[002] friendly competition

(trigger warning: eating disorder mention)

                As always, the Great Hall was lively during the first night back to Hogwarts.

                After all of the first years were sorted into their new houses and Headmaster Dippet concluded with his usual speech, the dinner could commence. It was a grand feast, one that many of the students had been looking forward to. It was a time to be merry and celebrate, hopeful for the year to follow.

                Camille certainly felt optimistic.

                 While everyone at the Slytherin table talked and got caught up on what they had done for the summer, Camille looked around for any sign of her sister. She knew that she had to be around here somewhere. She looked forward to catching up with her, maybe even trying to ask her what their parents had been talking to Victoire about before they boarded the train. All while she looked around, Camille played around with her food - pushing it around with her fork. 

                 Violet took notice of the action, her eyes shining with a dark glint as she looked up at Camille. "I wouldn't eat so much of that if I were you. You wouldn't want to gain any more weight."

                "Any more weight?" Camille repeated, her voice faltering towards the end.

               "Your cheeks look a little plumper. Are you sure you want the rest of your body to follow?" Violet responded, her tone sounding innocent despite her true intentions being far from it.

               Camille glanced down at the food on her plate, suddenly feeling her stomach turn at the very sight of it. Maybe it would be a good idea for her to skip dinner, despite the hungry growls that followed her rash decision. This wasn't the first time Camille went long periods without eating. She once went several days without eating before she grew faint and Victoire had to force food down Camille's throat.

                Camille wasn't nearly as bad as she used to be. But there were still days when the itch to stick her finger down her throat and vomit whatever little she had eaten arose within her. She had to be beautiful, no matter the cost.

                 "Camille!"

                Camille perked up when she heard her name being called, knowing there was only one person that could be calling her.

                 "Victoire!" Camille exclaimed.

                 Camille stood up to her feet, engulfing her twin sister in a hug. Although it had only been mere hours, it had felt like an eternity ever since the two of them had been together. Camille missed her sister, Victoire being her very first friend when they had grown up. All they had was each other for so long and even when they had attended school and gained friends of their own, their strong bond still remained.

                "I was beginning to wonder where you were," Camille happily sighed.

                "I was only hanging out with my best friend, silly. Where else could I have gone?" Victoire snorted.

                "You mean Lily? She's the only one that can actually put up with you for some strange reason," Violet remarked.

                Camille frowned. She already knew a fight was bound to start, all due to Violet throwing the first punch. The two girls could never get along which proved to be a problem since Camille cared for them both. As much as she wanted the both of them to be friends, that was growing to be less and less of an option.

               "Violet, I knew I smelled garbage," Victoire turned to look at Violet, sending her a small but venomous smile.

               "Victoire, how lovely it is to see you again. I almost didn't see you underneath your sister's shadow," Violet retorted. She was one of the few to be able to fight Victoire's venom with her own.

               "There's Lily over there. I'm sure the two of you would love to be reacquainted," Camille interrupted the fight before it was able to break out. "I'll see you when we have to go to our dorms?"

               "I'll see you at our dorm," Victoire nodded, tossing Violet one more dirty look before she walked away.

               Camille nods, watching as her sister walked over to her best friend. Victoire Astor and Lily Yaxley were a match made in heaven. It was no secret around Hogwarts that Victoire acted like a truly wicked witch. She scared nearly everyone, and those she didn't scare, she just made angry. The point was that there was no one who could really say that they were close to Victoire who enjoyed keeping people at a distance.

                 Except for Lily who Victoire kept very, very close. No one knew what sort of magic spell Lily had conjured to make Victoire only have a soft spot for her. But whatever the reason, Lily was the only one who didn't feel Victoire's wrath.

                  Once she saw Victoire sit down next to Lily, Camille took a deep breath before she sat down. The last thing she wanted was for one of the professors to notice her and get upset at her for breaking a rule or something.

                 "Can you at least try and not be such a bitch?" Ophelia scoffed.

                 "I didn't do anything!" Violet weakly argued in protest.

                 "You were trying to start a fight," Ophelia stole the words right out of Camille's mouth.

                 Violet gasped. "I did no such thing."

