Unexpected Encounters | Tom Riddle

Lilia felt awful when she woke up the following day.

Her stomach was still queasy and although Celeste's potion had helped, the thought of eating again made her feel nauseous. It was ironical really. She finally had proper food and shelter and her body's reaction was to get sick.

She got out of bed and went to the bathroom to freshen up. She pulled out the charm in her bracelet and enlarged it with her wand to reveal a satchel. She had applied a magical extension charm to it, and she dug in to find the calming draught that she needed to manage her tremors. She couldn't cast spells properly without them and she wanted to avoid negative attention on her. She swallowed one vial of the blue liquid, noting that she had about five weeks' worth of supply before she would need to brew it again.

By the time she was done, her roommates were up and complaining about how cold the weather was getting.

"Lilia, you have no idea how cold it can get up here. Hogwarts is up on a hill, and the breeze gets so cold," Evangeline exclaimed, clearly exasperated. Oh, she had a good idea.

"That won't be good for me. I get cold so easily," Lilia said, sitting down at the shared dresser table and adjusting her tie in the mirror. She brushed light fingers through her hair which was soft after she had washed it the previous day. When Celeste came out of the bathroom, she insisted on doing Lilia's hair. "I have such a cute hairstyle for you, Lilia! I can't wait to see how it turns out." She giggled slightly and let Celeste work with her hair. "Do you like my hair?" "It's so dark and beautiful. The only other person who has hair just like yours is Riddle."

Lilia's smile faded slightly at the mention of the prefect.

How in the name of Merlin was there a similarity between her and future Voldemort? The notion made her uncomfortable and solidified her plan of keeping their interactions to a minimum.

She wasn't even sure if she should try avoiding Abraxas Malfoy and Tiernan Nott. Draco and Theo had been raised with pureblood ideologies but they had not enforced these while at Hogwarts.

She had a better friendship with Draco than Harry, seeing as the latter hated that Draco had insulted Ron the first time they met on the train while on their way to Hogwarts in first year. Lilia met Draco and Theo in potions as they had been at the same table in the Slytherin-Ravenclaw class. She later found out that Draco had only wanted to befriend Harry and that he hadn't realised how his words came across. He was a boy who was just repeating what he had heard from his father. Theo was mischievous and had instantly taken a liking to her when she had made a sarcastic remark.

She knew that their grandfathers had been strict with enforcing their pureblood ideals, so she had to assume that Abraxas and Tiernan were firm believers of pureblood supremacy.

How could Celeste and Evangeline be friends with them? Icarus Lestrange had seemed nice and had been flirty with her, but he was still a Lestrange nonetheless.

Why Slytherin out of all houses? She stared at her reflection in the mirror as Celeste braided strands of her hair and she watched in amazement as the hairstyle was cute. It consisted of two small braids that framed her face with white ribbons at the end of the braids.

"This is beautiful," Lilia complimented, eyes lit up with admiration. "You are beautiful! See the contrast between the white ribbon and your black hair? I love it!" Celeste gushed, making Lilia smile widely. "Looks like you are her new guinea pig." Evangeline commented when she came out of the bathroom before continuing. "But you look so pretty!" "I don't mind being her guinea pig at all." Lilia laughed and turned her face to the sides, looking at the hairstyle from different angles.

"Let's go get breakfast now," Evangeline chimed in and Lilia nodded.

Grabbing their bags and materials for the day, they headed to the Great Hall. Many students were already up and chatting happily with their friends. Lilia had missed this sense of normalcy. She remembered the days when she would rush to breakfast with Padma and Luna and debate about whether adding milk to pumpkin juice was a delicacy or an atrocity. Lilia had discovered this odd combination by mistake and she had loved it.