Title: No Cause is Lost If Fools Still Fight
Authors: Myself and the lovely Lara
Disclaimer: We do not own Harry Potter or anything related to it. That means no Tom Riddle, Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore, etc. Eleanor Cooper is the property of Lara and I had no part in writing her at all. Everything in Ella's pov was written by the lovely Lara.
Author's Note: This is actually an RP Lara and I wrote on Mugglenet Interactive (we are BeaterGirl and FantasyFreak respectively). I loved it very much and thought it would make a great fanfic. I was too lazy to completely rewrite it so I edited it some. I moved around paragraphs and added in some pronoun changes and a few transitionary lines just so the dialogue could somewhat flow together. But that means there are quite a few pov changes, indicated by the "///". Hope nobody is confused.
Story: Tom Riddle was on his way to becoming the greatest Dark Wizard since Grindelwald. By his seventh year he had already murdered his father and set it uncle up for the crime. All he really has to do is wait until he graduates. His goal is to teach at Hogwarts but he does have plans if this fails. He spends most of his time with his Death Eaters - Graham Avery and Samantha Ozment chief among them.
Then he meet Eleanor Cooper in the Astronomy Tower and finds himself interested in her. He completely planned to forget about her but fate conspired against him. Between her and the emergence of an Italian Dark Wizard, Tom may find himself on a side he never planned to.
Please Read and Review!
Chapter One: Astronomy Tower
It was late. Too late for her to be out of bed, and especially too late for her to be tucked up on the balcony of the Astronomy Tower at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardy. But here she was, watching the sky above her. Eleanor Cooper looked at the sky wistfully, wishing the clouds weren't covering the stars she loved so much. She used to watch them at home, once upon a time, back when she had lived there. They were very different here, but she found them relaxing all the same.
"Lovely night."
Ella jumped. "Yes, I suppose it is, isn't it?"
She looked up at Professor Slughorn, who was leaning against the wall above her. "Don't you think it's a bit late to be out of bed, young lady?"
A sheepish smile crossed her face, and she stood. "I-I'm sorry, Professor. I guess it is time for me to get back…"
Slughorn chuckled. "Ah, Ella m'dear, I won't tell if you won't."
She smiled at her teacher, who for some reason had decided to add her to his favored list of students. She didn't have any famous Wizarding relatives, in fact, she didn't have any Wizarding relatives at all, so she supposed she fell under the 'promising talent' category. She was fairly decent with a wand, but she wasn't anything special. Her best friend, Minerva McGonagall was the prodigy, not her. The girl could transfigure anything if it stayed still long enough. And she was Head Girl.
"Thanks, Professor. It's hard to find any peace in the Common Room right now."
"Right, well, mum's the word." Slughorn gave a little wave and trotted off down the spiral staircase that led directly to the balcony of the tower. Smiling to herself, Ella settled herself once again on the chair she'd pulled away from its telescope, and rested her arms on the balcony rail. She had no idea how she was going to sneak back to the Gryffindor Tower later that night, but she'd figure it out.
However, if she was going to be caught, she hoped the one to catch her was Minny, and not Pringle. Apollyon liked his cane, but Minerva wouldn't dock her too much. Or so she hoped. Her friend was strict.
Ella was not the model student her friend was. She tried, naturally, and she had passed ten of her O.W.L.s, but she had royally botched both Potions and Ancient Runes, a fact that greatly disappointed her. There was so little she could do without a N.E.W.T. in Potions, but she just kept on with the classes she did pass, and hoped what she was meant to do would reveal itself. She had gotten an Outstanding in both Defense Against the Dark Arts and Care of Magical Creatures, and that was something.
A very loud screech reached her ears, and she watched a rather lovely owl fly by a few feet away from her. Ella's blue eyes followed it as it flew towards the Forbidden Forest and Ogg's hut, which finally dark. Wow. She'd beaten him. It was a habit of hers to watch the Gamekeeper's hut when she was in the Tower, just to see how late he trundled around the grounds. She'd done it ever since she had seen him out one night, a Unicorn at his side. She had never seen a full-grown Unicorn get that close to a grown man before, and she supposed it really showed the man's character. But he'd beat her to bed tonight.
