.⊹⁀➷ CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT!
↳ ❛Tom Riddle❜

IN THE EVENING Professor McGonagall approached Harry and Annabeth in the common room, informing them that Dumbeldore would like to speak with them in his office.

On her instruction the siblings immediately left their stuff by the table and made their way to the Headmasters office.

The phoenix statue revealed the stairs to them and when they reached the heavy wooden door Annabeth knocked and then slowly opened it, revealing no other than Dumbeldore, who was sitting behind his desk.

"Ahh— you got my message! Come in!" The Headmaster immediately greeted them as soon as the two stepped through the door. "How are you?"

Harry was joining in on the chitchat, "Fine, sir." Dumbledore raised a curious eyebrow at them, "Enjoying your classes?"

Annabeth nodded in silence and Harry did the same. The Professor smiled a little, "I know Professor Slughorn is most impressed with you, Harry."

"I think he overestimates my abilities, sir." Harry answered him honestly and Dumbeldore gave him a questioning look, "Do you?"

Harry nodded, "Definitely."

There was a small pause before Dumbeldore went on, "What about your activities outside the classroom?"

"Sir?", Harry wasn't sure what the man was asking about. Dumbeldore leaned onto his desk, "Well, I noticed you spend a great deal of time with Miss Granger. I can't help wondering if—"

Harry's eyes widened when he realized what the man was insinuating, "Oh, no! I mean, she's brilliant! And we're friends, but no."

"Forgive me! I was merely being curious", Dumbeldore apologized to the boy. His eyes then wandered off to Annabeth and for a moment she thought that he wanted to ask her something but he seemed to decide against it.

There was a moment of silence between them before the man went on, "But enough chitchat. You must be wondering why I summoned you here tonight. The answer lies here."

The man stood up and walked over to what seemed like a cabinet filled with glowing vials.

The Headmaster took notice of their questioning looks and explained, "What you are looking at, are memories. In this case, pertaining to one individual— Voldemort or as he was known then, Tom Riddle."

"This vial contains the most particular memory of the day I first met him. I'd like you to see it, if you would." He held out the vial to Harry and Annabeth, making the girl take a step forward. She took it from his hands and went over to the device she already knew from their fourth year.

She carefully placed the memory inside and when she leaned over the dark water bowl she felt like she was being sucked in. Watching the scene infront of her unfold.

First she saw Dumbeldore approach a building, an orphanage to be exact. Inside he met a woman, who lead him upstairs, "I must admit to some confusion upon receiving your letter, Mr. Dumbledore. In all the years Tom's been here he's never once had a family visitor."

The two stopped when they reached the corridor and the women spoke again, "There have been incidents with the other children. Nasty things!"

Dumbeldore didn't show any reaction which made the woman lead him down the corridor. She carefully knocked on the door and slowly opened it. "Tom? You have a visitor."

Annabeth saw how Dumbledore slowly stepped inside the room where a little brunette boy was sitting, "How do you do, Tom?"

The scene was cut off and the next thing she saw was how Dumbeldore approached the wardrobe that stood beside the bed, but the boy gave him a warning look which made Dumbeldore stop in his track, "Don't."

There were stones placed on the window sill and a picture of a cove was hanging on the wall.

The boy looked at Dumbledore, his face expression cold, "You're the doctor, aren't you?"

Dumbeldore sat down on the boy's bed and shook his head at him, "No. I am a professor."

The boy had distrust in his eyes while he looked at the man infront of him, "I don't believe you. She wants me looked at—  They think I'm different."

"Well, perhaps they're right." Dumbeldore stated while the boy still stared at him calmly. "I'm not mad."

"Hogwarts is not a place for mad people. Hogwarts is a school. A school of magic. You can do things, can't you, Tom? Things other children can't", Dumbeldore assured him.

That was the moment the boy decided to open up to the wizard, "I can make things move without touching them. I can make animals do what I want without training them. I can make bad things happen to people who are mean to me. I can make them hurt— if I want."

There was silence between them before the boy gave him a curious look, "Who are you?" Dumbeldore pressed his lips into a thin line before answering, "Well, I'm like you, Tom. I'm different."

The boy narrowed his eyes at him, "Prove it."

