𝕬 𝕯𝖆𝖗𝖐 𝕷𝖔𝖗𝖉 𝖎𝖘 𝕭𝖔𝖗𝖓 | 𝑇𝑜𝑚 𝑅𝑖𝑑𝑑𝑙𝑒 |

Chapter 13- October Showers Bring Skeleton Flowers

School life was turning out to be everything they'd ever dreamed of. Although, they'd only been in school for more than a month, both Frankie and Tom were already doing extraordinary things with their new lives. Most of their professors simply adored them. They were both well-behaved students and did all of their work to nearly a machinelike perfection. Tom was particularly gifted in Herbology and his adherence to Professor Beery's no-nonsense policies earned him early notoriety. His meticulous nature earned a lot of high praises and house points in the greenhouse. The Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Merrythought, was rather fond of Frankie's spellwork. She was apparently a natural at jinxes, which Tom had to make sure to file away somewhere in case he ever found himself in a fight with her. Professor Slughorn was a particularly avid fan of the both of them. Frankie and Tom had easily become two of his most favorite students. Their table was even starting to get the nickname of his 'star table'. Quin still constantly needed help and was always fighting with Tom, but they always managed to finish first and brew their potions perfectly.

They were also managing to keep their promise of taking walks every Sunday and discretely continue their friendship. Rain or shine they were out there, talking under the tree by the lake. It had become their sort of secret spot they would stop at to catch their breath, before making the hike back up to the castle. For the moment, everything in their lives was peaceful and right. Well, almost right, in Frankie's case. Still unbeknownst to her, she had recently made some very powerful enemies.

                                                ─── · 。ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

"Frankie, is someone still playing those childish tricks on you?"

Daphne and Frankie were walking down the many staircases to breakfast together, as usual. It was Halloween morning, and the school was decorated with pumpkins in every nook and cranny. There were even some in the air hovering above them. Daphne was normal with the new décor, being raised in the middle-class of the wizarding world. However, she noticed that instead of her droopy tired eyed morning self, Frankie was looking around madly at the sights. It was almost to the extent, that she looked paranoid, rather than excited. It was as if she thought there was someone after her, which was sadly not as crazy as it sounded.

"Yes, but it hasn't been too bad. Honestly, I'm alright." Frankie smiled, stopping her wild gaze. It was only because she was not used to the sight of the floating pumpkins and the actual ghosts grazing all over the halls. She'd never had a real Halloween before. In the muggle world, she heard that kids would dress up like witches and ghosts. They wore colorful masks and paraded the streets asking for candy. However, Frankie was never allowed to participate in such simple escapades of a joyous childhood. She had to stay inside. Even on a night celebrating freaks and spooks, she was forced to remain hidden. Her frantic behavior was simply her eagerness to see what Halloween would be like in the wizarding world and celebrate the holiday.

However, Daphne was right, as well. Frankie might've been a tad on her guard.

Ever since October had started, odd things had been purposely happening to her. One morning, as she was just about to say good morning to Tom, her tongue curled up into a ball. He stared, as she awkwardly sputtered at him, trying to say a simple hello. Whatever had tied her tongue was strong enough to last the entire period. It was a horribly unpleasant couple hours. Then, just yesterday morning, she was walking with Tom to Transfiguration and she fell over. He blamed it on her utter clumsiness and helped her up, but Frankie had claimed it felt like her legs turned to jelly. Similar incidents had been happening frequently throughout the month and she still didn't know who or what was causing them.

"It's probably just Rodger." Daphne reported, as they were beginning to sit down at Gryffindor table. Frankie sat down next to her, picking out and taking a bite of a piece of toast from the pile in front of them as she did so.