Tom was sure that it was still too late to wake up for school. But something was waking him up before the supposed time. He didn't like it at all. He was tired from a very draining journey as well as babysitting a full grown cat for a day and he needed his sleep.
He decided to ignore the slight disturbance against his shoulder. A few seconds later, the warm blankets surrounding him were not there anymore, making him shiver due to the cold. He scowled in his half asleep state while trying to get it back on him again. His brain barely registered the weirdness of his situation.
Giving up at last, he started to fall asleep once again. He might be a strong wizard, but at the end of the day, he was just a boy. Little the the boy know what was coming his way.
His body jolted awake from the sharp sting on his cheek. His hand covered the flamming area in order to decrease the pain he was currently feeling from an unexpected slap. He finally opened his eyes and sat up on his bed. His dorm was quite dark. He first glanced at the window to see that it was still dark outside.
"Finally you are awake, idiot!"
Tom jolted once again hearing a female voice whispering against his ears. His hands moved faster than he could think and shoved blindly at the intruder of his personal space. A small yelp was heard followed by a few colourful words directed at him.
"Have you gone mental?!"
Tom could finally see as his eyes adjusted in the dark. In front of him sat none other than Maybelle, in her human form, wrapped around by his blankets. His brain started functioning once again and his eyes widened dramatically.
"You are human," that was the most unintelligent sentence Tom had ever said.
"Yes! And I am naked!" Maybelle whisper yelled. She was close to loosing her mind.
Tom tilted his head,"What?"
He heard her groan in frustration.
"I just transformed back in my sleep and I am not wearing any clothes. On top of that, I am in a room filled with teenagers. So, help me!" She whispered hurriedly, scared that one of the boys would wake up.
Tom understood the situation at last. He looked calm, much to her surprise. He lazily got out of his bed and retrieved a shirt and some pants from his trunk. He tossed them towards her that smacked her straight on her face.
He turned away to give her some privacy. There was some shuffling of clothes and a few curses. He rolled his eyes listening the foul words coming out of her mouth. Never did he imagine that a girl could speak like that. But there she was, on his bed, wearing his clothes. No girls would do that either.
"I need to get out of the Slytherin dorms," she whispered once she was done.
The clothes smell like him.
There it was. That voice in his head. He almost wanted to turn her back into a cat just so that he would not be able to hear her unusual thoughts.
Tom nodded as an answer and gestured her to follow him. The journey was painfully silent. He could feel how uneasy she was. He understood the reason however. A girl would not like waking up unclothed beside a boy.
Tom wanted to scoff in disbelief. He was not fazed in the slightest. He had found her in worse situations. Once he had to fetch her for the extra tutoring and had found her in a pit of mud, where she was struggling with a thick vine calling it a snake.
The duo came out of the main entrance and the boy waited for her to walk away. Much to his annoyance, she started fidgeting in front of him.
Her once short black hair was longer and reached slightly below her shoulders. Tom noticed that her hair didn't look like a crow's nest anymore. Her face was flushed pink to the point that it looked like she had a fever.
He frowned and placed his hand against her cheek. It was warm. He saw the girl turning redder by the second.
"Are you having a fever?" He asked.
Maybelle jumped away from his touch and shook her head violently. He worried that her head would fall of her shoulders.
"What is wrong with you?" He asked again.
"N-nothing," she squeaked out.
"You should go."
Maybelle nodded but didn't move from her place. Tom's patience was wearing thin. But before he could obliterate her, she stepped closer to him and bowed her head slightly.
"Ca-can you p-pe-pet my head?" She asked in a small voice. She sounded like a child.
"What?" Tom deadpanned. He could see her pouting like a baby.
"You are not a cat anymore, Wright."
"I know. But this is the last time. I promise!" She mumbled.
Tom exhaled sharply. He couldn't believe the situation. It was too early for such trouble. He placed his cold hand against her head. This was utterly embarrassing.
He could feel the girl melting against his touch, almost like her cat form. Before she could get anymore comfortable, he retracted his hands. Maybelle glanced up at him with another childlike pout.
Tom refused to meet her eyes. Maybelle looked away and started to walk towards the stairs. Tom waited till her petite frame disappeared. He heaved a large sigh of relief and went back into the dorms.
He knew he won't be able to go back to sleep. So he waited by the window to watch the sunrise. Time went faster than he had anticipated and it was already time for breakfast.
He changed into his Slytherin uniform. His dark messy hair had grown a bit longer and it reached till his nose. He pursed his lips in annoyance and swept it aside only for it to fall back and shadow his eyes.
He could already sense that his day was ruined. The boy felt like he could murder a few people just by glaring at them. He stomped all the way to the dining hall. The students steered clear from his path.
Once he settled on his bench, his followers greeted him like usual. He glared at them for no apparent reason. It was almost a second nature to him.
"Avery, the job that I had assigned you, is it done?" Tom asked while serving himself some toast.
The boy named Avery jumped in his seat. He nodded meekly only to earn a glare from the heir of Slytherin.
He fidgeted around his blazer and retrieved an old script, "H-here you go my lord."
