(Art obviously isn't mine lmaooo imagine having talent ??)

"What the fuck do you think you're playing at."

I turned around from my place in the archway to see Riddle staring at me with his arms crossed, an icy expression on his face.

"What do you mean?" I frowned, "I'm not breaking any laws or anything, if that's what you're asking."

"You're out past curfew. I'll let it slide this once cause you're new here, but don't expect any more leniency."

I rolled my eyes. Getting along with this prick, let alone befriending him, was gonna be a lot harder than I expected. "Fine, take your wand out of your ass, I'll go."

I stood up and turned to leave but saw him walk closer to me until there were only a couple feet separating us.

"You might not know this, transfer," he hissed, "But I'm a Head Boy. Which means you will respect me or I'll put you in detention until you graduate."

I raised my hands in a placating gesture, "Damn, okay. Sounds like you might need some head, boy." I muttered the last part under my breath and he seemed not to hear it.

"You might think you're special or something because you've somehow managed to charm everyone in our house after only one night of being here, but just know I'm not as stupid as the rest of these nitwits." His eyes narrowed. "And don't think I didn't notice you staring at me during the feast."

"I wasn't staring at you." I protested but he brushed my comment aside.

"You seem to have caused quite a stir," He cocked his head to the side, trying to read my face like it was a piece of text he could study. "I don't see anything so special about you."

"Rude."

"It's the truth. People get angry when they hear honesty because they'd rather be placated with false words and sugary lies than face reality." He stated like it was fact.

I crossed my arms to mirror him. "That's a pretty cynical outlook on things. If that's really how you feel, I can see why you seem so pissed off all the time."

"I've experienced life's unfeeling touch and if everyone else wants to delude themselves with fairy tales then that's their loss, but I won't do the same."

I stayed silent for a moment and felt a flash of pity for the broken boy in front of me.

"I'm sorry." I said softly, not sure how to reply.

"Just stay out of my way. The last thing I need is another insufferable fangirl nipping at my heels." Riddle turned on his heel to continue patrolling the halls, his cloak fluttering after him.

"What a bitch." The pity I felt instantly vanished and I gritted my teeth, suppressing the urge to punch a wall.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

I was worn out after my encounter with Riddle and fell asleep as soon as I got back to the common room. Today was the first real day of classes and I was too focused on my mission to even be worried.

Lucretia, Eileen and I were walking to our first class together.

"You nervous for your first day, Y/n?" Eileen asked in her monotone voice. I shrugged, "Nah, I've done this bullshit like five times already."

They looked at me weirdly and I hastily corrected my mistake, "I mean yeah, a little."

We had Charms first and I noticed as soon as we walked into the classroom that the desks were arranged in clusters of two, meaning that one of us would have to sit alone.

We all looked at each other and I sighed, "You guys can sit together, I'll go to the back." I guess I really am a Gryffindor at heart, cause that was selfless as shit.

"Thanks so much Y/n!" They chorused and I took the desk next to theirs, an empty seat to my right. The room gradually filled up until nearly every desk except the one next to mine was filled. Still, the room felt slightly empty and I realized what was missing as soon as it walked into the room - 

Riddle and his gucci gang, entering late as I suspected was the norm around here, as no one commented on it. Rosier made eye contact with me and a smile popped onto his face as he made a beeline for my table.

Right as he was about to sit down, a brown leather book bag was dropped onto the desk next to me in a mark of ownership.

"You can take the one back there, Rosier." Riddle sneered as he gestured toward another empty seat behind mine, his slim fingers still wrapped around the leather strap of his bag.

"Aww, but I wanted to sit next to the cute transfer!" He protested. Riddle just glared at him until Rosier sighed, "Fine. Let's eat lunch together though, okay Y/n?" I laughed and nodded.

Riddle sat down next to me and I tried not to stare at him. "Why did you sit next to me? Not that I mind, but I kinda got the impression you didn't like me." I asked straightforwardly.

"Do I need a reason?" He refused to make eye contact, staring straight ahead to the front of the classroom.

"I guess not."

We sat in an empty silence until the Charms teacher, Professor Merrythought, started teaching, demonstrating the slowing charm.

"Simply utter 'arresto momentum,' giving a light tap with your wand - and remember, think cushion!" Merrythought was a stout middle aged woman with rosy cheeks and more energy than I could ever hope to have in my lifetime.

"Now, let's practice my dearies!" She pursed her lips, surveying the classroom. "It looks like we'll only have enough for one teacup per partner!" She tittered lightly, "What a wonderful way to bond on your very first day back!"

"Yeah, wonderful." I muttered as she started passing out the ceramic teacups for us to practice on. Lucky for me, I'd learned this spell in fourth year. The corner of my mouth twitched when I realized that the curriculum had gotten a lot more rigorous over time and these classes were much easier than the ones I'd taken.

Riddle grasped the teacup's handle with his slim fingers. "Do you want to go first, or should I?" He asked begrudgingly. 

"I'll go." I said and he nodded, flicking his wrist up and tossing the teacup into the air before I was ready. I fumbled with my wand and yelped, "arresto momentum!" I breathed a sigh of relief when the cup came to a halt mere inches before hitting the table.

"You could've given me a warning first." I huffed.

"Life doesn't give you warnings." He threw the cup higher than he had for me and flicked his wand lazily, the cup coming to a gentle rest in his palm like a feather floating down from the sky.

