Harry Potter One Shots (Vol. I)

Beautiful Nightmare (Tom Riddle)

Far too many. How ever had he been allowed to organise so many of his patrols to match mine? There were only two shifts that he didn't share with me.

Distantly I listened as the head girl brought the meeting to an end with a final comment regarding appropriate conduct during rounds. My mind whirred; trying to come up with some sort of excuse to warrant changing my patrols without raising suspicion. And then I remembered the perfect one.

Just like that, the relief began to course through my veins and it was suddenly much easier to breathe.

Pleased that the meeting was over, the majority of the prefects hurried out of the room. But I stayed back a moment longer, waiting for the room to empty a little before I approached the head girl. With one more cautious glance towards Tom who was busy consulting the group of Slytherin prefects, I went to the head girl's side.

The older girl, seeing my approach, smiled welcomingly in my direction. Returning the smile with a genuine one, I glanced down at the schedule held at my side.

"Burke," she greeted cordially, "Can I help you with something?"

"About the time table," I began hesitantly, biting my bottom lip. She nodded encouragingly and I carried on quickly. "Professor Sprout offered me a chance to act as his research assistant for the term and I accepted – it clashes with my rounds."

Just last term Tom had scheduled our shifts tofether and they'd been too late in the night, hours past curfew. I had managed to use that to my benefit and had told the other female prefects that I was too scared to go around the castle that late in the night. Helga, who knew what was lurking around in those abandoned corridors? No one even attempted to question my flimsy excuse; they were all too willing to partner Tom Riddle. And now, he'd clearly tried his best to plan for that and had scheduled each of the patrols as early as possible. It was rather unlucky for him that I couldn't make those either.

She made a sound of understanding, reaching into her bag to pull out a quill. "Shall we just switch shift patterns then? That is a much easier solution than having to remake the entire schedule again."

I tried my very best not to grin; the head girl didn't share a single patrol with Tom. Leaning on the desk, the head girl made a quick note of out swapped shifts and when she straightened up again, I smiled warmly at her. She had no idea how grateful I currently felt towards her.

"Thank you," I said, my relief evident.

"No need to thank me." Waving away my words, she assured me, "After all, it is what I'm here for."

Pleased that I had managed to, once again, avoid patrolling with Tom, I turned to leave. Except, the tall Slytherin was standing right behind me. Catching myself before I bumped into him, I wondered just how much of our conversation he had managed to overhear. Meeting his eyes cautiously, I wasn't sure how to react to his cool gaze. He looked too calm – a false expression, if there ever was one. He kept his façade of casual detachment, hiding whatever was bubbling under the surface from my gaze.

"Is there a problem?" he asked, looking to the head girl who had taken to glancing strangely between the pair of us.

"Only a small one," she assured him. "We've had to switch shifts."

He looked back to me then, the false expression fleeing from his eyes and showing me the fury hidden deep beneath his pristine surface. His eyes were aflame, and I struggled not to burn with them. "Oh, really?"

"It was impossible for me to make them," I explained unnecessarily, moving to brush past him. "They clash with something I've got on."

I edged past him, walking out of the room and I wasn't surprised when he followed a short distance after me. He trailed me until we were out of the practically empty classroom and away from the head girl's watching eyes. He caught my arm, pulling me forcefully back towards him and I struggled slightly in his hold. Futilely I tried to pull my arm back from him, but he hold on firmly.