It had been two weeks, but they hadn't talked since that day. She had shown up to patrols every night, but never spoken to him, not even in response to the insensitive comments he threw at her in hopes of provoking her. She had partnered with Orion for potions by getting him to ask Slughorn for extra help. She had avoided Tom in the rest of their classes too, moving to the back of the room so that he would stop throwing notes at her. She had stopped studying in the library and instead moved to the common room, which was always too full for Tom to be able to talk to her discreetly.

But she had also stopped going to parties and drinking every night. She had told Parkinson that she thought he was annoying and didn't want to see him any longer. Avery had been angry on Tuesday, because she'd told him he was far too boring for her and she was tired of his complaining.

She still has the boys who do her homework. She still has the boys who sit around her at meals and flatter her all the time and want her desperately, but she no longer seems interested in their attention.

She won't talk to him, and that infuriates Tom. She never replies to the notes he sends her or meets him after classes. He can't stand it. He realizes that no matter what he does, he can't help but be distracted by her. He hasn't spent any time on his horcruxes this year. Now that she is temporarily ignoring him, he spends a few hours everyday in the library trying to focus on researching possible objects.

It's Saturday morning. Vera comes down for breakfast around 8 to enjoy the nearly empty Great Hall. Tom comes down a few minutes later and, upon seeing the empty space next to Vera, sits down near her. Apart from a few first years chatting loudly at the other end, they are the only ones at the table.

Vera doesn't say anything, so he doesn't either. He does glance over at her and notice that the dark circles under her eyes have gotten worse. He wonders why Vera Sinclair, who always seems so happy and alive, isn't able to sleep; it must be why she came down early. Perhaps she is having nightmares like he does. He wants to ask, but he doesn't want to be the first one to give in and speak, unless it is for an insult about who she had slept with the night before.

Vera's owl flies down to her suddenly. She takes the letters from it and then glances at each one, spreading them out on the table next to her. He looks down and notices that one letter is from her parents, one from Nico, and one from Dante.

She is nearly done eating when Slughorn walks in. He smiles as he stands across the table from them. For a minute, Tom assumes Slughorn has come to bother him about a Slug Club meeting. Instead, Slughorn says, "Ah, Ms. Sinclair! Exactly the person I was looking for. Have you seen the Daily Prophet yet today?"

"No, professor. I hate to read the news first thing in the morning, it has a way of putting a damper on my day," she says with a smile.

Slughorn smiles back, "Well, there's an article here on the son of the Aleksi family – it seems as if he's donated 5 percent of his trust to the Universal Wizarding Education fund – and it mentions that your family knows his. The author also seems to think he'll be the next Italian Minister of Magic."

Her eyes widen, "Oh, Dante! Five percent – that would be around five million galleons I believe. Yes, I've known Dante since we were children, and yes, he does have goals to be the next Italian Minister of Magic. Actually, he's already gotten a job assisting the current minister next year. "

When Tom heard the figure, he couldn't quite believe that one person even had that much money, let alone twenty times that much. And that was just for until he inherited the family fortune.

Slughorn's smile widens, "It would seem that you two are close."

"Very. He's just sent me a letter. It was his eighteenth birthday yesterday. Probably complaining that I forgot, since I haven't sent him his gift yet." Vera notices Tom's annoyance, which makes her smirk grow as she continues, "Actually, perhaps I'll ask him to visit me for his birthday instead. It would be much nicer to give him his gift in person. Perhaps you'll get to meet him."

Slughorn seems almost overcome with happiness as he says, "That would be quite nice."

After Slughorn is gone, Vera summons a quill and parchment. She tears open the letter from her parents and reads it quickly before beginning to write. Tom hears her whisper, "This is just too perfect."

"What's too perfect?" Tom asks smoothly, hoping she will answer. She just glares at him. She opens Dante's letter next and writes a reply which isn't nearly as rushed as the one to her parents. He notices that she hasn't touched Nico's letter yet before she gets up and walks away.

