AN: So this is quite a long chapter, I couldn't really find a place where I could break it up without one chapter being less than 2 pages and stuff so yeah.
Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 8: Pride

"Now my students, you are probably wondering why I called you all here at such short notice," began Professor Slughorn at a Slug Club meeting. Tom inwardly groaned as he realized that this was going to be a long meeting. "Myself and the other professors have been discussing the upcoming New Year's Ball. And I am proud to announce that my Slug Club here have been nominated to plan the event," he finished beaming. Several girls all squealed with delight as they immediately started discussing dresses, themes and other mundanities associated with a dance.
Great, Tom thought, what another delightfully pointless way to waste time. Though he didn't want to admit it to himself, Tom would rather stay at Hogwarts than go back to that horrid orphanage. The thought of those stupid Muggles and the dreary building was enough to convince him to stay for the Christmas break.

"So m'boys and girls. Any suggestions?"

"Ooh can we do a winter wonderland theme?" a girl piped up.

"What an excellent idea, Judith," Slughorn replied. "And what about you, Tom? You always seem to have a knack for thinking of brilliant ideas. What do you suggest we do?"
Tom had no idea how to answer this. He had no suggestions because he honestly didn't care about some bloody Ball.

"Well Professor, with all due respect, I honestly don't care about this Ball. Judith seems to actually care about it, just go with her idea." All eyes stared at him and all jaws dropped on astonishment. This was the first time anyone had ever heard Tom Riddle say something positive, much less pay a compliment.

"Well Tom m'boy, if you say so, then I agree. Judith, you can be in charge of the New Year's Ball," a positively stunned Slughorn said. "Now with that over, let's eat. I think, Wendell, you will find this pheasant rather delectable…"

Tom returned to his Prefect's dorm rather full and started a bath. He needed the hot water to loosen his nerves for tomorrow was the first day of their Apparition lessons and Tom knew he would need to excel in those if he was to maintain his reputation. Sliding into bed, he mused over the day's events and concluded that he would need to watch himself around Gisele before she started to read him like an open book.

"Ok now students, remember the three D's: Destination, Determination and Deliberation," Norman Twycross, the Apparition instructor, instructed. Many students grumbled as they prepared for their twentieth attempt at Apparition.
Gisele focused on the three D's closed her eyes and fell into nothingness. Suddenly she felt like her insides had been turned inside-out and when she hesitantly opened her eyes, she gasped. She had finally managed to Apparate a few metres. Sure she had completely missed the hoop, but she had finally Apparated without Splinching herself!

"Well done Miss…?" a booming voice came behind her.

"Blackburn. Gisele Blackburn," she replied, beaming to Twycross.

"Everyone look here at Miss Gisele. She has managed to Apparate here, showing exceptional use of?"

"Destination, determination and deliberation," the students sullenly recited. After a horrible Splinching case where a student's left foot had been left behind, Twycross deemed the lesson to be over.

"That's it today students. Though until next time you won't be able to Apparate within Hogwarts, remember the three D's and I look forward to our next lesson," he concluded half-heartedly. Gisele skipped over to Tom, her grin still plastered to her face.

"I managed to Apparate today," she giggled. He looked pissed.

"Well done, Miss Blackburn. Anything else you'd like to rub in?" he replied sarcastically.

"Ooh Mr Riddle can't handle a bit of competition? Ouch that must hurt!" she teased. He groaned.

"I can't comprehend why I could not Apparate properly if someone like you was able to do it," he grumbled.

"Someone like me? What's that supposed to mean!"

"Well I'm obviously more talented than you in other areas, why should Apparition be any different?" She waited to hear the 'just kidding' or the 'don't worry I'm only joking' phrase, but none came.

"Are you, are you being serious?" she cautiously asked.

"Why would I be joking? This is a serious matter and I am thoroughly frustrated I couldn't manage such a simple task."

"Uh, Riddle, Apparition isn't actually that easy. I was just lucky I managed it."

"Yeah that was all it was, luck. Proving I'm still a better wizard than you are."

"I'm honestly being serious here. Are you kidding me? It's one thing to be jealous, but to just come up with petty insults is just stupid. What is with you Tom?"

"I'm just stating the obvious. I know, let's duel right here and now. That should be sufficient to determine who is the better wizard. Or witch." Gisele's mind reeled. What in Merlin's name was going on? Was he honestly challenging her to a duel? And for what? To restore his stupid male pride? Damn, you thought one of them was different and yet they all turn out the same. She wasn't going to put up with his crap.

"You know what, Riddle? No I won't duel with you. So forget about your ridiculous ideas."

