Catharsis [Tom Riddle]

Chapter Forty-Three

The group returned to the estate several hours later. After a successful shopping trip, they were all ridden with exhaustion as they slumped into the living room. Axel was sitting on an armchair with Rosalie perched atop his lap. Xavier and Adonis sat in a corner, taking turns passing around a flask as the two of them engaged in quiet conversation.

Tom and Orion sat on a couch with Avalon between them, the trio talking amidst themselves. It was rather serene in the house, most of them too tired to engage in any boisterous activity and instead opting for some relaxation by the warmth of the grand fireplace in the center of the living room. All was quiet, peaceful, and rather still...

Until the main entrance swung open.

"Evening, ladies and gentlefucks!" Demitri hollered, striding in with a bottle of firewhiskey already raised to his lips. A massive group of people followed him in, congregating in the living room as Nott's eyes widened. Avalon spotted a cluster of Slytherins, Kyra among one of the first to walk in, though the rest of the group wasn't even remotely familiar to her.

"Mate, what the bloody hell is this?" Axel exclaimed, gently ushering Rosalie off his lap as he stood up and raced over to Mulciber, snatching the bottle out of his hands. "I said you could bring one girl!"

"It's our last year," Demitri frowned. "Might as well go out with a bang, right?"

"Easy for you to say, you wanker, it's not your house!" Axel said, whacking his friend on the arm. "Who even are these people? I only recognize half of them!"

"Well, after bringing most of Slytherin house, I came to the humble realization that there still weren't nearly enough people for a proper celebration, so I just told them they could each bring a plus one." He patted Nott on the shoulder, grinning. "You're welcome."

Axel shrugged his hand off of him, his eyes wide in disbelief. "Merlin, you're a plague to my life, you do know that right? Get rid of them!"

Demitri chuckled, shrugging. "My dearest Axel... did good old Genevieve and Elias not teach you that it is unbecoming of a host to be rude to his guests?" Axel groaned, burying his head in his hands before shaking his head and walking away. Demitri turned back to the group behind him and yelled, "Oi! Go claim a room before you get kicked out by Nott!"

"If any of you go into my parents' bedroom I will personally escort you out!" Axel shouted, though his words were drowned out by the excited chatter of their peers.

"Now this is what I'm talking about," Xavier said, standing up and striding over to Demitri, slinging his arm over his friend's shoulder. "Nice work, mate." His eyes landed on Kyra, who had made her way over to an excited Rosalie, and he winked at the girl, a devilish smirk once again finding its way onto his lips.

"I thought this was supposed to be a small thing," Avalon muttered to Tom and Orion.

Through clenched teeth, Tom said, "It usually is."

"Did you expect any different from Mulciber?" Orion chuckled.

"Not particularly," she said before shrugging. "Well, when in Rome..." she lifted her hand and summoned the firewhiskey out of Demitri's hand, hearing him let out a confused huff as it flew away from him and into her own grasp. With a light laugh, she lifted the bottle to her lips and took a swig, winking at Tom as she felt the familiar burn of the firewhiskey go down her throat.

From across the room, she heard Demitri yell, "I knew I liked her!"

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The next two hours passed by in a blur.

The entire house was filled with laughing and dancing and drinking-- the only person who appeared to not be having a good time was Axel, who was busy scrambling around the house making sure nobody was irreparably damaging his family's belongings.