Anticipation
Very soon, Tom and his friends slipped back into a routine, though not an easy one. As they went about with their days, they kept looking over their shoulders. Tom made Miss Noodles accompany him and his friends to class, despite the fact, that the big snake would have preferred to sleep, a fact that Miss Noodles never got tired to mention. At least it seemed to impress Alphard whenever Tom spoke parsel. They still went to their lessons and they still watched the Quidditch games. In their free time they practiced defense spells and tried to find out where Merope, who had not appeared at her job for months now, had gone. Minerva even asked a Hufflepuff girl, called Pomona, who liked dangerous plants, to check the forest for Alice, but the second year was too scared. She had apparently been chased by a flesh eating slug in there the year before, when she had gone out to collect devil snare.
At some point Tom managed to get Augusta to punch him in the arm really hard and now he was excused from flying lessons for the entire time up to Christmas. As soon as December started Mrs. Robin started to send him cookies. She packed fife different sorts into a big tin box and tied a nice green ribbon around it. Mrs. Robin took Tom’s house very serious. Sadly the other boys in his dorm did not seem to like all the attention Tom received, while their own rich parents didn’t write them more then once a week, apart from Gordian Avery, who was horridly coddled. His parents had been caught sneaking onto the school’s grounds twice, until Professor Dippet had warded the grounds especially against them.
The second Tom had unpacked the cookies and started to write his thank you letter to Mrs. Robin, Abraxas rushed towards him. “Oh Tommy, are you writing to your mommy or your little girlfriend? Huh, the old woman you keep writing love letters too?”, he mocked. “Mrs. Robin is twenty, that’s not old. And it is only polite to thank people when they use their time and think of you to make something for you.”, Tom replied angrily. “Isn’t that woman your servant? Why would you thank a servant? That is beneath a real wizard.”, Malfoy giggled. “That is basic human decency.”, the young wizard snapped. Malfoy snorted. “I never thanked our house elf for anything and neither did my parents. No one ever thanks their servants. You are just weird!”
“No, you are mean. I bet your servants hate you and spit in all of your food before you get it!”, Tom hissed, scratching Miss Noodles’s head. Malfoy went even paler than usual. “No they don’t!”, the blonde boy yelled. Alphard laughed so hard that he had to cling to Tom so he would not fall over. “No, Brax, no, I bet he does! Your elf always glares at you in that strange way! He totally spits into your food. Abraxas eats spit cookies! Abraxas eats spit cookies!”, he wheezed. Even Gordian, who usually was always on Malfoy’s side, giggled. It was weird to laugh and for a short moment Tom wondered why it felt so weird, then he realized, that he had not laughed since Alice had disappeared.
In the weeks leading up to Christmas, Alice did not reappear. Tom looked forward to the holidays anyway. He missed his family and Christmas in Riddle Manor was always a wonderful experience. Especially since basically all of grandpa Thomas’s recent letters had hinted at a real sword that would end up under the Christmas tree. Tom was really excited about that. A real sword! He would be able to show it off to all his friends. Alphard would be impressed and Minerva and Constance and Lance would use the sword to hunt down Merope. While they went on amazing adventures, he and Alphard would hold hands and eat cake together and maybe even kiss and... maybe he should not think too far.
Right before Christmas, Otto Underground was the only one of them who really knew how to pack their suitcase and he, in a sudden burst of self confidence, had refused to pack anyone else’s trunk. Apparently he would quite literally die if he came into contact with a pair of underwear that was not his. All the other kids, Tom included, had servants at home, who would pack for them. At the end of the day Tom was so desperate, that he dragged Minerva down into the dungeons and smuggled her into his dorm. It was an embarrassing situation. Even Abraxas and Gordian didn’t insult Minerva for being middle class and half-blood, instead the whole dorm watched Minerva, with tears in their eyes, as she explained how to pack while filling Tom’s trunk with clothes. Even the girls had joined them. Popina and Bertha even clung to each other with puffy eyes. Apparently they had failed to pack for hours. And now Christmas could come. They would drive home and meet their families again. A sword would be wrapped in green paper. Tom could not wait much longer!