A Pugnacious Partner

September 8, 1944

Rosemary knew all too well that she had become a primary topic of the school's gossip after Emily's outburst earlier that week. At first, Faye and Rebecca had informed her of the ridiculous things that were being said, but it had quickly tapered from their conversations. She assumed that it was because the rumors had only gotten nastier, as it was readily apparent that people were still talking about her.

Recently, she found herself thinking back to the previous year quite a bit, around the time when she and Markus broke things off. Plenty of rumors regarding her had surfaced then, too, but these new ones somehow impacted her so much more. It was quite ironic that they were affecting her so, considering the fact that there was absolutely no truth behind any of them and she knew it. Or perhaps that was all the more reason to be upset by them.

Anyway, there was little she could do. The best she could hope for was that they might sizzle out in a week or two…though the whispering and scrutinizing glances were certainly getting tiring. On the bright side, she only had to make it through one more class (Charms) and a quick meeting with Dumbledore before the weekend finally arrived and she could spend some much-needed time with Tom.

"Good afternoon, class," Professor Thurston greeted them while hurrying into the room. As usual, he was five minutes late and awkwardly flustered. "Just a few announcements before we begin…We'll have our first exam in two weeks' time, which will cover all of chapters sixteen through seventeen in your textbook. In addition, the Dueling Club will be holding an informational session on Sunday night. If you're interested, Mr. Riddle can provide you with the details…"

At the mention of his name, Rosemary felt compelled to look in his direction, but resisted. She forced her attention back to the professor once more, just as he was finishing up with the other announcements for the class.

"Now, then. Today you'll be working in partners to write an in-class essay that discusses each limitation of the Hour-Reversal Charm. You'll have about half the period to do so and for the second half, we'll come back together as a group to discuss what you came up with."

Rose quickly made a list in her head of the people she wouldn't mind pairing up with, even though Professor Thurston always chose for them: Markus, Adam, Faye…and Rebecca? Yes, she decided, she wouldn't even mind Rebecca.

If anything was an indication that she was in a rather terrible state of affairs, it was the fact that she now had so few friends that Rebecca had become a viable option.

"Ainsworth, you'll work with Avery..."

Well, there went Markus as an option. After that, Faye and Warren got paired up, which was rather bittersweet. She was rather relieved that she didn't have to work with Warren, but it also meant that her list of potential partners she wouldn't mind had quickly dwindled to two.

As Thurston continued to call out names, she realized that he was simply reading down the class list and pairing them in alphabetical order. It was at the exact moment that this realization occurred when she heard him say:

"Hornby and Horton."

She forced herself to resist the scowl that began tugging at the corners of her mouth. Rosemary had loathed Olive, Rebecca's former best friend, ever since she and Faye had begun spending time with the Slytherin boys – years ago. Of course, she knew her dislike was not one-sided: Olive had always been the type of girl that demanded to be the center of attention and the fact that Markus, Adam, and Tom had paid so much more attention to Rose and Faye than they ever had to her surely caused much of her rude, snobbish behavior. It was because of her apparent jealously that, as annoying as she was, Rosemary couldn't help but get at least a little amusement out of it over the years.

Still, Rose did her best to avoid her if at all possible.

The rest of the class began shifting around to sit near their new partners and Rose spotted Olive sitting in the back corner of the classroom, examining her hair for split ends as though she hadn't heard a word of what Professor Thurston had said. Clearly she had expected Rose to get up and move to her instead of the other way around; it was a rather obvious play to gain the illusion of power.

Rosemary could have been stubborn, but the last thing she wanted to do was create a scene and draw even more unwanted attention to herself. Instead, she stood and crossed the room, sliding into the desk next to Hornby.

The class gradually filled with discussions between the pairs regarding the assignment, but Olive and Rose said absolutely nothing to each other. She had gotten straight to work on writing the essay while Hornby moved on from her hair and began examining her nails instead. The lack of participation on Olive's part might have annoyed Rose if she actually thought that the Slytherin might prove to be helpful in some way…but she knew better. It was a bit of a wonder that Olive had actually made it to the N.E.W.T. level in any of her classes, though Charms was one of the easiest.

At any rate, she didn't exactly mind doing the work if it meant that the quality was up to Rose's high standard. Professor Thurston would know that she had done all of the work herself as soon as he read the essay anyway.