"Expelliarmus!" he yelled. Her wand flew from her hand on to the ground and Gisele's blood ran cold. This scene was way too familiar for her and way too disturbing.

"Stay away from me Riddle," she warned as she reached out to her wand, grabbed it and turned on her heel. She left without another word with only one thought in her mind. This wasn't the same Tom Riddle she'd chatted to only a day ago.

What the hell had he just done? He shook of the sinking feeling he felt as he absorbed in his situation. Somewhere after taunting Gisele and making a real arse of himself, he had watched as she warned him to stay away from her and left. After a horrible minute, it finally sank into him that he'd just lost his only friend for about the third time. He should totally write a book: How to Make Friends and then Repeatedly Lose Them. Oh yes, he was a terrific friend. She just didn't get it, though. He was Tom freakin' Riddle. He had a bloody reputation to maintain. And losing to a girl, not to mention a Muggleborn was unthinkable to him. Imagine what the rest of the school would be thinking. Ooh look at that Riddle guy. He's not as smart or talented as he thinks he is. He would not be able to cope with that kind of failure. His family was something he was ashamed of, not to mention he was a half-blood, he wasn't a talented Quidditch player and so if he lost his reputation as a smart talented student, what did he have left? As the last living Salazar Slytherin descendant it was virtually unthinkable. Until he figured out what he was going to do, he was going to leave some space between him and Gisele.

Gisele sat up on her bed with fingering the enchanted bracelet her aunt had given her for her sixteenth. Reaching out for her wand, she tapped the emerald charm. The dorm around her faded until it reformed into her old bedroom back at her mansion.

"So whatcha family got planned this weekend?" a boy browsing her shelves asked nonchalantly.
"Oh, I don't know, Nick. Mother's got some black-tie event while Father has a conference in Germany. I'm staying with Aunt G until they come back," the younger Gisele replied.
"Well what about Avery and William?"
"Avery?" she snorted. "Don't ask. Probably trashing our family name again with that creep. William's at boarding school."
"Oh. Well seeing as I have nothing to do this weekend either, d'ya wanna go down to the pond with me?" he asked.
"The pond?" she wrinkled her nose. "Why a smelly pond?"
"Well I've been breeding tadpoles in my room and they've all turned into tiny frogs so I thought this weekend I might go and release them back into the wild."
"Oh, um, I s'pose so, seeing as I have absolutely nothing else to do," she replied. He grinned at her.
"Don't worry, you'll love it."
"Don't count on it, van der Wal," she joked, pulling a face. He chucked a cushion at her.
"So, how was term? At that school?" Her smile vanished. She knew how uncomfortable her parents were at the thought of Hogwarts and she was pretty sure that Nick was a little averse to the idea.
"Well, it was pretty good. I aced my exams and stuff so I thought it went well," she carefully replied.
"Gisele, I'm not gonna eat you. Just because I'm a so-called 'Muggle' doesn't mean I dislike you because of your 'magical' abilities," he replied smiling. "So honestly, tell me. What did you learn?" Gisele smiled gratefully.
"I was being honest, swear to God. Although I suppose breaking up with Julian could've gone a bit better," she laughed. "Nick, you honestly don't know how good it makes me feel knowing that at least you support me. Mother and Father don't talk to me as freely as before, it's like they think I'm gonna hex them or something. Only you and Aunt G understand. I'm the same Gisele you've known and loved, only with an extra ability."
"Loved?" he questioned sarcastically and they laughed uncontrollably…

She sighed as she reflected back on the memory. Back to when times were much simpler than now. Back to before she knew she was a witch. They were considered the perfect family, the Blackburns. A well-off family known to almost everyone, whether they lived in the town or not. Her parents, Adrian and Lira, were successful business people. Or at least, her dad was. Gisele was pretty sure her mother married him for his money. Either way, they loved each other and had three children. Avery was the completely useless eldest child, disappearing every night only to return the next morning hungover and usually sporting a hickey of some sort. Then there was her, the often ignored middle-child who preferred to keep to herself and focus on gaining a good education and getting herself the hell out of there. And finally, William, the youngest. He and Gisele were close, only a year apart, but they confided everything to each other. He'd been there for her when Gisele was recovering from her breakup with Julian, she helped him with his first crush and they often talked about nonsense a lot. She missed him a lot, a con of being magical. The rest of her family being completely distanced from magic wasn't easy and it often led to stress and tension between Gisele and her parents. It made her thankful for Nick van der Wal, her Muggle best friend since she was like two. They'd gone to the same primary school and had planned their futures together. That was, until she'd gotten the letter from a mysterious Professor Armando Dippet, inviting her to attend Hogwarts. That was when everything changed. She missed her house back at Little Hangleton, the places she and Nick used to visit, even just spending time with her cat, Tiger.