The school is buzzing with rumors the next Friday night. Tom doesn't much care to hear them until he hears someone mention Vera. She still hasn't talked to him. In fact, she's been even more distant during their patrols, walking at least three feet away from him at all times. He had grabbed her arm and tried to say something to her after their last meeting with the headmaster, but she'd said a curse that threw him back against the wall and then walked away before he could curse her back.

The girl sitting next to him in Charms is gossiping in the middle of the lesson on Friday afternoon. He hates the fact that Vera had moved away from him only because it seems as if the the stupid girls in his classes have taken it as an invitation to sit next to him.

"Everyone's saying Vera's gotten her boyfriend to visit her," the Hufflepuff girl bubbled. "Apparently he's Italian, and rich, and very powerful. Oh, I can't wait for Hogsmeade! Perhaps I'll be able to steal him away, he sounds absolutely perfect."

The girl next to her giggles, "Steal him away from Vera? Like any boy in his right mind would leave her. Still, even a glimpse of him would give me something to dream about!"

The other girl huffs, "Vera is not all that amazing."

Tom rolls his eyes and hisses, "Would you shut up?"

The girls look at him, their eyes wide, before turning back to Flitwick quietly. He wants to tell them that Vera is that amazing, but he wouldn't want anyone to think he actually has feelings for her.

Their next class is potions with the Ravenclaws. Tom makes a point of rushing ahead and catching up with Vera, who is always the first to leave Charms and the first to get to Potions on Tuesdays. As they walk into the room, Tom smirks because Slughorn is not there. He reaches out and grabs Vera's arm, pulling her toward the table they had shared only a few weeks ago.

"You are sitting with me from now on," he hisses into her ear. "I am tired of having to deal with these insipid fools that bother me with their mindless talk."

She tries to move away from him, but he won't let go. She turns her head to look him in the eyes as she says, "I thought I already demonstrated what would happen if you touched me again."

"Everyone else will be here in a few seconds, and if you don't sit down I will tell them all that you are engaged," he smirks as her facial expression changes to resentment. She takes the seat she has been avoiding for the last few weeks, a wave of impassiveness washing over her face. Tom sits down next to her as everyone fills in.

Tom may have been able to force Vera to sit next to him again, but he had hardly been able to force her to speak to him in a polite tone. They insulted each other at least once a class, but Vera made a point to say very little else and to sit as far away from him as possible while still being at the same table. Tom made a point of touching her whenever he had the chance and insulting her at least ten times a class so that he could get her to at least acknowledge his presence.

He's having dinner on Monday night. Vera is conspicuously absent, so he has been forced to actually pay attention to Black, Avery, Nott and Rosier's babbling for once.

"So, Orion, has Vera told you any good news lately? You know, seeing as you two are such good friends," Rosier asks.

Black frowns, wary of answering for fear of evoking Tom's anger, "No, she has not."

"Oh, right, she's hardly spoken to you in the last few days. Fallen out of favor?" Nott butts in.

Rosier glares at Nott before continuing, "Have you noticed any new jewelry? Perhaps she's been wearing a new ring?"

Black stares up at him, "Why would I care if she'd gotten new jewelry?"

"Well, there are rumors – actually, an odd lot of them, which even some professors seem to believe – that Vera's engaged to that Italian bloke who visited her last weekend. I thought I'd ask Slughorn, since he actually met the bloke, but he wouldn't say anything to confirm them. Of course, he was smiling and he didn't say they weren't true, so I figure they probably are."

Nott laughs bitterly, "Poor bloke. Probably doesn't realize that she's been seeing half of Hogwarts for the last few years."

"Well, she isn't seeing anyone at Hogwarts right now. And everyone that saw them together at Hogsmeade claims that they looked quite happy – in love even. I mean, it isn't as if none of us knew that Vera was bound to be engaged soon. She's a very eligible young witch with amazing looks, is actually smart, and has the purest blood in Hogwarts. Her parents were bound to have someone to promise her to before she finished school," Rosier retorts.

