[author's pov]

Now that Locke and Riddle had secrets connected to each other, they weren't sure whether they wanted to keep their distance or investigate each other.

As if they both wanted to swim, but neither of them wanted to get wet.

Slughorn had given out a test already, which Victoria and Theodore had not done so well on. The past few weeks, they had been a distractment to each other.

"You're a bad influence, you know that, Theo," Victoria complained to him when he walked her to Quidditch practice.

He scoffed and said, "That's very hypocritical of you, Victoria."

So afterward, they had forced themselves to stay serious during lessons. It's what was best for both of them.

"Miss Locke and Mister Theodore, if I could see you for a moment please," Slughorn had called them over at the end of class. "Riddle and Abbott as well too."

Riddle wasn't sure it was a good idea, as he already suspected what Slughorn was going to ask of him since he was already his top-graded student; Why else would Slughorn had called him over?

"Doubt we're being called over to join his club," Theodore whispered to Victoria and they shared a quiet chuckle. The last thing Victoria wanted was to join the Slug Club and become a teacher's owl.

Once the four of them had approached Slughorn's desk, he cleared his throat and said, "Now I don't want to embarrass you two," he looked at Victoria and Theodore, "But I feel as if you could use a hand."

Not embarrassing at all, Victoria thought, not giving Riddle a single glance.

"I've chosen my top two brightest students," Slughorn said. "You can both decide who to pair yourselves with or if-"

Riddle almost interjected and volunteered himself since he wanted to find time alone with Victoria to question her, but she always had company–specifically Theodore. Theodore could tell Riddle was going to say something so he interrupted Slughorn and said, "Lessons with Helen Abbott would be just fine."

"I'm sure Riddle doesn't have the time on his hands so having lessons with Helen is alright," Victoria spoke, not bothering to glance at him.

Slughorn looked at Helen to see if this was alright. She looked confused, as if to ask why we would prefer a Hufflepuff student over her own house.

"I- I suppose," she said. "I don't mind tutoring Victoria and Theodore together..."

"Excellent!" Slughorn clapped his hand together and Riddle's eyes darkened. "It seems we have worked this out wonderfully. Any objections, Riddle?"

"No, professor," he lied.

——————————

[victoria's pov]

Slytherin's Quidditch first match was right around the corner. Gryfindor had beaten Hufflepuff (a first in ages) and so that meant we'd be up against them next. Cygnus had gotten the keeper position he wanted; Serenity, seeker; Rene Chombrun and Collin Yaxley as beaters; along with the chasers, Abraxas Malfoy, Richard Nicholson, and I.

Rene Chombrun was a sixth year student and Richard was a fourth year, the youngest on our team.

Practicing with them was easier said than done. Rene Chombrun had quite a temper and sometimes forgot he wasn't Slytherin's quidditch captain. Abraxas wasn't great with communication and Yaxley seemed to favour the males over the female players.

I should've spotted these flaws first, I thought.

Serenity must've read my mind because she nudged my shoulder and said, "You're not a lousy captain. You've just got a team with perks."

I shrugged and said, "I suppose you're right..."

By the end of the day, Cygnus saved seven penalties out of ten, which I thought was mostly luck because Richard was having a lousy leg today.

"I'm sorry, I've been out an' about a lot," he explained afterwards with a shade of pink on his cheeks. I could tell he was disappointed in himself. It didn't help that Yaxley had been calling him out for every little thing.

"That's alright. Just," I paused carefully on what to say. He didn't need anymore discouragement than he already put upon himself, "Get a good night's rest before game days. And stretch your legs often so they don't cramp up. Otherwise, you're doing great."

He smiled poorly before continuing practice. The weather was getting colder now that it was almost the end of October. The winds were harsh now too, making it harder to fly.

"Those reasons shouldn't be an excuse though," I scolded Yaxley, who had aimed the bludger to hit the quaffle out of Malfoy's hand (in which Malfoy cursed at him and flipped a lovely gesture.)

I excused Malfoy for that.

"I don't think there'll be any objections if I consider kicking you off the team," I urged Yaxley once his laugh died. "I advise you to put your act together, Yaxley."

He merely glanced at me and flew away as if I didn't say anything, but I hoped that ought to leave him thinking for a while.

Serenity was struggling to find the snitch without her goggles fogging up so she had ditched them. That refrained her from flying at a quicker pace, but it'd be easier without the goggles until we found a better solution for her.

——————————

After practice, I had reeked of sweat head to toe, so I rushed in and out of the girls' wash room. I gladly didn't run across anyone I knew in the common room wearing nothing but a silk bathrobe and towel. Because it was a weekend, there was no dress code to wear uniforms so I had thrown on a light jumper and a fleece pair of pyjama pants.

I had been reading a copy of the Daily Prophet on my bed when I heard a knock on my door. I saw Theo standing with a bag of books in his hand then remembered I had a scheduled lesson with him and Helen Abbott.

"Forgetting something?" he asked, waving a copy of Advanced Potion-Making in his hand.

