Eileen Prince was running along the corridor to the Great Hall. She had long dark hair brought into a bun at the back of her head, a quill and a nib pen stuck tightly into it, a few stray lank pieces flopped along framing her head. She had a long, serious face, with heavy eyebrows that jumped out of her pale skin. As she arrived in the Hall, a group of serious looking, but tired students half in their robes and half in button down shirts and ties straightened up.
"About time you showed up," a sly looking dark haired boy said with a smirk.
"Sorry, I was helping Old Sluggy with his inventory," Eileen replied as she stuffed her new but already well loved copy of Advanced Potion-Making(1), already looking like it was five years old, into her backpack. "Surprised you weren't there actually, Tom."
"Always nice to share the load with you, Eileen."
"Either get a room or drop it," said a toad faced girl. "Honestly, Gobstones is not the time for you two to do this little dance of yours."
Eileen's face filled with color, her sallow cheeks flushing to a bright red and a small smile cracked across her lips. Tom, on the other hand, looked bored with the idea.
"Right," said Eileen, taking charge. "There are only two more weeks before we go against Beauxbatons and Durmstrang for the Gobstones championship in London. I've talked to Professor Dippet to make sure that our reservations at the Leaky Cauldron are set. We leave on Thursday. Rowle, McNair, you have special permission to apparate back for Quidditch. If you even think about getting beaten by a Bludger, block with your body, not your arms, we need those. I'll see to it that you don't know the password to your common rooms from now to the end of the school term if you cause us to lose. Any questions?"
The other students squirmed before her a bit, but otherwise looked sufficiently satisfied with her preparations. Only a single student seemed lost in deep thought while slowly raising her hand.
"Milly."
"Are the arrangements two to a room?" she asked pointedly, her face sharp.
"Four. They are doubles, there are two for boys and three for girls."
"Any professors?"
"Shut, Milly! You ask nearly as many questions as Aldous did last year!" Rowle, was clearly ready to get started.
"Just because we Ravenclaws give things thought, instead of blindly following orders -"
"That's enough!" Eileen's voice did not raise, yet the tone was forceful enough to silence the entire room. "We will be escorted by professor Dumbledore to the Leaky Cauldron on Thursday. He will stay the evenings with us, but will attend the Quidditch match on Saturday. I've made sure that our first heats will not interfere with Quidditch, however, if the game runs long, you need to be back by 1:30 for the elimination rounds."
"Leave Quidditch?" asked Rowle.
"You have a backup for your position, Rowle. We need you against Durmstrang if they make it to the finals," Tom said silkily, his eyes staring at the ceiling of the Great Hall rather than on the on his team mates.
"Any last questions?" asked Eileen with a bit of attitude, wanting to get on to practice. There were no other hands or comments. "No? Good. Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw together, and Gryffindor with Slytherin to start. We'll go for thirty minutes and then switch."
"Thirty minutes?" cried a younger boy beside Milly. "But there are exams coming up."
"I do believe you will survive it," hissed Milly.
"Honestly," replied Eileen. "Don't you think I know that? All of us seventh years have NEWTS in less than that. Thirty minutes, then we switch. Whining about it will only postpone the end of our practice."
Eileen readied a timer as the students sorted themselves into their houses, and then formed teams. There were not quite enough students to truly pit house against house, but enough that they could work together to form micro-teams of the two houses as they choose. Slytherin team only had one girl, but had four boys, so the boys had to split with each other and join the Gryffindors.
The sand dripped down in the hourglass counting the minutes. After thirty had gone by, the students rearranged themselves with another group, and again once more after thirty minutes. Once they were finished, thoroughly stinking from the putrid liquid contained within the gobstones and exhausted from a long day and night, the students slunk out of the Great Hall. All except Tom and Eileen.
"You don't have to stay you know," Eileen said to Tom waving her wand at an errant spot of gobstone liquid on the floor. "Wouldn't you rather be hanging out with your other friends in common room?
"Other friends?"
"The ones who shoot the curses at first years." Eileen eyed him carefully with a raised eyebrow. She was judging him, and he knew it.
"Not today, besides you stay each day after practice to clean up, I thought you could use the help," he replied. "Besides, I had a question for you."
"If you are planning on asking me out again, Tom, the answer is still no. With all do respect, I like you as a teammate and a friend, but that is all." The happiness that was upon Eileen's face during the Gobstones Team practice faded into a stern look of annoyance.
