Belladonna

Clovelly was like a town taken out of a fairy tale. Turquoise water full with fisherman catching what everyone ate: fish. The cottages were decorated with beautiful flowers, giving colour to the monochrome landscape. The town was located in the bottom of a cliff. And Braulio was right, you could find all sorts of magical creatures in the way up. When they apparated home, it was already the evening. Ofelia could not wait to turn seventeen, so that she could apparate wherever she wanted without the need of using the Floo network or her brother’s arm.

“Bella!” her little brother yelled from the living room and ran towards her. “Sei arrivato!”

“Filipe.”

She hugged him and then kissed his forehead. Sometimes, she would act more like a mother than a sister to him. But it did not come as much of a surprise, since she took care of him when their mum passed on.

“Tom, this is my little brother Filipe” Braulio presented them both. “He’s entering Hogwarts next year.”

The Slytherin boy did not seem impressed by the little Italian boy that was smiling at him showing his missing tooth. Instead, he suddenly was more interested by the Rizzos’ father entering the room with a tired look in his face.

He would work non-stop from sunrise to sundown. But despise that, Riddle still seemed impress of being in his presence. Ofelia knew that one of Tom’s high qualities was being charming to adults. He was a cunning manipulator, but at the end of the day, weren’t they all in Slytherin?

“Tom Riddle, we finally meet at last.”

“The pleasure is mine, Signore Rizzo. I been looking forward to this encounter.” They shook hands and her father seemed pretty pleased with his son’s friend.

“Well, come on. Let’s have dinner.”

They sat in the old, chipped table that was in the living room. And had Clovelly special: fresh fish and mashed potatoes.

“I propose a toast” Signore Rizzo stood up. “For my children.”

Everybody raised their glass with red wine, except Filipe who was drinking grape juice.

“For your children” Riddle said after they had the toast.

“I must congratulate you too, Tom” Signore Rizzo grinned. “Head boy, am I right?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Then let’s toast for that too.”

Ofelia could not believe her eyes. Usually the attention in the dinner table would be directed to her, as her father would be interested in only her. But now, he was not even looking at her. He did not even ask if she had a good day at Diagon Alley. She caught Tom’s eyes and realized that he was amused. An arrogant grin crossing his face because at the end of the day all he ever did was spend his time making her miserable. He was enjoying this so much, since he would find pleasure in making her angry. She breathed remembering Potter’s words and raised her glass. She was not giving him the pleasure. She would not let him ruin her home. So she smiled, a fake smile of course. And he returned the gesture.

“Why don’t we move to the chimney, shall we?” her father invited them to sit next to the fireplace after dinner.

“Incendio” Braulio made the fire.

They left Ofelia to do the dishes. She was used to doing that.

When she came back from the kitchen, she felt exhausted. All the fruits from the long day had finally hit, so she really needed to lay down. She walked towards the fireplace to sit next to Filipe, not really interested in whatever her father and Riddle were talking about.

“Bella, figlia, Tom just said that he has never heard you sing. Why don’t you sing one of those beautiful songs that you always play over at the piano?”

He could not be serious…

“I’m a little tired, papà.”

“Oh, please, Bella. Just a short one…” her dad insisted.

“It’s fine, Signore Rizzo. If Ofelia doesn’t feel like she will amuse me tonight with one of her many talents, then it’s not necessary. It will be any other day.”

Bella rolled her eyes. She could not take anymore all of his false words. Although she was very tired, she stood up and walked to the old piano that her father had gotten her for one of her birthdays. She sat there and passed her fingertips through the keys, choosing what song to play. She finally picked a song that her mum had taught her when they were back in Italy with the sole purpose of teach her to speak in English.

I'm nothing special, in fact I'm a bit of a bore
If I tell a joke, you've probably heard it before
But I have a talent, a wonderful thing
'Cause everyone listens when I start to sing

She had a sweet voice that would often contrast with that burning personality that she had. The chords of the song were pretty simple to play in the piano, but she did not need much else to impress the public.

Mother says I was a dancer before I could walk
She says I began to sing long before I could talk
And I've often wondered, how did it all start?
Who found out that nothing can capture a heart like a melody can?
Well, whoever it was, I'm a fan

Her mamma would teach her everything through music because for a long time, that was the only way in which you could call her attention. Ofelia loved three things in the whole wide world: a good melody, a great play in words, and a message to deliver. Music gave her those three things all in one. When Idalia died, she lost that connection for a while. Grief making her incapable of enjoying music again. She found new passions like muggle books, politics and an incredible hate for Grindelwald. But soon enough her little brother felt curious for the amazing world that the music could teleport you into. And she finally got lost in that universe again.

