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i. rose duty
Ace stood at the entrance of the rose maze, already dreading the amount of work he had to do. He sighed and stepped in, clipping some branches with his magic, but as he went deeper in, he heard stifled crying. Ace paused midway through his spell and listened for it again; after a short silence, the first-year heard a sniffle, then a sob, and Ace tucked his magic pen away as he searched for the sound.
He turned corner after corner, following every twist and turn, until he came to a dead end. His housewarden’s white uniform immediately caught his attention, and Ace blinked as he gazed at Riddle sitting on the ground, furiously rubbing at his eyes. Ace slowly approached the redhead, crouching behind him before… “Housewarden? What are you doing here?”
Riddle jumped, grabbing his staff and swinging it around, but stopped when he saw the first-year. “Oh, Ace. It’s just you,” he sighed, placing it back down. He wiped at his eyes again and turned away. “Apologies. You shouldn’t be seeing me like this.”
Ace plopped onto the ground beside Riddle, crossing his legs. “Housewarden, if you don’t mind me asking… why are you crying?” When Riddle didn’t answer, the first-year glanced up with his arms crossed. “I won’t tell anyone, don’t worry.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Don’t think it’s my place to spill your secrets.”
“...You’re going to think it’s unbefitting of me.”
“No, I won’t. Look, you… you’re our housewarden, and after everything that’s happened, I gotta make sure you’re ok, so whatever it is, you can tell me.”
Riddle gazed at the ground before he spoke. “I don’t want to go back.”
“Go back? To what?”
“At the Unbirthday party- I’m scared I’m going to go back to forcing the rules on everyone again.” Riddle chuckled weakly at his broken voice. “I actually came here to think about how I could do things differently. It was going well at first, but thinking about rules led to thinking about the overblot, and then this voice in my head told me that I had to follow the rules or everything would go wrong, and… you can see what happened after that.”
Ace hesitated, then slowly slid closer, pulling Riddle into a hug as his other hand patted the redhead’s back. “It’s alright, everything’s gonna be alright. What you’re doing is enough. Didn’t Trey tell you it’s ok to take things one step at a time?” Ace paused, thought about it, then continued. “And y’know what? We’re proud of you, we all are. Everyone at the dorm… we’re proud to be in Heartslabyul and be your loyal card soldiers.”
A warm feeling bloomed in Riddle’s chest at the touch; whatever it was, he liked it. “Thank you, Ace.” He smiled, mischief creeping into his voice. “I didn’t know you could be this profound.”
“Heh, well, anything for you, housewarden! Cause I’m your ace.”
Riddle laughed, swiping at the last of his tears with his sleeve. I wonder if this is what friendship feels like…
ii. croquet tournament
“Spade! Come get your test.” Deuce gulped and stood, grabbing the paper from Crewel and placing it facedown on his desk. Riddle had helped him study for this one, poring over alchemy material and practice questions for hours on end, but the nervous pit in his stomach stayed.
“C’mon, Deucey, not gonna take a look?” Ace asked with a teasing smile. “Are you afraid or something?”
“I am not! Hey- don’t touch that!” Deuce slapped Ace’s hand away, shielding his test with both hands. “I’ll look at it now, so go away!” Ace shook his head and sighed, going off to talk to someone else, and Deuce squeezed his eyes shut before flipping the paper over. A minute passed before he slowly cracked one eye open, and his mouth fell agape when he saw the bold red number- 88 . The bell rang, snapping him out of his thoughts; Deuce knew he had to tell Riddle, and that was exactly what he did as soon as he got back to the dorm.
“Housewarden Rosehearts! Look, look!” Riddle was standing in the croquet lawn, watching as people trimmed the grass and prepared for the upcoming croquet tournament, but when he heard Deuce’s voice, he turned his head.
“Ah, Deuce. Is there something you needed?”
“No, but I wanted to show you this!” Deuce held the paper up, and Riddle carefully took it from him and looked it over.
“This is… ah, your latest test from Crewel. It’s a great score compared to what you used to get.” Riddle smiled as he handed the paper back to Deuce. “You’ve really improved since the beginning of the year.”
“Yes, but I couldn’t have done it without you!”