The second, discussion-based half of the class dragged on for what felt like ages, but Thurston finally dismissed them. Rosemary began to pack her things, eager to enjoy the weekend ahead of her, when Olive suddenly said, "It's amazing, really…"

Rosemary hated the way she spoke, as though she was bored with everything. Even the things that she brought up. She knew she shouldn't have even bothered responding, but a lapse in judgment allowed her to anyway: "What?" she asked, a light smattering of annoyance evident in her voice.

"Oh, you know…how someone could leave someone like that," she tilted her head in the direction of Tom, "for someone like that." Her black-lined eyes flitted toward Warren.

Rosemary rolled her eyes and said nothing, standing to leave.

"Well, no need to worry," Olive continued as she moved to stand as well and tossed her long blonde hair over her shoulder. "I fully intend on helping him forget all about you…by whatever means necessary." She winked at Rosemary while a cruel smirk spread across her face.

She was aware of the unfortunate reality that her powers as Head Girl were essentially useless in dealing with Hornby. It was quite unlikely that any of the seventh-year Slytherins (with the exception of Tom) actually cared about which house had the most points, so dealing with her in the same way that she had dealt with the girls in the library was out. Nor was she about to go and tell a professor about it – that would be nothing short of mortifying and would probably only serve to make her peers like her even less than they clearly already did.

In fact, if anything, her role as Head Girl was a bit of a burden in this instance. After all, she couldn't exactly begin hurling insults at Olive the way she might have liked to – she had a reputation to maintain (albeit a minimally influential one thanks to the flurry of rumors that she was now convinced had come directly from Hornby).

But she had to say something. Rosemary sent a calm smirk of her own right back to her and said in the fakest, most condescending voice she could possibly muster: "Well, isn't that sweet of you Olive…Sadly, you and I both know that Tom will never be that desperate."

The Slytherin's smirk faltered for less than a second and even Rosemary had to admit that this lack of a reaction from her remark was somewhat impressive. "Just give it time," Hornby told her sweetly.

What an idiot.

She was still fuming about Olive when she reached Dumbledore's office and saw Tom sitting outside, waiting for their meeting with the professor. They locked eyes for a few treasured seconds and suddenly her encounter with Hornby seemed entirely insignificant. It made her wonder why she had allowed it to get under her skin for even a moment – after all, Olive had absolutely no chance with Tom. However, the altercation had brought the buried memory of Rebecca mentioning something about Tom and Olive to the surface…and it was suddenly beginning to bother her that she had never learned full story behind it.

Her thoughts were distracted when Professor Dumbledore appeared at the door to his office. "Good afternoon, Rose, Tom," he greeted them both with his usual, kind smile. Rosemary didn't fully understand how Tom could dislike such a pleasant person so much, but supposed he probably had his reasons.

They both stood to follow him inside, but Dumbledore turned to Tom and said, "I was hoping to speak privately with Miss Horton for just a few moments, if you don't mind, Tom."

"Of course not." He flashed the professor an obviously fake smile and took a seat once more while Rosemary walked past him and into the office.

Professor Dumbledore gestured to one of the chairs across from his desk and closed the door with a wave of his hand. Suddenly, she became quite nervous – was she in trouble? Had he found out about how she had taken points from those girls in the library and thought she was abusing her power?

"How can I help you, Professor?" she asked nervously.

"You're not in trouble, Rosemary…" A gentle smile spread across his face. "I just wanted to make sure you're doing well."

"Oh yes, I'm fine," she said automatically.

He looked down his nose at her and ever-so-slightly raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure?"

"Well, no. I don't know…I suppose?" she found herself saying, though she was rather embarrassed to admit it.

Dumbledore tilted his head toward her. "Sometimes those things that are best for us are our most challenging trials."

"I suppose so."

Clearly he too had spoken to her parents – which was rather odd, considering the fact that her father had never so much as mentioned him. She supposed she shouldn't have been surprised, though. Her father had proven to be quite thorough if it meant keeping her away from Tom.

"If Mr. Riddle is bothering you at all, I can look into separating your duties as Head Boy and Girl…"

"He's not," Rosemary said quickly, hoping she didn't sound as taken aback as she felt. He had made it sound as though Tom was a complete creep – where did that come from? She was beginning to see why Tom didn't like the professor all that much: it was clear that Dumbledore was, at best, quite wary of him.

Dumbledore looked at her for what felt like a very long time, until he finally said, "I'm glad. But do let me know if something changes."

