A Future Riddle

Chapter 14. Old Habits Die Hard

The new arrangement proved to be quite uncomfortable. Because Riddle could not be trusted by himself, Trixz followed him everywhere. The other students looked on with curiosity as the smartest, most-likely-to-succeed student at Hogwarts quickly walked through the halls being trailed by the infamous feline. A few Gryffindors were even brave enough to poke fun at him and his new 'friend'. Unfortunately for them, Trixz didn't take kindly to being the brunt of anyone's joke and the troublemakers often found themselves being placed in detention by everyone's favorite Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. They could never figure out how Professor Pandora knew about their behavior, but they were positive the cat had something to do with it.

Another device Dumbledore and Jessie implemented to contain Riddle was to place him on the Slytherin Quidditch team. Naturally, he protested profusely, but the two were firm in their decision. They reasoned that if Riddle was in some kind of extracurricular activity, he wouldn't have near as much time to mull over being the conqueror of the universe. Jessie coordinated with Slughorn who was more than willing to let her assign herself as the Slytherin team supervisor and accompany Riddle to and from the Quidditch Pitch.

The rest of the team did not take kindly to Riddle at first, having him basically thrust upon them, but after discovering his natural talent as a beater, the hard way, they quickly relented and accepted him. Jessie thought it a very useful outlet for his overabundant reservoirs of pent up aggression. It was very likely that he imagined her face on every bludger he knocked the crud out of.

The worst part of Riddle's new life, to both Jessie and himself, however, was his dormitory arrangement. Both Dumbledore and Jessie resolved that it would be unwise to allow Riddle free reign in the Slytherin dorm. They wouldn't be able to monitor him and he could easily sway the entire house against the rest of the school. The most obvious conclusion, therefore, was to move Riddle to Jessie's roomy dungeon apartment. Jessie, after turning blue in the face and vamping out, had requested to know why Riddle couldn't be assigned to some other faculty's apartment room. Dumbledore had calmly explained that the only two who knew the dangers this entailed were her and himself and he in no way would room with the boy because…well, he didn't exactly come right out and say it, but Jessie got the impression that Dumbledore might actually be living with someone, or had plans to at any rate. So, long story short, Riddle was staying in Jessie's magically enhanced apartment in a room off of her living area. Trixz slept in the living area and would keep guard during the nights. If Riddle so much as got out of bed to pee, Trixz would mentally notify Jessie and the Vampire would throw on some clothes and rush out of her own room to make sure the boy didn't do anything rash. Like light her on fire as she slept.

Only a week into this arrangement, and things were already getting out of hand.

"YOU INSUFFERABLE MANGY BEAST! EITHER LET ME PASS OR I'LL-

"Mr. Riddle? Is everything all right?" Dumbledore said, a hint of suppressed amusement evident in his eyes as he took in the scene of Tom Riddle, heir of Slytherin, having a heated argument with a cat.

Trixz herself seemed just as heated as she responded in kind by hissing, her face contorting into its vampiric form, her eyes hardening and her fangs elongating. Though small, it really did appear to the casual observer that she was more than capable of handling herself. Albus knew better though.

"Another disagreement with Trixz?" Dumbledore asked the rhetoric question with a soft, contemplative ring.

Tom turned his glare from cat to Professor and finally acknowledging the Deputy Headmaster's presence, he stiffly answered, "Yes. Professor. This foolish creature persists in following me EVERYWHERE." He turned to give a quick leer down at Trixz and then sneered to Dumbledore, "Even the bathroom."

Dumbledore was a bit taken aback by the boy's outward display of emotion. But it was understandable. Lately, his eyes had been taking on the frantic look of a caged animal and dark circles could be seen beneath his eyes and the hollows of his cheeks were looking grimly skeletal. Tom was not his usual, poised self.

"Well Tom, though it pains me to say it, you did bring this upon yourself. I had hoped it would not come to this, but alas." Dumbledore truly was sorry about the situation. There was greatness in the boy, if only he could seize it and act on it responsibly. That had been his intention, to show the boy the light, but somewhere along the line, dark dreams had consumed the boy until all that was left before the Professor was a vengeful, hate consumed soul. It truly was a pity.

Tom obviously had a different opinion on the matter, however, but on threat of Azkaban, he swallowed the cutting remark on the tip of his tongue and not trusting himself to say anything reasonable in the Transfiguration Professor's presence, he gave a very curt nod and trounced away. Trixz following closely on his heels.

Once out of Dumbledore's earshot, Tom hissed at the cat, "I'm not sure at the moment whom I hate the most." Trixz's amber eyes locked onto his and Tom knew that she comprehended. "Oh, not to worry. You're in the running. You, Dummy-bore, and that pale bitch." Trixz growled. Tom spun around and kicked out at her but she jumped out of the way and gave a hiss. He turned around again and resumed walking. Conscious of the fact that everywhere he went that flee-infested, foul-breathed excuse for a creature followed, and kids laughed.

