Promised And Kept - Tom Riddle x reader

Part 2 - Labour and Leisure

Giuliana Toffana was unique in many ways. Strict, demanding and precise, but unlike any other teacher you ever had before. After graduating from Hogwarts and Slughorn's kind letter of recommendation, the Most Extraordinary Society of Potioneers had offered you a spot in training. One of the only spots. Each of the Potioneer trainers, which Miss Toffana was one of, taught one student at a time and it was theirs to decide if and when their student was ready to become a Potioneer themselves. You had heard stories of people taking over ten years to get Toffana's approval. Some never did. The average time was three years and you were in your second.

Although she must have been well over 90 years old - you had done the math when she told you how many students she had taught - she looked not a day older than 50. A few grey hairs between the frizzy dark brown curls on her head were one of the only indicators that she aged at all. Her remaining youthfulness must have either been given by a very good potion, or by the fact that she had been single for most of her life. That was what she claimed at least. It made you chuckle how she talked about men. Everyone had to earn her respect first, but men, in every aspect of life, she had told you, had to prove themselves worthy of her time even more. And most of them hadn't managed to do that apparently.

Working with Miss Toffana often meant getting up before dawn, or sometimes starting to work right before midnight, always preparing for the worst and hoping for the best. She had a temper and a sharp tongue, but you knew she was a good person.

Most days you worked right at her house. People like Tom would have probably rather called it a small hut, but you wouldn't dare speak out of term in front of her. It was located deep inside Kielder Forest, magically hidden from intruders and muggles. Forest animals and insects were her only neighbours, much to her liking as she had mentioned a few times. Her solitary life made you wonder if she ever got lonely, but it looked like she wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

Toffana's cottage was surrounded by nature, hundreds of flowers, herbs, possible ingredients for different potions and a nearby creek. Her residence didn't have many rooms, but the one's it did have were perfectly equipped for potion-making. Every drawer, each cabinet and cupboard had been charmed to offer more space inside than it looked like from the outside, everything was stored neatly in its place and you had never once missed an item to brew what she had asked from you.

"Come on, Riddle," Toffana yelped at you from afar as you dug through soil by hand. "You have to dig deeper. The seeds only grow properly if the ground is scaryfied through and through."

"Yes Madam," you answered, short of breath.

Herbology was a part of Potioneering and required much manual labour, at least under Miss Toffana's watch, which was why she had you digging through the top layer of soil on a dry patch of land behind her house.

She came over and inspected your work. "More on this spot. Also there."

"Yes. I'm on it," you sighed, wiping away some drops of sweat from your forehead with your dirty arm. "Can I ask you something?"

"Go on."

"Why do we do this by hand? Can't we just use a spell for this?"

Miss Toffana cackled a high-pitched laugh. "We don't do this by hand. You do."

You looked up at her, your gloved hands resting on your thighs, knowing not to say what you were thinking.

"Don't give me that look, Riddle," she chuckled. "I let you do this by hand so you know how it's done even when your wand is not around. You must know every step by heart. How the process starts that puts it all together in the end. Learn to appreciate every aspect of the art that is potion-making."