"Tom?" she called from across his room, sitting in the large, green armchair, "Which questions did Slughorn a-assign from the book?"
Tom sat at his writing desk, feverishly writing an essay for Charms. She waited for a moment, "Tom?"

"One through fourteen," he replied finally, glancing back over his shoulder with a smile. She grinned and went back to her work, which was slightly awkward to do sitting cross-legged on an armchair, but somehow she managed.

Another week had passed since she slept over with Tom, and he had brought her back more and more. Elodie never felt completely comfortable staying with him during the night, so she usually made excuses whenever he asked. After a few days of 'not feeling well', Tom stated she should either see the nurse or stop lying to him. With a defeated sigh, she finally began agreeing to go anywhere he asked, since he could see through most of her lies.
He never pushed her, and he did not kiss her either. He focused mainly on her neck, which by the end of the week was rather sore.

Tom seemed to find it normal to lock the door once they were inside, and as soon as he did, she knew he was going to make her stay.

Nothing mattered though. It was Tom. Her Tom.

Once she had finished her homework, she slipped her books back into her bag and stood up, straightening out her skirt and stretching. It was nearly eleven; time flies when you're doing homework.

"Tom, I think I'm going to bed now," she announced, heading toward the door. Just as she was about to ask him to unlock it, he stated, "I'll join you in a minute, kitten."
She sighed and decided there was no point in trying to argue with him, so she slipped out of her shoes and crawled onto the bed, snuggling onto one of the pillows and watching him.

He was such a focused worker. When they were doing homework, he'd become very annoyed if anything, or anyone, distracted him.
She waited for a good five minutes to pass, and boredom passed through her rapidly, so, she went to the bathroom to get ready for bed. Tom asked her to bring all of her things, mainly tooth brushes and things, down into his room so she wouldn't have any reason to go back to her dormitory at night.
When she had finished, she took one final look in the mirror, studying her now curly locks. They complimented her nicely, but for some reason, she missed the messy style from before.
Extinguishing the torches that kept the bathroom well lit, she returned to the other room only to find Tom stretched out on the bed, shoes removed, tie gone, and a few shirt buttons undone.
Oh he was so handsome.

"Come here, kitten," he ordered, smirking at her cheekily. She shuffled toward him, but he hastily told her to stop when she was in center of the carpet. Tom removed his wand, "Twirl in a circle for me."
"Why?" she asked, frowning. His eyes narrowed, "Twirl."

She complied, feeling suddenly very self conscious as Tom looked her over. She stopped after one complete circle and folded her hands over her chest, gasping when he flicked his wand at her. To her horror, her skirt shortened a few inches. While it was the mandatory length before, just below her knees, it was now an inch or two higher, showing off quite a bit more leg then she wanted.

"Tom!" she shrieked, and began tugging at her skirt, trying to make it a little longer, "What are you doing?"
"It looks better like this," he declared, swishing his hand at her untucked shirt. The white material began to shrink, tightening around her chest and stomach. Her eyes widened and she felt so bare before him. Quickly, she turned around, her breathing quickening a little, "Change it b-back, Tom!" she said loudly, still keeping her back to him. Before she could react, he had himself pressed up behind her, his lips running smoothly over her neck. Tom chuckled, "Come on, kitten... You look very... alluring like this."
"I feel so... so..." she couldn't even find the word that suited her feelings, "Trampish."
"What?" he laughed, his hands curving around her stomach, "Just because your uniform is a little tighter? All of girls wear it like this."
"I'm n-not all the girls," she whispered, "Please, change it back, Tom."
"No."

"Morning you two," Adrian greeted as Tom pulled her down to sit with the boys at breakfast. Julian's eyes traveled over the opening in her school cloak and he frowned, "Something looks different about you today."
"New uniform," Tom chuckled as Elodie helped herself to some food, remaining in silence. She felt so horrible walking around like this. All the boys she had passed watched her discreetly, and Tom, for some reason, just smirked at the attention she was getting.
She had always wanted it, but for some reason, she didn't like it.

Screeches suddenly filled the Great Hall, and Elodie looked up, noting the mail had arrived. She never really knew how it felt to receive mail, since her parents refused to even get near her owl, so she was forced to watch others enjoy it.
A caramel coloured owl, one of the larger ones, landed beside Adrian, deposited a letter, then took off once again, leaving the hall.

