A Notable Irritation

January 5, 1945

The ring was smaller than she expected, but Rose had to admire his taste nonetheless. The band was braided with white gold and dotted with diamonds, though the large oval-cut light pink diamond in the center was what truly caught the eye.

Faye was clearly proud of it, judging by her exaggerated, uncharacteristic hand-motions as she described Adam's proposal to her. Apparently he had got gotten down on his knee seconds before midnight on New Year's Eve at Markus' party and Faye happily accepted soon after.

"I wish you would have been there to see it." Faye's mouth transformed into a pout that Rosemary suspected was more of a courtesy than actually genuine. After all, they had barely spoken since she ended things with Tom.

"The look on her face was absolutely priceless," Rebecca giggled. "I had been helping Adam plan it over the holiday and it all worked out perfectly."

"I'm so sorry I missed it," Rose said, hoping she sounded convincingly regretful. And she was sorry. Well, sort of. She of course felt guilty for missing her best friend's engagement…but then again, were they even really best friends anymore? Rebecca certainly seemed to be more in the loop than she was…

In fact, when she had received Markus' invitation for his New Year's party (which she also considered to be merely a courtesy), she hadn't given it much thought before replying with an excuse of having alternate plans. Surely her presence would have been uncomfortable…especially if Tom happened to be there. Plus, she would have felt obligated to invite Warren, knowing that he wanted to spend the evening together.

In the end they had a quiet evening in at his parents' house, listening to music on the carpet in front of his sitting room fireplace. They had also done a fair amount of kissing in lieu of something interesting to talk about. While this lack of conversation had concerned her at first, she supposed it was a small price to pay to be with someone who fit the bill of her parents approval, had an even temper, and wasn't occasionally terrifying.

Which reminded her: she had yet to inform Faye and the others of her blossoming relationship with Warren. It didn't help that Rosemary was inherently dreading telling them, especially Faye. After all, it was clear that she didn't approve of the fact that Rose had broken things off with Tom for some elusive reason (which came as quite a surprise, seeing that Faye had disliked them together in the first place). But it had to come out sooner or later; and she may as well get it over with early. Besides, she knew she was being ridiculous – Faye would come around, in time. She always did.

"I have some news as well." Rose smiled and pretended to look excited to tell them, even though her insides were screaming at her to lie, change the topic, do anything but tell her the truth.

"Oh?"

"Warren and I…"

The compartment door suddenly flew open and Markus and Adam let themselves in, greeting their girlfriends and sliding into the seats next to them.

Once again, Rosemary couldn't help but notice their cool air toward her as they said hello. Even Markus, who had been her friend for years – hell, the same friend that told her she should break up with Tom if she thought it was the right thing to do. She had no idea what was going on with them all and why the sudden shift in attitude toward her had occurred, but it was truly beginning to drive her batty.

What she did know was that she certainly didn't want to tell Faye about Warren in front of Adam or Markus. Which meant that she was going to do everything in her power to change the subject:

"Well congratulations, Adam." She smiled. "You have surprisingly good taste, I have to say… the ring is lovely."

"Thanks," he said shortly.

Rosemary was surprised at his abruptness and, quite frankly, found it rather rude. The others must have noticed as well, because a rather uncomfortable silence fell upon the compartment for a few seconds.

Then, unfortunately, Faye brought up the topic she had so wanted to avoid: "So, Rose, you were going to tell us something…?"

"Oh, no…It's nothing," she said quickly.

"Something about Warren, wasn't it?"

That had certainly gotten everyone's attention. Suddenly, all eyes seemed to be on her.

She sighed, knowing there wasn't a way to avoid telling them forever. "Yes…We're, erm, giving it a real go."

The announcement was met with complete silence in the compartment. But this wasn't the worst of it – she could have never prepared herself for the slight look of condescension that flashed in Faye's eyes as she said: "Oh, Rose. How sweet."

Rosemary felt angry, embarrassed, and defensive all at once and she could hear it leaking through her voice as she said: "Things have been wonderful, actually."

"That's splendid, Rose. Truly splendid." Faye smiled, her voice laced with undertones of the same condescension that had been in her eyes seconds earlier.

Since when did Faye talk down to her? Did she think that she knew more about relationships than Rose, now that she was engaged? But it wasn't just Faye acting strangely, of course…it was Adam too. And Markus. Friends that she had had for years were suddenly acting cold to her. She couldn't help but wonder why – but it was clear that it had at least something to do with Tom.

