Lost | Tom Riddle ✔

Chapter 71

Tom was strolling in the corridors. He still had some time before actual curfew started. However, he was having some free time and he really needed to analyze the situation at hand. A small smile graced his lips as he recalled how Ahina had petrified a muggle-born witch. Well! He was planning to attack Penelope Johnsson, but it was okay. However, he was happy with the buzz it created. Now Salazar would be happy with him. At least one ancestor of his would be proud of his accomplishments. And he was the only one who mattered. Others were just for the show anyway. Tom had always been alone. All he had done was always for himself. Other students had families to gush about their deeds, even if what they were able to accomplish was insignificant to what he had achieved. But now that he knew his origins, he wanted to make his ancestor proud. Let him, Salazar Slytherin, know that his legacy was not abandoned. That there was actually a successor who was capable enough to go through his noble plans.

He came across the turn which lead to that abandoned corridor. It was the same corridor where he was woken up by the Transfiguration master himself. (He shuddered as he recalled the embarrassment of that day.) The same one from where he had followed Alexa into the forest. A shiver ran through his spine as he reminisced his experience in the forest. It was frightening yet thrilling. Frightening because he was attacked by a vampire and thrilling because of - well - Alexa. He had finally discovered a part of her mystery. And he couldn't be more thrilled.

After that incidence, Tom took it upon himself to pay extra attention to that corridor. He made sure that he was the only person who would do that. He always had been fluent in his way with sugar-coated words and irresistible Riddle charm. He had no idea when Alexa would decide to take that path again. And so, he decided to be cautious. Her secret was his to keep. His to look after. She was his to possess. He looked around himself. Surprisingly enough, the corridor even lacked the frames. Was this Dumbledore's doing? He wondered. He had a strong suspicion. The older man had his hands full with sources, so it wouldn't be astonishing.

He was just rounding when his eyes fell on the girl who homed his mind. She was there. Right there in the stone corridor. And to him, she looked deep in thoughts.

Standing in the corridor during the curfew was not something Alexa thought she would be doing. One moment she was in her common room with Avanti Rathi and Logan McLaggen, her fellow house-mates, and the next moment she found herself leaving the warmth to join the chilly airs outside. A sigh escaped her lips. She knew she was doing a shitty job at consoling the girl anyway. Alexa was a compassionate girl. Usually, an act of consoling anyone came naturally to her, but that night was different. Rathi girl was too upset to handle. The girl herself had frozen seeing an immobile body of her practical sister. For which reason? Not known. And apparently, Logan was doing a better job than her. So, she left. The sadness in the usual warm common-room was unbearable. Insufferable. Suffocating.

Alexa took in a heavy breath. Her back was turned to the corridor she stood in, while the front of her anatomy was directed towards the forbidden forest. She didn't know why but the black lake and forbidden forest had a weird way of soothing her dilemmas. She was not foolish enough to actually think of evading either of them, but they had the charm of their own. Her eyes fixated on the moon. That day it had a hint of red on the edges. The chilly air of night kissed the bare skin of her hands. Unlike other times, though, it didn't soothe her. She knew it was risky to roam around the castle when a student was found petrified, but she really couldn't bear one more second in her house. Besides all the thoughts that occupied every inch of her brain didn't allow her to actually contemplate the consequence of her actions.

Perhaps she should have.

"Flipendo!"

A sudden force from her right caught the girl off guard. A shriek of surprise left her parted mouth. Her left side hit the stone pillar in the corridor. An impact elicited a cry of pain as her dexterous hand took most of the impact. The girl winced as she heard a small sound from the wrist.