                "Keep it up and Victoire will give you nothing but detention every day for the entire school year. She has the authority now that she's Head Girl," Eleanor warned.

                "Whatever, I'm not scared of her. I'm still going to do whatever I want. Speaking of which, it's time for us to spread the word about our party," Violet remarked.

                "Here? Right now? My sister is down there," Camille nodded her head over to the side where Victoire and her group of girlfriends sat down.

                "Lily's got her attention. Plus, no one is dumb enough to speak so loudly that Victoire hears. Now go on, try and get your cousin's attention. He knows all the perfect people to invite. I already talked to Arthur and Elijah," Violet shook her head.

                "Ugh, not my brother. He's an idiot and he'll definitely get us in trouble," Eleanor groaned.

                "I thought you didn't want to go," Violet taunted with a small, mischievous grin.

                "I still don't. But if I have no other choice, I want to make sure I don't end up regretting it," Eleanor admitted.

                 Camille turned to look at Abraxas who was sitting next to her, too engrossed in the conversation going on beside him to even realize that he was being mentioned. But just as she went to go and get Abraxas's attention, that was when Camille saw... him.

               Tom Riddle was someone that Camille briefly paid attention to. They were in the same year and the same house, plus he and her cousin were incredibly close. As in really close. You hardly ever saw one without the other. No one knew what kind of mystery hold Tom seemed to hold over Abraxas or the rest of his friends. There wasn't much to be known about Tom at all - except for the fact that he was highly intelligent, he was incredibly handsome, and there was a strong possibility that he was a pureblood just like the rest of them.

                  Only few half-bloods made it to Slytherin, and they were treated just as badly as the muggle-borns.

                He had grown even more handsome over the years, thankfully abandoning the hair gel and just leaving his hair be. It was a perfect amount of mess which Camille wanted to run her fingers through. And his face... he had the most perfect cheekbones Camille had ever seen. He was something straight out of a romance novel, the perfect love interest for a kind heroine like her. Perhaps Camille didn't need look further for her knight in shining armor after all.

                 "Camille? Milly? Milly, what's gotten into you?" Eleanor waved her hand in Camille's face, forcing her to tear her gaze away from Tom.

                 "I believe it's a boy," Ophelia chuckled, a knowing look in her eyes.

                "Who? Who is she staring at?" Eleanor frowned.

                "Tom Riddle," Ophelia answered.

                 Violet smirks. "Oh, really? He is a bit boring but dreamy, hm? I haven't had the chance to spend quality time with him yet."

               Camille bristled at the thought of Violet getting her hands on him first. Violet had a way with boys but Camille wanted to be the winner. "I don't think you'll get a chance to."

               "And why's that?"

              "I plan on going out with him first."

               "Is that a challenge, Camille Astor?"

                Eleanor frowned. "Guys -."

               "Deal. Let's engage in a bit of friendly competition, Milly. What do you say?"

               "We have a deal."

               Camille wanted him badly, even if he did seem to be unattainable. Violet didn't even want him, Camille knew it. She just wanted to have him first and taint Camille's chances with him. Everything had to be a bloody competition when it came to Violet. But this time, Camille was going to play along and she was going to win.

                 Not that Camille was bragging or anything, but she had boys tripping over themselves just to have her for even a moment. She was sure once Tom noticed her, the same thing would happen. But unlike those other times, Camille hoped to finally find her happily ever after. Camille was tired of kissing frogs and only getting frogs, she wanted her Prince Charming now.

               "Oh, Abraxas! Tom!" Violet called out in a sing-song voice. "Us girls have an important proposal for you."

                The two boys turn to look at the group of girls and Camille feels her breath hitch in her throat when Tom looks directly at her. He acknowledges her with a small smile, one Camille quickly returns. She wasn't about to appear rude in front of him.

                "We're going to be throwing a party in our common room. It's the best way to start this school year right," Violet continued.

                "I'm pretty sure that isn't allowed, ladies," Tom quickly corrected them.

                "It won't even really be a party. Just a gathering of friends. Don't you spend time with your friends, Tom?" Violet raised a brow.

                "Sure, in ways that don't involve me breaking the rules," Tom scoffed.