It made her wonder: was it possible that Tom had spun the tale of their split to save face and make her sound like the one at fault? She didn't put it past him…he was quite upset when she announced that she was ending things with him, as she could so vividly recall:

"We're through."

Silence. He looked at her in what could only be described as pure shock, as though she had slapped him. Then his eyes narrowed into a sharp glare. "What did you just say?"

She wiped the tears from her eyes, looking straight into his, repeated firmly: "We're through."

He suddenly looked so angry that she feared he might actually hurt her, just like he hurt Warren. In an unthinking, instinctual way to attempt to calm him, she placed a hand on his forearm.

Tom recoiled from her immediately, looking at her in a mixture of disgust and contempt as he rose to his feet and stood above her. She could feel herself shaking in fear when his bedroom door suddenly swung open wand-lessly and he hissed through gritted teeth: "Get out."

Judging from the exchange, the possibility of Tom being bitter with her wasn't all that unlikely in her mind. Well, bitter at first, anyway; she hadn't quite shaken the look he had given her the week prior in The Leaky Cauldron, the one that lacked any recognition or acknowledgment of her whatsoever.

Which reminded her – where was he, exactly? While she didn't necessarily mind avoiding another potentially uncomfortable encounter, it was odd that she hadn't seen him, considering the fact that he seemed to be spending more time than ever with Markus and Adam (which she speculated was just to spite her). Perhaps he was just in some other part of the train with his ever-growing Slytherin posse.

And there she was, thinking of him again. It was disturbing to realize how quickly her mind would devolve to thoughts of him (even after several weeks), but she convinced herself it was purely out of habit. It would change with time, she continued to assure herself.

She hadn't missed much while losing herself in thought – after the uncomfortable silence that had followed her announcement and Faye's response, the conversation had moved on and Rosemary watched awkwardly while they essentially ignored her presence.

Then, to make matters worse, she glanced to her right to and watched in horror as Warren let himself into their compartment. Once again, all eyes were on her as he greeted her with a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Hope you don't mind if I join you," he said to the others, clearly oblivious to their lack of enthusiasm in greeting him. "Donohue, Lestrange, I just heard – congratulations!"

"Thanks Warren," Faye smiled another fake smile.

Rosemary couldn't take it anymore; the discomfort was excruciating. She turned to Warren. "Actually, I was just leaving to check on the Prefects."

"Well I suppose I'll see you all later, then." Warren gave each of them a friendly smile as Rosemary stood to leave.

"See you on the pitch," Markus said to him in a rather threatening tone, just as they were stepping out of the compartment.

As they started down the narrow aisleway of the Hogwarts Express, she realized how truly appalled she was at the people she called (or used to call) her friends. They had not only been outwardly rude to both she and Warren, but, in Markus' case, threatening as well. She could handle them treating her that way to a certain extent, but Warren had done nothing but try to be friendly to them. He didn't exactly deserve to be treated the way they had acted toward him.

"I'm sorry. I don't have the slightest idea where that came from," she told him. "But Markus can be a standoffish at times."

Warren smiled and gave her an amused look. "It's just Quidditch talk, Rose."

There was a large part of her that very much doubted that. Then again, she supposed it didn't really matter so long as Warren wasn't offended. Her friends would just have to grow up and get over the idea that she wasn't with Tom any longer; clearly, they were having a problem accepting that simple fact.

When they arrived at Hogwarts and made their way into the Great Hall Rosemary was still fuming about her friends to some degree, but her attention was quickly pulled in another direction when Headmaster Dippet waved her over to the staff table.

"Evening, Professor," Rosemary greeted him.

"Good evening, Miss Horton. I trust that you're well-prepared for the Prefect winter-term meeting?"

She nodded dutifully. "I'll be giving an overview of the Head Boy and Girl application process for the Sixth Years and reviewing rules for docking house points. If I remember correctly, Riddle will be addressing the recent raids in Hogsmeade and reminding everyone of this year's new security measures."

"Ah, you see, that is exactly what I wanted to discuss with you: Mr. Riddle won't be returning to school until the end of this weekend, so you will need to cover his topics in the meeting as well."

"What?" She attempted to ask it sweetly, as though she had simply misheard him.

