DETENTION
The rest of the day of classes was rather boring and uneventful. However, going back to concentrating for hours throughout the day proved rather exhausting for Lucia.
The day wasn't yet at an end though, with Tom and Lucia's detention with Slughorn still to occur in the evening.
When Lucia approached the Great Hall, she saw Tom standing outside the entrance waiting for her. He gave her a charming smirk when he met her gaze, and began striding towards her.
"Miss me?" He mused, putting a gentle arm on Lucia's back as they turned to walk in the direction of the dungeons.
It was a short walk, but walking with people you enjoy spending time with does make the time go faster. When they reached the Potions classroom, Tom raised his hand to knock on the dark oak door. Lucia chuckled at the polite action, and began to open it when she heard a rushed sounding call from within of "Come in!"
Professor Slughorn was putting the way the last of the potions ingredients from his class that had been dismissed just minutes before. He gave a grimacing smile at the two students entering his classroom, enclosing a rat tail in a box and returning it to the cupboard.
"Take a seat, I'm just going to finish clearing up and we'll get started." He called over his shoulder.
His hair was silver and balding, and he had aged significantly since when Tom knew him, but he didn't doubt that the man was still a very talented and powerful wizard.
Lucia and Tom sat at one of the desks, turning the chairs around to face the other side of the room where Slughorn was. Lucia began picking at her cuticles, a habit she'd picked up over the years as a way of entertaining herself.
After a few short minutes, Slughorn turned his attention to them.
"I must say, Lucia, I'm rather disappointed to be seeing you here so early on in the year." He quirked an eyebrow in her direction.
"Sorry Professor." Lucia chuckled.
"And you've brought a friend this time." Slughorn observed, "I don't believe we've met before, Tom...."
"Rosier," Tom told him, "Tom Rosier."
Slughorn gave a curious look, "Well, you two will be polishing trophies, without magic of course." He gestured to the boxes of old trophies that were piled in the corner of the classroom.
Lucia nodded, walking towards the boxes tiredly and taking a seat on one of the two stools next to them.
They both began polishing the incredibly old trophies with the rags laid out for them.
"So, Tom, where have you moved from?" Slughorn conversed, pulling out a tub of ingredients to sort.
"I've come from France, actually." Tom explained, "We are distant cousins of the Rosier family that lived here. My family moved around a lot."
Slughorn hummed in understanding, "And where do your interests lie? I expect I'll see you in my Potions class?"
"Indeed." Tom gave a charming smile, "I do enjoy academics, Professor, Potions is definitely near the top of the list."
Slughorn looked rather pleased, and seemed to almost be assessing Tom, "No need to say that just because a Potions Master is here." He joked, a deep bellied laugh resounding through him.
"Oh no, Sir, I do truly enjoy dabbling in the art of potion-making." Tom flattered. Lucia wanted to roll her eyes, so she focused on the hard bit of grit on the Quidditch trophy she was polishing.
"Well, I truly look forward to seeing what you brew up." Slughorn seemed all the more interested in the student and almost forgot about the ingredients he was sorting in front of him while they were talking.
"I'll be looking forward to it too." Tom said charmingly.
Tom returned his gaze to the trophy in his hand, and Slughorn seemed deep in thought as he fumbled through the herbs in front of him.
"Did you have a good summer, Professor?" Lucia asked to break the silence laced thickly with thought.
"Oh, yes. Very nice." Slughorn responded distractedly, "I took a trip to Italy which was rather enjoyable."
"Sounds lovely." Lucia said conversationally.
"How was your own? I'm hoping you didn't get into too much trouble while you were away." Slughorn quirked an eyebrow.
"Oh, you know me Professor. Never any trouble. Just getting ahead on my homework as usual." She replied sarcastically, earning a chuckle from the Professor.
Slughorn had always for some reason been rather protective of Lucia. It could have been the academic potential she showed in Potions class, or the time they had spent together during her detentions, but they had always rather enjoyed each other's company in a purely teacher and student kind of way.
"I hope you'll be putting in your concentration this year though, can't have you not making it to the shelf." He tutted, shaking a plump finger in her direction.
"Of course." Lucia laughed.
Tom's eyes were flickering between the two, a glint of concentration and analysis in his gaze.
