Before Forever|| T.M.R

Chapter nine: formally invited

"I am what I am, an' I'm not ashamed. 'Never be ashamed,' my ol' dad used ter say, 'there's some who'll hold it against you, but they're not worth botherin' with.'"
- Rubeus Hagrid

***

Valencia watched from across the room as the "knights" the name Riddle had given his group, settled in their normal seating. Their backs mainly facing her from the Ravenclaw table, the only exception being Abraxas Malfoy who kept glancing behind everyone else to stare directly at her with a sneer.

Her nose scrunched at his odd expression but she didn't break the mutual tension between the two. She only narrowed her eyes at the blonde and squeezed the glass containing her pumpkin juice harshly, until her knuckles turned a dangerous shade of pale white. The shade of skin of a dead woman.

He stared her up and down and he suddenly realized just how much he enjoyed annoying her. He saw the reaction he got out of the witch and to him, despite it being nothing of true importance, meant more to him than it should. The fine silk she called skin was decorated with expensive jewelry and her robes. Her green beauties looked at him with such vexation he was almost truly offended.

He tilted his head mockingly at her in an attempt to make her angrier than she already was. However, his plan didn't work because she simply smiled her dazzlingly white teeth and him and a slight blush crept across her nose bridge causing the boy to flinch in surprise. His sight was trained solely on the woman looking back at him, and his skin began to crawl with desire at her current stage.

Valencia young was beautiful. That was a fact. No man could deny the appearance of the woman was more than amusing to look at. In fact, being a handsome looking boy himself, he found himself attracted to her physically. Though, he'd never admit it or sadly never be able to act on it, he still felt the bubbling in his soul every time she'd look at him a certain way.

"Malfoy, whom is stealing all your attention from me?" Rosier pouted from his side, nudging his arm teasingly. The brunette saw who exactly he was staring at it, a forbidden piece of candy that wasn't to be touched by any of the knights. That is what Riddle demanded, and they never questioned his orders, not even then.

"Shove off Rosier" he replied swiftly snatching his look away from her and returning it back to his fellow group members. He ran delicate fingers through his blonde hair, letting it become more messy than it would usually tend to be.

Severus was at the end of the table, not speaking to any of them as he truly didn't want to be sitting with the rest of them. He felt he was destined to do more than serve someone like Tom Riddle, and he did, but he'd never tell him that. He was terrified of the wizard and what he could accomplish if he wanted it bad enough.

So, he stayed silent and only spoke when spoken to, mouth closed into a thin line. The robes he wore clung tightly to his small figure and he audibly sighed as he glanced over his shoulder at his friends who seemed to be enjoying themselves across the room. It was lonely with his own kind, he missed his polar opposites.

"Admiring pretty girl over there, Abraxas, do you know how much trouble you'd get in?" Rosier's voice flowed through the table loudly enough that it made Malfoy's spine shiver and quiver. Tom hadn't made it to dinner yet and he was beyond thankful that he was making a stop to the library before attending. "Sure she's quite the sight, and no doubt would I sleep with her if I was drunk enough, but you... you'd never even have a chance."