"Hey... Look at that," he exclaimed, smiling as he took out a photo, "My nephew turns four today."
"W-What's his name?" Elodie inquired, feeling slightly curious. He grinned and handed her the picture, "Lucius. My brother and his wife are so proud of him... You can most definitely tell he's a Malfoy."

Elodie glanced down at the photo and a small, blonde haired boy and a house elf stood in front of a tree. The boy, Lucius, grinned toothily, revealing he was missing one tooth in the front, and there was a flash. Once the flash died down, he tugged on the house elf's ears, laughing as the creature began to squirm.

"He seems... sweet," Elodie managed as she gave him the photo back. Adrian beamed, "Pure Malfoy."
"Is there any other kind?" Tom asked, his voice sounding somewhat amused, however, Elodie could hear something else behind it. Something different.
Adrian cleared his throat and stuffed the picture back into the envelope, "Of course not... Malfoys are only pure."
"Good to hear," Tom chuckled, finishing up his food and pushing his plate away. Elodie continued to eat, only to flinch when his hand came to rest on her thigh. With the new shortness of her skirt, she did not like his hand anywhere near bare skin, but there was nothing she could do if she did not want to create a scene.
A hand lightly skimmed her back, and she jumped, whipping around to see Professor Dumbledore, his eyes watching Tom with some sort of caution.

"May I speak with you a moment, Elodie?" he inquired, a smile returning to his lips. Tom pursed his lips, "She hasn't finished eating her breakfast, sir."
"Not to worry, Tom," Dumbledore protested, shooting him a small smirk, "I'll have her back in no time... Just a moment, Elodie."

She nodded and went to stand up, but she found Tom had not removed his hand. Her cheeks started to burn when she spotted Dumbledore eyeing Tom's hand, so she shoved it off as quickly as she could and rose, following the elderly wizard out of the hall.
"I don't mean to disturb you," he stated, beckoning for her to follow her to his office, which was only down the hall, "I could hardly find you... Quite a change you've undergone, Ms. Greensworth."

Elodie cringed. Rarely did her favourite professor ever use her last name, unless it was strictly a professional sort of speech.

"T-Tom helped me," she admitted, stepping inside the warm office and taking a seat on a large, orange chair, as usual, "He said I looked nicer like this."
"I don't see why Mr. Riddle should have a say in your appearance," he commented, shutting the door and sauntering around to his desk, sitting behind it, "Chocolate?"
"Thank you," she murmured politely, taking a wrapped chocolate out of the jar on his desk. He always had some sort of candy, wherever he went. Sometimes she wondered if he had his pockets lined with the sweet food, since many times when he had found her roaming the halls alone, he had a tasty treat to lighten her mood.

"We're dating," she confessed, smiling giddily, "We have been for a few weeks now."
He frowned and his eyes snapped up to her face, "A few weeks, eh? My, seems like quite a while."
She watched, puzzled, as his face flashed a series of emotions; confusion, concern, then understanding.
"I would watch out for young Tom Riddle," he reflected, looking over his thin, half-moon spectacles at her, "Don't think poorly of me for my opinion, Elodie, I merely don't trust the boy."
"Oh, b-but he's so sweet!" Elodie argued, instantly jumping to her Tom's defense, "He really cares about me! Honest, Professor... I mean as much to him as he means to me."
Dumbledore nodded, his features turning placid once more, "Of course... Now, Elodie, I did not ask you here to talk about Tom."

Elodie began to fidget, pulling her skirt a little more down her legs, hoping it didn't look too short on her. The elderly man grinned, "And no, it's not about your uniform, which I must say, seems to have shrunk in the wash."
Elodie breathed a short sigh of relief; he would not press the matter.
"Your head of house, Professor Slughorn, tells me you have not yet decided on a career," he began, folding his hands together, "And while I applaud you for taking ever subject possible, I think you seriously need to put some consideration into your future. You have grades high enough to apply for the Ministry," Elodie gasped, "And I think you would make a wonderful auror."