"Believe me, Eileen, you have made yourself quite clear." Tom looked only slightly disappointed. "I did however have a question entirely unrelated to my feelings for you."
Tom walked over to a long table and picked Eileen's gobstone bag up and handed it to her, the Great Hall once again returned to its former glory and effectively deodorized. They walked out of the Great Hall, Tom holding the door for her. She blushed slightly.
"You had a question, Tom" she said lightly as they walked back to the Slytherin common room.
"I was wondering what you planned on doing after you completed your education here."
"I… well…" she was bright red, the most color that has ever been in her face.
"It cannot be that bad," Tom pushed. She stopped in her tracks and turned to face the wall, her face mere inches away. Tom put a hand on her shoulder.
"Promise me," she said softly, not looking away from the cold bricks. "Promise me that you won't tell anyone."
"You are a great witch, one of the best in our year. Except me of course," he smirked. "I'm sure it is nothing to be asham-"
"I am not ashamed," she said loudly as she whipped around to face him.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean…" Now it was he who was turning red. Eileen was one of the few people who could disarm him.
"I know, its just… Tom, you know how the other Slytherin's are. They are so proud of their blood status, like a badge of honor. No one can see it, but they still polish it with their convictions. And you, you are proud to be a wizard, are you not?"
"Absolutely."
"I am, too. A proud Slytherin. I am proud to be a part of Salazar Slytherin's noble house, where the students strive to attain greatness."
"Whatever the cost," Tom added.
"Exactly," Eileen said blushing again. She moved down the hall to a bench and took a seat. "Exactly. When I was young, Tom, my parents enrolled me in an academy. They wanted me to have a full well rounded education. Complete with all of the reading, writing and mathematics. I learned science and Shakespeare. I learned capitals and calculations. When my Hogwarts letter arrived, my parents gave me a choice. Again, Tom, a secret. Can you keep it?"
"Of course."
"Do I want to go to Hogwarts or do I want to continue school. I said I wanted both. I knew something of the wizarding world being raised in a pure blood family, so when I was in school I started to see… connections. Connections between history and wizarding history. Connections between science and potion brewing."
"So what, you obviously chose Hogwarts."
"But I didn't really. I did choose both. I talked to my professors and was told I had to petition with Headmaster Dippet. I did and I got this," Eileen said as she pulled out a slight gold chain weighted by a heavy circular hourglass configuration from her pocket.
"Is that a-?"
"Time turner," she said, answering Tom before he could even finish. "It is how I have been getting to classes all year. I turn it back the amount of time I need and then I am able to repeat classes here at school. At the end of the day, once I finish my homework, I turn it back again while with Dippet and I go to Muggle school."
"You must be joking!" Tom sneered at her. "Muggle school? What could you possibly learn there that would be of the slightest use to you?"
"Plenty. You used to be top of the class in potions Tom, who holds that spot now?"
"You do," he said sheepishly.
"And history of magic?"
"You again."
"Arithmancy?"
"I know where you are going with this…"
"Muggle studies?"
"That class doesn't even count," Tom rolled his eyes.
"It does Tom. This is a world we share with Muggles, unless they are all gone, that is something you have to accept, and I don't see them leaving the planet any time soon. Do you?"
Tom didn't answer her. He stared at the ground, toeing a loose stone with his foot.
"Does it really help with arithmancy?" He was still staring at the floor, despite once again engaging in conversation.
"Yes, the higher level maths really help, especially coupled with your sciences like physics."
"You sound like lunatic. Come on, before we get in trouble for being out of bed." He held out a hand and pulled her to her feet. "So how exactly did taking Muggle classes help you get ahead of me in potions, I mean. You were always a great potioneer, but now… Now you could practically teach the class."
"Well, Tom," she said walking beside him down the stairs to the dungeons to their common room. "In this one class, chemistry, we learned about elements. Elements make up everything. Take our quill ink for example. It is composed of a soot like powder mixed with water. The soot is carbon. The carbon comes from living things like plants and trees that had been burned or decayed. Carbon is also inside rocks, and birds, and you and me. You know those tablets we get in hospital when we are sick. They also contain carbon. But when they are confronted by an acid, like vinegar, they bubble up. The acid and the carbon interact. They create carbon dioxide and a byproduct from the additives."
"Chemistry."
"Chemistry, yes." They entered their common room, which was quiet and empty. Sitting on the couch, they relaxed. "So with chemistry and botany and science in general, I got a better understanding of what exactly in potion ingredients were interacting, and therefore what was to be expected. In chemistry, you need to balance your equations. If you have 6 of compound A, you might need 4 of compound B in order for them to react in full."
