I know that I really shouldn't keep taking on all these projects for myself, but the idea came to me, and I couldn't help but feel the need to write it. Please read it and enjoy :)

Tom smiled tightly, making it obvious that he just wanted to be done with the conversation already. It was atrociously boring, and he had much better things to do with his free time than talk to Vanessa Guard. She just kept yammering on and on, and Tom couldn't help thinking that perhaps all girls were this chatty and gossipy and over all annoying.

When Vanessa paused for a moment to take a deep gulp of air, Tom held up one hand so she wouldn't speak again. He gave her an apologetic glance (not that he was sorry at all to be leaving her company) and stood up. "I'm very sorry, but I completely forgot that I made an appointment with Professor Slughorn. It would be so very rude to keep him waiting." It was a lie, but a very good one. Everyone knew how much Slughorn coveted Tom.

She nodded. "Of course. Have a pleasant meeting. She held out one hand. "Until next time."

He took her hand in his and pressed it lightly to his lips, in proper gentlemanly form. "Until next time." And he took his leave. As soon as he was far enough away from the library, he stopped. He had no reason to visit the professor at this time, and began to head back to the Slytherin common room.

On his way, he bumped into his best friend, Sirius Lestrange. He smirked knowingly. "The women of this school just won't leave the handsome blokes like ourselves alone, will they? Marie was just telling me how she would name her first child Sirius after me. Isn't that ridiculous? We're fifteen, not nearly old enough to have children."

Tom grinned. "But from that statement, it would seem you do indeed intend to have Marie bear your children."

Sirius's face flushed. "Well, we work well together. And even if I'm lucky to say two words to her all day, I can't help liking her. How are things with Vaness?"

Tom waved his hands in a bored manner. "She's one of the most monotonous and boring girls I've ever met. She thinks that being a pure blood will automatically make me like her."

Sirius nodded. He understood that many girls didn't have anything to make them date-worthy beyond their bloodlines. His family was one of the most well known and respected pure blood families around, and he knew that his parents intended to keep it that way. He also knew that his friend would never even give other muggle borns or half bloods a second glance, so girls assumed he would love a pure blood.

"Where did you tell her you were headed?"

Tom smiled. "To our favorite professor."

Sirius nodded again. He had met Tom when they had both been invited to join the potions teacher's little 'slug club'. Sirius had immediately seen that Tom was not the type of person to be taken lightly, and also that the boy made a very good leader. So even though he was a year older, he looked up to the fellow Slytherin, and they had soon become good friends, or as close to friends as one could get with Tom.

"Well, if she ever comes running my way, I'll be sure to back your story. In fact, I was probably even at this meeting with you. After all, it would be wrong for our friendly professor to play favorites among the favorites. And I would never tell a lie, especially not to precious Vanessa."

Tom rolled his eyes as he nodded his approval. "Where are you headed off to?"

Sirius blushed a little, something that Tom wasn't used to seeing on his friend's face. "Just heading down to the library to do some research."

Tom shook his head. "Vanessa's probably still in the library. Find somewhere else to do your research."

Sirius was a little hurt that his friend didn't even ask him what was so important, but he just shrugged. It was pretty much impossible to get Tom concerned about anything that didn't involve him. "Alright, I'll avoid the library." And he left.

Tom continued walking through the dungeons until he got to the entrance of the common rooms. He said the password, and entered the spacious room decorated with dark green furniture. He went into the room he shared with four other boys, and sat down on his four poster bed.

Vanessa was pretty enough, in an overwhelmingly fake way. Everything from the way she laughed to how much makeup she wore screamed desperation. And she was always making moves on Tom. He tried his best to be polite. After all, it would blemish his reputation if he was caught screaming obscenities at a girl.

She always leaned forward just a little too much for his comfort. He almost wished that she was a mudblood, because then he would have an excuse to blow her off. He pulled his diary out of the trunk at the foot of his bed and flipped open to the next blank page.

But he couldn't really think of anything that he wanted to write, so he just stared at the blank page for a minute. He thought about how cool it would be if the words he was think would just write themselves. But somehow, even in a magical school that was not possible.

He closed the book and returned it to his storage space. He didn't have many possessions in his trunk, he wasn't exactly rich. All the things he bought were paid for by a small school stipend. He flopped back on his bed and closed his eyes. Sometimes it could be so tiring to keep up the charade of pretending to care about people who clearly expected him to care.

Before he realized it, he nodded off. He woke up from his nap a few hours later, and saw the the room was still empty even though it was starting to get dark out. None of his roommates wanted to risk disturbing him, since they were all frightened of him, at least a little, or they respected him. Tom was never sure which.

