Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Astronomy Tower
"After all, to the well-organized mind, death is but the next best adventure." -Albus Dumbledore
The young witch found it very peculiar when she woke up in the middle of the night. She was use to having traumatic nightmares that jolted her awake in the middle of the night, but she find this dream was more disturbing than any of her nightmares.
Azalea was glancing down at the expansive view of the grounds of Hogwarts, granted to her by the Astronomy Tower that loomed above almost everything. She saw the still water in The Black Lake ripple occasionally when the aquatic life swam too close to the surface. She saw owls do soaring laps around the vast castle. These occurrences were all normal and brought Azalea no discomfort. What did bring the young witch discomfort was when she heard Riddle's voice from behind.
"Extraordinarily scenic, isn't it?" His voice soft as he approached her. Azalea agreed and he took a spot beside her, also admiring the view.
The atmosphere between her and Riddle wasn't as tense as it usually was. Azalea found that she actually felt comfortable in his presence. In her dream state, the enjoyment she got from seeing him wasn't suspicious.
"Would you care for dinner?" As soon as the question came out of his mouth, a small rounded table set with a white cloth materialized. The centre piece was a large wax candle with two smaller candles on each side.
On the table laid two sliver plate with some cutlery. Non-verbally and wandless, Riddle made food appear. The plates were now filled with grilled salmon that had lightly drizzled syrup on it, paired with a side of cooked carrots.
This was one of Azalea's favourite meals and still in her dream state she found nothing to be odd. It was almost as if Riddle knowing her favourite meal was most natural.
Riddle led her to the table, pulling a seat out for her before he went to sit.
Both were content in each other's presence. They spent their dinner laughing and joking with each other. And still, nothing seemed out of place to the young witch.
It was only when she went back to looking at the view did Azalea understand how uncanny the situation was. This was what caused the young witch to jolt awake.
Azalea could remember the part of the dream that disturbed her the most. After the dinner, music started to play and Riddle convinced her to join him in dancing to the melody. Just like during Slughorn's party, Riddle took immediate control of the dance.
It felt as though they were dancing for hours before Riddle stepped away, brushing his lips on her hand as he did so. He held her at arms distance before bringing her in closer once more. Azalea expected that he pulled her in for one last dance before they retired for the night, but she was rather surprised when instead moving to a melody, he pressed his lips against her's. Instantly she found herself responding positively to the kiss.
Azalea remembered liking the kiss she shared with Riddle during the dream which is what disturbed her most.
The young witch's heart was beating way too quickly for her to fall asleep again. Instead, she laid looking at the window, hoping to see any sign of the sun. She knew this was all for naught as the sun wouldn't make it over the horizon for another three hours.
Azalea was internally pondering how to waste those three hours until she heard tapping at the window. A sharp gasp left her mouth in fright as she looked to the window to see who or what was causing the disturbance.
Just outside the window pane, a barn owl was pecking at the glass, trying to get someone's attention.
Seeing as no one but herself was awake, she went to open the window and collect the letter it was carrying. Azalea figured she would hold it until the person it was for awoke.
When the letter was in her possession, she took a casual glance at who it was addressed to. She was shocked when it turned out to be herself. Even though she didn't recognize the writing on the letter, she still decided to open it.
Dear Rosefield,
Meet me at the Astronomy Tower in ten minutes.
Riddle
Azalea was confused as to why Riddle would send her a letter not in his own hand. Even more confusing for the young witch was why he wanted to meet her at this time in the first place. She figured that these questions would be answered when she got there.
Throwing on the outfit she had set for the morning, she glanced around the room before leaving, not bothering to check who was there or not.
Azalea knew it would take her about ten minutes to get to the tower. She knew this because she didn't have her brother's invisibility cloak this time and would have to take her time sneaking around the corridors. Riddle would most likely be there by that time considering he had prefect duties and was allowed to be out.
* * *
Azalea was correct in thinking Riddle would be there by the time she arrived.
She caught a glimpse of his silhouette as she walked up the stairs. He looked out at the view of Hogwarts, twirling and twisting his wand in his hands.
"Riddle." She said, feeling the need to announce her presence.
His body didn't jump in surprise or even make any movements that would let Azalea know he even heard her.
After one more spin of wand, he gestured to the side and a table with white cloth materialized. Azalea let out a gasp, it was exactly like her dream.
"Take a seat, Rosefield." Riddle causally strolled to his seat, expecting her to follow. As she took her seat like instructed, Riddle made another move with his wand and food appeared. It was grilled salmon with syrup lightly drizzled on it and served with carrots. The similarities between her dream and what Riddle was doing made the moment very uncanny for Azalea.
"Why did you call me here, Riddle?"
Riddle just looked at the witch, not responding to her question for quite a while. "You're a very talented witch, Azalea. And I'm sure the power you posses could be of great use to me."
Stunned, the young witch didn't do anything but stare dumbfounded at Riddle. Was he trying to recruit her?
