Meg's second encounter with Tom Riddle happened a few weeks later, early one cold October morning.
"Blast!" Meg exclaimed, suddenly waking to an empty dorm room. She had just caught a glimpse at her antique pocket watch on her nightstand, which bore the terrible news that she had overslept by an hour, and was now late for class. She quickly pulled on her Slytherin uniform.
She was halfway out the portrait when she realized, with a jolt, that she had lost her book bag the previous evening. She thought it over for a minute, then remembered that she had left it in the library while studying the history of Belladonna.
She sprinted towards the library, hardly noticing the lack of shoe and sock on her left foot. Once she reached the big, musty smelling library, she ran to the shelf labeled 'Deadly Foliage' and found her all-important canvas duffel bag. She was immensely relieved until she looked at the nearest clock. Half-past nine. Not. Good.
She was dead-set on running down to the potions classroom, when she passed a solitary figure lounging nonchalantly in one of the library's plush armchairs. In fact… she tripped over its foot.
"Ouch!" she cried out as her head struck the Persian carpet that barely covered a hardwood floor. She glared daggers at whoever she had just tripped over. What she saw was a very taken aback Tom Riddle.
"I'm sorry," he offered, helping her up. "I didn't exactly count on crossing paths with a speeding bullet."
"Well," she huffed, looking affronted. "Wait - what are you doing up here, anyway? It's time for potions."
He looked out of sorts for a moment, then got an expression of bemused enjoyment. "R-really?" he said, holding back laughter. "Do you, by any chance, know what day it is?"
"No," she answered, furrowing her brow in confusion. "Should I?"
"Probably," he replied, "seeing as it's Sunday."
Canvas bag - 1 galleon
School books - 30 galleons, 5 sickles, 2 knuts
One shoe - 12 sickles
Meg's expression - priceless
Meg crashed into the nearest chair, sighing heavily. "So I didn't have to get up early this morning?"
Tom laughed. "I'm afraid not."
They sat in companionable silence for the rest of the afternoon, reading to themselves.
Maybe, Meg thought to herself, that Tom's not so bad, after all.
