She Saved Me | Tom Riddle

A New Feeling

I can't even explain how excited I was to write this chapter...

Because it would be a spoiler. Duh.

Listen: Cold Feet by Carter Burwell

34| a new feeling

The week before the holiday break was going by quickly and uneventfully. Things seemed to return back to normal between Ava and Tom, as well as the rest of their little group. Thankfully, there hadn't been any other altercation with Rowan either. So they all decided to forget about him for the time being and focus on finishing their work before they go on break. Ava was more than happy to do that, especially when she was trying to plan for Christmas.

Ava was completely serious when she told Tom she would do everything she can to give him the best Christmas he's ever had. That also applied to his birthday. There were so many things he never experienced about celebrating the holiday season. And she felt like it was her duty as his friend to give him those experiences.

Ava started a list of of all the things to do with Tom, which was perhaps taking more of her time than necessary. Instead of working on one of her last assignments, Ava was lost in thought about what she needed to add to her list. Going to the library wasn't really needed in that case. Thankfully Mia was too preoccupied with her own work to really notice at first.

"Hello? Earth to Ava."

Ava blinked a few times to refocus her eyes on the bookshelf she had been staring at. She moved her gaze to Mia, who was sitting across from her with a raised eyebrow. "What?"

Mia sighed, "are you alright?"

"Yes, why?"

"You've been staring into space for a long time," Mia said with a bit of amusement. "And I've been trying to get your attention for a few minutes."

Ava cleared her throat, slightly embarrassed that she'd done that. "Oh. Sorry, there's just something on my mind."

"Something about Tom?"

Ava rolled her eyes. "Usually I would question why that was your immediate thought." She put her quill down and pushed her list to the side. "But as a matter of fact, it is about him."

Mia smirked, "knew it."

"Anyways," Ava said in an annoyed tone, "I'm trying to come up with ways to give Tom a good Christmas."

Crossing her arms, Mia leaned back. "That sounds like quite the ordeal."

Ava shrugged. "He's never had a proper one before."

"So?"

"So?" Ava lifted both brows in offense. "Everyone deserves to celebrate properly."

Mia hummed. "Well he doesn't seem like the type to celebrate anything."

Ava opened her mouth with a quick retort, but quickly closed it again. "Alright fine. You're sort of right." Listening to Mia started to make her feel like she was being stupid for wanting to do so much. "But his birthday is at the end of the month too. And I don't think he's celebrated that either."

"Everyone should celebrate the anniversary of their birth," said an airy voice out of nowhere.

Ava and Mia both jumped at the sudden inclusion of another person. They looked over to see Luna standing next to their table. She had a soft smile on her face and seemed to not notice the surprise of the other two girls.

"Hello Luna," Ava said after recovering from the momentary shock. "We didn't see you there."

Luna gave a small shrug. "That's alright. I often go unnoticed when I join friends."