I Know Not Love

Chapter 4

Revelations While Duelling

lavya0393

Disclaimer: Don't own HP whatsoever.

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Tom wandered around the castle for about a half an hour until he finally reached what he suspected was the Ravenclaw common room. He stopped and stared. He really was quite in a fix. What had he been thinking? Honestly? Even if he was sure that this was where the Ravenclaw common room was, what was he supposed to do? Wait around until Covington came out? After all, he didn't know their password. This had to be the stupidest thing he'd done in a while.

He was standing impatiently outside a large tapestry of a soaring Eagle embroidered in bronze and blue. It was far away from the Slytherin quarters, but no less comfy. He had seen where the Gryffindor common rooms were; outside a picture of a plump young lady in a pink silk dress. (A/N: In my story I've decided that portraits age and develop in time. But not ghosts, for that ruins part of the story.) It was up in a Tower, where it was decidedly warm. Ravenclaw had theirs in a corner of the school, in the west wing tower. –It was far from warm and homey; it was cold and dark. But not yet as dark as the Slytherin dorms, what with all their armory and such.

Just as Tom decided to head back to his dorms or maybe wander around for a bit instead of making a fool of himself out here, he heard a shout. He turned around at the sound of his name being called.

"Riddle!" It was a short young boy that Tom had seen around a few times. Probably in 4th year, no doubt. "What are you doing here?" he questioned rather timidly.

"You're a Ravenclaw right?" Tom checked, and when the boy nodded his head, he continued: "I need to see Ms. Covington immediately, please."

The boy suddenly looked surprisingly concerned, "She's not in trouble is she? Do you need her to do something for you? -Because I could do it for you instead, I mean, she's been stressed and all –" He broke off as Tom raised his eyebrow at him amusedly.

"Just get her for me, will you…" It was a command. The boy stammered and nodded his head, then he paused.

"What?" Tom asked, irritated now.

"Well, I need to say the password but you're here….and you're in Slytherin…"

"Oh, for gods sake, just say it!" Tom was agitated; he was wasting valuable studying time already.

But the boy, still reluctant, snapped his fingers at the tapestry instead. The bird suddenly came to life and bowed its head. "Get Amaryllis for me." The boy said. With a sweep of its great wings, the bird screeched loudly and disappeared out of the side of its tapestry. Tom supposed there was an identical tapestry or portrait on the other side of the entrance and it had gone there, but he didn't want to ask. –Tom hated someone having to explain things to him. That was part of the reason he… disliked Covington so much.

A few seconds later, the bird reappeared, and there was a loud, klaxon-like groaning sound from behind the tapestry of the bird. There were several clicks, as though cogs were working away, and bolts unlocking inside the walls. Then, the tapestry folded upwards and wall folded origami-style into itself. Almost like the passageway into Diagon Alley from the Leaky Cauldron. Behind it, stood an irritated Amaryllis Covington, huffy and arrogant as ever, thought Tom. He caught a glimpse of stone and rugs before she had stepped forward and the wall stretched itself back into one and the picture of the Raven descended down again.

Amaryllis smiled at the boy, who had gone furiously red by now, "Thank You for informing me, Damien…You can leave now." The boy blushed again and ambled off. Tom cocked an eyebrow after him.

"What did you want Riddle?" she said, abandoning the soft tone she had used with Damien, her voice becoming cold and icy once more.

"Tut, tut, there now, what happened to the sugary voice you used with your little boy toy back there?" Tom was not going to be intimidated. He smirked as Amaryllis quickly became infuriated. How easy she was to get at.

"He's not my "boy toy" and you better shut the hell up and tell me what you want." Amaryllis was breathing heavily, but she would not allow herself to be taken in that easily. She just had to calm herself.

"How can I shut up and still tell you what I'm here for?" He crowed. He loved to torment her, but it seemed she was struggling to control herself now.

Amaryllis could not take anymore; she had always had a low threshold for annoyance, so she completely lost it now, "Just tell me what the hell you want Riddle!!!"

Tom seemed a little taken aback, but quickly regained his composure. "Yelling won't do any good, Ms. Covington." He smirked again, as her anger subsided as quickly as it came. She really was bipolar.

