You and Tom are not friends nor enemies.
You are both 7th years.
~~~~
"Miss L/N!" Professor Slughorn yelled.
"Yes!" I quickly said, leaving my thoughts behind.
"You didn't answer my question." He said impatiently.
I paused.
"I'm sorry, Sir." I said, "I zoned out."
He sighed and proceeded to ask another girl the question.
"Pay attention," He scoffed.
I looked up to the dark eyes that were looking back at me.
"Yes, Riddle." I said, "You should pay attention."
He rolled his eyes with a smirk and turned back around.
Riddle and I always had chats like these. I would do something, he would comment on it.
Most comments tended to be a little snarky but were always followed by a playful grin that I pretended to despise but secretly liked.
I turned my attention back to class to listen to what Professor Slughorn was now saying.
"Now, today, we will be making a potion called Amortentia." He spoke.
Whispers circled the classroom. Everyone knew what Amortentia was.
"Silence!" Professor Slughorn said.
The class quieted.
"How it is going to work is that you will make your Amortentia, and then we will let it sit for a week. Then when it is ready, we will smell and test it." He spoke.
"For this potion, I have assigned you each partner to work with." He said.
He looked down at a paper and began to say aloud the groupings.
I waited for my name to be said. Towards the end of the list, Slughorn said by name along with a name I had never expected to hear in the same sentence as mine.
"Y/N L/N and Tom Riddle!" He said loudly.
I looked up to see Tom already looking back at me.
He chuckled.
I gave him a taken aback look, but he continued to laugh and turned around.
Once everyone had a partner, the Professor sent each group off to a table with a cauldron on top of each.
I sighed as I sat down at the table across from Tom. He did not look thrilled either, and I wasn't sure if this was because I was partnered with him or if he was annoyed with the project.
He began to work on the potion as I sat there silently.
"Do you need any help?" I asked, standing up from my seat.
"No." He replied as he dropped something into the cauldron.
"Well, we are supposed to work together," I said, walking around to the other side of the table.
I stood next to him and looked down at his book where the directions were for making the potion. It seemed that he had changed some of the amounts in his book.
"You changed some of the amounts," I said, looking up at him.
He looked over at me.
"I know more than the idiots who make the book." He said plainly.
"I hope so," I said.
I began to grab the other things he needed to make the potion to help him. Once I got everything he would need, I began to put the stuff in according to the amounts he had in the book.
As I went to put in rose thorns, he quickly grabbed my hand before I could drop them in.
"You need to put in two and a half roses worth of thorns, not just two." He said as he gently pushed my hand down.
"Oh." I nodded.
I was temporarily put into a state of shock that he touched my hand like that. I had never seen Tom Riddle do or say anything nice or gently.
I picked the thorns off half of another rose and put them into the cauldron. When I did this, the potion changed from a purple-like color to light and rosy red.
"You can stir it now if you want, or I can?" He asked, looking me in the eye.
"I can do it," I chirped, taking the wooden spoon from his hand.
I saw a slight grin take over his lips when I touched his hand to take the spoon.
This made me grin too.
I was surprised that he hadn't given me a snarky comment, but I enjoyed the peaceful moment.
Professor Slughorn came over to our table to test our potion just then.
"Your potion looks great, you two!" He said admirably, looking down into the cauldron.
I smiled at him and looked over to Tom, who had a slight smirk on his lips.
"I can't wait to see how it turns out next week!" Slughorn said just before dismissing us.
Tom and I left the classroom together. Potions had been the last class for the day, so it was now time to go to the library for study time or quidditch for those who played.
Tom and I walked to the library in silence, and we had no reason to walk with one another, yet we still did.
When we got to the library, he spoke.
"Do you want to do our work together?" He asked awkwardly.
I smiled and replied, "Yes."
We spent a couple of hours together doing work along with some small talk. We ended up sitting together at dinner, talking about tons of things, and we found out we even had a couple of things in common despite our many differences.
I went to sleep that night with a smile that seemed permanently imprinted across my lips.
I slept well that night, with many dreams—all with Tom in them.
For the rest of the week, Tom and I were the duo everyone was talking about.
We were getting quite close. Soon enough, Potions class came again.
Tom and I came into class together, and instead of him taking the seat in front of me, he pushed the boy that usually sat next to me out of his chair so he could be next to me.
He had done this in practically every class now. It made me laugh every time.
Professor Slughorn addressed the class once everyone was seated. Once he told us how happy he was with how the potions turned out, he sent us all back to the tables where we had made the brew the week prior.
He placed each group's cauldron on their tables. When Tom and I got ours, we peaked into the cauldron. The Amortentia was bright red.
"What's with all the pink smoke above it?" Tom said, coughing.
"Pink smoke?" I questioned.
"I see green smoke!" I said.
"You are seeing the color that corresponds with the person you love," Slughorn said with a laugh.
Tom and I stiffened.
I suddenly felt uncomfortable.
"What do you smell?" Slughorn asked.
I didn't know who he was asking, so I remained silent.
"A sweet and gentle smell," Tom said, "Like a flower."
At his words, I got a feeling of butterflies.
Until this moment, I had thought about it.
I knew the feeling was there.
But now I knew it was there.
I was in love with him.
I had been in love with him.
"What about you, Miss L/N?" Slughorn asked, "What do you smell?"
I swallowed hard.
"Parchment, hints of vanilla, and strong cologne," I said honestly.
Slughorn nodded with a grin and moved on to the following table.
Tom and I did not speak for the rest of the class, and we sat in silence next to one another.
When class ended, Tom and I left together but instead of his arm being wrapped around me as we talked. There was no arm around me or conversation.
I decided to walk ahead of him to the library to avoid awkwardness, but he followed quickly. I tried to get away from the crowd of people and Tom by going down a lesser-known corridor.
I was relieved when I looked over my shoulder and saw no sign of Tom.
I slowed down my pace to a leisurely pace.
All was well now.
As if my thoughts had been read, I was suddenly harshly pushed up against the wall.
I met his dark eyes, and my breathing began to slow
"Do not run away from me." He said in a somewhat demanding tone.
"I wasn't running," I said, looking down.
He put his cold fingers under my chin and lifted it, so my eyes met his.
I looked away shamefully as I didn't want to look him in the eye.
Without a word, he pulled me close and kissed me.
He held my waist and spun me around.
I kissed him back with the same amount of passion.
We kissed in the corridor for almost an hour.
Once we could finally get ourselves to stop, we went back to Tom's dormitory.
We laid on his bed, his arms wrapped around me with my arms and hands wrapped around his neck and in his hair.
"I love you, Y/N." He said, kissing my forehead.
I smiled.
"I love you too, Tom."