“Nonsense. You’ve improved plenty through your own hard work. I’m proud of you, Deuce.”
“You mean it? Thank you, Housewarden Rosehearts!” Before Deuce could think about what he was doing, he hugged Riddle tightly, lifting him up and spinning him around as he laughed. A few moments passed before it dawned on Deuce exactly who he was spinning around in his arms, and as soon as the thought flashed through his head, he hurriedly put Riddle back on the ground and stepped away.
“I’m so sorry, I- I don’t know what came over me!” Deuce put his hands together in a plea. “Please forgive me, housewarden!”
Riddle blinked as his world slowly stopped spinning, and he glanced at the first-year. “It’s… fine. It took me by surprise, but I don’t mind.”
Deuce looked up in shock. “Really?”
“Of course. It’s perfectly fine, and again, I’m proud of you for coming this far. Now…” Riddle swept his hand out towards the lawn with a soft smile. “Would you help with the preparations? I think they’d appreciate an extra set of hands.”
Now that he knew Riddle wasn’t going to take his head or worse, Deuce found himself smiling as he nodded. “Yes, housewarden!”
iii. meal prep
The click of heels against tile drew Trey’s attention, and he glanced up just in time to see Riddle walking past. “Hey, Riddle. Mind helping me for a bit?” Trey called, putting the dough he was mixing aside.
Riddle peeked into the kitchen and walked in. “Of course not. What do you need assistance with?”
“If you could just mix the tart dough while I take care of the filling, that’d be great.” Trey handed the bowl to Riddle and turned back to the counter. “It won’t take long, don’t worry.”
Riddle placed the bowl on the nearby table, grabbing the spatula and trying to mix it with both hands. “I don’t mind, Trey. I know you have a lot on your plate sometimes.” But even though Riddle stirred with all his might, the spatula barely moved through the thick dough, and after a few moments, he quietly muttered a spell and let his magic do the work. “And if it’s for the tarts, well, you know I’m more than happy to help.”
Trey laughed as he sifted sugar into a bowl. “That’s your sweet tooth talking, isn’t it?”
Riddle flushed red, but he ducked his head to hide it. “Perhaps. Can you blame me though? Your sweets always were the best, the strawberry tarts especially.”
“They really are your favorite, aren’t they? Unfortunately, I’m making blueberry this time. Sorry about that, Riddle.”
“Ah, that’s fine too, even if they don’t compare to the strawberry ones.” Riddle’s voice dropped to a wistful murmur. “And the first one was the best I ever had.”
“Am I supposed to take that as they got worse over time?”
Riddle whirled around to find Trey standing behind him and yelped, nearly dropping the bowl. “O-of course that’s not true! Everything you make is divine, really, so please don’t get the wrong idea-”
Trey took a tart pan out from the oven, shutting the door and smiling as Riddle glanced at it. “Ahaha, I know, I’m just pulling your leg. And that’s the quiche for the party tomorrow, so no taste testing for today. Right, now that I’m done with everything, let me take that bowl off your hands.”
The third-year took the bowl from Riddle and placed it on the counter, then hugged him tightly. “Thanks for helping with the dough. I’m looking forward to tomorrow.” The redhead beamed when he gazed at Trey’s proud expression, but even though delight welled up inside him, Riddle didn’t know why it was quickly replaced with an empty feeling when Trey pulled away.
Well, he didn’t need to think about that now; he had a party to run, after all.
“Yes, as am I. I’ll see you then, Trey.” Riddle strode out of the kitchen, his thoughts snapping back into business mode. Their Unbirthday party this time had to be the absolute best, and whatever these emotions were could wait.
iv. unbirthday party
“And now, let the Unbirthday Party begin!” Just like that, the tea garden was filled with chatter and the sound of metal clicking against ceramic plates. Cater strolled around, a slice of quiche balanced on one hand and his phone in the other, and he hummed quietly as he started scrolling through the pictures he’d already taken.
He tapped on one of the whole garden, swiped to one of Trey cutting the cakes, typed a little note under one of the first-years messing around, and now all he needed was one with-
Cater blinked as he gazed at Riddle’s throne from across the garden. Riddle was sitting there as he normally did, but the rest of his table was completely empty, and a glance around the garden immediately showed why.