I've been so lucky, I am the girl with golden hair
I wanna sing it out to everybody
What a joy, what a life, what a chance

She turned around and as she finished singing, she sighted Tom who had a neutral face. He did not move to her sight, probably because by now he was used to her eyes. However, Ofelia liked to think that inside, he was in fact impressed by her voice. Her theory grew even more when everybody clapped, except for Riddle, who turned around and looked at the floor.

After that mini-show, they called it a night and retired to their dorms. Ofelia’s room was small, but it had the best view of the town and the sea at the end. The bed was right next to the window, so that the sunlight would hit her directly in the morning. There were piles and piles of old books. Some were muggle books and some were about magic. A very new book was laying in her desk: Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them.

Ofelia came out of the bathroom in her night gown, ready to go to sleep.

“Bella…” Braulio was waiting outside. “About what we were talking before…”

“Yes?”

“I know that you want to take him down, but you are about to turn sixteen in a couple of months. You can’t go after him. You’re great and smart, but you still have a lot to learn. Let the fight to the ones that are qualified to do it: the aurors.”

She knew that he was right. She was too young. What exactly could she have to be doing at Grindelwald’s level? Maybe what the locals called the Mercurio Curse.

“Goodnight, Braulio.”

“Bella, promise me that you will not do it.”

He grabbed her by the arm, so that she did not leave. They stared at each other. She knew that she could just promise him that. But she also knew that she would not be honest.

“Braulio…” Tom peeked out of her brother’s door, looking for him.

His attention was completely drawn by the Head Boy’s presence, as if he had forgotten about his argument with her sister.

“Sleep well.”

Ofelia could not sleep knowing that the enemy was sleeping across the corridor. She could picture him on the floor with the spare mattress they had, wide awake staring at the ceiling while her brother slept peacefully. She had no reason to worry. Her brother had slept in the same dorm as Riddle since his first year at Hogwarts and he had never shown intentions of hurting Braulio before.

But somehow she was still sleepless and when she felt like she could not sleep… she would go for a walk. She did not felt like leaving the house, not trusting to leave her family alone with the enemy. She went to the kitchen instead and poured herself some milk. She wanted to go to sleep, especially because they would leave to Hogwarts the next day. She drank it all in one gulp and hoped it was enough to finally have some rest. The stairs always made some weird noise when someone was going up because of the splintered wood, so she casted a spell to not wake up her father with the noise.

She saw someone standing in the corridor upstairs and almost let a gasp out.

“Can I help you, Riddle?” she asked him, as he was standing alone in the dark.

“Isn’t a little late for the princess of the house to be up?”

“Isn’t a little late for the Head Boy to be up?” she responded.

“I was just thinking how you seemed particularly offended with my presence at your home” he explained calmly, as he started to walk towards her.

“What gives you that idea?”

“That you made a tantrum at the Leaky Cauldron probably.”

She immeadiately knew what he was doing. He realized that all his attempts to make her angry had failed through the night. So now, he was trying even harder.

“Well, could you blame me?” she asked acting defensively. “It’s not like you’re particularly nice to me.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. Do you want me to be nicer?” he mocked her.

“No,” she denied as they got closer “I want you out of my house.”

“Huh…” was his answer.

And then all of a sudden, he grabbed her by the neck and cornered her against the wall.

“It’s crazy really, how you always think that you can win, little one.” He applied more strength to the touch in her neck. “When will you learn that you are nothing against me?”

Ofelia raised her arms as much as she could and she broke free from the boy’s grip on her chin. However, the moonlight sneaking through the window made the ring in the boy’s finger glow. It seemed like pure gold with a weird black stone in it. She grabbed his hand and brought it closer so that she could appreciate it better. She was surprised that Riddle let her do that, but she was more surprised when she saw the encrypted symbol in the stone. She had seen that symbol in The Prophet before.

“Why do you carry a ring with Grindelwald’s symbol? How dare you sleep in my house wearing that?” she said feeling the rage grow through her veins.

“This symbol stands for the three Deadly Hollows. Grindelwald just uses it, but it’s not its real meaning” he explained, stroking Ofelia’s cheek to slow her anger. “And the ring is a family antique.”

“Family antique?” she questioned. “But the ring is magical…”

Tom smiled cockily.

“I recently discovered that I’m not a… muggleborn.”

She did not particularly care if Riddle’s parents were wizards, muggles or monkeys. She was more interested in whatever were the Deadly Hollows. It sounded like a children’s story that she read once she came to England. She lost herself in her thoughts for a moment. But she got distracted by Tom’s hand still grabbing her cheek. His hand felt cold in her warm skin, but somehow she did not felt disgusted. Then, she realized that was the first time that they were actually touching. Tom realized that too, as he got closer.

