Chapter 3: Incognito
For the duration of three school years and a few months into the fourth term, somewhere mid-November - Tom Riddle and Eris Dimwood were still good as strangers.
They had only passed each other once, briefly bumping in the middle of a corridor. She had been busy thinking how Amortentia could possibly be the strongest potion in the world, and he, the whereabouts of the Chamber of Secrets. A large book(on potions sneaked from the restricted section of the library) she had clutched loosely to her bosom fell.
Tom had impassively stooped down to obtain the object, an offhanded reflexiveness of playing polite. Eris had given just as an absent-minded nod and their moment passes as swiftly as that.
An insignificant happenstance not even bound to be reminisced as a fragment of a memory. Because truly: no one remembers a stranger's face in a simple pass and go.
X
It was one cold November morning in Potions that Horace Slughorn found amusement in seeing his students in disarray. Red noses hunched over desks with vexatious faces and the air dripping with blatant impatience. It was on these circumstances - the boredom and indifference to learning his subject, he knew best how to enthuse his students.
"Now, as you all know it has been awhile since our last project.."
As if on cue, the chorus of groans echo, students not even bothering to mask their derision. Horace lifts his palms up to demand order in the room. Surely, his students could show more refinery than that?
He clears his throat, eyes darting sternly, almost disapprovingly, around the room. "In preparation for your OWLs next year, you are to brew an advanced potion of your choice. In pairs." He adds the last bit to cajole the room.
"Well then," he starts, picking up the class list. "The pairs will be chosen at random."
It was a Potions class with Slytherins and Gryffindors, and since these houses acted like a pair of bickering old couples, he thought it was best to pair students exclusively with their housemates. Simply to avoid commotion, as this was a very trivial thing. Or maybe not.
He pairs, one by one, unsuspecting Gryffindors with unsuspecting Slytherins. He knew he was probably stirring more trouble than cause, but this rivalry was beginning to agitate him.
Tom Riddle thought so too, and with great inward distaste he placidly scrutinized his fellow peers.
The heavy thunks of bags harshly placed on tabletops resonated as pairs begin to sit with one another. A flair of childish defiance their Potions Master tolerated, or better yet, Riddle had noticed suspiciously, encouraged with veiled glee.
Slughorn must be quite the sadist, Riddle thought as he too picked up his belongings and proceeded to his partner. A miss…? Dimwood, was it? Oh yes, an Eris Dimwood. Surveying the classroom for his supposed partner, his eyes land on a solitary blonde-haired girl towards the back. She wore the insignia of the Slytherin house. Tom wondered briefly why he wasn't paired with a Gryffindor and his eyes found Slughorn just as Slughorn found his, as if the Potions Master had initially sensed his concern.
Not that it was of great importance to him.
Eris Dimwood was having her usual day. Ignorant to the woes of reality and attention directed elsewhere but the present. What was Slughorn on about again? A project? Pairs?
"Excuse me, miss… Dimwood?" A smooth voice taps her back to existence, and she craned her neck to look for this new source of intervention.
Eris passively glances at the boy hunched over her side to meet her gaze. She was momentarily silent, unsure of who this person was again. Oh, her partner. "Tom Riddle?" She blurts out in an indecisive greeting.
Tom manages a smile as an affirmation and wordlessly, Eris skids to the other side of the bench, making room for him to sit down and set his parchments on the table. She regards him openly, an unconscious action on her part. It was one of those days where her head's off to space.
Tom notices this from the corner of his eyes but pays no heed to this intrusion.
"Pardon for the delay," He begins, "Now, regarding the project -"
"Can you brew a Draught of Living Dead?"
A Pause. A glint in his eyes. Amusement? Disbelief? Yet she tucked it all in the back of her mind. It was something she wasn't particularly good at: subtle interactions and second meanings. Probably the reason she never liked Eddy's poetry books.
