lady light • tom riddle

II - stawberries and sluggy

CLASSES STARTED, AND TWO PEOPLE WERE MORE THAN ELATED TO BE BACK.

The first was Lucinda Olivir. Although the blonde girl enjoyed living with Kenneth and shadowing him on days he had work (which happened to be everyday as a Ministry executive), Lucinda felt the most at home surrounded by the beautiful castle walls. It was also a plus that Jinx, her pet black panther, had enough space to roam around unbothered. Now and then again, a few unsuspecting first-years sitting outside would get scared by Jinx' lithe body zig-zagging through the trees. In addition, their astonishment doubled when Lucinda would whistle shrilly and Jinx would collapse at her feet, pink tongue hanging out and green eyes begging for a treat.

The other person was Tom Marvolo Riddle but his face didn't permit any slip of positive emotion at the sight of Hogwarts. The only thing he did upon arrival was sneer at the food in the Great Hall. He did not eat anything, only sipped at the pumpkin juice in his cup gingerly while Lestrange and Avery made fools of themselves boasting to a few girls in their year. Tom hadn't bothered to learn or remember their names, which was proving to be more awkward each time he sat down and one of them engaged in conversation with him.

"It's beautiful today," She said, twirling her velvet-red hair and nodding to the sunshine that streamed through the windows. "A sunny day in England for once."

This was her tenth attempt at getting Tom Riddle to speak more than a few words in their first week back at school. The young man wished he could kill her just to silence her motormouth but Dumbledore was already suspicious of him enough. He would have to endure the petty thing for an entire year.

Next time, He thought sullenly.

"Yes," answered Tom curtly. He took a bite of his plain toast. "Very cheery."

The girl got up with an ugly grimace.

"Margot fancies you," remarked Abraxas Malfoy. His blond hair was neatly styled to the side, a few stray locks poking up in sheer determination. The smile never left his pale face as Tom Riddle looked at him coldly.

"Obviously," replied the brunet. "Marvin has been staring at me for ages, working up the nerve to talk to me about the weather. The weather, Malfoy. I'd rather listen to you flirt than observe how abnormally sunny it is."

Abraxas held back a snort of laughter. "Her name is Margot, not Marvin."

"And Avery has small feet — two irrelevant facts I've learned that have done nothing to enrich my life."

In the table to the right of the Slytherin's, Lucinda Olivir tried very hard not to snort her orange juice out her nostrils as Mary recited her annual family camping trip fiasco.