Sitting down in Slughorn's classroom, Riddle busied himself with setting out his potion ingredients as the Slytherins that normally sat by him gave him an unusually wide birth, their whispered rumors bearing down on his ears like a thousand wailing banshees.

"I hear he killed someone."

"No No! He got caught sleeping with Clarona of course! Why else do you think she's been acting so funny?"

"Do you think that's why he's not in our dorms anymore?"

His jaw twitched and his fingers trembled as he fought the urge to reach into his pocket for his wand and curse them all. Looking over his shoulder, he spotted Orion and a few of the other Knights. They all knew a hint of what had transpired that night, but they kept their silence. Tom could almost sense their anxiety to ask him what had happened, and what would happen, but they were too fearful of Tom's new guardians. Cowards.

If there was one thing in this entire arrangement that was to his liking, it was the fact that he no longer had to share his room with purebloods. How he secretly hated them! He hated them all. Before, he had tolerated their support because it meant a means to eliminating a race he loathed even further. Disgusting Muggles. He was beginning to think that the only way he could ever find peace would be mass genocide. As long as he had a snake to converse with, he would be perfectly fine devoid of all humans. Too bad that Pandora had murdered his Basilisk. The serpent had been as wise as Salazar had been shrewd, and as fierce a friend as Riddle had ever thought possible. Someday, Jessie would pay dearly for that.

After a simple lesson on the uses of the Hydopurity Potion and their brewing of it, in which Tom, as had been the case since his first year, finished both first and with the highest marks, he left the dungeons and made his painstaking journey to Defense Against the Dark Arts. His former favorite class. Definitely not anymore, Tom thought darkly

as he took a seat to the back and watched dully as Trixz took up a position beside him, effectively preventing anyone from sitting next to him, on the off chance someone would want to that is.

Tom waited at his desk for the evil bitch-monger to arrive, watching the other students chat and laugh amongst each other. He saw a pretty Hufflepuff girl he couldn't remember the name of shoot him a pitying smile and laid his head down with a thunk. How could this possibly be happening to HIM! Being pitied by a Hufflepuff was a new low in a recent landslide of lows Tom had been experiencing. He felt so damn wretched! And it was all because of-

"Good afternoon class!" Jessie said as she briskly paced up the aisle way to her desk at the front of the classroom.

Most of the Hufflepuffs and even a few of the Slytherins returned her greeting. Jessie noticed Tom at the back of the class. He appeared to be murdering her slowly with his eyes. She sent him a welcoming smirk and turned to the chalkboard.

"Now I know many of you will be relieved to know that we are now done with our unit on Unforgivables. I want to move on to chapter eight, so if all of you could please turn your books to page 297, we'll begin our lesson today with shield charms and other defensive mechanisms."

There was a great rustling of pages as the thirty or so students did as they were instructed. Jessie saw with a frown that Riddle was not among that number.

"Mr. Riddle. Is there some problem?" She caught the evil glint in his eyes too late and wished that she hadn't singled him out.

"Yes, Miss Pandora. I'm afraid there is." All students were now paying attention to the conflict developing between the two. It was a regular occurrence in DADA that Tom and the Professor would argue. It was all some eager young entrepreneurs could do to not sell popcorn.

"You have a problem learning shield charms?" Jessie asked incredulously. A few of the Hufflepuffs snickered.

Tom ignored her jest and went in for the kill, something he had been saving as a last resort. "The chapter after Unforgivables, as I've noticed, was actually about Dark Creatures. Creatures such as Werewolves and Vampires. Did you want to tell the class why we're not going to be covering that lesson just yet?" Or shall I?

Jessie's imagination didn't have to work hard to pick up his implied threat. She narrowered her eyes. "First off Mr. Riddle, I don't much care for your tone. Five points off from Slytherin." Some moans could be heard from the Slytherins in the class and some of them actually shot Tom annoyed looks. They bounced off of him unseen however as his unwavering gaze was fixed heatedly on Jessie. "Second, in reference to your question, since I am the teacher, and you are the student, it is my privilege to design your lesson plans, not the other way around, and in no way do the authors of our book dictate to me what structure I may use in my lesson plans." Addressing the whole class, Jessie added, "It is my reasoning to move directly from Unforgivables to shield charms so that I may make sure all of you have a solid foundation in defense. After all, that is the purpose of this class."

Pacing the room, her eyes now aglow as she started to lecture, "You need to know what is out there. You all know about the Unforgivables now," she scoured the busy faces as they began on their notes and called out, "Priscilla, name for me the three curses and their effects."

As Pricilla, like the good eager beaver she was-listed off the answers mindlessly, Tom fumed. His trump card! And she had waved it off like a pesky fly!

He wanted to scream! And then, he wanted to kill her. Well, maybe not in that order. Yes, kill her first and then scream! Wait, why would he scream if she were dead? He would think that he'd be overjoyed if that occurred.

Tom shook his head. He really was falling apart. Slumping over in defeat, he rested his head against the cool wood of his desk and thought of all the fun ways he could kill that damn cat in the large castle. Meanwhile, Professor Pandora droned on, harboring the importance of pathetic spells such as Protego.