Besides, the only reason she had chosen this particular potion was because a male student was annoying her as of late. Spluttering gibberish about liking her and telling her she has an 'unusually innocent, doll-like face, mysterious, stormy eyes and a breathtaking cascade of golden locks that shine like a pale sun'. Eris knew better, this man was going to ship her organs off to the black market.
Riddle looks at her with a serene smile, breaking her free from her thoughts once again. She was getting too absent-minded.
"I can. Can you?" Leaning on one arm he also adds, "Isn't that a bit ambitious? It's a NEWT level potion after all. "
Eris replies back in a heartbeat: "I wouldn't be asking you if I wasn't capable enough."
A ghost of a smirk graced Riddle's lips. "Very well. It's an excellent choice, a daring one too. Shall we discuss more about it in the library? And we'd have access to books for reference too."
Eris mulls it over, "I'm free tomorrow."
"It's a date then." He affirms nonchalantly.
A few heads from exasperated females nearby turned sharply towards their desk with shocked faces. For nearby ignored males, one - a stumped Silvius Malfoy, it was easy to deduce the stages of thinking going through these vixens devoted to Riddle.
He had noticed a few girls had already been sneaking hopeful glances at Riddle ever since the word 'project' and 'pair' was uttered by Slughorn. It was no surprise that he was the object of adoration of most females. He was terribly perfect: annoyingly handsome, insanely intellectual and mannered. And a prefect to boot. Silvius takes these facts on bitterly. Though, he scratches his itching cheek, there was this rumor.. Hmm, but unlikely. he brandishes the thought away in one last satisfying scratch that made his partner look at him in disgust.
On the other side of the room, Victoria Greengrass watches the subject of commotion calmly. Well-mannered women do not indulge in insipid prattle, her mother had always reminded her. However, for her, this was another case. This was Tom Riddle.
Still she watches on calmly. Inwardly masking the simmering jealousy creeping through. Why was she even jealous? Merlin, this was only a silly project and besides Tom had his eyes on her. Wasn't it common knowledge that among the females in their school, it was her Tom mostly displayed his open attention? Those rueful smiles and side glances. The way his eyes linger on her lips when they spoke, as if teasing her. The -
Victoria straightens up in her seat. Her mother had also taught her to never, ever fall victim to a man's words, lest actions. No matter how dazzling and courteous they may seem. Not even if it was from Tom Riddle. Always. Always look beyond what you see, her mother had told her. Emphasizing the repeated 'always', because one warning isn't enough to fully remind the human self what is logical and to not fall prey to temptation. Then ruin.
Besides, what right did she have to think Tom was hers? Absurd, her inner voice hotly reprimands her as her fingers flipped mercilessly the worn pages of her Potions book. Her eyes glazed over titles and ingredients, anything for this project. Anything to distract her. Her emotions got the best of her, her focus stubbornly shifting back to the subject of its want, leaving her no reprise. However, this time they were fixed on Tom Riddle's partner.
Her blood burned. Eris Dimwood. Now she - that girl is an absolute twat. No matter if she's Tom Riddle's partner. This girl was the reason her sister always came home in distress. Mary's smile agonizingly staged, eyes red and her fiance by her side, a very solemn Edson Dimwood. She had almost hated him if it weren't for the shame she'd see every time they would lock eyes. He looked so apologetic, eyes glassy and mouth in a grimace.
Eris Dimwood was a vile person, any person she conversed with who met her once attested to that.
"She has no friends. No refinery." The Black sisters had whispered at one afternoon when they were having tea with their chinas.
"She's the same age as us. Her father might even send her to Hogwarts
"Yes, Hogwarts." Lips pursed into sly smiles; their twinkling eyes bore into Victoria's. Malicious. Taunting.
"We will break her."
Victoria flipped through the pages more roughly, teeth gritted and eyes narrowed to slits, much to a befuddled Gryffindor to her side. Then her eyes found Eris again, to her porcelain skin and dark eyes. Those greys had never shined. Eris Dimwood was already the epitome of a bottomless pit.
