Hey everyone! Please read my note at the end - there were some important edits of last chapter that I want you to be aware of!(:

Weight Of Jealousy

September 15, 1944

It was official: Defense Against the Dark Arts had been ruined. If their lesson on Monday had been any indication, Tom found it incredibly unlikely that he would learn anything of interest for the rest of the term. While it was true that Dumbledore knew a great deal on the subject, as much as it pained him to admit, finding a way to trick him into talking about dark magic instead was proving to be quite challenging.

For example, during the first lesson with the decrepit fool, they had spent nearly the entire class discussing Protego Maxima, one of the strongest variations of the Shield Charm which was frequently used to protect large areas from dark magic. Tom had raised his hand in the middle of the discussion and, in an attempt to steer the class in a more interesting direction, asked: "Professor Dumbledore, are there any…loopholes, let's say, in the charm? Weaknesses in the spell that one should be aware of when attempting to use it?"

With his usual, annoyingly serene smile, the professor said: "Well, that's just it, Tom. If one casts the charm properly, they'll have no need to worry about such a thing."

He didn't buy it for even a second. Every spell had at least one loophole.

"This spell is often cast synchronously with Fianto Duri and Repello Inimicum in order to – yes, Tom?"

He had raised his hand once more. "Professor, it seems reasonable to expect that dark magic would have its own version of a protection spell – to protect curses and the like. Would that spell have any weaknesses?"

"That is a very thoughtful point, Tom. However, I am regrettably unable to answer your question; to my knowledge, no such spell exists."

A large part of the remaining class time carried on in this pattern of Tom poking around the subject of dark magic with his questions and Dumbledore avoiding any sort of a direct answer. It was nothing short of exasperating. While Professor Merrythought hadn't been the most influential, she had at least grown quite fond of his charm and often shifted her teaching plans to accommodate nearly anything he requested that they learn. Clearly such times were behind him, now.

But there was a silver lining. He had found that the perfect way to disturb Dumbledore's usually imperturbable façade was to ask him a barrage of questions about Grindelwald. This discovery was made entirely by accident, when Jordan Beckett, a Ravenclaw in his year, asked near the end of class, "Professor Dumbledore, don't you think the Ministry is overreacting a bit? I mean, with the Dementors getting sent to the school?"

Earlier that morning, Dippet and Dumbledore announced their new safety precautions to the school. The halls had since been buzzing with the whispers of alarmed students and the name 'Grindelwald' could be heard from anywhere one went in the castle.

Before the professor had a chance to respond, Olive Hornby piped up. "Of course they aren't. My father – who works in the Ministry – says that if things get much worse, he'll be taking me out of school for the rest of the term."

From the table behind him, he could hear Rose mutter to Faye: "Well, she certainly wouldn't be missed."

In the meantime, the class promptly erupted into hushed discussion about the dark wizard:

"The Prophet said…"

"I don't think they're even close to defeating him…"

"I heard that he has hundreds of followers…"

"Well, my father says…"

"He's a madman…"

There were also a considerable number of his fellow students throwing questions at Professor Dumbledore:

"Does the Ministry actually have a plan to defeat him?"

"Have you ever met him?"

"If he wins, how will things change at Hogwarts?"

Tom sat in silence, watching Dumbledore's face intently. For a moment that was so small he would have missed it if he had not been looking so carefully for it, a troubled shadow passed over the professor's light blue eyes.

But what he wanted to know was: why?

Surely, after such a cryptic announcement that morning, Dumbledore had to expect at least some questions on the matter…which led Tom to believe that there was a deeper meaning behind the fleeting look on the old man's face. At first, he wondered if Dumbledore believed that the Ministry of Magic was overreacting. But that wouldn't make sense, either – according to Tom's meeting with Minister Spencer-Moon a few weeks prior, it was Dumbledore that was behind all of the changes at Hogwarts. So it had to be something else…

Then, a rather interesting thought popped into his head: perhaps Dumbledore knew something that even the Ministry didn't.

There was no doubt in Tom's mind that Dumbledore had provided the Ministry with at least a modest abundance of information; surely, this had been the reason that the Minister had chosen him to keep the school secure. Otherwise, they would have just sent someone from the Ministry to do the job. This, of course, raised another question: where was he getting all of this information to feed to the Ministry, anyway?