                 "You and Victoire are a match made in heaven," Violet teased with a playful roll of her eyes.

                 Camille resists the urge to laugh. Victoire would sooner die than ever be matched up with any boy. Camille didn't understand how Victoire couldn't like any boy when there were plenty of wonderful choices to be made. But the more, the merrier for Camille.

                 "I know it's against the rules and you're now Slytherin's Head Boy. But just this once, do you think you can allow us to have this party? Please?" Camille pleaded, even pouting at the end as the cherry on top.

                 "Perhaps I might be able to turn a blind eye just this once. But we'll have to keep this a secret, between you and me," Tom ultimately relented, much to Violet's dismay. He had put up a fight for Violet but he crumbled within seconds for Camille.

                 "You're so kind, Tom. Thank you very much, I owe you one," Camille brightly smiled.

                 "I'll be sure to take you up on your offer," Tom nodded.

                  Abraxas looked between the two of them, seeing the way they looked at each other. She had that flirtatious look in her eyes and Abraxas knew that Tom's interest in the girl was gradually increasing. That wasn't good. Abraxas knew that he didn't need Camille to get involved with Tom.

                 He'd break her.

                 "Now make sure to go and tell the others. This is supposed to be a grand party, Slytherins only," Ophelia added.

                 "Just Slytherin?" Abraxas asked, looking over at one of the other tables for some reason.

                 "Yes. Don't tell me you're willing to throw away years of tradition for a bloody Hufflepuff or Gryffindor, are you?" Ophelia scoffed.

                  "Of course not," Abraxas quickly answers, "When is this party anyways?"

                  "This weekend. So be there or else you'll be missing out on the best party at this school," Violet responded.

                  "If you say so," Abraxas remarked.

                  "I only wish you could be there too, Tom. It won't be the same without you," Camille sighed, earning a glare from Violet.

                  "Yes, it's most unfortunate but I don't care too much for parties," Tom shook his head.

                   "What do you care for then?" Camille inquired, resting her chin in the palm of her hand as she continued to watch him.

                  A hint of a smile dances on Tom's lips as he meets her gaze again, sending a shiver down her spine. "Research. It's one of my favorite things to do. You can never do too much of it."

                   "Me too! With the school year already starting, I want to start off strong. Maybe you could tutor me sometime. I've heard about how gifted you are when it comes to your intelligence," Camille suggested.

                    "Maybe when I manage to find the time, I'll help you. But then that means you'd owe me two favors now," Tom stated, his dark eyes sparkling.

                     Camille smiled. "That won't be a problem."

                    "Tom," Abraxas suddenly interjected, causing Tom to look at him. "You must finish telling me the story from earlier. I wanted to hear the end of it."

                    Camille's smile was quickly replaced by a frown. What was Abraxas's problem? Why was he interrupting their conversation? Did he not want her and Tom to get close on purpose? If that was the case, it certainly wasn't his business to intervene.

                    "Since when do you like researching anything? Let alone studying or reading a book that isn't a romantic -?" Eleanor began to say before Camille tossed a bread roll at her which Eleanor managed to catch.

                    "Hush your mouth," Camille hissed at Eleanor before she and the other girls started giggling.

                    Okay, so Camille may have lied. She hated studying and doing work. But if it meant she could get close to Tom, Camille would take it in a heartbeat. So far, it didn't seem too difficult to win Tom over. If she kept going like this, they'd be dating in no time. Camille could see it now. She and Tom, together and happy. They'd go on romantic dates since Tom seemed like the romantic type and he'd constantly remind her of how much he loved her, and it would just be perfect.

                      Camille wanted her fantasy to come true, no matter the cost.

                      "Alright, alright. You may have won this round. But it's not over yet," Violet adds. "In fact, it's just getting started."

                       "Oh, I can't wait," Camille smiles back at her. "Prepare to lose."

( 👱‍♀️💘🍒 )

word count: 2579
notes: this chapter is much shorter than the last one and for that, my apologies. i just wanted to skip to the good shit and so that meant getting this one out of the way. i'm not too happy with it but at least i introduced tom. the rest of his gang will be introduced a little later. as always, let me know what you thought!