In Potions, you watched Riddle drop in a couple feathers into his black cauldron
"I'm not sure that's in the recipe." - you said
"The recipe is a joke" - he replied "It needs to be altered for it to have better sufficiency. But how would you know."
"Maybe you're wrong?"
He looked you dead in the eyes "Just like your existence?"
Your posture suddenly stiffened "...That was abrupt"
"Have I hurt you?" - he asked in an exaggerated tone as he grabbed asphodel from the table
"Not really."
"Shame." - he bluntly stated, continuing making slight changes to the recipe
"It appears as if you were making a whole new potion."
"The same." - he squeezed out beetle blood and the cauldron puffed out black, escalating smoke. Your eyes jumped over at the student faces around the room, most of whom were glimpsing at the two of you and your handcuffed hands.
"Ah! Well done!" - Slughorn's affectionate voice brightened the silent, dull tone in the room. The professor's pupils reflected the proud smirk on Tom's handsome face as if he had accomplished something great again "10 points to Slytherin, Mr. Riddle"
A few quick Slytherin cheers here and there were heard at the back of the class whilst Tom looked at you with a massive grin.
"He hasn't even tried it" - you frowned "Seems hardly fair."
"Envious?" - he calmly teased "You are an incompetent minger. I am his favorite and a talented student. A prefect. There is a reason behind my leadership of Slug club."
"Right. How are your boy scouts?"
Tom's smile faded as if he was revolted "It sounds like a jest to you?"
"I couldn't help it. I apologize" - you grinned, not meaning the apology at all "Besides, I'm not intimidated by you."
He moved himself closer to your face, grinding his teeth together in heinous loathe "You should be."
"Is that a threat?"
He didn't reply, simply flashed you a short smirk and looked back at his potion.
As he reached out for the cauldron, he tugged onto the handcuffs on purpose to give you quick pain around your wrists. Annoyed, you yanked your arm back and his own hand trembled, almost dropping out an ingredient. Then he did it again and the pair of you started a tugging fight, each pull stronger and stronger until the rumpus of the chains started bothering the professor.
"Miss <y/s/n>, Mr. Riddle." - Slughorn raised his voice "I am aware that the bonding project must be really hard for you but please, would you try not to bother the students."
So there you were, sat in silence whilst giving each other sincerely grim glares.
After classes, it turned out that Riddle already had plans with the Slug Club to have a meeting outside of Hogwarts. Being 'joined' to him, you had no choice but to go with him. You sat between the strange boys, all of whom were peculiarly looking at you.
As Riddle immersed into his conversations, he'd pretend like you didn't exist. If you were to ask or say anything you'd get blanked by him. Riddle also refused to budge a little so you'd get more comfort for your arm, which quickly made it feel numb.
Until an extremely beautiful girl with long, white hair and a green headband approached the club. Her bright blue eyes rested below her dark eyelashes as she looked at Riddle with affection. She wore a Slytherin outfit and had three other girls behind her from the same house. All pretty and all confident.
This approach, of course, completely interrupted the conversation that Tom's group of 8 boys were having.
"Hello, boys." - she stopped right in front of you and Tom, both of whom were seated among the circle, as her eyes wandered between the faces. She then specifically gazed at Marvolo "Hi, Tom" - her voice was unusually low and woozy - very relaxed but overly seductive
"Lizzie." - Tom nodded his head and smiled.
"I was just having professor Dumbledore last period and got wayyyy confused about the segment. So I thought I would ask the smartest boy in school to guide me, maybe tutor me?" - she twirled her hair around her finger "In private?" - she winked.
Tom looked oddly delighted. Was it because she was so pretty? Tom always had that charming look on him though. Except for when he is alone with you, unsurprisingly.
"I am flattered." - He said in a husky voice "However, I have obligations to my friends at the moment. Among other, rather more futile burdens" - he lifted his wrist, showing the object that connected you two.
The word 'friends' he despised. You knew he didn't want any. And at this point, you considered showing more empathy to Tom. He did drink the potion after all and if another girl grabbed him before you could get to him it would be game over.
"Oh! I did not mean today, silly" - she waved her hand in an 'oh you' manner. "I'm always free if you'd like"
"Oh, that I'm sure you are" - Tom delinquently smiled
You couldn't help but chortle at his words, realizing he just called her easily accessible.
"Something funny, ugly?" - She suddenly turned to you as the girls behind her giggled at what she had said.
"Oh yes, just the word on your forehead that says 'open"
That, for some reason, amused the boys as they all chuckled or laughed at this feud and Tom, as always, enjoyed watching someone getting humiliated. However, the Slytherin girl and her squad did not find it funny at all.
Uh oh.
Her cheeks seemed to heat up, she obviously felt flustered, her veins straining on her skin "You will regret saying that." - She looked at Riddle, unable to hide the irritation in her eyes as she switched her voice from aggressive to fake and sweet. Yet hints of sour bitterness still lingered. "We'll chat about this later then" - she gave you one final gritty glare before she left the yard with her group.