Tom scoffed at the stuttering mess but took the brittle scripture any way. His eyes ran all over it carefully. The scowl that was on his face slowly turned into a devilish smirk.
"At last, a good news. You shall be rewarded, Avery," he stated coldly. His slender fingers tucked the scripture deep into his pockets. Things were surely falling into place.
Last time if Malfoy had not informed him about the deals of the Wright family, Maybelle would already be in the clutches of Grindelwald.
It was indeed a tough decision to make. He risked his own life for her sake. But Maybelle was a great asset to Hogwarts as well as the heir of Slytherin himself. Well, that was what he believed in most parts.
His eyes involuntarily fell on the girl a table away from him. His smirk immediately turned into a look of disgust. The girl was scarfing down her food like there was no tomorrow. Even her own housemates were giving her and odd looks.
The breast pocket on Tom's shirt suddenly felt heavy. He was then reminded of the Maybelle's engagement ring that she had forgotten in the hotel. The boy pursed his lips and started munching on his toast, deep in thought.
Oh shizzles!
Tom's head snapped towards the owner of the voice inside his head.
Where is the window when you need one?
Tom almost rolled his eyes. After almost a year of knowing her and hearing her thoughts, he knew exactly what she was planning to do. She was trying to escape. But from what?
He followed her panic stricken eyes and found a very familiar Griffindore making his way towards her. Maybelle was waving her hands in the air as an excuse for surrender. But Zayden didn't stop. He made his way through the students and stood right in front of her.
Tom could barely hear what the boy was demanding but he looked angry. Maybelle tried backing away from her friend but Zayden caught her hand and yanked at them. Being the weak girl she was, she was lifted off her bench quite easily.
Tom's calculating gaze followed Zayden who was dragging away the frail girl, ignoring all her protests. The whole dining hall watched the scene but no one bothered to intervene. Just before Maybelle was dragged out of the doors, she searched around and met Tom's eyes for a few seconds. Tom immediately looked away, ignoring her. If no one helped her, why should he bother?
Tom finished his breakfast and made his way to his first class. His goons followed him close behind. Fifth year was already proving to be hard. Tom was certain that he would need to work extra hard if he wanted to be a prefect next year. His mind reverted back to Maybelle whom he would have to teach till O.W.Ls. What a pain.
The classes went at a slower pace than usual. Maybe it was only for Tom as he was waiting to execute the first phase of his plan by the end of the day. He was on his way towards Divination class. He shared it with Maybelle and he knew they would have to sit together, much to his distaste.
He stirred past the sea of students and sat on his designated front desk. As expected, the girl was late to her class. Tom opened his book that Dumbledore had given him early in the morning and started reading through the contents.
Much to his annoyance, Maybelle didn't arrive even when the teacher had come. The class ended quickly with Tom scoffing at every lecture on Divination. He was more annoyed that he had to suffer through it alone.
The next few classes were a blur to him when he noticed that Maybelle had missed potions as well. His last class of the day was Advanced Arithmancy. He made a mental note of breaking the girl's skull incase she missed the very important class.
She missed the very important class.
Tom was fuming in anger. He pushed past a few students and started searching for the girl in every possible corridors. Tom had a hunch that she had tasted some weird plant and had died. But he didn't want to risk it.
His eyes fell on an empty stairway in the West wing that was a shortcut to the astronomy tower. But no one really took it because they were scared of some kind of spirit that liked to throw dead cockroaches at the students.
It was just a rumor.
Tom clenched his jaw and made his way through the set of stairs. When he was almost nearing the narrow corridor, two voices reached his ears immediately. He hid himself behind a large pillar and observed.
"You are saying that you left for a stroll the night before you were supposed to come to our house and found yourself at Hogwarts?"
Maybelle nodded at the roughly summarised version of her story. Tom face palmed at that as Peter ran his hand through his hair in frustration.
Peter's innocent and calm demeanor suddenly changed. Tom scrunched his eyebrows in confusion when the boy grabbed Maybelle by her cheeks. The girl tried to pry off his hold but it was no use.
"Do you have any idea how worried I was?" Peter shouted at her face making her flinch.
"I searched the whole town for you! I didn't sleep for two whole nights thinking that you were dead!" His hand pushed her face away only to grab her by the back of her neck.
Maybelle was speechless. She just gaped at Peter, not being able to say anything.
"But in the morning I saw you talking with another boy. You should've come to me first. You are my fiancé!" He screamed in rage.
Tom was half expecting the boy to strangle her but Peter was certainly planning something else. The heir of Slytherin scoffed seeing how gullible the girl was. Peter was trying to make her feel guilty, trying to break her before claiming her easily.
"Zayden is my friend..." Maybelle mumbled softly. Tom could barely hear her. He almost revealed himself to point out that she could only scream at Tom where as she was being too soft with Peter.
"You don't need friends anymore. You have me," Peter cooed at her and tucked her hair behind her ears. Maybelle shot him a look of confusion. She tried to back away when Peter came way too close to her. Their lips were almost touching.