"The only problem is..." Riddle let his sentence fade out and got up from the table. Azalea watched his every move. "...I don't like to be lied to."
Azalea didn't have time to react before a figure from behind held her in the chair.
"What are you playing at, Riddle!" She said angrily, trying to fight against the person holding her in place. Her struggling came to an end when she heard more footsteps coming.
One by one, the entirely of Riddle's gang was also on the Astronomy Tower. They all came to a stop behind Riddle.
Riddle walked up to her, stopping right in front. He reached into the pocket of his robe and pulled out a letter.
Azalea remained confused until he explained the significance of the letter he was holding.
"I wasn't aware you had a brother, Rosefield." Riddle stated causally, still looking at the letter.
The young witch looked at Riddle with furrowed brows wondering what he could be talking about. He couldn't have known she had a brother.
Riddle chuckled. "Perhaps I overestimated your intelligence, Rosefield." His gang laugh in response to Riddle's jab as Azalea was still attempting to understand her situation. "So tell me, what task did Dumbledore assign you involving me?"
Realization dawned on her face and Riddle noticed it. It caused his lips to curl cruelly.
"Not only that but my friends inform me that there are no families of wizard background with the last name Rosefield. Care to explain that?"
When Azalea stayed quiet a member of the group spoke up. "You know who she looks like! Potter. Fleamont Potter!"
Riddle gently grabbed her chin, tilting it to look up at him.
"She does seem to resemble him quite a bit," Riddle went on inspecting her face. "With the exception of the eyes," he concluded.
Riddle went back to stand with his group. "There have been too many inconsistencies with your story Rosefield. Malfoy here tells me your parents are dead when you made no mention of that during our first discussion."
"It only happened recently. I didn't want to bring it up with a stranger." Azalea was frightened but she knew she had to say something. It would only make her seem more suspicious if she didn't.
"Or like the time you didn't seem to know your own name during potions. Or this letter talking about your task involving me. Or how comfortably you navigated yourself around the halls on your first day here."
"Those are all just regular things everyone does." She lamely defended.
"I'm giving you a chance to explain yourself. The longer you talk, the longer you stay alive."
Azalea was genuinely at a loss for words. If she told him the truth, she'd be killed. If she lied, he would know and she'd be killed. And if she stayed quiet, she'd still be killed. She almost chuckled to herself, noting that her brother was correct in calling this a suicide mission. Knowing the danger either way, Azalea refused to talk.
"Very well," Riddle said. "Coden, bring her here."
With the way the person was holding Azalea, she couldn't move to see their face. Now that Riddle had referred to the person by name, she knew exactly who it was. Coden Kay. The boy Ocean introduced her to during her first day. She imagined Ocean would be heartbroken to find this out.
He lifted her from her chair and dragged her to where Riddle and his gang stood. She was turned to face the group, allowing her to see everyone present. It was the usual people who hung out with Riddle normally. Malfoy, Nott and others. That didn't surprise the young witch. What did shock her was seeing Ocean standing behind Coden.
Riddle noticed this as well. "Blackwell, come here." She moved from her place behind Coden, taking a place beside Riddle. "Have you noticed your increase in nightmares during your time here?" Riddle continued to speak when Azalea remained quiet. "Since I couldn't enter your mind, I tasked Blackwell to try while you were asleep. She told me her attempts seemed to be causing you distress in your dreams."
Ocean didn't say anything to Azalea but the two girls held each other's gazes. Ocean didn't look nearly as sadistic as the others, but her expression held no remorse either.
"I rather enjoyed having you around Rosefield. I imagined Malfoy did as well." The other boys laughed at the jab toward Malfoy. "But I admit to growing rather bored with you." He walked back to his followers.
Azalea knew how futile it was to run. With no wand she was practically useless. The young witch found herself internally yelling at the fact she left it in her room. Though she couldn't imagine it would make that much of a difference. She was heavily outnumbered.
"I am going to kill you," Riddle stated to her softy.
Azalea straightened with the words and glared at him. "I don't care. I don't care because even though I wasn't successful in my task I know you will lose in the end. Harry will come out victorious." Her words came out with complete ease.
Riddle turned back to face her but didn't respond to anything she had just said. Most likely because he didn't have a clue as to what she was talking about. He only lifted his wand and shouted, "AVADA KADAVRA!"
Numbness and darkness spread through Azalea's body as soon as the curse hit her. The sheer blow of the spell had blown young witch's body back, sending her over the edge of the Tower.
As her body plummeted to the ground, Riddle looked over the edge. He wanted to see her body make contact with the ground, but soon found himself confused. Instead of seeing her body falling, he was greeted with a sight free from any such thing.
Where had the young witch gone? It was far too early for her to have hit the ground already. Her body should've still been falling!
Riddle sent his followers to check and still, they couldn't determine where Azalea's body had gone to.