Chapter Ten

I tried my hardest by I couldn't keep the tears from running down my face as I ran back up to my dorm room. I couldn't believe what had just happened. What happened? Wasn't Tom Riddle supposed to never have feelings? To never even think about a girl?

How had this happened?

I reached my room and slammed my door before collapsing on my bed. I had enough sense to silence the room so Tom wouldn't hear anything if I came in.

I had the most confusing internal debate of my life that night. My two sides at war, the forgiving side and the angry, hurt side. They were two polar opposites and each were equally stubborn. I would think of an idea but then my mind would instantly reject it and propose a new one, only to have the process repeated again.

And the questions, there were so many questions.

Did Tom Riddle actually have feelings for me? Does this mean that his view on muggle-borns has changed? How will this affect my mission? What am I even doing to complete this mission? Is this what Dumbledore meant when he told me to fight differently? How will Tom react around me now? What will everyone say? Has his view as Voldemort changed at all? …

I could come up with possible answers for every question that my head threw at me. Only one prevented me from easing my mind.

What are my feelings about him?

As soon as I asked myself this, all thoughts were swept out of my mind and no ideas could be made. I refused to believe it at the time but I knew what that meant and coming to this time period, this was the last outcome I had expected.

It wasn't that I had any romantic interest in him at the time; it was more that I had hope. I somehow believed that there was still hope for Tom Riddle, Voldemort.

-----------------------

I heard the portrait open and to my surprise, I barely heard it close. With surprise I realized that Tom was trying to not wake me up. Taking a deep breath, I cast a quick refreshing spell on myself and stepped outside.

Tom was about halfway to his door when I called out to him and told him to wait.

He froze.

"Look tom," I said, extremely nervous. "About tonigh-"

He turned around sharply and cut me off. "No hard feelings. I get it. You like Zabini."

"No, I don't like Matteo," I clarified.

He cut me off again. "Malfoy, then? I have to admit, I thought that even you had better taste then him."

"Would you let me finish?" I said, clearly aggravated. When he didn't say anything I continued. "About what happened tonight, I'm sorry. Coming from where I did, it was not what I expected at all. In fact, it was the opposite and I just wanted to apologize."

Tom nodded and headed into his room. Was that an, 'apology accepted'? I asked myself.

With a sigh, I turned around and headed back into my room.

Tom kept up his superior-I-am-smarter-than-you attitude and our relationship returned to what it was before the Halloween dance. I couldn't help but see little changes in our fights though.

Instead of being openly hostile and threatening, Tom became calmer. He was still incredibly angry, but in a different way. There was never any physical interaction at all either. Before he would bang into my shoulder when he walked but now he kept a safe distance away from me. After that night, I never had to go to the hospital wing because of one of our fights.

At the same time, I was starting to become … attracted to Tom.

I hadn't been expecting that. He was never nice, caring, gentle, or regretful, but he was intelligent, passionate and handsome. There was a part of me that wondered what he would be like if someone gave him a real chance without expecting anything from him. No one wanting him to be the faithful leader, the lonely orphan, the unworthy half-blood or the best student in Hogwarts history.

Everyday, this hopeful side was becoming more and more dominant until I finally decided to see what Tom Riddle was like without any pretenses or anticipation.