A/N Thank you for reviewing Laura Kay and Mavidian.
Not that I am not happy to keep writing for those two, but if anyone else is reading this kindly hit the little blue button on the bottom and let me know.
Just waiting to see if I get some feedback on this or the last chapter before posting the next few chapters.
I fear by taking the story slowly most of my earlier readers have lost interest, but there is a point to it. I'm trying to make it so you can actually understand the cause and effect, the reasoning behind at least some of the choices individuals made and in doing so believe the choices to actually be just that, choices freely made.
*******************************************
The bedchamber door opened slowly. Whether it was done slowly in an attempt to be cunning or just trying not to alarm anyone already in the room, well that just wasn't a distinction mirrors are usually called upon to make.
The five boys roomed here were all in class, which was really where the Head Boy ought to have been as well. Instead, Tom Riddle was checking behind the bed drapes and the window curtains, under the beds, inside the wardrobes, and even inside the trunks.
When Tom called her name, Kitten didn't come. But then she was an exceptionally clever little kitten and even a not-at-all clever kitten learned quickly not to answer to a stranger's calls in a Slytherin dormitory.
The boy's body language seemed frustrated at being outwitted by a kitten, but his voice remained gentle as he continued his attempts to coax her from her hiding spot. Admitting defeat, he returned to the door, but hesitated there. He headed back into the room and bent down to carefully examine the fireplace. A quick word and a wave of his wand began a fire in the empty grate.
Later when the room's other residents returned from their classes, they would find it quite odd to have a fire going on such a warm spring day. The little kitten on the other hand, found the warm fire quite inviting. She waited a while in case the dark haired boy was planning to return, but eventually the temptation became too great. After carefully working her way down from her hiding spot on top of a bed canopy, the little kitten circled twice before curling her tail around her body and settling contentedly in front of the fire.
*******************************************
The next morning when Tom Riddle returned, he didn't bother searching the room. He did again try coaxing Kitten out, but she was not so easily won over.
As the house elves often clean the bedchambers in the middle of the day when the students were supposed to be in classes, Tom was able to notice the few gray hairs that had been shed before the fireplace. He again lit the fireplace before leaving.
This time the kitten's resolve didn't last nearly as long after Riddle's departure.
********************************************
The following morning Tom Riddle didn't leave the room after lighting the fireplace. Instead he drew a chair with his wand and set it a more than respectable distance from the hearth. He summoned a saucer of milk and placed it near the hearth before seating himself.
Did this boy never go to classes?
The fire had shifted a number of times and the room had become unbearably warm, but still Tom remained motionless. When the kitten's desire finally overwhelmed her sense of apprehension, only Tom's eyes moved as he discovered her secret hiding place in the mirror's reflection. As the kitten hesitantly approached, his lips moved into a smile.
Giving the chair a wide berth on her way to the hearth, the kitten's caution was by no means gone. Never taking her gray eyes off of the form in the chair before her, the kitten sniffed the saucer of milk but would not drink it. Instead, she sat down by the fire still appearing tensed to bolt at the slightest movement.
Tom's protest, "I assure you, it is not poisoned," only seemed to settle the kitten's resolve not to touch the saucer's contents.
As careful as Tom was not to move suddenly, when he approached the saucer himself the kitten still shifted to four legs and with a high pitched yowl arched her back. Tom picked up the saucer and tipped it to his own mouth in an attempt to demonstrate the contents were not harmful. Only after Tom set the saucer back down and returned to his chair did the kitten return to a sitting position. The kitten observed him intently for several minutes before approaching the saucer. Even then the kitten was only willing to take a few tentative laps at the milk before again backing away.
Tom's lips curled at the small progress. Before slowly standing and making his way to the door, he spoke.
"I must go now, but would you like me to come visit you again tomorrow, Kitten?"
When the kitten didn't react negatively, Tom's smile grew. As Tom rose slowly from his chair, the kitten tensed but she remained seated. Her eyes remained fixed on him as he made his way across the room.
After the door closed behind him the kitten relaxed considerably and sampled the milk eagerly.
*********************************************
Tom found the kitten's behavior odd the next day. She came down from her hiding spot quickly enough to curl up by the fire, but she would not accept the milk he offered.
After he sampled the milk himself he sat on the floor and leaned back against the chair he had summoned. The kitten eyed him suspiciously for a minute before she too sampled the milk. She paused for a few minutes as if waiting to see if anything would happen. Finally satisfied, she continued with the saucer before her.
