Call of the Void // t.r (ON HOLD)

Chapter 15

"She is a child that was forced to grow up."

Eleanor moved to the side to dodge a person as Catherine dragged her to the little wizarding village near Hogwarts called Hogsmeade.

Catherine insisted upon Eleanor joining herself, Frances, and Abby on their trip to Hogsmeade. She hadn't let up her begging despite Eleanor's claims that she was busy.

As soon as they slowed, Catherine began talking. Eleanor listened to her idle chatter while admiring the buildings in the village. She'd always loved architecture and the village itself was beautiful and warm, despite it being covered in snow.

"Eleanor?"

Eleanor turned her attention to the Hufflepuff beside her. "Yes?"

"I sort of, maybe, have a date?" Catherine cringed, scared for her reaction.

Eleanor grinned, giving her a playful shove. "That's great! With who?" She asked.

Catherine bit her lip, "With Abraxas."

Eleanor nodded, contemplating how to reply, "He seems nice. I haven't really spoken to him but he's always been polite."

"I'm worried about how Abby will react."

"Why?"

"Well, she's always talking about how that group of boys—Riddle's group—is bad news." She wrung her hands together, looking down.

Eleanor frowned. She knew Tom Riddle was bad news but the others seemed nice enough. Whether they were involved in Tom Riddle's plots was yet to be determined.

"Well, if she does say anything I'll drag her away before she can say more."

"Thank you, Eleanor," Catherine smiled at her friend, grateful to have someone who was by her side.

"Abby! Frances!" Catherine called out to their two friends.

"Hello, Cate, Princess," Frances waved, looking bored out of her mind.

"France, you don't have any set plans for today, right?" Catherine asked, staring the girl with her bottom lip between her teeth.

"No?"

"Great! I'm going on a date with Abraxas, and I might of sort of said it could be a double date with you and Aeres," she held an innocent smile on her face. Master Matchmaker at the works, Eleanor thought with a smirk.

"Cate. Really?" Frances huffed, her eyebrows raised.

"It'll be fun. Please," she begged, before looking down at her feet, "I'm really nervous."

Frances sighed, giving in to the complete innocence that was Catherine, "Okay, okay. But if Aeres gets touchy, I promise I'll hex him into next year." She glared at the boy who stood a few feet away from them, with no knowledge of the promise he could be hexed.

Next to Aeres stood Abraxas and Tom Riddle.

"We're still meeting up for lunch at The Three Broomsticks, right?" Abby said, looking at the girls.

"Yes," Catherine nodded.

Abby put her hands together and grinned, "Fantastic. Well I promised I would meet with Lee-Anne to help her pick out a new cauldron. Hers melted after a potion gone wrong."

"I'm so sorry to leave you alone, Eleanor, but on the bright-side, Hogsmeade is wonderful to explore in solitude," Abby grinned.

Catherine waved, dragging Frances in the direction of Aeres and Abraxas. She was a little annoyed at Catherine for dragging her out here only to leave her behind but she couldn't stay mad for long.

Eleanor sighed, Where to begin? She turned around, taking in the full view of the street. It looked wonderful.

"Miss King."

Eleanor frowned before plastering on a smile and turning around to greet the owner of the voice, "Tom Riddle."

"Perhaps you'd like to accompany me around Hogsmeade," he said. Eleanor could tell it was more of a command than a question.

"Of course," she smiled, before it faded as he turned to lead the way. She did not like the thought of being alone with Tom Riddle, even if they were surround by other students.

"How are you finding your time at Hogwarts?" He asked.

Eleanor smiled, though she really did not want to talk to him. "Oh, it's been lovely. A very different experience from being homeschooled."

Riddle hummed, "I can imagine the difference. Has it been hard adjusting?"

She clenched her jaw, just what was he playing at? He didn't seem like the type to enjoy small talk. "Oh, a bit, but Abby and Frances have been a lot of help."

He hummed in response.

After walking in silence through a the streets of Hogsmeade, Riddle spoke, "What do you want in life, Miss King?"

She thought about her answer to the question. What did she want? She wanted to go back in time and make sure she never learned of blood magic and never killed her parents. But she could very well say that.

"I want to fix my mistakes."

Riddle nodded, "Always a good thing, but you shouldn't make mistakes in the first place."

She looked at his smirk and scoffed, "Everyone makes mistakes."

"I don't."

"Surely." She looked around the small town, watching the people talk and laugh. "What about you? What do you want in life?"

Tom stayed silent and for a brief moment she thought he was just going to ignore her, and then he answered. "Power."

"Power? That can't be all you want?"

"It is. I want power."

"There's more to life than power," she shrugged, hopping slightly as she avoided a ditch in the street.

"There is only power, and those too weak to seek it."

They walked the rest of the way back to the castle in silence.

________________________________________

Sorry I took so long to update!

Lockdown has been hectic and my country just went back into level 4 lockdown, there's 5 and 5 is the worst.

So yeah it's been kinda crazy.

I had to get tested for covid and honestly it burns like all hell. I had the nasal swab and I wanted to dieeeeee

Enjoy! <3

– walkingmasterpiece xx