A few minutes passed until the door to Dumbledore's office was opened and he was beckoned inside. It just so happened that the amount of time he was waiting in the hall was exactly the amount of time it took to depart into a full-fledged panic. There was no doubt in his mind about two things:

1. Dumbledore was speaking to Rosemary about him (or their situation in general), and

2. Dumbledore was a Legilimens.

The combination of these most clearly implied disaster.

Thankfully, as he strode into the professor's office, he was able to maintain his calm, cool exterior and bottle his troubling thoughts well below the surface of his mind. He might not be able to protect Rosemary from Dumbledore, but at least he could protect himself – after all, he had been practicing Occlumency for precisely this type of moment.

"I appreciate both of you taking the time to meet with me before your weekend begins…"

Can't we merely skip the bullshit and get straight to it?

"…there are just a few changes I'd like to bring to your attention before we announce them to the rest of the school."

Great.

"This goes without saying, of course, but this is a confidential matter at the moment and you'll be expected to keep it to yourselves."

Why did that seem to be directed more at me than at Rosemary? Who would I even tell?

"It appears as though Grindelwald's forces are turning much of their attention to Britain. As a result, the Ministry has decided to send a fleet of Dementors to monitor the grounds and protect the school. It's quite unlikely, of course, that any students will come into contact with one, but it's certainly something to be aware of."

Have things really gotten to a bad enough point to warrant the use of Dementors?

"We will also be restricting Hogsmeade visits. Rather than once a month, they will now be held every two months."

Tom was unfazed by this news, as he had gained special privileges to leave the school essentially whenever he wished by Dippet because of his involvement in the Tournament.

"In addition, Headmaster Dippet has suggested a change in faculty. Professor Merrythought has been looking to retire for quite some time, you see…We had attempted to find a replacement before the beginning of the term, but the answer was in front of us the entire time!"

Oh no…

"We've decided to allow her to retire and, because of my involvement with these new security efforts at Hogwarts, I will be accepting his responsibilities for the course."

All of the other changes were fine – he could accept it without a problem. But this? Defense Against the Dark Arts was, to him, a sacred subject. It was the closest thing he could actually get to learning the Dark Arts in a classroom setting. And now, Dumbledore, the wizard he detested most of all, was going to teach it?!

"But Sir," he couldn't help but begin to protest, "who will teach Transfiguration, then?"

Dumbledore smiled. "It just so happens that my cousin Gunnilda is very accomplished in the field of Transfiguration and has agreed to fill the post."

Dumbledore…teaching his favorite subject…and his relative teaching another...

If anything was a sign that he should drop out of Hogwarts right then and there and pursue Tournament training full time, it was this.

The news was nearly enough to throw him into an all-out rage, but he bit his tongue and simmered in silence.

"I believe that's all, if I remember correctly."

Oh, really? That's all? There's nothing else that you'd like to ruin?

"We'll be announcing all of this to the other students first thing on Monday morning. Do you have any questions about these changes?"

Rosemary shook her head and Tom did nothing, except ensure that his face was still blank; that was all he really trusted himself to do at this point.

"Well, then I wish the two of you an enjoyable weekend."

Rosemary left first and Tom followed behind her, until he heard Dumbledore say: "Tom – a moment, if you would."

He gritted his teeth together and stopped in the doorway, wondering how much more frustration he could possibly take.

"It has come to my attention that you've received permission from Headmaster Dippet to attend quite a few events that take place outside of the school's grounds."

Did he really have to use that condescending voice with its hints of scolding and disappointment every time he spoke to him? He spoke as though Tom was constantly doing something wrong, when really all he had done was ask for a goddamn permission slip. What a miserable, ancient piece of –

"I'm afraid that the restrictions we're placing upon the other students also apply to you, Tom. Unfortunately, we cannot simply allow you to come and go from the grounds as you please."

Apparently he was wrong earlier, when he thought that Dumbledore was through ruining things for the day.

"But it's for the Tournament!" he protested. "And not just trainings – I'm working for a sponsor," he added haughtily.

"Be that as it may, until you graduate you are first and foremost a Hogwarts student. Your safety must be ensured."

"I can ensure my own safety. If you remember correctly, I did make it to nearly the final rounds of the Tournament last summer…" He was aware of how incredibly arrogant he sounded, but found it hard to care when he was speaking to someone as apparently clueless as Dumbledore was about him. How long would it take to make the miserable old fool understand that Tom's magical knowledge had already surpassed some of the best wizards in the country – no – all of Europe?