"Yes, it's quite extraordinary, actually. It appears that he is in Italy, meeting with various officials of the Continental Wizarding Dueling Tournament."

Well, that explained his absence on the train that afternoon…

"I apologize that I didn't inform you sooner – the meeting tonight completely skipped my mind until I received his notes in the post this morning."

Dippet reached in his robes and retrieved an envelope, which he promptly handed to Rose. She opened it and withdrew nearly fifteen pages of notes, all written neatly in Tom's cursive script. Clearly, he had planned to discuss much more than security and the Hogsmeade raids.

Well, fuck.

She supposed she would be spending the entirety of dinner scrambling to prepare, seeing that the Prefect meeting was scheduled just ten minutes afterward.

Her feeling of slight panic must have shown on her face because Dippet slightly raised an eyebrow at her and said: "I trust that, as Head Girl, you will have no issue running the meeting by yourself."

She could feel herself blushing in slight embarrassment. "Of course not, Sir."

He dismissed her and she made her way back to the Ravenclaw table, growing more agitated with every step. How was this fair? At all? Why should she have to take on Tom's responsibilities so he could stay on vacation?!

The irony killed her, too – the fact that Dippet and Dumbledore were so insistent on increasingly stringent security measures, while at the same time allowing Tom to essentially go anywhere he wanted, anytime he wanted.

'Unbelievable. He could get away with murder,' she thought bitterly.

Now that was a chilling thought.

January 6, 1945

This was it: his final day in Rome. It was rather odd to think that he would be back in his dormitory at Hogwarts later that night; in fact, he had been so caught up in learning everything there was to know about the behind-the-scenes of the Tournament that he had forgotten that the rest of the school had already taken the train back.

Thankfully, he had remembered a few days prior to send Dippet his notes for the Prefect meeting. He had made sure to make them extra extensive – after all, the wizarding world was facing a crisis and it was his responsibility to make sure that the Prefects were prepared. There was also a small part of him that knew Horton would be annoyed with his thoroughness, too, which was an added perk. She had never been one for rules and she would surely loathe having to discuss so many.

For the first time in his life, he was somewhat dreading his return to Hogwarts. This was partially because he would have to deal with Horton practically every day after growing so accustomed to ignoring her existence over the holiday, but also because his trip had truly been a tremendous experience. He had gotten the opportunity to network with each of the board members and key organizers of the Tournament, after all.

It was certainly worth spending his holiday with Raoul, even if things had been a bit awkward since their drunken confrontation and Tom's threat to uncover his and Dumbledore's secrets. Although, considering that the only thing that had really changed was that he and Raoul were speaking less, Tom certainly didn't mind. If anything, this was a marked improvement.

His last day in Rome was spent in a banquet and reception for all of the Tournament sponsors and trainers. Like any other Tournament-related event, it was just a peg below overly extravagant. His mood in this sort of setting tended to be a bit of a dichotomy. In one sense, he enjoyed it immensely and felt entirely in his element – after all, he had spent years cultivating convincingly Pureblood mannerisms and it was in these instances that he was able to put them to practice. But then there was the other side of it that he loathed, as he knew that no one else in the room would be forcing these mannerisms in the same way. It all came naturally for the rest of them and this made him painfully hyperaware of his bastardized blood status. His only hope was that this would fade in time, as he continued to gain status in the Wizarding World.

The President of the Tournament Administrative Board, Altair Givense, stood from his place on the long table at the front of the room and cleared his throat, the crowd quickly quieting as they took notice.

"Thank you, our beloved trainers and sponsors, for joining us this afternoon. I have thoroughly enjoyed reconnecting with each of you over the last few days in preparation for this year's Continental Wizarding Dueling Tournament. I would also like to take this time to thank you for your ongoing commitment to the sport; without your extraordinary beneficence, the Tournament would simply cease to exist."

Raoul smirked and muttered under his breath: "Extraordinary beneficence…That's a new one."

Tom rolled his eyes, all too used to the board members showering praise upon the wealthy sponsors. He had heard it again and again at the Tournament last summer and the past week and a half in Rome. Tom understood why they did it, of course – they did essentially fund the entire event – but it was certainly tiring to hear. Nor did he appreciate the constant reminder that his place in the Tournament felt a bit like charity. His pride could only take so much of a beating.

