Moonlit [Professor Tom Riddle]

iv

Avani had one true friend, Circe Fernsby.

Life would have been easier for Avani if Circe was not a muggleborn. Because being a muggleborn and a Slytherin seldom sat right.

In Circe's case, the two aspects fit like a rectangle in a triangle.

She often found herself the centre of attention of bullies, and Avani, being the impatient, hotheaded and intolerant girl she was, could not stop herself from standing up for her friend. Things got somewhat out of control when Avani was fighting.

It wasn't her fault that Mathias Black had chocked on the blueberry pie that she had shoved down his mouth.

He was an arrogant seventh year Slytherin. He had one of his mates add Veritaserum to Circe's food and made her tell everyone who she fancied. It happened to be the caretaker of Hogwarts. Circe was so embarrassed, she had walked out of the hall. She didn't cry, she never did, but Avani could tell she was upset.

After chocking on the pie, Mathias didn't die, unfortunately. Another unfortunate that came out of the ordeal was the fact that Avani was assigned detention.

With how her fate had been playing recently, she wasn't surprised a bit when the detention happened to be with Tom.

Avani used the shiny armour decorating the hallways of Hogwarts as a mirror to fix her hair. She did not know why she was doing that. She certainly did not want to impress Tom. And even if she did, she would not accept it. In her head, she was just passing time, purposely meaning to be late for detention.

Avani picked on her lips, twisting away the slightly chipped skin. She grimaced when she pulled too hard. An ache bloomed in her lower lip, the area turning a dark shade of pink.

"Fuck," she whispered, licking off the blood from her lip. She hung about for a while more, before getting bored and deciding to go to Tom's office. Annoying him bought her immense happiness, though it usually ended up with him leaving or her getting angry and throwing something at him. Still, bickering with him remained just as exciting.

His door was locked and she knocked twice. She tapped her foot on the floor as she waited.

When Tom did not open, she knocked thrice more, this time with her fist. The whole door rattled.

"Just a second, Miss Chaudhry," came a voice from the other side of the door.

Avani scoffed at the use of her title. He had really gone out and beyond to maintain things professional between them, pretending Paris didn't happen. It should have relieved her, it was what she wanted after all. To forget the time in Paris.

But strangely, she was not not as satisfied as she should have been. Because Tom looked like the winter hadn't affected him a bit. She, on the other hand, could not stop from thinking about him. It was tiring, really, and oddly humiliating, but she really had fallen for him.

She just wasn't sure she had gotten up yet.

She wished when she was to get up, it would happen fast. She hated being in her feelings, lusting after a man who did not want her.

Avani sighed, pinching her forehead that had begun to ache. She kicked the door this time.

The door opened.

"Finall- oh shit oh uh... Professor Dumbledore?" Avani stuttered, slapping a hand over her mouth.

Dumbledore smiled at her, glancing briefly at his watch. "Are you in a hurry, Miss Chaudhry, because those knocks sounded really loud."

Heat creeped up her face and she glanced behind Dumbledore, seeing Tom stand there. He didn't have his usual arrogant expression, instead he looked... tired.