The chair wasn't pulled back as far today as it had been the day before. Sitting in front of it instead of on it brought Tom Riddle even closer to the kitten. Moving slowly, trying not to take the kitten's concentration off of the saucer of milk before her, Tom reached out to caress her fur. Looking up, the kitten was startled to see the hand approaching and dove under the nearest bed. With his wand he could have easily moved the bed aside, but the angry, frightened sounds coming from under the bed when he approached advised against it.
Tom frowned as he returned to his seat. Within a few minutes the noises stopped, but half an hour later when Riddle finally left, the kitten still had not come out from under the bed.
*****************************************************
The next day was a Saturday so it wasn't likely Tom Riddle would have found the room empty as easily if he had tried to visit the kitten then. As it turned out, he had no need to return to Thomas McGonagall's room on Saturday to visit the kitten.
Friday afternoon it must have been the loud commotion coming from the room Thomas McGonagall shared with four other boys that prompted a passing Tom Riddle to go in for an earlier visit. When Tom Riddle entered the room he found several profusely bleeding boys gathered around another young boy triumphantly holding a writhing pillow case. By the overturned furniture and the deep gashes to the boys' arms and faces it wasn't too difficult to figure out what had been going on. Seeing Riddle's raised eyebrow, a sixth year explained.
"We are going to bring the giant squid a playmate."
Tom quickly assessed the situation while the Mulciber boy spoke.
"I've seen what you've done to some of the Gryffindor pets who have wandered into the dungeons. Surely you don't object to us showing that muggle what we think of him and his kind?"
"Not at all." Tom replied sincerely. "But a better way to do it is to put McGonagall in a sack and throw him into the lake. He can usually be found in the library about now. He's easy to spot, he's the only one ever in the muggle book section."
Tom gave the group around him an appraising look before continuing.
"If you have never been in the library before just listen for that sound he makes with his teeth. You will find him easily enough."
Tom held out his hand for the writhing sack. When the boy holding it reluctantly handed it over, Tom added another thought.
"Don't forget to put something heavy in with him so he sinks to the bottom. And Goyle, go see the school nurse. It looks like you almost lost that eye."
Once the others had left, Tom headed to the door still carrying the moving pillowcase. He nearly walked right into Thomas McGonagall when the younger boy entered the room. How the departing band of imbeciles had managed to miss him was as impossible to say as why they thought those hair styles looked good on them.
"You're back early."
Thomas looked at the pillow case in Tom's hand and the destruction of the room, but he didn't comment on either.
"While I was in the library I wrote another letter to send home. I need to get a stamp from my trunk so I can mail it."
Tom raised his eyebrow but didn't bother to contradict Thomas.
"Kitten had a problem with your roommates today. I am going to keep her out of the way in my rooms for a while."
Tom paused, perhaps waiting to see if the younger man would object. Thomas just shrugged and continued manually searching the room's ruins for his trunk.
Halfway out the door, Tom turned around.
"By the way, when you are done here head back to the library. Some of the others went there to look for you. They wanted to give you a proper tour of the grounds and the lake."
#####################################################
He shuddered when the young man entered the room with a small bundle. Would the other children never learn to keep a tighter reign upon their familiars? When the young man carefully set the sack on the bed the already traumatized kitten inside immediately worked her way out and hid under the bed. That the young man made no attempt to stop her did not at all reassure him. It was not at all unusual for the young man to 'play' with the creatures that meant so much to others before he finally disposed of them. When the young man lit the fireplace on that warm spring day, he was thankful his eyes were not angled to see the horrors he knew were to come.
His confusion didn't begin when the young man summoned a saucer of milk. Rather it began when the young man didn't add anything to the milk and took a sip himself.
It was long past nightfall before the kitten risked leaving the security of the bed's underside. Even though the young man remained motionless she still darted back under the bed as soon as the saucer was emptied. Before preparing for bed the young man refilled the saucer. At some point in the early morning hours that too was consumed.
The young man spent almost the whole weekend in his bedchamber. By the end of Saturday the little kitten ventured out from the bed to curl up in front of the fire. She still didn't seem entirely relaxed, but by Sunday afternoon she actually approached close enough to sniff the young man's hand.
On Monday after the young man departed for his day of classes, she actually seemed disappointed to lose his company. At midday when he returned to check on her she was already on her way to see him when he called her name. She wound her body back and forth between his legs affectionately.
When the young man returned to his rooms after his last class of the day, not only did she willingly approach him, but for the first time she let him pet her. That evening while the young man filled parchments with ink at his desk, she laid on the desk, the better to observe him. When he sat in a chair near the fireplace to do his readings she started out curled on the floor, worked her way to the back of his chair to peer over his shoulder for a bit, and eventually settled on his lap to sleep. A few hours later when the young man climbed into bed, he had to use his wand to draw a new pillow for himself because the little gray and black kitten had already claimed his.
