One of the most important things I learned from that Quiddich match over the weekend was that in dark times it's important to cling onto any form of light that shines through.
During the actual Quiddich match we had no idea what was happening to that girl and whether she would be okay. But the match went on. Andrew Hartwell was a great Chaser. He was such a graceful flier – he would easily twirl around the Slytherin Chasers and dart around the bludgers hurled at him by the Slytherin Beaters and managed to keep the Gryffindor score much higher than the very few points Slytherin managed to scrape in.
Then his clever Seeker managed to secure the snitch and score a Gryffindor an easy win. Even the commentator said the game was mainly a two person match – the Gryffindor Chaser (Andrew) and his Seeker.
Moments after their win Andrew flew up the teacher's stand where Mary and I were seated, and assisted Mary onto his broom and they did a lap of honour together. It was really sweet as he had her sit in front of him as he held onto her tightly. Mary even let him sneak a few kisses this time. Not only did it seem to make Mary really happy but it seemed to lift the rest of the school's spirits by his sweet and crazy antics. Everybody but the Slytherin house left that pitch with a smile on their face. Even then some of the softer Slytherins were still cheerful – myself included.
It really is a shame that most students and staff in the school preferred the squeaky clean Tom Riddle over the boy who was rough around the edges but heart of gold, Mr Andrew Hartwell. He really is an asset to our school and I truly believe Hogwarts missed out on a great Head Boy.
It seemed like Newt thought along the same lines as I did.
"Wow Hartwell, that was quite the Quiddich match over the weekend. Congratulations on your win. You played spectacularly." Newt piped up on Wednesday during our first Care of the Magical Creatures class of the week.
Newt was running an interesting lesson this week. He hadn't set any tasks for any of his students but instead had given us a project. We were to find a topic related to magical creatures and spend our class time this week doing research. Next week we would be presenting to the class our findings.
Poor Newt – he failed to realise that most students would take advantage of the spare time this week to do anything but school work. Attendance wasn't even compulsory so only a small handful of students had stayed for the lesson. I was the only Slytherin that had remained – with only a few students from other houses remaining.
"Nothing compared to your efforts in your field hey, Professor S!" Andrew responded with a cheesy smile.
Newt decided to not respond to Andrew's contemporary use of his name but just smiled and shook his head.
"When he took Mary Figglestill on that broom," Dorothy, the only other girl who stayed sighed with a hand on her heart "My, that was so romantic."
The couple of boys who had stuck around had all nudged Andrew after this comment was made.
"It was very sweet. You can tell that the two of you care deeply for each other. It was very nice to see." I spoke up. I partly wanted to say this so Andrew's friends could continue to tease him, but also because I meant every word of it and I wanted him to know it.
"You're correct, Tori. I do care a lot about Mary." Andrew smiled.
Whilst I was very happy for Andrew I suddenly felt very self-conscious as everyone's head snapped up to watch the interaction between Andrew and I. It was very well known that Andrew had been chasing after me for years and had only recently conceded defeat and pursued Mary instead. I was hoping that everyone else could be happy for Andrew like I was, and not focus on the past.
"Is she everything you've ever wanted in a girl?" Dorothy asked dreamily, resting her head on her shoulder as she batted her eyelashes towards Andrew wanting to hear the story.
"I s'pose so," Andrew responded as he put his hands in his pockets awkwardly "She's a great girl, and I like to surround myself with great people."
Dorothy huffed in annoyance as she clearly didn't get the romantic answer she was hoping to hear.
"Don't pay attention to him. He's a boy. They downplay their feelings all the time as they don't want to be ridiculed by their friends. He's crazy about Mary – just don't expect him to be able to put his feelings into words." I said to Dorothy with a slight chuckle.
It was nice branching out and speaking to new people. Dorothy was a member of the Hufflepuff house – I couldn't even pinpoint the last time I had spoken to someone from Hufflepuff, Newt excluded of course. This year I had really stepped away from my Slytherin bubble and it was enjoyable.
"You're completely right. Never ask a boy a question that should be addressed by a man," Dorothy grinned as she snapped her fingers and turned to Newt "Professor Scamander, what do you look for in a woman?"
Newt seemed to be caught off guard by this question as his eyes widened in shock and he seemed to lose his balance a little. He seemed to be watching the students carefully but I noticed his eyes kept wandering back to mine.
"Yeah Professor S, tell us. You're married aren't you? Is your wife everything you ever hoped for, or did you settle?" Andrew asked cheekily, and I could tell he knew he was pushing the boundaries and knew it was slightly in bad form.
I bit my lip as I felt awkward for Newt. I was the only one here who knew he was in the middle of divorce proceedings. It was an inappropriate question to ask a teacher at the best of times – but knowing what I did made it so much worse.
However I didn't expect Newt's response.