Lucia returned to her polishing, picking up a new trophy that looked incredibly old and rusted, though she could still see a sort of warped and speckled reflection of herself in its face.
She could make out that it read; Special Award for Services to the School.
Lucia knew these were rather rare trophies, so she attempted to scratch the grit that was obscuring the name.
Tom Riddle it read.
She dropped it, the high pitched clanging sound echoing loudly throughout the stone dungeon. Both Tom and Slughorn looked at her worriedly, and she guiltily met Tom's eyes.
"Everything alright?" Slughorn said slightly concerned.
"Yes, sorry." Lucia rushed out, hastily picking the trophy back up with shaking hands, "Slippery fingers, just lost my grip."
Slughorn chuckled in understanding and returned to his sorting, seemingly captivated in his own thoughts more than the ingredients before him.
Tom looked from her and down to the trophy in her grip, an expression of realisation gracing his features. He stood up from his stool and stepped across the space and towards her.
"Let me do this one." He said softly, reaching out to take the trophy from her, letting his hands linger over her fingers reassuringly before pulling it from her loose grip.
She looked up at him, but was met with a comforting look from Tom. "Not the same person." He mouthed discretely, before returning to his spot across from Lucia.
The detention continued with the occasional small talk concerning Tom's past, or reminiscing previous detentions with Lucia. It honestly felt like no time had passed at all, until Slughorn announced they were finished for the night and should go get some dinner before it vanished.
"I'll see you tomorrow in class," Slughorn said as they walked toward the door, "And no being out after curfew tonight, I mean it Lucia. You can't afford to spend all your nights doing pointless jobs in detention this year."
Lucia nodded, a small smile fighting its way onto her face.
"I look forward to seeing those potion-making hands at work tomorrow Tom, pleasure to meet you." He turned to Tom, who gave him a charming smile as they walked out of the classroom.
***
Tom and Lucia sat across from each other in the Great Hall, most of the students having already finished eating, but due to their detention they were eating late.
Lucia was stabbing a piece of broccoli on her plate, deep in thought.
"I can see your mind ticking." Tom chuckled.
She sighed, "That trophy... that was the one for-"
"Yes." He admitted, "It was that one."
"Why the hell do they still have it?" Lucia scoffed.
"Hogwarts has a lot of old objects in it, Lucia, I suspect they forgot it existed." Tom spoke flatly, "And as my fingernails would tell you, this school has many trophies."
"I suppose you're right. Sometimes I think I forget the history this place has." Lucia acknowledged, "I've been here for over six years and still I feel like I've hardly even scratched the surface of it."
"This is my second time in attendance, and I still don't think I've fully uncovered the secrets of this place." Tom added, "I was actually planning on trying to get a job here after graduating back then. A professor was retiring, and I wanted to take her place and teach."
"Teaching when you were fresh out of school?" Lucia gaped.
"I had many people say I would be a good teacher actually." Tom explained, "Some said I should go on to more higher-up Ministry work, but that's never where my interests have been."
"Ministry work does sound rather dismal." Lucia agreed, having never fancied an office job in such a strict and boring environment.
Lucia really hadn't put much thought into what she'd do after she graduated, or even what would become of her and Tom. When she was younger, being an Auror sounded incredibly exciting, but as she'd grown up she found that her talents lay more in the pages of books than in the field. In her rather rebellious phase, she'd instead thought she may get a muggle job as far away from the wizarding world as possible. But now she just didn't know.
She would have to have meetings with her head of house at some point to discuss it, so she pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind for that later date.
As for what would happen with Tom after they graduated, she didn't even allow it to enter her consciousness before shoving it back to the furthest corner of her mind that she could manage.
That was a thought for another day.
author's note
I've been writing a new draco fic in my drafts lately which I rly like... would you guys read it?? it's an enemies to lovers one. draco is stuck at hogwarts with an oc for their final year, and it's much more toxic than this fic but I actually really like what I've written so far. idk let me know plsss
(ps the draco one already up isn't the new one)
Also I listened to this podcast talking to different fanfic authors today like Bex-Chan and SenLinYu and omg it is so interesting hearing their thought processes.
thank you all so much for reading and for all your entertaining comments <3