She took several deep breaths and spoke again, "What are you here for, Riddle?"

He took a small piece of parchment from inside his robes and flapped it in her face, "I have a complaint." He said simply and unfolded the parchment. It was the timetable she had drawn up for their group.

Amaryllis smirked, "I don't see a problem with it." She paused for effect as Tom's face contorted with rage again. "I clearly state that you take Alex only 3 days for our entire project. I don't see a problem with that; In fact, I'm only really doing you a favor; Alex would be too much for you to handle, therefore I was feeling generous and decided that, out of the goodness of my heart, Abraxas would take your rightful shifts. After all, he does love the cat, whereas you don't…It's almost like killing two birds with one stone, is it not?"

"Well, I'm afraid that I do see a problem with this. I am perfectly capable of taking care of that accursed kitten and I shall. You can recreate this schedule and tell Abraxas that I will be taking back my shifts. I can handle anything you throw at me, Covington." Tom's voice became dangerously soft with that last line.

However, Amaryllis wasn't going to back down that easily. "Is that so, Riddle?"

"Quite so, Covington." He answered.

"I doubt it."

"Care to test…?"

"Fine." Amaryllis ended the verbal sparring indefinitely. "We'll settle this formally, shall we?" It was a rhetorical question but Tom answered anyway.

"Yes, I do think so." With that, Amaryllis and Tom both turned their backs on each other and walked ten steps away, then they turned around, wands at the ready above their heads. A duel.

"On the count of three, Covington, and don't expect me to play nice."

"I know the rules, Riddle," She said venomously, "and I hadn't expected anything less of you."

"One…"

"Two…"

"Three!"

"Expelliarmus!" yelled Tom.

Amaryllis blocked the curse with a well placed, "Protego!"

There was a bustle of noise from Tom's end of the corridor; students were running to see what all the commotion was about, and in those few seconds that Amaryllis was distracted, Tom seized his chance to attack her once again.

"Diffindo!" He yelled.

A small gash appeared on Amaryllis's right forearm. She only winced as the blood came seeping out, but now, her face was set in resolve.

"Tarantellegra!" She yelled. "Reducto!"

The latter hit Tom squarely in the chest, and he staggered at the force of the spell as a cut appeared. Tom was furious; he had allowed her to get him, but now, he was going to go all out. Curse whoever said you shouldn't hurt a girl; Amaryllis Covington proved that she was ready to take anyone on, so why stand aside and let her win?

"Stupefy!" He yelled. She dodged the curse.

In return, Amaryllis screamed a random hex that Tom easily deflected, but she wouldn't give up, "Incarcerous!" She yelled angrily, and tight ropes bloomed from the end of her wand and sought to wrap themselves around Tom. He was caught off guard and had some difficulty unraveling himself. In the end, he sliced the ropes, and they hit a first year in the face as they went flying backwards into the crowd that had now formed around the Duelling Duo.

"Sectumsempra!" Tom yelled, springing forward. Amaryllis made to dodge it, but it caught the tip of her left shoulder, and she was hauled back. Her shoulder was now bleeding profusely from the impact. She muttered a basic healing spell, which minimized the bleeding, and got back on her feet to face the now smirking Tom Riddle. She wasn't giving him any sort of satisfaction. She muttered a nonverbal spell, ("Levicorpus!") in her head and flicked her wand, once again caught off guard, Tom Riddle flew into the air. At about 15 feet in the air, she said the counter-spell, ("Liberacorpus!") while flicking her wand lazily, and Tom crashed back to the ground.

Tom wasn't about to back out either, though, and he mustered up enough energy to scream a curse at her, and in a blinding flash of violet light that swept like a blade through Amaryllis's chest, she was catapulted back and hit the far wall. Gasping for breath and clutching her chest, she lifted herself to her knees, and said, with as much force as she could, "Lacarnum Inflamari!" A jet of fire erupted from the tip of her wand and aimed itself at Tom. The end result was that his robes caught on fire. It was a while before he had summoned up enough strength to think of a spell to put the fire out. "Aguamenti." He said, and a stream of water fell from his wand, slowly drenching the fire, but not completely extinguishing it.