"Porpentina and I have decided to go our own separate ways. But to answer your question, she was everything I hoped for and I've immensely enjoyed my marriage to her. I'll always think very highly of her." Newt stumbled out to Andrew.
I didn't know what to make of his statement. When we spoke in his office last week he didn't express the raw emotions he was stating now. To me, what he has just stated sounds like the divorce was one sided and that he didn't want to go through the divorce. I honestly don't know how to process that information.
It didn't help he seemed to completely avoid eye contact with me as he spoke about this with Andrew.
"What about our lovely girls here. Tori – what do you look for in a man? We've only ever seen you with perfect Riddle. Is that your type? Pretentious pretty boys?" Andrew chuckled towards me and I could tell he was trying to take the attention off Newt's uncomfortable statement.
All eyes seemed to snap onto me but the ones that stood out were Newt's. He had gone from avoiding eye contact to having an intense gaze on me, his eyes burning onto mine to hear my answer.
"Well look at how that turned out. So no, Riddle isn't my type." I bluntly replied, suddenly feeling very awkward due to the fact that not only did Newt seem so interested in my answer – a bunch of students I barely knew were hearing some of my most private thoughts.
"Us mere mortals stand a chance then with the gorgeous Victoria Black then do we?" Charles, one of Andrew's fellow Gryffindors weakly smiled towards me.
I found myself tensing up at Charles' question. I wasn't really accounted for was I? I had told Tom I was not planning on waiting for him and we barely spoken since so I definitely was no longer Tom's girl. The only other person in my life was Newt but aside from holding my hand at the Quiddich match he had not shown any romantic interest in me. I wanted to be careful to not misinterpret my interactions with Newt. There was a high probability what I thought could be Newt showing interest was just his mannerisms. I do enjoy his company but he's certainly a one of a kind, slightly strange fellow. He was also my professor so I wasn't holding my breath that anything could happen between us. Did I want something to happen between us?
"Well as long as my next suitor was kind, and treated me with respect. That's all I really look for." I responded.
The boys all let out cat calls which caused Dorothy and I to look at each other and roll our eyes. I had to contain a smile – I was over the moon I could have a girly moment with a new person.
"Really? Pretty little half-Veela Slytherin like you, I thought you'd have a big list of demands. Big bank vault at Gringott's, big muscles, big genitals-" Charles joked loudly but was angrily cut off.
I wasn't offended as I knew Charles was trying to be funny and not nasty but I kept my eyes on Andrew as he said this. Andrew did not have a gang in the same way Tom did – but as the Quiddich captain and seventh year boy prefect a lot of Gryffindors seemed to really respect him. I was expecting Andrew to tell Charles to quit his teasing. But Newt got in first.
"Charles Adler, that's enough. That also goes for the rest of you. You've been set a task and I expect you all to use adequate class time to complete it. So if you're going to talk for the rest of the lesson it will be about creatures only. More importantly if you're going to ask anyone questions, myself included, it better be about school work." Newt growled to the entire class angrily.
Everyone in the class was taken aback by Newt's sudden change in personality. I don't think anyone had ever seen him as anything less than happy-go-lucky. We all put our heads down and started flipping through our textbooks in silence. We all assumed we had crossed a line speaking to Newt about his love life and divorce. I would very soon learn just how wrong I was.
Even though Care of the Magical Creatures was my favourite class for once I was glad it was over as I trudged back up to the castle.
I quietly ate my dinner as Beatrice gushed next to me about various topics. She had assumed that I was spending time with Andrew to try and make Tom jealous to win him back. I didn't bother to correct her. It wasn't true but it stopped her or anyone else giving me a hard time for enjoying the company of a Gryffindor.
She did mention one topic that interested me.
"I overheard Riddle speaking to his friends before. Apparently that girl from the Quiddich match had participated in hazing over the summer and was having after effects from the hazing." Beatrice said to me as we were finishing up our meals.
"Is she going to be alright?" I asked Beatrice curiously.
"From what I overheard it sounds like she should be. They're going to keep her in St Mungos but she hasn't died or anything." Beatrice revealed.
After dinner I had planned to get started on my Care of the Magical Creatures project for next week. But as I spread my work out across a table in the Slytherin common room I found it hard to concentrate. As I flipped through my textbook to try and find an appropriate creature to present on, my mind kept wandering back to today.
There were so many thoughts to consider.
Newt ended up telling the class freely about his divorce. Does that mean there was no special bond between us two? I felt so silly for being so sensitive about it however that day we shared many intimate conversations and it killed me to think it meant a lot less to Newt than it did for me.
He also may or may not actually want that divorce and I didn't even want to think about why that bothered me so.
He had also snapped at the class and that included me. I could understand it was an emotionally charged conversation and why he wouldn't be his usual self. But I couldn't get the image out of my head of him yelling at the class. I hated to see him not his usual joyful self.