As soon as this flashed across his mind, he knew that his new priority would be to find out whatever it was that the professor might be hiding. This would be easier said than done, of course; Tom wouldn't dare use Legilimency on him until he was absolutely sure he could do so without being detected. After all, he didn't find it entirely unlikely that Dumbledore had been waiting for him to slip up and provide grounds for expulsion for a while now. Nor could Tom rely on his usual, smooth-talking charms to help him – such a task would require much stealthier measures.

It would take some time, but it would be well worth it if it meant that he was one step closer to his goal of defeating Grindelwald; which, thanks to the frequent distractions in the form of Rosemary, was running far behind schedule. However, the announcement to the school and his first Defense Against the Dark Arts class with Dumbledore on Monday of that week had renewed his drive and inspiration. After all, the sooner Grindelwald was no longer a threat, the sooner Dumbledore would resume his post as their Transfigurations professor and leave the Defense Against the Dark Arts seat vacant (just in time for Tom to graduate and fill it himself).

As such, for the remainder of the week, he had spent much of his free time outlining a plan in his diary, while the memory of his fifth-year self wrote notes in the margins.

But now that it was Friday evening, he would have to put his plotting on hold – the first Slug Club meeting of the year had arrived. Tom had grown to both dread and enjoy the gatherings over the years: it was exceptionally tiring to listen to his classmates drone on about their insignificant lives, but on the other hand, it was in Slughorn's office that he had gotten the chance to meet a few of the most famous magical people of the age.

Unfortunately, it appeared as though it was not going to be one of those nights: instead of inviting someone even remotely well-known, Slughorn had elected to host a group of about ten alumni – most of which had graduated so recently that Tom remembered them.

Of those that he recognized among the group of visitors was Jasper Donohue, though Tom could count the things he knew about him on only one hand:

1. He was Faye Donohue's older brother.

2. He was a Slytherin.

3. He was five years ahead of Tom.

4. He was a bit of a drug addict, at least when he was in school.

And that was it. So apparently he could count the things he knew about Jasper Donohue on a partially dismembered hand.

Rosemary knew him quite well, of course, as he was swiftly reminded when he watched her greet him with a warm embrace – one that was a little too warm for his taste. He scowled and looked away. Why did Slughorn even invite Jasper in the first place? It wasn't as though he had ever amounted to anything while he was in school, and Tom also found it considerably doubtful that he had accomplished something worthwhile since graduating. Nor did his presence have anything to do with his family name – if the Donohue's were important enough, then Faye would have been a regular attendee to the gatherings.

He looked up once more at Rosemary and Jasper, who had begun speaking quite amicably. There was an immediate, instinctual urge to stride over to them and curl his arm around her waist, asserting the inarguable fact that she was his. He was in the process of fighting this impulse when he witnessed Warren walk over to them and do that very thing. His scowl deepened and he gripped his cocktail class tighter while Warren snaked his arm around Rosemary's back, resting his hand on her lower back.

Clearly, Tom had not been the only one who had been bothered by her little catch-up chat with Faye's brother. If this wasn't infuriating enough, the thought of confronting her about it later certainly was, knowing that she would insist that Warren was merely playing a part.

He forced himself to look away before anyone noticed the fuming look he was sending the three of him and loosened his grip on his glass, realizing his knuckles had turned bright white. He wished he could simply ignore what he had seen and let go of his intrinsic need to possess her, but the only thing that made him feel even marginally better was the idea of hexing both Donohue and Cramer into a coma.

Thankfully, before he decided to go ahead and do so, Slughorn cleared his throat and announced to the room that dinner would begin shortly and that they should all take a seat. Tom slid into a the seat next to Markus and, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Rosemary, Warren, and Jasper sit diagonally from him, further down the long, mahogany table that just barely fit in Slughorn's office.

As they settled into their places, she glanced up at him suddenly and caught his eye, sneaking him a tiny smile. He attempted to send her one back, but it failed to materialize. He didn't even feel like looking at her, really. It took him a few moments after he looked away from her face to realize the fact that he was actually quite irritated with her too, not just Warren and Jasper. After all, it wasn't as though she seemed to mind being around either of them. It bothered him quite significantly to realize that she was just as happy as ever while he was expected to sit there and accept the all-too-obvious advances of those who didn't deserve even the slightest bit of her attention.