Trey was at a table, chatting with a few of the third-years, while Ace and Deuce were trying to keep Grim from jumping headfirst into a cake. With him off taking pictures, that left Riddle by himself, forlornly poking his cake with a fork, and something akin to pity twisted in Cater’s chest (he hated how he saw himself in Riddle). Before he knew what he was doing, Cater had crossed the garden, phone in one hand as he pulled Riddle off his throne and into a hug.
“Say cheese, Riddle,” he chirped, holding up a peace sign as his phone snapped the picture. The redhead yelped as the flash went off, and a few students glanced at them curiously. “Aha, sorry about that! Just wanted a picture with our adorable dorm head~☆”
“Cater,” Riddle started with a sigh, “what was that about? Normally you ask me before-”
“Shh, people are still looking.” Cater flashed a grin and a wink at the last student, and once they went back to their conversation, he turned back to Riddle. “It’s just that you seemed down in the dumps, y’know? No matter what happened before, everyone deserves to smile at a party this lit.”
“...I see. I’ve had a lot on my mind recently, but you’re right.” Riddle sipped from his teacup and smiled softly. “Thank you, Cater. You’re quite perceptive, I didn’t think I was being that obvious.”
“What can I say, Cay-Cay’s good at reading people!” Cater sat beside Riddle, popping a piece of quiche into his mouth. “You don’t mind if I keep you company, right?”
“No, of course not. I appreciate it.” They stayed in comfortable silence, but it wasn’t long until Ace and Deuce came barreling over, both of them yelling at each other, and Trey came by with another cake as he tried to separate them.
Amidst the sudden chaos, no one saw Riddle’s laugh, hidden behind his hand- except Cater. The third-year bit into his quiche again as he watched Riddle quickly settle the argument, and he smiled to himself, leaning back in his chair. This was going to be a wonderful Unbirthday party indeed.
v. afterparty
The epiphany had come right as Riddle signed off on an administrative form. Phantom arms wrapped around his shoulders, but when he whirled around to berate the person, he was met with an empty room. He turned back and stared at the paper on his desk until it finally hit him that his friends had all been giving him hugs, and he wanted to do it back.
Even though there were no rules saying he had to return the favor, Riddle supposed it was still good manners to try- never mind the (somewhat) embarrassing fact that he’d actually enjoyed it. With that, the redhead stood and made his way to the library, a plan already forming in his head.
Books had taught him everything he knew; they surely wouldn’t let him down this time. But after hours of scanning the shelves with nothing to show for his efforts, Riddle finally admitted defeat and returned to the dorm.
…Perhaps this was something that could not be learned from books.
If books could not teach him, then what could? Riddle had listened to every fact and figure that a book had to offer for as long as he could remember, and yet he found himself in uncharted territory. There were no rules on how one should act in this situation, and no book had the guidelines of how to navigate friendship. Well, if books could not teach him, he would simply have to teach himself.
“Ace! Deuce! With me, both of you!” Riddle shouted as he strode into the lounge. As they scrambled to follow him, the redhead passed the kitchen. “Trey, Cater! You two come as well!”
Riddle pretended not to hear the first-years’ terrified whispering as he marched up the stairs to his room, and once they were all behind closed doors, the redhead turned on his heel to face them. “Do you know why I-”
“I’m sorry, housewarden, please don’t take our heads!” Deuce blurted, bowing his head. “Whatever it is I- no, we - did wrong, we’ll make up for it, promise!”
Riddle tilted his head questioningly. “What? No. Who said I was going to take your heads? That’s not what I brought you here for.”
Trey nodded and crossed his arms. “I didn’t think so. But if it wasn’t for that, then what?”
“I…” Riddle stepped forward and tentatively spread his arms. “I just wanted to ask if this was the proper way to initiate a hug.”
Everyone fell silent before Cater squealed and leapt up to wrap his arms around Riddle. “Aw, of course it is, it’s perfect!” One by one, the others began to pile into the group hug, until Riddle was surrounded by the warmth of all his friends. His arms couldn’t possibly hope to hold everyone, but he couldn’t help but laugh as his heart swelled with joy.
So this is a true friendship. Thank you, everyone.