𝑆𝑜 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔， 𝑅𝑖𝑑𝑑𝑙𝑒 || 𝑇𝑜𝑚 𝑅𝑖𝑑𝑑𝑙𝑒 𝑋 𝑂𝑐

fifteen.

October fourteenth, 1942. It was Vivian's birthday now. She had been awake for a few hours. It was 7.23 a.m and Vivian decided it was a perfect time to go and get breakfast in the great hall. She had hated going to get breakfast recently. Sitting alone while everyone had their group of friends was extremely embarrassing. She felt like everyone was watching her and judging her actions.

Only Vivian and Abigayle were in the room together. There was a deafening silence, which made it unbearably awkward. After fetching her robe, Vivian put it on and picked up her wand, putting it in her pocket. Her expectation was that Abigayle would say something, but she remained silent. With a final mental exhale, Vivian headed out of the dorm room and into the great hall, where she would have her breakfast.

She spotted Avery among the groups of friends. Halloween decorations had already been set up. Halloween was Vivian's favourite holiday. Every year, without fail, she celebrates it. It was a hoilday that Abigayle and Vivian enjoyed together. They would always go way out on decorations; they would even go as far as to dress up in scary masks, knock on random dorm doors, and start yelling. Assemblies were always held, with Headmaster Dippet trying to find the culprits, but he never had any luck with it.

Avery gave the girl a welcoming smile as she entered the great hall. She approached the boy, who was seemingly alone. Vivian took a seat across from the brunett. "Avery, hello." She greeted him. Avery seemed much different than he was the other week. She hadn't really spoken to him since that night. Vivian was curious as to why Avery had acted like that. She wanted to ask, but she was afraid it would change his whole demeanour again. "Hi, Caledonia. Long time no see, huh?" He slightly laughed to himself as he took a bite of his toast.

He seemed completely normal now, and it made Vivian wonder if he had just had an off day and that the other week wasn't anything serious at all. "Yes, it has been quite a while. How are you?" She asked, skeptically and curiously, as to what his answer would be. But Avery completely brushed it off. He was too invested in eating his toast to appear scared. "I'm great!" He shrugged, taking a sip of some orange juice that was sitting beside his plate.

The two engaged in some small talk. "Where's Tom?" Vivian queried. She hadn't seen him today, and he and Avery seemed to know each other partially well. This is when Avery began to act like he did last week. It was as if the colour had drained from his face, leaving him looking pale and lifeless. He set down his glass of orange juice and shifted in his seat. Avery rubbed the back of his neck  before finally replying. "He's around." He ran his hand through his hair, answering very vaguely. This confused Vivian. It was clearly Tom, or something to do with him, that made the boy nervous.

"Only around?" The blonde raised an eyebrow at his vague answer. Why was everyone so off when it came to Tom? Vivian wondered if she might just be looking into things, but at the same time, Tom was a rather intimidating and odd person, and she didn't understand how he seemingly made people so afraid. It was so beyond her comprehension. "He's in the library." Avery played with his food. It was obvious he didn't want to continue speaking about Tom anymore, so Vivian dropped it. She didn't want to. She wanted to know more, but she was afraid of setting Avery off again.

After observing the time, Vivian decided to go to her first lesson, Transfiguration. It wasn't the worst class, but it definitely wasn't one of Vivian's strongest subjects. She took a seat in the center of the classroom and began taking notes on what Professor Dumbledore was saying. Tom was already seated in the classroom. He must have arrived around five minutes earlier than everyone else. He sat in the front of the classroom, closest to the door. She had zoned out sometime during the class. This happened very often, which was probably why she was failing the class.