Dumbeldore held his gaze and a moment later the wardrobe that stood beside the bed caught on fire.

The boy's eyes widened while Dumbledore only gave him a calm look, "I think there's something in your wardrobe trying to get out, Tom."

The boy immediately stood up and opened the wardrobe that was still on fire. He pulled out a small wooden box and a moment later the wardrobe door closed and the fire went out.

He placed the box down on his bed and revealed the stolen objects to Dumbledore, who gave him a disapproving look. "Thievery is not tolerated at Hogwarts, Tom. At Hogwarts, you'll be taught not only how to use magic, but how to control it. You understand me?"

There was another cut and the next seven showed how Dumbeldore wanted to leave, but Tom spoke up once more.

"I can speak to snakes too. They find me. Whisper things— Is that normal for someone like me?" The boy questioned him which made Dumbeldore freeze in his track. He turned around to the boy, a worried expression on his face before the scene dissolved into dark mist.

Annabeth felt herself being sucked out of the memory and pulled herself out of the water.

Her eyes immediately met Dumbeldore's, "Did you know, sir?—  Then?"

The man shook his head, "Did I know I'd just met the most dangerous wizard of all time? — No. If I had, I —" He stopped in the middle of his sentence, "Over time, while here at Hogwarts Tom Riddle grew close to one particular teacher. Can you guess who that teacher might be?"

"You didn't bring Professor Slughorn back simply to teach Potions, did you, sir?", Annabeth questioned the man and he shook his head. "No, I did not. You see, Professor Slughorn possesses something I desire very dearly. And he will not give it up easily."

Harry nodded while he gazed into the distance, "You said Professor Slughorn would try to collect us. Do you want us to let him?" He looked over at Dumbeldore who simply nodded once.

"Yes—"

Dumbeldores words still echoed in her head when Annabeth was laying in bed that night. She constantly repeated the scene in her head and tossed from one side to the other, trying to find a good sleep position.

It took hours for her to close her eyes and the girl felt sleep deprived the next morning. But she couldn't sleep in. Quidditch tryouts were starting early in the morning and when her alarm went off the brunette immediately snapped out of her sleep.

But to her luck Annabeth's spot on the Gryffindor Quidditch team was a safe bet for her. Angelina had made her and Harry Co-captains last year when she graduated.

As Co-captains it was their job to evaluate and decide who would make the team and who didn't.

So they were an hour earlier outside, preparing the Quidditch pitch for the tryouts. Half an hour after they were finally finished, the Gryffindor students started to show up one after the other.

The official start was at nine o'clock and as soon as the pointer hit nine they started.

The students were obviously excited because they were all talking over each other. Harry cleared his throat, but that didn't catch their attention and he also couldn't scream over them, "Okay, so this morning I'm gonna be putting you all through a few drills just to assess your strengths. Quiet please —!"

"Merlin's beard! Shut it!" Annabeth screamed at them which made everyone look at them in shock and surprise. But there was finally silence.

Harry's gave his sister a small appreciating smile, "Thanks." He then faced the students, "All right, um— remember, just because you made the team last year does not guarantee you a spot this year. Is that clear?"

There were nodds and Harry gave them a small smile, "Good."

While Harry was explaining the process Annabeth was letting her eyes roam over the bleachers until she spotted Hermione, who was sitting not far from Luna Lovegood, waving at them.

Annabeth waved back at her and spun around just in time to hear what Cormac said to Ron. "No hard feelings Weasley, all right?"

Ron gave him a slightly confused looks, "Hard feelings?"

Cormac shrugged while he adjusted his grip on his broom, "Yeah, I'll be going out for the Keeper as well. It's nothing personal."

Ron frowned at him and scanned his body figure with his eyes, "Really? Strapping guy like you? You've got more of a Beaters build, don't you think? Keepers need to be quick, agile."

Cormac suddenly snatched his hand out and caught a fly between his fingers directly infront of Ron's face, "Oh, I like my chances."

"Say— you think you can introduce me to your friend, Granger?" He suddenly questioned Ron while he gazed up to where Hermione was sitting on the bleachers. "Wouldn't mind getting on a first-name basis, know what I mean?" He raised his eyebrows at Ron and had a confident smirk on his face.

