Unexpected Encounters | Tom Riddle

her. They would probably avoid talking to her or lash out at her. She tiptoed in the shadows to hide from the prefects who were patrolling the area and eventually made it to the Slytherin common room. She breathed out a sigh of relief but that quickly faded when she saw the people who were sitting at the couches.

Her friends .

She stared at them like she had been caught red-handed at a crime scene. "

Lilia," Evangeline started, getting up and heading towards her.

However, before the blonde girl could move forward, Abraxas overtook her and approached Lilia in large strides. His blue eyes shot daggers at her and she backed away against the main door in fear. "What the fuck is wrong with you?" He shouted in a booming voice. "You almost killed him, do you know that? Are you insane?" He grabbed on to the collars of her robes and pulled her towards him. She gasped while her hands reached out to hold onto his hands for some sort of stability.

Abraxas Malfoy hated her and he was sure of that now. Something about her had rubbed him off the wrong way but now he was sure of that gut feeling. She was dangerous .

"I'm sorry-"

"No, you don't get to apologise. Tom has never been hurt like this before and now he is in the infirmary because you decided you wanted to kill him. Nothing you say will change this fact."

"Brax, come on. Let go of her." Icarus came up behind the Malfoy heir and pulled him back, loosening his grip on the girl's robes until he let go.

"Lilia, don't mind him," Icarus said apologetically, an arm around Abraxas' shoulder to keep him from doing anything else to the girl.

"No, Abraxas is right." She said, looking at the tall blonde man who was still glaring at her and the rest of her friends. "I should not have done that, I hurt you all. I don't agree with what you did to Penelope. But that shouldn't have warranted the way I acted towards you all. I'm sorry, I really am."

"I know you don't agree with that, Lilia. Tom is in the infirmary, I think it's best if you talk to him about that," Celeste added, walking towards her.

By this point, everyone was standing and facing her. She didn't like being the centre of attention like that. "I already talked to him." She didn't miss the look of surprise on their faces. "Did he say or do anything?" Tiernan asked. "We just talked."

She felt like she was missing something when they all exchanged glances. Of course, they had known each other for much longer. They knew each other better. After some moments of quiet, Evangeline spoke up. "Lilia, we just need some time to wrap our heads around what happened."

"I understand."

"And I do regret hurting Penelope," Celeste admitted in a quiet voice.

"Meadows," Abraxas started, his tone underlying a warning.

"Malfoy, you already know I don't believe in that anymore!"

"What will you tell Tom?" Tiernan asked, voice strict. Lilia had never seen him like that, Tiernan Nott had always been a lighthearted guy to be around. From what Theo had told her, he had been very strict with passing down pureblood ideologies as a grandfather. She had just never seen him like that before.

"Tom knows, okay? He knows. It's just- I didn't like the idea of hurting Penelope. She was a mudblood, yes, but she hasn't done anything to us!"

"Point being, we just need some time, Lilia. You did hurt one of our close friends. We are not angry with you, I promise. We just need time to process today's events." It sounded like Evangeline was comforting her and Lilia wondered what she had heard from the few times she had unprecedented nightmares.