Tom Ridde Imagine [Non-Voldemort AU]

chapter two - ❝you're tom riddle, aren't you?❞

Saturday. What could possibly be more relaxing than a Saturday? Sunday, actually, but for Tom, Saturday was fine too. He had gotten up early to take a walk outside of school, breathing in the fresh air—he really needed it. During the entire night, he had been thinking about the girl from Hufflepuff, and it was driving him insane. His chest always felt so heavy yet so light whenever she popped into his mind. Tom hadn’t ever felt this way and it was a scary new experience.

Walking around the castle was the only thing he could do in the morning, since the library wasn’t open yet, there was no food on the tables in the Great Hall, and none of his friends were awake yet. Six-thirty in the morning—it was time for his morning stroll.

The air was chilly and Tom could tell that autumn was coming to an end soon, much to his disappointment. He loved autumn, he loved seeing the orange leaves fall off the branches to the ground, slowly but surely, as if they were dancers. But Tom never complained about winter season as well—he loved the cold atmosphere tickle his skin until he can’t feel his face anymore, or when he leaves trails of footsteps in the white snow. He loved the little details of the seasons—reminding himself of it made him see how much life was really worth.

The sound of footsteps coming towards him snapped Tom out of his thoughts—he turned around to look at who it was. To his surprise, it was not a teacher—he was used to teachers patrol the school and look out for any misbehaving students, and they were used to Tom’s weekly routine of taking a morning stroll somewhere outside the castle. But these two people, they were not students. Judging from the colour of their scarves, black and yellow, they were Hufflepuffs. And not just any Hufflepuff—it was that girl, and the popular guy, Cedric Diggory.

Tom grabbed his chest but in a manner so that neither of the two could see it, and stared down the lake. The girl was right behind him, talking to a Quidditch athlete. Not to mention, he was in her house, in her year, in her class. They were close, he could tell from the tone they spoke with to each other. How could he possibly match that?

“Excuse me.” A female voice snapped Tom out of thoughts and he spent his last seconds panicking before slowly turning around, facing the two. The girl was a little shorter than him, while the boy was about as tall—or taller. “Have you seen a Hufflepuff tie around here?”

He couldn’t help his face—it was always set on a neutral, bored expression that intimidated everybody who crossed his path. Tom unconsciously glared at the two, making them look at each other in worry. “No, I haven’t,” Tom simply answered, crossing his arms. “If there would be a bright yellow tie dangling from the bridge, I would have seen it.” His voice was flat and deep, sending shivers up their spines. But, for some reason, the girl didn’t seem too intimidated to approach Tom again. On the contrary, she chuckled.

“Okay then. You’re Tom Riddle, aren’t you?”

Confusion found its way to Tom’s mind—how did she know? He expected her to be busy doing her own thing, rather than being aware of his existence at all. Did she find out herself? Or did she hear it from the multiple rumours that had been going on? Just recently, Tom had heard his name in the same sentence as “evil wizard” and that he was going to do something awful to Dumbledore. Not at all—Dumbledore has given him a home to stay in. Why would he ever attack the kind man?

“My name is (Y/N) (Y/LN). Oh, I heard you’re very good at Defence Against Dark Arts, yes?”

Just nodding was sufficient for Tom, because he did not have the energy to bring out any noise in the presence of her. (Y/N) looked at Cedric. “I—this might be a little selfish to ask, but, could you—could you teach me?”

“Teach you?” Tom immediately regretted the sound of his voice, realizing how foul it sounded. It was as if he was talking to a peasant, saying something incredibly stupid. Tom tried to cover it up by saying something else. “Who says I can?”