Annabeth had to stop herself from gagging while Cormac walked away from Ron. The brunette immediately approached her friend, worried that he was putting too much pressure on himself now that he knew who his competition was.

The girl immediately placed a hand on his shoulder and gave him a reassuring squeeze, "Ron, you've got this. We play in your backyard all the time. I know you've got this!"

Ron gave her a small thankful smile which disappeared immediately as soon as Harry called out that tryouts would be starting now.

The Weasley boy and McLaggen both flew into the air and positioned themselves infront of each goal.

And as soon as Harry blew the whistle Ginny and Annabeth both flew into their air and the game began.

To the brunettes dismay, McLaggen was actually an exceptable Keeper. He defended the goal from every Quaffle that was sent his way.

And it looked quite athletic, Ron on the other hand looked like he was playing Quidditch for the first time and he even slipped off his broom.

He managed to climb back on but Annabeth could see that he was nervous.

To her surprise Cormac let Ginny score the last time she aimed the Quaffle at the goal but Ron caught his last Quaffle, which meant that he was going to be the new Keeper.

After that the Weasley boy was so happy, he couldn't speak about anything else for the whole day.

Even in the evening when they were sitting infront of the fir he just couldn't shut up about it. "I have to admit, I thought I was gonna miss that last one. I hope Cormac's not taking is too hard. He's got a bit of a thing for you Hermione— Cormac."

The girl immediately gave him a pointed look before she looked back into her newspaper, "He's vile."

Ron seemed like he agreed with her but the topic was cut short when Harry leaned over to Hermione and showed her something in his Potions advanced book. "Have you ever heard about this spell? Sectumsempra?"

As soon as Hermione saw that book she rolled her eyes and her tone showed her annoyance, "No, I haven't! And if you had a shred of self-respect you'd hand that book in!"

Ron scoffed, "Not bloody likely. He's top of the class. He's even better than you Hermione! Slughorn thinks he's a genius!"

Annabeth slapped Ron hard against his knee which made Ron give her a confused look, "What?"

The brunette shook her head in silence before Hermione suddenly threw her paper away and stood up, approaching Harry, "I'd like to know whose book that was— let's have a look."

But the boy immediately flinched back, the book still in his hands when he stood up. "No!"

Hermione still walked towards him, seeming impatient, "Why not?" But Harry quickly started running from her through the common room, "The binding is fragile."

"The binding is fragile?", the brunette repeated his words disbelieving while she followed him around.

"Yeah." Harry hid the book behind his back, but what he hadn't thought about what that he couldn't see that Ginny was approaching him and snatched the book out of his hands.

She opened it quickly and frowned, "Who's the Half-blood prince?"

"Who?", Hermione questioned her. Ginny read aloud, "That's what it says right here— This book is property of the Half-blood prince."

The girl then threw it back at Harry, who caught it. He then immediately walked away from them to another table, where he continued to read in the book until everyone else had left the common room.

Annabeth on the other hand had grabbed the Marauders map, her wand and her roap before she made her way out into the corridor.

The brunette had a lot of thoughts roaming through her head and the thing she loved doing most when she had a lot to think about was stargazing.

She lit up her wand and checked on the map if the coast was clear before she headed to the astronomy tower. The brunette then folded the map and stuffed it into her jacket.

She climbed up the stairs to the astronomy tower and as soon as she stepped out onto the platform she felt chills running down her body.

The cold winter air was hitting her face and the brunette could see her breath in the air.

She rubbed her hands while she approached edge. Leaning onto the metal railing she looked over the  grounds of Hogwarts.

"Thinking about jumping?", a familiar voices suddenly questioned her. Despite knowing who it was she was startled that someone else was there.

The brunette spun around and exhaled deeply when she saw that it was Malfoy who stood by the stairwell.

"Now that you are here it's a very tempting option", she shot at him while leaning against the railing with her back. But she couldn't suppress the smirk that was forming on her face.

The boy smirked as well while he approached her, "You know, I've missed our banter over the holidays, Potter." Somehow his voice was so much softer when speaking to her.

He came to a stand next to her and Annabeth spun around to the railing, still looking at him, "Are you saying you missed me, Malfoy?"