Hollow and empty.
Victoria Greengrass looks back at her book and never steals a second glance again.
Eris stands up picking up her things, with the intent of leaving the room. The females took this as victory, hostility turning into smugness and some, even pity. Although if you'd known our main heroine by now you would have certainly learned this girl is incredibly slow..
..and a bit shallow-minded.
And slow and shallow indeed was Eris Dimwood, having been oblivious the whole time the classroom was in chaos. Truly, could one be so ignorant of obvious things? Obvious things that could be counted as being waved exasperatedly in front of her. Yet through this ordeal, it seemed Eris Dimwood had been looking through glassy, fish eyes. Well, ignorance does sometimes count as bliss..
On the other side of the spectrum, Tom Riddle was genuinely surprised. It was expected though, first she had asked him to brew the Draught of Living Dead, next she had abruptly stood up picking her things having not said a word about leaving and left not even sparing him a glance. How haphazard could this girl's actions get?
What lowly state of affairs, Tom Riddle thought, gathering his things. Nuisances were best ignored as distractions. A man of his caliber had better things to do.
Like the Knights of Walpugris coming to existence tonight.
He rises up from his seat in a fluid motion. Graceful, dexterous. Immediately, all eyes were on him. Like moths drawn to a flame. Except this flame was a crackling ball of electricity.
Silvius Malfoy could only stare in awe. How could this man be so Regal? To stride with so much purpose and enigma? To entice the masses, even some of those who hated him, without trying?
Tom Riddle, truly is, a prodigy.
Like a ripple in the water with Tom Riddle at the center, the class slowly disperses. Some boys from Slytherin taking the lead, and the girls none too subtly, following. Soon only Horace Slughorn was left in the deserted room.
After a few moments, he too then took his leave. A knowing, and quite the excited look in his face.
X
"I can't believe a person as perfect as Tom Riddle would exist." Audrey Mulciber swoons shamelessly, earning her a look from the woman across her.
Audrey rolls her eyes dramatically. "Oh come on, Victoria. We know you like him too. You're just acting like a child."
Victoria raises a brow. "Apparently, you're the one babbling here. Doesn't that make you the child?"
Audrey smooths out some flyaway hairs in her pixie crop. It was truly high maintenance to look so refined and prim. Satisfied how her locks are now smoothed out, her eyes dart back to the girl across her. One look was enough to confirm her deductions. "It appears someone is quite frustrated. Must it be because of what happened this afternoon?"
Victoria stiffens, barely so. However if you've been with a person long enough, you'd know their body language like second instincts. It wasn't about to go unnoticed to the three other women of the group. Surely enough, Agnes Black giggles from beside her. Victoria noted she liked to do that when someone was caught in a situation. What a pretentious dodo. Next, she'd open her mouth and say something even more pretentious.
Surely enough, Agnes was on the verge of commenting when a bored Audrey beat her to it.
"What an ostentatious girl you are, Agnes." She said, tsking. Victoria had to keep in her laughter. Agnes Black probably didn't know what 'ostentatious' was (frankly she didn't know too, but at least she wasn't the one on the receiving end of Audrey's insults.)
"Your la-di-da gimmicks are getting lame, Agnes. Did you really believe giggling like you're one step ahead of everyone makes you interesting? What pretentious POV bullshits have you been reading?"
By the end of Audrey's lengthy speech, Agnes had a tinge of pink on her cheeks.
"You should tell that to your pompous ass, Mulciber." An unfazed Ella Black quips from beside Victoria, all this time having observed the spectacle quietly.
"Hooray! Sisterly love comes to the rescue by complimenting my flattering bottom. Say, Sister Ella," Audrey extends an arm over the table to Ella's to clutch her hands in a mocking affectionate manner. "When did your incestuous relationship start?"
Ella sighs, returning said mocking affectionate hold and leans over. "What a potty mouth Audrey. I thought that fiasco with the Rosier boy taught you a lesson."