His pride could only handle so much before he finally snapped, after all.

It was one of those rare, mid-September days that hosted one of the last sizzling bursts of summer. The entire school had migrated outdoors between classes, sprawling out on the parched lawns or fighting for the coveted spaces on the dock to dangle their feet in the icy waters of the Black Lake. Faye and Becca were two of the many sprawlers, while Rosemary sat propped up against a tree a few feet away from them, enjoying its shade.

"Well, do say hello to my dear brother for me…as I'm clearly not worthy enough to attend the magnificent Slug Club," Faye looked at Rosemary crossly, continuing the rant that she had been on about for at least the past ten minutes or so.

"I don't understand why you insist on taking it so personally," Rose rolled her eyes. "I mean, the only reason Markus is ever invited is because Slughorn and his father were dormmates all through their school years."

"But why Jasper, then?" she demanded.

Rose shrugged, turning back to her book. "What has he been up to since he graduated?"

"I don't know," Faye said snottily, as though it was a completely outlandish thing to ask. "I get bored every time he talks about it at home."

"I'm not sure what to tell you, then."

"Aren't you helpful?" Faye sneered at her.

Rosemary was quickly becoming agitated. "Well, how am I supposed to know? Ask Slughorn yourself if you care so much!"

An uncomfortable silence fell between them while Becca buried her face in a book, pretending that she hadn't been listening. Rosemary began mentally preparing herself for a standoff with Faye…until she realized that she wasn't exactly in a position to risk their friendship.

"I'm sorry," she forced herself to say. "I haven't been myself lately…Tom and all…"

Thankfully, that was all Faye needed to hear. Rosemary absolutely loathed the pitying look that she was subsequently given, but at least she had averted the potential loss of one of her few remaining friends.

Eager to get off the topic, she said, "We should do something tonight, after I finish up at Slughorn's. Just the three of us."

Merlin knew how much she desperately needed it. She was beginning to go mad from spending day after day with Warren to keep up with their charade – after all, one could only stand so much talk of Quidditch (which meant quite a bit coming from the girl whose father was a professional player for several years). And, as much as she cherished every moment she was able to spend with Tom, he had been in a rather awful mood lately. She thought it might be best to give him some time alone, in hopes that it might eventually blow over.

Faye and Becca exchanged a nervous glance and then quickly looked away from each other as though they were worried that Rosemary had noticed it. "What?" she asked them.

"Well, we sort of already have plans…" Becca said.

Faye finished explaining: "We're hosting a party with the Slytherins."

"Thanks for the invitation," Rosemary glared at both of them, wounded from this stab of rejection.

"We just thought it might be…uncomfortable," Rebecca muttered, exchanging another quick glance with Faye.

Faye checked her watch before she suddenly stood and began brushing off her skirt, which most likely meant that it was time to make their way to Charms. "You're more than welcome to come, Rose. I just couldn't think of a reason you'd honestly want to."

She was right, of course. Nearly the entire female population of the Slytherin house now had a vendetta against her, thanks to Olive Hornby (well, that was what she suspected at least). While the rumors about her were beginning to become old news and die their natural death, the acts of defiance toward her power as Head Girl were on the rise. On the days that she decided to be honest with herself, she knew that it was truly becoming a problem; one that desperately called for an assertion of her authority.

Unfortunately, she didn't have the first clue how to go about doing this. Tom was the only person that she believed would know what to do, but the last thing she wanted was to bother him with such a thing when he seemed to have so much on his mind already.

Her worries regarding him were anything but relieved when she and the rest of the Slug Club guests gathered in Slughorn's office later that evening. She could feel his eyes on her as she greeted Jasper with a hug and began chatting with him. Then, of course, Warren joined them and introduced himself to Jasper just before putting his arm around Rosemary's waist. Surely, none of this had done much in the way of alleviating Tom's recent moodiness.

Even with this in the back of her mind, she allowed herself to become momentarily absorbed in her conversation with Faye's brother, who she hadn't seen in at least a couple of years. The fact that they had very little in common to discuss was irrelevant to her delight in their chat – the simple reality of speaking to someone who didn't know about the drama in her life was incredibly refreshing all on its own.

