The sound of rain drumming steadily on the windowpane was, annoyingly enough, nothing new to Valerie as she lay awake in her bed. It was four in the morning on a Saturday, and she couldn't sleep; a fact which bothered her even more than the constant presence of rain outside. The pattering sound was very pretty, no doubt, but the Ravenclaw prefect would have preferred a bit of sunshine to coax her out of bed in the mornings. Wishful thinking if she lived in Britain.

Mumbling to herself sleepily, Valerie Knight pushed the nice warm blue sheets off of her exhausted body and sat up, swinging her feet to the floor in one fluid movement. As it was so early, the rest of the seventh year dorm room was quiet, the air filled with sleep's deep, even breathing and the occasional snore. The prefect paused a moment before removing clothes from her trunk at the end of her bed to be jealous of her roommates, who could sleep all day if they so pleased. Actually, no, they couldn't, Valerie reminded herself. There was some sort of Quidditch match on today, wasn't there? She would probably end up going if Tam had anything to say about it.

Valerie was not a very social person. To be honest, people were intimidating to her. They all seemed so much more confident, and she always felt as if she couldn't compete, so she rarely went out on a limb to get to know anyone. It wasn't as if Valerie was particularly worried that she didn't have too many friends. Who needed a lot of friends, anyway? She had school work, which made more sense altogether than people did.

School work was the reason Valerie had risen so early. For a potions project, she needed dawn fungus freshly picked from one of the greenhouses. As the name suggested, dawn fungus needed to be harvested at dawn.

[i]Well, look on the bright side.[/i] Valerie reasoned with herself as she pulled on a pair of jeans and a sky blue blouse. [i]Slughorn sleeps late on Saturdays, so he won't be able to corner you about another of his stupid meetings.[/i] Much to Slughorn's distaste, Valerie had religiously been avoiding going to anything that had to do with the Slug Club. The reasons for that group being founded were as transparent as the founder himself, and, frankly, Valerie had no interest in sitting around pretending to care about what a bunch of 'gifted' children had to say about how wonderful they were. Of course, it didn't help that Tom Riddle was always at the center of conversation. He was another reason Valerie avoided the Slug Club.

It wasn't that Tom Riddle had ever been nasty to Valerie, or to any of the people she liked. He was a perfect gentleman. Too perfect, in fact. That was what annoyed her. He never seemed honest. His eyes were always calculating and, like Slughorn, he only spoke to people if he thought they could help him in some way. She didn't like how he regarded people as if they were pawns in some grand scheme of his, and she particularly disliked the way he acted as if he was something very special. It didn't help that people like Slughorn encouraged this, either. Was Valerie the only one who could look at Tom Riddle and see him for the lying, conniving scum he was? Probably.

Scowling as she brushed her long, dark red hair, the prefect reflected that, despite his narcissism and his obvious agenda, Tom Riddle was brilliant. He was clever, her equal and often better in every subject they took together. He was charming, and had a list of ex lovers longer than Valerie's arm. Of course, Tom Riddle was also devastatingly handsome, the bastard. She still couldn't stand being around him. It was like being around a venomous snake disguised as a beautiful tropical bird.

The boy in question had also been trying to talk to her for the last week, giving her yet another reason to avoid walking in the main hallways and using instead a few little known about routes. Fortunately, Valerie didn't have to use one of these routes as she made her way to the Green houses. Slytherins also slept late on Saturdays, usually because they had been up partying the night before, much to the distaste of everyone in Ravenclaw. For once, Valerie was rather pleased with the Slytherins for their decadent lifestyle, because it was that lifestyle that meant she could go about her early morning business with no disturbances from greedy teachers or arrogant head boys.

As to why Tom Riddle could possibly want to speak to her, Valerie was clueless. She certainly wasn't the type of girl he generally went after. Tom could normally be seen with some cute, blonde sixth year that seemed to need to giggle at everything Tom said. Valerie happened not to be cute, blonde or giggly, hence her confusion. It was clear that Riddle wanted something, though. As she made her way to the Greenhouses, Valerie reflected on the last time the Slytherin prefect had attempted to corner her.

"Hey, Knight!"

Valerie turned around with a sigh as she heard her name being called out by her least favourite person. Well, it would be rude to ignore him now.

"Yes, Riddle?" She kept her face politely blank as he approached her. Confusion crossed his handsome face for a moment before dissolving in to its default casual smile.

"Er, I was wondering if I could speak to you a moment, if you're not too busy." Tom reached up a hand to rub the back of his head, the perfect picture of a slightly nervous boy speaking to a girl and hoping not to be rejected.

Although Valerie wasn't fooled, she couldn't help acting shy. Confidence, especially the kind that comes from an inflated ego like Tom's, always threw her off and, even though she wanted to be nonchalant and possibly a tad rude, she just couldn't.

"Oh, uhm, sure." She answered, clasping her hinds behind her back so that he couldn't see her fidgeting. God, she was pathetic.

"Right, well I was wondering if-"

"Miss Knight!" Professor Dumbledore was calling to her, holding her report in one hand whilst beckoning with the other. "I must discuss this last paragraph with you. It's quite... daring" His eyes twinkled with laughter and Valerie found herself smiling at the professor in a grateful manner.

"Of course, professor," She answered back, then turned to Tom. "Sorry, Riddle. Another time, I suppose?" She gave him a brief smile and then made her way over to the bespectacled professor, relief written plainly across her features.