Yet he seemed so interested in knowing what I looked for in a man. This excited me even though I knew it shouldn't.
Wanting to keep my mind clear and away from the topic of Newt I traded in my Care of the Magical Creatures textbook for my Transfiguration one.
I became engrossed into reading about tomorrow's lesson, which Dumbledore informed us would be turning freshly baked warm fruitcake into ice cubes. Whilst they were both small objects you'd find in a kitchen – turning something hot into something frozen was one of the most advanced forms of Transfiguration one could undertake. Therefore I needed all the study I could get.
"Hello Tori. I can see you've got open your Transfiguration book. Is there anything I can assist you with?" I heard Tom ask.
I cast my eyes up from my textbook to see Tom standing across the table looking at me with a serious expression.
"I'm quite fine. Thank you Tom." I curtly responded as I took my eyes off of him and snapped my attention back onto the textbook.
I began to read on the correct wand technique for turning hot objects into cold ones. I had almost forgotten about Tom completely as I entirely submerged myself into the book but moments later I heard a chair pull up next to me.
I looked up to see Tom sitting next to me, his dark eyes piercing into my pale ones as he stared at my face. I tried to bravely not cower under his intense look but I found I was losing the battle.
Then he snaked an arm around my shoulders as he pulled me closer to him with a sly smile.
I swallowed nervously. I thought I was completely and utterly over Tom Riddle but with a simple touch he was able to suck me back into complicated feelings for him. I almost felt my skin burning from his embrace and I wanted to throw his arm off of my shoulder, but I knew if I did this I would crave his touch once more.
"Are you sure you don't want to wait for me?" Tom asked me before he leaned into my ear and reduced his voice to a whisper "I'll forgive you and let you take back what you said, just this once."
I closed my eyes to try and gain some inner strength. Whilst this did ensure Tom would not be able to charm me with his handsome face, it caused a new problem. From the loss of one sense my other senses become so much stronger.
He was now moving his hand gently around my collar bone tenderly. No matter how much I was trying to block it from my mind I found his touch so intimate and arousing.
Well as long as my next suitor was kind, and treated me with respect. That's all I really look for.
My words from earlier hit me all of a sudden. Was Tom kind and did he treat me with respect? Not really. He was always quite the gentleman towards me however the bottom line was that he expected me to wait for him until I would stop being a 'distraction' – which meant that he was putting his own interests above mine.
I snapped my Transfiguration book shut with a loud thud which seemed to catch Tom off guard, enough that he removed his arm from my shoulder.
With a wave of my wand and the words 'accio school supplies' I was able to quickly collect my belongings and I jumped up from my seat.
"I think it's best if I head off to bed. It's going to be quite the Transfiguration lesson tomorrow. I think I need as much rest as I can get." I stated to Tom.
I saw him frown at my sudden departure but moments later he let his normal charming smile appear across his face.
"This talk is to be continued. There's still much more we need to discuss." Tom stated.
I very badly wanted to tell him what I had been attempting to tell him for the past two weeks. That no, there was nothing left to say. That he blew any future chances with me by calling things off and he certainly couldn't pause our relations.
Even though he was no longer touching me some of his control was still lingering over me. I could function again but only barely and I didn't seem capable of saying what I had wanted to really say.
So instead I bid him goodnight as I scrambled out of the common room and down to my dormitory.
Half an hour ago I was worried about Newt and couldn't get today's events out of my mind. I had desperately wanted a distraction to not have to worry about Newt Scamander. Unfortunately after that stunt Tom had just pulled my mind was instead consumed with thoughts of Tom.
For the first night in weeks I had a sleepless night as I was up all night worrying about Tom Riddle. I would have given anything to be in the predicament I was in earlier that evening where I was instead worrying about Newton Scamander, as he had yet to make me lose sleep over him.
I know you all want a little less Riddle and a little (lot) more Scamander. But in this chapter Tori has only realised she definitely has feelings for Newt, so much that she doesn't want to think about it. It's a huge step forward, I swear!
In response to the reviews...
ForeverTeamEdward13 - as always thank you so much! I hope you're well x
AnadoraBlack - thanks for your review, if Riddle is putting you on edge it means i'm writing his character right! Sorry for this chapter in that case ha ha. I effing love Queenie too! She's so kind and innocent and I almost cried when they had to obliviate Jacob. I was so happy when I read he's coming back. Honestly one of my favourite HP universe pairings.
GuestB - Hopefully you liked this chapter as it has lots of possessive Tom ;) it's lacking in the sweet Newt moments (actually quite the opposite) but more will be explained soon and there's lot more Newt coming soon. Lots of Mary and Andrew too - its quite strange writing something where everyone knows what will ultimately happen but its one hell of a ride!