"What have you been up to, Horton? Slug says you're quite the Potions prodigy…"

"She is," Warren confirmed, with a nod of his head. Rosemary fought an annoyed eye-roll. While she knew that he was doing his best to convince everyone that they were indeed going steady, she could certainly do without his constant hovering. Then again, she wasn't really in the sort of situation that would afford complaints – he was doing her a favor.

Rosemary ignored Warren and said, "Oh, you know…just finishing up school and the like. And you? How is life as an alumnus?"

"I can't complain too much," he shrugged. "I traveled quite a bit right after graduation – South America, Australia, and Africa. Then I came back to London, began working for Mr. Mulpepper's in Diagon Alley as their lead herbologist, and adopted a very adult, mundane way of life."

From what Rosemary knew about him, she truly doubted that his 'adult' way of life came anywhere remotely close to the norm. Jasper had always been the perpetual child of the Donohue family; even Faye (who was certainly not known for her maturity), was generally more in touch with reality than he was. Even so, the fact that he had stayed in one place long enough to secure a job had come as a bit of a surprise.

Each conversation in the room came to an abrupt halt when Slughorn informed them that dinner would begin shortly. She took the nearest seat at the table and Jasper and Warren sat on either side of her. It was then that she chanced another look at Tom, this time offering him a small smile in the hope of calming him somewhat. However, instead of the shadow of at least a forced smile that she had expected, she was met with a steely glare and the subsequent turn of his head.

Rosemary couldn't quite place why, but for one reason or another, this set off her temper in the worst way. It was clear that he became jealous every time Warren was around her. But when would he finally get over it? They had only gotten through two weeks of class and had quite a few to go before they could put an end to the act, after all. Did he really have to make things so difficult? They were already difficult enough!

She fumed all through dinner and was both relieved and apprehensive when it finally ended; relieved, because she was itching to get Slug Club over with, and apprehensive, because its end meant talking to Tom about whatever it was that was bothering him. After thanking Slughorn for the invitation, she ducked out of his office and discovered that Warren had been waiting for her. She had to admit, he was quite good at playing the part of the proper, gentlemanly boyfriend. He kindly offered to escort her back to her dormitory, but she politely turned him down as she was in desperate need of a few moments alone to clear her head before speaking with Tom.

Warren gave her his typical, friendly smile and told her goodnight before she started down the corridor toward the staircase that would lead her from the dungeons. Just as she was about to reach it, she heard someone call her name from behind.

Rosemary spun around to see Jasper walking toward her and immediately felt guilty for failing to remember to tell him goodbye. Thankfully, he didn't seem to be put off.

"Are you coming to Faye's party tonight?" he asked her.

She shook her head. "Probably not." Then, with a trace of surprise, as it was rather difficult to imagine a wizard in his mid-twenties attending a Hogwarts house party: "Are you?"

He nodded and grinned. "Just for a bit. I figure I should at least try and see her before heading back to London. You should drop by, though."

"We'll see," she said noncommittally, even though there wasn't even a small part of her that was actually considering it.

He grinned again, and when he did, she realized the many similarities between his and Faye's faces. There were only a few minute differences: Jasper's light blue eyes were just slightly wider-set, his chin was a little less pointy, and his cheekbones were more clearly defined. If he had been born a few years prior, they could have passed for twins. "Well, it was nice talking with you, Horton. I'm sure we'll speak again soon."

If their lack of speaking history was any indication, Rose seriously doubted this, but she smiled and nodded at him anyway.

When she returned to her dormitory for the evening, she was surprised to find that Tom wasn't already there waiting for her. She walked briskly across the hall and began knocking persistently on his door. He opened it, after a solid minute or so, and gave her that same, steely look that had set her off the first time.

"What are you on about?" she demanded, letting herself into his room.

"I'm not at all sure what you're referring to." His voice was cold, removed. It made her even angrier.

"This! This is what I'm talking about. You've been acting differently ever since this arrangement with Warren began…" She didn't dare to utter the word 'jealous'.

His eyes narrowed at her as his voice became even colder: "And what exactly did you expect? That I would be overcome with gratitude?"