"Gisele?" a voice interrupted her thoughts. It was Louise. What was she doing here? Didn't she hate Gisele?

"Yes?" Gisele replied monotonously.

"Gisele look, this isn't right. We've been friends since first year and I should know better than to hate you for no reason."

"Does Nellie know you're here?"

"Uh, no. She thinks I've got an appointment with Professor Merrythought. But anyway, all we were told from Nellie was that you had defected to the Dark side etc. And you supported Minnie's killer. I want to know the real truth."

"If I told you the truth would you believe me?" Louise nodded.

"Well the thing is, Riddle wasn't the killer." Louise's eyes widened.

"Are you sure? I mean he tried to kill you and he killed Myrtle."

"Yes I'm sure it's not him," Gisele replied irritably. "Anyway I know it wasn't him because he was with me the entire time that Minnie was gone. And also…well the thing is, he's changing. Or I thought anyway," she muttered the last part to herself.

"Did you guys have a fight or something?" Louise asked concerned.

"Even though I say he's changing, his egoistical selfish side still comes out. Just then after the Apparition lesson, he was really pissed at himself because I managed to Apparate before him. Yeah and he just went psycho literally," she added dryly. Louise laughed uncertainly.

"Anyway what I really wanted to say was that you're my best friend. If you honestly believe that Riddle isn't all bad and you want to hang out with him, then…I'm fine with that." Gisele was speechless. That was very unexpected. But welcoming. She missed her friends and was glad one still cared about her.

"Thanks, Louise. That really means a lot to me," Gisele replied gratefully. Louise just smiled.

"So anything else you want to talk about?" she asked. Gisele sighed.

"Ugh everything was so much easier before I came to Hogwarts. I miss my family, especially Nick. I haven't seen or talked to him in ages. I know how much he's freaked out by owl post so he won't reply to any of my letters."

"Aw I'm sorry. But it's almost Christmas break you can go back to Little Hangleton and see your family."

"Merlin, you're right! It's only two weeks away," Gisele replied excitedly.

"Hey look at you now. You're smiling," Louise commented.

"Thanks again Louise. I'm really sorry if I was a bitch to you."

"Eh, you had your reasons. Anyway I have a lot of Divination homework to catch up on so I'll see you later," Louise said.

"Bye." Gisele waved. It was getting late but she couldn't sleep. She headed to the Astronomy Tower, where she always went when she wanted to be alone to think things out. But tonight, she wasn't alone. Standing at the balcony was the silhouette of someone she didn't want to see at all. Nellie. She whipped around as soon as she heard footsteps, gave Gisele a glare then stalked out leaving Gisele alone. She walked up to the balcony and tilted her head back, feeling the cool midnight breeze tickle her nose and let out a sigh of contentment. Gisele looked out as she watched an owl swoop through the sky, getting bigger and bigger and wham! It slammed into her. Shaking the feathers out of her face, Gisele reached down and picked up the tiny brown owl and untied the piece of parchment tied to its leg. Her heart started to race when she recognized the scrawled handwriting addressing the letter to 'Miss Gisele Blackburn'. She unfurled the letter and read.

Hey Gis,
I know this might come as a shock to you, me writing by owl post but I felt really bad that I
hadn't replied to any of your letters. So I can't wait to see you at Christmas, a lot has changed.
You're coming home for Christmas right? Anyway the main question is ARE YOU FEELING ALRIGHT?
I mean that in both the literal and sarcastic sense. You told us how you were almost killed, god
forbid your mother almost had a heart attack! So are you recovering alright? And then you went
on to say that you were becoming FRIENDS with him? Are you out of your bloody mind Gis? Like honestly?
How can you befriend a KILLER? Please explain to basically me and the rest of your family? Anyway, high
school is pretty full on at the moment but I think I'm coping alright. Gis, there's something I need to tell you.
Privately when you come home. Please don't make mention of this to anyone, not even to my mother,
but I need to talk to someone and you've been my best friend since we were like two. Its…important.
Anyway, good luck with stuff over there and I'll see you soon!
Nick :)

Happiness surged through Gisele as she read the letter. Happiness, contempt, a little bit of anger and then a whole lot of curiosity. She was overcome with joy because Nick had written back to her. Finally, he'd fully accepted that she was a witch and he was gradually becoming part of it. She turned around to go back to her dorm. Her eyes locked with a pair of grey ones in front of her and she froze. No. No no no no no way was he going to come and ruin her joy. Not now. She tried to walk past him but he stopped her. Inwardly groaning, she faced him.

I'll upload chapter 9 as well.
Hope you enjoyed this.
xx