Ella had no earthly idea why she was still awake. She just was. It had happened before, there were just some times you simply can't sleep, she supposed. She settled for resting her head on her arms, and letting her long brown-red hair fall next to her face. It frustrated her sometimes, how it refused to curl into the perfect styles of her friends. It always just hung, or she pinned it up. But that was something she wasn't really worried about at that moment. She just inhaled the night air, letting the stillness engulf her. It was beautiful.
///
There had been no Slug Club meeting that night, which suited Tom Riddle just fine, but he had been hoping to catch Professor Horace Slughorn. But the man appeared not to be in his office. Nor in the dungeons as he sometimes was, preparing potions to show off to younger students. Rather irritated that the Potions Master was missing from his usual haunts, Tom walked through the hallways of Hogwarts.
His Hogwarts, as he called it in his mind. Though that fool Dumbledore also liked to claim it. Actually, now that Tom thought about it, Slughorn liked to claim it as well. And Dippet was Headmaster. It almost seemed like anybody with ambition that walked through these hallowed halls believed they had a right to claim the magnificent school.
But not all of them were descendents from a school founder. Flowing through Tom's veins was the blood of Salazar Slytherin. He alone had been able to open the Chamber of Secrets. That was, until the old man Dumbledore started asking too many questions. Tom had almost felt sorry for Hagrid when the oaf had been expelled and his wand snapped in half. He offered to fix the wand but the stupid half-giant had beat him to it, putting the remains in a silly pink umbrella.
As Head Boy, much beloved by most teachers and most students, Tom had no worries about being caught after hours. It was McGonagall's night to wander around and catch straying students. Those silly students who decided to snog within secret passages after hours. They were less likely to be caught during the day. Then again, Tom had never followed any norms. He much prepared to take the girl that caught his fancy during the day. At night seemed to intimate. Tom was not a romantic.
"Ah, dear boy, why are you not in bed? I thought it was Minerva's night to guard the halls..."
Tom was pulled out of his thoughts by a familiar voice. He sneered at the Potions Master before smoothing it over into a pleasant smile. His more appealing ones. It always soothed over teacher's suspicions.
"It is really? I didn't know. Well, I'll just make this last round then go back to my common room, Professor.
Now that he had found Slughorn, Tom didn't feel like speaking to him. Let the man ponder over Tom's feigned forgetfulness. He swept past the man while he sputtered something incoherent and walked up the stairs into the Astronomy Tower. It was one of the more favorite spots of sick teenage couples. It would fix Tom's mood if he could break up a moment of something that was supposed to be Dumbledore's adored love. It was the students that had turned Tom away from romance once and for all.
Instead he found somebody leaning on the balcony. Eleanor Cooper, a Gryffindor, if Tom remembered correctly. And he usually remembered.
"Cooper? What are you doing out of bed after hours?"
///
Ella had drifted so much into her mind that she was all but asleep. The wind moving the trees of the Forest was a lot more soothing than she had expected. So when a rather harsh, but somehow still melodious voice pulled her back from the brink, she started for the second time that night as somebody spoke
She turned around to face the man who had addressed her. It was Tom Riddle. She had seen him before, naturally, they had gone to the same school for Seven years, but she didn't know him very well. She knew he was the one who had caught Rubeus when that Ravenclaw, Myrtle had been killed, but she had not joined his fan club, as so many other girls had. Not that she didn't like him, she just thought the girls went a bit far in their search for the handsome boy's affection. He didn't seem to her like the kind to give it freely.
