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Part Two

A Mutual Arrangement

I had to talk to her. Find some way of getting her to talk to me, if I could. Of course, I had no trouble finding various followers and sycophants, all more than willing to hang on my every word, Nott, Rosier and Dolohov were testament to that. But she was different. I had little to do with the other Houses generally, but from the first day I saw her, and she looked at me, I knew that she was definitely, indefinably, different.

From the first week she was here, it became common knowledge that she pretty good at Quidditch, so when one of the Ravenclaw Chasers, Jonathan Chang, was badly injured and sent home, she was offered the place, and performed with gusto.

Team sports. They left me cold. It was more than a little awkward for me to feign a sudden interest in a game I detested, and had avoided playing for as long as I had been here, but I knew that it was worth it. Just to have an excuse to watch her soar and twist in the sky, showing off her new Nimbus Two Fifty, laughing as she flew upside down as a joke, her hair streaming and if I moved over a little, I could see pale skin and the small valley between her breasts. I closed my eyes, moistening my dry lips with the tip of my tongue and I could almost smell her scent, perfume and fresh sweat on clean skin, delicious.

I took to 'borrowing' Vittorio's invisibility cloak on Sunday mornings, when she would wake early, and come down to the Quidditch pitch to practice alone. Soon I, too, were setting my alarm for six thirty am, and silently slipping on Zabini's cloak, I would follow, soft-footed as a cat, to watch her, breathless as the sunrise played on her beautiful skin, and the frost on the winter ground.

It was December now, and soon Hogwarts would close for Christmas.All the other students would go home, but I would stay, alone, as I always did.

I wanted to touch her. It was distracting to say the least. The worst thing about it was that I had no idea why she interested me. She just….did. It might have been curiosity, or something else..something I'd been taught to be more ashamed of. I wasn't sure. And that was distracting too.

O O O O O

Night fell at around four, now. At six, dinner was served in the Great Hall, at ten, everyone would make a rush for the bathrooms and bed, before the cold set in proper.

Everyone, that is, except the prefects who were obliged to take turns on the night patrol, myself included.

Nobody wanted to sign up for night patrol this close to Christmas. After all, it would put paid to all the parties and get-togethers that were going on now, some legitimate, and some slightly less so.

Certainly the Mudbloods would be stocking up. The Muggles were at war again, and I doubted that I would have had much more to eat at the Orphanage than they would have in their Muggle homes.

But the Professors, of course, all knew that they could rely on Tom Riddle, dutiful, polite and firm favourite for Head Boyship, and so, with four weeks solid of night patrol ahead of me, I climbed the stairs to my dormitory on a bitterly cold Thursday night, in search of something warmer to wear.

My winter cloak lay across the end of the four-poster bed. It had been bought second hand and was a little too short, but I threw it over my shoulders, fastening the clasp around my neck, and, adding the standard Slytherin scarf in regulation silver and green, I left for my duties.

Looking out of the windows facing towards the forest, I could see a thick mist beginning to rise. I stretched out a hand, meaning to pull down the drapes, before setting off to patrol near the entrance to Ravenclaw tower. I always began my patrols there, these days.

It was in that split second that I saw the figure running across the grounds, cloak billowing in the freezing winds and dark hair streaming with a flash of silver.

As I watched, the figure looked back once, twice, and then, disappeared, running quickly across the black expanse of the lawns, and into the forbidden forest.

I turned and descended the staircase quickly, silently.

Night patrol had just become so much more interesting.

O O O O O

Even the corridors were freezing, and my breath made small, foggy clouds in front of me. Quickly, I made a cursory tour of the rest of the castle. I took out my wand and cast a spell to warm myself, the dead-cold atmosphere rolling back away from me like something tangible.

I very nearly fell asleep, for when I had completed the rushed rounds, not wanting to miss the return of the student that I had seen breaking at least a dozen school rules in one fell swoop, I settled myself behind the statue of Elrick the Bald, where I had full view of the Entrance Hall. It was almost two o'clock when I became aware, finally, of the door furthest away from me giving a low creak, and opening just enough to admit a small person.

I watched as the figure slipped quietly inside the door, the hood of the black school cloak obscuring its face. Smirking to myself, I silently withdrew my wand from inside my cloak, pointed it at my boots and cast wordlessly, something I had been able to do since my third year.

"Silencio."

The cloaked figure moved stealthily through the castle, and despite the spell, I found that I, too, were walking as silently as possible.

I knew that if I was caught out of my dormitory at this hour, I could probably formulate an excuse, most likely one that would leave me in a favourable light, I was good at those, but even so, I wanted to follow this errant night tripper all the way to wherever they were heading, because I had a sneaking suspicion that I knew exactly where that destination would be.

I wasn't paying attention when my boot caught against a loose stone as I followed the figure across the courtyard towards the staircase that led to the castle towers.

I cursed under my breath, but knew that the miscreant I was tailing could not possibly have heard a thing. My spell casting had always been impeccable. Indeed, it was generally accepted that Tom Riddle did not commit errors.

I looked up, then, and in a moment, I froze.

The hooded figure whirled around.

The only thing I could make out was the very tip of a light wood wand emerge from underneath the folds of the cloak, a fraction of a second before I heard the muttered incantation, a high whisper in hushed tones.

"Noxus Impervious!"

A sudden darkness descended, but it was like no darkness I had ever known. This darkness was thick and almost viscous, impenetrable. Then I heard the footsteps start to run.

Furious at being so easily jinxed, and wondering how in Merlin's name my presence had been detected through my own spell, I, too, crossed the courtyard at a run, following the footfalls of my quarry as they pounded across the wet grass. I knew I could gain ground easily, and I was right, being the taller by almost a foot was certainly proving to be advantageous.