Audrey's eyes marginally narrow to slits, "What's this? Sister Ella out of intellect to retort and thus resorts to blackmail?"
"Your words were never uttered out of intellect in the first place." Ella replies in a heartbeat.
Audrey squeezes Ella's hands before letting it go to reach for some pumpkin juice.
Sipping daintily on her juice, she casts a cool glance at the girl beside her. "You should learn from your sister Agnes, she has no shame."
"But so do you."
"Of course, little one. I'm a Slytherin after all."
The conversation lulls to a silence; only the sound of utensils scratching plates and the evening chatter of the other students reverberates. Victoria had long ago tuned out of the whole insult session of her housemates and had already began eating ahead.
She looks up to see the trio silent, at long last their debate to an end and focus finally shifted to dinner. To what holds this bizarre relationship between the four, Victoria didn't know. Each knew they weren't friends, per se. Yet they still adamantly frequent the company of each other. It had been coincidence at first but now it was desideratum.
Ever since that Rosier boy died.
Victoria pushes the thoughts and memories away. Spilt milk should stay spilt.
"Anywayyyy," Audrey drawls breaking the silent barrier that had formed. "I remembered we were talking about lover girl Vicky here and Tom Riddle before all that fuss." Audrey continues, finally earning the group's attention back.
"Victoria never Vicky. Unless you don't have ears, Mulciber."
Audrey pays no heed to this remark, pushing through her goal. "So were you jealous?"
There, Audrey smirks triumphantly, seeing Victoria painstakingly try to cover up her annoyance. Victoria glares back.
"It was a misunderstanding," The two look at Agnes who was currently heaving more food to her plate. "I decided to ask Tom Riddle - amusingly enough, some girls probably thought of asking him too so I wasn't the only one, and he said it was nothing of the sort."
Audrey looks appalled, "How much of a lovesick fool could you possibly be? Asking Tom Riddle directly when it had been obviously, a misunderstanding."
"Of course I knew, you self righteous dunce." She spits back with equal fervor. Then with a leer she adds, "It was just a farce to get physically close to Riddle."
Audrey's eyes almost widened to platters. "Oh, you racy girl! I knew you had it in you!" Audrey exclaims, surprising the other girl with a hug. In that instantaneous second, it was like there was an unspoken agreement between the three of them: to disregard the awkward moment not too long ago. Audrey was relieved, only because their conversation had favorably taken another turn, sparing herself from the onslaught of questions that was sure to put her on edge at a point. After all, this was the core of their misguided relationship, seeing the other succumb through verbal abuse.
The other girls had engaged in a more diluted version of their everyday discourse, less rudeness but not all thoroughly throwing the insults out the door. Seeing this as her chance, Victoria silently sneaks a glance at Tom on the other end of the table.
He was at his usual spot, surrounded with the usual faces - Malfoy, Avery, Nott, Lestrange and a few other males from Slytherin. Victoria could never sit too close to them. For she didn't want to give him the impression she was like the other girls who sought out his attention audaciously. Although, it seems some females just don't share the same dignified sentiments as her.
Victoria watches as a blushing Ravenclaw student approached Riddle shyly from the side, three other girls at her back urging her on. She was momentarily repulsed by the sickening display.
"What an annoying bitch."
Victoria hastily whips her head at the voice, fearing she was caught red-handed ogling Riddle. Fortunately however, Audrey wasn't looking at her. Following her gaze, it seems the scene she had been watching earlier had been the cause for Audrey to curse out loudly. In fact, it had already gathered a few onlookers. Most from the Ravenclaw table, some random whistling boys and majority of the student body compromising the girls.
Ella laughs at the commotion. "She's taking the chance to publicly brand Tom Riddle as her own after being dubbed as the prettiest girl in school. It's no surprise that she's taunting the other girls in the vicinity. She's eliminating rivalry."