"Just...nothing, really. Escaping," she answered him. "There are a lot of Gryffindors, and it can get, well, loud at times. So I come up here occasionally to be rid of it all." Ella smiled slightly. She loved her house-mates, but it was her opinion that Gryffindors were the loudest bunch of people on the planet. Every time they won a Quidditch match, all hell broke loose in their Common Room. Sometimes she joined them, but sometimes, she just wasn't in the mood. Tonight was one of those nights.
///
A Gryffindor who didn't like noise? Tom wasn't sure he had ever met one of those. The celebrations for Quidditch games won started on the field and followed them all the way to their common room. Luckily Tom could usually lose them in the Entrance Hall since the Slytherin dormitories were in the dungeon, opposite of the Gryffindors.
But he supposed not all house mates were cut of the same cloth. After all, it didn't matter what house a girl was from, they all went crazy over Tom. Made it easy when he decided to take one on a date or some such usual teenage boy thing. But Eleanor was not one of these girls. Sure, there were a couple of them around that shot Tom dirty glances. Those were usually Ravenclaws that hated how much attention a Slytherin got from teachers. Knowledge was supposed to be their forte.
Eleanor was different and that was all Tom had to think on the subject.
///
Ella's brow furrowed slightly as she remembered something Minny had said earlier at lunch. The nights she was patrolling, Tom normally wasn't. They alternated with each other and the teachers so they could sleep, do homework, and, well, normal things. Ella was so glad that she was not Head Girl. It sounded like more trouble than it was worth. Plus, when the students hit their third year, they went from being cute and fun to incredibly annoying. They got better around their fifth, but she didn't think she would have the patience to deal with them all until then. Minny seemed made to work with them, and Tom did fairly well.
But Ella had not answered her own question. What was the proud, dark-haired boy up to?
"Well, what about you? I mean, you have more right than I do to be out, but you're not patrolling tonight, are you?" Not that it was any of her business. But she was a bit curious as to why he wasn't reveling in his freedom and full-night's sleep. Or using this time to do the pile of homework that had been assigned to them that day. But then again, Ella hadn't finished hers, either. "And it's Ella, by the way. You probably know that, but better safe than sorry, right?"
///
Well that put a lid on the excuse Tom had fed Slughorn. That was right, Minerva was friends with the mudblood. At least, Tom recalled Eleanor being muggle born. Muggle blood actually did not bother Tom as much as he made it out he did. It had been the best way to coerce those ambitious Slytherin boys to his side, make them loyal to him. Slytherin had been against the teaching of muggle borns. Grindelwald wanted to put them and muggles below wizards. Tom simply didn't care what happened to them one way or another. He just wanted power.
"I often look for some peace and quiet myself," Tom said, hands behind his back and walking to stand next to Eleanor. "Slytherins are a rowdy bunch themselves. I would think most teenagers were."
///
Ella's eyes followed Tom as he walked to lean next to her on the balcony's stone railing.
"Yes, you look like the type that enjoys things like this." She waved her hand toward the silent and picturesque grounds. "And I agree on the teenager account. I only hope I wasn't as annoying as some that I've seen lately." She shook her head and laughed quietly. "Like that Hornby girl. I hate to say it, but she deserves what poor Myrtle's doing to her now."
She thought of the day she had first decided to use the bathroom Myrtle had died in. She had almost died of fright herself when the girl had strolled through a cubicle wall and yelled at her to get out. "Have you seen her? Poor thing, imagine being so consumed by the taunts of a bully that you choose to stay behind...It's sad."
///
Ah, his first murder. Not of his own hands, of course. But it had been Tom nonetheless. Of course at that moment Dumbledore suspected and the school was threatened to be shut down... No, Tom had to stop if he ever wished of achieving his goal. Hogwarts would be his once and for all. But it would be his whole and full of students to be shaped to his desire.
The ring Tom wore was a testiment to his other murder. It came from his family and though it wasn't from Slytherin, it did well enough to remind Tom of who he really was. Not that fool of a muggle his mother had been infatuated with. That had been a good day, relieving the Riddles of their distasteful lives.