The deal with Riddle was that he was always focused in his own personal revenge against whatever he was angry at. He wanted to be on top of everyone and with his big brain he would achieve that. Tom never felt interest for anyone, unless they had something to offer. With Ofelia, it was different. He surely did not care for her at a sentimental level. However, there was something about her that was about to drive him crazy.

He looked right into her eyes and got closer pressing his thighs into hers.

“Riddle…” she whispered, but could not say more because he leaned in and kissed her.

It was such a bizarre moment. Her first kiss stolen by her enemy Tom Riddle… and she was enjoying it. He rolled his tongue making her experience sensations that she had never felt before. And she hated that. She felt so unexperienced and blinded by desire, that she could not believe all those emotions were created by him. For a moment, she thought that this was another of Riddle’s ways of laughing at her. She imagined him breaking apart and saying at her with that cocky accent: “See? You’ll always be at my mercy.” Maybe that was true, because as she felt their lips together and their bodies touching, she did in fact felt quite merciless.

All of a sudden she felt a pressure growing against her thigh and realized that Riddle could not be faking that. Yes, she was unexperienced, but she was not a prude. She could understand the arousal of the moment because she was starting to feel it too. He let go of her cheek and went south touching her hips through her night gown. He pressed her against the wall having more access to her body, breaking apart from her lips to kiss her chin and her neck. Ofelia looked at the ceiling as Tom bit her collarbone and a soft moan escaped her. Therefore, she grabbed him by the hair and pulled so that he would come back to her lips. She was not supposed to be doing noises, someone could wake up. She liked how he obeyed and kissed her back. It made her feel like she was gaining back control, like Riddle was also feeling merciless.

“Tom…”

That could had been Ofelia saying the boy’s name. But it was not.

Braulio came out of his room, half-asleep. He had probably waken up in the middle of the night and got worried when he saw that his friend was not there. He had not come out entirely of his room yet. Both looked at each other and without a single word they understood what they wanted to say. She practically evaporated due to how fast and silently she ran to her dorm. She closed the door and stood there hoping that her brother would be so tired that he would not have seen her or that he would not notice Tom’s... state.

“I’m here, mate. Just went to the loo…” she heard Riddle say.

She jumped to her bed and covered herself with the sheets entirely.

What the fuck just happened? She thought completely scandalized. She was kissed by Tom Marvolo Riddle… And she liked it? Her world was falling apart and she could only think of how amazing it was. But that would not happen again, she was sure. Riddle was a douchebag that had treated her bad for the past five years. An amazing kiss was not going to erase that bad attitude, she promised herself.

They woke up pretty early the next day, so Ofelia did not have that much sleep. They had to hurry up to arrive at King’s Cross in time. There was not even time for a big breakfast.

Of course Tom and Ofelia did not look at each other. They went back to their normal behaviour: hating each other. Riddle would normally make a poisonous comment, but today he was more into actively pretending she did not exist. She was fine with it. She didn’t want to talk about it or have to confront him.

The train station was about to blow up. So many wizards taking their children to the Hogwarts’ Express and infinite muggles starting their week. They ran over the magic barrier and entered the Platform 9 ¾ much to Ofelia’s amusement. She always was so excited when it came to going back to Hogwarts because at school she was free and able to do whatever the hell she wanted.

She was kind of surprised by how Riddle seemed emotionless. She knew that Hogwarts was his place in the world and he was not excited at all for going back.

“I have to retire for my Head Boy’s duties” Riddle explained firmly. “It was a pleasure to meet you, Signore Rizzo.”

He shook her father’s hand and then left to get up on the train.

“You should go to, figlia” her father pointed. “Prefect is also a great accomplish.”

“Yes, papà” she smiled at him and then hugged him tight.

Saying goodbye to Filipe was harder, as he cried uncontrollably every time he had to be away from his siblings. After long promises of writing to him every week, she and Braulio hopped into the train and once inside they parted their own ways. She looked for the carriage where her friends were waiting for her. She was supposed to be at the prefects meeting in a couple of minutes, but she preferred to enter the carriage were Druella was waiting and leave her stuff first.

“Hiya, Drue!”

Her friend was reading The Prophet. Ofelia could see in the first page a picture of Grindelwald and Vinda Rosier, Drue’s aunt.

“My mother is going crazy” she declared without looking at her friend. “We have the Ministry investigating us thanks to my aunt openly supporting Grindelwald. We had to officially abandon our home at Paris last night.”

