Masquerade- Tom Riddle Fanfiction

The Yule Ball

Slughorn dismissed us from his party near midnight. The French knight who guarded the Common Room seemed a bit territorial in letting the Bulgarians enter, but a bit of flirting did wonders to his will. Blagun, Boris, and Viktor entered the Common Room, bemused by all the luxurious armchairs and the roaring hearth. Izzy and Will decided to retire for the night; being that the Bulgarian fire whisky was already giving them a hangover.

"So, confess, comrades," I said, plopping into an armchair and inviting them to do the same, "whatever happened, I want you to tell me."

Viktor smiled, a bit remorseful and slightly cold, but his eyes looked almost relieved. "Shall we confess in zhe Bulgarian?"

"No need," I waved him away as he stared questioningly at the dormitories, "we are not Muggles. Muffliato!" I pointed my wand at the surrounding atmosphere. "You may speak," I mocked him slightly, as I stuffed the wand back into my school robes.

Viktor looked unwilling, but he yielded. "At zhe first, Grindelwald has had zhe fair amount of trouble for z'on conquering of zhe Durmstrang; some of z'us were evacuated and escaped zhe school, but his followers caught us..." his eyes turned icy yet reflecting with bitter memories, "we has barely got out alive. Alponine Delacour was to meet us at zhe rendezvous point but she was almost zhe too late. We fought our way out-- four dead and six wounded, but Professor Poliakoff managed to zhe show us zhe location of zhe boat, and we surprised them. After zhat, I am sure you understand what haz happened afterwards."

I stared at the crackling flames. All my fault. The fire seemed to be taunting me; repeating those words over and over again. Your fault. You left like a coward; you stayed in a nice, comfortable dormitory while others died in your place. I swallowed, aware that I was turning deathly pale.

"I'm sorry," the apology was lame to my unaware friends.

"What for?" Viktor shook his head, "you zhid not know." Wrong. A knife to the chest would have been more bearable.

"For the plan," I reminded myself, "after all of this is over, the lives lost shall be compensated by the ultimate triumph at hand."

"You must be tired," I stood up, blinking, "you should go and get some rest. Will should help you if you need anything."

My three friends exchanged glances, but I could see the weariness in their limbs. They deserved a good rest.

"Bonne nuit," I said to them in French, as they returned the gesture.

Goodnight. But the nightmares will continue.

***

  The next morning, I awoke to Viktor's snoring. How did I know it was his snoring? I could hear it all the way from the Girl's Dormitory. We all trudged to the Great Hall in one unit; Durmstrang red blaring through the sea of black robes.

   "I thought there was a troll in the Boy's Dormitory," Will whispered, out of earshot as eggs, bacon, and toast arrived promptly on the Hufflepuff Table.

  "You v'look terrible, Azzie," Boris commented as he shoveled scrambled eggs into his mouth, "did something keep you up?"

  His eyes were innocent but I could see the malice behind his eyes.

"Oh, gee, I don't know," I feigned innocence; smiling forcedly, "Viktor, care to elaborate?"