"Look at all the sentences which seem true and question them."
-David Reisman
•
Tom woke up Saturday well after noon. When he glanced at the clock, he cursed loudly and leapt out of bed to hurry and get ready. He practically ran through the hallways to get to the Great Hall, hoping that he would not miss lunch.
From the smells wafting towards him, he knew that he had not missed lunch, so he slowed to a walk. Upon entering the Great Hall, his eyes immediately scanned the Ravenclaw table for a head of dirty blonde hair. They found their target and settled onto her face for a few moments before he sat at the Slytherin table to eat.
"Late night, Tom?" Malfoy asked.
"Oh, yes," he replied absent-mindedly.
Nott sniggered. "Get laid again, did you?"
Tom dropped his fork with a clang. "What? No, I didn't."
Both Malfoy and Nott looked rather disappointed, but returned their attentions to their food.
•
"Luna, your friend just got here. Are you going to tell us what you two did last night?" Lucinda said, prodding Luna's arm.
Luna glanced up with a glazed look in her eyes. "Hmm?"
Cat rolled her eyes. "Tom, Luna. Honestly."
"Oh," she said, her gaze flitting over to the Slytherin table. "We really didn't do much," she replied, missing the innuendo behind their questions.
Lucinda raised her eyebrows. "Much?"
Tilting her head, Luna said, "No, not really. We just talked a little in the Forest and accidentally fell asleep."
"Outside?!" Lorraine cried.
"Ooh, you fell asleep under the stars!" Lucinda said.
Tristy sighed. "How romantic."
Luna shook her head. "No, it was really nothing like that," she said, before continuing to eat.
Lucinda and Lorraine exchanged a look that clearly said they did not believe her, but Cat seemed satisfied. "So you two are just friends, then?" she asked.
"Yes, I suppose so. He's the oddest friend I've ever had though," Luna said without looking at her.
Cat shrugged, and the girls moved on with their conversation.
•
"She really is sort of good-looking, in a bizarre kind of way," Malfoy noted.
Tom looked up sharply. "Who are you talking about?"
"Lovegood," he replied. "Think she'd go for me if I made nice?"
Fighting an unexplained urge to reach across the table and punch Malfoy on the nose, Tom said fiercely, "I doubt it."
•
After lunch, Luna left her friends. They had to go to the library for some homework, but Luna had finished hers already. She drifted over to the Slytherin table and leaned over Tom's shoulder. Her long hair fell forward and brushed his arm. "What are you doing today, Tom?"
He looked around at her. "I've got nothing planned."
Her attention had been diverted, however, and she said, "Why are you staring at me, Malfoy?"
The boy brushed his white-blonde hair back, gave her his most winning grin, and said, "You're not a bad sight."
"Well, I suppose that's good to know," she replied, missing, or perhaps choosing to ignore, his advances. She tugged on Tom's arm. "Let's go outside, I don't like being inside for too long."
After shooting a rather terrifying look at Malfoy, Tom stood up. He glanced over his shoulder as they were walking and saw Malfoy continuing to stare at Luna, though decidedly lower on her body than where he perhaps should have been looking. Tom put a protective arm around Luna's waist, and attempted to hurry her out of the Great Hall.
"What are you doing, Tom?" she asked, stepping lightly out of his arm.
Another glance over his shoulder, and Tom saw Malfoy snickering at him. "Nothing. Let's go." He grabbed Luna's wrist and pulled her out of the Great Hall.
"You're hurting me," she said quietly once they had reached the Entrance Hall.
"What?" he said.
"My wrist," she replied. "You're hurting me."
"Oh!" He dropped her wrist from his hand, realizing it was the one he had bruised a few days ago.
"It's all right. It's getting better. It's only a little sore now," she said, gazing at him with huge eyes.
Tom stuttered for a moment. "It's – it's not all right, Luna, I shouldn't have done that to you. I – well, I mean, I guess I'm - "
"Its okay, Tom, I forgive you," she said, saving him at the last moment.
A look of self-disgust passed across his face. "Luna, I swear I'll never hurt you again."
She smiled. "All right," she said. "Can we go outside now?"
"Sure," he said, rolling his eyes.