He chose to ignore this line of conversation and instead diverted back to the matter of loud teenagers.
"Minerva is better with them than I am, but I push on..."
Most people would have called Tom a complete liar. He was good with people, he could make them do what he wanted. There wasn't a person in the school that he couldn't get along with if he wished. Even Dumbledore carried on nicely with Tom.
///
Ella turned to look at him closer. It surprised her slightly to hear him say that. It was true, but he didn't strike her as one to acknowledge their faults. His dark eyes showed very little emotion as he said it, so she figured he just saw it as a fact. Which it was, but men were odd about people challenging their competency on any level.
"Minerva is practically perfect, and you're a lot better at handling them than I would be. If I was Head Girl, you'd have a lot of Third Years walking around with Bat-Bogeys attached to their faces, and silencing charms on the lot of them."
///
He chuckled softly at the idea of what Eleanor said she'd do to the poor younger students. Bat Bogeys and silencing charms indeed!
"Sometimes I'm tempted," Tom admitted. Made him sound more human. Which was wrong. Tom was willing to admit that some people had better abilities than him, he'd be a fool not to. Minerva was better with children and better at Transfigurations. Tom would never argue that and feel no shame in admitting it. This admission was a sign of weakness. He needed some way to fix this. "If only to teach them a lesson. Some kids have no respect."
Not quite good enough, but it would work.
///
Ella laughed quietly. "Too true. But even then, I guess you have to command respect in order to get it, and that's something you'll never have to worry about, I daresay." And it was the truth. There was something lurking behind Tom's cool demeanor that almost instantly marked him out as someone not to trifle with.
"Seen the thestrals about?" asked Tom before he could stop himself. Thestrals could only be seen by those that had seen death. In a world at peace Tom shouldn't have a ready excuse as for why he could see them. Perhaps Eleanor would pass the subject by. But she was really good at Care of Magical Creatures and Defense Against the Dark Arts...
///
The question caught Ella off-guard, and she turned to look at the grounds to hide her expression. Thestrals were some of the most fascinating creatures Ella had ever encountered, but she didn't hear them talked of often. Curiouser and curiouser... She looked out into the trees of the Forest, her blue eyes looking at it in the blue-tinged moonlight.
"Not tonight, no," she answered. "But I did see them...Tuesday, I think it was. There's a new one, not one of Ogg's flock. I think it might be wild."
She turned her head to eye Tom. "My brother, by the way. He was sent home injured. Never got better." It wasn't very long ago, but it didn't really bother her to talk about it for some reason. She guessed it was because she knew death was better than what was brewing in Germany.
"Yes... I believe I heard. A muggle, correct?" Tom said this lazily, flipping his black hair back away from his face.
Ella nodded.
"Yes, he was in London, in the Army. Didn't get out of the streets fast enough. I guess they knew he wasn't going to make it, so they sent him home."
London was not somewhere you wanted to be nowadays. The air raids had started, and most everyone had evacuated to the country, but not James. He'd gone and jumped right into the thick of it all. She smiled.
"He was thrilled to 'help the cause', as he said." She shook her head. "He always was a bit mad. And you? Can you see them?"
She should not have asked that. It was none of her business. Ella was always putting her foot in her mouth like that. She debated whether or not to apologize for it, but he spoke before she'd made up her mind.
///
The night air was getting chilly and he was certain Minerva would make her rounds this way eventually. For a moment he thought of the look on her face when she found Tom speaking with her best friend. What a sight that would be!
But the rumors would be killer and Tom wouldn't have it. He was not interested in the female in any regards except for possibly intellectually. Time to cut this short and make his way back to the Slytherin Common Room.
"Come, I'll drop you off at Gryffindor tower so you don't get caught. You have been an amusing late night companion and the chat was interesting while it lasted. I won't have you getting in trouble on my watch. Not tonight."
Tom stepped back from the balcony and held out an arm to show the direction they ought to be going. He waited patiently for Eleanor's reply.