"Vera? In love? No such thing. Any bloke here will tell you that she's a heartless bitch. Probably just dealing with him because she has to – the engagement is probably all her parents doing," Avery says.

Tom finishes his food quickly and leaves before he has to listen to any more of this.

He can't help but to ask while they're on patrol. The entire castle is quiet, but he feels as if there are people screaming inside of his head. He knows she's been engaged all along, but it had been to a bloke she hated too much to ever willingly marry. Now, it's supposedly to Dante, and for some reason he doesn't like the idea that she may actually love the man she has to marry.

"So..." Tom starts, unsure how to phrase his question without sounding too interested in the matter.

"Don't bother asking," Vera says briskly. She holds her left hand up in the light for him to see. Surely enough, a diamond glitters on her ring finger.

"And how'd you manage that?"

"Very simple actually. I wrote a letter to my parents informing them of what the Daily Prophet had said about Dante. Then we had a bit of a … discussion about who the most advisable match would be, and I persuaded them over to my side with two very simple points. Dante and I can actually hold a conversation that's longer than five minutes and therefore would be much more likely to have a successful marriage. And, unlike Nico, Dante has a very bright mind and is determined to do something with it, which will guarantee us plenty of fame and fortune on top of our inheritances. The story was just the thing to convince them that a marriage to Nico would be disadvantageous. I believe he was quite angry. Dante sent a letter to them asking for my hand and they approved, so he came down Saturday to give me the ring and ask me himself."

"How romantic," Tom says sarcastically.

Vera giggles at his tone, "I suspect you are just angry because now you have nothing to hold over me, as after today the entire castle will have realized I am engaged."

"And did you happen to tell your new fiancé that you had sex with me even though you are apparently madly in love with him?" Tom asks edgily.

She smiles, "Well, that was before I was committed to him, wasn't it?"

"I don't think he would see it quite so simply," Tom points out.

"I don't intend for him to learn about that," Vera says icily.

"Then I do believe I still have something to hold over you. And this is actually much worse for you than the last secret."

"But, you see Tom, I know you will never tell. You will never admit you were weak enough to fall for my charms," she responds with a smirk. He stays quite because he knows what she said was true. "But don't worry, I've gotten over being angry at you, just as you have no doubt gotten over being attracted to me. We can continue as we were before we got involved and simply spend the remaining few months at school picking at each other again."

Vera Sinclair is back to her usual self. She is back to laughing at Tom Riddle when she makes a potion or masters a spell quicker than he has and insulting him whenever possible. She is back to charming the boys who surround her everyday – though most of them now know that she will never do anything with them – and making the girls jealous. She is back to being the queen of the school. And it looks like Dante is angling to make himself her king.

"Apparently Vera's got her fiance visiting her at Hogsmeade again this weekend," Rosier drawls. "Did you see the ring? It's huge. Has to be worth at least 25,000 galleons."

Tom and his followers are sitting in the library. Tom doesn't reply as he polishes off the last sentence of his essay.

In her room, Vera is laying on the bed. She has a Ravenclaw doing her potions essay, and one Slytherin doing her Charms homework while another does her Transfiguration essay. Ever since she'd learned a spell that let her make any handwriting look like her own in her third year, she'd spent very little time on actually doing any work herself. After that, she had kept herself entertained with parties and such – but now that she is actually engaged, she can't do that anymore, and therefore is incredibly bored. She sighs and stands up. Perhaps she will go to the library and try to find a book to read since she feels like learning a little something about history.

When Vera walk in, Avery says, "Look, the little witch has decided to grace us with her presence." Tom knows that Avery is still angry that Vera said she never really cared for him. Since the day she had stopped seeing him, he hasn't stopped launching insults her way – at least the kinds of insults his dull brain could come up with.

Tom stands suddenly, saying he needs to go get a book for his Transfiguration essay.

