to slip into unconsciousness, and I tried to fight it. Then, for a brief moment, I saw him; Riddle, I mean. He was standing at the head of the stairs, a pained expression on his face. I heard him call out my name, and then I finally gave in to my body and passed out.
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Slowly, my world came into focus. I saw a bright light, far to bright to be natural, and then a very worried looking Madame Doyle, the school nurse. I was in the hospital wing.
"You're awake, good," she said with an unconvincing grin.
"What happened?" I asked, confused. My hand went to the back of my head, but it was completely normal.
"You seemed to have lost your footing on the stairs, and you cracked your head open; I was able to fix it, however. Do you often fall on the stairs?" Madame Doyle asked with a laugh. I shook my head and blushed, embarrassed.
"No, I'm afraid I don't," I said softly.
"I didn't think so," Madame Doyle said, patting me politely on the back. "I think you were Confunded."
"Are you kidding me?" I asked in disbelief. I mean, I guess the symptoms fit, the lightheadedness, wooziness, loss of balance-
"Yes, and now that you're awake, I can do a simple test that will determine if you have been Confunded in the last twenty-four hours," she said matter-of-factly. With a wish of her wand, she said, "Ferrendo!" My skin immediately turned to a sickly pale purple color.
"Oh yes, it's as I feared. You were Confunded, child." I examined my skin with a morbid fascination, and then quickly looked away.
"How did I get here?" I asked sharply.
"Young Mister Tom Riddle carried you here from your landing spot, Miss Avery," Madame Doyle said smartly, picking up her wand and handing me a potion. I felt my cheeks burn in utter embarassment. Riddle carried me? "You need to take that potion tonight at dinner, and tomorrow at breakfast. Come see me tomorrow afternoon, alright? I want to check up on you," she said kindly. I thanked her and ran off to my next class, which was now Potions. I had been out for nearly two hours.
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I slid myself into the dungeon; I saw Riddle sitting near the front of the class, with an emptry cauldron sitting next to him. My empty cauldron.
"Hi," I said cautiously, siddling down next to him.
"How are you?" he asked somewhat genuinely. "Was Madame Doyle able to heal you?" I felt even more confused than before.
"Uh, yeah; she just said I needed to take this potion thing, and then I'd be fine," I trailed off. Why had he set up my cauldron? And why was he suddenly being so friendly? I decided to take matters into my own hands and ask.
"Why are you being so nice to me?" I asked. He gave me a pained look.
"I realized something," he said softly. I leaned forward to try and catch what he said, he was talking so low. "I realized that to have you as my enemy would be foolish. And I also realized that you aren't all that bad after all, Avery." An awkward silence; however, I knew what he said wasn't a lie. "I also feel bad about last night."
There it was.
"You flipped out," I laughed. He smiled knowingly at me.
"Yeah, I 'flipped out,'" he nodded. "I'm sorry. For Silencing you; and flipping out. And everything." He gave me a weak smile.
"Apology accepted," I whispered back. "I-"
"MISTER RIDDLE AND MISS AVERY, COULD YOU QUIT FLIRTING AND PAY ATTENTION, PLEASE?" shouted Professor Waite. We both immediately turned to him; I felt my face burning. I mumbled and apology. So did Riddle.
I turned my head slightly to look at Riddle. His face was red, too.