Draco slightly narrowed his eyes and seemed like he was considering something before he smiled again, "Maybe a little—"

Annabeth's eyebrows shot up while she looked at him in surprise, "Draco Malfoy— admitting that he missed a Gryffindor and a Potter. How scandalous — I never through I'd see the day." The brunette held eye contact with him, a smirk still plastered on her face.

But Draco's face expression grew a little more serious. The blond boy held eye contact with her, "Annabeth, you know that you're not just some Gryffindor— Yes, I hate your brother, but— you're different."

Annabeth was at a loss of words by his sudden confession. She didn't know what to answer, simply because she was scared to say the wrong thing. He had just opened up to her, she didn't want to ruin this moment.

"I'm sorry that I was cold at the train station. I had a lot going on this summer— but Annabeth thinking of you and knowing that I would see you again was a ray of hope for me." The boy faced her fully and Annabeth did the same, still holding eye contact.

"Don't worry— It's already forgotten", she assured him that she forgave him for the train. The brunette felt her cheeks heating up and let her hair fall infront of her face to hide it from him.

But the boy smiled a little and pushed the hair strand carefully behind her ear. Annabeth looked up at him, noticing the tension that was building up between them.

Draco gave her a curious look while he slowly pulled his hand back, "What?" Annabeth quickly shook her head, "Nothing! It's just— I didn't know you could be so charming."

"I'm just saying what I'm feeling—" there was a small moment of silence before he continued. "And I think we both know what you're doing to me, Annabeth." Draco slowly grabbed her hand and Annabeth just couldn't contain this burning desire anymore.

The brunette pulled her hand away from his and quickly placed both of her hands on either sides of his jaw before her lips crashed onto his, knocking the air out of both their lungs.

Draco's hands immediately found her waist, giving it a squeeze while they continued kissing each other like they had been starving for years.

The air brushed last them, making the goosebumps on Annabeth's arm stand up, but the brunette didn't care. She felt this warmth radiating from her skin while she felt his fingers move along her jawline, cupping her face.

When the two pulled away from each other, Annabeth exhaled deeply. Her hair flew into her face and she pulled it behind her ears while gazing up into Draco's eyes, who were looking directly into her's.

His lips were swollen and he was blushing heavily, his hair also moving in the wind.

Pulling Annabeth into a hug, he sighed deeply, the regret immediately washing over him when he thought about the fact that they could never be together. He was a Death Eater now, he had to fulfill his tasks, he didn't have a choice, he had to. And when he did, she would hate him for it, forever.

The boy felt sick to his stomach when he pressed the brunette against him, trying to hold her close as long as he could while he looked up at the star covered night sky.

THREE WEEKS WENT by and the seasons had changed from autumn to winter. It was already the beginning of december and the air got colder and colder. The castle as well as the landscape was covered in snow.

It was the first weekend in the month and when the friends started their way down to Hogsmeat it was slowing heavily.

Annabeth could hear the snow crunch under her winter boots while she listend to Harry and Hermiones bickering over the Potions book.

"For weeks you carry around this book, practically sleep with it— and yet you have no desire to find out who he is?", Hermione questioned Harry sceptical.

"I didn't say I wasn't curious and I don't sleep with it." Harry shot back at her irritated but Ron immediately gave him a disagreeing look. "Well it's true. I like a little nice chat before I go to bed. Now all you do is read that bloody book. It's like being with Hermione."

The girl besides him shot Ron a glare and sighed, "Well, I was curious, so I went to—"

"The library", the three other's finished her sentence for her in union, making Hermione look at them in surprise. Harry raised his eyebrows at her, "And?"

"Nothing. I couldn't find a reference anywhere to the Half-blood prince." She told them while they still walked through the village.

Harry pressed his lips into a thin line before he looked at the other's. "There we go. That settles it, then. Does anyone want a Butterbear?"

He raised his eyebrows at them and the four agreed that they would go to the Three broomsticks. It was tradition for them after six years.

As they entered, Harry immediately steered them through the building, "Not over there— over here!"

He lead them over to a table on the left and as they wanted to sit down Harry looked at Ron, "No— sit besides me!"