That evening, as Tom sat alone in the changing room, the back of his sweaty head resting against the cold surface of his green locker, he heard footsteps. Sitting up, he reached for his shirt, which was hidden under the sleeping Trixz. He took great satisfaction in ripping it out violently from under her. Unfortunately, she in turn took great satisfaction in ripping it under her as he pulled it. The end result was a ripped white button down with peach cat fur covering it. Scrunching his face up in disgust and shooting the cat his best glare, Riddle quickly slipped into the remains of his shirt just as the figure emerged into his view.

Jessie took one look at his shirt and laughed. Riddle rolled his eyes in annoyance and pulled out his wand. It was his turn to smirk as she tensed, but he merely repaired the cuts in the fabric. Pocketing the Phoenix feathered wand, Riddle stood up, awaiting the reprimanding that was sure to come for whatever Trixz had tattle-tailed on him. He briefly wondered what the Vampire would do to him if he killed her cat right then.

Sensing Riddle's patience was uncommonly thin this evening, Jessie jumped right in. "You know your curfew is at nine."

Riddle sneered, "It's not like I was off murdering innocent little Muggle babies and their puppies. I was just enjoying the freedom of not having you breathing down my neck with that foul blood breath of yours every five seconds."

"Curfew is a set time Riddle. I know it might be hard for you to follow, but the general gist is that you turn in at a specified time. In this painful case, nine-o-clock."

Tom rolled his eyes, muttering under his breath, "Painful indeed," as he gathered up his belongings and exited the Quidditch Pitch. Jessie picked up Trixz and gave her friend a reassuring pet before heading off after the boy.

Entering their shared common, the password falling from his lips with as much distain as he could muster, "Artorius," Riddle immediately made a beeline for his private room. He was almost through his door when Jessie called out, "Not so fast Riddle. We need to discuss that stunt you pulled today."

"Not another lecture!" Tom angrily shuffled back into the common and dropped wearily into one of the armchairs. He just knew she picked this time of night to talk to him, specifically because he was at his weakest. The carnivorous bitch. Last night it had been an in depth history lesson on the plight of Arthur of England, their dungeon password's namesake. She had gone on and on about the nobleness of Arthur and his Knights and how above all else, he fought for equality for all Britains. Tom had nearly choked on his boredom. Like he didn't already know the story of the pathetic Muggle idealist, Arthur, or Artorious, the Bear. He'd come across the name so often in his research of Merlin that mention of the man put him into a fit of gagging.

Jessie ignored his outburst. "We already talked about this Tom." She let her commanding Professor voice drop as she went on, sounding as weary as he felt, "What don't you understand? Going to Dippit with my condition will do you no good. He knew when he hired me. And if you go straight to the students to try to get their parents against me, you know Dippit will stick by his decision." Riddle turned away from her, once more defeated and gazed into the happily crackling fire, wishing he had the will power to just throw himself in.

Jessie saw his sulking look and rolled her eyes. He liked to act so mature, but underneath, he was still just a teenager. Angsty as any, perhaps more than some. "How was Quidditch practice?"

Riddle looked surprised at her question, but his features darkened almost immediately as he sniped, "Don't pretend to care. I'd rather move back into that orphanage than suffer pity from the likes of you! I've had enough pity today."

"Really, and who was kind enough to bestow it upon one as unappreciating as yourself?" Jessie asked arching an eyebrow.

Riddle realized his mistake and looked back toward the fire in humiliation.

Jessie watched him for a few moments before shaking her head in annoyance and heading over to her room. Over her shoulder, she called, "I really am making an effort. You would be wise to do the same."

Once he had heard her lock click into place, Riddle glanced around for the crème-colored feline he knew to be lurking. Sure enough, his eyes fell upon Trixz as she sat on the sofa arm nearest to his chair, watching him intently. Her tail was flicking back in forth in a steadfast manner. It had surprised him the first day of her trailing how much the flicking of her tail unnerved him. It had the grating effect of nails on a chalkboard and brought to his mind the frustration of a tapping pencil. But it went on. She seemed almost hypnotic in her flicking. Back and forth it went, screaming to him, "I'm. Watching. You."

Staring back at the cat, Riddle felt something suddenly wash over him. It was a feeling he'd not had since he'd been a small child in the orphanage. He felt curious. He wanted to feel if her fur was really as soft as it looked. Realizing what he was contemplating, Riddle recoiled in disgust.

But the absurd thought wouldn't leave him. Hating himself for his curiosity, he called out softly, "Come Trixz."

At first, the cat just regarded him. She sensed a trap and was anything but stupid. But, as the saying goes, curiosity killed the cat. Which was to be the cat in this venture, neither was sure.

Throwing doubts to the wind, Trixz leaped off the sofa and boldly onto Riddle's lap. He was surprised at her recklessness, but rewarded her with an awkward pet.

Trixz leaned into his hand and began to purr, her amber eyes glowing with sinister contentment.