By now the other presence in the room no longer had any idea what was going on.
Not that I am not happy to keep writing for those two, but if anyone else is reading this kindly hit the little blue button on the bottom and let me know.
Just waiting to see if I get some feedback on this or the last chapter before posting the next few chapters.
I fear by taking the story slowly most of my earlier readers have lost interest, but there is a point to it. I'm trying to make it so you can actually understand the cause and effect, the reasoning behind at least some of the choices individuals made and in doing so believe the choices to actually be just that, choices freely made.
*******************************************
The bedchamber door opened slowly. Whether it was done slowly in an attempt to be cunning or just trying not to alarm anyone already in the room, well that just wasn't a distinction mirrors are usually called upon to make.
The five boys roomed here were all in class, which was really where the Head Boy ought to have been as well. Instead, Tom Riddle was checking behind the bed drapes and the window curtains, under the beds, inside the wardrobes, and even inside the trunks.
When Tom called her name, Kitten didn't come. But then she was an exceptionally clever little kitten and even a not-at-all clever kitten learned quickly not to answer to a stranger's calls in a Slytherin dormitory.
The boy's body language seemed frustrated at being outwitted by a kitten, but his voice remained gentle as he continued his attempts to coax her from her hiding spot. Admitting defeat, he returned to the door, but hesitated there. He headed back into the room and bent down to carefully examine the fireplace. A quick word and a wave of his wand began a fire in the empty grate.
Later when the room's other residents returned from their classes, they would find it quite odd to have a fire going on such a warm spring day. The little kitten on the other hand, found the warm fire quite inviting. She waited a while in case the dark haired boy was planning to return, but eventually the temptation became too great. After carefully working her way down from her hiding spot on top of a bed canopy, the little kitten circled twice before curling her tail around her body and settling contentedly in front of the fire.
*******************************************
The next morning when Tom Riddle returned, he didn't bother searching the room. He did again try coaxing Kitten out, but she was not so easily won over.
As the house elves often clean the bedchambers in the middle of the day when the students were supposed to be in classes, Tom was able to notice the few gray hairs that had been shed before the fireplace. He again lit the fireplace before leaving.
This time the kitten's resolve didn't last nearly as long after Riddle's departure.
********************************************
The following morning Tom Riddle didn't leave the room after lighting the fireplace. Instead he drew a chair with his wand and set it a more than respectable distance from the hearth. He summoned a saucer of milk and placed it near the hearth before seating himself.
Did this boy never go to classes?
The fire had shifted a number of times and the room had become unbearably warm, but still Tom remained motionless. When the kitten's desire finally overwhelmed her sense of apprehension, only Tom's eyes moved as he discovered her secret hiding place in the mirror's reflection. As the kitten hesitantly approached, his lips moved into a smile.
Giving the chair a wide berth on her way to the hearth, the kitten's caution was by no means gone. Never taking her gray eyes off of the form in the chair before her, the kitten sniffed the saucer of milk but would not drink it. Instead, she sat down by the fire still appearing tensed to bolt at the slightest movement.
Tom's protest, "I assure you, it is not poisoned," only seemed to settle the kitten's resolve not to touch the saucer's contents.
As careful as Tom was not to move suddenly, when he approached the saucer himself the kitten still shifted to four legs and with a high pitched yowl arched her back. Tom picked up the saucer and tipped it to his own mouth in an attempt to demonstrate the contents were not harmful. Only after Tom set the saucer back down and returned to his chair did the kitten return to a sitting position. The kitten observed him intently for several minutes before approaching the saucer. Even then the kitten was only willing to take a few tentative laps at the milk before again backing away.
Tom's lips curled at the small progress. Before slowly standing and making his way to the door, he spoke.
"I must go now, but would you like me to come visit you again tomorrow, Kitten?"
When the kitten didn't react negatively, Tom's smile grew. As Tom rose slowly from his chair, the kitten tensed but she remained seated. Her eyes remained fixed on him as he made his way across the room.
After the door closed behind him the kitten relaxed considerably and sampled the milk eagerly.
*********************************************
Tom found the kitten's behavior odd the next day. She came down from her hiding spot quickly enough to curl up by the fire, but she would not accept the milk he offered.
After he sampled the milk himself he sat on the floor and leaned back against the chair he had summoned. The kitten eyed him suspiciously for a minute before she too sampled the milk. She paused for a few minutes as if waiting to see if anything would happen. Finally satisfied, she continued with the saucer before her.
The chair wasn't pulled back as far today as it had been the day before. Sitting in front of it instead of on it brought Tom Riddle even closer to the kitten. Moving slowly, trying not to take the kitten's concentration off of the saucer of milk before her, Tom reached out to caress her fur. Looking up, the kitten was startled to see the hand approaching and dove under the nearest bed. With his wand he could have easily moved the bed aside, but the angry, frightened sounds coming from under the bed when he approached advised against it.
