Hurrying down the tower’s spiral stairs, my nose is assaulted by the scent of pumpkin peanut butter pastries and sinfully dark chocolate skull pancakes wafting towards me. I murmur my thanks to the house elves as I pass a hallway leading to the kitchens and push forward, partly annoyed with myself for drinking too much butterbeer and passing out in the wrong dormitory, but mostly beyond ready to shove all the day-after Halloween treats into my mouth.
The house elves love Halloween almost as much as the students, and their day-after breakfast feasts are the stuff of legends. Hurrying through the arched doorways into the Great Hall, I make my way to the Slytherin table, eyes locked on a head of messy black hair bent to the left in a whispered argument with Abraxas Malfoy. As I approach Tom to take my place beside him, I’m met with a hostile pair of ice blue eyes that make me stop dead.
What the hell? Brax and I might not always see eye to eye, but I’ve never felt such malicious energy from him before. Across the table, Augustus sneers at me, nose wrinkling as if he’s encountered something distasteful. I flinch, immediately wishing my best friend was here and mentally chastise myself. Kai deserved a weekend visiting his dad and younger brother back in Moscow. He hasn’t seen his family since last winter, when they set sail on one of the world’s largest cruise ships on an adventure around the world.
Refocusing on my friends, I realize Tom is staring at me. His face is a blank mask, dark eyes hard and unreadable. I’m the only one he ever allows his mask to slip around, reserving his ruthlessness for our shared enemies. But today? He observes me as if I’m ordinary, as if he wouldn’t burn the whole world down just to comfort me. And me? Confusion and devastation war inside my chest, my heart constricting painfully and my brain too stunned to comprehend what I’m seeing. Why doesn’t he care?
It’s not until Harlow Lestrange saunters in and slides a hand down Tom’s shoulder as she gracefully takes my seat beside him that something seems to snap inside my head and my vision becomes a wall of red.
“Hey!” A soft but insistent voice, cautiously optimistic, calls out to me. I spin in its direction, glassy brown eyes zeroing in on a blonde girl from my House. She’s beckoning me over to where she sits with two other Slytherin girls, too wrapped up in a discussion of the ten best horror movies of all time to notice my approach. My savior knocks her elbow into the dark-haired girl closest to her and suddenly all eyes are on me.
The blonde clears her throat. “I’m Bríet. That’s Kass,” she nods towards the dark haired girl who watches me with bored amusement, “and this is Ry.” The other girl gives me a fleeting smile. The three of them nod at me, letting their eyes travel from me to my so-called best friends behind me.
“I’m Elizabeth,” I manage to choke out.
Kass pulls her boots from the bench and stretches lazily before offering me a mischievous smile. “Tom Riddle, huh? I wouldn’t have pegged you for the bad boy type.”
Ry and Bríet shoot her sharp looks, to which Kass shrugs and tilts her head to the side, still watching me.
Blinking back my surprise, my voice comes out in a hoarse whisper. “I’ve known Tom since we were kids. We met under… less than stellar circumstances and always looked out for each other. Belonged to each other.” My eyes wander back to Harlow, whose mouth curves into a catlike smile as she leans closer to Tom. “I have no idea what’s happening, but this isn’t right. He wouldn’t just abandon me. None of them would. This doesn’t make sense!”
Tears well in my eyes and I clench my hands into fists, taking several deep breaths to calm my heart rate. I lift my chin and meet their stares.
Sympathy shines in Bríet’s grey eyes. “We’ll help you. I don’t know how, but we’ll figure out what happened.” Ry and Kass nod their agreement and I sit down, tentatively smiling at them.
True to their word, the three Slytherin girls have been holed up in the library with me all day, going through all the books we can find on memory charms. At some point, Kass and Ry’s sister Manda showed up. The group has been nothing but welcoming to me, brainstorming new theories to research and even sharing snacks they’d stolen from the Kitchens.
“You said you watched a movie, right? Which one?” Manda asks, digging with purpose through a bookshelf behind us.
I grimace. “It.”