///
Oh. Right, late, and in the Astronomy Tower. And with the Head Boy, on top of that. Ella smiled at Tom as she started dragging her chair back to its original place.
"Does that mean you plan on letting me get in trouble on your watch another night?" She laughed. "However, it would be rather bad if anyone," She paused, "Especially Minerva, caught us up here. I'd get docked, and you'd never hear the end of it." She thought of the horror that would be on her friends face. Come to think of it, she'd never hear the end of it either.
She followed the path Tom was very obviously pointing her in, which was down the stairs and out of the tower. She turned to see if he was behind her, and as she was looking, she heard a rather characteristic sniff reached her ears. OhnoOhnoOhno...
"Ella? What in Heaven's name are you doing?"
Biting her lip, Ella turned around slowly to face Minerva, what was obviously a guilty expression on her face. "M-Minny. Hi. I was just...uh, enjoying the view."
Minerva looked at her with wide eyes. Minny and pursed her lips so tightly they all but disappeared. Uh-oh. That wasn't a good sign. "Were you...alone?" Just the question Ella had hoped she wouldn't ask.
"I, well, yes, and no..." She looked behind her, her eyes wide, and blushed slightly.
Brilliant.
///
She certainly was not a suspicious girl. After all, in the dead of the night Tom had let slip some interesting comments. First the thestrals, his feelings for younger students, and then not allowing her to get into trouble this night. He rarely made allowances for anybody, especially not for those outside of his house. Though there were things to respect of each house, Tom supposed. He wasn't going to deny the founders all had their flaws - Slytherin was included in this - but they had been the greatest witches and wizards of their time.
However not all of the students in the house lived up to a fraction of the house's namesake.
Eleanor laughed, dragging Tom out of his thoughts. One of his special skills was to pay attention to a conversation with one part of his mind even while he was consciously thinking of something else. He dragged back the last of her words to the forefront of his mind.
"Does that mean you plan on letting me get in trouble on your watch another night?"
Tom was just about to make a comment about how he would follow the rules after today. He wasn't about to give her special treatment. This was simple reward for keeping him occupied one darn night of this torture. As the end of Tom's school days came closer, he was becoming more and more anxious. He wanted to be finished being a student but he didn't want to leave the castle.
His home...
But before Tom could say a word, Minvera caught them just as he and Eleanor had predicted. Though it did not seem as if the head girl was aware that Tom was here. He was about to slip away, leave Eleanor to her own devices, but she looked back at him with a blush on her face. Yes, this would be the last time he saved the Gryffindor girl and she now owed him for this.
"Sorry, Minerva," Tom said, striding into view, hands in his pockets. "I've already caught Miss Cooper. I had a meeting with Slughorn about an essay and he told me he thought he heard students up here. Since I knew you didn't usually make it this far until later, I thought I'd give it a look.
///
Eleanor's brow furrowed. Well, she supposed he hadn't ever answered her question about what it was he was doing out, not directly anyway. But this didn't match up with his attitude in the tower. Then again, he was probably just trying to save his own skin. A very Slytherin-like thing to do, but Ella understood.
Minerva seemed to swallow the story, however. "Well, Tom. Thank you, I suppose." She looked sharply at Ella, and the girl had the sudden desire to disappear. She loved her best friend dearly, but she would always be the first to admit Minny was a bit terrifying. "Slughorn was being rather sly when I spoke to him earlier. He is actually the reason I didn't get here sooner." Ella wondered what Professor Slughorn had said to Minny to distract her from her task, as it was no easy thing to do. Probably sent her on a wild goose chase after an imaginary student. Anyway, it wasn't her business.
///
"I was about to escort her to the Gryffindor Tower, though you are welcome to take over this tedious task."
He sounded rather snide near the end of his explanation. He was coming up with all sorts of different stories as to why he was wandering the halls this night. Tom was begining to believe none of them were true. In reality he had probably been hoping to find another secret within Hogwarts. Like the Chamber and the room that held forgotten items.