Ron gave him a weird look before he walked around the table and sat down besides Harry, changing positions with Hermione, "Okay."

"Something to drink?", the waiter immediately questioned them as soon as they took their jackets off.

"Four Butterbears, and some ginger in mine, please." Hermione made their order and the man nodded before he disappeared into the kitchen.

Annabeth had just shrugged her heavy jacket off when she spotted Draco walking directly into their direction.

The blonde boy stopped in his track when he saw her and like always it felt like time stood still.

Annabeth hadn't told anyone about the moment the two have had on the astronomy tower. Since then they had been secretly sneaking around behind her friends back.

The brunette couldn't bring herself to look away because she got this warm, bubbly feeling in her stomach. The images of his hands on her waist and his lips on her's vividly appearing in her head.

Annabeth watched how Draco snapped out of his trance, giving her a small smile before he took a right turn and went to the men's room.

The brunette still had this nagging feeling inside of her that something was wrong with the boy, even though he did his best to reassure her that he was all right.

"Oh, bloody hell!", Ron suddenly exclaimed in annoyance, making the brunette snap out of her trance and sit down.

The three friends followed Ron's gaze to find out what was irritating him and Annabeth realized that he was looking over to Ginny, who was sitting with Dean not far from them in a booth. And the two seemed cozy.

"Slick git." Ron muttered under his breath which made Hermione look at him in shock. "Honestly, Ronald, they're only holding hands."

In that exact moment the two leaned into each other and started snogging. "And snogging." Hermione added awkwardly while she looked over at Ron.

"I'd like to leave." The ginger haired boy stated and the brunette female on his opposite scoffed loudly. "What? You can't be serious!"

Ron leaned forward on the table, his demeanor dark and his hands balled into fists, "That happens to be my sister."

Hermione raised an eyebrow at him, clearly not understanding what his problem was, "So? —  what if she looked over here and saw you snogging me? You expect her to get up and leave?"

Ron's seemed to be at a loss of words from Hermione's suggestion. He just stared at her, his mouth hanging slightly open.

"Hey! My boy!", Slughorn suddenly interrupted the awkward moment between the two. Harry immediately stood up and took the man's hand, "Hello sir, wonderful to see you!"

Slughorn shook hands with him enthusiastic, "And you! And you!"

Harry gave him a smile, "So, what brings you here?" Slughorn chuckled, clearly tipsy from all the butterbear. "Oh, the three broomsticks and I go way back further than I care to admit! I can remember when it was one broomstick", he joked while spilling some of his butterbear onto their table.

Hermione and Annabeth quickly flinched back while he only continued to joke, "All hands on deck, Granger!"

He then looked back at Harry, "Listen, my boy, in the old days I used to throw together the occasional supper party— for the select student or two. Would you be game?"

Harry quickly nodded, "I'd consider it an honor, sir."

The man smiled appreciating his answer before he looked over at the two girls, "You of course as well, Miss Potter and you Miss Granger!"

"We'd be delighted, sir!", Annabeth answered for them before she took a sip of her butterbear.

"Splendid, look for my owl!", the man exclaimed happily before his gaze fell on Ron, "Good to see you, Wallenby."

Ron didn't even move a muscle before the man left them behind.

Harry smiled at the Professor before he sat back down in his seat and Ron immediately gave his mate a suspicious look, "What are you playing at?"

There was a moment of silence in which Harry seemed taken back by his answer. But in the end he gave in, "Dumbeldore's asked me and Annabeth to get to know him."

Ron was still confused and frowned, "Get to know him?"

Annabeth shrugged while she made eye contact with Ron, "I don't know. It must be important. If it wasn't, Dumbeldore wouldn't ask."

Hermione took a sip from her butterbear and when she sat it back down in the table a smile appeared on Ron's face. The boy slowly pointed at her lips, "You got a little bit—" he then pointed at his own lips and Annabeth saw that Hermione had a white beard on her upper lip.

The girl quickly whiped it off while Annabeth only smiled to herself, chuckling at little. It was so obvious that the two were completely infatuated with each other, but somehow they were both completely oblivious to each other's feelings.

The brunette shook her head while she exchanged a knowing look with Harry, who smirked widely at his sister.