Bríet cringes, glancing at me. “I don’t know how you can watch stuff like that.”
“Brax suggested it. Tom and I had never seen it, clowns tend to creep me out so we’ve always avoided them. Just decided it was about time we watched it.” A smile tugs at the corner of my mouth as I picture my friends. “Brax was so excited when we said yes.”
Ry hums, eyes closing as she thinks. “I’ve heard about this cursed liquid Borgin and Burke’s sells… is it possible Abraxas’s father might’ve had some lying around?”
Kass freezes, jaw clenching. “Borgin and Burke’s? How do you know what they’re selling?”
“Chill, sis. Chris hears people talk.” Ry shrugs. “Of course I’m not just gonna walk into a place like that.”
“No way. Brax would never mess with us like that, not on purpose.” I shake my head. “Lo might have though…” Pausing, I meet the girls’ stares. “There’s something about her.. I’ve just never fully trusted her. Her family’s influence has always swayed her. The Lestranges stop at nothing to get what they want and I’ve seen the pressure her mom puts on her.”
Bríet is frantically flipping the pages of a gigantic book with a worn leather spine. “Of course!” She mumbles to herself.
The girls and I surround her. “What is it?” Kass asks, watching her friend intently.
“Professor Quirrell just went over Memoria Curses in class last week! They can temporarily alter the victims’ minds, making new memories more potent and likely to stick. I thought Harlow was asking a lot of questions that day…”
My mind reels as I sink into the chair beside Bríet. I thought Harlow might be jealous of my position within our group and even with Tom, but I never thought she’d go this far.
“So you’re saying she somehow cursed the movie?” Ry asks, brow furrowed.
“Yes. It’s the only explanation! They weren’t eating or drinking anything in common. We have no idea what the limits of magic even are, the light or the sound could have somehow transmitted it…” Bríet trails off, quickly skimming the page in front of her, finger pausing when she finds what she’s looking for. “But there is a counter curse.”
We all share relieved smiles.
Not long after the sun sinks behind the snow capped mountains looming above the castle, the girls and I hide among the trees along the edge of the Forbidden Forest, eyes glued to the crackling fire in the distance.
My former friends huddle together beside the fire, green and silver scarves floating in the chilly breeze, hands raised in triumph. They’re celebrating the success of another Halloween weekend, and everyone holds identical mugs of maple butterbeer in their gloved hands.
I dart a glance at Bríet and Kass, but they only have eyes for the group in front of them. Ry is poised to move in the shadows beside me and Manda’s wand rests casually against her knee. Her sharp eyes meet mine and we nod just as a shout and the crash of glass shattering startles the ravens in the branches above.
Harlow lies in the dirt beside the fire, fear reflected in her gaze. Tom towers above her, his face animalistic in the light, his voice low and deadly. “Where is she?” His boot grinds into her wrist and she lets out a petrified whimper.
Brax and August stare wide-eyed at their friends, confusion furrowing their brows. August starts to rise but Tom raises his hand lightning fast, stopping him in his tracks.
I step out from the trees, voice confident and calm. “I’m here.”
Tom’s black eyes fly to mine. He searches my face methodically, looking for any signs of harm.
“Lo, I expected more of you.” I say in a cold voice, glaring down at her as I approach. “We brought you in, made you one of us, and this is how you repay the favor?”
“Lo?” Brax steps forward, a frown marring his handsome face.
Harlow casts a cruel glance his way before setting her sights on me. “Oh don’t act like you wouldn’t do the same if someone had what you wanted.”
My gaze narrows. “I wouldn’t actually. I might get what I want, but I sure don’t sacrifice my friends in the process.”
Tom hauls Lo up and roughly shoves her at August, who wraps his muscular arms around her tight so she can’t run.
Tom and I rush towards each other. He buries his nose in my hair, breathing deeply as I wrap my arms around him. Pulling back, I brush his waves back off his forehead and kiss him.
With a bashful smile, I disentangle us and tug him towards my new friends, who step slowly into the clearing. “I have some very special people for you to meet.”