The Rosiers were Grindelwald’s supporters, which was something that Ofelia knew and loved to ignore. Of course her friend could not care less about the dark wizard. But Druella was closer to him than Ofelia actually knew, as her house in Paris was used several times as a meeting place for Grindelwald and his supporters.

“I’m so sorry, Drue. That’s not fair.”

“It’s not. But it could be worse…” she assured her. “Mother had already planned what she was going to say to the aurors.”

Druella was the eldest, as her brother Evander Rosier had actually died supporting the dark wizard. Maybe that is why she did not personally liked Grindelwald, because thanks to him know the family responsibilities relied on her. Her nephews were still too young to take care. She had two little sisters too, Cicily and Eldora, both now at Hogwarts.

“Walls, it’s saying goodbye to her family.”

“I have to go to the prefects meeting” Bella explained. “See you both at lunch?”

“Sure, but bring all the gossip of who are the new prefects.”

“I bet you three chocolate frogs that Minerva McGonagall is a prefect.”

And she was right, as soon as she entered the prefects carriage she found McGonagall standing there with her prefect badge on her chest. She rolled her eyes and walk right over to the other Slytherin prefect, Abraxas Malfoy. He was not such a hideous boy like every other boy in their house.

“Had a nice summer, Bella?”

“Define nice” she sighed and he laughed.

She considered Abraxas to be her friend. Not that they were really close, but she was glad he was the other prefect. Both of them were part of the Slug Club and he was the only one to be fine with her joining. Ofelia was the first girl to ever join the club, so imagine how offended and threatened by her presence the boys felt. But Abraxas supported her anyways, he was glad to have someone his age at the club.

“Good morning, prefects!” the cheerful Head Girl saluted everyone with Riddle walking behind her.

Ofelia found this hilarious, Riddle stepping down and having to stand a gleeful Hufflepuff. And that would happen for the whole year. Oh, her day was just getting better and better.

“My name is Hedva Smith and this is Tom Riddle.” She pointed at the boy in the back, who did not even nodded to the crowd. “And you will be answering to us for this school year…”

She started explaining what were going to be their duties as prefects and more. But Bella got a little distracted when she caught Tom’s eyes, who seemed pretty annoyed (more than the usual). She tried not to laugh because he seemed so miserable. Usually, it was the other way around. She could not hold it in entirely, so she hid her laugh in a smile. Riddle was even more upset, rolling her eyes at her and trying to ignore her.

“Sorry, I’m late” someone entered at the last minute. “Someone told me that the meeting was literally on the other side of the train.”

“It doesn’t matter, Potter” Smith said nicely. “McGonagall can explain to you what will be your duties. Everyone, dismiss.”

Fleamont saw Ofelia in the corner of the carriage and waved at her as the prefects started to head out. She waved back unsurely, it still felt odd. And Abraxas and Minerva thought the same thing, as they looked to their partners quite confused. McGonagall denied with her head and left the carriage.

“Potter” Riddle finally spoke, “punctuality is necessary. I hope there will not be another time or there will be consequences.”

“He just told you that it wasn’t his fault” Ofelia could not help by saying.

“I wasn’t talking to you, Rizzo.”

“I know, but you just threatened a student.”

“Mind your own business.”

“I swear I don’t know how you got to be Head Boy” Ofelia declared getting closer. “Maybe you imperioed Headmaster Dippet. Who knows?”

“Bella, shut up” Abraxas mumbled.

“I would watch what I say, Rizzo. I wouldn’t want to lose my prefect badge.”

“You can’t do that” she laughed bitterly.

“Try me.”

They stood there for a couple of seconds, until Malfoy took Ofelia out of the carriage. Potter followed them out.

“Are you crazy?” he freaked out. “You can’t speak to him like that.”

“Relax, we always bicker like that.”

“Bella, you’re my friend. But if you attempt on me being a prefect, I’ll ditch you without a second thought.”

“Merlin! Who needs enemies with a friend like you?”

“I’m going to walk around the train. Don’t get yourself in trouble while I’m gone.”

And he left.

“Thank you” Potter said behind her. “You’re right. Riddle can be a pain in the arse.”

“Well, believe me, I know about that.”

They smiled at each other and then they started walking. They were supposed to walk in that direction. They also were supposed to do the rounds, so they just went together.

“So how did it go last night?”

The memories from Riddle appeared in her mind, making her blush a little. Hopefully, Potter did not see it, as he was too distracted breaking up two second-years that were fighting.

“Well, you saw how Riddle was on edge today” she answered finally. “Let’s just say that I followed your advice.”

“Glad to see that it worked then” he grinned. “Anytime you need advice, you know where to find me, Rizzo.”

“Now, you’re flirting, Potter” she pointed out.

“Guilty” he declared himself and she laughed.