I leaped out of bed, grabbed my book bag, and my slippers before we both made our way to the library. Halfway to our destination, Theodore cleared his throat and said, "You do realise you're still wearing a towel around your shoulders-?"

It had come to my realisation and I asked, "Why didn't you tell me before we left the common room?"

"It's humorous," he grinned as we entered the library.

I unwrapped my towel and tossed it into my bag. Theo was wearing a sapphire blue jumper and black silk pyjama pants. His bag was crossed over his body and he walked with his hands by his side. I noticed he sometimes made silly gestures with his hands when he talked to me.

Helen was early (as usual) and wore the school robe over her casual clothing. She was typically one to stay as proper to etiquette as possible.

"Good evening," she greeted us as usual.

During our first lesson, she had spoken to us indirectly, but she became open to us. Especially to Theo because he was always so easy to talk to.

"Maybe she's come to fancy him," Druella proposed the other day. "Afterall, she wouldn't be the first."

"What're you getting to?" I asked defensively.

Druella shrugged and said, "I'm just saying I've noticed other girls who've come to fancy him now that he's changed from last year. And if you haven't noticed, you've been given dirty looks for hanging around him so much."

That, I didn't care much about. Theodore was practically my best friend now. A friendship between us didn't mean it was the beginning of an intimate relationship.

Well, he is my best friend, I had convinced myself in the middle of Helen's teaching.

"Are you paying attention, Locke?" Helen snapped.

I blinked a couple of times, waking myself from a thought and admitted, "You lost me for a second, what were you saying?"

She mumbled something under her breath along the lines of, "It's no wonder potions is dragging you..."

Perhaps I heard her wrong, perhaps not. Theodore seemed to have heard as well though and he said, "We're both trying our best here, bare with us, Abbott."

Her face warmed (I could tell) and she smiled reassuring, "Of course. I just want to make sure you both pass the next test, Theo."

Theo? I thought. Since when did the casualties between them begin?

Abbott started a conversation about Slughorn's supper times and she shared a laugh with Theodore. Her laugh was petite and seemed forced, but Theodore didn't seem to care or notice.

Jealousy grew at my fingertips and I stood up, my chair creaking back. It took me a second to realise my actions.

"What now?" Abbott asked.

"We've been at this for an hour," I said, packing up my books without looking up at either of them. "Let's call it a night."

Theodore seemed confused by my sudden behaviour and asked, "We've still got half an hour of studying left, Victoria."

It was like he wanted her company around.

"Well you can stay here if you want to, Theodore," I emphasised his name, strapping my bag around my shoulder. "All night if you please."

Then I turned my heel and walked out of the library, not being able to bare to listen to Abbott's stupid laugh anymore. I walked past a giant portrait of a bowl of fruits and heard footsteps following behind me. I wasn't sure who was on prefect duty that night, but I hoped it wasn't Riddle. He was the last person I wanted to talk to. Let alone, see.

But the footsteps reached my heel and Theodore tugged my sleeves, forcing me to stop. He shifted himself in front of me and with a confused look on his face, he asked, "What was that all about?" I hoped he was playing dumb since it was quite obvious why I had left.

"Since when did you stop calling me Theo, hm?" he questioned me.

I wasn't sure how to answer because I didn't want to admit I got jealous. There was no reason for me to get that jealous, but I couldn't help but feel defensive over my friendship with him. I bit my inner cheek in frustration and instead of answering his question, I avoided it.

"Since when did it matter if I called you Theo or Theodore?" I asked. "It's not that big of an issue."

He slightly frowned and said, "Don't be like that. What's wrong?"

The look on his face looked genuinely sweet and concerned, I wanted to give him a hug and apologise for being jealous and making him feel at fault out of nowhere. I suddenly felt guilty and stupid for my actions.

"I'm just-" was all I could manage to say before making out the words to say. "I'm not sure. Abbott just got a bit annoying to me because of the way you were talking to her, that's all..."

I lowered my head, knowing he was probably going to be annoyed by my behaviour. It was immature of me, I had realised. Once again, I had embarrassed myself in front of him.

Strangely, I heard a titter and looked up at him. He had a wide grin and his hand was on his chin as his eyes flickered down at the ground. He chuckled, looked at me and appealed,

"So you were jealous?"

He tilted his head.

Flustered, I quickly snapped, "No, I wasn't."

"It seems like to me, you were."

Dear Godric, I hoped my face hadn't lit up with any sign of nervousness.

"No," I denied. "I was just-"

"-Jealous is what you were," he crossed his arms and bent down to my height, following me with his back arched as I tried my best to avoid him back to the common room.

I hated it when he poked at my nervousness.

"You really are a pest, Theodore." I muttered.

He threw back his head and laughed. "And so you were jealous."

I rolled my eyes.

"There's no need for that," he said, nudging my arm. "No one's going to replace you."

Good, I thought bubbly.

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If you could change your name to anything else, like Tom Riddle, what would it be? Just out of curiosity.

Your author, riddlefiqs.

January 11, 2023.