He decided that a significant enough amount of time had passed for him to tell Vanessa that he had gone to see Slughorn if he bumped into her again, though of course he hoped that that wouldn't happen. Tom decided to go for a walk. It wasn't like he had anything particularly important to do. Being a model student, he had already finished all his homework, and he didn't have any meetings or appointments he needed to get to.

He left the dungeons, and went outside. The late evening air was chilly, and he pulled his robes tighter around himself. He strolled by the quidditch fields with a frown. Despite being perfect at everything else, the magical sport had always been the one thing he could never get the hang of. Perhaps it came from his muggle father's side.

He heard a shout coming from just outside the stadium, and he jogged over. He almost tripped over the girl laying sprawled on the ground, her legs twisted at a funny angle. Her breathing was labored, and her eyes were fluttering to stay open. He knelt down next to her, and saw the large hole in her robes, with a dark stain that was slowly growing larger.

He slipped off his robes, and was wearing his uniform underneath. He pressed the cloth to the wound, and the girl gasped. He shook his head when she weakly tried to push him away. "What are you doing out here alone?"

She gulped, and had to take a deep breath every few words that made her wince. "It was… a dare… they said that… I wouldn't be able… to fly… I wanted to… prove them wrong… I guess I was the one… who was wrong…"

Tom looked over and saw the splintered broom that was laying a few feet away. He shook his head again. This was why girls weren't allowed to play quidditch. Because they didn't have the natural ability to fly the way that certain males did. "That was a stupid move." But he knew that he would have done the same if anyone had ever told him there was something that he couldn't do.

She nodded. "I know that… but I couldn't… just let them laugh… I thought I could… do it…"

Tom sighed. "Am I supposed to just leave you to go get some help? I'm not confident that I can properly heal you without making things any worse."

She winced again when he pressed down harder on the injury. "S'okay… I trust you…"

Tom shrugged. He thought that was very foolish of her, but he wasn't going to argue. He could carry her inside, to the infirmary, but that could result in jostling her and making things worse. He took a deep breath, and pulled out his wand. He felt the familiar warmth that he always felt when he was about to do some magic.

He held the wand steadily just over the wound, and said the words to the most effective healing spell that he knew. He watched as the skin seemed to knit itself back together, though the blood was still spilled, and there was a lot of it. He wasn't sure quite what was wrong with her legs, and since she looked ready to pass out, he didn't want to mess things up. But now that she wasn't freely bleeding, he could bring her in.

Tom slipped the wand back into his pocket, and gently scooped her up, one arm under her knees and one supporting her neck. She was surprisingly light, so he was able to jog back to the school. Her breathing was shallow, and she was clearly in pain, though he was surprised that she hadn't passed out yet.

As soon as he burst inside, he shouted for the few students wandering around to go get help, as he continued to make his way to the infirmary. The first person to catch up to Tom was Professor Dumbledore, the boy's least favorite teacher.

The older man offered to carry the girl. Hesitantly, Tom began to hand her over. But she was clutching his shirt tightly, and wouldn't let go. He continued at his brisk pace until he got to the infirmary. He gently deposited her onto an empty cot and tugged away from her grip. The nurse hurried over, and pushed Tom aside so that she could get to work.

Dumbledore looked at him with an unreadable expression. "What happened?"

Tom turned to face the teacher. "I was talking a walk, and I heard someone shout." He realized that if he said the girl had been trying to fly a broomstick (which she had no doubt taken from the shed without permission) she would get in a lot of trouble. "She was in the high end of the bleachers, searching for something she left behind during yesterday's game, and in the dark, she fell over the railing."

Dumbledore nodded slowly. "I see. Well, why don't you head outside and gather her things?"

Tom nodded, and hurried away. He had the strangest feeling that the old man could read his mind. He glanced down, and noticed with dismay that there was a scarlet stain on his shirt. That was an annoyance. But he shuddered to think what would have happened if he hadn't been out. She probably wouldn't have been found until morning, and by then…

Whatever. It's not like some random girl was any of his business. He hurried back to the spot where he had found her. There was the broken broom. He waved his wand at the pieces, and they disappeared. As he turned away, he saw a glint from the corner of his eye. He bent down, and picked up a silver headband. It was very fancy, and looked more like a tiara.

It seemed very valuable, even though it was small, and he slipped it into his pocket. He would return it to the girl when he got a chance, and ask her what it was. It clearly had magic infused in it, and he was curious. Tom went back inside (it was probably Dumbledore who had left the doors unlocked) and headed to the dungeon. He was exhausted, and was asleep almost immediately.