An Otherworldly Experience (Tom Riddle Era)

Chapter Eight

Kelli, still reading the book on Slytherin's ancestry, now backpedaling through the book and tracing their History back to Slytherin, she hadn't realised that around the corner, people were tripping anyone who passed. So when she passed, her legs were locked together. There was a moment where her mind went straight to, 'I've been attacked'. Her hand went to her wand and the rest of her went straight to the ground. She twisted and landed on her side and shot a disarming spell at one of them, using the countercurse for her feet.

A wand went flying towards her and she used another spell, "Levicorpus."

Four students out of the five went flying upwards. She didn't know two of them who were turned upside down, they were in years above her and the others. Though they were big, they looked more like henchmen than anything else. Malfoy and Avery were two who had been turned upside down. Riddle was the only one who had not, leaning casually against the wall with his wand in his hand, having done a very good and smooth job at not being caught out.

The wand hit the ground at her feet.

"Charming friends you have here, Riddle," commented Kelli quite coolly, their robes fallen over their heads and their underwear on show. Honestly, Kelli didn't really see the appeal of not wearing something underneath her robes - she didn't enjoy the breeze on her legs. She then flicked her wrist, murmuring 'finite'. They fell to the ground in pathetic looking lumps.

She picked up her book, looking for the page she had been on and Riddle asked, "What are you reading? If you don't mind me asking."

Kelli didn't move to show him the cover, letting it hang in one hand, "The usual kind of boring stuff. Excuse me." She turned and had taken two steps away from them.

"You won't say anything, will you, Watson?" asked Riddle, stepping off the wall.

"You're assuming rather a lot." Kelli turned back around, not seeing a reason to trust him with her back turned. "Why wouldn't I?" she asked as though she were just asking a genuine question.

"I suppose you don't have much reason," Riddle replied, putting his wand away as if to appear less threatening. "But we're friends, aren't we, Watson?"

Kelli tilted her head, giving him an odd look. "We're friendly, not friends, right?"

He looked a tad confused. "I would have thought we were."

Kelli couldn't hold her amused giggle, finding him trying to be manipulative to her, who knew enough about his general behaviours, quite funny and said, her grin huge, "Riddle, if I didn't know just how manipulative you are, I'd've actually felt bad. But I won't say anything about you, my actual friends would probably hurt me if I got you in trouble."

Riddle raised his eyebrows. "And why would the-?"

"Your cheekbones could cut someone," Kelli answered, thinking, probably me. "Do I have permission to leave now?" she asked, mocking his friend remark by asking permission.

Riddle made a gesture that said that she was free, no doubt picking up on her mocking statement. Kelli smiled before turning around.

Friends? What a joke. Tom Riddle didn't have friends. But her friends were, no doubt about it, correct. Riddle was very attractive. She didn't like how she had started to pay attention to it.

Kelli was an overachiever and had offered her services to any of the Professor's that if they felt a student may have needed extra tutoring, she'd do it. For those in her year or below. Which is why Professor Dumbledore had sent Rubeus Hagrid her way for tutoring in what seemed to be most subjects. As he was his House Head, he knew enough about Hagrid to know that he needed help.

He was a second year.

She spotted him immediately, giving him a warm smile when he saw her. He smiled back, his boyish face looking very odd on such a large body.

"I'm Kelli Watson," she told him kindly.

"I'm Hagrid," he greeted.

Even though she knew already, she asked, "First or last name?"

"Las'," he answered.

"It's a pleasure, Hagrid," she told him genuinely, taking a seat on another bench opposite him.

"I don' think yeh can teach me," Hagrid told her apprehensively. "Yeh migh' be good bu' I'm no'."

"Well, I don't know that," Kelli replied, "So I'm going to try anyway. If you'd be so kind to amuse me."

"Yeh alrigh'."

Kelli asked for his notes and saw that everything was word for word what the teachers would write and most were jumbled up altogether. First, she showed him what he had written down wrong by opening the textbooks the Professor's had assigned for each of their classes, showing him how to find what he would be looking for and how it's all written out there so he didn't need to hurry and write.

If he had unfinished notes it didn't matter, the book had the most basic knowledge.

They'd spent two hours together where she helped him catch up with him basically doing all the work. She may have been there to guide him but there was a point where he flipped and did it himself. But good lord he got distracted very easily, so Kelli had to get stern with him very often.

The two hours had ended and Kelli brought it up.

Hagrid looked at everything he had managed before grinning and saying to Kelli, "Thank yeh!"

"You're welcome," Kelli said with a smile, getting to her feet and saying, "If you think you need more help, just tell me, I'll be pleased to help."

"I'll do tha'," Hagrid told her before packing up his things before heading off.

Kelli stayed outside for a little bit longer.

"I should thank you," Riddle's voice came from behind her.

Kelli flinched, almost jumping out of her seat, and turned to look at him, her eyes wide. "What a creepy thing to do!"

He had an amused smile on his face, nothing that reached his eyes and he said, "Maybe I shouldn't."

Kelli leaned forward, her eyes not so wide that she looked owlish and looked up at him. "That's more up to you. But you're welcome, whether you're thankful or not."

"You said you don't think us friends," commented Riddle as though it were a menial subject. "Then laughed."

"It depends if you think we're friends," Kelli told him knowing that even though he'll be lying, this subject wasn't up to it.

"I do."

Kelli gave him an amused look and said, "Friends like how you see Avery and Malfoy?"

"They're my friends, so yes."

"Oh, then hell no, Riddle, we most certainly are not friends," Kelli told him, standing up and getting an equal footing to him, though he was a tad taller than she was. "Because if I were friends with them in your situation, they wouldn't have gone down at all." She stepped around him, before stopping, and looking back at him. "Anyway, do you think your pride can handle being friends with a mudblood?"

"I think my pride would handle being friends with a muggleborn," he told her.

Kelli barked out a laugh that sounded very unamused, no doubt catching his use of the word 'muggleborn' and said, "You haven't even figured out who you are yet."