"For example?"
"Okay, for example. Remember a few weeks ago when we had practice after lunch before herbology?
"Yes."
"Remember how before class you remarked that you weren't feeling well?"
"Yeah, a little light headed."
"Well, maybe this might help. Did you know that plants breathe?"
"Again, Eileen, you are sounding like a lunatic.
"Plants breathe, Tom. 6CO2 plus 6H2O with a bit of sunlight is converted to C6H12O6 and 6O2." Seeing the blank look on his face, she explained further. "6 carbon dioxide, which is what we breathe out, combines with 6 waters. Energy from the sun helps to convert them to sugar, which is energy for plants and 6 oxygens which is what we breathe. Make sense?"
"Barely. So plants breathe in what we breathe out and then breathe out what we breathe in and they make sugar?" Tom was still looking confused.
"Basically. But you can't have just one carbon dioxide and 4 water, it has to be 6 and 6. Balanced. It is the same with potions. In order for your potions to turn out right you have to use up all of your ingredients, and they have to be pure."
"I think I understand the concept, not that I can even begin to understand why you would choose this situation."
"So to your original question, Tom, I have given it a fair bit of thought. Again, I am asking for your discretion. I have decided to go to university for a couple of years."
"University?" Tom stopped at the top of the stairs to the dungeons, as if the news would topple him down them in a heap, before continuing down.
"I was accepted at University College of London to study Chemistry."
"University?" He said again, scowling as he said the words, as if they left a foul taste in his mouth.
"Why do you say it like that, Tom?"
"No, honestly, I guess, that is… um…"
"Thank you, Tom, I know it is a great decision on my part," she said slightly upset as they left the hallway and entered their dormitory and proceeded to the couch, Tom taking a seat beside her.
"Not exactly what I was thinking but, after that, what are you going to do?"
"Why Tom?" she was getting tired of the questioning.
"I... just… I'm curious, is all. I mean... What about Slytherin traditions?"
"I am a good witch, Tom. I just want to be better." She stood and walked toward the girls chambers. "We don't have to love Muggles, but we have to respect them. They are smart and beautiful creatures just like wizards, Tom."
At this Tom stood. "You can't be serious!"
"We can learn a lot from them. Good night, Tom"
As Eileen casually strode into the girls chambers, Tom stood fuming. The first person who could disarm him, and the first person who he ever felt that he would want to protect has just, ever so casually, professed to him the value of Muggles. The worst of it was that she had a few valuable points. No matter to him of course, she was still a valuable witch. If Tom didn't know himself better, he would have said that he loved that witch (2), whom he watched scribbling notes into her copy of Advanced Potion-Making while in class in tall fine curling print.
As the school year wound to a close, he found himself watching Eileen Prince more and more. The pure-blooded witch had him captivated as if under a spell. His head was fuzzy each time he thought of the fact that she was to be attending a Muggle university, essentially abandoning the wizarding world for which she showed so much talent. His own ambition of returning to Hogwarts, winning her over, controlling her was shutting around him.
When the day finally came, they graduated, each having taken their NEWTs without having said another word to the other. She was nearly lost to him. After graduation, she had actually slipped out of the common room without even saying goodbye. She had packed her trunk and made her way out of the school to await the rest of the students to join her at the black lake and take the ride across in the boats that first bore them to Hogwarts. Tom watched her from the doorway, standing around alone with the rest of Slytherin House joking behind him as they packed for the summer. Her pale skin was porcelain in the sunlight, and every once in a while Tom would see a smile crack across her face. He sighed as he returned to the school to seek out Headmaster Dippet, knowing that the there is an opening for the Defence Against the Dark Arts post, hopeful that this will not be the last time that they see each other.
Chapter Notes
The copy of Advanced Potion Making that Snape had is said to be around 50 years old, with how well loved it was, premature aging would be a result, however care would be taken to slow it over time. Snape would love this book, a link to his mother and care for it. Therefore, you may as well tack on a few years. As Eileen Prince's birth year is based on estimates from knowledge of the book and when she gave birth to Severus Snape, it is safe to say that it is in the realm of possibility that she and Tom Riddle may have gone to school together.
Tom Riddle loving another being has already been debunked as he was conceived under Amortentia and love spells. However, it is not out of the realm of possibility that he could confuse feelings of love, even mistake his want to possess and control Eileen as that of love.
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