At the same time he didn't want Minerva to take over walking Eleanor to her common room. That would take away the chance for Tom to let her know that she know owed him. And Tom Riddle always exacted a debt, even if he waited ten years to do so. He was patient.
This was the story he told himself, anyways
///
Ouch. Ella looked down, feeling rather like a bug. She knew she wasn't the most interesting person in the world, but it had been a long time since someone had made her feel quite this insignificant. Then again, he was still probably covering his tracks. Tom was smooth, and unnaturally good at…well, lying, mostly. This was the first time she'd noticed it, but there you go. He didn't act at all like he was apprehending a rule-breaker in the tower. They had just been two people who had happened to meet somewhere out of bounds.
Checking a rather odd-looking watch, Minny spoke again. "Well, Tom, if you would like me to escort her back to the Common Room, I suppose I could, but it is on your way, and I still need to check the North Tower." Ella watched Minny as she straightened her glasses. "And Ella," she said, her eyes moving, "I'd like a full explanation of why you were up in that tower later tonight. I for one can't think of one good reason."
Lovely. There was nothing Ella wanted to do less than try to explain to Minerva why she was breaking rules. She wouldn't understand. There was no way. But she just nodded, and said, "So have we decided who gets to march me back, or shall I just go myself? Because I'm definitely a flight risk." She shouldn't have said that last bit probably, judging on the look on Minny's face.
///
Tom gave a low chuckled as Eleanor said "have we decided who gets to march me back". Yes, he did suppose it looked like the head boy and girl fighting over one student. How rediculous. He was glad there was nobody else around to notice. But at the same time it felt good to Tom to laugh over something so insignificant. He wasn't usually one for humor, he supposed.
"Come, Eleanor," forsaking her last name in his moment of humor. "Let's leave Minerva to her job. She's right, it is on my way."
///
Tom chuckled at her small bit of rebellion, a rather high sound that didn't quite match his looks. It was a little unnerving, and she was fairly sure it was the first time she'd ever heard the somber boy show any sign of having a sense of humor. Ella shook off her thoughts on Tom's laugh as he spoke.
And with that, he grabbed her arm and began hauling her away from her friend. Ella looked back at Minny, who was looking rather shocked, and smiled apologetically. "Bye," she mouthed before her friend disappeared from view. She wondered what Tom was up to, spiriting her away without so much as a breath and a goodbye for Minerva, when she realized he was talking to her.
With a nod of his head, Tom grabbed Eleanor's arm and started to walk away. He was silent for a moment, waiting until a good moment away from Minerva. She was expecting a full explanation, was she? What an interesting thought. Tom started to think about all the possible stories he could have Eleanor feed the head girl and see how it spread around Hogwarts.
But that would be a poor way of exacting a price out of the girl. Better to warn her of her debt to him and get it when he needed it most. And hopefully when she was less likely to refuse.
However, one other matter to clear up first.
"I'm curious," said Tom. This didn't seem rather dangerous. After all, to be as smart as he was you would have to be naturally curious. And he was, finding all those secrets in Hogwarts. Yes, Tom could admit to some curiosity. "What will you tell Minerva? I know she is a smart girl and won't jump to unnecessary conclusions. But you can understand that we wouldn't want bold rumors wandering around."
That helped, he thought. It wans't just about Tom in this matter. He doubted very much that Eleanor wanted anybody to jump to conclusions about what had been on. It rather had been a chance meeting but very few people would believe that. Though Tom was head boy it would be plainly obvious next morning that no house points had been docked. Perhaps he ought to suggest a fake detention...
