I Know Not Love
CHAPTER 3
Incapable
lavya0393
Disclaimer: I, hereby, regrettably announce that I do NOT own HP. That honor is still claimed by JK Rowling.
Sorry it took so long to update; Technical difficulties.
Thank You to brunette-barbie14 for being my First (and Only Reviewer-so far-), and for those kind words; they are much Appreciated,
Lavya
Short chapter, I know, but essential for the story. –You'll see how much he prides his work and reputation. And other things… kind of the cement for the story… Chamber of Secrets is mentioned…
Tom Riddle stepped into the Slytherin common room, hoping to get some peace and quiet. He was sadly disappointed, however, as he spotted a flock of girls clearly waiting to pounce the moment he stepped through the concealed door in the wall. He silently passed through the entrance, and sidestepped his fan club. He almost made it to the door of the boys' dormitories when he was ambushed. He sighed and turned around to face his attacker. It was Whitney Crowley, a particularly annoying fifth-year, who had recently taken to stalking him excessively.
"What do you want Whitney?" He inquired quickly; he had no intention of being in her presence another second longer.
"Oh, Tom! That makes it sound almost as if you want me to disappear! That would be quite hurtful you know!" She said in a pseudo-exasperated tone.
"Of course I wouldn't want you to leave; that would be quite awful wouldn't it, now?" He asked rhetorically. However, apparently, Whitney was seemingly oblivious to his sarcasm as she decided to cuddle up closer. He prayed for help, and it came almost instantaneously in the form of Abraxas Malfoy.
"Hey Tom – oh, hello, Whitney," he wrinkled up his nose in disgust, "Anyway, Covington told me to give you this –" He groped around in his bag for something and pulled out a small kitten, "she said it would be good if we took turns looking after it, and she even made up a schedule, look! –I'm due to take Alex in two days! –She cut your time short because she said that you probably would've murdered the kitten by then; I think she thinks you're incapable, but whatever…here." He shoved the cat onto Tom and held up a schedule for him to see. It was very detailed and colour-coded; Covington was quite the over-achiever. Tom's eyes thanked Abraxas silently.
"Well, Whitney, It seems I have to deal with this, if you'll excuse me now…" Before she could say a word, he had taken off to the Boy's dormitories.
Up in his dormitory, lying on his four-poster bed, Tom Riddle thought back to what Abraxas had said. "'I think she thinks you're incapable…'"
Tom was incensed. He was by no means Incapable. He was probably the most capable student here. Trust Amaryllis Covington to poke at the only thing that could fire him up: His academic reputation. He had worked day and night to get to where he was and placate the teachers the way he did. He was the brightest, smartest, Most Capable student Hogwarts had ever seen. She would soon see just how capable he was. He thought back to his most recent discovery just a few weeks ago. They all said it was legend, but Tom knew better. He would show them the light… (A/N, I Love that saying!) Why else would the founder of his own house have installed it here? So that when the time was right, his heir would rid the school of those who were unwelcome to walk its halls. Tom smiled again. But then it faded; what if it only was legend? There was a slight possibility. But he would soon eclipse that worry. It made sense after all, didn't it?
Either way, he was Not incapable. He looked at the schedule that he held in his hand along with the squirming kitten. He put the kitten down on his bed where it curled up to sleep. On the back of the schedule was a list of items that one would need in order to take care of Alex: Milk, cat food, basket, clean sheets…etc. This was more trouble than its worth, he thought. He flipped over the paper. He looked up at the key. His time squares were colored in green. He looked back at the chart and to his dismay, but also slight happiness, he saw that there were only about 3-4 green squares; the majority of them were yellow. He looked back at the key and saw that the yellow squares were labeled with "Abraxas Malfoy". He sighed again, and got up. He would go and find Amaryllis Covington to demand that he be offered more time to take care of Alex. He would show her that she was as good as any of them, if not better at taking care of Alex.
The truth was, Tom Riddle didn't have many things to practice taking care of anyway. He had never shown any affection towards anything, so he didn't know where to start. But he'd figure it out, after all, everyone else did. So it shouldn't be that hard should it? He pulled on his shoes and walked briskly out of the dormitories and out of the common room.
Tom Riddle had never been Incapable.