"Here, let me help you out with that Riddle." Amaryllis said feebly, and she swished her wand and muttered a few words. A huge amount of ice-cold water was dumped on Tom, as though an invisible bucket had poured water on him. He looked quite bedraggled, as though he was some sole survivor of a terrible flash flood. The crowd around the two started laughing. Tom was incensed; how dare she make him look like a fool! He raised his wand to say another incantation, but before he could, there was a shrill shriek echoed from down the hall, and the crowd parted slowly to reveal a very flustered young woman. It was Professor Rotaburg, the Herbology teacher.

She froze for a minute as she surveyed the scene: Two bleeding, bruised, cut exhausted, weak teenagers, one burned and drenched, the other clutching her chest and gasping for breath. There were several damaged portraits framing the scene and a broken chandelier, its tiny crystal jewels sprayed all over the place. Then she lost it.

"WHAT has been going on here!" Professor Rotaburg screamed, "Damaging school property, injuring a fellow student, what next! WHAT were you two THINKING? HOW DID THIS HAPPEN? I DEMAND AN EXPLANATION! You two will BOTH serve DETENTIONS… TOGETHER for the next WEEK AND A HALF until you learn to TOLERATE each other!" She finished her rant with a mad gleam in her eye as both students groaned. "You had better get up the Hospital Wing and sort yourselves out! Oh, and you had better go to…" She ended, indicating the poor first-year that had gotten whip-lashed in the face by the ropes during the duel. "As for the REST OF YOU!" She erupted again, facing the crowd, most of whom were shrinking back, "Why did you NOT REPORT this to ME IMMEDIATELY? Get BACK TO WHEREVER YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE THIS INSTANT!" With that, she turned on her heel and stormed off. The crowd also dispersed soon after that. Only Tom and Amaryllis were left in the midst of the wreckage, watching the small first year hurry off to the Hospital Wing, clutching his face desperately.

Amaryllis heaved a sight, and winced as she moved herself. Allowing herself to catch her breath, she grimaced and made to stand up, gripping the wall behind her for support. She immediately clutched her chest again in pain. As she stood, Tom observed the damage he had wreaked on her. There were cuts and abrasions all along her legs, her robes were torn in some places, and so was her shirt, revealing her slender figure, which was now leaning against the wall. She had a purplish spot on her cheek where he had bruised her. That was saying something as it took a lot to bruise her tough skin. She had a long, deep gash in her shoulder, which, despite the minor healing spell, refused to cooperate and was still bleeding heavily. Her hair was ruffled and singed, and he suspected her wrist was sprained. There was also a red mark on the side of her next and one on her side. He had to admit, he had hurt her pretty badly. He almost felt a twinge of guilt when he remembered that he was in the same situation as her, if not worse. He had to hand it to her; she did duel well, he thought, as he examined his burned hand. He sighed, he had better get up to the Infirmary soon, but it hurt too much to move.

Amaryllis suddenly gave a small cry of pain as she put pressure on her left leg; Tom suspected it had been broken. He felt another stab of guilt but shrugged it off. He had done what he had to, being a Slytherin, and to uphold his reputation as fine master of the Dark Arts; DADA was his best subject, as he always excelled.

Amaryllis spoke up, breaking the awkward silence, "Nice wandwork, Riddle," she said, being as ever the sportive girl that she was, "But you have to admit, I kicked your ass." She smirked again, as she walked past him and stalked off to the infirmary. How she managed it, he didn't know, as she was beaten up badly, but if it was one thing that he knew about Amaryllis Covington, it was this: She NEVER let you have the last word; she always had to make an impression. –And make an impression, she did.

And if it was another thing that Tom Riddle realized that afternoon in disbelief, it was the fact that he had finally met his match. Even if it was only Amaryllis Covington.

–What was it that they always said… that there's always going to be someone in the world that's better than you? Well, it seemed that Tom Riddle was going to have to be the only exception, and no one else was going to get in his way. Especially not Amaryllis Covington, of all people.

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