Catharsis [Tom Riddle]

Chapter Twenty

Avalon sat atop her bed in her dorm. Tom sat in the Room of Requirement.

She pointed her wand at a galleon. He pointed his wand at the coin.

They each concentrated on the objects before them and uttered the spell.

"Fuck," they muttered when nothing changed.

Tom glared at the coin in front of him. He was sick of having to look at it. It was as though it mocked him every time he looked at it.

He had never struggled so much with a project before and it was killing him. There was a nagging voice in the back of his head that kept wondering if Hendrix had made any more progress than he had.

It had been an entire week since she had spoken to him. The last time she had even looked in his direction was when she had told him to leave when he found her and Avery by the Great Lake.

He tried to catch her eye during classes, but she would keep her gaze focused on either Lestrange or the professor. After the lesson, she'd take her boyfriend by the wrist and drag him out with her before Tom could even get a chance to approach her. When he saw her during meal times, she made sure to never be sitting alone: either Shacklebolt, Lestrange, or Avery always accompanied her wherever she went. It was near impossible to find a moment where he could speak to her in privacy, and the few times where she was alone, she made sure to avoid him at all costs. She even spent several nights in Lestrange's room and Tom could hear them laughing as he walked by. He'd make sure to be in the Common Room in the morning when she would sneak out before the others woke up, but the moment he tried to talk to her, she would look the other way and keep walking until she slipped out without a word.

Every time, he debated running after her and forcing her to talk to him so he could figure out where they stood on the bloody project, but even he knew that the last thing he needed was to make her even angrier at him.

So, he gave her space.

But, with only three days left until the project was due, he was growing more and more antsy with each passing day. And he didn't care how much space she needed, or how mad she still was at him-- he had to talk to her.

He found out from Lestrange that Hendrix had Herbology during the time when he had a break in his schedule, so he made his way to the Greenhouse quickly and quietly, shoving past the other students on the castle grounds. When he arrived, he tried not to think about whether or not this was a good idea and instead just opened the door and walked in.

Every set of eyes in the class turned towards him, including the Professor.

"Ah, Mr. Riddle," the old man said with a smile. "To what do we owe this pleasure?"

"Sorry to interrupt your class, Professor," he said politely. "Headmaster Dippet wishes to see Miss Hendrix in his office and asked me to come fetch her."

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Hendrix shift uncomfortably in her seat. She leaned towards Shacklebolt and whispered something into her ear, shaking her head and rolling her eyes as he finally looked towards her.

"I see," the Professor nodded. "Miss Hendrix, you may be excused."

"Oh goody," Avalon grumbled under her breath, grabbing her bag and slinging it over her shoulder as she trudged towards the door, purposely hitting Riddle with her bag as she walked by.

She opened the door and walked out, not bothering to hold it open for him and instead let it start to slam in his face as he picked up his pace to match hers. Annoyance flashed across his features, but of course she didn't see it-- she still refused to look his way.