///
Now it was Ella's turn to laugh. "Oh, naturally. Wouldn't want to tarnish your golden reputation." She shrugged, which was odd feeling since her arm was still being gripped by Tom. "Well, I was just planning to tell her the truth, kind of. That I was up there by myself enjoying the view, when you caught me." There was only one flaw in this story, which Tom had to have seen by now. "The only thing I haven't hashed out yet is how I'm going to be er, 'punished' for rule-breaking. Minny will certainly notice if there's no points missing tomorrow, and though I could just ask you to dock some, my fellow House-Mates could very possibly roast me on a spit if you do."
Hmm. That was a pickle. If there were too few, or no points missing from Gryffindor the next day, Minny would get suspicious, and she would probably immediately think Ella was secretly meeting Tom around the school like so many other idiotic teenagers. But if she was docked appropriately, she would suffer at the hands of the Gryffindors, and Tom would too. It would be especially difficult to convince them that she had actually done something worthy of losing around fifty points for. These were the times she wished she had the ablity to think like a Ravenclaw. She wasn't dumb at all, but she still had a problem.
Unless.
"Perhaps, a detention? That would seal our story, and keep you and I both safely in the frying pan, and out of the fire. What do you think?"
///
The answer satisfied Tom to some extent. The truth was always the best route, though he hadn't quite followed through on that this night. Still, Minerva was a smart young woman and would figure something out. Tom did his best to put on the semblance of an ordinary seventeen year old. Perhaps a little more mature and not quite as sociable as others, but a seventeen year old none the less. Seventeen year old boys snuck around with girls of the same age.
That was how it was done, but not by Tom Riddle. He was about to give his suggestion on how to keep people's suspicions at bay when it flew out of Eleanor's mouth. Quite astounding, really. It was a very Slytherin like idea. Perhaps the hat had sorted her incorrectly. Though Tom found that a rather rare occurance. Maybe it was simply because Eleanor was muggle-born. Tom wasn't sure he had ever met one in Slytherin... though they might have been hiding it very well.
"Yes, I was thinking of a detention, as well," sighed Tom, stopping just short of the portrait of the fat lady and taking his hand away from Eleanor's arm. Had he been holding it all this way? "Perhaps Ogg will have something useful for you to do. I'll inquire on it. Most likely it'll be at night. A good excuse for you to be out this late."
He was smiling perhaps just a little too much. Tom tried to tone it down a bit without over doing the change in mood. He thought he had recalled Ogg speaking of a possibly wounded Unicorn, though that was nearly impossible. Unicorns were impervious to most weapons and only some dark magic could really hurt it. Though Tom had read up on the qualities of unicorn's blood. It was distasteful to think about, but he supposed if he were desperate enough...
But, no. That wouldn't be a suitable detention for Eleanor nor a good thing for Tom to be meddling in. Maybe Ogg would have her tend to the supposed wild Thestral that had appeared. Tom didn't really care. He'd talk to Ogg then hand Eleanor over to him and that would be that.
Just the matter of the repayment.
///
Ella nodded as Tom finally gave her arm back to her. She could handle an outdoor detention. She liked Ogg, and the nighttime. She had heard him muttering about having a lot to tend to recently, what with training Hagrid, tending to the Thestral flock, and on top of it all, she vaguely remembered him saying something about an injured Unicorn. That didn't happen often. She knew from experience it took something very fast and very lethal to injure a Unicorn.
"Sounds fine to me. Anything's better than cleaning the Trophy Room." She would never forget the time she'd cursed someone in the corridor for harassing a Gryffindor First year and had been sentenced to non-magical trophy cleanup. It had taken the better part of her Saturday, and by the time she had finished, her hands were so sore she got marked down on her homework because she couldn't hold her quill properly.
"I do have to tell you, Cooper," Tom said, frowning now and noticing his switch back to her last name. "I don't give out favors lightly. I'll expect something in return. Not now. Don't worry, it will only be what is in your limits to give but it might not be until ten years from now. Agree, Cooper, or this whole arrangement is off and I will dock points from Gryffindor."
Ah, yes, That felt more like himself. Very good, Tom Riddle. Very good, Lord Voldemort...
