The Girl from Azkaban ~ Tom Riddle (18+)

𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕾𝖊𝖛𝖊𝖓

~✧~

"Pawn to D5," Taraphina commanded the magic chessboard, and barely a second later she could see the white piece move to the place just mentioned. Leo now concentrated on planning his next move. Taraphina and Leo had both been staring at the black and white patterned board for the past twenty minutes, looking for a way to defeat their opponent's king.

They were the only ones still sitting at the house tables in the Great Hall besides a few Ravenclaw's. It was close to curfew and they were both desperate to leave the Great Hall with a victory; even before one of the professors or Tom would send them away.

Taraphina had not exchanged a word with Tom since she had to sleep on his leather sofa. They both only gave each other hateful looks and refrained from any verbal communication. She understood that he was angry with her for drinking a strange liquid from someone she didn't know, but still she thought he was too uncomprehending. If he hadn't tortured her like that the night before, she wouldn't have even been tempted to take that liquid.

Time went on and on, but neither Leo nor Taraphina had any chance of a quick victory. Leo was actually an exceptionally good chess player, but today he seemed a little fatigued. Taraphina could clearly see the large bags under his eyes, but decided not to call him on it, knowing full well that the lack of sleep was Tom's fault. She was about to make the next move with her remaining jumper when suddenly Tom's voice echoed throughout the hall.

"It's ten minutes to curfew, get to your common rooms before I deduct points," he ordered in a cold voice devoid of any emotion.

Tara merely rolled her eyes and let her Knight wander onto the C3 field. She didn't really care about Tom's request, however everyone else and Leo started to pack up their things.

"That goes for you too Taraphina, I'm not afraid to take points from my own house," Tom declared in his dark, raspy voice. Rolling her eyes, Tara rose from her seat and lifted her books, which were lying next to the chessboard, and pressed them firmly against her chest.

All the students left the great hall. Tom brought up the rear behind Taraphina and Leo, who were followed by two Ravenclaws from Taraphina's year.

"I'm so scared about the Potions exam we're writing tomorrow," one of the girls confessed her fear and pecked the other student's arm, who also just quickly confessed her worries.

Tom listened intently to the conversation between the two girls as he followed Taraphina and Leo.

"I hope you've been studying for this exam Taraphina," Tom snapped the girl with long brown hair out of her thoughts. He hadn't tutored Taraphina since the incident. Neither Tom nor Taraphina wanted to hurt their pride and start a conversation with the other. Taraphina was generally averse to the idea of tutoring and didn't feel compelled to approach Tom and ask for help.

"No, I haven't," she replied uninterested in the conversation that was forming.

"And why not?", Tom probed angrily. 'If she continued to never study, she certainly wouldn't do well in her final exams...' he thought. She just didn't understand the importance of final exams and preferred to enjoy the time she saved by studying. 

"Because I have better things to do with my time than waste it studying and doing homework," she explained as she tried to contain her building anger by clenching her teeth.

"Watch your tone," Tom warned.

Taraphina just rolled her eyes again and picked up the pace, hoping not to have to talk to Tom any more. He had scared her and not just once. Whenever she was just beginning to like his presence, he did her great harm; sometimes she understood why he did it, but sometimes she felt it was outwardly unjustified...