Close to the foot of Ravenclaw tower, there was a small door set in the wall with steps leading to a series of circular chambers. They were, it was said, to once be used for keeping dangerous beasts to defend the castle. Now that this was no longer thought necessary, they stood empty, and it was here that I caught up with the black-cloaked figure. I could hear an urgent mutter of "Alohomora!" as we drew level with the door. This time the voice was clear and unmistakably female.

The door was flung open at exactly the same time as I reached out to seize her shoulders. She tried to twist away from my grip, and somehow missed her footing down the small flight of steps, falling and dragging me with her.

I landed half on top her, pulling off her hood roughly, and holding her tight.

"Lumos!" I muttered.

The darkness lifted, suddenly, and I found myself looking into the blanched face of a pale girl with dark brown hair and grey eyes.

O O O O O

Laura Ames was looking at me, slightly stunned from the fall. She reached out and rubbed a hand tentatively over her face. This close, I could see the snowflakes had still not melted from the walk back to the castle, and they glittered in her hair and eyelashes.

Instinctively, I put out a hand to brush them away.

I half-expected her to flinch, but she didn't. And instead of looking frightened to be caught out of bed, by a prefect, at two o' clock in the morning, she was looking at me intently, her expression….. unreadable.

"Hello, Tom." she said smiling just a little, as though the situation was a perfectly acceptable one to be found in.

An odd sensation, not entirely pleasant, shot through me, I couldn't place quite what it was about the way she was gazing at me, the way she spoke, but there was something about it that made me have to catch my breath. And the way that she said my name, with just the merest trace of accent, left over from her Beauxbatons days - 'Tom…" it was like I had heard it a million times before, yet I knew I hadn't, at least, not the way she said it.

"You're out of bed, Ames," I told her, softly, tightening my fingers just a little on her upper arm. She drew in her breath, just loud enough to hear. "And, I'm a prefect."

"I know …Tom. But, you know, I just couldn't sleep." Laura said, still with that same expression, unwavering. " Don't you…er..ever get that?"

"But is it really necessary to visit the Forbidden Forest on such occasions?" I asked her, in a low voice "I would say it was a very bad idea. With your record so….against you, don't you think, Miss Ames?" I said, quietly, waiting for the reaction.

It came at once, and she looked up at me sharply, her grey eyes both knowing and full of questions.

"What do you know about my record?" she asked shrewdly, eyes narrowed in suspicion.

I did not answer her. It gave me a thrill to see the consternation cross her face. I knew that she was trying to work out exactly what I knew about her, and how I knew it, but I certainly did not intend to reveal my hand to her just yet.

Besides, here I was, after hours, and I was lying on top of her, pinning her down, and she had made no attempt at all to wriggle out from under me. I could smell perfume,her perfume, faint, lilies of the valley, I thought, mixed with the scent of cold air, the telltale essence of the freezing snow-clad night. I could do anything to her right here and now. All I would have to do is hold her down – hard--and it would be so easy. I could feel the stirrings beginning in my stomach at the mere thought of it. I gritted my teeth, biting down on the thoughts I was having, keeping control, for now.

"You're a troublemaker,Miss Ames. Oh yes, I know all about you." I murmured, close to her ear. She flinched under me, I was enjoying the upper hand, loved making sure she knew I was in charge. It felt good, right even.

For about half a second.

And then I heard her reply.

"Of course you always play by the rules don't you, Tom? An example to us all. But tell me, Tom Riddle, where in the rules does it say that it's all right to steal your friend's Invisibility cloak to spy on girls practicing their Quidditch technique on a Sunday morning? Does Professor Dippet know about that?" she inquired, pleasantly.

Her words were a punch in the stomach.

How could she know?

At once, I could not look her in the eyes. I turned away, fixing my gaze on the stone floor, but then, unexpectedly, she reached out to me, touching my cheek with her hand, still freezing.

"I just know." she whispered, answering the question I had not asked.

She fiddled with the silver comb in her hair and smiled just a little bit, regarding me thoughtfully, as she continued:

"But it's quite all right, you know. I can keep your little secret if you keep mine."

I could feel her heartbeat as she leant into me.

I could hear her breathe.

I felt it as she exhaled and it played across the skin of my cheek, with her fingers…. an involuntary shiver shooting down my spine.

And then, in a movement, I was kissing her.

How I managed to keep breathing, I will never know. I had never been this close to anyone before, and neither had I wanted to be. All I could explain was that I liked the way it felt when she deepened the kiss, searching out my tongue, pulling me into her, tentatively at first, but then with increasing confidence.

I liked the way it felt when she began to stroke my back, loosening my tie urgently and throwing it somewhere past my left elbow. I couldn't have cared less at that moment, I just wanted to stay here forever, but at the same time, run far away.

Then she pulled away as suddenly as it had begun. I dropped my wand and the light went out.

I grabbed at the darkness, wanting to pin her up against the wall and force her to finish what she had started, but the next time she spoke, it came from further up the stairs.

"Tom," she called, softly.

"What are you doing?" I asked, in consternation.

"You're a prefect, Tom," she said. "Goodnight."

And then she was gone.

I could only listen as the sound of her footsteps on stone faded away, and feeling around with my fingers on the cold floor, I could not find my Slytherin tie anywhere.

O O O O O

Outside, the enchanted darkness had lifted, but the tall, mahogany clock in the common room had struck three before I descended the staircase to dormitory 5a.

Nott, whose bed was closest to the door, stirred as I entered. He opened his mouth, about to speak, but before he could grunt an enquiry, I had drawn my wand with a vicious look and a warning, issued through clenched teeth:

"Shut. Up."

His eyes widened momentarily, but he obeyed, turning back over as I slipped into bed.

It took me a long time to go to sleep, though.

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