"No. But I didn't expect that you'd act like such a child about it, either." Her eyes widened, realizing the words that had just escaped from her lips.

He didn't hesitate before sneering at her: "Yes, clearly I'm the childish one."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"You're just upset because reality doesn't line up with the perfect little world in your head. Well, sorry to disappoint you, but I will never be happy with this situation."

"That's not why I'm upset," she snapped. "I'm upset because it seems as though I'm the one making all the sacrifices while you refuse to accept just one thing."

"Accept what? The fact that I have to sit back and watch while that git is parading you around like you're his? And what sacrifices, Rosemary?"

"Yes, Tom, that's exactly what you're supposed to accept. That is the plan we agreed on," she told him snidely. "And are you joking?"

He looked at her and shrugged. "It certainly looks as though you're always having a good time with him…" Then, he added sarcastically: "What a selfless sacrifice."

"Do you have any idea what I've been through?" she asked him, her voice rising quickly. "I've lost a friend that I've known since first year –"

"A half-blood," he pointed out coldly.

She glared at him, and continued: "Absolutely no one in Slytherin house respects me, Warren is driving me mad, and the entire school has been talking about me for two weeks straight." Her voice finally reached a yell: "And you're telling me I haven't made a sacrifice? Have you forgotten that, at the end of all this, I'm giving up my family, too?"

"I've never asked you to do any of those things," Tom snapped.

Rosemary instantly felt like she was going to be sick. How could someone who claimed to love her be so harsh at the same time? She wished she could think up some quick retort in that moment, but her mind was spinning too fast. Not to mention the fact that absolutely nothing would win against him when he was acting like this.

But maybe there was some truth to what he said. After all, she did know the consequences of being with him…perhaps it had been unfair of her to blame him in a way for them. He was right – he had never asked her to do any of it. It had always been her decision. Maybe she just hadn't reached the point of accepting that this was the way things were going to be until they could truly be together.

She felt her anger drop away from her as she stared down at her feet and said, "You're right. I'm sorry."

Tom stepped toward her and tilted her chin up so her eyes met his. They were very dark, as usual – almost black. As she examined them, she couldn't help but notice that there was something missing: they were cold and unapologetic, and lacked any of the softness they usually held when he looked at her. It was rather frightening, in a way.

Rosemary experienced the sudden urge to be alone, to regather her composure and straighten out her thoughts. She stepped away from him, mumbling something about getting a start on her homework for the weekend, and turned toward the door. Just as she placed her hand on the handle, he strode up behind her and placed his hand over her own.

When he spoke again, it was with authority: "I'm not finished."

"Of course I love you. I'm giving up my life to be with you, aren't I?" – Matthew Weiner

I know, I know. I'm the worst. :/ So sorry for the super crazy delayed update. I had literally the worst case of writers block EVER, plus zero motivation to get any writing done.

As mentioned at the top of the chapter, there are some important edits that I wanted to bring to your attention. My good friend CharlotteBlackwood pointed out a couple of things about the last chapter that needed to be fixed, so I went in a changed a couple of things. First off, the previous DADA professor was Merrythought, whose existence I had all but completely forgotten. D: Also, she pointed out that it is mathematically impossible for Dumbledore to have taught both Transfigurations and DADA. Because of this, I altered it so he is now only teaching DADA and his cousin, Gunnilda, will be teaching Transfigurations. I did do these edits fairly soon after posting the chapter, so you might have already read the edited version anyway, but I just wanted to bring it to the attention of those of you that hadn't seen it yet! Thanks again for pointing those things out, Charlotte! And it was great meeting up with you this week.(:(:

Thanks as well to all of you lovelies that submitted reviews on the last chapter: Mrs. TomMarvoloRiddle, A regrettable decision, How910, CharlotteBlackwood, RosiePosie15, and klandgraf2007!

Four more chapters to go until the end of Part I! There definitely won't be as much of a delay between this and the next chapter, as I've already begun writing it.

LAST THING! I just want to take a moment to thank ALL of you that have stuck with this fic so far. I know that it's been a long, not totally in-character version of Tom, but that is all about to change VERY VERY soon. Your patience means the world to me...and it will pay off - I promise. :D