Metanoia~ Tom Riddle

Chapter 11

It was now Monday morning, Veruca was dressed and ready to go. Instead of the uniform she was accustomed to, she wore a black knee-length pencil skirt with a white button up blouse which she tucked into her skirt. She paired the outfit with a pair of simple black flats and her crisp, Slytherin tie. She threw her robes onto her shoulders and adjusted her lightly curled hair.

"Moony, I'm off to breakfast. I'll bring you a treat around lunchtime."

"Sure thing, darling."

Her beloved cat rolled over and purred softly, resuming his sleep. Veruca shook her head with a chuckle. It was early, only 6:30 a.m., but cats were usually awake by this time or at least Moony was, he was much like her, more than you'd think considering he was a cat. Veruca grabbed her soft, leather satchel and left the girls hall.

As she entered the common room, she was surprised to see Tom seated on the sofa as if he had been there for hours. For all she knew, he probably had been. She admired him for a moment. He hadn't noticed her enter the room, and so, he read on uninterrupted. His dark eyes scanned the pages of the book with such fever, he devoured every word like it was some sort of life source. It was strange but, in a way, beautiful. He took care while taking every advantage he could. and it was beautiful.

Even Veruca had to admit the boy was handsome.

Veruca wanted to know what it was young Tom Riddle was reading. The boy was only sixteen, but it was his fifth year at Hogwarts that he opened the Chamber of Secrets. Why on earth would Dumbledore send her back to such a dangerous time?

She stepped into the common room and cleared her throat. Tom looked up abruptly and shut his book, "Early again, Fouix?" Tom recovered, smiling a charming smile. "I guess so. I actually wanted to get to the library, is there any specific time it's opened?" she asked, hopefully. Tom smirked, "The librarian usually doesn't like people in there before himself..." Tom watched Veruca falter slightly before continuing, "However, he doesn't mind me reading early."

"Well then, Mr. Riddle, would you care to accompany me to the library?" she asked. Tom obliged, leading her from the Slytherin commons yet again.

Once at the library, the two split up, off to their desired sections. Tom was slightly intrigued when Veruca didn't ask for directions, but he had always preferred it when a candidate for his attentions knew their way around a library, any library.

Tom was most definitely intrigued by Veruca. Nearly everything about her fascinated him, she was so much more different, than anyone he had ever met, and he yearned to know why. Why the way she acted and spoke, the way she showed up at the school in the middle of the night, sopping wet, had piqued his interests.

Why did he feel as if he needed to know everything about her? Why did her eyes seem to catch his attention so... vividly? The fact that it looked like there were secrets kept within the depths of her soul, secrets Tom was convinced he had to find, that trained his keen and deceptive eyes on her.