"Show-off." I grunted

"You know, that wasn't bad for a first try." His dark eyes scrutinized me, "That was your first try, right?"

"Yeah, o-of course it was. I'm just a fast learner." I broke eye contact with him and fiddled with my nails. He snorted lightly and I guessed that it was his version of a laugh.

Professor Merrythought bustled over to our table, her wide skirts rustling. "And how are things going over here, dearies?"

"Things are fantastic, thanks Professor." Riddle said smoothly, flashing her a side smile that made her swoon instantly.

"Oh lovely, lovely..." She fanned herself slightly and hurried over to the next table.

"Oh my god, you are such a kiss ass!" I exclaimed in a hushed voice to Riddle, who looked satisfied with himself.

"I just know how to talk to adults, is all."

"Yeah, if you're trying to get in their ancient pantaloons." I rolled my eyes.

"Why," He leaned closer to me, "Would you prefer I try to get into yours instead?"

I just looked at him without amusement, "Listen, if you keep making me roll my eyes I will get dizzy and then I'll sue you for endangerment."

"Yeah right, like I'd want to sleep with you anyways." He scoffed, "I have standards, L/N."

"Good, I wouldn't want to catch whatever STD you got from Professor Slughorn anyways." I deadpanned.

He glared at me with a huff but I pretended to focus intently on the teacup in order to avoid his scrutinizing gaze. I realized that maybe I should have been a little nicer especially considering my mission, but it's so hard when he's being such an asshole.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

"So how was it sitting next to golden boy? Did you just swoon when you gazed into his dreamy eyes?" Lucretia asked, fluttering her eyelashes and pretending to faint. She, Eileen and I had just gotten out of Charms and were all heading for our next class.

I pushed her shoulder playfully, "Yeah, right. I don't even know why he sat next to me in the first place, he obviously hates me."

"Are you kidding? He barely ever talks to anyone of the opposite gender, let alone voluntarily seeks out their company." Lucretia insisted, "Honestly for a while there, I thought he was either gynophobic or just super sexist."

I shrugged. "It's probably just cause I'm new, he'll get bored of me soon."

"Yeah, whatever you say." She said, not even trying to hide her disbelief.

"Maybe he wants to use you as a sacrifice." Eileen said in her low voice and I snorted, "I don't think he's a Satanist."

"If anyone in this school was gonna sacrifice a virgin, I think it'd be you, Eileen."

-/-/-/-/-/-

After Herbology and History of Magic, the three of us went to the Great Hall ready for lunch. Mere seconds after we sat down, a whirlwind of fluffy brown hair and cologne jumped next to me.

"Y/n! My favorite person that I've talked to once!" He exclaimed, flashing a pearly white grin at me.

"Rosier! My uh...barely acquaintance!" I replied.

He pouted slightly. "Call me Evan. Rosier sounds so formal and we're friends, right Y/n?"

"Uh sure, I guess."

"Great! Ok new friend, how do you like Hogwarts so far?" He asked eagerly.

His enthusiasm was contagious and I caught myself smiling at his energy, "It's pretty nice, I haven't talked to that many people yet but most of the Slytherins seem okay."

"Yeah, we're a great house as long as you're not in another house. Ew, imagine being a Hufflepuff." Evan wrinkled his nose, "And the majority of us are pretty personable, except for grumpy goose over there." He nodded towards Riddle, who was sitting at the end of the table reading a book, surrounded by his chattering lackeys.

"But I saw you two were getting pretty close during Charms, huh?" His eyes widened and he propped his chin on his hand. "Spill, what did he say to you?"

"Ugh, everyone keeps acting like it's such a big deal! We barely said five words to each other." I said, slightly exasperated.

Evan huffed, "Borrrrrring. I was hoping for a little drama this year. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to make some of my own. See you around, sweet cheeks." He winked at me and ran over to a tall, blond Ravenclaw boy at another table, shouting, "Javier, my love! Why have you been avoiding me, mi amor?"

The three of us watched his antics in amusement. "He's, um...a character." I remarked and Lucretia nodded.

"He has a reputation for flirting with anything that moves but overall he's not a bad guy. Certainly worth keeping around for entertainment value at least."

I found myself glancing back to the end of the table only to see that Riddle had disappeared, leaving the rest of his goonies behind. If he's alone right now it would be the perfect chance to get closer to him.

"Hey guys, I'm gonna leave early to get a head start to my next class." I said to Lucretia and Eileen, who nodded and waved goodbye.

I grabbed my bag and started wandering around the castle in search for the riddle of a man that I was chasing down. If I were a snake, where would I go? Somewhere sunny, probably.

My feet carried me to the courtyard I'd gone to on my first night in this time period - I guess my subconscious knew what it was doing because sitting with his back against the stone wall was the exact person I was looking for.

He had his face tilted towards the sun and the the faintest echo of a smile crossing his lips. He looked so much more vulnerable and peaceful than usual and I found myself not wanting to disturb him. I slowly backed away, taking careful steps only for my efforts to be ruined by a perfectly crunchy twig that decided to suicide dive under the heel of my shoe.

Riddle's head shot up at the audible crack and our eyes met, his face instantly hardening into its usual angry/aloof expression.

"S-Sorry, I was just leaving." I said nervously. "I'll go-"

"No."