Audrey rolls her eyes and switches to eating grapes as if it were the most and only important thing at the moment. "Plebeian thinking makes me gag. The headmaster should really consider allowing wine for sensitive but mannered individuals such as ourselves."
"Oh well, it also can't be helped if the bottle would just go astray and pulverize someone." She adds, squishing the last grape.
Victoria calmly stabs a cinnamon roll and places it on her plate. "Of course it wouldn't be held against anyone. Magic after all, is autonomous, in a sense. It has a will of its own."
Ella watches jealousy unfurl like a large tsunami over the great hall. To think Tom Riddle could cause such large waves.. She knew he was exceedingly handsome, but this was borderline ridiculous. She had to give it to him.
Now, what will you do Riddle?
The Ravenclaw girl, which the author will not name for the sake of the reader's sanity in remembering the important characters in this story(since she'll also be eliminated soon, plot-wise), was fidgeting under the pressure. And probably from death stares all over the room.
"T-t-tom.." she stammers, realizing how stupid she must have sounded.
Tom Riddle flashes her a smile patiently urging her to continue.
Her head felt faint. She was ready to scream and bloody roll on the floor. She couldn't understand how the fuck one can be so devilishly irresistible.
"I-i'd like to give you this." She whips out a small dainty package she had been hiding behind her back.
Tom looks at it quizzically and she took this moment to elaborate further. "I overheard one time on this term that you really wanted it."
A few onlookers within earshot having heard such a vague description began to look at the small parcel with great curiosity. A few more from Tom Riddle's friends more befuddled than ever. When had Tom ever said he wanted something? Conspicuous glances were passed between another. Did Tom favor an individual among them to whom only he had known about this?
Tom Riddle looks at her then at the parcel, a torn expression forming. "..I can't possibly accept this, miss. I have done nothing for you and I barely even know you. I don't deserve such courtesy."
The effect was instantaneous: the crestfallen face of one Ravenclaw girl. Her dejected demeanor suddenly morphed into a frantic, pitying state. She was on the verge of crying.
"But not accepting such courtesy would be considered more impolite of me. Thank you."
Tom Riddle was smiling at her apologetically. She was taken aback. Did Tom Riddle sensed her distress and took the initiative to save her from public humiliation? Her eyes began to itch again. Knowing the disastrous consequence if she were to have a fit on the stop, she carves crescents on her palm with the tip of her nails to keep tears at bay. This time she wasn't about to cry from frustration, rather, she was sure it was the opposite of it.
How can one not fall for Tom Riddle?
"You're welcome Tom." She smiles gratefully and before Tom could ask her name she had already bolted back to the Ravenclaw table.
As soon as the girl was out of sight, Tom was greeted with sly gazes from his mates. A few getting up to pat him on the back. The hall resumes to its normal state of affairs, however the chatter of students having increased with more vigor. More heads whipping to and fro in a frenzied manner as they try to make do of the situation that had happened.
X
"Don't hog all the girls to yourself, ey Tom?" A cheeky Silvius Malfoy remarks before slumping into bed and giving a long yawn. A few seconds later he was out cold.
Tom carefully tugs on the silver ribbon wrapped around the box and it falls easily to the bed in a heap of coils. Its surface gleams in a pearly sheen as he turned the box in his hand. Finally, he places his hand on the lid and opens it.
Nestled comfortably inside, green stones glitter forming a miniature S - it was Salazar Slytherin's locket.
A/N:
Hello, I haven't abandoned this story yet! Thank you for those who followed and clicked that favorite button. This is my first fanfic and English isn't also my native language so I apologise if there may be slight inconsistencies in grammar or the phrasing might be too awkward. I have big plans for this story and I might have rigged the timeline to my convenience (I'm talking about Tom not having to kill Hepzibah Smith for the locket. This isn't a spoiler right?)
I'd also really appreciate some constructive criticism(yes i'm fishing for reviews..), since you can never be too sure of what you are writing. So please don't just lurk, okay..?
Have a good day!