Meanwhile, Givense carried on about the various board members and their various contributions to planning the Tournament. His speech was giving evidence of coming to an end when his face suddenly turned remarkably solemn: "It is with a heavy heart that I must inform you all that if the current state of turmoil persists, we will have no choice but to cancel the Tournament in the interest of everyone's safety."

No Tournament?

There was a concerned murmur across the crowd of trainers and sponsors and Tom felt his stomach drop in dread instantly. Givense raised his hands and spoke over the crowd, raising his voice slightly: "There is absolutely no evidence to suggest that this will actually happen. We are merely addressing every possibility in preparation. Let us not forget that the Wizarding World has faced and triumphed over similar terrors in the past." The crowd of sponsors and trainers quieted a bit and Givense's face relaxed considerably. "Now, then…let's eat."

Food appeared instantly at each of the tables, though everyone seemed a bit hesitant to eat. Tom suspected that this had far more to do with the shock of the news that had just been delivered than the quality of the food itself, though some were certainly not bashful:

"Don't mind if I do," Raoul said amusedly, reaching across the table as though he had entirely missed the announcement. Surprisingly, it appeared that this effort to diffuse the group's tension had actually worked: the rest of the table (including Tom even though he had all but completely lost his appetite) followed Beaumont's example. As a bit of small talk began to sprout around the table, it seemed as though everyone was attempting to ignore the topic at the forefront of their minds. This didn't last for long, however.

"Well, this will certainly take some mulling over," grumbled the sponsor on Raoul's right as he buttered a piece of bread. "Of course, they had to wait until the end of the conference to announce it…"

Raoul waved his hand nonchalantly. "Don't be so dramatic, Rosney. There's months until the Tournament begins; the Ministry will surely have everything under control by then."

"Have you seen the papers lately? We're losing, and quite badly I might add. Their forces are far more organized compared to the Ministry, especially after the budget cuts to the Auror Department two years ago…Not to mention the fact that there has been next to no international collaboration whatsoever."

"They won't cancel it," Raoul assured him once more, though he sounded slightly less certain this time.

"Well I suppose I fail to see the point in taking that chance." Rosney lit a cigarette and leaned back in his chair. "You know we won't be reimbursed for the registration fees, the trainings…I'm not sure about you, but that seems like a particularly dangerous investment to me."

Listening to this conversation unfold did little in the way of calming Tom's nerves. He desperately wanted Rosney to stop talking, to stop putting these doubts in Raoul's head. Even if the Tournament didn't get cancelled, there would be a chance that he couldn't compete. If Beaumont decided to drop the team's contracts, Tom would have no choice but to drop out of the Tournament – though some contestants registered without a sponsor, the cost of doing so was astronomical and far outside his meager savings.

But he did have one leverage point: Raoul's secret. While he wasn't sure what exactly it was, he had a few theories. He would have to do some digging when he returned to Hogwarts, but if/when he figured it out, he was fairly certain he could sufficiently pressure Beaumont to keep his money in the Tournament. This would at least buy him time while he worked out the details of his strategy to take down (or at the very least weaken) Grindelwald's forces.

While he was well on his way of forming a loyal group to carry out these plans, things were clearly not moving quickly enough. The group's dueling capabilities had improved thanks to his tutoring, but were still relatively lacking overall. More importantly, it was proving quite difficult to foster an interest in anything even remotely political in their dull minds.

But he had to.

"Schemes are like fruit, they require a certain ripening." ― George R.R. Martin

Sorry for another late update. On the bright side, my midterms are finally over and I have powered through some MAJOR writer's block.(:

In the last week or so I've reworked a lot of Part II, so that's taken up a lot of my time that I normally would have spent writing. The most important thing to come of this is that I'm bringing Tom and Rose back to Hogwarts far sooner and in the next chapter they are going to have their first real interaction of Part II! :D Soo everything is going to be shifted up a bit compared to my original plans.

I want to give a very special shout-out to a new reader, gr8rockstarrox: THANK YOU SO MUCH for reviewing all the chapters you've read so far! We are now over 300 reviews, which makes me soooo incredibly happy! A huge thank you to all of you that have submitted reviews on previous chapters over these past several months and those that reviewed last chapter: Guest, Guest, Oksanallex, A regrettable decision, RosiePosie15, Mrs. TomMarvoloRiddle, Guest, and Queentakesjack . :D