///
She felt her eyebrows raise almost into her hairline. "Really, now?" Eleanor replied, a rather skeptical look on her face. She didn't know what to think about that. It was a very Slytherin thing to do, but it still confused her how formal he was about it. It sounded like he'd memorized the little speech, and she had a feeling he had a collection of favors waiting to be returned. It was odd to her, but it didn't worry her too much. It seemed to just be a habit. A rather odd, selfish habit, but nothing too unbelievable. "Well, I suppose it's only fair. But…" She looked at him again, studying his serious face. "I don't know what you mean by it. I don't exactly have a lot to give, do I?"
///
Yes, Tom could supposed cleaning the Trophy Room would be a bore. Plus it had to be a sore reminder that he had made her do it when she ended up polishing the plaque he had been given for catching Hagrid. Tom was being extra kind to the girl. Perhaps too much. But he did exact her oath from her.
"Everybody has their usefulness," Tom indicated. He did not add his thoughts that some were more so than others. Instead he continued, "Even muggles are useful, despite what most Slytherins believe."
Well, what an interesting thing to let slip. Saved one nasty comment that might have upset Eleanor and inserted one that was possibly dangerous to Tom's reputation. No doubt Eleanor would keep it to herself, Tom could never be certain. However he had aired out quite a few pent of thoughts this evening.
Ella looked up at the snoozing Fat Lady. "Er, hello? Venomous Tentacula," She said rather loudly. The Fat Lady grumbled a bit and swung open. Ella grabbed her frame and turned her attention once again to Tom. He was really an odd character. At different times he almost seemed to be another person. It fascinated her.
"Well, goodnight, Tom. I won't forget you helping me, nor will I forget our last little conversation. I do tend to keep my word, you don't have to worry." She smiled a bit, and disappeared through the Portrait Hole, closing it behind her.
She had a lot to occupy her mind that night, but somehow she managed to sleep after her little excursion, which was more than she could say about before it.
///
Tom bowed goodnight in return before turning on the spot and walking away. He was certain his mind would turn to other things immediately. Perhaps his course work, a fun distraction for his mind. Or even what secrets Hogwarts was still keeping from him. Possibly even the dreaded question of what he would do once he graduated.
Instead he found himself pondering Eleanor. How would he exact his debt from her? He had gotten a few from some of his followers over the past seven years. Some teachers had even owed him a favor and had paid up rather quickly. Unfortunately Tom was more indebted with Dumbledore than the Transfiguration Professor was with him. More the pity. And Dippet had done a favor or two for Tom that needed to be repaid.
Eleanor would take some thought. He wasn't exactly sure what the girl was good at, though he knew she had to be good at something. Certainly not potions as she wasn't in Tom's NEWT class. And Minerva was the expert at Transfiguration. Plus it wasn't as if Tom didn't excel at any subject he wanted to.
Perhaps the favor would have to do with her being a Gryffindor. An interesting thought. Or her connection to muggles. After all, she was muggle-born and Tom didn't think anybody that owed him favors was so closely related to their non magical brethren.
It would wait, though. Tomorrow Tom would talk to Ogg about her detention and be done thinking about her until he needed her favor. That was the way the world was supposed to work. When Lord Voldemort would be in power he would have no need to think of anyone but himself and those that he knew would be useful for his purposes.
Time enough for that later. Voldemort faded to the background and he simply became Tom, the Slytherin king, the student lord of Hogwarts. Soon these things would be a reality but for now he would pretend to be a little less than he was.
And he wondered if Eleanor fit at all into that future where Lord Voldemort won out over the wizarding world?
Yes, it is rather long. About 6,500 words for one chapter. 13 pages on a word document. I hope the dialogue flowed well. In an RP we simply repeated certain lines, had our character respond, then move on to later events. I thought I'd try to give it more of a fanfic approach so you don't have to continually read repeat dialogue and so certain actions lines up chronologically. Expect more as soon as I can get my lazy self to edit the next chain of events...