Dumbledore chuckled as though Tom had just said something incredibly naïve, which of course brought his anger to an entirely new level. Then he turned serious once more, and a pitying look (which Tom didn't believe for even a moment) appeared in his eyes. "I'm sorry, Tom. But you'll have to pick up where you left off at the end of the term."

He stood there for a moment, looking at the old man and seething silently. He wished there was a way for him to express just how much he hated Dumbledore that wouldn't get him expelled. Left with few options that might actually be satisfying in some way, he narrowed his eyes and said, "We'll just see about that," before turning on his heel and striding angrily from the office.

Later that night, as Tom relaxed in bed with his arm curled around Rosemary, he found it difficult to experience anything even remotely close to a good mood. This would have been surprising if one considered only what he had done in the last half hour: snogging her. But of course, he found it difficult to keep the thoughts of his encounter with Dumbledore (and his outrage on the matter) from creeping back into his mind.

"Have you ever produced a corporeal Patronus?" she asked him suddenly, providing a distracting refuge from his brooding thoughts.

"Yes." It was a lie; he had attempted to several times with no results. His apparent incompetency had been frustrating at the time, but he attributed it primarily to the fact that he found the spell rather worthless and unnecessary. Or perhaps he had simply delved too far into the Dark Arts and made too many morally questionable decisions to be considered "worthy" of the spell's protection. "Have you?" he asked her.

She nodded. "When we learned about them just before Christmas last year, I was determined to find out what mine would be. I spent the entire holiday practicing."

He looked at her expectantly. "What is it?"

Rosemary rested her head on his chest. "A fox."

He stroked her hair and smiled to himself. It did suit her: she was clever, graceful, competitive, and quick-tempered.

"What's yours?" she asked in return.

"A serpent," he told her. Although he obviously had no way of actually knowing what his Patronus would be, this seemed like the safest bet.

Thankfully, she took the bait. "Well, that certainly makes sense…you are the heir of Slytherin, after all."

As she settled in again against his chest, his mind flitted back to that awful professor once more. He tried to tell himself that he should just enjoy this time with her instead of bringing up some topic that would only serve to bolster his irritation. However, there was one thing they needed to talk about.

"You need to avoid Professor Dumbledore," he said plainly.

She looked up at him curiously, probably wondering where in the world his statement had come from. "How exactly do you suggest I do that? Quit going to class?"

"Obviously not," he rolled his eyes slightly at her sass. "But you do need to keep yourself out of direct conversations with him."

"And why might that be?"

"Have you ever heard of Legilimency, Rosemary?"

Upon hearing his question, she sat up and threw him a dirty look. She had always gotten so terribly offended whenever he made even the slightest suggestion that she didn't know something. It was both tiresome and endearing, as it largely reminded him of himself.

Tom continued: "Well, I have reason to believe that Dumbledore is a Legilimens."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "So? Do you think he would actually use it on a student?"

"Yes," he told her with certainty. "Did he make a lot of eye contact with you when you were speaking to him? More than usual?"

"I suppose…I don't know…I mean, he made an odd comment about you when we finished talking that I don't think he would have made if he knew."

"What comment?" Tom demanded.

She bit her lip in hesitation, but finally answered him: "Well, I'm sure he didn't mean anything by it, but he told me to let him know if you were bothering me."

Tom might have bothered with getting offended if his frustration with the old fool hadn't already reached its maximum. After all, how could he say that and not mean something?

"Perhaps he was just saying all of that to cover up the fact that he knew," Tom suggested.

"Maybe…Did he bring anything about it up to you when he spoke with you alone? How are you so sure he might have seen it in my mind instead of yours?"

"I've been practicing Occlumency. I could teach you, as well."

"Really? That would be quite an amazing skill to learn…" Her face quickly moved from surprise and admiration to entirely distraught and on the verge of tears. "But it's probably too late now, anyway! Oh Tom, I hope he didn't see anything. If I've ruined everything, I don't know if I'll ever be able to forgive myself…"

He suddenly felt a desperate urgency to comfort her, which was perhaps unsurprising considering the fact that he had been the one to get her so worked up in the first place. In this urgency, he somehow allowed a few unintended words to slip from his mouth: "I'm sure he didn't see anything, but it certainly wouldn't hurt to check. I'll make sure he doesn't know."

Tom held his breath while he watched the understanding dawn in Rosemary's eyes. "You've been studying Legilimency too, haven't you?"