An hour later, Valerie returned from the Greenhouses, completely soaked through with rain, splattered with mud, and, if possible, more annoyed with British weather than she had been before. As if it were the Great Hall's fault, she glared darkly up at the grey, rainy ceiling before seating herself at the empty Ravenclaw table. Her mood was lifted slightly by the smell of hot porridge and the fact that she had more than enough dawn fungus. Not only that, but the Great Hall was still reasonably empty, save for a melancholy-looking first-year in Hufflepuff and a hungover-looking Slytherin.

Realizing that she was still wet, Valerie waved her wand, muttering an incantation quietly, then watched as steam rose up from her clothes, which were wonderfully dry now. She didn't bother doing the same to her hair, which would only frizz up in to something more untamable than usual.

Valerie was halfway through her porridge, and almost in a good mood, when she saw Tom Riddle stroll through the doors of the great hall as if he owned the place. [i]Oh, honestly[/i], she thought exasperatedly, wondering if there was still time to hide under the table. [i]Don't be such a child.[/i] Instead, she pretended to drop her spoon and leaned over to pick it up, hoping that the table hid her well enough from the Head Boy's sight. Of course, that wasn't immature at all.

***

Tom Marvolo Riddle had gone to bed the night before in a state of semi-drunkness. His latest girlfriend, Susan (or was it Celine? He couldn't quite remember) had departed only moments ago after a very enjoyable evening, also in a state of semi-drunkness. All in all, it had been a very good night followed by a very deep sleep.

Naturally, Tom was less than pleased about being woken up at 5:30 in the morning by Soren's ugly face. On a Saturday, no less.

"Give me one good reason not to turn you in to a toad," the teenager moaned, rolling over and burying his face in his pillow.

"It's the Knight girl, Tom. She's in the great hall. Dieter just saw her come in."

At this Tom sat up, wincing at the protest his head gave. "Ugh, what in God's name is she doing up at this hour?" he asked no one in particular before reluctantly leaving his bed and glaring at the window. It was only just beginning to lighten outside.

Ten minutes and two anti-hangover charms later, Riddle was making his way up to the Great Hall quickly, scowling at the fact that he was almost the only person about. How typical that he would need the earliest riser in school to help him. Well, his efforts would not be in vain. He would get her today.

***

Valerie's foolish efforts to hide were, needless to say, in vain. As she came up from retrieving her spoon, she was graced with the sight of a pleasantly-smiling Riddle sitting next to her.

"Oh, good morning, Riddle." She acted only slightly surprised to see him. She was too tired to perform much more than that.

"Knight." Came his answer as he inclined his head in her direction. "How are you this morning?"

Valerie felt absolutely no desire to launch in to a discussion with him, but he had her now and that left her little choice. Still, she could dispense with the pleasantries as much as her infernal shyness would allow.

"Uhm... why exactly are you talking to me?" she asked, self-consciously averting her eyes from him and continuing to eat her porridge. He was watching her carefully, and it took a lot of effort not to shudder.

"What? I can't speak to my intellectual equal every now and then?" Tom was caught off-guard just a little by the fact that she didn't seem to be very impressed about him talking to her, hence his horrible air of forced casualness. Most girls would be praising the heavens for this chance and here, this one couldn't even look at him.

Valerie raised an eyebrow at Tom's response. She hadn't been considered his "intellectual equal" since first year. Everyone knew that Tom Riddle always came first. No draws. "Riddle... I-I'm not sure what it is you want, but I know that that's probably not the real reason you're talking to me," she said slowly, not meeting his gaze and instead playing with her still-wet hair.

Tom regarded her curiously for a moment. She had clearly not fallen for his act of friendship and thank goodness, too. She should know that nobody was his equal. Still, it was unnerving how she saw through him and then managed to tell him as much with her shy, quiet manner. If anyone else had said it, it would have been rude.

He sighed in mock defeat and shrugged. "Fine, you've got me there. What I need is..." He paused a moment. This was about to be quite the momentous event never before had Tom Marvolo Riddle asked this of anyone. Ever. "I need your help."

Surprise managed to burn quickly through Valerie's externally reserved nature and she looked him in the eyes instantly, her grey ones meeting his green ones with scrutinizing intensity. "Wh-What do you need my help with?

Tom sighed and closed his eyes a moment. The worst was over. He had said it. He could relax, because he was in control again. The slytherin leaned forward engagingly, waiting for her to lean in as well. She didn't.

"Have you ever heard of Ravenclaw's lost Diadem?" Tom asked, making his eyes shine with intrigue.

Valerie didn't say anything for a while, simply examining Tom with her eyes piercing in to his in a most unnerving fashion. At last she spoke. "Riddle, I have two potions projects and a Herbology essay due this afternoon, and don't even get me started on what they have us doing for defense against the dark arts. I honestly don't have time to deal with your jokes. I don't believe in myths like that, just like I don't trust you. So, if you want to mess around with someone, then I'm not going to let it be me." She stood up, keeping her gaze level and unusually cold. "Enjoy your Saturday, Tom Riddle." With that, she left, walking quickly in to the nearest girls' bathroom and shutting the door behind her.

It took several big, deep breaths for Valerie to stop shaking. Here, she had thought that for a moment, Tom was being serious. How could she have been so stupid? Of course Riddle had been trying to play a trick on her. That was all boys like him did to girls like her. But, honestly, he could have been a bit more original. Ravenclaw's lost diadem was such a silly story that it was a wonder he thought she could have fallen for it.

Well, she wouldn't be making the mistake of putting up with him again.

***

Tom watched Knight leave the hall, bag slung over one fragile shoulder. Well, that hadn't gone according to plan. He slumped forward on the table in front of him and massaged his temples. Clearly, a different approach would have to be tried. She wasn't going to get away from him that easily.