The New Professor
Chapter One
The London air was thick with smog that day. She remembered this day, for two reasons. One, because it was her last year at Hogwarts, and two, because it was the day she met him.
Bellatrix Black stared out of the window of her train compartment, watching the land figures blur together. She disregarded whatever Rodolphus Lestrange, her intended, had commented to Lucius Malfoy. The boys were speaking animatedly over some matter that seemed of little importance to her then.
Rodolphus wasn't bad looking, with dark locks, a pale complexion, and mud-colored eyes, but he wasn't her type. He was tall, burly, and handled his body as if he didn't know how much space he actually took up. Bella didn't necessarily dislike him; she was arranged into this soon-to-be marriage by her parents, at the age of ten, as was the pureblood way of betrothal.
Lucius was, in her opinion, very annoying. Her little sister was too good for him, she concluded, rolling her brown eyes as he nearly bought the whole trolley of candy from the plump witch pushing it around.
The woman politely asked Bellatrix if she wanted anything, but Bella gently declined. Instead, she took a strand of raven hair, winding and unwinding it around her pointer finger. Rodolphus smiled at Bellatrix through a mouth of Chocolate Frog, making her internally grimace.
She had been sitting alone, so how she managed to end up with a compartment with two boys, she'd never know. Well, for the most part. Rodolphus trailed around behind her like a lost puppy, and Lucius followed Bella around, hoping he'd catch a glimpse of Narcissa. Unfortunately for him, Narcissa was in another spot, presumably with her friends.
The topics the boys spoke of shifted easily and comfortably, but the ravenette stayed quiet, listening, yet hearing very little as she meandered through her thoughts.
At least until they spoke of a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.
"He's very wise. Supports pureblood superiority and traveled the continent, I've heard," Lucius murmured, looking around to see if anyone was outside the sliding door.
"Did you hear those stories about him? The ones where they say he's incredibly gifted with magic? I've heard he's invented his own spells, and mastered wandless conjuring, too!" Rodolphus whispered, quite excitedly.
Bella's curiosity piqued at this. Who was this new teacher?
"What's his name?" Bella asked quietly, her first comment, excluding greetings.
"Tom. Tom Riddle. I've seen his picture hanging up in the Trophy Room at Hogwarts. Apparently he was also head boy," Rodolphus replied, looking over at her sweetly.
Malfoy shook his head at the two and rolled his blue eyes. Suddenly, he jumped up when the sliding door was flung open with force. There stood a very tall man with dark hair and ashen eyes. He looked calm, collected, and very slick in his wizard robes.
Bella stood up, ready to shout at whoever had dared to enter the compartment so rudely- until she looked into his eyes. This, she realized, was Tom Riddle. What was he doing here?
Suddenly, he turned to look at her. He smirked and stuck out his hand for her to shake. When she took it, he had a firm grip, and enough charisma in his winning smile to have her at his feet.
"You're a Black, I can tell by your face. Hmm, let me guess. Bellatrix Black?"
Bella nodded, blushing a bit, "Quite right, Sir," She squeaked.
The handshake felt like forever to her, when, in its entirety, lasted only a couple of seconds.
Bella thought then that he must be very educated in the pureblood lines. It struck her that Riddle was a rather muggle-sounding surname. He obviously wasn't a pureblood.
Still, she looked at his handsome face and thought, he carries himself well enough to be one, with the confidence and all.
She felt an attraction toward him, one that pulled her to the edge of her seat, wanting to hear more words leave his lips, wanting to hear her name spill from them.
Her cheeks darkened again, and before she knew it, his attention was focused on the other males in the compartment.
"Lestrange. Malfoy. Nice to see you're on board again this year. I trust you'll be joining your fathers in working soon?" His authoritative tone rang through the coach.
"That is right, Sir," and "Yes, of course, Sir," They answered.
Rodolphus seemed a little nervous, while Lucius seemed to have false bravery. Bella could tell by the way he shook Riddle's hand limply, his face paling.
"Well, I had come hoping you boys would be alone, as we have some things to discuss… But seeing that we have a lady present, I will save our meeting for another time," Riddle spoke smoothly.
Bella tried not to look disappointed as he left the compartment, and she knew this year would be a long one.
When the ride was over and they had made their ways to Hogwarts Castle, Bella sat down at the Slytherin table with Rodolphus. Malfoy was sitting with the young Narcissa, and they were chatting away. The First-years had been sorted already, and so the feast began. She stayed mostly quiet, only commenting here and there.
Bella glanced up at the professor's table, noting that Tom Riddle stared back at her. She felt a ringing pain in her head then, but thought it to be a simple headache. Rodolphus offered to walk her to the infirmary, but she gently declined, wanting to get away from all the noise, including him.
Slowly, she excused herself from the table, still holding the place she had felt the sting. It was still present as she left.
She traveled slowly down corridors, hoping to get to the dungeons and settle down in her bed with her cat, Altair. He had been with Narcissa on the ride over, but he was definitely Bella's cat. As a child, her sister Andromeda had closed his tail in a door- leaving the poor creature with only a stub. The tuxedo cat had been a gift to Bella from her father, who had said she needed company while at school in her first year.
She smiled at the thought of Altair when he was a kitten and depended solely on her. He still quite did, but now he could at least hunt for himself.
As she was about to reach the common room, she felt a presence behind her. Not heard at all, but felt. She listened for footsteps, but none were audible. Whoever was behind her had incredible magic, and more importantly, was following her.