He nodded once slowly, nervous of her reaction. Surely she would accuse him of reading her thoughts without her permission: precisely the reason he had been so hesitant to tell her of his new skill in the first place.

It was because of this expectation that he was entirely blindsided when her face broke into a wide grin and her eyes began sparkling with pure admiration. "Tom! That's amazing! Can you do it without being detected?" she asked him eagerly.

This was why he loved her (well, at least one of the seemingly infinite reasons): she, like himself, was one of those rare people that truly appreciated magic.

He nodded. "Most of the time. I can perform the spell non-verbally now, which helps quite a bit."

"You can do it non-verbally?"

At this rate, by the end of the conversation there would be a good chance that his ego wouldn't even fit in the room.

He nodded with a smirk and she clapped her hands together gleefully. "That's amazing," she repeated. "You have to try it on me!"

Even in her enthusiasm, he hadn't expected her to say that. But, it was quite tempting…and she had asked for it. "Alright," he told her, sitting up and facing her. "I'll ask you a question. That always makes it easier to find something worthwhile…"

She glared at him.

"- not that any of your thoughts aren't," he added quickly. Her face softened and he continued, using the first question that popped into his mind: "Now, then. What is the memory you use to create your Patronus?"

Out of habit, she opened her mouth to answer him, but closed it when she realized what she was doing. His dark eyes gazed into her deep blue ones as he non-verbally casted the spell, allowing himself to pour into her mind.

There was a memory waiting for him at the front of her mind, of course. He peered into it, instantly recognizing the snow-covered path and wrought iron gate that led to Hogsmeade. There were two people walking toward him in the distance and he squinted his eyes to make out their faces, only to realize that it was he and Rosemary.

They grew closer and closer until finally arriving at the gate, where Rose promptly stopped and began smoking her cigarette. He remembered this day vividly in his own memory, of course, but there was something wonderful about being able to see it this way instead.

Tom watched them as they discussed Markus, her parents, and her ambitions. The cautious way they regarded each other felt so foreign, now.

"You would be an excellent Healer, especially with your aptitude at Potions…"

"Really, you think so?"

"I do." Then came his next comment, which he had all but forgotten over the last several months (probably intentionally, as it had been quite forward and embarrassing): "You know, if your parents were to just marry you off someone who doesn't appreciate your natural brilliance, it would be a tragic waste. I truly hope that does not happen."

"Thank you, Tom. That means so much." And then with a laugh: "Bloody hell, you always listen to my rants; I'm not sure how you find the patience. You've been a really good friend to me this year."

And even now, the words 'good friend' still made him wince. If it wasn't for what happened next, he would have been entirely depressed for the remainder of that day: Rosemary took a step toward him and kissed him on the cheek, the gesture which had filled him with the most sublime kind of hope.

The memory came to a close and he paused, wishing he didn't have to leave her mind just yet. There was so much to explore – so much that he wanted to see from her point of view. But, he couldn't; that would violate her trust in the worst possible way.

So, instead, he pulled himself from her mind and back into his own.

After a second or two, she asked him, "Did it work? Did you see anything?"

"Could you tell I was there?"

She shook her head and smiled excitedly.

"Why is the memory of that day the one you chose?" he asked her in amusement.

"Well, the holidays began only a couple of weeks after that day. And, as you know, I was dealing with the aftermath of my parents' discovery that Markus and I had split. So when I was attempting to conjure my Patronus, my mind kept going back to how hopeful you made me feel about everything that afternoon. Then I realized that, even though I had fancied you for quite a while before our trip to Hogsmeade, that was the day when I really fell for you."

His love for her swelled so much that it was quite surprising that the room hadn't simply exploded, especially when considering how inflated his ego still was from earlier.

If anything would serve as an adequate distraction from his exchange with Dumbledore, it was his newfound obsession with the stunning glimpse of her mind that he had been afforded. In fact, simply fighting the temptation to look again might be enough of a distraction.

"Know this: I am addicted to you. I have tasted your mind, and I cannot forget its flavor." – Anonymous

Woohoo! That's 45 chapters down! Only five more to go until the end of Part I - and there is still SO MUCH to cover! ;D

Thank you to all of you that have favorited/followed so far! And, of course, thank you to those of you that have recently reviewed: Mrs. WaylandOdinsonBlack, CharlotteBlackwood, A regrettable decision, RosiePosie15, and lithiumm!(: