[victoria's pov]

I had always thought the perfect place to hide and recollect your thoughts was in Professor Merrythought's classroom. But even that became a bore from the news intake.

So I sat alone.

In Moaning Myrtle's freezing restroom.

It was especially cold in the restrooms during winter. I had felt a draw to this place now that I knew of its secret- er, Riddle's secret.

I felt like the unluckiest person in the world. I felt cursed (perhaps I was) and I grew sleep deprived. The term winter holiday even opposed how I felt. My mind was rather a winter storm and my heart grew heavy the more I thought about how my own grandmother abandoned me.

But my mother's a murderer. I thought with a tear of disbelief. I always dreamt my mother would be perfect and there'd always be an exclamation, and reasoning, for her to give me up. But she killed herself... out of cowardice, afraid to face the consequences of her actions.

And as for my father. He left me before I was even brought into this world. Nothing hurt me more than knowing my father didn't want anything to do with me before I even saw the light of day.

I toyed with my wand in quietness, debating whether I had rejected my own grandmother irrationally or if I had made the right choice. Debating whether forgiving Annabeth would be enough to make up for all the years I've spent alone after being abandoned,

A voice disturbed the silence.

"It's almost past curfew."

I knew who it was before he entered the restroom.

"It should be illegal for you to enter girls' restrooms," I said. "You really know how to kill a mood."

"And you really don't know how to stay out of trouble."

He stared down at me and I met his eyes.

His gaze does not look the same as the first time I met him.

His eyes gleamed.

Not gleamed, preferably such as they reflected what stood before him.

Like he refused to let me see through the windows of his soul. Locked, and vitality hidden away as if such a thing would make him a slag.

That's to say, such as a mirror.

He feared nothing but confronting the naked truth.

And that didn't make him a slag but a coward.

I broke out of my trance. "The last thing I need from you is a lecture, Tom."

"You need not to worry about a lecture from me," he said and reluctantly sat himself beside me.

He was acting strange. Maybe he was ill again?

"Riddle, I can't-"

"Can't what?" He interrupted me. He's never interrupted me before. "Can't stand my presence? Can't stand me?"

He had a good point. I had usually given him a cold shoulder when he was around. But that was only because he did the same and was sappy, as if I was a threat.

I realised I had left him hanging. "I don't want to argue right now."

"I'm not here to argue with you either," he said. Without permission, he sat himself behind me on the cold floor. It was painfully quiet. But not awkward. Just silent and still. He didn't dare say anything. Or ask.

"Tom?"

"Victoria."

"Do you believe in a second chance?"

I wasn't sure if he'd answer honestly. Or answer me at all. But I felt drawn to ask him.

"I don't believe much in second chances," he said without hesitation. As if he had already thought this to himself several times. "A second chance is a fiction we create to comfort ourselves."

"But what if someone made a mistake...?"

Riddle paused.

"A mistake is forgetting to return your library books on time."

He was staring at me sternly. This was the longest he had ever stared straight at me, let alone look in my direction.

Though I realised he was right.

Then, I realised I had gotten too close to him. Not just physically, but relationship-wise. It's not much, but having an almost heart-on-my-sleeve talk was probably "over-the-top" for Tom's standards.

The only thing that kept me with him was the fact that he was my tutor and I'm his pupil. It was also because of his ring.

I removed the thin chain off my neck and he realised I was trying to return his ring to him.

"I'm not taking that back," he said. "I've lost a liking for it."

Almost impulsively, I asked him the first thing on my mind. "It's not right, we're not even close friends..."

His eyebrow twitched.

"I don't mean to offend you," I said quickly. "It's just that- we've never seemed to get along, especially under the clear circumstances that Theo doesn't seem to enjoy your company very much either."

I sensed irritation from him. "What does Nott have to do with our conversation?"

"I'm just saying my loyalty can be questioned when we see each other because I'm carrying around this ring of yours.