"I figured you would follow me. Come to get revenge for my comments during potions today? I really didn't think it was that awful – until Dumbledore explained to me just why you would have launched that stunning spell at me right after," Vera says as she sees him entering the row of bookshelves she is in.

He flinches as he remembers what she had said to him while they were making a love potion in class. He'd nearly forgotten about that. Despite her words, she offers him no apology. He remains silent, pretending he is looking for a book even though he knows that he doesn't need one from this section of the library.

"I didn't mean it by the way – what with your looks, you would never need a love potion to make a girl fall for you," Vera says softly, finally looking up at him. She did actually feel incredibly bad for bringing up the memory of his mother.

He stares at her coldly, "Well, apparently you weren't charmed."

She laughs but then suddenly looks away. She recognizes this as one of those vulnerable moments where they are both apt to admit and do things they will regret, and she wants to be careful, but his charming blue eyes can be so disarming sometimes. "I think I can actually stand living with Dante. Anyway, I can't screw it up this time, otherwise my parents will just send me back to Nico. I've got to be the perfect little angel, at least until July."

"July?" he asks, his unsettling stare unwavering.

"We're getting married in July. It's a bit rushed, but my mother will arrange everything so it isn't as if I have to worry about that."

"You sound quite happy," Tom says calmly.

She smiles bitterly, "As happy as I'll ever be. Tell me Tom, did you ever actually feel anything for me?"

He refuses to answer. She looks around and, upon seeing that nobody is near them, walks closer to him.

"I want an answer," Vera whispers. He still doesn't say anything. She walks closer, only a few inches separating them now. She repeats the same thing. He looks at her again, but his mouth is still closed tightly. She moves closer again, only an inch between them now. He still won't say anything. He feels her body pressing against his as she takes the last step toward him.

Their lips almost brush as she asks, "Well, did you?"

He can't hold back anymore. As she sees the glint in his eyes, she assumes he will either storm away or yell at her. Maybe he will even try to duel her. After all, she has surely exceeded her quota for annoying Tom without him cursing her and she is pretty sure those Amortentia comments had earned her enough of his contempt to last all month. Maybe if he didn't feel like dueling he would come up with a searing comment that would have her running off nearly in tears again instead – something about how no one would ever care for someone as useless as her.

Instead, he does the last thing she expects him to do. He wraps his arms around her waist, pulling her closer and lifting her up a bit so that he can press his lips against hers. She tries to pull away, but he doesn't loosen his hold on her. He forces her lips open and explores her mouth with his tongue, holding her tightly.

After he lets go of her lips to take a breath, Vera says, "Don't do that again."

"You tempted me," he responds, smirking down at her. She looks away from him and reaches back to try to remove his arms. He realizes he doesn't want her to go, so he answers, "What if I actually did feel something for you? Would that change things?"

Her arms drop to her side, hopeless, lost. Tom is the last boy who should feel anything for her. That's why she thought he was such a safe bet for her last fling before married life kicked in. That's why she hadn't stopped him the second he had first kissed her in that hallway. She had been craving an escape from feelings, and she had thought he could take her mind off them – he, the boy who she was sure felt nothing but hatred.

Vera resists the urge to fall back into him, to fall back into something that means nothing and yet feels so good. She knows his words are just an empty attempt to own her again, because what else can they be for a boy like him?

"I love Dante," she says, pushing his arms away.

"He doesn't have to know," Tom whispers wickedly in her ear.

Vera shakes her head and walks away from him.

A/N: I made a mistake :( The character I had as Regulus Black for the first chapter and the last one is supposed to be Orion Black. I changed it for consistency with the timeline. So, when I refer to anyone with the last name Black in this story I mean Orion Black, Sirius and Regulus' father.

Funny story, I actually edited this a while back, then I started school and totally forgot that I had already finished it. So here it is now. I'm really hoping I'm staying true to Tom's character. Even though I'm trying to show him changing and having emotions, I don't want that to take away from his canon role. Please let me know if you think anything is out of character!

I would really appreciate any feedback you guys have on character development, so please review :)