"Anyway." - Tom said, addressing the surrounding boys "Shall we continue?"
Slightly later, a different girl caught Riddle's attention, he noticed her Ravenclaw uniform before her white glasses. He immediately lifted himself up, dragging you alongside as he rushed over to her.
"Pardon." - he stopped before her
"If it's about letting you two go, I've been observing and---"
"I wish to attend the washroom." - he calmly interrupted her "But I cannot when there is someone cuffed to me like a muggle."
"Well..." - she pushed her glasses closer to the upper part of her nose with her index finger "Can I trust that right after you're done you'll be back?"
"You have my word." - he recalled the solid reputation he had among his peers, creating it to act as one of the tools for his persuasiveness.
"Do you pinky promise?" - she stretched out her hand, lifting up her fifth finger
Tom glowered at her confused, he's never heard of such a silly request before "I will not be doing that."
"How about an unbreakable vow then?" - her stretched pinky swapped into a full handshake as she smirked
And Riddle, at a loss for words, simply glared at her.
"I'll do the pinky promise for him" - you intervened, locking your pinkies with the unusual girl.
"I'll trust you to get him" - she pulled out a set of enchanted keys and unlocked the chain.
"Finally." - Riddle sighed, rubbing his hand as he headed for the male bathrooms. You followed him to make sure he wouldn't go off trail, so you awaited outside.
You glimpsed at your hands and noticed they were dirty from kneeling on the ground and messing around with potion ingredients before that. It made you feel uncomfortable, you wanted to wash them.
So you quickly entered the female bathroom without realizing that some people had followed you.
As you rinsed your hands under the tap of clear water, your head was smacked face forwards at the heavy, solid sink and your forehead started bleeding. Dizzy from the sudden pain, you turned around to see the white haired girl and her friends stand directly in front of you.
"I did say you'll regret it." - she confidently said "Like the filthy trash that you are."
You touched your forehead then inspected the fingers, seeing the red liquid on your trembling fingertips. You felt a hot rush take over you as you sneered at her and her three friends standing behind her
"You don't want to do this." - you told her, sneakily reaching into your robe for the wand.
Lizzie saw your hand move and she immediately pulled out her wand
"Expelliarmus!"
The red flash of light almost clashed at your hand, but with your rapid reflexes, you whisked your hand sideways, conjuring a protection charm.
"One against four?" - you said, standing in a prepared stance with your eyes observing their taunting grins "Seems hardly fair."
"Afraid?" - One of Lizzie's friends said as all three of them behind her took out their wands and aimed them your way
"Please." - you pointed at you Gryffindor's emblem "I'll never be. Not of you."
Lizzie flipped her wand, sending out a bright bolt, and all the girls behind her were sending flashes at the same time, all constantly surging out of their wands as they advanced with their feet.
Each time you'd deflect their spells and conjured the shield, your feet ambled backwards, feeling as if a force was pushing you back.
When you felt like you were about to get cornered, you summoned a massive flame that erupted into the air, their faces suddenly lit up by the orange, hot shadow sizzling above their shocked bodies.
As the flame dashed for them, two of them covered their faces as the other two tried to stop it with a water shield. The impact created a thud, as it collided and turned into smoke, throwing all four of your enemies backwards from the pulsing crash.
It was so loud, someone must've heard it.
Her friends quickly rose on their feet as some of the walls crumbled from the strike. They knew they'd get into trouble if they were caught so they ran.
Lizzie herself, however, quickly blasted a spell at your ribs as she bolted out of the room.
The spell felt as if something inside you had shattered and all of sudden your body couldn't be kept intact. You fell forwards, holding upwards against the ground only with the help of your quivering arms as you yelped at the sharp pain.
Having heard the hassle, Riddle walked into the washroom and appeared shocked as he kneeled down in front of you "Are you alright?" - he brushed back your hair, spotting your bleeding forehead. His eyes lowered and he noticed one of your hands clench onto your rib area. "It was her, wasn't it?" - he calmly asked "Saw them rush out of here. They'll be expelled for this and the damage they did to Hogwarts."
"The damage might've been my fault..." - you faintly uttered, still feeling striking pain
"They'll check your wands. I suggest you start thinking about excuses now."
"She attacked first--- Hold on... I thought you were fond of her?"
"I'm fond of nobody."
You felt as if there was some tension, his attractive looks gravitated like a magnet and you found yourself wanting his comfort for once.
Riddle placed one of his arms around your shoulder, pulling you closer as a sign of nothing more but sympathy.
In return, you wrapped both of yours around him, giving him a full hug.
Shocked, Tom froze, sitting completely silent with one of his hands lingering halfway in the air.
He then gently laid both of them around your back and patted it in an odd and awkward manner as an attempt to comfort you.
Friendzone.