"And to be honest, I'm surprised you even let me near any of your possessions at all. You seem to very much dislike me to the point I even thought you cursed me," I finished saying, exasperated.

"When was that?" Riddle questioned me in disbelief.

"The day I got stuck in your little hideout."

He furrowed his brows. "I don't dislike you, Victoria. Even if I did, it'd never get to the point I'd curse you."

It was a relief to know. Maybe Riddle was not as horrible as he seemed.

"You never answered my question from the library," Riddle mentioned. "Why did you run from me if you weren't so concerned about what I was hiding?"

I remembered my conspiracy theory about Riddle really being behind the death of Myrtle Warren last year. I thought maybe it was best to not tell him.

"I was not going to come across you and another one of your fan girls snogging," I replied.

He almost scoffed. "Snogging? No, you've got me wrong. I use that chamber for privacy."

"What of the skeletons?" I asked curiously. As much as I wanted to believe him, there had to be more than just the privacy he wanted.

Riddle shrugged and replied, "Whatever lived down there before is now long gone."

I slumped my shoulder. I could sense he was only giving me a sliver of the truth. Maybe if I earn his trust later on, he'll finally admit it to me.

As of now,

I'll have to play detective.

——————————

I found myself in Tom's dormitory. He had excused himself to proceed with his prefect duties before after-curfew hours so I was able to buy myself some time. Even though there were no duties to be fulfilled during the time of the holidays, he still had earned his head boy title somehow.

"Lumos," I quietly chanted.

The first place I looked was in his dark wood dresser that sat under a glass stained window. I figured it was his since it was the only one that didn't have any flags or posters on it. His corner of the dorm was completely blank like a clean slate. His bed was the only one made, despite his roommates who had returned home for the week.

I had no luck searching through his dresser. The only interesting thing I found were his graduation robes for this year. I turned around and saw his night stand. I could have facepalmed myself.

"Of course he'd keep it nearby!" I scolded myself for not realising this sooner. He wouldn't be stupid to keep clues on him with the ministry company around for the holidays either.

I rummaged through the top drawer. It was almost empty except for a few neck ties, quills and ink. Hiding in the corner was a familiar flower. I opened the drawer more and it came into the light. It was the lilac flower from my dress. From the night of Slughorn's dinner when I tucked it into his breast pocket.

Though it was weeks ago, its petals were still as fresh as ever.

"Preservative spell," I whispered. "How odd..."

A shiny beam hit my eye and caught my attention. Among his treasures was a wooden and golden slate that was awarded to him.

Tom Riddle was engraved in the middle.

Awarded for special services to Hogwarts Schools of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

That was carved under his name.

I had remembered rumours about Riddle earning an award for discovering Hagrid's creature. Maybe they had just placed it among the other trophies in the school and gifted him with this instead.

I haven't given it much thought since, but there've been rumours that it was still around and rumours about how someone's father bravely helped capture the beast, but it had to be kept "low-profiled." And maybe those rumours could be true but at last, they're called rumours for a reason.

I placed it back into the drawer. It thumped against the surface of the drawer and I paused, wondering if I had heard the thump correctly.

I took out the slate and placed it on top of the dresser. I knocked on the wood and a hollow echo was returned. I couldn't help but feel a rush of victory when I lifted the false bottom of the drawer and found none other than his journal. I placed everything but his journal back into the dresser.

——————————

[tom's pov]

Finished with my duties, I headed towards the steps of the Slytherin common room. I thought about what Victoria said.

"It's not right, we're not even close friends."

A feeling of irritation tickled the back of my neck because here I was, thinking that she had seen me as a potential threat. It seems now I'm not important enough for her to view in that way at the start.

I opened the door to my dormitory and was stupefied to see my journal lying on the ground, its pages glowing. A wand laid not too far from my journal and I immediately knew what happened. The pages dimmed and the journal shut with a clap.

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November 4th, 2023.