Tom frowned as he returned to his seat. Within a few minutes the noises stopped, but half an hour later when Riddle finally left, the kitten still had not come out from under the bed.
*****************************************************
The next day was a Saturday so it wasn't likely Tom Riddle would have found the room empty as easily if he had tried to visit the kitten then. As it turned out, he had no need to return to Thomas McGonagall's room on Saturday to visit the kitten.
Friday afternoon it must have been the loud commotion coming from the room Thomas McGonagall shared with four other boys that prompted a passing Tom Riddle to go in for an earlier visit. When Tom Riddle entered the room he found several profusely bleeding boys gathered around another young boy triumphantly holding a writhing pillow case. By the overturned furniture and the deep gashes to the boys' arms and faces it wasn't too difficult to figure out what had been going on. Seeing Riddle's raised eyebrow, a sixth year explained.
"We are going to bring the giant squid a playmate."
Tom quickly assessed the situation while the Mulciber boy spoke.
"I've seen what you've done to some of the Gryffindor pets who have wandered into the dungeons. Surely you don't object to us showing that muggle what we think of him and his kind?"
"Not at all." Tom replied sincerely. "But a better way to do it is to put McGonagall in a sack and throw him into the lake. He can usually be found in the library about now. He's easy to spot, he's the only one ever in the muggle book section."
Tom gave the group around him an appraising look before continuing.
"If you have never been in the library before just listen for that sound he makes with his teeth. You will find him easily enough."
Tom held out his hand for the writhing sack. When the boy holding it reluctantly handed it over, Tom added another thought.
"Don't forget to put something heavy in with him so he sinks to the bottom. And Goyle, go see the school nurse. It looks like you almost lost that eye."
Once the others had left, Tom headed to the door still carrying the moving pillowcase. He nearly walked right into Thomas McGonagall when the younger boy entered the room. How the departing band of imbeciles had managed to miss him was as impossible to say as why they thought those hair styles looked good on them.
"You're back early."
Thomas looked at the pillow case in Tom's hand and the destruction of the room, but he didn't comment on either.
"While I was in the library I wrote another letter to send home. I need to get a stamp from my trunk so I can mail it."
Tom raised his eyebrow but didn't bother to contradict Thomas.
"Kitten had a problem with your roommates today. I am going to keep her out of the way in my rooms for a while."
Tom paused, perhaps waiting to see if the younger man would object. Thomas just shrugged and continued manually searching the room's ruins for his trunk.
Halfway out the door, Tom turned around.
"By the way, when you are done here head back to the library. Some of the others went there to look for you. They wanted to give you a proper tour of the grounds and the lake."
#####################################################
He shuddered when the young man entered the room with a small bundle. Would the other children never learn to keep a tighter reign upon their familiars? When the young man carefully set the sack on the bed the already traumatized kitten inside immediately worked her way out and hid under the bed. That the young man made no attempt to stop her did not at all reassure him. It was not at all unusual for the young man to 'play' with the creatures that meant so much to others before he finally disposed of them. When the young man lit the fireplace on that warm spring day, he was thankful his eyes were not angled to see the horrors he knew were to come.
His confusion didn't begin when the young man summoned a saucer of milk. Rather it began when the young man didn't add anything to the milk and took a sip himself.
It was long past nightfall before the kitten risked leaving the security of the bed's underside. Even though the young man remained motionless she still darted back under the bed as soon as the saucer was emptied. Before preparing for bed the young man refilled the saucer. At some point in the early morning hours that too was consumed.
The young man spent almost the whole weekend in his bedchamber. By the end of Saturday the little kitten ventured out from the bed to curl up in front of the fire. She still didn't seem entirely relaxed, but by Sunday afternoon she actually approached close enough to sniff the young man's hand.
On Monday after the young man departed for his day of classes, she actually seemed disappointed to lose his company. At midday when he returned to check on her she was already on her way to see him when he called her name. She wound her body back and forth between his legs affectionately.
When the young man returned to his rooms after his last class of the day, not only did she willingly approach him, but for the first time she let him pet her. That evening while the young man filled parchments with ink at his desk, she laid on the desk, the better to observe him. When he sat in a chair near the fireplace to do his readings she started out curled on the floor, worked her way to the back of his chair to peer over his shoulder for a bit, and eventually settled on his lap to sleep. A few hours later when the young man climbed into bed, he had to use his wand to draw a new pillow for himself because the little gray and black kitten had already claimed his.
By now the other presence in the room no longer had any idea what was going on.