"A...um... Peter...can you-"
"Can I what, princess?" Peter asked in a hushed tone while inching even closer.
Tom got startled when Maybelle's thought entered his mind.
Back off. Back off. Back off!
I don't want this. What is going on? Should I crush his baby makers? But I can't move my legs. I need a window.
"Peter, stop," the girl mumbled, too afraid to move.
"Why should I? You belong to me now. I am your fiancé. This is normal," Peter assured.
Maybelle squeezed her eyes shut in defeat.
I don't want my first kiss to waste away like this.
"Incase you didn't hear, she told you to stop," Tom's deep accented voice cut through the thick silence. Peter jolted away from Maybelle and glared at the Slytherin.
Maybelle almost fell on the floor due to relief. She just wanted to go and hug Tom till he died of suffocation. But the Slytherin didn't meet her eyes.
"Why is it always you?" Peter sneered while wrapping an arm around Maybelle's waist making her squeak in surprise.
"I should be the one to ask. The teachers won't be happy to hear that one of the prefect was taking advantage of a girl in a dark corridor," Tom stated calmly.
God bless your big brain.
Tom almost glared at the girl hearing her thoughts once again.
"Incase you didn't know, she is my fiancé," Peter stated smugly. Tom watched Maybelle deflate once again.
"Is that so? Why do I not see a ring on her finger?"
Peter growled and yanked the poor girl's hand only to see her empty ring finger.
"Where is it?" He sneered. Maybelle never thought that an innocent puppy like Peter could turn into someone like that.
"Now that that's. I need Wright to come with me for her extra classes," Tom asked but Peter pulled her towards him once again. Tom raised an eyebrow.
"Very well," the Slytherin stated coldly and took out his wand. Maybelle jumped in her place. She could not allow something to unfold like this. She wiggled out of Peter's grasp and placed her hand on Tom's wand.
Tom finally met her eyes with a glare, "Trying save your friend, I see."
Maybelle flinched at Tom's cold tone but didn't falter.
"Yes, I am saving my friend. I don't want you to get in trouble," she muttered softly. Tom stared at her in silence. Peter was shouting something at them but the words didn't quite reach his ears. In the dimly lit hall, he could only see Maybelle's face filled with worry.
He scoffed at her but put his wand away. He grabbed her by her wrist and started dragging her out of the scene. She let him. The duo ignored whatever Peter was screaming at them.
Tom pulled Maybelle into the quiet library as they sat on their usual place by the window. Tom started to take out his books and notes.
"Than-"
"Shut up."
"Okay."
He ignored the angry pout on her and shoved all the notes that she missed towards her. She gaped at the amount of work she missed. Without another word, she started to write down all the lessons one by one.
Tom left her alone after a few hours as he didn't have anything to teach her. But he made sure that she wont leave until all the works were done. A few death threats and promised chocolate cookies were enough to keep her seated.
Tom went to the dorms and changed into some casual winter clothes. He decided to skip dinner. He read books and finished his homeworks to pass his time. Once it was two hours past curfew, he slowly crept out of the Slytherin dorms.
It was time he opened the chamber of secrets.
••••••••••••••••••••
Maybelle knew it was the last day of her life. She absolutely screwed up. She was huffing while running through the corridors blindly. It was way past curfew but the Ravenclaw dorms were her last destination.
She was shivering in her thin night gown. If only she could control her temptation for some cakes, she won't be in this situation. She stopped abruptly in front of the infamous girls toilet.
She decided that it would be her best bet to hide there. As soon as she entered one of the stalls, she heard a girl crying.
On no. Not today satan. I am not in the mood for some ghost shizzle.
Maybelle followed the crying voice like any dumb character in a horror movie. Hey, it was better to die a legend. At least she could brag about dying while battling with the ghost. She didn't want the ghost to snap her neck from behind.
She burst into the stall and jumped away to see a girl crying her eyes out. Maybelle squinted her eyes at how familiar she looked. She had long dark hair tied into two low pony tails. She had big, round glasses on her eyes.
Maybelle wanted to collapse after she realised who it was. It was The Moaning Myrtle.
Myrtle glanced up at her with teary eyes. Maybelle's eyes softened upon seeing her sorrow filled face.
"Hey, what's wrong?" She asked, unsure of Myrtle's reaction.
"They were making fun of me," she sobbed.
Maybelle panicked, "Hey, hey, hey. It's okay, it's okay," she whispered, "You can tell me their names tomorrow and I will seek revenge for you."
Myrtle wiped her face and looked quite hopeful, "really?"
Maybelle nodded, "Yeah. But now I want you to go back to the dorms and sleep okay? It is not safe here. If anyone bothers you again, you can always punch them."
Maybelle was not sure if it was the best advice but Myrtle looked assured and that was all she needed. The girl hurried away from the bathroom and Maybelle was left alone to face whatever was about to happen.
She decided to relax her brain for the future events. But she barely finished catching her breath when a pair of footsteps entered the toilets. She peeked from behind the stalls only to see Tom Riddle standing there, ready to open the chamber of secrets.
Maybelle suddenly wished that it was a ghost instead of Myrtle.