Birth of Hell || Tom Riddle

6th year - Part 2

"And as for you Mr. Riddle," Harriet turned to Tom with a sharpness in her voice. He was almost taken aback by the tone she held. "You were supposed to meet me in the library an hour ago! Were you aware of that, Tom?" Tom looked away from her and chose to stuff his nose in his textbook feeling annoyed which was nothing new for the boy.

"Yes, I was aware but I am clearly busy with my schoolwork." Harriet nodded and shrugged off Tom's rude tone before noticing Lestrange. Her lips curled into a gentle smile and reached out across the table taking hold of his arm. Everyone in the group seemed to freeze at Harriet's action, even Tom had stopped taking notes wondering what on earth she was doing. Lestrange looked up from the table and met Harriet's kind eyes.

"What are you-"

"I heard what happened and I want you to know I believe the accusations made against you were falsely made," Harriet interrupted Lestrange. His glare was harsh but it did not keep Harriet from speaking. "I know you do not care much for me but just know I believe it was wrong of her to accuse you of something so harsh and spreading that horrid rumor around. It is unfair and I do not agree with how she handled things. If you need to talk, I'm here to listen." And with that Harriet gave him a soft pat on his forearm and stepped away from the table. As she began to walk away from Tom quickly caught her wrist,

"I will be in the library in ten minutes." He promised Harriet.

"Sorry Tommy, but I have other plans for the afternoon with Rory. I will send you an owl when I am free next. Oh, and before I forget, here is a book I believe may help." Harriet retrieved a thin leather-bound book from her bag, placing it on the table in front of him. Her eyes seemed to sparkle as she gave him a slight tilt of her head in goodbye and walked away from the Slytherin table.

Tom sat in shock at the thought of Rory Tadpolus, completely ignoring the fact she had called him Tommy for the first time. He questioned why she would ever consider being around such an insufferable boy! It always felt like he was in competition with the Gryffindor boy when it came to classes. Tadpolus always seemed to be right behind Tom whether it be in making the best potion, casting a charm that was nearly perfect, or even getting the attention of the professors for outstanding grades; Tadpolus was almost always tied with Tom.

The boy was too kind in Tom's opinion and was almost disgusted with how he held himself. People gushed about his gentlemanly manners and ability to make even the darkest parts in a room light up just with his kind words. Even thinking about all the praises and compliments this boy got daily made him want to roll his eyes. This façade Rory Tadpolus pulled did not fool Tom, perhaps because he too had his own kind of façade. He had his suspicions of Rory Tadpolus. That possibly this overly happy and selfless boy had something within him that he concealed from everyone else.

The boy was secretive, and Tom would never forget the time he caught Tadpolus a few months prior lurking in the seventh-floor corridor, looking almost panicked to have been caught during curfew by a prefect. What had given Tadpolus away at the time was a whisper to Tom from Barnabus the Barmy who's tapestry hung on the stone wall down the hallway. He had whispered to Tom about a student hiding behind the tall statue of a knight in the corner. As Tom thought about the situation more, he wanted to smack himself for not asking more questions to why Tadpolus was on the seventh floor in the first place. One of these days he would find out, but as of now, it was not a huge concern. The number one concern as of now was finding out how to safely make a Horcrux on Hogwart's grounds.

With his thoughts now becoming too loud, Tom sighed and slammed his book shut, his attention now turning to the boys who asked Lestrange what had happened with his (now ex) girlfriend.

"After the party last night, Gabriella had accused me of sympathizing with the Nazi-Hidebehinds - you know that Nazi group of wizards that has been terrorizing France the past couple of weeks in Nice," Lestrange grumbled moving his fork around his beans. Tom furrowed his eyebrows together, never hearing about the so-called Nazi-Hidebehinds.