A/N: Written for the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition Round Ten.

Disclaimer: Based on the characters and world of JK Rowling.

Title: Love is Pointless

Team: Montrose Magpies

Position: Chaser One

Prompts: #2 S/he tried to remember who had talked him/her into this, #4 "Er… I love you," and #12 "I shouldn't have asked."

Words: 1,033

Tom Marvolo Riddle sat on a bench in Hogsmeade, his cloak wrapped tightly around him to ward off the chill of the brisk December air. His dark hair was covered with a light dusting of snow and his teeth were beginning to chatter. If only she was here already, Tom thought, frowning. Then I could get out of the cold and into the Three Broomsticks. He sighed.

This blind date wasn't even his idea to begin with. Tom had never been one for romance, thinking it a useless feeling, and thus had never had a girlfriend. He tried to remember who had talked him into this. It must've been one of his friends, or perhaps his favorite professor, Horace Slughorn. Whoever it was, Tom would never go out on another date again. Love is pointless and stupid, he reminded himself.

Finally, he heard a voice call out to him. "Tom?" it questioned. Tom raised his head and looked into the face of a blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl that he vaguely recognized as Sarah Miller, a Slytherin a year below him in school. She giggled. "Sorry I took so long, the other girls wouldn't let me get in the shower."

"It's fine," Tom said brusquely, getting up quickly to lead her into the Three Broomsticks to enjoy some warm butterbeer. He frowned, wondering why whoever it was had set him up with Sarah Miller. She'd been unhealthily obsessed with him since she'd started Hogwarts, and he'd been avoiding her ever since. Now she was latched on his arm and appeared as though she was never going to let go.

Finally, after much hesitation she released his arm and sat down across from him at a table for two. The waitress walked over and asked, "What can I get for you?"

"Two butterbeers, please," Sarah answered, and then, turning to Tom, said, "You don't mind, do you?" He shook his head and then the waitress was gone, only to reappear moments later with their drinks.

Tom grimaced again as though in pain. This whole thing was awkward, and he didn't quite know how to behave. Even though Tom was seventeen years old, he'd never felt a romantic feeling for anyone, male or female. He honestly just didn't understand the appeal in a relationship with someone. He only thought that those who were in relationships were distracted from exactly what they wanted to accomplish in life. He couldn't have distractions.

Eventually he realized that she was staring at him, and he froze. "What?" Tom asked, and Sarah just blushed, saying nothing. That's odd, he thought. If you're staring at me, you obviously want to say something, so why not just say it? "Um…" he began, trying to start a conversation so she would stop staring at him. "What do you want to do when you leave school?"

She smiled, and her cheeks flushed an even darker red. "I want to be an Auror," she said. Tom frowned. Why would anyone want to be an Auror? Well, they'll have to put up with me when I become popular. He smirked.

"An Auror. I'd have pictured you as a professor of some sort," he said, grinning at the thought of the girl in front of him dealing with children all day every day.

She wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Please, no. Anyways, what do you want to do with your life?"

Tom got a mad glint in his eye as he thought of his future. "I'm going to fashion myself a new name and then rise up as ruler of all of the wizarding world and purge Muggles and Muggle-borns from us forever! They don't deserve our magic." He ended his statement with a snarl.

When he looked back up he was excited to see that Sarah was looking at him as if he'd gained two heads. "I shouldn't have asked," she said after a slight pause, looking down at her butterbeer and then back at him. Her aversion to him didn't last long, however, and soon they were strolling up and down the streets of Hogsmeade, her soon latched onto his arm again.

Tom saw a couple of his friends along the way, and they all sniggered at the sight of Sarah by his side. If only he could remember who had set this date up for him… But as for now, the finger would suffice for getting his unhappy point across.

Besides the Three Broomsticks, Tom didn't really know where to take a girl on a date, so he opted for the Shrieking Shack, although that was probably the least romantic place he could've gone with her. Tom and Sarah stood in silence by the gates that closed them off from actually going into the Shrieking Shack. Tom was mainly just hoping for the sun to start setting so he could say that it was getting late and they could head up to the castle, but he also knew that it was probably only three in the afternoon, so they had at least two hours of daylight left.

Suddenly—so suddenly, in fact, that Tom thought Sarah might have gotten whiplash—she turned towards him in a flush of excitement. He stared at her, willing her to speak so that this date could be over with and so she could tell him that she felt nothing also and that this had been a complete waste of time. However, her next words shocked him. "Er… I love you," she said, blushing crimson and looking down at the ground instead of into his eyes.

Tom froze. He'd never expected those words to come out of anyone's mouth regarding him, so he didn't quite know what to do. "Yeah, about that. I don't like you," he said, and, leaving her standing there with her mouth gaping open and tears starting to trickle from her eyes, he walked back up to the castle.

He sighed, resolving never again to go on a date with anyone. Love was pointless, stupid, and a hassle he didn't really have time for if he was going to become Lord Voldemort. I just don't understand, he thought, shaking his head. What's the importance of love anyways?