A Peak Into The Past with Tom Riddle

Where Is Keith?

"Alright yeah. You go down and find Bella. I'll be down there in just a minute. I need to do  something." 
Tom said and Keith didn't question. Instead he simply nodded his head and left the room.

As soon as Keith left Tom snatched out the bottles from under his mattress and his wand. He whispered a small incantation to make similar copies of the bottles. They weren't the same and wouldn't have the same effect as the real ones but they'd trick Keith just fine. Keith would think he's taking his pills when in reality he'll just be eating flavored air with some crunch. Tom then rolled the fake pills under Keith's bed so that they could find them later. He put the real ones back under his mattress and followed after Keith for breakfast. 

When he finally made his way to the Great hall he saw that everybody else was already there. He quickly spotted his group and started walking to them. He felt all the eyes of the gryffindors and ravenclaws staring at him. He could also hear them mumbling terrible things about both him and the rest of the slytherin house. Though like the rest of the slytherins he had learned not to care about what they say or think and simply ignored them now. 

He sat down beside Keith and Bella, interrupting their conversation. They started to eat their breakfast and chatter among themselves. Keith was quieter than normal, he seemed very jumpy and nervous, flinching at every little touch. 
Was Keith this panicked, simply at the loss of a couple pills? 
Tom thought. 
This only kept the thought of those strange pills at the front of Tom's mind. He looked up at the teachers table, attempting to keep his eye on Dumbledore. However when he looked up he saw that Dumbledore was not at his seat. This puzzled Tom. Where could Dumbledore have gone? 

The teachers always finished their food before everyone else and left to prepare for classes. So as Tom saw the teachers getting up and leaving, he also told his group he had something to take care of then followed the teachers. 

Tom ran to catch up with Merrythought, the difference against the dark arts teacher, to ask her where Dumbledore had run off to. 

"Professor Merrythought?" 
Tom called as he ran up behind her. 

"Oh! Yes Mr. Riddle? You startled me." 
The elderly woman said, putting a hand over her heart. 

"Apologize professor but I have a very important question for professor Dumbledore, have you seen him?" 
Tom asked, standing with his hands folded behind his back. 

"Oh I'm afraid he had some very important business to attend to and his substitute would fill in for his class. So you may ask them" 
After stating this she turned around to walk away before Tom spoke again. 

"Yes but this is a very important question that I must ask to Dumbledore himself !" 

"I'm very sorry my boy but I'm afraid your question will have to wait." 
She said mid step. 

"Did Dumbledore say what business was in need of his immediate attention?" 
Tom asked, again stopping the professor mid step. 

She turned around with a sigh and looked Tom up and down with a skeptical eye. 
"Yes he did." 

"May I ask what it is then?" 

"He and the headmaster have to see a student who needs their help." 
She said as a final word. Turning away and continuing to walk down the hall. 

"Did they say which student?" 
Tom asked to the back of her head. 

She paused but did not turn around. She seemed to be thinking for a moment. 
"No, they did not… hum." 
She said as if she was just noticing that they hadn't said. Then she shrugged her shoulders and walked away leaving Tom a confused statue in the middle of the hall.