"Really?" she squeaked, her stomach knotting, "An auror? Oh... I've always wondered what it would be like to work in that field... It's so fascinating!"
"Yes, yes, you see!" he laughed, his eyes twinkling, "There is an endless amount of possibilities for you! I'm sure the next headmaster would even offer you a job teaching."
"Teaching?" she blurted, "Next headmaster? Dippet is l-leaving?"
"He is," Dumbledore said simply, shrugging his shoulders, "He wishes to see the mountains of Europe, all of them, before he gets too old... I trust you'll keep it quiet he is retiring."
"Oh, I will," she promised, fiddling with her fingers, "I've never thought of what I'm going to do once school is over... I just assumed I w-would know!"
"I suggest, over the Christmas break, looking into some work at the Ministry," he chuckled, "Take a student tour around, just to see what it's like. They have them daily, really for whoever shows up. I think you'd find it quite interesting."
Elodie grinned, then flushed as her stomach let out an angry growl, demanding she return and finish her meal.
"I couldn't have said that better myself," Dumbledore laughed, "Take another chocolate, poppet, and be on your way."

*-

"What the bloody Hell will he want with her?" Tom snarled, watching as Dumbledore ushered Elodie out of the Great Hall, "Probably off to tell her how horrible I am, and she needs to find a new boyfriend."
"Wouldn't rule it out," Julian whispered darkly as he swallowed his bite, "He does seem to have something against you."

Stupid fool, Tom, stupid fool.


Yes, yes he was. The idiot Dumbledore had been on his case ever since they first met nearly ten years ago. He would be first on Tom's list of people to slaughter once he was finished with school.

"Hey, Tom?" Adrian prodded, poking him under the table with his foot, "Rosier was wondering if we're going to have a meeting soon... Just to go over... You know... The ... thing."
Tom rolled his eyes and made sure no one was listening, "None of you are involved in the 'thing', as you so elegantly put it. It's between Elodie and I... I don't trust any of you enough to take part in it."

They both seemed slightly put off, but recovered quickly, telling him it was no problem, and they understood.

Good. There was no reason for them to press on. Idiots.

His eyes traveled back to the entrance of the hall, and they narrowed when he spotted Edward waving at Elodie as she made her way back towards the table. She smiled weakly and gave a feeble wave back, then continued on.

That shouldn't be, Tom, that shouldn't be.

Of course it shouldn't! He had caught that damn Potter smiling at Elodie ever since he learned she was alive. It was only because he had fixed her. Potter wouldn't have given her a second look had he seen her before.

"What did he want?" Tom snapped as Elodie returned to her seat, digging back into her meal. She shrugged, "H-He said he thinks I'd do good in the Ministry, and wants me to go visit it over the Christmas holiday."
The holiday? No! That would ruin everything! He needed her here, here where he could watch her.

"I think it's a stupid idea," Julian interjected, catching Tom's irritated look, "I mean... The Ministry is for people who don't give a damn about the rest of us... You care about people, don't you, Elodie?"
She shifted, "Well, y-yes-"
"Then I'd blow off the whole thing," Adrian continued as Julian nodded, "Sounds like a waste of time... What are they going to show you, how to file something?"
"Not quite," she mumbled, poking at her food, "He thinks I should consider getting some auror training."
Tom nearly spat out his juice, and she delicately patted him on the back as he began coughing.

Make her stay, Tom, make her stay.


"Elodie, kitten," he chuckled, rubbing her leg as he continued to cough slightly, "An auror? Really? You are too jittery to be one... You jump at everything. A desk job would be more suitable."
"I suppose," she sighed, looking a little hurt as she went back to eating.

Smooth it over, Tom, smooth it over.


Adrian and Julian packed up their things, leaving the pair alone. Tom groaned, "I don't mean you wouldn't make a good auror, kitten... Just, not right away, to say the least."
"You're right," she assured, "I'd be horrid... Can you imagine? The f-first Dark Wizard to corner me somewhere would be the end of it. No, I d-don't think I'll go."
Tom smiled and tucked her hair behind her ear, "That's my girl... I'll help you look for a career during the Christmas break... I won't be going home."

"Oh."

Was she planning on going home? He never paid her any attention in the previous years, or enough attention anyway, to notice whether or not she went home to her family.
"Don't you want to stay with me?"
The famous guilty lines, which seemed to win her over each time, proved useful again, and she nodded, "Yes, I'll stay with you! I'll write mother and f-father that I won't be coming home."
"Wonderful... I'm sure this holiday will be one to remember, forever."

Forever. Forever. Forever. Forever.