Serpentine [T.M. Riddle]

Soft Hands

The enlightening conversation held with Ximena is rich and impactful enough to stay within the forefront of his mind for hours (perhaps years) to come. Of course, at such a conversation, it's natural for one to feel drained. Ximena bids her goodbye and retires early to bed, disappearing away to her dormitory, book in arms.

It is of course, then when he realizes he forgot to ask her about the summer. And misplacing him. Damn.

He drums his knuckles on the table. Ah well, they have the rest of the week. Of course. Why wouldn't they?

-

The following days are surprisingly warm to the delight of the student body. Tom's Herbology class is even given outside, and as the professor begins his long, drawn out speech about proper climate and soil types (all things he has already memorized during the break), his mind begins to daydream.

Whom will he partner up with? His usual pick seems to have found a friend to pair up with instead of him (what a fool, that friend's head is full of dust), and the crop of his usual partners in classes are nowhere to be seen. Figures.

Tom steals a glance to a small cluster of classmates to his left: average bottom feeders and people content with mediocrity. Nothing special about them. Any of them would be ecstatic to have him as a partner, but he'd definitely be carrying the both of them. On the other hand, they wouldn't disrespect his choices and authority in assignments unlike the highbloods competing for high grades.

The other boys in his year no longer send him curious, cautious, jealous glances. Now they do all that with a smidgen of respect. Their support is no longer just reserved for public performance, but also within the walls of their dormitory. Seats aren't taken up by coats and books and bags so often when he's present. He's allowed to sit. Precious. Cute. As if he ever needed that permission from them. But it's good to have. It's another door. Another possibility.

And whatever possibility he chooses, he needs company to reflect the status that will come of it.

The girls in his year which he is already acquainted with are, as stated before, at a terrible disadvantage. Brilliant though they may be, they are of little help outside academics. A boy in his second year is expected to have himself pulled together and have a proper boys group his age. It was something his previous mentor wasn't very helpful in (though he made up for it by introducing Tom to older students). No matter, he just has to focus on befriending more boys, rather than migrating his attention to varying places as he has been doing... Troublesome.

Evan is easy. They've exchanged pleasantries already. He asks questions about what Muggles are really like and chuckles along with him about their stupidities. It is a test, Tom knows, like the ones he was forced to undertake when he was suspected of being cruel to the other children at Wool's. Like these tests, Tom knows how to cheat, and he knows what the practitioner wants to hear. Evan is comfortable where he is, socially and academically. He has no need or want to be angry at any political turmoil (like Nemesis) or stale status quo rules (like Hedwig). With Evan, Tom is a content bystander, happy with the sad state of wizard affairs.

Katux Lestrange is harder. More difficult than even Ian. He looks at Tom with hardened eyes and sneers when he thinks he's not looking. It is only by the skin of his neck that he is not called mudblood by him (if it's not his blood, it's his speech, his accent, his secondhand clothes and books...A multitude of reasons to pick on him.) There were honest and good attempts at roughhousing from he and his group during those first few weeks at Hogwarts, but that stopped as soon as it was evident that Tom wasn't going to let himself be shoved around by someone who looked like he only bathed twice a month (the hygiene standard for some wizards were horrendous, it's why he had no trouble believing Ximena's quip about their waste.) After flicking them off like the annoying louses they are, he simply turned on the charm. Showed them just how merciful and forgiving he could be. After all, he'd been through worse at the hands of Muggles, and the lame bullying from Katux and his friends was laughable. Something a toddler might attempt when they were mad at a strict guardian: tripping him in the halls, jinxing his legs, switching out his food, making fun of his (fake) crush...This was the best they could come up with? Hilarious. When Tom was done proving himself to them, he left marks. On their skin and their mind. At the orphanage, he could only get away with things that were subtle. But here in the security of Slytherin house, where you were expected to not air out your dirty laundry, it is much easier to get away with nastier things. The other boys won't tell, it'd be too embarrassing for them. And Tom certainly wasn't going to tell anyone: these boys were beneath him. Not worth mentioning to even Hedwig or Ximena. He doesn't need anyone's pity.