They made their way outside and sat on the steps. They sat in silence for a few moments, before Luna said, "Why are you going to kill your dad, Tom?"
He tried to stand up and leave, but she grabbed him by his arm and yanked him down again with surprising force for her size. He gawked at her.
"You're going to talk to me, Tom Riddle. I'm tired of you running away every time I try to talk to you."
"I do not run away!" he spat.
"Yes, you do."
"I do not!"
"You do too."
He sighed heavily in a mixture of annoyance and embarrassment.
"Don't you think that killing is wrong?" she asked.
"Not particularly, especially if its justified."
"Is there such a thing as justifiable murder?"
"Look, we're not going to agree on this."
"I just want to know what you think," she said.
He shrugged. "You know what I think."
She nodded slightly, and moved her gaze to stare out unseeingly at the grounds. "What do you want to do with your life?"
He smirked wickedly. This was a question he could answer easily, he'd thought about it so much before. "I want to be the most powerful wizard there ever was. I want power. I want a name that someday, wizards will fear to speak."
Luna watched him say this, and was alarmed at the way his eyes burned quietly, at the way his handsome features melted slightly and revealed the horrifying creature he would become. She scooted away from him a bit without realizing it, which brought him out of his reverie. "Why are you moving away?"
"Tom...you are a great wizard, you know."
His chest puffed up involuntarily.
"It's just...I know how you mean to obtain those goals. You don't have to tell me. And...don't you think that maybe it would be all right if you made yourself famous another way?"
He scowled. "I don't want to be famous. I want power."
"Hmm. Yes, well, there's other ways to obtain power. You could be in the Ministry of Magic, for instance, or – or pioneer a new field," she offered.
"Those are mere imitations of power for those who are too weak to seek it," he growled.
She sighed. "Well, I don't know why I put up with you at all," she said, speaking more to herself than to him. "You're absolutely the anti-Luna, you really are. I can't stand your beliefs; you really aren't very nice to me...."
With a sinking feeling in his chest, Tom said, "Don't put up with me, then," before standing up and moving away. He expected her to try to stop him again, he even wanted her to. But this time, she just let him go.
•
A few minutes after Tom had left, Luna stood up resignedly and reentered the castle. She wound her way up to Dumbledore's office and knocked politely on the door.
"Come in," a warm voice said.
She opened the door to find Professor Dumbledore bent over a large book that looked so ancient, it might fall apart at any moment.
"Ah, Miss Lovegood!" he said, looking up. "I was just studying a bit more on time travel!"
She tried to smile gratefully, but it ended up being more like an odd twitch. He immediately swept off to make tea, then came back, poured her a cup, seated himself, and indicated for her to sit as well. "What's bothering you, my dear?" he said, as he added several spoonfuls of sugar to his tea.
Luna took a calm sip of tea, thinking about how exactly to explain. She suddenly slammed her teacup down onto his desk, causing some tea to spill over the sides. "It's Tom Riddle!" she cried.
"Yes? And what of Mr. Riddle?" said Dumbledore, eyebrows slightly furrowed.
"It's just – I try so hard, you know, I really do. I ask him about why he does the things he does, and I'm almost always nice to him, and even when he's a complete git to me, I still am nicer to him than I think anyone ever has been. And you know what he does? He storms off in a huff when I contradict him. He screams at me for the smallest things." She sighed exasperatedly, finally taking a breath.
Taking advantage of her momentary silence, Dumbledore said, "I do believe you are making more of an impact than you would imagine, Miss Lovegood."
"How?! He hasn't changed at all since that very first day I met him! He still storms around the castle, frightening everyone who crosses his path - "
"He hasn't changed at all?" Dumbledore interrupted.
Luna seethed in silence for a moment. "Well, I suppose he's changed a bit, but that bit is so miniscule, so tiny, it's rather pointless to even count it."
"I had believed that you understood the value of even the smallest things," he said quietly.
Gazing at the wizard, Luna once again sighed. "You're right. I just can't help but – but wonder if it even matters. It's not doing much for me, being his friend. I just get upset with him all the time. And then he acts like I'm more of a hindrance than a friend...."
"I'm sure you are more of a hindrance than a friend," Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling, "but I think you will find, and he too, in time, that you are the best kind of hindrance there is."